The Water Dragon’s Awakening

In the evening, Ai Ou returned to his room, bidding farewell to Elena. Under her reluctant gaze, he locked the door.

He hadn’t invited Elena into his room to sleep, though he knew she would never refuse if he so wished.

Elena was someone he trusted implicitly. However, while the Dragon Island was still weak, its existence needed to remain a secret. It wasn’t a lack of trust in Elena; rather, every additional person privy to a secret only increased the risk of its exposure.

By now, the cruise ship he was on had been sailing the vast ocean for nearly half a month. It had also been roughly a month since he left home. After the mages had completed their various destinations and prepared to return to the magic academy, their journey had been entirely at sea. For the past half-month, all they had seen was ocean, without a single glimpse of land. Fortunately, the cruise ship was quite large, preventing its occupants from growing bored.

Thinking of the treasures he had ‘acquired’ from various people today, Ai Ou felt a surge of excitement. After double-checking the locked door, he immediately returned to the Dragon Island.

As soon as he appeared on the Dragon Island, Ai Ou heard Erza’s excited chirps. The little dragon then nudged him, lifting him onto her back. Ai Ou quickly stroked Erza’s head. She responded with profound dependence, much like a ragdoll cat, letting out blissful purrs and shaking her head as he petted her.

“Alright, alright, Erza, that’s enough,” Ai Ou chuckled. “Where are the things I tossed in earlier?”

Ai Ou was eager to examine the items he had brought back. He had gathered a pile of excellent treasures from the ship’s passengers today, and he was impatient to see them properly.

Upon hearing Ai Ou’s question, Erza pondered for a moment. Her hidden fleshy wings unfurled, and she flew with Ai Ou to the edge of her fire-elemental dragon’s nest.

There was an open space there, with a large, smooth-walled cave entrance that had been transformed by draconic power. It was into this very cave that Erza had tossed the items Ai Ou had given her.

“You little rascal, so small yet already so fond of shiny things!”

“Chirp! Chirp!”

Erza chirped in response to Ai Ou’s words, then lowered her head and rubbed against him. It seemed the fundamental nature of dragons never changed, no matter how young they were; they simply adored glittering treasures.

Inside the cave Erza had dug, lay all the treasures Ai Ou had acquired today: gold coins, magic cores, magic stones, and various other items imbued with a magical aura, their uses yet unknown. Gazing at these sparkling treasures, Ai Ou picked up the object with the strongest magical aura: a second-tier water-elemental magic core.

The moment he picked up the water-elemental magic core, it vanished from his hand. Just then, a long-awaited notification chimed.

“Ding! Dragon Island has detected a new element and absorbed it. The new element is Water. The new Dragon King has begun its revival, energy infusion initiated. Revival progress: 1/10.”

Upon hearing the Dragon Island’s notification, Ai Ou’s eyes lit up. He looked at the remaining nine water-elemental magic cores in the pit and quickly declared:

“Convert all nine of these water-elemental magic cores before me into revival energy!”

As soon as he spoke, the remaining nine second-tier water-elemental magic cores in the pit instantly transformed into streaks of light and disappeared.

“Water-elemental energy detected, infusion initiated. Revival successful. Congratulations on acquiring a new elemental dragon egg.”

A dragon egg suddenly materialized before Ai Ou and Erza. Startled by its abrupt appearance, Erza let out a yelp and was about to roar. Ai Ou quickly reached out to stop her, saying, “Don’t use your Dragon Breath and destroy this egg! This is your sibling! You were born this way too.”

Ai Ou was deeply worried that Erza might accidentally damage the dragon egg. While he didn’t believe dragon eggs were so easily broken, it was better to be safe and give Erza a warning. If it were accidentally destroyed, Ai Ou couldn’t be certain that another dragon egg of the same element could be hatched.

Upon hearing Ai Ou’s words, Erza froze. She looked at the new dragon egg on the ground, then at Ai Ou, before chirping excitedly. She rubbed frantically against Ai Ou, then shook her head at the dragon egg.

Because of the mysterious bond they shared, Ai Ou seemed to understand Erza’s sentiments. Erza was asking if he wouldn’t love her anymore now that there was a new baby, expressing her fear of being abandoned and her desire to remain his one and only baby.

Ai Ou raised an eyebrow, looking at Erza, and quickly began to soothe her.

“Don’t worry, don’t worry. You both hold the same place in my heart. I won’t stop loving you just because there’s a new dragon. Rest assured, you are the dragon I love most. Don’t be like this; this is your younger brother or sister. You need to set a good example, understand?”

‘So young, yet already so jealous,’ he thought. ‘Ah, this little vinegar jar.’

Erza looked at the dragon egg before her, then at Ai Ou. After a moment of thought, she nodded at Ai Ou, then moved aside and lay down, gazing at the dragon egg.

‘Is this my younger brother or sister?’ she wondered.

Seeing that Erza’s issue was resolved, Ai Ou wiped away non-existent sweat, then picked up the dragon egg before him. It was a dragon egg with a sky-blue exterior. A faint, shimmering aura flowed across its shell, constantly rippling like water. It resembled… a beautiful blue crystal.

As Ai Ou lifted the dragon egg, he immediately felt the immense vitality within. The dragon inside seemed to sense Ai Ou, and the signs of movement within the egg grew more intense.

“Water-elemental dragon egg, Tier 0, unhatched.”

A water-elemental dragon egg!

Ai Ou’s expression became peculiar. Erza was a fire-elemental dragon, and this egg was water-elemental. If they hatched, would the two of them start fighting? Surely not, right?

Shaking his head, he quickly cast this dreadful thought aside. Ai Ou resolved to educate the two dragons thoroughly, teaching them the importance of sibling love and absolutely no fighting. Family members had to support each other. If the two dragons truly fought every day, he would be at his wit’s end.

From the pit, Ai Ou retrieved a sharp dagger. He had conned it from a certain magic apprentice. That young fellow had nothing—no gold coins, no magic stones. Ai Ou noticed the dagger on him was quite sharp and imbued with a magical aura, so he managed to get his hands on it.

Biting his own finger to draw blood was something he had done once, and that was enough. To do it again would be utterly foolish. Why torment himself like that?