The Hatchling's Hidden Strength
The eye that looked at him held a resolve unlike any ordinary child.
'I will become strong enough that no one can ever wound me again.'
A fleeting hint of coldness crossed the pure, sparkling gaze before it lowered.
He clenched his fist tightly, swearing that he would never repeat the same mistake.
'I must become strong enough that no one can touch me. If I can use them, I will use anything.'
Christina, who had not seen his cold expression, cast a teleportation spell.
It was her first step toward the world the child was about to experience.
She left the empty space behind and took the child into the world he would face.
***
One full month had passed since he began living in Christina's lair.
During that time, the Imugi had adapted to the truth that he was a hatchling of a black dragon.
At first he had crawled around on all fours until exhaustion made him collapse and fall asleep right there.
When he woke up, he found himself cradled in a nursery.
That fact still struck him as unbelievable.
'How did I not even notice the presence of someone shaking my body while I slept?'
The thought made his unprotected body shudder with rage.
It was absurd for an Imugi who had practiced controlling and absorbing qi.
He had kicked the air with blankets for days, filled with regret.
Eventually he accepted the instinct.
'It's natural to feel this way. I myself am not like this. It's just the body.'
……It was close to reality denial, but he accepted it.
Since the mind could not control the body, the Imugi focused every day on absorbing pure spirit energy from the surroundings and building his inner power.
During the process he discovered something strange.
If the spirit energy had once gathered in his lower dantian, now it flowed straight to his heart simply from breathing.
'At first I thought something was wrong with my body.'
After seeing Christina use magic a few times, he realized it was normal.
Some of it he practiced secretly when she was away.
Using magic to clean up the surroundings, moving objects, or creating cool water.
Small, yet useful powers.
After that the Imugi kept his heart full of power and artificially gathered qi into his lower dantian.
'It's a pity the pearl I made is gone, but this is not bad either.'
By training his middle and lower dantian, power naturally accumulated.
All he needed was time before a new pearl would form.
Even this place held the purest mana he had ever known.
Through cultivation he absorbed the energy and marveled again.
'I can gather this pure spirit energy into a body free of impurities.'
The corner of his mouth curved upward naturally.
Normally it would take days just to select the purest qi and gather it into the lower dantian.
But here he did not need to do that.
For this reason he had grown stronger and mastered magic and stamina faster than other hatchlings.
Everything felt satisfying, yet the recent dissatisfaction remained.
'That strange watcher appeared.'
The Imugi lay as if asleep while secretly opening one eye to stare at the floating white light.
From outside it looked like an ordinary light sphere.
[Let's gooo]
That being often floated strange symbols or expressions in the air using light as a brush.
'He doesn't sleep at all, that one.'
It was the 'spirit' Christina had summoned out of worry when she left him alone.
At first glance harmless, but the gaze was unmistakable.
'How annoying.'
It was okay since he could not leave yet; the time was still sufficient and the training part was beneficial anyway.
Even if the immature oral structure limited language, it felt embarrassing but he was slowly getting used to it.
The effect of Christina's worry-made intruder.
'Because of that guy I can't do any noticeable training.'
Even he could see that his body was chubby with scales and flesh that bulged everywhere.
Muscles would not develop without constant walking and swinging arms and legs.
Yet that will-o'-the-wisp kept flying around him whenever he crawled on the ground, unable to stand still like a needy puppy.
Whether it helped or not, he sweated and trained his muscles.
Then it would vanish and Christina would pick him up and place him back in the nursery.
'Tsk. Muscle tearing is nothing compared to training.'
If he showed autonomous training in front of Christina, she would suspect something.
'Having a body that grows day by day, yet only being teased for such a reason.'
Excess time was increasing while he should be growing, so sighs kept coming.
Eventually proper training time decreased and dissatisfaction piled up.
'I need a countermeasure. I cannot keep living while watching that will-o'-the-wisp.'
A divine being who had wandered the world pretending to sleep while a flying insect watched.
It was far better to fight a real opponent.
This was just ridiculous and frustrating.
'I'd rather face someone holding a weapon.'
Sigh.
He sighed while lying in the generous nursery.
'Still, my inner power is steadily increasing.'
Smiling with the corner of his mouth lifted, he gently stroked his chubby belly with his short hands.
While saying that, he never skipped the training of accumulating inner power and claiming magic as his own.
'Where did the seed for the lower dantian come from?'
The seed of the lower dantian for making the inner dantian.
Pure mana surrounding the heart.
It was the key that allowed free control of qi and the world's mana.
'It seems time to try it.'
Over the past month he had focused on understanding the operation of the teleportation spell whenever Christina cast it with him.
Already an Imugi who had mastered the phenomena of all things as a divine being, his ability to perceive mana flow was excellent.
'I must claim this stronger and richer power as my own.'
The ambition to become something beyond the limits of an Imugi made his heart pound.
"Quueeeuwk!"
'……Damn it.'
Excitement made him shout instinctively, and an immature voice came out.
'I thought the oral structure was the problem… Would practicing more solve it faster?'
Since there was nothing to do, he tried practicing pronunciation.
"Quue! Kya! Kiiyuk-!"
Somehow the light being seemed to be giggling while looking at him, but he kept making sounds with all his effort.
"Quuuk. Ppa ppa. Puu pyaa bbe ppupu."
His face felt hot, but he did his best to cry.
"Quuaa-!"
Thud.
It was not from power but mental exhaustion from embarrassment that he flopped down on the spot.
'Uwaaaa! Why do I have to do this stupid thing?!'
He would rather not remember even if he had been a newborn.
Feeling ashamed because he still carried the mind of a mature divine being.
He rolled his body back and forth on both sides with his ears burning red hot.
At that moment a spatial ripple was felt.
The Imugi lay peacefully as if he had not moved, then secretly glanced at Christina.
"You were behaving well and sleeping nicely, weren't you?"
"Quue."
'Yeah.'
Seeing the milk bottle Christina brought made his mouth water.
She approached and gently lifted his lip, checking the overall condition of his teeth.
"It seems you have not grown teeth yet. Is it okay to only drink milk? I heard red dragon hatchlings want meat as soon as they are born…."
"Quuuu!"
'Meat tastes good.'
The Imugi nodded his head too.
"You understand everything. You are so smart."
Christina smiled sweetly and stroked his fluffy head with her hand.
"Among the hatchlings I've seen, you seem the smartest."
"Quue."
'I can't be exactly like a baby. But the appearances I've shown so far have been effective.'
If he looked too calm or mature, she might suspect something, so he had tried to match the most childish expression.
"Your eyes are big and round, and your scales have a nice shine."
"Quue quue."
'That is fortunate.'
Thinking about how he had been treated rudely made it a relief that his appearance could win affection.
Even if it might look like seeing a porcupine baby, the sleek black scales with flowing shine had a charm that drew the eye.
"Hehe. You seem in a good mood. I wonder if it's because of my words that you understand everything. Though there is no way."
He unconsciously stopped the tail that was wagging lightly.
'Was I… feeling good?'
Feeling embarrassed, he coughed in his heart and shook his head.
Because he had rarely experienced such feelings, he did not know how to respond.
He could not just stay quiet, so he spread both arms wide while looking at Christina.
Christina then hugged the hatchling and gently rubbed his cheek.
"You are full of affection. Is that because you want me to hug you?"
'No, I just wanted milk.'
But it was necessary to build affection, so he closed his eyes.
"Quuuuk."
While being held, he tightly hugged her neck.
"So cute. You are the cutest hatchling I've ever known."
'You say that every day.'
Anyway, he nodded satisfied that his acting was perfect.
'This time I'll definitely get milk.'
Staring at Christina's face with intent, she made an oops face.
"Oh my, I almost forgot the meal time."
'Right.'
Since the milk helped build power, she made sure to give him meals every time.
She carefully laid the Imugi's body into the nursery and took a pocket from her waist.
"Here it is."
Three liters of milk came out of the pocket.
The Imugi's eyes sparkled.
Christina opened the lid and handed it over.
He held it with both front paws carefully so the milk would not spill.
He tilted the bottle to his mouth and took a sip.
Gulp. Gulp.
"Drink slowly."
The rich and smooth milk flowed smoothly into his throat.
'It tastes good. And it even gives more power, so I can't stop.'
It would be no exaggeration to call it an energy drink in his original world.
He quickly finished one bottle.
Christina handed him another opened bottle.
'If milk has such an effect, wouldn't something more effective exist?'
A sudden thought crossed his mind.