Page 14

Early Evening - Mid Winter : Peak of the Mountain

As we sat on the top of the mountain overlooking the ocean, we talked casually for a while until the sun started to set.

As the sun approached the horizon, the sky slowly turned from a deep blue to a stunning light orange.

-Wow..- The sunset was so beautiful that all three of us went completely silent.

"It really is a pretty sunset tonight.." Even Mother seemed surprised how pretty it was.

-So it's beautiful even for this world huh..- I partially thought that this world's sunsets would simply be beautiful more often since everything I had seen in this world so far had been far more beautiful than earth, but that was a thoughtless assumption.

As we watched the sun set further below the horizon, I started to reminisce about everything that had happened since I got reincarnated.

-It's only been 3 years, but I already have so many fun memories with my new family. Krystallo is a clumsy mess sometimes but she is also my cute little sister, and Mother is always so caring for us, it even feels like she spoils us..-

My mind was filled with happy thoughts, a loving warmth like no other filled me as I laid down.

Once the sunset started setting below the horizon, my eyes slowly started getting heavier before I fell asleep.

After that, time continued to flow. The next morning, Mother woke us up and we headed back down the mountain where I found Ilios waiting for me.

Mother wasn't too happy with him at first but overtime he had steadily become a part of the family. Both Mother and Krystallo loved doting and playing with him after a while, but he always stuck next to me and would never leave line of sight for some reason.

After that, time kept slipping away. I spent all of my time either playing with Ilios or Krystallo, sleeping, or watching sunsets and stargazing with Mother.

The time I spent was fun and peaceful, but before I knew it, 5 years had passed.

It was Krystallo and I's 8th birthday.

I had grown to 15 meters tall and Krystallo had grown to 7 meters. We were both already significantly bigger than our ages but my next dragon sleep was just going to make that all the more extreme.

Neither of us had experienced any dragon sleeps or growth over the 5 years that passed, but over the past few months, my hunger had been growing exponentially.

Mother said it was a sign that my dragon sleep was coming and had been stockpiling huge amounts of food in preparation, but with how big I was now, that food was a massive pile.

Ilios, who had grown to nearly 2 and a half meters long now, still stuck to me like a magnet and wouldn't leave my side.

Mother was a bit worried that he would get caught up in my dragon sleep but I kept telling her it would be alright. Little did I know, he would.

We were currently on the top of the mountain watching the sunset which although beautiful, was nothing particularly stunning, but once it had fully set and night came.. my hunger hit like a wave.

My pupils shrank and my body felt like it was eating itself. I needed to eat, and soon.

"Mother, I think it's my sleep!" As I jumped up, I did all I could to not lose myself to my instincts and looked towards Mother.

Without hesitating she darted down the mountain and defrosted the pile of food (she froze the bodies to preserve them) by the area where we agreed to have my sleep.

Speeding down the mountain, I slammed into the ground next to the pile of food and started devouring it immediately.

The pile was mostly field bison which tasted great and two of them even had cores, but I didn't care. I was far too hungry to be able to taste anything.

After eating nearly the entire pile of bodies, bones and all, I finally felt a wave of sluggishness and moved to the middle of the flat area. Figuring it was as good of a spot as any, I quickly curled up and let myself drift into a deep sleep.

- Zachari Ragnarok ~

"Haah, what am I gonna do with him..” -That was enough food to feed an adult getting ready to become an elder but he ate nearly all of it..- Looking over at him with a smile of slight worry, I started to prepare myself for him to have another 'abnormally long' dragon sleep.

Krystallo was still sitting on the mountain peak looking down at the scene in awe.

Figuring there was nothing else I could do for Vasilias, I flew back up the mountain to join up with Krystallo.

“Is Brother’s appetite normal?” Krystallo looked up at me with her childish innocence.

“Haha, not at all sweetie, but that hunger means he will grow even bigger and stronger!” Although I was anxious about it, it was also true that his abnormal growth and hunger would make his growth even more exponential than normal dragons.

“If I eat more, will I be able to be as strong as him?” Krystallo looked up at me with an adorable gleam in her eyes.

“Of course sweetie!” I lowered my head and rubbed my cheek against hers for a minute when I noticed something abnormal. -Mana suction already?-

I quickly straightened myself up and looked down towards Vasilias.

-We are nearly 2 kilometers away and he is still sucking it in..- I couldn't help but watch the scene in awe. There was an absolutely monumental sum of mana being sucked towards Vasilias, far more than even a normal dragon moving to the elder stage could absorb.

The mana concentration around him started increasing several fold to the point where even Krystallo realized something was wrong. "Is.. is Brother going to be okay.." Even though she didn't know why, her intuition said it was a bad situation.

"He will be fine.. you must not remember the start of his first dragon sleep since you were asleep but he sucked in a crazy amount of mana then too." -I highly doubt he will get mana poisoning.. Even from this..-

Although Krystallo didn't understand that she was feeling, her intuition told her it was something ridiculous. "What kind of monster is Brother.." She said it without thinking and didn't quite realize what she said.. But I couldn't really disagree.

"Haah.. I have no idea.. but it's not good to call your brother a monster Krystallo.."

She immediately felt sorry after realizing what she said but her actions were interrupted as she saw a white creature dash down the mountain. "Wait Ilios!" She spread her wings and got ready to go stop him but I put my wing in front of her before she could move.

"He should be fine, the dense mana accumulating around Vasilias should be somewhat beneficial to him.. he could even evolve if he is lucky." [1]

After a short moment, Ilios finally reached where Vasilias was sleeping and curled up next to him.

After watching for a while longer, Krystallo started to get anxious, but thankfully not about Vasilias. "Mom.. how long till I have my dragon sleep?" She looked up at me with determined eyes, not wanting to fall too far behind her brother.

-How cute..- "I'm not sure, but likely before he wakes up from this sleep. If his last sleep is anything to go by, this one will take far longer than normal too.."

While getting caught in my own thoughts, I glanced down the mountain and saw a sphere of mana forming around Vasilias, so dense that it could be seen with the naked eye.

"Just what in the world.." I couldn't help but freeze from awe.

Just before the visible mana encompassed Ilios, he hopped up and ran out of the ball of mana, thankfully not getting caught up in it.

-That's enough mana to poison me.. and I'm nearly 100 years old… Just what kind of monster will he be when he wakes up..-

Finally snapping out of my thoughts, I was slightly ashamed that I thought of him as a monster but it wasn't the time to worry about that.

I quickly grabbed Krystallo and started moving down the mountain, being sure to use magic to keep the mana away from Krystallo since it was so dense it would be extremely poisonous even if she was exposed only for a second.

Finally arriving at the entrance of the cave, I dispelled the barrier and Krystallo felt the massive change in mana density.

"Mom.. can brother really handle that.." She was exceptionally concerned seeing me, who she believed to be the strongest, start sweating just from flying around it.

"I hope so.. because if he can't there isn't anything I can do to save him..." Worry was written all over my face as I looked up the mountain at the ever growing sphere of mana.

Looking back down I noticed the doors to the cave were slightly open. -Hm?-

I quickly made my way up and opened the door to see Ilios collapsed and panting heavily.

"Sh*t! He got mana poisoning!" I acted as quickly as I could, immediately coming to Ilios's side and getting ready to cast magic but before I could, Ilios started sucking in even more mana.

-What?!- Although nothing like the suction from Vasilias, it was nothing to scoff at.

I couldn't help but stare at Ilios in shock. -Is he actually going to evolve.. Just like that?-