Chapter 1204: Chapter 1203: "Raising Kids

After Enya mentioned those distant ancient memories, the hatching room instantly fell silent. Even the two young dragons, who had just been born not long ago, seemed to sense the change in atmosphere. They immediately tucked in their wings and shrank their necks, cautiously burrowing under Melita’s feet. Although Enya was the first "person" they saw after birth, it was clear that compared to the round eggshell, Melita more closely resembled a "mother" to these little creatures.

The two hatchlings, resembling little puppies, were scurrying around Melita’s feet, causing a mixed expression of joy and anxiety on her face. She carefully bent down to stroke the scales on their heads while looking up at Enya and asking, "Do you mean to say... the magical corrosion marks on the hatchlings might be related to the Deep Blue Webway? Is the magic there ’rising’?"

"I can’t be certain—after all, those are memories from two million years ago, and there’s no theoretical evidence to prove the magic changes in the Deep Blue Webway are directly related to the mutations happening with the hatchlings. Back then, Talronde’s technology was quite primitive," Enya said quietly. "But I think Heragor and the others should be informed about it—while they may not currently have the capability to monitor the Deep Blue Webway, they should at least examine the recently hatched young dragons. If more hatchlings exhibit signs of magical corrosion... it needs to be taken seriously."

"I will contact Talronde immediately once I return," Melita quickly nodded and said. "Last time we communicated, Speaker Andar mentioned they had successfully repaired an energy extraction station. If the station’s deep probes are still functional, they might still be able to observe some changes in the Deep Blue Webway..."

Gawain also found himself deep in thought, considering what methods he might have to intervene in such a cosmic-scale power structure as the "Deep Blue Webway." Quickly, a name emerged from the depths of his mind: Veronica/Ofelia.

Once a member of the ancient Gondor Empire’s royal family, the leader of the Defier, she now controls the body of Veronica through consciousness projection, acting in the mortal world, while her true form... is actually situated deep within the Gondor wasteland. In Gawain’s understanding, she has converted her life form into some kind of immortal state using ancient technology.

The ancient Well of Deep Blue had already turned to dust in an explosion. However, what was destroyed back then was merely the extraction facility humans built above the "Webway Source." Now, Veronica/Ofelia’s true form remains within that underground Gondor base beneath the Source, overseeing the remnants of the Well of Deep Blue through a series of ancient autonomous devices and an Iron Soldier Corps. Although her condition doesn’t seem ideal, she might still be capable of monitoring some movements within the Deep Blue Webway more than the mortal nations can, who cannot enter the Gondor wasteland at all.

The Deep Blue Webway traverses the entire planet, and the anomalous "surge" phenomenon occurring in Talronde might leave clues at other Webway outlets.

Upon hearing Gawain and Melita’s responses, Enya gently murmured, followed by a slight smile as she softly remarked, "I can only hope you all will handle these matters. Nowadays, I am helpless about most events occurring in this world, and I even need others’ assistance to live..."

"Don’t say that!" Melita hurriedly replied, "You... You’ve already done so many things for the Dragonkin. Now it’s time for you to have a good rest. We can rely on ourselves..."

"You’re right, Melita," Enya interrupted the blue dragon lady with a smile. "I truly should rest well—if I don’t, neither Heragor, Andar, nor Balogar might be able to rest well."

Enya’s words left Melita at a loss for how to respond, leaving the blue dragon lady to awkwardly laugh. Meanwhile, Gawain, deep in thought, asked, "If the magical marks on the hatchlings are indeed related to changes in the Deep Blue Webway... what can we do about it?"

Enya pondered for a moment before speaking in a deep voice, "If this truly signifies some kind of natural cycle change occurring within the entire Webway system behind the Well of Deep Blue, the current mortal races are powerless to stop it. That is as unrealistic as halting the rotation of the planet beneath our feet—so all you can do is prepare for disaster prevention and mitigation. The changes in the Deep Blue Webway are not as ’catastrophic’ as a chaotic wave or god-induced calamity. Compared to the latter, it is somewhat easier to cope with."

The last half of her sentence seemed a bit absent-minded, and Gawain keenly noticed the change in tone from this former Dragon God. He furrowed his brow slightly: "It sounds like you’re more concerned about the cause behind the changes in the Webway itself..."

"Yes, I’m more concerned about the cause behind the Webway’s changes," Enya said with a hushed voice. "Besides the event from the Ancient Era stored in my memory, the Deep Blue Webway has remained unchanged for the entire two million years past. It is as steady and immutable as the earth’s veins or the earth itself; neither the chaotic wave nor god-induced calamities ever caused any fluctuation in it, let alone the Gondor Empire’s thousands of years of ’extraction,’ which never swayed even a piece of its surface. Why did such a stable system suddenly experience a change? This is what concerns me the most."

Gawain and Melita instinctively exchanged glances, seeing the same seriousness in each other’s eyes.

The timid cries of the young dragons drew everyone’s attention back to reality. Gawain looked down at his feet, where he saw one hatchling tugging lightly at his pant leg, while the other continued to nuzzle Melita’s leg, emitting a series of short cries from its throat. This reminded the "adults" immersed in serious discussions that there were still two recently hatched "young ones" awaiting care in the room. Melita’s expression turned anxious, and her tone carried a hint of panic: "Ah, are they hungry? Should we get them something to eat now? Should I pick them up? They..."

"They indeed need to eat," Enya interjected to calm the slightly flustered Melita. "Dragons are omnivorous, and hatchlings have excellent digestive abilities—prepare some fresh meat for them, and it doesn’t matter if it’s raw, along with clean water and some soft fabric. After eating, they will need to rest."

Gawain immediately turned to Betty, who was quietly standing by the side: "Quick, go get these prepared."

"Oh... oh! Yes, Your Majesty!" The maid, who was almost dozing off, was jolted awake in an instant. She hastily bowed, then turned and ran toward the hatching room door, her figure swiftly vanishing down the corridor.

The two young dragons watched Betty leave and immediately stretched their necks, crying out toward the corridor, their underdeveloped wings flapping wildly in the air, making slapping sounds on the ground. In a hurry, Melita squatted down to soothe these two little beings, appearing clumsy and almost ineffective—after all, even recently hatched dragon hatchlings are far larger than the "youngsters" of other creatures, boasting a robust physique and mobility unattainable by common beings. Melita’s current humanoid form was hardly suitable for handling such overly vigorous "children." She soon found herself overwhelmed and looked up with pleading eyes.

Gawain found himself at a loss: "It’s no use looking at me either—not only do I not know how to take care of children, even if I did, I wouldn’t know how to take care of ones with wings!"

"Sigh... I’ll do it then." Enya’s helpless voice came from the side, her melodic tones offering salvation to the two bewildered individuals. Gawain heard a soft hum emanating from the golden eggshell—that same melody he often heard Enya hum while she wiped the dragon egg (Ancient Gods’ Lullaby.jpg). As the restless young dragons heard this melody, they miraculously calmed down, as if they remembered the sounds they had heard back when they were still within the eggshell.

Subsequently, an invisible magic spread out, gently lifting the two young dragons and floating them over to another "dragon egg pedestal" at the side of the room. The little ones looked around curiously before quickly discovering something that caught their attention.

Their previous eggshells.

The two young dragons shrieked happily, rushing toward the broken and dried eggshells, beginning to gnaw at the hard fragments squeakily or kicked them around. It looked like they could play with them for a long time. Enya finally breathed a sigh of relief and stopped the ancient god’s song.

The former Dragon God chuckled lightly and joked, "I really didn’t imagine that after ’retirement,’ I would be helping young dragons raise children like this—especially when I’m not even hatched yet."

Gawain’s expression suddenly looked a bit peculiar: Having an egg not yet hatched taking care of two newly emerged hatchlings—this setup held so many absurdities that he hardly knew where to begin. Reflecting on it, he felt this exaggerated scenario was something even bards wouldn’t dare include in their stories... How did it come to happen right under his nose?

Melita stretched her neck to look at the playful, excited young dragons not far away, showing a bit of worry on her face. After hesitating several times, she couldn’t help but say, "They wouldn’t not recognize me as their ’mother,’ would they?"

"Hard to say," Gawain muttered beside her with a serious expression, "You see, after they hatched, the first one they saw wasn’t you; it was Enya. The one they’re most familiar with now isn’t you either; it’s still Enya. Later, when they eat, the food isn’t prepared by you—it’s Betty..."

"Then what should I do?" Melita displayed an anxious look immediately, "If they don’t even recognize me, then when Noletta comes, they’ll recognize her even less..."

"Melita, I understand your nervousness, but you really don’t need to discuss matters about young dragons with a human who doesn’t even have scales," Enya’s helpless voice sounded again from the side. Although she was just an egg, Gawain and Melita instantly felt as if there was a gaze sweeping across them, "One is truly daring to speak—and the other is daring to believe it."

An awkward feeling welled up instantly, and Gawain rubbed the tip of his nose without speaking.

"Don’t worry, Melita. Young dragons are very intelligent; they can recognize the dragonkin aura on you—I don’t have it. I’m just an egg not yet hatched," Enya continued, "You’re the only ’kind’ they’ve seen so far—that’s why they instinctively approached you earlier. In terms of recognizing ’mother,’ you should trust them."

"...Oh, that reassures me a lot." Melita finally breathed a sigh of relief, realizing that her own reaction a moment ago was somewhat embarrassing, and she awkwardly rubbed her nose, letting out a dry laugh.

Gawain glanced at the young dragons not far away, competing over a piece of eggshell fragment, then looked at Melita, who seemed to have fully focused her attention on the young dragons, and finally turned his gaze away, bringing up another important matter—the reason why he and Melita initially came to the hatching room: "By the way, Enya, we actually have another important matter to discuss with you today."

"Another important matter?" Enya’s tone rose, "What happened?"

Melita’s attention was immediately pulled back by this topic. She turned her head, her expression becoming serious again: "Modir Vealt... Does this name ring any bells for you?"

"Modir..." Enya pondered slightly, soon recalling those events that seemed not long ago to her, "Ah, I remember, that’s the name of a human adventurer, probably dating back about six hundred years... He appeared outside the waters of Talronde. Wait, now I remember, he once entered that tower—Melita, you were the one who took him there."

"Yes, I was influenced by the ’Inversion Tide’ at the time and brought the outsider into the tower," Melita nodded, "If it weren’t for you intervening personally later and purifying the contamination that human adventurer and I were exposed to, this matter could have been disastrous—afterward, you had blocked my memories of the entire ordeal until Modir’s Travelogue reappeared in the world, revealing the matter..."

"That’s indeed the case. I remember it well... a matter not too big, yet enough to be tension-inducing," Enya’s tone gradually turned serious, "What happened? Why did you suddenly bring this up?"

"...Modir Vealt is still alive," Gawain said in a deep voice, "And he returned to Talronde."

...

Above the Magic Web Terminal, blue light flickered faintly, projecting a clear holographic image from the far North. Victoria Wilder’s cold yet beautiful face appeared in the projection, looking at Amber standing in front of the Magic Web Terminal, while Amber watched her nervously.

In front of this northern Guardian, known as the "Grand Duke of Ice and Snow," even someone as carefree as Amber couldn’t help but feel an inexplicable pressure. This stern-looking figure was evidently the natural enemy of some Shadow Assault Goose.

"Basically... the situation is like this," under Victoria’s wintry gaze (which actually was just her expressionless face), Amber explained quickly, "I must emphasize, this was all instructed by His Majesty, and I always respect the deceased and their coffins and mean no offense to the family ancestors of the Wilder Clan—but I must ask you to confirm the family’s ancestral tomb; we suspect..."

"No need for confirmation," Victoria interrupted before Amber could finish, "Modir Vealt is not asleep in the tomb beneath Bitter Winter Castle—there is only a cenotaph there; it’s no secret."

After finishing, the northern Guardian took a deep breath, her face coming closer to the screen, "Now, I want to know more detailed information."

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