The soft and rhythmic chewing noise echoed in the chamber as two girls, who looked about seventy percent alike, much like twins, looked with bright eyes at the little creature sitting atop a pile of pearls, constantly eating.
After watching for a long time, finally, one of the girls couldn’t resist and reached out her hand, gently pinching the chubby little cheeks,
The busy little eater frowned, stretched out his chubby little hand to block the offending hand, and continued to shove pearls from the pile that was taller than him into his mouth.
"Tsk, the little guy has quite a temper!"
Selena, who had been blocked, was undaunted and once again extended her claw towards the newborn little one, intending to pinch that tender, bouncy little face again.
"Grandmother, don’t do that!"
Gwen, unable to bear it any longer, tried to stop Selena from persistently trying to pinch the infant’s cheeks.
"Try it, it really feels amazing."
Ignoring the protests of her granddaughter, Selena not only refused to listen but even tried to involve her in the mischief.
"Dragon Dad is still watching."
Gwen had to gently remind her once more, noticing the scales on the forehead of the Golden Dragon had begun to rise, making it appear even more majestic and intimidating than usual.
"What’s wrong with a little pinch? He’s my grandson after all!"
Selena said with righteous indignation, looking up to meet the gaze of the staring Golden Dragon,
"What are you staring at? I’m teasing my grandson, do you have a problem with that?"
Noah could only helplessly remind them.
"Exactly, it’s fun to tease them when they’re still little. Once they grow up, they become boring like all of you."
Selena spoke with reason.
"Let him finish eating first!"
Knowing the birth of Ilya, it was no surprise to Noah that these two legendary mages couldn’t restrain themselves.
"That won’t work, once he finishes eating, he’ll want to sleep."
Under Noah’s watchful eye, Selena blatantly extended her finger, gently poking the cheek of the super hybrid once more,
"Come, call me sister!"
"Sister, could you please not disturb my eating? I’m very hungry right now!"
Under Selena’s persistent teasing, Ilya had no choice but to look up with his eyes glowing with pure white holy light from those golden dragon pupils and plead softly.
"Alright, alright, sister won’t disturb you anymore, focus on eating. By the way, what else do you want to eat? Sister will fetch it for you!"
Hearing that ’sister’, Selena was overjoyed, for no one had called her sister in a long time. Back when she taught Gwen, Gwen used to call her sister.
Unfortunately, as Little Gwen grew up, she became stiff and respectful, addressing her as grandmother or teacher, even after Selena’s efforts to correct her to no avail.
Ilya found the magic-infused pearls extremely satisfying, having no additional cravings despite being offered more.
"I remember dragons also like eating high-quality extraordinary metals, right?"
Even though Ilya didn’t ask for anything more, Selena still looked towards Noah, seeking advice from this father figure.
"Ah, yes, correct, it’s best if it’s pure gold, mithril, mountain bronze, mixed steel; those kinds of extraordinary metals."
Startled, Noah quickly responded, explaining to his adoptive mother the types of metals dragons need to consume to fulfill their growth nutritional requirements.
The attributes of dragon scales, capable of crafting high-rank armor, aren’t formed out of thin air but require the absorption of other substances.
Thus, dragons indeed have a demand for consuming metals; the stronger the dragon, the greater this need, otherwise how else to form dragon bones and support their increasingly massive bodies?
"You really dare to ask!"
Selena rolled her eyes at Noah’s suggestion. Nonetheless, she did manage to find quite a lot of high-quality ore to feed Ilya,
"Sister isn’t withholding the refined stuff from you, just worried it might damage your teeth. When you’re a bit older, sister will give you pure metal."
Ilya’s bite strength was astonishing, able to chew an expensive ore fragment like candy, creating sparks as he bit but quickly swallowing it down as if it were a jelly bean.
In the process, Selena displayed a tenderness that Noah hadn’t seen in her for a long time.
He had once witnessed such affection from his adoptive mother, but as he grew older, the closeness faded away.
Watching Selena coax his child with ’sister’ after ’sister’, Noah could now somewhat understand how Tidel felt when hearing their mother having his daughter call her sister.
Even with his extremely complex feelings, correction was out of the question; Noah acted as if he hadn’t heard and let everyone address each other however they pleased.
After awakening, under the care of two legendary mages, the satiated and hydrated Ilya quickly fell into a deep sleep, breathing evenly.
"What’s the matter, your son was born, why do you look unhappy?"
Facing the sleeping little one, Selena restrained her hand, but her attention shifted to Noah.
"No, I’m not unhappy, I’m just a bit surprised."