Over the next few days, Amid’s life was…
how should I put it, quite fulfilling.
To what extent was it fulfilling?
Every day, the first thing he did upon opening his eyes was—absorb nutrients.
That’s right, absorbing nutrients.
He discovered a gentle energy flowing within the eggshell, seemingly alive, seeping into his body in thin strands.
The energy carried the fresh scent of vegetation; with every bit he absorbed, he felt his tiny body grow a fraction stronger.
“This is probably how oviparous creatures grow,” Amid thought to himself.
He tried to mobilize that energy, letting it circulate through his body.
At first, he was a bit clumsy, but he soon got the hang of it—much like getting familiar with a new character in a game; after a few tries, you know how to cast the skills.
Of course, he couldn’t cast any skills yet.
Additionally, he discovered some interesting things.
For example, as long as he concentrated, he could feel faint flows of energy around him.
Some of that energy came from the air, and some—from Nahida, who was holding him.
The energy coming from Nahida was the warmest and most familiar.
It was exactly the same as the power inside his own body.
‘This must be Dendro Energy.
Or is it divine power?’
Every time he finished absorbing it, he felt warm and comfortable all over, and his growth rate accelerated slightly.
Although he didn’t know when he would be able to undergo Shell Smash, perhaps he could do it now?
But he wasn’t in a hurry.
Because life right now was actually quite interesting.
Every day, Nahida would tell him stories.
At first, they were fairy tales.
“Once upon a time, there was a little fox who lived under a big tree in the forest…”
Nahida held a book she had gotten from who-knows-where and read softly.
Her voice was soft, like a spring breeze.
Amid listened from inside the egg and found it quite amusing.
He had never listened to fairy tales before.
He was fourteen or fifteen years old; who still listens to this stuff?
Wasn’t playing games better?
But now, trapped in an egg with nothing else to do, listening to Nahida read stories in that gentle voice actually felt…
pretty good.
Sometimes, when the story reached an interesting part, he couldn’t help but move a little.
Like today’s story—
“The little fox met a big bad wolf, and the wolf said, ‘I’m going to eat you up—'”
Nahida paused there intentionally, lowering her voice.
Amid complained in his head: ‘Isn’t this just the Little Red Riding Hood trope?’
But to play along with the atmosphere, he still wobbled the egg.
“Oh!”
Nahida was startled for a moment, then she started laughing.
“You feel nervous too, don’t you?”
She leaned closer to the shell, her eyes curving into two crescents.
“Don’t be afraid, the little fox was fine in the end; a hunter saved it.”
Amid wobbled again, as if saying ‘I know, I know’.
Nahida laughed even more happily.
She realized that since this egg arrived, she had laughed more times than in the past five hundred years combined.
Before, she could only share in others’ happiness through dreams.
No matter how real that happiness was, it belonged to others; once she woke up, she was still alone.
But now it was different.
Now there was someone—no, a little life—listening to her and responding to her.
Even if it was just small movements, for Nahida, it was enough.
She had originally wanted to read the mind of the little fellow inside the egg, but she failed.
A surge of energy blocked her, which actually made her sigh in relief; if possible, she didn’t really want to read the hearts of others.
She held the egg a bit tighter and continued reading the story.
After a few more days, Nahida began to do more than just tell stories.
She started talking to the egg.
Talking a lot.
“Today I entered a child’s dream again,” she said softly.
“That child dreamed of his mother.
His mother hasn’t come back to see him for a long time, and he misses her very much.
In the dream, his mother held him and sang him a song…”
She lowered her head, her chin resting on the eggshell.
“I don’t have a mother,” she said, her voice very faint.
“I…
don’t know where I came from.
From the moment I gained consciousness, I’ve been locked away here.”
Amid listened from inside the egg, his heart twinging.
He knew Nahida’s background.
When he played the game, he had read her character story.
But knowing it was one thing; hearing it from her own lips was another.
‘So pitiful.’
He wanted to pat her head, but what he reached out was a small claw, and all he touched was the eggshell.
Nahida felt the warm pulse coming from inside the egg, and the corners of her mouth curled up.
“But now I have you to keep me company,” she said softly.
“So, I’m very happy.”
She paused, as if remembering something.
“By the way, I’ve been meaning to ask you…”
She held the egg up and looked at it seriously.
“What exactly are you?”
Amid, of course, couldn’t answer.
Nahida didn’t expect him to answer either, just continued talking to herself.
“I can feel the power inside you; it’s very similar to mine, but also a bit different.” She tilted her head.
“And your life force is so strong…
too strong to be a normal creature.”
She fell silent for a moment.
Then, she sensed something.
It was something she hadn’t noticed before—hidden deep within that life force, an extremely tiny, but definitely present…
“Divinity?”
Nahida was stunned.
She probed carefully once more.
That was it.
It was divinity.
Though it was still very weak and still growing, that core, essential existence was undeniably divinity.
Just like the one inside her own body.
The divinity of the Dendro element.
Nahida’s hands holding the egg trembled slightly.
‘The little life inside this egg…
is a newly born God?’
This realization made her both surprised and somewhat confused.
How could a God be born inside an egg?
Why would it appear in this manner?
She remembered the scene from that night when the egg had appeared out of thin air before her.
‘Was it sent by Celestia?
But isn’t the Sustainer of Heavenly Principles asleep?
Is it His shadow?
Or…
some other power?’
She didn’t know.
But she knew one other thing.
‘He also has the divinity of the Dendro element.’
When this thought emerged, another thought followed right after—
‘So…
is he here to replace me?’
Nahida was dazed.
Once this thought arose, she could no longer suppress it.
She thought of her years of self-doubt.
She thought of the questions she repeatedly interrogated herself with late at night—
‘Am I really a qualified deity?’
‘Can I protect Sumeru well?’
‘Am I worthy of this position?’
She had always felt she wasn’t good enough.