The next second...
Pffft!
A stream of dark green acid burst from Evelyn’s mouth.
Splat!
It struck the ground.
Hissssss!
Thick white smoke immediately billowed upward as the damp mud began to dissolve before her eyes.
Within a few breaths, a shallow pit had been eaten into the ground.
Evelyn stared at her handiwork.
Then she looked down at her mouth.
After several seconds of silence, she murmured, “So that’s a black dragon’s breath?”
The power was definitely impressive.
But the way she had sprayed it just now...
Why had it felt so completely lacking in grandeur?
Evelyn imagined a fully grown black dragon throwing back its head with a thunderous roar before unleashing a massive torrent of acid.
Then she thought about the pathetic little squirt she had just produced.
Never mind.
There was no point comparing them.
At least hers could kill someone.
That was good enough.
Once she grew bigger, the power would naturally increase.
Evelyn nodded in satisfaction, then turned toward Darrien.
He still hadn’t woken up.
The little black dragon was sprawled across the damp ground, sleeping soundly. His nostrils flared gently with each breath, and he showed no sign of waking anytime soon.
Evelyn suddenly found herself bored.
Her mother was asleep.
Darrien was asleep.
The entire dragon lair contained nothing but gold and gemstones, with no one awake to talk to.
She wandered lazily around the cavern before eventually returning to Darrien’s side.
After staring at her sleeping brother for a few seconds, she noticed something.
Compared to the cold, damp ground...
Darrien looked much warmer.
Evelyn reached out and touched him with one claw.
Warm.
His scales hadn’t completely hardened yet, either, so there was even a slight softness to them.
Evelyn was silent for two seconds.
Then she naturally stepped over Darrien and sat down on him.
“...”
Not bad.
He was considerably more comfortable than the ground.
Evelyn adjusted her position, flicked her tail to one side, and shamelessly turned her one-day-old brother into a cushion.
He was asleep anyway.
He probably wouldn’t know.
Evelyn lifted her head and began seriously considering how she was going to spend the incredibly long life ahead of her.
Dragons lived for an extraordinary amount of time.
Living for more than a thousand years was hardly unusual.
Some exceptionally powerful ancient dragons could survive for even longer.
That was certainly a good thing.
But it also raised a question.
What was she supposed to do with all that time?
Sleep?
Collect treasure?
Eat?
Go out and fight something every once in a while?
If she spent hundreds, perhaps even thousands of years repeating the same routine, that sounded unbearably boring.
Most of her previous life had been consumed by war.
Every day, she had worried about where the enemy would attack next.
How much longer she could hold out.
How many people would die in the next battle.
There had never been much time to think about something as luxurious as fun.
Now that she suddenly had an almost absurd amount of life ahead of her, Evelyn had no idea what to do with it.
“I’ll have to find something to keep myself busy.”
Maybe collect stories?
Study magic?
Visit cities belonging to different races?
Learn their board games and other forms of entertainment?
Or perhaps she could come up with interesting things of her own.
Dragons certainly weren’t short on time.
She could figure it out eventually.
While Evelyn was seriously considering her future, something beneath her suddenly moved.
“Hm?”
Darrien had finally woken up.
The moment he opened his eyes, he immediately noticed that his body felt strangely heavy.
He raised his head.
And there was Evelyn, sitting squarely on top of him as if he were nothing more than a piece of furniture.
The scales on Darrien’s forehead practically stood on end.
“Hey! You stupid sister! Why are you sitting on me?”
Evelyn didn’t answer.
She didn’t even bother turning around.
Darrien became even more furious.
After his first Growth Sleep, his body had clearly grown stronger than it had been yesterday.
And more importantly...
He had awakened the most important innate ability of a black dragon.
Dragon Breath!
Sure, he could only spray a small amount of acid right now.
But it was still Dragon Breath!
The humiliation of being pinned down and beaten by Evelyn yesterday came rushing back.
Darrien suddenly felt that he was no longer the same dragon he had been then.
He was stronger now!
It was time to restore his dignity as a proud male dragon!
“Get off me right now, or I’ll make you regret it!”
Evelyn finally lowered her head and gave him a flat look.
Darrien refused to back down.
He even bared his teeth at her.
Good.
Evelyn had her answer.
His first Growth Sleep had not made him any smarter.
If anything, becoming slightly stronger had only made him more full of himself.
Chromatic dragon instincts really were troublesome.
According to the Draconic Inheritance, the mortality rate among chromatic dragon hatchlings was actually fairly high.
Some were killed by magical beasts or intelligent races.
Others...
Got themselves killed.
A hatchling would grow a few hardened scales and immediately decide it was invincible.
Learn a single spell and suddenly think challenging a vastly stronger magical beast sounded like a wonderful idea.
Receive the slightest provocation and charge straight into a fight without thinking.
Then die.
Very efficiently.
Evelyn had known plenty of people like that in her previous life.
Not much ability.
Plenty of temper.
They were usually the first ones to die on a battlefield.
Which was why Evelyn had absolutely no interest in fighting Darrien a second time.
“Hey!” Darrien was still shouting. “You stupid...”
Evelyn finally stood up.
Darrien’s heart leaped with excitement.
He knew it!
She had realized he was stronger now.
She was scared!
Just as Darrien prepared to throw out a few more threats and recover some of the dignity he had lost yesterday, he saw Evelyn turn around.
Then...
A round black backside rapidly filled his vision.
“Wait! You...”
Squish.
Evelyn sat down again.
This time, however, she wasn’t sitting on Darrien’s back.
She was sitting on his head.
“Mmph!”
Darrien’s entire face sank straight into the soft, damp mud.
His voice stopped instantly.
The dragon lair became quiet again.
Evelyn nodded in satisfaction.
Much better.
A few seconds later...
“Mmmph! Mmmmmph!”
Darrien began struggling wildly beneath her.
All four legs kicked against the ground, while his tail slapped furiously back and forth.
Unfortunately, the size difference between them still hadn’t disappeared.
Evelyn remained firmly seated.
She even had enough spare attention to adjust her position.
The harder Darrien struggled, the more securely she settled herself.
Time slowly passed.
More than half an hour later, Evelyn’s stomach suddenly growled.
Grrrrr...
She blinked.
Hungry.
A hatchling’s body was developing at an incredible rate.
Most of the eggshell she had eaten yesterday had already been digested during her first Growth Sleep.
Her body clearly needed more nutrients.
Evelyn finally stood up from Darrien’s head.
“Gasp!”
Darrien ripped his face out of the mud and sucked in a huge breath.
His entire face was covered in black sludge.
The light had gone out of his golden eyes.
He remained sprawled on the ground with the expression of a dragon who had already given up on life.
Evelyn glanced at him.
Then she flicked her tail and calmly walked away.
As if absolutely nothing had happened.
Darrien stared after her in silence.
He would remember this.
Evelyn had already reached the treasure hoard.
She looked up at her mother, who remained sprawled across the mountain of gold and gemstones.
The enormous adult black dragon had her eyes closed and looked completely at peace.
“...”
Evelyn rubbed her stomach.
Then she looked up at her mother again.
She raised one small claw.
Poke.
No response.
Poke again.
Still nothing.
Evelyn kept poking.
The adult black dragon remained perfectly motionless, as though she had fallen into a sleep so deep that nothing could wake her.
Except...
Evelyn narrowed her eyes.
She refused to believe that an adult dragon could be so oblivious that a hatchling could crawl right up beside her and poke her repeatedly without being noticed.
Especially when Evelyn was practically under her nose.
There was only one answer.
She was pretending to be asleep.
Her mother was awake.
She simply didn’t want to deal with Evelyn.
Or more accurately...
She didn’t want to go hunting.
Evelyn immediately understood.
No wonder the Draconic Inheritance described chromatic dragons as selfish and lazy.
Apparently, they even procrastinated when it came to feeding their own children.
Evelyn rubbed her protesting stomach again.
No.
If she waited until her mother happened to feel like hunting, she might end up starving all day.
Behind her, Darrien had finally dragged himself out of the mud.
When he saw Evelyn poking their mother again and again without getting a response, his gloomy mood improved instantly.
“Pfft...”
A laugh escaped before he could stop it.
Evelyn slowly turned her head.
Her golden eyes settled on him.
Darrien’s laugh died immediately.
Both front claws flew over his mouth.
Nothing had happened.
He hadn’t seen anything.
Evelyn turned back toward her mother.
Clearly, ordinary methods weren’t going to work.
In that case...
She would have to try something else.
Evelyn thought seriously for several seconds.
Then she took a deep breath, crouched beside the treasure hoard, and called out in the softest, most pitiful voice she could manage.
“Awoo...
“Mom...
“Hungry...
“So hungry...”
Her tiny voice echoed through the enclosed underground cavern.
When Evelyn finished, even she fell silent for a moment.
That had been...
Embarrassing.
Still, it seemed like it might work.
Darrien was staring at her from across the cave in complete shock.
His eyes were wide, as if he were seeing Evelyn for the first time.
You could do that?
Weren’t dragons supposed to be proud?
Weren’t they supposed to solve problems with roaring and strength?
What kind of sound was that?
Darrien’s entire understanding of dragonhood was beginning to shake.
And yet...
The adult black dragon on the treasure hoard still didn’t move.
Evelyn blinked.
She was really committed to this act.
Fine.
Apparently, Evelyn needed to try harder.
She took another deep breath.
This time, she sounded even more pitiful.
“Mom...
“Hungry...
“Evelyn’s gonna starve...”
Her mother’s tail twitched almost imperceptibly.
Evelyn’s eyes immediately lit up.
It worked!
She prepared to continue.
“Mom...”
Just as she was about to begin for the third time...
Whoosh!
The adult black dragon’s eyes snapped open.
The next second, her enormous body rose from the treasure hoard.
Clatter!
Gold coins and gemstones cascaded from beneath her.
Their mother lowered her head.
Her golden slit pupils stared silently at Evelyn.
Evelyn looked up at her with the most innocent expression she could manage.
“...”
They stared at each other for several seconds.
In the end, the adult black dragon said nothing.
She simply turned around and began walking toward the lair’s exit.
There was even a hint of resignation in her movements.
She would hunt.
Right now.
As long as this little creature stopped making that noise.
Evelyn watched her mother disappear toward the exit and nodded in satisfaction.
There was always a way.
Across the cavern, Darrien remained completely stunned.
It wasn’t until the adult black dragon’s enormous figure vanished into the submerged passage that he finally recovered.
“She...
“She actually went hunting?”
Darrien could hardly believe it.
According to the Draconic Inheritance, chromatic dragon hatchlings were indeed protected by their mothers until they became capable of independent survival.
A dragon mother also couldn’t simply allow a True Dragon hatchling with a complete Draconic Inheritance to starve to death.
But when she hunted...
And what food she brought back...
That depended entirely on the adult dragon’s mood.
Normally, all a hatchling could do was wait.
And yet...
Evelyn had whined a few times, and their mother had actually gone hunting?
Darrien’s golden eyes gradually brightened.
It was as though he had just discovered some astonishing secret.
So...
You could actually hurry her along?
That completely contradicted the traditional ideas taught by the Draconic Inheritance.
Darrien looked at Evelyn.
For the first time, he felt that the sister who spent all day bullying him might actually have something worth learning from.
She was still savage.
Shameless.
And constantly stealing his things.
But...
She really did know how to get what she wanted.
Evelyn noticed the sudden intensity in Darrien’s stare.
She paused.
“Why are you looking at me?”
Darrien didn’t answer.
He simply committed everything he had just witnessed to memory.
At that moment, a door that had never existed within the Draconic Inheritance slowly opened before the two-day-old black dragon.
Apparently...
Being an evil dragon didn’t mean every problem had to be solved with violence.