Her children chittered in curiosity, coming over to sniff their brother. And she was no different.

After watching her youngest yet strongest child eat the magic core she had given him, he immediately fell unconscious. Upon a closer inspection, Maro fell asleep and had begun to take deep breaths whilst sleeping. Seeing as the effects had already begun taking place, she tenderly nudge his arms and legs until his sleeping position was firm and secure. After making a few adjustement to Maro's sleeping body, she goes to gently lie down on top of him. But she's making sure that she's not smothering or choking him.

Magic cores are these beautiful, glowing orbs that can be found inside every living creature, be it monster, animal, human, demon or elf. These orbs are the source of life and energy of living beings.

In the world where might makes right, these cores are like an irresistible delicacy, for they possess immeasurable power. They give power to whoever possess them. Their value is undeniable as they can be the deciding factors between life or death.

An hour earlier, she had gone out to look for food. Using her [Sharp Senses], she succeeded with little effort.

Their little home was in fact a small room located inside a dungeon. Two months ago, she was searching for a suitable home where she can safely give birth and raise her children. Accidentally discovering an old abandoned mine that had become a dungeon was nothing short of a blessing. Especially with her pregnant condition at the time.

This mine where humans and dwarves once mined and chipped away at rocks and dirt, was now abandoned and had become a dungeon as time had passed.

Lucky for her and her family, this dungeon was only populated in low-level monsters, an ideal source of food that allowed her children to eat and grow safely. She wasn't really worried about the dangers of the dungeon. The monsters were relatively weak. Even if there were any strong ones, she is agile enough to easily flee. And she made sure that her nest is inconspicuous enough.

The magic core that she had given her youngest yet strongest child was one that belonged to a particularly large Cavern Spider. Due to her high [Poison Resistance], the poison and toxins of the spider’s bite had no effect on her which made defeating the spider easy. And she only had to brush off the spider bites she recieved.

Afterwards, she used her teeth and claws to tear the spider apart, searching for its core. The magic core would give power and energy to her favored child.

It is important that she tend to all of her children. However, it is also common sense that she give special attention to whoever is the strongest and healthiest among them all in order to increase the chances of survival of her chosen child.

Despite being her youngest, Maro grew to be the biggest and strongest out of all her spawn. It was a fairly obvious outcome as he was the one that drank from her the most. Thinking back, it amused her how such a small creature could drink so much.

However, no matter how big or strong he was, he was still very young and needed strength. That is why she gave him the core of the Spider, in order to give him power and to increase his chances of survival.

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There is a clear difference between an ordinary monster and a monster that had eaten magic cores. Obviously, the monster that ate magic cores would be much stronger, faster and healthier than the one who didn't eat magic cores. Eating magic cores literally make it harder for one to be killed.

Whereas before eating the core, Maro had fifty percent chance of surviving in the wild as a normal Rat-man. But after eating the Cavern Spider core, he now has a fifty-five percent chance of survival as a creature that ate magic cores.

Even though the difference between fifty and fifty-five may seem inconsequential, that assumption couldn't be any more wrong. That small five percentage may be the deciding factor on whether Maro lives or dies in the future.

As a mother, it is her duty to raise her children and ensure that they get all the advantages that they can before the time comes where they leave.

As for her other children, it is also common sense that she wouldn't give the magic core to any of them if they are weaker than Maro.

If she were to compare the rest of her children to Maro, they would be like wooden sticks while Maro would be like a metal stick. If she gave the core to any of them, the wooden stick would be sharpened and turned into a wooden spear. And if she gave the core to Maro, the metal stick would become a metal spear.

That is how powerful magic cores are. That is also why it is common sense that she gave the core to Maro. It is better for a weapon to be metal than wooden, after all.

And now, lying on top of her son in order to watch and guard him, all she had to do was wait.

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Waking up felt odd.

He couldn't explain it. He couldn't describe it. He doesn't even know what exactly made it odd waking up. But one thing is for certain, he knew that something changed.

His hearing was better. He could hear every chitter of his siblings clearly. He could hear their footsteps and approximately how far or near they were to him.

His senses was enchanced to the point that he could even hear their breathing!

…

Or perhaps that was just his mother breathing down on his face.

As he lives with his mother, he's gotten used to her smell. But even then, breathing directly at his face wasn't pleasant at all.

It seemed that she sensed his displeasure as she looked towards him. Then suddenly, she started grooming him, licking his face and massaging his neck with her dainty paws.

All he could do at the moment was just lie there and take it at face value.

But after a while, she soon got off of him thankfully. Once she saw that he was awake, she walked out and went to search for food, but not before tending to his other siblings briefly.

After she had left, his siblings then came over and sniffed him. Apparently, they also sensed that something had changed with him.

He wasn't exactly sure what kind of change took place after he ate the orb, but it looked like the bad type of change judging by how his siblings seemed to group together away and avoid him.

He tries to go towards them so that he could play with them, but his siblings would only steer away from him time and time again.

He couldn't understand it. He didn't know why he somehow changed after eating the glowing orb. He didn't know why his siblings were suddenly avoiding him. He didn't know what was going on.

So he just kept following his siblings, wanting to play with them.

But after a while of avoiding him, his siblings got tired and angry and finally, they hissed at him.

They hissed at him. Instinctively, he knew what they meant. They were angry at him. They were scared of him.

It was the first time his siblings hissed at him. It was something that had never happened before. It was new.

He was afraid of new.

So, here he was. In his home, waiting for his mother to return. While his siblings played without him. While he sat in the corner alone.

Suddenly, he remembered something. Something he almost forgot. He loved bones. Before eating the orb, he loved chewing on bones. Gnawing on them always made him happy and calm.

And yet, somehow, he didn't feel like chewing on bones right now.

Maybe he shouldn't have eaten that orb.