Mid Afternoon - Late Fall : Home

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*Vwowowooom* The noises of the mana rippled through the air as the suction pulled on my aura like a toddler trying to pull a car. -Is it finally time?-

It had been close to 7 months since she began her dragon sleep at that point, two months earlier than expected. -But that could just mean she’s a fast grower...- With a smile finally coming to my face, I started standing up, with Ilios following suit.

*Fwoosh* *Fwoosh* *Fwoosh-THUD* Landing next to me as I stretched was Father, coming down from his daily nap spot on the side of the mountain.

He gave me an odd look as he turned to the cave's entrance. "Are you not coming to see your sister wake up?"

"I’m going to wait for the suction to stop first; my aura might cause some problems."

"Oh, right. I forgot we talked about that… Regardless, come inside the moment it stops. I'm sure she’ll want to see you." With an excited smile, he finally ran over to the door and swung them wide open, revealing a hallway lined with frost and ice. "Come hold these open if you can; we need to make sure she gets all the mana she can."

Promptly running up to the doors, I created two small metal rods and used them like door stops. -That should do…-

The next several minutes passed in a flash as we all eagerly waited for her eyes to open, and sure enough, after the suction started to ease up for a couple minutes, it finally stopped. -Is she awake?-

But before I could even peek my head around the edge of the door, I heard an unfamiliar, yet recognizable voice. "Mom! Where’s Brother?!" Her voice was full of boundless excitement.

"Pffft!" -Of all the things she could have said first.- Finally peeking my head around the edge of the door, I met eyes with a nearly 13-meter-tall snow-white dragon.

Her horns, now no longer nubs, were all covered in a thin layer of ice, and her body was quite significantly more built while still remaining fairly sleek. Her scales glistened like snow in the sunlight, and her bright blue eyes looked like a clear winter sky.

But most of all, there was a stunning aura of snowflakes that glistened in the air around her, making her look a bit surreal.

But that feeling didn’t last too long.

"Brother!!!" Charging down the hall like a bull, she jumped up and slammed herself into my chest, promptly clinging to me like I was going to abandon her.

It made me feel a bit awkward for a moment, but it quickly turned into a caring warmth. "It’s good to see you awake again."

But as she finally looked up at me, I noticed her pout. "I don’t like that black-haired sister! You should stop talking to her!"

Feeling that Mother's gaze had turned to me, I immediately got flustered. "W..who?"

"I talked to a pretty, black-haired sister in my dream! She said you two were close!" She spoke like it made her upset.

But although it was adorable, it made the air around me freeze. -She talked to Krystallo?!- "Don’t believe anything she said. She didn’t do anything to you, did she?" I was a bit panicked, but Krystallo was quick to calm my nerves.

"No, we just talked."

"Phew…" I let out an immediate breath of relief. -I'll kill her if she touches Krystallo…- Quickly expunging any lingering anger, a smile came back to my face. "So what did you two talk about for you to dislike her so much?"

But she just looked at me in surprise before turning away, as if she was embarrassed. "I can’t tell you." She spoke oddly quietly.

-Hm?- "Why not?"

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"I promised not to tell you!" She yelled it out like she was a bit flustered. "Just know that I don’t like her, and you shouldn’t either."

-Is she…- "Are you.. jealous of her?"

Although her face didn’t actually change color, I felt as if her cheeks had reddened. "Of course not!"

I was truly at a loss for words. "Haah…" -Just what did they talk about?- But although I was a bit worried, I decided it’d be best if I tried to look past it. "Regardless of that, it’s nice to see you awake and healthy again." Lowering my head a bit, I gently nudged it against hers.

"Ahem…"

Hearing Father’s ‘noise’, I glanced over to see him wearing a look of expectation.

But Krystallo didn’t pick up on that as she finally let go of me and ran to Mother. "Sorry I didn’t give you a hug first, Mom!" *thump*

"Haha, don’t worry about it, sweetie." Quickly embracing Krystallo with her neck and wings, a warm smile came to Mother’s face. "I do hope you'll tell me about this woman Vasilias seems to know about though." She gave me a quick smug look before turning away.

-How will I ever explain that woman to them…- "Haah…" Finally sitting down as Krystallo finally ran over and gave Father his long-awaited hug, I decided to change the subject. "So, Krystallo. What kind of attribute nodes do you have?"

"Hm?" Slowly pulling away from Father after enjoying his embrace for a moment, she glanced over at Mother. "How do I look at that?"

Like a lightbulb went off above Father's head, he quickly jumped in. "Take a deep breath and search around for a ball of energy in your chest, you should feel a mist-like energy coming from it. Try to control that mist and move it around. You should have an image come to mind as you do."

Krystallo stared at him blankly before putting on a slightly nervous look. "O-okay." Slowly sitting down, she closed her eyes and let out a deep breath. "Hooh…"

Both Mother and Father watched her intently.

But she didn’t stay like that for long. "Woahh… This stuff is cool!"

Mother and Father immediately grew excited as they silently cheered.

"So what do I look for exactly? What are attribute nodes?"

-Oh boy… How do we even explain that?- "The attribute nodes are the small and round-"

But Father quickly interjected. "Just blow that fog through your body and see where the fog gets sucked into a small sphere."

"Hmmm…" There was another short moment of silence as we all watched Krystallo intently. "I have four! Two are right next to this weird thingy in my throat, and the other 2 are a bit farther away, at the base of my neck."

"Haha, that ‘weird thingy’ is your breath gland, sweetie." Mother looked like she was having a great time.

But Krystallo just turned to me with a gleam in her eyes. "Does that mean I can do what Brother did now?!" (Refer to Chapter 23)

*Bonk* Mother lightly hit her on the head. "Absolutely not."

Krystallo lightly rubbed her head with her wing as she pouted. "Why not?"

Seeing Mother’s conflicted expression, I stepped in for her. "Krystallo, it is just a bit too early for you to learn something that advanced. Once you get stronger though, I promise I will teach it to you."

Her saddened expression immediately brightened up. "Can you teach me to be stronger than Mom and Dad?"

"Haha, that all depends on how well you learn what I teach."

But although I was trying to brush it off, her enthusiasm only grew. "Can we start now?" Her expression was all too familiar.

-Like Mother, like daughter…- A warm smile came to my face as I saw the striking resemblance. -I guess it couldn’t hurt to teach her about science as well though…-

After that, Mother and Father started their short, more child-friendly lesson about mana and aura before leading her outside for some hands-on practice.

But as I followed them, I got Mother’s attention. "What's with the difference between teaching styles?" I gave her a sarcastic smile.

"Well, not long after I taught you everything, your Father and I had a long talk where we realized just how abnormal the way we taught you was. Some dragons can't even control their mana the day they wake up, let alone immediately control aura outside of their body. You even created new spells on your first day with mana."

-Ah, so that's why they looked so excited when Krystallo had a little control over her aura.-

"The way we taught you was very gung ho and we didn't even explain half of the things we should have. As you saw, most dragons don't even know what their breath gland is at first, but you figured out what it was without even asking."

"Haha, I thought most of it was self-explanatory, but I definitely think the slower and.. more child-friendly approach will be better for Krystallo."

Mother was quickly taken aback. "I'm surprised you recognized that…"

I felt a bit offended that she was surprised though. "Of course I’d know! I'm very well aware that I'm far from the norm now." Looking into the field as we walked outside, I saw Krystallo coddling Ilios. "I think she will be a fast learner though."

Mother’s smile quickly turned warm. "Haha, even if she only has a fraction of your talent, she’ll still be unrivaled in Bahamut."

Looking back up at her in the field, I saw her trotting out toward Father, just to trip over herself.

"Aaah!" *thump*

"Haah…" -I guess her growing didn’t affect her clumsiness…-