Novel Full Chapter 1874: Charge!
Chapter 1874: Charge!
Dale had decided that he understood the point of the smashing posts.
To smash, of course.
He ran at the nearest post as fast as his little legs would let him, and lowered his head, to hit evenly with all three horns.
He hit the post so hard that his entire body lifted off the ground, and the little behemoth was left shaking off the aftereffect of the impact. A slow smile spread over his face, and as he saw another post in the distance, as he regained his balance.
{CHARGE!}
"They’re definitely your kids." Tessa informed Thor as the other three raced toward the posts.
"I knew that they would love them. But I’ll put a softening barrier around them, so they don’t hurt their necks before they’re strong enough for a full force impact. They are part dragon, after all, so they might not have a Cerro neck."
Tessa could tell at a glance that they did not. Cerro didn’t really have a neck. Their body just angled up to their ridge and beak. But the little ones had an actual neck.
A short one, but at least a few flexible vertebrae that would let them look around more easily than a Cerro that shifted its whole upper body to look left and right.
The barrier on the posts made the impact a bit softer, supporting the bodies of the tiny behemoths as they charged.
They charged, hit the post, tumbled and rolled as they bounced off, then shook their head and wobbled toward another target. They were perfectly in their element now, and the exercise was good for building muscle, so there wasn’t any good reason to stop them.
They would get hungry in ten minutes anyhow.
Overhead, Seraphina was frantically flapping her wings, the young muscles not fully developed yet, as she had never really used her body to fly any sort of distance.
This was going to take a lot of practice, she decided.
She had made it through the second ring by the time that she was exhausted, and simply spread her wings to glide towards Thor, who had come to stand under her, knowing that she would simply fall from the sky when she tired herself to exhaustion.
All the hatchling dragons did the same thing the first few days.
As much as they didn’t want to admit it, even Tena and Yewan still did it sometimes when they were exploring.
The forest dragons didn’t even see an issue with it. They just stopped in a likely looking tree and had a nap until they were ready to start exploring again. They only stopped when they got older because they got so large that tree branches wouldn’t support them anymore, and they didn’t like sleeping in the dirt.
As predicted, it was under ten minutes before the boys were in a pile in the middle of the training grounds, napping.
Tessa and the bunnies picked them up and moved them to the side, so that others could use the training area during the hours that the kids were sleeping.
That also gave them time to have more food brought over, and Librarian Ike came over with a freshly written book for Tessa.
"A late hatching day gift for you. I think that the little ones will enjoy this."
She examined the book, then laughed.
{The Adventures Of Thor The Brave} by Opal Karlsdotter
There were full-page illustrations on every other page, and the story was a magnificent adventure from Thor’s early days, suitable to the realistic aspirations of young children.
"Where did you even find this?" Tessa asked.
"Did you not know? Miss Opal has over twenty volumes of Thor’s adventures in children’s book form in the Library, along with her other titles. They’re a fan favourite at the Orphanage. This one is the first in the series because that’s where you should always start with a book series."
The Librarian took his books seriously.
Thor smiled at the book, and nodded approvingly. "You’re in this one too. The first story is about when we went out to hunt lizardmen and ogres. There is a prequel about the valiant battle between us and the Giant Stag Beetle, but Opal thought that was better for humans, not a species that could actually fight."
"And the drakes?"
Thor chuckled at her question. "That’s in Hawk’s collection of stories, which I’m sure that Seraphina will be interested in later, as it’s told from the point of view of a flying creature."
All of Thor’s adventures were naturally told from the point of view of someone who didn’t leave the ground.
So, they would be more interesting to the boys, and Seraphina would want flying battles too.
Especially ones with fire.
Beside them, the Black Dragon paused, as if receiving a message.
"It seems that I am to be replaced here, now that the immediate threat of Karl bonding a hatchling or claiming one as a pet by proxy has passed. The Death God has decided that while Lotus counts as a pet to the Karl, Tena does not."
"HEY!"
Ophelia patted Lotus on the head to calm the irate little Priestess.
"No, the black dragon has a point. You’re our healing tree mascot, simply too cute to be anything but a treasured pet.
But Miss Tena is going to grow up big and strong, a mighty dragon to take care of her mother."
Tena flexed her wings in pride. She could definitely do that.
"Karl, tell them I’m not a pet."
Karl shrugged and activated [Guard Pets] and called for one Comfort Pet. He got a Vorpal Bunny, one of the infamous "Unpettable Species" as their attacks had instant death on them that would kill most mortals in a single hit.
But they were two kilos of pure white fluff, and Lotus squealed in joy as she got to cuddle a new species.
She was so happy to have a new type of creature to cuddle that she didn’t even notice that Karl never denied treating her like a pet. But how could he? Even the apartment that she shared with Ophelia was made with the [Pet Space] skill, to create what the skill called "The Perfect Kennel".
How could that make her anything but a beloved pet?
Not his, of course. Ophelia would definitely fight him for that title. But still a beloved pet.