✧ Chapter 7 ✧
The black magic power that was exactly the same as his.
That could only be…….
“Now I finally understand.”
At that moment, Aura was also staring closely at Rivera.
“That sudden magic power I felt earlier. It belonged to that child.”
“What does that mean…….”
Noxt realized that something about Aura’s words was strange. He was so confused that he could not even properly finish his sentence.
Aura fixed her messy hair and spoke in a quiet voice with a deep sigh.
“First, if you have calmed down, let’s talk properly and calmly now.”
Aura lightly leaned her back against a smooth rock nearby and briefly explained what had happened before Nox came to the forest.
Nox listened silently with his head lowered. Then he slowly raised his head.
Unlike before, there was an awkward expression on his face.
“……So you came here looking for your son, and just like me, you suddenly felt the magic power and rushed here. Then you found Rivera? And because you thought it would be dangerous to leave her alone, you tried to take her with you?”
“Yes.”
“You weren’t trying to hurt my child?”
“Even if she were human, she is your child, of all people. How could I do that?”
“Ah…….”
Nox could not say anything.
Rivera, who had also misunderstood Aura, was the same.
‘Well, if she had really wanted to hurt me, she would have done it when she held me just now.’
Feeling embarrassed for no reason, Rivera slightly pouted.
“Anyway, when I came here, your daughter and my son were sitting together on the ground.”
Aura pointed with her fingertip at one particular area where the grass had strangely disappeared.
“Only the place where the children were sitting had all its grass completely gone.”
It was as if someone had deliberately erased it.
“A power that completely destroys something without leaving even a single speck behind. There is only one attribute that can possess such power.”
“……Then.”
“Yes. As you have probably realized, the Dark Attribute, which has appeared in this world only three times in history, including you, seems to have appeared in your daughter as well.”
Whenever Nox looked at Rivera’s black hair, he had sometimes wondered if she had inherited his power.
However, her human traits were much more obvious. And the Dark Attribute was extremely rare even among dragons, so he never thought it would actually happen.
But that power had truly appeared in his daughter!
And in a human girl!
Nox could not hide his shock. His fingertips trembled slightly.
“My daughter…… How can my daughter, who isn’t a dragon, have it?”
“I don’t know the reason either. But for now, it seems to be an undeniable fact. Your child has the same attribute as you.”
Nox suddenly had many thoughts.
And at the same time, he was afraid.
The Dark Attribute was considered the strongest of the six attributes, which also meant that it had the greatest possibility of consuming its user.
There had actually been cases among both dragons and humans where people lost control of their own power, were consumed by it, went berserk, and died.
That was why Nox was worried that his child might be unable to control her power and eventually walk down the path to destruction.
Rivera, who had been sitting on the ground and quietly listening to them, was just as shocked.
‘I thought it might be possible, but I really have the same attribute as Dad…… Really……?’
She looked back and forth between the two of them as if trying to confirm it once again.
Their expressions were extremely serious.
They did not look like they were joking at all.
It was true.
‘Oh my god!’
Nox, deep in thought, put a hand on his forehead and let out a long sigh filled with worry.
“Haah…… If only it had been Water or Wind. Something like that would have been better…….”
Those attributes were relatively easier to control, so cases of them going berserk were rare.
“Or perhaps it would have been better if she had no magic power at all.”
But instead, of all things……
She had the same Dark Attribute as him.
“There is nothing we can do, is there? She is your daughter. In a way, this could be considered a natural result.”
“This isn’t something we can just overlook. You know very well how difficult this attribute is to control!”
“Yes, I know very well. That’s why you struggled quite a lot when you stayed by my side as my ‘student’ when you were young.”
‘What? Student?’
This was the first time Rivera had heard about this.
In the spin-off novel Lactea, dragons other than Lactea did appear, but the detailed backgrounds of each of them had never been revealed.
Since Lactea had spent hundreds of years alone, their stories were only occasionally described through his memories.
So the information was very limited.
That was why Rivera could not hide her surprise at the word ‘student.’
Her love for the characters stirred inside her, and she focused all her attention on every single word they exchanged.
“He was quite troublesome back then, but he was rather cute in his own way.”
Aura looked Nox up and down with her eyes and shook her head.
“Now he has grown so much that not even a trace of that cuteness remains. All that’s left is a huge middle-aged man.”
“Haah…… Enough. Why are you bringing up something from so long ago? That isn’t what’s important right now.”
“Yes, your daughter. I know.”
“…….”
“So, what are you going to do from now on? Your daughter will become stronger as she grows. Do you have a plan?”
“Of course!”
“…….”
“Of course…….”
He didn’t.
Nox had never expected Rivera to possess the Dark Attribute.
He certainly had not expected her magic power to awaken this early.
Even dragons, who grew faster than humans, normally took about six months to a year to awaken their magic power for the first time.
But Rivera was only three months old.
That was far too early.
‘The time when someone awakens their magic power can differ depending on their natural potential.’
Even so, this was far too early.
Just how great was that child’s power…….
Aura, who had been thinking while looking at Rivera, turned her gaze back to Nox and spoke.
“If you don’t have a plan right now, come to my house first. I’ll give you something that may help you or your child in this situation.”
What could she possibly give them that would help?
Nox was suspicious, but the moment he heard that it would help his daughter, he simply nodded without arguing.
And Rivera…….
‘Aura’s house. The house where Lactea lived when he was young.’
Even in this situation, she felt a little excited.
She had never imagined that she would get to see an Elder’s house this soon.
“Then, shall we go?”
Aura turned around and lightly took a breath as she prepared to release her Polymorph.
Light-blue scales began appearing on her body.
At that moment, Nox placed a hand on her shoulder.
“Wait, Aura. Aren’t you going to take your son?”
“Hm? My son?”
‘Hm? My son?’
She had been searching for him so desperately just a moment ago. Why was she suddenly acting so indifferent?
Rivera narrowed her eyes while looking at her.
Nox seemed to think the same thing and spoke critically.
“You didn’t even look at him when he was about to be blown away by the wind. Is that really how a parent should act?”
“I know that a dragon won’t get hurt that easily.”
Aura raised her chin toward Nox, who was taller than her, and spoke proudly.
“Besides, if he’s my son, he should be able to endure that much. I’m not going to raise my son to be weak. That’s why you also had to go through that when you were young…….”
“Why do you keep bringing up my childhood? Enough. Please stop.”
Nox waved his hand repeatedly and cut her off.
Aura gave a small laugh at his disgusted reaction.
What could have happened when he was young that made him hate even the mention of it so much?
“Anyway, you don’t need to worry about him too much. And my son always comes to me on his own when I’m leaving.”
“Right? Son?”
Aura turned her head.
But Lactea did not even blink.
He was simply sitting right next to Rivera, pressing his body against her side, and had no intention of leaving.
“Hm? Lactea?”
“Growl.”
“Son?”
Aura approached him, confused by this unfamiliar behavior from her son.
Even when she came right in front of him, Lactea did not move.
“Hmm…… You.”
“Growl!”
“Do you like that child that much?”
“Grrrr~”
Nox did not seem to like their conversation.
He quickly picked Rivera up into his arms.
Lactea grabbed Nox’s leg and made a crying sound as if asking him to give Rivera back.
“Hmm~.”
Aura quietly watched the situation.
Then she gave a meaningful smile and reached out her hand toward Lactea.
“Come now. It’s time for you to come too. We have to go home.”
After his mother’s repeated request, Lactea reluctantly glanced around before finally going into her arms.
Even then, his eyes continued to look toward Rivera.
Aura focused again and looked toward the sky where they would soon fly.
Just as her body began changing little by little—
“Oh, right. I almost forgot before we left.”
“?”
Thud!
She extended her arm, which was already half-covered in scales, and struck Nox hard in the side.
“Guh! What, what was that for?!”
“Revenge for what happened earlier.”
“??”
“As a fellow parent, I understand your feelings. So, because I’m generous, I’ll consider this enough.”
With those final words, Aura returned to her original, enormous dragon form.
Then she left the place first with Lactea.
Nox, who had paid the price for his misunderstanding, bent over while holding his side.
He watched Aura’s figure as she disappeared into the distant sky.
The misunderstanding had finally been cleared up, but the story was only beginning.
