Chapter 1504: Hello Egg
Funny how life just puts you in the most unexpected positions sometimes...
I was expecting to be apprenticed to the Umbramancy Director first but somehow ended up being apprenticed to the Kalomancy Director before anyone else instead.
I honestly didn’t know what to expect after agreeing to be her apprentice but she brought me to a clearing a short distance from the hut.
I could hear creatures moving within the forests but I believe they were probably creatures tamed by Director Fetra so I didn’t really pay them any mind.
"Now... I suppose you aren’t sure when your egg will hatch, yes?" She asked, stopping in the middle of the clearing to face me.
I shook my head, "No, Director... Is that a bad sign?"
"Mmm... That’s interesting... There are various other creatures where you would have to feed it with mana to ensure that it hatches... When a mage does it, you would usually have an idea of its capacity instinctively. Do you not have that with this egg?"
"Well... It honestly just feels like a void to be honest... Like I’m just dumping mana into a black hole that keeps sucking up my mana with no end in sight."
"And yet you keep feeding it?"
"It feels... Right. And I also get some kind of feeling that it’s satisfied when I do it."
"Oh? So you are able to sense its emotional state already? That’s certainly interesting. You might have a deeper connection to this creature than I thought. In that case, you might have an easier time with my lesson then."
She then raised her hand and a magic circle lit up on the ground, encompassing the entire clearing that we were standing on.
"Place the egg in the centre of the magic circle please, Aster."
I hesitated, wondering what this was for.
She sensed my hesitation and chuckled, "Don’t worry, this won’t hurt your egg. I am going to attempt to link your consciousness with the egg’s so that you can try and establish a mental connection to it. Perhaps you might even figure out what kind of creature it is and maybe it might already be conscious too."
I blinked at her, "You want me... To talk to the egg?"
She clasped her hands together looking quite excited by her own suggestion, "Precisely! Now come on!"
I decided to just go along with what she’s asking and placed the egg in the centre of the circle, letting it stand on its own.
Somehow, I could feel a twinge of confusion and what might be... Panic? I’m not really sure but that’s the feeling I was getting from the egg.
"Where should I stand then?" I asked.
She gestured at a spot that was a few steps away from the egg but still within the magic circle, "Right here will do~"
I followed her direction and she got me to sit down while facing the egg.
Director Fetra then skipped out of the magic circle before turning back to raise her hands to point her palms at the circle.
"Alright! I want you to relax and try to extend your senses towards the egg itself! Try to imagine your mind floating out towards the egg!"
I did as she asked and closed my eyes, trying to focus on the thought of letting my mind float out towards the egg that I knew was in front of me.
At first, I didn’t feel anything and it felt a little ridiculous to try and talk telepathically to an egg. That was until I suddenly felt something reaching out towards my consciousness as though it was trying to grab on to me.
Hmm... I feel like I might have done this with the egg before... But back then, I only felt emotions and instincts coming from the egg.
This time though... The tendril of thought that was reaching out to me felt more solid and present... It was not just a fleeting thought but a presence that I could feel calling out to me.
I reached out towards it as well and felt myself get drawn towards a consciousness that I was pretty sure belonged to the egg.
It felt like I was suddenly pulled into a pool of warm water and there was something that was floating in the water looking at me.
I imagined myself reaching out a hand towards the presence, trying to poke at it to see if I could get any reaction, only for something else to grab my wrist.
For some reason, I did not feel threatened by whatever was grabbing my wrist and I even felt calmed by it. It felt like... A baby clutching your finger...
I let the presence hold my wrist and pull me closer towards it, as though it was afraid I would pull away from it or something.
Getting closer to the presence, my vision was suddenly filled with light and I was standing in a white space.
And right in front of me was a figure made of light with a shadowy aura around it that was the size of a child. But aside from the outline of a person, there were no other features on the figure.
"Ma... Ma?" The figure asked, tilting its head slightly at me.
I err... Never actually considered this but... I guess I am a parent of the egg so it’s not exactly wrong to call me its mother.
Although... I didn’t really give birth to it... I simply threw the monster girl stone at the dragon and got this in return...
In the first place, the effects of the monster girl stone should have transformed the dragon into a monster girl... So it was weird that it became an egg instead.
"Ma... Ma..." The figure spoke out again, reaching its hands up to hold my hand.
It felt really cute so I couldn’t help myself and reached out my hand to pat its head.
The figure let out a happy sounding hum as I ruffled its head, the sensation of their head feeling quite smooth despite the fact that they were just a figure with no discernible features.
"Mama! Ehehe~" The figure cried out again with a soft giggle at the end.
That was when I remembered why I was even here to begin with.
Director Fetra set this up for me so I can connect with my egg and try to figure out more information coming out of it.
She was hoping that I would be able to find out if it was close to hatching and maybe even how its disposition towards me could be.
I suppose the fact that it was already calling me ’Mama’ proved that it was not hostile to me at the very least so I don’t think I even need to worry about it turning on me even if it hatched right now.
Unless... They’re the kind of creatures that would kill their parents after they hatch...
As for the other question... I suppose I might as well just be direct about this instead of beating around the bush.
"Do you know what you are?" I asked.
The figure paused for a moment like it was considering my question before it finally spoke up, "I’m... Mama’s child?"
Kuh... That’s so cute... I went ahead to give it another head pat.
Even though it was just a figure with no discernible physical characteristics, I could somehow tell it was preening at me while I patted its head.
Ok, I guess I should ask the next most important question then...
"When are you going to hatch?"
The figure tilted its head at me, "Mama... Wants me... To hatch?"
I blinked at it, "You don’t want to hatch?"
"Mama... Feels warm... Carry me... Want to stay with Mama... Hatch... Not with Mama..."
I blinked at the figure and I was just about to point out it can still stay with me even after it hatched before I stopped myself, realising I should just ask the other important question just to make sure.
"Will you hurt me?"
The figure seemed to be surprised by my question before it rushed up to hug my leg, "No!! Mama no hurt! No hurt Mama! Hurt?"
I patted its head again, "No. This doesn’t hurt me. Will you listen to me when you hatch?"
"Yes! Want to stay... With Mama! Listen to Mama!"
Ahhhhh~ So cuuuuute~
Ahem...
"Then... You do know that you can still stay with me even after you hatch right?"
I sensed surprise coming from the figure, "Mama... No chase out? No chase out... From nest?"
Ah... Maybe this species of dragon would chase out its young after they matured? So this one was afraid that after it grew up it would be separated from me and it didn’t want that?
"No, I won’t chase you out. In fact, I want you to stay with me."
The figure seemed to rumble from excitement before it suddenly stopped.
"Umm... Not... Not enough mana for... Hatching..."
"Really? Even after I’ve fed you so much?"
"All... Mama’s Mana... Went to growing... Not hatching..."
Eh? How does that even work? Was I doing it wrong then?
"Now... Now me... Will use mana for hatching... Mama feed more?"
Ah... So it was just assigning my mana to something else other than hatching.
Though it said it assigned it all into growing... Does that mean it will hatch into an adult the moment it can hatch?