“What did you get?”
Kael questioned.
“Why don’t you see it for yourself?”
Igni answered in a playful tone.
Kael smiled at those words as his eyes turned golden.
[Name: Igni]
[Race: Primordial Fire Dragon]
[Rank: Eternal]
[Age: 21 Days]
[Level: 20 -> 30]
[Strength: 123 -> 181]
[Agility: 116 -> 163]
[Speed: 121 -> 168]
[Stamina: 155 -> 215]
[Defense: 130 -> 185]
[Mana: 164 -> 250]
[Intelligence: 150 -> 225]
[Charisma: 183 -> 285]
[Strengths: Physical Power, Dragon Magic, Resilience, Flight, Fire Immunity]
[Weaknesses: Energy Dependency]
…
‘What…?’
Seeing those absurdly huge numbers, Kael froze.
‘He… leveled up…?’
Kael couldn’t understand.
Wasn’t Igni’s growth related to him? How did Igni level up when he was still level 22?
‘Is this the true effect of the Baptism of Eternal Flames?’
Kael wondered, his eyes staring at the screen in front of him.
‘Fire Immunity…’
Kael blinked.
“I told you I got stronger, didn’t I? Hehe~”
Igni spoke as he grinned adorably. Even if he had grown up, he was still as adorable as before.
“Igni… how did you level up?”
Kael questioned.
“I have entered Phase Two of my Evolution.”
“Phase Two…?”
Kael muttered. The System said something similar.
“Mhm, I was an Infant before, but now I have entered my childhood.”
“You have… entered your childhood…?”
Kael blinked.
He was this strong… as a child…?
“Compared to Human Years, I am now three years old.”
Igni nodded.
“Dragons grow fast, huh…”
Kael muttered.
Igni, however, shook his head at those words.
“We do not.”
“What?”
“From what I know, Primordial Dragons spend 10 Human Years as Baby Dragons before they naturally enter Phase Two. However, the Baptism of Eternal Flame forced my body to evolve faster.”
“And how do you know this…?”
Kael questioned, and Igni just tilted his head.
“I just… do…?”
“…”
Kael blinked, staring at his child. He remembered Igni had said the same thing before. Somehow, Igni knew things he shouldn’t know. Kael tried looking into it in books, but he couldn’t find anything.
He just named it Dragon Knowledge and didn’t think too much about it. After all, having extra knowledge wouldn’t harm anyone. Instead of frowning at it and mindlessly trying to find its source, Kael decided to use it.
“Then why didn’t I level up with you? Aren’t a Tamer and his Bond connected? If you get stronger, I should grow stronger with you, should I not?”
“That is how it usually works, yes.”
Igni nodded.
“A Bond and a Tamer are connected by their Soul. One cannot easily outgrow the other. But the dynamics of our relationship have always been different.”
“Huh?”
“Unlike other Tamers, who grow because of their connection with their Bonds, we are the opposites.
Your growth is so fast that my body is forced to keep up with your pace. So every time you power up or in your words, level up, my body does the same.”
“It is like the opposite of the usual…”
Kael muttered.
“Indeed.”
Igni nodded.
“All this while, you have been pushing my growth. If not for you, I wouldn’t even be half as strong as I am.
Our relationship dynamics have been set like this from the very beginning. However, the Baptism forced my body to grow up. In simpler terms, it aged my body, so my current strength has become what it was supposed to be in 10 years.
Since you didn’t experience true baptism, your body didn’t go through the same and got other benefits instead.”
“But that still doesn’t explain why I didn’t level up together with you…”
“I outgrew you because my body was aged, and yours wasn’t.”
“That’s possible…?”
“Why not? Wasn’t that Mage more powerful than her Bird?”
“Elira?”
“Indeed.”
Igni nodded, and Kael nodded back, still thinking.
“That makes sense.”
He muttered.
“So wha-“
He wanted to ask more questions, but suddenly, Kael noticed that the red sky behind Igni had turned white, and that white sky was spreading very quickly, devouring the red sky.
Igni, noticing his father’s expression, turned back.
“What is happening?”
Kael questioned.
“It’s the Realm…”
Igni muttered.
“Realm what?”
“It is disappearing.”
Igni muttered as he pointed ahead, where the faraway volcanoes were disappearing. The ground beneath them had also started turning white, just like the sky.
The process was happening so fast that in a few seconds, the sky, the crusty ground, the lava, the wolves, the Titan—everything disappeared, and the space around them turned white. The only ones left in this white space were Kael and Igni.
As they looked around, observing the odd scene,
Flicker Flicker
Their bodies flickered, and…
They were back in their room.
“Nyuuuuu!!”
And just as they returned, the wall blocking little Cirri disappeared as well, and she quickly jumped out of the Sanctuary and fell on Kael’s face.
“Cirri!”
Kael greeted with a big smile on his face. Her eyes were still moist. She didn’t like how her father went through all that pain without her by his side.
“Everything’s alright now.”
Kael gently rubbed her body, calming her down.
Igni did the same thing. The little princess accepted the care and pampering from her two attendants for a good while. She even closed her eyes and purred, silently telling them to continue.
Kael and Igni stared at each other and shook their heads.
They had no other choice but to helplessly spoil the little thing.
Only after 15 minutes of pampering did little Cirri calm down and finally decide to open her eyes. Then, she quickly flew up and sat on her brother’s head. Now that Igni was bigger, Cirri had a new throne, something Igni helplessly accepted.
“Nyuuu!!”
Cirri, on the other hand, stared at Kael and pointed in a certain direction.
“Hmm?”
Kael tilted his head.
“She is telling you to see the mirror.”
“The Mirror…?”
Kael frowned, noticing Cirri’s paw was pointing at the Mirror.
He frowned, but in the end, he did what his daughter told him to and walked towards the mirror.
And the moment he did,
His expression changed.
“Holy Fuck, that’s me!?”