THE HATCHLING
Sue and I stared at the thing in shock.
In front of our eyes was one enormous egg.
It was about three feet tall.
I was pretty sure the biggest kind of egg in my former world was an ostrich’s, but this was clearly far larger than that.
That was because the thing inside was a monster.
Unlike in games, the monsters in this world don’t just randomly pop into existence out of thin air.
They reproduce like any other living creature. This egg had come from monster parents.
We were told it had been found in a place called the Great Elroe Labyrinth, and it was a gift to us in commemoration of our Appraisal Ceremony.
A monster egg seemed like a dangerous gift to me, but evidently, if humans raised it from the moment it hatched, a monster could become attached to and serve its human owners.
And this particular creature was about to hatch at any moment.
“You can do it!” Sue murmured encouragingly.
Ever since a few light cracks had appeared in the egg’s surface, the creature inside had been battering it desperately.
The first cracks showed up two days before, so it was proving to be a fairly drawn-out battle.
By now, the cracks had extended all over the surface of the egg.
It looked ready to burst open any moment now.
Sue and I held our breath as we watched the situation unfold.
I was tempted to help the poor thing out, but Anna advised us not to. The baby needed to break through on its own, or it wouldn’t grow up strong and healthy.
“Ah!”
One part of the shell cracked open, and something like a hand burst through.
The limb flailed about, tearing at the rest of the shell impatiently.
And then, from inside emerged a monster resembling a black lizard.
Its eyes met mine. Somehow, they appeared to be almost glittering with happiness.
“It’s so…not cute.”
Hearing Sue’s disappointed comment, the lizard’s mouth dropped open as if in shock.
Did it understand what she said? Of course not, right?
“You think so? I think it’s pretty charming in its own way.”
Back on Earth, there was a sizable gap between reptile fans and haters, but I definitely leaned toward the former.
I would’ve been all about this lizard when I was a young boy.
“Congratulations. So it is indeed a baby earth dragon,” Anna said as she examined the lizard.
As a half elf, she was older and more knowledgeable than her appearance suggested.
And according to her, this lizard was a baby earth dragon.
A dragon! Just the sound of its name was enough to get me excited.
Even adult earth dragons can’t fly, I’ve heard, but still… A dragon is a dragon.
This little guy was definitely gonna be super-strong someday.
I imagined myself riding on the back of a fully grown dragon. Now that’d be nice…
Apparently, a dragon that lived long enough and reached a high enough level would evolve into a naga. Could I raise this one to do that? Probably not.
“If you don’t want it, then I’d be happy to raise it myself. Do you mind?”
“Anything you desire is yours to have, dear brother.”
Man, what was I gonna do about this? I had the feeling that my sister was starting to head down a very weird path.
But it worked out to my advantage this time, so I decided to let it slide for now.
I held the lizard in my arms. It was very docile.
When I patted its head, it responded by nuzzling against me happily.
“I’ll have to give it a name, huh?”
“May I?”
Anna took the lizard from my arms for a moment.
Then she felt around its lower half. The little guy wriggled in protest, but Anna held it too tightly for it to escape.
“It’s female.”
With this confirmed, Anna handed the lizard back to me.
The creature had something of an inconsolable expression as I held it.
“A girl, huh? What kind of name should I give her?”
If it had been a boy, I obviously would’ve given it a really badass name, but a girl should probably have a pretty one.
A cute name probably wouldn’t suit a dragon.
“All right, I’ve got it.”
I ran through a few possibilities in my mind, then settled on the last one.
“I’m going to call you Feirune. Fei for short.”
This was the name of a big area in an online game I used to play in my previous life.
It was a desert area that seemed to go on forever. In the center was a dragon that served as the area boss, and if you beat it, you could get to an oasis.
That oasis was probably the most beautiful location in the whole game, the most sought-after site for screenshots. At night, especially, it looked like a paradise hidden in the middle of the wilderness.
Her black exterior reminded me of that nighttime scene, so it seemed like the perfect name for an earth dragon.
“Nice to meet you, Fei.”
When I called her by name, Fei responded with a happy little coo.
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