Extra 4: Magic Accident

Slair was humming. He gently stirred the juice of twin lotus petals with a silver rod and threw a small piece of red ore. Under the effect of magic, the liquid turned a beautiful purple. He stopped stirring and added a drop of dragon tears. Soon, the purple turned into gold.

「It looks perfect this time!」He thought happily. The next step was to put in his hair– Eh, the brush was by his hand. He pulled a long black hair and threw it in without noticing there had been a blonde hair dropped into the potion beforehand.

The potion bubbled for a few moment before settling down. Slair used it as ink to draw a magic circle he resolved on the floor—this was a modified magic circle based on dragon’s shape-shifting technique. It was challenging for humans to achieve shape-shifting with spells alone. Slair has failed thirty-five times on this subject. He tried to calm down, stood in the center of the circle and recited a long chant.

There was more magic loss this time than any other time before, and it felt like a success. Slair opened his eyes and checked his hands- there was no significant change.

「Alright, another failed attempt.」He shook his head and marked a cross on his notebook.

Slair didn’t plan on making the thirty-seventh attempt for a while. Today was the day Grieve came home with the boys from their training trip, and Slair planned to scare him with transformation, but now Slair would wait at the entrance like usual.

Their current students were divided according to their strengths because their admission age and learning progress were varied. The three sons of His Majesty were good at martial arts, but they had limited talent in magic. So they picked the path of weapon enchantment.  The ten-year-old Sally was the most talented among the five princesses This girl had a good affinity with water elements and Alex was her favourite. Now, she was a fifth-grade senior while her oldest siter lazed away in second grade.

「Master Slair!」Sally ran over, 「I saw brothers’ carriage!」

「That’s great, let’s greet them together!」

Slair could almost imagine how Grieve would show up– he would be in front of the caveran leading. It was hot, so Grieve was likely barechested, and his sweat would drip down along his muscle. He would shout Slair’s name as he charged over and scooped the black-haired mage to Choco’s back.

However, there was no conspicuous golden color in front of the caravan this time. Choco ran alone, chirping anxiously at the sight of Slair.

「What?」Slair was shocked,「Grieve was missing?」

「We didn’t know what happened.」The oldest prince brought a village wife with him,「On our way back, she invited us to rest at her house. When Master Grieve heard there was a monster stealing her chicken, he decided to help. In the end, we caught the monster, but Master went missing. There were no traces of blood, nor did we believe a little rock cat could threaten Master. The only suspect we had was this one…」

「NO!」The village wife shouted,「How dare I disrespect the one who has the grace of God! After Lord Grieve came, my chicken laid a huge golden egg! This is it!」

She hastily lifted a basket and uncovered the cloth「I will offer it to you, Lord envoy. I know nothing about Lord Grieve! Maybe he had an emergency and went deal with it?」

A chicken couldn’t lay that egg, because it was bigger than chickens. The egg began to shake violently as soon as it saw the light. It stood up in the basket and jumped straight at Slair.

Slair froze and caught it– he only knew one kind of egg that could move around before it was hatched– Dragon eggs.

The location of Grieve’s disappearance was the same as the location where the dragon egg was found, this made Slair feel a little odd. He asked Alex and Rhett, and they both thought it had something to do with dragons.

『Dear Slair baby, you have no idea how popular you are among the dragons. Many dragons are inexplicably hostile to Grieve because of this. This could be a kidnap.』Alex said,『However, this egg… it was very lively, but as a dragon egg was too small. It had little magic to none and almost like a dead egg. It could be a congenital deficiency and mixed bloodline… Eggs like this are easy to get lost.』

『If that’s so, then it’s obvious– There was a stupid dragon, uh, I think it was a the father of the egg, because the mom will be more careful– He possibly bought his egg with him when he came to kidnap Grieve. Although his kidnapping was successful, he left his egg behind.』Rhett said,『Don’t worry, Slair. There aren’t many dragons with eggs, and golden egg is even rarer. A dragon gave birth to a golden egg will be easy to find.』

『We will talk to Mags about this, Slair baby, you can wait here. But the little dragon egg needs good care.』

『Then,』Slair asked,『How to hatch a dragon egg?』

Alex and Rhett looked at each other– Of course, the two gay dragons didn’t know how to hatch an egg.

『Probably use magic.』Alex said,『Golden means he is an all aspect golden dragon. It will be perfect for Slair to hatch.』

『No, that’s not right,』Rhett said,『The fire elements are lot more active around him. There are many mix-blood dragons these days, the egg shells don’t respect the baby dragon’s aspect any more. This kid could be a fire dragon, we need some heat– I was hatched in lava. We don’t have lava here, so fire will do the trick. 』

As they said, Alex and Rhett set off. Slair carried the dragon egg to the room, feeling uneasy.

「Do I have to roast you in the fire?」He pat the golden egg and lit a pot of fire,「What if you got cooked?」

The egg seemed in shock. It refused to get close to the fire and desperately tried to hide in Slair’s arms.

「Alright, maybe dad is right. You need my magic.」He put out the fire, gently hugged the egg, and patted it,「I hope your father would be nice to Grieve.」

It was customary to hold a banquet for the students who had returned from their training. Slair found a backpack to place the egg, hung it on his chest, and went to the banquet.

The atmosphere in the auditorium was somewhat dull due to the disappearance of Grieve. Several barrels of fine wine sat there unattended.

「Master Slair, what’s that?」The princesses asked.

「Oh, this might be a dragon egg.」 Slair said,「A careless and impaitient dragon was looking for Grieve for some urgent matter. However, he left his egg behind on accident. Everyone, please don’t worried about what happened, Grieve will be back soon. 」

With a gentle wave of the hand, the wine barrels were opened, and the fragrance of wine instantly filled the auditorium.

「A dragon egg!」「Oh, the mighty Dragon God above, it is so cute~」「Oh my God, I can’t believe I witness a dragon egg in my lifetime!」

The dragon egg lit up the atmosphere. That golden egg jumped out of the bag on Slair’s chest under the eyes of everyone, and「Puff ton-」fell into the wine barrel.

「…It’s actually a little alcoholic. But it is still an egg, so where does it drink it from?」Slair knocked on the barrel, and the water elements followed the order, and tossed the egg out. Slair picked up the fragrant egg and gently flicked the shell.

For some unknown reason, he felt the egg was upset.

The egg was extremely excited throughout the banquet. It tried to sit in Grieve’s place several times and rolled into the students. After a while, it was attracted by the delicious food, rolled into the cake and wrapped itself in cream.

「Aren’t you a naughty little one.」 Slair let a gentle wind lift the golden egg. As it was about to come back, the magic of the third and the fourth princesses, who were joking around, flew right on the egg and knocked it off.「Pa,」it dropped into the middle of the auditorium between the first and second prince, hitting the tip of the second prince’s sword.

Slair’s wing magic was still wrapped around it, and the egg wiggled on the sword’s tip. However, the cream on it was too thick, and something white dripping on the floor. No one could tell what was dripping.

「Oh, the Dragon God Above…」The second prince cried and kneeled down,「I didn’t mean to!」

Everyone was shocked, but the study golden egg jumped on the sword and successfully got back into the cake.

「I think it’s fine.」Slair couldn’t bear to watch the egg as he scooped it out of the cake 「The dragon eggs have tough shells, and your sword can’t damage it. Look, not even a scratch.」

He used clean water to wash the egg clean and gave it a pat. The egg seemed to know what happened and quietly returned to Slair’s arms.

At the end of the banquet, Slair received a letter from Alex:

『Slair baby:

We found Mags, and no dragons reported losing eggs. However, once the news was out, over ten dragons who were long-term residents of the wild human conservative came to claim the egg. We suspected most of them, or maybe all of them, were not the egg’s parents, and we were doing a background search on them. After we searched where Grieve last appeared, we found no trace of evidence. Mags said maybe the egg was abandoned by its parents.

PS: Normally, dragon eggs don’t have a strong reaction to outside activities, but if a dragon egg is very lively and even understands what you say, it could be a sign of birth. This little dragon’s very weak, and he might not have the energy to break the eggshell by itself. If its lively period lasts over three hours and there is no crack on the shell, you need to find a way to open the egg or the baby dragon will suffocate to death. That’s what Mags told me.  』

「Oh my god,」Slair held the egg in panic,「Oh poor little guy! Is that why you have been so active? Three hours… No, it must be over three hours now.」

There were no cracks at all.

「Don’t worry, little guy,」Slair pat it determinedly, 「I will help you out.」

The egg shook violently and tried to protest the idea, but Slair read it as wanting to see the world. He went to the lab, picked up a diamond knife, and scratched a line on the shell.

The egg rolled around pitifully, but Slair held it firmly. But the diamond knife couldn’t cut any further, so Slair started chanting. Water blades and wind blades were summoned in rotations; he even picked up a giant gold ore and smashed it on the egg a few times. After an hour, the eggshell finally broke, and a wet little dragon crawled out of the egg. He had a pair of beautiful ocean-blue eyes. His scales were a little transparent and it might caused by congenitally deficient.

「What a cutie.」 Slair picked up the little dragon, kissed him, took him to the bathroom, and gave him a warm shower.

At that moment in the magic-circle lab, the golden potion’s color faded, and at the same time, the baby dragon in the bathing pool suddenly grew in size and pulled Slair into the pool too.

Slair opened his mouth in shock– he fell in a pair of familiar arms, warm and sturdy with well-developed muscles. However, what shocked him the most was Grieve’s blonde hair. They were gone.

「Grieve?」

「Slair.」Grieve watched him calmly,「I think I need an explanation.」

「So…Just now… The eggshell… it was…」

「The eggshell was my clothes, bow, sword, and hair. Luckily my eyebrow was not included in there. I knew you have been researching transformation, but why did I transform into an egg?」

Fortunately, the potion didn’t go off when he tried to break the egg… Slair pat on his chest, then he jumped in excitement.「Wait for a second, so my magic circle worked! IT WORKED!!! Although the result was not what I expected, I tried to be a dragon, not a dragon egg, but this was my first successful transformation! I need to record the testing data and make some changes to the notes… right, I need to contact dad and daddy, too…」

Slair only stepped out one leg, his ankle was caught by Grieve relentlessly, and his clothes were broken into pieces.

「No, my dear Slair, all those could wait.」Grieve pushed Slair by the edge of the pool and squeezed between his legs,「So it was your doing… Then I want some payback. I didn’t enjoy a drop of fine wine, nor did I have dinner. I am so hungry.」

「If you are hungry, let me prepare some food for you…」Slair struggled and tried to escape. He tried to make a magic bird and sent a message to Alex,「Grieve, I didn’t mean to make you bald. And please, don’t poke me with that thing. Or just tell me you are not angry with me. I still have classes tomorrow…」

「But this is where I feel most hungry right now,」Grieve protested,「It was you who kept touching and striping me.」

「But, Grieve…」Slair tried his best to close his legs and dodge his mischievous fingers. He couldn’t hold his laugh when he glanced at Grieve’s bald head.

「Slair, you don’t like me anymore,」Grieve said sadly,「It has been so long since we last met! I only lost my hair! And it was your fault.」

「No, what I tried to say was…」

「PaCha」The door opened, and the three princes walked with a wooden basin in their hand. They were shocked to see their masters in the bathing pool.

「Master Grieve, you are back! What happened to your hair? Why are you pressing against Master Slair?」

「…This is public bathing pool…」 Slair finally finished his sentence.

Dragon Forum→Communication→Eggs and Baby Dragons

【Seeking for Lost Relatives】 We found a golden dragon egg in Klein, Wild Human Preservative. Has anyone lost their egg?

The egg looked at this: [Image]

It was smaller than regular eggs, weak in magic activity, and didn’t seem very healthy.

Over ten resident dragons tried to claim it, but the bloodline and aspects didn’t match up. They also had difficulty making their story straight, so they were probably not actual relatives.

Let’s be serious. Even if the egg is not that healthy, it is still alive. Abandoning live eggs is a crime.

№.0 ☆☆☆ Mags ☆☆☆

Ah, What a cute golden egg!

№.1 ☆☆☆ = = ☆☆☆

I had never heard of any dragons that gave birth to a golden egg. There were only

№.2 ☆☆☆ = = ☆☆☆

This egg doesn’t look like a pure blood.

№.3 ☆☆☆ Mags ☆☆☆

If a mixed-blood couple gave birth to a golden egg, they would come here and show off, right? I haven’t noticed any dragon that gave birth to a golden egg.

№.4 ☆☆☆ = = ☆☆☆

Although it is a golden egg, if it has low life activity, it could be abandoned, right?

№.5 ☆☆☆ = = ☆☆☆

No matter what, they shouldn’t abandon it to the wild human preservative.

№.6 ☆☆☆ = = ☆☆☆

Is this a real dragon egg? I sense there is something wrong. Check the pattern on the shell.

№.7 ☆☆☆ = = ☆☆☆

Wow, the pattern is wrong! It doesn’t have the basic dragon pattern on it!

№.8 ☆☆☆ = = ☆☆☆

OP! Stop hatching! This is not a dragon egg but a type of monster stealing a dragon’s magic power by mimicking one. We commonly call them thief birds. After growing to a certain period, they would steal and feast on dragon egg shells. And then, they would find a new dragon mom’s nest (They prefer the nest with eggs from multiple families)and a cocoon among them. Since they were small, some careless moms would think they gave birth to an egg. The cocoon had less magic power than its surrounding eggs. The mom dragon would give it extra care and magic. And then they would get out of cocoon when the adult dragons were not around and leave! A thief bird made out of the cocoon would be mighty because it had gained a large amount of dragon’s magic power.

In fact, it’s easy to tell the difference by carefully examining the pattern on the eggshell. The pattern on the shell has a logic of its own. You could read the family tree on some of them. However, the egg here has an unclear pattern and no geometric beauty.

№.9 ☆☆☆ = = ☆☆☆

What! There exists such a venomous species?!

№.10 ☆☆☆ = = ☆☆☆

What should we do if we encounter one?

№.11 ☆☆☆ = = ☆☆☆

That’s simple. The thief bird’s meat is delicious, and its cocoon is hard, but it is nothing compared to the dragon egg. You can simply smash it and eat it.

№.12 ☆☆☆ = = ☆☆☆

Is that so! Thank you for the knowledge! I will go tell them right the way.

№.13 ☆☆☆ Mags☆☆☆

This is the first time I heard of this thief bird, huh…

""

№.14 ☆☆☆ = = ☆☆☆

Yeah, so scary! Will it attack dragon eggs?

№.15 ☆☆☆ = = ☆☆☆

OP, don’t leave yet! Bro 9, which age do you come from! The thief birds have long become extinct! EXTINCT! The dragons ate them all up! Their patterns could be unclear or incomplete for those eggs with hereditary diseases and premature birth! OP, don’t leave!! Don’t smash the egg!!

№.16 ☆☆☆ = = ☆☆☆

OP! OP! LOOK AT ME! Don’t SMASH it! You need careful and proper examination before making conclusions! Do not believe everything you read on the forum!

№.17 ☆☆☆ = = ☆☆☆

OP Where are you!!!!!!!

№.18 ☆☆☆ = = ☆☆☆

I think OP left… He isn’t on his way to smashing the egg, is he…

№.19 ☆☆☆ = = ☆☆☆