That evening after dinner, Kate and the other three arrived at the gamekeeper's hut.
"Hagrid, please keep an eye on them. Before I come out, no one is allowed to go in, understood?"
Kate instructed seriously, looking at the dragon egg in the fireplace before her.
"Don't worry, I won't let anyone disturb you," Hagrid agreed solemnly, then looked at the three little tykes beside him.
Seeing that something was amiss, Hermione asked, "Wait, Kate, are you going to do something dangerous?"
"It's not exactly dangerous, just rather troublesome. I only need to focus my energy. The Headmaster and my Teacher told me this method, so it's absolutely foolproof."
Kate rolled up her sleeves, revealing the beautiful lines of her wrists. "Trust me, neither the dragon egg nor I will be in any danger."
"I don't understand," Hermione said, still worried. "Why aren't they doing it themselves, instead of making a student like you do this kind of thing?"
Regardless of whether there was any danger, having a thirteen-year-old child handle such a thing alone, without an adult looking after her, was already highly risky.
"They naturally have other things to do," Kate said, raising her eyes to glance at her. "I just need an hour. You guys wait for me outside first."
Hermione secretly clenched her little fists. Gritting her teeth, she said, "You said it, just one hour."
"Of course, I never lie to you." Kate's eyes curved into a smile, and she looked at Hagrid, having him take the three kids out together.
Now, only she and the dragon egg were left in the room.
[Triggered Extra Quest: Save the hatchling.]
[Quest Completion Reward: Draconic Protection upgraded to Level 4, obtain one random ability of the Norwegian Ridgeback, and gain the exclusive Intimacy of the hatchling.]
[Quest Failure Penalty: Mana halved for one year.]
It was a fair system of rewards and punishments.
Kate smiled slightly, looking calmly at the dragon egg before her. Her wizard robes fluttered without any wind, and a strong magical fluctuation emanated from her body.
Through the wand in her hand, one complex and cumbersome spell after another was chanted from her lips.
A rich surge of Mana continuously poured out from her body, transforming into one complex magical crest after another, rapidly imprinting onto that black eggshell.
As the incantations continuously fell into it, ripples gradually appeared on the surface of the black eggshell.
As the ripples continued to expand, the black eggshell was gradually enveloped by a faint layer of black mist. With the continuous deepening of those magical crests, the black mist also gradually solidified.
Suddenly, a tiny crack fractured across the eggshell, and an aura of vitality permeated from within, as if the hatchling inside could break out of its shell at any moment.
But it still wasn't enough.
In order to rapidly mature the little dragon, Kate used a massive amount of Mana right from the start, pouring it all into the eggshell through the magical crests Newt had taught her at the last minute.
A condensed drop of sweat quietly rolled down her forehead. Kate gripped the wand in her hand tightly, her grip so forceful that even her arm was trembling slightly.
The depletion of Mana in her body was far faster than its recovery rate. Within her core, which had never felt drained no matter how much she practiced in the past, it felt as if that ocean of Mana was rapidly shrinking.
The fracturing of the eggshell continued, but compared to the grand momentum just a moment ago, the speed of the cracking was now as slow as a crawling snail.
Gradually, as her Mana emptied out, Kate felt every nerve in her body as if it were being roasted over glowing coals, scorching and agonizing.
Dammit!
Those two old men never said it would hurt this much before!
Kate's hands were shaking. She had already pushed her Wand Output Power to the maximum, yet the black mist on the eggshell was still visibly beginning to decrease.
[Alerting Host, current failure rate is: 85%.]
Shit!
Kate tilted her neck up in pain. "System, maximize the Wand Output Power!"
[8 stored Wand Attribute Points used. Current Wand Output Power: 2.0]
This was already at the level where inputting one portion of Mana would output two portions of Mana.
But it still wasn't enough.
The ocean of Mana in her body had turned into a small puddle. The sensation of her entire body nearing depletion was even more unbearable than drinking a hundred bottles of magic-suppressing potion.
"Then add 3 Attribute Points for me!"
She had only collected 3 Attribute Points in total, and now she was using them all up.
The small puddle in her body expanded into a reservoir almost instantly. Not only that, Kate also felt that her Mana recovery speed seemed to have increased quite a bit.
It just had to force me to use all my trump cards to be satisfied, huh!
With a feeling of grief and indignation, she continuously increased her Mana output. She watched as the dragon egg before her became completely enveloped by the black mist, and the cracks fracturing on the eggshell began to visibly speed up.
This sensation could probably rival actually giving birth to a child, right?
An unknown amount of time passed. Kate's head was already covered in sweat, and her footing was so unsteady that she couldn't even stand properly.
She panted heavily, squeezing her eyes shut forcefully. The intertwining darkness and fiery red before her eyes left traces on her retinas.
Ugh... why is my head spinning a little?
Opening her eyes groggily, she saw that the dragon egg before her was already covered in shattered marks.
Kate just felt like she could barely lift her hands anymore.
[System Notification, current failure rate: 15%.]
[The Norwegian Ridgeback hatchling is about to break out of its shell.]
Just as the electronic voice faded, the dragon egg before her began to absorb all the surrounding black mist, and the egg itself started to wobble and thrash about.
The little thing inside moved incessantly. Accompanied by a harsh scraping sound, a piece at the top of the egg was finally pushed out with great difficulty.
A little black dragon wobbled its head as it drilled out of the shell. Compared to other newborn hatchlings, it was a bit smaller, only about the size of a fist, looking like a crumpled black umbrella.
The little dragon staggered and thrashed about on the table. After a long while, it let out a sneeze that sparked with embers, and its eyes opened in innocent confusion.
The moment it saw Kate, it joyfully rushed towards her.
Kate immediately reached out to catch it, scolding softly, "You little rascal, do you know how much effort this old lady spent giving birth to you?!"
She had really used every last ounce of her strength.
Thank you for letting me become a mother at such a young age—painlessly... no, painfully.
The little dragon's long, large snout gently rubbed against Kate's hand as it lay on her palm with extraordinary affection.
[Congratulations to the Host for completing the Extra Quest!]
[Now opening rewards...]
Kate didn't hear the rest clearly. She placed the little dragon on the table, and in the next second, she simply passed out from exhaustion.
Perhaps because the commotion of her collapsing was too great, she vaguely seemed to see the little dragon jump right onto her face, affectionately licking her cheek.
Tch, truly mommy's... good boy...
With this thought flashing through her mind, her brain, overwhelmed by the burden, forced a shutdown.
____
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