Chapter 57: New Member of the Dragon Court
One month later.
Subtle changes had occurred in the daily life of the Lava Dragon Court.
The biggest change came from Mihariel.
This little Copper Dragon hybrid seemed born to torment people.
She chased Kalendil with riddles every day, from morning till night, from inside the cave to outside, from mealtime until bedtime.
"Brother Kalendil, here is a riddle to test you: What gets hungrier the more you eat?"
Kalendil was gnawing on a roasted wild buffalo, not lifting his head: "I don't know."
"The answer is fire. When you breathe fire, you consume energy, so the more you breathe fire, the hungrier you get."
Kalendil continued chewing the beef: "Oh."
Mihariel blinked, leaned closer to him: "But I asked what gets hungrier the more you *eat*, not the more you *breathe fire*."
Kalendil paused his chewing.
Mihariel continued: "The correct answer is 'salt'. The more salt you eat, the thirstier you get, and thirst makes you want to drink water, which counts as being hungry—the logical chain is established."
Kalendil put down the beef leg and stared at her.
"Are you bored out of your mind?"
Mihariel shook her head: "I'm not bored. I'm training your logical thinking."
"Mother said you are the eldest son and will be responsible for combat in the future. But combat relies not just on breathing fire, but also on the brain."
Kalendil glared: "There is nothing wrong with my brain!"
Mihariel nodded: "Then prove it to me. Give me a riddle, and I'll guess it."
Kalendil froze.
Mihariel looked at him with expectation in her eyes.
Kalendil struggled for a long time, finally sputtering out one sentence: "What is something... that can fly?"
Mihariel blinked: "Are you sure that's a riddle?"
Kalendil: "...A bird?"
Mihariel was silent for three seconds.
Then she pulled out a small notebook from her embrace—she had pestered the Kobold Chieftain to make it, sewn from animal hide, specifically for recording various things.
She opened the book and wrote seriously:
[Brother Kalendil's First Riddle: What can fly?
Standard Answer: Bird.
Note: Is this a riddle? Isn't this common knowledge? Brother's IQ might need a top-up.]
Kalendil tried to peek, but she slammed the book shut.
"This is my private record, you can't look."
Kalendil: "You're writing bad things about me!"
Mihariel blinked: "It's not bad things, it's observation records."
"Mother said I must record the growth trajectories of my siblings."
Kalendil was choked speechless.
He looked towards Livia, who was sunbathing by the Lava Lake.
Livia's eyes were closed, motionless, looking asleep.
But he saw the tip of her tail twitch slightly.
— — — — — —
Compared to Mihariel's torment, Valensius's presence was almost zero.
It wasn't that he didn't want to be noticed; it was that he was too good at camouflage.
The first thing he did every morning was find a place to hide.
Sometimes he disguised himself as a rock, squatting motionlessly at the cave entrance, watching the Kobold walk by, watching the Fire Hawks fly overhead, watching his siblings run past him—no one discovered him.
Sometimes he disguised himself as a bonfire, lying by the Lava Lake, his scales turning the exact color of the flames, only his two eyes occasionally blinking.
One time, he disguised himself as Aetheriel's tail.
That day, Aetheriel was practicing controlling electricity, squatting on the training ground, his tail dragging on the floor, swinging back and forth.
Valensius quietly crawled over, lay down next to his tail, and changed his body to match the tail's exact color and shape.
Aetheriel didn't notice at all.
He focused intently on the target in front of him, took a deep breath, and prepared to discharge.
Electricity surged from his body, rushing out along his tail—
Half the electricity hit the target, and the other half hit Valensius.
"Ouch—!"
Valensius sprang up, smoking all over, rolling on the ground.
Aetheriel froze, then looked back at his tail.
The tail was fine; there was nothing unusual.
But didn't he just hear something cry out?
He scratched his head and continued practicing.
Valensius rolled to a corner, lay on the ground, and silently disguised himself as a charred piece of rock.
Three days later, Aetheriel started chasing and shocking his own tail again.
It wasn't that he was stupid; he genuinely thought his tail had a problem.
"Why does my tail keep shocking me?" He squatted on the ground, staring at his tail, utterly confused. "I'm clearly controlling it well..."
The tail gently twitched once.
Aetheriel became even more confused: "It can twitch too? Why is my tail twitching?"
The tail twitched again.
Aetheriel reached out to grab it, but the tail quickly retracted behind him.
He chased after it, and the tail dodged again.
He chased three laps, and finally exploded.
"I refuse to believe I can't catch you!"
Electricity flared to maximum, arcs of lightning flashing all over his body, he pounced fiercely toward his own tail—
He pounced on empty air.
Because when he lunged, the tail had already quietly moved away.
He slammed into the wall and was stunned for three seconds.
When he woke up, the tail was lying quietly on the ground, motionless.
He stared at the tail for a long time, then silently got up and resumed practicing.
In the corner, Valensius was shaking so hard from suppressing his laughter that he almost gave himself away.
— — — — — —
Valerion was the only one unaffected.
His daily life was extremely regular: wake up and chew a gem, dig for gems in the mine in the morning, return to chew a gem at noon, continue digging in the afternoon, return to chew a gem in the evening, and then sleep.
Mihariel tried to give him a riddle.
"Brother Valerion, here is a riddle to test you: What gets smaller the more you chew it?"
Valerion was chewing a gem, not lifting his head: "A gem."
Mihariel was momentarily stunned: "How did you know?"
Valerion raised his head, his mouth still smeared with gem dust, his gaze sincere: "Because I chew them every day."
Mihariel fell silent.
She wrote in her little notebook:
[Brother Valerion: IQ uncertain, but possesses a special kind of intuition.
Riddles are ineffective on him because he interprets everything literally.
Note: This might be another form of cleverness.]
Valensius tried to disguise himself as one of his gems.
He shrunk his body to the size of a fist, turned the exact color of a gem, and mixed in with a pile of gems.
Valerion came to pick gems, picked up one, looked at it, and put it down.
He picked up another, looked at it, and put it down.
He picked up Valensius.
Valensius held his breath.
Valerion stared at him for three seconds.
Then he opened his mouth and moved him towards his mouth.
Valensius got so scared he jumped up, reverted to his true form, and ran.
Valerion stood frozen on the spot, watching the small figure fleeing in panic, then looked at the gem in his hand, silent for three seconds.
Then he continued picking gems, chose the biggest one, and stuffed it into his mouth.
Crunch.
— — — — — —
One evening a month later, five heads gathered in the main hall.
Kalendil was sprawled on his designated rock slab, his tail swinging back and forth, staring at Mihariel opposite him, his eyes full of vigilance.
Mihariel squatted opposite him, flipping through her little notebook, muttering to herself.
Valerion sat in the middle, concentrating on chewing a newly dug sapphire.
Aetheriel squatted in the corner, staring at his own tail, looking like he was questioning the meaning of life.
Valensius was disguised as a stone pillar, motionless, but occasionally twitching slightly—that was him suppressing laughter.
Livia lay by the Lava Lake, watching this group of hatchlings, the tip of her tail swaying gently.
System Pop-up:
[Lava Dragon Court Member Status Update]
[Kalendir Valeri Ansos: Eldest Son. Combat power improving steadily, but growing haggard from torment by his new sister. IQ: Normal to above average, but vulnerable to riddles.]
[Valerion Aetheri Eldir: Second Son. Loyalty MAX, contributes three gems daily. IQ: Riddle-immune, as he interprets all questions literally.]
[Aetheriel Terry Ansos: Third Son. Electrical grid maintenance in progress. Shocks self 8-12 times daily, 2 fewer times than last month. Significant progress.]
[Mihariel Fanlenxiu Siaeser: Fourth Daughter. IQ S. Riddle talent awakened. Torments siblings an average of 5.7 times daily. Predicted to develop a phobia of riddles within a month.]
[Valensius Grim Hillso: Fifth Son. Camouflage success rate 94%. Currently disguised as a stone pillar. Note: If he doesn't reveal himself, Dragon Court members take an average of 3.7 days to discover him.]
Livia closed the panel and looked towards the'stone pillar'.
The stone pillar twitched slightly.
She withdrew her gaze and closed her eyes.
Mihariel's voice reached her ears:
"Brother Kalendil, here is another riddle to test you—"
"Get lost!"