Chapter 10: Chapter 10: Eating a Dragon Egg?
"Are all the chromatic dragons idiots?" Muria looked at this ridiculously simple method to improve hatching rates, almost unable to believe it. Just providing an element-rich and stable hatching environment was all it took, which really wasn't difficult for powerful evil dragons.
"These evil dragons, apart from amassing wealth, do they not bother to think about anything else?" Being half a chromatic dragon herself, Muria was really frustrated, "Chromatic dragons lay so many eggs probably just to cope with the terribly low hatching rates!"
Considering the position of red dragons in the food chain, having six eggs in a clutch seemed somewhat unreasonable. However, thinking about the hatching rate of these eggs and calculating the number of times a pair of red dragons could lay eggs in their lifetime, along with the mortality rate of the young dragons during growth, having six eggs per clutch was necessary, otherwise, chromatic dragons would be at risk of extinction.
"In this aspect, metallic dragons seem to do better. Although they only have a pitiful two to three eggs per clutch, almost all of them can be hatched, and the overall quality is higher."
Reading various books about hatching dragon eggs, Muria suddenly thought of something and touched her chin: "Come to think of it, I don't seem to have any siblings, so, my mother laid only one egg, and then I was born."
"Is it because my father is a legendary Titan?" Muria's thoughts wildly diverged, "Golden dragons are known for their individual strength among the dragonkind, and I, hehe, having inherited the bloodlines of both a Titan and a golden dragon, should have no problem beating chromatic dragons of the same age single-handedly in the future!"
Muria fantasized about her seemingly endless bright and beautiful future, a silly smile on her face, until the head maid Sophia couldn't stand it anymore and coughed lightly, awakening Muria.
Muria, looking a bit like a giant baby, smiled awkwardly and looked down at the book in her hands, authored by a silver dragon mage on how to improve the hatching rate of dragon eggs.
Although chromatic dragons didn't care much about their offspring, kind-hearted metallic dragons did. So, half of the books in the three-meter-high pile in front of Muria were from the metallic dragon's own research.
The other half were from the rest of Erathia's creatures' research on dragon eggs. Yes, this pile of knowledge was not limited to red dragon eggs but also included all chromatic dragon eggs and the metallic dragons' egg research.
"So, Sophia, I only need this one book," Muria said, shaking the book in her hands at the blonde girl. It was this book that provided the method of using fire element crystals to provide a stable environment, thereby increasing the yield of red dragon eggs.
"Why did you find me so many books?" Muria questioned.
"Following your orders, Master Muria," Sophia, the head maid, replied without a hint of shame. "As per your instruction, I placed all books about dragon eggs from the master's library in front of you before you woke up."
"Oh my! I clearly meant only the books related to red dragon eggs. You just had to find those related to red dragon eggs," Muria groaned in pain, "Who asked you to find all books about dragon eggs?"
"Master Muria," Sophia, the head maid, said a bit sheepishly, "In fact, I didn't bring out all the books about dragon eggs from Lady Artemis's library because there wasn't enough time, so I only found this small part?"
"A small part?" Muria was somewhat speechless, "Hmm, indeed a small part." He thought of his mother's vast collection of books and the rows of bookshelves that stretched to the ceiling and couldn't see the end, confirming Sophia's words.
"You've worked hard, Sophia." Thinking of Sophia searching through a sea of books for the ones he needed, Muria felt a bit embarrassed, after all, as a maid, Sophia was already very diligent.
"It's what I should do, Master Muria," was Sophia's calm reply.
"Alright, these books are enough for my needs. You don't need to find any more," Muria gave another command, "Find me enough fire element crystals, fresh blood of fire attribute magical beasts, and magical dust..."
Muria continued to list several materials needed to set up the magical formation.
"Please wait a moment," Sophia earnestly noted down Muria's needs and left the room.
In less than a quarter of an hour while Muria began to pass the time by reading, Sophia returned with eight maids carrying silver trays, bringing the materials Muria requested.
"This quick?" Muria was genuinely surprised.
"Of course, in the surrounding seas, there are tens of thousands of marine creatures willing to serve you at any time," Sophia gave an unexpected answer to Muria.
"These weren't all taken from my mother?"
"Without Lady Artemis's permission, even you, Master Muria, do not have the right to use a single bit of Lady Artemis's property," Sophia stated seriously, "And these are offerings from the marine tribes around the castle to you."
"My offerings?" Muria nodded, remembering once again that his mother was a dragon, and also recalled the monsters who had cheered for him not long ago.
Muria fell silent for a moment, then took the materials and began to draw the magic formation directly on the crystal floor of the room.
It's worth mentioning that although the entire castle, including the floor beneath Muria's feet, was made of magic-rich crystals, Muria could not use even a bit of it because his mother had set up a complex and vast magic formation that integrated the entire castle, giving it terrifying defensive power.
Thus, aside from his mother, the golden dragon, no one else could use even a bit of the magic in the crystal castle. So, for Muria, his room was indeed luxurious, but that was about it, nothing more, nothing less.
"Phew—" Muria let out a long sigh, wiping the nonexistent sweat from his forehead. With his current physique, sweating was a very difficult task.
"Finally done. Although it's said to be the simplest formation, I didn't expect it to be so difficult to draw," Muria stood on a red magic formation with a diameter of about three meters, based on a hexagram, feeling satisfied. This was the first time he had personally drawn a supernatural magic formation, which held extraordinary significance.
"Master Muria, it's very rare for you to successfully draw a formation on your first try," Sophia, who had been quietly watching Muria draw the formation, said with a smile, "And at your age, to successfully draw a formation already proves you have a very exceptional talent for casting spells."
"Hehe." Muria chuckled, it was just mixing the blood of a fire attribute magical beast with other magical materials to make a kind of paint, then drawing a slightly complicated geometric pattern. It wasn't really something to be proud of.
"Let's activate it and test the effect!" Muria placed six diamond-shaped fire element crystals at the six points of the formation, then activated the formation with the mental power he had naturally possessed since birth.
The red fire element was guided from the magic crystals by the formation, then concentrated very smoothly in the center of the formation, quietly releasing.
The external manifestation was a red flame igniting in the center of the formation, with red light dots continuously floating up and then dissipating in the air.
"That's it?" Muria was a bit disappointed, it felt like lighting a gas stove, almost making his sense of achievement vanish, although the flame looked quite dreamy.
After hesitating for a moment, Muria picked up a red dragon egg and placed it in the center of the formation. Then, the red flame disappeared because the fire element released by the formation was all absorbed by the red dragon egg.
"It shouldn't be cooked, right!" Muria looked at the red dragon egg on the formation, gleaming with the light of the fire element, and muttered with ill intent, "If it's cooked, it would be just right to taste what a red dragon egg tastes like."
Then, Muria noticed Sophia looking at him with a very horrified gaze, and he immediately realized that, as someone with half golden dragon bloodline, saying he wanted to taste a dragon egg was absolutely rebellious.
"Just kidding, Sophia, don't be so shocked," Muria laughed it off, trying to cover up his slip of the tongue, "Besides, how could a red dragon egg possibly be cooked?"
"It's not funny, Master Muria," Sophia advised, "Although you have Titan bloodline, you also have golden dragon bloodline, so you must not have the evil thought of eating dragons."
It's known that even when conflicts occur among evil dragons, the victor would only exile or imprison the loser, as done by the golden dragon mother. Dragons rarely kill their kind, let alone eat them.
"Got it, got it," Muria waved his hand impatiently, feeling somewhat guilty, but the head maid didn't seem to think further and was just doubting the influence of his Titan bloodline for his words.
"Hmm, the dragon egg feels more vigorous." Muria placed his chubby "little" hand on the red dragon egg, feeling a faint vitality growing inside it, conveying a very exhilarating mood at this moment.
"It seems the method mentioned in the book is correct," Muria turned to Sophia, trying to cover up the mistake, "I need to hurry up and draw the rest of the five formations."
"Let me help you," Sophia stepped forward, assisting Muria in preparing the paint for drawing the formations, seemingly no longer dwelling on the previous words...
After finishing his meal for the day and preparing to sleep, Muria looked at the six hatching formations and the red dragon eggs in his room with satisfaction: "I've done what I should, now all that's left is to wait!" Then, Muria fell into endless darkness.