CHAPTER 133: CHAPTER 133 - BIRTH

That night, Grandville came alive in celebration of its great milestone.

The plaza glowed with colorful lights while long banquet tables overflowed with dishes of every kind.

Today had been marked on the calendar. And this night, no one will be left out.

Subjects, friends, allies, even merchants and travelers who had come when they heard rumors of the new city.

They were all welcome.

The evening began with Lucien’s speech and now... the banquet was in full swing. Laughter and chatter filled the air as people of every status mingled freely.

The merchants and travelers were stunned. They had never seen such generosity from a lord and it struck them as proof of just how powerful and resourceful Lucien’s new territories were.

Even the quietest guests couldn’t resist the cheer of the night. Before long, they too were smiling and sharing in the festivity.

Friends and allies presented gifts to mark the milestone.

Lucien accepted them all with heartfelt gratitude. In turn, he made sure that guests who had come from far away did not leave empty-handed. His giveaways delighted them.

It was also on this night that Edric finally introduced his wife, Sylvia Silvermine, to Lucien.

"Nephew," Sylvia said warmly, "since you call Ed ’Uncle,’ then you may call me ’Aunt’ as well."

"Of course, Aunt," Lucien replied with a smile.

Sylvia nodded then continued as casually as if she were discussing the weather.

"And I must thank you for curing Edric’s... impotence. It had long been a source of dismay for my family. But now, your Uncle Ed is not all talk and no bite anymore. We are expecting a child at last. The Silvermine bloodline will continue."

Edric froze. Sylvia’s words landed so bluntly that his face flushed red with embarrassment.

He opened his mouth to protest but no sound came out. He tried again. His lips parted, only to close them once more. For once, the boisterous man was struck completely speechless.

Lucien couldn’t help but be entertained. The normally loud and overbearing Edric was utterly powerless before his wife. He was reduced to a tongue-tied child in her presence.

It was painfully clear who held the reins in their household.

’Kukuku, every dog has its weakness. No wonder Uncle Ed is so quiet this time.’

With a grin tugging at his lips, Lucien moved on. He greeted the other guests. Among them were Vivian’s friends. He reassured them warmly that their families were welcome in Grandville and even hinted at forging an alliance.

Since they were dear to Vivian, Lucien naturally wanted to protect them as well.

Just as the conversation flowed, Lucien felt something tug at his shoulder. He could feel a soft mound on his side.

He turned and found Lioren clinging to him, swaying slightly with a glass of juice clutched in her hand.

The lively chatter around them died instantly. Every eye turned to the scene.

"Brother!" Lioren cried. "Come play with me! WAHAHA! I wanna see your sparkly water again!"

A ripple of gasps swept through the crowd.

Caelum immediately rushed forward, grabbing her by the arm. "Forgive her, Baron! She’s drunk again... on carrot juice."

Duke Rubycrest’s face were drained of color. He pushed his way through the crowd.

"Lioren!" He barked. He raised his hand to smack her lightly on the head. "Stop embarrassing our family this instant!"

But then—

Lioren slipped away in a blur. She vanished before her father’s hand could land. In the next instant, she reappeared behind him, grinning mischievously.

"Stiff old man! Family this, family that! You can’t even make sparkly water!"

Duke Rubycrest groaned and buried his face in his palm. The weight of secondhand embarrassment nearly crushed him.

Meanwhile, Lucien was barely keeping a straight face.

’What kind of constitution lets her get drunk even on carrot juice? If I gave her a Drunken Master Kung Fu skill, she’d be unstoppable. Now that would be something.’

His laughter finally broke free and it spread like wildfire. Soon, the entire plaza was chuckling and giggling along. The tension dissolved, replaced by warmth and cheer once more.

In the end, Lucien gave in to the Lioren’s expectant eyes and conjured the sparkly water again.

That was when Lioren’s bravado faltered. Her cheeks flushed crimson but she masked it with a straight face.

"Oh... Baron, nice weather tonight."

The words only fueled the laughter further and her embarrassment deepened under the chorus of mirth.

The party carried on joyfully.

At last... Lucien quietly slipped away, retreating to the solitude of his quarters.

•••

Even though Lucien hadn’t slain monsters in the past month, his level had grown remarkably. He had already reached Level 67.

The reason was clear. Clara.

Through tireless effort, she had converted many into loyal followers. Their devotion fed him divine energy day after day, steadily making him stronger.

In the end, Lucien yielded to her unrelenting persistence. Churches now stood proudly across every territory.

’Honestly... who could resist Clara when she asked three times a day like it was some sort of prescribed medicine?’

Soon after, Lucien entered his divine energy core.

With a blink, he arrived at the dungeon that had taken root within. Its growth was strangely slow. After a whole month, only the first floor had opened. Yet already, gargoyle monsters prowled its halls.

The place bore an eerie resemblance to the castle-like dungeon beneath the Coalhearts.

For now, the boss chamber remained sealed. The dungeon core was still weaving its structures deeper inside. Lucien knew it wouldn’t stay that way for long.

When he tried to peer into the chamber, relief washed over him. It wasn’t another nightmare like the colossal hand’s domain. This boss room looked ordinary.

The gargoyles’ drops were identical to those of Coalheart’s dungeon and the variety of monsters was much the same. Elemental gargoyles dominated the first floor.

Strangely, inside this place his blinking was restricted. He couldn’t move at will, nor could he sense space as he normally did inside his divine energy core. It felt like an entirely separate world, cut off from his usual awareness.

He stepped outside.

He blinked to the wide shelves where he put his drops. He began placing the many gifts he had received upon the wide shelves.

Then Lucien’s hand paused over a certain gift.

It was the egg Drake, Head of the Monster Taming Division, had finally entrusted to him. Calling out his MONSTERDEX, Lucien carefully placed the egg inside.

Drake had told him he originally intended to give an egg from one of their nurtured monsters.

But this one... this was different. They had stumbled upon it by chance and its aura alone marked it as extraordinary. Drake was certain Lucien would uncover a way to hatch it.

Lucien sighed. He now had two eggs stored and yet he still hadn’t figured out how to hatch them.

’I guess I’ll need to find an incubator in the CRAFT feature sooner or later.’

Suddenly...

The MONSTERDEX stirred.

Lucien blinked in confusion. It had never behaved like this before.

A crisp chime echoed in his mind.

[Ting!]

[Life has bloomed inside the MONSTERDEX.]

[CONDITIONS MET.]

[MONSTERDEX can now be updated.]

[UPDATE / CANCEL]

Lucien froze, staring down at the glowing interface.

’What triggered this...?’

His gaze swept over the familiar illustrated landscape inside the MONSTERDEX.

There were Peek and Aboo, perched side by side as always. But now... nestled between them, was a tiny new bird.

Lucien’s eyes widened.

Aboo had given birth.

And then came another notification.

[Peek and Aboo now have Max Loyalty.]

[Please pick a skill to copy.]

Lucien’s breath caught in surprise. Their loyalty had reached its peak. All because of their deepest wish... Aboo’s safe delivery.

A new panel unfurled before his eyes, listing their skills.

***

Peek’s Skills

• Astral Comprehension - increases intelligence and magical knowledge when it comes to space attribute.

• Spatial Intuition - perceived space like a sixth sense

• Quantum Bond - if bonded to a mate, their life force will be connected. If one is injured, the other can feel it

***

***

Aboo’s Skills

• Astral Comprehension

• Star Eyes - can detect the safe paths where to blink

• Nova Birth - if forced into premature birth, detonates protective stasis, damaging everything nearby

***

Lucien fell into a dilemma.

He could only choose one skill from each bird.

Nova Birth? Immediately out of the question. He couldn’t exactly give birth, let alone want to explode from it.

Quantum Bond? Useless without a mate to tie himself to.

That left three real contenders. Spatial Intuition, Astral Comprehension and Star Eyes.

He sat in silence, weighing the options carefully. Star Eyes was tempting but in the end, he had a more pressing need.

The fourth floor of the Lootwell Dungeon. The entrance was sealed with a Spatial Barrier. It was impossible to breach without a profound grasp of space itself.

And so, Lucien made his choice.

Spatial Intuition.

Astral Comprehension.

They were not glamorous but they were what he needed.

He pressed confirm.

[Ting!]

[Skills Acquired: Spatial Intuition, Astral Comprehension.]

The moment the words appeared, Lucien froze.

Something tugged at the core of his being.

And then, knowledge poured into his mind.

His head throbbed under the weight of it as if the universe itself was trying to cram a library into his brain.

He grit his teeth and clutched his temples as the flood refused to stop.

Soon after, the torrent of knowledge stabilized. The pain faded into a dull throb.

Lucien steadied his breathing as he tried to absorb what had just occurred.

"Crap... this is exactly what I needed. With this knowledge, I can finally study space magic properly. And maybe... just maybe, pry open the gates to the fourth floor of Lootwell Dungeon." The thought made his pulse quicken with excitement.

His gaze drifted back to the illustrations of his Skyskippers in the MONSTERDEX.

And then it clicked.

He finally understood why female Skyskippers carried live young instead of laying eggs like ordinary birds.

Eggs were unstable in warped dimensions. During a blink, a mother’s body slipped whole through twisted dimensions but anything "separate" risked being left behind.

Eggs may be shattered, scattered, or worse, warped into abominations. To creatures as loyal as Skyskippers, losing an unborn chick that way was unthinkable. They would rather die.

A fetus, however, was tethered to the mother’s life-field. That bond ensured it traveled with her.

But the price of that miracle was steep. The mother’s energy bled away to sustain a protective stasis field inside her womb. It was no wonder pregnancy was their most vulnerable state.

Lucien couldn’t help but marvel.

"Truly... the wonders of this world are astonishing."

With that revelation fresh in his mind, his attention snapped back to the flashing panel.

He pressed UPDATE.

A progress bar unfurled across his MONSTERDEX.

Lucien’s eyes narrowed. Anticipation gnawed at him.

He had no idea what to expect. Up until now, the MONSTERDEX had been a reliable encyclopedia and storage for his companions.

But this sudden evolution?

"What more could you be hiding?" he muttered as he stared at the glowing screen. "Just what else can you become?"

The bar crept forward.