*Sizzle*
Smoke rose from the charred skull of the Wyvern along with the pungent smell of its grilled flesh.
[To think I actually wanted to eat this fucking thing...]
Berkah's eyebrows twisted in pure disdain.
[... I think I have beef with all reptiles now...]
He spat inwardly, walking back to his mother.
He placed his hand on her long curly black hair and gently stroked it.
[Magic... I may be able to heal her with magic.]
Berkah gently brushed the hair on his mother's forehead and raised his arms above her body.
He didn't want to touch her because he could accidentally mummify her like he did with the young Wyvern.
"Okay... *deep-breath*..."
"Imagery... it's all about imagery..."
Berkah focused intently within himself and sensed the power surging inside his mana pool.
[I can't get used to this feeling...]
The sense of invincibility he felt whenever he accessed his mana was unexplainable.
■■ Mana Cu —□□
[!!]
"*Cough!*, *Cough!* *Splat!*"
Before he could even finish casting his spell he coughed up blood, his body screaming at him that he was attempting something beyond his current capabilities.
*Swirl!*
A tiny bit of bright, golden smoke, not even the size of a rain drop leaked from his palms, and seeped into Anaise's body.
"The fuck? That's it?? That took all of my mana though?! *huff*, *huff*"
"Ugh..."
Anaise let out a feint groan.
[!!]
"Mom!.... Her presence has definitely increased a little bit... so it worked!"
"But... it's not enough... if anything it just bought her a little bit of time."
[!!]
Suddenly, he remembered that there was a way he could replenish his mana and increase the size of his mana pool at the same time.
He glanced over at the Wyvern's corpse and began walking towards it.
[I wonder... Does it work on corpses?]
Berkah mused, his piercing blue eyes coldly glaring at the corpse of the Large Wyvern.
[Earlier, when I absorbed that red smoke from that small Wyvern...]
[That was the third time I felt that sensation.]
[An intoxicating surge of power entering my body. ]
[Is it mana?]
[... I wonder how strong I'll become if I absorb this large Wyvern's mana...]
[Will I be able to heal mom?]
Berkah racked his brains for answers that no one could give him, but at the very least, he understood that he had the ability to absorb the mana of other beings.
[But wait...]
His eyes flickered.
[... Whose mana did I absorb when I was still in the egg?]
"... Don't tell me..."
He swallowed the lump that formed in his throat.
[No...]
He shook his curly scalp.
[... I need to focus on saving mom...]
*tap!*
Berkah placed his palm on the Wyvern's corpse.
"..."
"How do I even activate it?"
Berkah had no idea how to activate his Energy Absorption, the past three times were all completely coincidental.
[... There has to be some sort of condition...]
He stroked his chin.
[I'm certain that physical touch of some sort is necessary...]
[...Think... What could it possibly be?]
[Ah...]
After racking his brain for a few more seconds, he finally came to a conclusion.
"... It has to be my mental state right?"
"But exactly what was I thinking of?"
Berkah mused for a few more seconds before his eyes went wide.
[!!]
"It's... Hunger..."
"Or rather... Simply having an appetite..."
Berkah recalled all accounts of him activating his ability and it became clear what triggered its activation.
1. In the first instance, when Berkah was still trapped inside the egg, he had been craving Cola and French Fries.
2. In the second instance, he had not tasted food in weeks, so whether he wanted to or not all he could ever think about was food, which was actually what prompted him to attempt to break out of the "pod", amongst other reasons.
3. The third instance was when he had just defeated the young Wyvern, he remembered the taste of Crocodile meat from his previous world and couldn't help but salivate and wonder if Wyvern's tasted just as good.
[But... How come it didn't activate whenever mom would breastfeed me?]
"Fuck... I'm really never going to recover from that ..."
He pinched his eyebrows and got back to the main topic.
[Maybe it doesn't activate on beings much stronger than myself?]
[I can't know for sure... but I'll assume it's something like that for now...]
Berkah glanced back at Anaise, whose presence was slowly drifting into the realm of nothingness.
[She's dying... I need to hurry...]
[... Pizza... Macaroni and Cheese?...]
"Hmm... nothing is happening..."
[Fried chicken... Nah, that would lowkey be cannibalism...]
[Uh... P*peye's biscuits?...]
[Nope... That would be death by suffocation...]
[Why is this so damn hard?!]
Berkah cried inwardly, forcing himself to be appetized was a much more arduous task than he had initially thought.
"... I might lose her because I can't get myself to feel hungry?"
"...That's fucking pathetic..."
Berkah chewed his lips in frustration.
[If mom dies... whose gonna wake me up in the morning? Or protect me from the bitter cold with their wings...]
[Whose gonna make me that delicious diced fruit salad every morning?]
[Definitely not that deadbeat dude! He's barely even home...]
*SWIRLLLL!*
[!!]
A dense cloud of crimson smoke rose high up in the air above Berkah and the Wyvern which was gradually shrivelling up like parchment in the sun.
*Swirlll!*
The cloud of red smoke continued to rise up from the Wyvern until it was completely mummified.
"Woah... This is way much more than what I saw earlier."
*Fwosh...*
The smoke gathered and instinctively swirled into Berkah's tiny frame.
[!!]
*Rumble!*
"Augh!"
Berkah's body surged with an overwhelming amount of power, purple veins filled the entirety of his pale body.
"Argh!"
He felt a sharp pain. The feeling he felt was like a balloon being ceaselessly pumped with air until it popped.
"Ugh! Stop!"
Stop? The crimson cloud continued stuffing itself within Berkah's body.
The red smoke elevated Berkah and completely engulfed him, forcing him to absorb its entirety.
[... I feel like I'm about to explode!]
This continued for a few more minutes, Berkah endured through sheer will power.
"*huff*, *huff*.... That was fucking terrible! I almost died damn it!"
Berkah recollected himself and staggered over to his mother who was already dancing with the grim reaper.
"... it's now... or never... please work..."
Berkah raised his hands above his mother's frame and imagined the healing magic once more.
■■Mana Cure!■■
Berkah successfully cast the spell, and unlike earlier when he could barely squeeze enough out for a single drop, this time he felt like the spell barely taxed his mana pool.
Berkah's mana reserves were a dozen times more than what he had before he absorbed the large Wyvern's life force.
*SWIRLLLL!!!*
Large quantities of bright, golden smoke gushed out of his palms!
"Ugh..."
Anaise let out a soft grown as the golden smoke from Berkah's palms entered her body through her mouth and nostrils.
[I really hope this works...]
Berkah chewed his lips and crossed his fingers inwardly.
The smoke ceased gushing from his palms, indicating that the spell had concluded.
*Sizzle!*
Anaise's pale skin began glowing in a golden colour, the cuts on her body began closing, not even leaving a single scar, as if she had never been cut in the first place.
*Crunch!*,*Crunch!*
Her once broken wings trembled and readjusted. Dislocated joints went back to their place and fractured bones were healed and strengthened.
"...I think it worked, it doesn't feel like she's dying anymore. "
Berkah muttered in a relieved tone.
"..."
"Thank goodness..."
His voice cracked and tears of joy trickled down his cheeks.
"Urgh..."
Anaise slowly opened her bright emerald eyes, the first thing she saw was the cloudy skies above her and the soft sensation of the green pastures on her back.
"You're awake! *sniff!*"
Berkah jumped and embraced Anaise.
"Huh?... Berkah??"
Anaise was visibly confused, the last thing she remembered was falling from the skies after defeating the Wyvern.
[What happened? How did I survive that fall?]
[No... Even if I somehow managed to survive the fall, my internal organs should have been completely destroyed... what happened?]
[My wings... They were definitely broken... all the injuries around and outside my body have healed?!]
[My mana veins...]
[What in the world...]
[My death should have been guaranteed...]
[Only the Golden-Winged Saint would be able to heal such injuries...]
[No... The Saint is always with the King and they wouldn't bother with the likes of us...]
Her green eyes trembled in confusion.
[More importantly...]
[How did Berkah get here?]
She wrapped her wings around Berkah who was silently sobbing.
[I don't know who it was, but... someone definitely saved us.]
[My mana is completely exhausted...]
*FLAP!*, *FLAP!*
"Anaise! Berkah!"
Hawke shouted with a thunderous voice as he beat his wings to rapidly descend toward his family.
He was just at the nest which was completely destroyed, the only thing he found there was the strange Wyvern corpse so he couldn't help but fear the worst for his family.
Had a swarm of Wyverns hunted them down and ate them? The high possibility of that being a reality filled him with dread.
One can imagine the relief he must have felt when his sharp eyes finally caught a glimpse of their figures.
Hawke landed on the ground and immediately ran to his wife and son.
"Thank goodness you two are okay!"
He embraced the both of them in his bulky, chiseled arms.
[Wow, look at this deadbeat fucker finally showing up.]
[Perfect timing bro, were you hiding somewhere?]
[You're ruining the moment here!]
Berkah spat inwardly, narrowing his piercing blue eyes at his Harpy father.
"Anaise, what happened?"
"... I honestly have no idea..."
"I was protecting Berkah from a Wyvern attack..."
"I ... drained my life force in order to defeat it."
Anaise said, her lower lip slightly trembling.
"What?"
Hawke gasped, he knew that there was no way she would still be alive after using her life force as a substitute for mana.
Hawke glanced at Anaise's bloodied clothes and the bloodstains on her wings.
[How is she still alive?]
[It looks like she sustained fatal injuries but... she's not at all injured?]
He mused and glanced at the large Wyvern's mummified corpse.
[It's the same as the one I found at the nest... what could have possibly made it that way?]
His piercing blue eyes trembled slightly.
[It makes sense why she had to drain her life force... She's not strong enough to defeat a fully grown Wyvern on her own...]
[But... what about the one at the nest? She shouldn't have been able to defeat both of them even if she gave her life... I suppose she somehow managed...]
[Just what happened?...]
He grit his teeth and clenched his veiny fist before shaking his head.
"... I'm just happy that you are all safe."
Hawke muttered, hugging his family tight.
[!!]
He suddenly sensed something from his embrace, casting his eyes down he beheld the visage of his son.
[Mana?! Am I sensing mana from Berkah?!]
He screamed inwardly and directed his astonished gaze to Anaise.
"When did Berkah awaken mana?!"
He spat, his body trembling.
"What?"
Anaise tilted her head in confusion.
"What are you talking about Hawke?"
[Ah... her mana still hasn't recovered so there's no way she could have sensed it.]
"Berkah... has awakened mana..."
"He just turned two... so how is this possible?"
Hawke's voice trembled and he placed Berkah on the ground.
"My son... can you do this?"
*crackle!*
Hawke set his fingers ablaze with the blue hues of his mana.
[Fuck... is it a bad thing?]
Berkah pondered for a bit before responding.
"Ah... yes..."
*crackle!*
Bright blue hues of mana enveloped the entirety or his arm.
"HUH???!!!!"
Both Hawke and Anaise verbalized their shock simultaneously.
Why? Because a child who's barely even a toddler awakening mana is deep within the realm of impossibility.
"Hawke... how old were you when you first awakened?"
"I was ten years old..."
Hawke replied, a cold sweat trickling down his temple.
The reason Anaise asked that question is because Hawke was widely considered a genius for having awakened five years earlier than the average person.
But two years old? That would definitely send the world into an uproar.
"... And that density..."
"He just awakened, but he already has that much mana...?"
Hawke swallowed the thick lump on his throat.
"Even my mana isn't that dense..."
Anaise ruffled her feathers in awe.
[Woah... I guess I'm fucking strong based on their reactions?]
[Keke, I don't need a damn system. I'm HIM!]
Berkah puffed up his chest proudly and smirked inwardly.
A small part of him still a little salty that he didn't get a system....
"HAHAHAHA! That's my son alright!"
Hawke picked up Berkah and threw him high into the air.
"HAHAHA! To think my seed would be so strong! Not even that arrogant King or that damn Saint can compare to your potential! HAHAHA!"
Hawke spun Berkah around, tightly embracing him, Anaise watched over them with a soft smile adorning her face.
[....what's wrong with you?! Don't call me your seed you damn deadbeat! That's disgusting!...]
[...]
[So this is what it feels like to have a father who's proud of you...]
[...]
[... it's not a bad feeling...]
[Fuck... Do I have daddy issues?]
///
Around half an hour passed and the earlier commotion caused by Hawke's excitement had faded.
Berkah was fast asleep in the warm embrace of her mother's wings. Due to the fact that he was still a toddler, Berkah's body required him to take a lot of naps throughout the day.
Though he tried to resist at first, he eventually relented and had grown accustomed to sleeping multiple times a day.
"He's so adorable..."
Anaise said, both her voice and eyes radiating with intense affection.
"Yeah... he's going to break a lot of hearts one day, hehe."
Hawke declared, grinning from ear to ear.
"Don't ever say that! I'll gouge out the eyes of anyone who comes close to my baby. "
Anaise declared, her emerald eyes ablaze with bloodlust.
"Haha... I'm kidding."
Hawke apologized, scratching his soft blue hair.
"Ahem. By the way... do you know what happened to that Wyvern?"
Hawke gestured toward the mummified remains of the large Wyvern not too far from where they stood.
"No I don't, even the one at the nest, I just found it like that."
Anaise shook her head.
"Huh? You found it? Aren't you the one who killed it?"
Hawke's eyes went wide.
"No... How could I possibly take on two Wyverns? I just assumed they fought over who would eat Berkah amongst themselves."
She added:
"It's a good thing they did... Otherwise Berkah could have perished."
Anaise chewed her lips and tightened her embrace on Berkah's being.
[That small Wyvern would never have challenged this large one... or even fly with it unless it was its offspring.]
Hawke mused, stroking his chin.
[But what other explanation could there possibly be?]
[Not to mention... The tip of the mountain was completely blown in half, so they must have fought right?]
Hawke furrowed his brow.
[Or was it...]
He narrowed his eyes at Berkah.
[No... that can't be... sure, it's surprising that he's awakened, but he couldn't have beaten a Wyvern.]
"Hawke?"
Anaise noticed that her husband's expression had stiffened.
"*sigh*. I'll have to bring Lark and investigate later on."
Hawke relaxed his expression and reached into the leather bag tied to his waist.
"... We should relax for now and eat, I brought some food."
He took out three containers, each containing two thick slices of soft bread with butter spread on them, with thin slices of grilled elk meat as well as tomatoes and lettice.
Though simple, the sandwiches were quite appetizing and pleasing to the eye.
The couple happily munched down on their food, whilst Berkah was fast asleep.
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