Chapter 172: Saah, I'm a Baby Wyvern (1)
A wyvern egg seems to be several times the size of an ostrich egg.
After becoming a Crystal Crown Python, thanks to my body becoming slightly smaller, I could barely squeeze into the egg.
A wyvern's neck and head really look like a snake's.
However, from below the neck, it's similar to an imaginary dragon.
Though where there should be front legs, there were wings instead, which was a rational body structure when you recall that birds' wings evolved from front legs.
The legs were sturdy enough to stand on two feet.
The tail end had hard protrusions that could be swung like a mace and help balance during flight.
The babies looked similar.
Though I as a snake had a longer body length, my head size was clearly smaller.
──────────────
[Little Black Wyvern lv1]
[Trait]
[Baby]
──────────────
That's what their status windows showed.
Similar to my own baby status.
It felt a bit different from the centipede triplets who were 'King Centipede Larvae'.
'Come to think of it, these ones are triplets too.'
It reminds me of the baby centipedes.
Ah, the wyverns weren't originally triplets but quadruplets.
They became triplets because of humans' foolishness.
Not knowing this, they were peeping and opening their mouths.
It was exactly like baby birds begging for food.
The Wyvern Queen, who had been cruel to humans, showed warm maternal instinct.
She regurgitated stored food to feed her babies.
The babies eagerly ate that warm and thick nutritional porridge.
It's a heartwarming sight just to watch.
'Urk!'
I barely held back the urge to vomit.
After one round, it was my turn again.
Then the other babies thrust their heads forward again to steal food.
"Peeee!"
"Peek!"
Though it was due to the babies' gluttony, I was very grateful.
So this is what sibling love feels like. Stay updated with m-v l|e'm,p y r
It's my first time experiencing it in life.
However, the siblings' consideration in trying to eat the terrible nutritional porridge instead of me was scattered.
"Kugak!"
The wyvern mom angrily slapped the babies with her tail.
"Kugagak, kugak!"
You're trying to steal your poor youngest sibling's food!
Have you lost your minds!
She seemed to be scolding them like that.
The other babies deflated and immediately closed their mouths. Spineless babies.
In the end, I had no choice but to consume the nutritional porridge again.
"Kolorororok!"
Urgh.
It's really a strange taste.
Through all the weird foods like hunchback bugs, blood moles, and mosquito rats.
Even with my training from countless strange foods, it wasn't easy to swallow.
But as they say, what's bitter in the mouth is good for the body.
The problem was that the nutritional porridge was incredibly rich in nutrients.
「You have consumed Oblivion Wyvern Queen Celeta's nutritional porridge.」
「Your body and magical essence are growing.」
I've never eaten anything like this in my life.
No wonder the babies rush in asking for nutritional porridge.
Their bodies visibly grew with each swallow of porridge.
However, maybe because I'm not really a baby, my body didn't grow bigger, but instead my scales became more lustrous.
Even that seemed to worry the wyvern mom.
She forcefully fed me more nutritional porridge.
"Kolorororok!"
「You have consumed Oblivion Wyvern Queen Celeta's nutritional porridge.」
「Your body and magical essence are growing.」
「Your level has increased.」
I even leveled up in the end.
I'm worried I might even evolve at this rate.
I'm concerned I might evolve into a Wyvern Python.
'But can you really evolve just by eating?'
"How else would those babies hunt and grow here? Puhuh."
I don't like Pelerian's laughter.
Still, this wyvern nutritional porridge must be truly amazing.
To think you can get stronger just by eating.
If rich people knew about this, wouldn't they try to eat it even at a steep price?
Then perhaps getting free nutritional porridge here is a precious stroke of luck.
Yes, it must be that...
Flick flick.
At that time, Isil, who was attached to my body, flicked its leaves as if dissatisfied.
It seemed to want a share too.
'Ah, I really wish I could share.'
The wyvern mom stroked my head and the babies' heads with her tail, looking pleased.
==
[Monster Information Snippet]
There is something called the imprinting effect seen in avian and flying-type monsters.
It means that newborn babies recognize the first thing they meet as their mother.
Because of this, there have been historical attempts to tame flying-type monsters.
The idea was that if you could just secure the egg intact, theoretically it would be very easy to domesticate them.
Before discussing the practical barriers, there's something not well known about the imprinting effect.
It's about the reverse-imprinting effect.
Just as babies consider the first thing they see as their mother, mother monsters can also mistake the first thing that hatches from an egg as their own baby.
Because of this, there are also monsters that lay their eggs in other monsters' nests and leave, like cuckoos practicing brood parasitism.
Believe it or not.
According to legend.
A fearless snake monster laid its egg in a dragon's nest and left.
And that dragon raised the snake thinking it was a baby dragon.
==
There were no mirrors here.
Though only three days had passed, somehow I felt like I'd gained weight.
It must be my imagination.
It's only been three days after all.
"What imagination? I told you you've gotten fat."
'Please say I've gained a good figure?'
It couldn't be helped.
The nutritional porridge was literally rich in nutrients.
And surprisingly, I had gotten used to the taste of the nutritional porridge.
It's more edible than I thought.
Since my past life's mother and father didn't cook, I don't know about mother's cooking taste, but.
This might be the true meaning of mother's cooking taste.
To be honest, it's much better than the food Mother Medusa gave. Maybe because there's no poison mixed in.
My body has become plump.
The good thing about being a snake is that, strangely, fat doesn't accumulate on the face.
My jawline stayed the same while just my figure improved.
That was just me though, not the other triplets.
"Pipipipi"
"Keeeeet!"
"Chuiii!"
They each had different crying sounds.
Maybe we could name them Pipi, Kei, and Chui.
The triplets had grown a head taller than three days ago.
Their wings, which had looked as small and meaningless as T-Rex front legs, had grown quite a bit.
Of course, the wings are still pathetically small for flying.
In fact, they don't even have proper skills yet.
Among them, the biggest and most spirited one is Pipi.
It seems she's the eldest sister among the three, and apparently female wyverns are bigger and stronger than males.
"Pipi..."
Pipi growled and bared her teeth at me.
With only one tooth grown in, it wasn't very threatening.
Surprisingly, among the four of us including me, I was the one who ate the most nutritional porridge.
I feel a bit sorry about taking the babies' food, but what can I do?
Being seen as the deficient youngest child without wings or legs, I'm force-fed the porridge.