Chapter 3732: Good Child (Part 1) "I said the same conditions!" Orpal’s left eye twitched in frustration. "Imagine you have the Life Maelstrom of a baby, not yours. Also, in this scenario, you can use Origin Flames and everything Leech has." "The one-minute estimate is by taking my full-powered Life Maelstrom into account." Jorl shook his head. "As for the rest, I don’t know the first thing about Origin Flames, let alone your brother’s Cursed ones. "I never had Davross equipment either, so I don’t know how to channel its elemental power either. Even if you were to give me all those things, I’d lack the mastery to use them properly." Orpal nodded, ruminating on those words and finding no fault in them. "Is this why you are so angry?" Jorl asked after the silence lasted so long that it became heavy. "Because you wouldn’t have survived the ambush either?" The Dead King tensed in fury, the veins on his neck bulged, and his eyes almost popped out of their sockets. He clenched his fists and teeth, but said nothing until he calmed down. "Yes." The admission hissed out of his mouth like a knife stabbing his heart. "I’m a Divine Beast too, now. I have a deep violet core. I have Life Maelstrom, Doom Tide, Origin Flames, Night’s expertise, and my equipment is Forgemastered out of Davross. "Yet no matter how many times we try, we can’t win once in our simulations. The best we can do is run away, and only because we are nigh impossible to kill." Jorl noticed how Orpal switched from "I" to "we" only when admitting his failures, but pretended not to. ’That’s a problem for the Horseman to fix. I only work here.’ The Storm Griffon thought. "I know." He actually said. "I didn’t mention my escape attempts because even though I might get away by flying at top speed with Life Maelstrom, it’s just a bet. Warping is impossible during an ambush, and Blinking is a liability. "To make matters worse, such limits don’t apply to my enemies, and I can’t deal with fourteen Awakened at once. Nobody, not even your brother, can. They just need to Warp around me to surround me, and then whittle my strength until I’m too weak to fight. "Even if I could use Invigoration, I’d need enough time to eat or I’d die of consumption." "Same." Orpal nodded, having no idea how close Jorl’s analysis had come to the truth. "Then how is it possible that Leech survived? How?" "I don’t know." Jorl shrugged. "There are too many variables since we know the race of origin of his assailants, but not their specializations. That said, I suggest we don’t fight your brother until we find something that puts us at least in that ballpark." "Isn’t that too little?" Orpal slumped on his bed. "No. Your brother doesn’t have access to Life Maelstrom, but we do." The Griffon replied. "If we time our attack away from his wife and children, he will be at one-tenth of the strength we must match. "Even with his Golems, the Davross equipment, and whatever he has up his sleeve, he can’t possibly make up for the missing nine-tenths." "What if Leech does?" Orpal asked, unwilling to underestimate his hated brother. "Then we’ll never catch up to him." Jorl shrugged. "I can live with being weaker than Verhen. I can spend the rest of my life in Jiera, for all I care. I can build my nest here, find a companion, and live happily ever after. The question is: can you?" *** Meanwhile, back at the Verhen Mansion. The news of Valeron the Second talking with his adoptive parents again and agreeing to take a stroll with them spread like wildfire through the members of the family. Hopefulness and joy filled the dining room during breakfast, but also silence. Everyone spent most of their time looking at the baby boy and shifted their gaze to their food the moment Valeron turned around to look at them. Only those capable of using mind links talked during the meal while the others just said a few words in ushed tones. No one knew or understood what had changed from the previous days, and everyone was afraid to do or say something that might stir Valeron’s sad memories and ruin that precious opportunity for reconciliation. Everyone but Elysia, of course. "Wah! Wah!" She found the silence as awkward as anyone else, but she wasn’t afraid to act on her fears. She flew to Valeron’s side every few minutes, hugging him tight and asking him if he had changed his mind. "No, Ely." He replied while returning the hug. "We walk." Valeron didn’t know what to make of the weird atmosphere and was a bit annoyed by Elysia’s constant need for reassurance. Yet the fear and worry he felt via the Dragon Scales every time they hugged made him patient. "Gods, they are so cute." Rena sniffled, and the rest of the family nodded in agreement. "Wah! Wah!" Shargein said with his chirping, rumbling voice in an impression of Elysia first and then Valeron. "Ely! Ely!" The two babies glared at the Wyrmling for mocking them, but Shargein lifted them both in his arms and licked their faces, covering them in slobber. "Less talk, more eat!" Shargein said, his tail whipping around with excitement. "Done eating, start playing!" His logic was flawless, for a baby. "Okay." Valeron had to admit that even though breakfast had started half an hour ago, he had barely touched his meal, and so had Elysia. "Yah!" Elysia giggled, licking the Wyrmling back. Shargein held Elysia carefully while dropping to the floor in his best slain Dragon act. His tongue lolled to the side of his mouth as he set the small Tiamat standing on his abdomen in what was supposed to resemble a victory pose. "Wih!" Elysia returned triumphant to her parents after defeating the much bigger Wyrmling. "Wih, Mama! Wih!" "Yes, baby girl." Kamila chuckled. "You won. You are a great warrior." "I’m proud of you, Elysia." Lith nodded. "Now eat. You have to preserve your strength." Solus offered the baby a bottle, and Elysia took big gulps of milk. The fight had been brief, but she had worked up quite an appetite. Valeron, however, winced at the childish play. Seeing a Tiamat slaying a Dragon hit too close to home for comfort. The grown-ups soon realized Shargein’s blunder, but there was nothing they could do. ’Shargein is just a baby.’ Everyone thought. ’He was just trying to be funny.’ Yet no matter how much they tried to rationalize the situation, the fear that Valeron would shut down again and cancel the playdate twisted their stomachs into knots. Valeron sighed heavily and then turned to Raaz. "Help." He pointed at the baby food. "Hungry." "I’m sorry, son. I spaced out." Raaz took a big spoonful of the soft cream, noticing Valeron wincing a second time when it was already too late. 𝒇𝓻𝓮𝓮𝙬𝙚𝒃𝒏𝓸𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝓬𝓸𝒎 "Dear!" Elina jumped from her seat. "Don’t call him like that." "I know he’s not..." Raaz stopped himself before it was too late. "I mean, he’s my... You know what I mean!" It was impossible to tell what hurt Valeron the most. If Elina’s words or Raaz’s.