Chapter 4134: New Normal (Part 1) "What do you mean?" Kalla asked in puzzlement. "We lived together in Lightkeep. I never left Vladion’s home for over a year, and neither did you. How could you miss me?" "No, I lived in Uncle Vlad’s home. You segregated yourself in your lab!" Nyka snorted. "I managed to see you only once in a few months, and when I did, you couldn’t wait to get rid of me. "Now we eat together, spend time together, and even take a walk while talking about books that aren’t about magic." "Was I such an absent mother?" Kalla was flabbergasted. "Mom, what do you remember of the past year? Before we moved in with Lith?" The vampire asked. "One moment." The Wight pulled out the notebook she used to plan her daily activities back at Lightkeep. Due to her forgetful nature, Kalla had marked breaks to drink, eat, and even go to the bathroom. Fainting due to hunger, thirst, and "sudden" stomach pain had ruined one experiment too many, forcing Kalla to include those breaks in her schedule. She knew that wasting so much time to indulge her physical needs annoyed her because she had left plenty of whining notes along the margins of the pages. "It seems I kept myself busy." The Wight could feel a scolding looming over her head, so she did her best to soften the blow. "You can say that." Nyka snarled. "How many times is my name and Nok’s written in there?" "Well..." Kalla flipped the pages, finding mostly identical repetitions of the same day and whining. "Over ten times!" She said, hoping no question about those ten times would follow. "Let me guess, it’s always something along the lines: ’remember to scold Nyka for interrupting me in the middle of my research’ or ’say happy birthday to Nok because if I forget about it again, my children will never let me hear the end of it’." "I don’t know what you are talking about!" Kalla said while setting the notebook ablaze with first magic to destroy the evidence of Nyka’s claims. "How can you have such a low opinion of your mother?" "First, I was there. You read out of that notebook every time you had a ’spontaneous desire for quality family time’ with us. Second, I can see you trying to destroy the evidence!" A quick spell snatched the notebook and doused the flames. "Fine." The Wight sighed, rolling onto her side. "I’m sorry. I missed you too, dear. At least, I think I did. Please, be merciful and don’t make me suffer too much." "Mom, why do you always assume I’m going to kill you?" "Because you always do. You attempted on my life yesterday." Kalla replied "That was a nightmare, Mom! It never happened, just like Nok never led a greed of Fire Dragons to storm your lab and steal the Eyes of Menadion." Nyka wanted to scream in frustration. "We are not responsible for your imagination." "Then how do you explain that my Eyes are missing?" Kalla whined. "For the umpteenth time, Mom, you gave the Eyes to the Fire Dragons of your own will!" Nyka replied. "They’ll return it to you in a few months and give you their Ears of Menadion." "Gods, I can’t believe those two have this very same conversation once a week." Kamila chuckled as fury and frustration lit the Vampire’s eyes with blazing red light. "That’s an improvement." Selia said. "Until a while ago, it was once per day, and Kalla asked me who I was every time we met." "Please, be silent, Mom." Leran said. "This is hard." He was the youngest of the group and had Awakened last. Keeping control of one of the six elements of Silverwing’s Hexagram required Leran’s full focus. "I’m sorry, dear." Selia Hushed her son and kept talking. "I know that you have Awakened before all of us, and you are at the apex of the pregnancy boost, Kami, but your talent for magic is impressive. "I don’t think I would be able to hold my part of the Hexagram while having a snack, even if I had much more experience with the exercise and a green mana core like you." "What are you talking about?" Kamila said while getting rid of her craving for salted meat and onion rings. "Aran and Leria are covering for me, like they always do when I have to take a break." "I can’t handle two elements at a time, Sis Kami." Aran said. "I only have a deep green core." 𝗳𝐫𝚎𝗲𝚠𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝘃𝚎𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝗺 "Same." Leria sighed. "We are seven years old already, but Uncle Lith forbade us from practicing Accumulation for more than two hours a day until our bodies get stronger. Besides, if we took over for you, the elemental light above your head would disappear." "Then how is it poss-" Kamila choked on her words and half an onion ring as the only possible answer dawned on her. "Ral?" As if answering to her question, a short burst of red Origin Flames incinerated the onion ring stuck in her throat. "No, no, no!" Kamila took deep breaths to calm down and regain control of her portion of the Hexagram. "I’m so sorry, Ral! Mommy didn’t want to make you worry. Please, don’t be like your dad and stop training. You are too young for that!" Normally, controlling and balancing a single element of Silverwing’s Hexagram would have been impossible for a red core like Raldarak. Yet just like his mother drew strength and mana from him, he could draw strength and mana from her if necessary. The child had learned the exercise by rote after experiencing it countless times through Kamila’s body. Since his mother did it often and carefully, Raldarak assumed it was important and helped her however he could. The moment Kamila focused on the array, the baby boy fell asleep. "Grandpa, help!" Kamila called, and Leegaain answered immediately. The Guardian’s human form looked like an albino man about 1,76 meters (5’9") with a lean build, silver hair, and vertical slitted pupils, just like usual. For the occasion, however, he donned an elegant black mage robe with gold embroideries. Aside from the color and the much higher quality, it closely resembled Lith’s Supreme Magus uniform. Moreover, Leegaain’s irises were one black and the other red. "Dragon blood, you are my only true friend. You never disappoint me." He said as he walked through the dimensional opening, grinning from ear to ear and smiling at Kamila’s womb like a loving father staring at his firstborn. "Is Ral ok? Did practicing magic so soon endanger him in any way?" The Guardian’s proud expression annoyed Kamila to no end and made her feel stupid for asking such a question, but she needed to be sure not to have hurt her son. "Of course, he’s okay." Leegaain replied while cooing at her swollen belly. "He’s perfect. Didn’t you see what a good, smart baby boy he is? He handled that Hexagram like a real mage." "He’s not a mage. He’s a baby!" Kamila snarled. "For the gods’... I mean, Mogar’s sake, he’s not even born yet." "All the more reasons to be proud of him." Leegaain tutted. "Why do you think I’m wearing this ostentatious bathrobe and my eyes look like this? You have finally noticed Ral’s talent, and we have to celebrate the good news!"