Deep in the forest—
It was another fresh and vibrant morning.
A gentle mist hung between the trees, cloaking the woods in a quiet, silvery haze that made everything feel just a bit unreal.
—It was the kind of morning perfect for sleeping in.
But for some reason, the hatchling curled up in his cave couldn't settle down. He tossed and turned, restless.
With a dull scrape, he dragged a claw across the cave wall, carving a new notch into the stone. There were now four marks in total.
That meant it had been four days since he'd last seen the red she-dragon.
Which, to be fair, was probably quite normal… After all, dragons were long-lived creatures, especially purebloods like them. Their lifespans were measured in millennia.
A few days? That was nothing. Hardly more than the blink of an eye for a dragon.
Besides, he vaguely remembered that the girl called Artoria was always incredibly busy. She had to study to become king, run the household, help with farm work, patrol the village… Even in her sleep, that magician kept drilling lessons into her head. She barely had a moment to herself.
"Grruuu…"
"Compared to that, I really am kind of a layabout…"
Bluey glanced at his status bar, where the [Diligent Training] buff was still active, and felt he ought to do something.
But he had no idea what.
"Let's be honest, I'm just a hatchling. What am I even supposed to do?"
With that discouraging thought, his energy fizzled out again. He rolled over, turning his back on the foggy, frustrating morning outside.
Weather like this didn't exactly put one in the mood for hunting.
[Ding! Host's mood detected: gloomy.]
[Special quest triggered: The Hatchling's Playtime.]
[Quest Intro: True training isn't all hardship and grind. Balance between effort and rest is the real secret.]
[Quest Objective: Complete one mini-game.]
[Reward: +5 Growth Points.]
[Selecting mini-game…]
[Ding! You've drawn: "Building Blocks."]
Building blocks.
A learning game designed for children between the ages of 0 and 2.
Through matching shapes and colors, it was meant to develop imagination, creativity, and spatial awareness in infants.
But from Bluey's perspective… this was clearly a test of raw strength.
"These… these blocks are huge."
Massive chunks of white marble had been carved into various shapes—cubes, rectangles, cylinders, triangular prisms… Each one was over two meters tall.
Piled together, they formed a veritable marble mountain in the middle of the lush green forest.
Then, an image flashed into his mind—a blueprint. He had to replicate the structure shown on the blueprint within a time limit, using the marble blocks provided.
A house.
Or… something house-like. It resembled a fortress. Or maybe a shrine.
Whatever it was, it was huge. Grand. Angular. Symmetrical. The kind of building that looked both ancient and ceremonial.
…
Artoria had been very busy lately.
At first, she was only pretending to be busy. She knew that her recent behavior had made the people at home suspicious, so she returned to being the "obedient and responsible" Artoria, playing the good child for a while.
But before long, she was truly overwhelmed.
Sunny days had grown fewer and fewer. Overcast skies were becoming the norm. And anyone familiar with the climate of Britain knew exactly what that meant:
The rainy season was coming.
Technically, Britain had a temperate oceanic climate, with fairly even rainfall throughout the year. But that was in the past.
In recent years, extreme weather events had become more frequent. Flooding during the rainy season, drought in the dry season, harsh winters, and even the occasional earthquake…
The magician told her these were signs of the Age of Gods drawing to a close.
In other words, this island was like an aging body—breaking down, plagued with symptoms that had no cure.
And the king—or rather, the twin dragons of Britain—were like doctors. Their duty was to stabilize the land and heal its wounds.
"The Red Dragon of Britain and the White Dragon of Britain may be enemies, but they're both embodiments of this island's will… In an ideal world, their coexistence would prolong the land's survival."
"But that ideal is long gone."
"The White Dragon of Britain shattered the balance first. In order to oppose your father, the Red Dragon of Britain, Uther, he invited foreign blood to this land…"
"Now, there isn't much time left for the island."
"And to counter the White Dragon of Britain, who is no longer even human, your father asked me to create you—Britain's king, forged to carry the full mystery of the Red Dragon."
At night—when most would be sound asleep—the magician continued to teach the girl all a future King of Britain must know.
Artoria nodded slowly, not quite understanding.
She wasn't a magus. She couldn't grasp how delicate this "balance" truly was.
But she was curious.
The White Dragon… Wasn't that little guy a white dragon too? Could he be related to this White Dragon of Britain?
"Ah, no, not even a little."
"Tia, I think you're misunderstanding what 'dragon' means. That hatchling is a real dragon. You—and Vortigern's so-called 'dragon'—are what we call 'non-human.'"
"At the core, the distinction doesn't matter much. Both are apex beings."
"But there's a big difference between saying, 'Look, it's a dragon!' and, 'You're like a dragon.' Understand?"
The magician smiled as he explained, while casually casting his clairvoyance across the island.
In the depths of the forest, he spotted a certain little hatchling, staring confusedly at a mountain of oversized blocks.
Artoria let out a relieved breath.
Truth be told, for a moment there, she'd been genuinely worried.
If that little guy really was the prophesied White Dragon of Britain… what was she, as the Red Dragon of Britain, supposed to do?