Other than feeling a rush of energy and heat travel up my arm, nothing happens. Maybe it is because my Fire Resist cannot go any higher, but it is a waste of an orb. Again I take the time to draw out another orb of energy, but this time I directly swallow it.

*DING*

Core Upgrade Process: Complete!

Rank 5: HP +500, MP +300, Stat Points +10!

*DING*

Congratulations! Skill Fire & Lightning Mastery has progressed to level 3!

Fire & Lightning Mastery

Level: 3

All Fire and Lightning spells have an extra 30% effect.

While that is not what I was expecting, at least the orb wasn't wasted this time. The gem only has a limited amount of energy for me to steal from it. For now, I think it is a better idea for me to save the energy for feeding Mulan and the egg.

After putting the gem away, just as I am about to meditate, I hear a cracking sound. When I look over at the drake egg I see a small crack on the top of it. A second later the egg rocks and with a loud sound the crack grows much larger.

A minute later a chunk of the egg breaks free and a little red head pokes out. The drake looks around, then looks up at me and lets out a little burp of fire. It looks at me for a minute and then goes back to struggling to break out of the egg.

With a few careful taps of my claw, I help the little drake break the rest of the egg. As soon as it is free it turns around and starts eating the shell of the egg. I am glad to see that it is a female drake, a male would have made Ekard really jealous.

A female on the other hand, could end up being really beneficial for Ekard. If nothing else, someone else who grows as slowly as he does should cheer him up. She finishes eating all of her egg shell and then looks around as if looking for more.

To see which she prefers I offer her both raw meat and magical fire, she goes for the meat. So, for the next few minutes I feed her small pieces of raw meat until she is full. By then her stomach looks like it is half her body and she curls up and goes to sleep.

It will be interesting to see what Mulan makes of her when she wakes up. Hopefully the two of them will get along otherwise I might have to think of a new name for the drake. I will just have to wait and see how things go, for now I will move on to my other experiment.

Taking the food pouch of my belt I start scanning it with my mana to study the enchantments. The enchantments are made of divine power, but I can still see them using mana. Despite the differences between the powers, the enchantments still follow the same rules.

Or at least that is what I thought, but looking at these enchants changes my mind. It is so different that it takes me a few minutes just to figure out what I am looking at. The enchantments are the same, yet the way they are arranged is completely new to me.

It is elegant and efficient in a way that I didn't know enchantments could be. Compared to this the other enchants I have seen were just a mess of spaghetti. I get completely lost in studying the enchantments and a couple of hours pass.

Lin says "Ash, why are you just staring at your pouch? Oh, the egg hatched?!"

"Ah, you are awake. I was studying the enchantments of the pouch. Yes, she hatched not long after you went to sleep."

Lin says "She is so cute! Can I pet her?"

"Later, wait till she wakes up. She was only awake for a few minutes after hatching. It wouldn't be a good idea to startle her."

Lin says "Alright, that makes sense. I still can't believe you were able to get that egg to hatch."

"If I wasn't confident, I wouldn't have bought the egg."

Lin says "Did you name her? I didn't hear any thunder."

"Not yet. My mana isn't full and I wasn't sure naming her right away would be a good idea."

Lin says "That's understandable. So, what was so interesting about the enchantments on the pouch?"

"They are done in a way I have never seen before. Not to mention they were done by goddesses."

Lin says "What? Really? Would it be alright if I take a look?"

"Sure, go ahead."

Lin sits down next to me and we both study the food pouch for a while. I am not sure how much Lin knows about enchanting, we haven't really talked about it. I continue to study the enchantments until I hear a chirping sound from the fire.

Mulan has woken up and is looking at the baby drake and chirping at her. This wakes up the baby drake who yawns and then looks around curiously. The drake looks at Mulan, then at Lin, then at me, and then starts moving towards me.

I move my head, which is bigger than the drake, close to the fire where she can reach me. She moves up to me and rubs her head against the side of my face while making a noise. This noise is half growl and half purr, but it is absolutely adorable.

"She is so cute!!"

Mulan comes over and also starts rubbing against my face while chirping. I let them rub against my face for a bit and then I start licking the two of them. It isn't exactly pleasant, but it is what my instincts are telling me to do.

Lin says "This is so cute I could die! This is so unfair!"

"How is it unfair?"

Lin says "Do you not know how cuteness of this level can melt a woman's heart?"

"How would I possibly know that?!"

Taking out some more raw meat I tear it into tiny pieces to feed to the two of them. The drake only eats a few pieces before losing interest and approaching Lin. Mulan however keeps eating while the drake is getting petted by Lin.

This is the first time she has had real food and Mulan seems to be really enjoying it. The drake lets Lin pet her for a while and then climbs out of the fire to explore the room. She may be small, but she is moving around quite easily as she explores.

She goes all the way around the room and only stops when she reaches Nala and Albion. She sniffs at them and then quickly runs back to where I am feeding Mulan. She makes a little meep sound at me so I gently lift her back into the fire and offer her some meat.

Both Mulan and the drake eat until their stomachs are bulging and then curl up together. They quickly fall asleep, but the fact that they curled up together is encouraging. They also didn't fight or complain when I was feeding them one by one.