Titan King: Ascension of the Giant Chapter 1712 The Dragon's Progeny

"The Great Dragon King of Light? That old man who kept a World Dragon's egg squirreled away? Isn't he a fourth-stage demigod codger? Brother—is he really that strong?" Casting his mind back to the egg-theft, Leonidas pulled an awkward, rueful face. If Commander hadn't stepped in, that old dragon would have had the lot of them brothers cold.

"His true tier is Demigod Artifact. He throttled his own cultivation down by force to feed the egg." That came from Commander. He'd seen straight through Mondusath at the time, known Leonidas, Orion, and the rest couldn't handle him, and that was why he'd stepped in to pull them out.

"Without the egg, that dragon's got no reason to keep his cultivation choked down. If he comes to the Mirage Void, he's got a shot at sixth stage—he's fit to be an ally of ours." Any demigod with a chance at sixth stage was, for now, a great asset to the Stoneheart Horde, a key piece for taking on the Mirage Void's twelve Sovereigns down the line.

"Our next plan is to push the borders out fast, and Mondusath's arrival can speed it along. On the surface, he's not an enemy now." Orion looked at Leonidas and Alexander, setting Mondusath's baseline. "If he dares make a play for the World Dragon, I'll gut him with my own hands."

Just now, meeting Leonidas's eyes, Orion had caught the worry in both his brothers' gazes. Leaving aside the egg Arthas had sunk into the Ever-Burning Volcano, Leonidas, Alexander, Edward, and Elara were all exposed—Leonidas most of all, whose World Dragon avatar stood watch right out on the Bastion Wall, easy for Mondusath to catch wind of.

"Say, what'd you all do with those eggs of yours, anyhow? Why haven't you hatched them yet?" Leonidas swept his eyes over the Deputy Commander, Alexander, and Orion, itching with curiosity, a maddening itch until he got it answered.

"Used it to grow a body. Still in the forging." When Alexander made demigod, he'd gone into the blade body and soul and lost his physical form; the egg he'd meant to forge into a killing avatar he'd ended up forging into a body of his own. That was the call he'd made after he climbed Blade's Edge Peak and got Commander's guidance. As Commander put it: since you're a sword now, a sword's bound to have a master. Commander asked Alexander—do you want someone else to be your master, or to be your own? No question, Alexander chose the latter.

"Mine, don't ask. Ask and I still won't tell." Deputy Commander Edward played it close to the vest. Since getting his World Dragon egg, he'd never raised the matter again; no one knew what he was tinkering at.

"Brother, what about you? I recall you had two eggs." Leonidas turned to Orion, the curiosity in his eyes not dimmed a whit.

"One I swallowed. One I gave to Elara—she's a world-spirit, and to her the egg's like a key to unlock a world. The little one's strength is climbing fast. I figure it won't be long before she makes demigod." Orion smiled. Among his children, someone was finally about to come into their own.

Smiling alongside him was Deputy Commander Edward—Elara was his student. If Elara made demigod, that was as good as graduating. To turn out a demigod student—what good fortune, what a feather in the cap.

"A demigod student—tsk, tsk." Leonidas was deep in envy. A student of demigod rank—the thought alone set his mouth watering. A thing like that wasn't just prestige to speak of abroad; it was a great asset besides. Master and student—their two powers would league together, watch over each other in the face of an enemy. The bond between master and student might even prove more reliable than the one among these old brothers of theirs.

"Mm—looks like I'd best get back to the waking world and find the time to train up Pallas." Leonidas muttered it, then lifted his head toward Orion. "Brother, that boy of yours carries your bloodline—he'll make demigod fine, won't he?"

Orion gave a soft laugh and shook his head, not answering Leonidas.

"Kaelen's strength is climbing fast too. Just no telling whether he can grasp his own rule quickly and make demigod on the early side." On the subject of students, Alexander looked down at the Blackstone City below, his gaze seeming to pass through layer on layer of buildings and come to rest on Kaelen, deep in quiet cultivation in the Horde Hall.

"The fourth boy—it'll be a bit of a hard road." Orion looked toward the Horde Hall too. Kaelen came of the Dark Butterfly Race, and when he rose to lord he'd done it by way of a Lord's Stone, not by self-awakening, still less born to lordship. On that count alone, Kaelen started from lower ground than his brothers. Even Pallas had the higher start there. When Pallas rose to lord, Orion had handpicked the Lord's Stone himself, and lent his bloodline power to the ascension besides. Before he ever rose, the little one had taken bloodline gifts more than once, instead of having his bloodline set early the way Kaelen's was by an early lord-ascension.

"He's got the dream-butterfly body. As long as he fights enough, the chance is bound to come." Alexander was full of faith in Kaelen; he knew the boy's temper.

"Right—brother, you've got an avatar stationed in the Stoneheart Horde, haven't you?" Orion shot Leonidas a sidelong look. As a rule, when this brother used that tone, no good was coming.

"Got an Insect King avatar there. You're asking because—something up?"

"Daize laid eggs!"

The mood went dead quiet all at once. It took the group a beat to catch up.

"You free? Fancy taking on a student? I'll ship that boy of mine over to the Stoneheart Horde to pour your tea and fetch your water."

Orion was a little lost. Commander, the Deputy Commander, Alexander—even Kaidric stared at Leonidas in plain surprise.

"Daize? That mother dragon that turned up in the Emerald Dream Realm? She laid eggs? Yours? The eggs hatched? The hatchlings well-gifted?" Alexander's string of questions snapped it into place for Orion and the Deputy Commander—only then did they recall who Daize was.

"Heh heh—my little scamp's gifted past belief. Doesn't match the divine-nature bloodline of your brood, brother, but it's a fine thing all the same. Stronger than me—born with the makings of a demigod."