Chapter 23 - Hunting trip (Part 1)

Thankfully this time, the update did not come with the loss of consciousness, nor would it require extensive research after the fact to understand all changes.

This time, when the system came back up, and Aiden could feel Enya's presence once again, she explained:

[This update was mostly to accommodate your power surges in the future. The innate ability you awakened to is related to a fused innate that your predecessor who acquired the Ancient Dragon life essence developed. This partial transformation, that is called the [Dragon's Wrath] will boost your power while giving you draconic abilities. This includes claws, wings, and most importantly, increased might. Your voice will carry the draconic heritage, which causes fear in low level creatures. You will also radiate your Draconic Aura that has similar effects.

All in all, it is a very powerful ability, but the drawback is, your current Soul Power can barely activate it for 3 seconds before you will overtax your reserves. You will need to be mindful of this and work on your power as much as you can.]

'How am I supposed to work on that? I just got it boosted, I still have no idea how to increase it naturally..' grumbled Aiden on the suggestion. All he can do is to make another mental note to himself to keep an eye on techniques in the world, and maybe ask Granny if he knows anything about it. While it's doubtful, it still should be worth a try, right?

Sighing deeply, he sat down next to Lily in front of the fireplace, while taking another tart. Lily's face was messed up with the remains of multiple destroyed desserts by now, but seeing Aiden picking up one, she also picked a new prey to munch on.

"Ehehe, brother let's see who can eat it faster! On 3….2...1 GO!" Not waiting for Aiden's answer, she immediately started devouring her piece of tart.

AIden, smiled at her shenanigans, but still decided to play along. He did skip all day and have not spent any active time with the little girl, so he felt like he owes a lot to her. He started cramming down his piece, but relatively slower. He could actually just simply absorb the whole piece and let his wondrous insides do the work processing it, but then he would skip the most important part of eating desserts, the tasting!

He would also ruin the spirit of the game, as he felt like doing that would be cheating. A fair fight would make this mini competition much more enjoyable, and he could also let her win.

Of course, not to everyone's surprise Lily did finish her piece much faster than Aiden. Seeing that he was still eating the last scraps, she sported a haughty victory pose, and with a boisterous laughter, she exclaimed her victory!

"Haha! I won! For that, you will have to give me a prize!"

Thinking about it for a few seconds, Aiden got up, walked towards the still celebrating lady, and hugged her. Kissing her on the cheek, he whispered to her ears.

"Congratulations big sister."

The sudden turn of events shocked Lily to her core and made her stunned for a few seconds before she could come back, and immediately return the hug and the smooch on his cheeks.

"Ehehe of course little brother! This is the best prize I could receive!"

Meanwhile, Granny was watching them from the kitchen with her trademark gentle smile on her face. Seeing these 2 getting closer to each other each passing day, gave her so much joy. She wished for nothing but them to slowly develop a bond and rely on each other in the future. The world out there is cruel, especially if you are a half-breed like Lily. Having a strong and reliable boy like Aiden watching and supporting her, would be everything she could hope for.

Letting out a cough to bring attention to herself, Granny walked into the room, and sat in front of the fireplace.

"We will go into the forest tomorrow to hunt for some game. We need to get some new meat for Aiden, he consumed all we had."

Scratching his head, Aiden smiled wryly while giving a whispering "Sorry." in embarrassment.

Granny laughed at it, then continued.

"Don't worry Aiden, it's okay. Me and Lily do not eat that much meat, so it's understandable that you would go through our stock in such a short time. One important note that I will make here, and Lily already knows this, that we do not kill the forest animals unnecessarily. Unless they attack us first or show hostility, we do not hurt innocents. We live with the forest and follow the rules of the forest."

Giving a momentary pause for increased effect, she exhaled then continued.

"That being said, there's plenty of wildlife out there. We could go out and look for wolves to hunt for. While they mostly hunt in packs at night, there are some activity from them during the day as well. Since we only need a few, I suggest we go out tomorrow morning and look for them."

Aiden nodded his head in confirmation. What she said was reasonable and he was already looking forward to fighting them, as he could finally test his strength in a real-life situation. While he could not sense any power from Granny, something told him that she is far from being weak and as fragile as she looks.

Seeing the expectant look in Aiden's eyes, Granny's smile grew wilder.

"Tomorrow I would like you to fight the wolves alone Aiden. Lily and I will be watching, in case you would need help, but I can tell you are eager to test out your limits, am I right?"

"Yes, thank you Granny." answered Aiden.

With a pleading look in her eyes, Lily jumped into the conversation as well.

"Can I help him Granny? I want to hunt with brother tomorrow!"

However, that did not help her cause, Granny shook his head in denial.

"We will let Aiden fight alone tomorrow mainly. Unless he needs our help, we will just watch. There will be time in the future for you to spend time with your brother, but for now, let him test his limits, and get familiar with his might. You and I can gather the rest of the food we would need for tomorrow. Depending on how much we gather and hunt we could have a small feast to celebrate our first adventure as a family. What do you guys say?"

Lily's hands immediately shot up to the sky upon hearing the news and her cheerful giggle resounded in the house.

"YOSH! Our first family trip!"

Aiden's generally stoic and expressionless face also morphed into a smile hearing this, and nodding his head, he thanked.

"Thank you Granny. I would very much like that. I will do my very best to face my enemies in fair combat."

Giggling at his response, Lily rebutted.

"This is not a duel brother. We will be hunting. While we do not hurt the cute ones, the wolves are mean and nasty, so they needed to be taught a good lesson! Beat them up good!" At the end her right fist was once again in the air giving more power to her exclamation.

---

They talked a bit more about planning tomorrow's trip while enjoying the last pieces of the delicious dessert, before returning to their beds to end the day. Today was eventful, and thankfully nobody got hurt, and Aiden also managed to awaken to a new ability and further his understanding of his new draconic self and heritage.

---

As the first rays of the sun shine through the rounded windows lighting up the room, Lily was already awake and being very energetic, running around the room searching for various parts for her 'battle attire'.

Aiden woke up to the sound of laughter, feet trotting all around him. Groggily looking around, seeing the little energizer bunny scurrying from one end to the other in the room, he couldn't help but ask.

"Morning Lily. What are you doing so early?"

Looking at him with a wide grin on her face, she explained.

"I need my lucky socks, so we will return with a lot of sweets today." Her grin turning to a pout she continued. "It's just that… I can't find them anywhere!"

Sighing, Aiden advised.

"Instead of running around, why don't you ask Granny about it? She might know where it is. Besides, running around will just tire you out and you will have no energy left in the afternoon."

Surprise visible on her face, as if she just realized the solution to all her problems, she bolted out of the room, while crying a loud "Thanks brother!", probably also alerting Granny of the incoming "danger".

Smiling, Aiden laid back on the bed, while muttering a low "Just a little bit more…" Just like Lily, he was also looking forward to today's adventure..