Hunter Academy’s Battle God

"You haven't tried it, have you? Tomatoes and potatoes taste good with salt sprinkled on top... or was it sugar?" EunAh said as she looked around inside the fridge.

'P-potatoes and tomatoes...!' Velvet’s eyes hadn’t deceived her. It was clear from the moment EunAh entered the kitchen and clumsily rooted around the fridge that she was unfamiliar with cooking there.

'This could be a disaster!' Velvet surveyed the kitchen. The thought of having to eat boiled potatoes and raw tomatoes during her favorite time of the day—mealtime—was unbearable. She had to prevent it at any cost.

Zing- Papat—!

The dragon hatchling’s brain raced as she went through her memories and tried to come up with a solution.

'Kyahang! Got it!'

There was something even more important, though…

'I have to avoid hurting Mommy EunAh feelings!' Her being able to grasp EunAh’s strong-willed nature in such a short time was truly frightening.

"R-rather than that,” she said, “how about curry...? I've seen Mommy Sumire make it before! We have all the necessary ingredients here!"

"C-curry?" EunAh had only planned to slice tomatoes and steam potatoes. She looked visibly frustrated at the thought of having to make curry when she’d never even boiled an egg herself due to her privileged upbringing.

"Yes!” Velvet exclaimed. “I know how to make it! I saw Mommy Sumire do it! I can help!" Velvet wasn't planning to let go of the opportunity. If she backed down, she would have to eat boiled potatoes and raw tomatoes.

"So you want curry, huh…?" EunAh gave it a serious thought before making a decision. "Alright, I'll make it! I just need to follow the recipe!"

"Kyahang! I will help too!"

"Hey, what if you get hurt? Absolutely not. Just watch." Though Velvet seemed confident, EunAh didn't allow her to participate in the cooking due to the inherent danger.

"Okay! Got it! I’m a good dragon and will listen! I'll just quietly watch!" She thought it would be good to sit in a chair where she could see the kitchen clearly and watch EunAh cook.

"Let's see. First, I have to prepare the ingredients..." EunAh mumbled and wandered around the kitchen..

Upon seeing that, Velvet sneakily went to the fridge and took out the onions Sumire had prepared before. "Ahh! Mom! Check it out! There are some peeled onions here! It seems that Mommy Sumire prepared them beforehand!" Velvet exclaimed while pretending to be surprised.

EunAh was easily fooled. "Really? This is great. Was Sumire trying to make curry as well? Let's see… The recipe starts with onions..." The recipe EunAh knew of involved using caramelized onions sautéed in butter, but that was a high-difficulty technique requiring meticulous temperature control as the cook stirred the onions.

"Turn up the heat, put butter in the pan, then the onions... Do I just leave it like this for a while?" EunAh scratched her head while reading the recipe. Velvet looked relaxed, though, so it seemed like things were going ok.

"Kyahang~!" Velvet exclaimed after EunAh neglected the onion stir-fry for a while. 'Oh no, this is bad...' Caramelization was the most important thing in the onion stir-fry, and evenly distributing it over the head of the pan was crucial. If you don't stir the onions, though, they would burn before they caramelized.

'The onions will burn at this rate!' If she offered advice right then, she would hurt EunAh’s feeling, and she didn’t want to do anything to damage her mother’s pride.

"Huh... Does curry require so many carrots?" EunAh asked herself.

While the other girl was busy, Velvet cautiously approached the onions without making a sound and discreetly lowered the temperature.

'I'm glad...! With this temperature, they won't burn for a while...'

One minute, three minutes, five minutes… EunAh was struggling with something that would have taken Sumire 10 seconds.

"Huh, ah! The onions!" Although she'd stirred them later than what the recipe said, fortunately, none of them had burnt thanks to the genius dragon Velvet's touch!

'Phew, that's a relief!' She was proud, but it was still too early to celebrate. Things were just getting started, and she also secretly added ingredients EunAh had forgotten.

Swoosh—

After sneakily dumping the carrots in, she returned to her spot and pretended like nothing happened..

"Do I need to put all this in?" EunAh was about to add twice as much solid curry as the recipe called for, but Velvet quickly halved the curry when she wasn't looking as she guided EunAh without the girl realizing.

"What…?" Whenever EunAh felt that something was off, she looked at Velvet, but the dragonling always feigned ignorance.

"Kyahang! This dinosaur! Must be a dragon's friend!"

Despite having made more than 10 mistakes, EunAh's curry preparation was going too smoothly.

"It should be boiled enough now." EunAh finished up and dipped a spoon into the curry before lifting it to her mouth for a taste test.

"Huh...?" Contrary to the exclamation of surprise Velvet was expecting, EunAh looked serious. "What...?" Looking as if she wasn't sure it was right, EunAh tasted another spoonful of curry and then murmured, "Do I have a talent for cooking...?"

She completely misunderstood things, and Velvet, who'd actually made the dish successful, was exhausted but gave a thumbs up. "As expected, Mommy EunAh is impressive..."

* * *

* * *

As the International Competition approached, YuSung meticulously checked on his team’s practices.

'SiWoo and Sakura's synergy is almost perfect. Is it due to all the time they’ve spent together?' It was hard to believe it was Sakura and Lee SiWoo's first time preparing for a competition—they didn't even need his feedback.

'Isshin and Seiji are preparing in private. In that case, the only one left is Sumire...' Though he wanted to help her, his style of fighting and Sumire's necromancy were too different—he overpowered opponents through pure strength while she used her numerical superiority.

'In the end, I'll just have to trust her. The only variable is...' He recalled what Sumire had told him earlier as he entered the club room.

[YuSung! I've found a way to summon the bone dragon!]

Animate Dead… Sumire said the skill was the 1st Authority that Laplace had passed on to her. He knew that Sumire was growing at a frightening speed after obtaining the fragments, but it was hard to believe she’d already received an Authority and could summon a bone dragon.

'Her growth has been really impressive...' She was once called the worst student in class F, so her growth was truly dazzling, and YuSung’s curiosity as a hunter was piqued.

[That's why I need some time before the match!]

Why did she need time before the match? Was it to use Laplace’s Authority to summon the bone dragon? He couldn’t even imagine what kind of training she must’ve been doing, but his curiosity was about to be sated.

'It's time.' The sun was setting outside the window, and evening was coming. She’d agreed to meet with him, so his questions would be answered.

"Sumire, I'm coming in," he said before carefully opening the door to her room.

Laplace's special training was shrouded in mystery, and he couldn’t help but feel a surge of anticipation as he imagined how Sumire might be training, but when he opened the door…

"Ah... so it's already time..."

"Yawn... Daddy YuSung, are you here? Do you want to nap with us?" He saw Sumire and Velvet peacefully napping in their pajamas.

"So you were tired, Sumire..." YuSung's surprised expression turned into sympathy.

Sumire waved her hands in denial. "What? Ah, no! This is the method Laplace told me about! Velvet's mana can substitute a dragon's core."

She displayed a hologram from her Pocket.

[First Authority: Animate Dead]

[All processes related to the bone dragon are complete.]

[Familiar: Bone Dragon]

[Synchronization with the bone dragon familiar is complete.]

[Current Status: complete.]

Sumire had been hugging Velvet for a long time to exchange mana and summon the bone dragon.

Velvet nodded. "It was warm and cozy, so I liked it!"

YuSung looked at the proudly nodding young dragon in surprise. "So it's like a kind of battery...?" Though his metaphor was accurate, it sounded somewhat awkward.

"What?! Th-that's..." Even though Sumire tried to deny it, it was true that Velvet had essentially ‘charged’ her summoning.

"Right. I’m Mommy Sumire’s battery! You can always take my mana!" Hearing Velvet say it made Sumire feel like a villain who’d exploited a newly-born dragon.

"V-Velvet? Saying it like that might be a bit misleading..."

YuSung struck the nail home. "It’s hard to believe you used Velvet's mana as summoning material for the bone dragon. I wouldn't have thought of such a concept… Moreover, the amount of mana Velvet has fundamentally differs from the mana hunters have... That might be useful later."

The young Velvet still couldn't convert her infinite mana into combat power, but what if hunters like YuSung and Sumire could borrow her mana? The extent to which their efficiency could be enhanced was unknown.

"Using Velvet's mana... Amazing. That was a great idea, Sumire." It was a clear child, or rather, hatchling exploitation, yet YuSung was very serious.

"What? I… I just thought of this from a past experience..."

The story was diverging from how Sumire wanted it, but Velvet happily raised her hands in a cheer. "Kyahang! I’m happy to be mommy and daddy's battery!"

Their little family was quite unordinary.