Garrett sincerely hoped that one day he could hold Cirillaâs hand and tell her they had a dragonâs nest. A place where she could freely transform into her dragon form, spread her wings, stretch her neck, spin around, and roll on the ground.
No longer confined to a human shape, unable to stretch properly. When it was time to sleep and advance in stages, she wouldnât have to endure drowsiness, running around to find a suitable placeâ
Not to mention having to haggle with people and even sell the right to be researched just to afford staying at a dragonâs nest hotel!
When had the little princess of the Moonlight family ever suffered such grievances?
Of course... the wording needed to be carefully chosen. Otherwise, it might sound like that well-known phrase from his previous life:
"Cirilla, this is the fish pond I contracted for you..."
At least the fish pond had returns. A dragonâs nest was all expenditure with no returns. Even if you threw in a pile of gold coins, it wouldnât reproduce or generate more gold coins or even silver coins.
But unfortunately, it couldnât be said yet. Although the dragonâs nest was built (having drained the reserves of the Mage Tower), its owner hadnât returned. Miss Cirilla Moonlight was still sound asleep in the dragonâs nest hotel!
How long was she going to sleep?
Didnât they say half a year to a year? It had been more than half a year already!
Garrett went to the dragonâs nest hotel again. This time, Archmage Josh Pennington of the Conjuration School, still rooted in the nearby research lab, was busy with his team, sweating profusely.
"Oh, Master Nordmark, youâre here again~~~"
Archmage Pennington gave Garrett a knowing, slightly teasing smile. He had just said that when the instruments behind him started beeping, and he turned back:
"Quickly! Quickly! This waveform is crucial!" The archmage roared, his eyes, which had been smiling just a moment ago, suddenly turned bloodshot:
"Record the changes in elemental composition! Every time this waveform appears, it accompanies rapid growth in length and weight, not a single bit of data can be missed!"
The research lab was as large as two classrooms, filled with instruments of all sizes. A dozen or so mages were operating, recording, calculating, and running around like chickens with their heads cut off under the archmageâs yelling.
After a round of yelling and running, Archmage Pennington saw a pattern emerging on a light screen, and then he slowly walked back, laughing awkwardly:
"Master Nordmark, donât laugh at us. This waveform is so rareâitâs only appeared five times in the past half year! The first two times we didnât grasp the pattern, and some data was missed..."
Garrett stared at him silently. One second, two seconds... Finally, Archmage Pennington scratched his gray hair and laughed:
"Ah, Master Nordmark, Iâm really sorry. Thereâs no helping it, recording the progression of a dragon is too precious. The last time the council did this research was..."
He suddenly swallowed the rest of his words. Garrett stared at his messy hair and silently thought:
Alright, judging by your behavior, itâs been a hundred, two hundred years since youâve done this study? Youâve forgotten yourselves?
Pity I didnât check the library for papers before negotiating terms with them, to see how many relevant papers there were, how recent they were, and what results were discovered.
If I had checked and found the earliest live observation data was from hundreds of years ago, or the recent data was all from dissections, maybe I could have negotiated better terms for Cirilla, reducing the number of observation projects?
"Come, come, look at our recent results." As Garrett was regretting, Archmage Pennington had already raised his hand to lead him further in:
"In the past half month, Miss Silver Dragonâs length has grown significantly, suggesting she has entered a rapid growth phase."
The archmage pressed a few buttons on an instrument, and Garrett immediately saw it project a light screen, divided into three sections, showing silhouettes from three directions. He silently translated in his mind:
"Front view, side view, top view..."
Although the silhouettes were jagged and looked like theyâd been chewed by a dog, the archmage didnât seem to mind, or maybe he was used to it. After pressing a few more buttons, the silhouettes rotated and combined quickly.
Garrett suddenly smiled:
Isnât this just like my CT scan idea!
Using measurement data from various points and directions to piece together the final external contour!
Sure enough, Cirillaâs figure began to appear in the light shadow. Only the external contour, no details, parts covered by dragon wings or under the body werenât differentiated.
Clearly, the mages from the Conjuration School had adhered to the contract, using only visible light for measurement.
But Cirilla sleeping in her dragon form did curl up, wrapping her wings around herself... In that case, ten thousand silver coins would be enough to cover a bed...
Garrett thought silently.
"In the past half month, Miss Silver Dragonâs length has increased from 14.5 meters to 16 meters." Archmage Pennington quickly explained:
"This is the data weâve measured, since she is always curled up, this length doesnât include most of the head and neck but does include a small part of the tail."
Always?
Is her sleeping posture really that good?
Garrett suspiciously stared at the screen. From Cirillaâs words, it seemed she used to sleep sideways often!
"...We estimate her length to be close to 20, maybe 21 meters, very close to adult dragon data. Her weight hasnât increased much, recently even decreased by half, but there are anomalies in wind elemental activity..."
At this, Archmage Pennington started pulling his hair again. He moved to another instrument, operated it, and pulled up a curve for Garrett to see:
"One and a half months ago, Miss Silver Dragonâs weight peaked, presumably due to heavy eatingâthen it began to slowly decrease. Ten days ago, the rate of decrease suddenly accelerated, and wind elements began to gather in large quantities simultaneously,"
He sighed in frustration:
"Sigh, this makes the weight measurement inaccurate..."
Inaccurate is good. Garrett finally felt a bit happier:
If it werenât for necessity, he wouldnât want Cirilla to be observed and measured like this. Length, tail length, wingspan, weight. These are all a girlâs private matters, shouldnât be casually known!
Ah, when thereâs a dragonâs nest, Cirilla can advance in her own Mage Tower, both safe and private!
From another perspective, the inaccuracy was also good news:
Silver dragons naturally master the Feather-fall spell and gain the ability to control wind elements upon reaching adulthood. The gathering of wind elements should be an inevitable process during adulthood?
"What has she been eating lately?"
"Miss hasnât made any requests." Archmage Pennington sighed again in frustration:
"Previously, she would leave notes or shout into the transmitter, and weâd prepare according to her requests. These past few months, she hasnât made any requests, so weâve been sending in large quantities of magical beast meat, magical crystal minerals, and metals according to past records..."
But they didnât know if she ate, how much she ate, or which ones she chose. They also didnât know if she would take any with her. Garrett silently added for him.
Given Cirillaâs character, she probably didnât care for magical beast meat. If she didnât finish the shiny magical crystals and metals, she would almost certainly pack them upâ
By the way, how large is Cirillaâs spatial equipment capacity? Garrett had never asked, only knew she never seemed to worry about running out of space...
"Teacher! Sheâs moving!"
Someone suddenly shouted from one end of the room. Almost simultaneously, nearly all the instruments started beeping:
"Beep beep beepâ"
"Woo la woo la woo la~~~"
"Tootâtootâtootâ"
Archmage Pennington could no longer spare time to chat with Garrett and flew over. Garrett scanned the room, and for a moment, his heart started racing:
This chaotic beeping and jumping lines on the screens were so similar to the ICU, to the busy emergency room at night!
Although he couldnât see the patient, the instrument frequencies were enough to make him nervous!
Garrett looked around and rushed to the first instrument. On it, the dragon silhouette formed by the light lines was indeed changing dramatically:
The broad dragon wings spread out, flapped once, and then again. Then, the entire body turned from vertical to horizontal. After a 90-degree turn, it rolled over, and the wings spread out again.
The ends of the wings and the long neck pressed against the ground simultaneously. Stretching as much as possible, the back arched, forming a bridge.
Garrett: "..."
Cirilla, where did you get so many strange sleeping postures from? If it were in human form, I could understand this pose, but in dragon form, this could easily break your neck!
The little dragon made of light turned left and right, spinning around. After a while, it suddenly landed on its feet, flapping its wings and raising its head. The head lifted to its highest point, opened its mouth, and tried to stretch upwardsâ
"Our receiver!"
A mage screamed and jumped up. Beside him, another middle-aged mage sighed and patted him:
"Condolences. Havenât you gotten used to it?"
Is Cirilla awake?
Or just tossing around half-asleep?
Garrett wasnât sure and kept his eyes glued to the screen, hoping to see more details. Soon, a red light on the wall lit up, and a familiar, clear, and grand voice echoed through the lab:
"Iâm awake! Iâm hungry! I wantâto eat!"
"Miss wants to eat! Get ready!" Half the mages jumped up and
rushed out of the lab. Garrett ran in the opposite direction, rushing to the instrument that had made the sound and shouted into it:
"Cirilla, are you awake?"
"Iâm awake!" Luckily, this instrument allowed for two-way communication. Cirillaâs voice immediately rose, surprised and delighted:
"Garrett, are you outside? Where are you?"
Please take a moment to rate this novel at Novelupdate.