Viserys withdrew his hand, looking at the small wound on his palm that was healing rapidly and the dragon eggs that had gained a slight luster.
Afterward, they tried adding "Flame Catalysis." Ghidorah controlled a wisp of gentle Dragonfire to evenly scorch the surface of the dragon eggs. Under the stimulation of high temperature, the energy inside the dragon eggs became active and restless, absorbing the smeared blood and magic power faster than before. For a time, the cave was filled with a scorching aura and the hum of energy.
However, just like the last attempt, when it was about to reach a certain critical point, the energy inside the dragon eggs seemed to peak, and then the absorption speed slowly dropped back. The dragon eggs looked no different than before, except that their life fluctuations were slightly stronger.
After a long period of blood nourishment and high-intensity magic guidance, Viserys was somewhat out of breath. However, this method was acceptable; it was at least faster than before and could save a lot of time, which was good progress.
"We can simulate a Magic Tide," Ghidorah suggested at this point.
"Dragons are magical creatures; their birth is closely related to the external magical environment." Ghidorah's thoughts transmitted into Viserys's mind. "Currently, this world is in a magic trough, so the young dragons in the eggs have fallen into a deep slumber to minimize consumption while waiting for the timing of magic's resurgence. Those three completely petrified dragon eggs likely exhausted all their internal energy and died over the long years due to the lack of external magic replenishment, leading to their petrification."
Viserys stared intently at the nine warm dragon eggs before him, feeling the faint but definitely present life within them. "So the current bottleneck is that we are providing the energy, but the sleeping consciousness of the hatchlings cannot actively absorb it?"
"That should be it. The energy you and I instill is like pouring water into a tightly closed door; if the door doesn't open, the water can only accumulate outside and seep through the cracks bit by bit. But if we force it 'broken' from the outside, at best it might damage the hatchlings' intelligence, and at worst it could directly destroy their lives."
She paused and continued, "But we can deceive them."
"Deceive?"
"Yes, we can create a miniature 'Magic Tide.' The magical environment of Valyria is somewhat more active than in other places, but it's still far from enough. However, if we can artificially create a 'Magic Peak' environment, we might be able to awaken the sleeping conscious instincts of the hatchlings, making them mistakenly believe it is time to recover, causing them to actively absorb energy from within and break their shells."
A flash of realization crossed Viserys's eyes. "Breaking the shell from the inside out is far safer than external catalysis."
"Exactly." Ghidorah began to mobilize the magic power within her body, and points of magic light invisible to the naked eye began to emerge throughout the cave. "I will release and control my magic to maintain this space in a high-concentration magic environment for a period of time. And you..."
She looked at Viserys. "What you need to do is no longer 'instill,' but 'guide.' Use your dragon king bloodline and your Psychic power to gently knock awake those sleeping hatchlings. Tell them: the time has come, it's time to hatch."
No sooner said than done, Viserys took a deep breath, cut his palm again, and let his dragon king bloodline soak into the dragon eggs.
This time, however, his Psychic power also invaded the dragon eggs, establishing a consciousness connection with the hatchlings inside, waking them from their slumber so they could absorb the energy themselves and break their shells.
Time passed slowly amidst the flow of magic and spiritual resonance. This attempt was more intense, and the exhaustion for both of them was unprecedented.
Viserys's face gradually turned pale, and his body trembled slightly; he was nearing his limit. Beside him, Ghidorah's output of magic power also became very cautious, as she needed to maintain a stable output for a long duration, which was also quite taxing for her current state.
At first, the dragon eggs still showed no reaction. But after a long period of connection, that deep red dragon egg was the first to transmit an extremely faint "throb." It wasn't a fluctuation of energy, but more like an emotional response. This indicated their idea was likely correct; the hatchlings' consciousness was now gradually returning.
They persisted with astonishing willpower, and the movement inside the dragon eggs grew louder. Occasionally, an extremely subtle scratching sound could be caught, like a hatchling stretching its body that had been curled up for too long.
Hope was closer than ever before.
But the critical point for breaking the shell always seemed to be just a hair's breadth away. No matter how obvious the movement inside the eggs was, the shells remained motionless.
A few more days passed, and Viserys was the first to find it unbearable. The continuous blood loss and immense exhaustion had begun to leave him mentally and physically drained.
At this moment, Ghidorah's thought came through, filled with concern. "You must stop, Viserys. Your body is exhausted, and your Psychic power fluctuations are becoming unstable. You are still just a mortal; the body has its limits. If you continue like this, you will collapse before the dragon eggs even hatch."
Viserys took several deep breaths of the sulfur-filled air, trying to calm his internal restlessness. He had to admit Ghidorah was right. These past few days, aside from necessary eating and very little sleep, he had devoted almost all his time to hatching the dragon eggs.
For a "mortal" like him, such consumption was indeed too great.
"You're right, I was indeed a bit too hasty."
Ghidorah's will came through: "You have already succeeded in bringing them 'back to life' and awakening a portion of their consciousness from slumber. But this final step might require more than just energy and stimulation; it might need a catalyst, or perhaps we just need to wait for them to accumulate enough strength on their own. Forcing the shell to break might not be a good thing for the hatchlings."
Viserys was silent for a moment, then slowly nodded. He looked at the nine dragon eggs, especially the deep red one; the life pulse inside was clear and strong, yet it consistently failed to break through the final barrier.
"What kind of catalyst is needed?"
"It could be a stronger magic fluctuation, a deeper bloodline resonance with you, or perhaps some kind of strong external stimulation," Ghidorah analyzed. "Or, it might simply be time. Let them absorb energy for a while longer in this magic-filled environment, and perhaps they will come out on their own."
"Time..." He didn't lack time. But if being too eager for success led to the hatchlings having congenital deficiencies or even failing to hatch, the loss would outweigh the gain.
He stood up and stretched his body. Though physically exhausted, his eyes had regained their clarity.
"We'll pause for a few days. I need to rest, and you need to recover. Besides, I should go back and see how the Empire's development and administrative affairs are going, and also see Dany and Rhaenys."
He left the nine dragon eggs in this scorching volcanic cave; the natural high temperature and the magical environment Ghidorah had specifically maintained were enough for them to continue growing.
"Let's go, Ghidorah. We'll go and have a good rest first. I'll have Black Flame protect these dragon eggs."
Ghidorah's middle head nodded, and she immediately lowered her massive body so that Viserys could climb on.
However, what Viserys and the others didn't know was that shortly after they left, a crack appeared on the surface of that dark red dragon egg.
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