Chapter 432: Two cubs

"A mate bond?"

Rory looked down at her chest in shock. Right next to the beast marks belonging to Yuel and the others, a tiny pink fish rested quietly against her skin.

"Your merman race has this kind of special bonding ritual too?" Rory didn’t reject Wen at all; it was just that forming a mate bond this quickly and simply caught her somewhat off guard.

Wen raised his hand, gently stroking her hair as he said softly, "Since I intend to reveal my secrets to you bit by bit, Female Master, I naturally had to place my life and death in your hands first. Only then can you feel at ease, trusting that I will never betray you."

Just how massive was this secret to make him go to such lengths? Rory grew even more curious. She had to admit, Wen had successfully hooked her.

"Well, now that we’ve formed a mate bond, can you tell me your secret?"

Wen shook his head. "Since it’s a secret, you naturally have to discover it piece by piece on your own, Female Master. It wouldn’t be a secret if I just told you." He leaned in with a smile and kissed her forehead. "Don’t worry about my secrets for now, Female Master. You should check your ability rank."

"Right, my ability."

When she and Wen bonded just now, her ability rank had shot up. Rory assumed it had gone up by one level, putting her at rank eight. But when she checked, it had actually reached rank ten.

She stared at Wen in disbelief. "How is this possible?"

Wen looked a little apologetic. "It was supposed to rise to rank eleven, but those two little guys absorbed a portion of the energy, so it only made it to rank ten."

"Two little guys?" Rory caught the key words. "Are you saying I’m carrying two cubs in my belly right now?"

Wen nodded. "You were carrying two cubs, but they are no longer in your belly." As he spoke, he stood up and walked back to where he had been standing earlier. He picked up a tiny nest woven from some unknown grass and brought it over to Rory. "They absorbed too much of my elemental energy just now, so they came out of your belly early."

Fearing Rory would worry, Wen immediately explained, "Don’t worry, Female Master. They absorbed plenty of elemental energy and are very healthy. Now we just have to wait for Vincent to hatch them."

Rory stared in astonishment at the two fiery-red eggs resting inside the grass nest. They were only about the size of chicken eggs.

"These are the cubs I gave birth to?" Just like that, they were out?

Wen nodded earnestly. "It’s absolutely true."

He placed the cubs into Rory’s arms and looked at her seriously. "I’m sorry, Female Master. I originally intended to wait until after you gave birth to form a mate bond with you."

"But when you came to find me tonight, I remembered that you have to go to the Fallen God Battlefield tomorrow to face a rank-thirteen Zerg. I was terrified that something might go wrong, so on an impulse, I went ahead with the bond. My sole intention was to raise your rank; I didn’t expect them to absorb my elemental energy as well."

He had been reckless. After holding back for so long, he still hadn’t been able to control himself.

"It’s fine, you were doing it for my own good." Rory didn’t blame Wen. His starting point had been her safety. Besides, she had reached rank ten—having received such a massive benefit, she could hardly turn around and get angry. That would be far too heartless.

She reached out, gently touching the eggs in the nest. Upon closer inspection, fine golden patterns could be seen on the two fiery eggs. These were the cubs she shared with Vincent. And there were two of them. They had come out just like that.

Rory looked at Wen. Everything he had thrown at her tonight was simply too staggering. Even now, it all felt like a dream. She had thought her little fish was just a very obedient, sweet fish. As it turned out, every sign now indicated that he might very well be the biggest hidden powerhouse in the house.

"How exactly did you manage to do it? Boosting me all the way to rank ten in one go?" Even Vincent had only managed to raise her rank by a single level back then.

Hearing this, Wen tilted his head, looking at Rory with an innocent, docile expression. "Female Master, this is also a part of my secret. You have to discover it all on your own."

Rory: "..."

Alright, mister, you have officially caught my attention.

Staring at the gently smiling Wen, Rory reached out to pinch his chin. "Seeing as you helped me jump straight to rank ten in one go, I won’t hold it against you that you’ve been keeping so many secrets from me."

Even though she knew for a fact that Wen was anything but simple now, the strange thing was that Rory didn’t feel a single shred of fear or caution around him. In his presence, she felt completely relaxed. Her heart told her that she could trust Wen implicitly.

Wen caught Rory’s hand and lightly nibbled on her finger. It didn’t hurt, but it tickled a little.

"Female Master, it’s getting late. I’ll take you back out." If he didn’t send Rory back soon, Wen felt he wouldn’t be able to control himself much longer. Tonight was bound to be another excruciatingly long night.

Holding the eggs in her arms, Rory also felt she needed to go find Vincent immediately to tell him the news.

Before she left, Wen informed her, "I’ve camouflaged your ability to look like rank seven again." As for whether Rory wanted to tell Vincent and the others about what happened, that was entirely her choice to make.

"Got it." Rory nodded, cradling the grass nest securely.

Wen swiftly escorted Rory out of his quarters. The moment they stepped out of the room, he instantly reverted to his pure, sweet, and obedient self.

Holding Rory’s hand, his face flushed slightly as he murmured in a low voice, "Female Master, remember to come find me tomorrow to see if you can guess the correct answer. There’s a reward for every right guess!"

He really is a phenomenal actor. Rory genuinely hadn’t seen through him before—not even a single glimpse.

"Don’t worry, I absolutely won’t rest until I dig up every single one of your secrets." She was definitely going to strip away every last layer of mystery he had.

Wen’s eyes brimmed with laughter. "The Female Master is so clever. I believe you’ll definitely strip me bare very soon."

Spitting out the most shameless teases while wearing the most innocent face. You’ve got skills, little fish!

Just as Rory turned around to look for Vincent, she spotted him walking down from the upper floor.

"Vincent!" Seeing him, Rory excitedly pointed to the grass nest in her arms and called out, "Vincent, come look quickly! Our cubs are out!"

Cubs?

When Vincent saw the grass nest Rory was cradling, his pupils contracted sharply. Two fiery-red eggs lay quietly inside the nest. The fine golden patterns marking their shells were a distinct trait that only the most talented cubs of the Fire Bird clan would possess.

His cubs were out? Just like that?

Caught completely off guard, Vincent dashed over to Rory. "Rory, these are our cubs?"

Rory nodded happily. "Of course they are, and there are two of them! Aren’t you thrilled?" She pushed the grass nest into Vincent’s arms. "Hurry up and hold them."

Suddenly having two egg cubs thrust into his arms, Vincent stood completely frozen, his mind entirely in a daze. Were they truly his cubs?

"Rory, weren’t you supposed to have another half a month before giving birth?" How did this happen so fast? Why so suddenly?

Rory explained, "It was Wen. He used a special merman bonding ritual to form a mate bond with me, and while he was helping me raise my rank, the cubs absorbed a portion of the elemental energy. That caused them to come out early."

She couldn’t blame Vincent for being stupefied. When she had first woken up and seen the two eggs, she had been just as stunned.