'Do I just keep them in this room? No, I want them to live like true dragons, staying in a small room all day will dull their instincts and stunt their growth. They need to learn to hunt and live like proper dragons.'
Vasari suddenly thought of an idea that could work. He knew that the sub-space in his eyes could support life and not just store inanimate objects like spatial rings.
'What if I create my own forest and have them live in there while I'm on missions or busy in the sect?'
His other option was to build a forest on his property. There were some disadvantages to this, however. The first was safety. Although soul sense would not work on his property, it didn't mean that any elder or even a disciple couldn't just enter his property and potentially steal his kids.
There were formations that helped solve this problem but the issue was the lack of capital. Such a formation was bound to be ridiculously expensive, especially one that could bar Elders from wantonly entering his property.
The other problem was that he was bound to move when he become an Inner Haven Disciple, so he would need to build another forest at that time as well which didn't make sense financially.
Factoring those negatives into the equation Vasari decided to create a forest in his eyes sub-space for his children to live. Maybe he would let the wolf cubs also occasionally live there to interact with the hatchlings and learn to hunt in a controlled environment.
With a new goal in mind, Vasari planned his next steps while watching the hatchlings play with each other until he had to seal his eyes once again.
"Who wants to meet Mommy?" Vasari asked the hatchlings who looked up at him after hearing his voice but a second later they lost interest and started playing together again.
'I'll cultivate until they fall asleep again then take them back to my room. Witney can look after them while I get everything to build the forest.'
2 hours passed after Vasari started cultivating and finally, the newborn dragons ran out of energy and fell asleep.
Even though they were not even a day old, they were already running around like they had been doing it for months. It just went to show how huge the difference was between the most powerful of species and middling ones. The difference was already evident from birth and it constantly widened.
Vasari gently picked them up and did his best not to wake them. He silently made his way to his bedroom and thanked the heavens that Witney didn't lock the door again.
'She must be outside training the new mounts with the others.' Vasari thought when he noticed Witney wasn't in the room.
He laid the 4 newborns on the bed before going outside to get Witney.
–––––
"Vasari, why'd you call me, is something wrong?" Witney asked as they walked up the stairs, "Don't tell me you want to do it now, didn't you have enough fun last night or were 2 girls not enough to satisfy you?"
She tried to tease him but just received a flick on the forehead as a response.
"Don't be silly, this is important. You're the only one I completely trust with this."
Witney eyebrows lifted in surprise and her heartbeat hastened after hearing that.
"Not even Talia, Gia, Jiang Xia or Hiromi?" She asked to confirm his words. They could all be considered his women so surely he should trust them…right?
Vasari stopped walking and turned around before putting his hands on Witney's shoulders, and with a solemn expression, he answered.
"Only you Witney. I know you will never betray me and although I like the other girls, I can't say that I completely trust them the way I trust you.
Talia is attracted to me because of my bloodline. Gia is purely attracted to my appearance, what if someone with better looks than me shows up and takes a liking to Gia? Jiang Xia is attracted to me because of my talent and strength, what if someone more talented and stronger than me takes a liking to her? Hiromi is attracted to what I represent, a better lifestyle and access to a greater cultivation civilisation, what if someone offered her something better than what I can?"
Witney looked at Vasari with weird eyes and far from the happy expression she just had.
"Vasari, I don't think what you just said was very nice. Those girls all gave you their precious first time and you say you can't trust them when they trusted you with something so valuable.
What you said made me upset actually. I can't see a single reason why you wouldn't trust them. I'm really disappointed with you right now."
This time it was Vasari to be shocked by Witney's words. It was the first time she spoke to him with anger and disappointment directed at him. In Vasari's mind, what he said was the truth and he wasn't trying to be rude or disrespectful but realistic, but clearly Witney didn't like the way he said it.
"My Nana told me that people come and go, and that's just the way of life. At the Cloud Bestiary, the employee who sold me the mounts said that his girlfriend cheated on him with his close friends.
There are so many tales of betrayal throughout history and I have things that people would kill their own mothers to obtain. If I end up trusting the wrong person, my life could be at stake."
"If you can't trust the people who love you then who can you trust?" Witney asked him and without delay, Vasari answered.
"But I do. I trust you."
"Argh stop it. You are making me feel happy when I'm supposed to be angry."
"Why don't I show what I wanted to show you first so that you can understand, and remember that people's feelings can change in an instant. You won't find the same person twice, even in the same person. I won't endanger them due to my ignorance."
"Them?"
Vasari didn't answer and turned around to continue walking up the stairs. Witney would soon know what he meant by 'them' when she entered their room.
She didn't immediately see them but when she got closer to the bed she did.
4 tiny lizard-looking creatures lay next to each other on top of the blankets. The words Vasari just said echoed in her mind, 'I have things that people would kill their own mothers to obtain.', and she knew that these were anything but normal lizards.
"Vasari these…these are-"
"Newborn dragons." Vasari finished her sentence and she turned to look at him in shock. Vasari however was facing the hatchlings with a gentle smile on his face.
"Do you understand why I can only trust you with this secret? I am their father so I am responsible for them and I want you to be their mother."
Witney was silent for a long time before she fell onto the bed next to the baby dragons. Her eyes were unfocused as she stared at the white ceiling with a myriad of thoughts running through her brain.
"I'm only 18 yet I'm already a mother of 8. My parents are going to kill me when they find out."
Vasari laughed when he heard this and sat down next to Witney. He lifted her and placed her on his lap before laying down next to the hatchlings.
"Vasari this is insane. These are really dragons. I don't think I can parent actual dragons."
"You'll be fine. I'll be helping you this time around so you won't be alone and I already have a plan on how to raise them."
Witney nodded while releasing a long sigh and felt relieved to hear his comforting words.
"There's actually a few things more I want you to know about. I don't want there to be any secrets between us and I want you to know how much you mean to me."
Vasari proceeded to tell Witney everything he knew regarding his eyes and the fact that he was the reincarnation of the Chosen One. Witney lay in his arms and listened to him tell his story with utter disbelief.
For a second she thought Vasari was playing a prank on her but seeing his dead serious expression, she knew he wasn't joking.
She's never even heard of these Heavenly Eyes that he said he had but it sounded really powerful and the fact that he did his utmost best to hide it, only further proved their value.
The possibility that he could be the reincarnation of the Chosen One, a notoriously villainous cultivator, didn't bother her much since she didn't believe in reincarnation. Vasari was Vasari and that's that.
"…so you're not blind?" Was the first thing she asked after processing all the information.
"Haha technically no but yes."
"Can I see it…can I see your eyes?"
"Yes but only for a little bit. I don't know how long I can keep it open for right now."
Vasari took off his blindfold and unsealed his eyes. Witney was left awestruck by the sight of his otherworldly eyeballs. The entrancing golden and royal blue iris of his right eye, and the overwhelming dark violet and cyan of his left, rendered her breathless.
Not only was the beauty of it mesmerising but the power being released from it made her want to submit in reverence. It was unlike anything she's felt before, not even the Dance of Dragons technique made her feel this way.
Vasari was similarly in awe of Witney's beauty. He had seen her face once before while she was asleep, but it was nothing like how it was seeing her now.
Her light golden hair, her dark eyebrows, her icy blue eyes, her nose, her luscious lips and her unblemished creamy white skin, it was all perfect.
"You're so beautiful." Vasari blurted out in a low voice causing Witney to blush. Seeing her face redden, Vasari's eyes sparkled in curiosity as he witnessed a new emotion he had never seen before. He lifted his hand and caressed her cheeks that was slightly warm to the touch and stared into her eyes.
"Vasari…you are so lucky the kids are asleep right now," Witney said in a low whisper barely audible even with Vasari's amazing hearing.
"Or what?" He asked back with a cheeky grin.
"You know what." She answered with a similar grin. Vasari laughed softly before kissing her on the lips.
"Come, let me explain my plan and what I need you to do."
Witney was left disappointed when Vasari sealed his eyes and equipped the blindfold again, but concentrated on what he was saying.
"I will keep the babies in my right eye's sub-space, however, I first need to create a forest for them to stay. So tomorrow I'll purchase all the necessary things to do that. While I'm out, I need you to look after them."
"Easy peasy. Have you given them names yet?"
"Yep, that's Atlas, that's Vero, that's Kartara and that's Daedrym," Vasari said while pointing at each of the sleeping dragons.
"Ok, I'll stay here and look after them while you go and spend time with the rest of the girls so you can learn to trust them as you do me. Tomorrow you can go to the city to buy everything you need."
Her tone left no room for argument and she was using the popular term, 'putting the foot down' on Vasari.
Vasari did just that and for the next few hours, he spent some quality time with the girls outside while they trained their mounts.
–––––
The next day Vasari woke up early in the morning. The sun had not shown itself yet and the birds were still asleep.
He tried getting up but noticed that his body was restricted from moving by three soft bodies clinging tightly to him. One on his right, another on his left and the last one laying directly on him.
Gia, Jiang Xia, and Hiromi slept comfortably while using his body as a giant body pillow.
Vasari tried to wiggle free from their entrapment but after hearing their groans or dissatisfaction and the tightening of their grips around his body, he surrendered to his entrapped fate.
An hour later, the sun started rising above the horizon and the birds on the roof of his home began their routine chirping. Vasari was eventually released from his restraints after the girls started waking up and it was easier to move them.
He took a quick shower before visiting Witney to check on her. When he opened the door to his room the rumbling sound of bass-like snoring entered his ears.
Vasari lowered his blindfold and unsealed his eyes just to see Witney laying on her back with her arms and legs spread like a 5-point star and four baby dragons resting their small heads on her perky breasts while their bodies lay on her abdomen.
A chuckle escaped Vasari's mouth followed by a gentle smile. He softly closed the door to not wake them, sealed his eyes, lifted his blindfold and made his way outside.
He whistled out for Otis and he landed next to him a few seconds later. The duo then left for the city where Vasari would get everything he needed to build his children their forest.
–––––
In the city centre of Outer Haven, 6 young men were strolling through Havensplace Shopping Centre.
They were all wearing white Sect robes that signified their identity as true disciples of the Cloud Haven Sect. No longer were days of being labelled as a school student.
"Man, so it's only Jaxon and me that wasn't approached by a faction. That's so fucked up dude."
"I know. And I placed higher than Timo on the school leaderboards yet he was approached by a faction and I wasn't."
DT and Jaxon complained for what felt like the tenth time today.
Jude, Jett, Asher and Timo were all approached by members of various factions and after some deliberation, they decided to join them.
Jude joined Chaos Predators and they were ranked 8th on the League Rankings. Jett joined Rime Warriors placed inside the top 30 of the league rankings. Asher joined Nova Knights ranked 33rd and Timo joined Inferno Soldiers ranked 35th on the faction leaderboards.
"It's not all that great, to be honest. Since we're not in the competing squad yet, we have to do missions for the faction and we have to give 30% of the Cloud Points we earn from the missions to the faction in exchange for living accommodations and some resources."
Jude wasn't too happy with the contract conditions but he knew once he became part of the competing squad, he could ask for a new contract with better conditions.
"Yeah, that's rough."
"Hey isn't that Vasari?" Timo suddenly asked. In the distance, he could see a tall man with long black hair talking to a store employee who looked like a star-struck maiden.
"Yeah it is, I haven't seen him since the graduation party. Let's go say hi." DT said while already walking towards Vasari.
When he got closer he waved his hand while shouting out loud.
"Yo Vasari! What's up, dude!" The tall man with long black hair turned around with a smile, the employee, however, looked at DT and the 5 other boys with an annoyed expression. How dare they disturb her time with this gorgeous individual in front of her.
However, before she could chase the boys away, Vasari greeted them back.
"Hey. What are you guys doing here?"