From the start, Seol, Bing, and Dong were new species not yet classified.

New species are always like scratch-off lottery tickets — full of potential — but with these three, it didn’t take long to infuse them with energy, even if they weren’t on the level of the Ten Great Venomous Beasts.

After about one meal’s time, roughly thirty minutes, placing my hand on top of Bing’s head and channeling energy into him, the energy soon filled him to capacity, and a repelling force began to push my hand away, preventing any more energy from entering.

Considering how long it had taken with the others, it was a really short time.

‘Maybe it’s because his body is small?’

Just as I thought that might be the case, it felt as if two like poles of a magnet were repelling each other, and my hand naturally lifted slightly before falling away from Bing’s body.

It seemed he was fully charged with energy, so I opened my eyes and looked at Bing as I asked,

“Bing, are you feeling anything?”

Every time I did this, I always asked, but none of the kids had ever said they felt anything before.

Still, I asked out of courtesy — but this time, an unexpected answer came back.

No, it was the answer I had desperately wanted to hear.

He said he felt something.

-Kuuuwooooo! 『Father, I feel energy surging up from my body!』

Bing, my one and only son, roared out loud.

With a sound that resembled a small beast’s roar, Bing let out an adorable cry.

“R-Really!?”

It was the first time I had heard someone say they felt something.

And he said he felt power surging within him — my heart began pounding wildly. At the same time, Hwa-eun, having heard my startled question, quickly asked from beside me.

“What did Bing say, So-ryong?”

“He said he feels power surging up inside him.”

“Power surging up?”

At my words, Hwa-eun’s eyes widened into perfect circles.

Bing’s answer hinted that some extraordinary ability might be blooming.

And probably an active skill too.

When it was a passive ability, no one could ever tell what had awakened, but with power surging like this — it had to be something significant.

Without even realizing it, I grabbed Hwa-eun’s hand.

Hwa-eun tightly grasped mine back.

Since this was a moment of confirming our child’s growth, we couldn’t help but sweat nervously and hold hands.

It felt like watching a kid’s first-ever kindergarten recital.

‘Not that I’ve ever been to one, but it feels like ❖ Nоvеl𝚒ght ❖ (Exclusive on Nоvеl𝚒ght) that.’

While I was tightly holding hands with Hwa-eun, staring at Bing standing atop Cheongwol, it happened.

Bing began to puff himself up to make his body appear larger.

Like a fat-tailed gecko facing a threat, using its plump tail to make itself look bigger.

Normally, puffing up meant standing on tiptoes, inflating the body, and wagging the tail over the back.

But Bing’s back didn’t just puff up — it kept rising, curling like a shrimp’s back.

He had said power was surging, and indeed, it seemed to be.

Bing’s back rose higher and higher, and at the moment when his toes nearly lifted off Cheongwol’s back —

-Crack, crack-crack.

A twisting sound came from Bing’s back, and simultaneously, from his nose to the tip of his tail, sharp ice horns began growing neatly in a line.

“What’s this!?”

“Horns, So-ryong! Horns are growing! And they’re made of ice!”

Yes — horns.

Just as Hwa-eun said, not ordinary horns, but horns made of pure, freezing ice.

Like icicles hanging from the eaves in midwinter, they began sprouting in a row from Bing’s nose to his tail.

And not just one row.

One line of ice horns grew along his spine, and then, slanting out to each side of his body, another line on each side — a total of three lines.

Sharp, chilling horns, emitting freezing air, lined up neatly.

When I lightly touched one, a searing chill that felt like it could cut through bone stabbed into my fingertips, making my hand tingle.

‘Gyaaaaaah!’

I screamed inwardly at the sight of the ice thorns and the numbing cold they exuded.

The basic attack style of the Seolbing Stone Lizards — to which Seol, Bing, and Dong belonged — was a headbutt.

A hard body and brutal physical force were their specialties, and with horns like these, anything hit by a charge would at minimum be killed instantly.

They’d be pierced straight through by the razor-sharp, freezing horns.

‘A thorn trait!’

In the online games I used to play, abilities that hurt attackers when touched were generally called "thorn skills."

They inflicted wounds just from touching — forcing damage onto the opponent.

Therefore, Bing’s new trait was clearly thorn-related.

And not just any thorn — ice thorns!

“Amazing, So-ryong. It’s so cool! Ice horns!”

Hwa-eun exclaimed in awe at Bing’s transformation.

At that moment, the door to the deck swung open, and Sister Seol appeared, looking at us with wide, slightly hurt eyes as she shouted,

“What’s this! You’re doing this without me! You should’ve called me!”

Ah, crap.

I completely forgot Sister Seol.

We otakus go crazy for growth scenes like this, after all.

It was practically a betrayal of a fellow comrade.

I quickly ran over, dragged Sister Seol to us, and started explaining what had happened — sprinkling in a little seasoning for effect.

“Sister Seol, calm down. It happened while Hyang was sulking, and we forgot.”

“Hyang was sulking?”

“That’s right. Everything started yesterday with Cheongyu Sojeo. She woke up again last night! And then I found out! So I was taking care of the kids... and then Hyang got all sulky! So...”

‘Hyang, I’m sorry your dad is selling you out a bit.’

After roughly explaining that it was Hyang’s fault for pouting and distracting us, Sister Seol reluctantly accepted it.

“If Hyang was sulking, I guess it makes sense... but still, I’m hurt...”

Though she wasn’t fully over it yet, we sat Sister Seol between Hwa-eun and me in the best seat, then I wiggled my finger.

Telling her it wasn’t over yet.

The recital — no, the trait blooming party — had only just begun.

Given how little energy it took with Bing, I figured we could awaken the traits of Seol, Bing, and Dong all today.

Of course, they might all have the same trait since they were the same species — but I decided to keep that a secret.

If Sister Seol completely sulked, it’d be a problem.

‘It’s a noble silence. Yeah.’

“It’s not over yet, Sister Seol. Since it didn’t take much energy, I think we can do all three today.”

“Oh! Really!?”

“Yes, the energy needed was surprisingly small. Just about one Dakyeong’s worth. So, we’re just getting started. Two more to go.”

“Got it! Hurry up!”

“Hold on. I should check first if there’s anything else Bing can do.”

It might not be just that his ice thorns grew — he could have other abilities too.

I asked Bing.

Was there anything else he could do with the thorns?

“Bing, do you think you can do anything else with them?”

-Kku-kku. 『Um... I think... I can shoot them.』

“Shoot them!?”

Goodness gracious.

He could shoot the thorns!

I quickly fetched one of the wooden training dummies that the hyungs used for martial arts practice and placed it near the railing.

Then I told Bing to try firing a thorn.

“Give it a shot, Bing.”

-Kkuu! Understood, Father!

-Shoo, shoo, shoo.

At my request, Bing immediately turned his tail toward the railing and fired the ice thorns.

The ice that had grown from his nose earlier now shot out from his tail, embedding itself into the wooden dummy.

-Kwaddddeudeuk.

As soon as the thorns struck, ice bloomed explosively like a flower.

Starting from the spots where the ice thorns hit, the icy chill spread outward, covering about a foot of space.

By the time all the thorns had landed, the wooden dummy was entirely encased in ice.

“A-Amazing, Bing!”

“Bing, you’re amazing. Auntie is truly impressed.”

The power was substantial.

However, the fired ice thorns didn’t regenerate.

That part was a little disappointing, but still, if he fought using the thorns normally and then fired them as a finishing move, it would be more than enough.

After praising Bing thoroughly, I immediately moved on to checking Seol’s trait.

“Bing is such a man! A real man’s trait! Now, onto Seol.”

-Kkuu. 『Yes, Father.』

While Hwa-eun and Sister Seol were stroking Bing, I placed my hand on Seol’s head and began infusing him with energy.

Slowly, gently.

My heart raced like scratching off a lottery ticket.

Although Cho and Bini had started off the same as Cheon Pan O-Gong, they evolved into entirely different creatures with different traits.

But Seol, Bing, and Dong were the same species.

Their gender and age were slightly different, so they might end up with the same trait — or not.

‘Please, a different trait. Please.’

As expected, it took about thirty minutes — one meal’s time — to fill him with energy. After stepping back a little and opening my eyes, before I could even ask if he felt anything, something started happening.

Since Seol had once lost his tail through a failed molting attempt, he didn’t have any bone in his tail like Bing did, but from that regrown plump tail, a light began to shine.

The newly regrown, chubby tail started sparkling like a lantern with a beautiful blue glow.

“Oh! It’s glowing!”

“It really is. It’s sparkling.”

“A blue light!”

The twinkling light began to flash more rapidly, and when the flickering stopped and the entire tail glowed brightly, Seol lifted his tail and fired a beam of light toward the wooden dummy.

-Flash!

‘A laser!? Gyaaaaah!’

An involuntary gasp burst from me at the spectacular sight.

The beam of light he fired looked just like a laser.

-Kwadeudeuk.

The straight beam struck the wooden dummy head-on, instantly turning it into an ice statue.

Apparently, the attack used up energy and could only be fired three times.

The more he fired, the weaker the light became. After losing its brightness, no more laser shots came out, and after a short interval, the frozen beams that followed struck the dummy, turning the ice statue into a solid ice pillar.

“That’s an ice blast, isn’t it?”

“Unbelievable, firing an ice blast! That’s basically wielding internal energy!”

To my eyes, it looked like a laser, but to Sister Seol and Hwa-eun, it seemed like a cold-imbued energy blast.

“Only three shots, Seol?”

-Kkukkkuu. 『Yes, Father. Three seems to be my limit.』

“Still, it’s amazing!”

Even three shots were incredible.

It was a freezing beam, after all.

I ruffled Seol’s head and showered him with praise, and just then, Dong climbed onto Seol’s head, stealing my hand away and chirped,

-Kkyut! Kkyugyut! 『Grandpa, me too!』

He wanted to do it too.

Maybe he was jealous because his mom and dad had awakened such cool traits.

What a cute little thing.

I remembered hearing that while children are adorable, grandchildren are even more precious.

Since you don't bear the burden of raising them yourself, you can just shower them with love — they become even more precious.

That’s exactly how I felt about Dong.

I didn’t have to worry about raising him — the parents would take care of that — so I could just love him unconditionally.

Tickling his little chin affectionately, I nodded and said,

“All right, Grandpa will help you too. Come here.”

Since he was small, I placed him on the back of my hand, then laid my hand on his head and began infusing energy into him.

And then — I lost track of time. My consciousness drifted away without realizing it.

***

When I opened my eyes, the environment that greeted me was familiar.

‘It’s that familiar ceiling.’

It was dark, pitch black, but faintly illuminated by Night Pearls embedded in the ceiling.

The underground secret chamber.

The place where the Five Gates had been.

“No way, one of the Gates opened?”

Cheongyu Sojeo had said this was part of growth, but I didn’t expect an actual Gate to open.

Immediately, I clenched both fists tightly and shouted,

“Gyaaaah! Nice!”

I had been worried that I’d have to spend endless time trying to grow the kids — but now it had succeeded so quickly.

Now, I could use the snake-based martial arts Cheongyu Sojeo had taught me.

Overjoyed, I stood up and surveyed the surroundings.

Checking if anything had changed since last time.

“There are still five gates. Seeing Cho, Hyang, and Bini engraved on the ceiling, it seems that whenever a creature opens a gate, it gets carved up there. But wait — if I opened one, shouldn’t there only be four left?”

A strange sight caught my eye as I looked around.

Since I had opened one gate, there should have been four left — but there were still five.

It seemed that whenever a creature opened a gate, they got carved on the ceiling, but this was definitely odd.

I approached the gates for a closer look.

The first gate had the lizards: Seol, Bing, and Dong.

The second gate had the snake: Cheongyu Sojeo.

The third gate had the scorpion: Cheongwol.

The fourth gate had the toad: Hwayang.

And the final gate...

“No way!?”

When I saw the last gate, I couldn’t help but be shocked.

Because carved on that final gate was not a venomous creature — but Hwa-eun herself.

“This... I could never have imagined this!”

It was a situation truly beyond anything I had ever expected.