Records of Rebirth

|[You want me to give them names?]| I asked.

Arsinoe nodded.

The three serpents before me had their heads down, and although they had grown out of their black and white patterns, I still recognised each one as the nestlings I placed on Artemis's team.

Arsinoe was now a honey brown colour, with distinctive black spade markings, and when she approached me, her pink eyes shone with a rather unflinching gaze.

The two serpents with her were no different in size, but both were a solid dark blue colour, with a pearly iridescent sheen to their scales. Yet aside from her, none of them could look me squarely in the eyes.

It was almost admirable how big her courage was.

I didn't hold it against them, considering they'd all just been through a battle, but as I looked around me, I was amazed at just how colourful all the creatures were. 

Like Arsinoe, all of the nestlings I could see had evolved, with each one displaying a difference in the colours of their scales.

My two healers were a bright, almost golden colour, with a similar pairing of blue slitted eyes. It was like they were a repeat of the serpent, only one was male while the other was female.

Typhon's larger formidable presence stood out among them, his scales a solid black colour similar to obsidian. But alongside him, his team members Cassio and Andromeda had a similar look, although their eyes were grey compared to Typhon's green.

Ophelia's pearly white colour had no comparison and the only serpent that came close was Cygnus with his silver scales. There was even a serpent on his team with the same purple colouring that I had before I evolved, a serpent who also happened to wield [Shadow Magic].

I was beginning to wonder if their magic was the reason they all looked different, although I couldn't exactly pinpoint how this worked.

«This is meaningless. Give Arsinoe what she wants and deal with the main issue.» Sensei's voice interrupted my thoughts, and I sighed.

I was stalling and he knew it.

"I'm getting to it." I replied. 

The nestlings beside Arsinoe looked alike so I made up some matching names for them,

|[Your team members will be Otreia and Oteiza]| I said to Arsinoe, who stared at me in disbelief.

Did she expect me to refuse or something?

And the system dinged.

〚Confirmed. 『Pit Member 18』has become 『Otreia』〛

〚Confirmed. 『Pit Member 19』has become 『Oteiza』〛

The moment they were named, both serpents looked up at me with gratitude, I was glad to see their happy faces. 

After saying their thanks, the three scurried off, each one making a point to avoid Typhon who had settled beside me.

The nestlings were all stuffing their faces, but with Sylrin, the Abyssal monsters and the Veladrys also near, the forest was beginning to feel a little too small. I couldn't imagine what it would be like to return to the cave.

Besides, I was confused as to why the Veladrys were still here.

Not once did I believe any of them died during the battle, because their numbers on the system never reduced – a reason I felt no desire to save them from getting devoured by bottom feeders. 

It was suspicious and I had every reason to believe the Nymph was behind it.

As of now my Pit members had already risen to an astonishing [6890], and considering I didn't add any more, a large portion of those had to be because of their Queen Mother.

It was truly frustrating because I didn't know what the Nymph was up to, but if I were to send them away, my apology would no longer seem sincere. 

Aside from this, the Abyssal monsters I brought were also suffering.

I ordered them not to kill anyone and the longer they obeyed the more agitation they began to show.

With so many creatures around with rich mana reserves that they could not touch, I was sure it was excruciating, especially since the mana within their bodies was slowly dwindling.

It almost seemed cruel to keep them around simply because of the threat the Veladrys might pose.

Eventually, I had no choice but to let them leave to hunt.

Yet even then I had to place restrictions on them so they would not cross into the Nymph's territory or touch any of her creatures.

Quite frankly, it was annoying because I felt like I was being toyed with by having so many different types of creatures around me.

A part of me wanted to cut off my relationship with the Nymph entirely, but we still had the apes to deal with and now did not seem like the right time.

Besides these problems, the fate of certain traitorous nestlings was still on my hands and as I watched the nestlings, each cheerful, brightly coloured serpent, was like a landmine that could explode at any minute.

It seemed my peaceful springtime of youth was never going to come.

"Do you think they know?" I asked Sensei.

«Not yet, but they might figure it out if they compare their accounts of the battle. I don't think your distraction worked as well as you think.»

I sighed at his words. It didn't really matter if they found out or not, because that was not the point.

The real issue was that my [Pit] was broken beyond repair, and that most things I thought I knew about the nestlings were incorrect.

The escape of the bottom feeders as well as Morgana's attack was a surprise. Before then, I thought I had the battle completely under control, so this was a situation that confused me.

The appearance of new monsters as well as an attack on Typhon. If Morgana had achieved her aim of taking out Typhon as well as kidnapping the only healers, the battle would have ended in her victory.

Her attacks put them in even worse peril than all the scorpions combined, and it was a good thing that I was present, and Ophelia was not harmed by the alpha and was able to return in time, or the nestling would have been finished.

Yet, it was this cunning to target exactly what would weaken her foes that intrigued me - If only she used this cunning for something other than attacking her own peers, perhaps I would have been more impressed.

And then, on another spectrum was Apollo and his strange malice towards Ophelia.

At first I thought he remained in the tunnels, because he was too afraid, but I was surprised when I appraised his stats. He had a skill that let him manipulate the bottom feeders [Marionette], a superior version of [Kin Control] which Morgana possessed. 

He'd even taken it a step further by having the title of [Puppeteer].

To me, he had every option of helping Ophelia, yet he watched her battling alone.

And due to his absence during the battle, the bottom feeders he was supposed to manage had gotten out of control.

Yet, when I questioned Apollo about it, he was a nervous wreck, leading Typhon to reveal some of the tunnels had been flooded prior to the battle on his behalf. 

Typhon seemed to think this problem was related to Galahad. In his opinion, if not for this, numerous bottom feeders wouldn't have been driven to congregate in one area, leading to a disaster when the tunnel collapsed.

If this was true, Galahad was indeed at fault. 

The problem was he wasn't here to defend himself and it was their word against his.

This was made worse because no one seemed to know where he went, nor were they concerned.

Why couldn't he remain here and get stronger like everyone else did?

I'd received conflicting reports about events, when it was clearly Apollo was really at fault here.

If he had been where he should have, none of this would have occurred.

Just thinking about the situation was giving me a headache.

Right now the nestlings chatted amicably with each other, but I was more curious to know why their relationship had gotten so sour and how I could stop it from worsening any further.

In a way, I was glad I arrived first because if I didn't, I wouldn't know everything I did now.

But just the thought of it made me want to leave again!

Fighting monsters was far easier than dealing with this.

«Speculations aren't fact.» Sensei scoffed at my anxiety. «You'll never know until you actually question them.»

"Ask them?" Was he freaking kidding me?

«Do you have any idea how terrified of you they are? Use that fear to make them admit their wrongdoings.»

"Afraid of me?" I shook my head. "From how they act, they are more fearful of Typhon than me."

A single word from him was enough to make them eat, though he seemed largely unaware of this influence.

«They only listen to him because you've never threatened them.» Sensei replied. «You can't expect to rule them with kind words alone.»

I sighed.

While his words may have been true, the problem was that force could just as easily turn them away from me.

«If you want to keep them safe, just kill off the problematic ones.» Sensei helpfully suggested. 

And I rolled my eyes.

How could he summarise it so easily?

If I killed off all the problematic ones, wouldn't that only leave half of the nestlings alive?