Arach folded two of his arms across his chest while the others rested on his hips. He studied Frovian for a mont before nodding thoughtfully.
"...Actually, this role fits him perfectly."
Everyone looked at him. Arach continued,
"His tongue is too sharp to lose in any argunt. Half the ti we end up agreeing with him before we realize he’s already won."
Dyralfa crossed her arms.
"That’s because he talks like a book."
Sephiran pointed at Frovian.
"And he always has facts!"
Frovian gave a small, smug smile.
"Accuracy is persuasive."
Arach looked at him again and shrugged.
"Honestly... if we’re talking about who should be the eldest, it should probably be you. You have the mind for it."
For a brief mont, the cavern went quiet. Frovian blinked. Then he imdiately shook his head.
"No."
Arach tilted his head.
"No?"
Frovian stepped forward and tapped Arach’s furred chest with one finger.
"That title belongs to you."
His tone was calm, but firm.
"You are the eldest because you carry the weight of us all without even realizing it."
He gestured toward the cave entrance.
"You guide Dyralfa through the forest so she does not encounter adventurers. You track movents in the earth to keep us safe. You monitor the territory without needing praise or recognition."
He folded his arms.
"anwhile, I simply argue with people."
Dyralfa barked out a laugh.
"That’s true!"
Frovian looked back at Arach.
"You protect the colony’s body."
Then he lightly tapped his own temple.
"I protect its mind."
He smiled slightly.
"Every structure requires both."
Arach’s shoulders stiffened. All six of his eyes blinked again.
"...Ah."
He scratched the back of his head awkwardly.
"I... uh..."
Complints were still his greatest weakness. His shoulders hunched slightly as he tried and failed to hide the fact that he was blushing.
"...Thanks."
Sephiran grinned mischievously.
"Look! He’s doing the thing again!"
Dyralfa pointed at him.
"Brother Arach can defeat monsters the size of houses but dies instantly when soone praises him."
Arach groaned.
"Can we fight sothing instead?"
The cave imdiately erupted with laughter again. Even Vermi, the worm, was laughing too... or perhaps barking. It was honestly hard to tell.
The joy slowly settled into a warm hum across the cavern.
Then Maddy moved.
She stepped forward until she stood before her Mobile Womb, the living chamber pulsing softly with life. The air around it carried a faint glow of mana and the scent of fresh creation.
Her children quieted, watching with curiosity and excitent. Maddy rested a hand against the organic surface, feeling the slow, steady rhythm beneath it.
"Now..."
Her eyes flicked toward Frovian.
"Let’s give you a brother to watch over, Frovian."
As she opened her Birthing Customization skill, Lucy’s calm voice echoed within her mind.
[System Notice]
[Congratulations! By acquiring the unique skill: Chira Forge. Your unique skill: Birthing Customization has been upgraded.]
[New Birthing Customization Feature: Added another option to clothe your future offspring: Equipnt.]
Maddy froze.
"...Excuse ?"
Her eyes widened dramatically.
"Equipnt?"
She blinked twice.
"Lucy. Are you telling ... I can now send my children into the world pre installed with gear?"
Her face slowly shifted from confusion... to delight.
"Oh my gods."
She pressed both hands to her cheeks.
"I can accessorize my babies."
She straightened and ntally opened the new interface.
[Birthing Customization]
[Base Form | Physical Appearance | Equipnt | Traits | Na]
Her eyes sparkled.
"Oh, this is dangerous and FUN!"
She glanced at her children with a grin that was both motherly and slightly unhinged.
"Alright. Let’s design your new brother properly."
Her eyes flashed as she opened the [Base Form] list.
Rows of absorbed creatures appeared before her vision. After a mont, she selected one of the Demonic Ogre twins she had devoured before. The mory surfaced instantly—the battle, the blood, and the strange detail that had bothered her since.
"Oh right... these twins’ arms are the ones Arach has now..."
She scratched her cheek thoughtfully before shrugging.
"But of course! As a Chira Mother, I can create anything impossible!"
With renewed enthusiasm, she began the customization. But she paused when the system displayed its base form. The height, weight, and age... they were just like—
"Hmmm... they’re about the sa size as my boy, Sephiran... maybe the sa age too."
She rubbed her chin.
"Does that an they were twelve years old as well?"
The mory of the fight replayed in her mind—well... less fight and more murder, if she was being honest.
"Yeah... they seed about the sa."
Her eyes narrowed slightly as a strange thought crept in.
"But... who made them?"
She looked at the data again.
"If one day equals one year of growth... then they were only alive for twelve days."
Her brows rose slowly.
"So they were a recent addition to that Demonic Ogre family..."
Her gaze drifted across the cavern. Dyralfa and Arach were currently arm-wrestling on a stone slab, the ground cracking slightly every ti their strength clashed.
Maddy’s thoughts briefly went sowhere... darker. Then she imdiately waved her hands in front of her face.
"No—no, wait! That’s just their base form, not them!"
She nodded firmly to herself.
"Okay! Completely different situation!"
Satisfied with that conclusion, Maddy returned to the customization interface hovering in her vision.
"To make this armless boy functional... I must—"
She paused again.
Another idea suddenly sparked in her mind.
"That ghost monsters... they’re a bit annoying if you don’t know how to deal with them...And these ogres were annoying too."
Her grin slowly widened.
"Might as well make it double annoying."
With that decision made, she began modifying the blueprint.
The crude ogre flesh was stripped away piece by piece in the design—muscle, skin, and heavy bone dissolving from the template until only the base structure remained. Then she layered sothing new over it: the incorporeal essence she had harvested from the Area 1.
Shadow matter flowed into the design.
A spectral body ford over the ogre fra—thin, dark, and shifting like smoke in moonlight. The dense ogre core remained as an anchor while the outer body beca sothing far less tangible.
When the design stabilized, the transformation was clear.
The once-armless ogre now had long, fully ford arms, though they were no longer flesh. They were made of swirling shadow and ghostly energy, able to phase, stretch, or solidify at will.
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