Chapter 5: Is Ni Silly or Not?

After all, according to behavioral psychology, when you are completely strangers with someone and know nothing about each other, certain small mirrored actions—like touching your nose or scratching your face—can subtly bridge the gap between you. It creates a sense of “This person is one of my kind.” Socially adept individuals often use these inconspicuous body gestures deliberately to ease the tension and resistance of a first encounter.

Applying such interpersonal skills to dragons should work just as well, Lind thought to himself. As long as he played the fool a little, mimicking Victoria’s behavior—bumping melons and trees with his head—he could gradually draw closer to her through subtle influence.

Ha! A mere hatchling dragon, easily handled.

Let me show you the cunning ways of a worldly-wise person, he chuckled darkly.

With a thunderous crash, a towering tree fell heavily onto the grass. Humans are not otters after all, and Lind wasn’t foolish enough to be crushed by the very tree he felled.

Next came the task of breaking it down into usable wood.

While he was still pondering how to proceed, Victoria, alerted by the noise, flapped her wings and flew over.

“What’s Forest up to?”

“Chopped down a tree, getting ready to tinker with some tools.”

“Oh.”

Victoria responded but then frowned, letting out a curious, “Oh?”

“How did you chop down the tree? I didn’t see any wind magic.”

“I used my head to bash it.”

Lind smoothed his bangs and flipped his hair up, feeling quite dashing.

“Eh?”

The gem dragon blinked, standing there dumbfounded.

Catching a glimpse of her stunned expression, Lind thought his action must have inspired genuine admiration, leaving her momentarily speechless.

But in the next second, Victoria collapsed onto the grass, rolling with laughter and pointing at him with her claw.

“Are you silly or what? Bashing a tree with your head? Ha ha ha! Even the youngest of our family wouldn’t walk into a tree like that.”

“…”

Lind stammered, wanting to explain, but felt that trying to justify it only made him look dumber.

Besides, he couldn’t exactly say he did it on purpose to get closer to her.

Sometimes cleverness backfires.

Trying to use some trick to deepen a bond might just make you a clown.

Just like now.

Clearing his throat twice, Lind turned his head and said, “I did it on purpose. Just teasing you. Look at you laugh like that.”

This was right up there with “my internet lagged,” “my hands just slipped,” and “I don’t usually act like this” — classic excuses from men unwilling to admit fault.

“Hahaha!”

Victoria laughed even harder, her silver-bell laughter somewhat piercing to Lind’s ears, yet warm in his belly.

This little dragon just wouldn’t give him a way out.

Seeing she had no intention of stopping, he rolled his eyes at her.

“Alright, alright, I’m silly, you’re smart. But can you knock down a tree with your head?”

“I’m not silly! I wouldn’t bash a tree with my head.”

Victoria grinned, eyes twinkling as she wasn’t fooled by Lind’s bait.

Then Lind launched into the classic online teasing tactic of feigned nonchalance:

“If you can’t, you can’t. Be honest, I won’t look down on you or anything.”

“You’re underestimating me!” Victoria huffed, getting up from the ground, “Dragons are mighty, you know.”

“It’s just bashing a tree. I can do it too!”

“Ha, go ahead.”

Lind crossed his arms, feigning indifference but secretly amused.

These hatchlings are still too young.

“Quit now if you’re afraid of pain, or pick a thinner one.”

Victoria, who had been eyeing a tree about as thick as her forelimbs, snorted and turned toward an enormous tree that even her two claws couldn’t encircle.

Lind’s eye twitched. His playful mood shifted toward worry.

“Hey, I was joking. Pick a thinner tree, okay? I’m not sure if thick or thin hurts more, but my eyes say thinner might be easier.”

Victoria ignored him entirely, stepping back dozens of meters and starting a running approach.

“Tell my mom I’m not a coward!”

“A hatchling dragon is no less brave than a hatchling human!”

“Wa-ya-ya-ya—”

*Bam!*

Time seemed to freeze in that moment.

(From Lind’s mental perspective)

If this were a scene from a passionate shōnen manga, Victoria’s mind would flash through memories, grasping the true meaning of friendship and bonds. Then, the memory would end, the trunk would snap, and the tree would crash down.

Or perhaps a Charlie Chaplin-style comedy would ensue, where Victoria, after dodging, would find the tree only partially broken, wobbling dangerously above her head.

She’d circle the tree roots, the trunk spinning with her, the dragon and tree twirling until sunset.

In the end, the trunk fell without hitting the hatchling.

Victoria’s eyes lit up with joy as she jumped up—

*Thud!*

—but a previously unseen tree suddenly struck her on the head, stars flashing before her eyes. She staggered two steps like she’d drunk bad wine, then collapsed flat.

A voiceover followed—

Dragon Tamer Lind spent the afternoon chopping trees too, circling around the not-quite-fallen trunks, and kept at it until dusk.

This actually sounds a bit interesting, Lind thought.

Wait, why hasn’t the time stop ended after all this?

He tentatively pinched his own face and realized he could move.

If I didn’t use any magical tricks or awaken the world (or smash Varudo), why is Victoria still standing there like a fool?

“Hey, Victoria, are you okay?”

“Don’t… talk to me now…” The hatchling’s voice quivered slightly. “Mom told me when it hurts, if I stay still and think nothing happened, it’ll get better soon.”

“Uh, isn’t that just self-deception?”

Lind moved closer, gently touching the beautiful scales on her wing.

“Besides, once the body recovers, it stops hurting.”

“Waaah! My head feels like it’s splitting in two!”

At Lind’s touch, Victoria lost control, screaming like a slaughtered pig.

Seeing the huge red bump on her head, Lind smirked with schadenfreude.

“Oh wow, an ultra-evolution, huh? Isn’t that a crested dragon?”

Victoria guarded the bump with her forepaws, eyes full of indignation.

“Damn it, why don’t you have a bump that big? And why can you knock down trees?”

“There are differences between humans and dragons.”

Lind dusted off his clothes, gazing skyward at a forty-five-degree angle, feigning profound wisdom.

[Hatchling Victoria has developed admiration for you.]

[Reputation points +5]

[Current total reputation points: 8]