"[Reptilian] Since when did you become so strong, Papa?" Her gaze was deep, Aiden felt as if it penetrated deep into his soul. "Just.. Who exactly are you, Papa?!"

Aiden was honestly scared, worried as he tried to withstand the girl's pressuring, scrutinizing gaze. He gulped and cleared his throat before he managed to gather himself enough to respond.

"[Reptilian] W-w-what do you mean, h-honey?" He stutteringly asked, flashing a nervous-looking smile on her Draconian Skink, scaled face. "I am who I am, nothing more nothing less. What is the problem, dear?"

In response, the girl simply pointed in the direction where the stone slab should be resting behind the wall. historical

"[Reptilian] The stone, Papa, the stone!" She exclaimed, with a slight annoyance in her voice. "You moved the stone by yourself! How did you do that?!"

"[Reptilian] What do you mean, honey? What is the problem with me opening the way, I don't g-"

'[Aiden, the 'door' you have opened with ease, is a several hundred-pound heavy solid object. A normal skink, no matter if it was a regular one like Thuk's tribe back from the sewers of Higrove, or this special breed of Draconian Skinks, there is absolutely no way, they could have the strength to move these heavy rocks by themselves..]'

Enya's sudden explanation ringing inside his mind, caused Aiden to finally understand the root of the issue the girl was having problem's processing.

He forgot that his strength was far beyond the normal, surpassing that of his current form by several folds. After all, according to the System's Status Screen, he had 45 points in Might, making him stronger than anything he had met so far.

(AN: Just for a bit of context: An average human which would be the race that can be considered as the baseline metric would have all his three primary attributes at the single digits. Weaker, older individuals would be dwindling below the 5 Point Mark in both Might and Agility, whilst the more physically 'fit', non-adventurer or warrior types would be closing in on 10 at most. Skinks, being the lowest forms of the Reptilian community are generally the weakest, but also one of the most agile creatures amongst their brethren, with their base might attribute ranging from 1-6 in most cases and at least the double in terms of Agility. The strongest breed amongst them, the Draconian Skinks, have higher than normal attributes but still ranging in at most the 10-15 or in the most extreme cases the 15-20 attribute ranges.)

"[Reptilian] Ehrm.. You see.." Reminding himself of the time that the Temple Guard Captain was shocked by his display of power, Aiden decided to go with that path again. He sighed as if he was finally deciding to come 'clean' and took a step back to create a bit of distance between him and the little girl. He donned a wry smile as he looked at the girl and spoke amidst a heavy sigh.

"[Reptilian] I wanted to keep this a secret for now as it could cause us more trouble than good, but.." Looking at the girl, he nodded, looking as if he was acquiescing to her daughter's wrongful gaze. "..But I guess, I can't keep anything a surprise from you, little one."

In the next moment, Aiden temporarily released the mental shackles holding his powers at bay, allowing the full brunt of his aura to explode from his body.

Immediately, a heavy cold pressure filled the small cave-like room. Though he made sure to not go too heavy on the little girl and did his best to protect her, the unbelievable power of his [Dragon's Wrath] innate skill, the power of his absorbed Ancient Dragon heritage was still more than what the girl could easily handle.

She was forced to take several steps away, closing towards the door whilst raising her arms to protect her face from the suddenly emerging gust of winds that swirled around his Papa like an invisible protective barrier.

The energy was so thick, so strong, that it actually caused the space to distort, shrouding the elderly skink in a shroud of obscure, opaque fog, further adding to the puzzling mystery.

Still, despite that, Tolliah wasn't scared, as to how Aiden was expecting. Instead, her eyes glimmered, sparks of excitement flashed in her eyes as she peaked through the folds of protection of her arms.

"[Reptilian] Papa! You got strong! Super-duper strong!" She giggled with excitement, doing her best to withstand the pressure, and even took a wobbling step forward, trying to get closer to her father once again.

Surprised by her reaction, Aiden quickly reined in his aura, once again pushing it deep down in his body and hiding it deep in his soul.

As the pressure suddenly vanished, the girl bolted towards Aiden once again, throwing herself in his embrace and hugging his neck instantly.

"[Reptilian] Papa! You got strong enough to beat the bad guys! We can be safe now! We.. We.." Suddenly, the girl began to sob, unable to finish her line of thought. She buried herself in the embrace of his chest, sobbing desperately.

For minutes, Aiden and Tolliah remained like that, him acting as the father, trying his best to be the support the pillar this little girl needed, allowing her to cry all the pain and suffering from her heart out.

Patiently, he caressed the girl's back, allowing her to cry for as long as she needed. Eventually, the snot-stained, sobbing girl, began to calm down. Though not leaving the warmth of his father's embrace, Tolliah finally looked up at Aiden and smiled.

"[Reptilian] Papa.." She hesitantly began to give voice to her deepest, most precious wish, her desire. "Do you think.. Do you think.. now that you are.. you are.."

She tried her best to explain, however, amidst the heavy sobs and snorts, much less the painful torment of the mere thought, made the simple task an incredibly difficult endeavor.

Still, Aiden remained silent, patiently waiting till the little one to gather herself enough to finish voicing her thought.

Tolliah heaved a slow sigh, calming her chaotically beating, agitated heart, taking her sweet time to continue.

"..Do you think.. that maybe.. we could get ma-"

Just as she was about to finish, suddenly commotion could be heard from outside the halls. Heavy footsteps were approaching their direction, catching both of their attention.

Looking at the direction of the source, Aiden's face soured, instantly shifting from the warmth, familial smile into the aloof, cold disposition of a killer. Pushing little Tolliah behind him as a sort of natural reaction to protect her, he turned towards the entrance, looking at the emerging figures with a stern, strict gaze.

His fists clenched, Aiden was ready to unleash his anger on those foolish enough to disrupt their idyllic peace.

---

AN: Hey there Readers!

Just a friendly reminder, that from wherever you are reading , you can reach out to me using any of the below methods!

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/shaele