After recording all our abilities, I made a decision: before entering the monster city, we had to understand each other's potential. There's no point sneaking in if Oyen suddenly explodes from nervousness, or if Hitam steamrolls through the whole population just because he sneezed.
We needed... training.
"We'll start with the safest one," I said. "Abu, try bouncing gently against that wall."
Abu immediately curled like jelly, then—BOINK!—he bounced... not into the wall, but straight into Oyen's head.
"Ouch! I'm burning!" Abu screamed, because apparently, when panicked, Oyen automatically activated his flames.
"S-sorry! Reflex!" Oyen panicked even more, and his fire flared up.
"Putih! Mist! Now!"
Putih released a thick fog over everyone. In an instant, the world turned grey.
"Who stepped on me?!"
"Whose rock is this?!—Oh, it's Belang!"
"Cimut, please shut up! Mama's head is buzzing!"
Too late. Cimut, frightened, let out a high-pitched "ngiiiiiiiing" that made every egg tremble.
Hitam started rolling blindly into the fog. THUD! CRASH! WHAM! I had no idea how many of the kids got hit.
When the mist finally cleared, we were all lying around in a messy pile. Only Lurik looked calm—sitting on his own shadow, somehow projecting an illusion of himself sipping tea.
I stared at the cave ceiling.
"Okay. Note to self: No more group training. Ever."
Once everyone regained their senses, we switched to one-on-one training. The results:
- Oyen could control his fire… if he hummed softly while doing it.
- Hitam needed a custom brake belt made from slippery monster hide.
- Putih was only allowed to fog things up for three seconds max or everyone would panic.
- Belang could disappear completely—I actually thought he was gone for real and cried.
- Abu could bounce three times higher if he ate springy mushrooms beforehand.
- Cimut started practicing lower tones, though it still made us nauseous.
- Lurik… who knows. He faked a version of himself sleeping. The real one? Still missing.
But through all that chaos, one thing was clear: they were growing.
And for the first time since becoming a rotten egg, I truly felt like a useful parent.