It feels like we’ve been wandering underground for nearly a week or so. Haa, a warm meal really is refreshing.
“Mhmm, it’s pretty delicious… but swamp water? Seriously, Saori?” I complained to my friend in Common tongue, instead of English or Japanese. “But, honestly, don’t you want to make something for yourself? You’ve been making things I liked to eat ever since we’ve met.”
“Well, it is my pleasure to serve you something you enjoy. Good food is best eaten when everybody can savor it,” Saori responded back, also in Common tongue.
Saori, Saori, master of the household.
“I know, but don’t you want to… uh, don’t you want to-” I tried to reply back but I couldn’t remember a certain word, forcing me to resort to [Telepathy] to convey my thoughts. [“Don’t you want to make some Japanese cuisine? I like western and eastern cooking equally, so you don’t have to restrict yourself.”]
“Ohhh, isn’t this ‘Japanese’ a country from Earth? I would love to taste your home country’s cooking, Miss Saori,” Tasianna said with expecting eyes.
“You two…” Saori scratched her head in defeat. “It is not like I do not want to make it, it is just that I cannot make it. The ingredients for them were not in the forest, and I would not want a proper breakfast without…. uh, let me say the rest with [Telepathy].”
As much as we were improving with Tasianna’s daily lectures, we still weren’t fluent. Speaking with the lizardmen had widened our horizon enough we could start conversations, but Tasianna did mention our accents were extremely thick. Our pronunciations could use some work.
[“Rice. Without rice, it would not feel very authentic. Grilling some kebabs or cooking a steak is much easier with our current tools, anyways,”] Saori replied.
She was right. Our current cooking tools were just our claws and hands as anything else would be less effective. While cutting was not a problem, anything fancy was practically quite difficult to reproduce. We needed proper pans, maybe a way to bake things, and also just tools to help Saroi cook faster and cleaner.
Speaking about baking, I really had an itch to bake some cookies. Like, something nice and warm, or maybe something super sweet. I knew how to make homemade yeast with fruit and such, so maybe I should try to make some after we got out of this place.
"'Rice'?" Tasianna questioned, tilting her head for a moment, before hitting her open palm with a fist. "Oh, it took a bit for the telepathy to send all the information. Are you speaking of a hard, yellow grain that turns soft and white after you moisten them? They're small and about this big, yes?"
Using her small arms, she imitated the size of a rice kernel.
“Wait are you meaning to tell me you know about rice?! Rice exists in Peolynca, too?!” Saori burst out in surprise, staring at her in anticipation.
Many fruits and veggies on Peolynca looked similar to ones you could find on earth like strawberries, potatoes, even basil leaves. There were a ton of differences due to mana influencing them, turning the former three into fragassas, toffels, and parshkey respectively. Parshkey, for example, was an antitoxin in this world.
“Oh, yes. According to my adoptive parents, rice is actually one of two national crops the dwarves absolutely adore because you can make strong alcohol from them. I remembered that my father once brought some of that beverage back after he went with His Majesty to the dwarven lands of Ankor-Nazta," Tasianna said while tapping her chin, reminiscing about her childhood. "It reeked as terrible as any other alcohol. Revolting. For some reason that I cannot understand, the elves also like that untasteful liquor.”
‘Ankor-Nazta,’ huh? That’s another count— Wait, what did she just say?!
“Hold on!” Saori shouted at the same time I had that epiphany before grabbing Tasianna with both of her hands. “Rice, did you just say ‘rice?’ I-I understood that! Not as a Common word but as the Japanese one. Huh, what does this… wait, confirm this for me. Sake. S. A. K. E. Sake. Is that the word for this rice liquor?”
Looking at the fanatical Saori, Tasianna could only wince at this bizarre sight, "A-Ah, y-yes, Miss Saori. I do remember it being called sake. Just, that isn’t how you write it in Common."
Tasianna explained both the “rice” and “sake” words to us, helping us realize they were exactly what we thought they would be. While Tasianna’s pronunciation was similar to the Japanese “gohan” and “sake,” the way she wrote them was in Common’s alphabet.
Saori, satisfied with that answer, released Tasianna from her clutch, “Then please answer two more questions for me. Do you know the origin of that name and where exactly is this ‘Ankor-Nazta’ place?”
“Uh, yes, I do in fact. According to my father, rice became a national food due to its history with one of their rulers. They were the one who led the dwarves during the infamous War for the Faefolk and they later on ascended to godhood after their death,” Tasianna explained. “I apologize but I do not remember the name of that specific god. However, the dwarves themselves live northeast from the elves.”
In other words, due to our little kidnapping, we’re too far away now.
“Hestia…” After hearing that, Saori turned around and looked at me with glistening eyes. “Do you remember what that leviathan told us? About somebody who was exactly like us? Coincidence?”
“… I think not.” I smirked after a quick thought. “ ‘Achieved greatness,’ or something like that. If becoming a subordinate god isn’t considered 'greatness,’ then I'm tone-deaf. You aren't thinking what I'm thinking, right?"
“Yes, after we get out of this forest, we should probably make it our goal to visit the dwarves if we get the chance,” Saori stated. “Not only for the rice. Not only for the delicious sake. But I honestly want to know about this person. They might not have much to do with our situation, but I must admit I am curious as both a person and a historian."
“… Are you serious? Do you know what a dwarf is?” I asked Saori a rhetorical question with worry, hoping she was well-informed about pop-culture. “Tasianna, can you explain to me what a dwarf is?”
“… Apologies but I cannot. Just like how I couldn't describe lizardmen to you before I met them, I also can't tell you what dwarves look like. All I know is that they live under the mountains and that-"
“That’s enough!” I shouted, interrupting Tasianna. “You hear that, Saori! Cave! Underground! Mountain! Darknesssssssssssss!”
“Alright, alright! Please, you have to calm down! I know you do not like being in caves but are you not feeling curious about all of this?" Saori tried to soothe me as I began jumping up and down due to my frustration of still being inside this cave!
I didn’t know how long it has been but we've stayed inside this cave for an extremely long time now! I miss being outside, alright! It was dark, musky, cold, and just a pain to be in! OMG, I wanted out of here.
“Don’t you try that on me! You should know by now how much I hate being inside a cave! I’ve been stuck inside one for a whole month, just by myself! Being forced to speak with myself through my parallel minds! That is not healthy!” I ran around hysterically, finally letting out my frustration. “Arrrgh, I want to get out of here already, so just let me make a hole and we can get back to fresh air! Please!”
“Didn’t you also agree we should not get caught by those wyverns?” Saori pointed out, causing me to freeze up.
The idea of drilling through the mountain to find a way back to the surface wasn’t a one-time thing. We had this discussion before, but I was soundly argued down by Saori due to a single worry — Kargryxmor.
Yes, we were assuming my divine granddaddy wasn’t actually trying to kill me here for usurping his blessing. We got over that, already, but I couldn’t exactly shake away our worries after witnessing how Asterios acted. Bluntly said, he was an asshole. No use mincing words about it.
As such, I was a bit afraid of the unknown and where exactly he was bringing us to. While I wasn’t as suspicious of Kargryxmor like before, I still felt it was better for us to meet up with Aurena first. I didn’t know what the dragon god’s motives were, but I at least knew what Aurena wanted. Besides, the Goddess of Light was his superior, so if he was angry, I had to ask Aurena to help me out before meeting him,
Saori continued after I calmed down. “I do not want to meet that psychopath again. Staying low and not causing a fuss is our only way out, so please, have more patience. I will treat you to whatever you wish once we are out, okay?”
“Urgh…” I groaned at her sound arguments.
It… honestly wasn’t as bad as my first time being stuck inside a cave. Last time, I was completely alone and couldn't really share my annoyance with anybody. The only way to vent was to blast things with magic.
Being together with somebody was reassuring. Saori and Tasianna had made my time inside here much more comfortable. We hadn’t found an underground lake yet but the constant showers Tasianna could conjure up were enough for me to feel clean and relieved.
“Huh?”
“Saori?” Interrupted by Saori’s sudden voice, I stopped thinking about the issue at hand.
“Uhhh, nothing. Just forget it, ok?” Saori said nervously, fidgeting around. “Oh, how about I make you ice cream? Fragassa, those giant strawberries are your favorite, right? Tasianna, could you help me make some?”
“I don’t know what ‘ice cream’ is, but it would be my honor to continue serving Lady Hestia,” Tasianna announced with a proud face.
“Well, I wouldn't mind ice cream, but what is this? I might look like a twelve-year-old, but you don’t have to appease me as if I really was one. I’m not a kid, gu…ys?” At that moment, something felt off.
I’ve already mentioned that it felt like we’ve been in here forever, but how long has it actually been?
“Tasianna, do you remember what the date was when we fled from the wyverns?” I turned to my fairy companion.
“Wait, Tasianna don—!”
“Of course, Lady Hestia. If I counted correctly, it was the 18th of HarvestMoon, the tenth month of our calendar. I always count the days… but as you can see, it is quite hard to do so inside here,” Tasianna said with a quizzical face.
I checked my status board yesterday and I was still six months old…
“Hestia… don’t.”
Profile.
SpoilerName: Hestia Atsuko Kargryxmor Level: 29 Race: Young Spark Inferno Dragon
Age: 7 Month
Status: Health: 5709/5709(+442) Mana: 19192/19192(+1090)
Strength: 2783 (+106) Intelligence: 5280 (+598)
Vitality: 1423 (+35) Wisdom: 1713 (+59)
Agility: 5702 (+511) Stamina: 2814/2814(+110)
Effects: [Damaged Mana Path [Left Wing] (Minor)] [Humanized (Moderate)]
Skill Points: 2600 (+800)
Unique Skill: [Spark Fire Dragon Lv. 8] [Spark Fire’s Fire Boost] [Spark Flame Veil]
Skill: Magic skills and related:
[Lava Magic Lv. 2] [Lightning Magic Lv. 1] (New) [Holy Magic Lv. 10]
[Holy Amp] [Holy Magic Efficiency] [Sacred Magic Lv. 5]
[Fire Magic Lv. 10] [Fire Amp] [Fire Magic Efficiency]
[Inferno Magic Lv. 5] [Earth Magic Lv. 10] [Earth Amp]
[Earth Magic Efficiency] [Terra Magic Lv. 2] (+1)
[Wind Magic Lv. 10] (+1) [Wind Amp] [Wind Magic Efficiency]
[Storm Magic Lv. 1] (New)
[Space-Time Magic Lv. 4] [Space-Time Magic Efficiency]
[Synergist’s Oath Lv. 5] (+1) [Draconic Magics] [Draconic Barrier Lv. 4]
[Silent Casting Lv. 6] [Magic Power Enhancement Lv. 6] (+1)
[Mental Stability Lv. 5] (+1) [Mental Warfare Lv. 4]
Physical skills and related:
[Unarmed Technique Lv. 5] (+1) [Draconic Claws Lv. 5] (+1)
[Draconic Roar Lv. 3] (+1) [Draconic Fangs Lv. 4]
[Sundering Enhancement Lv. 4] [Piercing Enhancement Lv. 4]
[Crushing Enhancement Lv. 2]
Senses and movement skills:
[Stealth Lv. 9] [Accuracy Correction Lv. 6]
[Concentration Lv. 2]
[Prediction Lv. 9] (+1) [Danger Perception Lv. 3] (+1)
[Probability Correction Lv. 5] [Detection Sensor Lv. 3] (+1)
[Enhanced Auditory Sense Lv. 3] [Enhanced Olfactory Sense Lv. 4]
[Enhanced Vision Lv. 5] [Tracking Lv. 3] [Night Vision Lv. 8]
[Presence Killer Lv. 9] [Evasion Lv. 10] [Acrobatic Lv. 10]
[Air Walk Lv. 2] [Terrain Maneuvering Lv. 4]
Resistances:
[Physical Super-Resistance Lv. 4] (+2) [Absolute Pain Tolerance]
[Mana Leak Resistance Lv. 1] [Abnormal Status Nullification]
[Fear Resistance Lv. 2] (+1) [Lava Resistance Lv.1]
[Holy Resistance Lv. 4] [Inferno Resistance Lv. 2]
[Terra Resistance Lv. 1] [Wind Resistance Lv. 2]
[Water Resistance Lv. 1] [Dark Resistance Lv. 1]
Stat growths and related:
[Health Recovery Lv. 4] [Stamina Recovery Lv. 5]
[Enhanced Health Growth Lv. 6]
[Enhanced Health Capacity Lv. 4]
[Arcane Conduit Lv. 1]
[Enhanced Strength Growth Lv. 5]
[Enhanced Strength Enforcement Lv. 4]
[Sorcerer’s Power Lv. 1]
[Enhanced Vitality Growth Lv. 4]
[Enhanced Vitality Enforcement Lv. 4]
[Enhanced Wisdom Growth Lv. 4]
[Enhanced Wisdom Enforcement Lv. 4]
[Speed of Sound Lv. 1]
[Enhanced Stamina Growth Lv. 6] (+1)
[Enhanced Stamina Capacity Lv. 4]
Others:
[Singing Lv. 7] (+1) [Dancing Lv. 5] (+1) [Musician Lv. 3] (+2)
[Handicraft Lv. 1] (New) [Woodworking Lv. 2] [Poison Creation Lv. 5] (+1)
[Toxic Secretion Lv. 3] (+1)
[Trap Creation Lv. 5] (+1) [Identity Blocker Lv. 4] (+1) [Identify Lv. 10]
[Noble Aura Lv. 5] [Benevolent Aura Lv. 1]
[Terror Aura Lv. 1] [Battle Mind Lv. 6]
[Royal Etiquette Lv. 2] [Leadership Lv. 5] [Cooking Lv. 7]
[Dismantle Lv. 7] [Thought Acceleration Lv. 2]
[Parallel Thoughts Lv. 8] [Body Temperature Control Lv. 2] (+1)
[Humanize Lv. 8] [Pyrokinesis] [Aerokinesis] [Telepathy]
Ability List: [Flame Blast] [Spark Claws] [Spark Flame] [Spark Fire Breath]
[Spark Fang] [Spark Inferno Blast]
Spell List: Custom Magic:
[Imperial Hellfire]
Lightning Magic:
[Lightning Bolt]
Lava Magic:
[Lava Ball] [Lava Stream]
Holy Magic:
[Minor Heal] [Cure] [Modest Heal] [Smite] [Light] [Holy Protection]
[Holy Strength] [Purify] [Sacred Smite] [Sacred Veil] [Sacred Field]
[Banishment Beam] [Major Heal]
Fire Magic
[Fire] [Firebolt] [Imbue Fire] [Fire Ball] [Strengthening Flames]
[Flame Spear] [Petal Flame] [Flame Explosion] [Inferno Blast]
[Blazing Twister] [Inferno Beam] [Scorching Sun] [Spiral Hellfire]
Earth Magic
[Earth Wall] [Rock Blast] [Earth Strike] [Rock Bullet] [Sturdy Earth]
[Earth Spears] [Earth Crash] [Earthen Shackles] [Terra Wall]
[Bedrock Blades]
Wind Magic:
[Wind Bullet] [Wind Cutter] [Air Shield] [Wind Slash]
[Swift Winds] [Wind Blast] [Featherfall] [Aerial Blitz]
[Tornado Bullet]
Space-Time Magic:
[Haste] [Storage Magic] [Warp Point: Entry]
The Light Magic:
[Shine] [Sanctuary]
Titles: [The Light] [Bearer of Kargryxmor’s Blood] [Otherworldly Reincarnator]
[Princess]
[collapse]Ehehe… still not used to seeing ‘Kargryxmor’ behind my name… but—
“… Saori?” I looked at Saori.
“… I was checking my mana consumption. Making sure [Humanized] was not draining too much and I just found out my ‘Age’ has changed to three months,” Saori answered with a reluctant tone.
“Hmm. If you’ve just become three months old, then that means that it's the 25th. Oh, thank the gods, I can keep up with the date again! Which means today is a Restday,” Tasianna blurted out, flying around ecstatically.
“Haaa… I see,” compared to the happy-go-lucky fairy, I, on the other hand, had to take a breath to calm myself down. “LET ME OUT OF HERE!”
Shouting at the top of my lungs, I began materializing the magic circle for [Inferno Beam] to drill a hole in the ceiling of this cave, planning to create an escape out of this abominable place.
“Hestia, no!” Saori called out before tackling me onto the ground like a football player, holding my arms down. “We need to stay incognito here! Please, you have to calm down!”
“GET OFF OF ME, SAORI! GET OFF!” putting my feet on Saori’s body, I kicked her off me, despite her resistance.
Jumping back onto my feet, my spell’s red magic circle was finished, ready for me to activate it. However, as I was ready to activate it, [Prediction] warned me, informing me of Saori who dashed behind me.
‘Cause she used [Haste], my reaction time wasn’t fast enough for me to avoid being grabbed from behind and being slammed onto a wall. Due to my barrier, it didn’t hurt much, a fact Saori knew as she wasn’t holding her strength back.
"Damn it, we've gone a week without fighting! Fuck, at least [Battle Frenzy] hasn’t appeared yet!” Saori shouted. "Tasianna, I need help now!"
“GRAAAARRGH, I WANT OUT! NOW! Ooof!”
“Hestia, please stop struggling. You need to control yourself! Don’t let [Battle Frenzy] control you!” Saori once again pleaded, but my ears weren’t registering them due to a singular word resounding in my mind — outside.
“Miss Saori, I apologize for the indecency, but I believe this should help us,” Tasianna called from behind, however, I couldn’t understand what she meant by “indecent.”
“…! T-Tasianna?! Le-Lew— Ahem!” Saori gasped, surprised at something. “Ah, never mind. We’re all women here, anyways. Just come and help me. We need to control her before she blows this place up!”
“LET ME GO! I WANT TO GO OUTSIDE, ALREADY!” I shouted, putting even more strength to free myself. “I want to see Rajah. I want to see Caszcur. I want Apsala. I want to see Aksmias. I want to see my forest again. I want to see Belzac forest again. The air, the green leaves, the peaceful animals! I don’t want to be in this cave anymore, Saaaaaaooooooriiiiii!”
‘She’s having a tantrum.’ parallel mind #1 shook her head in exasperation.
‘Yup, and I’m getting influenced by it, too… awesome,’ #2 said with annoyance.
‘Come on, girls. I want to get out of this cave too, but we need to calm Original Mind down!’ #3 commanded the others into action.
It was like my parallel minds said, I was having a tantrum. I couldn’t remember the last time I had one, so this was my first real childish outburst due to stress.
Honestly, the rational part of my mind was telling me this was an embarrassing thing to do for my age but being inside a cave already made me go mildly insane the last time I was in one. The thought of staying inside another cave for another month was not cool at all. I didn’t want to stay another day inside here!
I was already extremely annoyed by the recent events. Having to say goodbye to so many people I considered friends. Yes, I considered Rajah more of a pet but that didn’t mean the impact of having to say goodbye was any less.
The lizardmen and I had a rough beginning, but I grew fond of them as individuals. There were Caszcur, Aksmias, and Apsala, sure, but every single one of them were awesome and super polite. I even made a promise to sing for the kids, for heaven's sake.
And that is why… LET ME OUT OF HERE!
“GRAAAAAGH! GRRRRRUUUUUUUGH!”
“Dammit, Hestia!” with a swift twist of her body, Saori threw me onto the ground, knocking my jaw close to prevent me from releasing dragon fire. “I’ll apologize to you later, but we can’t have you go on a rampage, now! Shadow Tendrils!”
“Urrrrrggh!” I winced in pain from the mere touch of the shadow tendrils wrapping themselves around my body, before ignoring them and casting a spell on my horns. “SHINE!”
“Urgh, quick!” A glaring light filled the room, freeing me from Saori’s spell. Noticing my body could move around freely, I stomped Saori with both legs and used the momentum to jump back on my feet.
“Inferno B-!” as I was about to shoot out a beam of searing hot fire, something surprising came into my view.
It was not a monster nor a beastmen, but a woman with rose-colored skin, completely naked besides a cloth collar around her neck. She had a slim body with a non-existent chest size. Her face was youthful with an obvious red blush on her cheeks, framed by azure-blue hair which reached down to her back if she hadn’t styled them into twin frontal braids.
Normally, she would also have short, pointy ears but her current ones were abnormally long and sharp giving her face a different "feel." However, what surprised me the most was her bare back, completely void of two of her limbs, her wings.
"… T-Tasianna?" I blurted the only thing that came to my mind as I saw the beautiful woman who was a head taller than me.
“… I apologize for this, Lady Hestia! Please, forgive me!” with an incredibly reddened face, the woman rushed towards me and embraced me with a cold hug.
“Gaaaaaaah….. c-c-c-c-c-cold! Argk, let me go, please!" I pleaded, trying to fidget my way out of the naked woman's arms.
“Please, calm down first, Lady Hestia! I don’t want to see you make a mistake! Please, control your urges and listen to Miss Saori!” Tasianna urged as she looked me straight into the eyes.
"ALRIGHT! ALRIGHT! Just put some clothes on first!" This whole scene was too surreal, to the point it was enough to cool down my head enough to stop my tantrum.
After taking the time to apologize to Saori, I just sat down for a moment to reflect on what just happened, doing breathing practices to simmer the fire inside of me even further. It was frustrating to think I almost lost myself in my emotions.
Not good… [Battle Frenzy] is coming soon. This is not good… B-But, that was soooo… urgh, lewd. Gods, let’s just forget this ever happened.
Shaking away my embarrassment, I asked the still flustered Tasianna about her current form after Saori gave her one of her spare mana dresses. Apparently, her current form was caused by the skill [Elvenize] she recently bought from the skill shop. It was the elven equivalent to [Humanize], turning her into an elf, or more specifically, a wind elf.
“Wind elves are the children of Zephira and one of her subordinate gods, Krunal, the god of Harvest and Weather,” Tasianna explained. “Wind elves are usually shorter than high elves, the original race. Due to being children from Zephira, wind elves also have a higher potential in learning wind magic. Otherwise, the two races are practically the same.”
“Wow, a goddess did it with a mortal? Whew, Zephira is horny,” I commented, probably damaging her feelings if she was looking through Tasianna’s eyes right now.
“Hey, it is not like our mythology has any less of that. That’s where the word ‘demi-god’ comes from, after all,” Saori explained.
“You do not need to worry about that fact. They might be the children of Zephira but they possessed none of her powers besides a higher proficiency gain for wind magic. They are nowhere as godly as you might think,” Tasianna further explained.
In addition to that, we also learned she literally spent 1000 SP to learn [Elvenize] and then 2400 SP to fully upgrade it to the maximum level. She admitted her reason for buying it was purely personal, wishing to serve me tea with her own hands.
She always felt restless whenever she couldn’t serve me anything in her fairy form, feeling jealous every time she had to watch Saori do it in her stead due to her lack of strength to pick up human-sized teapots and cups.
She stated, “A maid who cannot serve her mistress properly is an incompetent one.” Which was good enough of a reason for her to go all-in with the skill.
As she once mentioned to me, a fairy using a skill akin to [Humanize] and [Elvenize] will create a body made out of mana, same as her original form. That meant her body wasn’t able to bleed like a normal wind elf, but instead mana.
However, the biggest benefit to her form change was an increase in her Strength and Vitality stats while keeping everything else. As a being made purely from mana, she also didn’t have to consume mana to maintain her form, meaning she could keep it active indefinitely if she wished.
Still, that didn’t mean it had no disadvantages. She was still a faefolk, meaning losing mana in any way would weaken her combat prowess. Any damage she incurred could drastically weaken her stats and reduced the amount of times she could cast spells.
Depending on the stage of the [Humanize], she also couldn’t use her wings. She was currently in [Humanze (Major)], but with every stage she went down, she would lose her bonus Strength and Vitality. Not really a worthwhile trade-off for losing the ability to fly.
In addition, she was now a far larger target to hit. While she could fight in this form, unless she was doing her maid work or needed to disguise herself, Saori and I advised her to fight in her fairy form. After all, she could hide in our clothes and also drain our mana to heal herself whenever needed, needless to say she could avoid attacks better that way.
After that explanation, we continued our walk through the cave now that everybody understood I was on the precipice of [Battle Frenzy].
Suffice to say, that debuff appeared just moments later. No battles for an extended time meant I was at risk of this damnable status abnormality. Saori wanted to spar with me, but the tunnel was just too tight and we haven’t found a place large and wide enough to fight in.
There was the option to widen the tunnel using my earth magic, but anytime we wanted to do it, the whole tunnel shook. Like it wasn’t even a small quake, it was large enough a boulder once fell from the ceiling, nearly crushing Tasianna in the process had she not reacted in time.
It was too risky. If I held back for the cave’s sake, then it wouldn’t get rid of [Battle Frenzy]. All I could do was to hold it in… this incredibly frustrating itch inside my chest, tugging every single fiber of my being.
Whether it was sitting still or eating properly, it was difficult to do due to my shaking body. Was this how drug addicts felt? I was punching the ground, clawing the walls like a cat, and did various other activities to relieve myself for even a single second.
My companions also noticed this so Saori eventually caved in and allowed me to drill a hole, admitting it was worth risking getting caught for my mental health. She apologized, but I rejected the idea.
As stubborn as it sounded, Saori was right. We needed to avoid the wyverns. We needed to stay low and quiet. Our goal was to first speak with Aurena about everything before we went to Kargryxmor. It just made sense to speak with his boss before we had anything to do with him… and I honestly wanted to avoid Asterios at all cost.
I didn’t want to have anything more to do with him, especially assuming how much he must be fuming at this moment. He would probably not stop until he had me in his grasp once again!
I also needed to learn to control these urges. That leviathan was right about one thing and that was how I needed to control this draconic instinct of mine. This was my body and I needed to be sure I could control it when needed. Like a monk or so, I needed to reign in my emotions.
[Mental Stability] helped me keep calm but I needed a real skill to control it. Sadly, it was nowhere to be found in the shop. If I couldn’t find it then I had to make it myself. The System was flexible, right? If I held it in, resisting my urge to fight while constantly asking the System to create a skill for it, then it should happen eventually, right?
Ahhhhhhh, when will this torture end… come on… just one measly skill, please!
After what felt like an eternity, my nose was suddenly stimulated by the sweet smell of fresh air. Dashing through the cave’s tunnel in a frenzy, my patience was completely overruled by an incredible lust to kill anything that came in my sight.
Seeing the light in this endless darkness, my legs couldn’t stop anymore, forgetting about any restraint. Once, my body felt the soft feeling of sunshine gracing my scales and the clear air filling my lungs, I finally felt true freedom again. Controlled by both [Battle Frenzy] and this intoxicating dopamine influx, my desire to kill something surged even further to the peak.
And then everything went black.
When I woke up, the first thing that stimulated my senses was the loud “ding, ding, ding, ding” in my head after having my level rise. I questioned why I even leveled up in the first place, as I couldn’t remember killing anything. My memory was completely blank.
It took my brain a couple of seconds to readjust itself, but when it did, I suddenly noticed I was standing in a pool of blood, holding onto the shards of a broken skull, unable to use [Identify] to learn what it was, as my skill continued calling it [Shards of a Broken Skull].
Looking around, some trees were broken, and the amount of viscera was astounding. This couldn’t be called anything else but a slaughter field. No refinement. No goal. Just pure and an utterly revolting show of carnage and bloodlust.
“Hestia…!” Looking around, I could see Saori and Tasianna having caught up to me, watching me as I stood around in my own creation.
“Lady Hestia, a-are you alright?” Tasianna said while she trembled at the sight I caused.
“Saori… Tasianna,” I mumbled. “W-What have I done? W-What did I do? No…”
I opened up my palms, letting go of the skulls shards and was overwhelmed by not only disgust for myself but also fear. Fear I could have done the same thing to those two if I hadn’t managed to control myself. When my mind was completely blank, what could I have done?
I was mortified at how dangerous [Battle Frenzy] was, and consequently, myself.
“Hestia! Hesta, come here, don’t look!” I could hear Saori say.
“No, no… what is this?! Achooo!”
As I recovered from the shock with a sneeze, my eyes wandered back onto the ground, where I saw a few hints of white. Looking up again, my eyes could make out small, little flakes of white spots dropping from the sky, descending down slowly in a mesmerizing pattern.
*I ****** ********** ********** ****************************************>
ARCK! Urgh, so much static in my head, what is that? Wait, snow?
Winter, huh… urgh.
“HESTIA!”
With a loud cry and my head landing on something hard, my eyes closed, and my mind wandered into nothingness.
AbyssRaven Oh no! Hestia, nooooo! She turned into a mindless berserker, probably.
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It feels like we’ve been wandering underground for nearly a week or so. Haa, a warm meal really is refreshing.
“Mhmm, it’s pretty delicious… but swamp water? Seriously, Saori?” I complained to my friend in Common tongue, instead of English or Japanese. “But, honestly, don’t you want to make something for yourself? You’ve been making things I liked to eat ever since we’ve met.”
“Well, it is my pleasure to serve you something you enjoy. Good food is best eaten when everybody can savor it,” Saori responded back, also in Common tongue.
Saori, Saori, master of the household.
“I know, but don’t you want to… uh, don’t you want to-” I tried to reply back but I couldn’t remember a certain word, forcing me to resort to [Telepathy] to convey my thoughts. [“Don’t you want to make some Japanese cuisine? I like western and eastern cooking equally, so you don’t have to restrict yourself.”]
“Ohhh, isn’t this ‘Japanese’ a country from Earth? I would love to taste your home country’s cooking, Miss Saori,” Tasianna said with expecting eyes.
“You two…” Saori scratched her head in defeat. “It is not like I do not want to make it, it is just that I cannot make it. The ingredients for them were not in the forest, and I would not want a proper breakfast without…. uh, let me say the rest with [Telepathy].”
As much as we were improving with Tasianna’s daily lectures, we still weren’t fluent. Speaking with the lizardmen had widened our horizon enough we could start conversations, but Tasianna did mention our accents were extremely thick. Our pronunciations could use some work.
[“Rice. Without rice, it would not feel very authentic. Grilling some kebabs or cooking a steak is much easier with our current tools, anyways,”] Saori replied.
She was right. Our current cooking tools were just our claws and hands as anything else would be less effective. While cutting was not a problem, anything fancy was practically quite difficult to reproduce. We needed proper pans, maybe a way to bake things, and also just tools to help Saroi cook faster and cleaner.
Speaking about baking, I really had an itch to bake some cookies. Like, something nice and warm, or maybe something super sweet. I knew how to make homemade yeast with fruit and such, so maybe I should try to make some after we got out of this place.
"'Rice'?" Tasianna questioned, tilting her head for a moment, before hitting her open palm with a fist. "Oh, it took a bit for the telepathy to send all the information. Are you speaking of a hard, yellow grain that turns soft and white after you moisten them? They're small and about this big, yes?"
Using her small arms, she imitated the size of a rice kernel.
“Wait are you meaning to tell me you know about rice?! Rice exists in Peolynca, too?!” Saori burst out in surprise, staring at her in anticipation.
Many fruits and veggies on Peolynca looked similar to ones you could find on earth like strawberries, potatoes, even basil leaves. There were a ton of differences due to mana influencing them, turning the former three into fragassas, toffels, and parshkey respectively. Parshkey, for example, was an antitoxin in this world.
“Oh, yes. According to my adoptive parents, rice is actually one of two national crops the dwarves absolutely adore because you can make strong alcohol from them. I remembered that my father once brought some of that beverage back after he went with His Majesty to the dwarven lands of Ankor-Nazta," Tasianna said while tapping her chin, reminiscing about her childhood. "It reeked as terrible as any other alcohol. Revolting. For some reason that I cannot understand, the elves also like that untasteful liquor.”
‘Ankor-Nazta,’ huh? That’s another count— Wait, what did she just say?!
“Hold on!” Saori shouted at the same time I had that epiphany before grabbing Tasianna with both of her hands. “Rice, did you just say ‘rice?’ I-I understood that! Not as a Common word but as the Japanese one. Huh, what does this… wait, confirm this for me. Sake. S. A. K. E. Sake. Is that the word for this rice liquor?”
Looking at the fanatical Saori, Tasianna could only wince at this bizarre sight, "A-Ah, y-yes, Miss Saori. I do remember it being called sake. Just, that isn’t how you write it in Common."
Tasianna explained both the “rice” and “sake” words to us, helping us realize they were exactly what we thought they would be. While Tasianna’s pronunciation was similar to the Japanese “gohan” and “sake,” the way she wrote them was in Common’s alphabet.
Saori, satisfied with that answer, released Tasianna from her clutch, “Then please answer two more questions for me. Do you know the origin of that name and where exactly is this ‘Ankor-Nazta’ place?”
“Uh, yes, I do in fact. According to my father, rice became a national food due to its history with one of their rulers. They were the one who led the dwarves during the infamous War for the Faefolk and they later on ascended to godhood after their death,” Tasianna explained. “I apologize but I do not remember the name of that specific god. However, the dwarves themselves live northeast from the elves.”
In other words, due to our little kidnapping, we’re too far away now.
“Hestia…” After hearing that, Saori turned around and looked at me with glistening eyes. “Do you remember what that leviathan told us? About somebody who was exactly like us? Coincidence?”
“… I think not.” I smirked after a quick thought. “ ‘Achieved greatness,’ or something like that. If becoming a subordinate god isn’t considered 'greatness,’ then I'm tone-deaf. You aren't thinking what I'm thinking, right?"
“Yes, after we get out of this forest, we should probably make it our goal to visit the dwarves if we get the chance,” Saori stated. “Not only for the rice. Not only for the delicious sake. But I honestly want to know about this person. They might not have much to do with our situation, but I must admit I am curious as both a person and a historian."
“… Are you serious? Do you know what a dwarf is?” I asked Saori a rhetorical question with worry, hoping she was well-informed about pop-culture. “Tasianna, can you explain to me what a dwarf is?”
“… Apologies but I cannot. Just like how I couldn't describe lizardmen to you before I met them, I also can't tell you what dwarves look like. All I know is that they live under the mountains and that-"
“That’s enough!” I shouted, interrupting Tasianna. “You hear that, Saori! Cave! Underground! Mountain! Darknesssssssssssss!”
“Alright, alright! Please, you have to calm down! I know you do not like being in caves but are you not feeling curious about all of this?" Saori tried to soothe me as I began jumping up and down due to my frustration of still being inside this cave!
I didn’t know how long it has been but we've stayed inside this cave for an extremely long time now! I miss being outside, alright! It was dark, musky, cold, and just a pain to be in! OMG, I wanted out of here.
“Don’t you try that on me! You should know by now how much I hate being inside a cave! I’ve been stuck inside one for a whole month, just by myself! Being forced to speak with myself through my parallel minds! That is not healthy!” I ran around hysterically, finally letting out my frustration. “Arrrgh, I want to get out of here already, so just let me make a hole and we can get back to fresh air! Please!”
“Didn’t you also agree we should not get caught by those wyverns?” Saori pointed out, causing me to freeze up.
The idea of drilling through the mountain to find a way back to the surface wasn’t a one-time thing. We had this discussion before, but I was soundly argued down by Saori due to a single worry — Kargryxmor.
Yes, we were assuming my divine granddaddy wasn’t actually trying to kill me here for usurping his blessing. We got over that, already, but I couldn’t exactly shake away our worries after witnessing how Asterios acted. Bluntly said, he was an asshole. No use mincing words about it.
As such, I was a bit afraid of the unknown and where exactly he was bringing us to. While I wasn’t as suspicious of Kargryxmor like before, I still felt it was better for us to meet up with Aurena first. I didn’t know what the dragon god’s motives were, but I at least knew what Aurena wanted. Besides, the Goddess of Light was his superior, so if he was angry, I had to ask Aurena to help me out before meeting him,
Saori continued after I calmed down. “I do not want to meet that psychopath again. Staying low and not causing a fuss is our only way out, so please, have more patience. I will treat you to whatever you wish once we are out, okay?”
“Urgh…” I groaned at her sound arguments.
It… honestly wasn’t as bad as my first time being stuck inside a cave. Last time, I was completely alone and couldn't really share my annoyance with anybody. The only way to vent was to blast things with magic.
Being together with somebody was reassuring. Saori and Tasianna had made my time inside here much more comfortable. We hadn’t found an underground lake yet but the constant showers Tasianna could conjure up were enough for me to feel clean and relieved.
“Huh?”
“Saori?” Interrupted by Saori’s sudden voice, I stopped thinking about the issue at hand.
“Uhhh, nothing. Just forget it, ok?” Saori said nervously, fidgeting around. “Oh, how about I make you ice cream? Fragassa, those giant strawberries are your favorite, right? Tasianna, could you help me make some?”
“I don’t know what ‘ice cream’ is, but it would be my honor to continue serving Lady Hestia,” Tasianna announced with a proud face.
“Well, I wouldn't mind ice cream, but what is this? I might look like a twelve-year-old, but you don’t have to appease me as if I really was one. I’m not a kid, gu…ys?” At that moment, something felt off.
I’ve already mentioned that it felt like we’ve been in here forever, but how long has it actually been?
“Tasianna, do you remember what the date was when we fled from the wyverns?” I turned to my fairy companion.
“Wait, Tasianna don—!”
“Of course, Lady Hestia. If I counted correctly, it was the 18th of HarvestMoon, the tenth month of our calendar. I always count the days… but as you can see, it is quite hard to do so inside here,” Tasianna said with a quizzical face.
I checked my status board yesterday and I was still six months old…
“Hestia… don’t.”
Profile.
SpoilerName: Hestia Atsuko Kargryxmor Level: 29 Race: Young Spark Inferno Dragon
Age: 7 Month
Status: Health: 5709/5709(+442) Mana: 19192/19192(+1090)
Strength: 2783 (+106) Intelligence: 5280 (+598)
Vitality: 1423 (+35) Wisdom: 1713 (+59)
Agility: 5702 (+511) Stamina: 2814/2814(+110)
Effects: [Damaged Mana Path [Left Wing] (Minor)] [Humanized (Moderate)]
Skill Points: 2600 (+800)
Unique Skill: [Spark Fire Dragon Lv. 8] [Spark Fire’s Fire Boost] [Spark Flame Veil]
Skill: Magic skills and related:
[Lava Magic Lv. 2] [Lightning Magic Lv. 1] (New) [Holy Magic Lv. 10]
[Holy Amp] [Holy Magic Efficiency] [Sacred Magic Lv. 5]
[Fire Magic Lv. 10] [Fire Amp] [Fire Magic Efficiency]
[Inferno Magic Lv. 5] [Earth Magic Lv. 10] [Earth Amp]
[Earth Magic Efficiency] [Terra Magic Lv. 2] (+1)
[Wind Magic Lv. 10] (+1) [Wind Amp] [Wind Magic Efficiency]
[Storm Magic Lv. 1] (New)
[Space-Time Magic Lv. 4] [Space-Time Magic Efficiency]
[Synergist’s Oath Lv. 5] (+1) [Draconic Magics] [Draconic Barrier Lv. 4]
[Silent Casting Lv. 6] [Magic Power Enhancement Lv. 6] (+1)
[Mental Stability Lv. 5] (+1) [Mental Warfare Lv. 4]
Physical skills and related:
[Unarmed Technique Lv. 5] (+1) [Draconic Claws Lv. 5] (+1)
[Draconic Roar Lv. 3] (+1) [Draconic Fangs Lv. 4]
[Sundering Enhancement Lv. 4] [Piercing Enhancement Lv. 4]
[Crushing Enhancement Lv. 2]
Senses and movement skills:
[Stealth Lv. 9] [Accuracy Correction Lv. 6]
[Concentration Lv. 2]
[Prediction Lv. 9] (+1) [Danger Perception Lv. 3] (+1)
[Probability Correction Lv. 5] [Detection Sensor Lv. 3] (+1)
[Enhanced Auditory Sense Lv. 3] [Enhanced Olfactory Sense Lv. 4]
[Enhanced Vision Lv. 5] [Tracking Lv. 3] [Night Vision Lv. 8]
[Presence Killer Lv. 9] [Evasion Lv. 10] [Acrobatic Lv. 10]
[Air Walk Lv. 2] [Terrain Maneuvering Lv. 4]
Resistances:
[Physical Super-Resistance Lv. 4] (+2) [Absolute Pain Tolerance]
[Mana Leak Resistance Lv. 1] [Abnormal Status Nullification]
[Fear Resistance Lv. 2] (+1) [Lava Resistance Lv.1]
[Holy Resistance Lv. 4] [Inferno Resistance Lv. 2]
[Terra Resistance Lv. 1] [Wind Resistance Lv. 2]
[Water Resistance Lv. 1] [Dark Resistance Lv. 1]
Stat growths and related:
[Health Recovery Lv. 4] [Stamina Recovery Lv. 5]
[Enhanced Health Growth Lv. 6]
[Enhanced Health Capacity Lv. 4]
[Arcane Conduit Lv. 1]
[Enhanced Strength Growth Lv. 5]
[Enhanced Strength Enforcement Lv. 4]
[Sorcerer’s Power Lv. 1]
[Enhanced Vitality Growth Lv. 4]
[Enhanced Vitality Enforcement Lv. 4]
[Enhanced Wisdom Growth Lv. 4]
[Enhanced Wisdom Enforcement Lv. 4]
[Speed of Sound Lv. 1]
[Enhanced Stamina Growth Lv. 6] (+1)
[Enhanced Stamina Capacity Lv. 4]
Others:
[Singing Lv. 7] (+1) [Dancing Lv. 5] (+1) [Musician Lv. 3] (+2)
[Handicraft Lv. 1] (New) [Woodworking Lv. 2] [Poison Creation Lv. 5] (+1)
[Toxic Secretion Lv. 3] (+1)
[Trap Creation Lv. 5] (+1) [Identity Blocker Lv. 4] (+1) [Identify Lv. 10]
[Noble Aura Lv. 5] [Benevolent Aura Lv. 1]
[Terror Aura Lv. 1] [Battle Mind Lv. 6]
[Royal Etiquette Lv. 2] [Leadership Lv. 5] [Cooking Lv. 7]
[Dismantle Lv. 7] [Thought Acceleration Lv. 2]
[Parallel Thoughts Lv. 8] [Body Temperature Control Lv. 2] (+1)
[Humanize Lv. 8] [Pyrokinesis] [Aerokinesis] [Telepathy]
Ability List: [Flame Blast] [Spark Claws] [Spark Flame] [Spark Fire Breath]
[Spark Fang] [Spark Inferno Blast]
Spell List: Custom Magic:
[Imperial Hellfire]
Lightning Magic:
[Lightning Bolt]
Lava Magic:
[Lava Ball] [Lava Stream]
Holy Magic:
[Minor Heal] [Cure] [Modest Heal] [Smite] [Light] [Holy Protection]
[Holy Strength] [Purify] [Sacred Smite] [Sacred Veil] [Sacred Field]
[Banishment Beam] [Major Heal]
Fire Magic
[Fire] [Firebolt] [Imbue Fire] [Fire Ball] [Strengthening Flames]
[Flame Spear] [Petal Flame] [Flame Explosion] [Inferno Blast]
[Blazing Twister] [Inferno Beam] [Scorching Sun] [Spiral Hellfire]
Earth Magic
[Earth Wall] [Rock Blast] [Earth Strike] [Rock Bullet] [Sturdy Earth]
[Earth Spears] [Earth Crash] [Earthen Shackles] [Terra Wall]
[Bedrock Blades]
Wind Magic:
[Wind Bullet] [Wind Cutter] [Air Shield] [Wind Slash]
[Swift Winds] [Wind Blast] [Featherfall] [Aerial Blitz]
[Tornado Bullet]
Space-Time Magic:
[Haste] [Storage Magic] [Warp Point: Entry]
The Light Magic:
[Shine] [Sanctuary]
Titles: [The Light] [Bearer of Kargryxmor’s Blood] [Otherworldly Reincarnator]
[Princess]
[collapse]Ehehe… still not used to seeing ‘Kargryxmor’ behind my name… but—
“… Saori?” I looked at Saori.
“… I was checking my mana consumption. Making sure [Humanized] was not draining too much and I just found out my ‘Age’ has changed to three months,” Saori answered with a reluctant tone.
“Hmm. If you’ve just become three months old, then that means that it's the 25th. Oh, thank the gods, I can keep up with the date again! Which means today is a Restday,” Tasianna blurted out, flying around ecstatically.
“Haaa… I see,” compared to the happy-go-lucky fairy, I, on the other hand, had to take a breath to calm myself down. “LET ME OUT OF HERE!”
Shouting at the top of my lungs, I began materializing the magic circle for [Inferno Beam] to drill a hole in the ceiling of this cave, planning to create an escape out of this abominable place.
“Hestia, no!” Saori called out before tackling me onto the ground like a football player, holding my arms down. “We need to stay incognito here! Please, you have to calm down!”
“GET OFF OF ME, SAORI! GET OFF!” putting my feet on Saori’s body, I kicked her off me, despite her resistance.
Jumping back onto my feet, my spell’s red magic circle was finished, ready for me to activate it. However, as I was ready to activate it, [Prediction] warned me, informing me of Saori who dashed behind me.
‘Cause she used [Haste], my reaction time wasn’t fast enough for me to avoid being grabbed from behind and being slammed onto a wall. Due to my barrier, it didn’t hurt much, a fact Saori knew as she wasn’t holding her strength back.
"Damn it, we've gone a week without fighting! Fuck, at least [Battle Frenzy] hasn’t appeared yet!” Saori shouted. "Tasianna, I need help now!"
“GRAAAARRGH, I WANT OUT! NOW! Ooof!”
“Hestia, please stop struggling. You need to control yourself! Don’t let [Battle Frenzy] control you!” Saori once again pleaded, but my ears weren’t registering them due to a singular word resounding in my mind — outside.
“Miss Saori, I apologize for the indecency, but I believe this should help us,” Tasianna called from behind, however, I couldn’t understand what she meant by “indecent.”
“…! T-Tasianna?! Le-Lew— Ahem!” Saori gasped, surprised at something. “Ah, never mind. We’re all women here, anyways. Just come and help me. We need to control her before she blows this place up!”
“LET ME GO! I WANT TO GO OUTSIDE, ALREADY!” I shouted, putting even more strength to free myself. “I want to see Rajah. I want to see Caszcur. I want Apsala. I want to see Aksmias. I want to see my forest again. I want to see Belzac forest again. The air, the green leaves, the peaceful animals! I don’t want to be in this cave anymore, Saaaaaaooooooriiiiii!”
‘She’s having a tantrum.’ parallel mind #1 shook her head in exasperation.
‘Yup, and I’m getting influenced by it, too… awesome,’ #2 said with annoyance.
‘Come on, girls. I want to get out of this cave too, but we need to calm Original Mind down!’ #3 commanded the others into action.
It was like my parallel minds said, I was having a tantrum. I couldn’t remember the last time I had one, so this was my first real childish outburst due to stress.
Honestly, the rational part of my mind was telling me this was an embarrassing thing to do for my age but being inside a cave already made me go mildly insane the last time I was in one. The thought of staying inside another cave for another month was not cool at all. I didn’t want to stay another day inside here!
I was already extremely annoyed by the recent events. Having to say goodbye to so many people I considered friends. Yes, I considered Rajah more of a pet but that didn’t mean the impact of having to say goodbye was any less.
The lizardmen and I had a rough beginning, but I grew fond of them as individuals. There were Caszcur, Aksmias, and Apsala, sure, but every single one of them were awesome and super polite. I even made a promise to sing for the kids, for heaven's sake.
And that is why… LET ME OUT OF HERE!
“GRAAAAAGH! GRRRRRUUUUUUUGH!”
“Dammit, Hestia!” with a swift twist of her body, Saori threw me onto the ground, knocking my jaw close to prevent me from releasing dragon fire. “I’ll apologize to you later, but we can’t have you go on a rampage, now! Shadow Tendrils!”
“Urrrrrggh!” I winced in pain from the mere touch of the shadow tendrils wrapping themselves around my body, before ignoring them and casting a spell on my horns. “SHINE!”
“Urgh, quick!” A glaring light filled the room, freeing me from Saori’s spell. Noticing my body could move around freely, I stomped Saori with both legs and used the momentum to jump back on my feet.
“Inferno B-!” as I was about to shoot out a beam of searing hot fire, something surprising came into my view.
It was not a monster nor a beastmen, but a woman with rose-colored skin, completely naked besides a cloth collar around her neck. She had a slim body with a non-existent chest size. Her face was youthful with an obvious red blush on her cheeks, framed by azure-blue hair which reached down to her back if she hadn’t styled them into twin frontal braids.
Normally, she would also have short, pointy ears but her current ones were abnormally long and sharp giving her face a different "feel." However, what surprised me the most was her bare back, completely void of two of her limbs, her wings.
"… T-Tasianna?" I blurted the only thing that came to my mind as I saw the beautiful woman who was a head taller than me.
“… I apologize for this, Lady Hestia! Please, forgive me!” with an incredibly reddened face, the woman rushed towards me and embraced me with a cold hug.
“Gaaaaaaah….. c-c-c-c-c-cold! Argk, let me go, please!" I pleaded, trying to fidget my way out of the naked woman's arms.
“Please, calm down first, Lady Hestia! I don’t want to see you make a mistake! Please, control your urges and listen to Miss Saori!” Tasianna urged as she looked me straight into the eyes.
"ALRIGHT! ALRIGHT! Just put some clothes on first!" This whole scene was too surreal, to the point it was enough to cool down my head enough to stop my tantrum.
After taking the time to apologize to Saori, I just sat down for a moment to reflect on what just happened, doing breathing practices to simmer the fire inside of me even further. It was frustrating to think I almost lost myself in my emotions.
Not good… [Battle Frenzy] is coming soon. This is not good… B-But, that was soooo… urgh, lewd. Gods, let’s just forget this ever happened.
Shaking away my embarrassment, I asked the still flustered Tasianna about her current form after Saori gave her one of her spare mana dresses. Apparently, her current form was caused by the skill [Elvenize] she recently bought from the skill shop. It was the elven equivalent to [Humanize], turning her into an elf, or more specifically, a wind elf.
“Wind elves are the children of Zephira and one of her subordinate gods, Krunal, the god of Harvest and Weather,” Tasianna explained. “Wind elves are usually shorter than high elves, the original race. Due to being children from Zephira, wind elves also have a higher potential in learning wind magic. Otherwise, the two races are practically the same.”
“Wow, a goddess did it with a mortal? Whew, Zephira is horny,” I commented, probably damaging her feelings if she was looking through Tasianna’s eyes right now.
“Hey, it is not like our mythology has any less of that. That’s where the word ‘demi-god’ comes from, after all,” Saori explained.
“You do not need to worry about that fact. They might be the children of Zephira but they possessed none of her powers besides a higher proficiency gain for wind magic. They are nowhere as godly as you might think,” Tasianna further explained.
In addition to that, we also learned she literally spent 1000 SP to learn [Elvenize] and then 2400 SP to fully upgrade it to the maximum level. She admitted her reason for buying it was purely personal, wishing to serve me tea with her own hands.
She always felt restless whenever she couldn’t serve me anything in her fairy form, feeling jealous every time she had to watch Saori do it in her stead due to her lack of strength to pick up human-sized teapots and cups.
She stated, “A maid who cannot serve her mistress properly is an incompetent one.” Which was good enough of a reason for her to go all-in with the skill.
As she once mentioned to me, a fairy using a skill akin to [Humanize] and [Elvenize] will create a body made out of mana, same as her original form. That meant her body wasn’t able to bleed like a normal wind elf, but instead mana.
However, the biggest benefit to her form change was an increase in her Strength and Vitality stats while keeping everything else. As a being made purely from mana, she also didn’t have to consume mana to maintain her form, meaning she could keep it active indefinitely if she wished.
Still, that didn’t mean it had no disadvantages. She was still a faefolk, meaning losing mana in any way would weaken her combat prowess. Any damage she incurred could drastically weaken her stats and reduced the amount of times she could cast spells.
Depending on the stage of the [Humanize], she also couldn’t use her wings. She was currently in [Humanze (Major)], but with every stage she went down, she would lose her bonus Strength and Vitality. Not really a worthwhile trade-off for losing the ability to fly.
In addition, she was now a far larger target to hit. While she could fight in this form, unless she was doing her maid work or needed to disguise herself, Saori and I advised her to fight in her fairy form. After all, she could hide in our clothes and also drain our mana to heal herself whenever needed, needless to say she could avoid attacks better that way.
After that explanation, we continued our walk through the cave now that everybody understood I was on the precipice of [Battle Frenzy].
Suffice to say, that debuff appeared just moments later. No battles for an extended time meant I was at risk of this damnable status abnormality. Saori wanted to spar with me, but the tunnel was just too tight and we haven’t found a place large and wide enough to fight in.
There was the option to widen the tunnel using my earth magic, but anytime we wanted to do it, the whole tunnel shook. Like it wasn’t even a small quake, it was large enough a boulder once fell from the ceiling, nearly crushing Tasianna in the process had she not reacted in time.
It was too risky. If I held back for the cave’s sake, then it wouldn’t get rid of [Battle Frenzy]. All I could do was to hold it in… this incredibly frustrating itch inside my chest, tugging every single fiber of my being.
Whether it was sitting still or eating properly, it was difficult to do due to my shaking body. Was this how drug addicts felt? I was punching the ground, clawing the walls like a cat, and did various other activities to relieve myself for even a single second.
My companions also noticed this so Saori eventually caved in and allowed me to drill a hole, admitting it was worth risking getting caught for my mental health. She apologized, but I rejected the idea.
As stubborn as it sounded, Saori was right. We needed to avoid the wyverns. We needed to stay low and quiet. Our goal was to first speak with Aurena about everything before we went to Kargryxmor. It just made sense to speak with his boss before we had anything to do with him… and I honestly wanted to avoid Asterios at all cost.
I didn’t want to have anything more to do with him, especially assuming how much he must be fuming at this moment. He would probably not stop until he had me in his grasp once again!
I also needed to learn to control these urges. That leviathan was right about one thing and that was how I needed to control this draconic instinct of mine. This was my body and I needed to be sure I could control it when needed. Like a monk or so, I needed to reign in my emotions.
[Mental Stability] helped me keep calm but I needed a real skill to control it. Sadly, it was nowhere to be found in the shop. If I couldn’t find it then I had to make it myself. The System was flexible, right? If I held it in, resisting my urge to fight while constantly asking the System to create a skill for it, then it should happen eventually, right?
Ahhhhhhh, when will this torture end… come on… just one measly skill, please!
After what felt like an eternity, my nose was suddenly stimulated by the sweet smell of fresh air. Dashing through the cave’s tunnel in a frenzy, my patience was completely overruled by an incredible lust to kill anything that came in my sight.
Seeing the light in this endless darkness, my legs couldn’t stop anymore, forgetting about any restraint. Once, my body felt the soft feeling of sunshine gracing my scales and the clear air filling my lungs, I finally felt true freedom again. Controlled by both [Battle Frenzy] and this intoxicating dopamine influx, my desire to kill something surged even further to the peak.
And then everything went black.
When I woke up, the first thing that stimulated my senses was the loud “ding, ding, ding, ding” in my head after having my level rise. I questioned why I even leveled up in the first place, as I couldn’t remember killing anything. My memory was completely blank.
It took my brain a couple of seconds to readjust itself, but when it did, I suddenly noticed I was standing in a pool of blood, holding onto the shards of a broken skull, unable to use [Identify] to learn what it was, as my skill continued calling it [Shards of a Broken Skull].
Looking around, some trees were broken, and the amount of viscera was astounding. This couldn’t be called anything else but a slaughter field. No refinement. No goal. Just pure and an utterly revolting show of carnage and bloodlust.
“Hestia…!” Looking around, I could see Saori and Tasianna having caught up to me, watching me as I stood around in my own creation.
“Lady Hestia, a-are you alright?” Tasianna said while she trembled at the sight I caused.
“Saori… Tasianna,” I mumbled. “W-What have I done? W-What did I do? No…”
I opened up my palms, letting go of the skulls shards and was overwhelmed by not only disgust for myself but also fear. Fear I could have done the same thing to those two if I hadn’t managed to control myself. When my mind was completely blank, what could I have done?
I was mortified at how dangerous [Battle Frenzy] was, and consequently, myself.
“Hestia! Hesta, come here, don’t look!” I could hear Saori say.
“No, no… what is this?! Achooo!”
As I recovered from the shock with a sneeze, my eyes wandered back onto the ground, where I saw a few hints of white. Looking up again, my eyes could make out small, little flakes of white spots dropping from the sky, descending down slowly in a mesmerizing pattern.
*I ****** ********** ********** ****************************************>
ARCK! Urgh, so much static in my head, what is that? Wait, snow?
Winter, huh… urgh.
“HESTIA!”
With a loud cry and my head landing on something hard, my eyes closed, and my mind wandered into nothingness.
AbyssRaven Oh no! Hestia, nooooo! She turned into a mindless berserker, probably.
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