Urgh, I already miss those mushroom Skorr from Belzac forest… these boars are too small.
Sigh… Wind Blast.
Aiming a green magic circle in front of my finger at the boar, I shot out a concentrated ball of wind at its head, knocking it to the ground and stunning it. Casually walking towards it, I grabbed its head with both hands and with a snap, twisted and broke its neck.
Quick and painless… They are more like animals than combat-ready beasts. No need to be ruthless.
Three days had passed since we left the cave, our most recent dwelling. While I wanted to stay there a bit longer to fully dedicate my time to planning my first-ever idol concert, Saori and Tasianna made a good point at how we couldn’t stay in a single location for too long.
That was ‘cause after Saori showed how [Elemental Mana Weaving] worked — a sorta plug-in to her normal [Mana Weaving] allowing her to produce colored strings through elemental mana — she wanted to fight against me. The reason was obvious: to prevent [Battle Frenzy] from appearing.
After thinking it over, I decided to not only buy the last two levels of [Humanize] but also the two mental protection skills [Mental Corruption Resistance] and [Mind Protection]. While I wasn’t sure if it really would help me, I bought them anyways purely to have peace of mind. Even if it was a placebo, I felt less stressed once I had them.
In any case, it was important I did everything I could to stop the “beast” inside me from resurfacing. I was okay acting a bit feral or wild, no problem about that. It was when I fought without rhyme or reason was what made me worried about my ancestral blood.
My parallel minds later informed me they were able to keep themselves sane while I was going wild, having managed to witness me roar and run off from Saori and Tasianna. However, afterwards, they went unconscious and weren’t able to witness my gruesome slaughter. They told me now that they knew this could happen, they would do their best to keep themselves awake and stop me.
I really could always rely on those girls.
Anyway, as it was like last time, my fight against Saori and Tasianna was pretty intense. Although, we all had to hold back to prevent causing a scene that would attract any unwanted spectators like those wyverns.
I won, of course, with the same rules as our previous spar but I could tell Saori was getting better. Not technique-wise but her battle instincts. She was using her spells in more creative manners, to the point I was annoyed at how crafty she was. Honestly, even without teaching her about it, she was turning more and more into her garm parents. She really only needed a pack of wargs or so to really get it rolling.
Speaking of which, I still had to hunt a few more [Wild Swine] for dinner, so I might as well kill some time and review her status board.
SpoilerName: Saori Segawa Level: 8 Race: Young Shadowstalker Cadejo
Age: 3 Month
Status: Health: 4385/4385(+838) Mana: 1578/1578(+500)
Strength: 2654(+503) Intelligence:950(+163)
Vitality: 1750 (+265) Wisdom: 1938 (+327)
Agility: 3575 (+582) Stamina: 2862/2862(+755)
Effects: None
Skill Points: 1050 (1450 SP used) (+1050)
Unique Skill: [Shadow Armament Lv. 4] (+2)
Skill: Magic skills and related:
[Mana Efficiency Lv. 4] (+2) [Arcane Mind Lv. 7] (+3)
[Mana Control Lv. 8] (+2)
[Dark Magic Lv. 8] (+1) [Dark Amp] [Dark Magic Efficiency] (New)
[Space-Time Magic Lv. 3]
[Space-Time Efficiency] [Chant Revocation Lv. 10]
[Mental Stability Lv. 3] [Mental Warfare Lv. 4] (+1)
[Silent Casting Lv. 6] (+2)
Physical skills and related:
[Unarmed Technique Lv. 6] (+3) [Unarmed Mastery Lv. 2] (+1)
[Sundering Enhancement Lv. 3] (+1)
[Piercing Enhancement Lv. 3] (+1) [Crushing Enhancement Lv. 2]
[Enhanced Claws Lv. 10] (+1) [Enhanced Fangs Lv. 8] (+1)
Senses and movement skills:
[Primal Senses] [Silence Lv. 1] (New) [Prediction Lv. 7] (+1)
[Concentration Lv. 3] (+1)
[Enhanced Enemy Sense Lv. 9] (+1) [Danger Perception Lv. 6] (+2)
[Tracking Lv. 5] (+1) [Heat Vision Lv. 2] (+1)
[Night Vision Lv. 6] (+1) [Presence Killer Lv. 8] (+1) [Evasion Lv. 10] (+4)
[Acrobatic Lv. 10] (+2) [Air Walk Lv. 1] (New)
[Terrain Maneuvering Lv. 5]
Resistances:
[Physical Super-Resistance Lv. 2] (+1) [Absolute Pain Tolerance]
[Bleed Resistance Lv. 4] (+2) [Poison Resistance Lv. 6] (+2)
[Paralyze Resistance Lv. 10] [Torpor Resistance Lv. 4] (+1)
[Arcane Corruption Resistance Lv. 10] [Ice Resistance Lv. 1]
[Holy Resistance Lv. 4] (+2) [Fire Resistance Lv. 6] (+3)
[Earth Resistance Lv. 6] (+1) [Water Resistance Lv. 2]
[Wind Resistance Lv. 5] (+2) [Dark Resistance Lv. 4]
Stat growths and related:
[Health Recovery Lv. 4]
[Mana Recovery Lv. 4] (+1) [Stamina Recovery Lv. 4]
[Enhanced Health Growth Lv. 5]
[Enhanced Health Capacity Lv. 4]
[Enhanced Mana Growth Lv.´4]
[Enhanced Mana Capacity Lv. 2]
[Enhanced Strength Growth Lv. 5]
[Enhanced Strength Enforcement Lv. 4]
[Enhanced Intelligence Growth Lv. 4]
[Enhanced Intelligence Enforcement Lv. 2]
[Enhanced Vitality Growth Lv. 4]
[Enhanced Vitality Enforcement Lv. 4]
[Enhanced Wisdom Growth Lv. 4]
[Enhanced Wisdom Enforcement Lv. 4]
[Enhanced Agility Growth Lv. 5]
[Enhanced Agility Enforcement Lv. 4]
[Enhanced Stamina Growth Lv. 5]
[Enhanced Stamina Capacity Lv. 4]
Others:
[Dancing Lv. 1] [Identify Blocker Lv. 3] [Identify Lv. 8] (+1)
[Terror Aura Lv. 4] [Bloodlust Lv. 1] [Battle Mind Lv. 3] (+1)
[Lifetaker Lv. 3] (+1) [Mana Weave Lv. 8] (+2) [Sewing Lv. 7] (+2)
[Elemental Mana Weave Lv. 2] (New)
[Royal Etiquette Lv. 2] [Cooking Lv. 8] (+1) [Dismantle Lv. 5] (+2)
[Humanize Lv. 7] (+1) [Telepathy]
Ability List: Unarmed abilities:
[Just Blink] [Shadow Descent]
Magic List: Dark Spells:
[Dark Bolt] [Dark Tendrils] [Shadow Dash] [Dark Slash] [Shadow Clones]
[Shadow Snake]
Space-Time Spells:
[Haste] [Storage Magic]
Title: [Belzac’s Successor] [Otherworldly Reincarnator] [Hestia’s Retainer]
[collapse]Due to Saori declining to rescue the lost lizardmen group with Tasianna and me, she had been lagging a bit behind us concerning experience gain. She managed to level up five times when we traveled with the lizardmen which was, well, normal?
The increased experience gained from our titles did make us level faster than normal so only earning a few levels over two weeks should be above average… I believed. I didn't have a reference, okay?
Still, that didn’t mean she neglected her training. Whether it was hunting, skill leveling, or practicing battle tactics, she would always immerse herself fully into it, to the point it looked like she was in a trance.
Mostly, it was due to our sparring. No matter how often she used [Shadow Dash] and [Dark Tendrils] to outmaneuver me, she couldn’t contest my offensive power. She focused so much on her speed, she was neglecting her offensive power. Although, maybe it was just a general weakness of [Dark Magic], since it had no hard-hitting attacks.
“Hestia! We are here, how many have you caught?”
Speaking of the devil…
Turning around, I responded while holding up the body of a boar with little to no effort. “I got seven.”
Taking out the other boar from my storage prompted Saori to do the same. "I got five, and Tasianna got two. Awesome job, everybody. I will put in some extra effort to make us some crispy roast pork tonight!”
“Woooo, crispy!” Pumping my arms into the air in excitement I cheered for a moment before my eyes shot open at seeing Tasianna looking troubled.“Tasianna!?”
Oh oh.
“I-I… I apologize, Lady Hestia!” Tasianna yelled out as she prostrated, diverting her head to not look at me. “But… I humbly ask you to change back to your dragonewt form… I apologize… please, Lady Hestia.”
Tasianna… ahahaaa… Oops.
After the mana cloud dispersed, Tasianna stood back up with an apologetic expression. “I am unforgivable. I will face the consequences on your commands, my lady.”
"Enough, Tasianna!" I shouted with an exhausted tone. "As if I'll do anything to you… I should be the one to apologize. I was preoccupied with my thoughts so I didn’t notice you coming. I could have transformed back in time if I had.”
“No, no, you mustn’t apologize to me!” almost hysterical, Tasianna burst out in another shout. Small beads of tears were flowing down her elven face. “I’m just a mere servant! This is inexcusable for a maid like me! I should be serving you regardless of your circumstances and not feel… disgusted being in your presence! I’m an embarrassment! I shouldn’t feel these emotions towards my mistress, so please, I ask you t-”
Hearing a sharp clap, I flinched backward as I saw Saori having slapped Tasianna’s cheek, “Enough! It is far too early for us to shout at each other! Hestia, do not go anywhere, please. We will be back in a minute. Tasianna, we need to talk.”
As Saori pushed the still crying Tasianna deeper into the forest, I could only sigh in exasperation and take out a “chair” from my storage to sit on it, waiting for them to come back. I mentioned a chair but it was just a log I cut into a square. At the very least, I managed to make it smooth and comfortable to sit on using the knowledge I gained from Casczur and the other artisan lizardmen.
… Dammit.
“Arrgh, verdammte Scheiße!” I cried out as I scratched my head in frustration, irritating my scalp.
Humanize.
No wings, no tails, no scales, no claws, no fangs, no horns…
Now that I was able to use [Humanize Lv. 10], I was finally able to completely transform back into a human, meaning, there were no signs of my draconic heritage visible right now. In addition, my humanoid body was officially back to that of a 15-year-old.
I was elated. Not only ‘cause I was 15 again but also ‘cause my status board showed the word [Human] as my Race. That was one of my original goals crossed off. One of the first goals I made during the first month of this new life.
And it was amazing. The feeling of having nothing weighing your head down and the lack of something swinging around your butt was nostalgic. Yes, my stats were reduced by 2/3rd ‘cause of [Humanize (Major)]. It gimped my ability to fight severely… but I didn't care. I felt normal, again. I felt like a normal teenage girl who could scratch her head without worrying about cutting herself.
However… in all my excitement, I never anticipated how intense Tasianna’s hatred for humans was. When we were still in the cave, as I was playing with my body, touching everything, I suddenly felt a cold chill emanating behind me. It was enough for my [Prediction] to reach level ten and evolve into [Foresight].
It wasn’t a lot, but the little bit of hostile intent was enough for my reflexes to instantly tense up my body and move into a fighting position. My parallel minds even had some spells ready to shoot out.
You should have seen how shocked I was to learn it was Tasianna who showed all that animosity. When she finally realized what she was doing, she had the exact same reaction as just now.
She was calling for me to punish her for what she did. It was the most erratic behavior I had ever seen from Tasianna since our first week together, where she couldn’t stand being casual with me.
I knew what the humans did to her was terrible but was it naïve of me to think her anger towards them was only limited to disgust? I mean, Tasianna at that moment was ready to attack! Me! Her friend!
While I was worrying about how abnormal [Battle Frenzy] was and how I could prevent myself from going berserk, I did not consider Tasianna’s trauma. It just never crossed my mind that the sight of a human could trigger her PTSD.
For crying out loud, I technically wasn’t a human anymore! I was a dragon cosplaying as one!
Who knew we had two people with mental problems…
… Which left us in a weird position. Frankly, I didn’t have to be in human form at all. I actually preferred my dragonewt form the most. If I could only fly in it, I would also show-off my wings more often, but I wasn’t right now.
It was the right amount of feeling strong, due to my stats and claws, combined with the flexibility and cuteness of a humanoid’s body. There was also the fact I couldn’t use any of my dragon abilities as a human.
I couldn’t create any sparks with my human nails and teeth, making it impossible to use any of [Spark Fire Dragon]’s abilities. Presumably, since I didn’t have any scale-dust. No scales, no dust, it was obvious.
Seeing how my draconic skills were sealed and locked, being a human sucked. I’d gotten used to scratching and biting while fighting up-close while using my tails for various attacks, which included choking, piercing, and strangling. I wasn’t giving up being strong for nostalgia ever.
However, I still liked being a human. Tasianna knew I was once a human and could easily accept the fact but seeing me as one seemed to have awakened her bloodlust, causing her to feel uneasy around me and, therefore, guilty. It was a small party issue, however, it was a major psychological problem for her.
This isn’t something you can solve with a simple talk or snap of the finger… all I can do right now is to try to avoid showing my human form to her. Oh, lookie there. Humanize.
Noticing two approaching signals with [Detection Sensor], I immediately changed back into a dragonewt. As my two companions came back into view, I could see Tasianna’s eyes were quite puffy from tears while Saori looked mentally exhausted.
The first to speak was Tasianna, who bowed her torso in a 90 degrees angle, “Lady Hestia, I apologize so much for my inappropriate behavior. I-I have no excuses.”
For somebody with ice magic, you can be quite hot-headed, I thought to myself.
“It’s all good. I was careless at that moment, so you don’t need to worry about it. I don’t need to be in my human form that often, so it’s water under the bridge.” I shrugged with a wry smile.
"No! As your maid, I should be the one to- Ouch!" Tasianna was about to go ballistic again with her apologies but Saori stopped her with a chop to the head.
“I believe we have spoken about this already,” Saori murmured with a strained smile. “You will not make it better by continuously apologizing, in fact, it will have the opposite effect in this situation. Tasianna, it is okay to be scared. Let us accommodate you and take it slow. We will let this rest for another time, alright?”
With a firm “yes.” Tasianna nodded to Saori’s scolding, ending this argument for today. However, as Saori said, we needed to deal with this eventually.
“Do you have any ideas, yet?” I asked her her warily. “We already checked our surroundings and if Tasianna is correct then we should be in, well, in a human kingdom now.”
After we left the cave, our party scouted our surroundings as we needed to know where we should be going. As we stood up there at the peak of the trees, my eyes caught the sight of a massive mountain. If my memory was correct, we couldn’t possibly be in front of the Avitor Peaks, yet, since we went through a cave.
There was also no canyon in sight, so our most dependable landmark was also gone. Meaning, we weren’t in the Belzac forest anymore, but somewhere completely different.This reminded me when Tasianna told us east of the canyon was a human kingdom.
Tasianna didn’t know the name of the place but it was irrefutable we had to be in their lands. Of course, you could argue we were in another section of the forest, just like the rainforest and swamp, however, I had two facts that made me unable to believe this theory.
Firstly, the lack of “monsters” in general. The [Wild Swine] was literally just a wild boar, or, pig. It didn’t have any special traits or features like the [Mushroom Skorr], a boar with a mushroom colony on the back. No matter where we went, all we found were animals ranked G or F.
Secondly, and probably the reason for the lack of “monsters,” was the amount of mana in the area. [Parshkey], the parsley look-alike, and [Fulinoe], the plant with coffee-tasting tea leaves, were both plants which only grew in soil with high mana concentrations. I hadn’t found one yet in the past three days.
Monsters spawned through high mana concentrations, literally appearing out of thin air. If it was too low, the chance of meeting a Rank D or higher was just impossible. Now, I had no idea why the area was so devoid of mana, to the point it felt like my regeneration of it was slower than usual. However, this was the fact.
For now, our party only needed to know we were in human territory and we had to find a measure for Tasianna to stay calm. The last thing we needed was her to go berserk on the first human native we meet.
“I told her to get used to your human form,” Saori explained to me. “It is unlikely she would attack you, but in the worst case, you can defend yourself, yes?”
“… This is all so embarrassing and humiliating. I cannot believe I must do this.” Tasianna covered her face in shame. “Lady Hestia, I swear I will do my utmost to meet your expectations. As I have sworn to become stronger, I will also overcome my… displeasure.”
“Don’t push yourself too much. I understand how traumas can affect you. I still haven’t gotten over my frog fear and my recent cave hate.” I shivered as I thought of a green frog. "Anyway, let us put that behind us for now. Let us continue traveling… Hh, that's right! Did you two feel any difference when I made the experience share 50-50?"
Due to being at max level, any experience I received would be wasted on myself. Being the leader of our party, I made it so only Saori and Tasianna were able to receive EXP, even if I had sole kill credit.
I mentioned it already, but these party bracelets were amazing. Tasianna did mention hers was the most recent model and how our decrepit ones were missing out on some awesome features. I really wanted to buy a new one at this point. Sure, we had no money, but considering how strong I was, I could probably earn enough and buy our whole party new ones!
“Well, mine is made for fairies so I must still fight like one if I wish to stay in the party,” Tasianna replied. “However, I believe everything is working correctly.”
Tasianna’s bracelet was a bit too small for her elven body. It was almost large enough to act as a ring for a kid, I believed, but not for an adult.
“We have not gained a level so we cannot tell you anything,” Saori reported.
After taking a break and eating lunch, we continued our travels in whatever direction we thought was correct. Saori explained that if we really were in a medieval world, then we should look for a river or waterbed as villages or towns were built close to them.
That made sense. Farm villages needed access to water for their crops while a town might need it for trade, or for a place to dump their wastes.
Regardless, this was our current goal. We would scout around above the trees, but since there weren’t any real landmarks outside of the mountain, it was quite hard to find our way. I could jump into the sky with [Air Walk] but that would be idiotic as the wyverns might find us.
As we continued onwards, we suddenly detected a few signals approaching. Agreeing some more meat would go well with the mushrooms and fruits we picked up, we hastily ran towards them.
Once there, we didn’t exactly find an animal nor a ferocious monster, nothing like that at all. Instead, what we found was not something I expected to find this early, however, my attention wasn’t focused on them but on Tasianna.
“H-H-HUMAN SCUM!”
… Thought we would take this slow.
AbyssRaven Yikes, Tasianna about to do an Overlord move, or maybe it's better to call it Nazarick?
In any case, I also wanted to announced that I would be gone for the next few days to meet grandparents. So, the next chapter will come out a bit later than usual.
If you guys want to support me, Hestia and "A Dragon Idol's Reincarnation Tale" (or just read up to 20 advance chapters + any Patreon-only chapters) please check out my Patreon: Rawr
For two dollars, for the cost of a coffee, you can read up to four chapters for the whole month! You will have my eternal gratitude for any support you can give me! Please.
Thank you for reading this chapter.
Urgh, I already miss those mushroom Skorr from Belzac forest… these boars are too small.
Sigh… Wind Blast.
Aiming a green magic circle in front of my finger at the boar, I shot out a concentrated ball of wind at its head, knocking it to the ground and stunning it. Casually walking towards it, I grabbed its head with both hands and with a snap, twisted and broke its neck.
Quick and painless… They are more like animals than combat-ready beasts. No need to be ruthless.
Three days had passed since we left the cave, our most recent dwelling. While I wanted to stay there a bit longer to fully dedicate my time to planning my first-ever idol concert, Saori and Tasianna made a good point at how we couldn’t stay in a single location for too long.
That was ‘cause after Saori showed how [Elemental Mana Weaving] worked — a sorta plug-in to her normal [Mana Weaving] allowing her to produce colored strings through elemental mana — she wanted to fight against me. The reason was obvious: to prevent [Battle Frenzy] from appearing.
After thinking it over, I decided to not only buy the last two levels of [Humanize] but also the two mental protection skills [Mental Corruption Resistance] and [Mind Protection]. While I wasn’t sure if it really would help me, I bought them anyways purely to have peace of mind. Even if it was a placebo, I felt less stressed once I had them.
In any case, it was important I did everything I could to stop the “beast” inside me from resurfacing. I was okay acting a bit feral or wild, no problem about that. It was when I fought without rhyme or reason was what made me worried about my ancestral blood.
My parallel minds later informed me they were able to keep themselves sane while I was going wild, having managed to witness me roar and run off from Saori and Tasianna. However, afterwards, they went unconscious and weren’t able to witness my gruesome slaughter. They told me now that they knew this could happen, they would do their best to keep themselves awake and stop me.
I really could always rely on those girls.
Anyway, as it was like last time, my fight against Saori and Tasianna was pretty intense. Although, we all had to hold back to prevent causing a scene that would attract any unwanted spectators like those wyverns.
I won, of course, with the same rules as our previous spar but I could tell Saori was getting better. Not technique-wise but her battle instincts. She was using her spells in more creative manners, to the point I was annoyed at how crafty she was. Honestly, even without teaching her about it, she was turning more and more into her garm parents. She really only needed a pack of wargs or so to really get it rolling.
Speaking of which, I still had to hunt a few more [Wild Swine] for dinner, so I might as well kill some time and review her status board.
SpoilerName: Saori Segawa Level: 8 Race: Young Shadowstalker Cadejo
Age: 3 Month
Status: Health: 4385/4385(+838) Mana: 1578/1578(+500)
Strength: 2654(+503) Intelligence:950(+163)
Vitality: 1750 (+265) Wisdom: 1938 (+327)
Agility: 3575 (+582) Stamina: 2862/2862(+755)
Effects: None
Skill Points: 1050 (1450 SP used) (+1050)
Unique Skill: [Shadow Armament Lv. 4] (+2)
Skill: Magic skills and related:
[Mana Efficiency Lv. 4] (+2) [Arcane Mind Lv. 7] (+3)
[Mana Control Lv. 8] (+2)
[Dark Magic Lv. 8] (+1) [Dark Amp] [Dark Magic Efficiency] (New)
[Space-Time Magic Lv. 3]
[Space-Time Efficiency] [Chant Revocation Lv. 10]
[Mental Stability Lv. 3] [Mental Warfare Lv. 4] (+1)
[Silent Casting Lv. 6] (+2)
Physical skills and related:
[Unarmed Technique Lv. 6] (+3) [Unarmed Mastery Lv. 2] (+1)
[Sundering Enhancement Lv. 3] (+1)
[Piercing Enhancement Lv. 3] (+1) [Crushing Enhancement Lv. 2]
[Enhanced Claws Lv. 10] (+1) [Enhanced Fangs Lv. 8] (+1)
Senses and movement skills:
[Primal Senses] [Silence Lv. 1] (New) [Prediction Lv. 7] (+1)
[Concentration Lv. 3] (+1)
[Enhanced Enemy Sense Lv. 9] (+1) [Danger Perception Lv. 6] (+2)
[Tracking Lv. 5] (+1) [Heat Vision Lv. 2] (+1)
[Night Vision Lv. 6] (+1) [Presence Killer Lv. 8] (+1) [Evasion Lv. 10] (+4)
[Acrobatic Lv. 10] (+2) [Air Walk Lv. 1] (New)
[Terrain Maneuvering Lv. 5]
Resistances:
[Physical Super-Resistance Lv. 2] (+1) [Absolute Pain Tolerance]
[Bleed Resistance Lv. 4] (+2) [Poison Resistance Lv. 6] (+2)
[Paralyze Resistance Lv. 10] [Torpor Resistance Lv. 4] (+1)
[Arcane Corruption Resistance Lv. 10] [Ice Resistance Lv. 1]
[Holy Resistance Lv. 4] (+2) [Fire Resistance Lv. 6] (+3)
[Earth Resistance Lv. 6] (+1) [Water Resistance Lv. 2]
[Wind Resistance Lv. 5] (+2) [Dark Resistance Lv. 4]
Stat growths and related:
[Health Recovery Lv. 4]
[Mana Recovery Lv. 4] (+1) [Stamina Recovery Lv. 4]
[Enhanced Health Growth Lv. 5]
[Enhanced Health Capacity Lv. 4]
[Enhanced Mana Growth Lv.´4]
[Enhanced Mana Capacity Lv. 2]
[Enhanced Strength Growth Lv. 5]
[Enhanced Strength Enforcement Lv. 4]
[Enhanced Intelligence Growth Lv. 4]
[Enhanced Intelligence Enforcement Lv. 2]
[Enhanced Vitality Growth Lv. 4]
[Enhanced Vitality Enforcement Lv. 4]
[Enhanced Wisdom Growth Lv. 4]
[Enhanced Wisdom Enforcement Lv. 4]
[Enhanced Agility Growth Lv. 5]
[Enhanced Agility Enforcement Lv. 4]
[Enhanced Stamina Growth Lv. 5]
[Enhanced Stamina Capacity Lv. 4]
Others:
[Dancing Lv. 1] [Identify Blocker Lv. 3] [Identify Lv. 8] (+1)
[Terror Aura Lv. 4] [Bloodlust Lv. 1] [Battle Mind Lv. 3] (+1)
[Lifetaker Lv. 3] (+1) [Mana Weave Lv. 8] (+2) [Sewing Lv. 7] (+2)
[Elemental Mana Weave Lv. 2] (New)
[Royal Etiquette Lv. 2] [Cooking Lv. 8] (+1) [Dismantle Lv. 5] (+2)
[Humanize Lv. 7] (+1) [Telepathy]
Ability List: Unarmed abilities:
[Just Blink] [Shadow Descent]
Magic List: Dark Spells:
[Dark Bolt] [Dark Tendrils] [Shadow Dash] [Dark Slash] [Shadow Clones]
[Shadow Snake]
Space-Time Spells:
[Haste] [Storage Magic]
Title: [Belzac’s Successor] [Otherworldly Reincarnator] [Hestia’s Retainer]
[collapse]Due to Saori declining to rescue the lost lizardmen group with Tasianna and me, she had been lagging a bit behind us concerning experience gain. She managed to level up five times when we traveled with the lizardmen which was, well, normal?
The increased experience gained from our titles did make us level faster than normal so only earning a few levels over two weeks should be above average… I believed. I didn't have a reference, okay?
Still, that didn’t mean she neglected her training. Whether it was hunting, skill leveling, or practicing battle tactics, she would always immerse herself fully into it, to the point it looked like she was in a trance.
Mostly, it was due to our sparring. No matter how often she used [Shadow Dash] and [Dark Tendrils] to outmaneuver me, she couldn’t contest my offensive power. She focused so much on her speed, she was neglecting her offensive power. Although, maybe it was just a general weakness of [Dark Magic], since it had no hard-hitting attacks.
“Hestia! We are here, how many have you caught?”
Speaking of the devil…
Turning around, I responded while holding up the body of a boar with little to no effort. “I got seven.”
Taking out the other boar from my storage prompted Saori to do the same. "I got five, and Tasianna got two. Awesome job, everybody. I will put in some extra effort to make us some crispy roast pork tonight!”
“Woooo, crispy!” Pumping my arms into the air in excitement I cheered for a moment before my eyes shot open at seeing Tasianna looking troubled.“Tasianna!?”
Oh oh.
“I-I… I apologize, Lady Hestia!” Tasianna yelled out as she prostrated, diverting her head to not look at me. “But… I humbly ask you to change back to your dragonewt form… I apologize… please, Lady Hestia.”
Tasianna… ahahaaa… Oops.
After the mana cloud dispersed, Tasianna stood back up with an apologetic expression. “I am unforgivable. I will face the consequences on your commands, my lady.”
"Enough, Tasianna!" I shouted with an exhausted tone. "As if I'll do anything to you… I should be the one to apologize. I was preoccupied with my thoughts so I didn’t notice you coming. I could have transformed back in time if I had.”
“No, no, you mustn’t apologize to me!” almost hysterical, Tasianna burst out in another shout. Small beads of tears were flowing down her elven face. “I’m just a mere servant! This is inexcusable for a maid like me! I should be serving you regardless of your circumstances and not feel… disgusted being in your presence! I’m an embarrassment! I shouldn’t feel these emotions towards my mistress, so please, I ask you t-”
Hearing a sharp clap, I flinched backward as I saw Saori having slapped Tasianna’s cheek, “Enough! It is far too early for us to shout at each other! Hestia, do not go anywhere, please. We will be back in a minute. Tasianna, we need to talk.”
As Saori pushed the still crying Tasianna deeper into the forest, I could only sigh in exasperation and take out a “chair” from my storage to sit on it, waiting for them to come back. I mentioned a chair but it was just a log I cut into a square. At the very least, I managed to make it smooth and comfortable to sit on using the knowledge I gained from Casczur and the other artisan lizardmen.
… Dammit.
“Arrgh, verdammte Scheiße!” I cried out as I scratched my head in frustration, irritating my scalp.
Humanize.
No wings, no tails, no scales, no claws, no fangs, no horns…
Now that I was able to use [Humanize Lv. 10], I was finally able to completely transform back into a human, meaning, there were no signs of my draconic heritage visible right now. In addition, my humanoid body was officially back to that of a 15-year-old.
I was elated. Not only ‘cause I was 15 again but also ‘cause my status board showed the word [Human] as my Race. That was one of my original goals crossed off. One of the first goals I made during the first month of this new life.
And it was amazing. The feeling of having nothing weighing your head down and the lack of something swinging around your butt was nostalgic. Yes, my stats were reduced by 2/3rd ‘cause of [Humanize (Major)]. It gimped my ability to fight severely… but I didn't care. I felt normal, again. I felt like a normal teenage girl who could scratch her head without worrying about cutting herself.
However… in all my excitement, I never anticipated how intense Tasianna’s hatred for humans was. When we were still in the cave, as I was playing with my body, touching everything, I suddenly felt a cold chill emanating behind me. It was enough for my [Prediction] to reach level ten and evolve into [Foresight].
It wasn’t a lot, but the little bit of hostile intent was enough for my reflexes to instantly tense up my body and move into a fighting position. My parallel minds even had some spells ready to shoot out.
You should have seen how shocked I was to learn it was Tasianna who showed all that animosity. When she finally realized what she was doing, she had the exact same reaction as just now.
She was calling for me to punish her for what she did. It was the most erratic behavior I had ever seen from Tasianna since our first week together, where she couldn’t stand being casual with me.
I knew what the humans did to her was terrible but was it naïve of me to think her anger towards them was only limited to disgust? I mean, Tasianna at that moment was ready to attack! Me! Her friend!
While I was worrying about how abnormal [Battle Frenzy] was and how I could prevent myself from going berserk, I did not consider Tasianna’s trauma. It just never crossed my mind that the sight of a human could trigger her PTSD.
For crying out loud, I technically wasn’t a human anymore! I was a dragon cosplaying as one!
Who knew we had two people with mental problems…
… Which left us in a weird position. Frankly, I didn’t have to be in human form at all. I actually preferred my dragonewt form the most. If I could only fly in it, I would also show-off my wings more often, but I wasn’t right now.
It was the right amount of feeling strong, due to my stats and claws, combined with the flexibility and cuteness of a humanoid’s body. There was also the fact I couldn’t use any of my dragon abilities as a human.
I couldn’t create any sparks with my human nails and teeth, making it impossible to use any of [Spark Fire Dragon]’s abilities. Presumably, since I didn’t have any scale-dust. No scales, no dust, it was obvious.
Seeing how my draconic skills were sealed and locked, being a human sucked. I’d gotten used to scratching and biting while fighting up-close while using my tails for various attacks, which included choking, piercing, and strangling. I wasn’t giving up being strong for nostalgia ever.
However, I still liked being a human. Tasianna knew I was once a human and could easily accept the fact but seeing me as one seemed to have awakened her bloodlust, causing her to feel uneasy around me and, therefore, guilty. It was a small party issue, however, it was a major psychological problem for her.
This isn’t something you can solve with a simple talk or snap of the finger… all I can do right now is to try to avoid showing my human form to her. Oh, lookie there. Humanize.
Noticing two approaching signals with [Detection Sensor], I immediately changed back into a dragonewt. As my two companions came back into view, I could see Tasianna’s eyes were quite puffy from tears while Saori looked mentally exhausted.
The first to speak was Tasianna, who bowed her torso in a 90 degrees angle, “Lady Hestia, I apologize so much for my inappropriate behavior. I-I have no excuses.”
For somebody with ice magic, you can be quite hot-headed, I thought to myself.
“It’s all good. I was careless at that moment, so you don’t need to worry about it. I don’t need to be in my human form that often, so it’s water under the bridge.” I shrugged with a wry smile.
"No! As your maid, I should be the one to- Ouch!" Tasianna was about to go ballistic again with her apologies but Saori stopped her with a chop to the head.
“I believe we have spoken about this already,” Saori murmured with a strained smile. “You will not make it better by continuously apologizing, in fact, it will have the opposite effect in this situation. Tasianna, it is okay to be scared. Let us accommodate you and take it slow. We will let this rest for another time, alright?”
With a firm “yes.” Tasianna nodded to Saori’s scolding, ending this argument for today. However, as Saori said, we needed to deal with this eventually.
“Do you have any ideas, yet?” I asked her her warily. “We already checked our surroundings and if Tasianna is correct then we should be in, well, in a human kingdom now.”
After we left the cave, our party scouted our surroundings as we needed to know where we should be going. As we stood up there at the peak of the trees, my eyes caught the sight of a massive mountain. If my memory was correct, we couldn’t possibly be in front of the Avitor Peaks, yet, since we went through a cave.
There was also no canyon in sight, so our most dependable landmark was also gone. Meaning, we weren’t in the Belzac forest anymore, but somewhere completely different.This reminded me when Tasianna told us east of the canyon was a human kingdom.
Tasianna didn’t know the name of the place but it was irrefutable we had to be in their lands. Of course, you could argue we were in another section of the forest, just like the rainforest and swamp, however, I had two facts that made me unable to believe this theory.
Firstly, the lack of “monsters” in general. The [Wild Swine] was literally just a wild boar, or, pig. It didn’t have any special traits or features like the [Mushroom Skorr], a boar with a mushroom colony on the back. No matter where we went, all we found were animals ranked G or F.
Secondly, and probably the reason for the lack of “monsters,” was the amount of mana in the area. [Parshkey], the parsley look-alike, and [Fulinoe], the plant with coffee-tasting tea leaves, were both plants which only grew in soil with high mana concentrations. I hadn’t found one yet in the past three days.
Monsters spawned through high mana concentrations, literally appearing out of thin air. If it was too low, the chance of meeting a Rank D or higher was just impossible. Now, I had no idea why the area was so devoid of mana, to the point it felt like my regeneration of it was slower than usual. However, this was the fact.
For now, our party only needed to know we were in human territory and we had to find a measure for Tasianna to stay calm. The last thing we needed was her to go berserk on the first human native we meet.
“I told her to get used to your human form,” Saori explained to me. “It is unlikely she would attack you, but in the worst case, you can defend yourself, yes?”
“… This is all so embarrassing and humiliating. I cannot believe I must do this.” Tasianna covered her face in shame. “Lady Hestia, I swear I will do my utmost to meet your expectations. As I have sworn to become stronger, I will also overcome my… displeasure.”
“Don’t push yourself too much. I understand how traumas can affect you. I still haven’t gotten over my frog fear and my recent cave hate.” I shivered as I thought of a green frog. "Anyway, let us put that behind us for now. Let us continue traveling… Hh, that's right! Did you two feel any difference when I made the experience share 50-50?"
Due to being at max level, any experience I received would be wasted on myself. Being the leader of our party, I made it so only Saori and Tasianna were able to receive EXP, even if I had sole kill credit.
I mentioned it already, but these party bracelets were amazing. Tasianna did mention hers was the most recent model and how our decrepit ones were missing out on some awesome features. I really wanted to buy a new one at this point. Sure, we had no money, but considering how strong I was, I could probably earn enough and buy our whole party new ones!
“Well, mine is made for fairies so I must still fight like one if I wish to stay in the party,” Tasianna replied. “However, I believe everything is working correctly.”
Tasianna’s bracelet was a bit too small for her elven body. It was almost large enough to act as a ring for a kid, I believed, but not for an adult.
“We have not gained a level so we cannot tell you anything,” Saori reported.
After taking a break and eating lunch, we continued our travels in whatever direction we thought was correct. Saori explained that if we really were in a medieval world, then we should look for a river or waterbed as villages or towns were built close to them.
That made sense. Farm villages needed access to water for their crops while a town might need it for trade, or for a place to dump their wastes.
Regardless, this was our current goal. We would scout around above the trees, but since there weren’t any real landmarks outside of the mountain, it was quite hard to find our way. I could jump into the sky with [Air Walk] but that would be idiotic as the wyverns might find us.
As we continued onwards, we suddenly detected a few signals approaching. Agreeing some more meat would go well with the mushrooms and fruits we picked up, we hastily ran towards them.
Once there, we didn’t exactly find an animal nor a ferocious monster, nothing like that at all. Instead, what we found was not something I expected to find this early, however, my attention wasn’t focused on them but on Tasianna.
“H-H-HUMAN SCUM!”
… Thought we would take this slow.
AbyssRaven Yikes, Tasianna about to do an Overlord move, or maybe it's better to call it Nazarick?
In any case, I also wanted to announced that I would be gone for the next few days to meet grandparents. So, the next chapter will come out a bit later than usual.
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Thank you for reading this chapter.
