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Total follower count updated. Total follower of [Young Sunfang Dragon, Hestia Atsuko Kargryxmor]: 7715
“Oooooooh, you were so good! You were soooooo goooooood, my sweet whelping! How you used your flames and scale-dust to create those lights! How you smiled! Grrrrrraaaaaaarrrrrrrrh! You were so cute!”
This is my life now…
I was unable to move. No matter how much I tried, it was impossible to free myself from the tight embrace of an indomitable beast. Her loud roars even forced me to use [Air Shield] to protect my ears. I knew she was delighted, but my poor ears, man. Think about them, Mother.
Yes, the indomitable beast was once again just Mother. She was rubbing her face against my head while her tail was caressing mine. This was a show of affection amongst scalekins — lizardmen, dragonewts, and any other race with a tail and is covered in scales — similar to kissing for humans. Wholesome when it’s amongst family, lewd when you do it with some stranger.
“Oh, but you should be careful, Hestia. Swinging and dancing with your tail is part of a mating ritual to attract others, before you begin testing each other’s combat abilities. You might make some younglings go into heat.”
“… Mother, seriously, stop!”
As promised, Mother actually attend the concert the moment she woke up. Although I didn’t expect her to be that excited, the moment she saw me in my first performance outfit, she couldn’t stop wagging her tail like crazy.
She was gasping, and while she didn’t say anything, I still felt my confidence rise more and more. Having a parent feel proud of me really tickled this weird but amazing feeling inside my chest and stomach. I just wanted to release this happiness from my body like an explosion.
And when I finished my first song, Mother nearly crushed me when I went backstage to meet her. To stay inconspicuous, she controlled her silver dust so perfectly that she reflected all the light coming to her. She was practically invisible as she floated in the air above the crowd. Even Yorshka couldn’t do this.
But that meant she didn’t attract attention and could still receive the authentic concert experience. With all the fanfare, the booming music drowned out even the loudest of cries and roars, and the vibrant energy filling your body. Mother told me all of this while also praising my performance.
“I can’t stop thinking of how you smiled, Hestia!” she told me. Even after sleeping it off, she still couldn’t stop thinking of the expressions I made. Like the dazzling stars in the midnight sky; Mother thought of what she saw at the concert as her treasure.
And now she wasn’t willing to let me go.
“… Lady Hestia, Miss Saori told me to inform you that we are now leaving the city.” Tasianna came into my room to inform me. Yes, the moment Mother woke up, she stormed into my room and began hugging me. Talk about not knowing personal space, huh?
“… Thank you,” I thanked her, just accepting the fact that Mother wouldn’t release me until she was satisfied. “How did Amelia’s talk with Duke Equevanna go?”
“A moderate success. As in, she entrusted the [Room] rune set to him and he agreed to preserve their secrecy and to only use them in emergencies or if we call him. He has taken an oath in your name as a Kargryxmor, willingly.”
One good thing about me accepting my lineage and status as princess of Kargryx is that I could use my influence to have people acquiesce to my demands. In this case, Fillion didn’t have the luxury to decline my offer. Possessing my [Room] runes meant I trusted him enough to keep them safe.
Taking an oath in Kargryxmor’s name also meant that, if he were to break our agreement, he would incur the wrath of “Hestia Atsuko Kargryxmor, Princess of Kargryx.” Similar to the Shaturein case, it meant becoming hostile to dragonewts and Kargryxian dragons. I couldn't help but think that its a good thing, right? Thanks to Mother, I knew about this now~
Like I told the merchant, I really didn’t like flaunting my status around, thinking it’s irresponsible, but I also now know not using it when needed is irresponsible as well. I’m a dragon with a human soul. My other soul half made me understand this wasn’t a bad thing. Saori and Yorshka explained to me this wasn’t a bad thing. Mother assured me this wasn’t a bad thing.
I planed to make Artorias into a great ally for me. We needed a bastion to fight against the demonkins and to help me fulfill Aurena’s Divine Quest. Even if the world wasn’t in danger with the Origin Gods around, those demonkins won’t stop ruining my happiness. This was more than enough reason for me to continue working.
And to do that, I needed my dragon heritage to help me out.
“So, Amelia wasn’t able to negotiate Duke Equevanna into allowing access to his trade routes around his fief?” I asked Tasianna.
“Sadly, no. The negotiation was cut short thanks to our departure. According to Lady Amelia, Duke Equevanna wished to go into a partnership with the Sarlenzia company. Lady Amelia thought it was a good deal, since it meant she would have more leeway when dealing with the local merchant guild, but this wasn't something she could agree to without her father's permission.”
“So they have to renegotiate, right? Another date? Amelia wants my permission to invite her father and Fillion into the RV to discuss, correct?” Tasianna nodded. “Haaaa, alright. I’ll make a meeting room for everybody to use. We won’t have to use the dining room to discuss stuff anymore.”
“Thank you! I will deliver your words to her. Also, Miss Saori anticipated this, so she asked Duke Equevanna to commission a beautiful table for the room, including its furniture. A ‘gift’ to a pleasant partnership.”
Saori, Saori. She knows what’s best. Always a step ahead of the rest.
Money saved and the room will be filled up without our worry. Free stuff is good.
But, going back to what Tasianna said before, today we were also leaving Ullistar. The moment the festival ended for the day, we quickly packed all the stuff back into my storage. The cleaning would be left to Fillion. After all, our goal wasn’t actually in Ullistar, but rather the Republic of Estralia.
We were leaving the city today in order to get to Estralia’s capital, Gleisvale, as early as possible. The earlier, the better, since we needed Shaturein to start controlling the underground market over there. All this was just setting things up to reach our primary goal, finding clues on the contractor who sent fae hunters to Saelariel and killed the Princess Schuri, all for Tasianna’s sake. In addition, there might also be hints of demonkin dealings over there for us to find.
After we left the city, we made our way east, going along the official route between Ullistar and Estralia. Along the way, we would go through a small town built around Equevanna’s only dungeon, which bordered Estralia. There was supposedly a faster path through the mountains, but that one was infested with monsters, bad paths, and the risk of bandits.
Not like any bandit could do anything to us, but I wasn’t in the mood to delay our trip for them. In any case, getting to Gleisvale would take around a week for a normal caravan. We could probably shave a day off with our speed, but none of us were used to the path outside of Yorshka. Her estimate was six days, but who knows.
In other words, its going to be a long trip. Since we didn’t have computers or television around, the only way to spend this time was either cards, board games or training. Well, pretty much the exact thing I did on the trip to Ullistar. With the garms moving the RV and only needing one person to man the coach, everybody else could stay inside and train, work on projects, or slack.
I was in the training group, and, well, I guess pretty much everybody else was too. Well, everybody but Asaka, really. I’m not really sure what she was doing now, but she was a wildcard when it came to contributing and training.
“Before the advent of the Origin Gods, there were only three types of beings who could use magic without aid. Among them were the creatures born with the body of the energy of the world — faefolk, with their body of mana. The second are the creatures with the ability to mutate their bodies further and further using mana, an occurrence we now call ‘evolution’ — the monsters. And the last are the ones who once used to rule this world as our ‘gods’ before their rule and elemental authority was usurped by the Origin Gods — the primarchs, the elemental kings.”
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Our company’s magic tutor was none other than Mother.
“I will not bore you with the history of the primarchs, but essentially, they controlled the six elements of the world, keeping everything in balance. History has almost forgotten them completely, outside of the long-living races like us dragons or the elves. The earth primarch, the one who created the dwarves in imitation of the humans and elves, is probably the most known of them. But the others? They are probably either dead or in hiding. I cannot tell you much about them.”
“Is that the reason why the dwarves cannot expel mana from their bodies?” Nishio asked.
“The dwarves were made from gems and earth, meaning their bodies are essentially different from ours. While dwarves can breed with the other races, all half-dwarves are unable to cast magic because of their dwarven half. Even with Crustacia’s aid, this bodily law cannot be overwritten even with the Divine System. ‘The Curse of Earth,’ the dwarves used to call it in the past.”
I wasn’t alone with Mother, though. Tasianna, Ellaine, and Nishio were all attending these lessons with me. Those of us who wanted to continue improving their magical abilities. Those more focused on their physical training like Tatsuya, Kyouya, Misaki, Kohaku, and Elrick were working with Yorshka. Only Saori and Kazumi were training under Muraina, as they were our rogues.
The rest of our company was on support or artisan duty. Grimnir and Daichi were working in the forge, Tamae was keeping our food storage in check and managing the restaurant, and Haruka was doing our ledger with Amelia. Josine, who decided to commit to following Ellaine, and Svena, who was practically my maid at this point, were keeping the whole place clean and in check.
Our animal companions weren’t slacking off either. The garms either were driving the RV forward or training with Saori. Shoyi, Saori’s slime, was keeping our toilets and trash clean. And the virigresses, who were all done with their assimilation into Saori’s [Shadow Pack], were being trained by the garms to work with them. They were all a pack now.
If any of us weren’t inside the RV, we most likely were doing something outside. I teleported the members of The Magical Biscuits back to Griffonpeak, but they could still use the subspace to train anytime. Even the fact we could call in a meeting between Duke Greenveil and Fillion makes me once again appreciate that I figured out the [Room] nexus trick. It’s like a VR chat, kinda.
“Ignoring the primarchs, let us focus on the faefolk and monsters, particularly us dragons.” Mother then called up Tasianna and me to her. “The reason why these two races are able to cast magic without the aid of the Divine System is due to the mana inside us molding into one of the six elements. Humans and elves were required to create a contract with a faefolk, becoming faemancers, to cast magic. The faefolk acts as your catalyst, molding your mana into fire, water, and so on, allowing you to create water or fire. As such, the moment a faefolk is born, they all have an innate potential for one of the six elements, or, on rare occasions, a compound element.”
Tasianna's eyes widened suddenly. “Oh! Is this why I was able to buy [Ice Magic] from the skill shop without having gained either [Torrent Magic] or [Storm Magic]?”
That was true. After the first week of Tasianna becoming my retainer, she bought [Ice Magic] and [Cryokinesis] with her SP. It was a sudden surprise for us.
Mother nodded. “And Hestia’s mana is fire-aligned. Monsters adapt their mana into the element of their choice or evolution path. Hestia has always been more fire-aligned due to her bloodline, but it became more prominent with every subsequent evolution. Similar to Saori.”
Saori’s [Holy Resistance] has been growing at a considerably slower pace now after she evolved into a [Young Stygian-Scaled Fenrir]. This was probably the main reason.
“Now, what I want you to get out of this lecture is that humans are able to do the same thing. Become one with the element of your choice and become stronger. However, you will also attain the weaknesses of that element. For example, with Tasianna and me. We are ice mages. We have better control of ice but we are more susceptible to fire and require an impractical amount of time to learn fire spells.”
Mother looked at Ellaine and Nishio with her intentions clear for them to understand. She was asking them if they wanted to learn this method from her.
“Will this conflict with my access to my demonic powers?” Ellaine asked.
“Hmmm, maybe. But the demon would be able to answer that question better,” Mother prompted Klea’Hatma to speak.
[“It won’t, don’t worry. In fact, if you were to transform your mana into a certain element, it would actually benefit your demonic abilities. Now, which one would help you the most? An element with a high regenerative characteristic, since my later abilities will focus on regrowth.”]
“So, holy and water,” Nishio answered. “These are the two elements who have access to healing magic, if we disregard empty vessel magic.”
“No, earth or fire are also options,” Mother replied. “Earth is the mother of all life. Just as how the earth primarch managed to create life from stones and earth, so could you find healing from the ground we walk on. Fire, in the form of heat, is the fuel of life. Without the heat in our bodies, no being outside of ice-aligned creatures can survive in this world. The warmth inside you is your body’s energy, and flows through you, energizing your whole being.”
I nodded. “Outside of geothermal, another major source of a planet’s energy comes from the sun, correct, Nishio-san? Energy is transformed through photosynthesis by plants and this energy is then spread through the world through the other lifeforms.”
Sometimes I really wondered why Aurena was related to the sun instead of Shiterno. It fitted Aurena’s image as a miracle bringer and benevolent Goddess, but Shiterno could have probably garnered more people if he had sun images or something in his domain. There was even a fire spell to make a miniture sun. His church was so incomprehensible.
Nishio and Ellaine then began thinking over their options, contemplating which element was the best for them. They spoke and discussed among themselves; meanwhile Mother sat down with Tasianna and me, taking this chance to begin our training.
“I am a specialist when it comes to ice and wind magic, as that is what I gained from my evolution and lineage. I only learned water and torrent magic after the Divine System appeared, and, while I cannot control water as deftly as ice, I can freeze moisture to control it perfectly.” Mother then moved her hand, creating hundreds of small ice spikes from the very air. She controlled them with finesse.
However, at the same time, I began to notice how uncomfortably dry the air now was. It really made me wish I had a moisturizer right now.
“While it is true that water and fire are mostly opposite from each other, the composite element of ice is the true opposite of fire. But, at the same time, both elements are simply two sides of a single coin. What they have in common is thermal manipulation.”
Fire warms up the air and ice cools it down. That was the general difference anyone could see when they watch a fire and ice mage fight. They control the two ends of a thermometer.
“Ice can never raise the temperature over a certain point, and vice versa, for fire. However, what they can do is to bring themselves to an equilibrium, where it is neither cold nor warm.”
“Just like my [White Flame]. I’m able to control them to the point that they are just unable to burn you; the ideal temperature to heal others,” I interjected. “However, I can’t seem to do the same with my other types of flames.”
“Good, Hestia, that is a good point. Danterno at least knows what sort of powers he was supposed to give you. But, what if I told you can control the very temperature of any of your flames to the point of being cool. The same thing with Tasianna. The ability to warm up any ice or cool down any fire. You both can do this due to your elemental alignment.”
Tasianna and I nodded simultaneously, greedy to improve even further.
“Good. Hestia, we will begin your thermal manipulation training after your core is restored. It might only be your second heart, but it’s important for your mana control.” I nodded, slightly disappointed. Mother then turned to Tasianna. “We will begin yours now, Tasianna.”
Tasianna’s training was intended to return her to the source of all magic and her body —her mana. It wasn’t to rely on the Divine System and the spells associated with it, but to create ice and control it like a real cryomancer. All spells and magic abilities are created from mana, but not all of them require the Divine System to work. My scale-dust and mother’s silver dust were the best examples here.
However, outside of ice, Mother would also teach Tasianna to control her wind abilities even better. Telling her of the destructive nature of wind, reminding her why [Storm Magic] is so much more destructive than plain [Wind Magic]. It was like the difference between a breeze and a hurricane.
If you thought about it, Mother was the perfect teacher for Tasianna. Master Kush helped Tasianna become an extraordinary mage, and now Mother would turn her into a master, no, a natural disaster in the form of a fairy.
They eventually brought over the wyvern twins, as they seemed like they also wanted to train , so I went over to Ellaine and Nishio to help them find an answer to their progression. After some lengthy talking, they finally gave Mother their answer.
“I personally wish to stay element neutral, Lady Melloxtressa,” Nishio answered. “My unique skill allows me to learn and use all six elements with almost perfection, even granting me bonuses if I do. I know it comes from the demonkins, but I still wish to cultivate it as long as possible. I believe being flexible like this will benefit the group.”
As for Ellaine…
“After contemplating on it, I believe either holy or earth will be best suited to me, I believe.”
“Holy? I understand earth, but why holy, Ellaine? You haven’t learned a single holy spell yet.” Mother looked confused.
“Because of my faith in the Goddess. I believe my faith in her will most likely bring my spirit closer to her. However, after talking with Hestia about it, it might be hard if I push myself on one path alone. As such, I believe earth would be the best second option.”
Mother explained that turning the mana into a certain element will naturally affect the body and that it would be a painful and difficult path. Once you become elementally aligned, you cannot change your element outside of evolution. Since humans couldn’t evolve, it was a one-way trip for Ellaine.
Still, Mother was fine with it. She said she would have Ellaine perform the precursory training for the elemental-alignment change until she finally decides on her element. She advised Ellaine to properly learn the intricacies of the holy and earth element before the time came.
After giving Ellaine and Nishio some tips to control their magic and how to bring them out fully, she then went over to Tasianna and the wyverns, giving them a lengthy lecture on the full control of ice and its properties. Once they were training with each other, acting like rivals with who would master the elements first, Mother let out a sign and turned.
“Now we finally have time to ourselves, Hestia~” Mother’s smile was shining so brightly, it made it hard for me to look at her.
“Can you please not say it in that fashion? It’s awkward.”
Now, it was dragon training time.