“Congratulations, Lady Hestia. That was a wonderful show of your skills.”
After a rather obtuse “winner’s interview” held after our fight, where the announcer kept slipping small insults against our 83 living and 2 dead opponents, we were officially registered into the list of contestants for tomorrow's tournament. Once that awful receptionist realized this, his face began to twitch, as if he was having an allergic reaction while trying to smile and act polite.
With our armlets updated, Fargryneill and I smiled mischievously as the receptionist tried to endure our presence and smugness. My sister had the wonderful idea to continue pestering the guy, flaunting how she would be the winner of the whole tournament and would beat out anybody he sent at her.
Them’s fighting words, right? But, I really didn’t care as the receptionist tried his best to keep his cool after the announcer dubbed us as some dark horses. The receptionist did fire back, in the end, graciously telling us how the new knight-commander of the Yeos’s knight order, or how an ex-Hands of Heaven member would put us into our place. Well, disregarding the sexist remarks he threw at us, it was actually quite informative for us with Fargryneill annoying him.
“Oh really? Oooh, sounds exciting! Thanks for the info, scale-gifter.”
“Scale-gifter?” Question marks formed above his head as we turned around.
We left him flabbergasted with that nickname and went to get some fresh air. When I asked my sister what that meant, she gave me a weird look before shrugging.
Essentially, giving other dragonkins your scales was considered a sign of trust or loyalty, so a “scale-gifter” was someone who didn’t care about this meaning and gave them out to everybody. Scales were a sign of power and prestige for us dragonkins, and were also our last line of defense. As such, the term “scale-gifter” was like being called naive, gullible, or even slut at worst. It means leaving your guard down.
In any case, as we left the queue area, Mother and the rest came over to congratulate me. Tasianna handed me a fragassa smoothie as a freshener, while Rajah ran over to the twins looking for more praise after his spectacular first performance as my tamed companion. As I smiled from the sweet rejuvenating taste of the smoothie, I noticed Mother and Fargryneill had started to talk.
“Melloxtressa, well, Empress, I guess.” Fargryneill tucked her tail in between her legs and gave a deep bow. “It is an honor, elder scale.”
“Ahh, Fargryneill! Yes, I saw you with my little daughter in the fight. Your moves reminded me of Yuilengreill quite a bit, dear. I’ve only seen her fight in her proper form, but your control of the dragon paths was still quite impressive,” Mother praised her as part of her greeting, looking happy to meet my half-sister.
Hold on, why is she looking like that?! I noted Mother wearing a wide brim hat made from mana threads now, looking more and more like she was in full vacation mode. I did not say anything, but I was really reconsidering the true meaning of my Divine Quest.
“Oh, you fought my Mother?” Fargryneill tilted her head.
“More like she and the other Empresses helped me settle down a bit when I was on a rampage, hohoho. Eltharion had to stop me before it got even worse,” Mother giggled.
“Hmm, I can imagine that. Father is the only one strong enough on Miononbolax to stop a natural disaster like you, elder scale.” Sister nodded her head as if it was the obvious thing in the world, before suddenly turning her head over to me, still enjoying my drink. “So, what’s the deal with this one, then? Smells like you and Father, that’s for sure, but no way can she be like this when you’ve only been with Father for only under 20 years.”
In other words, she wanted to hear the long story. Her suspicion probably grew even more after I won our challenge. When I got that win, I could hear her grinding her teeth as she looked at me like a poor loser. Note to myself, Fargryneill was extremely competitive.
“Let’s go somewhere else to talk,” I suggested. Mother concurred.
“Yes, do you also have a great appetite like Yui? I know this really good honey-roasted apple stand you might like.”
Are honey-roasted apples her new favorite food? Or did she mention those specifically for a different reason?
“Oooh, right, the festival. I didn’t have the time to check it out, but bulking up before training later sounds good.” Fargryneill nodded before looking like she just remembered something. “Give me a moment. I need to speak with somebody.”
She then tilted her head a bit to the side as before her eyes widened as she recognized somebody behind me. She ran over to that person, roughly around her height, lingering around next to a wall, almost as if they were waiting there for my sister specifically.
The person she was talking to was covered from head to toe in brown and red armor made with hide, carapace, and tempered bones from monsters. A single claymore or maybe zweihander, at the very least a greatsword, was strapped on their back, while another sword could be seen on their hips, but for some reason, it had a strange 25-degree bent for a tip. Without Grimnir around, I couldn’t tell what sorta weapon it was.
After the two finished speaking, they fist-bumped each other and parted ways. When Fargryneill returned, I asked her who that was and she mentioned it was her travel companion she’d met two years ago.
“Renee comes from Yeos. Wanted to look around the city, and we planned to do it together.” She shrugged. “Family comes first, though.”
Oh, is that person the travel companion Yeostar mentioned?
I tried to apologize to her for interrupting her time with her friend, but she waved it off, saying she was more curious about her “little adorable sister.” She mentioned only having experienced being the little sister to our eldest sister, so now she wanted to see how it felt to be the big sister. She patted my back and pointed to the exit, saying it was time to have fun after a well-earned victory!
And she wasn’t kidding when she mentioned having fun, ‘cause it came to me as a big surprise at how much of a party animal she was. And not as a drinking maniac like some frat boy — she hated alcohol just like me — but she was such a glutton, I thought she was inhaling her food at how fast she ate.
It was a bit too bad for Tasianna and Rajah, but we dragonkins ended up holding a series of eating contests to see how much we could eat, to the point I was actually getting a bit worried about our purse; thankfully the street food was super cheap. Which meant my own weight was starting to be a point of worry for me!
Just like during my initial rounds with my group around the festival parts of the city, the fact I had an important Divine Quest was slowly slipping from my focus. I was having too much fun to worry about the seriousness of the situation. I only started to feel guilty once we finished our festival trip and got onto the ship departing for Karhalanteel island.
“Verdammt! I did it agaaaaaaaain!” I fell on my knees while drinking an orange juice we bought from the port, dismayed at how I was treating everything like a vacation again.
Mother and Sister were both terrible influences.
----------------------------------------
“Come now, to me! Beasts of the jungle! Defend me!”
“You are underestimating my ice if you believe your water summons can stop me, Saint Kushlek’zar! Me, the frost nurtured by the winter herself!”
On an ice platform further off from the beach of the warrior priest island, a fairy in the form of a wind elf and a raptorsilian were sparring. However, while they were both mages, the clash between them wasn’t done only through projectile and blast spells, but also large elemental constructs.
Wind and water followed their commands, creating something like a maelstrom where the ice platform was the eye of this storm. Although I was watching it from afar, I could feel the intensity as a giant ice serpent clashed against a water-born flying snake in the sky. On the platform itself, ice golems wrestled against what seemed like a platoon of dinosaurs.
Regardless, while this was already astounding enough, there was a reason for this maelstrom I mentioned. [Storm Magic], [Torrent Magic], and [Ice Magic] spells and other custom spells wreaked havoc in the area like a natural disaster. Tasianna and Master weren’t taking this match lightly, having put their pride as mages on the line to see who was more powerful.
A saint of Xohulotel versus my maid. Quite a show.
From the look of it, Master was slightly winning purely thanks to his more varied custom spell arsenal, even having a scalding water spell to counter ice mages. Tasianna was using her training from the twins and Mother to its fullest, but Master was weavingspells even while constructing and repositioning his army of water dinosaurs.
What a fitting unique skill for the dinosaur priest.
Glory of Aelozonia
The primeval prowess of the jungles of the continent of Aelozonia in one skill. Called upon by Xohulotel, the owner of this skill can invoke the native creatures of Aelozonia with the power of water to fight by their side either as water golems, or as a spell buff when cast in a ritualistic manner. The amount of summoned creatures corresponds with the level of this skill x2
This was Master Kush’s unique skill gained from becoming a blessed, which also allowed him to take the new Job [Primal Summoner], which further increased the amount of summons he could field while also increasing the golem’s stats depending on how many he had summoned.
T-Rexs,stegosauruses, and many other dinosaurs were being made to fight for him, while at other times, he would infuse their ferocity in himself or his allies to grant them any of his beasts' strength. If he buffed somebody with an ankylosaurus, for example, a hard carapace made from water would form on his body as his Vitality and Wisdom skyrocketed.
In a way, it was similar to my [Idol] as both skills had both offensive and supportive usages. Tehmrayn called mine a more “Saint-like” unique skill, which didn’t fit a Champion. After I asked him about it, he elaborated that a Champion’s unique skill was so focused on its combative performance that some would forgo using it in random matches to prevent collateral damage.
I mean, it didn’t seem too impressive when he first mentioned it. I wouldn’t use my spell songs in every fight. For example, I didn’t use them today. However, Themrayn still insisted once the time came, he would show me what the true power of a Champion was.
Well, if you can overpower something like my [Solar Beam], then sure, I guess? I thought it seemed a bit exaggerated. I had seen my share of land destroying abilities before.
“Hey, don’t move your arm like that! You’re gonna rip a tendon after your 100 strike with that form! You are slashing flesh, blood, and fat! You cut properly, or you will dull your blade!”
“Yes, move your arms like that! Momentum is important. Cleave into the ribs, pull it out, and then decapitate! All in one swift move!”
While those two mages were having their little training session, I turned my head around to watch Krim-Slak and Grazlahta training the warrior priest in the place of Jethro, who hadn’t come back from the royal castle yet. Seeing as the warrior priests were part of the island’s defenses, the saurians found it important to train their companions.
It also helped that the warrior priests were actually getting along with the saurians, respecting them as fellow warriors. Due to the saurians' relationship to Master as his guards, the warrior priests bonded over the fact they were all religious fighters. They might belong to two different churches and races, but nobody could argue the saurians were unworthy. Like Master, they were all over level 100.
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Just two more levels and I can reach that point, too!
“Hmmm. Wow… I honestly didn’t expect to hear something like that. Damn!”
Haaa, if on— Woooah! For some random reason, Fargryneill suddenly embraced me, squeezing to the point I felt I was being squished!
“Oof?!”
“I was that close! So close! I spent some time in Artorias, and if I had known, I could have looked for you! Your egg, Hestia!” Her embrace became even tighter as if she was hugging a teddy bear. “I didn— I am sorry! I didn’t know you were lost! I only knew your mother was pregnant. No wonder she’s following you around like this…”
Her warmth, her sincerness, and her love came off as she expressed her regret. Despite my worries, Mother told me I could trust Fargryneill, as she knew Neill's mother well enough to confirm what we learned about my sister in our outing today. Fargryneill was brash, flamboyant, and competitive to a fault, but like most dragonkins, they valued their blood relatives extremely.
As such, I told her everything. About me being born in the Belzac forest, having never visited Miononbolax or met my dragon father, and only knowing Mother a few months ago. She was devastated when she heard everything, never knowing that my egg was laid nor that it went missing.
My sister was 26, and left for her adulthood pilgrimage at 20, about six years after Cernust left for his. She was in the middle of her [Battle Frenzy] training, but chose to halt it after something happened during the training, something which she wasn’t willing to divulge. She became silent afterward, only to suddenly give me a fat bear hug.
“Oi! M-My spine! I can’t breathe!” I struggled to free myself, but her grip was too strong! I had to escape her embrace by humanizing quickly into my minor form and then back to moderate, using the size changes to slip through. “Haaahahahaha… jeez! Are you trying to kill me here?!”
“Ahaha… S-Sorry,” she apologized with a wry grin before scratching her arm in embarrassment, before readjusting her yukata and jacket to cover up her chest.. “It was a… It still is a bit hard to digest, honestly. You’re a ‘young.’ A whelpling. And, you’re already this strong! Regardless of being the daughter of the two strongest dragons in the world, being blessed by three gods, and being an otherworlder, I can’t help but feel a bit… envious.”
“… So that hug? You actually were trying to kill me?!” I panicked as I came to that realization! I knew she was a bad loser, but to the point she would try to kill her baby sister?! OMG!
“Hey! Don’t put words into my mouth or my actions!” She grabbed my shoulders, preventing me from fleeing. “Just calm down, alright, sis. It’s just that I don’t know how to feel about this. It’s weird, you can probably understand how you couldn’t accept Melloxtressa as your mum at first, right?”
“Admittedly, it also took me a bit to accept everything in Yorshka’s letter to me. However, I had time to think when I flew over to Altrust for you, Hestia,” Mother added her own perspective on the situation, enlightening me that it wasn’t so easy for her either. “But, like I said back then, you are still my daughter. My cute whelpling~ That won’t change, no matter what.”
I nodded and us sisters decided to calm down and sit back on our seats. Beth and Shay took this chance to hand us a cold drink, probably believing the afternoon sun was getting to us.
After we took a sip, we continued our talk.
“… Just saying, but even if you are envious, I have a ton of responsibilities that I’m not a big fan of. I’m supposedly still a toddler, but look at me being here to perform some Divine Quest.” I pointed out but Fargryneill simply shook her head.
“Being strong is everything, little sis. Dragons value strength a lot, and that’s even more important for getting the respect from true dragonkins as a lesser. If I had only a modicum of how fast you are developing, then I wouldn’t have so many problems being a kirin-dragon hybrid.” She chugged the ice water down, sighing loudly as her thirst was quenched. “My emotions kinda got the better of me. Pathetic showing, honestly, for a Kargryxmor. Can I have another, please?”
Beth quickly refilled her glass with some water and ice magic. She drank it empty in one swing, again.
“Argh, but whatever, you’re still my sister, and just like how elder sis Wendriosa cared for me, I kinda have a responsibility to do the same as your big sister,” she suddenly mentioned one of my other half-siblings — the eldest of us sisters, in this case. “You need help with your Divine Quest? Prince of Sin or whoever? Just call, and I will make sure nothing will ever harm my little sis.”
She bashed her fist into her open palm, looking at me as if she was ready to take over the world with me. I was glad to trust Mother and speak the truth.
“Yeah, sure, that would be nice,” I agreed, but hoped we wouldn’t meet a Prince of Sin. “However, don’t worry too much about the finding part. I actually have another favor to ask. Kramps told me to ask you to help me train—”
“Kramps?” She interrupted me.
“Kargryxmor, our grandfather. That’s my nickname for him. Anyways, he asked me if you could help me with my [Battle Frenzy] training. I only mastered the first phase, but am having some problems getting into the second, for some reason.”
However, for some reason, the mood suddenly soured. Fargryneill scowled.
“… Grand… father? Tsk!” She clicked her tongue and stood up in annoyance. “Fuck! Did you really have to mention that insult of an ancestor, little sis? Really? Argh, always, always, Kargryxmor!”
She stomped away, looking furious as she spat out Kramps’s name. I looked over to Mother but she simply stated “I am not the only one” as she shook her head. She was not the only one in what? I didn’t understand it at first, but I suddenly remembered the tension Mother and Kramps had when I first had them speak.
“That piece of shit!” Sis growled again. “Has that Tyrant no shame even for his own family? He’s asking me? Really? After how often he called me a worthless stain in his bloodline? My grandfather Gueillxar was one of the SSS ranks who went with him to the divine realm! Our dragonewt clan is part of the kinkyuro, despite not being dragons!”
Kramps voice appeared in my head, but I didn’t give it too much of my attention as Fargryneill continued her rant.
“Dammit! He was okay accepting my grandfather as one of his advisors, but he was angry that Father took my mother in as his fifth Empress? Are you kidding me?! Hey, ‘Kramps!’” she shouted to the sky, “Drizzle yourself up there as you watch everybody walking around. You probably see enough females, right? How about you leave us alone, you old fart!”
What?!
I immediately cut his message off using [The Light], forbidding him from speaking with me, right now. No matter what she called him, calling my sister a “halfbreed” was going too far. I don’t care if you were the progenitor of our bloodline!
“Haaa, haaa, haha…” Her rage subsided as she let that out and she slumped back on her chair, grinding her teeth. Her wild black-purple hair covered her whole face, prompting her to tie her mane-like hair into a single ponytail, where I noticed two hard-looking objects attached to the side of her head.
“My dragon horns,” she answered as I looked at them. “The one from the front is from Mother, and the two looking backwards are from Father. I even have wings in my kirin form, you know.”
They were small, but thick. Considering they weren’t as pronounced as mine or Mother’s, it was not a surprise her fluffy hair hid them perfectly. I guess this was why she was a hybrid.
“You don’t have to if you don’t want to,” I said after she calmed down. “I can just continue with my current progress.”
“No, no, it’s whatever. Huh, ‘Kramps.’ Wait, that’s not a bad name to make him angry. You know, that old fart actually hates me so much he wasn’t willing to speak with Father about me nor my training.” She shook her head with a heavy sigh, before standing up and tapping my shoulder. “Do you know the schedule of the tournament?”
I shook my head. Jethro had not explained it.
“At the start of the tournament, there will be two days of the rumble stage, which is another name for the battle royal to reduce the amount of contestants into 32 participants for the real tournament. Culling stage, in other words.”
From the looks of it, Sis concluded from counting the number of contestants that the organizers will host four battle royals. With simple math, eight survivors from each group would come out as the winners and would be seeded into the tournament brackets.
The tournament would then go on as each match is held until only a single participant is left standing, becoming the winner and also the receiver of the grand prize. In other words, if I wanted to continue into the matches, I had to become one of the eight inside my group.
“Just saying, but even if you are my sister, I will never, ever throw a match. I’m winning this, or not,” she stated, expecting me to answer back favorably.
“Got it, I wouldn’t have it any other way. I already told somebody I would win it all, so I will.” I smiled fearlessly back, despite knowing Sis to be an active tournament attendee. It was the right thing to do.
And she was happy about it. “Good! Then, let me train you. If you can’t control you [Battle Frenzy], then you are literally missing out on some of that untapped potential inside our blood. Even if Kramps is an ass, you can’t forget he was probably the strongest being back when he was still a mortal.”
She then began to crack her neck, looking like she was about to go training or something. “So, whatever you do, get into the top eight of your group, alright! Surviving is the best method in a battle royale, although with your strength, just go ahead and knock everybody out. If we’re in the same group, then let’s just avoid each other. I want you nice and strong, being able to control [Battle Frenzy (Minor)] at least, before we fight!”
“Cool, but when should we begin?” I tilted my head.
“On the weekend, of course. After the four battle royale, there will be a break for us to do something.”
Today was Waterday, Wednesday, so the rumble stages would happen on WindDay and LightDay. I didn’t know what we could do with only two days, but I had to hope for the best.
I nodded to her plan and made sure to keep those open. Mother seemed excited to see us get along just fine, and was planning on inviting Fargryneill for tomorrow’s festival visit, but my sister declined. For the tournament, she still had to train, and she recommended I did the same. Mother looked pretty sad when I agreed with her.
“Oh, wait, that reminds me.” I released some of my scales to create a barrier between the warrior priests and me, before opening a [Room] portal. Fargryneill wasn’t surprised, as I had shown it to her previously for something else.
And that was to transport two people into the subspace, and those two were coming out just now.
“Ba…ck.” Akasht slipped out of the portal with a happy face.
[“Master, we are back! We told Svena what you needed us to and also the fish for the restaurant chefs to prepare!”] Rajah informed me.
The merfiends the saurians caught would be turned into dinner for us, so Akast did us a favor and delivered it to our chefs working inside Tamae’s restaurant. Ademnis and Ivy, for example. I was inspecting him to give me a rundown of what Svena said, but surprisingly, Svena herself came out… and with a guest.
“Princess Hestia.” Kneeling down, the foxian woman greeted me. It was Reajaen.
“Reajaen?” I allowed her to stand up. Her eyepatch and the scars Tasaianna inflicted on her were still clear to see.
“Who are they?” Fargryneill asked.
“Reajaen is an ally and Svena is my attendant, like Tasianna.” I turned my attention back to Reajaen. “Anyways, what are you doing here? Is there a problem?””
“None, Your Highness,” she stated confidently. “I am here to inform you your investment has bloomed. The Republic of Estralia has just voted in their new president. I am ready to work, Your Highness.”
“No way!” My eyes widened like a goldfish. “Hold on, you only had a month! No way were you able to become president in such a short time! Shouldn’t those olden money guys have something to say about it?!”
The plan was to have Reajaen and the Resclave family control Estralia for us so we could possibly control the city in case a war did break out between Artorias and their neighbors. I just didn’t expect her to do it within a month!
“Mr. Jadhund has advertised you well within the dwarven community, which led to them selling their products and goods through me as well as giving me the ability to trade with the Ankor-Nazta without having to pay the extreme taxes to use the train as a means of transport,” Reajaen pointed out. “We used Shaturein and Layavete agents to sneak in whispers to the other senators, allowing me to settle deals with them where, if they work for me, I will allow them access to the dwarves. Not to mention, after we exposed what happened to O’Bloom and his allies, everybody know Dragon Princess Hestia Atsuko Kargryxmor is supporting the Resclave family.”
More information was written within the documents Reajaen gave me, detailing even how the olden monies, the oligarchy of Estralia, tried to stop Reajaen’s rise in popularity with the people and her fellow senators. Estralia was, at the end of the day, still a republic, and the president could be kicked out if enough votes came in.
With the fact that she had my support and also managed to integrate the dwarves back into Gleisvale society, it gave her a lot of leeway in handling things. The opportunists knew who to follow in the short time to gain, however; even if Reajaen was president, we had to make sure to consolidate her power.
“Good!” I said after I skimmed through everything. “Then we need to schedule a meeting with King Drangleic and Shaturein's pillars! Set things up for you to make contact with them. Once again, you may use the Shaturein contacts but don’t forget, no killing! Push interlopers out, but don’t make this bloody. If you need me to make an appearance, ask, alright? I can perform another concert or even organize an event in the restaurant for them to get to know me better.”
“I understand, but we should also make sure Mr. Jadhund enters this discussion. He had made some demands after you left concerning the dwarves. It seemed like some dissent within their community itself.”
“Got it. I’ll organize a meeting between us,” I nodded before turning over to Svena. “Svena, I’ll begin writing the letter. Could you send it in my name to King Drangelic?”
“Of course, my lady. Concerning Lady Amelia, should I also have her prepare for a concert in Gleisvale?” she asked but I shook my head.
“No need for now. I want to feel out Elyonda’s audience first. Have her prepare the obsidian orchestra for that first, and then we can make a joint concert for Griffonpeak, Gleisvale, and Elyonda.”
And our discussion continued as we ironed out the details. With Nishio, Saori, and Ellaine preoccupied with their own stuff, I was the only one who could handle these administrative duties. Of course, I had people working for me, but I still had to be the one to take point.
“… I’m starting to not feel envious at all.”
“See? My little whelpling is truly a diligent one.”
I could her Mother and Sis speak behind me, but I had to ignore them to handle this discussion first. Duty before fun, I guessed.
After it was done, Fargryneill told me she had to return, wanting to train a bit. I told her to visit when she could and she simply shrugged. She departed back to mainland with the ship, as the rest of us could simply fly back if we needed to.
While we were still on the island, I asked Master and Mother for some training. As much as I felt a bit overwhelmed in all of this, with my scheduled pack full, I had to also focus on training. I had to become stronger and I needed to further my magic studies. Not to mention, kill merfiends to level up already.
But, as you would expect, a single night wasn’t enough to do too much. Only enough for me to feel confident as the next day began. The day of the royal battle was about to begin.
“Goooooood mooooorning, bloooood enjoyeeeeeeeeers! Citizens of Yeos! Let it be known on this beautiful day that Yeostar watches upon us! This tournament where his new CHAMPION. WILL. BE. KNIGHTED!”
The crowd, the announcer, the crackling contestants. Everything was loud.
“LET THE FIRST DAY OF THE TOURNAMENT OF THE STARS BEGIN!”