… My first debut as an actual ‘dragon idol’ and I’m performing for the entire continent… real nepotistic move. Haaa, my stream concert can’t even compare to the damn numbers this stream is currently making, and nothing has happened yet!
The number was rising. 187, 367, 768, 1331, 2578, and the number of viewers kept rising, yet the concert hadn’t begun. Outside of a single camera, the rest were flying throughout Coral Beard to capture the vibrancy of a city about to be shrouded in Marsven’s dusk.
The festival was still alive, bursting with fervor due to yesterday’s spectacle. And I wasn’t talking about that talk I had with Uriahn, no, I meant the star of the show absolutely killed it. I might not have been able to watch Neill’s show live, but that was why I had streaming invented on Peolynca, right? Recording the match was easy, and with it, we had our first VODs—video-on-demand.
Watching Neill brutalize the flight of dragons and dragon wakes was—and I really shouldn’t say this—intoxicating. It wasn’t proper of me to admit it, but hearing Neill gush and describe her fight in detail as we watched the VOD together made me experience her vindication. The catharsis she felt was too hard to ignore.
“I always avoided Inferno Nest because of Halianhak and others. Some joined the fight today, but quite a few ignored my taunts. Honestly, I think I only got the hotheads amongst the people who kept badmouthing me whenever I had to visit Inferno Nest due to family business. It doesn’t help that Brother Kahalameet trained his faction in that area, so visiting him always felt like I had to walk through the mud. Even Marsh Nest never felt that suffocating to be in, and the smell in some of its areas makes me question if mud and forest dragonkin even have noses,” Neill spoke to me after the tournament.
Well, and by “me,” I meant Hikari since we kinda forgot to switch places when I congratulated Neill. Technically, this was also the first time since Neill met Hikari “in person.” They never spoke with each other before, after all. Not even through telepathy after the Elyonda siege. After all, although Hikari had fully accepted her place in our body back then, she didn’t accept the fact that she could “live,” again. To her, I was the star, and she was the shadow who had to keep herself backstage to support me.
Our time on Frozen Nest and our [Battle Frenzy] training helped to remind her that she deserved to be just as much of a star as I was. Mistakes happen, but letting the past weigh you down from moving on was unhealthy. Having her own existence as “Silver Dragon, Hikari” was probably the best outcome from that premature mana absorption. Kramps might call the process incomplete, but I thought it was still a plus since it allowed Hikari to emerge from the shadow of “Crimson Dragon, Hestia.”
Well, it sure didn’t help her attitude with Neill since that entire discussion was just plagued with awkward moments, since Hikari felt too shy to ease into the sister dynamic I had with Neill. Neill tried her best, but she did treat Hikari as her own person, which meant she couldn’t just be overly friendly since this was their first time talking to each other. Baby steps.
“Lady Hestia, it’s almost time!”
“Thank you, Kaishta!” I waved at an ice dragonewt—one of the backup dancers I had trained for today. Once she left my room, I calmed myself down. The excitement had to die out until I finished my first song.
Like always, idols have one try to capture the audience. Gotta do this right. There is no real positive bias towards my concerts just yet.
As mentioned, the entire concert would be performed on a floating platform situated in the middle of Coral Beard’s lagoon. I could move the entire thing with my mana if I wanted, but otherwise, it would levitate and keep me in view of the audience waiting at the harbor and in the sky city.
… The moment I read the chat, I see somebody advertising cabbages? Okay, enough of the internet for one moment. Let’s just get this show on the road! I take the stage!
The sound of my footprints felt loud and heavy as I walked on the wooden floor, drawing my attention to it. I could see the marks on them, or more specifically, the scars left behind on the resin-hardened wood through my long toe claws. My portable stage had undergone significant changes since Saori, Tasianna, Ellaine, and Grimnir helped me build it.
The truss had been completely exchanged for new ones once Grimnir had the time to exchange the steel ones for voldunna ore, so they could resist my flames better. I had added multiple backstage rooms ever since I invited Tasianna and Ellaine to perform with me, and now there were more, as I had hired a few backup dancers for today’s performance. And, well, due to my increased influence, I now had an entire wyvern bodyguard group ready to defend me. I was still borrowing a few knights, this time from my clan, to help out, but in the past, I had to rely on other families to help control the crowd.
All these little changes to my concert stage weren’t worth mentioning every time, but seeing those scars reminded me of how long I had performed on this platform. It was made after Aurora became five members, and I would use it here and there whenever I didn’t want to perform inside the Obsidian Orchestra hall. It was used for my street performances, and since it had to remain portable so I could keep it inside my [Storage Magic], it couldn’t be elevated to the same grandness as the Obsidian Orchestra.
Yet, it would be my main stage as I perform in front of the entirety of Kargryx. A companion I had taken for granted would be my foundation for today.
‘The chat is talking about it,’ Hikari reported as she kept her eyes on my party bracelet.
The moment I stepped onto the front stage, the countdown started. The curtains were still down, but with the stream’s chat becoming rowdy, flooding it with so many comments that it was difficult to even read one of them, my heart started to race.
Eltharion was right outside, awaiting my performance. Mom promised she would force him to watch.
“Don’t worry, the one who commissioned you will be there, no matter if he wants to or not. Focus on your singing and dancing. Make sure to stun the entirety of Kargryx, all right, dear?” I could feel Mom’s words repeating in my head. “Plus, Forminaxtrass and Virrflax have an investment in your success, so don’t worry. The three of us will make sure our husband will attend his little daughter’s moment to shine!”
Mom truly was my tied-to-first best mom.
If three of the empress-mothers believed in me, then shouldn’t I, as an idol, reciprocate this trust with something magnificent? I pushed Peolynca into the age of recording and streaming, skipping a bunch of steps, so why not fulfill my dream and bring the idol culture into Peolynca? And not just the “normal” stuff back on Earth, but one truly carved from my own legs, voice, and magic.
West Altrust knew my name, and I would have all Kargryx know mine as well! Not as Hestia, but as Hestia and Hikari, the dragon idols!
“… Open up the subspace, Gravy!”
And to a dragon idol, what mattered more than singing was the ability to display magic just like my siblings!
Two prepared [Room] rune pairs, placed outside my stage, activated, opening portals into my subspace where the sound of violins and a piano started to spread. Amplified by [Aerokinesis], the sound erupted around me as I could barely hear my own thoughts, but for the music to spread throughout Coral Beard and reach those in the middle of this buzzing festival, I needed to play music that was loud enough to even burst my eardrums.
Yet, the pain eventually subsided with the volume lowered, not ‘cause I reduced [Aerokinesis]’s power, but due to a faithful friend.
[“Lady Hestia, the [Air Shield] is up. Enjoy your solo,”] Tasianna said.
No matter the worry I had yesterday about Tasianna’s absence, it didn’t mean my favorite special effects manager would disappear. She was, as always, just as invested in my concerts and my career as I was! Whether she was my maid or just an ordinary retainer, it didn’t matter. This was Aurora’s project.
And… speaking of a member of the idol project: the parallel minds were gone now. This was my first actual performance outside of my music videos and streams, where I had to control the instruments without them. Sure, I had Hikari, but it did feel lonely having lost a group of companions I’ve been with since the very beginning. They were me. Losing a part of myself, especially in the manner they disappeared, did feel haunting even now.
Too many people have died already on my adventure. Whether a part of myself or my friends. What a wicked idol journey this has been.
“… Narksig. ?”
The sound within the barrier was just loud enough for me to hear my instruments, but anything that left the barrier would be amplified by my [Aerokinesis] to become city-wide, which included my voice.
“Narksig,” Draconic for “Silence.” It was a statement in a singing voice.
“Narksig, drahki. Skroah prish phra, nrahie. ?
Etrana-suul, skroah vis throchlish thriah-sah fen-sah. ?”
Draconic, once again. If I were to be an idol of dragons, I also had to start writing songs in Draconic, especially since throat singing was more popular on Miononbolax, since the guttural voice was similar to how true dragonkin perform courtship. My [Humanize (Minor)] sounded like a gecko or crocodile while singing, but that was also what the dragonkin sought for “cultured” singing.
I couldn’t do that, even if I had plenty of throat singers who could teach me. That wasn’t my style. I was trained in classical music, and my singing was influenced by modern Earth pop. Even if it went against what was normal, my Draconic would sound like a performance from an opera singer. Latin song-singing choirs were my secondary inspiration.
Those were the most similar techniques I could remember that would suit the convention. Not to mention, I already knew which songs Mom loved the most. Sharing the taste with Artorian nobles, opera singing where you emphasized important lyrics was my best choice to start this concert.
And since I had dragonkin around me, I also had a lyricist help me with the Draconic portion of the song. After all…
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“Silence, dragonkin. Rest your wings, oh I plead ?
Eternal soul, rest with my voice and song to dream and want.” ?
Singing everything in Draconic was still too much for me. I had to rely on my Common. It did help that the translation for the first portion was perfectly intact, so repeating the first stanza made the song sound like a proper plea, instead of an order.
“Forgive etrana-suullish, Peolynca.” ?
The first half of the song was pure singing. Nothing more. Though continuing as such would do me no favors.
“Dragonkin do enjoy humanoid singing techniques, but our culture hasn’t developed an immense value for it. You cannot find proper operas or music halls, like you can in the elven and human land,” I remembered Skardvro explaining to me when I asked him about Draconic music culture. “Bards and throat singers perform in the open air at the various plazas and districts, spreading their music to enrich the daily lives of the dragonewts, since we do enjoy singing.”
“Head and chest voice, I presume?” I responded, slightly in disbelief, at the time.
“I do not know the terms, but you can say so. Though since His Majesty did commission you, we cannot allow your concert to fail. You cannot impress the dragonkin with your style of music; either you perform like our throat singers, or you impress them with something else. Magic,” he stated firmly. “Arcane prowess had been a driving force of progression even before the Origin Gods, with our growth in magic blessed by the elementals, as you have already learned. The culture of power might seem alien and hostile to you, but its origin came from the expression of magic. Dragons with more mana could create wondrous spells and weave power others could only dream about. Mana influences the strength of our scales, and it also affects our ability to hunt and protect ourselves. Magic is everything to us.”
And magic was also the method I used to create all my special effects. As such, I raised my hand into the air.
The two subspace portals only showed the obsidian orchestra and the numerous golem musicians Gravy was controlling on my behalf. Nothing about them screamed “wondrous magic,” even if being a void-touched was something rare and special. I had to truly show the worth of my mana and scale control.
Ruby Star.
Solar energy flooded from my core as my red star burst into existence with a similar size as [Sun, Consume All]. The [The Light] milestone, “An improved solar core,” that I had received after the elemental god battle, was as vague as it could be. Testing was required, and it showed that aside from having become harder to damage, probably to accommodate the constant [Fire Ice Fusion Core] usage, the solar core limit had increased even further.
It was still vague since my solar energy wasn’t shown in a definite number, but through a percentage, so the best way to show the improvement was in how large I could make my ruby star. From a small orb that was barely as large as a small dwarf, I could allow it to grow into a night-banishing light.
The artificial sun was born right above my floating concert stage, pushing the encroaching darkness away to fill the sky with an almost hellish, infernal color. Coral Beard was enveloped in my crimson tint, as if the entire city was burning at this very moment.
“Narksig, drahki. Skroah prish phra, nrahie. ?
Etrana-suul, skroah vis throchlish thriah-sah fen-sah. ?”
As I continued singing, I could see various dragonkin, whether true, lesser, or humanoid, beginning to panic, probably believing I was activating my Territory. As beautiful as my ruby star was from afar, its color could be frightening to all but the fire dragonkin, who seemed to relish the sight of my sun like a pristine gemstone.
Sun, Consume All.
Which was why this wasn’t the only spell I would use for this performance. I had to “wow” everybody with magic, so why not add some stage magician tricks into the mix? Some optical illusions were on the menu!
White flames started forming on my arms before they wrapped around my red-scaled dress, creating flaming white wings before some of it shot upward, towards the artificial sun. They seeped into it, causing the crimson color to brighten, almost turning everything pink. As I reached the crescendo of my song, the sun turned completely white, bringing a glaring, bright white to the entire city as if the real sun had risen again to tell us to stay awake.
Yet, the color quickly turned back into the hellish crimson, switching between the two colors every other second. Some might say that I was actively changing the color of the sun, but the trick was in the fact that there were two suns mixed together. [Ruby Star] and [Sun, Consume All] were constantly fighting each other to shine, and due to this conflict, the former’s plasma started to shoot out.
Using [Pyrokinesis], I started forming those bits of flames into aerial leviathans, like the Jormangra clan members, to start swarming the sky, while I set my entire floating concert ablaze with [White Flames].
I stomped the ground as my crescendo ended, with my voice almost becoming too shrill, and injected my mana into the floating island to weaken the rune that kept it afloat. As the island started to fall towards the water, my white flames burst from the back of the island, imitating how I flew with flames bursting from my scales.
With the floating island approaching the city, the flaming sky leviathans flew along me like an escort of wyverns.
[“Readying wind and ice control. Stay alert, Lady Hestia. Do not add too much propulsion!”] Tasianna warned me as snow started forming around my concert, forming something similar to an ice globe since Tasianna’s true ice wouldn’t melt so easily now that she was the Ice Elemental King.
I would fly the island, while Tasianna could guide me and ensure I wouldn’t crash into the city like a meteor. With her assistance, I would give Coral Beard a real idol show.
“Forgive etrana-suullish, Peolynca…” ?
The first song had ended with a murmur as the stagelights dimmed, casting a shadow on my stage. Silence came before it was blown away by the wild clapping, cheers, and whistling of the audience inside the city. I could see tails slamming on the ground and waggling around amongst the dragonkin, with many unable to control their excitement.
Though their enjoyment of the song was barely reflected by the number of fans I received. Then again, this was normal. The night was still so young, and I wasn’t done just yet.
Your time, Hikari! Shine!
I stomped the ground as [Fire Ice Fusion Core] activated, blasting the red-scaled dress I was wearing away, revealing a blue, silver, and black idol outfit underneath it. Instead of the usual dresses I would wear for my concerts, this outfit was a two-piece with a crop top and shorts. Aside from my black transparent sleeves and leggings, everything else was exposed.
To show my belly button was pretty risque, considering I preferred more modest idol outfits, but I had to celebrate my becoming, mentally, 18. Though, to most true dragonkin, showing some extra human skin wasn’t what was important. Ahem, after all, I learned from a pretty good teacher.
“If you truly wish to impress everybody, then it has to be dancing. And not belly dancing or the elegant ball stepping of the humanoid nobles, but something else is more attractive to most dragonkin,” Kaishta, my dancing trainer for this concert, explained. “Horns, scales, and, naturally, the tail. You need to swing your tail even more than usual, Your Highness.”
‘My time to shine!’ Hikari shouted as all our flames turned into ice and snow.
The ruby star, now sapphire, and [Sun, Consume All] still radiated their color due to my solar energy, but the latter was turned into a giant ice planet. The rocket boosters were now blizzard blasters, shooting snow to move the planet.
Hikari stomped the ground as the spotlights returned, shocking the majority of the audience into silence as Hikari debuted as the “silver dragon idol.” Whether they were surprised by our body’s change of color or due to my outfit, it didn’t matter as long as I had everybody’s eyes.
The orchestral music turned into a giant pop band with drums, guitars, harps, a piano, and a synthesizer. Drums started to bang as I stomped the ground, causing the back of my concert stage to collapse, as eight ice dragonewts and Tasianna jumped from the backstage onto the spotlight, all sharing the same idol outfit as I was wearing.
“Go ahead and shower me with all your scales, love ?”
An idol show couldn’t go without a song with a coordinated choreography! It was designed for five stars, specifically, buuuut, two weren’t on Miononbolax, and Vifi ran away screaming when she saw how cutesy the song was. Which was why Hikari and Tasianna were having a duet while Kaishta and her dancers helped us by dancing with us.
“Oh no, oh no, there are so many-many ?
Too many are here to seek my poor tail-tail-tail-tail ?
Oh no, oh no, there are so many-many ?
Oh no!
So better take a step back, before I break your face! Love! ?”
Not only song and music, but also the dance was filled to the brim with movements that were so feminine that they stripped any sense of fear from Hikari. My body was forming heart signs, lifting my leg backwards, and standing pigeon-toed when I had to stand still. My voice threw away the grace I had when I performed [Forgive Mine Eternal Soul] and replaced it with explosive, cutesy energy that could kill people with a sugar shock.
“Even if, ?
I were to seek love, I would still want to spread my wings to fly (Yay yay ya) ?
So don’t think to hold me down, otherwise I’ll run after beating you up! ?”
Though even if it was cute, the lyrics had a very draconic undertone considering how our courtship rituals worked. Still, despite those violent tendencies, this was a love song at the end of the day, though maybe only for dragonkin. As such, the choreography had to include tail movements, and a lot of them. In fact, my tail was moving around so much, you would think it was a wiggling worm.
Yes, maybe this song was a bit too much since I was performing in front of my parents and siblings, but nothing could show idol culture better than a typical lovey-dovey song like this one. It was cheery and so infectious with its mood that I could see people starting to dance and sing along, even if they were barely able to keep up with everything. Embarrassing as it might be, these songs were meant to bring a fat grin on your face.
Stress? Sadness? Anxiety? An idol song was supposed to throw them away, giving you a momentary relief from the dark moments of your life.
This was just another aspect of music. From the solemn mood of my first song to the mood-cleanser of my second one, sound was meant to shift a person’s emotions. No matter what your taste in music was, this was an indisputable fact!
And, hopefully, everybody would understand this.
“Wooo! That’s my sister! Swing that tail all you want! Provoke some idiots, and I’ll beat them up for you! Heeeestiaaaaa! Hiiiikariiiii!”
Mingling inside the city in their dragonewt forms, the imperial members were all enjoying the show with the other elvenized, dwarvenized, beastialized, and humanized true dragonkin. Reactions varied amongst them, with some liking the show up until Hestia switched with Hikari for their second song. The cheery music felt grating to the majority of the elder scales.
Yet, it was a bit different for those who were a bit open-minded to the idol songs, for example, for somebody who was already a fan of Hestia.
“Come on, you little skink!” Fargryneill’s voice was, undoubtedly, the loudest amongst the dragonkin, and only because Melloxtressa couldn’t express all her emotions due to the scrutiny of the other empresses.
“Go, do it, Hikari! You’re beautiful!” Yet, her excitement was clear to see by everybody. And with her joy came the wild support from the citizens of Frozen Nest who had gotten used to Hestia’s and Hikari’s singing from her rare streams. “Ah, but remind me later to talk with Kaishta! You’re still a whelpling, how dare she teach you those moves! But keep going!”
In contrast to the sixth empress, the other five dragon empresses looked down at their sweet youngest stepdaughter, groaning and wishing they could avert their eyes from how embarrassing it was. Yet, all of them could see the amount of fun she was having, not to mention that all five were interested in Hikari. Even if they knew Hestia and Hikari were the same people due to their twin souls, seeing an ice dragonkin that had the scent of their battle-sister and husband made the empresses quite curious.
Not only that, but it also agitated their motherly instincts as they could not help but notice the lustful gazes the fledglings and whelplings in the audience were showing Hikari. Yet, they didn’t have to do it themselves. Three overprotective siblings could do it for them, and none of the younger dragonkin could avoid the hostile glares of Kahalameet, Phsothophus, and Wendriosa.
Do not approach our sister! The three shared the same thoughts.
Yet, it wasn’t just the empresses and the siblings who had a rather emotional response to Hikari’s, in dragon terms, rique dance choreography. Dragon of the heavens and the draconic ruler of the mortal realm both glared at Hestia. For the first time since they had last met eye-to-eye, son and father shared one thought.
Somebody has to teach this girl not to swing her tail that much!
Rawr
Rawr2
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