“… You’re too sink or swim, Vifi,” Tasianna complained, prompting a chuckle next to me.
Looking to the side, I saw my clan’s dragoon commander holding back a laugh. The other dragoons were either sparring with each other inside our mansion’s training field, or were watching the spar between Tasianna and Vifi. They were clapping to show their respect, without getting too raucous, like what you would expect inside an adventurer guild.
“Oh, do I hear the sound of complaining?” Vifi scowled. “Fargryneill and Hestia never bothered saying anything when I sparred with them. No matter how hard I went. You want to learn how to wield a blade from the Voltaic Red, then you’d better put in the bells just like all of them. Or, join the idiots over there.”
“Even if you are a retainer under our princess, I suggest you not try our patience, Vifi,” Estranor growled, causing Vifi to smirk. “You want to fight?”
“Better you than this downer over here, so get on the field, you lizard!” she replied to the thunderous cheers of the dragoon.
Tasianna let out a small sigh before Vifi gave her a pat on the back, and then the former walked over to the audience to replace Estranor.
“It’s tiring…” Tasianna said, causing me to giggle as I could see how exhausted she was after sparring for a whole hour.
“This is your first time diligently working on your strength, vitality, and stamina. Muscle memory matters a lot when you’re straining yourself, and outside of your freestyling when you use your levitating swords, you’ve never attempted proper form, and so on. Vifi is probably the wrong trainer for a beginner, but she’s the best swordswoman we have available,” I said, unintentionally causing my dragoons to groan in shame. “… W-well, at least when you want to learn how to wield a polearm, we have a bunch of experts here.”
“No, I’d rather stick with one weapon like you, my lady. The wrath demonkin’s proficiency over multiple weapons is not my ideal,” Tasianna said, causing the dragoons to sigh now. Ignoring them, Tasianna pulled out her catalyst and molded an ice rapier around it. “Goddess Zephira blessed this catalyst, and now I own a blessing from her. It feels odd.”
“You deserve it,” I answered, leading Tasianna to nod.
“I know. As the Ice Elemental King of this generation, I am strong enough to be a Champion for a Goddess. Though that doesn’t mean I am worthy to be one of her spokespeople. The Wind Mother is the patron of all fae, so it feels like a weight has been placed on my shoulder, compared to how I was a simple maidservant.”
My lips curved up into a smile. “Hiehie, you know how I feel now. However, you might be worrying a bit more than you think. Remember Grimnir’s and Saori’s acceptance of their blessing? Both of them went right back to their usual routines, right? Just like I did. The stress you are thinking about is the fact that this is the first time you’re carving your own path, Tasianna. As a Champion of Zephira and the [Chronicler of Fae Tales], you now have your own goals outside of simply being an adventurer of Aurora.”
“Your goals are still my goals.”
“What of it? Saori, Grimni, Ellaine, and Vifi would share your opinion, yet all of them have been doing their own stuff. I mean, look at Vifi.” I pointed at the training field where a heated polearm battle between Vifi and Estranor was happening, with neither side looking like they had the advantage. “She already made the threat that if our goals didn’t align, she would leave us. Yet, as long as I kept Aurora on the correct path, she would lend me her arms. You aren’t any different, and as long as all six of us follow that same goal, Aurora would continue to exist as a party.”
“Because even our party has to end one day, yes?”
“I don’t like the idea of it, but that is the case… After all, I am a princess now. In body and mind. I have to put the empire over other things, but that doesn’t mean I won’t wander around and sing to people. When it’s time for me to leave on my adulthood pilgrimage, I’ll make sure I fulfill that dream then and there. Heh, good thing it doesn’t have a time limit,” I said.
It felt weird to say it, but the lifestyle of a vagabond wasn’t part of my future at this point. Back when I started out as an adventurer, being a dragon princess trapped on an island continent felt like the ultimate torture for me as an idol. However, the responsibilities and duties of my Peolyncian family had caught up to me.
… Not to mention, once I spread the PWW around the world, I wouldn’t even have to travel around all that much. Some online concerts, and I could plan a world tour every other year or something. Funny how becoming a princess and using that authority to establish my own enterprise would allow my idol dream to flourish even more.
‘Sieg has brainwashed us, huh?’ Hikari joked, but I couldn’t disagree. Being a bureaucrat while Sieg kept lecturing me on how to be a proper imperial member probably influenced me.
My imperial education was getting drilled into my head whether I liked it or not.
“Until then, the burden will only grow…” Tasianna sighed before she established a telepathic link with me. “In any case, you have waited a while, my lady. Allow me to elucidate to you.”
From level 123 when we started the glacier expedition, to level 151 at the end of it all. Yet, if you thought about it, she killed two former demigods while her party bracelet was destroyed from prolonged exposure inside the elemental’s slime body. Surely, she should have leveled up even further, surpassing Vifi, at least, right?
Well, the answer was pretty simple, even if we still hadn’t been able to appraise the elemental’s level at the end of the day.
Essentially, although the Water and Wind Elemental Emperors were masters of water and wind, their levels were far lower than they should have been if they were still in their prime. Since experience was determined by the rank and level of the being killed, not the quality of their Profile and mastery of their skills, it meant Tasianna couldn’t actually become super OP like an actual demigod.
Still, level 151 was an insane jump in stats and skill points. At the same time, her absorption of all that true ice mana also made Mom correct in how fairies could transform with the help of mana. It wasn’t much compared to a monster evolution, but you could see signs of the old style of evolution through her new race.
The change wasn’t really radical. She was still the same Tasianna as always, although her [Fire Resistance] did take a big hit, to the point she was vulnerable to any fire attacks. Then again, as somebody with true ice mana, non-inferno-type attacks really weren’t the biggest threat.
Although even with her level and racial change, I believed that what really determined one’s strength was the quality of their profile. Although it was good to look at, what I was more interested in were her blessing from Zephira and her two new unique skills.
Her two unique skills did not mention true ice. Still, with Tasianna now generating true ice mana, as I could naturally generate holy and fire mana, any ice spell or Ability Tasianna used would produce unmelting ice. Everything about this three-way combo of skills was related to Tasianna’s new goal as a chronicler of stories and as the new Ice Elemental King.
Due to all the accumulated levels, she also managed to evolve her unique Job, though, just like last time, it didn’t give her a unique skill from it. Vifi, admittedly, she wanted to throw away her entire book of notes on unique Jobs at this point, but due to how case-by-case unique Jobs functioned, having a book that recorded all the information on them wasn’t the worst thing to maintain.
Regardless of her unique Job not giving her anything as big as her semi “demigod” status, her new skills and true ice mana weren’t the only additions to Tasianna’s kit of tools. As if she had decided to fully accept the fact she wasn’t a maid any longer, Tasianna wasn’t wearing her usual maid dress any longer. Instead, her outfit was a combination of casual clothing layered over her newly improved [Glacial Witch’s Wardress].
Tasianna really looked like an ice princess with how long and frilly her wardress was, far more than I could pull off in my current form. She was really only missing a giant mage’s hat to play into her “witch status” with how stereotypical her enchantment sounded. I mean, the fact that one of the enchantments was an alchemy-related one sounded so out of place when its restricted version was purely combat-related.
I liked it, though. Even with Tasianna’s new goal, it wasn’t like she had forgotten about her alchemical craft. She had been using her time traveling to the glaciers with the elementals to also rebrew all the potions and elixirs we had used up during our expedition. Furthermore, the enchantment’s description of “altering the effects of a normal recipe” wasn’t just filler text.
“It looks like candy, right?” Tasianna said as she handed me a cool red bonbon.
Mana Eyes.
I threw the piece of candy into my mouth, nodding my head as I could taste the sweet fragassa on my tongue. Though at the same time, the moment my saliva wrapped around it, the candy quickly started to melt, moistening my throat to the point I could swallow it without an issue like a medicine pill.
“Easy, no?” Tasianna asked, prompting me to nod. “The issue with liquid potions is that you have to drink them to gain any effects. These potion tablets are easy to swallow and, unlike potions, you can consume multiple ones at once to gain their effects all at once. If you wish to ingest six stat-increasing potions, you have to drink each one separately. The tablets allow you to obtain all buffs with a single swallow.”
“Nice! That means—” However, Tasianna interrupted me immediately.
“On the other hand, you can control how much you wish to drink from a potion. The effects will last less, but you may portion your intake to ensure you have some portion left for later. These tablets, though, are difficult to crunch.” Tasianna gave me another pill, asking me to crunch on it, so I did, easily breaking it into pieces. “How is the hardiness?”
“… A normal human cannot break this,” I replied, knowing how strong my bite force was. I could crunch through rocks and eat them without an issue in my silver dragon form, but that also meant I knew how to feel the resistance of anything I bit, and this tablet was as hard as a metal pebble.
The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.
“Correct, yes. The tablets are made from concentrated alchemical liquids, which is why the tablet is as large as the tip of your finger. They work just as well as a normal moderate potion with the same ingredients, but biting only a portion and saving the rest is not feasible. You cannot ration them, and since I am the only one who can make them, and they require the same amount of time to finish, supply might be hard,” she explained. “Furthermore, since I must ingest the process with ice mana, this means any potion that requires a specific type of mana outside of ice mana cannot be made with this process. It is rather restrictive, but the pills might expedite field-ingestion.”
“Ha, the alchemist guild will probably love to analyse this creation of yours.” I smiled. “Still, I’m glad you received an impressive amount of improvements, Tasianna.”
“Mhmm. That is true. Thoug, I do wish to train more, I have to start studying how to write properly. I’ve asked Skardvro if he could recommend me to an able novelist.” Tasianna then started to write in the air, drawing words with her mana that read, “The Wind Mother has given me her blessing.”
Well, naturally, considering the names of her blessing and skills, but it still surprised me a bit with how Tasianna was given the okay for her goal. I looked up, connecting with Aurena once again.
You’re all okay with this?
Yeah, I know, but it wasn’t like it didn’t benefit you that the Peolyncians sent that part of their history into the ‘nether.’
So, all of it was true?
So it was you… I don’t know if I should take it as your way to protect me, or if you’re merely keeping me safe since I am of use to you.
Eh, well, I guess. Well, to answer your question: our deal is our deal. As long as you hold up on the end of your bargain, I don’t see how getting angry at you for what you did to the elemental emperors would help me. It certainly didn’t put you in a good light in my book; really reminded me why people calling you ‘invaders’ aren’t false. What you did to them doesn’t sit well with me, and I will keep that in mind.
<… I believe that sounds quite fair. I would like our relationship not to be so strained, but it doesn’t sound like you are too antagonistic.>
Right? I’m not about to topple everything you built up after learning about what really happened during your descent. I still think rebuilding your church and stopping the war between the humans and demonkin is good for this world. I want to remedy the human-demonkin relationship, and since you’ve given me the go-ahead for it, I don’t see a need to sever and worsen our relationship.
Hah! Comparing me to my relative to soften me up? Ha, cheapest trick in the book! … But, yeah, let’s just keep the status quo for now. If you’re not against Tasianna’s wish, then I won’t go against you. Simple. You knew me well enough to have thought of that.
And with that, my discussion with Aurena ended. When I told Tasianna about it, it prompted her to giggle a bit, but I could hear some tension in her voice. She was probably worried that I was making an enemy with the gods, but I didn’t believe it was such a bad talk. Sure, I told Aurena my weariness, but our relationship was never built upon faith.
It was business. I would do what she wanted from me as her Champion, and she would allow me to visit my parents on Earth one last time. As long as both of us remembered this deal, neither of us could see the other as an enemy.
As I was explaining this thought process to Tasianna, the ground suddenly shook.
Both of us snapped back to the spar as the dragoons cheered to a dust explosion, caused by Estranor crashing into the ground with a [Dragoon Dive]. Ice shot from the epicenter, creating a crater filled with silver powder.
Before he could continue his attack, he had to dodge to the side as a barrage of red lightning bolts was shot from the side, almost turning him into cheese. Vifi was slowly moving into the dust cloud, adjusting the aim of her crossbow as the agile dragoon kept dashing around and flying into the sky.
Vifi continued shooting, but either her shots were missing from Estranor dodging around, or he was casting an ice spell to block the projectiles. The defensive position Estranor took eventually allowed him an opportunity to push closer to Vifi, forcing the latter to clash steel with the silver dragonewt.
However, instead of a proper block, the shorter combatant parried the heavy polearm to the side, creating an opening for her rapier to almost chink Estranor’s armor. In close range, the able duelist had a clear advantage as she was using her smaller frame and shorter-ranged weapon to offset any advantage Estranor’s larger physique, weapon, and armor could provide him.
Honestly, it was flabbergasting how different her current battle style was performing. Unlike her usual “Voltaic Red” battle style, where Vifi preferred unreactable attacks and explosive destruction, her “Yok Style Fencing” was graceful to the point it seemed like Vifi was a weightless doll moved by the flow of the wind. It was like art. Every action she performed felt like the trained moves of a professional violinist ad-libbing a performance. Each stroke was pre-planned with a precise intention, and in Vifi’s case, each movement was made to cause Estranor to almost lose his footing, eventually.
“Talliho!” Empowered by her manamagnetism, her arm shot forth with the speed of lightning, piercing right through Estranor’s pauldron before Vifi sliced it right open like a tin can. The dragonewt retreated, causing the demonkin to laugh. “Another day, another visit to the blacksmith. You really should stop wearing those overgrown pauldrons, Estranor.”
“The fact that it saved me from a visit to the alchemist makes it worth the investment,” he said before taking off the damaged armor piece, showing Vifi that she barely was able to pierce through it. “Stopped the attack before it even touched my arm armor. No matter how precise you are, a skill opponent won’t allow you to strike in the same spot twice.”
“Oooh, you dare say that when you face the ‘Voltaic Red?’ I am the daughter of one of the best duelists in my country, and you presume his apprentice wouldn’t be able to perform something as simple as that? My blood belongs to a mere pauper, unlike yours, dragonspawn. However, these skills honed through years of hardship will feast on those who challenge me with confidence unearned through trials.”
“Mere words spat out by a youngling who knows only the well she was born inside. Raise your horns to the skies, young one. For no clouds will be in your reach when dragons still exist. You may roam the land since the drakes do not lust for the mere pittance of an ant, but know that the sky does not forgive transgressions against its sovereignty!” Estranor started walking up into the sky. “Beneath me lies a child who still has a long way ahead.”
“Then I will pry down these walls surrounding my ‘ignorance,’ indomitable dragonspawn. Know that clouds express their wrath through lightning!” Vifi said before she engaged Estranor in a battle in the sky with her lightning rush.
This is a spar, you two idiots. Stop saying all these poetic taunts to make you guys seem cooler.
While the dragoons cheered as if they were witnessing a gladiatorial fight, I could only groan as those two would demolish the training field again. Skardvro’s headache as the mansion’s seneschal would never end, and this wasn’t even including the other stuff he had to deal with as the clan’s senator representative.
After all, I was Mom’s representative. Not the clan’s. Why was there such a distinction? Well, it was ‘cause I still had no idea how the Nordor clan on Altrust functioned. I only knew the one on Frozen Nest, and as the clan representative, Skardvro simply knew better than I did in this field since he was born on the Loatryx colony on Altrust.
Poor guy was juggling the management of an entire mansion and his job as a senator. Crazy work, but I was grateful that he was putting in so much effort. I guess losing some limbs during the Event Quest was worth it for this massive promotion. Although I did regrow them for him.
“Hiehie, my lady, maybe we should move away from this high-energy battle. I think we have more controlled sparring to watch in another corner,” Tasianna said as she drew my attention to outside the mansion, where I could see ice and fire wyverns sparring in the sky.
Due to the size of a mansion’s training field being more suited for dragonewts, if a wyvern or true dragonkin wished to spar, it had to be done outside the city in the many training fields built around our farms and ranches. They were already used for guards stationed to protect our farmers from threats, so having clan members spar and duel there wasn’t an exact problem. In fact, having dragons or drakes spar was like entertainment for people, similar to how the dragoons were breaking their stoic masks as they watched Vifi and Estranor completely obliterate our property.
Jumping onto the top of our walls, Tasianna and I settled down as we watched Shay, Beth, Rego, and my other fire wyverns coordinate an attack against the wyverns of the Bleezark clan, a major clan working directly under Clan Thalaxarus. They were sparring, naturally, but I could see from here that they were taking it quite seriously. They weren’t holding back with their flame breaths, and they struck at each other as if they were in a real battle.
If you didn’t know what was going on, you could easily misunderstand this as a dispute between the recent fire dragonkin refugees, but this was a normal sight at this point. A day after we returned from the elemental emperor battle, Shay and Rego requested that I schedule a meeting with our clan’s wyvern corps for a chance to spar.
This was a personal request from my two wyvern retainers, and it was clear both were intending to make peace with each other despite their animosity. Furthermore, considering my fire wyverns and those from clan Kleodrastia were still treated like outsiders, similar to Kleodrastia’s dragon, just without the respect of a true dragonkin, this should allow the Nordor wyverns to get to know the fire wyverns better, as Vifi and Estranor did.
The request was easy to schedule, of course, and the result of their sparring drew the attention of the wyvern corps of the other clans. Nowadays, I didn’t really have to do anything, since Shay and Rego could simply visit the sparring fields with my retainers, and they could duke it out with others.
Personal bias aside, the elemental emperor battle reminded everybody, especially the dragoons and wyverns, that training was necessary. The paranoia of our broken barrier might overstress everybody at the town hall, but it was different for our soldiers. It was a source of motivation for them to continue their training with even more gusto. Whether it was through leveling or honing one’s skills by fighting skilled opponents.
And where else could an ice wyvern learn how to fight against a fire wyvern? With either Clan Kleodrastia or with me. It was a win-win situation, and I hoped the wyverns could get along with each other after everything. Due to the one year Shay and Beth stayed on Frozen Nest, they also knew the various wyvern commanders, even if it was only by name, since those two hadn’t mingled with other wyverns outside of the clan until now.
“My lady!”
With my attention broken, I turned back to the mansion’s sparring field to see a dragoon waving at me.
“Instead of waiting all the time, wouldn’t it be better to use this time to loosen up your limbs? Remaining inside the town hall for over two weeks will rust your skills. We cannot have our young princess turn into another a ‘dull claw,’ right?” she said.
“Dull claw” or “Claw duller” was the colloquial term dragonkin used to call white-collar workers. Since it was difficult to work inside an office with sharp claws, scales, and bone spikes, most dragonkin preferred dulling them to prevent any accidents, especially ripping through important documents.
Sieg, Lissa, me, and so many others had no choice but to do it, since trying to write with long, sharp claws was a recipe for disaster. Fortunately, after a molting session, our scales would return to their original splendor, and a file could fix our dull claws whenever.
Which was why the dragoon’s request was so enticing. I needed a workout, and this was just the opportunity to do so while also giving Hikari a chance to train.
‘Hold on, me?’
Of course! You think I would let you slack around now that you can fully take over our body and transform it? Ha, that embarrassing display against that mandragonga didn’t spur you into action? Well, then I would! Hikari, switch!
[Fire Ice Fusion Core] activated as I jumped off the wall and agreed with the dragoon with a wide smile, causing my scales to change to silver, earning me a massive surprise moan from the dragoons. As if my personality had just made a massive switch, my wide smile turned into a nervous frown, making me look like a dork as my agape mouth was shivering. Well, that was ‘cause I did change personality, haha!
“Princess Hikari!” the dragoon shouted as she bowed, prompting multiple other dragoons to do the same in jubilation. “Let us start our—”
“No, allow me, Your Grace!”
“Please, reject them! I am the best polearm wielder next to Commaner Estranor, so this honor must be mine.”
“Hestia!” Hikari cried out under her breath, staring daggers inside our mental world, but I ignored it all. I was rejecting her request to switch places, enjoying her fumbling around before she reluctantly agreed to some training.
Aaaand, the dragoons made sure not to go easy on her, since Hikari was still only moving on my experience with melee combat. She had to go her own way as her body wasn’t similar to mine at this point. Mom said it best: I was the fire dragon, while she was a silver dragon with ice abilities. She had to branch away from me, while I had to learn how to act as her “parallel mind.” She had to get used to fighting in a silver dragon’s body, while I had to learn how ice magic worked.
[Ruby Star] was the biggest improvement on my fire dragon side, but [Fire Ice Fusion Core] was a body-changing alteration that Hikari and I had to master. It didn’t matter if Hikari was nervous about all the physical training awaiting her. She had to learn how to do it for our goals.
… Aaaaaand, that was exactly what I spent most of my days on during my extended break. Physical training, both combat and idol, refreshed my body more than any trips to the breach could do. My blood was pumping so fast, feeding the inspiration brewing inside my brain. From mental exhaustion to physical, yet it acted like a grand muse for the musician inside!
Ahhh, woe to me, though. Mom’s birthday was still two months away. So much waiting, and I couldn’t continue hastening my days with physical training since I had to return to being a “claw duller.”
Once the weekend was up, it was back to the town hall for two more days of work. Why exactly two? Well, some very important news had arrived.
“Neill is coming?” I shot from my seat as Sieg reported.
“Correct, the second princess is finally returning from her adulthood pilgrimage,” he continued. “The return of any imperial child is usually worthy of a massive festival hosted by the imperial palace. Naturally, since the empresses wouldn’t be frugal when it comes to greeting their child, and even Empress Gaistrus wouldn’t be able to refuse any extravagant expenditure. Heh, I still remember how Prince Phsothophus’s return festival was deemed the most ‘wasteful’ spending in the empire’s history… until it came the time for Prince Ryranakus. Her Majesty had always worried about her meeker son.”
Yeeeah, I can imagine that. Even if Gaistrus is entrusted with the treasury, a dragon mother’s instincts are too strong to push away with reason alone.
“Outside of this splendid news, she is accompanied by others, Your Grace. Outside of her friend’s group, one of the humans riding on the same boat requested that you hear her name: Annaheil von Zahbak.”
‘The cardinal vicar’s niece,’ Hikari instantly noted to inform me.
“She’s here to see the progress for the cure for ‘Raffarson’s Debilitation,’” I replied. “As such, would it be possible for me to request some time off, Sieg?”
“In fact, you do not need to request anything, Your Grace,” he answered, causing me to tilt my head as he turned the page. “Ahem… ‘The Imperial Bureau of the Kargryxian Empire would like to request the attendance of Third Dragon Princess, Hestia Atsuko Kargryxmor, for the return of Second Dragon Princess, Fargryneill Qilinus Kargryxmor. In addition, upon the request of His Majesty, the Dragon Emperor, Eltharion,—’”
Father?
“‘—Frozen Nest is ordered to prepare a ‘streaming event’—as named by Sixth Dragon Empress, Melloxtressa—for Princess Hestia’s ‘idol concert.’ The return festival will last for seven days, instead of the usual five, to commemorate not only Princess Fargryneill’s return, but also to serve as a birthday celebration for Princess Hestia.’ That is the letter, Your Grace.”
“… My stinking father wants me to perform at my own birthday party?”
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