Multiple proficiency requirements fulfilled. [Singing Lv. 5] [Dancing Lv. 3] [Identity Blocker Lv. 2] [Noble Aura Lv. 2] [Enhanced Auditory Sense Lv. 2] [Night Vision Lv. 8] gained

“Come, follow my voice ♫

The dark, scares you, too. ♫

I’ll be your guide ♫

Oh, I won’t leave you alone. ♫

.

Come, sing with me ♫

Collide our voices ♫

To break through this silence, ♫

Till morning arrives. ♫”

.

Sparkle, sparkle. Attract them all. Little bit more light there, a few fire sparks. Don't overdo it with the [Spark Flame Veil].

Keep up the volume. Sing clear and with power!

.

“Autumn’s breeze and the falling leaves ♫

Signals, winter’s come ♫

I see red, I see yellow ♫

The last colors of the year. ♫

.

Stockpile your food, eat your fill ♫

There is no time to rest, now. ♫

For these last sun rays of the year ♫

Might be your last. ♫

.

The approaching storm ♫

Transforms our world into white and black ♫

The falling snow ♫

Will not shy, to bury us in it. ♫”

.

Over a week has passed since we began operation “Make Saori an Assassin”. Once she evolved and recovered, I explained to her that my plan, to turn her into the best assassin ever, involves me being bait to lure in monsters, while she tries to find and kill them.

Which caused her to ask, “Why would anybody believe approaching you is a sensible idea?”, a question I would’ve personally rephrased before saying it aloud ‘cause that actually hurts a bit.

Anyways, I am aware that my dragon form is a rather intimidating sight, so smart monsters would usually flee instead of trying their luck with me, a problem that can be easily fixed with [Humanize] and [Noble Aura].

Noble Aura: The charismatic presence of a person made into a skill. The user of this skill can activate a charismatic aura, that charms anybody in sight

I can turn myself into my cute, innocent-looking dragonewt form and activate [Noble Aura] to look more, uhh, appetizing?

Naturally, this would mean I will be severely weakened due to my stats being halved, but that is not an issue with my defensive spells and skills.

Mana and Intelligence are my forte. I don’t believe a common monster would be able to beat me in that.

The idea is activating all my defensive buffing spells, including [Draconic Barrier] and [Sanctuary] with more mana than it normally would require. The last spell is critical to this plan.

Find an area with a ton of trees, cast the buff spells I need, activate [Draconic Barrier], and then create a platform with [Terra Wall]. The result of this is a performance stage with a dome to protect me. Put on some music with [Aerokinesis] and the show can begin~

"So, you weren't excited about helping me but instead, were more excited about the prospect of having an impromptu Idol concert for monsters?", was what Saori commented after I finished my explanation.

I had to respond, “How rude! This idea came to me when I organized my plan to help you, Saori.”

Hmph, anyway, so after having Saori learn [Stealth], [Silent Casting] and [Presence Killer], we executed the operation.

I sang as best as I could to make this plan succeed on my end. I was a bit nervous about actually doing this, but I figured this isn't anything like a real concert. It was only a performance before monsters. Compared to humans, they are neither the audience I want to cater to nor do they really know if I was good or not, in the first place.

Despite constructing a believable concert stage, I knew that this was more or less the same old training I always did since I started out as a trainee. I knew that but it was hard to actually start performing.

My legs shivered, my hands were sweating, and I was even having trouble getting my voice to work properly. It would have been even more disastrous, were my parallel minds not the ones in charge of using [Aerokinesis] to reproduce the music.

Saori was nervous, but I was having a mental breakdown over here…on a fake concert stage. It’s embarrassing to think back on that…

I eventually did it, but I only sang. I wouldn't say I'm bad with dancing, but I'm also not confident in it. Not a bit…

Inevitably, this meant that my performance resembled a western concert more than the eastern, South Korean, ones.

I sang Western pop and rock songs, in addition to a few anime ones. I chose them ‘cause the powerful lyrics and music were what I needed to keep myself in the game.

Well, enough about that. The operation started out a bit shaky with Saori not being able to kill monsters fast enough. It even got to the point where I was nearly overrun from monsters, forcing me to stop singing to use a [Draconic Roar] to scare them off. It made me self-conscious of how harmless my humanized form looks, to a monster.

However, with a few more tries, Saori seemed to have gotten the hang of it. Not only her skills but her own abilities were improving rapidly from all of this.

She stopped being sulky, but that also meant that she reverted back to her “normal” self. She’s motivated so whatever. I was just glad that she’s feeling better.

.

“Don’t fear the cold ♫

My flames burn bright ♫

Seek, now, my voice ♫

As if, I’ll let you freeze! ♫

.

Stay close to me ♫

Listen to my voice ♫

To fight against the cold, ♫

Till morning arrives. ♫”

.

Unfortunately, this led to a tiny problem.

“Let’s call it a day, Saori. Phew, I’m tired.” I don’t sweat much, due to my own high initial body temperature, but I still did the “wipe sweat from forehead” gesture.

[“Thank you for your hard work, Hestia. Your voice was angelic as always.”]

“Flattery doesn’t faze me.” I said without being able to hold back a smile. “I guess you leveled up, again, Saori? The number of monsters today was pretty high. How is your SP?”

[“Yes, most of the monsters were only F and E rank today, but it was enough for one level. I currently have 2450 SP. Now that I have [Humanize], I was thinking of spending them all for a [Humanize Lv. 5] or [Humanize Lv. 6].”]

Besides upgrading skills and acquiring the “capacity” and “enforcement” skills, she also used her SP on getting [Humanize]…for 700 SP.

Now, I don’t want to seem like a control freak here; this is her skill set, after all. However, I can’t just allow her to upgrade that skill, wasting precious SP, even if she truly wishes to return to a human form!

…Also, to note, I’m not jealous that her [Humanized] cost 300 SP less than mine. Absolutely not!

“Wait, you can upgrade [Humanize] by just using it. There is no need to use SP for that.” I interjected.

[“I was just joking, Hestia. I have already planned to acquire [Space-Time Magic] or [Wind Magic] for the agility improvement spells, but I’m also on the fence to follow your example of fully upgrading the abnormal status resistance skills. I’ll just buy the base skill first.”]

“I see. Well, that is good to hear. Now…I have to ask…can I fight tomorrow?”

[“We have talked about this already. I will leave you all the C ranks, but I cannot have you endanger yourself needlessly with all the trash monsters that roam this forest. I shall dispatch them all, before you can even notice, Hestia. Nothing will hurt my precious, little princess on my watch!”]

Now here lies the problem. This whole week…I haven't fought nor killed a single monster!

I think Saori has finally gotten addicted to the taste of freshly acquired experience. I know this ‘cause I went through this phase myself, and, boy, was it a great time.

As much as I can relate to her, this is not a fun time for me. Even if I wanted to do something against it, I can’t! Using [Shadow Dash] and her superior detection skills, not only can she detect enemies earlier than me, but she can get to them in the time I need to register the information.

No matter how fast I can process information, it is worthless if I can’t get the information first.

Not only that, she seems to grow even more efficient the more time we spend with this plan, and it seems like even her usual nervous façade during fights, has done a complete flip. One moment she’s this sweet woman who can make some, mwah, fantastic consommés, but when it comes to fighting, she acts like a cold, focused and efficient killer and it’s intimidating!

This huge personality shift made me ponder if it was a mistake to turn her into this. She’s showing some scary amount of affinity for this kinda stuff.

“Saori, I’ve told you this already, but I need to have some kinda fight. Compared to you, I can’t survive without having a good fight, once in a while, due to my [Battle Frenzy] being a constant annoyance for me.”

[“Do not worry.”] She once again ignored my complaint. [“When that C rank monster appears, I will make sure that you can enjoy the battle to your heart's content."]

It still surprises me how garm’s can be so expressive, her emotions are clearly written on her face. “Don’t make that proud face! I want to fight too!”

[“Has [Battle Frenzy] appeared yet?”]

“N-Nein…but that’s not the point. I can feel the urge that drives me to look for a fight slowly rising. It’s unfair that you’re the only one that gets to fight!”

I’m not lying. The urge to fight and this aggressiveness, swirling inside me, on the verge to break out and explode in a lust for battle! The patience that was required when I was in that cave, so I wouldn’t attract the orc, was miraculous. It’s, honestly, nail-biting.

[“Now, now, there is no need for a tantrum… “] She began patting my head. Once she evolved into a [Young Darkness Garm], she became the size of a tiger, equaling my current humanize form’s height. [“…See? You calm done quite fast from just a few head pats. I wonder, do you like them?”]

My face felt hot, as I unconsciously agreed to Saori’s question. “…I’m a 15-year-old who is treated like some random kid.”

She chuckled sweetly. [“Pouting only makes you look cuter, Hestia.”]

Her continued teasing was unpleasant. I threw her paw off my head and shouted, “Cut it out!”, prompting her to apologize for going too far.

[“If it gets to that point, then I would like to have a spar with you.”] Saori stated.

“You do?” I was slightly flabbergasted at what she said. It came out of nowhere.

[“I am making you unfairly wait, so I must also take appropriate responsibility for it. I still feel a bit worried that I will not be able to perform well outside a surprise attack.”]

“Sure, that sounds interesting.” I immediately agreed with that reasoning. I also wanted to know how far Saori has progressed. “I’ll make sure to hold back with my fire attacks, he he.”

[“That would be very kind, thank you. Hmm, may I ask why you are still playing your music?”]

My [Aerokinesis] was still playing, acting as a stereo and background music. “Well, I thought it would be nice to have a bit of music, while we’re wandering. Music heals the soul, after all.”

[“I agree, but will that not attract unwanted guests?”] Saori said cautiously.

“That’s not my intention but I wouldn’t mind.” I mumbled that last bit, confidant, that she couldn't hear it.

[“I heard that.”] Well, maybe "overconfident" is the correct word. Saori’s hearing is cheat-like. [“Do not worry, Hestia. I will ensure that you…”]

“…Huh?” Noticing Saori’s movements stopping, I turned my head around. “Saori, why are you stopping? Is something…oooooh.”

[“It would seem like we cannot rest yet. Our unwanted guests are coming from the sky.”]

Oh, ho ho.

According to my [Detection Sensor], three targets are approaching us from the sky. Appearing before me, what I saw was not a bird nor a beetle but a giant reptile with wings. Scales completely cover it from the top of their heads to the ends of their tails, with two limbs shaped to the form of wings.

Identify.

Mountain Wyvern A wyvern that has adapted to living high up in the mountains. Wyverns are built slimmer compared to dragons, as most wyverns depend on their wingspan and stamina to help them fly. These wyverns have phenomenal amounts of stamina due to their need to hunt and travel through the sky for prolonged sessions. Compared to most wyverns, these monsters have no specialization towards elemental magic nor poison. Rank C

That’s mine!

Excitement overflowing through me, I transformed back into a dragon. “Kraahhh…”

A group of wild wyverns has appeared!

[Battle Frenzy (Minor)] inflicted on [Young Spark Inferno Dragon, Hestia Atsuko]

[“I presume you want to fight, Hestia?”] Saori nonchalantly asked, noticing that I’ve transformed back and changed the BGM to suit the situation.

Draconic Roar!

“Kraaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!”

[“I’ll take that as a yes.”] Saori said with exasperation.

[“Saori, hide away from sight and let me gain their attention. Strike when you think it’s right.”]

[“Hai, Hestia Oujo-sama!”] (Yes, Princess Hestia!)

Saori practically vanished from my sight with my command. Her [Shadow Dash] is getting smoother and smoother, with each [Chant Revocation] upgrade.

Now, with my wings being unusable, I won’t be able to confront them in the sky, giving them a very annoying aerial advantage.

I can’t just stand here and let them attack me, so I should first create some distance between us and figure a way to divide them.

I turned around and cast both [Haste] and [Swift Winds], accelerating myself, and began running. I could probably outrun them, but fleeing isn’t the goal here, as my [Battle Frenzy] is demanding me to enjoy this fight as much as I can.

Turning my head around, I confirmed that the wyverns were chasing me, which is a relief as I will interpret this as them trying to pick a fight with me.

Before I can do something, I should probably take them down from the sky and into the forest.

Petal Flames x6. Parallel minds keep shooting that spell up into the sky. Force them to fly lower!

The forest is dense and a perfect place to divide a team up into tiny pieces. It seems like these wyverns aren’t from here, so how about we welcome these intruders in the Belzac forest style?

Hie, hie.

Up in the sky, the wyverns are struggling with avoiding the multitude of flaming petal-shaped fireballs, but none of them have been hit yet.

Using [Inferno Blast] or [Blazing Twister] would be better, but it wouldn’t be too ideal to burn the forest down…again! Which means I need to resort to something else.

Wind Blast!

The spell [Wind Blast] shot a large, concentrated wind gust towards a target. The idea is not to hit them, but to disrupt the flow of wind around them, ruining their balance long enough so one of my more powerful spells can hit them.

“Krouuuhhhhh!”

Ok. Bless [Accuracy Correction]. A wyvern unexpectantly got hit by one of the shots, losing his momentum and started tumbling down, prompting its companions to come to its aid. Once the landing was prevented, they proceeded to continue flying closer to the ground, believing that I wouldn’t dare burn the trees.

Ha, what a bunch of fools. As if I wouldn’t sacrifice the forest to save my life…No trees were harmed with [Petal Flames].

I stopped the [Petal Flames] barrage and ordered my parallel minds to perform the next task.

I began casting [Terra Wall]. The plan is to construct walls to block their view from me, while simultaneously slowing their pursuit and widening the distance between each wyvern. These walls must be tall enough so that flying around them would be faster than over them.

Looking at the [Detection Sensor], my plan is working perfectly. A single wyvern is further ahead from the others and it’s closing into my location.

He he he he.

Proficiency requirement fulfilled. [Thought Acceleration Lv. 1] evolved into [Thought Acceleration Lv. 2]

[Aerokinesis] ready. Transform the air into a cone. Compress the air particles around it and also the two ends.

Air is a wonderful thing. It keeps me alive and it also allows sound to travel through it. Now, what would happen if I knew a way to amplify my voice?

Taking a deep breath, more than a normal human could ever possibly take in, I was ready for the attack, only needing to wait for the perfect timing.

Wait for it…now! Air megaphone boosted Draconic Roar!

“Kraaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!”

“Kri…krack…krieeeeeeeeeeeEEEEEEEEEEEEEHHHHHHHHH!”

With the sound of an exploding eardrum, leaves and branches broke off the trees in the angle of my attack, blowing away in a twister into the horizon. The power of this acoustic attack made me confident that the wyvern was stunned, giving me plenty of time to use [Spark Claws] to decapitate it.

Now, my roar amplified by my [Aerokinesis] megaphone probably busted its brain but waiting for it to die is not my style. I put the wyvern corpse inside my storage and checked on where the other wyverns are.

Experience has reached multiple breaking points. [Young Spark Inferno Dragon, Hestia Atsuko] has risen from [Level 8] to [Level 12] Attributes have increased due to level up Acquired 2150 skill points

““Krouuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuh!””

Loud roars of anger, enough to agitate me a bit. It seems the wyverns noticed that their friend just died. Well, that is my cue to start the next act.

[Humanize], transform back into a dragonewt. [Sneak] and [Presence Killer] on. Silent cast all buff spells.

[Humanized (Moderate)] inflicted on [Young Spark Inferno Dragon, Hestia Atsuko]

From reading their profiles, I can tell that these wyverns are C ranks that I can beat, like that grizzly bear or those chameleons.

The grizzly was nothing but muscles. The chameleons were well adapted to the forest and their strengths, teamwork, and poison, alleviated their inferior stats. However, it meant nothing in the face of overwhelming power.

These wyverns, on the other hand, are fast. Not faster than the garm leader, but they do possess the omnidirectional movement of flight.

Bashing my head against somebody using the same strategy as the two garms I fought, has shown me that it is futile and inefficient. Rather than winning through sheer status alone, I should probably use the many skills, abilities, and items I'm hiding under my sleeves to corner them and extinguish any chance for them to win.

That is what reflecting on those battles has led me to.

Slipping through the forest, I waited for the rampaging wyverns to arrive at my former location and took out one of my poison mixtures. I used [Aerokinesis] to form a sort of capsule to hold a dose of this concoction and readied a barrel made out of air, inserting the capsule in it.

Keeping all of this from dispersing requires multiple of my parallel minds to work simultaneously, leaving me very little room for any other actions. Not only that, but it feels weird to hold something that is only air. Telling my brain that my hands are actually holding something tangible makes all of this even more focus intensive.

Wind Blast. Minimize size by condensing the air with [Aerokinesis]. Maximize mana cost for push strength. Fire.

Multiple proficiency requirements fulfilled. [Stealth Lv. 9] [Accuracy Correction Lv. 6] [Probability Correction Lv. 2] [Enhanced Vision Lv. 5] [Presence Killer Lv. 7] gained

Tightly condensed using mana, the wind bullet filled with poison shot out of the air gun, leaving a jet stream in its path, and crashed into the eye of one of the wyverns.

“Krouuuh!”

This poison was made with paralyzation and Health damage in mind, hazardous enough to cause a moderate effect at the very least. This poisoned wyvern was now twitching uncontrollably on the ground, neither giving out cries of anguish nor roars of anger. The fluid seeped through the opening of his eye, necrotizing the once healthy-looking organ into a black, mushy ball of dead cells.

I was slightly taken aback when I saw it, my stomach turning at this horrendous sight. The concoction was a big success, but the results are honestly revolting enough that I’m considering restricting its usage.

I should start testing this stuff before using it!

Recovering from watching the results of my own concoction, I noticed that the other wyvern discerned my location and was flying towards me.

At the speed the wyvern was going, it gave me no time to reload and shoot another poison capsule. Magic was the best option now.

Can’t help it, Shine!

Dispersing the air rifle, I covered my eye and activated the spell [Shine] when the wyvern got close enough. However, at the same time, multiple black tendrils erupted from the shadows of the beast and captured it in their grasp.

Unfortunately, due to how [Shine] interacts with dark elemental spells, the tendrils evaporated at the mere touch of this holy light, freeing the wyvern and blinding it at the same time.

I quickly dodged out of the way of the flailing monster to cast [Earthen Shackles] to finally trap it.

[“That was terrible timing. I am sorry, Hestia.”] From my shadow, Saori appeared.

[“Oh, Saori. Yeah, we still need to work on our teamwork.”] The number of times where we fought together can be counted on one hand. Our synergy was currently not ideal.

Well, it wasn’t terrible enough to ruin this fight. With both wyverns unable to defend themselves, I turned back into a dragon to quickly ended their lives by chopping their heads off, relishing the feeling of leveling up.

Experience has reached multiple breaking points. [Young Spark Inferno Dragon, Hestia Atsuko] has risen from [Level 12] to [Level 16] Attributes have increased due to level up Acquired 2200 skill points Multiple proficiency requirements fulfilled. [Spark Fire Dragon Lv. 8] [Wind Magic Lv. 8] [Battle Mind Lv. 5] [Draconic Roar Lv. 2] [Draconic Claws Lv. 3] [Sundering Enhancement Lv. 3] [Leadership Lv. 2] [Enhanced Strength Enforcement Lv. 3] gained Skill requirement fulfilled. [Wind Magic Efficiency] gained Ability gained: [Spark Inferno Blast]

With the corpse cleaning also finished, I worked over to Saori to thank her again for her help.

[“The timing was the problem but otherwise, that was a good cast. Thanks.”] It was my honest evaluation.

[“Yes, we do need to fight together more often, Hestia. Anyways, may I ask how you are feeling, after that battle?”]

[“Revitalized and happy. It was a great fight and I was happy that I could finally use some of the poison I made, so…are you mad? Why are you mad?”]

A chill ran through my spine, my instincts warning me of an impending doom. I checked my skills, but none of them were responding.

[“Mad?”] Some…kinda aura was surrounding Saori, as she smiled at me in her garm form. [“I could not possibly feel angered at all when my adorable, little princess is enjoying her win. I feel fulfilled that you are satisfied, but I do admit that I am quite irritated that one of my ears is currently deaf.”]

Deaf? Is she mad about that? I can cure her ears with [Moderate Heal]. How did she become deaf…oh boy!

The roar. The freakishly loud roar!

Oh, nein…

[“OMG, I’m sorry! I forgot that you’re sensitive to sounds. I’m really sorry! I didn’t that on purpose”]

[“I accept your apology, Hestia, but I believe we cannot fight together like this when you are not willing to watch out for friendly fire. We are a party, and we must be able to cooperate well. I believe we need to talk, Hestia Atsuko-chan”]

H-Her face seems to be smiling but I can see the shadows over her eyes. What is this pressure; why am I sweating cold sweat and why are spectral horns growing behind her head?!

[“Uhh, help…?”]

…

After curing her deafness and listening to her lecture, I learned that she gained [Terror Aura Lv. 2] instantly.

*******************

While Hestia was enjoying an intensive scolding, a certain god was pondering the result of the fight he just spectated.

“Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!”

Kargryxmor, the God of Dragons, the one who plotted to escort Hestia to dragon territory for her own safety with the aid of these, now, deceased wyverns.

“No, no. This is inconceivable! Why did she slay all three of them?! Why did she even engage in combat with them, at all?!”

"My lord, I believe I may have an answer to your questions."

The one who spoke was one of the many "angels" that Kargryxmor personally chose to aid him in his task of fulfilling his duty. These "angels" are actually spirits of dragons, that have lived during the time Kagryxmor was still a mortal, who ascended with him to his divine realm.

“You may speak.” The god of dragons commanded.

“Yes, thank you. Considering that you have given this whelp a portion of your power, she must share your blood. You were legendary back then for your constant thirst for battle, so I believe this trait of yours has been inherited.”

“You do not mean she was under the effects of [Battle Frenzy] now would you?” Indignant at what he heard, Kargrymor’s mood worsened, prompting the angel to soothe him before he began speaking again.

“Unfortunately, that might have been the reason, my lord. She clearly challenged them to battle with her roar.”

“Impudent!” His anger returned for a second but quickly vanished, resuming calmness. “I seem to have made a mistake by sending young wyverns to escort her back. You are dismissed. Your advice was helpful.”

“By your will.”

With the angel returning back to its duties, the god of Dragons had to reevaluate his plan.

“She has grown strong. It also surprised me how she was able to construct those curious instruments with her [Aerokinesis]. Was she able to retain her memories? No, that is impossible. I am sure that the process of her reincarnation should have erased most of her memories, keeping enough for her to gain the [Otherworldly Reincarnator] title.”

“Enough contemplating.” thought the dragon god.

“I shall now send older and more experience wyverns with the [Telepathy] ability, so they may communicate with her. That should ease introductions and should be able to prevent any escalation into a battle.”

Once again, Kargryxmor made himself active, undeterred of how his plan will be affected by the flows of fate once again.