[“So, I just need to put this on and then let my mana do all the work, right?”] I said.

[“Yes, Princess Hestia. Simply say ‘Interface on’ and it will activate,”] said Tasianna.

Saying “Alright.”, I then proceeded to put on this bracelet onto my left wrist like a watch, pouring mana after it was strapped on properly. This accessory is a simple, gray-colored metal bracelet with a beautiful, marine blue colored stone, or gemstone, lodged into the middle. A strap was also attached so the wearer may adjust it to their wrist’s size.

Once my mana ceased leaving my body, meaning that the bracelet was fully recharged, I spoke the command “Interface on” to activate the gadget.

A blue screen projected out of the bluestone. It looked very similar to a video game’s pause menu, showing multiple little icons that were interactable by touch. Pressing my finger on the screen, it felt like touching a liquid, but somehow it felt very familiar as if this screen was an extension of my body.

This is a manatech, a mana-fueled alternative to Earth's electric-based technology. What makes it a manatech is the little mana battery inside it that acts as its core to absorb and store mana for the tool's usage.

Compared to the mana battery inside that [Warhammer Mana Cannon] that we encountered during our troll battle, this one was a dwarven-made, meaning that it would only absorb my mana when I allow it.

Like an electric battery, you can only make the manatech work if it was sufficiently charged, otherwise, the device would be useless.

According to Tasianna, the first one was created by the dwarves; designed so retainers can keep taps of the status and location of their lords, but ‘cause of the experience sharing function, it has also become popular with veteran warriors.

[“This is a screen made from your mana,”] Tasianna informed me, explaining the familiar feeling once I touched it. [“Please have a look at these three icons.”]

Tasianna flew up to me and pointed at three separate icons on the HUD, each displaying different functions that this gadget had.

The first icon, in the appearance of a handshake, is the “Party” button. Touching it, another screen appeared, similar to a window pop-up on the PC, and gave me two options to choose. On the left side was the button for “Form Party” and the one on the right is “Join Party”.

Instructed by Tasianna, I pressed the left button.

Party Leader Name: Hestia Atsuko Level: 74 Job: None Health: 2634/2634 Mana: 9021/9051 Stamina: 1352/1352 Effects: [Damaged Mana Path [Left Wing] (Minor)] [Humanized (Moderate)]

The whole menu screen changed once I pressed the button. In the upper part of the screen, there was a UI very similar to an MMO's party system, displaying a couple of my status board information. I was currently in my humanized form, so my stats were suffering from [Humanized (Moderate)].

It has been a while since I last checked my status board in my humanized form but for some reason, I was level 74. When I first used [Humanization], I only just evolved into a D rank monster, so my level was zero, but my humanized form showed me as level 25.

Thinking back, it took me 25 levels to evolve and I was currently level 24 in my dragon form.

Does this mean my human level is scaling with my dragon one?

Huh?

Saori Segawa wishes to join your party Accept Decline Tasianna Marinna Silverpond wishes to join your party Accept Decline

Turning my head around, I saw that Saori was fiddling with her own bracelet. It had the same simplistic design as mine but hers, on the other hand, does have a few small, red stains, residue from troll blood that we couldn’t clean off.

You see, these bracelets once belonged to the trolls that we killed outside the cave, who wore them like rings. This fact should be telling of how massive those trolls were, when two “rings” perfectly fitted mine and Saori’s wrists, although mine was a bit loose.

Looking to my side, Tasianna was also awaiting my confirmation by staring at her own blue screen. Compared to our party bracelets, hers was beautifully designed with a keychain attached to the strap of the bracelet.

It was a pristine white bracelet, adorned with small flower engravings. Instead of our marine blue colored stone, hers is a bright green that sat in the middle of an extravagant emblem. The emblem, a triangle made from three sets of curling lines intersecting each other to represent the wind, had two pairs of iridescent butterfly wings on its sides.

It was hard to recognize every single detail, due to how small Tasianna’s bracelet was, but I guess my improved eyesight due to [Enhanced Vision] is helping out.

Tasianna told me that it was the emblem for the Goddess of Wind, Zephira and that this bracelet was distributed to all servants of the royal family.

The difference in quality between ours and hers made me envious but I quickly buried this displeasure. Tasianna informed us that our bracelets’ model was extremely outdated and that it was lacking some of the features that the latest models had.

Disappointing but we really only needed one feature and this model had it. Beggars can’t be choosers.

Shaking off those thoughts, I pressed “Accept” for both prompts, accepting both my companions into my party.

Party Leader Name: Hestia Atsuko Level: 74 Job: None Health: 2634/2634 Mana: 9038/9051 Stamina: 1352/1352 Effects: [Damaged Mana Path [Left Wing] (Minor)] [Humanized (Moderate)] Name: Name: Saori Segawa Level: 50 Job: None Health: 1941/1941 Mana: 639/639 Stamina: 1206/1206 Effects: [Humanized (Moderate)] Name: Tasianna Marina Silverpond Level: 31 Job: Mage Health: 472/472 Mana: 1751/1751 Stamina: 312/312

“Uhh…” Tasianna unconsciously let out her voice. [“T-These are Princess Hestia’s and Madama Saori’s stats? Incredible…”]

Were they, really?, I silently thought as I glanced over at a new icon that appeared at the top of the menu. Clearly depicting the abbreviation “EXP” this button definitely had the function to allow experience sharing. As the party leader, I could decide how much experience would be shared among everybody. I quickly activated the function and decided on a fair three-way split among us.

Saori, noticing that I activated it, laughed enthusiastically, [“He he, it seems our normal way to power level will be even more effective, Hestia.”]

Her gleeful smile was clearly showing her addiction to leveling. I massaged my temple and told her not to overdo it, again, unless she wanted [Battle Frenzy] to reappear.

She quickly apologized, saying “I did promise that I would stop that, huh? Sorry, just forget what I just said.”

Doing just that, I looked away and asked Tasianna to resume explaining the last two icons.

The second icon was a map, which I presume is the party member locator function of this tool. Unfortunately, my expectations that it was a real map were shattered once I opened it.

This function simply told the distance between each party member and if they were close enough to be eligible for the experience share. It seems you can't gain any experience when your party members gain experience outside the effective range.

[“Interesting,”] I said. [“Doesn’t this and the party function make one of [Hestia’s Retainer]’s effect useless? Specifically, the one where you can ask for my condition?”]

What I mean was that Tasianna and Saori could use [Hestia’s Retainer] to ask the System about my current condition and situation. They could ask it trivial questions like “Did Hestia eat something wrong?”, or even more serious questions like “Was Hestia in mortal danger?”

[“These functions will only work when you are wearing yours, Princess Hestia,”] Tasianna answered. [“If you were to put it in your [Storage Magic] then we would not be able to find you anymore. Especially in your dragon form, it would be impossible to use the bracelet, yes?”]

I nodded.

These devices use mana signals to detect and register the party bracelets of others when you wish to form a party. Once the party was formed, the devices only remember the mana signal of the bracelets itself, not the user.

It seems those that don’t have enough mana to spend on refueling their bracelet's mana battery carry portable ones that act as external batteries, so in most cases, the mana of the user wouldn't coincide with the one fueling the party bracelet.

The third, and last, icon looks like a card, specifically an ID card.

[“If I had my ID, I could have shown you it’s function. My apologies, Princess Hestia.”] Tasianna apologized, then proceeded to point at the keychain of her bracelet. [“You would attach your ID card on the keychain, therefore, enabling the function. Yours seems to have broken off, unfortunately.”]

Apparently, an ID is, quite literally, an identification card, similar to the ones we had on Earth. These are manatechs that serves as a way to identify us and is a necessary part to survive and live in any civilization in this world.

If this party bracelet wasn’t already enough of a surprise, then hold on tight. Tasianna mentioned that ID cards are also used to gain “Quests” that are assigned by guilds, freely available for anyone to accept.

[“Besides killing each other, anybody can gain experience by accepting and fulfilling quests from various guilds, like the artisan guild or merchant guild,”] Tasianna further elaborated on this very familiar video game mechanic. [“I didn’t rise up to this level through killing monsters, but from the daily awarded experience I would gain as an attendant of the royal family.”]

I was astonished.

Until today, I thought you needed to kill monsters to gain experience, but I just learned that you could share experience and that there were experience rewarding quests. Considering that the System is accommodating this, it must mean that the gods are doing a wonderful job of adapting their System to this developing world. For a bunch of old geezers, they’re keeping up with time.

[“[Identify] is usually a hard skill to acquire, so our world has ways to overcome this. One of them is that these party bracelets can display the current status board of the ID card’s owner by attaching it to the keychain,”] said Tasianna.

[“I see,”] I mumbled which made me curious about something. [“So, why don’t you have your ID anymore? Did they take it away before you went into self-exile?”]

Tasianna’s left eye twitched for a second, before casting them down, [“My belongings were taken by the troll and must be buried in that cave now. I’m not too sad about losing my ID, but the necklace given to me by Princess Schuri was with it…”]

Ouch, did I just open a wound?!

[“Oh my…”] Saori shook her head in exasperation. She then gave me a newly sewn one-piece and underwear. [“They should fit you now but do give me your impression on their design, later on. They are the prototype for your future clothes, after all.”] she then went to console Tasianna.

I left them alone and concentrated on switching to my new clothes. You see, as [Humanize] seems to be a Tier three skill, there were breakpoints at level three, seven, and nine. Upgrading the skill with my SP, my humanized form’s age has reached twelve, which meant that my height has increased. That also meant that I outgrew the clothes that I was just wearing this morning.

Constructing a small earthen room to change in, I dispelled my flame dress, preparing to put on the stuff Saori gave me. My first impression was that they were specifically made to accommodate my tail and wings, especially the underwear.

First, was the halter bra without a back strap. As I would usually have wings, all the strings had to be tied around my neck but that wasn’t the case when I was using [Humanize Lv. 8], which actually made me wingless!

Second, the bottom part was just a panty with a large hole to fit my tail through it.

It was form-fitting and feels comfortable to the touch, reminding me of the same feeling I had when I touched the party bracelet’s blue screen. I guess this is how mana feels likes.

The dress, a mana blue one-piece that stretched down to my knees, has an open back that leaves room for my wings to freely flap.

Now that I’m fully covered, I technically never have to take them off again. It’s made from mana, so cleaning it is unnecessary, and it can repair itself using my mana.

I and Saori previously tested this function out. It would turn into a choker when we monsterized and it reforms back into a dress once we humanized.

The only complaint that I had, was that you couldn’t change the appearance of the clothes with your mana, freely. You would need to modify the mana fabric itself to change anything on the clothes, however, I wouldn’t know how to do that. Saori probably does, but I’ve no interest in changing her work. It feels rude to do so.

Besides, everything feels comfortable and that's the most important part of clothes.

As a final check, I let my wings out to see how comfortable it was. Being able to freely change from [Humanize Lv. 7] and [Humanize Lv. 8] finally gave me the option to walk around without my wings, while retaining my new height and “Age”.

Oh gosh, I love them, but they were too cumbersome to live with. Anyways, there no problems even with my wings out, so retracted them back.

Now wingless, I exited the changing room and informed Saori of my impression, who responded with, “That is good to hear.”.

I also apologized to Tasianna about being inconsiderate, which she accepted without any problems. She said, “You couldn’t have possibly known, so I cannot fault you for it.”.

Thankfully, that was settled.

[“Ok, I’m done changing and we’re all in the same party, right?”] I announced to my two companions. [“So, where do we go from here?”]

I asked that question into our midst. We were still in the canyon and our paths forward were restricted. We could either stay in the canyon and explore it, or we could scale up the cliffs. Depending on our choice, we could either scale the one to re-enter the Belzac forest or we could go up the other one to leave it.

[“Hmm, I would like to suggest not to leave the Belzac forest”] Tasianna answered, which prompted me to ask her to go into more detail. [“If we were to leave the forest via the cliff, we would be going east. The east canyon would bring us to human civilization.”]

My eyes opened wide. My feelings were conflicting with each other, making my mouth twitch around, not knowing if I should feel happy or scared to know that we were this close to reaching a civilization. Taking this path would bring me a step closer to fulfilling my dream…but that also meant that I had to embrace public scrutiny, once again.

While I was deliberating, Tasianna continued, [“Going north, over the Belzac mountains, we would reach elven territory. The elves are a long-living race that we can trust, and I can guarantee that they will welcome you with welcome arms, Princess Hestia.”]

This time, Saori responded, [“How can you be sure?”]

["I know some elves that visited the fairy village, and they were all good-natured, respectable people. Compared to humans, they are a refined and civilized race that have ties with the Dragonewts of Loatryx. As you possess the God of Dragon Kargryxmor's blood, then that makes you royalty, meaning your treatment will be superb."]

[“Wait, Tasianna,”] I injected myself into the conversation. [“I have no plans to make myself known as a princess.”]

[“Miss Tasianna, it seems we haven’t talked about our goals yet. You see, Hestia wishes to become an Idol. They are dancing singers who are quite popular on Earth,”] Saori supported me, stating the goals that we two have settled on before we met Tasianna. [“I also wish to travel this new world and learn about its history and culture. I want to experience everything there is to be experienced.”]

[“That is a wonderful dream. The elven country is rich in history and culture, and I bet the elves would also love…”]

[“They most likely will, but we are not limiting ourselves to the elves,”] Saori interrupted Tasianna and further argued our point. [“Despite what we heard about humans from you, we were formerly humans, and I do wish to see how different they are compared to Earth’s. Is that not correct, Hestia?”]

["Yeah…"] Tasianna looks a bit dejected when her decision was completely shot down by us. ["I do have a question, though. How long is the travel time to reach the elven country, and how long will it take until we reach the human's?"]

Tasianna placed a hand on her chin, thinking deeply before responding, [“It will take about three months if we were to walk through the forest. Although, when I was with the trolls, they were also transporting the cannon and the mass amount of supplies, which prolonged our travel to a month.”]

Three months? That’s three more months that I can use to train up to make my debut perfect!

…Wait, did she just say that she was imprisoned for a whole month?! What the fuck!

I wanted to say something, but it seems Tasianna glossed over it, continuing speaking, ["I never entered a human country before, so I can't tell exactly how long it will take. All I know from maps in the fairy village's library is that we are currently on the border of a human kingdom. A week or two is all we need, maybe? That all depends if a settlement is close by."]

This time, anxiousness swelled into my chest, stopping the excitement I felt from hearing the former. It’s not that I don’t want to meet humans again; I actually really do want to see for myself if humans were as malicious as Tasianna described them, or if the ones she met were the stinking scum of this world. Exceptions to the rule.

If I take one cliff, I will only have an indeterminate amount of time before reaching civilization, while the other option will give me about two months at the minimum.

Staying in the canyon was completely a no go, nobody wanted to stay here.

I mean, do I really have to worry that much about debuting? I can reach a human settlement and just chill for a few days, practicing until I’m good enough…but, can I really do that?

I have lived until this point using that single mantra as my motivation, “I will become an Idol”. Becoming stronger, surviving, and enduring all the things that this forest threw at me. I was continuing my past life’s ambition so that I could prove that I would have been able to fulfill it. To make myself and my parents proud.

[“Hestia?”]

I want to, no, I must make this debut perfect. It has to be perfect. I need to make a good first impression. I want to hear everybody cheering for me. I want to see smiles, not frowns.

But, my dancing needs practice. I haven’t decided on a choreography, yet. All I’ve been doing is singing! I-Don’t I need more time?

[“Princess Hestia?”]

…Am-Am I worrying too much here? Overthinking?

“Hestia!”

“Bwuah!” I gave out a shriek. I saw Saori was shaking my shoulders, only stopping once I returned to reality.

[“What is making you think so much? Is something wrong, Hestia?”] she sounded suspicious. Maybe she already knows?

[“Sorry, I was just worrying about something,”] to avoid exposing my childish worry, I used [Thought Acceleration] to think of a believable excuse in the time it took her to ask me. [“I was actually thinking of going to the elven country. I was worried that you would not like it.”]

[“That is your reason?”] she was startled at what I said but her suspicions were now gone. [“Oh, Hestia. You have such a bad habit of worrying too much. I am perfectly content with whichever direction we go, as both will be a new experience. It should be obvious.”]

Letting out a sigh, she released me from her grip and shook her head.

Sorry for lying to you, Saori, but I really don’t want you to worry. It’s two months at the very least, which gives me enough time to solve my problems. I’ll be able to do this, I know!

Maybe it would've been better to tell her about this stuff, but isn't this a problem that I have to solve myself…or, am I not relying on my friend enough?

Urgh…Saori is right that I’m a worrywart. Sigh, it’s not like I’ll have these problems anymore in two months. Practice makes perfect, and I’ll be dancing like there’s no tomorrow.

[“Thank you very much for agreeing to go to the elven country, Princess Hestia. I actually just remembered that it will be winter soon. We might need more than two months, now.”]

I get more time?! Verdammt nochmal, JA!

Snapping my fingers in joy, all my worries disappeared in an instant. My motivation started to grow, after hearing that I had more time to practice. With more practice, I’ll be able to build up the courage and skill to give off a perfect first performance.

With our path decided, there was only one more question left that we needed to answer.

How do we get back up?

Hestia's Status Board Profile: Name: Hestia Atsuko Level: 24 Race: Young Spark Inferno Dragon Age: 6 Months Status: Health: 5267/5267(+765) Mana: 18102/18102(+2541) Strength: 2677 (+426) Intelligence: 4682 (+1045) Vitality: 1388 (+221) Wisdom: 1654 (+280) Agility: 5191(+941) Stamina: 2704/2704(+438) Effects: [Damaged Mana Paths [Left Wing] (Minor)] Skill Points: 0 (-7350) Unique Skill:

[Spark Fire Dragon Lv. 8]

[Spark Fire’s Fire Boost]

[Spark Flame Veil]

Skill: Magic skills and related

[Lava Magic Lv. 2] (+1)

[Holy Magic Lv. 10]

[Holy Amp]

[Holy Magic Efficiency]

[Sacred Magic Lv. 5] (+1)

[Fire Magic Lv. 10]

[Fire Amp]

[Fire Magic Efficiency]

[Inferno Magic Lv. 5] (+1)

[Earth Magic Lv. 10]

[Earth Amp]

[Earth Magic Efficiency]

[Terra Magic Lv. 1]

[Wind Magic Lv. 8]

[Wind Amp]

[Wind Magic Efficiency]

[Space-Time Magic Lv. 4]

[Space-Time Magic Efficiency]

[Synergist’s Oath Lv. 2] (+1)

[Draconic Magics]

[Draconic Barrier Lv. 4] (+2)

[Silent Casting Lv. 6]

[Magic Power Enhancement Lv. 5]

[Mental Stability Lv. 4] (+2)

[Mental Warfare Lv. 4] (+2)

Physical skills and related

[Unarmed Technique Lv. 4]

[Draconic Claws Lv. 4]

[Draconic Roar Lv. 2]

[Draconic Fangs Lv. 4] (+2)

[Sundering Enhancement Lv. 4]

[Piercing Enhancement Lv. 4] (+2)

[Crushing Enhancement Lv. 1]

Senses and movement skills

[Stealth Lv. 9]

[Accuracy Correction Lv. 6]

[Concentration Lv. 1] (New)

[Prediction Lv. 8] (+1)

[Danger Perception Lv. 2] (+1)

[Probability Correction Lv. 4] (+2)

[Detection Sensor Lv. 2]

[Enhanced Auditory Sense Lv. 2]

[Enhanced Olfactory Sense Lv. 4]

[Enhanced Vision Lv. 5]

[Tracking Lv. 2]

[Night Vision Lv. 8]

[Presence Killer Lv. 8] (+1)

[Evasion Lv. 10]

[Acrobatic Lv. 10] (+1)

[Air Walk Lv. 1] (New)

[Terrain Maneuvering Lv. 4] (+2)

Resistances

[Physical Super-Resistance Lv. 2] (+1)

[Absolute Pain Tolerance]

[Mana Leak Resistance Lv. 1] (New)

[Abnormal Status Nullification]

[Fear Resistance Lv. 1]

[Holy Resistance Lv. 4]

[Inferno Resistance Lv. 1]

[Terra Resistance Lv. 1]

[Wind Resistance Lv. 2]

[Water Resistance Lv. 1]

[Dark Resistance Lv. 1] (New)

Stat growths and related

[Health Recovery Lv. 4]

[Stamina Recovery Lv. 5]

[Enhanced Health Growth Lv. 6]

[Enhanced Health Capacity Lv. 2]

[Arcane Conduit Lv. 1] (New)

[Enhanced Strength Growth Lv. 5]

[Enhanced Strength Enforcement Lv. 4]

[Sorcerer’s Power Lv. 1] (New)

[Enhanced Vitality Growth Lv. 4]

[Enhanced Vitality Enforcement Lv. 4] (+2)

[Enhanced Wisdom Growth Lv. 4]

[Enhanced Wisdom Enforcement Lv. 4] (+2)

[Speed of Sound Lv. 1] (New)

[Enhanced Stamina Growth Lv. 5]

[Enhanced Stamina Capacity Lv. 4]

Others

[Singing Lv. 5]

[Dancing Lv. 3]

[Poison Creation Lv. 4] (+1)

[Trap Creation Lv. 4]

[Identity Blocker Lv. 2]

[Identify Lv. 10]

[Noble Aura Lv. 4] (+2)

[Battle Mind Lv. 6] (+1)

[Royal Etiquette Lv. 2]

[Leadership Lv. 4] (+2)

[Cooking Lv. 7]

[Dismantle Lv. 7]

[Thought Acceleration Lv. 2]

[Parallel Thoughts Lv. 8] (+2)

[Body Temperature Control Lv. 1] (New)

[Humanize Lv. 8] (+1)

[Pyrokinesis]

[Aerokinesis]

[Telepathy]

Ability List:

[Flame Blast]

[Spark Claws]

[Spark Flame]

[Spark Fire Breath]

[Spark Fang]

[Spark Inferno Blast]

Spell List: Custom spells

[Imperial Hellfire]

Lava spells

[Lava Ball]

[Lava Stream]

Holy spells

[Minor Heal]

[Cure]

[Modest Heal]

[Smite]

[Light]

[Holy Protection]

[Holy Strength]

[Purify]

[Sacred Smite]

[Sacred Veil]

[Sacred Field]

[Banishment Beam]

[Major Heal]

Fire spells

[Fire]

[Firebolt]

[Imbue Fire]

[Fire Ball]

[Strengthening Flames]

[Flame Spear]

[Petal Flame]

[Flame Explosion]

[Inferno Blast]

[Blazing Twister]

[Inferno Beam]

[Scorching Sun]

[Spiral Hellfire]

Earth spells

[Earth Wall]

[Rock Blast]

[Earth Strike]

[Rock Bullet]

[Sturdy Earth]

[Earth Spears]

[Earth Crash]

[Earthen Shackles]

[Terra Wall]

Wind spells

[Wind Bullet]

[Wind Cutter]

[Air Shield]

[Wind Slash]

[Swift Winds]

[Wind Blast]

Space-Time spells

[Haste]

[Storage Magic]

[Warp Point: Entry]

The Light spells

[Shine]

[Sanctuary]

Titles:

[The Light] [Bearer of Kargryxmor’s Blood] [Otherworldly Reincarnator] [Princess]