Chapter 62: The Rhythm of the Wandering Scale-kins.

[“Ok, everybody, repeat after me,”] I said before taking a deep breath to sing. “Do Re Mi Fa So La Ti Do ♫”

“““Kro Kre Kri Scha Scho Sla Kri Kro!”””

Hmm, this seriously reminded me of the time I tried to sing when I just got [Humanization]…how nostalgic.

Morning has come and my party and the lizardmen’s group continued traveling through the rainforest part of the Belzac forest, with our goal to escape it. As we started moving at around dawn, it slowly became clear around noon that the lizardmen were getting hungry, so we decided it was best to just take a break and eat.

Compared to our dinner last night, we didn't have the time and set-up to feed up the large lizardmen group with a freshly cooked meal. Usually, the lizardmen would take out their rations of sun-dried fish and eat them as they rested their weary legs…but that wasn't necessary with us.

Knowing that this would happen, last night I had everybody cook another batch for lunch. Putting the piping hot meal in my storage, I was able to keep everything warm, allowing the lizardmen to enjoy a relaxing lunch instead of boring fish.

Dinner and lunch did come out of our own pocket, so our storage didn’t look too super after treating the lizardmen for what was equal to two dinner servings, large enough to feed 50 people. It was our winter savings but as we already planned to arrive in elven land before the snow came down on us, we thought that it would be best to keep everybody full during this tiring trip.

After we were done eating, the lizardmen decided that they would hunt for our meals for tonight. Leading hunting parties, Caszcur, Aksmias, and Saori went ahead to fish and hunt in the short time that we had until we needed to move.

While they were doing that, Apsala, Tasianna, and I were moving with the non-combatants to gather any edibles, spices, and herbs.

We would meet up at our rendezvous spot after the sun moved to a certain spot in the sky.

During this gathering session, some of the lizardmen kids asked me about the promise that I made them; that I would give them an idol concert.

As the word “idol” didn’t exist, they couldn’t understand what I truly meant with it even through [Telepathy]. They thought it was a fancier word to call a ritual dancer, somebody who would sing and dance to show their reverence to their gods.

They pestered me about giving a religious dance to please Kargryxmor, forcing me to clearly explain to them what I actually meant. They look displeased for a moment until they asked me to perform a ritual dance anyways, something that I had to shoot down immediately.

To appease them, I was now showing them what an idol truly was. I might not be able to show them a real show, but a simple demonstration was enough to sparkle their interests. Some of the adults also were curious about it.

Due to how I sang during the feast two days ago, everybody already knew that I was able to sing well…just that they were confused about my song lyrics. They complimented everything about it, from the way that I sang, that the music that I was able to reproduce was extremely fitting, and that they still liked my songs despite not understanding the lyrics.

I guess that was similar to how non-Koreans and non-Japanese still loved listening to anime songs and K-Pop even when they had zero knowledge of the language. All you needed was the rhythm to jump-start your heart, I say.

As I continued singing, some of the lizardmen began forming an interest and started imitating me, trying their best despite their untrained voices. I also helped them train their voices, but it seems they weren't serious about practicing.

It was fine, though. They were clearly having fun and that is was singing is, no? You sing under the shower ‘cause you feel like it, not ‘cause you’re a vocalist or opera singer, after all. When you hear something good, something that can pep you up, you hum it unconsciously just for funsies.

“Elder Apsala, is this the herb you needed?” as I was grabbing some fruits, I overheard a lizardman kid talking with Apsala.

“Hmmm, yup! Good work, young scale,” praising the kid, Apsala rewarded him with a pat on the head. “Don’t forget to take all of the roots, too. They soak in a lot of the earth’s bounty and mana, making them even better than the herb itself.”

“Yes, elder scale!” he said energetically before sprinting back to where he collected the herb.

"Elder scale, we found a lot of mushrooms over here. We can't pick all of them up!" a lizard girl cried out, huffing from running.

“Mushrooms! Good, we can make a grand mushroom stew for tonight! Scale-kins, we need to help the young scales!” another older lizardwoman shouted, calling for everybody to join in on the mushroom pickings.

Steeeeeeeeew!

Tasianna, knowing that I absolutely adore any kinda stews, flapped her wings like a hummingbird and flew in the direction that the mushrooms were. Also wanting to fill up my storage even more with food, I rushed collecting all the fruits from a tree and hurried over to help everyone.

“Hestia, some of the bags are full! Can you put them in your magic box?” Slazzaila, the eldest of the quintuplets spoke, carrying bags filled with our harvest with her four siblings.

Nodding, I took everything from their hands and slowly placed the harvest in my [Storage Magic].

“This looks so weird! It’s like a hole in the air, wow!” the second sibling, Nixliel, said. "Magic looks so fun! Can you teach me some of it later on, Hestia, please? I want to be as useful as you and the elder scales!"

“Huh? Elder scale-sister Nixliel, we already planned to participate in Hestia’s ‘ritual dancing’ training. We can’t change that,” the fourth sibling, Yonzecla, insisted on sticking with my idol sessions. “I want to sing, and dance like her. I can be like the shamans and priestesses back in our swamps!”

"You can learn how to sing, later on, elder scale-sister. Elder scale-sister Nixliel is right, instead of wasting time on being ritual dancers, we should learn magic and how to be a warrior from Hestia,” the youngest sibling and only boy, Yutzallas, said, arguing that it would benefit them more to learn how to fight. “All the elder scale warriors are gone. We need to become warriors so we can protect our scale-kin friends!”

“Shut up Yutzallas and help Hestia put the food in. If you want to learn how to fight then just ask the elder scales already,” the middle sibling, Asansda, grumpily replied while helping me unpack the food from the bags.

It might be true that the kids have become calmer ever since their friends and acquaintances returned but it seems each of them had their own ways to cope with it losing their parents. In general, over this year that they had to stay together due to their enslavement, the lizardmen group has pretty much become a giant family.

They grieve for every single one of their members, and it's even worse when somebody precious to them died. All of the kids that are currently with us are orphans, having lost their parents and maybe one or two blood relatives on the way. The quintuplets are just the most recent ones.

While the other kids adapted by clinging with certain adults, looking up to them as a replacement to their actual parents, the quintuplets would follow me around wherever I went, if they were allowed to.

It was honestly adorable but also a bit depressing. Well, I enjoyed their company and they helped me learn more words so that helps.

Hmm, I’m up for a song, again.

.

“You guys are good kids ♫

Staying strong in this forest ♫

Picking yourself up, not crying aloud, despite the hardships ♫

You’re making them feel proud ♫

I bet they’re watching ♫

Just do you best, don’t let yourself down, and it’s gonna be all alright ♫

.

Don’t push yourself too much ♫

Just live on ♫

We can do it all ♫

Believe it ♫

.

Don’t you dare give it all up ♫

I’ll push you to your limits ♫

I can sympathize with you ♫

Trust me, we’re strong together ♫

.

Come on, stand up up ♫

Let’s go, let’s go oh oh ♫

Who do you think we are, eh? ♫

That’s right, scale-kins! ♫

Come on, stand up up ♫

Let’s go, let’s go oh oh ♫

I can see that light in your eyes ♫

We will never give up♫”

.

Playing and singing something that just came out of my head was quite fun but what made it even better was that the quintuplets were clapping, smiling as they seemed to have liked the song.

“Hestia, what did you just sing? Why can’t you sing it in Common tongue? I want to know what you sang. Your voice is so calming,” Yonzecla spouted out like a machinegun.

[“He he, sorry but I’m still learning the language. I can only sing in the language where I come from, but I’ll get Tasianna to help me translate it so I can sing it later on for you,”] I replied, promising the tall lizard girl while feeling super proud.

It is a half-truth. English wasn’t a language in the Belzac forest, my place of birth, but it technically came from my soul’s origin.

“Really! Oh yes, thank you! Are you also teaching me how to sing, too?” she further asked.

[“Leave it to me, Yonzecla,”] I said, bumping my fist on my chest. [“Kyaaaaaah! I can’t wait! I can’t wait! It’s so awesome to meet another music enthusiast! I’ll show you the true brilliance of an Idol, I promise!”]

Jumping and shrieking like two excited girls, this sight could also be called a tail whipping event. We were so overwhelmed by the individual excitement that we weren't able to control our tails. While it was ok for Yonzecla to wag her tail, having mine do it could be disastrous so thankfully nobody was behind me…that couldn't be said about the tree which was behind me who had most of its trunk cut and sliced off.

While my time with the lizardmen had it’s up and downs, I am honestly glad that I’ve met them just for this reason. She’s not technically a fan yet but having fun like this was worth it. It reminded of my time with my ex-friends on Earth, before we started to drift away from each other.

Speaking of “fans”, I’ve sorta tried to make them into my “followers” after the System registered Caszcur as one of mine. He didn’t say anything besides wanted to become one but it still didn’t give me a conclusive idea for how somebody can become a “follower”.

If I wanted to have [The Light] continue growing then I first have to find out what the requirements are to increase the number.

As a test, I told the kids about it without giving them any details, telling them that it was to become my “fans”, however that failed. Most of the kids were receptive to the idea and wanted to become "fans" but that didn’t do anything for my counter.

I also went ahead and held a little singing performance in the morning, trying my best to impress them with my voice. I could hear the clapping and, boy, did that nearly make me want to open the floodgates and just cry out loud, but I was still reserving that moment for the idol concert that I was promising them.

Regardless, it didn’t change anything. Just considering how much Yonzecla has been warming up to me is making me really question what I’m supposed to do about it. What was the difference between Caszcur’s and Yonzecla’s cases?

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I helped both of them with some kinda request, just like in an RPG to gain an NPC's favor, while treating them to something amazing that made them like me even more. If this really were a game then I would be at my wit's end, complaining at the developer team that I believed it was a bug, trying to search the internet for an answer but…this was real life…

There is always that Idol performance. I don’t know if Aurena knows about it, but she did imply something about my idol stuff, so maybe an Idol concert might work?

Of course, that didn’t explain Caszcur nor the virigress family, but thinking about it was getting harder and harder. As I didn’t want to scare them off by telling them the real truth, I had to go back to the planning board to figure this strange title out.

After an hour of gathering, the hunters eventually made it back with a shit ton of fish and a couple of games. As the fish around here were practically monsters, they also had mass to boot so that meant more food!

After packing everything in my storage we continued moving forwards, determined to make decent progress for the day and find a spot where we could have another great feast. While packing everything was already a hassle, doing the reverse was even worse as I pulled everything out at the same time.

Losing 10% of my mana in literally 2 seconds felt as if somebody was forcibly trying to pull out an organ from inside my body. This not only included the food but also everything else from our camp.

In any case, the mushroom and meat stew with grilled fish was amazing and definitely filled everybody up. It was also good to know that we had enough leftovers which we could use for tomorrow’s lunch.

Hunting and gathering for our food with Tasianna and Saori was already fulfilling but doing it with a giant group like this was extra fun. “The more the merrier”, definitely is correct.

Once dinner was finished, some of the lizardmen suggested doing some hunting and gathering during the night. As it seemed likes the lizardmen still had the energy to do more for the day and more food wouldn't hurt, we decided on sending only a small group with Saori to go out.

It was evening, after all, so moving away from light was in itself just foolish. If the party was small enough, then Saori could protect everybody easily using her spells and [Shadow Armament].

We still needed somebody to protect the whole group and my [Sanctuary] was perfect for the job. Tasianna also wasn’t confident in herself that she would be able to lead a group into the forest so she’s staying with me in the camp.

After seeing Saori off, I went to the kids to give them some singing practice. Explaining the basics that I learned from my own teacher, I quickly gave them a rundown on how our vocal cords worked.

While I technically didn’t know if lizardmen vocal cords were the same, I do know that they were a muscle. Caszcur’s hoarse and Aksmias’ gentler voices were the perfect comparison that I needed to be sure about my theory.

While the lizard kids were trying their best to follow my instructions, I also had Tasianna try to translate my new song. Using it as an opportunity for another language lecture, she insisted that I help her with it while I was coordinating the kids.

Thankfully, I have become pretty adept with multi-tasking so doing this was no problem.

“Hestia, my voice is starting to hurt,” one of them complained, pointing a finger at their throat.

[“Ok, take a break and drink some of this tea. Try not to speak and just rest,”] I advised.

“Hestia, my voice just made a weird sound. Did I do something wrong?” another said, massage their throat.

[“Oh, nothing wrong there. You just can’t reach that pitch yet,”] raising my own pitch to demonstrate how it should sound, I continued giving him tips after he knew that nothing was wrong with his voice. [“It takes a while to go up, so keep training. This is something you can’t get better at without continuous practice.”]

The kids weren't terrible, apparently 'cause they had some practice before they became slaves, having sung during rituals and other ceremonies. Expectantly, as they never had to properly sing, their ability to keep up with the rhythm or even intonate their singing voice was amateurish.

We kept up with this until Saori’s group came back as we had to go to bed early for the next day. The next day of travels was pretty uneventful so I and the kids just kept up with the singing practice until evening.

However, once we woke up and continued walking during that day…

[“Woah, this is a massive swamp!”] Saori called out.

Nodding in agreement, I stared at the giant body of water that was standing in front of us. It had the features you would expect from a swamp with countless vegetation ranging from water lilies to overgrown trees with roots submerged underwater. The green surface was only a cover for its depth that at first glance looks like the abyss, showing no signs of the ground.

The water was muddy so it might just be an exaggeration, but it felt like we would have to swim if we wanted to traverse it…all of us, even the tall lizardmen.

This worries me…

"Little one, what do you want to do? All of us are pretty good swimmers so we would have no problem getting over here," Apsala stated, asking me for my opinion on how to proceed.

[“No, no, let’s not. I think it would be better to just go around it, even if it means we are delaying,”] I replied.

“Huh? Why though, fair-scaled one?” Aksmias asked.

“I don’t believe my intuition is completely correct but…,” Tasianna started, looking at us before continuing to speak. “…I believe I can speak for the three of us that we think we might be in danger of that giant beast.”

“You mean that monster that attacked us about a week ago?” Caszcur mentioned. “But we’ve made so much progress up north now from that giant lake where we first saw it. You think it would follow us?”

[“Maybe but I agree with Tasianna and Lady Hestia that we should try to avoid any risks,”] Saori prudently suggested. [“I believe that would be the wisest decision, especially considering that your group has seen their fair share of trouble, lately. Do not worry, our party wishes to hurry up, but we are not willing to put anybody in danger…right, Lady Hestia?”]

Yes, yes, I’m not gonna throw myself into the fire, again. Saori can you please not look like I was willing to jump into every single trouble that I see? I told myself, instead, I simply nodded to reply to Saori’s question.

Honestly, I wasn't joking this time. If there was a chance that we would meet that rank A monster again or not, then I would choose avoidance. I was only a little dragon that hasn't even reached the juvenile stage, yet.

“Well, if that is what you wish then we will-”

[“Stop! Quick, back into the forest, now!”] Saori shouted, before grabbing Tasianna and me.

Carrying me under her arm, Saori continued shouting “follow me!” as she delved deeper into the forest. Not understanding what was going on but knowing that it would be better to stick together, the lizardmen also hurriedly tried their best to keep up with Saori’s high movement speed.

Once we started grouping up the lizardmen naturally wanted to ask what was happening, but they were quickly silenced with a fat “silence” from Saori, who’s eyes were now covered with red mist, a sign that she was agitated.

To further show that something was wrong, Saori was snarling, blemishing her beautiful face with a show of ferocity by baring her fangs like a wolf. While she loosened her grip on us two, she still hadn’t completely let us go, only allowing me enough wriggle room to stand on the ground.

After a couple of seconds of intense concentration, trying to find what was making Saori so anxious, I quickly found out what it was.

Scheiße, how?!

My [Detection Sensor] was finally able to pick up the signals of three individuals entering my detection area at a high speed. They were separated and were moving around in every single direction as if they were searching for something…or maybe someone?

Air Shie-?! Saori?

[“No, Hestia,”] Saori said, stopping me with a short response.

[“Saori, I can build it large enough that it would cover everybody. It would remove any danger that they could find us with sound or smell,”] I suggested.

[“No, Hestia, do you not remember what we found recently? Those magic sensing skills?”] Saori replied, bringing up something that I forgot about. [“‘Who knows?’ I know, but we cannot risk it. They might have not found us last time, but we cannot be sure that these are the same ones.”]

A few days ago, after the three of us rummage through the skill shop, we managed to find a few skills that allowed us to detect magic and mana flow with the help of the System. While we already had a good feel of when magic was being activated, even without any magic circles showing up, it wouldn’t hurt us to expand our sensory skill arsenal.

The problem was that Saori didn't have enough SP to buy it 'cause she didn't come with us to rescue the lost lizardmen, Tasianna was in dire need of expanding her skill set with combat skills while also upgrading the quality of her skills, while I, on the other hand, was saving up until my evolution.

I didn’t know if I would evolve into a B rank after reaching level 30 but the pattern until now suggested that is what would happen. As this was also the rank where I could evolve into a [Young Mana Dragon], I also began thinking that I might not have been very efficient with my SP usage.

I regret nothing, just saying. I survived until now ‘cause of my decisions so it would be idiotic to blame myself for any supposedly “wasted” SP. However, realizing this also meant that I had to start looking at my choices better, especially my evolution.

I wanted to have so many options this time that I would be so overwhelmed by them that I couldn't choose for…uh, about a week or so. What I mean is that I wanted to be sure that I would be able to choose from a wide range of options that would let me tailor my build to Saori's and Tasianna. We were a team now, after all. I had to start thinking like one.

So, to save on SP until I reached level 30, I decided to not buy any of the mana sensing skills, believing that whatever was chasing after me wasn’t in the area.

…well, I regret my frugality!

[“Everyone, please do not say anything at all until we say stop,”] Saori pleaded the lizardmen, knowing that most of them were extremely confused about the situation. [“We might be in trouble if anybody makes a noise.”]

Hearing the nervous voice of Saori seemed to have made everybody understand that the situation was not a joke. Slouching down to make their bodies seem smaller, the lizardmen kept quiet.

With looming terror continuing their search, our group could only silently wait, anxiously wishing that they would just disappear. The signals started to disperse even more, with only a single one moving towards our location.

It was still not a straight line though, moving around and stopping whenever. We were also in the cover of the dense foliage of the trees, so Saori and I were pretty convinced that they won’t be able to find us if everybody kept up their [Stealth].

As seconds passed us by, we finally were able to hear the sound of beating wings, pushing the air around them up and down. Although it was only slightly, I was also able to see leaves falling down, as if somebody blew some air towards.

Verdammt, are they really the same ones?!

With the confirmation that something was flying above us, some of the kids and non-combatants began to shiver as they held onto whatever tools they were carrying. It might not be worth anything as actual weapons but gripping them seems to give them some sense of calmness.

Seeing this, Apsala decided that it would be best to start praying. Putting her hands together, Apsala quietly mumbled, so slowly and quietly that not even Saori’s ears were able to properly catch on.

It makes you wonder to whom she was praying?

[“Miss Apsala, stop! You can’t pray!”] Tasianna, slipping through Saori’s hand quickly flew to stop Apsala from praying.

Hearing this the loud sound of Tasianna’s voice resounding through her head, Apsala did quietly stop her prayers but looked at Tasianna as if she was crazy. Nobody told me yet, but I think stopping somebody’s prayers might not be too polite.

While I wished to continue thinking about that subject, something else was catching my attention…something big.

With the rustling of the tree’s leaves, a reptilian head poked out of them, stretching its long neck as it slowly laid its eyes on us…but most importantly…

…on me.

“E-Enemy!”

““““W-Wyvern!””””

Not being able to hold it in anymore, the surrounding lizardmen started shouting and screaming as they witnessed the four-limbed creature’s full body slowly come into sight.

Looking at the wyvern’s beige and navy-blue scales sent a shiver down my spine, literally, as a visible white mist could be seen being emitted out of its mouth. Its winged forearms had a membrane that was thicker and more elastic than my own that looked more suited to help the slim creature stay airborne.

As more of its body came into view, I was also able to identify two dorsal fins, one situated like a crest on its head and another on its back. The last part that came into view was its tail which had webbing resembling the tail fin of a whale, that it could retract at will.

“Kriiii.” The wyvern growled ready to-!

[“Don’t let it roar!”]

Freeing myself from Saori’s grip and releasing my own wings, I jumped out of the group of lizardmen and began my assault and, hopefully, my escape.

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