Chapter 28: Chapter 24: The Garm and the Dragon.

<Experience has reached multiple breaking points. [Young Garm, Saori Segawa] has risen from [Level 0] to [Level 3]>

<Attributes have increased due to level up>

<Acquired 450 skill points>

<Multiple acquisition requirement fulfilled. [Mana Control Lv. 1] [Enhanced Enemy Sense Lv. 1] [Evasion Lv. 1] [Acrobatic Lv. 1] [Cooking Lv. 1] [Dismantle Lv. 1] [Physical Resistance Lv. 1] [Pain Resistance Lv. 1] acquired>

<Multiple proficiency requirements fulfilled. [Enhanced Fang Lv. 2] [Physical Resistance Lv. 2] [Pain Resistance Lv. 2] gained>

<You have bought [Arcane Mind Lv. 1]. Your current SP is 100>

<Primal Senses: An ancient skill that grants the user full usage of their senses at their highest potential. A combination of multiple skills that are inherited by a being related to an ancient beast. The skills combined are: [Enhanced Vision Lv. 10] [Enhanced Olfactory Sense Lv. 10] [Enhanced Auditory Sense Lv. 10] [Enhanced Gustatory Sense Lv. 10]>

["That is the description, Ms. Segawa.”]

[“Interesting. So, that would make my “cheat” ability related to the five senses minus somatosensation,”] I said with a sigh. [“Hmmm, it does seem rather disappointing if we were to compare it to [Draconic Magics] or even [Primal Magics]. I am envious of not being born a dragon.”]

Ever since I decided to travel with Miss Dragon, a month had now gone by. Our “Age” had increased by one at the same time, so it seemed I was born exactly four months after her.

After evolving, I made up my mind I had to learn how to fight. I’ve inconvenienced Miss Dragon for too long now, riding what she called the “Carry Train.” Figuratively and literally.

I went into the first fight of my life, uhh I meant, lives with optimism, but the fight itself was a complete disaster. I was able to learn a few skills, but I couldn’t possibly count how many times Miss Dragon had to use [Minor Heal] or even [Modest Heal] to keep me alive. Frankly, I nearly died once or twice. Urgh, it was horrible.

That was why I was crestfallen to learn my racial skill, [Primal Senses], wasn’t helping me become a better combatant, compared to Miss Dragon’s [Draconic Magics]. Miss Dragon tried to reassure me about how the skill was a powerful scouting and detection skill. I couldn’t disagree. My senses were so strong, I sometimes felt overwhelmed by how much I could detect now. Still, I felt it was a bit redundant with skills like [Enhanced Enemy Sense] and [Detection Sensor] available.

Maybe I’m overthinking this… Haaaa, let’s change subjects. I’ll think it through later.

[“Anyways, enough about me. How is your transformation?”] I prodded Miss Dragon, causing her to stretch her humanoid body.

[“Feels good. My voice has gotten clearer, and my pitch is improving steadily. It’s still too hard for me to speak, though.”]

Miss Dragon’s appearance was now that of a 7-year-old girl when she used her [Humanize] skill.

Her body is completely wrapped by a shimmering coat of black scales, and most of her bone plates had disappeared. Ever since that skill became [Humanize Lv. 5], her features had started to resemble more like a human girl with enough make-up for a cosplay party.

She was extremely happy when her hair returned, letting it flow down to her back, although she had complained that without hair care products, they were hard to take care of. It had gotten messy, which was a shame since her black hair had such a strong luster.

Whenever it rained or when we found a lake or river, she would take that opportunity to clean herself up quite a bit. Although, recently, she had considered cutting it shorter, purely so it wouldn’t inconvenient her life in this forest. Maybe too rash of a decision, but Miss Dragon in shorter hair would fit her slightly tomboyish personality.

It would look adorable.

I smiled in my head, quite liking that idea. [“It is still surprising how cute you look as a little girl, despite all the scales. Honestly, I had you much older in my imagination.”]

["Oi, I told you already, I was 15-years-old when I died! I can't help it that my skill turned me into a seven-year-old kid! Also, without a snout, all these scales just make me look freaky."]

[“Give yourself more credit. At the end of the day, it’s about feeling good in your body, right?”] I chuckled at how flustered she was.

From what I noticed, her emotional spectrum seemed to be affected by her body type. In her original form, she could act a bit feral and aggressive towards other monsters, although maybe it was due to her solitude in this forest which caused it. Whereas when she humanized, she had a slight childish energy when she moved around or spoke. Then again, I wasn’t a psychiatrist nor had I ever taught pre-teen kids before, so how should I know?

Then again, she was aware of her own faults when she mentioned how she wanted to fully upgrade [Humanize] to level ten. She knew it would be a waste of SP, but she was considering it just to prove to me she was an adolescent. In the end, she tried to upgrade it by one level only, but apparently, [Humanize] was a skill you couldn’t upgrade with SP.

[“Please don’t treat me like a kid.”] Miss Dragon vented her frustration of being treated according to her new age. I could only smile peacefully at this display.

[“Anyways, dinner is ready.”]

Due to my bad combat results, we had decided that it would be smart to prioritize Miss Dragon’s evolution now. To not feel useless, I requested to take care of cooking duty. It was a grueling job to cook with my current new body, making me wish for my own [Humanize].

Not only did I not have tools to do proper, quality work, I also did not have any hands to even imitate the cooking process I did in my past life. My garm body couldn’t grab anything with my paws, so I had to use my mouth to hold and grab on the ingredients.

I had my pride as a home cook. I knew the importance of hygiene and safety whilst cutting and preparing everything for the cook, but who was I kidding. Living in a forest like this, I had to stop acting as if I had it all. I was cutting on the ground, on a fragile-looking wooden plate Miss Dragon made. My pride as a home cook was long gone.

Aside from that problem, there was also the fact that we didn’t have proper knives to cut the proteins and greens. Our claws were our only hope. My claws were not sharp and precise enough, so I needed Miss Dragon’s help here to slice the pieces into correct sizes. I could see she has some experience in the kitchen. Good.

I also found cooking with the System helping you quite fascinating. The skill [Cooking] showed you where to cut, how much to season, and when it was hot enough to be served. It was a bit inaccurate at first, forcing me to manually do it from experience alone, but over time as I leveled and used it, the skill became more precise, working out how I liked to cook and helped me improve on it.

<Venison Herb Soup: A soup made with herbs and venison meat. The broth was thickened with a slime's gel and the various herbs and spices help to extract the meat's juices and essence, mixing in the broth to create a rich flavor>

[“Yay~”] Miss Dragon began clapping, showing a bright smile. [“Thank you for the food!”]

[“I hope you will like it. Without the proper equipment, I’m not sure if everything came out perfectly.”] Hearing me say that, Miss Dragon glared at me with a glint of envy.

[“Eh, what are you saying? Your [Cooking] skill is only level one and you’re already a better chef than me. Eating your food makes me feel both happiness and defeat. It feels even worse when I’m reminded that you’re doing all of this as a baby garm…”]

Despite her complaints, she scooped up some broth and meat with her wooden spoon — something she made herself. Once the food was in her mouth, her eyes fully widened in pleasure.

[“Mhmm, exquisite.”]

Adorable.

[“I am glad to hear that. I was not sure that it would work but this [Slime Gel] functions exactly like a thickener for soup. Having the same taste and texture as gelatin means it will not obstruct the other tastes. Very useful.”]

[“… I wish I could forget this was made with slime gelatin. Does every single slime look like an eldritch monster? Must the rank E and F ones also look like crawling horrors?”]

[“… You nearly burned down the forest again.”]

Her current appearance might be deceptive, but this girl was a walking inferno. If she couldn’t control herself then I was legitimately in danger of being torched! Whenever I watched her fight, it felt harder to believe she was just a teenage idol in her past life.

She fought with the ferocity of a tiger in her dragon form, but afterwards, she would transform into her dragonewt form and maintain a strict training schedule to “get back in shape” as she called it. Dancing and singing practice. I was quite impressed she would even contemplate it in her situation, making me even fonder of this girl. She had a dream, and she was iron-willed to achieve it.

Although, admittedly, I found it a bit hard to like her wanting to become an idol. Whether Korean or Japanese, I had heard how much of a toxic industry it was. Not only due to the fans but also from how they were treated by their managers. There were a couple current idols at the school I worked at, and I had overheard some nasty rumors from them.

Still, it wasn’t my place to say anything about. A teacher’s duty was to help kids walk into adulthood with their head up high. And, besides, kids should be able to dream and fulfill them with enough effort if possible. Anything but being stuck in my situation…

[“Speaking of monsters, our luck has not been that good. D rank monsters are quite rare. At this rate, I’ll reach level 25 from E ranks alone,”] Miss Dragon looked dejected as she mentioned that topic again.

Our search for foes Miss Dragon could kill for experience has been pretty much disappointing, recently. We decided it would be best if I took the kills on Rank Ds and lower while she took the ones on Rank E and above, solely since I had to level up and evolve. The less she had to worry about me, the more she could concentrate on fighting.

[“It has been like that ever since I entered the forest.”] Miss Dragon closed her eyes and opened them again, having given the issue some thought. [“Your garm mother not only evolved to a C rank but also reached level 28 within two months. I’ve been really thinking she might just have hunted down everything.”]

[“Miss Dragon.”] Realizing what she meant, I added another suggestion. [“Instead of her having killed everything, I think it’s more likely that she and her pack scared off everything, after killing certain predators or monster pack alphas.”]

[“A territorial dispute?”] She tilted her head.

[“Well, yes, it makes sense, no? Animals have certain territories they mark and want to protect from enemies. It is their home, after all. If my garm mother leveled up extremely fast, then she must have killed quite a lot of her equals.With the area’s power in the garm’s hand, a monster migration could have happened.”]

[“Ooh!”] She nodded vigorously, understanding and agreeing with me. [“However, hasn’t it been a month now after she died? There should be a power vacuum, right? Why aren’t all the monsters returning?”]

[“Maybe tomorrow? Who knows what they are thinking.”]

And with those final words we finished our meals and readied ourselves for a well-earned sleep. Another day

<Acquisition requirement fulfilled. [Prediction Lv. 1] acquired>

---

<Acquisition requirement fulfilled. [Terrain Maneuvering Lv. 1] acquired>

<You have bought [Dark Magic Lv. 1]. Your current SP is 50>

<Proficiency requirement fulfilled. [Dark Magic Lv. 1] evolved into [Dark Magic Lv. 2]. 0 SP remaining>

<Magic gained: [Dark Bolt] [Dark Tendrils]>

Me, and my loud mouth!

[“Hahaha! I can’t believe you were correct about yesterday! Hahaha, you sure you weren’t a fortune teller instead of teacher?”]

[“Why are you happy because of this?! This is a disaster!”] I cried out in response to Miss Dragon out-of-place excitement.

[“What do you mean a disaster? Finally, my chance to evolve. How could I not be happy?”]

Sometimes I really wondered if it was correct for me to put my trust in this girl. She was too reckless! Was it arrogance from all her strength, or was this her real personality, hidden behind a nice girl mask? I’ve seen a lot of girls have such an attitude.

Hearing her laugh so merrily as we were running away from the hulking monster behind us was frightening! I thought she was actually crazy at this moment. I knew I was in her debt and she probably meant well, maybe, but getting myself in these sort of situations was insane!

[“Alright, alright. I bought what you wanted me to, so can you do something, please! I cannot keep this up any longer!”] I pleaded.

Her plans needed me to buy [Dark Magic] and level it up, so I was broke again. Miss Dragon had described how she cast spells, but I’d never done it before.

[“We got this! Don’t worry!”]

I never thought what I did yesterday was a “setting a flag” moment, but after what happened just now, I had to curse myself for this. Superstition or not! It was a peaceful morning, but this giant bear suddenly appeared while we were having lunch! Miss Dragon noticed it immediately, but so did the bear.

We were being chased through the forest all while Miss Dragon shot fire spells at it, being the bear’s rock-like fur and skin was warding it off. Now, wheezing, I turned around to see Miss Dragon engaging the bear in close combat. Knowing that the monster will be preoccupied, I took my chance to catch my breath, recovering a little bit of my used stamina.

[“Ms. Segawa just remember the magic explanation I gave you and use [Dark Tendrils] to keep this thing in check. Be careful of overusing spells and accumulating too much arcane corruption!”]

“Understood!” … Is what I would like to say but this wasn’t the time to use any of my limited mana for [Telepathy]. I needed to concentrate on learning how to cast spells.

Oh right, what was the profile of this monster again?

__________________________________

Name: *    Level: 0  Race: Rock-Skin Horned Grizzly

Age: 10 Years

Status:    Health: 2342/2342   Mana: 111/111

Strength: 1151    Intelligence: 129

You are reading story A Dragon Idol’s Reincarnation Tale at novel35.com

Vitality: 1403    Wisdom: 1284

Agility: 641    Stamina: 1169/1380

__________________________________

<Rock-Skin Horned Grizzly: A bear type monster with skin as tough as rock. Despite its bulky physique, it can keep up with most monsters due to its body's ability to accelerate to high speeds in a straight line. Both the fur and skin of this monster show extraordinarily defense to physical and magical abuse. Its meat is tough and hard to chew. Rank C>

Argh, I forgot the skills. No, whatever, it doesn’t matter. Miss Dragon knows it.

Miss Dragon mentioned my garm mother not only had higher stats but the skill quality and variety between the two couldn’t be comparable. Considering it was only level zero, it must have just evolved and was now drunk on power. Without the previous top predator around, and how we were seeing a C rank now, our hypothesis seemed to have been correct.

“Kraaaaaah!”

“Groaughhhh!”

Outmaneuvered and outgunned. Not only was Miss Dragon extremely fast in her dragon form, she also had a variety of spells to inconvenience and damage the bear. The monster struggled to trample down on the smaller Miss Dragon, but she was literally making him look like a fool.

She was the natural predator of this bear.

[“Tsk, this bear’s skin is so hard. Not even my spear spells are able to pierce it. That Wisdom is helping him out a lot.”]

Although it looked like she was winning, it seemed her damage output wasn’t good enough. In other words, I had to do my best to finally contribute something in our battles! However, having such a weight on my shoulders was exactly what I didn’t want

Still, no matter how complex magic was, I should be able to do this. I’d been teaching high schoolers destined to become the elites of the future. As one of their teachers, I should be able to do the same. I need to be able to learn how to cast spells.

Oh shit! Focus, Saori!

Alright, time to do exactly how Miss Dragon explained it to me. Imagine the spell I want to cast. Locate the shadow closest to the bear to conjure the magic circle. Imagine snaring the bear. Now, I must direct my mana through my head, and let it flow out to construct the magic cir—

Huh?

<[Dark Tendril] Chant: Appendages of the dusk, reveal yourself. Horrors of the night, do my bidding! Dark Tendrils!>

Letters. Words were rushing into my head as a System Message appeared out of nowhere. Miss Dragon never mentioned this!

Could this be a spell chant? Should I ask Miss Dragon about it before— No, no! There is no time! Clearly, I need to read it out. That’s the only way for me to cast it!

Okay. Appendages of the dush, reveal yourself. Horrors of the—

“Mgrraaaaaaaaaaaouh!”

[“No! Ms. Segawa, open your eyes! Terra Wall!”]

I saw a giant earth wall appear out of nowhere before something crashed into it, creating a loud, dull sound like hammering a brick wall. The bear was coming for me! I had to hurry up! No, wait, I need to see the bear! I need to run over.

— night, do my bidding!

[“Segawa-san!”]

Dark Tend— Huh?!

“Gruuoooagh!”

As I turned around the corner of the wall, the bear’s large paw swiped around randomly. But before it could crush me, the earth under me suddenly shot up, catapulting me up into the air. A green magic circle then appeared under me, blowing wind out, launching me even further up, far enough where I could grab onto a tree branch.

Wha-What happened?! I was flabbergasted, but that didn’t last too long when a voice suddenly entered my mind.

[“You need to get your shit together, now! We’re in a fight here. Inferno Blast!”] Miss Dragon’s strong tone caused me to refocused, but even then, what was I supposed to do?

Spell casting took too much focus from me! Not only did I have to manage my mana, imagine the spell, build up the magic circle, but I also had to chant something from a System message! This was too much! How was I supposed to cast a spell without putting myself in harm’s way?

Enough with the dilly-dally. I have enough time now by being stuck up in this tree. This was the best time to ask!

[“Miss Dragon, how am I supposed to deal with the chant? I cannot divert my attention while reciting the words that are streaming in my head.”]

[“Woah, uhh, uhhh. Give me a second!”] She narrowly dodged after being surprised by me.

Oops, that was bad timing. I should apologize later...

After blowing the grizzly away with [Earth Crash], she glanced over at me.

[“Chanting? What chanting? Oh, wait, that’s right! Either buy [Chant Revocation], or, use your senses to dodge and anticipate attacks! Either way, magic casting is all about focus! You get used to it! Until then, I’ll keep you safe. Just snare him up and I’ll be able to take him down with one hit!”]

She sounded so confident before sending me mental thumbs up to encourage me, before the bear suddenly tackled the tree I was on right now. I was beginning to panic, fearing I would fall to my death if I stayed up here.

Could I really trust Miss Dragon to keep me safe? Was this the correct choice?

Fuck! But it was my only choice!

I would entrust my life in her hands once again. We’ve traveled a whole month together. I needed to believe I could do this. I needed to concentrate. As such, hoping everything will work out, after locating an appropriate shadow, I closed my eyes and put my whole attention to the spell casting.

Nothing would distract me.

Ok. Let’s do it again. Imagine the spell. Imagine what you want to do with it. Direct the flow of mana. Recite the chant.

“Mrrrggrrrrouh!”

[“Oh no, you don’t! Earthern Shackles, Flame Explosion.”]

“Grrrouh.”

Explosions, the tree shaking, the cries of a dragon and bear. Everything clashed with each other as they entered my ears, but little by little, I pushed it all out of my mind. It felt tranquill.

[“Verdammt, the shackles can’t harden when they haven’t snared him yet. I gotta rely on the explosions then! Flame Explosion, Flame Explosion, Flame Explosion!”]

Explosions? Successive explosions that are getting louder and louder. Was the bear charging towards me?

…Hold on. [Enhanced Enemy Sense]. My nose. I could smell him. Hold on, could I— I could! I could track his movements even without seeing him! Is this the power of [Primal Sense]?

<Proficiency requirement fulfilled. [Enhanced Enemy Sense Lv. 1] evolved into [Enhanced Enemy Sense Lv. 2]>

[“Scheiße!”]

Left, right, charge, jump. I could feel it all. Hearing, smelling, and the power of this sensor. I can feel it all!

I felt my mind becoming even more peaceful even with all the chaos happening around me. I felt relieved to know where everything was. It wasn’t 100% accurate, as I still had moments where I wasn’t sure where Miss Dragon and the bear were, but getting some information soothed my mind.

Speaking about Miss Dragon, wasn’t actively attacking the bear right now. She was holding him back. Her movements suggested she was going it defensively. She was supporting me, even in this dire situation, so I could learn and become stronger.

Such a spartan way of learning. Who taught her that?

Appendages of the dusk, reveal yourself. Horrors of the night, do my bidding!

“Grouf.”

“Mgrrrrrouhhhhh!”

… What sort of friend does this to one another? Hiehiehie… Dark Tendrils!

“Mgrrr?!”

The spell worked! Pitch-black tendrils emerged from the shadow of the bear and started constricting themselves around the bear’s limbs, sapping him from the strength to move freely.

[“Nice work! Earthern Shackles.”]

Once Miss Dragon’s spell was cast: long, slithering ropes made from earth formed and started to snare around the bear’s legs and head, hardening once they stopped moving. Without the freedom of movement, which he lost due to my [Dark Tendrils], he wouldn’t have the strength to break through these shackles. The bear was now being mummified by our two spells.

[“Thank you for being so obedient and staying still! The show is about to end! Have a taste of my newest spell… Scorching Sun!”]

A small sphere of flame began to materialize above Miss Dragon; its heat intensity and size rapidly grew ever larger, until that once minuscule flame had reached its final phase. Fitting its name [Scorching Sun], a massive ball of intense fire fell down upon the bear monster, ending its misery near instantaneously with a bonfire-like rite.

We won.

[“… That was a bit…too much?”] I questioned the need for such a huge attack.

[“Yup, that was overkill but I can evolve now, so who cares.”] Miss Dragon responded before climbing up the tree to pick me. She then jumped down, using [Wind Blast] to soften her fall.

[“You know, now that I think about it, it would have been better for you to kill him, so you could level up easier. I literally only got one level for killing a C rank monster, hahaha”]

Considering the difference between our ranks, that might have been true but…

[“I wouldn’t have even been able to hurt it…”]

[“Who knows but come on, be more cheerful! We fucking took down a C rank monster, yay! Ahahah, come on, come on!”]

Turning back into her human form, she picked me and began swinging and flinging me all around the place. The sight of a little girl playing around with her pet dog might come to mind, but, unfortunately for me, being swung around with Miss Dragon’s monstrous strength meant losing all hope of escaping this pendulum of doom.

[“Stop, please! Enough of this spartan training! Why did you chose this moment to teach me how to cast magic?!”] I frantically asked before losing consciousness, but the answer from Miss Dragon was not something I expected.

[“Learn by doing! Your garm mother taught me that, so I thought it would help you!”]

Once again, although I didn’t know who my garm mother was, I was starting to feel like it was best I hadn’t met her. After all—

[“Now, let me down! Let me down, please! Aaaaaaaaaaaah!”]

[“Wooo, we won!”]

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