A Dragon Idol's Reincarnation Tale-Chapter 536: Glacial Expedition Start-Oh!
[“I now have seven floating balls rotating around me, as if I was an astronomical body. Woooo, look at them rotate!”] I cheered as I used my mana to force my six catalysts and the plasma ball I just produced to accelerate, letting them rotate around me similarly to Earth’s planets rotating around the Sun. [“Ahaha, I just need one more and I can really emulate Earth’s solar system with this. Two if Pluto wasn’t a dwarf planet.”]
[“‘Solar System?’ ‘Pluto?’”] Nong said, also using [Telepathy] as we traversed the glaciers through the sky.
We were flying low with our party, side-by-side with the twins while Vifi and Tasianna were on my back, to avoid the colder air above. Flying was faster than walking through the glaciers while allowing us a bird’s eye view of things, but flying too high was a bit too dangerous due to the fickle weather.
Although the sky was clear with only a few clouds, their movements felt too fast while the blow of the wind was volatile, jumping from nearly non-existent to strong at a moment’s notice. With Nong’s masterful control of [Aerokinesis] and our combined ability to control the temperature, we were keeping ourselves decently warm even without our coats.
Naturally, they helped, of course. Although it was tricky to find something that fitted Nong’s body form while keeping his feathers undisturbed and ready to be used whenever, the extra cold resistance was helping a lot, even if Nong himself didn’t like using it. After all, a dragon’s pride was their scales, to the point wearing clothes or armor was seen as a disgrace.
We wore our scales as clothes and we prided ourselves on scales able to protect ourselves from even the mightiest claws and fangs. While Mom never chided me for using [Panzer] or Grimnir’s armor, I knew well enough from my encounters here that it wasn’t a good thing to flaunt around if I wanted the dragons to respect me. Nong, too, shared this opinion, but even his pride was worth nothing if we wanted to face the coldest, or second coldest, area on Frozen Nest, cold enough that even an ice dragon like Sieg pretty much forced me to use a dragon-suited fur jacket for my own protection.
[“Solar system. That’s what we call the astronomical bodies orbiting a star, or sun, if we want to be simple. It’s in the word ‘solar system.’ Now that I think about it, Peolynca doesn’t exactly have a proper word for it, right? Since astronomy is barely developed here,”] I said, unable to recall much talk about planets or anything else related to Peolynca’s solar system since I was born. [“You know you have your sun and moon, and that this world is spherical, though.”]
[“We have Caedhulen sailors to thank for that,”] Tasianna stated. [“The world map was drawn by them, which allowed us to know about the spherical shape of our ‘planet.’ The Origin Gods have informed us about it, but ever since their arrival, the study of the moon and sun mostly died down. Elven scholars from Kel’Thun were known to have had an interest in it before the Origin Gods’ arrival, apparently.”]
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[“Really? Kel’Thun?”] I flinched, mostly surprised to finally hear something about this world’s star study.
[“We learned that there are worlds foreign to our own,”] Nong answered. [“Now, I’m not the most learned, but I did hear about this from Taimatrak, though. He did show some interest in astronomy, I remember, but lost it the moment he learned everybody gave up on it. To learn more about the Origin Gods, following Istari’s example, seemed to have stolen those elven astronomers’ interest. They wanted to learn more about Edjurl and how gods are born.”]
[“H-huh?”] I stopped flying, prompting Nong to do the same. [“W-wait, if that’s—”]
[“They’re secluded,”] Nong immediately replied, sending me an image of his dragonewt form patting me on the shoulder, trying to soothe me. [“Completely ostracized from the rest of Kel’Thun, and are even looked down upon in Saelariel. It’s like a cult, in a way.”]
[“You know a lot about that,”] Vifi said, looking at him with quizzical eyes, causing Nong to click his tongue.
[“Then complain to my elder brother. Taimatrak is the sort of person to fly wherever he wishes, disguising himself as the locals, risking unwanted attention, just to satisfy his curiosity on history. The number of times his mother complained about him flying off to Altrust just to confirm some capricious thought or theory.”]
Ahhh … Yeah, that would check out from what I saw when I was with him. He would seem like that sort of person.
Nong continued, [“Anyways, our brother got bored after learning about them and their current fascination. Since elves are long-lived species, they can live as long as they want as long as they keep themselves healthy physically and mentally. The interest in real astronomy probably died with them, and I hadn’t heard about Altrust’s cities fancying the topic when I wandered around them. I was just surprised to hear this topic.”]
[“I guess?”] I shrugged. [“Well, stars, sun, and moons are known enough, so I can’t exactly blame people for looking further. With a world filled with mysteries already, looking into space does sound like ‘an idea for next time’ kinda deal. Hiehie, well, that’s okay. We already have a fake sun in [Scorching Sun] and [Sun, Consume All], so why not make another?”]
I smiled as I stared at the one non-catalyst turning around my orbit, commanding it to come closer to me as I had my catalysts return to my [Storage Magic]. I gazed down at the plasma creation, unable to look away from its red, orange, and yellow beauty despite knowing this wasn’t a real star.
To preface, I had no idea about astronomy outside of the basics you learned at school, unlike biology and chemistry I learned just from surfing the web. I just had no idea what suns are made out of and how I could produce something similar, but I knew instinctively I couldn’t actually create an actual sun with my current abilities. It just wasn’t feasible, since I knew the energy I needed to make one would be enormous while its lifespan would be too short for the effort to be worth it.
I couldn’t create an artificial sun, but I could gather the solar energy emitted from the sun to create something similar to it.
I looked down at my chest, still glowing through my brown-furred coat as my solar core was working like a reactor. The heat produced was natural, not increased with mana or anything, even with [Core Regulation] now part of [Ruby Star].
Having grown larger, forcing my own chest to grow slightly more in size to accommodate it, my solar core was now surrounded by a group of pure white scales with golden outlines, similar to my dragonewt form. A stark contrast to the rest of my crimson body that even differed from how my scales would light up a neon white when I entered [Battle Frenzy] mode. That “visible boss weakness spot” was even more conspicuous, but the thing had just grown even more sturdy and efficient.
Absorption of solar energy had grown, the amount I could store had grown, and even without using them, I knew my [Solar Beam] Ability and [Drakonian Sunlight Edge] skill would be far deadlier now. A Job evolution caused something like this … a rather massive change to my body’s biology.
And the result was this larger solar core.
Szzzzzz … Yes, the sizzling sound of my core working better than ever, able to send out its solar energy in the form of plasma. A little “star” it might be, but I wanted to see it grow into a “real” one with me eventually.
Though, what did all of this even mean? What was the purpose of a slightly stronger solar core anyway, when Mom personally told me it would just become stronger the more I used and discarded it over the years, like my molted and shed scales? Creating a miniature sun sure was fun, but it sounded and looked like a mere circus trick. If I wanted a fake sun, I already had two spells for that.
What use was this Job evolution aside from an appearance change, then?
Well, the second time I could actually use would grace us just about … now! The second reason why we had to fly low.
[“Blizzard!”] Shay called out as he spotted the movements of the clouds accelerating. This was the first sign the mana around us was starting to distort nature.
“Hrruuuuu!” Below us, the denizens of this glacial wasteland called out as they too noticed the change, giving all of us our second warning.
Lumbering, black- and brown-furred bison the size of two floored houses roared, stopping their herd from grazing along the unfrozen river of the glaciers, forcing them to dive right into it to reach an underwater cave. Truck-sized reindeer with antlers large enough to act as snow plows charged through the glaciers with the speed of cars, destroying ice boulders and flinging any animals too slow to escape their retreat path into a nearby underground cave into the air.
Never ignore the locals when they do something, right?
[“Okay, follow what we practiced!”] I called as the twins and I dove to the ground, landing right on the ice.
Beth landed right on my back and started to disperse a chilly mist all around my body as I started to heat up, protecting everybody from what I would do in a moment. Meanwhile, Shay released an ice breath into the air while Tasianna molded it with [Cyrokinesis], creating a dome similar to an igloo above, levitating purely due to Shay and Tasianna.
Just as we finished this, Nong finally landed, using his rank A size to cover us up completely. Being nearly double my size with two pairs of verdant-green wings, my brother wrapped us in them completely while he erected—
[“Ah, it’s faster this time,”] he said nonchalantly as the bad weather suddenly worsened, blasting us with a freezing gale of snow.
Its strength pushed Nong back, sliding his feet across the ice. The igloo surrounding us protected us from getting buffeted, but a hail quickly followed the initial snowstorm, striking the solid ice walls, using gravity and their bowling ball-sized grains to crack the igloo in seconds.
Calling this normal felt so wrong but unlike that false snowstorm those elementals created when we got ambushed by that ape, this was a true blizzard created from the “harmonious” ice mana deeply ingrained in the northern glacier’s ground. It was relentless and merciless, ravaging everything still trapped in the open field, freezing even the very glaciers it was born on … Yet, it also acted like a reset.
The animals those reindeer sent flying into the sky were frozen solid within a few seconds, with the trails of disturbed snow, signs of monsters running to safety, being covered up again as if nothing had happened to it. If I ignored the raging storm and the cold stinging my face, it felt somehow quite tranquil, in a zen state, with nature reclaiming and taking everything it was due. All of this happened while I had a front-row seat to everything happening.
[“Curse this damn cold!”] With an awe-inspiring roar, Nong flapped his wings as he raised his body, standing on his hind legs as he twisted his front ones, angling them in a way to make them look like arms.
His eyes literally flared up as flames appeared, mixing into his green feathers with a similar color to the black-tips on them. He turned his emerald-colored bird appearance into a true hell bird, looking even more intimidating than Saori whenever she donned her [Shadow Armament].
Crushing the ice around him, he slammed his wings around us while using his forelegs to reposition himself, anchoring into the ground with his claws to prevent the wind from blowing him away. He roared once more as a sturdy wind barrier surrounded us, fortified further by levitating aflame feathers.
The preparations were set.
Well, let’s go. One more time.
A smaller, weaker blizzard took us by surprise after we left the cave, but since everybody already experienced one while I was unconscious, they were able to react just quick enough, performing the same moves just like now before we found a cave to seek refuge. Creating a transportable igloo with a wind barrier protecting us imitated how Inuits would survive the cold in the northern Americas, and this was the survival tactic our party practiced for this expedition.
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Nong being here meant Tasianna didn’t have to create a barrier, and it was even better as an insulation tool. Technically, with him here, I also wasn’t needed since his higher intelligence allowed him to make stronger flames, heating the igloo faster to keep us warm. However, this was also where my new solar core became quite useful when I used it in the previous storm.
Okay, little sun, let’s do this!
[Ruby Star] inherited [White Flames] and [Stage Fever]. That was the biggest difference to other fires and even [Solar Core] itself.
I stared at the sky, seeing through the transparent igloo until my eyes locked onto the sun barely peeking through the clouds. I closed them as I felt my body heating up, caused by my solar core absorbing more than its limit, all so it could grow the plasma ball in front of me. A trail of flames seeped out of my core, feeding the miniature sun like an open faucet.
From the size of a baseball, it first grew into a volleyball, then a gymnastic ball, to finally stop at the length of a car. It couldn’t grow any further as my solar core finally equalized the absorption with its consumption. My little sun here had a voracious appetite. Stubborn, as well. A very bad combo since it would only grow as long as my solar core had an overabundance of energy.
Still, it was large enough to spread the warmth of the sun to everybody, unlike [Sun, Consume All], which absorbed solar energy from everything around it to feed me. “Ruby Star” was the opposite. It was a “One for All” type of ability, fitting [White Flames].
[Gazing Upon The Ruby Star (Owner) (Minor)] inflicted on [Young Sunfang Dragon, Hestia Atsuko Kargryxmor]
Solar energy was absorbed by me and it would send regenerative white fire to everybody while boosting them with [Gazing Upon The Ruby Star]. The owner—me—gained boosts according to how many people gained the buff, so it was similar to [Stage Fever] in that aspect.
Gazing Upon The Ruby Star: The buffs are divided between who receives it, granting increasing power to the owner while all individuals considered allies by the owner will receive a regenerative buff according to the power of the sun. The owner will receive 5%/10%/20%/35% increase in all fire- and holy-related spells and abilities while increasing their draconic-related abilities by 5%/10%/15%/25%. All allies will receive 15%/25%/40%/60% increase in all healing sources and resistance against fire, holy, and water elemental attacks, but a 5%/10%/20%/30% decrease in resistance against dark elemental attacks. The boost will be determined by the stage of the buff. The stage will increase depending on the number of allies with this buff. As long as the ruby star is active, alters all solar-related attacks by the owner
And just like [White Flames], I could control the white flames spreading to everybody, including the solar energy seeping into their bodies. Furthermore, since [Ruby Star Lv. 7] absorbed [Draconic Aura], this unique skill could now be used as a conduit for my Territory since it was considered an aura-type skill. Like an aura, I could expand it, which in this case was the range of this little sun’s radiance.
I couldn’t help but smile … This little sun, not even large enough to be considered a dwarf, was brimming with life with how active the plasma was swimming and jumping, as if it could feel happiness and excitement. The orb of heat was condensed to the point I couldn’t see through it, and it was emitting its heat all around us with such a fierce defiance against this cold that the snow and ice ground were starting to melt under my command.
This damn snow didn’t melt when I walked over it during my first visit, but this ruby star was really distorting the ice mana in this area. Without that protection, snow and ice could finally be turned into water.
Even stranger was how this flame wasn’t anywhere close to the heat of an inferno. It was relaxing, like sunbathing—a result of [White Flames]. The cold was nonexistent with the sun up; it was even turning into a real threat to the glaciers with how the blizzard wasn’t affecting us. I mean, I didn’t want to say I was causing global warming, but this sure felt like it.
Feeling this, Nong’s demeanor completely shifted. The hell bird-like appearance vanished as if it never happened and he assumed his usual appearance again as that green “peacock-posing” brother of mine. He let out a cackle, nodding firmly as he furled up his wings.
[“Perfect. This is the perfect temperature, but make sure you don’t waste all that stamina, little scamp. You look like you’re burning through your calories.”]
I nodded. Even if I wasn’t feeling like I was burning up as Tasianna and Beth were cooling me down, my solar core was telling me how much I was straining it. Not in a bad way, but using this much solar energy to create the sun was forcing my solar core to continuously feed it to maintain it. Like a spell under [Continuous Cast].
A change in solar energy consumption would shrink the ruby star, although if I were to increase my absorption, I could create a larger sun. Either develop my solar core even further by using it more, or I could combo it with [Sun, Consume All] to have it act as a secondary absorber.
Regardless, using this little sun like this made it far easier for us to move through this blizzard.
[“It scares away the elementals, though,”] Tasianna stated, slightly anxious as she stared around us. [“I heard their voices. They are screaming. Running. Furious and annoyed.”]
[“They were cheering when the blizzard came,”] Beth added. [“Slipping through the snow to parade around, but they scampered away the moment your ruby star grew, my lady. It’s an invasion of fire and holy mana into this realm made out of purely ice mana, and from the viewpoint of an ice-elemental being, I would feel nervous as well.”]
[“Yes. I agree with not overdoing it, my lady. Just enough to keep us comfortable, but not enough to melt the snow,”] Shay urged, and I listened. [“The natural state in this area is that the snow doesn’t melt against body heat or normal flames, so let us not ruin this balance.”]
However, Nong had a different opinion.
[“Areas like these are perfect homes for elementals. We have something similar both in Storm and Inferno Nest, however, unlike the elementals there, it seems like the ones here are a bit more defiant against strangers,”] he said. [“Don’t allow this, Hestia. This is your realm as the daughter of the Sixth Empress. A measly increase in solar rays, and these things are running away all puffy like croaking frogs, thinking their little cries are dangerous? Pah.”]
[“It’s about keeping the equilibrium, Princes Nongramos. Agitating them any further when they can attack us just like the rest of the beasts isn’t smart, especially since the deeper we go, the likelier we are to see rank A monsters, as that monster ape Lady Hestia talked about. We do not need elementals coming at us at that point,”] Tasianna argued, looking slightly annoyed. [“Faefolk are born from mana, with the surroundings determining what kind of fae they will be born as. Lesser fae are the most affected by this, and so are elementals. We do not need to be warmth up; a slight chill is not horrible and it doesn’t distort the elements too much.”]
[“I agree,”] I said as I reduced the intensity of the ruby star, stopping the ice from melting while letting the storm grow stronger around us. I was starting to feel a chilly wind around my horns. [“Mom would definitely agree with you, but I’m still somebody who prefers that people smile when they are around me. I don’t want people to walk over me as if I was a rug, but agitating everybody while acting and looking like an asshole for no real benefit is just major ego problems.”]
[“Hey, that’s a bit rude. You’re calling out most dragons in that case!”] Nong replied, laughing a bit.
Is he laughing in agreement or what? I wondered but ignored it since he relented to our decision.
With the discussion done, our party decided to find a cave to settle for the day when we noticed this storm was only getting stronger, to the point our vision of the surroundings was being obscured. It didn’t matter if we were able to keep ourselves warm now or had the skills to detect enemies, staying within this storm was generally a bad decision.
As mentioned before, I could control my solar energy now in a similar manner to how I did it with [White Flames] and [Pyrokinesis]. Instead of expanding it around me like an aura, I shot the solar energy forward like a tunnel, melting away the vision obscuration and allowing us to move forward without being blinded.
Nong, using his wings to blast wind like a radar, managed to scout some hills for us, allowing us to enter an empty cave for us to stay. Unfortunately, this blizzard kept on raging even into the evening, forcing us to make camp for the night. Even worse, this bad weather remained for another whole day. Yes, the entire day was ruled by this blizzard, burying our entrance with snow, forcing Tasianna and Nong to drill a hole through it here and then with a wind spell to keep our oxygen supply stocked up.
Seeing as we were trapped, I opened up my subspace and had a chat with Sieg when I saw him inside, waiting for us to call him.
“This isn’t an unusual phenomenon, sadly. As much as I am worried about my brother, you should watch out for your safety, as well,” he said, prompting me to question him about what was happening in Iceskale. “Not too well, sadly. The elder scales have departed as we assumed, taking a few from my generation with them to take revenge on the leviathans who attacked us. However, I do not believe it will become as bloody as my father initially assumed, thanks to the Emperor.”
“Father?”
“Yes, Emperor Eltharion had shown himself properly as the tyrant of our lands, crushing a small group of young leviathans with flames so hot, even the open ocean couldn’t withstand his nature-destroying powers. They were taught a lesson; Lord Karydrinos’s wrath was swiftly quelled, but this still doesn’t change our chance for catharsis.” He massaged his temples, making the shadows under his eyes more visible. Has he not slept? “How is it on your end? Have you managed to make it closer to the meeting point?”
“Halfway there,” Vifi answered, unfurling a map of the glaciers that we received from Sieg. “We passed the river going into the sea, moved into the glacier plains with hordes of monsters, and made some distance before we found this cave. We only need to move through a valley along a frozen tunnel.”
“Good. The valley is lined with special white lilies. Great ingredients for further alchemy, if you need it, Tasianna. Still, I would recommend harvesting them after you find my brother, just to cool that hot-head of his. He probably isn’t expecting you, Princess Hestia, so he might be anxious about the long wait. Nothing to be done, though, with the bad weather. You simply have to adapt.”
“You warned these blizzards could be worse, Lord Siegragxus,” Shay replied. “That they can last longer than a day. We are prepared, please, do not worry. Our supplies are plentiful, we can produce water through magic, and as long as Lady Hestia and Prince Nongramos are around, fires will never be an issue.”
“Yes, correct. Remember: Remain together; always,” he emphasized. “Your small party will only survive as a team, and we still must know why the dragons that stayed in the glaciers did respond to our summons. Stay with Rhekkraxus; they know him well. They do not know you, Princess Hestia. Your mother has already told you this, but the dragons who venture into the glaciers are here to train, isolating themselves for that very reason. They are not privy to the outside world and they will be hungry for battle. They will not see you as a princess and they will attack you before they can sniff your scent, as you are a fire dragon.”
The rivalry was obvious enough to me at this point. The people who stay here are obsessed with leveling, after all.
He continued, “There are five dragonkin you must find, but there is one rank A around that we have to talk to. He is part of a dysfunctional clan as its only member alive, and as such, seeks to evolve into rank S to revive it. He isn’t ancient, but still far older than most of my generation as one of the first few newborns after the civil war, yet, sadly, his parents died from a clan conflict. Unfortunate. This happens too often with true dragonkin slaying each other.”
“And we should beware this guy?” I tilted my head.
“He isn’t dangerous, but he is quite determined. So, if he acts rude, please do not mind it. If he is willing, though, I believe he can be a mighty boon to your journey to the very north for your own goals, Princess Hestia. Tasianna.”
“Got it, I’ll make sure to remember that. Question, what is this guy’s name?”
“Yothmlak Heathlaxmal. An ice dragon with the typical body physique as most, but with a reddened crested horn that arcs along his head like a scythe-head.”
With a dragon contact memorized, our journey would restart tomorrow when we noticed the storm was starting to wane when we were about to go to sleep. Blasting through the snow blockade with a strong [Wind Blast], we confirmed the blizzard had finally subsided and were able to free ourselves from that cave as we took to the sky, enjoying the view of the snow overgrowing everywhere.
The monsters inhabiting the glaciers were already hard at work, shoveling the snow away, looking like everything would return to how it initially looked after a while. With this thought in my head, I continued to fly with Nong as Vifi guided us, leading us to that valley. Sadly, the snow had completely buried those white lilies Sieg mentioned, although that “frozen tunnel” was still visible.
Looking at it, it was just a river that was frozen over, running into a cave at the end of this valley. That place was also where we would find Rhekk, as the southern part of Frozen Nest wasn’t the only place with an underground world. The glaciers had one as well, all to allow monsters to survive whenever the blizzard raged for more than a week.
However, first, we had to get rid of the snow.
[“Haha, blowout!”] Nong said before he zoomed around the area, circling with a speed that made it look like his body was creating afterimages. After a moment, a tornado was created from his action, sucking all the snow in the area to blow it onto the cliffs of this valley.
Once it was done, we entered the cave, only to hear a strange noise. It came from the depths with something large rampaging around while the sound of ice kept cracking and breaking. This wasn’t exactly what we wanted to hear when we were supposed to meet Rhekk here.
As such, worried he might have become impatient as Sieg mentioned, we rushed down, using whatever pathway we could to go closer to the noise. When we finally did, Vifi confirmed she found Rhekk, but that he was only one part of the noise.
When our party finally got to him, we could only turn pale when we saw a horde of elementals chasing after him. Rhekk was only a rank B, so he wasn’t exactly the strongest, so …
[“Dammit! Everybody, get to him, quickly!”] I cried out when I saw a major elemental slam him against the wall.
[“Yes, Lady Hestia!”] Tasianna and the twins replied as they got ready for battle.
[“By your commands, General!”] Vifi declared as lightning surged through her prosthetic arm.
