A Dragon Idol's Reincarnation Tale

Proficiency requirements fulfilled. [Torrent Resistance Lv. 4] evolved into [Torrent Resistance Lv. 5]. 7900 SP remaining Multiple proficiency requirements fulfilled. [True Draconic Barrier Lv. 6] [Silence Lv. 4] [Probability Correction Lv. 10] [Odorless Lv. 4][True Unarmed Technique Lv. 9] [Torrent Lv. 6] [Storm Resistance Lv. 9] [Tranquil Mind Lv. 10] [Saint’s Aura Lv. 5] gained Multiple proficiency requirements fulfilled. [All-Damage Enhancement Lv. 10] [Detection Sensor Lv. 10] [Territory Release Lv. 10] gained. 4150 SP remaining

Okay, maybe not the political world, but definitely the influencer world… which could branch out to a bunch of stuff, actually. That included political influencers, and as a princess, I technically had the power to do just that. Knowing this was my role in whatever Taim was planning, I was starting to get nervous since I wasn’t the one planning it.

Bits of my past paranoia were starting to creep up again. The lack of information during my one week of training was making me doubt my brother, since I finally had some time to think. All that training exhausted me to the point I didn’t give anything else a thought, but now that I was waiting for my stream to begin, I had too much to think about.

So, to distract myself, I had Hikari summarize all the System messages that appeared during my training, allowing me to review everything that I had leveled. It was too bad that my [True Spreamanship Technique] was locked to level ten due to [Drakonian Sunlight Edge], though. With how much I’ve trained my spearmanship, it would have been nice to see the System acknowledge my progress. Training without the rare “skill level up!” messages made it a bit dull.

In any case, I also decided to spend my SP now. A week of training allowed me to understand which skills were worth leveling up during my training and which would take too long.

In my opinion, true ice mana wasn’t the focus for my silver dragon body’s training. It was to find the optimal synergy between my new body and my spell songs. Even if my silver dragon body was far better for melee combat, since my silver dust and solar ice gas excelled in defending myself and empowering my physical attacks, I was still an idol. My main advantage over everybody was my assortment of spell songs and how battle-warping all of them were if used correctly.

I had a list of songs I haven’t “remixed” yet. With the revelation that I could imbue the divine powers of the blessings I usurped through [Hestia’s Retainers] into my songs, I told myself I would write songs with this in mind. However, instead of remixing more than two songs, I’ve been writing new songs to cover up niche situations, like [Starstruck Winterscape] and [The Trial of Kings and Queens]. I had to fix that, and what better time than now, while I was training?

Well, that was what Hikari and I decided on, but it wasn’t like I had the pleasure of planning all of those songs while training my skills. As such, some skills had to reach level ten so I could just forget them. Thus, I had decided on [All-Damage Enhancement], [Detection Sensor], and [Territory Release]. [Storm Resistance] and [Ice Resistance] would have gone up as well if they hadn’t been one level off level ten.

The first two skills were optimal for my future conflict with the leviathans, and I also leveled up [Torrent Resistance] to level 5 on the first day of the training. Even while Hikari had control over our body, raising my water resistance remained difficult, as it was an innate weakness of my race. It was still expensive as hell to buy the individual level-ups. Yikes!

Thankfully, [Territory Release] is cheap. Having it at level ten will help Hikari’s true ice mana training.

The processes of earning true ice mana could be boiled down to either a test of patience or a test of endurance. Either it would take you years to refine your elemental mana into true mana, or you would need to harm your body by casting true elemental spells. My true ice mana combined these two methods, while I would earn true holy mana through the first method. So, for the former, why not combine it with Hikari’s Territory training since our silver dragon body didn’t have access to a Territory yet?

The thing with using a Territory was that it required a specific type of elemental mana to work once it was registered to my Profile. [Maestro des Karmesinen Stern] required fire mana. Hikari and I needed to figure out a way to express our ice mana aside from copying [Magmakammer]’s “unrefined deluge of fire mana” or Mom’s Territory, which created an ice palace inside a blizzard.

So much to think about. So much “homework.” I understood why Mom wanted me to level up my skills, but what mattered more were my spells and songs. It was a shame to use my SP in this manner, but time was just as precious, right? Back on Altrust, I had “unlimited” time. Using SP only during emergencies while leveling up skills through hard work was optimal. Right now, time was relative.

A war could break out at any time.

Too bad earning SP is only possible through evolving my unique Job, but that requires days of grinding.

Mom told me to forget leveling until I finished her trial, so I abided by her rule. As such, to level up my Job and gain more SP, I had to defeat Tasianna inside Mom’s nest so I could obtain the right to leave Frozen Nest and meet Father, where I would continue my training inside the dungeon. There, I would continue my [Battle Frenzy] training and gain experience.

Sure, the end goal in Frozen Nest was to become a true Nordor dragon, but Mom never mentioned that my training would end once I passed her trial. I would gain an item from Mom’s vault, and then my “nest arrest” would end.

Yet, instead of continuing with my dragoon training, I would use this time to stream to my followers and fans, per Taim’s request. I’d rather not. My daily streams during my break were for fun and to keep interacting with my fans, but this one was for business. It was my duty as a member of the imperial family to speak about the imperial succession.

… Yet, unlike what Taim, or any other member of the family outside of Mom and Neill, would think, I would not give a political speech.

“We’re live in a moment!” Neill shouted as Tasianna, Vifi, and Grimnir took their places, preparing the set for my vlog. Mom, the twins, Rhekk, and pretty much everybody inside the elemental village were currently taking it easy to watch me do my stream, since everybody knew this was an “official” one.

“Come over then!” I hurried Neill over, causing her to frown, as if to tell me not to worry about a “speedster” like her.

Once she was next to me, we turned around to lean on each other’s backs. We then raised our arms over our heads as Tasianna made the countdown. “Three, two, one… start!” she yelled before Neill and I took a step forward and snapped our hands down, posing like two power action heroes.

“Welcome to the Hestia and Fargryneill show!” we both shouted as the background exploded from Vifi, throwing a lightning bolt onto a pile of snow. Yes, we could have performed it more elegantly with proper magic, but the scuffness is what gave this “official” stream the charm it needed to set the tone.

And right on cue, Neill pushed me behind her with an arm as she pointed at the recorder. My attention-loving older sister could be trusted for these types of tasks! “You should already know me, and I got the invitation from my sister for this collaboration!”

“Collab! Say it correctly!” I protested.

After Karate chopping my head to silence me, Neill continued, “Second princess of the Empire of Kargryx, Fargryneill Qilinus Kargryxmor! You can catch me on my channel: ‘Fargryneill_Gueillxar,’ so you’d better start subscribing before I grow too much! Unlike my little sister here, who, somehow, can remember most of her regulars, I only have the time for a few.”

“That’s because all you do nowadays is either train or do work inside the subspace, Sis. Mom Five keeps telling me that you keep messing up on the—Mrrrmph!”

Neill slammed her palm onto my mouth, shutting me right up as she giggled awkwardly. “T-that’s not—”

“She failed to solve two ‘Harbor Master Dispute’ problems concerning ‘Inter-empire Trading with Marsh Nest,’” Vifi suddenly answered in my stead. With a smirk, she shrugged. “Seriously? With Marsh Nest of all nests? They—”

“You can shut your mouth, Special Effects Manager 2! Dragoons, take her away!”

“Ha, you’ll never take me… okay, I’m sorry, but I’m not saying something this stupid. ‘You’ll never take me alive?’ Marsven’s Shadow, who would ever say something this pathetic? Just run! Curse, even. No need to say something that ridiculous. If they want you alive, they’re going to stun you with seals before you can say anything. Or send in a rogue for a quick capture.”

… That wasn’t part of the show. She really was unreliable when it came to these jokes. Even Neill was willing to go with this gag, and she used to make it obvious when she found something cringy.

I looked down at my bracelet, checking on the chat through the projected blue screen.

Nulark! You’re here again!

Seriously? Another Ukanasch member is using their real name? Gosh, and here I thought I told them to use nicknames… but then again, what are the internet handles for Mom and Neill? ‘Melloxtressa’ and ‘Fargryneill_Gueillxar.’

… Oh, right. Him, too.

Neill let out a deep sigh, scratching her long mane-like hair as she turned to me. “To be fair, that pose was pretty mind-numbing to perform. I felt like some fledgling trying to look intimidating.”

Seeing Mom and Tasianna giggle at us made me feel self-conscious. At least Grimnir was giving me a thumbs up. It was just a gag to lighten the mood, but it was mine.

Waving my hand, I replied, “We’re still live, so don’t be like that. Anyways, put your chat up and also the music function, please.”

Leaving Neill to sort that out for me, I moved in front of the recorder. “Greetings, everybody. Hestia Atsuko here to bring you a day of smiles and joy! Well… that’s what I wanted to start with, at least. My stream title does mention ‘Important Announcement + Imperial Announcement,’ right? But that imperial stuff can begin later.”

Naturally, I expected such an announcement to divide the chat. After all, right now, the stream was available not only to those in Iceskale, but to Coral Beard as the information tower had been properly installed over there. Linked by the shadow magic of the dark dragons, the connection between the information tower close to Nordor Valley and that in Coral Beard had been successfully established, reaching the first goalpost for a World Wide Web. The internet was properly born.

Although it was restricted to streaming, recordings, and one special new function I was about to introduce, it still fulfilled what I wanted from the digital media guild. Using the knowledge of us Earthlings, the craftsmanship of the artificers, and the shadow magic of the dark dragons, we had proven the feasibility of the plan. As such, I kept my contract with Father.

“As such, the budget has expanded. The imperial treasury will now fully support the guild, which means that the digital media guild will soon expand into Coral Beard!” I cheered after I explained the success of the venture to my chat, causing them to explode in a waterfall of “Well, soon might be too early. My guild, technically, is still in the growing phase, and we haven’t been able to train a proper branch master. Guild Master Jadhund is still training our dragonewts into proper master artificers, after all.”

I turned to Grimnir, watching him type on his party bracelet before looking down, focusing on “BlasterForger” and “BlazingThrongBeard” arguing while everybody else was jeering at them. Those nicknames were Grimnir’s and Jadhund’s, respectively.

Like always, those two just loved to fight, but similar to Vifi and Neill, it was a friendship made through a friendly rivalry. After all, any time her had the chance, Grimnir would visit the digital media guild through the subspace, helping out wherever he could with Daichi and Haruka.

Leaving the chat to have their fun, I clapped my hands and continued my speech, “Which is why today will also be the day of the third function to work. Play it, Sis!”

With rehearsed movements, Neill dashed in front of me and tapped the blue screen on her bracelet. Silence followed us between us for a moment, before the sound of a bass and an electric guitar filled the air with their slow string plucks. Dum-dum-dum-dum, with such a controlled rhythm, it could lull people into sleep.

This narrative has been purloined without the author’s approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.

Before it got too tiresome, the sounds of hands clapping woke everybody up.

“Ooh, the moment our eyes met, ooh, my heart couldn’t stop beating ♫

Badump, dump, dump, it’s like you used a skill on me ♫

Ahh, but don’t you even think I’m so easily swayed ♫

Can you prove to me that you can set my heart on fire, pal ♫”

Correct! Music was coming from Neill’s party bracelet. My song, “Fireheart,” was being perfectly replayed with my voice, including a clear re-enactment of the instruments. Naturally, it was slightly less energetic than I would usually sing during a concert, simply ‘cause I knew it was a recording.

Instead of exhausting myself while dancing, I could take deep breaths. Since I need the recording to sound clear, I made sure not to mumble the lyrics, nor did I emphasize the lyrics as much as I would during a show. Since I didn’t need to focus on these aspects, the instrumental play sounded crisper. Why? ‘Cause I had Gravy’s slime golem play actual instruments.

Kahalameet gifted me a combat violin and piano, so why couldn’t I use some of my personal funds to order a buncha real instruments? My Obsidian Orchestra had become a reality, which meant I didn’t need to rely on my [Aerokinesis] for every song. As the founder of the digital media guild, I was paid a nice sum of money from their success, and I used it to have instruments crafted.

After all, this was an investment in the newest party bracelet function: the music player!

With “Fireheart” playing in the background, I explained, “The ‘Music Player!’ That is the name of this new function, and it allows you to do exactly that: play music through the party bracelet. You can either keep it in stereo mode, so everyone can hear, or set it to telepathy mode. The System will then send the song’s content into your mind, similar to a System message, so you can listen without disturbing anyone. This will drain the bracelet’s mana battery, though, so please watch out that you don’t overuse it. Oh, and only some of the newer models actually have the mana capacity for the telepathy mode, so please be warned.”

Well, I mean, you gotta admit my guild is advancing a bit too fast. I thought as the chat jumped onto the mage’s guild member like a pack of hyenas. They were throwing out gleeful comments at such a fast rate that I was starting to think they had prepared comments beforehand for these moments.

Sheesh! That’s too many people ganging on the poor guy. Tsk, tsk, tsk, people have to beware what they say inside a chat. With all the anonymity, even the Archerudite would be booed out of the chat if he said something wrong.

“In any case, the ‘Music Player’ function not only allows you to play music, but also buy and sell it. I uploaded ten songs, including ‘Promise’ and ‘Forgive Mine Eternal Soul.’ The price is rather high at 300 Davi per song, so I do apologize if it might be too expensive.”

Three large copper coins weren’t some throwaway number that I gave to earn a buck or two, but something decided on by the manager of the “Music Player,” Uncle Guyul, Frozen Nest’s minister of culture.

To be honest, as an idol, I did want my music to be easily reach people, so a price of 300 Davi was quite expensive, even on Miononbolax, where the minimum wage was higher than that in Artorias. 150 Davi per day was normal there, while 500 Davi was standard here. Standard of living, after all, was far higher in the towns and, especially, the various cities with a floating city.

As such, 300 Davi for a single song was okay, even if it was still too expensive for a normal laborer to impulse buy it. They still had to save, since food, housing, and manatech would drain their weekly budget. Yet, that was what Uncle Guyul decided on after I gave him my perspective on it, which actually reminded me of something I had thought in my past life.

“Anything below 300 Davi is far too cheap for all the work put into it. Don’t belittle your art, nor that of others. Any musician capable enough to sell through the ‘Music Player’ function deserves to earn their fair share of the work,” I remembered him arguing.

He was right about something; music didn’t deserve to be sold so cheaply. Back on Earth, labels and idol agencies would take such a huge cut from the artist’s song that it sometimes made me wonder how unfair it was. Though as I got older, I quickly understood that if a musician contracted with a company, the company was the one taking most of the risk, as they had to produce everything.

The musician could focus on making music, while somebody else could deal with all the marketing. That seemed like the ideal partnership, only until the agency developed a reputation where they could flaunt their influence to write contracts more in favor of them than the artist. That was, sadly, another reality of the music industry.

As such, in this world, Uncle Guyul was planning on managing the “Music Player” shop for a while until he could open a guild subordinate under the digital media guild to handle his duties. With this guild, musicians could store their songs in [Crystal of the Divine System], allowing them to sell to others. For now, everything would be handled by the digital media guild and Uncle Guyul.

After explaining these details to my viewers, I struck a pose by pointing at the recorder with my left arm while resting my right on my hips. “However, even if you can’t afford it, I’m still here to sing for you! One thing this replayed music can’t do is give you [Music Resonation], after all, so the original, me, is still the best!”

Neill then stopped the song and played the instrumental-only version of it, allowing me to do a Karaoke stream!

“I can’t wait! ♫

Just watching you makes me feel so anxious ♫

I dream of the day that you will hold me ♫

You are it, my Fireheart! ♫

Say those words! ♫

Don’t just stand there and keep your mouth wide, dummy ♫

Can’t you feel the rhythm of our heartbeats ♫

Say those words, my Fireheart! ♫”

… What luck!

Sitting alone inside his office in the Kargryxmor clan’s mansion in Coral Beard, Eltharion let out a deep sigh as he watched the chat of his youngest daughter’s stream. He could hear her sing, but his attention was actually focused on the chat, mostly on the fact that ten “DrinksMuchWine” existed.

He turned his eyes away from his party bracelet, looking at the bottle of wine his second wife, Gaistrus, had bought for him to celebrate his renewed “vigor.” “Drinks Much Wine,” it was called. Despite the lackluster brand name, it supposedly was a much-loved drink from Marsh Nest that recently took over the alcohol market on Miononbolax.

He had taken many sips already, evident from how discolored the tips of his wine glass were. Picking it up, he swirled the red-slightly green liquid around, enjoying the shimmering green that reminded him of the emerald-colored feathers of his fourth wife, Virrflax, and his son, Nongramos. After taking a whiff of the rich, wood-flake aroma, he took another sip before letting it rest on his desk with a satisfied moan.

Thank you, Fargryneill, for telling me off. I almost made a fool of myself, he thought as he reminded himself how his second youngest daughter had recently visited him.

During their meeting, he had come to learn that his youngest, Hestia, frequently recorded herself talking to her viewers while walking around or eating inside the elemental village. Curiosity made him watch his daughter stream and talk, making him interested in how many people talked inside her chat.

“The viewer count only goes up when you have an account, and you can only access the chat with one. People watching the stream through a projected screen on the mana barrier do not count,” Fargryneil explained these foreign concepts to him.

Despite understanding the principles behind video recording and live streaming from Melloxtress and Forminaxtrass, Eltharion still found this new concept hard to grasp. Not due to a technical level, but due to how this was so interesting to others. His youngest was merely talking, singing, and sometimes even playing her instrument, yet everybody seemed so fascinated by her that she would reliably reach five-digit numbers every time she streamed. Over ten thousand people enjoyed this simple type of entertainment.

“They came for her personality, that’s all. Most of the chatters are also from Frozen Nest, so it’s like watching you speak, but without the oppressive pressure of being in front of you, Father,” Fargryneill stated with a smile, finding it amusing how her father, this wise ancient dragon, was showing such difficulty in understanding.

“Is this why people are talking so much?”

“‘Chatting.’ Hestia made it, so you have to also use the appropriate vocabulary.”

“Most of it came from Earth, though… fine, chatting. Is chatting so fun?”

“Of course! Anonymity is why it’s so fun, since you can enjoy and say whatever you wish behind the veil of a fake name. Naturally, our IDs are used to make these accounts, so the Digital Media Guild and the state are aware of the different viewers, but outside of them, everybody is a stranger. You can just talk and enjoy,” she explained, finally helping Eltharion grasp the concept.

While he appreciated his daughter putting in the effort to teach him, Eltharion actually enjoyed the very fact that he was speaking to her, in the first place.

After their early reunion in Inferno Nest during the aftermath of Hestia’s encounter with Maustoovaka, Eltharion had felt that he might have unintentionally alienated his second daughter. Not only because he had learned that she loved her youngest sister, but also due to being confronted with his failures as a father.

His second youngest had been bullied and tormented by other dragonkin due to her appearance. Although it wasn’t uncommon to do so in his culture, it had to be said that he never showed much interest in it. Fargryneill, naturally, never talked to him about it, as her pride always prevented her from showing her weak side to her father, but it was also his duty to speak to his daughter whenever he found something unusual. They had met often enough, after all.

So while he had been elated that his daughter was safe and would soon return from her Adulthood Pilgrimage, he was also conflicted by how she seemed to love Hestia more than she did him. After all, this was still when Eltharion’s own feelings towards Hestia were embroiled by his hatred for Kargryxmor and the gods. He wanted to love his daughter, but could not, as he saw Hestia’s as another mark of his failure as a father.

Although their relationship has been patched, he was still worried Fargryneill would hold a grudge. This, too, was normal amongst dragons. Therefore, a heavy weight was lifted from his shoulder when she had asked him to have tea with her, allowing them to meet today. The stream was merely a tool to keep their conversation going. Nothing more.

Yet, his interest in it was now genuine.

“Gyadiosa had asked me to register an account, and while I had done that, I haven’t figured out a name yet. Maybe I should do it,” Eltharion said as he tapped a few buttons on his blue screen. “A nickname, huh? I guess it should be something that symbolizes us?”

“Yes, and just for your warning, Hestia really chewed Melloxtressa and me out when we used our real names. Which is weird, since Hestia did the same! ‘HesHik_Schart.’ Yeah, to somebody who doesn’t know her well, they wouldn’t figure it out, but she just mixed Hestia and Hikari with their last name back on Earth. The nerve of that skink.”

“Hmm, I see… then ‘DrinksMuch—’”

“Rejected.”

“… Fine, then I shall choose… ‘Scorched_Skies.’”

“Lame name.”

“… ‘Obsidian_Summit.’”

“Try ‘Obsinite.’”

“Why?”

“It sounds like an actual name, instead of a description. Look how many of them there are!”

“… Fine.”

Thus, Eltharion had chosen the nickname, “Obsinite.” Luckily, it wasn’t taken just yet. He couldn’t help but thank Fargryneill for stopping her foolish father from nearly becoming part of the “crowd.” He still hadn’t participated in a single chatroom yet, as he didn’t feel the need to intrude.

Yet, an urge did awaken when he noticed his youngest daughter forgetting the real reason why this stream had to happen, yet didn’t bother to inform her. After all, as long as she could continue distracting people, keeping them focused on the stream, everything would work out as Kahalameet had wanted. Sure, it only attracted the eyes of those in Iceskale and Coral Beard, but that was enough since that was where the leviathans were currently swarming around.

With their interest elsewhere, Kahalameet and Wendriosa can finish their preparations. Huh. This media is powerful. The number has risen to the sixth digit. Over 180k viewers. Incredible. And it keeps on rising.

Three bells had already passed since the start of Hestia’s stream, and the number of viewers was only growing. As Eltharion noted, the original meaning of her stream had vanished into the void when she started singing, and she was now doing a mukbang, an eating stream, while still promoting her songs on the “Music Player.”

It helped that Fargryneill, Tasianna, Vifi, and Grimnir would occasionally come in and out to keep the entertainment going. Truly, Eltharion’s youngest daughter wasn’t really cut out to be a politician. The information she had to relay was important, after all.

Well, Melloxtressa will eventually remind her so—w-what! STOP! Eltharion jumped from his seat as he saw Hestia practicing one of her dance moves for “Slave to My Love.” Since the song was one of her spell songs, she rarely performed them during her concerts since they “weren’t made to be performed, but for battle.”

As such, most of her spell songs didn’t have a choreography since a dance wasn’t needed to apply their effects. Therefore, Hestia found it interesting to ask her chat for ideas, but she, unintentionally, moved her tail too much. Instead of in an excited manner, it was slowly dragged along the ground, lightly tapping it, before she twirled on the spot, moving her hips and shoulders. Brushing her hair behind her ears, Hestia leaned forward, grinning at the recorder as her scales started to turn silver.

STOOOOOP!

Eltharion immediately wrote, giving it no further thought. He wasn’t even capitalizing his words, nor did he put a simple comma after the “hey!”

Eltharion froze when he saw that message, before noticing that he was forbidden from writing in the chat for one minute.

… What is going on? Who dares call me a young scale? Flame escaped Eltharion’s mouth as he gnashed his fangs, trying his best to hold back his anger. The moment his chat ban was lifted, he immediately began to type.

“U-uh?” Reading this, Hestia flinched as her smile started to break. “R-right, I completely forgot about that. Obsini… Oh. You were here?”

She figured it out. Fargryneill probably told her.

“… Pardon?”

“You…?”

Although she wasn’t here, he could already hear his wife laughing at him.