A Dragon Idol's Reincarnation Tale

[Humanize (Moderate)] inflicted on [Young Sunfang Dragon, Hestia Atsuko Kargryxmor]

“C-cake?”

“I can see you have a sweet tooth with the way you’re smiling. Haha, you’ve got good taste!” Phso said with a hearty smile as he began to slice the square crumb cake, only for me to stop him when I noticed the way he was trying to cut it would only lead to five pieces. Enough for us imperial members—five—but leave out the twins and Vifi, so I asked him to correct it.

Phso looked a bit confused for a moment, stroking his beard as he looked at the three retainers. He contemplated for an unnerving moment before he shrugged and complied with my wish, serving it to everybody to enjoy.

As I held the pastry, inspecting and even scratching the crunchy caramel nuts on it with my fork, I let out a tiny “Oooh” in excitement. “Streuselkuchen,” the German name for crumb cake wasn’t exactly my first candidate for my cake recipes, but it still was something I wanted to make eventually. To be honest, I was a bit saddened that the dragons already knew this recipe. My plan to introduce it to the world was already stolen.

As I took a bite from it, my eyes widened when I noticed the taste of it. It tasted like yeast! Well, not exactly like the fruity yeast I usually made for my cakes, but a different kind that had a sharp aftertaste that accentuated the cake’s sweetness. Like a big “pop” effect, unlike my more moderate-tasting pastries.

… Is this?

“Brother, is this made from elven yeast?” I asked.

Phso raised an eyebrow. “‘Elven’ yeast? It’s just yeast, Hestia; have you never tasted it before?”

“Her adventures were mostly inside the human countries, Brother,” Ryra replied with close eyes, as he was resting his head on his mother’s lap. It was looking like he was trying to sleep as Gaistrus spoiled him by stroking his hair. “Last I remembered, the Saelari elves are antagonistic towards most of the humans due to that war, remember? Yeast isn’t widely available to them, so our little sister couldn’t know.”

“Ah, that is the shame of the world!” Phso let out, looking at me with pitying eyes. “An absolute shame, indeed! Everybody should have the luxury to taste something as good as these pastries. Here, Hestia, have mine as well! Ryranakus, you wouldn’t mind giving yours, as well, right?”

W-wait, what?

“I want to sleep, so have her eat it. She needs to eat more with how scrawny she looked, anyways.”

What the hell do you mean by scrawny? I’m packing muscles, Bro. Muscles!

In the end, my brothers and even Gaistrus thrusted their precious crumb cake slices into my hands, demanding me to eat and enjoy it. Was this the privilege of being the youngest? Being spoiled by everybody in the family as if I was their golden child? Well, I wouldn’t go that far, but it certainly felt unnerving to confirm their intentions. I was actually pretty hungry after my spar with Ryra.

Still, regardless of my insatiable appetite, I was genuinely curious about the yeast used in this cake as a fond baking hobbyist. Frankly, when it came to cakes and cookies, it was always better to use baking soda over yeast to make them, purely ‘cause the latter had a slight fermenting taste to it. Which was why I always suggested using yeast made from fruits that fit with the cake’s taste to hide this fact.

Yet, here I was, finally getting to taste the “elusive” and “luxurious” yeast from the elves the Artorians constantly kept hyping up. Suffice to say, this was yeast. Peolynca truly never lacked it, and while I knew about it since Tasianna explained their appearance to me, seeing and tasting a cake made with yeast I didn’t make felt like it was quite the treat.

Still, definitely a difference in taste, no matter how you see it. It’s so much sweeter.

“Haha, good, right? Wendriosa isn’t quite fond of cake, and Fargryneill had always been quite ‘serious’ with her diet, so I never got to enjoy eating good pastries with my little sisters. I am happy you are different in this case, Hestia,” Phso said with a slight smile and blush. “It was well worth bringing it over in the icebox.”

Wendriosa isn’t fond of this cake, Brother, I thought, before deciding to keep it to myself to not ruin his mood. Seeing him so excited was cute and I didn’t want to tell him I could bake as well while he was having his moment. Next time I should treat him to my deluxe spread of pastries.

“Mom, this is the first time I tasted this, but I’m sure we’ve been served bread by the mansion’s chefs before. Do we not have any elven yeast on Iceskale?” I asked.

Mom shook her head. “No, we have plenty of arable land to produce the wheat needed. As you know, the valleys each dragon clan surrounds is not only perfect to grow vegetation, but is also drenched in mana. One clan, specifically, is completely responsible for our agriculture and has the manatech needed to perform it well, and from them, we receive our vegetables and fruits.”

“Yet, we have no yeast?” I turned to Phso. “I heard elven yeast was made from fruits and so on, right?”

“Fruits, wheat, rice—the ingredients used change the color and taste, but most importantly, the yeast we use is created through alchemy to give it a portable form. It starts in a liquid, watery form, before we turn them into a sort of powder. Also, drop the elven part, Little Sister. Loatryx produces yeast just as often as the elves,” Phso answered.

That finally solves the mystery. Elven yeast really is the yeast I know. The reason why the Artorians can’t recognize it is ‘cause the ‘finish’ product looks like the package yeast from Earth. I see … Just like Tasianna said.

“Correct. Sadly, the yeast we can produce with our crops has a rather … undesirable taste, unlike what I’ve recently gotten to eat.” Mom grimaced, looking at me and probably thinking of the baked goods I made. “Which is why when a private business or person requires it, they must submit an import request by the harbormaster. Unfortunately for us, I did not order any. I did not want any.”

Because you have me still baking for you, hehe. Conniving, Mom.

Strangely, getting an actual confirmation made my chest feel so fluffy. As if I had just solved a cryptid case. After that rather intense spar, speaking about something mundane as yeast was quite refreshing.

Still, this was a break at the end of the day. This visit from my siblings wasn't just intended to make me stronger, but they were also there to help me train my [Battle Frenzy]. That was the most important part of all of this.

Getting all my required skills to level ten for my rank A evolution, mastering [Battle Frenzy], and also conquering my ice weakness for my trip up north were all part of my training goals for now. Still, a side of me wanted to “slack off” by performing a concert, but with the whole music video plan, my schedule was a bit too packed to think of anything else.

Not to mention, I don’t think Mom would let me go, even if I wanted to skip training. Oh well, getting stronger was fine by itself.

Therefore, when Phso asked me about [Battle Frenzy], I gave him a long breakdown of my entire training progress, including context like my talks with Kramps and Klea’Hatma, not to mention my meeting with my former life’s cousin. I found it necessary so I could explain how I managed to master the Sloth, Gluttony, and Lust parts of the [Battle Frenzy] training in the first two years of my life.

This was just an addition to Mom’s own report on my training, so Phso knew most of what happened in my near two years on Altrust. This also included how I could speak to the gods and how I lost my privilege to do so after the Elyonda siege temporarily.

“As Grandfather invented the original [Battle Frenzy] training method to help Father and his siblings, you probably can’t anybody better than the Dragon God himself to guide you through the path … So, is your connection with him still severed?” Phso asked, eyeing me intently with his two golden irises, almost as if he was peering into my soul for the truth.

… Better mind my answers when it comes to Kramps around him as well, huh?

“I’ve gotten into contact with him again, recently, where I request to understand why he disapproves of all of you,” I said, causing Ryra to scoff and stand up, telling us he would spread his legs for a bit to the worry of his mother.

After he left, Phso turned back to me. “Did he now? I can guess what he might have thought of Ryranakus and me, but I would like to hear it from you. Or, would our illustrious Grandfather deign to descend into my little sister, using her as his avatar to speak?”

<… He speaks of you being my avatar? The nerve of this brat. Hestia, do not be swindled by this ambitionless tag along. Scrutinize his words with care if he dares speak so lowly of me.>

One way to make me even more suspicious of you, Kramps. Haaa … Seriously, work on that attitude of yours when I’m around family.

The nagging of a senior citizen … Maybe I should listen to him, maybe I shouldn’t, but it was getting on my nerves. Nevertheless, I made sure to convey Kramps’s words to Phso, including his assessment of Ryra. I did leave out what he thought about my other half-siblings, as it wouldn’t provide anything to this discussion.

“Mhmm, understandable.”

Weirdly, though, Phso didn’t seem too bothered by my answer, stroking his beard as he contemplated his appraisal. In fact, he even smiled for a bit when I told him about Kramps’s opinion of Ryra. It looked like it was even catharsis, probably from correctly guessing things until now.

You’re so predictable, Kramps.

<… Hmph. Believe what you will.>

Salty, eh? Don’t worry, I might not be able to completely mend your relationship with the family, but I’ll try to get this to an amicable state. Eventually … Hopefully before it explodes.

“All right.” Phso stood up, dusting his legs of dirt and snow. “I got the gist of it. Greed is your current stage, huh? You got the perfect training partner then, in the form of the son of our empire’s empress of coinage.”

So Gaistrus is responsible for the economy in general. She probably gets along with Yuilengreill quite a bit, considering their field of interest line up.

I raised a brow, though. “… You know, what exactly do you do with your gold sand?”

“Banish that thought!” Gaistrus urged with an awkward smile. “Clan Goldduragon’s gold sand is practically worthless as a currency or material. It has no inherent value to it, as it can only exist when a Goldduragon continues pouring mana into the material. Without the mana, it simply returns to its original form and material. Our gold bars are pure, mined from the earth, and our currency strictly follows the ‘Peolyncian Treaty of Coinage and Economics.’”

My little innocent questions caused such a reaction, huh? Maybe I shouldn’t talk too much about money when I left all of this to Saori and Ellaine as our party’s treasurers.

In any case, Phso and I went back to where I sparred with Ryra. The damage the two of us did to the earth was reversed by Phso, revealing to me that Phso and Gaistrus actually had talents in land development. As the empress responsible for coin, agriculture, and mining, Gaistrus regularly went through mainland Miononbolax with the help of the woodland drakes to cleanse the land of high mana and to prepare them for farming or other cultivation projects.

“With all the conflicting elements, Miononbolax actually isn’t a good place to farm. Everything tastes different due to the high levels of mana, and it gets even more complicated when we dragons are responsible for it,” he explained, touching the soil.

“Weird. I actually run a farm with one of my retainers. We’ve been keeping various herbs, vegetables, and berries,” I said, thinking of our giant “garden” inside my subspace.

“You have to show it to me, one day! And, introduce me to that retainer. I would rather like to speak with them to make sure you are fed well.” Phso smiled like a proud farmer. “To answer your question, mana accelerates the growth of crops and increases their potency, as you must know. We do it here, and from the sound of it, you, too. However, we also live on these lands like dragons. Do you understand?”

“… Mana keeps seeping around?”

“Think of them like farm animals …” Phso said, creating a thought I wished I hadn’t thought about. “Not to mention, fights happen quite a bit, even between individual woodland drake clans. Haaa, while my little brother inherited most of the combat prowess of our father’s side, I inherited my talents from my mother. Ryranakus’s talents with the gold sand is superior to mine, but I am better at general geokinesis.”

It was sorta fitting, considering the color of their scales.

After this little talk, Phso told me to sit down and began his lecture.

“Greed—the fourth stage of the [Battle Frenzy] training and also the door you need to break through to invoke [Battle Frenzy (Moderate)] at will. Why? It is because you must understand your desire to obtain power at all costs to satisfy your sloth, gluttony, and lust.” Phso sighed. “What is your gluttony, Hestia?”

“Kriffiek kllk gaaung.”

“‘I will protect my relationship.’ This single statement to manually activate our [Battle Frenzy] is enough to reveal our individual priorities in life. It is a good test to see one’s personality, as your gluttony comes from within. It is your deepest need in life, and something not everybody can easily give up. It isn’t a dream, as we chase after dreams; it is our minds’ and souls’ sustenances,” Phso explained in a philosophical manner. “Sloth keeps you grounded, to allow you to return in a state of calmness, while lust is your drive to fulfill your gluttony. Your willingness to do whatever for your ‘hedonistic’ desires. The second of the three desire sins that include lust, greed, and envy.”

Phso then came closer and placed a finger on my forehead before sending a chill down my spine as I felt his aura enveloping me like a thick coat, straggling me like a coiling python. His golden eyes glowed a bronze color as he glared down at me, pushing his face close enough for me to feel his breath against my skin.

“Tell me, little scamp. How did you feel when Ryranakus barely felt anything when you struck him with that attack? I appraise you just like he did, so I knew your [Solar Beam] was deactivated and that you gained that weird music empowerment to your strength and intelligence. You waited for that one moment to pierce his skin to inject a venom into him, including that laser that shot through his knee. Good preparation and excellent execution …” he stated, tilting his head. “Yet, how much health did he lose? How much mana did you spend to get to that point? How much health did he regain afterwards?”

“… Where are you going with this?” I forced myself to say, feeling it hard to breathe with all this pressure.

“What I am saying is that I could crush you with my aura alone, little sister. You could die right here, right now.”

W-what!

I tried to stand up, but the earth suddenly grabbed my legs, pulling me down like quicksand. He then placed his hand on my shoulder, pushing me deeper in, to the point [Foresight] and [Danger Perception] actually activated. What the hell was this guy trying to do?

“Strength is all you need as a dragon.” Showing his clenched fangs, Phso growled at me. “Greed.”

Breathing fire in my face to blind me momentarily, Phso continued, “Lust is a wildcard, difficult to predict, as they only follow their desires for no fundamental reason but ‘because I can.’ Envy is the desire to obtain something others possess no matter the reason, making it the worst of the three desires. Greed is the general desire to obtain everything in the world no matter what. It is easier to tame, as envy directs your anger at others, for their traits and possessions, while greed can be pacified without leading to casualties.”

He laid another hand on my shoulder, pushing me further into the quicksand, to the point my chest was completely trapped. I gulped, still believing this is part of the training, and glared up at him.

“Power,” he snarled at me. “Our culture is built on power. Courtship, survival, and expanding one’s territory. No matter what, you need power—real strength from both your body and your Profile—to pierce through your problems; yet, at the same time, power invites usurpers. The more you shine, the more flies will gather around you. With power, you can paint the world like a canvass in any color you wish. What right have the weak to object in this matter when you shine brighter than even kings and emperors?”

… Shine? Stars are like that, I guess. Doesn’t matter how murky this ‘sky’ is, people will still look at the neon lights and chase them for their fulfillment. The brighter they are, the more people will want to be included with them … Like how Hikari and I were entranced by the beauty of our first idol concert.

“Gluttony is a mandatory desire for everybody, but one’s greed can only grow after you fulfill this desire. Tell me, Hestia, how are your relationships? Your family? Is this not all you need, or is something gnawing on you? What is driving you forward, still? To confront Father like that? To tell Wendriosa about your stance in the succession crisis? Why do any of that, when you gluttony is only to ‘Kriffiek kllk gaaung?’”

“… Is protecting you guys not part of preserving my relationships?” I eked out, all while trying my best to keep myself from sinking any deeper into the earth.

“How will you do that? You are weak. You are weaker than Ryranakus, and he is weaker than I, and I am weaker than Brother Kahalameet. How will you protect Wendriosa when she has to confront him and his vassals?” Phso rebuked. “Tell me, why did you fight Father like that? He allowed you to leave peacefully after mildly accepting you as a princess. He cannot embrace you as a daughter, even if all of the rest of us did. We accepted you as our little sister without an issue … Yet you were being greedy. Why are you asking for Father’s affection?”

“Why should a daughter not deserve the love of her parents? Huh? What sort of bullshit argument is that?” I pushed my chest out of the sand, using my wing’s rocket booster to help me dig myself out, only for Phso to push me down even harder. “Dammit! Argh!”

“Weak,” Phso repeated, putting even more strength into his arm to push me back into the pit. “Why didn’t you take Wendriosa’s offer? Was it pride? Arrogance that you can handle things in your manner? You wish to interject yourself in a delicate matter, smiling and boasting that you can solve things. Are your successes on Altrust truly that remarkable that you think you can handle this yourself? Instead of accepting the hand of someone multiple decades and centuries your senior?”

I groaned as I desperately kept myself from sinking, even to the point of using [Obsidian Blaze] to turn the sand into lava, only for Phso to reverse my transformation of the ground. Of course, the two Goldduragon brothers just had to be lava mages …

“Can you just shut up, and make your point, already? What the fuck is this sort of training, anyways?” I snapped, unable to take this as training at this point anymore. This felt like I was being hazed.

“Tell me, do you feel weak?”

“Of course, do you think I’m dumb here? I can see when I’m weak or strong, so why are you preaching to me about something this obvious, huh?”

“Because [Battle Frenzy]’s greed is all about sacrificing even your body and mind for the chance to conquer others!” Phso shouted. “The last four paths require you to seek inside yourself and let those emotions run wild, to the point you might be consumed by them completely and enter a [Battle Frenzy (Critical)] situation. The most potent stage of our rage, but also the stage where even someone like Father would lose his sanity. I am telling you to steel yourself!”

Phso then forcibly yanked me out of the ground and threw me onto the ground like a used up toy, before stomping towards me to pull me onto my feet, as if I was some kid. As I was trying to recover from this treatment, he lowered his head to my height and began screaming at me like a drill sergeant.

“Has Fargryneill told you nothing about [Battle Frenzy]! Use it for too long, even in the minor stage, and you will advance up one stage. Even a single stage increase is too much for you to control! Are you trying to go berserk?” he scoffed. “This is the point I am making. You. Are Weak. And yet, you still desire power, which is why you train. The greed has always been within you and it drove you to survive through all that you have experienced. The greed to gain power, yet power always comes with a price. A requirement, even.”

“I … Then what are you trying to tell me here? You’re stating the obvious after you tried to put me through the wringer, but I’m not understand the meaning behind your words. What are you trying to teach me here?”

“That to gain [Battle Frenzy (Moderate)], it isn’t about just overcoming a blockade in your mind and to accept it, but to also possess the mental fortitude to accept all negative emotions, aura attacks, and mental assaults without quickening its timer,” he explained, leaving me baffled. “ I am asking you to endure my aura and words, all while training your [Tranquil Mind] while you are in your [Battle Frenzy (Minor)] form. I shall agitate your instincts in an ‘attempt’ to endanger you, all while you remain calm and composed.”

“… Eh?”

“Tell me your lust.”

I eyed Phso when he asked me this again, finally dawning on me this was similar to how Neill did it to help me learn how to control my lust.

“Could you martyr yourself to ensure everybody’s happiness? Could you become the villain for everybody’s sake? Could you sacrifice your own gluttony for the happiness of everybody else?” No, I couldn’t. To give up my gluttony—my wish to preserve my relationship—to heed my hedonism would mean giving up a part of myself.

However, everything else? Sure. I would. ‘Cause all the other reasons would help me fulfill my gluttony, which would lead to my lust—to do whatever to fulfill my gluttony. That was my philosophical understanding behind the [Battle Frenzy] training.

Every path built upon the former, except for sloth, the foundation.

So, if I reformed the question with the sins’ definition in mind, then what Phso was asking me was: “Am I in such a need of power and strength to protect my bonds and friends at all cost, even to the detriment of others? Even to the detriment of myself?”

“I am striving to become stronger, because I know the weak can’t defend others! I don’t want to rush things though, I don’t want to hurt others, even for my goals, but sometimes my hand will be forced. However, if I have the strength to protect myself and everybody else, then I will not have to force my hand to do something I don’t wish to. That is my answer!”

Phso widened his eyes and straightened his back, finally withdrawing his aura so I could finally breathe normally again. As I gasped for air, Phso clapped his hands.

“The intelligence stat doesn’t actually make people smart, but it probably was the correct display for you, my little sister,” he said with a wide smile before bowing his head. He then stroked my head. “I apologize, Hestia, but I am glad you understood my intentions with all of this, even if it is forceful. That is how Father taught me to control my greed, so I emulated it.”

“… I want to say you’re being too rough, but I guess that would go against the point of the training. I need to possess a strong mental will to control [Battle Frenzy] … I still don’t condone household abuse, though,” I said with a big pout.

“Haha!” he patted me on the back, roughly, once again. “Then sue me, little sister! I bet that would make good entertainment for our citizens and probably give our two hotheaded half-siblings a reason to stop fighting against each other for the throne, and continue serving our country’s and the dragon’s interest.”

“Maybe I’ll hold you to that …” I sighed. “So, how should we continue this training?”

“You understand the meaning behind greed, which means you now have to train [Tranquil Mind]. As you’ve seen with Ryranakus, his isn’t at maximum level yet, so the skill isn’t part of the requirements to obtain [Battle Frenzy (Moderate)]. The reason for that is that Ryranakus’s greed is rather … shallow—I say this, even as his brother. ‘For the sake of my peace of mind and body, I will do everything to avoid it as best as I can.’ Guess his gluttony with that.”

“… Peace of mind and body?”

Phso nodded. “‘Hiessk gik rapharum’shkra zeegka.’ Translated, it’s ‘For the sanctity of my life’s safety!’ He is a peace-wanting dragon born in the correct era, you could say. Thankfully. Fortunately. Unfortunately, that is about to change, and his elder brother, I am ashamed I can’t fulfill his wish.”

“Because you support Brother Kahalameet?” I asked, causing him to nod.

“Yes … I believe in Kahalemeet’s rule, and I want the empire to stay away from Altrust’s affairs at all cost. I am not a supporter of their constant wars,” Phso snarled, looking livid. Once he calmed down, he looked at me and laid a hand on my shoulder. “Hestia, please, stay out of this war. Let us handle our own affairs. I will be there when both Kahalemeet and Wendriosa fight, and I assure you, I will bring the defeated back home. Alive. That is my duty as our family’s second born.”

Brother …

Phso sighed as he massaged his temples. “Ryranakus fears conflict. Sleeping is how he copes with any impending crises. This timid nature of his, surprisingly, allows him to control his [Battle Frenzy] almost as well as us four eldest siblings. Grandfather might dislike him for it, seeing him as unworthy of being a Kargryxmor, but I believe it is a blessing.”

“So I guess you didn’t have to do the same thing you just did to me to him, huh?” I laughed awkwardly, only for me to widen my eyes as he looked away, all embarrassed. “What?”

Scratching his cheek, Phso let out a deep sigh. “… No, it was worse. I didn’t train him, Wendriosa did, and from what she told me, he was too lazy to think of the question as critically as you did. He needed two months to figure the connection between greed with gluttony and lust. He didn’t go through the same mental battle, so Wendriosa might have lost her patience a bit. His entire [Battle Frenzy] training was quite arduous, to be honest.”

“Ahaha …”

Maybe … Maybe Ryra isn’t timid, maybe he’s just lazy. Yeah, he’s just lazy. Let’s just think like that.

Then again, I took over a month to figure out the meaning of lust to me, so who was I criticizing?

In any case, my [Battle Frenzy] training continued for three more days. Not ‘cause Phso had to leave—he would stay on Iceskale for an entire week before passing his training position to another sibling—but ‘cause Grimnir finally finished work on the ice stone.

Thankfully, he could make armor using the blizzirk timber and ice stone; sadly, there was a bit of an issue with how cold it was to wear. While it protected the wearer from external cold, wearing it was actually chilling, especially if you wore some chainmail underneath it. Therefore, to simplify the design, so he didn’t have to add “unnecessary” runes, he wanted to figure out a way to mitigate this chill.

“Add a metal that counteracts this cold, and place the stone and timber above it. Glue them together with Iceskale’s special resin and some mammoth fur, and you have yourself some good armor!” Grimnir explained, which brought me to his second request. “Lass, I can use voldunna ore for it, but … I want to see if you have something on Miononbolax. You get me? Ehe.”

Oh, I get you all right, you material fanatic.

“While you are doing that, I will have Ellaine recruit a few people for the recorder project. Daichi ain’t the only one who had put some effort into your idol career, and I bet these people have waited long enough! Gahahaha!”

That settled my next plan. Which begged the question, where would I get such a warmth-exuding stone, outside of my solar core?

“Visit Inferno Nest, then,” Phso suggested. “Whether you want ore or to hunt down a monster that gives you materials for the armor, you can find it there.”

That settled it. Maybe I could hunt some volcharks and get their hearts, like Saori, Tasianna, and Grimnir did for my catalyst.

“If it’s all decided, then I will postpone your training. Ryranakus, you go with her. Help her out with the fire dragon flight there.”

As such, the twins, Vifi, Ryra, and I traveled back to mainland Miononbolax, while Mom entertained Gaistrus and Phso back in Iceskale. Surely, nothing terrible would happen during this adventure, right? Especially not when I had two ice wyverns with me … right?

Multiple proficiency requirements fulfilled. [Saint’s Aura Lv. 3] [Draconic Aura Lv. 6] [Royal Presence Lv. 7][Territory Release Lv. 5] gained