A Dragon Idol’s Reincarnation Tale

“Pfwoooh!”

Oof!

Ow, finally! Minor Heal.

Now die! Wind Bullet! Rock Bullet!

From the edges of my wings, a ball of rock and one out of wind materialized on their respective sides before being shot out towards the two fish I was fighting. Both spells lodged into the skulls of the two [Spring Lake Barracuda], killing them instantly.

'Nice work. It’s nice to have an earth spell that doesn’t require us to have earth around us, huh?'

Yeah, but this whole hunting session is such a pain. I gave up counting after getting hit by 20 of their water attacks but isn’t getting a single resistance skill too hard?!

'Don’t ask me. Blame the gods.'

It’s all your fault, Dragon God!

Well, back to being serious. After my parallel mind gave me the much-needed pep talk, we found an underground lake at the end of the path.

I finally found it. Water. I could finally take a nice long bath and wash all the blood, dirt and filth that my body was carrying after the wolf chase. It felt like an eternity since I last had a bath. There weren’t any large bodies of water in the forest, and I could only shower really using the rain. I was honestly starting to get used to my terrible body odor.

After illuminating the area with some floating [Light]s, I found out that the lake was filled with fish! Not only were there a ton of them, but they classified as monsters.

Parallel mind suggested using this opportunity to learn the [Water Resistance] skill by letting them hit me with their [Water Magic], conserving valuable SP. The problem was, we underestimated the effect of [Bearer of Kargryxmor’s Blood]'s detrimental growth on any water-related skill. I got it in the end, but, oh man, my body was aching. It wasn’t joking about my body’s weakness to water.

Not only was it super painful, but it also took off a good chunk of my Health. No joke.

It took forever to learn something as simple as [Water Resistance Lv. 1] and it made me question if I was developing self-harming tendencies. If it weren’t for the SP usage reduction, I would seriously assume [Bearer of Kargryxmor’s Blood] was meant to torture me or something.

Pain suuuuuucksssss, burh. Urrrugh.

I honestly couldn’t tell you how long I’d been here. The experience the fish gave was minimal at best, due to our rank difference. To reach level four, I had to hunt them to the point of my storage filling up!

Still, I could hunt freely. No threats were around to stop my fun, really. I initially disliked this cave, but the fact I was the “apex predator” inside was soooo comforting. It wasn’t heaven, but it sure wasn’t hell.
I could finally sleep properly. I had a great amount of easy to get meat. Enough water for me to last for days, even if I used most of it for washing myself. Oh, had I mentioned how good it felt to feel clean? My scales were so smooth now, ooooh yeah.

My city-girl heart had finally found a small haven for R&R.

So…it’s been quite some time now, I think. Did you find them?

I hesitantly asked my parallel mind, who had been searching through my brain for certain memories of my past. Honestly, I had to say I was quite patient, considering the answer I wanted to hear. This was even more nerve wracking than waiting for an audition to succeed.

'...No.'

… My hopes got shot down.

…I see.

'Our memory is in shambles. I think our important memories, the good and bad, are still there but I can’t find any names or faces. Actually, I’m questioning if I did overlook a few events, because it feels like I have a hole in my head.’

… Fuck.

I knew something was off. I knew that I was missing something when I had that annoying dream. I just thought the things I forgot after my rebirth were minor, not the names and faces of my parents and family! I couldn’t remember any of them. It was infuriating and left my chest feel tight.

Urgh, and just after I finally got my priorities straightened.

'It kinda does make my whole speech useless. The meaning is lost without the proper memory to associate it with.'

I sighed. Haaaa… Nah, it isn’t. You did well. You really gave it your all to make me feel better.

'Haha. I do love praises, but false flattery doesn’t make me feel better.'

My praise was honest from the heart. She’s been working tirelessly without complaining, with the same anxiousness to know what was going on with me. No, I believed it was even worse for her, as she had to continue searching through my memories while I was on autopilot mode, hunting. She did all the heavy lifting.

Praises were awesome. I loved praises. Since she was me, she might have thought I did it out of pity, but I could sympathise. It seemed we were bit out of synchro there for a moment.

I’m completely serious. It’s a shame that I can’t fully remember it all, but nothing you said was incorrect. I really did need to get my shit together, and just ‘cause I forgot my name and those of my parents doesn’t invalidate the memories and teaching I got from them. I still want to be an idol who can shine brilliantly.

Showbiz’s number one motto: The show must go on!

'Oh gosh. You are so adorable when you say that!'

Huh?!

Parallel mind hugged the mental image of my dragon self and even began caressing her head against mine. It was kinda embarrassing, even if it was considered self-caressing.

'Ah, I meant that positively! That determination and that ambition. It’s like looking at my younger self again~'

Wha-What the hell?! We died when we were 15! You have no right to act like an old grandma and treat me like a kid!

'Hiehie.’ She giggled uncontrollably, infectious enough to raise my own mood. ‘Sorry, sorry. Teasing you while you act so childish is the best. Still, I do appreciate you saying that.'

Praising me, when I’m sad, has always been Mama’s way to make me feel better. You know, that trait really is childish, huh?

'Ahh, forget it. Still, it is awesome that you have the determination to go on like that. Losing memories and forgetting your own name is kinda tough.'

Don’t speak like it isn’t your own problem. It’s our problem. I’m technically speaking with myself right now, and, after all, I just need some of my memories to remain to press forward.

Names had a great importance, but clinging onto them when I couldn’t wasn’t smart. It was being stubborn.

'Ok, enough bantering about this stuff. Our food is ready, so let’s eat. The water and fish in our storage should last us about a month, depending on how gluttonous you are, so let’s leave afterward, ok?'

The reason why I only saved up a month’s worth of rations was due to what I mentioned before: my storage officially ran out of space. My maximum Mana capacity determined the limit of my [Storage Magic], and it would grow with every bit of mana I gained, but now it was full.

I prioritized water over meat, since a survival show I once watched told me securing a source of it was the number one goal you had to do no matter what. Sure, it rained often enough in the forest, but counting on it wasn’t reliable. And, at the end of the day, I didn’t need as much meet since the primary goal was—

'Yup, time to leave our temporary home. It’s time to grind some experience!'

— to hunt!

********************

Haaaa… oh MY gosh!

I should have stayed at the lake. I still hadn't found a single thing in days! Tell me, what fantasy world cave was completely devoid of monsters guarding it? So big but no substance. There was a lake full of fish in it. Shouldn’t it have at least attracted one or two monsters towards this cave? I could return to it, but I couldn’t just continuously kill all the barracudas. That would send them straight into extinction!

Urgh, gotta stay positive.

Had I not become two months old a few days ago? Sure, celebrating in this dark, moist cave wasn’t ideal, but I had a fish feast! Imagine all the sashimi and grilled fish for free! Although, I didn’t think anybody would have paid for them. I couldn’t use my claws well enough to slice them thinly.

'You’re drooling…'

Sorry…

Honestly, it made me uneasy that we spent this much time in this cave. It felt like yesterday that I became a month old. Argh, this whole walking around was boring me to death. I was actually considering doing some singing practice.

You want to train our voice? I think, once it’s trained, it could sound pretty pleasant.

'Maybe, but won’t it all be redundant once we get [Humanize]?'

Yeah, but come on. Just choose a song so I can sing. Something challenging, please.

I can feel a smirk appearing on her mental image when she heard the word “challenging”.

Challenging? Heh, how about “Imagine” from Arian? Let’s see you hit those high notes with that lizard voice.

OMG, you are on! Those are some fighting words, girlfriend! Challenge accepted! Ahem.

“Kri…umph!"

With a familiar loud bling sound ringing in my head, I swiftly closed my mouth before I could sing. That was close. If I had noticed just a second later, I would have probably exposed my location to whatever my skill was warning me.
The signal felt large, about equal to that first garm, no, maybe it was smaller? To be honest, I didn’t think I could fight a rank D monster yet but getting a look at it shouldn’t be problematic.

'Buy [Presence Killer] before you go.'

Yeah!