Chapter 84: The Aftermath and Spoils of a Quest

Chapter 84: The Aftermath and Spoils of a Quest

Multiple proficiency requirements fulfilled. [Sundering Enhancement Lv. 5] [Piercing Enhancement Lv. 5] [Water Resistance Lv. 2] [Stage Fever Lv. 2] [Terror Aura Lv. 2] [Body Temperature Control Lv. 5] gained

Title [Divine Inferno] description has changed

[Overheated (Minor)] [Starvation (Minor)] [Dehydration (Minor)] [Arcane Fever (Minor)] inflicted on [Young Spark Inferno Dragon, Hestia Atsuko]

Say, ahhhhhhhhh, Saori said as she drew a wooden spoon filled with steamed white grain coated in a mouthwatering brown sauce close to my mouth.

Ahhhhhhhhh, mhmph, I bite onto it, drawing the warm, savory food into my mouth, letting my saliva run as I started chewing on it. Mhmmmm! The tender meat and the filling toffels compliment the white, oval grain, adding an extra flair of texture as my cheeks turned red from the nostalgic taste after I swallowed it.

Hestia, your cheeks! Is it the food or are you warming up again? Saori asked as she hastily grabbed a cup of tea and poured it into my mouth.

Bwuah! Saori, Im not a kid! And its the food! You should know how nostalgic the taste of rice should be, I blurted out with a frown as I nearly coughed on the tea.

Saori's eyes widened for a second, her mouth agape as she put the teacup down, O-OhI apologize, I overreacted a bitHow is the taste?

Its good on the Saori cooking scale, but the curry isnt there yet. The spice combination isnt correct I believe, I answered her question as she fed me another spoonful of curry rice.

Subjugating the bandits not only meant that we fulfilled the Quest that we got from Colwyn but also that we secured the food that they stole. Honestly, I was glad it wasnt destroyed during the whole raid. Its a miracle that it didnt get burned to ashes!

Speaking of burns

How are your burns? They still hurt? I asked with a troubled expression, eyeing her singed arms.

What is that frown? Come on, smile for me, Hestia," Saori urged me as she placed two fingers on the edges of my mouth and pushed them upwards. As you once said, An Idol must always keep up a smile. Do not worry, Kushlekzar already healed me. The fur will need some time to regrow, but I prefer this look personally, heh.

Despite how much Saori was trying to cheer me up, I couldn't help but continue looking at those burns, regardless if they were gone now or not. The thought of who gave Saori those wounds made my heart hurt as if it was being squashed.

I know it wasnt technically my fault. I mean, who would have thought that the fuckin fire origin god himself would be so nice to grant me his blessing and the new title [Divine Inferno]. I should be grateful cause it improved the strength of my fire spells, right? FUCK NO! IM NOT HAPPY ABOUT IT AT ALL!

Why, why, why, why did that fucking bastard do that to me, huh? Not only did I gain his blessing but I also lost all my fire, inferno, and holy spells. Sure, I got [White Flames] and [Corrosive Fire] in returnbut who asked him to do that for me, huh?!

I also never asked him to fix my custom spell Imperial Hellfire, alright? Oh, wait, I mean, [Symphonie des Feuergottes]. Do you know what Feuergottes means in English? Fucking, Fire God! Translated that meant Fire Gods Symphony! Argh, not only did he steal my chance to finally finish my custom spell, but I am now the proud owner of a spell made by that narcissistic piece of shit Danterno!

Jeez, why, why? Harrgh, I told myself that I wouldnt go on a rampage and kill things like that. I didnt want to kill things without my own consent. Im sorry, Macklemorwhy didnt you surrenderDummkopf.

I'll be honest here, I was frustrated that I killed him due to my rampage but it actually didn't mean that much to me. Macklemor was a bandit and he stayed adamant about being my enemy to his last breath. To me, as a monster, it was just business as usual.

Whew, that [Starvation (Minor)] will not disappear anytime soon it seems. Ill get you some more curry rice. Tasianna, like before, please take care of her, Saori ordered the person behind me as she stood up and went back to the cauldron manned by Mister Kushlekzar.

Of course, Miss Saori! Tasianna stated with fervor. Lady Hestia, how is it? Should I raise the temperature or is this cold adequate?

I showed her a small smile before nodding, No, its perfect. I can feel myself cooling down and I think [Overheated (Minor)] will disappear soon. Thanks for asking, Tasianna.

That is a relief to hear, Lady Hestia. It is a pleasure to serve you, she responded. If I may, could I ask you how it felt to lose so many spells? You mentioned that was the reason why you lost control of your body.

After Danterno took away my spells, my mind essentially went into shock. It felt like the System didnt know what it was supposed to do when so many spells were deleted from my mind in such a short moment. I went unconscious for a few seconds due to the pain of having them ripped out from me.

Dont forget that I didnt learn all these spells naturally like a custom spell. They are System spells created by the Origin God and they literally are implanted into you through your status board. I never gave it a thought but thinking of them as rented spells kinda made sense now.

I just wish the process was less painful. My parallel minds explained to me that due to me, the original mind, disconnecting from our body, none of them could get my permission to control it, leading to me acting as if I was under the effects of [Battle Frenzy (Moderate)]. I was essentially acting on my draconic instincts, my monster side.Ñøv€l--ß1n hosted the premiere release of this chapter.

It saw everything as an enemy and all it wanted to do was to protect itself. The dread I felt when it didnt even register Saori or Tasianna as friendlies. My parallel minds and I did our best to regain control, but it took so long. It was like something inside me was rejecting me. Its such a disturbing thought that even now sent a chill down my spine.

It also didnt help that I somehow gained the skills [Dreadflame Dragon] and [Hellblade Dragon] by losing [Spark Fire Dragon], [Draconic Claws], and [Draconic Fang]. I dont know how it was possible that I got those two skills despite not evolving into those two races. My body literally changed with them without me needing to evolve.

Seeing my body use [Scale-dust Veil], [Hellblade Edge], and [Dreadflare Aura] did make me a bit excited from the sheer flexibility and power of those abilities but that instantly disappeared once I saw myself use them on the saurians and my friends. I was so hysterical about it that all the progress we made on taking back our body was gone, as any distressing emotions I felt would influence my parallel minds.

Eventually, I did calm down though, but that was mostly cause my body reached its limit. [Dreadflare Aura] and [Symphonie des Feuergottes] covered me in intense heat that would usually kill anything that couldnt withstand a literal volcanoand I was in the epicenter of it.

It consumed so many calories that I got [Starvation (Minor)] while also giving me [Dehydration (Moderate)] cause my sweat was literally evaporating from my skin due to the heat.

I was currently unable to move my body due to [Arcane Fever (Minor)]. How did I get it despite being extremely resistant against it? Well, imagine me having to manage my [Overheated (Moderate)] to the point that my [Body Temperature Control] jumped three levels while keeping [Symphonie des Feuergottes], [Dreadflare Aura], and [Hellblade Edge] active.

As I was watching them talk, while Saori kept feeding me the curry and the fulinoe tea, Tasianna suddenly tickled my ear as she talked into it, Lady Hestia, are you still worried about what happened?

The concern in her voice made me clench my teeth, Was I that obvious?

You usually are far more talkative, Tasianna answered with a nod. Even when you were enfeebled after our fight with one of the leviathans appendages, you tried to speak even when you were so close to [Arcane Fever]. However, it feels like you are trying to avoid speaking if it isnt urgent.

Well, what can I say besides Im not in the mood

Hestia, Saori stopped speaking with Mister Kushlekzar the moment she heard Tasianna, putting the bowl of food down. Look at me, nothing happened to us. You neither hurt Tasianna nor me. This is Danternos fault, not yours.

You still couldnt stop me, though, I meekly gave out while looking at my new set of claws. My body didnt know how to control its new power output, so it recklessly used everything in my arsenal without a care. However, the more I get used to it, the more I can master my new abilities, the more dangerous my feral state will be.

I shook my arm, releasing shining red scales onto the ground, Condense [Symphonie des Feuergottes]s initial explosion, use [Dreadflare Aura] as a one-second burst attack instead of a continuous heatwave, ignite the scale-dust with my claws instead of my mouth to prevent the explosion to cloud my vision. I can think of so many ways to refine my battle habits, and I dont think this is all my body is capable of. I still havent even checked my dragon forms yet. Due to [Divine Inferno] I cant hurt myself with my own fire spells and it seems like my feral state somehow is able to cast custom spells, but not System spells. I gave a defeated chuckle as I counted up all these reasons. It has only been a week or so and were back to the same fucking discussion. When will I next go on another rampage? Can somebody stop me next time? All this worrying is making me sick of myself.

I eyed the sharp end of my claws. So sharp, so durable, so strong. They can pierce even metal at this point, not to mention simple bare flesh. One clean swipe. That is all I need to end somebodys life. One clean swipe and it all ends.

As my line of sight never strayed from my claws, a black-furred hand blocked them, displaying its own claws to me. They were shorter, duller, and less imposing. They couldnt be compared to mine at all.

Dont, Saori uttered with a shake of her head, a bitter smile trembling to keep itself together, as her deep-red eyes peered into me.

I gave you my promise, and I plan to keep it. I have a dream, which I will not squander a second time. I have two precious friends, whose eyes I dont want to see empty, I breathed in deeply, so much so that I felt dizzy from the extra amount of oxygen, before exhaling and looking at them with firm eyes. Im counting on you two. Please support me as I try to control the beast inside me, so I wont make you two sad ever again.

By your will, Lady Hestia! Tasianna shouted as she kneeled down, hiding her wet eyes by casting her face down.

Keep your shine, Hestia. Dont let this weeks events pull you down, Saori encouraged me as she presses her hands around my cheeks, showing a smile at my renewed determination.

Ive learned some valuable lessons from this Quest. First, that killing when I need to do it, whether it may be humans, beastmen, or monsters, isnt something that I should worry so much about. Feeling guilty about every single kill isn't good for me, but I should always be wary to never abandon the moralities that I've learned.

Second, seeing my friends being sad is more painful to me than I actually thought. Crying and being depressive about the matter is natural but whats important is that I get myself up and going. Nobody wants to see me in this state and if an Idol cant bounce back from a bad day, then what have I been doing with my life on Earth.

Third, and lastly, fuck Danterno and Kargryxmor.

Fuck those two, seriously. Fuck Kargryxmor for giving me this shitty blessing that only produces troubles. Weakness to water and also that shitty [Battle Frenzy]. Pah, this is more like a curse at this point!

And Danterno, you can go suck a big one, you bastard. Nobody asked you to help me here. Do you honestly believe that I would be grateful to you when you didnt even have the courtesy to prevent me from attacking my friends? Your asinine execution of your plan makes me want to vomit. Dont even think about me becoming your pawn!

Divine Inferno

A title granted to a mortal recognized by the God of Fire, whose control has been usurped by the owner. Boosts proficiency gain of magics based on Fire Element, while also boosting their power. Decreases Water Element proficiency. The possessor of this title will also gain immunity to any fire spell that he/she cast

I don't know what Aurena is like, but I honestly am contemplating working with her just to spite those two sick fucks. Nonetheless, any wyverns or dragons will probably be bad news for me. I'm not gonna speak with my "grandpa".

Hmm, that spark in your eyes seemed to have reignited, Mister Kushlekzar stated with a wide grin. Heres a lesson for the future, never stay in debt with a mercenary. You understand, young scale?

Uh, uhm, yes! I responded with a weary tone.

Good, then once your [Arcane Fever] is gone, we will get back to training. I do not have much time until I must depart but as my student, I want you to learn all four advanced casting techniques. You said that your lost [Fire Magic], [Inferno Magic], and [Holy Magic], right?" I nodded at his question. "Then it is even more imperative that you learn how to properly construct a custom spell. As a mage and your master, I cannot fathom what you can do with your talent, especially with those white and purple flames."

Mister Kushlekzar scratched his plumage again, thinking about something before speaking, As a member of the mages guild, I am actually obligated to report to them about your custom spell. The mages guild is responsible for managing all official mages including their custom spell usages. However, at this point, it is very likely that they will forbid your spell, so until you can control that spell properly, dont show it to the world.

The old scale then turned his head towards Saori and Tasianna, I will also assume you two wish to learn, too, correct?

The two nodded in unison.

Astalos is still hunting for us and Danterno wont be happy about what happened here. It cant be a coincidence that I got this blessing when I was in the presence of Macklemor. I need more strength to fend those two away, to keep my happinesswhich means it is almost time

After I ate and drank enough to get rid of both [Starvation] and [Dehydration], everybody rested for the night, while the saurians kept watch. Once morning came, both [Overheated] and [Arcane Fever] disappeared.

Having fully recovered from the aftermath of that bandit raid, the saurians and my party started our escort of the former prisoners towards Carine village. Unfortunately, we couldnt move too fast as most of the villagers and mercenaries couldnt muster enough strength to walk for too long until they needed a break. We had to move slower, especially when the cold nights came earlier now.

Fortunately for my party, that meant that we had more time to learn from Mister Kushlekzar while also giving us a chance to bond with the whole saurian party. It also got to the point that I started calling Krim-slak elder scale out of respect. I mean, the saurians were reluctant about helping me but they still did. Its just normal.

After four days of travel through the woods, we finally reached the outskirts of Carine village.