Chapter 7
"Phew. So this is the world as you see it, Mother."
The black dragon, Erebos, looked around curiously.
"It's truly amazing that you can change like that with just my scale."
"It would have been impossible without your scale, Mother. This body was created by materializing your information from your scale with my power."
"My information?"
Is it like genetic information about the body?
"But even if I put all my power into it, I can't perfectly recreate your body, Mother."
"That's true."
Although it looked very similar to me, it was less than half my size.
Even Erebos, who could be called darkness itself, couldn't create a body identical to mine with all his power... Am I stronger than I thought?
"Nngh... I don't get it!"
Unlike Erebos who had completed his black dragon body, Sylphid seemed to be struggling.
It looked like she couldn't imbue her power into my scale that was swaying in the wind.
"It's better to do it calmly. First, try to put all your power into Mother's scale."
"My power... ugh..."
Sylphid kept trying to put her power into my scale, but it didn't seem easy.
"Maybe only Erebos could do it? Maybe I can't?"
"I don't think that's the case... I think you just haven't gotten the hang of it yet."
"The hang of it..."
"I got the hang of it through that small creature's body. Sylphid, why don't you try that too?"
At Erebos's words, Sylphid seemed to look at the small dinosaur lying on the ground.
"That small thing... Um... It smells a bit, so I'm not comfortable with it."
"I'm not saying to keep using it, just to get the hang of it for a moment. Why don't you start by inhabiting that body?"
Sylphid pondered for a moment and then approached the small dinosaur lying on the ground.
"I don't like it much, but... if I can fly with Mom...!"
Sylphid inhabits the fallen dinosaur. Did she want to fly with me that much?
She flew with me when she was wind, but maybe she wanted a proper body.
As Sylphid inhabited the dinosaur, interestingly, the dinosaur's skin began to turn white.
Erebos was black, and Sylphid is white?
"Ugh... A body is... so heavy..."
"I agree. I didn't know a physical body was this heavy."
Sylphid, inhabiting the dinosaur, slowly raised her body with seemingly very heavy movements.
For children who had no physical bodies... a body made of flesh and blood seemed to feel very heavy.
"But I think I'm starting to get the hang of inhabiting it."
Sylphid, inhabiting the small dinosaur's body, moved around and even jumped up.
I couldn't help but smile at her somewhat clumsy movements.
"If you've adapted to the body somewhat, now you can try inhabiting the scale. Remember the sensation of having a body while creating a body based on Mother's information in the scale."
"Hmm... I don't really understand, but I'll try!"
So Sylphid left the dinosaur she was inhabiting and started to inhabit my scale.
"Hmm... The sensation of having a body... Mother's information? Anyway, with the feeling of materializing with my power..."
Sylphid tried her best to create a body.
After several attempts resulting in something covered in scales or a wingless lizard, finally...
"I did it!!!"
After a few hours of effort, she was able to complete the form of a pure white dragon.
One peculiar point was that it had two pairs of wings.
"Mom! Look! It's a sleek body!"
"Indeed. It feels thinner than mine."
The overall impression was thin and slender. With two pairs of wings, it felt like a body designed for fast flight.
"It took some time, but this should be enough."
"Hehehe. Now I can happily fly in the sky with Mom! The others will cry with envy when they see!"
"They won't be able to cry until they make bodies."
I smiled as I watched Erebos and Sylphid bickering.
"Well then, let's teach that method to the other children."
"That's right! Mom! It feels a bit unfair if only we have bodies like this!"
"Hmm. Meeting the others directly... It'll be the first time."
I smiled slightly at Erebos's words. Except for Sylphid, the other children were fixed in place, unable to move to other locations.
"The children who've only heard about us through my and Sylphid's stories will meet us for the first time. How interesting."
"Don't worry, Erebos! They're all good kids!"
Erebos nodded slowly at our words.
Well then, let's start by meeting Ifrit, who should be the closest...
"Ah, the other children might have trouble getting the hang of it too, so shouldn't we take this small body with us?"
"That's right. The other children might have trouble getting the hang of it too."
Just like with Sylphid. The others might be similar.
I picked up the dinosaur lying on the ground.
It was already a cold corpse starting to decay slightly... Well, it's not difficult to carry this.
I picked up the small dinosaur corpse and said to Erebos and Sylphid:
"Then let's depart. Starting with Ifrit, who's the closest."
And so, together with the two children who had gained new bodies, I headed towards the burning volcano.
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The process of the other children gaining bodies had some twists and turns, but everyone was able to obtain a body somehow.
The small dinosaur corpse, which was overused under the pretext of getting the hang of it, could no longer maintain its form and was buried in the ground.
Anyway.
"I never imagined we'd all gather like this! Hello! I'm Ifrit!"
A red dragon, slightly smaller than the others, greeted cheerfully.
Perhaps because he still has childlike aspects, he feels younger than the other children.
"Now I don't need to be alone in the vast, empty sea anymore. I'm Tethys. Nice to meet you."
A blue dragon with fins instead of horns introduced herself in a calm voice.
"Yes. I'm Sagarmatha."
A dragon with a transparent gem body, unlike the others, was of few words.
But why is Sagar made of gems? I don't understand the classification criteria for scale colors.
"I'm Yggdrasil. It's my first time moving like this, so it's very awkward, but please take care of me."
A dragon with green scales spoke in a gentle voice.
"I'm Erebos. I'm the one who came up with the idea of creating a body by borrowing Mother's scale. So, everyone, you owe me one."
"Erebos. You shouldn't say things like that."
"Yes, Mother."
Erebos, who was the first to create a body using my scale, spoke in a slightly boastful voice, but quickly lowered his tail when I lightly scolded him.
Really, I wonder how he turned out like this.
"I'm Shamash! I'll become the most beautiful being!"
A dragon shining with golden color boasted about its beautiful scales.
Both Sagar and Shamash. Why are their scale colors like this? Does it depend on their inherent attributes?
"You already know me without introduction, right? I'm Sylphid! I met everyone before creating a body!"
A pure white dragon with two pairs of wings said with a bright smile.
By the way, they're all quite small. The largest, Sagarmatha, was only about half my size.
I'm a bit excited to see what these children with their newly acquired bodies will do from now on.
I lightly scratched my exposed lower jaw, where I had plucked scales to give to the children.
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There exists a peculiar scale on the lower jaw of every dragon.
This scale, unlike others, grows in the opposite direction.
According to ancient records, this scale was said to be a dragon's weakness, and those who claimed to be dragon slayers would pierce this scale to take a dragon's life.
However, considering that most of the dragons these so-called dragon slayers defeated were actually drakes or wyverns, the reversed scale is probably not a dragon's weakness.
This reversed scale. As the mystery deepened, a scholar from a certain empire reportedly had a chance to question the empire's guardian dragon about this scale.
The empire's guardian dragon, seemingly annoyed, is said to have summed it up in one sentence:
"I don't have a reversed scale."
On the lower jaw of the empire's guardian dragon with silvery shining scales, there was no reversed scale.
Instead, there was only a patch of skin the size of a scale, not covered by scales.
The empire's guardian dragon, who for the longest time had been a shield for humans, a teacher for humans, a guide for humans, and a friend to humans.
What exactly happened to this dragon whose name has been forgotten?
It was a moment that raised even more questions for scholars studying dragons.
- From the records of a scholar obsessed with dragons.