Chapter 9
Chapter: 9
“If you want to do it, I won’t stop you.”
“Really?”
“Of course! How could I possibly stop you from doing what you want?”
Hearing my words, Thetis broke into a huge smile.
“However, since we don’t know how this will turn out, you need to be careful. Got it?”
“Yes? Yes! I understand!”
Ah, she doesn’t seem to grasp it. She’s too happy to listen.
Anyway… I managed to create bodies for these kiddos by sharing my scales, but I wonder what would happen if they gave their scales to the dinosaurs?
I’m kinda curious about it.
“Just in case, I’ll watch over it with you. If anything goes wrong, you might need my help.”
“Yes! It’s reassuring to have you help, Mother!”
With that, I shed the slime leather cloth I had made and transformed back into my original form, a dragon.
Ah, I wrapped the discarded slime leather cloth around my pinky finger. Don’t want to bother making another one if I change forms again.
“Then, let’s go to where the dinosaurs are… Ah.”
“Hm? What is it?”
Thetis looked between the lake she was in and me before saying,
“I was going to open a portal through the water to take Mother, but…”
“But?”
“It seems Mother is too big to fit in the lake.”
Ah.
“Well, it seems you’ll need to transform into a smaller form.”
Thetis spoke as if she found it troublesome. My body is indeed quite large.
“Guess there’s no choice.”
I used my magical power to change my body into that of a small girl, wrapping the slime leather cloth around me.
“Then, will you hold onto the fin on my head?”
“Sure thing.”
I wove magic into wings and flew up to perch atop Thetis’s head.
“Let’s see… Ah, this feels just right to hold onto.”
I gripped one of the fins sprouting from the side of Thetis’s head.
“Does it hurt?”
I held on gently enough that I wouldn’t fall but it would be a problem if it hurt her.
“It’s an odd sensation, but it’s fine at this level. Now, let’s go!”
With that, Thetis dove quickly into the lake.
Even while submerged, I didn’t feel suffocated, which must mean my body fundamentally retained its dragon nature despite being in human form. Nice not needing to breathe.
My whole being and hair got soaked in the frigid lake water. Since becoming a dragon, I’d never had hair before, so this felt rather refreshing.
In the center of the cold lake, Thetis’s magic gathered and formed a circle, and without a hint of hesitation, she jumped right in.
As soon as Thetis swam through the circle, the scenery changed.
From a tranquil lake with no movement unless Thetis shifted, to a vast sea that was constantly churning.
Salty sea water. Countless fish. Long seaweed and coral reefs.
We found ourselves in the middle of a vividly shining sea.
“We’ve arrived. They should be nearby… Ah, there they are!”
Thetis swiftly swam through the expansive ocean. When she stopped, we came upon five dinosaurs that had evolved to thrive in the sea.
“Have you been waiting long? I got the go-ahead!”
Whether they understood Thetis or not, the five sea dinosaurs began to circle her.
Ah, since it’s spacious here, there’s no need for me to maintain a human form. I let go of Thetis’s fin and began to distance myself from her.
“Mother?”
“It seems I can change back to my original form here without it being an issue.”
I moved away from Thetis and peeled off the white slime leather cloth surrounding me.
Now, if I change back to my original appearance…
“Kyao!”
Hm?
Just as I was about to morph back, one of the sea dinosaurs with a long, serpent-like neck charged at me.
Ah, um… Does it see me as dinner now?
“Hey, no!”
“Kyauu!”
The huge dinosaur opened its mouth wide, aiming to gulp me in one go.
Seems like it has underestimated me a bit.
“Tsk.”
I lightly flicked my finger in the dinosaur’s direction.
Kwoong!!
In an instant, a massive shockwave swept past the dinosaur.
Well, I avoided a direct hit, courtesy of Thetis.
“You should be more picky about who you mess with. This is what makes beasts, beasts.”
Even though the flick only grazed the dinosaur, its skin instantly became ragged.
“Kraaaak!”
The dinosaur writhed in agony. If I had hit it directly, it would have been ripped to shreds.
“Oh dear, what do I do now?!”
“Hm, losing one wouldn’t be a big deal, right?”
I said coolly to Thetis, who looked flustered and bowed her head slightly.
“I picked one that seemed smart, but I didn’t expect this. Ugh… That one looked to have some brains.”
The dinosaur, bleeding and suffering. Well… it acted on instinct, so it can’t be helped.
I gathered my magic and lightly enveloped the dinosaur to heal it. Then I wished for the wounds to mend.
“Kreuh?”
As the dinosaur writhed in pain, light surrounded it, and the wounds began to fade.
“Mother, what was that just now?”
“I used magic to heal the wounds. I had a hunch it might work, and look, it did.”
“Whoa…”
Thetis was utterly amazed. I didn’t expect it to be this effective either.
Anyway, it seems the situation has settled down. I transformed my body… or let’s just call it polymorph.
Other dinosaurs looked startled and scrambled to flee at my sudden appearance, but it was a minor detail.
When Thetis called them back, they gathered quickly.
“Alright, I’m going to pluck my scales and share them with these dinosaurs. I wonder what will happen?”
“I don’t know. I’m curious too.”
Thetis plucked five scales from under her chin and handed them out to the five dinosaurs.
Strangely, the scales naturally settled under the dinosaurs’ chins.
“Oh, what’s going on?”
“I wonder.”
The kids I shared my scales with had no bodies at first, so that makes sense, but what will occur with these dinosaurs that already have bodies?
Magic, similar to Thetis’s, appeared from the scales under the dinosaurs’ chins, enveloping their bodies.
The dark colors of the dinosaurs’ scales began to change to blue, and their bodies started shifting.
Fins morphed into forelegs and hind legs, and they began to take on Thetis’s likeness.
They sprouted wings, albeit smaller, and instead of horns… fin-like structures emerged.
After a brief moment, the dinosaurs transformed into creatures that resembled smaller versions of Thetis.
They looked like little blue dragons.
Except for one.
“That one… it’s the one that lunged at Mother earlier.”
“Hm. This is bizarre.”
The dinosaur that attacked me… maybe because it was beaten up and battered, it couldn’t fully absorb the power contained in Thetis’s scale.
It looked like it was halfway transformed into a version of Thetis. Though it had blue scales, it ultimately resembled a giant sea serpent.
Hmm, maybe it couldn’t accept Thetis’s scale completely because my attack had left it injured.
The dinosaur that looked like a sea serpent, realizing it was too different from the other dinosaurs… the blue dragons, took the scale that had fallen from its body in its mouth and began to flee somewhere.
“That one… Hmm…”
“Are you going to chase it?”
“No. It’s fine. Losing one isn’t that big of a deal.”
Despite saying this, a hint of complexity lingered in Thetis’s expression.