Privel, who had made camp on a floor about ten floors above where she had fought the Cyclopes, woke up from the strange dream.
Being given a crystal and fangs by an enormous Van-kun, I can’t say much about Isla.
Normally, wouldn’t it be an adult Van-kun appearing in her dreams? A mountain-sized, child-form Van-kun had suddenly come to play. That was the kind of dream it had been.
Well, it’s not that weird to have one strange dream, right? she thought, and then she got up. She stretched and opened her eyes.
“Maybe it’s that strange dream’s fault… My head is spin – m-monsters?!”
Privel was startled to see that there were small Dragons lying on the ground around her.
The Dragons, whose eyelids had been closed, woke up and began crying in surprise.
“Shaaah?!”
“Gyaauh?!”
At that moment, Privel’s vision distorted and she went into a panic.
“I-I’m surrounded?! Where is everyone?! I-I have to get away!”
Privel had begun training in not only magic but combat abilities as well, but she wasn’t capable enough to be able to deal with being surrounded by enemies in all directions.
She began reciting an incantation and tried to gain some distance from the Dragons.
At that moment, Isla appeared from behind Privel and gave her a chop on the head.
“Calm down,” she said.
“Haguh?!”
Isla had only held back slightly; Privel staggered upon receiving the blow. And then Pauvina, who had apparently been hiding somewhere, ran to her and pinned her arms behind her back.
“W-what are you doing?!” Privel demanded, thrashing about to try and escape Pauvina’s arms. “Th-there are Dragons right there!”
“That’s what we’re trying to tell you, look closely. Look where the Dragons are coming from,” Pauvina said.
For the first time, Privel noticed that something was strange.
The Dragons were crying, but they weren’t trying to attack her or Pauvina, who was holding onto her.
“Look closely,” said Isla. “Here.”
She took hold of the head of one of the Dragons and held it up for the bewildered Privel to look at closely.
“Where they’re coming from, you say…” Privel murmured.
The Dragons were smaller than Wyverns, small enough for her to hold in her arms. The head, which had sharp teeth and horns, continued on into a neck. And when Privel looked past that, she saw that it was connected not to a scaled body, but a tentacle that she was very familiar with.
“D-Dragons are growing from me?!”
“No, the tips of your tentacles have become Dragon heads,” said Pauvina.
The tips of the tentacles of Privel’s lower body had transformed into the heads of Dragons.
“Y-you’re right… wow, it feels weird,” said Privel, patting the Dragon head on the end of the tentacle that Isla was holding.
It wasn’t just that the tentacle tip resembled a Dragon head. Its surface was covered in scales that were both hard and smooth, and the horns and teeth were clearly bone, not ma.s.ses of flesh.
Privel saw her own stiff smile in the vision of the Dragon’s eyes, telling her that they were real as well.
The reason her vision had been distorted ever since she woke up was because she suddenly had sixteen extra eyes.
“It seems that you’ve calmed down. Have you checked your Status?” Isla asked.
“Ah, I’ll check it now,” Privel said. “Status… My Rank has increased and I’ve become an Origin Scylla High Druid?!”
Legends told of some Scylla individuals of the distant past having tentacle tips with the form of Dragon or wolf heads.
But none had ever seen such Scylla in reality; even in the Mages’ Guild, it was nothing more than a legend recorded in an ancient ma.n.u.script.
“T-to think that I’d transform into a legendary Scylla… I thought it was just a dream!” Privel exclaimed.
“Ah, so you were dreaming after all,” said Isla.
“Yeah, this morning’s dream was… wait, why are you so calm?! I’m really shocked, you know?!”
“While I was keeping watch, your bodies began transforming, so I thought that was the case. Gizania and Myuze were saying the same, too,” Isla explained.
“I see… wait, Gizania and Myuze grew something as well?! Where are they?” Privel asked.
“Isla said it was dangerous, so we carried them far away while you were sleeping,” said Pauvina. “Your tentacles would drag on the ground, so we left you alone, though.”
“If you three all went into a panic at the same time, it would have been troublesome to get you to all calm down, so we woke you up one at a time,” said Isla.
“Ah… You’re right, that might have been dangerous,” Privel agreed.
Privel and Gizania were powerful due to their large bodies, and Myuze had sickle arms with sharp blades. It would have been a catastrophe if all three of them panicked and thrashed about.
Mostly, it would be a catastrophe for themselves. Isla was far stronger than any of them in hand-to-hand combat, and Pauvina would be unharmed if she held her Orichalc.u.m shield and kept her distance.
“It’s okay to come out!” Pauvina called out.
Gizania and Myuze, who had been keeping themselves hidden at a distance, showed themselves.
“Oh, it seems that Privel’s transformation was the greatest,” Myuze remarked. “What has happened to your tentacles?”
Myuze was sparkling. Her sickle-arms and green exoskeleton had transformed into an emerald-like material.
“I think that you have changed considerably yourself, Myuze-dono… I have merely grown some horns,” said Gizania.
Her transformation was not as profound as Privel’s or Myuze’s. But horns like those of a bull were growing from her temples.
And the part of Gizania’s body that Privel felt a sense of threat from seemed to have grown even larger. The chest area.
Startled, Privel looked down at her own chest, but the objects there were the same as they had been yesterday. She looked up and her eyes met with Myuze’s, who had been checking her own chest in the same way.
“… For now, I think we should complain about this incident to Van-kun,” Privel said.
“I agree,” said Myuze.
They were already certain that their sudden, strange Rank increase was due to the guidance of the Vandalieu that had appeared in their dreams.
“Despite receiving an undeserved blessing in the form of Vandalieu-sama’s guidance in your dreams, you wish to complain… Ah, I should have slept as well! No, Pauvina didn’t meet him in her dreams, so there was no guarantee to receive his guidance by sleeping. Yes, calm down, calm down,” Isla said, calming herself down.
“I did see Van,” Pauvina confessed. “I received something pointy from him.”
Pauvina’s shocking words pierced Isla’s ears.
Pauvina didn’t possess a monster Rank, so she couldn’t undergo an increase in Rank that changed her appearance, but it seemed that she had indeed received Vandalieu’s guidance.
Isla froze for a moment, then her lips turned upwards in a crescent shape and she broke out into laughter. “Kukukukuh… It’s fine, loyalty is not something that is sworn out of desire for a reward. Kufuh… Kihihihih!”
Privel and the others trembled, sensing danger in Isla and taking a step backwards.
“You lot, once you’re ready, I’ll have you show the results of your Rank increase in real battles,” said Isla. “In real battles.”
“Eh?! I’m still feeling sick because I’m not used to my vision yet!” Privel protested.
“My head just feels a little heavier… no, my clothes are tight as well?” said Gizania.
“Just like yesterday I’ll help you if it becomes too dangerous, and we have Blood Potions as well, so it’s perfect. Now then, let us go!” Isla declared.
Privel and the others worked hard at leveling up today as well under the influence of Isla, who seemed to be venting her anger on them.
Incidentally, Myuze had changed race to Crystal Empusa, while Gizania had become an Ushioni.
Meanwhile, Vigaro’s cheerful roar and Zadiris’s dissatisfied shout echoed out in a deeper area of the same Dungeon.
The S-cla.s.s adventurer, the ‘Thunderclap’ Schneider, leader of the Storm of Tyranny, was busy in the days following his meeting with Farmaun Gold and the delivery of Ricklent’s message.
He was making his reports to the Adventurers’ Guild and Mages’ Guild in his hometown and dealing with the merchants and n.o.bles that approached him.
Officially known to be followers of Alda in the Amid Empire, he and his party were national heroes. The Dark Continent’s location was roughly known, but a safe route to and from it hadn’t been established. Despite that, Schneider and his party had returned safely.
Contact was often lost with those who ventured there, and those that did return safely were those who observed the Dark Continent from a nearby island or those who only explored the outer edges for a short period of time. The Dark Continent was still a place that was shrouded in mystery.
Tremendous success had been expected of them, as if it were only natural for them to succeed. Plants with unknown uses, undiscovered minerals, information and materials of monsters that didn’t exist on the Bahn Gaia continent. And most importantly, thrilling tales of adventure.
It was only natural that people would flock to Schneider and his companions in desire of these things.
Schneider’s party hadn’t headed towards the Dark Continent due to a request, nor had they received monetary offers from sponsors. Thus, they had no obligation to disclose any information to the people gathered around them. But Schneider, who had exercised his numerous special privileges as an S-cla.s.s adventurer to protect Vida’s races, needed to maintain his outwards reputation.
Schneider would grab those he didn’t like with an iron-claw grip and throw them into the sky, even if they were important n.o.blemen or merchants, but he couldn’t cast away everyone who approached him. He was capable of small amounts of social interaction.
Of course, he couldn’t speak of the events that had occurred on the Dark Continent. Farmaun Gold was an old comrade-in-arms of Bellwood, and in the empire, he was worshipped as the G.o.d who ruled over the fire attribute in Zantark’s place. If Schneider were to tell people that Farmaun had left Alda and was working with Zantark… he would certainly be labeled a heretic.
That was why the whole party had thought of a story to tell the people before returning home.
They told the people that they had disembarked on the Dark Continent, but they ended up in a battle against a true Colossus leading a pack of never-before-seen monsters, forcing them to escape in their ship.
It was a slightly pathetic story, but it would be problematic if they stimulated the people by telling them stories of success, causing a Dark Continent exploration boom, so it couldn’t be helped.
Schneider and his companions had in fact brought back remains of monsters that had never been seen before, so this story was persuasive enough. At the very least, none would doubt the story except for Emperor Marshukzarl and his close va.s.sals, who already suspected that Schneider and his companions served Vida.