Another World Reincarnation Chronicle

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The exploration team named the newly discovered area ‘Crystal Stone Land’. The crystal stones that grew here were incredibly hard, making the adventurers rejoice at the prospect of new materials.

I looked around and let out a long sigh.

Various things that I wouldn’t have noticed before now caught my eye. My senses, transcending the human realm, responded acutely to everything.

I could feel the flow of mana much more sensitively, and through the movements and breaths of the people, I could tell how they had trained their bodies.

The breaths and movements of the hundred or so adventurers swirled chaotically in my mind. A blurry path of a sword flickered and faded, creating dozens of virtual enemies that appeared and disappeared.

“Seris? Aren’t you coming?”

“Ah, I’m coming.”

I shook my head in response to Celyon’s words. Lost in the new sensations, I let time slip by unaware that the exploration mission had already begun.

Yet, even being with Celyon, I found it hard to focus on the mission. As I began to get used to my altered body, all my senses approached me like a fantastical dream.

Is this how a dragon views the world?

I gently caressed the wind blowing around me. The movement of the wind as it slipped through my fingers gave me a small inspiration.

Could I perhaps ride the wind with my movements?

Just a gentle push of my heavy body would make my speed much faster than before.

The surrounding environment gradually melted away. My mind became solely focused on the wind flowing in front of me, disconnecting from everything around me. While my concentration was surprisingly intense, in the company of others, it was not a good behavior.

I frowned and dispersed the gathering wind.

Our team, Team Celyon, was tasked with finding traces of the monsters that inhabited this place. In such a desolate land where not a single blade of grass was visible, I wondered if there would be any traces left by monsters. However, as we poked around here and there, we eventually found signs of monsters.

At first, I almost passed by what looked just like a large crystal rock. It couldn’t be helped since vibrant crystal stones grew on the back of the monster.

“What a strange sight…”

One of the team members murmured in a small voice. Indeed, the monster had an exceedingly bizarre appearance. What circumstances led it to carry crystal-like structures growing on its back?

Just then, the monster began to move. It rose up from its crouched position and approached a nearby pile of crystals.

I observed for a while.

The monster sluggishly approached, opened its mouth wide, and began to chew on the crystal without hesitation. The crunching sound as it broke apart the crystals sparkled with multi-colored brilliance.

“The hardness of its teeth is impressive…”

“It far surpasses that of normal iron. This could be a good material.”

“Does that mean this crystal was its food…? It might not just be a simple mineral.”

In a matter of moments, we exchanged our opinions. After concluding our discussion, everyone nodded and drew their weapons.

The team members looked at Celyon’s face. The atmosphere was such that the moment she gave the command, they would immediately charge at the monster.

“It would be best to capture it alive if possible.”

With the team leader’s approval, nineteen members began to move cautiously.

The movements of their gazes swirled chaotically. The paths of more than ten team members unfolded before my eyes, soon becoming a reality.

As I stared absently at my teammates, Celyon spoke to me. It seemed that my stillness amidst everyone’s movement appeared strange.

“Seris?”

“Ah, yes…”

My reply came out a beat late. I awkwardly smiled while suppressing the chaotic sensations that wanted to break free.

“Are you feeling unwell?”

“No, I just wanted to see how the seniors hunt monsters.”

“Hm…”

This lame excuse only went so far. I jumped off the back of the Nightmare and followed behind my teammates.

Immediately, I altered my breathing. I kept it as low and long as possible, so that the captured monster wouldn’t hear my breath.

While each of our breathing intervals varied, everyone maintained similar breathing techniques. I simply followed their lead.

The captured monster resembled a turtle but had long limbs, and its tail was elongated. Especially, the tail covered in crystal looked extremely threatening.

In this tense atmosphere, as I drew closer to the monster, it suddenly turned its head from chewing the crystal. The team members caught in its gaze froze in place, but the monster seemed to perceive them as a threat.

[Kuwoaaaak!]

With its front legs raised high, the monster roared. Realizing the ambush had failed, the team members quickly returned their breathing to normal and began to move swiftly.

As if to hinder the monster’s movements, five of them raised their shields and swords, while most others took out their weapons to surround the creature.

Meanwhile, those farthest away took out thick ropes and began to swing them.

[Kuwoooor!]

As the monster charged, the team members began moving in unison. Ropes flew in from all directions, wrapping around the monster’s body, but as it twisted, they all snapped.

In a moment of shock for everyone watching, the monster dashed toward the team members holding shields and swung its tail.

Bang-!

With a heavy blow, the shield-bearing team member was knocked back. However, he stood firmly on the desolate land, enduring the hit.

“Attack!”

Whose signal it was I could not tell. But with that command, everyone swung their weapons toward the monster.

Swords and spears, occasionally axes or blunt weapons, struck against the monster’s back. The tough crystal seemed to protect the monster’s body, but the combined attacks of nearly twenty adventurers crumbled the crystal.

[Grreeeek!]

The monster let out a painful scream, but the team showed no mercy. They shattered the fallen monster’s sharp crystals and wrapped it tightly with ropes.

Suddenly, I locked eyes with the monster’s enormous eyes. It shook its body, dropping sorrowful tears.

“Ugh…”

I swallowed a small groan at the sight. A complex emotion stirred within me. It was the feeling of pity.

I frowned and averted the monster’s gaze. An adventurer feeling pity for a monster, indeed.

I seemed to be mentally weary.

At that moment, I noticed Dorban and Noel, who shared similar expressions. They also looked at the monster with complicated gazes.

Team Celyon, having captured the monster, returned to the main base where other teams, who had gone on missions in different directions, awaited us. They too seemed to have captured a monster alive.

“Oh, your team captured a monster too. That’ll be excellent data.”

The researchers who studied monsters thrilled at the sight of the creature we had brought in. After a short wait, other teams began to arrive, who either brought live monsters or, for those who had failed, brought corpses.

The monsters we captured shared one common feature. They all had multicolored crystals glistening all over their bodies.

I was very curious about their peculiar ecology, but this was as far as adventurers were concerned. Gathering more precise information was up to the scholars.

*

That evening, I slipped out from the base camp and sat down in a suitable spot. To fight the monsters that would appear moving forward, the use of mana was inevitable.

However, as I began to use mana, scales started to sprout on the back of my hands, making it impossible for me to use it openly in front of others.

Perhaps seeing my transformed appearance would urge them to capture me for research. I shook my head, imagining a foreboding future.

I had to find a way, any way, to use mana without my body changing.

I slowly began to move the mana gathered in my heart.

*

The next morning. All teams, including Celyon’s, needed to depart the main base to explore even farther than before. Many adventurers were tired from the early start, but their leader was resolute.

And it was the same for Celyon.

Still, thanks to having the Nightmare, I was able to take a brief nap, sprawled out on its back.

As we ventured deeper into Crystal Stone Land, the surrounding crystals grew larger. The colors of the multi-colored stones, once vibrant, became duller, and their hardness had further intensified.

As I wandered on in a daze, my sharp hearing caught the sound of insect wings flapping. The tremor of the air continually grew closer.

The moment I turned my head to find the source of that sound, I spotted a gigantic insect. With its long, sprawling wings and slim, elongated body, it resembled a dragonfly.

However, it was incomparably larger than a usual dragonfly, and its tail was made of solid crystal.

The crystal dragonfly came straight for me as if it was targeting me. Its flight speed was exceptionally fast, and its numerous legs spread wide as if attempting to embrace me.

Staring blankly at it, I drew my sword from behind and swung it. The path of the sword spread from my hand, moving in a steady speed like drawing stars, aiming for the dragonfly’s head.

Immediately after, I released transparent mana.

After a long night of research, I had figured out how to use mana without changing my body. It involved quickly releasing the mana inside me before it could alter my form.

Since the mana was released without undergoing any kind of transformation or control, it was transparent, and its range was naturally quite limited.

However, for now, that was more than enough. There was a significant difference between not using mana and using it.

The transparent mana proceeding from the tip of my sword dented the dragonfly’s head.

With its head deformed, the dragonfly could not correct its flight path and crashed to the ground.

Crash-!

The fallen body seemed to be about a meter long. At this size, it could probably carry a small child while flying.

Perhaps that was why it had targeted someone relatively small like me.

“This is…”

The team members, belatedly realizing the approach of the crystal dragonfly, reacted. They began to draw their swords and stay vigilant of the surroundings, but it turned out that this single dragonfly was the end of the approaching threat.

I jumped off the Nightmare and picked up the trembling dragonfly. Then I loaded it onto the back of the Nightmare.