Alright, Queo has finally managed to enter the seawater! Solving the biggest shackle for the Lizardman, his first action was…
“Let’s catch as many fish from the sea as possible…!”
Queo, who valued the instincts of a fisherman over escaping.
Well, it’s not entirely incomprehensible. After all, the small stream on the island only had tiny fish.
How many big fish must be swimming in that vast ocean? Just watching from afar, you can occasionally see large fish leaping out of the water. How frustrating would it be if you couldn’t jump in and catch them?
A skilled Lizardman fisherman who can swim and catch fish would find it hard to resist!
Though there was hesitation due to the danger of losing his life upon entering the water, now that problem has been solved.
Thus, Queo began diving into the sea with great enthusiasm to catch fish.
For the plump fish living peacefully around the island, an unexpected predator had arrived.
After filling his belly by catching fish from the sea for a few days, even Queo’s scrawny tail became well-nourished.
With a tail of this thickness… it should last about half a month.
“Good. Now that my stomach is full enough…”
Oh, is he finally setting off?
“Shall we make a boat?”
Ah, starting from here, huh?
Indeed, it would be impossible to return just by swimming without a boat.
Who knows how many days it will take to reach the river Queo left from? It’s unrealistic to swim continuously for such a long time.
Using dried grass, Queo made primitive ropes by weaving and drying them, then created an axe by breaking stones against rocks and attaching them to suitable branches.
It feels like one of those blocky sandbox games!
With the clumsily-made stone axe, he chopped down trees of appropriate thickness, trimmed them, cut more wood, smoothed it, gathered thin logs too slender to be called tree trunks, and finally tied everything together using the dried grass ropes.
“Alright. This should do.”
A crude raft made by bundling the wood together was completed.
Though the shape isn’t perfect because there weren’t any thick trees on the island, it should be able to carry Queo’s body just fine.
“Let’s see… I think we have enough food.”
Queo set up wooden sticks on the raft, securely tying the bundles of dried fish with strong ropes before pushing the raft towards the shore.
He supplemented his nutrition sufficiently, but emergency rations of dried food were prepared just in case.
“I don’t know exactly how many days I’ve been on this island… But it’s probably time to leave.”
It was precisely the 205th day since he drifted to the island. Of course, Queo didn’t know this.
And neither will I tell him!
“Alright. Let’s go. If the Creator Dragon God watches over me, everything will be fine!”
Hmm. While Queo is devout, his tone sounds like he knows I’m watching.
Even though I really am!
“Creator Dragon God, please lend me your aid…”
After saying this, Queo scratched his scale-less chin with his nails, then plucked a scale from near his neck and placed it on his palm.
Then, clear water sprouted from the scale and enveloped Queo’s body, transforming into a watery Agathlam Silver Armor.
“Alright. Let’s depart…”
With all preparations complete, Queo pushed the raft toward the sea.
– – – – – – – – – – – – – –
Due to Queo obtaining the method to overcome the racial limitations of the Lizardmen, a tremendous change occurred… or rather, didn’t occur among the Lizardmen.
While the issue of being unable to survive without moisture or swim in the sea was certainly meaningful for the Lizardmen, there were a few problems with this method.
Firstly, only those capable of basic communication with water spirits could propose a trade.
Either someone born with a naturally good compatibility with water spirits, or someone whose compatibility improved through close interaction with water…
If you weren’t one of these people, it was impossible to establish a trade with water spirits.
Since a deal requires communication, even if both parties benefit, it cannot happen without dialogue.
Secondly, this method relying on the alien concept of trading instead of conventional magic was rejected by most mages.
The relationship between spirits and mages involves mutual understanding and borrowing power, so the idea of trading with spirits was difficult to accept.
Thus, while mages hesitated to engage in spirit trades, they worked hard to achieve similar effects through communion with spirits.
However, spirits wouldn’t easily lend their power.
Although they willingly lent their strength when dwelling within bodies or obsidian weapons, creating water from nothing was different.
To understand this, one must first grasp the nature of the power used by spirits.
Spirits are non-material beings, reincarnated souls of natural elements, maintaining their existence through the surrounding environment and natural elements, absorbing mana.
Creating water from nothing without mana is impossible. Spirits who hadn’t replenished their mana through contracts or mana stones had to consume their own mana to create water.
When dwelling in bodies or obsidian weapons, they utilized the mana within the Lizardmen, posing no significant issues. However, creating something from nothing was a separate matter.
Trading scales for power, satisfying the spirits’ desire for physical form while compensating for mana consumption, formed the core of spirit trading.
Elves, who could contract with spirits, might have resolved this far more simply, but Lizardmen couldn’t contract with spirits.
Perhaps because the Lizardmen and spirits, originally dragons, shared the same roots but diverged onto different paths, or maybe due to instinctive memories etched into their beings.
Lizardmen couldn’t treat spirits casually, making it impossible to bind them as servants or underlings.
Honestly, at this point, they might as well be considered separate entities. Truly troublesome Lizardmen indeed.
Anyway, although this spirit trading was largely ignored by most mages, after some time, a small number of young mages recognized its necessity and refined it several times, eventually completing a prayer.
Known as the Prayer of Clear Water, it facilitated communication with water spirits.
Even Lizardmen with poor compatibility with water spirits could pique their interest and conduct trades thanks to this prayer.
Though sacrificing scales from the lower jaw remained unchanged, overcoming previously insurmountable environments became possible through this prayer.
While older mages still frowned upon such trades, they couldn’t deny their utility.
By the way, Queo-tlan, after much ado, finally returned home.
“Behold this radiant splendor… Surely the Creator Dragon God possesses scales as brilliant as these…”
After enduring countless hardships, narrowly escaping death, surviving on a deserted island, and finally returning, Queo-tlan found the Lizardman he had bet with and obtained a statue of… me, the Creator Dragon God.
Hmm. Since he seems satisfied, it’s probably alright.
Incidentally, the Lizardman who made that bet disregarded Queo-tlan’s detailed warnings about the dangers of the sea, went into the water, nearly died, and barely survived.
– – – – – – – – – – – – – –
“O Spirit of Water. Today, I offer you my scales.”
A robust Lizardman knelt in a corner of the room, closed his eyes, and began praying.
“In return, grant me pure and clean water. Protect me with water as transparent as yourself.”
Carefully removing a scale from his neck, which had very few left, and placing it on his palm, the Lizardman bowed slightly.
“If you protect my journey, I can advance anywhere.”
Then, the scale gradually disappeared, and clear, transparent water began enveloping the Lizardman’s skin.
Having finished his prayer to the water spirit, the Lizardman picked up the leather armor beside him.
A leather armor protecting his lower jaw, neck, and upper chest.
This armor was used by Lizardmen who traveled long distances or worked at sea, having offered their scales to water spirits, leaving their lower jaws and necks scale-less.
“Isn’t it tiring to pray like that every day? Especially tearing out scales raw…”
An elf girl looked worriedly at the Lizardman.
“Perhaps I could use the water spirit I contracted with? Then you wouldn’t need to offer scales.”
The Lizardman shook his head at the elf’s suggestion.
“If I borrow the power of the spirit you contracted with, I wouldn’t need to offer scales, true. But that would mean discontinuing my trade with the water spirit who grants me power, risking their resentment.”
“Hmm… Still, the Lizardmen’s view of spirits is a bit hard to understand. It’s getting frustrating.”
Watching the grumbling elf, the Lizardman smiled faintly.
“The differences between species aren’t easily overcome.”
Saying this, the Lizardman stood up, adjusting the leather armor in his hand.
Though weaker than his scales, this leather armor was crucial for protecting his vulnerabilities.
It might feel a bit constricting, but it was necessary to guard the weak spots caused by removing scales.
At that moment,
“Still not ready?”
A horned silver-haired girl, the Dragon Priestess, peeked her head in.
Apparently waiting for quite some time, she seemed a bit irritated.
“Ah, Dragon Priestess. The prayer is already done. Let’s go soon.”
The Lizardman hastily put on the leather armor and headed out.
Or rather, tried to head out.
“Hold on a moment.”
The Dragon Priestess glanced at the scale-less neck and lower jaw of the Lizardman and gently extended her hand.
Simultaneously, a faint light spread from her fingertips, and after a single breath, the light vanished.
In its place, the Lizardman’s scales were fully regenerated.
“This…”
“Come on, let’s go.”
Regenerating all the plucked scales in the blink of an eye, the Dragon Priestess walked away as if nothing happened.
Watching her, the Lizardman and the elf exchanged small smiles.
– From the adventure records of a certain party of heroes.
