Chapter 6

In the beginning, the creatures that emerged onto the surface of the water were mudskippers, using their pectoral fins like front legs to climb out.

These guys escaped from the fierce competition for survival in the water.

At first, they started evolving just enough to escape onto land temporarily during crises.

Then, for some reason, they realized living on land wasn’t so bad after all! They began evolving lungs instead of gills and transformed their back fins into proper front legs!

Seriously, we did encourage mutations and evolution, but when I saw them sprouting front legs in such a short time, I nearly had a heart attack!

That’s how they started growing, munching on various plants and slimes, increasing in numbers, mutating, and evolving. Before long, they even developed hind legs, some evolving into lizard-like forms, others into amphibians…

It was total chaos, an evolutionary free-for-all!

Anyway, as these creatures moved onto land, they kept evolving and changing in more diverse ways…

For some reason, they began getting HUGE!

At first, we had no idea why, but after investigating, we discovered the cause… Most of it stemmed from magical power.

This strange magical force has the property of causing changes according to another’s will. When combined with the creatures’ own instincts, it triggered bizarre phenomena – even physically impossible transformations!

Tiny lizards grew into massive dinosaurs, while other lizards’ front legs turned into small wings allowing them to fly!

Thanks to this, we’re seeing rapid and diverse evolution, but isn’t it happening a bit too quickly? It’s way faster than I anticipated – what I thought would take thousands of years happened in just decades!

Dinosaurs already?! Actual dinosaurs!

I was expecting to watch legged mudskippers slowly evolve into small animals over time, not suddenly have dinosaurs appear out of nowhere!

“But it is entertaining to watch.”

“That’s true…”

Seeing huge dinosaurs rampaging and fighting is pretty fun. Plus, since they’re all evolving in different directions, it’s fascinating watching them develop unique weapons – some fight with massive jaws and sharp teeth, others rely on claws and agility, while others use horns or tough hides.

That’s what makes life interesting these days.

“Watching them fight like this makes me want a physical body too.”

“Bodies… Natural Phenomena like you obtaining bodies is quite mysterious.”

“Other entities are thinking the same thing. Especially Erebus. He says he needs a body to become worthy of being Mother’s mate.”

“He still hasn’t let go of that notion? Tsk tsk.”

As I sighed, Sylphid smiled gently and added:

“Don’t be so harsh. If we were male, we’d probably want to become Mother’s mate too.”

“But Ifrit is male.”

“He’s still just a kid! Decades have passed and he still looks like a child!”

Agreeing with Sylphid, I nodded. That boy really doesn’t seem to grow up at all.

Previously, when I scolded him for burning life energy, it wasn’t just because life is precious – it was also to educate him properly. While I could have simply rewound time to revive what he burned, that wouldn’t have taught him anything!

Though maybe I should have stopped him before he caused too much destruction… But then the lesson wouldn’t have been as effective!

Ah well, can’t be helped.

“Do you think if we had bodies, we could live such intense lives too?”

“Hmm… Even if you gained bodies, I doubt you’d live exactly like them…”

After all, you’re massive natural phenomena. Sylphid alone can carve mountains with her winds. If you were to gain bodies…

You’d likely become incredibly powerful beings…

Though probably not as strong as me!

Time passed…

“Mom! Erebus found a way to create bodies!”

“So that boy finally figured it out.”

“Yes! Though he says he needs your help. Will you come with us?”

“My help?”

If the children need my assistance to create bodies, what kind of help could they possibly require?

Curious, I accompanied Sylphid to the cave where Erebus resided.

A long tunnel deep within the earth, completely devoid of light – pure darkness.

There stood Erebus, a being of intelligence manifested as darkness.

“You’ve arrived, Mother.”

“Just recently you were calling me ‘Mom.’ Are you too old for that now?”

“I’m not a child anymore.”

“I came too! Mom, praise me for bringing her here!”

“Hmm. Well done, Sylphid.”

Erebus greeted us with his dignified voice from the dark cave.

“So, how do you plan to create bodies?”

“To be precise, it’s not about creating bodies. It’s more like borrowing them.”

“Borrowing bodies?”

At that moment…

Clomp.

A small sound of footsteps approached from the darkness.

“Hm? Footsteps? Erebus, is that a little lizard coming in?”

“It’s not a lizard.”

Something was approaching through the pitch-black darkness.

“Erebus, mind lighting a fire?”

I summoned magical power to create light. In the distance, I could see something walking toward us – a small black-skinned dinosaur unlike the others.

However, the aura emanating from it… An endless abyss of darkness identical to Erebus himself.

“Erebus?”

“Indeed, Mother recognizes me immediately.”

“What is this? How did you do it? Did you steal a body?? Incredible! How did you manage?”

“Stealing implies taking from the living. This is merely borrowing the body of a creature that starved to death while wandering the caves.”

“Borrowing a dead creature’s body… Sounds suspiciously like necromancy.”

“True, though since the body is already dead, I cannot prevent its decay nor fully contain my power within it. Still, it serves as a temporary vessel.”

“I see… Now that you mention it, there is a faint smell of decay.”

The black coloration of the skin… Is that because Erebus resides within?

“Anyway, thanks to this experience of borrowing a body, I’ve discovered a clue. During the process of compensating for the body’s deficiencies with my own power, I learned how to create a desired form using my abilities.”

Using your immense magical power to create bodies… Not entirely impossible, given magic’s nature of manifesting one’s will. Perhaps your desire for bodies influenced it.

“However, our power is too great for ordinary bodies to endure for long. Therefore, I believe we’ll need special materials.”

“Hmm… So by ‘my help,’ you mean…”

I already have plenty of responsibilities maintaining balance worldwide – lending my body might be difficult.

“Mother lending her body is unacceptable! I want to fly together with Mother, not become Mother!”

“Wasn’t planning on doing that anyway.”

“Not lending your entire body then?”

The black dinosaur form containing Erebus nodded slightly and explained:

“We don’t need Mother’s entire body. Just one of Mother’s scales would suffice as a core.”

“One of my scales?”

“Yes. With one of Mother’s scales as a core and our power channeled into it, we believe we can create bodies similar to Mother’s.”

“Bodies similar to mine… You mean dragon bodies?”

“Providing one scale won’t be difficult, but will it be enough?”

“One scale from Mother would be more than sufficient to contain all our power.”

Hmm. Giving one scale isn’t hard – they regrow anyway.

I removed a scale from beneath my neck and handed it to Erebus in his black dinosaur form.

“Will this be enough?”

“Yes, it will be more than enough.”

“Here, give me one too!”

I gave another scale to Sylphid.

“So how does it work? Just channel power into it?”

“Rather than channeling power, think of it as infusing your entire being. Imagine placing all of yourself into it and wishing for a body to form.”

Following Erebus’s instructions, he held the scale. Dark energy began seeping out, gradually merging with the scale.

The black dinosaur’s skin started lightening in color while my silver scale darkened.

When the dinosaur’s black hue completely disappeared and my scale turned pitch black, the creature collapsed with a thud.

“Hmm… Mother’s scale can contain far more than my entire being. However, this should be sufficient.”

As Erebus spoke, black mist began emanating from the darkened scale, gradually forming a shape remarkably similar to mine.

A long neck covered in scales, a mouth filled with sharp teeth, prominent horns on the head.

Short forelimbs, massive wings, strong hind legs, and a long tail.

“Wow! It’s Erebus who looks like Mom!”

“Though much smaller.”

The overall form resembled a dragon like myself – significantly smaller with slight differences in details.

Erebus had successfully created a black dragon body.

“We’ve succeeded, Mother. Now I possess a body similar to yours.”

Attached under Erebo’s neck was my silver scale, returned to its original color.

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