“How long has it been since the children gained the dragon’s divine body?”
“Once again, a new change was coming to the evolution of life.”
“KROAAAR!”
“KRLLRK! KYAAH!”
“A fight between dinosaurs. No, a fight between a dinosaur and a horde of dinosaurs.”
“A large dinosaur is being hunted by a group of smaller ones working together.”
“While one dinosaur’s strength may be weak, they were overcoming this disadvantage by increasing their numbers.”
“KKHHUUURRRGH…”
“And just like that, after putting up a lonely struggle, the large dinosaur collapsed on the ground covered in wounds, while the small dinosaurs managed to secure a huge feast without any losses.”
“Mother, what are you looking at?”
“Hm? Oh, Erebus.”
“Erebus quietly revealing its form from within the shadows. It can appear wherever darkness touches… how wondrous.”
“I’ve been observing other lives. Look there. The small dinosaurs have started forming groups.”
“The small dinosaurs… uniting to survive, huh.”
“That’s right. This too is a choice made for survival.”
“Some of the little dinosaurs guard the food while others bring back younglings from somewhere.”
“Keeping the offspring safe and feeding them… they’re trying various methods to survive.”
“Mother, is this what families in the stories you told look like?”
“Hm. While we don’t quite have a proper family structure yet, I suppose this is close for now.”
“We haven’t seen true intelligent beings or societies emerge yet.
A primitive form of family, perhaps.”
“Mother… do you wish for such a family?”
“Hm? Me? Well… I’m not quite sure actually.”
“Since gaining this dragon’s body… I don’t really feel lonely anymore. In fact, ever since meeting all of you, the faint sense of loneliness I once felt has disappeared.”
“They may not be my own children, but thanks to these kids, I’ve found the strength to keep going.”
I patted Erebus’ head with my forepaw as I watched the small dinosaurs feasting.
“There’s still plenty of time, so let’s continue observing. The concept of family is still vague in this world.”
“Even though the kids call me ‘mom’, it’s still somewhat ambiguous to call us a real family.”
“By the way, do you know what the other children are doing?”
“The other children? They’re probably playing around, doing whatever they want.”
“Do whatever they want… True, aside from Sylphid, the others can’t move around much.”
“For me, just traveling the world would be fun.”
“They seem to be enjoying themselves.”
“Yes. Since we don’t have physical forms capable of moving around.”
I smiled at Erebus. Pulling out my scales for these kids was worth it seeing how happy they are, even if the spots where I pulled them from still tingle a bit.
“But why exactly are you spreading life across this land, Mother?”
“Hm?”
“Why spread life?”
“Hm… Why indeed…”
“Though the gods dropped me into this world, there was no necessity for me to spread life like this.”
“Yet here I am, traveling the world, scattering new lives.”
“Not only planting them, but also continuously checking on them, making slight adjustments…”
“My actions must seem strange through Erebus’ eyes.”
“Well… Perhaps I simply didn’t like the oppressive silence of a world where I was the only moving existence.”
“A desolate world felt very lonely.”
“It was lonely too.”
“I see. I understand.”
“Erebus’ expression can be read despite its dragon form… Guess I’ve become a full-fledged dragon myself.”
“- – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – -”
“While dinosaurs thrive and the children enjoy their newfound bodies, recently I’ve taken an interest in… the use of magical power.”
“To put it simply: magic.”
“Magical power is the force that manifests willpower into reality. Thus, using this power…”
“Hm. Success, it seems.”
“It’s possible to transform the body.”
“Of course, this only changes appearance; the actual physical specs remain largely unchanged from the original.”
I looked at my reflection in the lake water.
A girl with pure silver hair and small horns on her head.
Though this form is quite small, transforming into something resembling a human is satisfying enough. Yes.
Trying to smile at my reflection in the lake, but facial expressions don’t come easily in this form.
Expression changes came naturally in dragon form, but in human form… I appear completely expressionless. Hmm.
Still, this is good enough. Considering humans don’t exist in this world yet, transforming into one counts as an accomplishment. Yes.
Though one downside is… since this only transforms the body, I end up naked. Annoying.
Sighing softly, I grabbed a nearby large slime.
The slime wriggling in my grasp. First break its core, then punch a hole through it, drain all the fluids, and roughly stretch out the remaining skin.
I’d prefer using dinosaur hides to make clothes, but lack proper tools for now. Though… hmm. Not impossible with bare hands!
But it’s bothersome. Yes.
Examining the roughly dried slime skin. It has a slightly elastic and glossy texture, feeling somewhat like cloth.
Dyeing the slime skin white with magical power, I draped it loosely over my body. It doesn’t function well as clothing, but better than being naked.
Being able to transform this much… the potential of magical power truly is remarkable.
Perhaps… could I cast spells like meteor falls?
Ah, though I have absolutely no intention of using it now. I don’t plan to cause the extinction of dinosaurs myself.
Still, magic needs further study. Things like starting fires, sprinkling water, or using telekinesis to lift objects should be possible.
With no established system yet, some organization is needed.
While researching magic…
“Hm? Is that your energy signature, Mother?”
A blue dragon’s head emerged from the lake where I was looking at my reflection.
“Tethys. What brings you here?”
“Oh, Mother? Why the disguise?”
“This form? Hm… it resembles beings from another world.”
“There aren’t any humans in this world yet, so that explanation works.”
“Another world… Come to think of it, Mother can see other worlds, right?”
“Yes.”
“Roughly speaking. Through the internet of another world.”
Since I’ve told the children stories from another world, this shouldn’t sound odd.
“Still… you look incredibly cute and tiny like this.”
“Th-the transformation only affects appearance, my actual body remains the same.”
I looked up at Tethys’ enormous head. It’s bigger than a regular bus.
“Anyway, why did you come?”
“Oh, nothing special. Just got curious about the dinosaurs.”
“Curious?”
I tilted my head slightly, prompting Tethys to grin widely.
“Wow! You’re so adorable in that form! Who would have thought the giant Mother could become this cute!”
“S-stop it, you! Get on with what you were saying.”
“Ah, yes. Where was I?”
“You said you got curious.”
“Right. So, since giving our scales gave us these bodies, I wondered what would happen if we gave our scales to those dinosaurs.”
“Hm. I haven’t really thought about that. Giving you my scales was Erebus’ idea after much consideration.”
“Hm. Makes sense. Actually, while swimming underwater, I noticed some dinosaurs loitering near me.”
“Near you? Those creatures must be fearless.”
“Fearless indeed. Being so large, they have no natural predators.”
“True. In the ocean, size isn’t much of a problem.”
“So I wondered what would happen if I gave my scales to those dinosaurs, like you gave yours to us.”
“Hm. Giving your scales to the dinosaurs, huh? That does spark some curiosity.”
“But are you sure it’s okay? Giving away parts of your body.”
“Well, Mother did the same for us.”
