Chapter 84: A Gekgek Reunion
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 84: A Gekgek Reunion
Small.
Very small.
After experiencing the overwhelming size of a Gomodo-Lania, the downgrade was jarring.
I never thought the Miniaturization skill would be this effective, even if it was just Level 1.
Look at the Coelophysis, for example.
Based on body length, the difference was maybe four or five times at most.
But what about me now?
The Gomodo-Lania was seven to eight meters long.
The Green Gecko was twenty to thirty centimeters.
I had shrunk far more than I’d expected.
This unfamiliar perspective…
No, I couldn’t call it completely unfamiliar.
It was similar to my point of view when I first met Nephila Jurassica.
“Gegegegek!”
I let out the cry of a very ferocious lizard.
“Kekekek.”
Compy, on the other hand, was cackling like a villain, clearly enjoying himself.
Seriously, how could Miniaturization LV1 be this potent?
…Wait, then what about Compy?
He must have mastered this skill.
What would happen if he deactivated it?
“Gegek…”
I eyed Compy warily.
Come to think of it, he was a dinosaur acknowledged by the Snake Queen.
He might be as large as, or even larger than, the Snake Queen in her true form.
No, it was almost certain his true form was massive.
But he’s a Compy.
The very definition of a small dinosaur.
Is he even allowed to get that big?
“Kehehek!”
Compy pointed a finger at me and laughed.
No wonder he’d smirked before starting the dance. He must have anticipated this outcome.
He’s just as petty as he looks.
“Kehek?”
Oh, wonderful. You can read minds too, can’t you?
Compy started swaying his body next to me with a dopey look on his face.
This little punk knows how to tease a lizard.
Whimper.
My Dragon's Claws are crying.
…Though I’m not sure what I can do with these tiny little things.
Still, couldn't the Nine Yin White Bone Claw and the Gaegaek Death Beam be enough to crush Compy?
Shut him up for good.
“Geruk…”
Even my cry sounded weird now.
The Gomodo-Lania’s vocabulary had consisted almost entirely of “Gegek” and “Grrrr.”
“Gegek” was for nearly all communication, while “Grrrr” was a threatening growl reserved for enemies.
It was the most dignified sound I could make.
But now, I couldn’t even manage that.
“Gegegek!”
I let out a sad little gek.
“Kekekek!”
After teasing me for a good while, Compy slowly approached.
He must have had his fun. That’s what this meant, right?
Good. Just hurry up and show me how to control my size.
I have the Snake Queen’s token, you know.
I glanced at the pretty necklace around my neck.
…Huh?
Why is this still on my neck?
The accessory had shrunk.
It was now small enough not to look out of place on a gecko’s neck.
Was this some kind of divine artifact too?
Then again, if it hadn’t shrunk, the result could have been horrific.
My slender neck might have snapped.
In any case, the Snake Queen’s token was intact.
If Compy didn’t want to get on the Snake Queen’s bad side, he’d teach me how to change back.
“Kekek!”
At Compy’s cry, the Coelophysis that had guided me here came running over.
It had seemed small before, but now it looked like a monster more than twice my size.
“Kek!”
“Kekek!”
Compy and the Coelophysis communicated with a series of “keks.”
Can you really communicate like that?
Then again, I could talk to the spiders just fine.
Since Compy was the object of their faith and the Coelophysis was a believer, I suppose communication was possible even with just those sounds.
Their “kek-ing” conversation ended, and the Coelophysis looked at me.
“Kek…”
The Coelophysis stepped forward.
With the same blank eyes as Compy, it began to sway its body.
It was the reverse of the dance I’d seen earlier.
Just as a song I couldn’t hear began to echo in my mind, the Coelophysis’s body started to change.
Crack. Creak.
Is this what I look like when I evolve?
It felt like I was watching someone release the Bone Shrinking Art right before my eyes.
The creature grew larger and larger.
So large that my gecko-sized eyes couldn’t take it all in.
“Kigigigik!”
Finally, the Coelophysis returned to its original form.
No, it would be more accurate to say it was slightly larger than the Coelophysis I remembered.
“Kek.”
Compy nodded at me as if to say something.
He seemed to be telling me that’s how you cancel Miniaturization.
He wouldn’t demonstrate it himself, though.
I’d wanted to see Compy’s true size.
Well, I suppose I can do that later.
The important thing now was to return to my original form.
Until I could increase my proficiency with Miniaturization or find another way, I’d have to seal this skill away.
Being this small made me vulnerable in many ways.
Vulnerable to enemy attacks, and to the affections of Swish-Swish and the spiders.
So, I just have to copy that dance?
Let’s give it a try.
With the blankest face I can manage.
…Do I really need to copy the face too?
Well, just in case.
I swayed my body with all my might.
I gently wagged my tail, too.
Alright, change me back to my original body!
“Gegek?”
But my body didn’t change.
A gecko.
I was nothing more, nothing less.
“Gegegegek!”
Hmph!
I’d fallen for Compy’s prank again.
Seriously, he’s so damn petty.
Just you wait until I get back.
I’m telling my wife everything.
With that thought, I glared at Compy.
My eyes screamed, Spit out the reversal method, now.
“…Kek?”
Compy’s expression was strange.
Why aren’t you changing back?
He looked utterly bewildered.
“Gegek?”
Come on. The joke’s over.
I was wrong, okay? Just change me back.
…Don’t tell me this is for real.
“Kekek…”
“Geeeeeeek!”
*
Compy left me in the cave and ran off somewhere.
He probably went to find something that could turn me back to normal.
I wasn’t sure, but that’s what I chose to believe.
“Ge-ek…”
I looked at my reflection in a small puddle inside the cave.
Some features of the Gomodo-Lania remained.
My claws were still sharp, and my body was covered in dragon scales.
【Gomodo-Lania LV2】
HP: 4162/4162
MP: 477/922
【Status】
「Snake Queen's Mark」「Snake Princess's Mark」「Miniaturized」
Besides, my status window showed that my HP and MP were unchanged.
But being this small was a fatal flaw.
Of course, if I drew on my past memories, I could probably make good use of this body.
I could use the Little Dragon's Ascension Steps to dart around and strike with my Dragon's Claws, or take down enemies with the Gaegaek Death Beam.
However, I’d likely struggle against an enemy at the level of a Utahraptor.
No matter how many times I scratched it with these tiny claws, I wouldn’t be able to inflict much damage.
The same went for the Gaegaek Death Beam. It was better than the Dragon's Claws, but its range was too narrow. I couldn’t expect it to perform like it used to.
If I trained in martial arts to their absolute limit and fought primarily with hand-to-hand combat like Compy, this body might be useful.
But it didn’t suit my current fighting style.
I had to get back to normal as soon as possible.
The good thing was that Miniaturization was a temporary phenomenon.
Though I had no idea how long “temporary” was.
Since Compy had gone to find a solution, the problem might resolve itself if I just waited.
For now, I should stop thinking about Miniaturization.
Racking my brain wouldn’t give me any answers right now.
Let’s see what advantages I can gain from this smaller body.
Being small must have its perks.
Tang Soyeong was startled when she first saw me.
Would she have been scared if I were this size?
No, she would have hidden this handsome lizard in her sleeve.
Being small means I can lower people’s guard.
Just like those lizards over there, tilting their heads at me.
Compy.
I was going to observe some professional courtesy, but what you did was just too infuriating.
I’ll just lay the groundwork.
If I can befriend these lizards in this form, I might be able to guide them away from their faith in the Little Dragon and onto the path of Gaegaek.
In other words, those lizards over there are a gold mine of divinity.
And what could be more valuable than stealing Compy’s divinity?
This is your karma, Compy.
“Gegegek.”
I may look like this now, but this is the body that seduced Swish-Swish with its dragon scales.
Perhaps reptiles and spiders perceive me as a rather handsome lizard.
When I let out a dignified cry, the number of head-tilting lizards increased.
That’s right.
You’ve probably never seen a lizard with dragon scales before.
【Red-Eyed Armadillo Lizard LV34】
【Dried-Tail Lizard LV42】
【Green Anole Lizard LV29】
Why are your levels so high?
“Gegek!”
Seriously, are lizards allowed to have such high levels?
My understanding of this world was that when a creature reached its level cap, it could evolve into the next species.
Was that a rule that only applied to me, the one with a status window?
No, that couldn’t be right.
I’d personally witnessed the Titanoboa in the Silver Dragon Cave evolve into a Hydra.
I’d also seen Nephila Jurassica evolve into an Arachne.
So why were these lizards’ levels so high?
Evolution requires spiritual energy.
Did they fail to evolve because they couldn’t accumulate internal energy?
That didn’t seem right either.
Some of them were sitting naturally in the lotus position.
Compy must have taught them Qi Cultivation.
Come to think of it, Compy hadn't evolved either.
Was he intentionally refusing to evolve, choosing to train in the body of a small lizard?
No matter how I thought about it, it seemed he was deliberately holding back his evolution.
But I didn’t know why.
If it was because of a technique that could only be used in a small body, learning Miniaturization should solve the problem.
And Compy was a good teacher.
No matter how high a creature’s level, there are species limitations.
A level 100 Green Gecko would be far weaker than a level 1 Gomodo.
As I said before, the size difference was a fatal disadvantage.
It would be hard to overcome unless you were on Compy’s level.
A single Terror Bird of about level 20 could probably devour every lizard here.
Of course, the Coelophysis scattered among them would probably stop it.
High levels or not, I had to do what I had to do.
It would be a mistake to look down on me just because I was a level 2 lizard.
By simple calculation, if I had remained a Green Gecko, my level would have surpassed 100 by now.
“Gegek!”
When I cried out again, the lizards slowly started to gather.
“…Gek?”
No, they were gathering a lot.
A tsunami of lizards, all over level 30, washed over my body.
“Geeeeek!”
There was one thing I had overlooked.
My face, covered in dragon scales, was apparently devastatingly handsome by lizard standards.
They began to grope my body with their short arms.
“Kieek!”
Was it just my imagination, or did this remind me of Tus and Pus’s touch?
It was a touch filled with goodwill, but there was something impure about it.
Tus.
Pus.
Nephila Jurassica.
Tang Whatchamacallit.
Master.
My Queen.
My Princess.
I’m sorry.
I think this pathetic lizard is about to lose something precious right here.
The lizard tsunami suddenly subsided.
A few lizards were controlling the crazed mob.
What magnificent lizards.
I was genuinely moved.
Swoosh.
The tail of a lizard that had protected me rested on my body.
As their chubby tails piled on top of me, I felt a little strange.
A reptile’s body should be cool to the touch.
So what was this warmth?
It wasn’t scientifically warm.
I don’t know why, but it felt like… affection.
It might be a stretch, but it felt like the warmth of family.
I should at least thank them.
“Gegegek!”
“Gekgek.”
…Gekgek?
That unique cry.
The chubby tail.
The flat feet.
“Gegegegegek!”
“Gekgekgek!”
The ones who had protected me were none other than the gecko lizards.