"Whoah. So this is the world Mother sees."

The black dragon, Erebus, looked around with a sense of wonder.

"It's amazing that you could transform with just one of my scales."

"Without Mother's scale, it would have been impossible. Because the body I've created with my power is based on the information from Mother's scale."

"My information?"

Information about the body, like genetics?

"But even with all my power, I can't perfectly replicate Mother's body."

"That's true."

Although it greatly resembled me, it was so small, not even half my size.

Even with all the power of Erebus, who could be said to be darkness itself, it couldn't create a body identical to mine... Am I stronger than I thought?

"Ugh... I don't understand!"

Unlike Erebus, who had succeeded in creating a black dragon's body, Sylphid seemed to be having a hard time.

It seemed like she couldn't infuse her power into my scale, which was being tossed around by the wind.

"It's better to do it calmly. First, try to infuse all your power into Mother's scale."

"My power... Ugh..."

Sylphid kept trying to infuse her power into my scale, but it seemed difficult.

"Maybe it was only possible for Erebus? Maybe I can't do it?"

"I don't think that's the case... Maybe you're just not getting the hang of it."

"The hang of it..."

"I got the hang of it through that small creature's body. Maybe Sylphid should try that too."

Following Erebus's words, Sylphid seemed to look at the small dinosaur lying on the ground.

"That little thing... Hmm... It smells a bit, so it's a bit gross."

"It's not like you have to keep using it, just try to get the hang of it for a moment. How about inhabiting that body first?"

Sylphid hesitated, then approached the small dinosaur lying on the ground.

"It's a bit unpleasant... but if I can fly with Mom...!"

Sylphid inhabiting the dinosaur. Did she really want to fly with me that much?

Even as the wind, she flew with me, but maybe she wanted a proper body.

As Sylphid inhabited the dinosaur, its skin began to turn white, surprisingly.

Erebus turned black, and Sylphid turned white?

"Ugh... The body is so heavy..."

"I agree. I didn't know a body could be this heavy."

Sylphid, inhabiting the dinosaur, slowly got up with a movement that seemed very heavy.

For children without bodies... flesh and blood must feel incredibly heavy.

"But I think I'm getting the hang of it a bit."

Sylphid, inhabiting the small dinosaur's body, moved around and even jumped up.

The somewhat silly movement made me laugh unintentionally.

"If you've somewhat adapted to the body, now it's good to try inhabiting the scale. Remember the sensation of having a body and create one based on Mother's information inside the scale."

"Hmm... I don't quite understand, but I'll try!"

So Sylphid left the dinosaur's body and began to inhabit my scale.

"Hmm... The sensation of having a body... Mother's information...? Anyway, I'll try to create it with my power..."

Sylphid tried her best to create a body.

After several attempts, including creating something covered in scales and a wingless lizard, she finally succeeded.

"I did it!!!"

After several hours of effort, she was able to create the form of a white dragon.

Perhaps the unique feature was that it had two pairs of wings.

"Mom! Look! It's a sleek body!"

"That's true. It feels thinner than me."

The overall feel was thin and slender. With two pairs of wings, it felt like a body made for fast flying.

"It took some time, but this should be enough."

"Hehehe. Now I can happily fly in the sky with Mom! The other kids will be so jealous they'll cry!"

"Until you made a body, you couldn't cry though."

Watching Erebus and Sylphid bicker, I smiled.

"Alright, then let's teach the other children this method too."

"That's right! Mom! It feels somewhat unfair that only we have bodies!"

"Hmm. Meeting the other ones directly... It's the first time."

I chuckled softly at Erebus's words. Except for Sylphid, the other children were fixed in place, unable to move elsewhere.

"Oh, so the children who have only heard stories about me and Sylphid all this time will finally get to meet us. How interesting."

"Don't worry! Erebus! They're all good kids!"

At mine and Sylphid's words, Erebus slowly nodded.

Now, let's meet Ifrit, who's the closest...

"Ah, since the other children might also have trouble getting the hang of it, maybe it's a good idea to bring this small body along?"

"That's true. There's a possibility the others might also struggle to get the hang of it."

Just like in Sylphid's case. The others might be similar.

I picked up the dinosaur lying on the ground.

Although it had already cooled down and even started to rot slightly... well, carrying it wasn't difficult.

Holding the small dinosaur's corpse, I said to Erebus and Sylphid,

"Then let's set off. Starting with the nearest, Ifrit."

With the two children who had acquired new bodies, I headed towards the burning volcano.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

The process of the other children acquiring bodies had its ups and downs, but eventually, everyone managed to get a body.

In the process, the small dinosaur's corpse, which had been overworked under the guise of 'getting the hang of it', could no longer maintain its shape and was buried in the ground.

Anyway.

"I never imagined we'd all gather like this! Hello! I'm Ifrit!"

A slightly smaller red dragon greeted us cheerfully.

Perhaps because of its childlike aspect, it felt younger than the others.

"Now there's no need to be alone in the vast ocean. I'm Thetis. Nice to meet you."

The blue dragon with fins instead of horns introduced itself in a calm voice.

"Yes. I'm Sagarmatha."

The dragon with a body made of transparent gems spoke less than the others.

But why is Sagar made of gems? I don't understand the criteria for scale color.

"I'm Yggdrasil. Moving like this is new to me, so it's quite awkward, but I look forward to getting along."

The dragon with green scales spoke in a gentle voice.

"I'm Erebus. I'm the one who came up with the idea of borrowing a scale from Mother to create a body. So, everyone owes me one."

"Erebus. Don't say things like that."

"Yes, Mother."

Erebus, who was the first to borrow a scale from me to create a body, spoke with a slightly boastful tone, but quickly backed down when I lightly scolded him.

Really, how did such a child come to be?

"I'm Shamash! I'll be the most beautiful being!"

The dragon shining in gold boasted about its beautiful scales.

Sagar and Shamash, why are their scale colors like that? Is it because of their unique attributes?

"I don't need to introduce myself, right? I'm Sylphid! I met everyone even before I had a body!"

The white dragon with two pairs of wings smiled brightly as it spoke.

That being said, they're all a bit small in size. Since the largest, Sagar, was about half my size.

With the children having acquired new bodies, I'm somewhat looking forward to what they'll do next.

I scratched my bare lower jaw, where scales had been plucked to be distributed among the children.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Every dragon has a unique scale under its lower jaw.

That scale, growing in the opposite direction to the other scales.

According to historical records, that scale was said to be the dragon's weakness, and those claiming to be dragon slayers pierced through that scale to take the dragon's life.

However, considering that most of the dragons that Dragon Slayers claim to have slain are actually drakes or wyverns, the scale growing in reverse is unlikely to be a weakness of dragons.

Such an inverted scale. Just as the curiosity about the reverse scale deepened, a scholar from a certain empire happened to get an opportunity to ask the empire's Guardian Dragon about that scale.

The Guardian Dragon of the empire, seemingly annoyed, summarized it in a single sentence.

"There is no inverted scale on me."

The empire's Guardian Dragon, with scales shining in silver, did not have an inverted scale on its lower jaw.

Instead, there was just a patch of skin not covered by scales, the size of one scale.

The empire's Guardian Dragon, who has been the shield of humans for the longest time, a teacher to humans, a guide for humans, and a friend to humans.

What really happened to that dragon, whose name has even been forgotten?

It was a moment that sparked even greater curiosity among scholars studying dragons.

- Records of a scholar fascinated by dragons.