A Dragon Idol's Reincarnation Tale Chapter 104: Aurena, the Origin Goddess of Light

So, let get this straight. Kargryxmor wanted an otherworlder to do sothing for him, and, as you are his origin god, he had to go through you for the okay. You then went to Goddess Plesia for her permission to reincarnate to this world? I repeated what Aurena just explained to .

That is correct. Kargryxmor is the God of Dragons, but he has lost control over them through the years. The true dragons are supposed to act as defenders for Peolynca, but they have succumbed to slothfulness, Aurena added to my words, shrugging as she responded. However, the fool only has himself to bla for his waning faith. Your role was to be his avatar, his representative to fix his problem. Your birth location, the Belzac forest, was unintended. You were supposed to be born in the land of the dragons with your Peolyncian parents. Technically, you shouldnt even be born yet; you should have hatched as a C rank.

So, that whole Belzac forest ti wasnt so trial or tough love, huh? You do know I nearly died five tis there, right? Say what you want about now, but back then, I wasnt prepared. You told in that missive that you saw my mories, so couldnt you have-! Argh! Verdammt. Im sorry, Im sorry

Kobolds nearly caught on the first day of my second life, those garms nearly turned into a al, I nearly died during my match with the garm matriarch, I got shot by that troll cannon thing, and then I fought against an A rank monster when I was vastly underpowered and under-geared. Those were the tis where I nearly died.

I was a young city girl without any survival training, who was forced into a situation where I shouldnt have survived. I shouldnt even have experienced all of that! I honestly thought I was gonna go insane in that fucking place, if I even survived long enough! If I hadnt rembered my dream from my past life, I dont think I would have had the determination to continue after dropping down into that cave.

I didnt know why I nearly blew up in her face. Sure, when I was in the Belzac forest all alone I was frustrated, I couldnt accept the reality of the situation. I didnt want to live in a dog-eat-dog world like that. I didnt want to beco the person I currently was butif I hadnt, my dream wouldnt have finally co true.

I died. I was given a second chance. I have made good friends here. I am an Idol.

Unfazed by my emotional outburst, Aurena kept her smile up and spoke to softly, I understand, Hestia. These words cannot excuse your tribulations, but Kargryxmor and I were surprised that you survived. You were unlucky and were born prematurely as a G rank dragon, but you prevailed through this; just a look at your status board is evidence enough. We gods cannot intervene in every single matter; we are observers and guiders.

I an, considering how Shiterno changed my status board, you could have thrown a bone, Goddess Aurena. Still, I am thankful you listened to my prayer back then, I admitted to her, thanking her for what she did for Rajah. But, I presu you werent too happy when he did that to your champion? I dont know much about gods and goddesses, but I do know I would get angry if soone were to harm sothing mine.

Aurena broke her smile, looking as if she was jokingly angry as she held up a finger to scold , Now, now, Hestia. Regardless of your opinion on him, Elder Danterno is an Origin God. Your life will be intertwined with the gods now, and Elder Plesia is very strict with decorum. However, the mont she finished, she dropped her teasing persona and grew serious. Elder Plesia is currently dealing with Elder Danterno. I do not know what his punishnt will be.

Yeah, I can hear her annoyance from the tone of her voice. Im angry at him but this is a matter between gods, in the first place. What could I do to him, anyway?

As she wasnt saying anything more, I nodded my head in acknowledgnt and then tapped my temple. I think we derailed a bit there. Lets go back. You promised in the missive you would explain why my mory is fragnted and why you even tried to erase it in the first place. You should know a bit from reading my mind that Im really, really, anxious to know. I want to know why I cant rember my dad, my mum, my grandparentsand how I died.

I had to force those last words out. I needed to know. Even if my death was painful, I wanted to know.

Aurena ford a wry smile as she looked at my frown. I have made it a habit to not read mortals minds after speaking with a few of my followers. Rest assured, I kept watch of you through all the humans youve t but not once was I even curious at your thoughts, she replied a bit condescendingly.

Oh, co on, my thoughts are super interesting, I swearWait, youre a goddess, why do I even try?

Without knowing about my complaint, Aurena continued her explanations. Elder Crustacia once reincarnated a person from your world into ours, to great success even. Kargryxmor wanted to mimic her action to restore his faith, and, as I agreed to it, I called upon the very sa outsider who perford the first soul transfer. The third person who was participated in your reincarnation.

There is a god responsible for souls? I thought Ilsaphone was the goddess of death, so I presud she was the third one because of death and souls. It made sense for , I replied.

I thought that since Ilsaphone was the Goddess of Death, she was the third one, because of death and souls. Like Hades from Greek mythology, or Hel from the Norse myths Geez, I think Saori is influencing with her myth trivia.

However, at my assumption, Aurena simply shook her head, Ilsaphone is still young for a goddess. She ensures that every soul is cleansed and is returned to Peolynca as a new life, but she has not awakened her ability to control souls yet. No, the one who brought your soul to us is sobody else, but I cannot tell you that persons na. It is for your own safety, so banish that wish, Hestia.

She paused for a mont to make sure I understood her, then continued, The reason why you were reborn without most of your mories is because that person advised it, stating the soul would not survive otherwise. Kargyxmor and I both agreed to it, as we believed if you ca to be as a blank slate, you would serve our purpose better. The only mories I wanted you to still have was your desire to beco an Idol. You should have noticed how [The Light] and [Idol] were specifically made for that cause.

So in the end, both gods still wanted to lose myself, huh? The person I was now wouldnt have existed anymore, the Hestia who still rembered her papa and mama would have been completely dead. Thats fucked up...

However, those plans never ca to be. You should have been reborn anew like every other mortal except with your desire to beco an Idol intact; that way you would be eligible for the [Otherworldly Reincarnator] title and, as a result, have access to the SP system. Even the way you usurped the control over my blessing is still a mysterybut, truth be told, as unexpected as it was, I do prefer you like this. The tension in Aurenas face softened but her face contorted into a small frown, looking both wary and apologetic.

So, in the end, you still think of as a tool in your plan, huh? A little gadget in your grand machinationwhich ans it must have made you angry when it happened. My earlier calm started to give way to growing frustration. The fear from when her aura suppressed my soul, and the anger from her confession overwheld , and I lashed out. I bet you hated it when you learned you couldnt control . I bet you hated it when I usurped your blessing, even though I didnt even know how I did it myself. I dont even know how it happened with any of the blessingsI bet you hated it that you had to rely on your followers to keep watch over instead of through your blessing like it was supposed to be!

I stood up, slamming my hands on the table as I drew my face closer to Aurenas, anger filling my eyes as I spat out word after word filled with the frustration I had to endure in the first months of my second life. You knew I was vulnerable and that I wasnt equipped to survive in that damn forest, but you still did nothing! If I had actually lost my mories, I wouldve been a fucking newborn and been quickly killed by those kobolds. The only reason why I even survived in the first place was dumb luck! Luck that my body knew how to use mana! You call your champion but where was my support, huh? WHY DIDNT YOU HELP AT ALL!

I couldnt praise Kargryxmors attempt to help , since it ca far too late. When the first wyvern escorts showed up, I had already adapted to my new life, and the second escorts was led by an asshole. What kinda help is that supposed to be? Co rescue when I was still a bloody dragon whelp, you bastards!

Sure, Aurena helped with Rajah and his family, but giving sobody a blessing should be childs play for a god. That piece of shit Danterno was able to change my status board like it was nothing! So why couldnt she help then, huh? If she was the patron goddess of the humans, then couldnt she have sent sobody on a griffon to get like Ellaines father?

And-And now you think it is better for to keep my mories, right? Its just because of how much the follower counter for [The Light] has grown that youre okay now. If I was still stuck in that fucking forest all depressed from my situation, I bet you would have either given up on or have told Kargryxmor to do your dirty work. My hands clenched on the table with all my might, which should have broken by now, but this was a gods table. Ill be straight with you! I want to punch you in the face right now! My strength and abilities are because of my own hard work, not because of those titles you gave ! I want to use all of those things to- I want to use all of them to-I-I-I want totch!

If what Aurena said was correct, then I should be only a soul now. I shouldnt have any physical limitations right now, but I felt exhausted anyway. It felt harder and harder to push myself any further; with every word I spat out, a bit of my anger at the goddess disappeared.

And during my whole rant, Aurenas expression stayed the sa. The pity in her eyes was sickening

My body went limp, I slouched back into the chair and rested my head on the chairs back. Although I was sure there was no actual air here, I felt like Id just run a marathon, breathing in quickly and deeply.

Smiling like a caring mother, Aurena simply waited until my breathing cald down to speak. I did ntion you may release your anger in my missive, right? Are you satisfied?

I stared at Aurena, still looking unfazed, as if nothing could ever annoy her, and gave up on raging at her from her lack of a reaction. I guessIs it true? I uttered weakly. Is everything you just said true?

Yes, she responded with a nod. I have nothing to gain by lying to you, Hestia. I wish for your help and I want you to do it of your own free will. Every answer I speak will only be the truth.

Then, can you give back my mories? sullen, I asked.

I would advise against it. Those mories, instead of being tied to your brain, are a part of your soul. I do not know how your soul will react with all your mories coming back all at once, Aurena told , shaking her head in denial. Besides, shouldnt you have noticed it by now? Even now I can see your soul reforming its fragnts, however slow it might be. Have you taken a good look at your soul since you ca here?

Now that she ntioned it...

Taking a look at my arms, I noticed that they were covered in a near translucent aura of fire while my arms looked almost ghost-like. Checking my whole body, I noticed a complete lack of draconic features like my claws, tail, and horns. It was almost likethis was a humans body. On closer inspection, there were small scale-like patterns with yellow linings covering my body, giving my body an outline to differentiate itself against the white background of this place.

However, not all scales were bright yellow, so looked almost translucent and others werent even there, leaving holes inside this glowing body. If this was my soul, then it looked pretty mangled. It honestly looked disgusting with how I was able to look through my soul with all those small holes.

Your soul still rembers the old you, the one from your past life, so it still retains your old form. However, souls adapt to their corporeal vessels and we can already see small changes to yours, Aurena pointed out, directing my eyes at the aura of fire and small scales. If you wish for your mories to return, then we can either wait for them to naturally co back as your soul molds itself with your new body, repairing itself in the sa process. Or, we can have an expert fix it.

All this talk about my mories sparked up a mory of the ti I rembered a snippet of my previous life, of why I stopped crying. Which reminded of other monts whenever I woke up from an empty dream; I couldnt rember what I dreamt, and it always felt like I was missing sothing. Like I shouldnt forget sothing. Were those tis when my mories tried to co back?

But did I really want them back? Although it would be sweet to see papas and mamas faces again, did I really want to dig the bad with the good up? I know for sure my painful mories are hidden among the sweet ones from how my first mory snippet went. There had to be a reason why that outsider thought it was important to get rid of my mory.

You know, I can sll youre trying to bait here. It would be quite nice to get my mories back, but forget it, I stated, causing Aurena to place a hand on her cheeks, knowing the cat was out of the bag. I wouldnt have been able to fulfill my dream if I hadnt started leaving certain stuff in the past, so how about you start telling what you want from , then. You made [Idol] and [The Light] fit my idol dream so much that I just know you have sothing planned with them, aside from helping with whatever grandfather Kargryxmor wants.

She called herself a primary administrator aside from her role as an origin god. As origin gods can influence a persons status boards freely, I would presu all the gods are like ga masters, GMs, with varying amounts of authority depending on the god themselves.

[Idol] had that sneaky ssage from Aurena herself and [The Light] is her blessing to . After hearing her admit she wanted to keep my idol mories intact after my reincarnation, its all becoming clear to that Aurena is planning sothing with the followers Im gathering. It all fits together, but what is her intention?

Ah, right, we are running out of ti soon. I should explain to you why I gave Kargryxmor my permission, Aurena replied, keeping her smile up while her gaze hardened. My primary goal is for you to reform my church.

Reforming her church? Wait, is she trying to tell she wants to reform everything?! Like everything, like in the whole foundation and all the things on it?! What the fuck!

Aurena seed to have noticed my bewildernt as she paused for a mont, nodded, and then continuing where she left off, My religion has grown a lot, but, compared to Elder Plesia, Crustacia, and Zephira, I have made mistakes on the way to my current status. While they havent toppled my standing yet, the blight seeping through the cracks will eventually show, and when that ti cos, everything about the current Church of Aurena will change.

Aurena then gave a small sigh, frustration slowly lowering her smile. Per the rules of the leading Goddess, Elder Plesia, all gods are forbidden from interfering with the progression of the mortal world. Only if certain taboos are broken or requirents are fulfilled may we intervene directly. Unfortunately for , I may only watch as my church slowly descends into its own downfall, and although it will eventually rebuild itself, I wish to do sothing about it. That is where you co in, Hestia.

Hmm, sothing is weird to

Question, I interrupted her, raising my hand like a diligent student. I dont know much about being a god, so maybe this question is irrelevant, but why do you exactly want to do sothing? Arent you a goddess, and not just any goddess but the Origin Goddess of Light. You said it yourself in that missive, We gods can wait but the world cannot. You dont seem like an impatient person, considering you havent kicked out yet despite how disrespectful I was.

Fair enough, you deserve to know, Aurena nodded, her eyes gleaming with dissatisfaction. My reason is simple, I hate seeing so outside force trampling on my creation. I possess the power to eradicate the ants, but I will abide by the rules as I am a stronger existence. I will not cull the weak just because they annoy . Instead, I will play by the ruleswith you as my champion.

Her warm golden eyes narrowed even more, looking sharper and colder as she said those last words, sending an imnse chill through my soul. I gulped to ease my anxiousness and spoke, What will you do with after I am done with your task?

Aurenas eyes widened in wonder as she heard say that, holding her hand up to slowly shake it for to see. Oh my, I apologize for scaring you. Do not be afraid, I will not do anything to you, Hestia; I have grown quite fond of you and your songs. Once you are finished with your task, I will handle the reconstruction of my church and you may do whatever you like. Beco the idol you always wanted to be, travel this world wherever and whenever you want. You are a denizen of Peolynca now.

Giving her words so thought, I was deciding on what to say. I know it will be annoying to work with her, since it would be silly to think reforming a whole church would be easy as making a cake, especially if that request ca from a god. If fantasy novels and shows have taught anything, then the end boss of this whole quest line will probably be so demon lord or giant evil turtle monster.

Howeverif I were to help her, could she do sothing like that?

Ok, I am quite thankful for you to even give a chance to make my dream co true, especially when it seems like Ive died on Earth, so Ill forgive you a bit for trying to fuck up my mories and use as a pawn. I wont trust you 100%, but Ill consider us even for now, I stated. So, if I were to accept your request and help you as your champion, then would you be willing toI an, can you travel through dinsions? From Peolynca to Earth? I an, you probably can as I am asking you this question but-ok, what I want to ask you is: Can you give a chance to et my parents on Earth, again?

I know I should leave those things in the past, I even admitted it with Promise, but the opportunity was there for to grasp and I wouldnt back down without at least trying. Itll just be a visit to show them that my dream has beco true andIll also like to apologize to them. A daughter should never, ever go before her parents and the amount of misery I must have caused them is just unthinkable.

Please, say yes

Oh, if that is all, then sure. That is easy enough for to do, Aurena answered in the most nonchalant way ever.

Yes!

Thank you! I said sincerely. Ok, you got yourself a deal, Goddess Aurena. Ill help you as much as you want but I must insist that you dont try to control . This is my life and, if there arent any pressing matters, then I wish to do it my way.

I am perfectly fine with giving you more autonomy; in fact, I never intended to control your actions anyways. Your premature birth was a blessing in disguise as you have done more than Kargryxmor and I expected, Aurena stated. I would like to thank you for your help and also give you a formal apology. I already did it in the missive but please allow to do it in person now. Hestia, I apologize for all the suffering I have caused you and how I wasnt able to support you.

Then, by accepting her deal, I was now officially Aurenas champion. Surprisingly, nothing changed after that, as Aurena told she wanted to keep everything as is. She didnt want to change anything about usurping her blessing, as she thought it was unneeded; however, now that I was connected to Aurena through this deal, she was once again able to see things through my eyes. When I told her I considered that a breach of privacy, she relented by allowing to shut off the connection through [The Light]. A girl needs her secrets, okay!

About the plan itself, she was quite vague about it, telling she wanted to witness the situation concerning the church by myself to form my own opinions on it, and tasked to interact with the church. My next goal was to reach the church in the capital of the Kingdom of Artorias, Griffonpeak, and pray to her there. Until then, I should learn more about Peolyncas culture and her church.

She also told to start calling myself her priestess, as that would not only give more room to work inside her temples, but also solidify my role as her champion. She wanted the other Origin Gods to know it. She even stated that I should also start using the title of saintess to spread my reputation around, as it wasnt false to say it.

A saint or saintess was the mortal representative of a god, spreading the word of their gods to try to convert people to their religion. My whole follower chanic was practically this, especially when everybody already considered a priestess due to my white robe. I told her no, but she just jokingly uttered, the title will co soon enough, dear.

That was a joke, right? Right?

Anyway, aside from that, I still had to get a pendant or amulet made to show my allegiance to Aurena. The people of Peolynca usually wore an amulet dedicated to their favored god to show their devotion and, as I will now serve as a priestess, I had to look the part. Tasianna, for example, had an amulet dedicated to Zephira, but lost it when she was kidnapped by the trolls. I guess we had to get new ones together soon.

Another subject I brought up was about Danternos gifts: [White Flas], [Corrosive Fire], and his blessing [Divine Inferno]. Apparently, the God of Fire wanted to beco his champion to help him grow his religion; as a result, he gave those power-ups to win over. It will annoy him when he learns I have no intention of helping him, and I can always hide behind Aurena if he tries to ss with .

Fuck you, Shiterno, he he he.

Nonetheless, despite being pleased with my defiance against Danterno, Aurena couldnt exactly remove the blessing of another origin god. There was also a problem with separating [White Flas] back into [Holy Magic] and [Fire Magic], and [Corrosive Fire] into [Toxin Secretion], [Poison Creation], and [Inferno Magic], as they both required their respective skills to exist. It seems Danterno made sure those skills couldnt exist if their prerequisite skills werent fused with them.

Well, I wasnt very interested in getting [Holy Magic] back in the first place as I could cover everything with [White Flas]s custom spells and [Sacred Magic]. [Inferno Magic] would be nice to have again, but the potential of [Corrosive Fire] was too great to ignore. Even if I hadnt wanted them initially, I shouldnt just throw them away to get sothing outdated. Ill make those skills mine.

Funnily enough, I also was curious if Aurena could take [Bearer of Kargryxmors Blood] away, as Kargryxmor was her subordinate, but she told , if she did that, I would most likely die cause shed have to remove all my blood to do so. My dragon parents are descendants of Kargryxmor and the blessing ca from the special blood inside . It was only a joke but, urgh, that was not fun to think about.

Oh right, I wanted to ask you two more questions, I interrupted our discussion. Its about my friend, Saori. The other Earthling who got reincarnated on Peolynca and is now my best friend and travel companion. Ive been thinking about it for a while now, but were you the one who sent her to ?

Although Saori didnt say it aloud, I knew she was bothered by that. Why was she reincarnated to Peolynca? Why was she born as a garm and conveniently inside the Belzac forest at that specific location while I was passing through? There was also that whole leviathan thing she didnt want to deal with, telling she wanted to live a relatively normal life.

I wanted to gain so information here to ease her worry. Compared to , no god has spoken to her and given her answers to those questions yet.

Ah, Saori, the wolfkin youre traveling with. Tell her to co to visit in the future, I love talking with mortals, Aurena said casually, slightly ticking off by ignoring my question for a mont. Hmm, but I can say that I was not the person who called your friend over to this world. Concerning the one who did itlet say that Saori wasnt the only one and that I didnt authorize their summon. Their fates are deeply tied with your own, Hestia, and it will be inevitable that you will et.

Huh? Can you please stop speaking in riddles?

However, I didnt have ti to say it as light started to surround , which Aurena told was a sign for our eting to co to an end.

Oh wait, before I go! I stopped her as she was about to wave goodbye. Why are you calling all the other origin gods Elder? Why is that?

Ah, the reason is because I am the youngest among all of them. Compared to the others, I am far, far, younger so I show them the respect they deserve. With that last smile, light enveloped my whole vision in white and Aurenas serene figure disappeared.

When I noticed the white turning black, I hastily opened my eyes to notice the figure of Aurena once again, but not in all her radiance and grace, but as a statue, the very sa statue I rembered being on her altar. Instead of the white background of her world, my vision was filled with white walls covered in small engravings and stained-glass windows. It was the church and I was back in my body.

Hestia. Hearing a very familiar voice, I turned around and saw Saori and Tasianna approaching , worry on their faces. Are you alright? It took you quite a long ti.

Lady Hestia, if I may be presumptuous, white hair fits you also, Tasianna told with a wide grin, completely baffling as I had no idea what she ant.

White hair?

Apparently, while I was talking with Aurena, my hair suddenly turned white and a halo-like object appeared behind . When Saori used [Identify] to see what happened to , she noticed sothing new in my status board called [The Light Awakened] but couldnt read its description, as it said Information not available.

Apparently, my hair changed back to crimson red just now, which gave the impression it had sothing to do with my eting with Aurena. I wanted to read [The Light Awakened] but it wasnt there anymore.

When the grey-robed priest saw what was happening, he quickly ran out. Barathan told Saori and Tasianna that the priest was probably informing the white-robed priests of the event, as Barathan believed what just happened could be considered a eting with the Goddess.

Lady Hestia, you have been adamant you werent a priestess of the Goddess but I find it very hard to believe after what happened, Barathan told bluntly, holding a wry smile now instead of his usual polite one.

I chuckled shyly, understanding what he ant, so I decided to clear up a few things. I wasnt lying about not being a priestess, I promise, Barathan. Please believe however, I guess you may call a priestess from today onwards. I cant exactly deny it now, hehe.

The shock on those threes faces was pretty hilarious as they quickly understood the implications of my words. Tasianna congratulated for speaking with Aurena and told that she always knew I was worthy of becoming Aurenas champion, while Saori quickly tried to hush her loud mouth before everybody could hear it. However, I could see the curiosity in her eyes as she told telepathically that we will talk about it once we get back to Ellaines mansion.

Before the priest could return, Saori woke Barathan up and told him to start getting out of the church before anybody could question . Barathan, understanding what was going on, obliged and quickly followed us outside. I was a bit surprised that he kept up with us, although, the three of us werent giving it our all.

We left through the commoner entrance and entered the noble district through its gate. On the way, Barathan sent out one of those ssenger bird gargoyles, and the mont the gate opened, a carriage was already waiting for us there, ready to bring the four of us back to House Helvass mansion.

Barathan excused himself to inform Ellaine of what had happened today, and told us dinner will have to be postponed, probably to give the three of us as well as him and Ellaine ti to discuss what happened today. Once we were back in my room, I started retelling of my encounter, starting with how Aurenas divine realm looked, then my outburst, and finally how I officially beca her champion.

Tasianna was naturally excited as she was a native Peolyncian, clapping like an overly excited fangirl, but Saori looked exhausted. She pointed out how crazy it sounded to reform a whole church, citing how much influence religion had during the middle ages.

However, what caught Saoris attention the most was when I told her about her reincarnation and how Aurena wasnt a part of it.

Wait, what?! Saori stood up, almost knocking her chair down as her eyes widened, struggling to continue as her mouth wavered. I wasnt the only one?! Could it be that I wasnt the only one on that day?!