Very small.

Having experienced the overwhelming size ofKomodo-lania, the drastic contrast in size hit me hard.

I didn’t expect the miniaturization to be this effective, even though I had only just unlockedMiniaturization LV1.

Look at the case of theCoelophysis. At most, the size difference between the original and its miniaturized form might be around four or five times.

But what about me right now?

FromKomodo-lania’s 7–8 meters in length to the 20–30 centimeters of aGreen Gecko.

I had shrunk far more than I expected.

This unfamiliar perspective...

No, it wasn’t completely unfamiliar.

It reminded me of when I first metNephela Jurassic—the view was quite similar.

“Ge-gegegek!”

I let out a fierce lizard cry.

“Kek-kek.”

Compylaughed wickedly, seemingly amused by my predicament.

Why wasMiniaturization LV1so effective?

Wait… what aboutCompythen?

If he's mastered the highest level of miniaturization, what would happen if he undid it?

“Ge-gegek...”

I glanced atCompy.

Come to think of it, he was the dinosaur recognized by the Serpent Queen, wasn’t he?

It’s possible he could be even bigger than the Serpent Queen in her true form.

I mean, we’re almost certain her true body is massive.

ButCompy? The dinosaur known as a symbol of smallness?

Could he really get that big?

“Keh-hek!”

Compypointed a finger at me and burst into laughter.

I should have known when he smirked before that dance, he had anticipated this outcome.

As petty as he looks...

“Keh?”

Oh, you can read minds now too?

Compystarted wriggling next to me with that dumb expression of his, clearly mocking me.

My proudDragon Clawswere weeping inside.

...What could I even do with these tiny claws?

Maybe if I usedBone-Crushing ClawsandGaegek Death Beam, I could wipe the floor with him.

I wouldn’t let him utter a word.

“Gerrruk...”

Even my cries sounded strange.

When I wasKomodo-lania, my communication was mostly made up ofGegeksandGrrs.

I usedGegekfor almost everything and savedGrrrfor threatening enemies.

It was one of my more dignified sounds, you could say.

But now I couldn’t even let out that kind of growl.

“Gegegek!”

I let out a pitifulGegeksound.

“Kek-kek-kek!”

After mocking me for quite some time,Compyslowly approached.

It seemed he had teased me enough.

Fine, just teach me how to control my size already.

I still have the Serpent Queen’s token, you know.

I glanced at the beautiful necklace hanging around my neck.

...Wait, why is it still on my neck?

The ornament had shrunk in size.

It was now so small that it didn’t look out of place on aGecko.

Was it a magical item of some sort?

If it hadn’t shrunk, it could’ve snapped my delicate little neck.

Anyway, the Serpent Queen’s token was intact.

IfCompydidn’t want to get on her bad side, he’d better teach me how to undo this soon.

“Kek!”

With that cry fromCompy,Coelophysis, the one who had led me here, came running over.

He had looked so small before, but now, he appeared to be a giant, at least twice my size.

“Kek!”“Kek-kek!”

The two of them exchanged theirKekcries in what seemed like communication.

How can they communicate with such sounds?

Then again, I could communicate well enough with spiders.

SinceCompywas their spiritual leader andCoelophysisfollowed his faith, it made sense that they could communicate with those cries.

After their conversation ended,Coelophysisturned to me.

“Kek...”

He slowly approached with those dull eyes, his body wriggling.

It was the reverse of the dance I had seen earlier.

As the invisible song played in my head,Coelophysis’s body began to change.

Crack.Snap.

Was this what it looked like when I evolved?

It was like witnessing the release of theBone-Shrinking Technique.

His body grew larger and larger, so much so that I could no longer take it all in with myGecko’s eyes.

“Kikikikikik!”

Finally,Coelophysisreturned to his original form.

No, it would be more accurate to say he was slightly larger than theCoelophysisI knew.

“Kek.”

Compynodded at me, explaining that this was how to undo miniaturization.

Fine, I’ll take your word for it.

I still wanted to see how bigCompycould get, but I’ll save that for later.

For now, I just needed to return to my original size.

Until I increased my proficiency with miniaturization, or found another method, I would have to seal it off.

If I stayed this small, I’d be vulnerable in many ways.

I’d be susceptible to enemy attacks, or even the antics ofShicksickor the spiders.

So, all I had to do was follow the same dance in reverse, right?

Alright, let’s give it a try.

I put on my best dull face.

...Did I really need to mimic the facial expressions too?

Better safe than sorry.

I wriggled my body with all my effort.

Even swayed my tail a little.

Alright, bring me back to my original form!

“Gegek?”

But nothing happened.

I was still aGecko.

Nothing more, nothing less.

“Ge-ge-ge-gegek!”

I was fooled again!

Compy, you petty little...

Just wait until I get back.

I’ll tell my wife everything.

I glared atCompy, hoping my eyes conveyed my demand to be returned to normal.

“...Kek?”

Compy’s expression looked odd.

Why aren’t you transforming?

He seemed genuinely confused.

“Gegek?”

Come on, stop messing with me.

I admit it, I was wrong. Just turn me back already.

...Wait, could this be real?

“Kek...”

“Geeeeek!”

Compyleft me behind in the cave and ran off somewhere.

He was probably looking for a way to reverse this.

At least, that’s what I told myself to believe.

“Ge-eek…”

I looked at my reflection in the small puddle within the cave.

Some features ofKomodo-laniaremained.

My claws were still sharp, and my body was still covered inDragon Scales.

[Komodo-lania LV2]HP: 4162/4162MP: 477/922[Status][Serpent Queen’s Mark] [Serpent Princess’s Mark] [Miniaturized]

Looking at my status, I could see that my HP and MP remained unchanged.

But the loss of size was a serious blow.

Sure, if I drew from my past experience, I could still make good use of this body.

I could zip around with theSoaring Dragon Stepand slash at enemies withDragon Clawsor take them down withGaegek Death Beam.

But even an enemy the size of aUtahraptorwould give me trouble.

No matter how many times I slashed with these tiny claws, the damage would be minimal.

The same goes for theGaegek Death Beam. While it’s better than theDragon Claws, the range is short. I couldn’t expect the same performance as before.

Perhaps, likeCompy, if I honed martial arts to an extreme and focused on physical combat, this body could still be useful.

But as of now, it didn’t suit my fighting style.

I needed to return to my original form as soon as possible.

The good news was that miniaturization was only temporary.

How temporary? I wasn’t sure.

ButCompyhad gone off to find a solution, so all I could do was wait.

For now, I decided not to worry about the miniaturization.

No point in overthinking it.

Instead, I should look at the advantages of being small.

There had to be some perks to this tiny body.

Remember whenTang Soyeongwas startled when she first saw me?

Would she still be surprised if I were this size?

No, she’d probably hide me in her sleeve, calling me a cute little lizard.

Being small meant I could lower people's guard.

Just like how these lizards were tilting their heads at me in curiosity.

Compy.

I was trying to be fair, but your pettiness has gone too far.

I’ll start preparing.

If I befriend these lizards in this form, I might be able to lead them away from theSoaring Dragon Faithand into the path ofGaegek.

In other words, these lizards were a treasure trove of faith.

And what’s more, taking the faith ofCompy’s followers would be quite valuable.

This is your karma,Compy.

“Ge-gegek.”

Believe it or not, I once charmedShicksickwith myDragon Scales.

It’s possible that to lizards and spiders, I’m perceived as quite the handsome lizard.

When I let out a dignified cry, more lizards gathered around me.

Yes.

They’d never seen a lizard withDragon Scalesbefore.

[Red-Eyed Armored Lizard LV34][Curled Tail Lizard LV42][Green Anole Lizard LV29]

What are those levels?

“Gegek!”

Wait, since when were lizards this high level?

In this world, I understood that once a creature reached the limit of its level, it could evolve to the next species.

Was this exclusive to me because of the status window?

No, that couldn’t be the case.

I’d personally witnessed theTitanoboaevolve into aHydrain theSilver Dragon’s Lair.

I’d seenNephela Jurassicevolve into anArachne.

So, why were these lizards stuck at such high levels without evolving?

To evolve, you needed a significant amount of inner energy.

Had they failed to gather enough energy?

That didn’t seem likely either.

Some of these lizards were naturally sitting in a meditative pose.

It was clearCompyhad taught them how to cultivate their inner energy.

Now that I think about it,Compyhadn’t evolved either.

Was he deliberately rejecting evolution and training in a smaller body?

No matter how much I thought about it, it seemed he was intentionally refusing to evolve.

But why?

If it was to master some technique that required a smaller body, wouldn’t learning miniaturization solve the problem?

After all,Compywas a pretty good teacher.

No matter how high a lizard’s level was, there were limits to their species.

Even aGreen Geckoat level 100 would still be far weaker than a level 1Komodo.

As I said before, the size difference is critical.

WithoutCompy’s level of skill, it would be hard to overcome that.

A singleTerror Birdat around level 20 could wipe out all of these lizards.

Sure, theCoelophysiswould try to hold them off, but still.

Even if they’re high-level lizards, I couldn’t ignore them.

A level 2 lizard should never be underestimated.

If I had remained aGreen Gecko, I’d have surpassed level 100 easily by now.

“Gegek!”

When I let out another cry, even more lizards gathered around.

“…Gek?”

Actually, quite a few more than expected.

A tidal wave of lizards, all above level 30, swarmed over me.

“Ge-eeek!”

I had overlooked something.

It seemed that my face, covered inDragon Scales, was considered extremely attractive to lizards.

They started running their short little arms all over my body.

“Ki-eek!”

The touch reminded me ofTusandPus.

It felt oddly affectionate, yet suspicious at the same time.

Tus.

Pus.

Nephela Jurassic.

Tang-something.

Master.

Queen.

Princess.

I’m sorry.

This poor lizard feels like he’s about to lose something very important today.

Eventually, the tide of lizards receded.

A few had stepped in to bring order to the chaos.

Such admirable lizards.

I felt a small sense of gratitude.

Ssss.

The tails of those that had saved me draped over my body.

The sensation of all those plump tails pressed together gave me an odd feeling.

Surely, reptiles should have cold bodies.

But there was a warmth to this.

Not scientifically warm, but emotionally.

It felt like… family, maybe?

I should thank them.

“Ge-gegek!”“Gek-gek.”

...Gek-gek?

That strange sound.

Those plump tails.

Those broad feet.

“Ge-ge-ge-gegek!”“Gek-gek-gek!”

The ones protecting me were none other than otherGeckolizards.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by lotustale.com