Wild Dragon of Rome 20 (Patreon)

I was somewhat afraid as I looked out of the cave. While moving toward the tunnel, I had already realized that my eyes were more sensitive, which allowed me to see despite the low-light conditions. It had been useful … but I had hunted too many nocturnal beasts not to know that such sensitivity often came with a weakness for bright lights.

I put my head out of the cave, trying to prepare myself for a painful stab of pain as I squinted my eyes … but nothing. I opened my eyes fully, and there was no pain. The only thing that was out of the ordinary was how quickly my eyes had adapted to the brightness after staying in the caves.

Another benefit of my failed breakthrough. Combined with my obvious increase in physical power, it was not a bad consolation prize.

Too bad it came with too many side effects.

The most obvious one was the destruction of my elemental cores, drained into shivered husks unable to contain any vitae. With their state, I had no idea whether I could still reach the mage ranks, or that was forever impossible for me.

Of course, that implied that I could even survive more than a few days in the first place. After all, despite its name, a dragon heart wasn’t supposed to replace one’s heart ... Or so I believed.

Yet, I was alive, awake, and stronger than ever even with my elemental cores destroyed. I had far more mana in my body than I ever thought to be possible, and the dragon heart pumped more, power crawling under my skin.

The power that I didn’t dare to touch even bubbled under my skin, giving me an exhilarated feeling. Power that I didn’t imagine ever possessing … power that I had no way of using with my elemental cores useless other than discharging it.

The irony was fascinating.

“One day at a time, Marcus,” I muttered as I decided to ignore the fact that my heart had been taken over by the greatest mana treasure I had ever known, constantly giving me mana I couldn’t use, with unknown but potentially devastating side effects.

It already happened. There was no point in dwelling on something I couldn’t change.

I focused on observing my surroundings, trying to find a safe path. It was supposed to be a difficult challenge. With the battle between the third-order creatures and the mages still ongoing, the aftershocks were enough to displace the other creatures, turning the territory markers and the other indicators useless. And, with stealth our biggest advantage, we couldn’t risk fighting even a first-order beast.

It didn’t take long for me to realize just how well my senses had been increased. It wasn’t just my sight, but also my sense of smell, hearing … even touch, allowing me to catch even the slightest change of the wind.

It felt like someone had just given me a map marking the presence of every beast that was currently on the move. A hundred feet to the North, there was a snake coiled, waiting for a prey to stumble near it. Four hundred feet to the East, there was some kind of wild cat, moving toward the shore … and many more, some threats, some prey.

All visible.

I looked back into the cave, where Lillian was waiting for me. “Everything alright? You have been gone for a while.”

“Everything is perfect. I was getting used to my enhanced senses,” I said. She looked at me, worried, probably with similar concerns to what I had about possible drawbacks. “I can sense the location of the beasts easily. In some ways, it’s better than being a four-element mage.”

“Oh, really. I’ll try it the moment we find a dragon heart,” she said. “But no, it wouldn’t be fun to just replicate your method. How about if we come up with another brand new method that even a crazy old man would think of as risky…”

She continued complaining for a while, taking her frustration out of me. It was clearly not only about my mistake but the overall stress. I might have reacted badly if someone else tried to target me like that, but it was less than an hour ago that I had seen her facing an almost certain death trying to defend me from an army of earth moles.

That, and I could still see the wound in her hand, which was left from the blood magic that she had used on me, which was probably the only reason I managed to survive after that disaster.

Not a bad way to earn some forbearance.

I didn’t interrupt her, especially since even as her swears started to get rather pointed, she had enough presence of mind not to shout. While she did so, I paid attention to our surroundings, charting a safe path that would bring us to my first hiding spot.

At the same time, I was observing the battle between the mages and the creatures, their showy battle making their location clear enough that I could have pinpointed them without my recently upgraded senses.

The beasts were losing, which meant the battle was moving closer to the center of the island, and moving away from us. Waiting a while more would give us an even better chance to go unnoticed. So, I let her speak and curse without interruption.

I spoke only after she finished swearing. “Calmer?”

She blushed as she avoided my gaze. “I’m sorry. I don’t know what just came over me. I don’t usually…”

“Don’t worry about it. It’s just a side effect of the danger you’re facing.”

“I don’t know. You have risked your life more than I did, and came much closer to death. Yet, you’re still going strong while I’m a … mess.”

I chuckled. ”You have had more close calls with death since last evening than you had your whole life. It’s normal to feel a little frazzled. I’m more used to looking Pluton in the eye and refusing his call to visit his domain.”

She fell silent for a moment. “That’s it? Familiarity?”

I shrugged. “Not a method I would recommend, but certainly effective, especially when delivered by a crazy old man.” I paused for another second, checking the battle. “As much as I’m enjoying our talk, it’s a good time for us to start moving.”

She nodded.

“I want you to follow my orders, make no move, and unless a beast is a foot away from you, don’t use any mana without my signal. We can’t leave any track for them to follow, understand?” I said.

She nodded again. I taught her a few signals so we could communicate without speaking if necessary, and then our trek started.

As much as it was tempting to run toward the cave, I refused the temptation. Trekking without leaving any mark on our passage was slow, slower than walking even at a leisurely pace after the intense rain. We had to avoid mud and soft ground whenever possible by skipping over the rocks, and whenever we left a mark, I had to use a bundle of sticks to erase them. Several times, we had to take the longer routes to avoid the beasts I had detected, which added even more to our travel.

Traveling at least half of the distance by crawling on the ground behind outcroppings and bushes to prevent a random sailor from noticing us didn’t make our trek any easier. My enhanced senses proved useful there as well, allowing me to notice small things that I might have otherwise missed like a frayed piece of fabric, making it difficult for them to follow us even if they managed to track us through the underground tunnels that we had collapsed.

It was why I hadn’t laid any false tracks around the cave. That would have revealed our exit spot, making their search easier rather than harder.

It took nearly two hours, but we finally arrived at that cave. The area surrounding the cave was filled with footsteps, as well as the lingering effect of several elemental spells. Yet, rather than scaring me, those signs actually increased my confidence.

What better place to hide than one that had been already searched…

“Finally,” Lillian muttered once we entered the cave and I gave the all-clear signal we agreed before. “I can’t believe how tense it was just moving around. It was scarier than a battle.”

“It can be,” I answered.

“I can use water magic now, right?” she said.

“As long as you keep your presence low,” I said. She waved her hand, and water gathered around her for a quick shower, cleaning her body and her clothes at the same time. Convenient. I turned my back to give her some privacy.

I looked out of the elongated entrance, checking to make sure there was no motion. “You can turn back,” she said, and I did so…

Just when Lillian removed her shirt … well, my shirt that she borrowed. Underneath, she only had the scrapped remains of her own dress, nowhere near enough to hide her back. “Hey. Did you forget that I can see better in the dark,” I said, hating myself even as I reminded her of that and deprived myself of the incredible view that would have helped to pass the time until midnight.

Yet, she didn’t put back the shirt. Instead, she reached to the tattered remains of her dress, and with a flick, pushed it down. “I know,” she said with a sultry voice instead. “I remember promising you a reward if you survived…”

I knew that I should have refused. After my failed breakthrough, the state of my body was still doubtful, and the last thing I needed was to add a new variable.

Yet, as Lillian turned toward me, my blood started blowing faster, and I had just discovered another effect.

Arousal hit much harder … especially when I was trapped in a cave with a gorgeous blonde that had just offered the best present of my life.

I ignored everything I should be doing and walked toward her.