Wild Dragon of Rome 38 (Patreon)

The retreat from the border had been a smooth affair. It might not have been the case if the guarding legion alerted to our presence — which was certainly a possibility since Astrid’s enemies were now a part of it — but with my trick with the river able to convince them, we were able to retreat from the border as easily as we arrived.

Though, we didn’t get too far from the border. As much as it was tempting to get away from the border, one important thing stopped us. We needed a mana-dense location to stay safe. And, only near the border, such a location wouldn’t be occupied. It was why, we only bypassed one checkpoint rather than several.

In our situation, safety was a relative concept.

The only challenge was carrying two people at once, and even then, it was more about the leverage than the weight. Ultimately, we solved it by Lillian hanging on my back, while I carried Astrid in a bridal hold. Lillian insisted on that configuration, no matter how much Astrid blushed.

“Another checkpoint cleared. Now, we just need that mana-dense valley we discovered, and we can actually set up a semi-permanent camp,” I said. “Trying to set up a new camp every day is getting boring.”

“True,” Lillian said. “Luckily, there was a nice spring there. I need to take a long, relaxing bath. It’ll be perfect. Right, Astrid?”

“S-sure,” she stammered. “But, shouldn’t we start working on Marcus’ problem first?”

“She’s right, Lillian,” I said. “Work first, fun later,” I said and winked at Astrid, which didn’t help her blush any. Particularly since Lillian didn’t give her any time to repair her shirt, which meant all night, she had been a very revealing shirt. A fact that she was yet to get used to.

Even in the dark of the night, the valley was beautiful, but I didn’t let it ignore the deadly nature of it. During our previous visit, I had already detected two third-order beasts the last time I scouted, and I didn’t even go too deep into the valley at that time, just enough to make sure it would make a longer-term hideout.

There was even a concealed spot where we could build a small cottage rather than continue to live in caves if we decided to stay longer.

We camped near the spring we had discovered. “Finally,” Lillian chuckled as she jumped down, her feet comfortably on the ground. “Now, what’s the plan. A bath first, or a lesson on magic?”

“A lesson on magic,” Astrid said immediately, recognizing Lillian’s naughty tone easily after her constant teasing, and preventing her plan from succeeding.

Or, thinking that she had prevented her plan from succeeding. Unsettled by Lillian’s suggestive tone, she had missed her sharp gaze, and how she manipulated. By creating a situation Astrid wanted to avoid, Lillian had just made sure Astrid would be incentivized to keep that lesson as long as possible. A small, but intentional manipulation I would have missed if it wasn’t for my sharper eyesight, allowing me to catch her expression even in the dark.

“Why don’t you start with why you hate elemental magic,” I said. “It’ll help us understand your perspective better.”

“First, I want you both to swear that you’ll never tell anyone about it. It’s a secret of highest order,” she said.

“I swear on Pluto that I would keep it a secret. May I never walk in his halls if I break it,” I said. As far as the vows went, it was a big one. She nodded in appreciation. Lillian repeated it.

“It’s going to be a long tale, so don’t interrupt,” she said. “And, don’t argue.”

We nodded again.

“It’s because our tribes believe the elemental magic is not something that should exist in nature, but something that was brought to the world by Romans,” she said. “At least, that’s what the secret stories that are only told among the priestesses claim, but the timeline is a bit complicated. Some believe that it was when Rome was founded, while others believe it was something to do with the fall of the last king,” she added. Even as she told so, she was uncomfortable, showing her discomfort in revealing those secrets.

I caught Lillian’s gaze and nodded subtly, thanking her for her achievement. Earlier today, I had seen just how determined Astrid could be, willing to die for her principles rather than surrender. The fact that Lillian managed to convince her to spill those secrets through friendship in less than a day was an incredible achievement.

Astrid continued, unaware of our silent communication. “Even if those tales are not true,” she said, her tone making it obvious that she didn’t even consider the possibility, but trying to be kind, “there’s no doubt that our sacred magic doesn’t mix well with elemental magic,” she said.

“How so?” I asked.

“In two ways,” she said. “It’s impossible to tame a beast that’s tainted by elements directly,” she said. I quirked my eyebrow, as I distinctly remembered her riding a third-order elemental wolf. “It’s possible to command them directly,” she explained. “But, it’s an active battle, and sooner or later, they snap out of control, making it a dangerous challenge at best. Not like the immaculate beasts,” she said.

“And, why was your tribe wasn’t using those beasts,” I asked, curious.

“I thought I said no questions,” she said, but she looked a bit frustrated. “If you must know, our tribe wasn’t the strongest even before the betrayal. We didn’t own one of the holy lands, untainted by the elemental curse.”

“My apologies,” I said, and she nodded. “You said there were two ways.”

“The other relates to chosen warriors,” she said. We looked at her blankly. “Shapeshifters, as your people call them,” she continued. “In order to embody their elevated forms, they require the essence of an immaculate beast. There had been some tribes that tried to use tainted beasts for it, but…” she shivered. “Let’s just say it ended badly.”

That was not exactly good news for me, but nowhere near enough to make me panic. After all, ultimately, I was not a shifter.

“And, how does the shifters are made,” I asked.

“Why are you asking that question?” Astrid countered, surprised by my words. “Don’t you know it already?”

“I don’t fully remember what happened. I wasn’t in a good state back then,” I said, deflecting the question, not sure how much to reveal during the process. It wasn’t a good deflection.

“Yes, finish the explanation so we can have a bath,” Lillian joined in as she put her hand on Astrid’s leg, distracting her better, once again helping me in a way I hadn’t expected.

“There are two main ways of annotating a holy warrior,” she said. “The first way to use the living essence. The warrior lives with the immaculate beast for months while the essence of the beast is slowly grafted into his body. It’s the superior way, allowing the warrior to slowly grow into his powers. Only by that way, they have the ability to slowly grow into their power, and change back.”

She took a breath before continuing. “The second method is easier in the application. Rather than using the living essence, it’s possible to graft the solidified essence of a deceased beast to the body directly. That way, a warrior could be elevated in power in a few months.”

“I’m guessing that there are some drawbacks to that method,” I said, ready to listen to them. Clearly, that situation was relevant to me. The dragon heart certainly qualified as a solidified essence. Of course, that created a lot of other implications, like the fact that dragons might be actually real beasts rather than legends as I had previously thought.

But, before I could delve into that question deeper, Astrid waved her hand. “Oh, I wouldn’t worry about it,” she said. “I don’t know why you can’t remember the process, but your situation is clearly the first case. Only the transfer of the living essence could grow and change with the passage of time. And, since your scales are growing slowly, it clearly belongs to the first category. You should be able to handle it easily as long as you can learn the proper magic to suppress your inner beast.”

“That’s good news,” I said. I didn’t think that it would be that easy, but it still looked like a worthwhile first attempt, especially since we didn’t trust Astrid enough to reveal our more dangerous secrets. “And those suppression techniques, are they difficult,” I asked.

“They are not, but they require me to create some rituals. It’ll have to wait until I recover my mana, and I need to make some preparations.”

“We can help with that if you join us in the bath,” Lillian offered as she grabbed my arm and started dragging me toward the spring.

“I … It’s not necessary, the valley has more than enough,” Astrid answered, her blush back with a vengeance.

“Your loss,” Lillian said as she dragged me away like a toy, one that she offered to share. It was amusing enough that I let her.