Dragon's Tale 5 (Patreon)

At this point, a gentleman would have turned his back and walked away. Unfortunately for her, I was quite a bit away from being a gentleman, so I just ogled her while she sat on the floor, blushing furiously while trying to hide her body — with limited success. “Go away,” she exclaimed, but she kept her eyes strictly on the ground, too shocked to catch my eye. The confusion wasn’t helping her either. After all, she had just watched me construct a runic vessel from scratch, a task well-above anything she -or any of her rich friends- could manage on their own despite their fancy tutors and other advantages. Watching the supposed famous failure handling that in a few minutes must have been a true shock. 

“I don’t think so. I”m happy with my position,” I answered, shamelessly ogling her mostly naked body. After all, she might be bitchy, but her lean body made a good eye candy, especially with her golden hair glistening under the morning sun. 

“Go away,” she repeated, even going as far as raising her hand threateningly, and a bolt of mist gathered between her fingers, turning into a small icicle of ice. 

“I see the effects of the bracelets are mostly gone,” I casually commented, easily ignoring the supposed threat she was trying to make. The bracelets’ residue still partially restricted her, severely curtailing her maximum power output, not that I would be afraid of her even in her full power. She frowned, unhappy with my dismissal, and released the icicle. It was obviously not dangerous, valuable only in its statement. So, I decided to greet it with a statement of my own, and let a wave of pure mana loose. It met with her attack halfway, evaporating her instantly. 

“How?” she murmured, her eyes wide once more, and her shock was understandable. The way I had countered her attack was one of the most ineffective way possible, usually only possible when there was a great difference in power. Handling her attack effortlessly, even when her powers were restricted, proved that I was stronger than her even when she was without her handicap, showing that our difference was not only on skill, but on power as well. 

I could have used that realization to intimidate her further, but after going all the trouble of saving her, I didn’t want to create an enemy. Instead, I let a crooked smile to appear on my face and spoke in a cheerful but even tone. “As I said, milady, there is quite a bit that you’re unaware. And maybe, I’ll tell you about them…” She stayed silent, struggling to process the situation. I gave her a minute to do so before continuing. “So, what’s the plan while I hunt for breakfast.” 

“I’ll try to send a message back to my family, so that they can send a rescue team.” She stilled for a moment. “Of course, if that’s okay with you.” 

“Sure, do that,” I answered. After all, even if her family had a team nearby, it’ll take a few days for them to arrive at our destination. And while watching her naked flustering was fun, I wasn’t planning to play the babysitter for long. I had a lot of things to do. 

Lillian nodded and struggled to stand up, which was rather difficult while struggling to keep her assets hidden, especially since I was shameless enough to walk for a better angle whenever she turned. “Enough!” she exclaimed. “Will you stop it if I show you my boobs once more, you fucking animal,” she exclaimed exasperatedly, her earlier fear forgotten, which was half the reason I was messing with her. The other half was simply her sexy body. 

“Deal,” I said, and watched as she blushed once more, realizing what she had just offered. It wasn’t the first time I would see her breasts, but since it was the first time she was going to reveal them consciously, she felt embarrassed. 

I whistled in appreciation as she pulled her arms away for a moment, her gaze fixed on the floor. She stayed like that for three seconds before covering her breasts. “Satisfied!” she needled. 

“Honestly, I can spend a day looking at your sexy body, and wouldn’t be satisfied,” I said, earning a shocked gasp. “But it’s enough for our deal. Then, without a warning, I pushed my pants down, followed by my underwear, revealing my body in full buff glory, especially since I was on full mast after her little show. “Payment for your consideration,” I said as I walked away, leaving her stiff in shock while I enjoyed the morning breeze on my naked skin. 

I walked to the shore, leaving Lillian frozen, trying to process the enormity of her lapse of control along with my sudden nakedness. I was more than happy with her attitude. Whether it was the lack of familiarity with the environment, of the shock from being saved by me, her behavior was much more entertaining than her demeanor back in school, and was getting even better with each passing hour.  

The stressful escape was turning out to be an amusing holiday. Of course, it wasn’t without its annoyances, the biggest being the discomfort from carrying the small mysterious box on my palm, but I didn’t trust Lillian about not messing with clothes after all the tricks I had pulled on her. I wanted to see her play along, but I didn’t want her discovering the mysterious box in the process, so I chose the inconvenience of not using one of my hands while fishing instead. As I slid into the water, I could feel her mana flaring behind, but since I knew she was trying to build a communication array, I didn’t pay much attention to that. 

I started cutting through the cold expanse of the water for some breakfast, but the sea was surprisingly sparse, so I swam forward, hoping to catch something big enough. But even then, I was barely able to catch enough to feed one person after several minutes of concentrated effort. The prey was sparse today…  

Too sparse, I realized suddenly and pulled to the surface and started swimming back to the shore. Something was wrong! 

And confirming my suspicions, a shout reached to my ears almost immediately. A rather shrill, familiar one, but I never heard it colored with pure terror. I was already swimming towards the small island, my speed several times more than my natural speed, magic coursing through my muscles to quicken my movements. It consumed a decent chunk of mana, but it was worth it. Lillian was clearly in danger, and I had no intention of allowing her to die while she was under my protection. It was a matter of pride. 

I was just stepping at the shore when Lillian appeared behind a tree, running away helplessly, her face contorted with terror. The reason appeared just a moment later. A dragon serpent! 

“Fuck my luck,” I murmured. Luckily, despite their name, dragon serpents weren’t actually dragons, which was scant comfort. After all,  true Dragons threatened huge cities with their sheer presence and required armies to repel, and teams of legendary heroes to defeat. Dragon serpents were nothing compared to that. A disciplined squad of skilled mages could defeat them, without a casualty even if they were lucky. 

Of course, that comparison did little to help me since I was curiously lacking a team of experienced mages for support. My only ally was a rich heiress whose magic hampered due to her imprisonment, making her rather useless. I didn’t have a weapon. I was even naked! At that moment, the thought of leaving her to her fate, and hoping that the creature would be satisfied after eating her was extremely tempting. 

Then, a sudden thought appeared in my mind, and a burst of laughter escaped my mouth. I understood what grandfather meant when he claimed that pride was a man’s blessing and curse at the same time. It made a man die ignobly in a poorly-chosen battle, like trying to defeat a dragon serpent alone with no weapon. But he also claimed that only by climbing over a pile of impossible challenges, a man could rise to be a legend. 

Lillian’s mad dash stalled for a moment while she looked at me shocked, but it was nothing compared to her reaction to my next action. “Take this, you little snake,” I shouted as I created a wall of flame between the creature and Lillian. It was an impressive looking spell, but lacked the power to hurt dragon serpent. Effectively, it was a little better than a mirage. 

But it still fulfilled its purpose. The creature, which was about to catch up with Lillian, was forced to stop to avoid the sudden conflagration, its attention on me. I was hoping that the unfamiliar presence of the flames would make it hesitate for a while. But to my surprise not only it started moving once more the moment, but also it passed through the wall of fire without the slightest hesitation, and continued to chase Lillian. 

Its display of intelligence and discernment ability came as a nasty surprise, but I didn’t have time to consider its implications. Instead, I sent a chain of elemental attacks towards it even as moved forward, wanting to cut its path before it could catch up with Lillian. The chain of spells I used was exhausting, but on the positive side, it was impossible to dodge. But the creature had another nasty surprise for me. It actually chose the weakest spells among my attack chain and tanked them while dodging the others. It was a discernment ability far above an animal could display. 

“Fuck me, it’s a familiar,” I murmured in shock. I had never heard a dragon serpent familiar, but I had the opportunity to watch a creature of similar strength in action. One of the old guardian priests back in school had a lightning falcon as a familiar, and the additional intelligence had turned it from a dangerous critter into a ruthless killer. The combination of its natural power and enhanced intelligence had been impossible to overwhelm. 

Unfortunately, I was already facing creature, and running away was not an option. And even if I did, it wouldn’t have helped, because if my suspicions were correct, its presence on the island was no coincidence. “Just how much secret resources a pirate could have,” I sighed in exasperation even as I slammed my free hand on the floor, injecting my power into the ground. A moment later, several pillars of hardened earth appeared around the creature, immobilizing it momentarily. It broke through in a second, its eyes still on Lillian, obviously under orders, but that was enough for me to conjure a crackling ball of lightning and slam it to the creature, making it cry in fury. 

That managed to achieve my objective, and the creature’s eyes finally focused on me, burning with hatred. “How fun,” I said even as I pulled back, sending several bolts of fire against it, hoping to put a little distance between us, but the creature chose to tank them instead. It was one smart fucking bugger, even worse than the lightning falcon. It swiped, and I managed to dodge, though it left a rather painful slash, my blood starting to spill. 

“You want my blood,” I exclaimed even as I squeezed the box in my palm. “It’ll not be cheap, you bastard!” With that, I put everything I had to pull a blade of stone from the ground, its edges burning with an unsettling green fire, and even the creature took a step back when it felt. I dashed forward and slashed, leaving a deep cut on one of its limbs. The creature cried in anger and threw itself at me with a reckless abandon. 

The battle started anew, this time much more equal, each slash leaving a pained cut on the creature’s body. But it wasn’t without its price, because I took several wounds during my reckless assault, and my endurance was nothing compared to a magical creature. Even worse, my vision started to blur, far worse than the wounds would cause. The cursed flame I conjured was devouring my reserves at an unbelievable rate. Under normal circumstances, five seconds was my limits, but it already had been fifteen seconds. I only maintained it thanks to the mysterious box I was holding, but even that was nothing more than a temporary solution. I had seconds at best. 

I lost all hope when the creature actually realized the drawback of my strategy and started to fight defensively, removing my hope of landing a lucky blow. I had no option left but try for a miracle. 

“Let’s see what we have here,” I murmured as I took a step back, and opened my palm, looking at the box. With all the protective locks, unlocking it would have taken hours, but luckily, I was holding a shortcut right now. I brought my blade across the surface, shattering the ruins in a blow, and suddenly, an incredible amount of power filled the opening, increasing further when I flipped the box open. 

I was frozen with shock, only by a miracle maintaining my grip on the box with my stiffened fingers. My momentary lack of concentration was enough for the blade to disperse, leaving me defenseless. Luckily, the creature was too shocked to take advantage of my lapse. 

I was holding a dragon heart in my hand! A real, actual dragon heart! 

It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that a dragon heart was the most valuable treasure in the world. It could be only acquired from the carcass of a real dragon, which usually meant one weakened by old age, or an infantile one too weak to defend itself properly -relatively, of course, as it still required an army to defeat. Even if it was the weakest grade, it was still peerless. Assuming I could successfully bring this to Rome and gift it to one of the Consuls, I would get adopted into his house as a reward, making me a noble citizen of the Republic, giving me unbelievable power. It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that I would be untouchable in Britanium, which, despite its wealth, was nothing more than a backwater province. Any noble would be willing to exchange their titles to become an ordinary citizen in Rome. And I couldn’t even start imagining the riches I would receive if I managed to bring it to Constantinople and gifted it to the Emperor of the East, but a small city of my own wouldn’t be out of consideration. After all, a dragon heart allowed unlimited possibilities. It could be used to forge new treasures, peerless weapons, even train legions of unbeatable power… 

Of course, that was nothing more than a passing fancy. Now that I had broken through its protective casing, it spread very distinctive energy that could be detected miles away, and nothing more than a full legion would be able to defend it. I had no chance of keeping its possession. 

Though that was nothing more than a thought exercise, because my survival would take a miracle. Dragon heart provided me with even more power without its protective casing, but unfortunately, I was already at my limit physically. Too exhausted to conjure the blade once more. And while a dragon heart could improve a mage’s maximum power and capacity several times, it was only through a carefully-tailored training that took years while the mage slowly absorbed a sliver of dragon heart’s energy. 

Soon, the creature was dashing towards me once more, my death was just a second away. And since I was about to die otherwise, I decided to do something crazy, hoping that it would give me the boost I needed to kill the monster before I joined it in the halls of Neptune. 

I swallowed the dragon heart!

The clear expression of shock on the creature’s otherwise alien face was too amusing. Even its limited perception was enough to understand the craziness of my action. It stopped and tried to pull back. Unfortunately, the fire that filled my every scrap of being was just looking for an excuse to escape, already covering my skin. I was unable to move, but the creature was too scared to take advantage of it. A second later, it simply became impossible for it to take advantage, as a barrier of flame covered my immediate surrounding, crackling threateningly. 

I might die, but I would be damned if it was for nothing. With that, I managed to raise my arm, and pointed my trembling finger at the dragon serpent. A wave of gold and crimson flame spread forward, only a fraction of it hitting the creature, but it cut through its body like it was made of paper, evaporating half of its head in the process. It was dead before it could even hit the floor. 

“Not a bad way to die,” I murmured despondently, feeling melancholic. After years of struggle, I managed to take my first step to freedom, only to fall before I could soar. 

But before I could make peace with my death, the flames suddenly disappeared. I collapsed as exhaustion that I had never felt before, something even the worst training session with my grandfather wouldn’t compare. I lay helpless as the gentle breeze caressed my skin. It felt like hours had passed, even though objectively, I knew that not even a minute had passed since the battle started. It was just that intense. 

Before I could focus on the details of the miracle that happened, Lillian appeared once more, a determined expression on her face, an improvised dagger from a jagged piece of stone in hand. She clearly came here to help, despite knowing it would mean certain death with her impaired magic. Brave girl, I thought in amusement. It was weird how only in a situation of life and death, people would reveal their true face. And on Lillian, I was impressed with that I had found. Her naked body, covered with a light sheen of sweat, just made the situation better. 

It took a second for her to process the sight, with me collapsed on the floor, clearly alive and without a scratch -the dragon heart managed to cure my wound, making it officially the most expensive tool of recovery-, and dragon serpent collapsed on the floor, lifeless. “How,” she murmured in shock even as the improvised daggers slipped away from her fingers while she dashed toward me. 

“You look sexy,” I said. I was aiming to smirk to complete the impression, but I barely managed to put 

“I used a secret family technique,” I explained, telling her the most believable lie possible. I didn’t want the complications from consuming a dragon heart known, and since she wasn’t aware that the creature was a familiar, me killing it with a secret technique still believable, although barely. 

Before I could say anything else, however, she threw herself on me, and started crying. “How dare you throwing yourself at it with such a suicidal manner!” she managed to shout between her tears. “I was so scared.” 

I was surprised by her emotional outburst, though feeling her naked body again mine was rather enjoyable. It was a pity that I was too exhausted to take advantage of the situation. “I’m going to nap for a bit,” I managed to murmur. “Could you be a dear and cook us some food while I’m sleeping,” I said. 

“Food?” she murmured, unable to understand what I was driving towards. “Where are the fish you caught. I’m going to find them.” 

“It’s here,” I said, and when she looked at me questioningly, I gestured to the corpse of the dragon serpent. “I’m hoping that it’s tasty, because catching that bastard was a chore…” 

Lillian froze for a moment, then started laughing. It was more hysterical than amused, but still, it was laughter. I closed my eyes, and let the sleep take me, her crystal laugh better than a lullaby.