Dragon's Tale 97 (Patreon)

“It’s fun to swim, right,” I said as I looked at the beautiful exotic beauty that was doing her best to stay wrapped around me — her arms wrapped around my neck, her legs around my waist — as we dragged by the raging waters of the river. 

“Are you sure we still can’t use any magic,” she shouted as I easily changed direction to prevent a painful collision, even swimming actively to go even faster. 

“Not if you don’t want to get caught by your boss after stealing everything he owned and distributing them,” I answered. “Well, almost everything,” I corrected as I felt the weight of three weapons, obediently hanging on my waist despite the raging river, impossible to detach. 

Luckily, such abilities didn’t create a flare of magic. 

She didn’t answer, just growled even as she hugged me tighter while I continued to swim, enjoying the full benefits of the transformation — as well as using the opportunity to get used to the strength. 

I had to admit, it was nostalgic, especially since my adventure had started with a very similar moment, forcing me to swim without using any magic to prevent getting caught while a beautiful woman hung on my back desperately… 

Even an unfortunate interaction with a dragon heart was the same, only their timing was different. 

With my strength combined with the speed of the river, it didn’t take long for us to reach the sea, but rather than enjoying that fact, I started swimming deeper into the sea, toward our promised meeting location, almost ten miles away from the shore. 

It would have been more comfortable to ask them to arrive at the shore, of course, but a little exhaustion was nothing compared to reducing risk. It was, without a doubt, the better idea. 

I was confident in my decision, yet fate decided to give me confirmation for it. The magic exploded behind me without a warning, with an intensity that made me tremble. 

“No!” Xia gasped in shock as we turned to look in the direction of the energy. 

Directly toward Rome. 

“What’s going on?” I asked. 

“The true leader of House Junia, he’s Ascending,” she gasped. 

“A-ascending,” I found myself stammering even as I felt my core tremble once more, radiating a sense of fear. Yet, it wasn’t pure terror, which would have been reasonable against the intensity I had been feeling, but something nuanced. Still filled with fear, but like a lion, preparing to defend himself against a bear. 

“I’m guessing he’s not becoming a Sorcerer,” I said as I felt the immensity of the power, one that I was barely able to understand despite my own. 

“Of course not,” she answered. “He’s becoming a Son of Heaven,” she said. 

“That doesn’t exactly help me.” 

“In your country, it’s called differently. An Archmagus,” she corrected. 

“How entertaining,” I murmured as I suppressed the pointless desire to go and fight against him, one that my new instincts begging to do. The term Archmagus was not unfamiliar to me, but it was barely more than scraps of legends I had found when I was shuffling around in Olivia’s library. 

At that time, I dismissed them, assuming that it was just another term for strong sorcerers, the references to their capabilities inaccurate. Yet, the power I was feeling, immense even from a distance, confirmed the truth about those assessments. 

If anything, they undersold it. 

“What’s the best strategy?” I asked. 

“We should move faster, but without using magic,” she rapidly commented. “I’ll try to cast another concealment field.” 

“And that would work against that power,” I said, unable to prevent myself from shimmering in fear. 

“If he was only going to deal with us, no, but he had other problems.” 

I wanted to ask more questions, but chose to start swimming instead. 

Getting away was more important than my curiosity. It didn’t take long for me to receive my answer.

Another power, comparable to the first one rose. Even stronger, though weirdly contained, I corrected myself, my newly enhanced senses allowing me to analyze the flare with incredible precision. Soon, a third flare joined the second, then a fourth… 

Until the number reached seven, one circled by six. 

Yet, feeling that, I only started to move quicker. The number of great mages that could squash me like a bug increasing was hardly something good, even when they seemed to be against the first one — one that was from House Junia to the best of my guess. 

It proved to be a good choice, as the first one started to rise in power more and more. The other six tried to rise to match the first one… 

Only for them to be interrupted. 

Even with my newfound sensitivity, it was hard to identify what was interrupting them. It was clear that it wasn’t the Archmagus of House Junia that was suppressing them. It felt something external to their power, yet internal at the same time. 

“What’s going on,” I managed to ask despite the desperate speed I was using to swim. 

“It’s the nature of their power. The heavens themselves created the mortals so that, we can’t use the purest magic. The more we use it, the more it restricts us,” she answered. 

My eyes widened as I processed her explanation — colored with her own beliefs, obviously — and contrasted with the Sorcerer ascension ritual, and how it required alignment with the elements for a successful ascension. 

And how my own accidental ascension, triggered by a dragon heart, was the complete opposite. 

I turned my senses toward Rome once more, only to feel the great power of the first Archmagus crashing down, very noticeably toward the Alps, the direction where I had worked hard to fake my escape. 

Once again proving that there was no harm in over-preparation. 

The power didn’t stay focused on the Alps for long. The long-range detection spells were not a simple affair, certainly not when conducted in such a large area. 

Yet, it was clearly different when it carried a power that dozens of Sorcerer couldn’t have gathered at the same time. The power of the Archmagus collapsed with all the power of an avalanche, and even as it did, I could feel the sky suddenly covering clouds, adding to the oppressive feeling. 

I hoped that my disobedient pet avoided the spell — though even for such a spell, analyzing such a wide area in less than a second was likely to be impossible. He was likely searching for more noticeable things. 

Like dragon hearts. 

Failing to find his target, the power started to spread, the initially focused ray slowly spreading all over Italy, including the shores. We only had a few seconds before the power reached us. 

“Brace yourself, and cast the hiding spell as strongly as you can manage.” 

“It wouldn’t work,” she gasped in shock. “I’m already about to collapse. I can’t resist it. And it’s impossible to resist an Archmagus.” 

“Not when he’s spreading his power across a whole country,” I said. “You just need to resist it for a minute, that’s enough,” I encouraged her. “Then, he would stop.”

The last part wasn’t just an empty encouragement. I could feel the immense power getting restricted with each passing second, bringing him back to the level of the other six, shackled and neutered. 

For the other six, I was unable to see the nature of those shackles, their completed form not radiating enough energy to diagnose — even their presence I was only able to feel due to their overwhelming effect.

 Watching them form from nothing, on the other hand, was much more informative. The four elements of creation, fire, earth, water, and air, rose together obediently, merging together in an inexplainable pattern until they turned into chains. 

Chains that wrapped around the only free Archmagus I could feel. 

And, that wasn’t the only reaction nature showed. In the beginning, the more power he displayed, the darker the skies became, with lightning exploding between clouds. 

Like skies were threatening to bring punishment.

Admittedly, considering my own experience, there was a high chance it wasn’t just a metaphor my mind created to deal with the immensity of the situation.  

Luckily the increasing suppression effect meant that, when the effect of the spell reached us, it had weakened sufficiently for Xia to successfully deflect the effects. Or, at least, I assumed she was successful when that wave of power passed us, but no deadly spell followed it. 

Soon after the wave of spell passed over us, the chains tightened around his magical presence completely, restricting him to the same level as the other six. 

Then, they started to fade, disappearing as quickly until there were no signs of their presence remained. “You can stop….” I said, only to feel her collapse against my back, already unconscious. 

“Well, she deserves it,” I murmured as I continued swinging, and a minute later, found the ship Theodora arranged for me, though it was already unfurling its sails, suggesting that they changed their mind about waiting for us. 

Not that I could blame that after that scary storm, one that appeared and disappeared in a minute. 

Luckily, we were just in time…