-Morning - Nefiru's POV-
With all my legs bound, I block the pain in the back and mobilize water elementals to stop the metallic cone drilling into the flesh then completely freeze it. The object appears made from a light material like Aluminium with a metal tip which I magnetized to shoot out of my body before locating the two wolves with a probe.
That fucking hurts you bastards! I cursed detecting another barrage of dozens of projectiles forming. Not done? I realized before quickly spreading lightning elementals over my scales.
Any well-aimed high-speed attack in my current state would do significant damage, and it seemed to be the opportunity the two wolves have been waiting.
I shall go all out too! I recall the higher tier ability discovered in the past four days. The high rankers Lightning ability... Direct elemental magnetism! I review the effect which doesn't rely on a closed loop of electric current but consumes considerable amounts of mana. I wonder what my Divine lightning ability is though. I imagine while adjusting the poles orientation and intensity of the magnetic field.
*WUUUOONN...!* A strong magnetic forced vibrated the scales, pushing and pulling rocks while others spin or levitate around my body following the changing fields. *BZZzzrzt* Static electricity randomly occurs between the floating objects and the puffed hairs while dust accumulates in the air around my body showing outlines of changing bubbles.
Ugh... My mana... I noticed the reserves draining fast. I can do more! I affirmed multitasking magic into the ground with water elementals.
*SHUiing! Swissh!... ZHRUuu!* More than twenty metallic projectiles over a foot-long bounced off the magnetic repulsion feets away from my body and flew in different directions.
The assault ended while I finish controlling the underground water under the wolves with all the elementals available.
"He IS using Lightning!" Confirmed Midas.
"Run! He's mad!" Spoke Mirati about to sprint away.
"Too late!" I declared as a large volume of water gushed from the ground and quickly enveloped the running wolves.
""WUOH!?"" The two beasts uttered before their entire bodies were submerged.
They struggle to break free using their magic but the water bubble just reforms and moves with them while the liquid freezes their fur until their entire bodies are encased in a transparent ice crystal feet-thick.
"Selling preserved wolves!" I mocked watching the unmoving creatures attempting to break the ice with what little magic they have left. "The attack was good, but be prepared to deal with the consequences if the opponent can still fight," I announced pulling my legs off the ground.
Mirati made oxygen for respiration while Midas broke the ice in his muzzle with an iron tube to breathe.
"Good!" I appraise their efforts to deal with the situation. "Keep at it huhu..." I encouraged to free themselves while naughtily laughing.
Though that would be hard with the ice inside the fur completely sealing their movements when they can't even shake. I noticed.
"You bastard! Break this! It's freezing!" Transmitted Miratti outside using wind magic.
"I'm drained and hurt!" I denied shaking my head before laying down feeling my throbbing wound.
It's not that simple since their fur is frozen, breaking the ice means ripping all the hair and skin... I affirmed turning west to see the healer approach.
"Lightwater, free them!" I requested.
"Waste of magic..." Commented the healer reaching the crystalized wolves.
He cut the ice in sections and melted it inside the fur starting from the head.
*Crush! Thud!* The ice chunks fell releasing the wolves.
"C-c-cold...!" Stuttered Midas is shivering.
Mirati throws me a glare and walks closer to the golden wolf using wind arts around them which distorts the view with hot air.
Oh, that's how I couldn't see their air strike...a mirage! I realized remembering wind properties to change temperature like water arts. She kept the object out of my sight and propelled it. I conjecture watching the metal cone on the ground before looking at the wolves.
"You should save that metal...takes a lot of magic to create," I advised Midas while the medic treats my wound.
"Ye-yes...I have a cave for that." Replied the golden wolf huddling together.
"Raging wind, you should keep trying to make liquid air...another ability is good in combat," I recommended the green wolf.
"...I like the name even if it was mocking." She said glancing at her right. "Sighs... You ARE helping us when it was better to ally with the Foxes, and our lives were spared more than once so...I'll stop acting hostile..." The wind user confessed.
"Good for you, Dragon. Angry wind gave in." Lightwater mocked.
"GRR... It's Raging wind!" Countered the green wolf.
But not forgiving... Well, whatever. As long as she isn't a pain in my scaly ass. I contented hearing heavy footsteps approaching on the gravel.
*Crush! Crush!* The large golden wolf walks beside the high-rank wind user as they come closer.
"Realm Dragon." Wind 8 greeted. "Are you leaving?" He inquired.
"Yes, it's time..." I said getting up to get a move on.
"Ah, but I'm not done yet!" Complained the healer as it is harder to treat a moving target following on the side.
"That's good enough Lightwater." I nodded sending the healer to help the wolf pair fighting hypothermia.
"The others are busy to say goodbye." Informed the green wolf. "Well, we are all going to be occupied.... And it seems you made great progress with those two." He said glancing at the wolf pair behind us as we move downstream.
"It's surprising... But they have much practice ahead to deal with the increased complexity of future fights." I announced.
"Mhn... We can perfect our combinations knowing new properties or effects and we are in luck since there is mana available for testing." The green wolf agreed.
"I know right? Knowing the effects of material combinations which I haven't even seen saves who knows how many years wasting mana." Said Erina brushing me with her tail.
After identifying what elements it was possible to make and showing their place in the periodic table, I taught how to make alloys, but there are different levels of difficulty when distributing atoms while practice only helps a little. The most influential factors are a higher atomic number, multiple elements or those on the edge of the affinity's influence like Boron makes manipulation exponentially hard besides the rank ability. Steel was such difficult material since high-rank earth magicians can only control carbon in solid state while the manipulation is magnitudes harder than metals and quantity less, but luckily the convenient alloys don't require much of the nonmetal.
While I review the things learned, the wind user suddenly stopped walking and raised his hackles.
"SHUT UP!" He barked loudly surprising us all.
I stared at him wondering why the abrupt change of attitude when an airwave pressed heavily on my back.
"OMPH!" I smashed onto the ground.
"Earth 9, you should stop playing with the dragon whelp and eat him already." He hurriedly commanded.
The golden wolf didn't second-guessed and open her mouth wide towards me who was lifting the head to protest.
Wait--what!!? I thought confused watching the large maw approaching.
"GLOMP!" She swallowed my head up to the neck and started chewing.
"URGH!" I uttered unable to speak while pulling my body out and making lightning.
*BRZZT!* I used what little lightning remained, but it only made the beast excited as she shivered and chewed faster.
Moments later my beating heart slowed down and body slumped to the ground while the wolf continued munching on me.
"Uh... Earth 9, you can stop now..." Sounded wind 8 through the slurping.
This...is ridiculous. I assess the uncomfortable stickiness inside the moving jaws and tongue before inspecting around with magic.
Oh! I found Shaila's present! I confirm the size of bracelets made out of titanium-chromium alloy on the side. Sweet! This will be a peace offering for the girl. I affirm unable to move when the massive jaws finally open.
"Slow!" I complained dripping slubber as she released me.
"Catch." The golden wolf said inclining her head over me.
The two cylindrical objects roll down her tongue and into my mouth before I headed for the river on the left.
"So?" I asked glancing at the wind user on my left.
"I just confirmed your theory....detecting an almost imperceptible hot disturbance in the air....it was the Divine eavesdropping on us with fire arts." He revealed.
Are you kidding me!? That fox is like a thousand miles away! Close call...what would have happened if wind 8 didn't come say goodbye? I dare not imagine and praised the wolf.
"Good work, Wind 8." I commended.
This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.
"Mhn... It was uncomfortable keeping magic extended all the time, but surely worth avoiding future leaks." Wind 8 explained. "Earth 9, your turn to look out next." He said before retracting his magic back into the core.
"No praise for me and more work?" Complained Erina.
"...The bracelets are amazing." I said rolling my eyes while taking a bath in the river.
"What about tricking the firefox to hide your existence?" She claimed the achievement.
"You enjoyed that a little too much." I accused coming out of the river and heading west.
"WUGH!" She groaned.
I jumped over the stones across the river and reach my lair with Erina following behind while the Wind user walks upstream to explain the wolf pair what just happened.
Dark... I thought using light magic.
"Oh! You finished the items!" I noticed the foot-long steel rods finger and silvery collar on the stone ground.
"Hope it helps," Erina spoke outside.
"Good girl!" I gave my gratitude putting on the Titanium-Aluminium alloy collar with twenty rods inside holes.
A custom-made collar is way cooler than what Lester ordered made of leather or the black one which I don't need it anymore. I assert walking outside.
"Eat something before leaving?" She asked looking at the shaking wire net made of the same material as my collar.
"...The fish is another reason to live here." I said pulling the net out.
*Shrush!* A fish as large as a person struggles in the large net.
*Crunch! Crunch!* I chewed the large fish alive before detaching the head and threw it at Erina.
*Whap! Gulp!* She caught and swallowed.
"What about other fish?" She inquired about the net size looking smaller animals swimming below.
"No. The net must capture fish certain size while letting others repopulate or they'll go extinct in no time." I explained laying down watching the water run as the sun rays illuminate the landscape.
I took some time to replenish elementals and mana before heading to the log lair while the golden wolf followed behind.
"Are you leaving too?" I stopped to ask Erina after leaving wolf territory.
"...Want to see your companion." She replied leaving me behind while looking around.
What!? Hmm... It should be interesting, but is that really what she wants? I ponder on her intentions narrowing my eyes.
"Alright. But the girl is important, so you can't kill her." I declared before crashing with her legs that stopped moving. "...Cunning wolf." I accused walking to her front. "You planned to turn me into a sex slave, so eliminating what binds me outside your tribe doesn't surprise me," I said peering into her giant golden eyes.
"...Are you--are you not mad?" The golden wolf stammered lowering her ears in shame.
"Nah! It's nice being appreciated to that extreme, and it's my fault for not saying why that human is special to me." I explained.
"Special? Isn't she just your human master? They just bought you didn't they? Just thinking about the price they paid for you makes me angry!" The golden wolf countered staring at the black collar.
"Perceptive... Even I am angry about my price. But encountering the girl is not as simple as it looks." I said shaking my head.
"But you could be free if I kill them all! I can erase that town and cut all your ties to humans." She spoke menacingly showing her teeth. "You are a beast with restrains and I don't mean that cursed collar. So what if you want to eat another creature or even your own children? I've done it! Why would it matter making our entire tribe watch us have intercourse? I'm respected because they depend on my rank, but ask who my late Mate was, and they'll only tell you HIS Rank! That's all they remember despite magical beasts having a better memory than regular creatures, and in a hundred years his traces will be gone, so how did it matter what he did in life?" Erina elaborates her viewpoint looking down at me.
And you waste no moment to talk about sex! I retorted looking at her fur pondering. But...she seems desperate for me to break all constraints associating my behavior with human influence. Hmm... I see... My humanity is subconsciously rejecting intercourse with an overgrown dog while a dragoness felt different because my dragon instincts suppress that human side. But I can't see her or other beasts like simple animals...she is a highly intelligent ancient beast... I realized and decided to change my views.
"You are right...we all walk with different bindings, but even detachment can keep you from experiencing certain joys. ...There is no right way to live life." I spoke reaching out to her. "I promise to accept your desires, but I need a little more time since things are complicated right now and it would be hard to stop after giving in to temptation." I compromised licking her mouth.
She licked back, but got a little excited and ended up slubbering my head again.
"I'll stop being agressive then." She approved wagging her tail.
"Now come on! You'll understand once we explain." I said turning around before walking south.
"Secrets?" The she-wolf asked from behind.
"Mm-hmm... " I affirmed looking back from the corner of my left eye.
"You'll trust me? I still want to eat your companion though." She wondered tilting her head.
"Oh, she let me eat her already...then threw her out." I confessed.
"..." The wolf kept quiet thinking as we continue our march towards my siblings.
I took a peek into our wooden lair to see the two dragons sleeping, then decided to play a prank on them and send the high ranked wolf in while I watch using light magic over the wall.
"GHUA!? Brother?" Questioned the dragoness having her tail munched by the large wolf before her expression turned to despair. "GHUUU!" She wailed waking up Reylus.
"GHUO!!?" The surprised dragon sniffed the air before jumping back against the wall and stopped moving.
"RUN!" She ordered the shaking dragon in a submissive posture by the corner. "Whyyy...!" Raiga uttered in a breaking voice as if about to cry while trembling.
Hmm... It was fun when she realized it wasn't me, but...I can't watch anymore. I concluded before rushing towards sister who brightened up after seeing me.
"It's alright!" I spoke in dragon language to calm the two dragons before activating the collar.
The golden wolf realized the prank was too much and released the dragoness before taking a step back, then Reylus rushed to us with a low posture.
"I'm sorry...it was my doing." I apologize over the collar as the three of us snuggle together.
"You idiot! Do you have any idea how that felt!?" She complained biting my snout after realizing it was safe.
"Ow... I've been inside other beast's mouths too much today!" I protested feeling small cracking sounds from the pressure.
"Why would you do that?" The dragoness questioned the prank.
For fun? Not like she understands what that is beyond eating and sleeping... I thought how to answer while Reylus peek at the wolf from my side.
"Bad brother!" Said Reylus biting my neck after realizing what just transpired.
"Enough!" I commanded.
"Brother hurt!" The dragon noticed the wound on my back after separating.
"It's alright," I assured with difficulty as the dragoness is still latching.
"Listen Raiga," I call her attention. "You two cannot sleep at the same time anymore." I declared.
"Why?-- Ah! What happened just now..." The dragoness realized and separated before cleaning her saliva on my snout.
"That's my smart dragoness," I said proudly licking her back. "One of you always stay on guard while the other rests if I'm not around," I instructed. "I don't want to come back and find your skeletons here," I announced.
"GULP..." The dragoness swallowed loudly and leaked as it was too many stimuli.
"Don't piss in the lair!" I reprimanded
"Hmph! Your fault! And I needed to go anyway." Countered the dragoness getting up and walking away from the puddle.
"Do you mind?" I growled Erina to fix the ground.
"She's scary... Make her go away." Requested the dragoness behind me.
"They aren't enemies anymore. If something happens, go to wolf territory and follow her scent." I informed a safer place than humans.
"I see... You succeeded with the alliance. But approaching that is hard...I want to run." She said looking at the golden wolf smoothing the ground.
"Be brave." I requested rubbing our heads together.
I leave the black collar with Raiga then continue to the Ragefire estate while the she-wolf is bothered by the small trees as we advance towards the edge of the forest. I instructed Erina to remain hidden until I spoke with the Nobles and headed for the metal doors in the backyard.
It's much easier to open this now... I noticed unlocking the gates with the magnetic ability.
*Keeek!* The doors open noisily, and the backyard looked devoid of personnel.
I walk up to the tree when four blue beams appear barely visible in the air and land on my body.
"Shaila attack!" Shouted the girl in front.
Huh!? Invisible? I tracked the sound, but there was nothing around.
*Psssh!* The lasers carve into the scales leaving red-hot trails.
"Ghah!? Hot! Hot!" I protested hearing heavy footsteps on the right.
They are all invisible!? I realized tunning my eyes to detect their visible spectrum.
*BAAM!* A powerful force pushed my right flank upwards.
It was strong enough to tilt my body into falling left where a couple of stone spikes rose from the ground at an angle pointing at my falling body. The world lost its other colors with my vision detecting infrared, and slowed down as the brain entered fight mode, then finally discovered the humanoid figures within the red hues.
They appear well-coordinated as those who analyze their opponent quickly then device strategies that don't involve taking turns to attack and assign roles when fighting a stronger foe while being aware of the enemy as well as ally positions.
I moved my tail to seek balance but it wasn't enough, and the spikes made contact with my scales while my left legs start to sink into the ground as Liana continues pushing my body with a round wooden shield
*Crush! Srrrk!* The scales external cover crack and metal grind with the titanium.
Meanwhile, Shaila stays still concentrating on what should be more lasers.
Well, I did tell her to fight seriously...I'll play along. I affirmed staring at the invisible girl.
I decided to remove the first obstacle and swung my right foreleg back at the belly of the blond woman pushing my body.
"GAH!" Liana uttered from the impact on her stomach.
The shield-bearer bent her body becoming airborne for a short distance and touched down before rolling on the bare ground while holding onto her weapons. The other two noticed their sister was thrown away, but focused on compensating for her absence by creating stone pillars where the auramancer was and dispelling the invisibility which wasn't effective before another set of lasers aimed at my chest plates.
*PSSSSHHH!* The four beams of light with more intensity than before encountered an ice cover which vaporized instantly.
My body slowly becomes increasingly trapped when a sand cloud covers my vision to hide metal shards coming at my eyes.
Oi! I'd get blind without probing around. I rebuked blowing the shards away with magnetism.
While focusing on frontal attacks, I detected Liana slipping under my body with a sword aimed at my privates.
They can't just wait for an opening to instantly attack since it would be meaningless being faster than the opponent's reactions, but surprising the target with something outside their expectations can be more effective than traps or faints as it slows down their reactions.
I quickly kicked the auramancer about to impale my dragonhood.
"OUgh!" Cried out the woman rolling away before my tail intercepted her. "Gah!" She uttered once more changing direction and losing the weapons.
These musclemancers are tough... I assert watching the blond woman getting up from the corner of my eyes.
But distractions and focused attacks work well in team fights since simultaneous assaults are hard to handle when fighters are used to single hits and this was proven to me once again when a rock bombardment lands on my head while lasers carve my chest during the distraction.
"GHAA!" I cried out annoyed before breaking all bindings and rushed to Lester.
However, my body stopped before throwing a bite at the magician, and behind was Liana pulling my tail while her feet leave two trenches carving the ground. Lester calmly redoes the bindings on my legs while Shaila claps her hands together and separate them summoning a golden light spear until it was a meter long, then held it in her right hand before running to my flank.
SOLIDIFIED LIGHT!!? I realized staring mesmerized at her figure running in black clothes holding the shiny javelin. I left light applications to her imagination, but this is ridiculous. ...Probably high ranked ability. I asserted watching the girl leave her image behind before turning invisible. She's probably aiming for a weak point or do hits and run while her siblings keep me busy. I conjecture tracing her path and create slippery ice mound.
"Omph!" She tripped falling face down on the dirt.
The light spear turns into light particles after the girl lost concentration and disappear.
"That's what happens when you let the opponent know you are invisible without even spreading your magic to disrupt detection, and leaving footprints--" I pointed out noticing Lester dubious actions and turned to him in a hurry.
"Which limb you don't want to be broken?" I glared asking with a cold tone.
The earth magician froze holding granade bottles.
"Tch!" Lester clicked his tongue putting the explosives down. "It's highly effective!" He complained.
I turn my attention behind and electrocute Liana still holding my tail while Shaila gets up preparing another lance.
"Hihihi..." The blond woman giggled not letting go.
"Do other noble houses have many broken people?" I retorted watching Liana with a gleeful expression.
Knowing I would need to waste lightning to detach the blond woman, I used ice to stick her hands on my scales, then moved back a little.
"Mean!" Complained Shaila blinding my right eye.
"Oww," I complained shaking my head before lifting my tail.
"Ah!" Uttered the surprised Liana dangling in the air.
I threw the auramancer woman to my hind legs and sat on her.
"Ugh! Get up! Your ass is touching me!" She complained struggling to separate.
"Huhuhu!" I laugh at the woman trapped under my body. "Ah! Almost swallowed your present." I realized while gulping.
"...Present?" Inquired Shaila behind me when a guard comes running from around the kitchen.
"SIR! There is a high ranking wolf running here!" The black haired guard reported.
"What!?" Uttered Lester with confusion.
"Why are those doors still open!?" Reproved the guard before looking at me sitting on Liana. "Uh... I saw nothing--Ah! It's too late!" He pointed at the enormous golden wolf entering through the gates as we all turn to look.
The javelin in Shaila's hand vanishes as she stares at the giant head sniffing her up close.