“You want to learn about marriage laws?” Melissa raised an eyebrow at Zane. “That’s very unexpected.”
“You said once I register my dragon trigger, I’ll be caught up in this whole marriage thing, so I want to know if I should just hide it forever,” Zane stated.
Melissa rolled her eyes. “First of all. I’m sure you won’t be able to hide it for long since you seem to rely throwing dragons around.”
Zane looked away. “Well, I don’t know how to fight other than using brute strength.”
Melissa sighed. “Alright, let’s start with what you’ll be dealing with,” Melissa gestured for Zane to sit down and listen. “First off, not everyone is allowed to have multiple wives since not everyone is economically capable of doing so.”
“So poor people can’t?”
Melissa nodded. “Thanks to the Amazonians and magic, the economy isn’t exactly in danger, so the problem is rooted more towards population decline,” Melissa explained. “Anyways, the new earth government wants people that are actually useful, so those who show great potential are given mandatory orders to have more partners.”
“They want the future generation to be stronger?”
“Exactly,” Melissa nodded. “Since you’re young and already have a Dragon trigger, a stage 2 mage, capable of manifesting multiple dragons, and many more possible feats in the future,” Melissa listed. “They’ll definitely give you a mandatory order to have more partners and a lot of prestigious families would offer their daughters to you.”
“...”
“Now that I think about it. With your current track record, it won’t be a stretch for some of them offer a major figure or even a matriarch to pursue you,” Melissa added.
“Am I in danger?”
Melissa shrugged. “Possibly,” she said before wheeling away on her wheelchair.
------
Zane stared blankly at the sky in the balcony of the hotel room.
“What am I going to do Averin?”
“I see no issue in having multiple partners for you humans.”
“It’s a moral thing,” Zane grumbled.
“I have read about humans and a lot of those contained humans having multiple partners. Especially those of high social status.”
Zane cringed. “The hell have you been reading? Shouldn’t you be against this since it could hinder my growth?”
“Pursuing marriage to build beneficial connections is a tool to get stronger as well.”
“... I can’t believe I’m losing an argument with a dragon in my head.”
“I’m not in your head. I am in a separate dimension communicating with you through a mental link.”
“Whatever... huh?”
As he was staring at the sky, Zane noticed a dot slowly getting bigger. His eyes widened when he realized that wasn’t something, but someone. Zane dove out of the way just as a person landed on the balcony, shattering the glass on the balcony doors.
“The fuck?” Zane took note of the intruder's appearance.
Messy red hair and golden eyes. She wore a black suit, complete with a vest and jacket.
“She’s strong.”
“Do I know you?” Zane asked.
The woman smirked at him. “I am Cassandra Nero.”
Zane’s eyes widened. “Nero?”
Zane was about to prepare an attack, but he was surprised to find out that he couldn’t move his body. Without being able to move his head, Zane managed to glance at the golden runes wrapping his body like chains.
“Don’t worry. I’m not here to hurt you,” she approached him.
With a snap of her fingers, Zane was free from his bounds and fell to his knees. Whatever she did, it somehow drained all his energy and mana.
Cassandra Nero took a seat on what was left of the folding chair he was laying on earlier. “It seemed you and my family got off on the wrong foot. I’ve already dealt with the troublemakers, so now I’m here to compensate you.”
“For what? I don’t recall being involved with your family.”
“Oh? But you were inconvenienced by their actions. Though I’m confused why you stepped up to fight at the hospital, you weren’t the one they were after all.”
“I wasn’t?” Zane raised an eyebrow.
Thinking about it, he didn’t confirm who those people were and just attacked the moment he saw they were armed with weapons.
“They... seemed hostile?”
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“Well, the reason doesn’t matter to me. I just came to give you your compensation,” Cassandra smiled.
“Okay... what is it?”
Cassandra spread her arms open. “Me,” she said with confidence.
“... pardon?” Zane stared at her blankly.
“You will have the honor of being my... mate,” Cassandra said.
Zane tried clearing his ear. “I think I’m not hearing you correctly...”
Cassandra’s expression turned blank, then she reached forward as if grasping something. Zane felt a pressure on his neck and then he was pulled towards Cassandra. “You shall be my consort. You will have the privilege of serving me as my... consort.”
“You want me to marry you? I’m 18!” Zane tried to run, but Cassandra’s grip on his neck was like a vise.
Cassandra smiled at him. “You seem very hesitant. Am I that lacking?”
Zane did a quick scan of Cassandra, noting that she was very attractive. “No, just very forceful.”
Cassandra chuckled. “Alright, let’s make a deal then.”
Zane’s eyes narrowed. “What kind of deal?”
“It’s fairly simple,” Cassandra released Zane. “There’s a tournament in this city. You will participate and if you lose, you will be mine. And if you win, I will leave the Nero family and support you.”
“Isn’t that a little one sided?” Zane replied.
Cassandra just chuckled and jumped off the balcony. If she hadn’t just fallen from the sky a few minutes ago, Zane would have thought she just committed suicide.
“Luck is just not on your side,” Melissa revealed herself. “I would have helped, but...” she gestured to her missing leg. “Anyways, she wouldn’t have harmed you.”
“You seem very sure of that,” Zane rubbed his neck.
Melissa approached him and handed him an ice bag. “Cassandra Nero is a dangerous woman, but she doesn’t blindly attack people.”
Zane looked around the room, taking note of the shattered glass and broken chair. “She’s fucking crazy... Why would she even make a deal like that?”
“Well, her situation is quite complicated,” Melissa said as if she knew something important. “The Nero family isn’t a Guardian family, but they have a significant amount of power due to their size and influence in different fields. Along with the fact that Cassandra Nero is one of the top ten strongest mages on Earth.”
“Okay... how does that complicate her situation?”
“It’s no secret that the Nero family’s elders don’t like Cassandra, but there’s nothing they could do about it because of how strong and influential she is,” Melissa answered. “Basically, her family doesn’t support her despite being the main reason for their power.”
“Sounds stupid,” Zane commented. “Why did she make a deal like that though... what if I win?”
Melissa shrugged. “Then she’ll leave her family. Do you plan on doing the deal?”
Zane cringed. “I don’t she’s the type to let things go...”
“You’re right about that,” Melissa chuckled. “You don’t have a choice in this, so you might as well win and get one of strongest women in the world.”
Zane watched as Melissa left the room, leaving him to clean up the mess.
------
“How’s the investigation going?” Tevan asked.
“We’ve confirmed that Cassandra Nero has made contact with Subject Z,” an agent answered. “We’ve also received notice that Subject Z has registered for the tournament.”
Tevan cringed. He has been informed of Subject Z’s capabilities and it puts him in one of the potential winners of the tournament. If he wins, the grand prize would lead to complications due to Cassandra Nero’s pursuit on him.
“Should we make contact with him as well?” the agent asked.
Tevan shook his head. “Let’s avoid any direct conflict with Cassandra without my father present.”
Cassandra Nero was one of the current strongest mages on Earth. Making problems with her without another of the top ten present would be suicide.
The best way to deal with this situation was to make sure Subject Z doesn’t win the tournament.
“Call Tasha.”
------
“Why do I have to rent a training room for this?” Zane asked as he entered the training room once again to practice using his skill.
“Draconic energy is volatile. Training it must always be done in a controlled environment,” Averin replied.
“Nothing happened the first time,” Zane stated as he took a seat on the floor.
“That won’t always be the case.”
Zane just shrugged and began training his draconic transformation. The goal was to completely transform his arm, giving both an offensive weapons in the form of claws and a defensive option in the form of scales.
Training was going smoothly until Zane suddenly felt a spike in draconic energy that he was circulating. It was so sudden that he didn’t get the chance to control it, causing the energy cover his arm and completely transform it.
“AARRRRGGG!!!” Zane yelled in pain as his arm was rapidly deformed.
His arm had grown three times its size and bent like an animal’s leg.
“Calm down and focus. Let the energy dissipate.”
Zane fought through the pain and focused on releasing the energy from his body. He flinched when the transformation slowly reverted, feeling his bone and muscles being put back into place.
Zane panted as his arm turned back to normal. “Was that the volatile part you mentioned?”
“No. That was simply the result of too much energy flowing. The volatile scenario would have resulted in your arm exploding.”
Zane gulped, feeling hesitant to continue training.
“Resume your training.”
“Do I have to?”
“You will die if you fail to learn to control this power.”
“You overestimate my will to live.”
“Train!”
“Fine, fine.”
------
Tasha stretched her body and warmed up her muscles in preparation for the tournament. The preliminary round was a free for all designed to weed out some participants. But it’s not because of the hundreds of participants fighting at the same time, but because of the field.
Tasha watched as a screen in the waiting room opened to display the arena. The screen showed a view of the cheering crowd as triumphant music began playing.
“Welcome to annual Karama family tournament,” a man on a floating platform spoke with his voice amplified by magic. “You all know how the preliminary round works,” a giant projection appeared above the man, showing the map of a massive forest. “All the participants would be transported to a magic domain!”
A magic domain. An artificial world created using the same method used in the creation of Dragon dens. Inside a magic domain, anything that happens is merely a simulation. Death is not permanent and no trace or damage would be left.
But the experience is as realistic as it can be. The sensation of being stabbed, decapitated, ripped apart, and many more horrid ways to die would feel no different from reality.
“Without further ado, let’s begin!” the announcer exclaimed, then the arena began to glow.
Tasha watched as a magic circle appeared underneath her feet, and then a second later, she was in a forest.
She wasted no time and rushed to find some high ground. The other participants weren’t the real threat inside this magic domain, but the field itself.
Tasha heard the primal roars in the distance. At the same time, a large shadow went over her head.
She gulped. “Fuck...”
Dragons circled the sky.