Groaning, I sat up and looked over to Leah, who was still on the ground, groaning. Ignoring the cheers of the crowd, I stood up and walked over to her.
She didn’t react until I bent down and grinned from ear to ear above her.
“Well, that was fun while it lasted,” I said to her.
She groaned in response, waving up to me as a white light rapidly pulsed over her body.
“I wanna go home,” Leah grumbled.
Before I could speak again, I felt the same pull on me as I had when we were transported here and I put my hand on Leah as I accepted, the world momentarily flashing out of existence. Once it appeared again, I was greeted by an unfamiliar face.
“Oh, great, another woman. Just what I needed,” I muttered before I blacked out.
***
The Queen looked down at the boy, slightly annoyed.
Another woman? That’s all I am to this ungrateful brat? She thought.
She then tilted her head slightly. Well, he probably doesn’t know who I am, so I can’t really complain much about it. He wouldn’t know I spared his life.
The Queen then looked over to the Demigod next to him and sighed.
“How did the Demigod get he-” her daughter’s voice rose to a shrill squeal as she saw the Prince on the floor. “Mother! What did you do to him? Your aura!”
“Shut up, I’m fine, gods damn it.”
The boy had sat up and was staring at the Demigod. After standing and brushing off his cloak, he stared down at her for a few moments. Then, he drew back his leg and kicked her side. She yelped and rolled over, glaring up at him.
“Quit pretending you’re too injured to stand, Leah,” he said, drawing his leg back again.
She muttered something under her breath and rolled out of the way, ignoring the mask of horror on Jasmine’s face. She then kicked at his knee, and was stopped in her tracks as his armor flickered into existence.
“Okay, okay, fine,” Leah said, standing up and glaring at him again.
Jason snorted and looked back at the Queen and Princess. Unimpressed, the Queen remained silent at his gaze.
“Now that’s over, who are you? I mean, I know the Princess-” Jasmine seemed to deflate when he didn’t use her name. “-but you’re new. Also, can I see Mi- the Dragon?” He cut himself off looking a bit annoyed with himself. “The serpent? Serpent Dragon?”
“Draconic Serpent,” Jasmine supplied.
He looked at her and nodded. “Yeah, Draconic Serpent. That’s what she is, huh?”
Jasmine nodded back, practically bubbling. “Yeah, it’s a bit on the nose, but it fits.”
“Who even came up with that? I mean, a better name would be ‘Dragon Ser-’” he stopped mid-sentence and scowled, clearly thinking rapidly. Then he deflated. “Ah. I see the problem now.”
Jasmine giggled, not noticing the withering glare Leah gave her. Keeping the smug look off her face, the Queen decided to wait a little longer.
This could be pretty funny. I can’t wait to see the dynamic between this Leah and my daughter. This may be the first nice thing I’ve had for a while.
“Yes, the Dragon,” the Queen said. “Follow me.”
***
I side-eyed Leah, who was still glaring at the Princess, who was walking next to me, for some reason. Princess Jasmine was clearly trying to not look at me whenever I looked in her direction, but I caught her doing it multiple times.
Resisting the urge to pose stupidly, seeing as Leah would probably hit me over the head if I did, I dutifully followed the woman with Leah in my wake.
“-And this is the area where Dragons are kept, not that the one that you won is small enough to fully fit here without winding up a few times,” Jasmine was saying as we passed through a pair of double doors with carvings of Dragons on it.
“How do you even carve metal?” I muttered under my breath.
“Hm?” Jasmine looked at me expectantly. “What’s wrong? It’s a bit warm here, but it can’t be that bad. Or is it the way-”
“He was probably wondering how in the world you carved on metal,” Leah snapped, walking next to me. “Either that or-”
I covered her mouth, knowing exactly what she was going to say. “What is it with you and complaining about my interest in snakes? I give you more attention than you deserve already.”
I felt Leah lick my hand and I pulled it off her mouth, rubbing it on my cloak while glaring at her. I turned to Jasmine, who was giving Leah a stare with the most flat face I’d seen yet.
“You and snakes,” Leah muttered on my other side. “And I still don’t know how you know what I’m going to say before I say it.”
“Well, it’s a game of checking off the wrong answer when you make any complaints about me. It’s nearly guaranteed that you’ll complain about my favorite animal when any complaint about me comes out of your mouth. And even then-”
“Enough, children,” the woman in front of us said, as she made a right turn down a hall. “We’re here- ARG!”
She stumbled back as she opened a door to see the large face of Mia glaring at her through it. Catching the woman, I barely was able to prop her back up since she somehow weighed like a ton (I wonder if I can pick up an elephant now…).
She looked at me for a moment with a look of appraisal before glaring back at the Dragon. I smiled at this exchange and waited for the large face to move. When she didn’t, I sighed and took a step forward.
“Now, let’s not hate one another just yet, okay? We can do that later,” I said, giving my best smile, even as it nearly killed me to do.
Mia tilted her head at me, but moved. Sighing, I walked forward into the room with Jasmine following closely behind me. The woman gave me another appraising look, as if reconsidering her previous appraisal.
“I’ve… never seen her up close before,” Jasmine whispered, sounding breathless. “She’s so big.”
“I know who else I could say that about,” Leah muttered, looking at the Princess with disdain. “Though, this Dragon kinda scares me.”
I rolled my eyes and pulled my arm away from her and looked Mia in the eye that was currently staring at me, making me feel a bit intimidated. But, I took a deep breath and stepped towards her, reaching my hand out.
***
Mia stared at the boy’s outstretched hand as it landed on the scales by her snout. She froze at the sudden warmth radiating into her scales.
She’d never had a thing for hot things like fire, but this warmth was something else as it spread throughout her. Not like the disgusting feeling of her body overheating (though she felt that if she was exposed to this too long, she would definitely over-heat), but more of a soothing warmth.
Blinking slowly, she warbled and pressed herself into his hand, knocking him over. He laughed as she laid her head on top of him. This was her Bond now. At least once there was no one else nearby to watch.
***
Jasmine and the other woman, who I assumed was the Queen, since Jasmine had called her “Mother”, stared at Mia and me in bewilderment, clearly not expecting Mia to warm up to me as quickly as she did. I rubbed Mia’s large head that was the size of me behind her eye. She closed the eye in question and settled on top of me, clearly not planning on moving for a while.
Leah sat down next to me, but when she was about to touch Mia as well, Mia cracked open an eye and hissed at her, causing the entire room to vibrate. Leah looked downcast and settled for watching.
“That’s not fair!” she said. “Why is it that every type of living thing avoids me?!”
“I don’t, though that probably means there’s something wrong with me,” I responded to a glare. “Though, you didn’t hear that from me. I’m on the ground ‘cause a dragon won’t get off of me.”
Jasmine opened and closed her mouth multiple times before just shaking her head. “How?”
I looked at her questioningly. “What do you mean?”
“She just… let you touch her. The last person who attempted that got her hand bit off. Though, when she did that, she gave the one who attempted to touch her a look that clearly said that she wanted to eat more than her hand.”
I grinned. “I’ve just got the ‘touch’,” I responded, pointedly looking away from Leah as she glared at me. “None can compare.”
Mia lifted her head and nudged my hand, wanting more pets. I shook my head and began to rub behind her ear. She laid herself on me again and let out a sigh that lasted for a good thirty seconds and lowered the room temperature by a nice six degrees. I stared at her.
“Huh. Guess I’ll be sleeping here,” I said, closing my eyes while ignoring Leah’s complaints.
~~~
I woke up to the head of Mia on top of me. Still. I smiled as she slept and slowly shifted under her until I’d dislodged myself from her. She cracked open an eye questioningly.
“I can’t exactly live under your head, ya know,” I said, patting her snout. “I’m gonna go find Leah, okay?”
Mia simply stared, understanding devoid from her gaze.
“Do you not understand me?” I asked her.
No response.
Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.
“Okay… that’s a problem, but what-?”
I was interrupted by a prompt that made my eyebrows raise.
Lightning-Ice Draconic Serpent - Level 347 wishes to Bond with you.
Accepting a Bond like this one will come with many different effects. For instance, the souls of you and your Bonded partner will be molded together, the both of you sharing Levels. This will also allow you to sense the emotions of one another, which can develop as your Bond grows deeper. However, if your Bond dies, your soul will become damaged at a near irreparable level, requiring many, many years to repair itself.
Your Bond will lose Levels, Stats, and Tiers to be your equal. Since your Bond will be unique, she will gain 80% of your stats.
While Bonding is in progress, your Bond will revert to a humanoid form that she deems suitable.
Do you accept this Bond?
I looked at Mia with wide eyes. “What-”
She interrupted by nudging my cheek with the tip of her snout and letting out a quiet warble. I stared into her eyes for a few moments. I started as I realized that she had absolute confidence. She trusted that if I accepted this, I’d treat her the best I could. For a second, I did nothing. Then taking a breath and nodding, I put my hand on her forehead, watching as she leaned into it.
“Okay, Mia,” I said quietly. “I’ll do it.”
I accepted the prompt and blacked out.
***
Leah wandered around the castle, bored out of her mind.
Why is everything so… bland without Jason? She thought, scowling.
Leah Bane, A voice in her head said.
Shut up, Leah told it, trying to block it out for the hundredth time.
This voice had been annoying Leah ever since she’d reached Tier 3. She didn’t like having voices in her head. Especially ones that told her to kill her best friends.
He is a threat to the balance. He knows too much-
DIDN’T I TELL YOU TO SHUT UP? Leah roared internally, silencing the voice. You’re insane if you think I’ll kill the person who-
Leah froze in place as a feeling like a weight being lifted off her shoulders ran through her. Frowning, she turned in the direction where Mia and Jason were before sighing.
What did he do now?
Clearly, something that will get him killed-
SHUT THE FUCK UP!
***
Mia was… smaller. That’s the first thing she noticed. It was weird; she was used to being huge and long but for some reason, being small just felt right. Her thoughts also felt a bit sluggish, but it was compensated for… something. She could feel that something was holding her and that thing that was holding her was the source of confusion and annoyance. She felt warm as well, all over her body.
Her Bond was holding her.
She froze in place at this realization. She then felt happy, which morphed into joy, which morphed into elation as she warbled, snuggling as close as she could to him. Mia had finally found something for herself. A Bond who’d love her like she’d never been loved before.
***
I woke to elation that was definitely not coming from me. As I stirred, I noticed I was holding a small figure who was rubbing her horned head into my chest and warbling. One horn was a yellow that occasionally let off a bit of static electricity and the other a very light blue, almost like the color of ice. The small girl had, nearly white, blond hair that was currently all over my arms.
Is this…
She seemed to notice I was awake and looked up at me curiously with eyes that shifted from light blue to yellow. She had pale skin, though it was slightly darker than mine. As she shifted, I also noticed she was completely naked.
Well, if this is Mia, then that would probably make sense, I thought. Okay, stop it Jason, this is clearly Mia. And of course she’s naked, she was a Dragon before.
I looked at her for a few moments before realizing that I should probably get some clothes on her.
Lifting Mia up and setting her down next to me, I pulled out my Bag and rummaged through it for some extra, clean clothes before settling on a shirt similar to mine. Dark blue that had white pinpricks in it, like stars. I pulled it out and over her head as the door opened to the room that Dragon Mia had resided in. I ignored it as I guided her arms through the sleeves and looked at the now partially clothed Mia. The shirt went pretty far past her waist, not showing anything and I nodded as she scrambled into my lap and cuddled against me.
I then turned around to see who’d walked into the room and was a bit surprised to see that Jasmine had opened the door and was gaping at me and the now small Mia.
“YOU BONDED WITH HER?” she shrieked. “But… but that takes years to happen! A beast can’t just decide to Bond! And she’s so young! What - why - how - ouch!”
Her mother, the Queen, had come from behind her and hit her over the head.
“Quit yelling like someone’s going to kill you or I’ll make him try and kill you,” she snapped.
Something about the Queen was kinda funny. She almost acted like an old grandma yet looked barely 23. Young old lady.
Mia giggled as the image of that manifested itself in my head. So we can send images of our imagination to one another. Got it.
The Queen gave Mia a pensive look, clearly making some sort of judgment. Then she shrugged.
“I didn’t really care much for the Dragon-”
“Mia,” I said. I then wilted under the Queen’s flat stare.
“-but at least she can prove useful now.”
I looked at her suspiciously, pulling Mia closer to me. “And what exactly does that mean?”
The Queen shrugged. “Killing the first Valkyrie Harbinger. That simple,” she said.
I stared blankly. “Who?”
~~~
“So, this woman basically started a guild, whatever that is, because she was angry that an Abyssal, who was being attacked because the Gods said, ‘Fuck Abyssals. Send them to the Abyss, their homeland,’ killed her husband and she decided that this guild wouldn’t allow Abyssals out from their prison-slash-home even after their time was up? How long ago was this?”
“A few thousand years ago, back when I was a child,” the Queen responded.
“Right. So-”
Before I could continue, a pain erupted on top of my head. I flinched and scooted away from the Queen as she glared at me.
“Enough of that,” she hissed. “I’ve told you everything already. No need to summarize.”
“Yeah, yeah,” I grumbled as Mia pat my head, glaring at the Queen. “But I like summarizing.” I flinched again as the Queen raised her hand threateningly. “Yep. Not summarizing things is good. Completely agree with you.”
Leah looked at me as if she wasn’t about to continue over me while Jasmine looked as if she was holding back a giggle.
Shaking my head, I stretched my arms, letting Mia settle on my lap.
“Well, this has been fun, but I-”
I was rudely interrupted by the door to the room we were currently in being blasted open, the door creaking ominously on its hinges. A woman with some sort of insignia on her left breast careened into the room as if she’d run straight into the door without stopping.
“Your Majesties! The Valkyries- they opened a portal and are attacking!”
The Queen looked at the woman for a second, disbelieving.
Then : “You’ve got to be-”
An explosion shook the entire castle and Mia yelped, grabbing onto me before she fell off the chair she was on.
“They brought the Sixth Harbinger!” The woman continued after she got her balance
“FU-!”
***
Harmony laughed maniacally as a chunk of the castle broke off, falling into the crowd below with an explosion of dust. With glee, she saw the edges were stained red where it had fallen on people.
“Again!” she yelled, throwing another ball of flame.
This time, it was blocked by a wall of… nothing. She frowned. “What the-”
She couldn’t even finish as her own fireball, now dark and much more menacing-looking. It flew over her head and exploded in her group of Valkyries, immediately vaporizing them.
“WHAT THE HELL?”
She turned to the castle and snarled as she pulled out her greatsword from her storage space. It was a bright red blade that easily conducted Fire Mana, forged by dwarves.
“Madam Harmony, that would be the Void Mages and Voidborn,” her second-in-command said from next to her. “I would advise you not to go near them whatsoever. We’re here to give a show of power. Plus, the Queen isn’t here-”
“WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU’RE DOING TO MY PALACE?!” A female voice roared, nearly bursting Harmony’s eardrums. “AND WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE TO KILL MY CITIZENS?!”
Her second-in-command immediately fainted next to her, blood rushing out her ears.
A woman adorned in black armor descended upon the battlefield, creating a crater where she landed.
“Sixth Harbinger Harmony,” she growled. “Why are you here?”
Harmony looked up at the Queen of the Abyss and her [Identify] gave her one message.
The Queen
You have angered the Queen of the Abyss. Chance of survival : Slim
“Well, fuck me,” Harmony cursed.
***
When the Queen jumped out the side of the castle, Leah and I were already in action. Jasmine looked at us in bewilderment as we ran out the room, Mia in my arms. I took that moment to finally check my notifications.
Skill Update!
Abyss Touch - Level 29 | Tier 1
Draw on the latent Abyss Element in your body and push it into raw materials to Transmute or destroy them. You can also use this skill on sentient beings for an infection-like attack that can only be removed by another Abyssal, including you, or specialized instruments. This will convert their mana into a damaging substance that their body rejects. When you channel this Skill on your body, you can increase the speed at which you move. This scales off the Mana/s you channel this with.
Cost : Transmute - Dependent on Tier of object. Infection - 100 Mana to start. You can infuse up to twice the base Mana to increase the damage dealt.
Channeling : +(Mana/s / 4)% (Maximum : 50%) Speed
Damage : 20 + (Extra Mana/2) Abyss Damage/ 30s. Damage increases by 200% every two minutes.
Congratulations! You have formed a Bond! Here are your Bond’s Stats.
Bond : Status
Name : Miana ??? (Bonded)
Level 43 | Tier 3
Race : Lightning-Ice Draconic Serpent (Humanoid Form)
Health : 129536/129536 (6477 Health/Min | 107.95/s)
Mana : 64768/64768 (4858 Mana/Min | 80.96/s)
Bond : Jason Andromeda
Stats
Strength : 405
Dexterity : 405
Endurance : 810 (Base : 405 Effectiveness : 200%)
Vitality : 810 (Base : 405 Effectiveness : 200%)
Mana : 405
Intelligence : 405
Titles : Unique Bond
Skills : Lightning Manipulation - Level 32 | Tier 1, Ice Manipulation - Level 40 | Tier 1, Electrical Freeze - Level 29 | Tier 1, Domain of Ice and Lightning - Level 25 | Tier 1, Draconic Form - Tier 3
Evolution Level : I
Nodding, I looked over to Leah, who gave me a knowing look.
“What goes in, must come out,” I said with a grin.
She scowled as we ran past bewildered servants. “I guess that’s one way to put it. But what do we do once we get out? Assuming we get past the army of Valkyries.”
I frowned as we made it to an opening where a chunk of the wall had crumbled off the castle. We stopped there and looked out to the very large number of women rushing towards the palace.
“I really, really hate to say it, but we have to split. We can’t stay together,” I said, pulling Mia closer to me.
Mia looked up at me, sifting through my thoughts, none of which she could understand which I guessed from her current emotional state. Leah’s eyes widened and she glared at me.
“Jason, I am not going to leave you alone. And you know I don’t want to be alone,” Leah hissed, grabbing my wrist and turning me to her.
I looked down to Mia, who’s eyes were wide with understanding. I looked at Leah again. “You won’t be. I have a plan, and it starts with Mia turning back into a Dragon temporarily.”
***
Treia yawned, stretching. Then she grinned widely. “Finally. Today’s the day. I finally get to Level to 10 and get my class.” She then sighed, looking over her shoulder. “Dad’s not gonna be happy that I’m sneaking out, but it’s for the greater good!”
Treia then proceeded to push herself through the small gap in the wall only someone with a flat chest like her could fit through.
This is the first time I’m glad I have no breasts to speak of, Treia thought as she wriggled through to the other side of the wall. Take that, Xaila!
Trying to keep back the manic giggling, she fell out the other side and shook herself off like she was a Beast-kin and stood, looking at the comically small hole she’d just wormed herself out of.
Here’s to hoping that I don’t suddenly grow a pair of boobs, Treia thought, turning around and rushing into the forest with her sword and dagger.