Karrel chose not to listen, and struggled to get away.

"Relax, I'm not going to hurt you. Quite the opposite, in fact. Why would I cure your hangover just to kill you now?"

He stopped. She was right, of course.

"Alright, hit me." He said, spreading his arms in a gesture of surrender.

Trader smiled, before their face split in half. Their limbs folded in, turning into thin cables. The torso shrunk until it was thinner than Karrel's wrist.

The slender jumble of tendrils slithered behind him and crawled beneath his shirt. He couldn't help but shiver as he felt the tendrils trace his arms. They grabbed his wrists firmly, but not enough to hurt. The same happened to his ankles.

Just before he could sigh in relief, he felt the creature bite into the back of his neck. The pain subsided almost immediately, though.

[That wasn't so bad.] He tried to say.

"This… feels familiar." Left his lips instead.

His body was moving despite no input from him. His hands were raised up so he could look at them. They closed into fists and relaxed again before falling to his sides.

[What's going on?!] He tried to scream, to no avail.

[Shit, sorry. I'll let you take the reins now.] He heard the alien speak in his mind.

Suddenly, his body obeyed him again. The only sign something was different were the black lines on his arms. They looked like tattoos, but he understood it was simply the form Trader's limbs took when she melded into him.

"What the fuck did you do?!" He shouted.

[I bonded with you. Our bodies have melded into one. Don't worry, it's easily reversible.] Trader explained. [We can talk telepathically, too.]

[You moved my hands!]

[Two minds in one body means that sometimes, one of us is gonna be in the backseat. Just to be honest from the beginning, I'm innately more skilled at this, so I can take over any time I want to. I'm gonna let you lead most of the time, though, I'm not just going to lock you in your own body.] She explained patiently.

[So now you're here… permanently? Is this our life now?]

[No, I can unbind at any time. I will also do so if you really don't want me here. Before you make a decision on that, let me show you some advantages I can provide.]

Karrel lost control again. He watched as his body got covered in a layer of dark blue skin that spread from the dark lines. His fingers now ended in sharp claws.

[A natural armor… that's nice, I suppose.] He admitted.

[Right? Now watch this.]

The second skin receded. Trader raised the left hand and made a cut with a claw across the right palm.

[Ouch! What the fuck!]

[Pay attention to the wound.]

He raised his hand closer to his face. The wound wasn't bleeding except for the initial coating on the cut. His eyes widened when he noticed the gash was closing. It would be gone in half a minute at most.

[That's… wow.]

[I can also monitor and regulate any internal process. Heartbeat, hormones, even simulate nerve signals.]

[What are hormones?] He wondered.

[Oh gods… how developed is biological knowledge in this world? Quick question: what causes transmittable diseases?]

[Germs, obviously. Unless it's a curse causing disease-like symptoms. I got basic education, but biology is not necessary to make enchanted armor.] He justified his lack of knowledge.

[Good, I was afraid for a minute I might have to revolutionise the field. Or worse, that my knowledge is actually incompatible with this world.]

For the tenth time in the last five minutes, Karrel wondered what had he gotten himself into.

"Alright, so what now?" He asked.

[The goal is to make you awaken a deeply hidden spark of draconic might. Did Lucienne mention how does one go about it?]

"She herself is still just kin. She did say it involves refining your body and a mastery of at least five disciplines of magic, including one elemental, one abstract, and one fir… fir-something."

[Firmamental. And she specifically said «mastery»?]

[Yes, mastery. Though she never explained what that means exactly.]

[You're an enchanter, correct?]

"Yeah."

[Do you just grab, say, a sword, push mana in, and shape it to produce the enchantment? Or do you have to plan out the array first, and only after many repetitions are able to cast it on a whim?]

[The first one. I used to have to draw out the spell, but I've been doing this for twenty years. I could grab a shield right now and make it float a second later. Of course, multiple enchantments have to be layered carefully to not interfere with each other, but I haven't needed paper for years even for that.]

[Then congratulations, you are a master enchanter. Four to go.] She said, genuinely impressed.

[Huh. Nice.]

[Yeah, but here's the problem. You have been perfecting your craft for decades. That's how long it takes to attain mastery. More, usually. How much time do we have until the duchess marries your girlfriend off to some other noble?]

[Well, time works differently for nobles. Luci is sixty one, and is treated as a young adult. Since Tiamarr has awakened relatively recently, she won't force her to continue the bloodline for a few hundred years, I'd say. Entire families emerge and die off before a single draconic generation does. The bigger problem would be my own lifespan, really. I'm thirty one.]

[My regeneration can all but stop aging, as long as we're bonded at least for a few hours per week you'll live for over a thousand years. If we do have the time, though, and we know more or less what to do, we now need the knowledge itself. Do you know any other disciplines of magic?]

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[Forge.]

[That's… not a discipline. Unless you mean conceptualism, your concept being forge?]

[I don't know, my father used to just call it «forge magic.» Everyone in my family shows talent for it. I suppose it could be conceptualism.]

[If so, that's a start for one of the required schools. Conceptual magic is difficult in that there aren't really any spell arrays that translate to other users. It's specific to you, so you won't benefit from a tutor beyond what your father has taught you.] She said.

[How do you even know all this?] He asked.

[I'd sure like to know myself! I think I have the ability to sense magic, but I need to train more. Then we can tell if I had a curse put on me.]

"You do that, I'm gonna take a shower." He still couldn't decide whether he preferred to speak out loud or telepathically.

They stood there for a few seconds.

"Well?" Karrel asked impatiently.

[What? Why aren't we in the shower yet?]

"Because I'm not going to get naked in front of you!"

[I can feel every individual cell of your body. I know every nook and cranny better than you. There is nothing new I'd see if you take your clothes off.]

[That's… horrifying, actually. I feel more exposed than ever before. I'd urge you to get off of me even more, but it's not gonna reverse anything, is it?]

The human sighed and went to his bathroom. He only hesitated for a moment before stripping, and got behind the shower curtain. He touched a rune placed on the wall and pushed mana into it, enough for a few minutes of hot water pouring from above.

The shower helped to calm him down. The last twenty four hours have been crazy. He went from losing his soulmate to the whims of a duchess and contemplating suicide, to meeting an alien parasite that convinced him to become a dragon. [A fucking dragon.] He could barely believe all of this, but the lines on his hands and legs were proof enough. He had struck a bargain with an otherworldly being, and the two of them were going to achieve something unthinkable. As he stepped out of the shower to dry himself off, he actually felt it was possible. He actually felt-

-He felt wetness on his lips.

He touched it and looked at his fingers. Blood.

[Sorry about that. Something weird is going on. I can't seem to turn the blood production down.] Trader apologized.

[You said you can control every aspect of my body! Am I gonna bleed out?] Karrel suddenly felt a lot less sure of his situation.

[Quite the opposite, your blood pressure was steadily rising until a vessel burst in your nose. I don't get why they are so fragile there… anyway, at most you'll have to drink and eat a bit more. So go eat breakfast, I'll look into it.]

The enchanter washed the blood off and put on a new set of clothes before heading to the kitchen. The breakfast he made was, as always, four pieces of bread spreaded with gala fruit jam. He decided to make two more pieces after he was finished. He chased them with a glass of milk. As he was pouring himself a second one, Trader reported their findings.

[Okay, so I got the hang of mana sense. It maps onto my other senses, so your shower smells like a barbecue. Anyway, it seems a part of my mind is maintaining a change to your blood production, and whenever I lower it, it gets cranked back up. It's a subconscious process on my part. I have no knowledge of mind magic, and self-surgery seems like a bad idea anyway. So no fixing it for now. On the bright side, my hemomancy will have plenty to work with.]

Karrel spat out his milk.

[You know blood magic?!]

[Yeah, the entire school of body magic is my most developed one. The fogginess is the least prominent there.]

[Blood magic is forbidden! Like, «if you practice it, you get killed on the spot» forbidden!]

Trader considered that for a moment.

[There are three reasons the ruling class might outlaw certain knowledge. One, superstition, also known as «god hates necromancers». This is a very stupid motivation, as at worst practicing certain magic will bar you from becoming a specific god's priest. Unless you do something world-shatteringly blasphemous, but then it's no longer about the method itself.]

[Second reason,] she continued, [is that certain knowledge is genuinely dangerous. This mostly covers planet-destroying technology and/or methods to summon demonic deities. Hemomancy doesn't really fall into this, at most you could puppeteer three people by their blood, and that's if you're extremely focused. I guess it can cause problems in combination with some spicier stuff, like contagion magic, but at this point you'd have to argue healing magic is dangerous because you can twist it to give someone cancer.]

[Third, and what's most likely the case here, is that this knowledge can be used to undermine the rulers' grip on power. So, if hemomancy is outlawed, and I know for a fact you can't end the world with it, then…] she let Karrel finish the sentence.

[Then it can somehow mess with how dragons are made. Holy shit, this is huge. We can't let anyone know, though.]

[Is there anyone that is allowed to learn it? The law enforcement, maybe?] Trader inquired.

[Well, the dragons can get away with anything as long as they don't step on eachother's toes, but no.]

[No inquisitors that are taught how to find and destroy blasphemy?]

[This isn't a theocracy. Blood magic is illegal under the punishment of death, and that's that. So is owning any books on the matter, or teaching it.]

[Perfect! Then unless I make blood float in broad daylight, I can do as much hemomancy as I want without consequences.]

[Won't that leave a mana signature? Even the most skilled mages leave some residue, I've been told.]

[Yes, but unless you are knowledgeable in the specific discipline, or are divining on someone actively doing the magic, you can only tell the school of magic. Body magic is too valuable to be outlawed as a whole. Or is healing also illegal?]

[No, the only disciplines outlawed are blood and necromancy, though anything regarding soul and mind schools is heavily monitored and restricted.]

[As it should be. Imagine if some psychopath had a deep understanding of how to manipulate the very essence of what we are. I also understand the ban on necromancy. Far too much potential for a revolution or a zombie plague, not worth the potential labor it can supply. So, the only thing they'll kill you for is trying to undermine their authority. They must be aware of the fragility of the system. And we are going to be the first crack.]

Karrel laughed at that.

"Alright, so what now?"

[I want to see how good you are at magical combat. Self defense is important. We need a training ground, somewhere no one will see us.]

"The city is next to a forest. No one goes far off the road because there are monsters deeper in. I'd say we shouldn't go there either, but I have a feeling you're a monster in your own right."

[I will take that as a compliment. Let's go.]

----------------------------------------

The woods were quiet, except for the occasional call of a bird and the rustle of leaves when Karrel went through a bush.

[I think this is far enough. So, what do I do?] The man asked after fifteen minutes of strolling through the forest.

Instead of an answer, he felt a tingle go up his spine, then down his arms and legs. He felt dizzy for a few moments.

When he got his bearings again, Trader was standing in front of him. Once more, Karrel's eyes went to their large chest and an organ between their legs that did not match it.

"Do you have to be naked? It's distracting, and I feel dirty." He complained.

The parasite's nipples disappeared, and her crotch became a completely smooth surface.

"Better?"

"You still have your large breasts out, doesn't matter if they have nipples or not. And you have no pants on your behind."

She scoffed. "I proposed sex before. If you really couldn't resist my body, you would have agreed."

Karrel crossed his arms and looked them in the eye. "This is ridiculous. I'm not asking you to wear a talaan, just to be decent."

Trader groaned. "Fine. Let's see…"

Several tendrils sprouted out from their back, their color turning almost black. The threads weaved around her body, forming a tank top and knee-length shorts. The "clothes" were tight fitting, but much less revealing than the previous nudity.

"See? There you go." The man approved. "Now, why did you split off in the first place?"

"To fight you. Use lethal force, you can't kill me anyway." She instructed.

"How are you so sure of that?" He asked, already starting to move his fingers to weave a spell. A large piece of burning coal appeared in his hand. The flames caused him no harm.

He launched the projectile, Trader covering herself with an arm. The hot coal extinguished the moment it made contact, crumbling to pieces. The dust ceased to exist before hitting the ground.

"How in the abyss did you do that?"

"Magic resistance. With correctly set up exposure to harmful magic, one can train the body to siphon an incoming mana construct and distribute its mana throughout the body, so each part deals with a miniscule amount. Low power spells do nothing to me." The parasite explained.

"Can you teach me how to do that?"

"The process takes months of painful training. Another piece of evidence to suggest I wasn't actually born an hour ago. But yes, we can do that if I gather some components."

"Alright. I guess I really should go with the most dangerous thing I can do, huh?"

This time his spell required an incantation in addition to gestures. He also had to close the distance between him and his target to just a few meters.

Suddenly, brickwork emerged from the earth around Trader. Four walls of red brick surrounded her, the grass beneath her feet exchanged for coals. Burning coals. A gust of air, as if from a bellows, stoked the flame. The parasite was engulfed in an inferno capable of melting steel.

[I might have overdone it.] Karrel thought.

Then the furnace he conjured exploded.