The dragon's harem

From his newfound Terror friend, Arad had learned several things about the labyrinth that he couldn’t have found out without her help. The first thing is that the labyrinth had existed for over three thousand years, albeit that the world only stabilized in the past few centuries. That time was just a chaotic mess of fire and storms where only Terrors could survive.

Arad had noticed before coming into the labyrinth that time flew differently inside. If he was right, every minute inside the labyrinth is a second outside, making the time shift 1/60. That means that for three thousand years to pass inside the labyrinth, fifty years had to pass outside.

Based on what the Terror said, Arad could conclude that Merlin had planned and started building the labyrinth fifty years ago and only managed to get it stable recently. He asked the Terror if she knew of any explosion or accident in the past decade or so… but she didn’t know anything. He was shocked, thinking that she would know about the time when Amber nuked the whole labyrinth before. What neither he nor the terror knew was that Merlin had multiple labyrinths growing at the same time. The one that got nuked was the one now close to Alina, not the one she carried with her.

Arad and the Terror headed to the local shop, which was run by an old grandma in her wooden house. The old woman was the main trader of the whole village, she was the one who went to other villages and cities to buy goods for the whole village.

The moment Arad walked inside her shop, and seeing that he had to duck down and enter sideways to get in through the door, what remained of her days almost faded away. Arad and the Terror’s primitive clothes didn’t help either, making them look more like monsters than humans.

Noticing that the old lady was terrified to the point of almost not being able to breathe, Arad had to calm her down. For that, he asked the Terror to sit at one of the empty chairs while he dealt with the grandma. Even if the Terror looked more approachable than he, she was by no means gentle with humans.

The only reason the Terror was gentle and soft toward him is because she knew that outside the labyrinth, he could eat her whole with a single bite. If she ever wanted to be free, getting on his good side was her only chance of getting out of this place and remaining alive afterward.

Arad pulled all of the pelts and fangs he gathered from the wolves and some strange deer monsters that he had hunted this morning. The old lady looked at the massive mountain of the monster part before her and gasped. “All of those…”

“We’re hunters that live secluded in the wilderness, call us barbarians. My kind usually avoid people, but we two are trying to travel the world and explore it.” Arad bent his knees a bit to get short enough to look the old lady in the eyes.

“I just wanted to sell those pelts, I hope I didn’t scare you.”

The old lady remained silent for a while, staring at him and every now and then sneaking a glance at the Terror sitting alone in the back. “Barbarians? Never heard of them before.”

“Told you, we used to always avoid other humans. How much are those pelts?” He pushed the pelts to her and tried to change the direction of the conversation. He didn’t want her to ask any more questions about them, as that would only make him expand the lie. All he needs is for her to buy the pelts and fangs, give him money so he can go to the blacksmith and get a decent weapon.

Of course, Arad tried to throw up the Exploding Nipple Knife like he did before… but the labyrinth this time seemed to be preventing that.

The old lady looked at him, then at the pelts. All of them were of good quality, so with a sigh, she decided to buy them. For everything that he got, Arad managed to get two hundred and thirty-five Rolits. What’s a Rolits? The currency in this labyrinth.

After thanking the old lady, Arad went out with the Terror to find the village’s blacksmith. The old man was huge, tall, and boasted broad shoulders and a majestic beard… but he was still dwarfed by Arad’s sheer size.

“Do you have a greatsword?” Arad asked, and the old man looked around with a puzzled face, “What do you think? Like our poor village’s majestic stone walls? Great garrison?” He snorted, “I’ve only got hoes, arrows, and shovels. Tools for the people to work the fields and chase away the occasional wolves and giant rats.”

Seeing the disappointed look on Arad’s face, the blacksmith sighed, scratching his busy beard. “Fine… I’ll make you a greatsword, but it’ll take a while.”

But Arad’s face grew even darker; if he lacked something here, it was time. He didn’t want to spend a second more than he needed to. It’ll be better to take whatever he can get here and then pick a better weapon at the next big city he stops at.

“No need. I bet you at least have some axes? Lumber axes, the ones people use to chop trees?” Arad could see some axes in the back.

“The biggest I got is fifty Rolits.” The blacksmith replied, and Arad pulled the money, “Give me two and a shovel.”

“The shovel would be just ten Rolits. That’s a hundred and ten Rolits total.” The blacksmith’s eyes shifted toward the Terror standing with Arad. All she saw in him was a beautiful and delicate woman that barely covered with leather scraps.

Surprisingly, the Terror didn’t seem to mind his gaze. Unlike the guards before, she could sense any lust in his eyes, just genuine worry. “What about her? Won’t get her anything? At least a dagger? I won’t say anything about your people’s custom of clothes, but she must at least carry a weapon to protect herself.”

The Terror looked at him with a smile. “Oh my, isn’t it rare to see such a human?” She approached the anvil with careful steps, her wide hips swinging from one side to another. With grace, she lifted her delicately looking foot and rested it on the anvil for a second.

The stone base that was beneath the anvil cracked with a loud shatter. She then slowly wiped her foot to the side, her nails scratching the steel with a storm of sparks. When she removed her foot, a half-inch deep imprint was left in the steel, followed by large gaping scratches.

The Blacksmith’s face paled, both terrified and shocked at the sight. “I can more than protect myself. I’m nowhere near those cowards hiding behind steel.”

The blacksmith sighed, “Explains why you’re walking around half naked. I have never seen a human powerful enough to do that, only monsters.” He dropped onto his chair, “No need to pay for the anvil, I wanted to replace it anyway.”

It was then that Arad grabbed her by the head, “I did tell you not to harm people or damage their property.” He lifted her up by the head, and she cried, “AH! Please be gentle.” But she looked more amused than scared or worried.

To the blacksmith, seeing how powerful she was, he could only expect that Arad, who was much larger, was even stronger. He couldn’t have guessed that she was a true Terror, a creature powerful enough to wipe out whole cities in a single night.

The Terror had looked into the blacksmith’s mind and confirmed that he didn’t need the anvil before acting. Such was her power, and such was the ability that allowed her to find out about Arad’s true nature.