The dragon's harem

The meeting lasted longer as Gale and Arad discussed more mundane matters. It didn’t matter if Tyal was Arad’s wife or concubine. The cooperative relationship between the two kingdoms won’t change that much.

At least outwardly, Gale needs Arad’s kingdom as much as he wants Tyal to have a better standing. Allying with Arad meant that the Storm Titans were allying with the beast kingdom, the elvish kingdom, and the dark elves’ kingdom all at once. Killing for birds with a single stone.

In the meantime, and with the two kings busy. The ladies found themselves alone.

Tyal’s mother leaned forward and looked Alice in her glowing, cloudy eyes. Her pale grey skin glistened as if overcharged with lightning, and her curly hair twitched, “Now, we never got the chance to speak, did we?”

Alice and Tyal’s mother, Aolani of the heavenly cloud district.

The two never met before. Alice had no problem with Aolani, but Aolani had one big reason to have a problem with her, Tyal.

“We never met, indeed. I’ve heard of you. I am sure you’ve heard a lot about me.” Alice leaned back on her chair and looked into Aolani’s eyes.

“I did hear a lot indeed.” Aolani tilted her head and asked.

“Do you get to the cloud district very often? No, what I’m asking, I’m sure you don’t. I’ll let you know that there are no places for you there anymore.”

Alice giggled, “I used to live there. Been several centuries at least. I’ve sold everything I owned there before leaving.” She flicked her fingers, and several scrolls appeared out of nowhere. “Still got the deeds.”

She then looked back at Aolani, “You’ve done your research about me quite well. I’m not used to leaving traces whenever I go. And I was sure not many people could track where I lived.”

“Of course you didn’t expect that I won’t be able to track you, would I?” Aolani smiled, her eyes shifting back to Claug. “Before ever deciding to send Tyal to Emperor Arad, I had to check the background of everyone involved.”

Alice smiled, “Then you probably did a good job.” Aolani was, in fact, wrong. Alice never lived in the heavenly cloud district. She just had a persona signed up there for several years in the past. She wasn’t even born in the Storm Titan kingdom.

That means the Storm Titans still relied on mundane ways of gathering information. Ancient people like Alice and Claug had long erased their traces in the world; they had become living legends to separate themselves from the common people.

Alice Dagon of the Storm Island, the Legendary wizard and the founder of the adventurers’ guild. The one that tests the S-ranks’ metal and gives them their rank.

Claug, the Witch-doctor, Queen of poisons, and The Green Drakaina of Cryptforest. The one who can bring both plagues and their cure.

Those are the kinds of information the Storm Titan can access. The ones that those powerful individuals had conjured to hide themselves.

For example, Alice Dagon wasn’t born in the Storm Titan kingdom; She was born in Atlantis, the capital of the Depth Titans. Her parents got lost while trying to cross the sea, and were rescued by the Depth Titans and lived the rest of their lives there. The Island she lives on was granted to her parents by the Depth Titans to live on since they couldn’t survive at the bottom of the ocean.

Claug herself was raised by Gamond alongside several other wyrmlings; they were orphans of the Metallic-Chromatic war in the past. She had dragons she called brothers and sisters from those days, still alive now, but no human can make the connection between them. If she were to call for help, tens of dragons would show up out of nowhere to save her.

Even Arad, what the Titans know about him is nothing more than his power level when he faced Vlad, nothing more.

“So you’re saying what? Our background doesn’t matter. The reason Tyal is a concubine and not a wife is that she is still lacking compared to the other wives. The competition is high. And believe me, I know a thing or two about competition. I direct the adventurers’ guild after all.” Alice took a sip from her drink and spared the Titans a glance.

Tyal sighed, “You’re talking about me as if I’m not here. I’ll kill that Cronos Raptur and get my place.”

Her mother glared at her, furious. “Girl, you don’t know what kind of monster you’re going to face. I’ve seen that THING before. You’ve got no chance of defeating it. You aren’t built for those things.”

She leaned forward, “Being a concubine is bad, but facing that thing is much worse. Don’t do it, stay a concubine until you find another way to prove yourself.”

Aolani looked at Arad for a moment, “He might be strong, but anyone besides the Storm Titans is powerful against that THING.”

Arad, who was talking with Gale, still kept an eye on the ladies’ conversation. Zeus, who was inside his stomach, burst laughing, ^Did you hear her, Arad? Aolani is a smart lass. I knew how to pick a wife for my prick of mine. I wish he had learned from her a bit. Throwing Tyal to face the Cronos Raptur is like throwing a guardwoman to face a huge dog.^

Arad smiled internally but kept his face straight, not showing any sign of emotion while talking with Gale.

^Don’t worry, I suspect that Cronos Raptur is a type of Abominations. There was one protected by beavers close to the Magic University.^

He could hear Zeus flinch and gasp. ^Wait! Beavers guarding a Cronos Raptur?^

^Not a Cronos Raptur, but an Abomination called Vorvadoss, the Lord of Space. My guess is that a similar creature is sealed beneath the mountains and that the seal has been slowly leaking through the years. Those Cronos Rapturs might be just weak offshoots from the main thing.^

Vorvadoss was also able to create weaker copies to send around after all.

^I was surprised about the beaver part!^ Zeus sighed, and Arad giggled.

^Hardworking lot, beating their wood day and night and proudly flaunting their Timber-tech. Now they serve one of my wives, Mira. You should know her.^

^Are they powerful? How did they keep such a monster sealed?^

^They are regular beavers with hearts of courage. They kept the monster sealed at the bottom of a lake of holy water. Their job was to keep the dam functional so the water would never drain out.^

^I would love to meet them. Never seen a beaver in my life, and I didn’t expect them to be that successful.^