The dragon's harem

Arad had just finished talking with Gray and was left puzzled. The man didn’t stay for long; he came and left in less than five minutes. The goddess of death didn’t send him to negotiate, but sent him to warn and deliver a message.

Death is the lid preventing the world from bleeding the souls of mortals into the void of the outer world. The only thing that’s preventing them from being passively consumed by Nyar.

Death’s will was clear. Zenia is one of the only mortals who escaped the shackles of death, and all of that is thanks to Arad and Sena’s study of souls. She had both an intact soul and a suitable body.

This had allowed Arad to easily connect her soul with her body, even if his handywork was nothing more than a mess. She won’t have been paralyzed if not for that. But it was a start, and she should be fine after a few days, hopefully.

Gray only informed Arad that he should make sure that Zenia doesn’t fall prey to the abominations, and he left.

Soon after that, Arad teleported Zenia back to the Storm Kingdom through his stomach and almost gave her a second nightmare in one day. But thankfully, she can now use the slave contract on herself to banish her fear.

But that didn’t mean it didn’t take a toll on her already exhausted body, and so she fell asleep almost immediately.

Arad left her under the servant’s watch and left to check on Tyal, who was now training with Alice inside the Castle’s Sealed Hall.

The Castle’s Sealed Hall was one massive stone hall illuminated by tens of crackling lightning bolts that danced on the ceiling like snakes. Ash and gravel covered the floor, painted red by blood and sweat. This was the place where the Titans’ Royal Guards trained.

On one side, Arad could see Alice and Tyal training.

Tyal was kneeling on the ground, her sword firmly planted in the ground as she tried to resist the violent push of Alice’s wind. Gale would mainly use wind magic after all.

On the other side of the Castle’s Sealed Hall, Gale was training with Zeus of all people, if anyone can call what those two are doing training.

Gale dodged a left hook only to end up getting grabbed by the beard, punched in the guts, and then ate a right hook to the chin that made him spin like a ballerina.

It seems that Zeus is more keen on teaching his son a lesson than training him to beat Tyal. He might as well be trying to weaken him a bit for her.

“Tyal! Alice!” Arad approached them and waved his hand.

Alice immediately dispelled her magic and looked at him. “How is Zenia doing?” Tyal, on the other hand, immediately asked about her friend.

“Zenia is doing fine. I’m here to teach you something.”

Tyal pulled her sword from the ground and tilted her head, “Teach me something? Magic?”

“No, I’m a fast learner, but a horrible teacher of magic. What I can teach you is how to fight, either barehanded or with a weapon.”

Zeus stopped beating the living hell out of his son and looked at Arad and Tyal. He was interested in seeing what kind of strange martial art Arad could teach Tyal.

Zeus knew how powerful Arad was as a dragon, his natural presence and inborn power and magic, but he didn’t know anything about him as a warrior, a fighter, and a martial artist.

Usually, the higher someone’s natural strength and speed, the worse they are with the blade. That was simply because they were bound to rely on their overwhelming speed and power. Arad is a dragon, so Zeus expects that problem to be even more apparent.

“I mainly use a sword.” Tyal looked at him, “What weapon do you use? I can use a spear if that’s what you’re proficient with.”

Tyal herself didn’t expect much from Arad; she never fought or saw him wield a weapon in a fight.

Arad waved his hand, and a sword appeared in his palm. A think, long black longsword with a decorated edge, a simple hand-guard and pommel, but its blade was sharp enough to cut the world itself.

That sword was the Dragon Slayer’s blade, and Arad had empowered it with a barrier of sharpness just as Kayden had taught him. The fact that Arad had pulled such a thing made even Zeus shudder; even he can’t endure a single slash from that sword.

Arad looked at the Dragon Slayer’s blade for a moment and then gave it to Tyal. “This sword is made to kill dragons, and I made it even more powerful. I bet even a human kid could wound me with a slash from it.”

Tyal looked at the sword in her palm, and she could feel sweat running down her neck and arms. This sword, just holding it, was scary.

“You want me to fight you with this? You remember that you’re a dragon, right?” She looked at him with a pale face, and even Alice looked worried beside her.

“This is a stupid idea, Arad.” Alice made sure that Arad heard and understood what she meant. Tyal might not have been strong enough to beat him, but with that sword, she might gravely wound him.

Arad cracked his neck and looked at them with a passive face. “Don’t worry about me. I want her to fight with her life on the line, and so I’m putting mine on the line too.” He then smiled, “AH, but I’m not going to let any of us die.” He looked at Tyal and then extended a hand toward her, “Come, want to learn how to swing a sword? I’ll show you what it means to fight with a blade.”

Tyal didn’t understand what Arad was talking about, but she took a stance. “If that’s what you want.”

Before she could fully take a stance, Arad was already on her, swinging a violent fist at her face. She gasped, barely dodging the deadly blow, and swung her sword upward, slashing a wound on Arad’s forearm.

Any fighter would’ve taken a step back after taking such a hit, but Arad’s wounded arm dripped right down on her head, and she was forced to block with the sword.

The Dragon Slayer’s blade cut into Arad’s flesh and stopped at his unbreakable bones. Tyal could feel her back jolting with pain and her knees almost giving up from the weight of Arad’s arm. She was a Titan, damn it, she was supposed to be able to deal with heavy weights better than humans.

And what scared her the most was how Arad was fighting.

Before that thought could finish in her mind, Arad’s foot connected with her thigh and dropped her to the ground.

“I’ve seen you fight Zenia. You’re a talented swordswoman; you have the skill and will to wield many weapons. But, you have one huge flaw.” Arad lifted his arm, and the wound healed immediately.

“I’m not that good at killing things?” Tyal looked at him with a smile, trying to catch her breath while kneeling on one knee. That one hit that she blocked almost broke her back.

“No, you’re one ruthless fighter, both on your opponent and on yourself.” Arad took a stance, “What you lack is the cold will that comes from experience. You’ve never experienced facing a true horror before, and because of that, you still treat fights as something inherently dangerous.”

Tyal looked at him with a confused face. “Fights are dangerous, you can’t tell me otherwise.”

“They are indeed. What I’m saying is that you shouldn’t worry about that in the middle of a fight.” Arad smiled, “That’s my husband. I can’t swing at his neck, I might kill him. That’s my father, that’s my friend… what if I blocked, tried to block this attack? I will get cut.”

As Arad spoke, he started approaching Tyal, “Stop wasting energy thinking about unnecessary things. All you need to think about is how to take that blade of yours, and put it either in my chest or head. Of course, without letting me do the same.”

And then, Arad exploded on her in a storm of fists.