The dragon's harem

The brat remained frozen for a few seconds, staring at Arad with a baffled face. Claug grabbed Arad by the ear and pulled him close to her. “Give the kid some slack.” She, too, could smell him. While the brat smelled like one of Gale’s wives, he didn’t smell like Gale at all.

“Why?” Arad looked at her, and she shook her head. “Just don’t.”

The brat laughed, “Look at who’s getting dragged around by his wife.”

Arad looked at him, “Where is yours?”

Arad and the brat were almost about to start screaming at each other. And at the same time, Alice asked Claug about what was going on.

Claug shrugged her head and told Alice that while the brat smelled like one of Gale’s wives, he didn’t smell like him at all. A dragon’s nose isn’t always accurate since some perfumes and spells can mislead it. What both she and Arad could understand is that the brat is most likely not Gale’s son.

Malina quickly confirmed Claug’s words. The brat, indeed, isn’t Gale’s son. Gale married the son’s wife after her husband died in the chasm. That was ages ago, and this brat was still in rags.

Both Alice and Claug sighed, looking at Arad and the brat. While the brat didn’t know how to speak without barking, Arad was silently listening and replying whenever the kid tried to catch his breath.

There was still some time before Tyal and Gale fought, almost a whole hour, so Arad suggested something to change the pace a bit. He pointed at the arena with his thumb and smiled, “So? How about you show me who you are? I couldn’t care less who your father is.”

“Fine by me.” The brat jumped out of the balcony and landed in the arena. Zeus was still there and saw him land. “Euri? Why did you come here?” But before Euri could reply, Arad landed behind him. “Nothing, we’re just going to have a small match, warm the crowds a bit.”

Zeus looked at Arad for a second and then asked with a worried tone. “You don’t mean a one-sided beatdown, right? That would be boring.”

Arad laughed, “Of course not. I just want to see what he can do. Since he was very clear about how amazing he was.”

Zeus sighed, “Fine, but don’t go too far.” He then glared at Euri, “And you! Don’t think I’ll forget this.”

Euri frowned, “Hey! Grandpa, do you think I started this fight?”

Zeus laughed, “Of course, I think Arad suggested it, but only after you’ve started nagging at his head.”

A minute later, Arad and Euri stood facing each other in the middle of the arena.

Euri swung his long black spear and took a stance, looking at the unarmed Arad. “What are you waiting for? Where is your weapon?”

Arad smiled and waved his hands. “I’m more comfortable with these.”

What did Arad want from this fight? Nothing? Of course not. He was a dragon, and his brain never stopped planning ahead.

This fight allowed Arad to stand in the arena without drawing suspicion, and thus, he could check if Gale had planted any traps to help him take Tyal down like he did to Zeus before. And Arad was right, masked with several barriers, and just beneath the ground, several arrays were set up.

^Come on, Gale, did you really think such a thing would get past me?^ There were three arrays beneath the arena and all of them affect Gale himself and not Tyal. The first one boosts his magic, the second one boosts his reaction speed, and the last one grants him a general boost to resistance.

The funny part is that those arrays were built into the Colosseum to make sure the fights lasted a long time to entertain the crowds.

^Alice, how long will it take you to mess with the arrays?^ Arad asked Alice through a telepathic message, and she replied a few seconds later.

^Using you as a beacon? Depends on how I mess with them. Ten seconds to turn them off, an hour to erase the runes altogether. Half an hour if I want to make some modifications. What do you want me to do?^

The fight between Arad and Euri started, and Arad had to take his time. Even if Euri didn’t come, Arad would’ve found a way to start a fight with Zeus to get into the arena. At first, he thought that sitting in the VIP room would allow him to check the arena for magic, but he was wrong since the whole arena was encased in a protective barrier to keep the crowd safe.

Now, what kind of modification would Arad want Alice to do to those arrays? He needs to leave them active so Gale won’t notice a thing. But also make sure they won’t get in Tyal’s way.

The first and easiest thing Arad could think of is a modification to the array that boosts Gale’s magic. It would be nice if it made his spells fail or more likely to fail.

^The magic array, when Gale uses it, will still boost his magic, but the spells have a 50% Chance of failing and exploding on his face.^ Arad asked, and Alice replied immediately.

^Sounds reasonable, will take me six minutes to rewrite the array. Keep the brat busy.^

Arad kept thinking while he stalled for time. Euri on the other hand was doing his best to keep up and show off. But all of his attacks had failed to harm Arad, it was like fighting a steel statue with a foam stick.

Then Arad got an idea about the array that makes Gale more resistant. How about a bit of fun? He is more resistant, but more likely to flinch when taking a hit. That would allow him to endure attacks, which means he won’t suspect a thing, but him flinching more means more opening for Tyal to attack through.

Alice agreed and doing that would take her about ten minutes since it’s a complicated mental effect and not just a simple one.

The last barrier is the one that accelerates Gale’s reaction speed. That is a tricky one to deal with. He at least has time to think about it, and this brat Euri is quite similar to Angar. Hot blooded, and rash, and it looks like he didn’t receive any training at all.

To most, that looked like a bad thing, but to Arad, that was raw talent. “You’re a good one, but a spear doesn’t suit you that much. You’re better with a halberd.” Arad looked at the guards, “You there! Give him your halberd!”

The guard looked around with a confused face, and then just threw his halbert to Euri.

Arad then pulled a three-section staff from his stomach and swung it around before holding it from the outer sections like two small clubs.

“Too poor to afford a whole quarterstaff?” Euri smiled and Arad laughed.

“No, this is just two clubs linked together with something I can block with.” Arad then lunged at him, swinging the three-section staff like a whirlpool.