The dragon's harem

“It’s simple, honestly.” Zephyr took a sip from the wine glass that was almost as big as her. She was sitting on the wooden table in the middle of a large living room inside a small shed that was built in Arad’s small world.

Arad, Nar, Eris, and Amber were sitting with her as well. They all waited to hear what she wanted from Nar. It wasn’t every day that you get to watch a deal between two spirit queens. It was probably just like this on the day Zephyr asked Nar to make a Fire Spirit body for Amber.

“I want you to teach Mira, Arad’s wife, how to forge elements.” Zephyr looked at Nar, “That skill is too rare, and not many could learn it, but I’m sure Mira has the talent. She is also a demi-goddess.”

Nar frowned.

“It’s not that I don’t want to teach her, but you know how dangerous and hard it is to learn.” Nar waved her hand and created a sword of fire. At her size, it looked like a tiny razor blade made of pure red flames.

“There are three levels. The magic formation, the forging, the sentient will, and lastly, the heart of elements.” Nar looked at Amber, “I made that body of yours from my flames, and that would’ve been impossible if I wasn’t able to forge at the level of the heart of the elements.”

Zephyr quickly explained that the four levels represent different mastery of the elements’ forging.

The magic formation refers to spells like the one Arad uses to make a flame blade or a void saber. Those spells are usually temporary, cost mana to maintain, and are but a crude imitation of real weapons.

The forging step refers to the blacksmith being able to make those weapons with his hammer and anvil, hammering flames into solid weapons. This requires precise control over magic and perfect mastery of the forging arts.

The sentient will refer to weapons having a will of their own. Not being sentient in the same way humans are, but being able to impose something on the world, like Arad’s exploding nipple knife that can deal true damage and explode any nipple. Or the dragon slayer sword that hates dragons and damages them the most.

The last level, the one called the heart of the elements, is the hardest to master as it requires many skills to be learned. Kayden forged his sword from his own flesh to make them as powerful as he was.

Nar had used that last level to create an artificial body for Amber from pure flames. With enough skill, almost anything can be forged from anything.

Hearing the explanation, Arad started thinking. He can control more elements than any other, the very fundamental particles of matter itself. If he was able to master that art, wouldn’t he be able to create living bodies? No, it probably won’t be that easy. He would still need mastery over magic and alchemy. He needed to see how many bodies work to be able to achieve such a thing.

Amber could only use Nar’s artificial fire body as her own because she had the blood of fire elementals, who were just living flames.

Nar, Sena, Mira, Damnation, Kayden, Aisha, and Zephyr. He needs to learn from everyone and somewhat mix all of their knowledge and find a way to use them at the same time to be able to fully achieve his goal.

Fixing souls, forging bodies out of pure elements, fighting horrifying abominations and liberating worlds. Why do all the crazy jobs keep falling on him?

“Zephyr. Do you think Mira can learn it? I understand she is a demi-goddess and quite a talented one at that when it comes to creating things. She is even being taught forging by Mora. But aren’t you just pushing too much work at her at once?” Arad wasn’t worried about himself. He can pretty much take anything thrown at him with a bit of confidence, but his wives aren’t the same as him.

“It is indeed putting too much pressure on her. What I want now is to get Nar to start preparing for when Mira is ready to learn.” Zephyr glanced at Arad and turned again to Nar.

“So, what do you say?”

Nar remained silent for a long second, thinking about it. Teaching won’t be easy and would take too much of her time, not to mention that it all might be useless if Mira doesn’t have the talent.

“Depends on what you’ll pay. And no, I won’t take a favor this time. Evidently, I ended up without getting any air.” She frowned, and Zephyr laughed.

“Then I’ll pay with that. But to let you know, I’ll be paying just the large upfront cost. Arad would pay the rest. You can also get Aella to pay you.” She reached forward and extended her hand to Nar.

Nar took Zephyr’s palm between her hands and looked at it for a second. She then started sucking on her index finger. Her cheek inflated, and her hair flashed blue, growing hotter and hotter as Arad could hear a faint hiss coming from Zephyr’s hand.

Zephyr was making pure oxygen and pumping Nar with it like a tire, giving flames a powerful boost in power. And as Zephyr said, both Arad and Aella could make oxygen for Nar.

After a while, Zephyr pulled her hand away, and Nar had a large smile on her face. “It’s been a while since I’ve got it.” Flames can’t live without oxygen, and a great fire like Nar needed a lot of it. Zephyr was the only one who could provide her with the necessary nourishment she needed.

Zephyr pointed at Arad, “Try him now. He came a decent amount.”

Nar turned toward Arad, looked at him for a second, and flew closer, “Give me your hand.” She needed to use his finger to suck the air out. Any other way would waste it and may end up blowing the whole room to bits with pressurized oxygen.

Arad closed his eyes and tried to make just enough oxygen to give her a tiny bit. He didn’t want to start his nuclear engine while people still lived inside his small world.

As Nar sucked the oxygen that Arad made, her hair flashed blue, a bit less than Zephyr’s oxygen since she got a far larger amount from her, but it was the same effect nonetheless. When she finished, she looked at Arad in silence for a few seconds and sighed.

“If I knew you could make it, I would’ve been more inclined to get closer.”