The dragon's harem

After almost four hours of training, Arad didn’t get to fight anything, not even once. The only fighting that happened was Diana kicking his back whenever he made a mistake.

Each one of her kicks felt as heavy as getting hit with a hammer. Arad didn’t even know why she was so violent. It took him a second to realize why she was acting like that. That was because he kept asking if he could fight the abominations.

She wanted him to understand that fighting the abominations is dangerous, and he was already considering that his back might break if he kept going for them.

By the end, Arad had learned many things, but he still needed to practice. It was quite tricky to avoid detection and even harder to track his targets and get close enough to eliminate them.

Soon, Arad felt like he was some wild predator, sneaking through the dense jungle to hunt powerful prey and avoid getting ganged on by a pack of scavengers. A lion can hunt a buffalo, but he still might get gored if he isn’t careful enough, and even if he manages to hunt the prey, he might still get robbed of it by hyenas.

Arad learned how to use the void’s darkness as foliage, the great celestial bodies and debris as trees for cover, and the violent waves of magic and solar bursts as violent winds to hide his tracks.

“That is all for today. You’re doing good, better than average, but nowhere near the top talents.” Diana looked at him with a grin, “I guess you’re more of a brawler than a hunter, but sadly, brawlers don’t survive long enough on the frontlines to become useful.” She stood and threw him a glance.

“The abominations, they don’t just travel as individuals, do they?” Arad asked with a worried void, and Diana nodded, “Besides moving colonies, they also have those massive ships with thousands of them inside.” She smiled, “Don’t ever think of attacking one solo, at least until you become a greatwyrm. No, even if you became a greatwyrm, you’ll still be more useful for the army alive instead of risking your life against the abominable monsters.”

She sighed, “You can kill one abomination, but a hundred would show up to rip you apart or worse. Turn you into a mindless power in their hands.” She looked at the starry void, “Listen, I’m certain that Kali and Aria had more than one reason to keep you away from the war. I’m not knowledgeable like them. But it’s clear you’re an important asset that they want to keep safe.”

“An important asset?” He sighed, “What kind of important asset gets left behind? But you might be right.”

“Think about it.” Diana smiled, “At first, I thought you were just Kali’s little pleasure toy that she wants to keep away from the war. But seeing how you performed here, I’m starting to think there is more to it than that.” She sighed, “Take me for example. I doubt that any failure I had would warrant such a punishment as being sent this far back, especially with how dire the situation is.” She laid on Arad’s back.

“Keeping you here, bringing me all the way here to train you, all of it must be to serve a greater goal. That is why I suggest you train well and try your best to learn how to survive.” She waved her hand, “Let’s head back. They must be waiting.”

Arad immediately sucked her into his stomach and spat her out beside his incarnation in Lucifer’s palace. She looked around, seeing him on the bed with the other girls walking around the room, checking some papers with each other.

“It’s quite amazing, those incarnations of yours.” She smiled and approached him, “What happened to the one left in space?”

“I dismissed it. Now I can call it beside any of my active incarnations.” He sat up and pointed back at Kali, “She wanted to speak with you.”

“How did Arad do?” Kali approached them in her destruction form.

“Good, but he is too hot-blooded for his own good.” Diana sat on the bed, and Kali found a seat beside her and Arad. “Hot-blooded, I wonder where he got that from.”

“Father, perhaps.” Arad replied, and she smiled, “Indeed, but Alcott is more calculated than to be called hot-blooded by Diana. She’ll more likely call him stupid or reckless.” Kali leaned on Arad. “She has a way with words, you see.”

Kali then glanced at Diana, “By hot-blooded, she mostly means you’ve got great talent. But you’re quite keen on fighting that you can’t fully use it.”

“Like his incarnations.” Diana dropped on the bed, “I can just imagine him flying around, getting found, then dismissing that incarnation immediately. Such a thing would confuse the abominations so much that they might actually retreat. A void dragon that can just vanish into the void would be horrifying to them more than anything else.” She smiled, “You don’t even need to retreat, go in, blast them, and dismiss the incarnation.”

“That depends on me being able to sneak close enough with an incarnation first.” Arad started thinking, “But that might be a viable strategy. Probably more fun than just calling all the incarnations to one spot to gang on someone.”

Diana studied Kali for a long while and then asked. “I get this straight. What are your plans for Arad? I can’t train him well without knowing the end goal.”

Kali looked at her with a smile and then giggled, “My plan for Arad? We’ll just look around.” Kali waved her hand and, at the end, pointed at Isabelle, “Destruction and creation, both are resting in his hands. Added his special powers, incarnations, aptitude for fighting, and even more, his achievements so far. What do you think?”

Kali leaned back on the wall. “Don’t answer. Just keep your thoughts to yourself. I got plans for him, for myself, for everyone. For Arad, it’s simple. I want him to grow strong enough, sharp enough, and powerful enough to shift the tides of war. For that, I need him to survive and remain alive until he at least becomes a greatwyrm.”

“That’s why you brought me all the way here?”

“I told you, didn’t I? This is a promotion, not a demotion or a punishment. You’re here to train one of the army’s most valuable assets. Also, the abominations were especially targeting you in recent years, so bringing you here is a way of helping you stay low for the time being.”

Kali stood and then jumped on the bed beside Arad, “Come on, Diana. Rest well for now.”