The dragon's harem

Arad looked around and sighed. It has been a long time since he last felt this drained. The bath’s water was boiling, but it still didn’t feel more than lukewarm to him.

Water can’t get hot enough for him. It’ll just evaporate.

Gojo’s voice called from the other side of the pool. “I heard red dragons bathe in molten stone. Nothing less than that could work for them.”

Arad looked at him, “Gold dragons use gold, and silver dragons use silver.” He leaned back, “What will voids like us do? Use nothing? I feel that won’t work as well as we expect it.”

“We don’t need to take a bath, do we?” Gojo looked at him with a smile, “Our void always keeps us spotless. We do this to mimic humans and remain integrated into their society.”

“You’re right.” Arad shifted his gaze to the side and looked at the almost-cooked bird sitting with them. Gabriel’s wings were drenched, and his skin was already too red that it almost burned, but thanks to his curse, he could endure this without a problem.

“You’ve made this place, can’t the water get any hotter?”

Gabriel shook his head, “This is as far as it goes. I’m the only one who can use it.” He looked at his forearm, “My curse, [RA-coin], is the only reason I’m not dying here.”

Gabriel’s curse was simple. His curse allows him to boost either his attack or resistance. The one he didn’t pick would get weakened.

That meant Gabriel could choose to become resistant to almost all damage, but be unable to deal any damage. Or be able to do a lot of damage, but be extremely fragile.

He has chosen to boost his resistance and lower his attack as a price.

“I bet I can survive most things now, but I can’t kill a fly.” Gabriel leaned back, “Such a useless curse.”

“Useless?” Gojo laughed, “With your speed, you can boost attack and deal damage, then shift to resistance when blocking an attack. In a fight, you’ll be switching between the two states fast enough that you’ll be fine.”

Gabriel smiled, “I see that nothing gets past you. I’ve heard that you’re a connoisseur of magic, but didn’t expect you to be able to see through my curse like that.”

Arad waved his hand, “The real problem with your curse is that it’s easy to deal with. All I need to do is hit you while you’re attacking.” Arad clenched a fist and swung it in the air, “While you’re safe when defending, having one problem is that your damage is weak. The only opening left is while you’re attacking, the moment when your defense is extremely low.”

Gabriel burst laughing, “My wife knocked me out like that. I was young and charged to attack.” He looked at them, “Don’t get me wrong, I was young, but still a skilled warrior at my prime. But she was just that crazy, took my sword to the chest, but crushed my nose with her foot and knocked me cold.”

“Must’ve been quite the painful first meeting.” Gojo looked at Gabriel and then at Arad, “You’ve met one like that, Eris, right?”

“She tried to kill me, still tries to.” Arad smiled, “But that was her job at the time. Why did you and your wife fight?”

“What do you think? She was drunk and charged at my home.” Gabriel growled, “I saw her kick the door open. I kill burglars, and I attacked her without hesitation.” He rubbed his chin. “Maybe it was the alcohol that got her crazy enough to take my attack head-on.”

“The pain must’ve woken her up, because in the morning I found myself patched up and sleeping on the floor, while she took the couch.” He looked at the ceiling, “But guess what? I wasn’t wrong; she was a thief on the run at the time.”

Gabriel pointed at himself, “I was the commander of the capital’s royal guards at the time. She walked into my home just like that.”

“You turned her in?”

“No, she cooks well, so I let her stay.”

“Fair enough.” Arad shrugged, and Gojo stared at the two of them. “You’re both crazy.”

****

On the other bath, the girls were taking their time in much colder water. None of them really wanted to deal with boiling water, so they left it slightly hot and rested. The only two exhausted were Eris and Mira, who were struck with a violent divine magic consumption during Arad’s fight.

Isdis also tried to get the best out of her time here, since she’ll be returning to the boring, mundane paperwork.

That damnable chair! She wants to smash it when she is done. She’ll throw it as hard as she can from the balcony and watch it shatter into a million pieces on the stone walls.

Lucy stretched her arms and leaned back, letting the radiant angel behind her massage her shoulders, “Now, this is what having servants is supposed to be like.” She had human servants, but those girls were too weak to massage her. She might look small and weak, but she was durable enough to take a cannon to the face without flinching. To her shrine maidens, the little Lucy felt like a steel statue.

Speaking of that, she had just noticed that while Kali is the strongest goddess she had ever seen, in her human form, she is just as durable as her look suggests. Lucy wanted that; she wanted to regain her human durability.

“Say, how do you remain soft while being a goddess?” Lucy finally could ask, and Kali looked back at her, “Simple, this isn’t my body. It’s an avatar created from divine magic.” As she spoke, Kali’s True body appeared from behind Lucy and kicked her into the water.

Lucy swam to the surface and gasped for air. As she looked at the edge, she saw two Kalis: A tall, blue-skinned demoness and the little pink-haired girl.

“It’s an advanced trick.” Kali smiled, “You’ll be able to do it soon enough, but you must first master your divine magic. You’ll be using that to create your avatars.”

“I see.” Lucy threw her arm up, “Carry me!”

The angel flew over the water and fished Lucy out. “Controlling divine magic? I don’t even know how to use it.”

“The you’ll have to train a lot.” Kali looked at her with a smile and then turned around. “Those two are your shrine maidens, right?”

“They are, why?”

“Try giving them a healing spell. You should be able to grant them power like how all clerics do. This is your first test.” Kali pointed, and Eris called them from the back.

“Wait, I could already do that.” She was already giving her paladins and clerics divine magic. It was how she and Mira could give Arad their power.

“You two lived with Arad, and he pushed you to learn and master your powers. Lucy here is a soft and well-behaved lady.” Kali looked at Eris and Mira with a smug smile, “She isn’t a murderhobo leading a cult of murderious paladins or an egotistical mad craftswoman who makes bombs powerful enough to blast a kingdom.”