The dragon's harem

“No! Stop it!”

Liliana slowly opened her eyes, hearing someone screaming not so far away. She was inside a blue tent, staring at its swaying ceiling with tired eyes.

“It’s breaking apart! It’s breaking, slow down a bit! NOOOOOOOO!”

The voice was familiar; it was Mila the mage, crying right outside where Liliana slept. At that moment, Liliana came to her senses and sat up.

“It’s tearing apart! Stop, you can’t do that!”

She was alone in the tent, asleep beneath an old blanket and still feeling a sharp tingling in her back. She couldn’t remember much after casting her demonic trap.

Looking down at herself, she was only wearing her underwear, and her torso was covered in bandages; the style with which they were tied up was familiar. The fighter’s work she was used to. They must’ve won the fight.

“AAAAAAAAAAAAA!”

Hearing Mila’s scream once more, Liliana felt that she should go out and see what was going on and help her friend. But, she didn’t. If Mila were in danger or really angry, she would be cursing like an exploding bomb. Out of them, she was the most foul-mouthed one.

She is probably fine.

She slowly sat up, poked the bandages to see if there were still any wounds below them, and she could feel a bit of pain on her back. It’s probably best to leave them. So she instead only took her underwear away and picked a nearby bag, inside it, she found the rest of her clothes piled up.

Her clothes were clean and dry; they still had some soap on their edge, so it’s the rogue’s lazy work. The only part still marred in blood and wood splinters was her armor, which had a massive dent on the back, big enough to make Liliana feel sick.

Whatever hit her, it was stronger than a damned troll. “Damn it, I bet it’s that barbarian. She attacked me when she saw that noble brat die.”

BAM! As she was thinking, something exploded outside with enough force to shake the ground.

Hearing the blast, Liliana quickly put her clothes on and jumped outside as fast as she could.

“Mila! I’m here to…”

Liliana stopped, seeing Gojo standing a few meters outside the tent, his arms extended forward as silver sparks covered his palms. Mila was by his side, crying as she almost pulled her hair out.

Why is he here? Didn’t they win? Hold up, they planned to keep him alive, didn’t they? So, what? They won and kept him? With his look, it wasn’t out of the question. Especially since he is powerful and would help them survive better.

“You’re shoving too much mana into it at once; the barrier can’t handle that. You have to be gentle with it. This is a ritual spell, you’re supposed to take your sweet time and make sure it’s perfect, then it’ll only need minimal mana to maintain.” She cried with a baffled face, unable to believe that with all the magic skill Gojo showed, he couldn’t do a simple thing as slowly recite the chant of a ritual spell.

Liliana stared at them. Mila is teaching him magic… yeah, they need him to still get stronger, so teaching him makes sense. But, doesn’t that allow him to possibly betray them later on? Shouldn’t Mila wait a bit until they can trust him?

Gojo clapped his hands and then extended three fingers forward. “I’m not interested in its defensive application; what I want to play with is the backlash. Can I use it to make a barrier that deals elemental damage?”

Mila paled and smacked him on the head with her staff. “Fucking Bastard! Do you think you’re an archmage? Go beg Merlin to teach you. Why am I wasting my time here with you? Go to her and find out! She’ll turn you into a frog and then skin you alive to make a purse.”

Gojo looked at her with a smile. “I don’t trust accomplished mages. I don’t want to be put in a cage.”

Gojo was aware that void dragons are extremely rare, and that if a wizard found him, he would most likely end up as a lab rat for the rest of his life as she said. For now, at least until he is powerful enough to defend himself, he has to stay away from any mage smarter than beginners.

“Are you calling me an unaccomplished mage?” She growled, grabbing him by the robe collar. Gojo seemed to notice Liliana in the back, and he gave her a smile before looking back at Mila.

“Yes. Is that a problem?” His eyes flashed blue, and Mila shivered.

“Do you think you can match her in skill then? Probably not.” Gojo pushed her hand away and kept focusing on the spell.

Mila looked at him for a second, wanting to talk back, but unable to. He wasn’t wrong; she was nowhere near Archmage Merlin. Here in Alina’s region, she was the strongest and best wizard. No one could even reach a tenth of her power.

Liliana approached them. “What’s going on?” Her eyes quickly shifted to Gojo. “And you bastard! Stop talking down to her. Or do you want another beating?”

He looked at her with a smile. “Another beating? Why not? I’m always up for a fight.”

Mila looked at her and smiled. ’Liliana! You’re awake!” She rushed and jumped at her, dropping her to the ground with a bear hug. “We thought you’d never stand again.”

Liliana pushed her away, “Stop it! Don’t rub your face on my chest like that.”

Mila giggled. “I won’t… your chest is always so soft…”

She then glared at Gojo. “And you, what’s your deal?” Her hands were still trying to push Mila away.

Gojo looked at them. “A deal? When did we have a deal?”

Mila looked at him. “She is asking about your intentions, why did you fight us, and what you’re going to do from now on. She also probably wants to know who you are, where you came from, and what brought you here. But asking that she is essentially trying to get a general idea of why things are the way they are.”

Mila then frowned, looking at Liliana through her cleavage. “By the way, we lost. The other two tried to keep fighting, but ended up beaten until they gave up.”

Liliana froze in place. Wait, they didn’t win? This pale bastard won? They were defeated, the four of them? How did he break through her demonic seal? Why? How?

Gojo frowned.

“I see… Well, first, I don’t have much of a goal in mind right now. I had one, but it’s useless, so pursuing it is just as impractical. So, I’m just focusing on magic right now.” He formed a cube of ice on his palm with a wide grin.

“Isn’t magic amazing? I can make ice to put in my water!”

Gojo shifted the cube to a vague shape of a flower, then threw it to the ground. As the ice flower shattered, it turned into a large slab.

“Look! I’m taller now.” He stood on the slab, “With magic, the potential is limitless, and I believe I need limitless power to achieve anything.”

Liliana sighed, “Where are Melissa and Emma? They’ll explain this better.” She then looked around, noticing that there were several tents around them. Two of which belonged to the fighter Emma and the rogue Melissa.

“You didn’t beat them too much, did you?” She asked with a worried face.

Mila looked at her with a guilty face.

“Well, Emma refused to give up unless he got past her armor, so he tore all of her armor and clothes off. Melissa never gave up, and he knocked her out several times, until she started crying and saying she won’t give up until she piss on him like he did her…. so he let her piss on him, and it was over.”

Mila sighed. “It’s been a week since then, and you slept for days. Now, we’re hiding in the forest so the guards won’t catch us. We’re wanted for trashing the tavern and sexual assault.”

“And what?” Liliana gasped.

“Not our fault, that elf tried to sniff another woman’s toes. Turn out she was one of the guards.” She leaned back. “Bastard.”

****

As Liliana remembered the past, Gojo twitched in the bed, slowly waking up.