The dragon's harem

When Arad and Gojo looked around the beach, they found no traces of a sewer system, which probably made more sense than finding one.

To keep the sewer water from freezing, multiple spells would need to be used, especially around the exit point where the water is to be dumped into the sea.

Gojo knew that firsthand because he had to deal with it in his kingdom, but here, he expected the civilization of the long-lost kingdom to be advanced enough to solve that problem.

It seems that he was wrong, and the people of the ruined city had decided that the best solution to a problem is to eliminate the problem before it even starts.

A classic tale, you won’t ever worry about feeding a horse if you never owned one in the first place.

As their search around the beach showed nothing after long hours of work, Gojo and Arad became certain that the sewers’ dumping point should be in the forest.

Now that he thought about it for a while, it would make more sense. The rancid water could be safely dumped in the forest as fertilizer. That would allow the trees to grow faster and bigger, thus providing more firewood for the ruined city.

So, with nothing else to do, the two decided to return to the cave pretty early today. They can’t make it to the forest and back before nightfall, and it would make Haru and Liliana worried if they don’t show up.

Arad and Gojo turned around and climbed their way out of the sloped beach, heading first toward where they left the crab. That was the highlight of the day, and Arad was certain that Haru would be happy to finally eat something soft.

The thing that got him more than her complaining is that she started getting him hungry as well. The one food, type of meat, that Haru spoke of was sinners’ flesh, a staple in the diet of the devils of hell.

That was just human flesh, and he didn’t want her talking about eating people in front of him; he was a dragon, and he feared that he would go hunt for bandits after they returned to the mortal world just to eat them.

While Arad didn’t mind eating anything, humans and dragons included, he wanted to not make it a habit, and only eat them when necessary, or to prove a point.

As the two brothers reached the crab, they found a surprise waiting for them. In reality, the two brothers already expected to find some scavengers trying to steal their prey, and today, it was a group of white bears.

But, those bears weren’t normal bears, they were huge, rugged, and boasted bodies filled with scars, red glowing eyes, and too much muscle to know what to do with.

“Gojo… I see five buff, white bears. What are those?” Arad pointed from above the hill they hid behind. Gojo took a quick look and smiled.

“Ice bears, just as the name implies, they live like Arctic Bears, but can use ice magic. And, they taste awful, but their meat can be used as bait for Krakens and Bloops.”

Arad smiled as well. “And on our kill list is… A Kraken.” He pointed at the bears. “We will use them as bait for the Kraken, then use the Kraken as bait for the Blizzard Monster.”

Arad lifted a finger, and a flash of magic floated above it. “Shall we go catch a few bears then?”

“Bet!” Arad jumped from above the hill and ran toward the bears at blinding speed, and the bears glared back at him, enraged. They had smelled him and Gojo ages ago, but didn’t want to bother with them and abandon the free food. But now that the two brothers are attacking, the bears couldn’t be more appalled by their actions.

Those two bald yetis have some nerve to charge five grown bears.

Arad rushed to the front, and Gojo stayed back to support him with spells from afar. It was a simple tactic, a damage dealer, and a mage to prevent them from getting overwhelmed.

One of the bears charged at Arad, and the two met a short distance away from the rest. The bear lunged forward to bite, and Arad ducked below the attack. Getting hugged by a bear now would be pretty bad.

But then, Arad noticed two more bears rushing at him. He can dodge one, but would get mauled by the other in a second, and then find himself getting ganged on by three bears.

That wouldn’t be nice.

The remaining two bears were already on their way toward Gojo. It seems that the monsters’ instinct was pretty simple. The bigger number faces the bigger threat, and the smaller number faces the smaller threat.

Simple but effective. This way of thinking had allowed them to survive for decades in the harsh and cruel lands of the Arctic.

Gojo smiled; those poor monster bears didn’t know what kind of horrors they were facing. Now, he didn’t worry about running out of mana, so he could show how terrifying a mage could be.

In a silent flash, Gojo and Arad switched places. He had used a seventh-tier spell, [Teleport].

Gojo was far smaller than Arad, and he could easily slip between the three bears. He moved with mastery, dodged the claws of one, the maw of one, then turned around to face the third with a clenched fist and two radiant blue eyes.

Five punches in one second, Gojo’s arms moved with a flash, and unleashed a barrage of [Shockwave] spells with each hit, denting the bear’s body and sending it flying toward Arad at blinding speed.

In the meantime, Arad had already dealt with the other two bears. Using a [Meat Hook], he hooked the first bear by the jaw as it tried to bite him, and then used the golden chains of the hook to trip the second bear, then punched it toward Gojo with a blinding [Divine Cleaver]

The two bears hit each other in the air and fell to the ground, dead. Arad only needed one [Divine Cleaver] to kill a bear, but Gojo seemed to have failed to finish the bear, even with five [Shockwaves], so the bears’ crash killed it. With that in mind, the two brothers quickly changed their strategy, working flawlessly together like one oiled killing machine.

At this moment, three bears were still alive. Two were upon Gojo, and one hooked to Arad’s [Meat Hook]. In the next second, only two bears would remain alive.

One of the two bears brought its massive claws on Gojo and was immediately surprised as its claws shattered, and it could finally see the shimmering, glass-like barrier surrounding the short, bald yeti in front of it.

“Did I make it a bit too hard?” Gojo looked a bit dissatisfied. He seems to have put a bit too much mana into the barrier and made it stronger than it should’ve been. He expected the barrier to shatter upon impact, but it didn’t.

That didn’t mean much in this fight, but it told him that his finer control of magic is a bit off, which could lead to a disaster in a more serious fight.

In the back, Arad ran toward Gojo, and a blinding golden light flashed from his eyes and arms, arcing through the golden chain of the [Meat Hook].

As the arch of divine magic reached the hook part of the [Meat Hook], where it was hooked to the bear’s jaw, it exploded forth into a blinding shockwave, tearing the bear’s head apart.

Arad then, with one move, pulled the meat hook toward him using the golden chain, feeling a rush of power through his veins as the gruesome death of the last bear triggered murder’s [Massacre] harder than the first kill.

At this point, Gojo only had one kill while Arad had two, so he had to move. Dropping down the barrier, Gojo threw his palm forward and touched the bear with a smile [FREEZE].

A rush of frigid magic exploded from Gojo’s palm, and the bear had turned into an ice statue before it could even know it.

At the same time, Arad swung the [Meat Hook] with its chain and smiled, “The last one is mine.” And with one throw, he sent the hook flying toward the last bear’s head, shattering it with a [Divine Cleaver].

“I win, three to two.” Arad landed beside Gojo and looked at him with a smile.

Gojo laughed. “No, it’s a draw. This one is still alive.” He pointed at the frozen bear.

Arad lifted an eyebrow. “Then I still win, three to one. And, didn’t you say those were ice bears? How could you freeze one?”

Gojo smiled. “That is why this bear is still alive when frozen like this. We’ll use it as live bait for the kraken.” He tapped the frozen bear. “I say we count this bear as two points, catching one alive is harder than killing it after all.”