The dragon's harem

“I’m trying to see how well she fights.” Isdis called to Arad as she noticed Camilla about to shit herself. Under his sharp glare, not many could even breathe. Even the relatively senseless humans can instinctively understand that Arad isn’t something they could fight.

Arad lifted his head and looked at Isdis with a smile. “I just showed up since the attack happened outside the labyrinth.” He then looked down toward Camilla, “But she does move well, doesn’t she?”

Hearing that, Camilla took a few steps back, and Arad arched his back to look her in the eyes. “You were never trained by anyone. Your moves are rough, wild, and animalistic. I believe the only learning you did was fight monsters and see what works.”

It was hard for anyone to notice, but Arad could see it well. Camilla didn’t stand against Isdis as a human should when facing another sword-wielding human. She treated her more like a wild beast, keeping a low guard and being ready to slash. Her fighting style is more like that of a barbarian wielding a greatsword than that of a fighter.

He suddenly pulled a bastard sword out of nowhere, and looked at it. “Let me see, you still move on two limbs, but can’t you move in three? Use two legs to run, and your left arm to push, climb, and balance.”

He knelt down and primed himself at a running start with one fist firmly on the ground and the other hand holding the sword and resting it on his back. “Keep your attacks low, and aim at the legs.”

When Arad burst forward toward Isdis, she gasped with sweat rushing down her face. He moved like a beast, and his sword swung toward her legs from an angle that was hard to counter with her rapier. She barely jumped back and dodged the slash, only to be faced with another wide swing, an animalistic leap, and a downward slash as he spun and aimed for her head.

Isdis managed to block the attack and jumped back, she was already gasping for air. “You said keep the attacks low!”

“That’s why I jumped and attacked your head, to do something you aren’t expecting. If she only aimed down for the entire fight, then sneak an attack like that, she would catch her opponent by surprise and win most normal fights.” Arad replied as he stood, looked at the bastard sword with a smile, and then threw it back to Camilla.

She was surprised, but moved quickly and caught the sword by the handle. The moment her hands clenched on the grip, she could feel it. The weight, the balance, the sharp edge, and the strange resonance of the metal it was made from. This sword was something that even A-rankers can’t get their hands on easily, and even to S-rankers, it was a treasure that would carry them for years in battle.

“That’s a mithril sword that was forged in the Fire Spirit Queen’s flames and quenched in the Water Spirit Queen’s water. The handle is made from the World Tree wood, Kraken leather, and Demon Spider silk. Mira made it, so you won’t find another one like it in the market.” He then pointed at Isdis. “It can cut through her armor if you have the arm strength to back up your slashes.”

This sword was one of Mira’s countless failed attempts at forging a decent blade for Arad. She had used Mithril for it, but it seems that without special preparation, the metal itself became the sword’s limiter and capped its potential. If Arad was to channel his magic through it, it would just shatter, but for someone like Camilla, this sword was far better than anything she had ever owned or dreamt of laying a hand on.

“Wait! You want me to cut through her armor?” Camilla gasped, and Arad laughed as he walked away, found a bench, and took a seat. “Getting through her armor is one thing, but her skin is a whole other problem.” Pointing at Isdis, he chuckled. “If your sword stayed in contact with her skin for more than a second, the cold would travel through it and freeze your arms solid.”

“Enough chatting, she should try, and learn through fighting.” Isdis flung her rapier, looked forward with a smile, and then flashed toward Camilla like a blur of mist.

Camilla gasped and dodged the stab, barely managing to move at the last moment. The fight was on, and now wasn’t the time to think or hesitate.

Adventurers and soldiers moved very differently from each other. One was trained to face humanoids and arm cannons, and the other was forged in the middle of forging lands, fighting beasts that never adhered to a single pattern.

A regular knight would’ve sidestepped the stab and slashed down, but Camilla rolled past Isdis and swung her foot at her face. Isdis punched the foot away, only to find Camilla’s sword already heading toward her calves.

Isdis skipped over the slash and sent her rapier thrusting down at Camilla’s head, only to have her move her head out of the way and lung forward in a low tackle. Anyone would’ve been dropped down by that, but Isdis wasn’t just anyone. She was trained as a soldier and knight since she was young, and had spent years fighting monsters like adventurers do.

She swung her knee forward and smacked Camilla in the face, then followed with a kick that sent the poor maid flying into the wall with a loud crunch that made the soldiers watching flinch.

“Damn it! That hurts!” Camilla growled as she stood; The dress on her forearm had torn off, and the skin beneath was already blue. She blocked Isdis’s kick, but at the cost of cracking her bones.

“I thought you’d complain. I wear armor, and you do not.” Isdis looked at her with a smile, and Camilla swung her arm, trying get a feel for her bones and if they aren’t fully shattered.

“It’s not like I could have afforded anything better than leather armor, and I won’t be able to walk around the castle in such a thing.” She leaned forward, mimicking the stance Arad showed. “Brace yourself, Queen, or you might lose an arm.”

She dashed forward, moving at blinding speed, her arms raced, and the sword whistled through the air. Isdis didn’t wait to see how the attack would unfold, and she just moved aside, swinging her rapier in Camilla’s path.

Camilla knew that such a thing would happen, so the moment Isdis moved, she changed her direction and aimed low at her legs. One foot kicked the ground, and her hips twisted as all of her muscles screamed. The cracked bones of her forearm rubbed on each other, and the blood in her veins boiled as she pushed her body to its upper limit.

When Camilla kicked the ground, her entire body flew up, and the attack that was supposed to target Isdis’s legs was now aiming at the neck. Isdis, who was trying to block a low hit, now found her rapier aimed at the ground, away from where Camilla was attacking.

[Adrenaline Rush]

[Action Surge]

Camilla was a seasoned B-ranker who had fought many monsters. Both her strength and speed reflected the struggle and experience she got, and thanks to that, and the light weight of the sword Arad gave her, the speed of her attacks had dramatically increased.

Before, she could swing her sword four times a second, and with Arad’s sword, she could swing it five times. Then, adding adrenaline rush and action surge, her speed was doubled twice in a row, making that five a twenty.

If all of the knights and guards currently present in the castle stormed Camilla, she would probably be able to kill at least a few dozen of them before being put down. Being able to swing the sword twenty times a second probably means that twenty heads are going to roll in the blink of an eye.

That was the kind of powerful being she was. Nothing as crazy as Arad, his wives, or even the strongest adventurers, but she was still far above the regular people. But she had a single weakness to that speed, and it was the fact that she had one sword, and it was held by both hands.

Those slashes, even though they were fast, don’t all come out at once. She has to slash the first time, then follow with the next slash, then the third, and so on until all twenty are delivered in a second. If the first one got caught, then the next nineteen slashes won’t come out.

And that is what happened, and Camilla found herself shocked when Isdis caught the blade in her palm and started freezing it. Time seemed to slow down for her, and she had to act quickly. If she keeps holding the sword, then the cold would travel up to her arms and freeze her as well.

That is when Camilla opened her palms and let go of the sword, charging in. She already lost one attack and wasted the time of two more, but that meant she still had the window to unleash the remaining seventeen attacks. But that wasn’t all, since she was now swinging two fists instead of a single heavy sword, those seventeen attacks doubled, and got a small bonus since she wasn’t swinging a heavy blade.

Thirty-nine punches were unleashed in the blink of an eye, all of them clashing with Isdis’s armored torso and soft face. But when that second ended, Isdis’s fist came forward and smacked Camilla in the stomach, sending her flying back with a shockwave.

“You’re talented for a B-ranker, but even if your punches are fast, they lack the strength and weight to damage me.” Isdis checked her face and lips for damage. A single bruise is all she got. Camilla, on the other hand, coughed blood, her arms and legs trembled, and her knuckles were covered in frozen blood.