The dragon's harem

Chapter 761 Tales of Light Speed

In the middle of summer, Doma lay on her hammock wearing only her underwear with a wood golem fanning her with a large leaf. ”Damn you, sun. Whatʼs this heat today.” She growled, taking her cut for a drink.

Behind her a stack of papers, unfinished work. But no one could find it bearable to sit at a desk and work in such conditions.

KNOCK! KNOCK! KNOCK!

Doma grunted, turning aside, ”Who is it now? Iʼm busy dealing with the heat…” She wore her mantle and walked toward the front door.

There werenʼt that many creatures that could reach Domaʼs front door. She lived in her hut, protected by countless lairs of curses and violent evil spirits roaming everywhere. Itʼs either a powerful monster, a demi-god, or a lost child that the evil spirits guided in to watch him get killed.

Doma opened the door, ready to blast anyone outside into oblivion. But instead, she was faced with a blinding light as if that damned sun came to her front door.

”Doma, I need your help.” The orb of light said.

”Luminus?” Doma sighed, smacking the door closed.

”Doma! Where are you going?” Luminus shouted.

”Itʼs always like this! Helping any of you would be several decades of commitment. I donʼt want to deal with that. Find someone else.” Doma yelled at her.

”Doma, please. Youʼre the only one I can count on. At least give my granddaughter a look.” Luminus yelled back, and the door immediately opened back.

”Granddaughter? I sent you a congratulatory letter five years ago when she was born. That doesnʼt mean Iʼll care for it for you… but at least turn the light off.” Doma sighed, ”I canʼt see anything like this, and it hurt my eyes.”

”You know I canʼt.”

Doma sighed, waving two fingers in front of Luminus with her eyes closed, ”This will hurt.”

”Do it.”

Luminusʼs light faded away, and her face could finally be visible. A tall woman in her late forties with long and reflective hair, diamond eyes, and clear pale skin that looked almost oiled, you could even see yourself on her mirror-like nails.

Blood started dripping from Luminusʼs nose and ears. ”This really hurt, more than the rest.” She smiled.

”The rest…” Doma looked back, seeing Lumunisʼs back charred from all the curses she walked through to get there. ”Youʼre dying! Get inside.”

”Iʼll survive, not many things can kill me. More importantly, look at her.” Luminus handed something large wrapped in a piece of white cloth.

Domaʼs nose instantly picked it up, the scent of charred flesh.

”This is bad. Come in.” Doma took Luminusʼs granddaughter and rushed inside, with Luminus following them.

”What did happen?” Doma asked.

”She inherited my blood, and this is what happened.” Luminus replied as Doma unveiled the wrapping, seeing a charred body that was barely alive due to several magic items and healing spells active on her.

”Just as some fire sorcerers burn their houses down when their powers first manifest, she tried to go at the speed of light. But, mortals arenʼt like you light dragons.”

”When moving at a high speed, the friction with the air turns into heat. She burned like a meteor without even reaching a fraction of the speed of light, and Iʼm sure the impact left her broken down to every bone.” Doma glared at Luminus, ”I believe I told you not to have children with humans.”

”I didnʼt, sheʼs my granddaughter. My eldest son married a halfling and she was born.” Luminus explained.

”Halfling…I guess the ears fell off when she burned.” Doma lifted her hand over the body. ”First, I need to make sure she doesnʼt use her powers by mistake when healing.” She turned toward Luminus, ”You donʼt mind me doing anything to her, right?”

”Sheʼll die if her powers arenʼt quelled, so please do anything you can.” Luminus bowed.

”Got it, first, Iʼll knock her out and seal her consciousness. That would make her act like a golem for the time being, but at least she wonʼt use her powers by mistake.” A wave of dark magic engulfed the body.

”Thatʼs mind control, and a powerful one at that.” Luminus stared at Domaʼs magic.

”Iʼm no stranger to learning forbidden curses and magic. But, they become really useful at times like this.” Doma replied.

”What scares me is that it can work on me.” Luminus smiled, looking at the spell.

”Youʼll cut my head off before I could cast it.” Doma smiled.

”Is that so?” Luminus stared at her. ”My guts tell me Iʼm the one to lose if we fought, and my gut feeling has never been wrong.” She could sense a wave of dreams coming from Domaʼs magic.

”Why do you not join the power struggle? Doma.” Luminus stared at her, ”Are you satisfied with your life here?”

”Iʼm a weirdo, a lonely elf with a fetish for collecting forbidden curses and horrid magic that makes people terrified. I can study in peace here, and the world doesnʼt need to deal with the horror of me walking around it.” Doma waved her hand as she finished casting the spell on Lumunisʼs granddaughter.

”You collect everything that is evil, cursed, and blasphemous. But you arenʼt malevolent, youʼre just weird. Probably why the gods never dropped a holy sword to slay you.” Luminus smiled.

”I just love, forbidden knowledge.” Doma smiled. ”Done for now, get the healing spells to go all out.” She rushed to her lab and brought a tube to feed the granddaughter with. ”Her name was Betty, right?”

”Yeah.” Luminus replied. ”Now?” Putting her hands over Bettyʼs chest.

”Wait, Iʼll make a slurry for her to eat first.” Doma quickly crushed a paste of honey, water, and herbs. She then shoved the tube down Bettyʼs nose and to her stomach, and started feeding her as Luminus slowly let the healing spells go all out.

After two days of hard work, Bettyʼs body finally fully healed and she woke up, sitting up with an empty, emotionless face as she was still under Domaʼs mind control.

Luminus stared at her, almost crying. She thought her granddaughter would die no matter how she tried to help, but Doma made it possible. ”Doma..thank…”

”Donʼt thank me yet. Weʼre halfway there.” Doma approached Betty. ”You said I can do anything to her. Iʼm sure you wonʼt like this, so can you leave?”

”I want to stay…” Luminus glared at her. ”What are you trying to do?”

”We canʼt let her live her life like an emotionless puppet, can we? So Iʼll curse her to lose her powers or at least most of her power.” Doma looked at Bettyʼs eyes. ”I better do it while sheʼs under my mind control so I canʼt erase the memory of being cursed from her head.”

”Why erase it?” Luminus looked at Doma with a worried face.

”Cause it painful as hell. Itʼll break and reconstrict her blood, soul, and bones to work. Imagine it like a really painful tooth, but itʼs all of your bones.” Doma waved her hand over Bettyʼs head, and she started screaming her lungs out.

”Letʼs go.” Doma dragged Luminus out of the room. ”This will take a few hours.”

”We arenʼt leaving her like this.” Luminus didnʼt want to leave the room.

”You can stay with her if you want, but sheʼll be in pain for a long time.” Doma left the room leaving Luminus sitting with crying Betty.

A day later, Betty finally calmed down, the curse had taken effect.

”So what now?” Luminus looked at Doma who just walked into the room.

”First, delete the memory of getting cursed.” She waved her finger, and Betty fell unconscious for a second and then woke up immediately. ”And then release her.”

With a finger flick, light returned to Bettyʼs eyes and she looked around surprised, ”Where am I?” She gasped.

Luminus hugged her crying, ”You fine, itʼs all right.”

”Grandma, what happened.”

”Nothing sweety, youʼll be fine.”

”No, you wonʼt.” Doma said in the back. ”You almost killed yourself.” She cut them off.

”Doma!” Luminus glared at her.

”You said I can do whatever I want, so donʼt get in the way.” Doma walked toward Betty. ”I really donʼt want to cut off this sweety family moment, but you still might kill yourself.”

”How?” Luminus glared at Doma, ”Her powers are sealed.”

”Youʼre a light drakaina, do you think your powers are that easily suppressed?” Doma sighed, ”My curse managed to suppress her power down to 0.000001%. This means she could still fly at 3 meters per second and break a bone or her neck.” Doma looked into Bettyʼs eyes, ”You arenʼt going back home, youʼre staying here to train on how to control your powers.”

”I thought you hated having outsiders here.” Luminus glared at Doma, ”And I didnʼt tell her parents that she wonʼt be returning.”

Doma pulled two papers out of her pocket, ”Give those to them, they can come to visit her. But sheʼs staying here.”

Luminus stared at Doma, ”Betty, want to stay here?” She asked.

”Do I need to stay?” Betty asked, still confused about everything.

”Yeah.” Doma stared at her. ”Otherwise, youʼll end up hurting yourself and making your parents and grandma worry. From today, youʼll be living with me here to train.”

Luminus sighed, ”Fine, Iʼll go bring her parents here.” She stood.

”Grandma…” Betty called her. ”You arenʼt glowing…”

”I did that to her.” Doma flicked her fingers, ”Here you go, powers back so you can go. I made an exception for you in the hutʼs defenses. And for her parents, theyʼll be fine as they are carrying their passes.”

In a flash, Luminus disappeared leaving Betty and Doma alone.

”What do I do now?” Betty asked.

”Go take a bath and come to the kitchen, Iʼll cook something for you to eat. We can then meet your parents and start training tomorrow.” Doma pointed at the wardrobe. ”It has some of my old clothes, they should fit you. If they didnʼt, make them fit.” She pointed to a box of needles and threads.

Betty took a bath, ate her fill, and met her parents who brought her clothes and toys. They were extremely weary of Doma but grateful for saving their daughterʼs life.

The next day quickly came by, and Bettyʼs training began.

”First your core strength! Run around the garden until you puke!” Doma shouted, sitting on her porch with a staff in her hand, waving at Betty who ran with heavy breath. ”I canʼt!” Betty cried.

”You can! Keep going and donʼt stop!” Doma yelled at her.

A year quickly passed with Betty only working on her endurance and strength, running around, doing pushups with Doma sitting on her back, and plowing the garden with the golems.

”Master.” Betty approached Doma. ”I want to start training on controlling my light powers, itʼs been a year.”

Doma approached her, slapped her in the face then kicked her in the guts, sending her rolling on the ground. Crying, Betty stared at Doma, ”Why…did you do that.”

”Those two hits are far gentler than hitting a tree at a fraction of the speed of light.” Doma said, ”Come do my nails. Starting today, Iʼll hit you like this once a week, and when you can take it without falling down or crying, Iʼll start training you on how to control the light.”

With tears in her eyes, Betty barely stood and started doing Domaʼs nails as she thought about it. Those two hits hurt a lot, and Doma said they are far gentler than hitting something with her power, is she really ready to train? Itʼs been a grueling year, but for what purpose if she canʼt even train?

”Donʼt worry about it.” Doma said, ”Everyone starts somewhere. Youʼll be able to control your powers one day.”

It took Betty two years to be able to start her training in light magic.

”Stand in place and donʼt move, focus on your magic and throw a straight punch. Youʼll most likely dislocate your shoulder or elbow, so be ready for a lot of pain. Not that many things can move too fast.” Doma said, standing beside her.

Betty took a deep breath, pulled her fist back, and then punched forward. CRACK! Both her shoulder and elbow were dislocated. She fell down screaming, ”Both…you seem to need more muscles around your joints.”

Doma grabbed Betty where she was and snapped her shoulder and wrist in place, leaving her writhing in pain. ”See? Itʼs painful, so keep training.”

After another year of physical training, Betty finally managed to unleash 0.000001% of her power without breaking her own fragile body, halflings werenʼt known for their sturdiness.

”Master! I did it! I did it!” She rushed toward Doma with a large smile.

Doma patted her head, ”This is just the first step. Keep going and one day you can use 100% without dying.”

Time quickly passed by, and a decade ended without anyone noticing. Betty has grown so strong she could unleash around 0.0001% of the speed of light. She could move and hit at a speed close to bullets without ending her own life.

”Master, Iʼm going now.” Betty bowed to Doma at the edge of the hut. Sheʼs going to her motherʼs graduation ceremony.

Since Bettyʼs powers showed up, her parents refused to have any more children. Her mother instead focused on studying magic and alchemy, trying to find a way to have children without them inheriting her bloodlines. Her research didnʼt go well, but she managed to graduate from a local school and invited Betty to visit.

The ceremony went well as any other and Betty stood at the entrance with her father, awaiting their mother to come out so they could head home and spend the night before Betty had to return to Domaʼs hut.

CRACK! The ground shook, and dust started rushing in. Bettyʼs father looked to the walls, and a large giant had broken the cityʼs wall and walked in, heʼs almost forty meters tall and holds a massive club.

Bettyʼs father couldnʼt fight, heʼs a semi-immortal shapeshifter and her mother is a normal halfling. ”Betty, dear, letʼs run!” The mother came in rushing from inside the school and grabbed Betty by the hand. ”Itʼs dangerous.”

SWOSH! A fist-sized stone flew toward them, and Betty smacked it away in the blink of an eye. She shook her motherʼs hand off, ”You two run, Iʼll handle that thing.” Betty hunched her fists back.

”0.0001%, unleashed…” Her body sparked with a faint light, and she flashed forward, running and dodging the flying debris. Her mother and father screamed in the back, but someone had to take action, the adventurers and guards were too slow, and people were already dying everywhere, crushed by the rubble.

The giant saw Betty and swung his massive club at her.

^Sorry, Master. 0.0001% doesnʼt have enough power to kill this thing.^ Her left foot flashed with a bright light, CRACK! She jumped, dodging the giantʼs club, and reached his face.

”0.001%, FLASH!” She punched him in the face so hard a shockwave blasted him backward, and Bettyʼs arm broke with her fingers falling apart, her leg was also broken as she used that same power to jump.

The people of the city gasped as they saw a bright white flash fill the sky for a fraction of a second.

From that day, Betty was nicknamed the Flash. ”Betty the Flash was born.”