The dragon's harem

Chapter 868: Setting Off To the Beast Land.

Luminous looked at Aradʼs stats{Youʼll find them in an auxiliary chapter at the start of the book. I didnʼt want to add them here as they are too long and would increase both the size and price of the chapter.} and scratched her head... ”Level 144, but youʼre still a Juvenile, with this much power?” she gasped.

”Am I really that strong?” Arad tilted his head and she nodded, ”Extremely strong for your age. I would say itʼs strange how much power you hold. But still, most of it seems to be left out of the system as expected.”

”Is that normal?” Betty asked.

”Yeah.” Luminous smiled, ”The system is created by Aria, the archangel to give the weak a fighting chance against the horrors of this world. Itʼs not designed to give more power to already strong creatures. Arad here is amassing power in his own outside of the system, which is a good thing.”

”He wonʼt have to worry about people finding his abilities or getting compromised with other abilities.” Betty waved her hand and created a magic circle, hitting Arad with it. ”No effect, so this is what you meant before.”

”That was light magic.” Arad looked at his arm, he was unharmed.

”System immunity and natural immunity are two different things. System immunity can be compromised with other system abilities, but natural immunity cannot. Natural immunity also wonʼt show on the system, no one is going to tell you that humans are immune to low wind pressure. But a breeze wonʼt hurt you.” She tried to explain it. ”Your dark void absorbs light, giving you a weak immunity to light, to an upper threshold.” She hit him with a small beam, and gave a small burn, ”Me and grandma can easily surpass that threshold.”

”Now that Iʼve seen your stats Iʼm satisfied. It might be a bit early, but youʼre already breaking from the shackles of the system. Carve your own path, or die trying, void kid.” She disappeared in a flash.

”What was that about?” Arad sighed, ”After bringing me all the way here to see my stats.”

”Even I donʼt understand what my grandma is thinking about. All I know is that she knows what sheʼs doing.” Betty shook her head, ”And...she can make us those.” She pointed at two massive mirrors that she had resting on the wall.

”Teleportation gates...” Arad blinked twice, ”Wait...those are for us?”

”Yeah, she made them so the trip to the beast kingdom wonʼt take long. Youʼll get there in a single day.” Betty scratched her head, ”I wanted to teleport you straight to Matildaʼs village... but that was in the territory of the eternal beast queen Hati. Sheʼll rip us apart if we do that.” ”The beast queen... Iʼve seen her before. She seemed like a sly fox to me.” Arad sat on one of the chairs and put one leg on another, ”I could feel a strange power coming from her, but I couldnʼt figure out what it was.”

”Sheʼs an eternal creature.” Betty replied with a serious face.

”Whatʼs the difference between eternal and immortal?” Arad asked, ”I know that immortality has two types, age immortality and true immortality where you canʼt die or be killed.”

”She is eternal, she will never age or get killed. Her mana will never run out, her health wonʼt deteriorate, her rule over the beast kingdom will never fall, and the wild nature of her domain will remain undisturbed, her existence itself is what preserves the forests of the beast kingdom. Sheʼll always be there until the end of time, sheʼs an indestructible existence by all the meaning of the word.” Betty waved her hand, ”Imagine her like the world itself, or time, or space, those things always existed, and will always be.”

”How strong is she?” Arad asked.

”Since becoming a god would prevent her from being the eternal queen of the beast kingdom, sheʼs staying mortal. But, Maharaja, the divine goddess of the hunt has said something about Hati.” Betty glared at Arad, ”She is my silver sister, we stood claw to claw, fang to fang, and one life to another. One pride, one honor, and one hunting pack.”

”And that means...”

”Maharaja says that Hati is as strong as her and that sheʼll come down to fight by her side if got in any battle. When she said silver sister, she didnʼt mean a real sister, they both got married to the same person, and thatʼs why she mentions one pride.” Betty explained, ”Be careful of her, there isnʼt a single person in this world who dares to offend her.”

Arad stood, ”Understood... Iʼve got my fair share of fighting gods.” Arad knew firsthand how annoying and painful it was to fight against a lesser god, and now just imagining how long a fight against Maharaja would be, he doesnʼt want any part of that.

”By the way...Isdis said sheʼll bring some people with her.” Betty said as she saw Arad leaving the office, ”Who?”

”Tina and Serina are coming, Ignis as well. Isdis said that Serina had started walking so sheʼs bringing them with her on a vacation.” Betty smiled, ”I asked for security, and she simply. Arad will be there so there wonʼt be any problems.”

”Really?!” Arad said with a large smile, ”Since when did she start walking?”

”Two days ago, wait, this is the part youʼre worried about? How about protecting them?” Betty giggled.

”As long as Iʼm there itʼs okay. I bet she brought Ignis to protect Serina and play with her.” He smiled, ”Thank you for telling me, Iʼm looking forward to seeing them.” He walked out.

Betty smiled, ”I wish I could go with you...but...” She pulled her drawer, there was a massive pile of papers. ”Work piled up...”

****

Several hours later all the students had gathered, Arad was standing on the side with his bag alongside Mira, Matilda, and Selina.

”Look, itʼs their princessʼs carriage.” One of the students gasped, waving his hand. The royal caravan stopped and Isdis looked at them, waving her hand with a smile at the student who

waved at her first.

”She looked at me!” He cried.

As Arad looked closer at Isdis, he noticed the weird smile on her face. ”This bastard.” He giggled. That was Abel, not Isdis. While his shop is working on its own, he seems to be making a lot of money as a body double for Isdis.

Lucia sighed and walked forth with an exhausted face, she had plans for this night and tomorrow, but this sudden trip trashed all of that. She waved her hand, ”Youʼll be using the carriages provided by Her Highness due to their durability and magic defenses, they were reinforced by archmage Merlin herself, be careful not to damage them.” She handed the students papers with numbers.

”Ride in the carriages holding your numbers and donʼt get out unless told to. Itʼs one of Merlinʼs magic restrictions so donʼt break it, itʼs for your safety.” She waved her hands and the students started getting into their carriages.

Arad, Mira, Matilda, and Selina all had the same number, 7.

Matilda looked at her paper, ”Mira is Aronʼs wife so I understand why sheʼs with him, but why

us too?”

”Each carriage holds four people.” Selina pointed at the other students. ”Itʼs probably just for that reason.”

Matilda sighed, ”Iʼm not a fan...you didnʼt protect me...” She looked at Arad.

”Oh...but heʼs my husband, not yours.” Mira hugged his arm, ”Heʼll protect me, not you.”

”That isnʼt my problem! He was protecting me at first, what I didnʼt like was him selling me in a heartbeat.” She growled.

”Since that was your father.” Mira replied to her with a smile as they got into the carriage.

”Wait...” Matilda gasped as noticed the carriage was far larger on the inside than it looked from the outside. At a glance, it was clear from the outside that the carriage could mostly fit four people inside, but now itʼs as large as a room. It was even furnished like a guest room. ”Where are we?” Matilda looked at Selina with a confused face.

”This is...spatial magic? Why waste such a thing on students?” She looked around with a worried face.

”Waste?” Merlin approached them with a smile on her face. ”I donʼt waste magic.” The moment Matilda and Selina saw her they jumped back, ”The archmage Merlin...” They didnʼt

believe the real thing was standing before them.

A little girl looked from behind Merlinʼs robe and saw Arad... ”D...a...d!” she gasped and rushed toward him, tip-tapping as she almost tripped twice.

”Serin...” Arad grabbed and lifted her up with a large smile on his face, ”Youʼve grown so

much... look at you running around.”

Serin giggled, waving her hands, ”Dad...dad...”

”Wait... youʼve got a daughter?!” Matilda and Selina gasped as they looked at Arad.

Tina approached from the back, ”Not exactly, sheʼs my daughter. Iʼm his maid. You can say he

adopted her.”

As the two were still confused, Isdis approached from the back. ”This carriage is the only one that got enlarged,” The moment the two saw her, they kneeled immediately.

”I hired sir Aron as my personal guard, thatʼs why heʼs here.” She smiled... ”To avoid suspicion, you two ended up here as well, so I want to hire you as guards as well.” Matilda and Selina couldnʼt even speak, they looked at Isdis with confused faces. ”Aron is

your personal guard, and your Highness want to hire us as well?” Matilda mumbled, and Selina couldnʼt even speak properly.

”Yes. Iʼm certain sir Aron would do most of the heavy lifting so you two can relax through the trip.” She looked back, ”Are you two afraid of monsters?”

Matilda blinked twice, ”No, Iʼll fight them any time.”

”Well, donʼt fight this one. Sheʼs one of Aronʼs friends and lives with him,” A red wyrmling

came from the back, ”Sheʼs called Ignis, a red wyrmling. Aron has been taking care of her for a

while and sheʼs now living in his home, I brought her as sheʼll be a good guard.”

Ignis rushed to Arad like an excited puppy, ”Father, itʼs been a while.” Only Arad could understand Ignisʼs words.

”He giggled, father? When did you start calling me that?” He replied in draconic.

”Serin calls you the same...youʼre raising me, so I should call you father...Merlin said so...”

Ignis replied with a large smile on her face.

Arad glared at Merlin, ”What are you teaching her?”

”Sheʼs in the same basket as Serin, isnʼt she? Let her be.” Merlin waved her hand, ”I wanted to

bring Yuwaku as well, but sheʼll be a problem.”

”I know...” Arad shook his head, ”Iʼll meet her when I get back home.” He lifted Ignis as he

did Serin, ”You didnʼt grow that much, did your hoard grow any bigger?” While it looked normal to him, Matilda and Selina couldnʼt believe their eyes seeing him lift such a massive and heavy monster like it was nothing.

”D...a...d” Serin pulled on Aradʼs pants. He looked at her, ”Want me to carry you as well?” He

smiled, lifting Ignis with a single hand and lifting Serin with the other, sending Matilda and Selina into an even bigger shock, he wasnʼt even sweating.

”Wait...thatʼs a prideful red wyrmling...” Selina finally started getting back to her senses, ”He shouldnʼt be able to tame it...”

”Wait... youʼre right.” Matilda gasped.

”He didnʼt tame her, saved her, and gave her a place to live in. Sheʼs living with him, not being tamed like an animal.” Merlin replied with a smile as she walked to the couch and sat down. ”You can rest and relax. The trip would take around a day.”

As everyone sat down, Matilda and Selina couldnʼt stop looking at Arad playing horse with

Serin. She rode on his back as he wrestled Ignis on the floor. It looked like two massive dogs fighting with a child riding one of them.

Matilda was about to ask Arad why is he fooling around but then remembered how he beat her

father while having her sit on his lap. That man is a monster, even while acting like that, heʼs still probably keeping watch.

”Aron is strong.” Isdis said as she sat facing them, ”Iʼve seen him fight several times and I was surprised each time. I believe he might be one of the best fighters in the kingdom.” Selina looked down with a thinking face, ”And since he isnʼt known...heʼll be cheaper to hire than someone like the dragon slayer Alcott.”

”Exactly.” Isdis looked at Arad, ”Heʼs also one of the rare few that still hold value for things other than money.”

”Heʼs a dad... I couldnʼt have imagined that in a million years.” Matilda sighed, ”Thatʼs probably why...” She looked at Arad. ^If heʼs a father, that might be the reason why he left me

for my father.Ʌ

Selina looked at Mira as she saw her talking with Tina. ”Do you mind if I asked something?” ”Yeah.” Mira smiled.

”How does it...you two work...” She looked between her and Tina.

”Ah, me.” Tina smiled, ”Iʼm only his maid. He picked me up when I was in need. My daughter

considers him her father, but we arenʼt in any kind of relationship.” She shook her head. ”I wonʼt mind being in a one though.”

Mira poked her with a smile, ”That isnʼt for us two to decide on our own. The others would kill

us.” She giggled.

”Please donʼt worry, Iʼll not cause you any trouble, Lady Mira.” Tina replied with a smile. Isdis approached them almost immediately, ”Donʼt leave me out of the conversation.” While those talked about several personal things...Matilda was sitting with Merlin watching

Arad play with Ignis and Serin.

”It doesnʼt make sense, I canʼt see him as Aron anymore.” Matilda said with a passive face,

”He always looked large and intimidating, but now heʼs rolling on the ground with a kid like a

massive cat.”

”Aron is pretty gentle, he might be a fierce fighter, but heʼs mostly a docile man while with

his family.” Merlin replied.

Two hours later...A scream came from the outside as Arad was still playing with Serin and

Ignis.

Merlin stood, ”This is a problem...itʼs an adult blue dragon.” She growled.

Arad lifted Serin and put her on the ground, ”Iʼll deal with him.” She walked toward the door.

The blue dragon was roaring and laughing. Those carriages looked expensive and he was

certain theyʼd bring riches into his hoard. Zara was ready to fight to the death to protect his daughter who was in the carriages.

But at that moment, Aradʼs carriage door opened and he slowly appeared. The moment his foot hit the ground, the blue dragon could see an endless wave of darkness exploding out. Terrified to the bones, the dragon immediately flew away as fast as he could.

^Shit! Shit! Shit! What was that monster...why didnʼt I feel him.^ ”Iʼll let you off with this.” Arad was already sitting on his neck.