The dragon's harem

Chapter 1501: Testing the Water

Back at the village, Arad sat in his room, looking at everyone there. Usually, he would be the one speaking, but today, it wasn’t his place to do so, because he was already far above the newcomer to a point where she was almost killed by just standing close to him, fighting.

Denki looked around the room, terrified and confused. Arad’s wives didn’t look that friendly, except the black drakaina in the back, which led Denki to rush and hide behind her.

Zul looked at Denki and then at everyone else, ”Can you... Stop glaring at her?”

”No.” Gamond smiled, ”I want to eat her. If she isn’t here to be a wife, then she is here as food.”

Dragons were nothing like humans; they were more akin to black widows and wild monsters. Most of them would eat their mate after mating if they were too weak. Like lions, if a new male invaded another’s family and killed his to steal his mates, the first thing they would do is kill the offspring of the first male, unless they were old enough to mate as well.

And in this case, where a new drakaina tries to jump into the lair, she has only three choices.

Be protected by Arad so the others would just beat her up and let her live at the bottom of the food chain, because she is the weakest of them all.

Fight for her own survival and secure a place with blood, at least impressing the strongest drakaina, which is Gamond.

Or, get killed and eaten by the drakainas protecting the nest.

”Stop it.” Eris glared at everyone, ”No one is killing or beating anyone here. We need her, so she stays.” She then glared at Gamond, ”And if you’re so hellbent on eating her, then I’ll be one eating you.”

Gamond smiled, ”Come, Eris. You know you can’t defeat me. And, don’t tempt me. You’re a half-human, you taste too good to pass on.”

Denki could feel it; those were probably the strongest in the room. Gamond’s cold glare sent chills down her back, and the crackle caused by Eris’s boiling plasma was enough to make her hair stand. She couldn’t even go home to defeat Zul, let alone those two if they decided to kill her.

She wanted to ask how in the nine hells did Arad manage to tame those two, but remembering him and Azorn rattling the arena earlier made her change her mind. He was the kind of monster that could do this.

Claug, who was silent this whole time, looked at Gamond and Eris, and then snuck her way to Arad, ”While they are busy, let’s play a bit.”

Kory saw her and rushed in as well, ”Wait for me!”

Gamond and Eris glared back at them, ”You two!” Gamond growled.

Arad sighed, ”Can you all calm down a bit? Do you need to fight over it like this?”

Gamond looked at him and smiled, ”Not really. Traditionally, yes. Even if Tiamat wanted her to stay with us, that doesn’t mean she gets a pass with how weak she is.”

Claug shrugged, ”The reason dragons stayed powerful for eons is that we valued strength over anything else. The weak can’t procreate.”

Arad sighed, ”Who said she is here as a mate? That’s for her to decide, not me or you. For now, she’ll guide us through the storm and later settle around the castle. All Tiamat wanted was to grant her a place to live in and grow, nothing else.”

”AH! I see.” Gamond smiled, ”So, little Denki, what do you want?”

If Denki said she wanted to be one of Arad’s mates, then that would mean challenging all of the drakainas, which would lead to her getting killed and eaten.

So all she could do was shake her head and look away, ”I’m only doing my job, what Tiamat wanted. Unless you want to draw her wrath,”

Claug frowned in the back, ”Shit bucket, we’d better let her be. Took me a long time to get this humanoid body. I don’t want to lose it.”

At this moment, the room has split in half. Zul, Eris, and Claug were on Denki’s side, leaving only Kory and Gamond against it. But that was quickly coming to an end as well, since Kory wasn’t going to stay on her mother’s side for long.

When Kory’s rebellious red blood flowed in, she immediately switched sides, declaring that she would rather be on the side of the majority.

Gamond sighed, ”Maybe I’m just too old. You got it, the brat stays. But, away from my...our Arad.”

She glared at Denki, ”What we care about is power, strength, and you don’t seem to match even Zul over there.”

Arad looked at them, and then at Denki, ”But...” He looked at Gamond, ”She is strong for her age.”

He flicked his fingers and sucked all of them into his stomach, to a massive floating rock left from the world he destroyed while fighting Rey and Ray.

Arad found a massive rock and sat on it. ”If you all want to be treated like drakainas, then let’s do it. Grace isn’t here, but I’m sure she would’ve loved to be here. Sadly, she has other things to do.”

He looked at them, ”Claug, you’re up.”

Claug cracked her neck and smiled, ”How lucky am I? I get to be the one to beat the new girl.” She glared at Denki, ”Don’t worry, since Arad is watching, I won’t kill or eat you. I’ll only break all of your limbs one by one.”

Denki gulped, took a step back, and looked at Arad.

”Don’t worry, as long as you’re competent, she won’t be able to break all of your limbs.” He pointed at the ground, ”Fight, I’ll watch.”

Everyone else approached and sat beside Arad, watching as Claug and Denki walked to the middle of the open space.

Claug started spinning her shoulder, ”Come on, little girl. Show me...”

But at that second, a thunder clap roared and a bright flash engulfed the whole place, a bolt of lightning had flown from Denki’s head toward Claug.

Claug took the jolt without even flinching and then looked at Denki with a smile, ”I was talking, naughty girl.”

Denki stood in place with a frown, one horn standing on her forehead and cracking with magic. Unlike all dragons, blue dragons had one horn on their forehead like a unicorn. Even in her humanoid form, she could use the horn as a lightning rod.

Then suddenly, Claug disappeared from Denki’s field of vision.

”Shi...” Before she could gasp, Claug was already behind her, swinging a fist, ”First arm!” She was trying to break Denki’s left arm.

Denki knew she couldn’t dodge or block the hit; she wasn’t fast or strong enough to face someone like Claug. But Arad was watching, the dragon who married Tiamat’s daughter, a dragon so powerful that even the goddess couldn’t keep an eye on him.

A human might’ve had my things to consider, but to a drakaina, there wasn’t much to think about. Even if she hated Arad’s guts, she would still want to at least have one wyrmling with him before leaving. It would be a waste to get so close to such powerful genetics and not make use of them.

Does she like Arad or not? She couldn’t tell at this moment, and she probably won’t be able to tell for months, if not years. But, she can think about that later, after she at least has one wyrmling. That’s it, surviving Claug, taking this opportunity, and finishing this job Tiamat gave her.

If the blue dragons were known for anything, it is their patience and pragmatic minds. She can see the benefits and is also willing to test the water and see if she likes it.

This fight, she’ll do her best and win.

Before Claug’s fist could connect, Denki’s body was flung sideways and crashed into a massive rock nearby.

Claug looked at her fist with a confused face. ”I didn’t hit her.”

Denki coughed blood, crawling her way out of the broken rock with sparks of lightning crackling from her hair to her body. Black dust started pouring out of the massive rock and rising from the ground, dancing around her like mist.