Flap!
Valenor spread out her wings, hovering over Arin"s position.
"Arin, what"s going on here?"
"I"m glad you are here my Lord, I tried to send you a message but I became too absorbed in the show.."
Pointing ahead Arin was indicating at the attackers. They looked liked strange beasts, neither human or orc.
"Gnoss, what are those?"
"They are Chimeras, the result of a fusion experiment between a human and beast. They are a biological weapon created by the Balkan empire to the north.
"Interesting…."
Those fusioned creatures showed a movement speed and power superior to most humans. Despite only being a dozen of them, they were easily sweeping away this entire Orc tribe.
The rank of most orcs was about F+, whereas those chimeras were in the E- to E range. This was enough of a gap to allow them to terrorize these superior numbers. Of course Arin could have put up a good fight, but if they were to have hurt her I would have crushed them into fine dust..
"These orcs are just being attacked too easily. The plan was to bring them back to the Pit alive, but they are so weak that i felt we should let them undergo some natural selection."
I feel afraid of her cold judge. Arin was quick to judge because of her insect nature. In her eyes only strength mattered.
Waaaah!
The orc child in my arm began wailing, perhaps in tune with the plight of his people.
"Arin didn"t you have orders to protect them?"
"I apologize Lord, I will do so now."
"No, nevermind"
I stopped Arin from interfering. I was now interested in the strength of these creatures and wished to test them out myself.
They still hadn"t noticed our presence as we were about 1 kilometer behind them. Not to mention that they were too busy hara.s.sing the stragglers of the tribe.
"Valenor let"s circle around and stealthily descend from above them. Arin, you take this child. If it cries then just feed it some nectar."
"Ah yes… is this an orc baby?"
I nodded my head as I left the child in Arin"s arms.
"Valenor make sure to keep your distance, I want to test them a bit."
"I understand"
Flap!
"Levitation!"
I hovered in the air, approaching the chimeras who were still chasing the Totem orc tribe.
"Run, run pig monsters!"
"Captain why don"t we just finish them once and for all?"
"No, we lost 5 good men when we a.s.saulted their camp, this is our revenge for our comrades!"
Sneaking up on them from behind, I listened in to their conversations without being discovered.
"Hey guys, sorry to say but I"ve had my eyes on these orcs so I won"t be handing them over to you."
"Wha…what are you?"
"A flying golden skeleton? A mage?"
"No it"s a Lich!"
They quickly got in formation to deal with the new threat.
"Hmm, I guess I"ll give you guys an 8 out of 10 for your reaction speed."
I wordlessly cast my Gravity spell to test them out a bit..
"What"s going on? Why do I feel so heavy?"
"I saw the Lich was pointing his finger at us."
"Is this a silent magic spell of his?
"No way!"
"No.2! No.9! Cleanse it with your magic."
This was what I was looking forward to. The orcs weren"t enough of a challenge for them so I couldn’t gauge their potential. I was curious as to how they would counter my spells.
"In the name of G.o.d, purify this evil!"
Their chant was a bit wordy and it required the cooperation of two casters but it still managed to lift the Gravity spell which was praiseworthy.
"Good, how about this one? Fireball!"
I casually threw out a fireball towards their group.
"No.5!"
"I summon the power of the cold winter! Ice wall!"
Hwaarrk
The icewall held fast in the face of my fireball. I was a bit surprised considering my high Fire Mastery and Lv9 Fireball skill.
"These guys are fun."
I was like a child who had found a new toy. I was having fun seeing how they would respond to some of my weaker magic.
"Huk huk! Is this monster toying with us?"
Unfortunately they were too weak and tired easily, so I couldn"t play around with them all day long.
"Sigh! Only this much I guess. Arin have you gathered the Orcs under you?"
"Yes Lord, it went just as you expected and they fell in line easily when they discovered my superior strength, a very hierarchical system indeed."
"Good, lead them to the Pit, Alpeon knows what to do with them."
"Okay"
Most of the chimeras before me had already collapsed to the floor, exhausted. Only their leader and two other elites were left standing, but their mana had been used up.
"Hmm… I like you guys, I"ll have some use for you. Valenor!"
Swooosh Flap!
No way, A dragon!? Silvery white!"
Valenor"s enormous body appeared in the sky, blotting out the sun. the Chimeras knelt down on the ground, having lost all hope.
"Are you planning on capturing these things?"
Valenor spoke softly but the surroundings still trembled.
"Yes I wanted to take them alive."
"Create Magic Bind"
[You have learned Magic Bind Lv1]
"Magic Bind!"
I proceed to to tie up the chimeras with a magical rope and attached them to Valenor"s front claws as she took off to the skies, heading back towards the Pit.
"Oh~ Johra your Palace is coming along quite nicely."
"Indeed, they are working faster than I expected, but it will be our Palace. It was designed to accommodate you in your dragon form."
"Hahaha! I don"t care where I stay as long as it"s with you. But I"m touched that you were so considerate."
Splash!
Valenor dropped them off into the lake.
Uuupoo upoo
Sa..save us!
The chimeras were struggling to swim in the water, but we simply looked at them, not intending to lend a hand. Their captain swam confidently and helped his retinue to the sh.o.r.e.
"What do we do now?"
"What do you think Valenor?"
"I thought you wanted to experiment on their bodies."
"What!"
Valenor and I continued conversing, as if the involved third party wasn"t standing before us.
"Valenor how do you always know exactly what I"m thinking?"
"I"m your wife, it my duty to know."
I think I"m both happy and scared. It"s possible you know what I"m going to think before even I do.
"Sure, would you like me to tell you what you are going to say next?"
"Okay maybe just this once."
"Hmm…."
"Lord, the prisoners are ready for battle."
Alpeon interrupted our little banter, much to Valenor"s displeasure.
"Can I say something Johra?"
I nodded.
"We will give you guys a chance to live. Although you deserve death for irritating my husband, you also have interesting abilities. If you take care of monsters" training, I will give prize depending on the success."
Clap Clap Clap
Although it was only my bony hands, it was still an applause. She had stolen the words right out of my mouth.
"Valenor"
"I"m listening."
"I chose you…"
"To train us?"
Smack!
Valenor was annoyed by the intervention and hit the culprit with her tail, instantly ending his existence.
"How dare you interrupt my husband! You should ask for permission before speaking."
Previously the chimeras had been somewhat confident in their fighting prowess, but the recent demonstration had put them to shame. They remained silent and paled face with their mouths wide open in awe.
I felt a bit bad for the guy who was blown to bits, but it was necessary for the others to learn their place.
"I"m glad I chose you Valenor."
"Glad to hear it, Tell me more often."
Valenor sat down with her paws holding her giant head, contemplating what I had just told her. I was able to see her blushing face, which I believed the be the platinum dragon"s greatest weakness. The fact that their pale white scales easily portrayed their emotions.
I had to control myself from instinctively petting her mane, It wasn’t easy as she was just too cute, but I restrained myself as I thought of the well being of all my subordinates within the Pit.
"So do you agree with my wife"s proposition?"
"Do we have another option?"
The captain"s tone became polite but I didn"t like the comment.
"There is."
I pointed out the the corpse of the unfortunate fellow who suffered a blow from Valenor"s tail.
The captain of the chimeras exchanged a quick look with his colleagues before kneeling down.
"If you spare our lives we will serve you well."
"Good, Alpeon have them serve as the Goblin"s instructors, teaching them how to fight."
"I will do as you command, Lord."
"It was so sweet of him…."
Valenor was still talking herself softly, but of course her voice was too powerful.
"Valenor?"
"Yes Johra, did you need me?"
"Could you transform into a smaller creature?"
" I don"t know if it"s possible as I haven"t tried it. What did you have in mind?"
"How about a human?"
"Why a human, where did you want to go? Polymorph!"
She transformed without waiting for my response. Considering her strong personality, I expected her to be something like an Amazon warrior in human form, but the results were completely unexpected.
She had transformed into a cute little girl with deep blue eyes and silver hair, barely 160 cm tall.
"Valenor is too cute! I want to bite her!"
Is what I was thinking to myself but I just told her she looked pretty.
"You look quite young in that form Valenor… but you should probably get some clothes to cover up."
" I"ve simply transformed into a body I feel comfortable with. Perhaps it"s because as dragons go I"m actually quite young. And clothes? Is that something normal humans wear?"
"Gravity down! Gravity down! Gravity down! Gravity down! Gravity down! Gravity down!"
After drastically lowering her weight, I sat her upon my shoulders.
"Alpeon bring me some clothes."
"Yes Lord"
While Alpeon went to fetch her some new clothes, I spoke to my wife.
"Valenor I"d like it if you a.s.sumed this appearance more often, I truly enjoy giving you a ride on my shoulders.
" Although it"s a bit embarra.s.sing for me to ride upon your shoulders in this form. If you like it so much then I guess it"s ok. It"s something I"d only do so because you"re my husband.
"Oh, so is this like one of the perks of being your husband?"
"Yes. I really like you as a partner."
When Alpeon returned we were able to dress her up with some new clothes. Following behind Alpeon, I descended into the termite hill with Valenor seated upon my shoulders. Valenor seemed to be enjoying the little ride and I really wanted to stroke her mane. The only problem was that it was likely to bring the entire mound crashing down on us, and I had no interest in turning my subordinates into burnt termite meat. Mallepi was fat enough as it was.
"Hmm, what"s this? I feel like we are approaching some holy energy."
I walked into the room with the World"s Roots.
"Valenor, these are the World Roots and this over here is the nectar we collect from them."
I brought before her a bowl filled with the delicious sap.
"Smells tasty, can I have it?"
"Of course, I"ve prepared it for you."
Gulp Gulp!
She drank greedily, and as she wasn"t accustomed to the body of a human girl, was spilling a lot of the nectar from the sides of her mouth.