Seeing this development, Cardinal Karliana dragged Estrid away before Samiel could scam her even more. Just scamming her for more than he already did. Obtaining more than one hundred Soul Force Crystals and a whole bunch of Magic Tome and Grimoires was an outrageous payment for one spar.
Meanwhile, Samiel was very satisfied with the "loot" he obtained by scamming poor dragon girl as he studied the Elemental Magic Tome, which appeared to be pretty old, already so old that it was beginning to fall apart.
"Elementia Magicae... how in the Nine Hells of Baator, she got her hands on that book?"
Samiel just turned around to see Lanlaris Daragan almost faint from the shock as he observed the Magic Tome that Samiel held. For Samiel, it was just an old book with a weird cover, falling apart and having a weird stench.
Most importantly, he couldn't even open the dammed thing, as it was rejecting him. Most of the Magic Grimoires were choosing their owners and users and not otherwise. For example, even if someone tried to force his way to open it, he wouldn't be, or the Grimoire would rather choose self-destruction than to let be used by someone whom it didn't approve&
'So this Grimoire is sentient... probably it is sensing that I am not a suitable person to use the Elemental Magic that is recorded within, so this thing is basically rejecting me an acess.'
He thought, as now even Yvraine arrived and looked at the Grimoire that Samiel was holding in his hands because Elementia Magicae was supposed to be a very powerful and old Grimoire that was said to be lost in the annals of history.
Suddenly, when Yvraine approached the Elementia Magicae, it started shaking, and Samiel noticed it was behaving like a dog when he found his owner, who was an entire day away. Not really knowing what to do with the book, he passed it to Yvraine so she could deal with it.
Not to mention, he knew that her pride wouldn't allow her to get something for free, so she would for sure compensate him. For her, it was a matter of personal pride, aside from the fact that she was taught that she should never create debts towards anyone.
Yvraine, despite being privileged birth, didn't like getting things for free, and usually even when Samiel gave her something during their journey and time spent together, she would always try to repay him in one way or another. More often, she volunteered that she would teach him hand-to-hand combat or something valuable things.
"It appears that this little guy has found a new master."
Muttered Lanlaris Daragan, as he observed the Grimoire Elementia Magicae released weird light, as the cover, which was previously half disintegrated, now was getting a second breath. Soon enough, the process was finished, ad the Grimoire Elementia Magicae looked entirely different; long gone was the appearance of an old tattered book, but now it had a majestic feeling.
Even Samiel was somehow envious that Yvraine obtained such a thing from him, but alas, there was nothing he could do about it. He knew the same thing would happen if, by some accident, Yvraine came across Basic Principles of the Void Necrosis; the book would judge them unworthy and just remain closed.
In some more extreme cases, the old and powerful Grimoires could even kill those who want to open them forcefully with powerful magic that is recorded within them. Of course, there were only a very few of such powerful Grimoires, and those were the ones which were very, very old and contained Magic tempting to even strongest Legenderaies and even to Transcendents.
"I really can't wait to rub this to Estrid's face."
She said with delight because the things that Samiel scammed from Estrid, one of them ended in the hands of her mortal enemy. Not that Estrid was aware of what she was giving away as it seemed, or she didn't care, but in the end, the result was the same. Of course, right now, she was probably getting a scolding from Cardinal Karliana as she got scammed pretty bad and paid very precious things.
If her father heard this, he would probably throw a temper tantrum... not that Cardinal Zaldidraax was any better. The old dragon would be angry only because she lost the previous treasures to someone whom he couldn't kill and take them back. Because they were members of the same faction, and he was the Holy Son of the Hall of Kadath, these things were irreversibly lost to him.
"How strong is she?"
Asked Samiel just now. In truth, he didn't really care if he won or lost; he had already achieved his aim, which was to get some treasures and resources out of Estrid. Other things were practically inconsequential because his aim was different from the start.
"Pretty much, as any Red Dragon, her physical strength, despite being only at the Steel-Tier, could outclass many Bronze-Tier warriors, putting them to shame. Not to mention, that is when she is fighting in her humanoid form because Dragons are way stronger in their true forms. Additionally, like many other Red Dragons, she is proficient in the Dragon Chant Magic. She has a very strong affinity for the Fire Attribute."
Surprisingly it was Lanlaris Daragan who provided the answer, as he explained Estrid's strength, making Yvraine scowl in a very, very dangerous way. Mainly because it sounded like he was praising her, which in truth, he was; despite her young age, Estrid was a powerful Red Dragon that didn't even reach its adulthood.
Even if he was considering the entire Red Dragon Flock or other Dragon Flocks from the younger generation, she would be placed in the top 5 for sure. This alone spoke about her personal strength and the potential she held.
"Though, young Estrid is stronger than the average Red Dragon of the same Level mainly due to her lineage and bloodline from her father, Cardinal Zaldidraax, one of the strongest Red Dragons who ever lived. Rumors say he is even stronger than Red Dragon Patriarch, the leader of Red Dragon Flock."
Now, Samiel was becoming a bit intrigued and wanted to fight with her, hearing about her strength. Before, he never fought anyone from the 13 Gates who was from a more prestigious background in 13 Gates and belonged to the younger generation.
He only fought with Yvraine almost on daily bases, almost, but he knew that he could defeat her. Not only did he know that, but he also defeated her already several times, primarily when he used his Undead.
Contrary to average Necromancers without a brain cell, Samiel was implementing military strategies when controlling his Undead. That was because, in his younger years, he wanted to be a Military Officer, so he studied a lot of strategies, battles, and other things.
After he became supernatural and Necromancer, he thought this would be an excellent way to enhance the power of his Undead and compensate for a low number against his enemies, who were always more and more numerous.
This was about increasing the combat efficiency of his small Undead Army.
"Hmm... his will be fun, maybe."
Muttered Samiel as he returned to his chambers, leaving Yvraine to her devices; now that the Grimoire completely enthralled her, she got from him, technically got, realistically, she got it by herself, but that is not really important right now.
"Do you think he will defeat Estrid?"
Asked Yvraine as she watched Samiel leave the room, wishing nothing more than to see her rival being beaten up properly.
"Hard to say... but Old Deuses are always full of surprise, and you little friend is not an exception to this rule... we will see in the three days. For certain, it would be a spectacular match."
Stated Lanlaris as he left the place to tend to his own things. Yvraine was thinking wherever Samiel would win, lose, or the match would end in a tie. Certainly, Estrid didn't have much racial advantage over him because his own heritage was even superior to Estrid's.
Of course, nobody would be able to tell the final winner if Estrid used her true form from the start, in which she was stronger, not talking about the fact that Samiel was primarily Magic Caster.
At the same time, Estrid, as a Red Dragon, had a certain level of Magic Resistance, which would be a certain level of inconvenient for Samiel and would put him at a disadvantage in the direct confrontation in the fight.
***
3 Days Later, Zephystrand's Citated, Training Area
Three days passed in a split moment.
During these three days, Samiel mostly avoided their new guest because she was constantly pestering him to fight sooner, something which he started really loathing and probably developed a slight aversion to her.
Also, he was under the tutelage of Cardinal Karliana about many common things that he was expected to know as a high-ranking member of the Hall of Kadath. And there were many, like too many of them, which he needed to learn, and probably not even several months would be enough to memorize all of those things.
Fortunately, he had enough time, and during his stay on the 3rd Floor, Samiel planned to slowly memorize all of the materials he got from the Cardinal Karliana.
Samiel was already waiting for Estrid in the training yard of the Zephystrand's Citadel, while his opponent was nowhere to be seen. So, after ten minutes, Cardinal Karliana went to find her and realized that Estrid was sleeping under the pile of gold coins.
Really, something very... dragon-like?
Probably yes.
Soon after Cardinal Karliana departed to find the lost dragon, she returned, and the fight could finally start.
Samiel didn't do anything and just kept standing on the training yard, waiting for Estrid to make the first move. He had never before fought a dragon, so he was observing his opponent and awaited her first move as he was preparing the Winter Ruler in case Estrid attacked.
He contemplated if he should use his Void Magic and other more dangerous stuff. However, in the end, he decided to use it because she, as a Dragon with enormous vitality and high defense, was just a high-class punching bag in his eyes.
And this continued for more than ten minutes, and even Karliana, who had known Estrid for her whole life, was deeply surprised that the battle maniac girl was just standing there and doing nothing as they were checking themselves out.
In a second, Estrid disappeared from her place, where she was standing, and appeared next to Samiel, who just flipped backward, digging her strike, as he waved his hands, and the gush of frost burst out, freezing her entire right hand.
Estrid looked at her partially frozen hand as she ignited her bloodline power, and the ice started slowly melting. This made her frown because it reduced her combat abilities to some level.
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