Mira stared at Arad, walking around him, "Why aren't you shifting back?" She quickly noticed that his scales looked off as if they were dry.
Arad tilted his head, "I'm about to evolve. I won't be able to shift back into a humanoid form before hibernating for a while."
"Is that so?" Mira looked at Aella, "You received the letter, right?"
Arad smiled, opening his wings and growling. A deep rumbling coursed across the forest, calling all the monsters to gather.
Everyone shook, backing away as hundreds of monsters surrounded the house. Giant cobras, apes, goblins, and even monsters that no one knew lived in the forest. Those who value their lives had to attend. A dragon egg is about to be born.
Even with their high intelligence, dragons are still monsters. They always get more violent and active when they are expecting an egg, protecting some, or waiting for them to hatch. The monsters had to know who was the mother of the egg so they could avoid her.
In the wild, dragons, especially chromatic rarely protect their eggs. That job is usually taken by the monsters living in the dragon's domain for one reason. They are the ones getting eaten if the egg was harmed.
The monsters stared at Mira and then at Arad, growling as they slowly backed away. She was the mother of the egg, and they shall protect her as their own.
"All those monsters," Isdis looked around, sweating. "A lot of B-rank monsters. Are you sure it's safe to live here?"
"It's the safest place for a dragon." Arad replied, "It's better to put my lair in a monster-infested area than an easily accessible one." He looked down at the woman that just emerged from the ground.
"That gets me back to you. Did you use a magic item or something?" He could see magic surging across her body stronger than before. As if she became something else."
The ant queen puffed her already large chest, staring at Arad with a prideful smile. "I ate a lot, fought a lot, and forced myself to evolve."
"She became an s-rank monster by Nina's words, to be close, a half beast-woman. She can't speak yet." Mira scratched her cheek, staring at the almost seven-foot-tall ant queen.
"You're only understanding her due to the dungeon and the lair," Arad said, sniffing the ant queen, "You're stronger. What about the other ants?" He asked.
"They are the same, but the ones hatching from my recent eggs are bigger and stronger." The ant queen replied.
Arad stared at her, "You're laying eggs? I only smelled females in the ant colony,"
"We're born from a dungeon. I lay eggs without the need for a male. But, if That mage Merlin's words are to be believed, I would create more powerful spawns if I got a strong male." She glared at him with a smug smile, "Someone like you,"
TAP! TAP! Isdis tapped Arad's large leg, "What is she saying?" She could only hear the ant queen screeching. Those who don't live in the lair can't understand her.
Arad sat down, "As you say. I'm stuck in this form for now." He looked around, "I need to get down to the dungeon and sleep for a while to evolve." Arad's mind saw this as an opportunity.
For Arad, whose main goal was to give birth to as many void dragons as possible, the fertile ant queen who can dish out hundreds of eggs was a golden opportunity.
[I suggest you hibernate as soon as possible,]
Arad looked down, "Is my room clear? And did Roberta and Sara get back about the cursed stones?"
"I don't know about that. I didn't hear anything from them. But Merlin wanted to see you as soon as you got back." Mira stared at him, "You do need that, right?"
"Of course," Arad replied, staring at her, "But I'm more interest in you now, send someone to bring Merlin."
"I'm here," A voice came from the sky, and when Arad looked, he could see Merlin with old man Cain flying on a broom. She floated down and Cain barely climbed down, tapping his back, "I can't get used to this,"
Merlin rushed toward Arad, staring at him, "Seeing Mira here, she must have told you." She pulled a potion from her bag.
"Mira is pregnant with a dragon egg, and her body can't sustain it naturally. She doesn't have enough mana to feed the egg," She showed the potion to Arad, "We can give her supplement with potions, but drinking too much of them can break her stomach and body."
Cain looked at Arad, "We need someone to feed her, and that's going to be you..." He then inspects Arad, "But not in your current condition. How long do you have?"
Arad blinked twice, "You can tell?"
Cain opened one of his eyes, "I can see it in your scales, the way they lost their light, and how your eyes faded. You remind me of dragons in the twilight, standing at death's door with pride."
"And how do you know about the twilight?" Arad growled, sniffing Cain but smelling nothing.
"Not the first time I saw it." Cain approached Arad, touching his scales, "A powerful body requires a lot of power to keep alive, and when you can't provide it that, it rapidly dies. You're starving for something. Your body is crumbling without it."
Merlin stared at Cain, "What are you talking about?"
Cain pointed at her with his cane, "Can't you see it? His magic is waning, and his bones are cracking. Arad doesn't have enough energy to keep himself alive, let alone someone else." He turned around, "Give the girl the potions. She would have to keep using them until he gets better."
"What is he starving for? I'm sure I can help to get it," Isdis walked forth, staring at Cain.
Merlin looked at her for a second, "Princess Isdis!" She gasped, rushing to bow to the royal crown. Even Mira panicked with her. Only Cain and Arad stared at them, lifting an eyebrow.
Merlin glared at Cain, "Why aren't you bowing old man? It's the princess!"
Cain looked at her. And then responded in a passive voice.
"Does it make sense for me to bow?"
Merlin and Isdis paused for a second. Their brains can't even imagine Cain staring them in the eye, let alone bowing. Even though he was shorter than them with his crooked back, they could only remember staring up at his face.
Isdis could feel her stomach turn, her body sweating, "Cain bowing to me?" The mere wording of the sentence caused her to feel disgusted as if eating shit in front of a million people.
Isdis bowed to Cain, "Sorry about that. It's inappropriate considering the circumstances. I will be staying in Arad's house until he can accompany me to the capital, so please ask me if you need any help."
WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA! As everyone stood in silence, they could hear the cry of a baby coming out of Arad's house. Mira stared back, "That Serin! What is Tina doing?"
Arad turned his head. A tiny fairy landed on his nose. ~Your landing woke her up, and she wants to see you. Tina is in the kitchen cooking dinner,~
Aella rushed into the house, seeing Tina standing beside Serin, trying to calm her down. "Let me handle her for now,"
Tina smiled, bowing to Aella before handing her Serin, "Shake her a bit, and she would calm down. Bring her to me if anything happened.
Cain looked at Arad, "That's Serin. She's a talented girl."
"She's a baby," Arad replied.
Cain stared at him with a disappointed face, "She's older than you, don't your respect your elders?"
Arad's head started hurting. Cain wasn't wrong, but where did he learn that? The more he stared at this old man, the more the world around him seemed to twist and converge, turning into a whirlpool of incomprehensible mess.
"Are you okay?" Cain patted Arad's chin, staring at him with a worried face. "Your eyes have lost their magical flare, the trip exhausted your last supply of energy, and you're like a human that hasn't slept in days."
Arad blinked twice, "You're right. My body feels heavy." He turned toward the house. I will get inside... How am I going to fit through the door?" He can't shift back into a human, so he can't walk into the dungeon.
Arad looked at the ground, trying to void step inside, but his magic failed. His body is on the verge of falling asleep, and all of his magic is starting to shut off in preparation for the evolution.
"Relax," Cain said with a smile, staring at Merlin, "Get him inside. You've been to his layer before, right?"
Merlin stared at Cain, "I can't cast magic strong enough to teleport a dragon. He's past my skills."
Cain sighed, "Listen, stop whining and do it. I can see that you're able to cast seventh-tier magic. A teleport spell should do the trick."
Merlin's eyes glowed as she glared at Cain, "I've been wondering, how much do you know about magic?"
"A ninth-tier spell is what broke my back," Cain replied with a laugh.
"You're lying, ninth-tier spells aren't so simple, and you won't be living a normal life had you known a fraction of its scripture. The mage tower would hunt you down."
Cain smiled, "You're right. That was a lie." He turned around, "But knew that the world won't wait for you," As Cain walked, a woman emerged from the forest.
Arad immediately recognized her, Sena, the woman that sold them the house, and Cain's daughter.
Merlin looked at her for a moment. She only wore common clothes without a single magic item on her, not even an arcane focus or a magic inscription. Yet Mana flowed from her body like that of a monster, radiating enough power that Eris and Isdis went on guard.
Sena lifted her hand, and Merlin instantly pulled her wand. She could sense a seventh-tier spell coming.
CRACK!
Suddenly, they stopped, looking back to see a giant hole in the ground.
"Meryem took Arad down," Mira smiled, pointing down the hole with her thumb.
"AH! Darlin is on my bed! AH!" Meryem, the ant queen cried as she circulated around Arad's body, clicking her mandibles with a happy chuckle.
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