Chapter 28: Feelings
{Darganth}
Seeing my reassurance, Jennia's nervousness faded slightly.
“I like you.” She said after a while, while being split between hiding in embarrassment and looking at me in curiosity and anticipation for my reaction.
Seeing my smile brighten in response her worries lessen even more. After taking a moment to calm her wave of excitement, she continued.
“No, its not just that I like you, I love you. When we first met you were open to me, you didn't get annoyed at my pranks like everybody besides my mother did. It is fun to spend time with you, even if it is only lazing around. And when I saw the acts of affection between you and Allaire I started to grow envious. That's when I realized that I have fallen in love with you.”
Seeing her eying me for my response, I take on the form of a hydra, similarly large as she is. Moving the multiple heads, I coil my necks around hers similar to an embrace. Only one remains untangled and I use that head to give her a kiss, or at least as close to a kiss as this form allows.
“I love you too.” I whispered to her afterward.
Hearing this a beaming smile formed on her face and without any more words she gave me a deep kiss. After a few seconds I changed my transformation slightly, adding one more head and using it to trail small kisses along her neck. Switching them from time to time with a small lick which caused her to shudder slightly. Continuing like this for multiple minutes we only broke the kiss when Jennia started getting out of breath.
“Everything alright?” I asked her when she still panted after multiple minutes. Hearing my worried question, she gave me a reassuring smile.
“The extra head is unfair.” She said with a pout, once she collected herself again. Seeing the disheveled state she was in due to it I gave he a cheeky smile.
Pouting even more, a small glint passed through her eyes and before I could react she moved forwards and pushed me over. Putting one of her legs onto my chest to prevent me from getting up, she started trailing her tongues along my necks. Seeing my lack of reaction, she gave me an annoyed look.
“Did you really think it would be this easy?” I asked her with a smile. This caused her to pinch me with her claws, making me twitch slightly. Giving me a triumphant smile, she lay down next to me. Turning back around, I lay down next to her and intermingled my heads with hers. Laying like this, we exchanged kisses from time to time while talking, until we drifted asleep.
Waking up the next morning, I found her to have shifted to using me as a pillow during the night. Waiting until I felt her stir, I gave her a morning kiss. Savoring it for a bit, she eventually freed me.
“Good morning honey.” I said once she fully woke up.
“Morning.” She replied cheerfully, her nervousness from before gone. Indulging in another long and passionate kiss, we were interrupted when Allaire arrived.
“Good morning you two lovebirds.” She said with a teasing smile.
“Oh, is someone jealous?” Jennia retorted, though her smile made it clear that it was only a friendly jab.
“I just expected a bit more action between you. Well, more for me.”
This caused Jennia to blush in embarrassment, much to Allaire's and my enjoyment. Seeing Jennia glare at her in annoyance she added, “Sorry, teasing you is simply too much fun.”
Hearing this Jennia looked towards me for support, but when she noticed my amused expression she quickly gave up on that thought. Instead she simply gave a small telekinetic nudge at Allaire's back, causing her to stumble forwards slightly. Shaking my head at their antics, I gave Jennia another small kiss before turning into a humanoid form once more.
Seeing this Allaire rushed towards me and jumped into my arms, pulling me into a passionate kiss. Seeing this Jennia looked at us with longing, wishing to have already achieved mythical ranks and gained the ability ability to transform. Seeing this I gave her a supportive smile.
“While I would love to take this a step further, for Jennia's sake it will have to remain with this.” She said, causing Jennia to smile at he in gratitude.
“If I continue like this the waiting time will only be around a hundred years.” Jennia added in annoyance.
“While that would ordinarily be the case, there are ways to speed it up.” I said to her, causing a beaming smile to form on her face.
“What do you two mean?” Allaire asked in confusion.
“When she will reach the mythical rank. We decided to have our first time in humanoid form, so either by then or if we find a way for her to learn transformation magic.”
“Yes. And I am luck to have inherited such a great talent from my parents. Humans may count as genius when they do so in under ten years, but for beasts that time is closer to five hundred years, at least in this world. As we are far more reliant on the mana density and resources, such a bad environment limits us to a greater extend.” Hearing Jennia's words Allaire became surprised.
“I knew that beasts advanced slower, but to this extend? How do they even manage to remotely compete with humanoids?” She asked.
“A multitude of factors. For one the fact that beasts of higher rank species have an easier time until that rank and beasts in general don't really encounter bottlenecks. Combined with their higher power at the same level and longer lifespan a sort of balance is achieved, where it counters the higher advancement speed of humanoids.” I explained.
“All that makes dragons even more impressive, higher power and advancement speed than beasts. Makes one think why dragons aren't ruling over everybody else.” She said in astonishment.
“Laziness.” Jennia answered, sending me a grin.
“More or less.” I said in confirmation of her statement. This made Allaire chuckling lightly.
“But all that is secondary right now, you said you could speed up the time it would take me?” Jennia asked.
“Yes, your bloodline. A fun little fact about dragon, no matter if true or lesser, bloodlines is that by coming into contact with a more powerful one it refines itself. This leads to it slowly replacing more and more of the weaker bloodlines, finally transforming a beings body. While it only works under certain circumstances, for example a stable half-dragon can't become a dragon, in your case it is possible.
Your mother took around 160 years to reach the mythical ranks and in its current state your bloodline would probably reduce that time by twenty to thirty years. But with increased purity? It may not even take you another twenty years, reaching the mythical rank somewhere in your early fifties. For a magical beast that may very well be a new record on this entire planet.”
This caused her to look at me in excitement. Rubbing her head softly against me in affection, I snaked my arm around Allaire and also pulled her into this. Slowly letting my hand trace over her head, Jennia remained like this for a while.
“It seems I have at least one thing to thank my asshole of a father for.” She said after a bit.
Separating after a while, she looked at me while trying to find the right words. Sensing her intention, I bit myself slightly on my palm. Using the water magic advanced application of blood control, I slowly formed a floating ball from it and let it grow while regularly using healing magic to replace my lost blood. Once it reached about as large as a human head, I stopped and let it float towards Jennia. Drinking it in one go, she focused on the changes in her body.
“The sight of a fifty meter long hydra gulping down a ball of blood as large as my head is certainly nothing I would have expected to see without fearing for my life.” Allaire said with a chuckle.
Watching in silence, we saw Jennia's dark greenish scales slowly taking on a more gray look, while those at her necks started to shift in color towards the heads respective element. The head without an element remained the same color as her body. While her hydra features were still predominant, I could clearly recognize the resemblance to a dragon-hydra.
“That felt great.” Jennia exclaimed once the changes to her body finished.
“How much more powerful are you?” Allaire asked. Focusing on her mana, a frown appeared on Jennia's face.
“Not a bit? How?” She asked me in confusion.
“It was to be expected. A beasts superiority comes from having both a strong body and magic that fit together naturally and are a perfect fit for the beast as they are innate. Just very few geniuses can achieve something similar with aura and magic, allowing them to fight beasts on equal footing. A dragon-hydra is somewhat different in that regard. While they have a beasts powerful body as well as elemental control, due to their wide range of elements they lack this specialization and perfect fit.
This lack of specialization makes both their body strength and elemental control similar to aura and magic respectively in that it is less specialize. So while most beasts draw their strength from having both their body and magic designed to use a few elements to their full potential, a dragon-hydra is powerful due to, in essence, innately having the same power as the previously mentioned geniuses. When they then learn aura and magic in addition, their potential grows even further.” I explained to her. This calmed her initial confusion greatly.
“So I won’t really grow more powerful until I get my next head?” She asked me, to which I nodded.
“So I can still bridge the gap.” Allaire said with a grin.
“Do you really think it is that easy? While not the most powerful, no hydra can be compared to a normal magic beasts, not to mention someone like me whose affinities are far above the average.” Jennia retorted.
Watching the two bantering for a while, I waited until they finished.
“Shall we make our way back down?” I asked afterward.
“Yes.” “Okay by me.”
Leaving the cave, we slowly made our way back down the mountain. On our way down Jennia asked me whether there is a limit to the speed of her bloodline purification is. When I told he that I had given her the most efficient amount of blood and that it would take about a week before we could do it again despite this, she grew slightly disappointed. Comforting her for the rest of the way and telling her that it won't take more than a few months for the entire process, we arrived back at Enilla's home around noon.
Having noticed our arrival, she was currently waiting for us outside. Once her gaze landed on Jennia, she gave her daughter a knowing smile.
“So the two women who permanently banter and tease each other now share the same man. In the case of nearly everybody else it would probably promise trouble, but luckily for you you have experience with it.” She said to us teasingly. This made Allarie and me laugh a bit, while Jennia became confused.
“You didn't tell her who I am?” I asked Enilla once I noticed this confusion. Seeing her nod innocently, I let out a sigh. I could already guess that it was because she wanted her daughter's feeling to not be influenced by it and while I am thankful for that, I would have rather known and then told her already yesterday. Turning to Jennia, I think about my words for a moment before giving her a full explanation.
Once I finished she looked at me in surprise and awe. Trying and failing to find the right words, she simply cuddled her head against me. Caressing it for a while, we only stopped when Enilla coughed to remind us of her presence. Blushing slightly, Jennia quickly pulled back her head.
“Well I don't know whether that should be seen as example as it did result in your death.” She said after a moment.
“While I hope that he learned, at least you would be safe.” Enilla said half-jokingly. Hearing this I rolled my eyes with a smile.
“While it is surprising, this doesn't change anything. You are still my lovely husband.” She said.
“Oh, already this far?” Enilla asked jokingly, to which I simply smiled.
“Shall we head back inside?” Jennia quickly asked, hoping to change her mothers focus.
“It will have to wait a bit more.” I said before anyone of them could react and let my symbol of authority appear above my palm. Holding it towards her, Enilla looked at me with a mix of surprise and anticipation.
“What is that?” Jennia asked, looking towards the floating symbol with awe.
“My symbol of authority. It has many uses, but the one that currently matters is that through it an ascended dragons authority to transform mythical rank lesser dragons is used. I may currently lack my immortality, but I am still the god of all dragons.” I said.
In the corner of my eyes I see Allaire going from confusion to an understanding look. Jennia meanwhile grew even more shocked than she had previously been.
“What changed your opinion? Previously you said that I was still a bit away from deserving such an honor.” Enilla asked me.
“Because you're my mother-in-law.”
“And here I thought that when I would gain this honor it would be from my own achievements, not simply due to my daughter being together with you.” She said while deliberating whether or not she should accept.
“If it makes your decision easier, you aren't that far of from the point where I would have given you this privilege either way. Additionally I don't doubt that you would have reached there one day. But it has to be added that it would allow you to go to the dragon peaks.” I said.
“Even with that there would still be a power difference.”
“Dragon-hydras are affected by dragons authority, already forgotten?” I said. Being remembered of this, she smiled in anticipation. Jennia also widened her eyes in realization.
“Right, how could I forget the main reason why they are called the greatest of the lesser dragons.” She said.
“Well that would probably be the fact that they all evolve into the same true dragons species, no matter who helps them. And that that species is a high tier one, while most other lesser dragons become medium or low tier species.”
“Yeah, but it isn't their fault. You made it so that the ascended dragons can only transform them into one of their own kind or choose between any dragon species of a lower tier. The rest is the result of their reluctance to do the former.” To this I simply shrugged.
“So whats you answer?” I asked her after a short pause.
“Of course I accept.” She said and I transfer the symbol to her.
“You want to search for my father?” Jennia finally managed to voice her thoughts.
“Of course. And when I find him I will get my answers. Depending on what they are he will get a beating he will never forget.” Enilla said with a dangerous glint in her eyes.
“When you find him and Isyr tries to intervene, you can of course use my name.” I told her.
“Why would he intervene?”
“Because I doubt that he works for the clan of solar dragons, otherwise you would have probably found him. After all a doorman should stand outside of the room, that is the whole reason why the solar dragons only go so far up the mountain. As you didn't find him when you searched around there, he is not at their territory’s edge, so he probably works for the Locis.” I explained to her.
“How are you two even sure that he works for either of them and isn't simply on another continent?” Allarie asked us.
“Because he told me things he couldn't know otherwise. And dragon-hydras are often used as deterrent against intrudes when the dragons themselves don't want to bother.” Enilla explained her.
Seeing her close her eyes afterward, I knew that she had started going through the choices for which species to transform into. Seeing Jennia standing next to me with a conflicted look, I turned to her.
“What is it?”
“Its just that a part of me fears to learn the reason why my dad left.” She said.
Giving her a reassuring smile, I beckoned her to come closer. Once she did, I traced my hand along her head in a soothing manner.
“It will be alright. And even if what you learn is bad, imaging his regret once he learns that the daughter he abandoned is now the girlfriend of the god of all dragons.” I said to her with a smile.
Calming down a bit, she watched her mother with anticipation. When she transformed back into her full form I knew that she had made her choice.
After some time a blue and silver light slowly covered Enilla's scales, starting from her head and slowly traveling to cover her entire body. Once it did so, her body looked like a pure mass of light in the form of her.
After a few seconds this mass of light slowly started changing, taking some features and letting new ones emerge. Her heads slowly merged into one, sprouting horns from it in the process while on her back two wings slowly took form. Many other minor changes happened all over her body, with the most striking being her slow growth. While it isn't by much, it was still noticeable with the main change being her increased height.
Once the process finished and the light vanished, we saw Enilla standing there, covered in shiny silvery blue scales. She slowly opened her eyes and started inspecting her body. Taking about five minutes to accustom herself, she spread her wings to their full wight.
“ROOAAARRRR!” Unleashing a dragon roar that probably startled all nearby animals, she turned her attention to us.
Transforming into the same humanoid form she had previously used, she looked at me wit ha sigh.
“Do you know how much of a shock it was to only see high tier species as options?” She asked me.
“What can I say, I offer only the best.” I answered with a smile. This made her roll her eyes before turning to Jennia.
“I have heard you conversation just now, I promise you that if he doesn't offer me a very good explanation he will regret it.”
Seeing her mothers conviction, Jennia smiled. Giving them some space, I walked over to Allaire and waited for them to finish.
When they walked over to us a few minutes later, Allarie couldn't hold back her curiosity anymore.
“What kind of dragon are you now?” She asked Enilla. Jennia also became interested, looking at her mother expectantly.
“A star dragon. As for what exactly that is, I think it would be easier to understand if Darganth could show you the same information that I received.” She answered, causing the expecting looks to shift towards me.
Forming a picture with illusion magic, similar to how it is sometimes done for communication, I projected the summary of star dragons that came to her with my symbol of authority.
[Star dragon]
Affinities:
High: Fire, Light
Above-Average: Space, Time, Air, Darkness
Average: Earth, Death, Lightning, Metal, Crystal, Ice, Psychic, War
Low: Water, Plant
Mana-Breath Attribute: Fire; slight space and light influences
Strengths/ Weaknesses (Physically):
Dragon heart: Factor of 2.8 (Power: 2.4, Cost: 3.2)
High Mana Quantity
Average Mana Quality
High Resilience
Average Strength
Low Speed
Description:
A currently extinct species of dragons, ancestors to the Solar dragons. Famed as one of the most powerful dragon races to ever exist, their numbers were similarly low to the Locis and Tempust clans. Over time the solitary nature of its members lead to a stagnation of their population and after a while to a drop. Everything that remains of them now are legends among Solar dragons and the knowledge of them among older gods and dragons.
Their power takes after that of stars, holding near endless energy, being near indestructible and virtually timeless. Their affinities are high, with even the lower ones reaching near sixty point in an average adult, with fire and light near always reaching over ninety, most having one, sometimes even both of these as perfect affinities.