“Wake up. Didn’t Alice say you were leaving at dawn?” Cain felt someone poke his face. He slowly opened his eyes and looked up.
Zaleria was bending down above his head. Cain rubbed his eyes as he thought he was still dreaming. There was no way she could have recovered in this short time.
Seeing that he got back to sleep, Zaleria walked to the table and brought a jug of water. Inhaling a bit, she cooled the water without freezing it. Splash! She poured the content on Cain’s face.
“WOHAA!” He screamed. The cold water jolted him back to life. He then started coughing because some of it entered his nose.
“Are you awake? You didn’t make me wake up early and fly all the way here to tell me the trip was canceled, right?” Said Zaleria. She poked his face as he struggled to breathe.
“What is happening-nya?” Said Selena as she stretched her half-naked body. She mistakenly tore into the mattress with her claws.
“Is it morning?” Asked Alice as she rubbed her eyes. Her tail was waving from left to right as her wings flapped gently.
“Another five minutes…” Said Sofia as she rolled back into the blanket. Zaleria noticed a red spot on her lower back. “That is…” Zaleria bent down to check it.
‘A tail? Is she slowly transforming into a Dragonoid?’ Thought Zaleria. Humans need to evolve she had heard before. This might be such a case.
Hustle! Gracie stood up like a nail. Her head slowly turned toward Zaleria. She was fine being half-naked in front of Cain and the other girls. Zaleria was not one of them.
“I heard about your condition. I have true sight so I have been seeing you naked and clothed at the same time.” Said Zaleria. “I can see and hear from a great distance, I can also see through non-magical items like plain clothe and the skin of the weaker creature.” She added.
Zaleria had incredible senses, more than what a dragon should have. Cain cannot see her stats until he evolves past level 20 so he did not know.
She had true sight for up to 60 feet. Blindsight for up to 120 feet. Darkvision for up to 240 feet. Clear sight (Can distinguish the color of a needle) for up to 480 feet. In addition, regular human-level sight after that. The range of color she can distinguish was wider than that of humans as well.
Her ears were just as powerful. She also had an incredible magic sense. She did not mind nor care about being with the girls that night (When she barged to teach Sofia about charisma) since she saw them naked all day.
At the start, she could even see under Selena’s skin and bones. That allowed her to gauge the strength of her opponent. Now that the girls have grown stronger. She can no longer see under their skin.
Yet, there was one person she could not see clearly. She could not even see him naked from how much magic condensed in his body. That man was Cain.
He first attracted her attention when she was hunting an Ettin for food in the forest. She was bored so she was taking her time playing. Like a cat tormenting a mouse. She then felt a sharp presence enter her detection range.
She pretended to fly up to the sky just to have a look. It was then that she saw him riding one of two carriages. His magic presence alone was overpowering all the people around him so much that she barely sensed them.
From that day on, she kept a tag on him. She still saw all the other humans as lesser creatures but he was different. She could not see him as anything but an equal creature.
From that day, she slowly developed a liking for him. When her sister attacked, she jumped in to help. She kept calm when insulted by bandits. She even tried to keep calm when the ignorant guards denied her entry to the city.
Slowly, that man has proved repeatedly to be nothing like other humans. He had a unique presence to him.
Now she was standing at his head. If she wanted to make him a dragon rider, she had to be there for him. Her injuries will not hold her back. She had compressed her injuries to her draconic so she will not be able to morph back for a while. Nevertheless, this will allow her to fight at full force in her humanoid form.
“Why are you staring at me like that?” Cain asked as he noticed her gaze at him.
“Nothing. I was just thinking about how strong you have become in the short while we did not see each other.” She said with a smile. Her draconic eyes flashed with red flame.
“At first, I have seen you as a strong human. Now I do not know if I can survive a fight with you without losing a limb or two.” Said Zaleria as she inspected Cain’s body with her eyes.
“If we were closer than 100 feet from each other. You should be able to kill me before I could cast magic.” Said Cain. Giving a rough estimate. If the distance was much greater than that, he could kill her with two meteors but risk dying himself in the blast.
Gracie finally recovered from learning that Zaleria saw her naked from the start. She slowly walked to their bags and took a change of clothes for each. “Let’s go take a shower before changing. We do have a long trip ahead of us.” Said Gracie. Her face remained unchanged but Zaleria could tell she was trying to smile.
Everyone then headed toward the keeps bath. When the maids saw the shadow maid (How Ourals keep maids have started calling Gracie) they bowed deeply and asked her what she needed.
“Get the bath ready.” Said Gracie immediately.
“The bath is already ready. You can use it whenever you want.” They replied with shaking voices. The last maid who yelled at Gracie had her head sliced at the spot. It happened on the same day Gracie came to capture Lord Bancroft. That poor maid thought Gracie was a new maid who wandered into the Lord’s quarter so she lashed at her. Gracie beheaded her without batting an eye.
The bath was noticeably larger than that of Cain’s house. It was almost the same size as Furberg’s city bath. Inside the changing room, five naked maids stood there waiting to help them. Gracie immediately called them.
“Get out, Gracie said calmly.
Terrified at her calm attitude, the maids jumped outside without even putting clothes on. They didn’t even notice Cain being there. A bunch of women surrounded him after all.
After having a short shower, they went into the hot poll. To their surprise, Marina was sitting there. The maids seem to have prepared the bath for her and mistakenly let Gracie and the other girls inside out of fear.
For the most part, Marina did not seem bothered until she noticed Cain. Her face flushed red. She didn’t expect him to walk in on her.
“W-what are you doing here?” Asked Marina with a shaking voice. Her hands were barely able to cover her body.
“Taking a bath. Is there another reason?” Cain replied calmly. He showed little interest in her body.
When Cain took a seat in the poll. Marina moved to the opposite side immediately. She was uncomfortable being close to him. She didn’t know it, but that was his high charisma leaking. She had never known what being attracted to someone is like so she backed down.
Sofia sat in Cain’s lap. Selena to his left and Alice to his right. Gracie found her place close to his legs. Zaleria on the other hand just sat close to his head outside the water. She likes how cool the floor felt.
“A-all those girls…” Marina mumbled. Cain heard her so he decided to reply.
“They are not all. You better get used to this.” He was not dense enough to not notice how she was feeling. Yet, Alice poked him in the side. “Don’t tease her too much!” She quietly yelled at him.
He giggled. With how wise Alice was. He could not tell if she was jealous or just worried. “Fine, fine.” Replied Cain.
Cain looked again at Marina. She was his slave so Alice didn’t need to worry about her look. “You can transform, she is under a slave pact so it’s alright.” Said Cain with a smile.
Alice trusted him completely and transformed immediately. Her devilish form scared Marina senseless.
Marina jumped from the water and attempted to run away when she heard Cain’s voice. “Come over here!”
Her body moved on its own, she slowly walked and stood in front of him. She didn’t whether to die of fear or embarrassment.
“As you can see, she is a devil. Please treat her well. And I don’t want anyone knowing about this!” Cain stated and released her. She fell back into the water.
“I-I understand…” She couldn’t think of other words to reply with. She had to give up.
Quickly after that, the bath ended. After eating breakfast, they were ready to depart toward Selena’s village and then to the Fenrir village.