“Arad, would you mind going to the bakery?” Lyla called from the kitchen. Arad stood, “Where is the bakery?”
“Don’t buy from the one in this street. That bakery’s bread is hard and bland. Head to the one close to the adventurers guild. Five loaves should be enough,” Lyla explained as Arad wore his shoes. “Got it. I will be back soon,”
“The money is on the desk at the entrance,” Lyla said, but Arad shook his head, “You’re treating us. I will be back soon,” He left without taking the money.
Lyla looked out as Arad left, “He left the money,” she sighed. She then smiled.
“Well, I only needed him to be out for a while.” Lyla stared back at Aella and Mira, talking in the living room.
“Aella, Mira, care to help me cook.”
“Coming!” Mira stood, and Aella followed her, determined to learn one thing or two about cooking.
***
Arad walked across the street, looking for something to buy besides the bread.
The streets bustled with life, each vendor shouting at the top of their lungs, people chatting, and the children playing.
[This place is better than living in a cave, isn’t it?]
^Of course. It’s fun to live around other people.^
[Dragons have two forms, humanoid and draconic. Most have to choose between the two styles and pick the main one. Red chose the draconic life, but we void chose the humanoid.]
^So we can find mates, I know.^
[That isn’t all of it. A humanoid life is far more fun than a dragon’s life. Especially when you are a hunted rare species. Blend into society, live between them, and creates bonds. When you outlive them, go into another life.] Mom started talking inside Arad’s head as he looked at the stalls. [One decade, be a farmer. And in the other decades, be a blacksmith.]
^Do we just move on?^ Arad asked, ^How does it work?^
[Void dragons, much like steel dragons, mimic a human’s life and aging. To the people around you, you will live a normal life, grow old and die.]
^So, mother was living around here. And she is now considered dead, right?^
[Yes, right now, she should be living in another place. I don’t know where she is, but it’s as likely to find her living the life of a slave as to find her acting as a queen.]
^A slave? I wish she would live as a commoner, at least.^ Arad looked at his hands, ^I’m living as an adventurer,^
[After hundreds, if not thousands, of lives, you will start getting bored from being a farmer or a noble each time. Your mother is mostly seeking a more thrilling life. It isn’t strange for a void or a steel dragon to prefer such hard lives.]
^Do you remember any of mother’s lives?^
[They are foggy, I can’t speak of details, but I remember the gist of their nature.] Mom said, [Her first life was that of a farm girl, but in that life, she got killed early on in a bandit raid. Her second life was as an adventurer, a soldier, a doctor, and even a traveling musician. At some point, she even lived as a slave, a beggar in the royal capital, a madwoman in the streets, a thief, a serial killer, and even a noblewoman of the royal family, and she then lived as a maid for the next woman who poisoned her prior persona.]
^Are you serious?^
[Your mother had a grudge against that woman for ruining one of her best lives. Before she moved to the next life, she stripped the noblewoman and tied her in the middle of the city for a whole week.]
^She could do that?^
[She can be bigger and have some random idiot kick her in the face in the day, but they would be greeted with an angry dragon at night.]
^Would she speak up if I met her?^
[Probably not, unless you recognize her and specifically call her out.]
^I wish she would act more like a mother,^ Arad sighed.
[Believe me, she is. She won’t show herself, but you can bet she is watching from afar. If something bad happened, she might even interfere.]
^I find it hard to believe,^
Arad sighed.
“I’m back!” Arad returned to Lyla’s home an hour later, carrying the bread and a bag of apples and oranges. It was the only decent thing he could find in the market.
“You’re back? What took you so long?” Lyla stared at him from the kitchen, “Brought this,” He lifted his hand up, showing her the fruit bag. “Ah! You didn’t have to buy all of that!” she dried her hands with a towel, approaching him.
“Where are the girls?” Arad asked as he didn’t see Aella and Mira in the living room.
“They are behind me in the kitchen. I needed a few hands, so I borrowed your girl.” Lyla smiled, “I’m talking about Mira, of course,”
Arad closed his eyes, walking past her to look in the kitchen, “Please stop,”
The two girls were stuck to the counter, struggling to cut vegetables, let alone do any decent work. “What are they doing?” Arad giggled, sitting beside them.
“They can’t make precise cuts, I asked for finely chopped parsley, and I got this,” Lyla showed Arad a bowl of parsley. It was chopped at different sizes to the point that even he could tell it was bad. 𝗼𝐯𝐥.𝗻𝐭
Arad grabbed the closest knife to him and sat the bowl to the side, “Let me try,” He sighed.
“Can you fix it?” Lyla stared at him with a smile.
“No, I will just chop the bigger parts more.” Arad started working, it will take some time, but he could get it done.
After a few minutes, he had made it more usable. Aella and Mira stared at him, “You can cook?”
“Since when cutting parsley is cooking?” Arad sighed, standing up and looking at Lyla, “Is there anything I can help with?”
Lyla looked around and then brought a big bone, “Red Boar bone, I’m going to use it for the broth, but it’s too big.” She handed it to Arad with a saw, “You’re a man, right? Can you cut it?” She asked with a smile.
Arad looked at her, “I’m definitely not a man,” He smiled, ^I’m a dragon, after all,^ He took the bone in his hand and rested it on the table.
“Aella, can I borrow your dagger?” He asked.
“It cannot cut thick bones,” She said, handing the dagger to him.
“She is right. Use the saw,” Mira stared at him.
Arad smiled, looking at them, “Don’t worry, I can make it work,” Arad rested the dagger on the bone, covering it with his palm and pressing downward.
As the girls couldn’t see it, Arad released a tiny blade of void underneath his palm, chopping the bone in half with a loud crack.
BANG! The bone snapped in half just as he pressed, “See? Easy,”
Lyla laughed, “I knew I could count on you. It would have taken me an hour to cut through that thing.” she patted him on the back, taking the bones to wash them.
Aella and Mira looked at each other, “How?” Mira asked, inspecting Aella’s dagger, “I’m not a blacksmith, but this shouldn’t withstand that kind of pressure.”
“That’s a part of my skills,” Arad smiled, taking the dagger back and handing it to Aella. She knew he did some dragon thing but couldn’t tell and stared at the weapon, confused.
Arad pulled a chair and sat with them in the kitchen, watching as Lyla cooked and the other two scrambled to help her. “I can understand that Aella cannot cook, but why is Mira like her?” He asked.
Swosh! Mira threw a towel at his face, “I have work to take care of. I can’t spend all of my time in the kitchen.”
Arad looked at her with a wry smile, “You make bows, right?”
Mira stared at him, “I’m a carpenter, not a bowyer. I make wooden furniture and tools. Making bows is just a hobby. Which I want to evolve into a second job.”
“Bows are made of wood, so as a carpenter, you should be able to take the job of a bowyer?” Arad looked at her.
“They are two different jobs. We just use the same material.” Mira looked at him, “And I will use steel for bows instead of wood.”
“Then you will be a steel bowyer? I guess that is taking most of your free time,”
“Mira, watched the stir the pot while I cut the meat,” Lyla called Mira, drying her hands and heading toward the table.
Arad smiled, watching the three of them cook, “Can I help with anything?” He asked.
Lyla looked at him, “You said you could use fire magic, right? Can you heat that blanket over there? I will cover the dough with it.”
Arad looked at the blanket, “Dough? I did buy bread, right?”
“Ah! That is something special. Nothing beats homemade, right?”