“I don’t want anything to do with you.” Arad sighed, looking at Merlin’s face with a smile.
“You say it with a smile,” She hugged him tighter, “Nina, tell the guild master to sign it, or no more scrolls for the guild.” 𝑜𝑣𝘭.𝘯𝑡
Nina smiled, “Understood, I will make sure he signs it.” She nodded and then stared at Merlin, “But I will take it that Arad won’t be hurt, right?”
“Don’t worry. I’m not going to do any weird experiments. I will do basic observing.” Merlin smiled.
“Let me go!” Arad growled, trying to struggle out of her grasp.
“If you want to escape, you need to move forward. Not backward into my chest.” Merlin smiled.
“I’m trying to knock you over,” Arad growled, taking a deep breath and stepping forward. He then bent his body and lifted Merlin on his back.
“Hold up! I can see it…no. I can’t!” One adventurer rushed to sneak a peek underneath Merlin’s robe. But found an empty black void.
Merlin pointed her wand toward him, “A present,” She said with a smile, [Salt Splash]. With a tiny spark from her wand, a puff of salt rushed at the adventure, going directly into his eyes.
“My eyes!” The man screamed in pain, rolling on the ground like a ball.
Growling, Arad threw Merlin on the ground, where she landed on her feet like it was nothing. With a smile, she fixed her robe.
“I do use darkness magic to hide. You can’t sneak a peek.” Merlin stared at the adventure, “Then hide your chest,” Aella said, looking at her, disappointed.
“I told you before. It’s functional to keep it like this.” Merlin pushed her wand between her chest. “Storage.”
“Fine,” Arad sighed, “What do you want? Is it the same as yesterday?”
Merlin shook her head, “No, I pulled that thing out since you didn’t come.”
“See!” Arad pointed at Merlin and glared at Nina, “Told she didn’t need help. I suspect she even did it on purpose.”
“Of course I did. You can’t be an archmage if you’re stupid enough to drop something into the oven,” Merlin replied, looking at Arad with a smile, “The quest I have for you today is legit. Otherwise, I won’t come here in person.”
Arad stared at her, “I doubt it,”
“I came here since I knew you would say that. And I felt you might need me,” Merlin looked at Arad with a smirk, and he glared back at her for a while.
Arad immediately activated his void eyes and looked around. ^There is no trace of magic. She isn’t watching us.^
“You won’t see my scrying eyes since they are five hundred meters up in the sky.” Merlin smiled, “I didn’t stop watching you since we met in the forest.”
[She knows!]
“You!” Arad growled at her.
“Of course, I would tag you. Let’s talk inside, shall we?” She smiled.
Arad, Aella, and Merlin took a private room.
Merlin lifted her want [Soundless Barrier] [Lightless Barrier] [Mana Barrier]
“Those are spells used to lock a room. No one can see, hear or sense what happens here. My little dragon.” Merlin smiled.
“What do you want?” Arad glared at her, and Aella didn’t take her hand from her bow.
“Ah! Don’t worry. I won’t hurt you.” Merlin replied, shaking her hands, “Especially since you were with Alcott.”
“I asked what do you want?”
“Well, I’ve seen you want to hide, but you’re bad at it.” Merlin smiled, “Any mage worth his robe will be able to tell you’re not human. I bet a handful of the mages here in the guild are already suspecting you, but the thought of it being your pure blood is keeping their thoughts from developing further.”
“My disguise worked fine till now,”
“But it won’t work forever. If you want to blend in, I could teach magic to help.” Merlin stared at him, smiling, “You will be caught immediately if one of the capital mages shows up.”
“Mages from the capital? I met them before, and they weren’t a problem like you.” Arad stared at her.
“I bet they noticed and either decided to ignore you because of Alcott, or they stayed silent until they reported back to the clock tower.” Merlin sighed, “It’s safe to assume they know about your existence.”
“How do you know?” Aella stared at her.
“Well, I got this,” Merlin threw a small letter on the table. “It’s from the clock tower asking me to watch an individual named Arad Orion and report his movements.”
Arad took the letter, it was true, they knew about him. The letter asked Merlin to determine Arad’s type, age, color, abilities, and the possibility of capturing him.
“Damn it. We need to run away,” Arad growled.
“I advise against that. The mages haven’t attacked you directly since they fear retaliation from Alcott, Nina, and me.” Merlin smiled, “This was the most polite letter I got from them in years.”
“No, I bet I could fend them off if I…” Arad mumbled, but Merlin stared at him.
“Your vampiric and Lycanthropic blood won’t be much of help. I bet you haven’t eaten anything in the last few days.” She smiled, “I can smell you from here,”
Aella looked at Arad, “Smell him?”
“The magic carries the scent of blood and fur.” Merlin looked at him with a smile, reaching with her hand between her chest. She pulled out a red bottle and a slab covered in paper.
“Dragon blood and black dragon flesh. Those should keep you sated.” She put the bottle and meat on the table.
“I don’t feel hungry, and where did you get those?” Arad stared at the table.
“You might not feel hungry now. But it would be bad if you did.” She smiled, pointing at the meat, “It will also reduce the stench. Remember that the more you starve, the more your blood wants to surface.” She pointed at Arad’s arm.
“See, your forearms were smooth when we camped in the forest. Now you have tiny little hairs growing. Your skin is also a bit paler. I would say you are half as hungry.” Merlin smiled.
“I told you, I don’t feel hungry.” Arad growled, “I do eat, and I don’t intend on eating my own.”
“Hunger to werewolves or vampires isn’t the same as hunger for food. You can have a full belly. But you will still need to eat.” Merlin pointed at the meat, “You can say. There are some nutrients that your body needs that can only be obtained from eating your own.”
Arad stared at the blood and meat.
“If you don’t eat, there are some chemicals that your body won’t be able to produce. They mainly maintain mental stability.” Merlin approached Arad.
“You will slowly start to lose your sense of happiness and fall into depression. Good food will taste bland, and jokes will stop being funny. Even the little mistakes will easily enrage you, and your decision-making will plummet to the ground.” Merlin smiled.
“I will provide you with meat and blood for the time being. You, on the other hand, have to train and become stronger.” Merlin pushed the flesh and blood closer to him, “The first one to suffer would be her, so get yourself together and grow stronger.”
Arad looked at the table, frozen momentarily, “Why are you talking with me? As a mage, I expect you to report to the tower.”
Merlin smiled, “Mages want you for their experiments. I’m the same.” She looked at him, smiling, “In exchange for helping you grow, I want to have the scales you shed off when growing.”
[When a dragon advance in the age category, they shed its scales like a snake,] Mom explained, [Our only way is to start getting strong enough to protect ourselves.]
“Fine,” Arad sighed, Looking at Aella, “Guess. I’m eating my own.”
“Don’t worry about it,” Aella smiled, “Dragons already do it,”
“She’s right,” Merlin smiled, “In fact, red dragon’s favorite dish is other dragon flesh.” She giggled, “Even red bloodline sorcerers can carve dragon meat from time to time,”
Arad glared at Merlin, “That isn’t funny.”
“See? I told you. It is funny, and you’re not yourself when you’re hungry.” She pushed the meat toward him. “I will make sure to provide enough to nourish your vampiric and Lycanthropic bloodline since it might be your trump card against the mages. For the dragon stuff, you have to figure it yourself.”
“I will deal with that on my own.” Arad sighed, “And where is the catch? My scales aren’t the only thing you’re after?”
Merlin smiled, “I do want the backing of a dragon in the future, but I also have some dangerous quests which I like you to take care of for me.”
“Like what?” Arad sighed, glaring at her.
Merlin smiled, pulling a map from her chest and showing it to Arad, “This is your target. A very young red dragon. I want it’s heart for the heater.”