The dragon’s harem

The giant ants swarmed the room. Their mandibles were wide open, ready to bite Arad, who rampaged in the middle.

Aella stared back, seeing Arad roar, ripping the ants apart. “Arad!” She screamed, seeing one of the ants bite his tail, dragging him away.

“Let’s leave! Follow the plan!” Jack shouted, trying to grab her hand and pull her away.

Aella turned around, and her steps slid on the ground from how fast she tried to run. Her eyes flashed green as they fixated on Arad.

“Aella!” Jack shouted, but she blasted toward Arad, BAM!

Aella rushed toward Arad, but the ants cut her way, opening their mandibles to bite.

“HA!” Aella bent her body, sliding blew the first large with a clenched fist. [Wind Blast]

Arad jammed his claws into the ground, resisting the pull of the ant biting his tail [Lightning Cloak]. He then shocked it with lightning. ^There is more than we expected. Could I burn them all?^

[Don’t worry. Their attack can barely pierce your scales, and you can heal from the little damage they do. Focus on diminishing their numbers as much as you can,]

^Easy for you to say it. They are coming from everywhere.^ Arad glared around. All he could see were ants over ants.

BAM! Arad heard a blast in the distance, and when he lifted his head, he saw an ant flying toward him. CRASH! The ant crashed on the ground, killing a few more ants as it rolled over them.

^What?^

CLACK! Aella blasted in, pulling the string of her bow with three loaded arrows, [Zephyr Bolt]

Aella’s arrows flashed green. BAM! With a wind blast, they launched forward, piercing three ants and not stopping.

After the arrows exited from the ants’ heads, they flew up, shifted their direction, and pierced another three ants.

Arad opened his jaw and unleashed a void breath at the ants, wiping several but missing a couple.

SCREETCH! One of the ants rushed at Aella, opening its mandibles.

Aella pulled her dagger from her waist. CRACK! CRACK! CRACK! She instantly delivered three stabs, enough to force the ant’s head open. She then swung the dagger down [Wind blade] [Wind blade] [Wind blade]

Three invisible blades of compressed wind flew from the edge of Aella’s blade, killing the ants surrounding Arad.

“This is as much as I can do!” Aella shouted, crouching down as her foots flashed green, “Be careful,” She said [Wind Burst] BAM! She used the spell to blast herself backward toward the exit hole.

Aella pulled her strong mid-air, firing arrows at the ants as she retreated.

^What was that?^ Arad gasped, seeing her jump in, kill ants, and then leave without elaborating.

[Aella is strong, but I bet she’s out of MP. She’s a fighter, after all, not a wizard.] Mom explained briefly to Arad. Aella is an Arcane Archer. She uses magic to boost her marksmanship and effectiveness on the battlefield. But since she has so little MP, those moments seem like a short burst of power.

Thud! Aella fell into the exit hole after Jack, gasping, “Give me…”

Jack didn’t need her to finish talking. He already knew what she wanted. “Here you go,” Jack handed Aella a small-sized blue bottle. She chugged the content and could feel her mana slowly getting back.

“You good? Then let’s start,” Jack smiled, pulling a small pouch and throwing it at the exit hole. BOOM! He locked Arad with the ants inside the room.

Arad saw the hole close, and he smiled inside. He finally can go all out, ^Mom, get ready,^ Arad spread his wings, [Burn them to ash.]

Arad’s body ignited with [Flame cloak], sending waves of heat across the room. He then opened his jaw and unleashed a fire breath, burning the ants in front of him. His flames flashed blue, and he didn’t need to hold back.

The room temperature slowly increased, and Arad rushed forward, swinging his burning claws at the ants.

The chemicals the ants used to identify targets and move around slowly boiled off, sending them into chaos as Arad rushed between them. They started killing each other as Arad burned what remained. 𝘣𝑒𝘥𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝑙．𝘤𝘰𝘮

Mom’s plan was simple. She knew the ants use chemical signals to speak with each other and mark directions and targets. She also knew those could burn off easily. But attempting that with Jack and Aella around might hurt them.

^So for maximum effectiveness, we gather all the ants in one spot and cook them alive,^ Arad growled inside, rushing between the ants and breathing fire everywhere as if he was a mad red dragon.

After a few minutes, Jack and Aella finally heard the noise in the room stop. The fight was over.

“Arad! Are you okay?” Jack shouted from behind the stones clogging the exit.

CRACK! CRACK! Arad clawed out, digging the hole again and collapsing on the ground. His body shifted back into a humanoid as he panted, “Need water,”

Aella pulled a small bottle from her pouch and poured it into his mouth, “Are you okay? Don’t you have water in your stomach?”

After Arad drank his fill, “I forgot about that. I do have it there,” He smiled.

Jack approached them, smiling, “Here, drink this as well,” He gave Arad a small MP potion.

Arad chugged the potion and stood, “I feel better,” He sat.

“That was a reckless plan, but it seems to have worked.” Jack smiled, “But you were reckless,” He glared at Aella,

“I couldn’t leave Arad swarmed like that,” She said, looking away.

“You know he would kill me if I let get yourself killed,” Jack growled.

“Arad never said that,” Aella looked at Arad.

“I mean,” Arad smiled, “He’s right,” He patted Aella’s head, “Don’t rush into danger again. Unlike me, you can’t survive a single bite from those mandibles.”

“For real,” Jack sighed, but Aella glared at him, “You are the person who rode a salamander and a raging red dragon,”

Jack glared at her, “I would die in a cool way. You, on the other hand, would have died eaten by ants.”

“That doesn’t matter,” The two almost started a fight, but Arad stopped them, “Let’s keep pushing forward. The queen is waiting,” He stood, and the two followed him.

After a minute, they reached the queen’s room. She sat in the middle of her eggs, standing almost five times bigger than the giant ants and staring down.

SCREETCH! The queen growled, but Arad stared at her confused, “Sadly, I don’t speak ants,” He opened his palm, igniting a burst of flames.

[The queen is weaker than the fighter ants. Her size is only for making eggs. Just give her a solid hit on the head,]

Arad rushed forward, Jumping at the last moment and avoiding the queen’s bite, “Here you go, DIE!” [Firefist] KA-DON! The flames exploded, and the ant queen fell to the ground, bleeding from her skull.

With a crack, the queen landed on the ground, dead.

“She ain’t moving. You sure that one hit killed her?” Jack asked, poking the queen with his dagger.

“Yeah, I felt her crack,” Arad replied, lifting his fist and smacking her again, “She should be dead now,” He lifted his arm and absorbed her into his stomach.

***

[Name: Arad Orion][Race: Void Dragon][Class: Draconic Mage]

[Level: 7/20][Exp: 1200/34000][Sub-class: Void Knight]

[Age stage: Wyrmling] [Seveteen years and three days.]

[Ageing ready, Please retreat to a safe place to start,]

[Stats]

[Available stat points: 2]

[Available skill points: 0]

[Strength: 15] [Agility: 20] [Constitution: 15]

[Magic: 20] [Intelligence: 20] [Wisdom: 20]

[HP: 110/192][MP: 29/210][SP: 123/210]

***

“Yes!” Arad shouted, “I got it!”

Aella approached him, “You got what?”

“I can finally grow into a very young dragon,” Arad smiled, “This is a big step!”

Jack smiled, “So, you can fly now?”

“Still, it says I need to find a safe place to start,” Arad looked at his stats.

[Sadly, you can’t evolve here,] Mom said.

“Why?” Arad gasped.

[Your draconic body needs to grow. You will be almost twice your current size. That means you need time for it to take effect.] Mom started explaining, [You need to find a safe place and sleep, hibernate for a few days as your body transforms. In the end, you will discard your current scales and grow new ones.]

“Are you saying we have to stop exploring the dungeon?” Arad asked.

“What are you talking about?” Jack looked at Arad speaking to himself.

[No, you don’t have to evolve right now. But know that you can’t grow in the meantime.]

“Fine, I will hibernate after we clear the dungeon,” Arad replied, looking at his stats.

^Let’s put the two skill points in the constitution and strength,^

***

[Name: Arad Orion][Race: Void Dragon][Class: Draconic Mage]

[Level: 7/20][Exp: 1200/34000][Sub-class: Void Knight]

[Age stage: Wyrmling] [Seveteen years and three days.]

[Ageing ready, Please retreat to a safe place to start,]

[Stats]

[Available stat points: 0]

[Available skill points: 0]

[Strength: 16] [Agility: 20] [Constitution: 16]

[Magic: 20] [Intelligence: 20] [Wisdom: 20]

[HP: 110/196][MP: 29/210][SP: 123/210]

***