The dragon's harem

Back in the Arctic, Merlin walked onto the castle’s rooftop with Liliana and Gug beside her. Those two had grown a lot. Gug was still almost two meters tall and built like a tank, while Liliana had maintained her figure and now had all sorts of weapons strapped to her waist and shoulders.

”First rift is around 170 kilometres east.” She pointed with her staff. ”It isn’t big, just enough for a large carriage to fit through.” She looked back at Liliana. ”Is there anything important there?”

Liliana pulled a huge map and gave it a look. Near the area where the rift should be, there were several tiny fishing villages and some native clans of local barbarians. The closest to the rift was ten kilometres away.

”Yes, but something else is there.” She pointed at the drawing of a mountain. ”The Tomb of Fire. There was this really powerful queen that lived here a thousand years ago. She was a great fire mage, and that is where her tomb is. It is a monster-infested area, and probably too deadly even by normal standards.”

”Are there any records of her dabbling in necromancy?” Merlin asked, and Liliana shook her head. ”There is nothing in the records about that. The monsters could be just attracted to the dense magic left behind by her. I’ve heard that powerful mages have so much mana that it can take decades to dissipate after they die. So, someone of her caliber could take centuries.”

”That is a misconception. Mages’ mana dissipates immediately after their death. The catch is whether the mage himself is aware of that or not, and whether they have used their all before death or not.” She looked back at her. ”Let’s say I die here with my mana tank full; all of that energy would leave my body at once, and many people could die of mana overdose, animals would turn into monsters, and the very land itself would change.”

Merlin then pointed at the map with her staff. ”It is the same for powerful creatures like dragons. Some can even make that mana explode. I’ve seen many fire dragons explode instead of letting mortals take their bodies.”

As they talked, the alarm bell rang, and Gug’s head turned toward the wall. ”Monsters.” She growled as all of the muscles on her massive body tensed. She was about to jump into the air, but Liliana stopped her. ”You’ll crack the roof; stop it.”

Gug was so powerful that if she wanted to jump from the roof, her legs would generate more force than a cannon, and that mere jump would end up shattering the stone roof of the castle.

Merlin looked toward the direction that Gug looked at, and then closed her eyes. ”A flock of ice wyverns. They are attacking one of the farms outside the wall... what are you even planting in the snow?”

”Ice roses. They are used in creating ice-boosting potions and several medicines. They are one of this city’s best income sources.” She scratched the back of her head. ”But they are also one of those wyverns’ favourite foods.”

”I know... Ice wyverns are herbivores, and that’s a stable for them.” Merlin sighed. ”What’s the plan? Let the soldiers deal with them?”

”No, that would cause a few deaths. Ice Wyverns are smart, and they’ll never fly close to the ground. They’ll stick to the air and keep blasting the ground with ice magic and occasionally swoop down to catch a body. I’ll go to the outer wall and snipe them away with the ballistae.”

”That would take a lot of time.” Merlin lifted her staff up. ”I’ll handle them from here.” As she hit the ground with her staff, a beam of light burst from the tip and flew into the air. Soon, a titanic dome of magic barriers started forming around the city and even engulfed the farms outside the walls where the Ice Wyverns were attacking.

Sensenig that amount of magic, Liliana was shaking. She had known that Merlin was powerful ever since she lived in Alina; she was the one responsible for Alina’s barrier after all, and was a renowned archmage. But this amount of mana was disgustingly large. ”Just... how much mana do you have? A regular talented wizard has just a few thousand.”

”Counting everything, even the crystals embedded inside my body. Just a bit over nine million.” Merlin replied, and before Liliana could ask a second question, Merlin replied on her own. ”I’m level 864, all wizard, and from that I only got fifteen thousand mana. The rest is the crystals I’ve hunted down, refined, and surgically implanted inside my body to raise my capacity.”

”That’s... enough mana for an entire army of mages...” Liliana couldn’t believe what she was hearing. No wonder Merlin could form a barrier on her own while it would usually require several wizards to cast such a big spell. ”You must have the most mana in this entire world. I never heard of anyone above 20k, let alone in the millions.”

Merlin laughed. ”I’m not that high up. Alice Dagon has twice as much mana as me, around twenty million, and just so you know, Betty the Flash is already over a hundred million, but she has most of that mana reserved for her constantly active spells.” As the barrier fully formed, Merlin pointed her staff toward the wyverns, and a massive magic circle formed.

”And none of us compare to that monster ruling the Wizard’s Tower.” As the magic circle flashed, several spears of pure white mana flew at the wyverns, killing them all in an instant. ”Lilia Bodhimicah{Yog mortal guise}; That monster’s mana is infinite.”

”Did anyone call me?” Yog appeared floating upside down above them, and Liliana glared at her. ”So... you two were really one and the same. The Archmagus of the Wizard Tower, Lilia Bodhimicah, and you, Yog, the goddess of magic, are the same person.”

”Yes and no, we are controlled by the same mind, but we’re two different bodies. I’m divine, and that one is a clone of my former mortal body.” She flew toward Gug and sat on her shoulder. ”My mana is endless, yes. I am mana itself after all. I gave Alice Dagon her large pool, and even though I gave Betty less, her draconic bloodline gave her a lot; her grandmother had quite the large pool even for dragons.”

”That level of efficiency is insane, and you’d think a mage would focus on one thing. Expand their mana pool or tune in their efficiency.” As Merlin sighed, Betty appeared sitting on her shoulders. ”You called me?”

”You’re really fast.” Merlin smiled. ”How did you get it that efficient?”

”I’m fast, so I can watch spells being cast in slow motion, so I can do more chanting and tricks to lower the spell cost.” She waved her hand forward. ”For example, I can do this little trick.”