Chapter 479 – The Sorrows of Budding Feelings

The cyan layers spanning over the quarry slowly disintegrated, dispersing from the very top, uncovering not just the open sky but also all the spectators in the audience. At that very moment, a roaring noise echoed through the arena, causing the two healthy challengers to flinch. Most of the observers were cheering at them and at the incredible fight in general. When it came to their loudness, the difference between the time of the battle and right now was like night and day.

It looked like Selene had woven a silencing array into her barrier, ensuring that the gladiators in the pit could focus solely on their performance. Now that Asterios thought of that, the combat had gone through plenty of twists and turns where either side was hurt or surprised. Vocal reactions to some of those moments would have been a massive giveaway for the competitors.

His vulpine mate had thought of pretty much everything.

And his angelic lady descended onto the battlefield like a winged goddess of healing and light. The sun peeked through the slowly dispersing clouds, shining a concentrated beam right onto her divine figure, making her white and gold armor glimmer heavenly. She dipped onto the marble pavement by the most injured participant and began her work without a single word of complaint.

The joyful cries faded in a flash, everyone’s attention on the beautiful Valkyrie. From what could be easily seen, Venuzathor’s wounds weren’t something simple to mend. He was missing limbs and other pieces of his heavy body, not to mention the punctures brought forth by the spikes. So, the viewers watched with bated breaths to see if she would be able to even do anything.

Noir shared similar sentiments, peering at Asterios from the side with a shadow of well-concealed anxiety which he sensed from her. He, in turn, was looking in his beloved’s direction with a warm smile, waiting for the real show to begin. Sure, their fight might have been flashy, but this was going to be a real something too.

“You good?” Asterios turned his attention to Noir while Bryn prepared her ritual.

“Just a bit sore.” The Dragon girl scrunched her snout and flexed her previously electrocuted wing. “Shouldn’t you worry more about him?”

“He is in great hands. It might look bad, but I avoided the vitals as much as possible.” He smirked proudly. “Have you seen Healing Magic in action before?”

“Some of it.” She shrugged lightly. “Mostly lots of self-regeneration and concoctions speeding it up. Getting roughed up like that would require weeks if not months of strict recovery and dieting. Not many True Dragons, at least from our realm, dabble in specific magics that don’t align with their strengths.”

“Back when we were exploring Bryn’s realm, she needed a lot of my essence shared directly just before the spell to rebuild a lost limb, but she went through a lot of development since then.” Asterios felt his heart swell as he peered at the winged lady’s graceful back. “It’s time for you to witness a miracle.”

“Rebuild?” Noir’s forehead creased, but he held his finger to his lips and gestured ahead.

Just then, the female valkyrja clasped her hands together and flourished her gorgeous wings to the sides, extending them to their full spread. A transparent golden apparition came into existence above her, taking the form of a giant spectral Valkyrie made of light. Usually, the ghost held onto a spear or some other weapon, but this time, its palms were empty.

Bryn lowered herself to one knee, crossed her arms over her front by placing her hands by her shoulders, and bowed her head. The shining phantom spread its arms, lifted them into the air, and directed its face towards the sky. Suddenly, the entire region darkened as the rays of the sun were drawn to the figure’s fingers, the light deciding to fall almost exclusively upon the spot where the Valkyrie and the Dracodon stood.

That light coalesced into a see-through soft yellow bowl. Golden radiance pooled inside like liquid gold or some kind of nectar of the gods. When the waters of life were about to overflow, Bryn straightened up and stepped closer to Venuzathor. Opening her glimmering eyes, she mirrored the statue’s pose and a wave of comfortable warmth surged outwards, caressing everyone’s faces.

From within the sacred bowl, the gathered energy flowed out in majestic tendrils that twisted through the air like ribbons. They slithered into the Valkyrie’s hands, then into the Dracodon’s frame. She began waving her arms in complex patterns, directing the transfer of the rejuvenating force toward the missing parts of her patient’s body. Yellow replicas of those destroyed sections were gradually constructed in place of the absent flesh and bones.

A minute in, Venuzathor was whole, as long as one considered being made up one-third out of condensed light as being whole. Asterios then felt an arduous pull on his third source, Tia’s regenerative energy traveling between him and his skilled mate. He opened himself to her as much as he could, aiding her ritual from afar. To make it easier on himself, he transformed down into a humanoid appearance and Noir followed suit.

More minutes flew by, and with each passing one, the light-based representation of Venuz’s deficiencies was replaced by living tissue. Every single pair of eyes watched in silence as the golden structure gave way to flesh, skin, scales, and other details in real time. Line by line, progress was made, Venuzathor’s body being rebuilt until the very tips of his claws and the end of his tail.

Asterios and Noir were by Bryn’s side when she finished, natural illumination returning to the area and the sizable apparition dispersing into sparkling motes and particles. For a second there, he was almost sure he caught the cusp of the phantom lady’s lips curl up with her visage shifting towards him, but her face was gone a moment later and he just chalked it up to a trick of light.

Instead of fretting over such details, he rushed to support his unstable mate as soon as she stumbled.

“I’m here. You did an amazing job. Now, take it easy. That was one hell of a recovery.” Asterios held her tightly in his embrace.

“Thank you, Master.” Bryn offered him a slightly woozy smile. “I’m fine. Just a bit dizzy from using up so much mana. I’ll be back to normal in no time.”

“Or, you can be back to normal in a matter of seconds.” He grazed her cheek lovingly.

A delicate blush bloomed over it, but that didn’t stop her from nuzzling her face into his palm and leaning in, her eyes closing. Without a moment lost, he joined their lips in a cordial kiss, matching the magnificent Valkyrie’s dainty brushes with his own. Essence flowed freely between their mouths, resupplying her reserves and filling her up with more vigor.

Ending their fluffy kiss, she pressed one more peck to his cheek and withdrew with a brilliant smile. “I appreciate the care, Master. Let me return the favor, then.”

Asterios felt a wave of relaxation wash over him and exhaled in bliss. He didn’t have any injuries for her to mend, thanks to Tia’s regeneration already doing the work, but there were other ways she could bring him physical relief through her spells.

Then, she turned to Noir and extended her hand. The Dragon girl’s face looked as angry as always, but she accepted the gesture, her eyes widening at the rejuvenating energy bringing her back to perfect form. A shadow of a moan threatened to escape the feisty female’s throat, but she caught herself in time, sealing her lips into a thin line, the barest trace of rosiness touching her face.

“And with that, my job is done.” Bryn inclined her head to both of them. “I’ll leave now so you can discuss your battle. We can chat about it amongst the family later, Master. Don’t forget you still have quite important obligations to fulfill today.”

“Share my appreciation with Selene, if you would.” Asterios mirrored her motion. “Thank you again, and see you later, my love.”

Clearing her throat, she flapped her wings and tried to leave with dignity. They followed her retreating figure briefly, then turned to their recovered opponent.

“That was an excellent plot,” Venuzathor complimented them immediately. “You are finding ways to utilize your talents and unique predispositions in inspiring ways, Young Dragon. Those maneuvers were thrilling to watch.”

“It’s an honor to hear that, Storm King.” Asterios bowed low. “I wouldn’t have gotten the idea for the last misdirection without Noir.”

The fierce female raised her nose into the air as she crossed her arms under her chest. It might have seemed like a purely haughty pose, but there was a fairly genuine smile plastered over her pouty lips, even if on a smaller scale.

“Plans and schemes crafted by Asterios were impeccable. He knows how to weave his partner’s input into the strategy so well that the entire thing feels like following a step-by-step guide,” Noir replied without changing her posture.

“My final blow wouldn’t have such power without her assistance either.” He chuckled. “I think this was the most powerful version of that technique I have released until now.”

Her face snapped up to his, visibly brightening. “Those shadow spikes! I didn’t think they could be so effective when I suggested using my energy to give the explosion some more punch! Of course, your volatile blend of flames was insane too, and you have to tell me what that was! It passed his defense like it was nothing and then just… boooooom! I have done bursting Fireballs before, but never that vicious!”

Grinning at her infectious excitement, Asterios chuckled openly. The sound made Noir realize that she was practically bouncing on her heels and she snarled, throwing him an irritated glare, sneaking a few peeks at Venuz to see if he had noticed.

“Both of you did great, and both of you gained new insights from this fight.” The Storm King regarded each of them with a scholarly gaze, pausing a bit longer on Noir. “You are now ready to cooperate on the matter ahead of you, Young Dragon. Never forget what brought you this victory and you will be fine.”

Asterios and Noir peered into each other’s eyes and nodded firmly. He was fairly sure she would remember. In the end, they were still deeply connected, and he could feel her mind hyper-analyzing their interactions, starting from his offer to cooperate.

“I shall retreat to my rest and duties.” Venuz hummed. “Until next time.”

“I’ll fight you whenever you want, Old Bastard!” The Dragon girl yelled as he lumbered into his towering gate.

For a thank you and I hope we meet again, it wasn’t that bad.

They had time to work on it.

“I bet you ate breakfast already, but… snack?” Asterios raised a brow at her.

Noir spun to face him. “I found a place!”

“Oh, so you did come back to look around.” He smirked.

She scoffed. “I had a quick look before the sparring.”

“It’s still way before noon, you must have started the day early,” Asterios noted.

“I said a quick look!” Noir swung at him but he easily moved away.

“Got it.” He mentally pinged one of his mates and a gate opened. “Lead the way, then.”

Grumbling under her breath, she stepped through while he did his best not to smile too much. They appeared in one of the rooms belonging to the Asgeir family’s research center, the demon duo focused intensely on some kind of a formation. Not wanting to disturb them, they used shadows to move into the city, going to the location Noir brought up in their minds.

Emerging from darkness, they stood in front of a pub called The Dragonslayer. Asterios snorted at the name and followed his companion inside. The establishment was kept fairly dark with mahogany walls resembling the texture of scorched timber and a small number of light sources in the fashion of candle holders. Plenty of menacing weapons adorned the hall, alongside hunting trophies in the form of fake True Dragon heads. The furniture bore draconic motifs all over the armrests, backrests, and so on.

Leave it to a badass like Noir to pick a place filled with depictions of what awaited her kin if they stepped into this bar.

If they were to believe the lore chosen by the owners.

As they headed for an empty table, Asterios slowed down, squinting his eyes. He wasn’t mistaken, just as he had thought, truly spotting a familiar head in the crowd. Rudy sat in the corner, hunched over a half-empty mug of beer, nursing her drink with a somewhat haunted expression. A tinge of concern snuck into his mood and he carefully approached.

But, after arriving closer, he took note of all the hickeys peppering the Warrior’s muscular figure. It didn’t feel like she was drowning herself in alcohol after a bad breakup. More like…

“I see things with Visenna went well.” Asterios leaned against the counter by her side.

The adventurer jumped at the sound of his voice and her face snapped up to him.

“She’s a demon…” Rudy groaned, massaging her marked neck, lack of sleep apparent from her lidded eyes.

“Nah, just a Lesser Dragon.” He snickered. “You have no idea what a demon is.”

Patting her shoulder reassuringly, Asterios hurried to join Noir, who was already seated, her keen eyes following him all the time.

“She struggles with not being the top.” The Dragon girl grunted in acknowledgment when he sat down. “Most strong females like her do. They can’t even entertain the idea.”

“Do you?” He tilted his head.

The mug that flew his way would have passed over that shoulder if he hadn’t caught it right away.

Was that some kind of premonition?

Noir was glowering at him with a scowl.

“I thought that would be an easy answer since you are a fine specimen of a mighty girl. My bad.” Asterios offered her an apologetic nod.

She huffed, glancing away.

“I don’t feel regret or dismay from her. She just seems taken by surprise.” His companion decided to ignore the recent exchange and just continue. “Give her time and she should find her place in their dynamic. This simply smells fresh.”

“It is. They made things official yesterday.” He smiled warmly. “Thanks.”

Snorting, she opened her menu. “Pick what you want already. We don’t have an entire day.”

They chose their dishes and beverages and dug in. As promised during their last meal, Noir began introducing her own story. It was a tale containing lots of struggle as she competed with her siblings while learning what it meant to be a True Dragon of her lineage. She did experience some playfulness in their early years, but the kids quickly grew up and became more serious, striving to get stronger, smarter, and to overcome everyone else.

She was a middle child, not the youngest and definitely not the oldest, for obvious reasons. Those were long dead, having sired their own families and those families their families with how ancient her mother was. Still, with some stroke of luck or misfortune, she ended up being the last alive as her siblings lost their lives through various means. Mostly combat, getting overconfident, taking too powerful enemies on, entering challenges for mates, and the list continued.

And there was that one event with her last brother’s death, who was assumed to possess great potential and future, the pride in her mother’s jeweled crown that was their group of direct offspring. Her mother did not wish to take any more mates after that time. But, Noir didn’t wish to talk about that yet and Asterios encouraged her to just cover the aspects she felt comfortable with.

Therefore, while she still had lots of family in their fortress, it was simply not the same thing as having direct brothers or sisters. Those descendants, even just one step below her, looked at Noir with as much fear, distrust, cunning, and reverence as at her mother. They weren’t that different from Servants or Slaves even.

As she had hinted earlier, her usual days were spent doing whatever she could to get stronger while being kept rather close by Black. Her research into finding ways to briefly leave the realm was unsuccessful, and she was unsure if that was just her not being enough, or if it was her mother thwarting every single opportunity. She didn’t want to just leave and be gone forever, having to run most likely, since Black would chase her, so Ast’s call was almost too perfect. However, she didn’t believe to have had that much to be lost by that time so she dove right in.

And he had proven to her how wrong she was, at which they both snickered lightly.

Since she was hundreds of years older than him, she had plenty of stories and tales to tell, but they would never fit into one sitting. He thanked her for the brief introduction and expressed his wish to listen to them as they came naturally over the time they spent together. It was an acceptable agreement.

“That’s it for now.” Noir shrugged as she finished her drink and began getting up. “As you can see, my life is just a boring race to the top while looking over my shoulder for any ambushes and also trying to appease my mother so she can graciously share some wisdom or treasures with me.”

“Don’t say that.” Asterios smiled generously. “Such a definition can be used for my early life too, word for word. Maybe changing mother for academy officials or such.”

She grimaced strongly. “Sorry. I forgot you were horribly handicapped practically from birth, basically destroying your potential and preventing any meaningful progress. Compared to the disruptive efforts of my siblings or even my mother, I’m still considered born with a golden spoon in my mouth.”

A bit stunned, he blinked at her owlishly. But, even she must have not realized that she had just apologized to him honestly. What she had said clearly bothered her that much.

Then, she stilled.

“Both of us had our own troubles and entertaining moments. With varying distribution.” Asterios quickly turned away and began walking out. “In the end, what matters the most is the future. And the future of a certain settlement is at stake right now. So, let’s get moving.”

He could feel her intense stare in the back of his head as she followed him outside, which made it even harder not to give himself away. If possible, he really didn’t want her to notice his awareness. She would just growl or snarl at him, perhaps throw a punch, essentially baiting him to react in any way. And that would force her back into that savage exterior she had been surrounding herself with.

Not to misunderstand, she certainly was a strong and rather feral girl, but that didn’t mean she had to respond so furiously to everything she wasn’t used to. He believed she could still be her spunky and perhaps foul-mouthed self while lessening the general outrage a little. It just felt like she was lashing out without always meaning to, just following the norms of her home. While some of those were great or acceptable, the others were simply unnecessary, making her ashamed or embarrassed in the current environment.

“Ready?” Stopping in front of the establishment, Asterios put his hands in his pockets and glanced at her by his side. “Something on my face?”

Noir snorted, shaking her head. “Nothing. What’s this whole settlement thing about?”

He began explaining mentally while bringing them to Althea’s lair a bit off the mark from their final destination. She was familiar with the situation when they reached the cottage. Entering, they found his beloved mentor hosting a private tea party with Visenna, the disciples most likely out in the world carrying out their duties to his nation.

His gaze falling onto the younger version of his emerald-haired mate, Asterios showed a faint smirk. “You wasted no time, did you?”

The calm and collected female turned to him, and seeing his knowing smile, her cheeks bloomed noticeably. However, when her green eyes registered his companion, she quickly paled.

“What are you gawking at, worm?” Noir scowled as Visenna stared at her for a while. “Ow?! What the hell?!”

She gaped at Asterios in shock after he had chopped her on the head.

“New rule.” He squinted at her. “No name-calling our Lesser Dragon friends.”

“Friends?” The rude girl’s brows rose up. “I thought they were serving as your—”

“That’s a job they volunteered for out of their own volition. It doesn’t make them unbranded slaves or anything like that. They live here with us as equals, familiars and partners of my soldiers. Is that clear?” Asterios held her gaze firmly.

Noir’s nostrils flared but she didn’t confront him over the matter. Nodding to himself, he brought his focus back to Visenna.

“I… got a little overexcited after our delve…” The wise lady decided to wisely ignore the scene she had witnessed. “I really hope I wasn’t too much…”

Asterios let out a soft chuckle. “You should talk about it. In general, you two should talk more about yourselves. It’s clear you hit it off hard, but with both of you being of similar disposition…”

He drawled near the end, not wanting to slap any labels on this early, but she seemed to catch his message. And the way her carnation turned ghostly in a blink was incomparable to the first contact with one mean dark True Dragon earlier.

“Oh, no… That’s the impression I made?” Visenna peered at him with terror. “I didn’t mean to… I’m not… I thought she would like… She never said any—”

“Shhhhh.” Althea appeared by her side, rubbing her back tenderly. “As my already experienced mate said, communication is the key. Both of you are new to this intoxicating stage, no offense to your previous arrangements. Budding feelings are involved, making this even more potent. Go to her and discuss things properly. Just be honest and everything will be okay. Come back in half an hour for your trip to Phasmantia. Good luck, child.”

Shadows swallowed the young Lesser Dragon, Ast’s mentor most likely politely requesting Umbra’s help to bring Visenna to her new lover. She must have borrowed the location from his recent memories, which he didn’t mind as he and his mates were always open books to each other.

Save for surprises.

The trio waited the mentioned time in the cottage, just chatting casually. Though, it was mostly Asterios and Althea, with Noir grunting in response to their questions or the words directed her way. Lesser Dragons were still a bit of a sore spot for her.

After the given half an hour passed, Visenna returned, brought back the same way. She spoke words of gratitude into the air, clearly meant for her escort, and then her slightly reddened eyes found Asterios. She threw herself into his arms and thanked him profusely for noticing. The pair had talked, cleared up the slight misunderstanding, assured each other that there actually were no negative feelings, and already set up another date with a promise of some more fun.

When Visenna calmed down and restored her dignity with the help of Althea’s toiletries, Asterios sliced through dimensions and created a passage to Rhufija’s nest. The four of them stepped through, showing up in the empty amphitheater once more. Hopefully, it would remain so during their future visits too. It would be awkward to appear in the middle of a play.

“Ugh… It smells like ass in here…” Noir gagged, looking a tad unwell.

Asterios laughed and smacked her on the back.

She was going to be so much fun.