“Cursed Items?” Arad gasped as he heard Doma’s giggles in his head. ^The one I remember best is the cursed sword pins. They make the wielder drowsy the more they swing the blade.^

^What are pins? And who would use them?^ Arad sighed.

“Arad,” Alcott stared at him, “Cursed items?” He had heard him gasp earlier.

“I was talking to her in my head. Do you know pins? She’s saying to ask you.” He tapped his head.

“You mean those?” Alcott lifted the sword he was sharpening and showed Arad the handle. “See those small pins? The ones holding the wooden part of the handle to the blade so it can be wrapped with leather.”

“Those are the pins,” Arad pulled the adamantine sword from his stomach and looked at it. “She says she used to make cursed pins that make the user drowsy. Can that be used?”

Alcott blinked, “Of course, that’s more useful than you think,” He smiled.

Merlin stared at them, “If the kingdom was going to war, they would try and sneak those cursed pins into the enemy supplies. Those things can stop a whole war,”

Arad nodded, “So it’s like poisoning the army,”

“It only works on humans,” Alcott said with a smile, “Elves and dwarves are cautious and inspect everything. Only humans can import crap from other nations and sell it as genius,”

Merlin nodded, “Elves are proud and would insult anything that isn’t made by an elf, and dwarves are ruled by honor. No dwarf would sell another a faulty item.”

^They are right,^

“By the way,” Arad extended his hand into his stomach, “I wanted to show you this thing,” He pulled the dragon slayer sword.

“Nice isn’t it?” He smiled.

Alcott stared at the sword for a second, “The dragon slayer!” He gasped, “Where did you find it?”

“I got it from a mage,” Arad replied with a proud face, “Nice, isn’t it?”

“Of course,” Alcott nodded, “Well, if you’re facing dragons it makes sense. If not, it’s useless.”

Alcott inspected the sword, “As I thought, the magic flowing through the blade is amazing. It’s perfect to cut through dragons’ scales and bones.”

Merlin took a look at the sword, “It also deflects their magic. A fire dragon won’t melt this sword no matter how hard it tries.”

“I thought you would be interested,” Arad smiled.

“If you want me to buy it, I won’t.” Alcott replied, “I already have more well-rounded swords. I do fight dragons more than normal people, but I do also face monsters and humans.”

“I thought so,” Arad nodded, “I just wanted to know if the blade is genuine or not from an expert.”

“The blade is. Does it have a sheath?” Alcott asked, and Arad pulled the sheath from his stomach, “This what came with it.”

After a short stare, Alcott sighed, “That’s a replica, a fake one.”

“It has magic, but it’s only mimicking the feeling of the original one, not its power,” Merlin replied.

Arad looked at the sheath. He could sense nothing strange in it.

^I don’t know what the original one is so I won’t be able to tell the difference.^

“What can it do?”

Merlin started explaining, “The original sheath can transform into a shield that absorbs mana from dragon’s magic and breath. You can either recharge your mana with it or release it again as a blast of the same elemental energy.”

“So if I hit it with a fire breath, it can release the fire back at me.” Arad nodded, “That won’t work since dragons are immune to their element.”

“The fire from the shield would hurt them.” Alcott said, “You can even infuse the magic into the blade,”

Ginger sighed, “What they mean is, the dragon slayer alone is like a blade that just cuts dragons a bit better. To unlock it’s full potential, you need it’s sheath as well.”

****

After a while, they finally reached the forest and stopped. Merlin jumped down from the carriage and flicked her finger. Dispell summon

The horse and the driver disappeared in a silvery mist.

“Can you get out of the carriage?” She asked, “I want to cast some spells on it,”

Nina stared at her, “You have something in mind?”

“I saw it in some books,” She smiled as everyone got out of the carriage.

“I read about the people of the east riding elephants, and they used a modified carriage to mount them.” She smiled, “I’ve been cooking a spell for some time to do just that,”

“Since you saw Arad,” Nina stared at her.

“You can’t blame me,” Merlin gasped, “People see a tiger and think about riding it,”

“I got bigger, you know?” Arad stared at her.

“Don’t worry,” She waved her hand, sending strings of magic to the wooden carriage. “I’m the archmage Merlin. My magic isn’t that restrained.”

From between her breasts, she pulled a large crystal ball.

The crystal floated in front of Merlin, shimmering with magic as she constructed the spell.

The silk threads of magic infused into the carriage, shifting the wood and wheels, creating ribbons and chains to tie it, and then forcing it to float in the air.

“Arad, mind-shifting now?” She said, mana dripping from her eyes and fingers.

Swosh! Arad instantly transformed into his draconic form, and Nina gasped, “You’re almost as big as an adult red,”

“I looked into void dragons,” Alcott said, “And they seem to grow too big,” He looked at Arad, “Your kind are native to the ethereal plane that surrounds the other planes. That vast empty space is the reason you grow too big.”

The mortal world, the nine hells, the endless Abyss, the ashen wastes, Mechanus, and the other plans of existence all float in what the mages call an ethereal plan. That is where the void dragons live.

Merlin waved her hands, and the carriage stuck to Arad like a backpack, chained to him so it wouldn’t fall.

“Does it hurt anywhere? Can you move with it?” She asked.

“Snug and perfect,” Arad replied. He could barely feel it on his back. His scales were tough. He then expanded his wings and did a backflip like a dog trying a trick. “No problems with moving,”

Merlin smiled, “Then, one last thing, what color do you like?”

“Color?” Nina stared at her, “That doesn’t matter,”

“I meant his. We can’t fly on a void dragon without drawing the mage’s attention. I will change his color, and allow him to camouflage.” She replied with a smile.

lightsΝοvεl ?οm Arad scratched his chin with his claw, “How about red? Nina just said I’m almost as big as an adult red,”

“You can use fire, right?” Alcott stared at him.

“All elements,” Arad replied. He can use the void to recreate all the breath weapons, and even if an element is tricky, he could let Doma do the math instead of him.

Merlin smiled, “So red it is,” She waved her hand, and Arad’s scales turned red, spikes emerged in his back and his wings color started to flow faintly like hot steel.

Arad opened his jaw, releasing a puff of flames. “Arad the red,” He giggled, “How should I act?”

Alcott nodded, “You’re far more perceptive than I thought. Try acting arrogant, be a bit angry, and address humans as, humans, or ants.”

“Just look down on people,” Merlin replied, “Red dragons are known for that,”

“Watch your mouth, human,” Arad glared at Merlin, fire gushing out of his nose, “You look like a decent snack,” He growled.

Alcott laughed, “That’s more like it,”

“It was good, now try camouflage. You should be able to activate it at will as long I’m close and not unconscious.” Merlin nodded, approving of Arad’s act.

Arad disappeared, his body molding into his surroundings.

“Remember, you aren’t invisible. The color of your scales matches the colors of the environment around you, any human can spot you if they focus hard enough.” She explained.

Arad appeared again, “But it will work in combat or to sneak around when no one is expecting me. It also seems to affect the carriage.”

“It’s my magic, after all, not your natural camouflage.” She giggled, “Let’s get going.”

Arad stared at Nina who was sitting in the back, trying to touch a small fox. “What are you doing?” He asked.

The fox’s tail spiked as he slowly backed away, with Nina trying to calm him down.

“Arad! You’re scaring her, shift back.” Nina stared back at him.

Arad looked at the fox, “I’m not going to attack you, calm down,”

The fox stopped moving as Arad addressed her, staring at him with weary eyes.

^I see, her cubs are just behind the tree. She must have been scared when I appeared out of nowhere.^

Nina stared between Arad and the fox, “You can understand her?”

“I do, I can speak with animals, you’re the same?”

“I can’t speak with them, but we barbarians are used to living with nature.” Nina stood as the fox rushed back to her cubs.

Arad laughed, “So I best you in one thing,”

Nina stared at him, “Want to test your power in a fight?”

Arad stared back at her, “I know I still can’t beat you,” He looked around, “In fact, I might only have a chance against you, Merlin,” He turned.

Merlin giggled, “It’s true, I don’t have powerful attack spells but don’t underestimate me.” She waved her hand, and Arad went blind for a second.

“I can knock you out with magic if I try hard enough,” She immediately returned his vision, “We should go,” With a second wave of her finger, all of the rose to Arad’s back and sat in the carriage.

Arad cleared his throat, “HOLD WELL! HUMANS!” He roared, “MUHAHAHA!” Laughing as he took to the sky.

“Your acting is bad…” Alcott giggled.