The dragon's harem

"Really?" Merlin stared at her and then looked at Arad.

"Don't look at me. I barely woke up," He sighed, standing up, "It doesn't matter, does it?"

"It does," Amber cried with a red face.

"Let her be for now," Merlin stood beside him, "We need to figure a way to get water, and I have a plan,"

"Really? There is only mud and trees outside," Arad looked at the door.

"Mud has water in it," Merlin smiled, "I need your fire Amber. And your barrier," And then looked at Arad.

"You can make water?" Amber stared at her.

"Of course. We would have needed it sooner or later," Merlin smiled, "Follow me," She walked outside and looked at the endless mud covering this lair with a grin.

"Arad, can you create two barriers?"

"No, I can only make one at a time with my current self," He replied.

"I see. How big can you make it?"

Arad extended his hand and created a massive sphere big enough to fit three people inside. "This is the best I can do,"

"As expected," Merlin smiled, "You're impressive,"

"This isn't much. I can do far more with my power." He replied with a passive face.

"We wouldn't be stuck here in the first place if you still had them," She pointed at the ground, "You learned the spell. Now, I will teach you how to use it."

"What should I do?" Arad extended his hand, canceling the barrier sphere and preparing to cast it again.

"Merlin, what should I do?" Amber looked at them.

"I need your fire after Arad gets his barrier ready. For now, wait a bit," Merlin replied before turning back to Arad.

"You can't cast magic inside other living beings as their mana blocks the way, but you can cast it inside the ground." Merlin pointed down, "Cast the same barrier sphere but with half of it going underground."

Arad looked at the ground, [Barrier Magic]

"Done, is isn't that diffirent from a normal cast," He looked at Merlin.

"Of course. With barrier magic, all spells are the same. The only difference is the location of the cast and the shape which are set to custom by default."

"The book said that if I can't imagine the shape or location, I could just shout the name in a chant. Would that work?" Arad looked at her.

"Of course, but consume more mana and alert your enemies to what you're about to make, so don't do it unless you can't imagine the shape."

"I see," Arad looked at his barrier, "We got this now, then what?"

"We need to lift it up to dig a hole," She tapped the sphere, "But, it should have tens of kilos of dirt and cobblestone. Good luck, our only man," Merlin gave him a thumbs up.

"I'm going to slap you," Arad glared at her.

"I'm joking, I'm joking," Merlin waved her hands with a worried face, "I will get a long branch to get it out. Wait a bit," She then ran toward the trees.

With a deep sigh, Arad looked at the barrier. It wouldn't be a problem if he had his draconic powers, but even with gravity magic, trying to lift this is almost impossible.

Amber looked at him, "From everything till now, I won't find it strange if you can do anything,"

Arad looked at her, seeing her stand about six meters[20 feet] away from him. "Why are you standing all the way there?"

"Don't worry about it," Merlin growled.

Arad touched the barrier, "It's smooth with nothing to grab on, never mentioning it's half of a sphere and low on the ground. I can't get a solid grip or a stance, not to mention the weight."

"I'm back!" Merlin called, struggling to drag a large branch toward them. "Arad don't just stand there, come help me!"

Arad sighed, heading toward her, "You know that Aella could have moved that with ease,"

"She's an archer, right? and I'm a wizard," Merlin stared at him, "Don't compare us with physical strength. Here you're the only one having it,"

^But I'm a mere sorcerer now, I don't have my draconic strength,^ He thought, forgetting that his humanoid build was far stronger and larger than most people.

^But he's a sorcerer,^ Amber thought, ^But he stands taller than most doors and his arms are almost thicker than my thighs.^

Arad pulled the long branch toward the barrier and stuck it at the side.

"Amber, come here and help me pull this down." Merlin waved her hand.

"I'm coming,"

"Arad, where we lift it up a bit, pull it out if you can." Merlin looked at him with a smile.

"If I can't."

"Then we try the long method by digging slowly," She replied.

Merlin and Amber grabbed into the side of the branch and pulled it down, lifting the barrier a bit. Arad immediately inserted his hand beneath and lifted it up.

As the barrier got out of the hole, Arad rolled it away and disabled the magic, dropping the pile of dirt on the ground.

"Now that we dug a hole, what else?" He looked around, "Put mud inside?"

"No, line the outer walls of the hole with stone and make sure to fill all the gaps," Merlin took her shirt off and put it away, "We're going to get dirty. It's better to work like this," She smiled.

"What are you doing?" Amber glared at her.

"Getting ready to work," She tied her hair above her head in a knot.

"Arad is here,"

"He's Arad, so I don't mind,"

"And what about your hair? That won't open up ever again, you would have to cut it,"

"I won't, no matter how jumbled it gets. I can always open it up with a spell when we get out," She started picking up cobblestones.

"Arad, let's start working,"

After half an hour the two had finished lining the hole with stones.

"Amber, get ready," Merlin pointed at her, "Arad, create a long surface with the barrier magic from the dirt to this hole and inclined it a bit, like this,"

She drew it on the ground with her finger.

"Got it," Arad extended his hands and created the barrier.

"Amber, heat the mud beneath the end of the barrier so it dries up," She pointed.

Amber pointed her staff at the mud and blasted it with fire. The water inside evaporated and rose up, hitting Arad's barrier and condensation before it dripped all the way to the hole they made.

"And myself," Merlin picked up a small stick and rushed to shovel more dirt in place of the dried one.

"I will help as well," Arad could still move with the barrier active, so he started shoveling with her.

After a lot of hard work, they got a large hole full of clear water.

"It's not much, but better than nothing," Merlin smiled, "I know you're exhausted, but can you make a bucket for Amber to use?"

"Of course," Arad created a handless buck with a barrier magic and handed it to Amber.

"Thank you..." She stared at the bucket.

"The water tastes weird," Arad said as he took a sip,

"Of course, this is pure water extracted from the mud with magic. The water you usually drink gets contaminated with the earth it comes from and the barrels we store it in." Merlin looked at him with a smile, "That explains why water can taste slightly different from one spring to another,"

"You sure know a lot," Arad stared at her.

"It's just a theory the mages of the tower came with," She replied with a smile.

"The mages' tower," Arad sighed, "They sure know a lot,"

Merlin looked at his face for a second, "ARAD!" She jumped to sit on his lap, "Can you untangle my hair?"

"You're naked," He stared a her, "Go wear the shirt first,"

"I can't wear it with my hair like this, it will get stuck," She smiled, "Can you untangle it?"

"Fine," Arad sighed.