The dragon's harem

Arad walked to the other room, seeing a humanoid figure of a woman made of crimson flames asleep on a stone bed. "Is this her?" He asked.

"You're right," Merlin replied. "Fire elementals are made of pure fire and heat." She grabbed a steel rod and waved it into Amber's body.

The rod passed as if nothing was there. She's really only made of flames. "But look," When she passed the rod inside Amber's chest. CLACK! CLACK! As if it hit a stone.

"The infernal spark is where her heart should be. It's the source of her power and the only weak point a fire elemental has. Destroying it means she dies unless she can find another source of fuel." Merlin explained.

Zephyr flew and sat on Arad's head, "If the infernal spark was destroyed, she could survive off burning wood or anything that can. But, the spark is the only thing that can sustain and elemental for a long time."

Arad sat on a chair, "That means we have to find more infernal sparks for her," He looked around, "How long will this one last?"

"About a year," Merlin replied, "The elemental plane of fire is made of them, and there they are more common than stones. So most summoned elementals usually don't have to worry about. But she needs to worry."

"Is there a way to go there?" He asked.

"No, that I know off." Merlin sat on another chair, "For now, she's fine and will wake soon. We will discuss this with her when that time comes."

"On another note," Zephyr stared at him, "What was that HO-white nova spell? You could teleport with it. So you at least understand its concept, right?"

"Nothing complex," Arad replied, "A concentrated ball of pure fire and heat, frozen with time magic for one minute."

"So she took a lot of energy, compressed it till it was about to explode, and then to keep it safe to handle, she froze it in time to half the explosion." Merlin scratched her head, "How large was the damage?"

"It blew an area about five times larger than Alina into dust. I'm not even close to having a fraction of that energy," He looked at Amber. "I doubt even brother has it, but I'm certain mother would be able to output that much."

"So it's only a matter of time before you start dropping those left and right." Zephyr sighed, "You magic dragons are a real pain," She giggled, "Times dragons have always been and always existed, traveling freely through time. The prismatic light dragons travel the world in the blink of an eye, they can outrun teleportation magic and have been known to punch time dragons through time itself. And you void dragons can alter the matter of existence itself, shifting the powers of the world."

"Where did you know that?" Merlin stared at her.

"I'm a high spirit, I know more than you humans do." She looked at Arad, "Remember not to blast that like it's nothing. There are people living around, you must keep your powers in check."

"I know that," He stood, "I need to go as I have some preparation."

"The marriage." Zephyr smiled, "Aella being jumping around like an excited puppy, you better hurry."

Arad nodded. ZON! He teleported away.

"Is it normal for someone to survive that?" Merlin asked, looking at Zephyr.

"Nope, he's the first I hear of to survive a divine tribulation, and on top, he used it to blast Vlad." She scratched her head, "It's possible the goddess gave him more time as she knew of his intention to blow Vlad."

"Is that even possible?"

"Gods weigh their options more than humans do," Zephyr sighed, "Instead of blessing multiple paladins and starting a crusade, it was probably convenient to let a dragon blast him."

"So you're saying her objective might have shifted from punishing Arad for trying to take Amber away from her, into giving him a divine mission to blast Vlad and Amber being the reward?"

"Gods have extreme foresight, she might have already guessed Arad's first thought would be blasting Vlad," Zephyr started flying, "I'm going as well, I need to talk with the fire spirit once more."

"I thought you hated her so much that you wouldn't initiate an unnecessary conversation."

"We can't let Amber go into the world like this, she'll burn everyone she touches. I will try to negotiate a fire pixie body for her." Zephyr replied.

"You can't grant her one?" Merlin asked.

"I can only give birth to wind spirits, we're limited to our elements." She looked at Amber, "I can't grant fire bodies."

"Care to tell me about the process later?" Merlin smiled, "It would be a one-in-a-lifetime chance to get a high spirit talking about the pixies' ascension."

"I don't know about that," Zephyr shook her head. "It's not a ritual we share with outsiders."

"Moon Spider Lily's nectar, I have a full flower bed fully grown in one of my greenhouses."

Zephyr froze in place. "Where did you get those?" Droll dripping from her lips.

"I have dragon tongue, Yoros's ash rose, and Wisdom apple roses as well." Merlin looked at her with a smile, "It's a give-and-take deal. Information for the flowers. I won't ask how you know, and you won't ask how I got those."

"Deal," Zephyr smiled. "You better keep your part of the deal,"

****

Thud! Arad landed at his village's entrance, walking through the wooden gate.

"Lord Arad, you're back." A man rushed to greet him. He's the guard responsible for the gate.

"How is the building going?" Arad asked.

"The castle?" The guard looked back, pointing toward the mountain, "As you can see, it's progressing nicely. I heard them say they can start building the keep by the end of the winter."

"Arad?" An old lady approached them, a smile on her face. She barely stood at 1.6 meters due to her hunched back, and she looked at Arad, barely opening her eyes.

"Grandma," Arad smiled, "That was Nina's grandma,"

"AHHHHHH! A thief!" A man screamed, pointing toward an adventurer who was running away after not paying for what he bought. This was something that plagued small villages that lacked guards.

Arad sighed, getting ready to catch the thief.

BAM! The old lady blasted away before anyone could react.

The adventurer laughed, jumping over the fence, "Catch me if you can!"

BAM! Thud! Nina's grandma quickly ran past him, her golden glowing eyes fixed on his face.

"What!" He gasped, and she grabbed him by the wrist, smacking him in the face with a kick, and sent him flying back to the village.

"What in the hell!" The guard gasped. He could barely see the old lady run after that thief.

"Barbarians rarely live to old age due to their wild lifestyle, and those who do aren't people you should underestimate." Arad giggled, "She's at least at a B-rank adventurer level despite her age."