Chapter 36: Chapter 35 - Deals and gift horses

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”Tiny Titan! What brings you back to my lair?” Llethunaxx greeted Karna happily as they finally got through to the blue dragon. Unlike last time she visited this place, the servants, accountants, and bureaucrats that filled the dragon's lair didn't simply ignore their presence. She didn't have her father's sheer power to guarantee entry, and the dragon had not expected their arrival, so the various pencil-pushers had tried to make difficulties for them. Now that it was clear they were welcome, the accountant that had brought them here, after Karna had greased his palms a bit, happily faded away and left them with the dragon.

“Tiny dragon! I’ll have you know I’ve grown again.” Karna teased the dragon happily. They’d borrowed his contacts when her last rank-up had required special arrangements. Holding blood rituals in the middle of the night inside the Magocracy borders could be taken the wrong way after all. She had reached the fourth circle in magic and fourth rank as an Aura user during her sixth year in the Academy, and the Awakening had required a different kind of method than the other times. For some reason, blood baths and blood rituals were awfully frowned upon by most civilized nations. Very narrow-minded of them.

“So you have! Though this time not as much as last time. You’re slowing down! Soon enough you’ll be growing just as slowly as I am. Besides, I’ll have you know I’ve grown several centimeters since the last time we met.” Llethunaxx held himself proudly and extended to his full length, giving the group the perfect view of his profile.

"Oh? It seems you weren't lying. You have grown. You finally ate the remaining bits of tribulation lightning didn't you?" Karna looked the dragon over and her sharp eyes could tell the difference. The dragon was much stronger than before and was even close to ranking up. Karna’s last Awakening had caused just as much of a disturbance as the previous ones, though in a slightly different form.

“I did! You always bring me such exciting business opportunities! Which brings you here this time? Surely your next Awakening hasn’t come yet?” The dragon inquired happily.

“No, no! We’re here for something much simpler, and I’m here entirely in my own capacity as a student. Father is likely aware of where I am as he’s a worrywart, but he’s not to interfere with the mission.” Karma waved her hands to bring down the dragon’s excitement a bit.

“Oh? You’re here on a mission then? What do you require?” the business-dragon got a calculating look in his eye. Business was still business.

“We need transportation. Our goal is to reach the lands of the High Elf Court.” Karna explained.

“That I can’t do. The dragons the elves control are quite territorial and don’t like the rest of us Shifting into their territory. I actually own a cake shop in the city, but the old stooges refuse to recognize it as my territory! Besides, the elves have their own measures against unauthorized spatial magic to prevent any surprise invasions by the Aegean Empire. A rather smart choice all things considered.” Llethunaxx shook his massive head in refusal.

“I suspected as much.” Karna nodded. If that hadn’t been the case, she could’ve opened a portal herself with enough spirit stones to power the spell. It would take her almost half a day to cast the spell and would seriously drain her spirit stone reserves, but it could be done. Time was easy to come by, as they’d spent several days getting here, but she’d rather save the spirit stones in case of emergencies. “Instead, we’d like to get to a large enough elven controlled city within the old Holy Kingdom territories to have an authorized gateway. I know they transport people and goods back and forth, so this shouldn’t be too big of a problem.”

Llethunaxx scratched his flank against a nearby pillar while thinking about the request. "It's not too difficult to find a portal, but it's harder to find one that is available for public use. The elves are really careful with incoming traffic, and only certain types of people and goods are allowed through most of the gates. Your best bet would be the city of Titangel. It's the official-unofficial regional capital of the elven occupation and the seat of their government on this continent. They have gates, though using them might be a bit pricy."

“That sounds perfect. Can you get us there?” Karna requested with her best puppy-dog eyes. She wasn’t too worried about the price. She had started producing items for the Academy years ago, and the items she created had quite a bit of demand.

The dragon completely ignored the imploring look thanks to his business skills. Others had tried the same trick, though ignoring Karna was significantly harder. “I can get you close, though not into the city itself. What are you willing to trade though?”

“Bah, it’s not a large bother for you, and it’s only going to save us time so it's not worth it if you get too greedy.” Karna went into haggling mode.

“Perhaps, but you came to me for a reason. It would be a shame to leave empty-handed. All that wasted time. Besides, opening portals in the area is going to annoy certain people. If someone like you would do it, they might just forcefully collapse the spell and cause your attempt to fail.” Llethunaxx was happy to haggle about the price. This was exactly the sort of negotiation that he enjoyed.

“People that you don’t mind annoying and that are annoyed with you anyway.” Karna countered. The two went back and forth for several minutes, giving points and counter-points, haggling without actually mentioning any concrete price.

“You want me to pour coins on you, don’t you?” Karna finally asked with narrowed eyes.

“Yes!” Llethunaxx admitted easily and eagerly. His tail was thumping on the ground in expectation.

“You know father will kill you if he finds out.” She pointed out simply.

“Which is why secrecy will naturally be part of our agreement. For both parties.” Llethunaxx said cheerily.

Karna pretended to consider the proposition, but she already expected this. The whole haggling bit was just for show and a bit of fun. She wasn’t one to kink-shame people, and this didn’t really require anything unpleasant on her part. “Fine. I’ll even throw in a freebie and do it in my Titan form, but I’ll only do it once.”

“Twice and you have a deal!” Llethunaxx countered eagerly. He even lay down on the ground in eager anticipation.

With a faked suffering sigh, Karna suddenly seemed to more than triple in size as her Titan form had grown to be almost seven meters tall. Luckily she’d accounted for this possibility, and her clothes had been enchanted with this in mind, so they grew along with her. She picked up the largest container nearby, which happened to be a huge bathtub filled with gold coins and decorated with gems. What the damn thing was doing in the middle of a dragon’s lair was a mystery, though on a second look she could still see some traces of blood inside. Wasn’t this the tub she had used during her Awakening? Ignoring the implications, she lifted the thing over the prone form of the dragon and almost gently allowed the contents to cascade over his blue scales. She could’ve just dumped the contents on the dragon, but if she was going to do this, she might as well do it properly.

Llethunaxx’s whole body shivered as the rain of coins covered him. His claws scratched the ground and it almost seemed like he was having small seizures. The same happened even more strongly as Karna scooped another tub-full of coins and repeated the process. “Is the dragon cumming?” Miralen asked in a hushed tone, though her question wasn’t addressed to anyone particular.

"In a way," Mayumi replied. “The dragons don’t work exactly the same as humanoid races. They have the usual type of cumming which we all know about, and then they have a more mental way to reach a climax of sorts, in which case there’s no…bodily fluids involved or anything. This was of the latter type.”

“And why exactly do you know such things?” Shaheera asked with a suspicious glance.

“We have dragons near the Frostpeak Insitute," Mayumi said a bit defensively. She’d actually learned about it in her previous life.

“That should be good enough, right?” Karna asked loudly while returning to her original size. This sort of kink really wasn’t her thing, but there was always a certain amount of satisfaction in bringing pleasure to others. And as far as golden showers went, this one was a lot more pleasant than the alternative.

"It'll have to be," Llethunaxx stated slowly, coming out of his reverie. If someone had asked him why he got such pleasure from having coins poured on him, he wouldn’t have been able to explain. He gathered his wits and got up. “Right then. Give me a minute. A portal like this will take a few moments to create.”

“You know Arjuna will be really disappointed, right?” Duskclaw asked with a lopsided smile when Karna returned to the group.

"Ah, but he won't be finding out," Karna said, quite sure of herself. "After all, he would be even more disappointed that you didn’t intervene, right?”

"True enough. Personally, I think it's about time you started exploring such things, though this was not the first sexual experience I would’ve recommended.” Duskclaw simply joked. She knew most girls even in the Magocracy started exploring such things much younger than Karna. This group in itself was out of the norm in that regard. Miralen was an elf and elves matured more slowly, while Mayumi seemed rather uninterested in such things. Duskclaw had no idea about the guys in the group. She didn’t honestly care either, which made her a bit of a hypocrite.

“What makes you think this was my first experience?” Karna asked sneakily, trying to get a rise out of Duskclaw, with great success.

“What? Where? With who? Why didn’t you tell me?!” Duskclaw started to fire off questions but was interrupted by Llethunaxx.

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“Alright. We’re about ready. You’ll end up relatively close to Titangel, but I can’t place you too close. It’ll take you about a day to arrive. I’ll drop you off south of the city.” The dragon explained before his magic coalesced into a relatively small but stable portal. “Good luck, and come again!”

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Titangel was an odd city. It used to be a relatively small city in the northern part of the old Holy Kingdom, but it was originally built by elves. One could still see the traces in the architecture due to ornamental carvings, soft lines, and a beauty-before practicality type of aesthetics. The city had grown greatly in the last few years and had become the local capital, but that wasn’t due to the elven origins. The real reason was because the city was the crossroads between three important locations.

The city itself was surrounded on three sides by very old forests of tall and ancient trees favored by the Wood Elves. To the north were mountains and the wintry terrain favored by certain Dark Elf groups, and on the west side of the city ran a large river that led to the sea and the large coastal cities that attracted the Sea Elves. As a result, the city itself had grown ten times its original size in scant few years, and there were more buildings being constructed all the time.

"I've never seen an elven city so…industrious before," Sieg commented. "The ones I've seen before were all so sedate and had the feeling of countless years of history behind them."

"You haven't been to too many elven cities, have you?" Miralen asked a little disdainfully. "Elves, in general, are quite productive as a people. Our productiveness just tends to come in waves as we suddenly get inspired by something. We also don’t waste as many things as other races, so there’s less need for large scale production. That allows us to focus on craftsmanship.”

“The whole place smells of freshly cut lumber and new stone buildings," Shaheera stated while breathing the air deeply with his eyes closed.

“What do new stones smell like?” Mayumi asked curiously.

“New stone houses, not new stone. There’s a difference. But to answer your question, Dusty and wet. The stones haven’t entirely settled yet, and the mortar used for the brick houses hasn’t fully dried yet.” Shaheera explained.

“Wouldn’t cutting down all those trees go against the wishes of the Wood Elves?” Mayumi continued to ask a little confused. Her knowledge of the elven culture was quite limited.

“Divinities no! The Wood Elves were the ones who cut those trees down. The trees are specially grown for the purpose. The druids are excellent in creating new groves just for that purpose." Miralen explained. "The Wood Elves like forests, yes, but they understand the necessity for lumber and wood used for other purposes, such as firewood and furniture. They grow special types of trees for each purpose. They simply dislike it when you cut entire forests down and destroy entire habitats.”

They approached the ‘gates’ slowly. As the city was expanding rapidly, there was little point in building walls that the city would outgrow in months anyway. Mages had erected some basic barriers around the city and the major roads had checkpoints where the gates would normally be. It was somewhat clear though that the plan was to eventually heavily fortify the city as it was the economic heart of the area. “Their barrier-work is quite excellent.” Karna commended. “It’s hastily erected, but not bad at all.”

“I’ll relay your compliments to the barrier mages.” The elven guard in a dull-green leather and chain armor said as he approached the group. His eyes were looking at all of them sharply, appraising them in several ways. “And who should I say sent these compliments?”

"You can say the compliments came from Karna, an eighth-year student in the Academy. Barriers happen to be one of my specialties." Karna smiled at the guard, which seemed to have some effect as his expression mellowed a bit.

“I see. And what brings students from the prestigious Academy to Titangel?” He inquired, though something about his tone hinted that he already knew. He had no trouble believing her words as the short appraisal he had done told him the group was made of people who were quite young to have as much power as they did. They also carried themselves in a way that spoke of underlying skill and confidence.

“We’re looking to gain transport to the High Elven Court. We’re on a diplomatic mission. We were told that this city had teleportation gates that could speed our journey.” Karna explained openly.

"Well, that explains your presence here. We were actually informed that a group like yours might eventually come here, though we weren’t expecting you for several weeks at the earliest. The good news is that we can take care of that transportation as we’ve been instructed to provide you with free passage. The bad news is that because we weren’t expecting you for some time, you’ll have to wait. I suggest you spend a few days in the city. Most of the facilities are new and state of the art. We’ll send for you when the portals are ready for your use.” The guard provided helpfully.

“My thanks. Any recommendations for lodgings?” Karna knew that the guards were usually aware of the best inns, so getting their recommendation was quite useful.

“Silver Lining if you don’t mind paying a bit of a premium. The Happy Tankard if you want something more affordable.” The guard was happy to answer, and even provided some directions to get to both inns.

"Thanks for your help captain. We shall await your word then." Karna replied. They both knew the elves would keep an eye on them, so there was no need to tell the guard which inn they would go to.

Despite the relatively late hour, the city they entered was filled with the hustle and bustle of people rushing about on various errands. As most of the city was new, the design took into consideration the role the city would fulfill, so the streets were wide enough to accommodate heavy traffic by carriages. The streets were also well paved with stone, and even had dedicated pedestrian walkways on the sides. Both the wide streets and the walkways were filled with construction workers and wagons hauling either building materials or produce to feed the horde of people. It seemed they had entered from the gate that served as the main path through which such materials were transported, as more important goods were transported via the other gates.

All around them the group could see new and still in the process of being built structures. It seemed many of the new buildings were still empty, but even the relatively new buildings had a decent occupancy already, telling a tale of how necessary all these buildings were. Many of the new buildings were in the process of being converted into commercial purposes as new shops and restaurants were springing up everywhere, especially among the main pathway the group was using.

“We should start off by going to the lodging and making sure they have room. It’s getting late and it would be a less than pleasant surprise if we tarried around, only to find out all the rooms were already taken.” Shaheera pointed out. The Leonid had already gathered quite a few pointed looks from the inhabitants, though he wasn’t the only one.

The group in general drew quite a bit of attention. They had originally dressed in a way that would not make them stand out, but it seemed that they had wasted the effort. They simply didn't look like a normal gathering of people. They were simply too young to be so powerful and they were also rather attractive as a group, all of them well above average in looks. Even Shaheera was rather out of the ordinary by Leonid standards, though most people couldn’t tell. They were also an odd mix of races. Still, the city was full of travelers and people of various races, so while the group drew looks, that was the extent of it.

They had to spend some time looking for the correct inn, and even had to ask for further directions twice, but they finally found the Silver Lining. “Finally a soft bed and a hot bath.” Miralen cried out in excitement and relief as they entered the luxurious-looking inn. The common room had a bard playing music on a stringed instrument that looked like a mix between a lute and a zither while a couple of people actually danced on the small opening in front of the bard’s elevated platform. The whole place had a feeling that was a nice mix of homey and slightly opulent as the place was nicely decorated with clearly expensively dressed patrons, but it also the warm and inviting air of a comfy inn.

“Welcome, welcome!” A slightly chubby Halfling female greeted all of them as they entered. “What can I do for you?”

“We’ll need rooms for an indeterminate number of nights, though we expect at least a few days. Hot food and hot baths as well, if they’re available.” Sieg took the lead.

“Of course, of course! How many rooms do you want? Our rooms go up to four beds, though the biggest rooms are mostly taken. We have three-person rooms available though, as well as doubles and singles.” The woman smiled warmly, knowing that she’d be earning quite a bit from these new guests.

Sieg took a quick look at the group and did a fast estimation. “We’ll need two triples and a double.”

“That can be arranged. We’re serving food around the clock, though the menu is more limited during the night of course as we’ll mostly just warm up things made during the day. You’re in luck though, as our cooks just finished a fresh batch expecting the evening customers that will start arriving in about ten minutes. I suggest taking a seat at the tables so you’ll get first dibs, while we’ll prepare your rooms for you. As for baths, we can arrange tubs brought to your rooms easily, but if you’d prefer, there’s a dedicated facility right across the street.” The innkeeper helpfully rattled off.

“We’ll take your word for it. We’ll take you up on your offer of food as well.” Sieg decided for everyone, and they all sat down at the nearest tables and made their orders from the rather decent menu.

“The innkeeper seems nice. She even guided us to the bath facility, even though that’s less coin for her.” Mayumi pointed out.

"She likely gets a small cut for referrals, and it saves her people the trouble of hauling tubs and hot water," Shaheera noted more cynically. "That said, she did point out the best available options for everything we asked, so points for that.”

"I think we can also assume the food will be decent judging by her appearance," Miralen said happily.

"Never trust an innkeeper that isn't at least a little chubby," Karna said sagely. “Means they don’t like their own cooking enough.”

“Or they’re a cultivator with enough power that weight isn’t really an issue anymore.” Duskclaw pointed out, slipping in a small lesson.

“Or that, yes. But it doesn't sound as good as a saying if you have to add caveats." Karna laughed. The group dined and discussed inconsequential topics such as lessons they'd had before until the dinner was eaten and the entire inn seemed to have become full of customers dining and enjoying the music. The lone bard had been reinforced with two others and the trio was playing a bunch of songs popular in the area also suitable for dancing, and several couples had joined the dancefloor.

Suddenly Miralen was approached by one of the patrons of the inn and invited for a dance, which she accepted after a bit of hesitation. The elven man that had asked her seemed to be only a little older than her, though only a first level warrior. “Well, this might turn into a more fun evening than we might have assumed," Sieg commented. He turned to Karna after a bit of hesitation. “Karna, I suck at dancing, but may I have one with you anyway?”

Karna giggled a bit. “Not the most elegant way to ask, but it’ll do. Yes, let’s go.” The two of them joined the others on the dancefloor, and quickly almost their entire group had found partners to entertain them. Karna noted that while Sieg had claimed otherwise, he was actually quite good at dancing. He obviously didn't know the steps, but he was naturally dexterous and had a good sense of rhythm. He could also lead decently well and might be even better if he gained a bit of confidence.

The evening wore on, and they all rotated around partners and rested for several hours, spending a very pleasant evening just having a bit of fun. Karna also found out that while Sieg had been a decent dancer, Shaheera most certainly was not. He had the same dexterity, but his sense of rhythm was off because he heard the music a little differently. Travan on the other hand had two left feet. She even took Mayumi for a spin and found out that she was by far the best dancer of the group, which didn't surprise her. It was clear that the girl had experience with dancing, likely from her previous life. Their dance was a little odd in the sense that they both danced to some steps that most certainly didn’t belong to the songs being played, but they worked well together anyway.

They had just gathered at the table and were considering testing the bathing facilities across the street when the guard captain they had met earlier walked in. “Ah, good. You’re here.” He stated and walked to the table the group was sitting at. “I have some good news, some great news, some potentially bad news, and some that you’ll have to decide for yourself.”

“Fire away.” Karna encouraged him to continue.

“The good news is that you might actually be able to leave tomorrow. A lot of people are traveling to the homeland in the next few days, which is why I wasn’t sure we could squeeze you in. However, someone apparently put in a good word somewhere, and you can join one of the merchant caravans going through tomorrow. The great news is also the reason the gates are so busy. There’s a large festival that’s going to begin in the capital by the time you’ll arrive, which is why so many people rushing home. If you had arrived when we expected, the festival would’ve been long over by then.” The guard captain explained with a smile.

“What’s the festival for?” Shaheera asked curiously.

“Well, originally it was the yearly festival of life, but the Queen announced some good news some weeks ago, and the whole thing seems to have ballooned out of proportion as everyone’s taking this as an excuse to get excited. The eldest prince reached the eighth rank as a warrior, supposedly a few weeks ago, and the Queen’s youngest son is also coming of age, so the noble clans in the capital are rushing about to see if they can get their daughters betrothed with the prince.” The guard gave enough details to make the best gossips blush.

“So that was the good and great news. Now the bad and the meh, please.” Sieg prompted.

“Well, you mentioned that you’re on a diplomatic mission, right? Well, with the celebration going on, you probably won’t be able to meet with anyone important until way after the festival is over. The festival is scheduled to run for a week, and I expect it will spill over. Elven festivals tend to have a life of their own after all. If you do manage to meet the royal family during the festival, you’ll only be one among a multitude of guests and probably won’t leave much of an impression. Now for the last part, if you do manage to snag an opportunity to meet the royal family during the celebrations, it would likely be a good idea to bring a present to celebrate the two princes. That could be an opportunity.” The guard captain couldn’t tell the group that he’d actually received orders from high up to be so helpful. It seemed someone in a position of power wanted these people to arrive in the elven capital on time.

"Thank you, Captain. This is good news." Karna gave him a genuinely pleased smile and dropped a small token in his hand. “For your trouble. I think you’ll find it useful one day.” The token was something that she had created and could protect the man from a single relatively powerful and potentially deadly attack.

The guard nodded and stood to leave. "I'll come to get you tomorrow and lead you to the caravan. The guard duty with the merchant caravan is only a formality so you won’t be receiving compensation, but it’ll get you to where you need to go.”

“Well. That seems convenient.” Shaheera pointed out once the guard was gone. “Perhaps a little too convenient.”

"Yes. But we shouldn't dismiss the opportunity just because it is convenient." Miralen didn't disagree, but she had a different perspective. “Any gift ideas? Getting the royal family a gift could get expensive.”

"I can take care of that," Karna promised. She'd need to spend the night crafting, but she had just the thing in mind. Something only she could do and she wanted to test.