The dragon's harem

She's afraid of us, and to fix that, we need her to understand that we aren't a threat and that other people aren't going to harm her. I don't know where that fear started or how, but it doesn't matter. What matters is finding a way for her to face it.

Even though I suspect she would've been scared of me the most[Talking about Doma], she's most afraid of Merida and keeping her distance. I can see that she can't take her eyes away from her. She's actively avoiding even circulating her mana around while we're close.

Now that I'm thinking about it, Merida is really unhinged for a human. I've never seen one who can kill like that, with no hesitation, no bloodlust, and no remorse.

Even with the deadliest killers or monsters, everyone expects a moment of peace. Merida instantly goes for the kill, she doesn't even think about it. Whenever there is danger, her answer is to eliminate it. She doesn't speak, telegraph, think, or even change her breathing or emit bloodlust. Like a sudden cough, her body moves to snatch a life.

"Merida," Arad looked at her.

"What is it?" Merida turned toward him.

"Don't attack Selina under any circumstances. This time it was a golem, but next, it might be a real life."

She looked down, a bit sad, "I'll try next time…but what if it was a real threat?"

"Those with the fastest reaction time are the ones to fall for feints the most. Geralt's words,"

Roberta's father's words stuck with Arad all this time, a fight isn't just about killing each other, it's about how to achieve that. The first thing anyone would try is abusing the opponent's instincts and movements that they don't control, temper is one of them.

"I'll train you. It won't be easy." Arad smiled and Merida nodded.

It's bad to point fault at someone without explaining why it's a fault or giving them a clear way to solve it. Killing is a clear wrong so I don't need to explain that part, and since I can teach her how to control her reactions using what Gerald taught me, it's all good. Thanks, Gerald.

Arad's eyes quickly shifted toward Selina and Matilda, "How does that golem work?"

Matilda blinked, "Don't know." She turned back at looked at Selina for a moment.

"She says you can watch her make another one." Matilda smiled.

"The process would take about a week if all parts are present." Selina whispers to Matilda and she speaks off to everyone else.

"Matilda, since when did you know her?" Arad asked.

"Yesterday at the entrance tests." Matilda replied with a smile.

"I see…" If she was able to make a friend this quickly, her fear of people should be fixable by exposing her to more people and showing her they aren't scary. Words alone probably won't work, she needs to make that call herself.

"Let's work on one together." Arad smiled at her.

"She asks if you can keep your sister away from her. And also want to ask you to make her send a letter home, informing that she's at school." Matilda looked at Arad after listening to Selina.

I guess if she was locking herself in her room. They'll get worried if she doesn't come out for food.

"Of course." Arad replied with a gentle smile. "She's scary, but I promise she won't harm you. She brought you here without harming you."

"She says she's less scary than her over there." Matilda pointed at Merida.

****

Lunchtime quickly passed by, and the afternoon classes started. Arad and his classmate had alchemy, their first lesson.

"It's alchemy, why are we in class and not in the lab?" Arad sighed, leaning back in his seat.

"Theory first, practice later." Matilda replied, kicking the back of his chair. "Don't lean backward, you're too big, you're pushing my table."

"Sorry," He fixed his seat.

"Selina, why are you hiding?" The teacher of the class, Lucia approached her. Selina covered herself with her hand and looked as if sleeping. She's afraid, and just having people look at her was a bit too scary.

"Teacher. She's listening, don't mind her." Matilda said.

"Don't butt in." Lucia glared at her.

"What do you mean by butt in?" Arad turned around, glaring at her with his eyes glowing purple.

Lucia's body froze as she remembered what Alcott once said when he first heard her say that. ^Butt in?! Want something in your butt? Or do you want your butt in something? Care to explain?^

"She means don't put your nose in her business." Matilda whispered to him.

"Her business? What does that have to do with a butt?" Arad blinked, "I didn't put my nose in her butt."

^[Are you an idiot? She means to not interfere in her talk with Selina. That's a metaphor, you need to attend the language classes.]^

Lucia turned toward Arad, a bit scared to ask, especially after hearing the strange conversation between him and Matilda.

"Fine," She sighed, walking back toward her desk. "But I'll drag her to the office if I notice her slacking off."

Lucia kept explaining the basics of alchemy, and it was as boring as anyone expected.

Alchemy is divided into two main branches, classic alchemy and magic alchemy. The difference between them is the involvement of magic water or magic ingredients.

If the alchemy doesn't need magic water or magic ingredients, it's a classic alchemy, and if it does, it's a magic alchemy.

Magic water is simple water that is infused by mana, either by putting magic stones in it, or by directly infusing it with mana. Its main function is to sustain the magical effect of the ingredients used in magic alchemy.

Lucia set a simple example using a frost Lily, a beautiful blue flower that blooms on frozen mountains.

She pulled two small pots with the flowers growing in them. "Watch closely."

Lucia pulled the flower out and put it on a magic orb.

[34]

[33]

After about a minute of waiting, the mana density in the plant dropped.

"See this? Fresh ingredients are important in alchemy as their quality decreases over time as they lose mana." She smiled, "That's why most alchemists prefer to grow their ingredients instead of harvesting them."

^[That's why we witches live in huts and plant everything we need ourselves.]^ Doma said in Arad's head.

"Now, let's make a potion with it using normal water." Lucia took the flower, crushed it in a mortar and pestle then poured water over it. "Let it rest a bit, then drain it." She poured the solution into a potion bottle.

"We let it rest for a moment, and it's done. This should be a freeze potion. The water inside is supposed to freeze into ice when I shatter it." Lucia approached the crystal ball, "But before that, look."

She put the potion on the crystal and it displayed [7]

"We lost a lot of mana while crushing the flower." She then quickly picked up the potion and threw it on the ground. The bottle shattered, leaving a puddle of cold water and a small amount of mushy ice.

"See? A failed potion."

She then pulled a small bowl filled with water, "You can either put magic stones in it and wait for about an hour, but that's expensive. I encourage you to use your own mana, as it's free." She put her finger in the water and started pouring mana into it. "And it's faster."

After about one minute, she had filled the water with mana. Touching its surface with the crystal, [235] was displayed.

"See? It's full to the brim." Lucia smiled as she crushed the second flower and mixed it into the water.

After creating the second potion, she put it on the crystal and got a read of [201]

"A large portion of potion quality is that of the magic water used. As you can see, this is almost thirty times as strong." She threw the potion on the ground, and it exploded into tens of ice spikes, chilling the whole class.

"Cold!" Matilda gasped, heating her hands on Arad's neck. Strangely enough, the area around him didn't get cold.

"Anyone want to try it here before we continue?" Lucia asked, and Arad stood.

"My heater…" Matilda cried with a sad face, left in the cold like an abandoned kitten.

"This is a simple demonstration. I'll write everything for you then we'll head to the lab." Lucia flicked her finger and melted the ice with a single spell, heating the class back up. She won't let the students stay for long in the cold, especially after Matilda's remarque.

"So you want to try. I'll show you how to do it." Lucia looked at Arad with a smile.

Arad lifted his hand, "Wait a moment." He walked back to his seat and pretended to reach inside his bag. He pulled a long white lab coat.

"What's that? No, why did you bring a lab coat here?" Lucia stared at him, confused. The school usually provides those in the lab. Equipment is accounted for when the students pay their tuition fees.

"My wife made it for me and said to wear it. It's nice, isn't it?" He even buttoned it up to the neck.

"Your wife…" Lucia stared at him.

"Merida."

^That freak!^ All of his classmates remembered how Merida beheaded Selina's clone in cold blood.

"You must really love your wives." Matilda stared at him, "Don't start with the -Ahh…I'll kill you if you messed with my wives- that most nobles do."

"I do love my wives. It isn't a question about how many people I would kill for my wives. It's about who I would allow to live."

Arad walked toward the board to try, but then his eyes turned toward the window as he saw a bunch of students walking into the yard dragging a massive mass of iron and wood. ^It's Mira's class.^ He could see Mira riding on their strange creation, trying to fix something.

CRACK! His ear caught a strange sound inside the creation and it only took him a fraction of a second to realize., ^It's about to blow up.^

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