Limitless Path

"Well, we can get into a bit of trouble that's actually good," Sera said, standing up.

"What's the fuck does that mean?" Val asked, not inclined to stand just yet.

"We're gonna go fight," Sera said, rousing a cheer from Beth.

"No thanks," both Blood and Val said at the same time.

"Well, if you need something, I'm sure Miranda will be around," Sera said, glancing around like she was summoning the servant. "If she's not, message me."

"So, what are we doing," Beth asked as they left the suite.

"Well, you got more of the real dragon clan when we first arrived," Sera started off explaining. "Then, they hit you with the pilot veneer of a civilized, old blood clan of the Milky Way. That's fine and all, but that's not really how a lot of the dragon clans do thing. We're not as bad as the ogres, where Strength, and strength, are literally the only things that matter, but dragons love hoarding treasures and we love fighting. We'll fight to hoard treasure and hoard treasure to get into more fights, and we can go get in on some of that action. You remember how I was at the Royal Rose?"

"Right, you were working a Pledge of the Path," Beth responded. "You lost a bet, right? I remember you saying that it was somebody from the other clans, like somebody from the red dragon clan. Is that right?"

"Yeah," Sera said. "We bet on fights, because we want more wealth, and we bet on shit that would give and gain prestige for people or for the clan. I never really cared about basically any of that shit, so I was happy betting on just about anything. And, hey, it got me out of the house and it led to us meeting, so I think it was a win."

"Well, I can't argue with that," Beth said. "And now you want to go and fight?"

"Yeah, I want to see where I stack up," Sera explained. "Before I went to the Rose and then met you, I was more of the bottom of the pack. Not the worst, for sure, but I had leveled my skills that high and I even did one sloppy rebirth early on. One of the stronger young generation from the red dragon clan had challenged me and, while he didn't just instantly beat me, it was pretty weighted in his favor."

"But now you're older and wiser and a lot stronger," Beth said, caressing Sera's lower back as they walked together.

"Not only that, dragon's tend to advance slowly," she said with a nod. "We live a really long time even when our advancement and levels and skills aren't factored in. We aren't really in as much of a rush as other people get up to, and our society is kinda, well, calcified in a way. All the old heads just enforce the old rules and prattle on endlessly about how things should be and how people should act. It's super annoying and I hate all of it, but it keeps the clans together and strong, for the most part, so people don't rock the boat too much. That does give me a distinct advantage, as nobody is going to expect me to be this strong, especially since I'm hiding my level of humanization and using a couple tricks I know to hide my level of advancement."

"You were go for quite a few years, though," Beth pointed out as they left the main building, getting a good look at the area where Sera's family had set up shop. The world was beautiful, the part they were in more so, and everything around them was manicured and maintained to look and even feel amazing. Flowers of all sizes and shapes and colors, tress with beautiful blossoms and lovely leaves, scented grasses that lined the walking paths, the amount of both wealth and care on display in the grounds themselves was shocking. Even the stones of the footpath they walked along were of an insanely rare kind of polished granite that glowed in the sunlight, each tile carefully carved and polished into a pretty shape and lustrous shine.

"I'm telling you, it was just a short trip," Sera said with a grin. "Dragons think about time different. Remember that old bag we punched in the lobby? Other people would say she's ancient and has progressed way too slow, but she's not all that old for a dragon, though she has given herself gray hair from being such a worrywart and busybody. Me leaving for fifteen or twenty years would seem like a huge span of time to others, but it's just a little trip out and back for a dragon. My aunts go on longer shopping trips than that."

"Okay, one of those moments where my new reality is paraded before me in an unexpected way," said Beth. "Thinking about somebody going on a shopping trip that lasts twenty years is crazy. And thinking about you being gone close to that long and people acting like it was some weekend trip to go see a show is also wild."

Sera shrugged in an exaggerated manner, spreading her hands as she said, "It's just how it works when even people who don't level can live two or three thousand years, sometimes far more. My parents are thousands of years old, and I have three older siblings who are all centuries older than I am. My aunts and uncles are millennia old, and the clan ancestor and some of the Elders have lived for hundreds of thousands of years. It's unusual even by the standards of Wayfarers, only really matched by the phoenixes, so things stay the same around here."

"Are your siblings around?" Beth asked. "If it's not a delicate subject."

"Oh, they're around, they just don't play politics," Sera said. "They do what's expected of them, but none of them want to do any kind of administration or order people around. Despite being the black sheep of the family, I still get work done, which is why I'm the heir-apparent and my siblings are just regular clan members in terms of rankings. I'm a big headache for the Elders because I don't take their orders and I just do what I want, including getting up to all kinds of 'inappropriate' behavior, but I also help with admin and orders, so I'm more involved than my siblings."

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"So, your next in line because your parents are in charge and you sorta want the job? What about others in the clan or the Elders? Wouldn't they just take the position or vote somebody else in or something?" Beth asked.

"Clan rules work against them there, and they're sticklers for the rules," Sera said. "One of my parents' kids is going to take over; the only way to change it is if somebody challenges my parents and beats them, or challenges the kid after they're in charge and beats them. Of course, there's assassination and all that, but I meant legitimate ways."

"It's a hereditary position unless someone's strong enough to challenge the current ruling line?" Beth asked to clarify.

"That's exactly right," Sera said, leading them into a large building that Beth could pretty easily guess as to its purpose just from size and general design. Her guess was proved right when they passed by training rooms and dueling rooms and came out in a large arena with a massive dueling floor. It looked like the clan had built a version of a CRA Hall, but then again, how many ways were there to build a stadium, really? At least, without going too crazy on the extravagance, it was a floor where the action was, some private boxes or booths, and stands wrapped around the place to look down on the action.

There were far more people there than Beth expected, the floor bustling with various people with the stands had quite a few persons sitting and spectating. The place was, in fact, more hopping than a CRA Hall would be in a lot of cities if it was off-hours, without some scheduled tournament or event happening. Beth took in the scene and watched as fights happened on basically every field they had set up, including the team field, constantly, duelists barely clearing out before more people took to the field. It was also a great mix of people, with a lot of dragons present, obviously, but there were humans and dwarves and elves and ogres and wolves and lions and other sapient beasts both on the floor and in the stands.

"The hell is with all the people?" Beth asked.

"Clan members, friends of clan members, servants, family of servants, friends of servants, invited guests, friends of guests, and even challengers come to fight for specific prizes. You get the idea," Sera said, gesturing around at the various people. "People come from all over, including all the other dragon clans, to have the prestige and honor of fighting here. I did, and still do, think it's a load of bull, but everybody takes it quite seriously. I'm sure, especially if you show off, you'll have a list of challengers longer than you are tall."

"And what are the rules? Who can fight whom and why?" Beth asked.

"Like I've said a couple times, go wild," Sera said. "I don't like playing the Young Master or the heir card, but if you go too crazy and somebody makes a stink, well, I can punch harder than them, metaphorically. You get what I'm saying."

"You had me at 'go wild,' " Beth said, giving Sera a huge grin.

"Seraphinalla!" a booming voice called out before Beth could make good on Sera's words.

"Speaking of going wild," Sera said, though in a rather disgusted tone. A tall man with fiery red scales on full display on his shirtless frame was striding across the floor towards them. Amusingly enough, though he was fairly tall by even draconic standards, he was still shorter than Sera, even excluding added height from horns. Beth supposed he had a kind of classical handsome face, with a square jaw and patrician nose, but she wasn't really interested in what he had to offer. She did notice the cocky swagger and annoyed looks others threw him.

"Friend of yours?" Beth asked quietly.

"Remember my story about betting one of the aces of the young generation of the red dragon clan?" Sera asked leadingly, nodding at the man.

"Oooh," Beth replied, examining the man again. "Want me to push his face through the back of his skull?"

"That's very sweet of you, my love, but I think I can handle it," Sera said with a nasty grin.

The man was only showing as having done six rebirths, and Beth didn't think he had built his Mana Physique yet. Of course, he could be hiding things, as Sera was currently doing, and as Beth sort of inadvertently did, considering nobody could detect her Ideal if she didn't manifest it; it was just too high a level of concept for anybody that didn't have an Ideal to probe into. If he wasn't hiding anything, well…Sera was going to dog-walk the man all over the ring before laying him out cold.

"Barnabas," Sera said as the man stopped before them.

"Sera, how was-" he started before Beth interrupted.

"Barnabas? That's really his name?" she asked, looking between them.

"Yepper," Sera replied.

The man's eyes narrowed and he asked, in a carefully modulated voice, "And who is this lovely lady that you've brought with you? Somebody from your time spent spreading your legs?"

"Yes, actually," Sera replied in a fully nonchalant manner. "She spent quite a lot for my services and we had such a good time together, I've stuck around ever since. Remind me again, how was your search for a mate going?"

"I can, of course, get anyone I desire," the man replied tartly, preening as if everyone was examining him. "I need not resort to paying someone to fulfill any of my desires."

"You must be so fun at parties," Beth said.

"I am always in demand," he shot back with a rather gross smile. Beth's jab wasn't something used much outside of Earth so it had flown over Barnabas' head, but Sera had to stifle her laughter behind a cough.

"Is there something you want, Barny?" Sera asked.

"I believe I told you not to call me that. In fact, that was what got you in so much trouble last time. Have we not learned our lesson?" he said, leering at Sera just a bit.

"If you look up arrogant in the dictionary, there's a picture of this guy's face," Beth quipped before Sera could respond.

"You are becoming annoying," Barnabas said.

"Good," Beth shot back, crossing her arms and glaring at the dragon.

"You didn't actually answer my question," Sera cut in, glaring at Beth for a moment, though she sent a text over their communicators with a laughing face embedded.

"I figured we could pick up where we left off," Barnabas said. "It seems you are in agreement as well, or you wouldn't still be using that tasteless nickname. What say you we continue on?"

"What's your stake?" Sera asked with a defeated sigh, acting like she was dreading the inevitable.

"Why don't we go with my initial stake from last time before I was forced to change it?" he asked with a sly grin.

"I'm not dating you, Barny, especially since I'm in a committed relationship," Sera said, gesturing at Beth.

"In a relationship? With that?" Barnabas asked in an aggrieved tone.

'I'm kicking the living fucking shit out of this turd when you're done with him,' Beth sent Sera on their communicators.

"Yes, she's my fiancée, so go fuck yourself, BarnBarn," Sera said, Beth watching as the man's eye twitched aggressively at the even more demeaning nickname.

"Very well then. I demand satisfaction from you, Seraphinalla, and my wager will be that you have to spend another full five years spreading your legs for that whoremonger," Barnabas declared.

'He's not very bright or creative, is he?' Beth asked Sera privately.

'No, and if Laselle happened to hear that, he'd be in a whole lot of trouble. Shame nobody was recording it, like a dragon heir with a very advanced communicator that liked to record her rivals stupid actions,' Sera sent back quickly.

'Ouch,' Beth said, including a wince face.

"Very well, BarnBarn, but I will have my own out of you," Sera said, giving the man a disgusted look. "On my victory, you will pay me an equivalent of the contract price, either in coin or from your hoard."

"Deal!" the red dragon exclaimed immediately.

'He doesn't know just how much you spreading your legs for five years is valued at, does he?' Beth asked.

'Not even close. It won't bankrupt him, but he might pass out from, how do they say it on Earth? Sticker shock? That would be a sight,' Sera replied.

Aloud, Beth said, "Good luck. Show 'em what you've learned."

"Yes, Seraphinalla, show us what you've learned spreading your legs," Barnabas said in a booming voice as he moved over to a dueling field. They had already attracted a lot of attention, but that got most of the rest of the arena focused on them. The match was going to be a hot topic, both now and for quite some time to come.