The Quantum Wanderer

Once Gretta is blindfolded, I take a step to the right. Now my body is where the cutting board was. Gretta focuses, and throws the blade. I hold the blade immediately before it hits the board. She adjusted for my movement, so there is no way she would hit anything else by mistake.

I come over to them.

“You can take the blindfold off.”

I hand her the knife, with the handle towards her. I continue.

“Thank you. I just wanted to make sure that there was no chance an accident could happen. Congratulations on your knife skills.”

I grab some gold coins from my bag of holding, and I hand one for each of them. Gretta is still shaking a little bit.

“Lord, thank you… But… What if I had hit you?”

“That would have shown that you are not good enough to bluff by throwing a knife. That is a problem, considering that Sophia was around.”

“But… It might kill you!”

“Don’t worry about that.” I giggle. “Didn’t they tell you that I am an adventurer?”

Roberta is the one to step forward.

“Still, lord, why the gold coin?”

“You guys demonstrated that we stick together. Against spies, against idiots. That puts me at ease. And I think I went a little bit overboard with this. Just accept it.”

“Thank you, lord.”

“No, thank you.”

I check the hour, and it is getting to be around noon. I decide to visit the guild, see what is the new gossip around. I walk through the streets, Muninn on my shoulder. We go through the streets, calmly, and arrive at the guild.

People are now so used to Muninn that they don’t even stop talking anymore.

BUM…

A feeling like a mana heartbeat happens. I take a look around, and the mages in the guild all faint at the same time. The warriors are rolling on the floor, feeling pain. I instinctively take a look at the source of this.

It is the knight school. Fuck.

I use the distraction to fly at full speed towards the knight school. The first scene I see is Ruby on the ground, holding her belly. Everyone else is unconscious. Aquamarine, Opal and Shandon are by her side. I turn to Muninn.

“Tell Huginn to stay with Cecilia, to try to mitigate the mana waves.”

“Of course, father.”

I take a look around to check if anyone can see use, but even though we are in the middle of the training ground of the knight school, everyone is passed out. I open a portal to the beach in Drakonia, and I carry Ruby there. The others follow me.

I start the protocol I know. I remove the neutron crystals from Ruby’s skin and bones. I open a portal to a ley line, and she starts feeding on it. She morphs into her normal body. I cast a sanctuary spell, so that she absorbs mana more efficiently, and the mana vacuum around her improves.

BUM…

The monsters around us pass out from the mana waves. The mana ping is so strong that it creates a low sound as well. Like those speakers that one can hear with the stomach.

She starts growing. I can see the transformation happening. Her muscles start to get more mana embedded in them, they become that much stronger. Her bones become stronger, with magical inherent structures.

She cries out in pain, I get close to her head, in a position that she can see me.

“I am here, love. It is not going to be long now.”

“IT HURTS!!!”

I touch my head against hers, and I numb her a little bit, so that the braincells responsible on carrying the pain are not as effective right now.

She grows. Her whole body grows, by a large margin.

Some dragons start to come to the beach.

BUM…

The dragons that are flying loose their balance, the ones that landed already trip over their feet. They don’t fall because they have 4 feet on the ground.

Ruby continues growing, I add an additional ley line to feed her. Her scales start to change, the molecules are now bound not only with valence, but also with mana embedded into it.

This goes on for some time, until the process finally stops. Ruby’s breathing is ragged. I am close to her head.

“It’s ok, love. Rest a little bit, this must have been tiring.”

Ruby relaxes, and falls asleep. Opal, Shandon and Aquamarine come over.

“My lord, is she…?”

“Yes, she evolved.”

Opal turns to her big figure laying on the beach, and takes a closer look. She touches lightly on Ruby, the red scales refleting the sunset sun. Troggar approaches, cautiously. He takes a long look at Ruby. Once he gets close, he does the courtesy.

“It’s ok.”

He stands back, normally.

“Soul Devourer, what happened?”

I look at Ruby.

“I am not completely sure on what this means, but… Ruby evolved.”

“Evolved? How? What do you mean?”

“I am not sure yet. I can tell you that once she wakes up.”

I close the portals with the ley lines. Even though she is sleeping, Ruby is kind of sweating mana, it is leaking from her skin. I can sense how cautious Troggar is. He steps back several times, until he turns around to the dragons that were close to the treeline.

He says something to them, and all of them fly away.

A portal opens, not far from us, and Cecilia jumps out of it, with Huginn.

“What happened?”

She looks at Ruby, now sleeping, with her different shape. Ruby’s head now has a series of horns, pointing up. They look like a tiara. Her body is now naturally hot. I can see the deformation in the air on top of her. Her size is much bigger than before. She basically doubled in size, her size now is closer to an elder.

Everying about her is sharper. The short times I see her teeth and her claws, both look like medical cutting instruments, even if they are huge, proportional to her size. It feels a lot sharper than what I remember from other elder dragons.

“She evolved. The same thing that happened to Muninn and Huginn.”

“What now?” Cecilia asks the obvious question.

“I am thinking that we can eat something, then we spend the night. I am going to spend the night here, but you can spend at home if you want.”

“You don’t think we are going to abandon her, right?”

“What she said, my lord.” Opal says after Cecilia.

“Uhum.” Aquamarine complements.

“We will care for sister together.” Shandon says.

I take a look at the moons, that already came out in Drakonia. I remember that we have five hours difference due to timezones. I am assuming that it is currently only three o’clock in Andrea. I open a portal home. I stand up.

“I am going to let people know that we are going to stay here.”

Muninn assumes his normal, large size, followed by Huginn. He clears his throat.

“We can take care of that, father.”

“Thank you. I will accept that, then.” I close the portal. “Please ask them to have our dinner on a tray as well, we are going to eat it on this side.”

“Ok.”

I take a look at the skies, there isn’t a single cloud in the sky. The stars are shining, and the moons provide some light. They are in different positions, therefore in different stages.

I can take my time. I see the castle that we used for the wedding. It is about a quarter of mile from us. We can go there as well, but it wasn’t prepared to received us. I think about it, and I just pull the blanket from our bedroom. Laying it on top of the sand already makes for a not completely uncomfortable bed.

I stand up, and choose a place close to us. I melt the sand, making a glass basin of sorts. I pick some kraken meat from my safe and put it in my holding bag. I think of leaving the kraken meat in this basin, but it would be tempting the other dragons a little too much.

My Comm Gem buzzes. Edward is frantic.

“Where are you? What happened?”

“Hi, Edward. So… do you remember that thing that happened, that Muninn and Huginn evolved?”

“Of course. But it wasn’t anything like this.”

“But they were not dragons either…”

“You mean…”

“Yes, Ruby evolved!”

…

…

“Into what?”

“I don’t know yet. She is sleeping. I am probably going to have more information when she wakes up.”

“When is that?”

“I have no idea.”

“Where are you?”

“I came over to Drakonia to avoid additional issues. I am close to the wedding church.”

“Thank you for the update. I am going to let Anthon know that everything is ok.”

“Sure.”

“Talking about ok, did you have any news on Romuela?”

“You probably know already, but he razed a stronghold. The walls became former puddles of lava. They proceeded with the invasion of Elator. I didn’t try to see anything else. Last time I looked, he was sleeping after having eaten.”

“That was the description I got, I wanted to check how exaggerated they were. The reports I got sounded like… Ravings.”

“I don’t know what to tell you.”

“It’s alright, thank you.”

“No problem.”

I lift one side of the blanket, and I dig a small amount. With the blanket on top, I just created a sort of sofa on the sand, and a comfortable one. Something from people used to go to the beach. I sit on it, the girls approach.

“What now, my villain?” Cecilia asks.

“Nothing too weird. We are going to have dinner, and sleep. We are going to enjoy this beach. Have you ever thought that we are in our own private beach?”

The dragonesses don’t really understand what I mean. But they seem relaxed around me. Another of my Comm Gems vibrate. It is Rajesh’s.

“Good afternoon, friend! How are you?”

“I am well. How are you?”

“I am good, I am good. Just out of curiosity, are involved in the event that just happened in Ironhold?”

“Do you mean a couple of people going unconscious?”

“The reports I got said more than a couple, but yes.”

I smile.

“Well… Ruby evolved.”

“What do you mean, evolved?”

“She did the same thing as Muninn and Huginn. She evolved.”

“What did she evolve into?”

“I have no idea yet.”

“Humm… I have at least a dozen scholars and a pope that would phreak out if they heard about that.”

“I don’t have much information yet, but I will let you know. You can keep Sidhu in the loop.”

“I am sure he will appreciate it… Do you have any news about the other dragon visiting the humans?”

“You probably already heard about it, right? The invasion of Elator?”

“Yes, I heard about it. Did he really raze a stronghold into nothing?”

“Yup.”

“Do you think the hero would have any chance against him?”

“The dragon killed by a hero and a party, in the past, was a hatchling. I don’t think he stands a chance. Skylar might even keep the hero’s sword, repurposing it as a tooth pick.”

Rajesh and I laugh about that. I keep on it.

“What about your side? Did you get any news worth sharing?”

“I don’t know, just some gossip. I heard that some high level inquisitors, that’s the name the higher paladins use, are being called back by the Holy Kingdom. They are mostly leaving the priests behind.”

“Good to know, thank you.”

“I almost forgot, and this is important.”

“Sure, what?”

“Rutra loved spending time in your house. She came home with a lot of questions, but she positively asked to do that again.”

“You have to thank Huginn for that. I did not lift a finger.”

“Is lady Huginn listening?”

I look to my side, Huginn is nested close to us, her natural size. She nods slowly, and answers.

“I am.”

“Thank you, lady Huginn.”

“No problem, I enjoyed the time with the hatchling as well. You and your wife are doing a great job raising her.”

“Thank you. That being said, I am going to leave you to your dinner now.”

“Sure.”

The call is cut. I look at Huginn, she tells me that dinner is already served. I open a portal, and I bring the tray with the steak pieces to our makeshift couch. We eat while listening to the waves, watching the stars.

This is incredibly relaxing. The temperature is just right, the girls are nested around me. I end up dozing off.

Next morning, something is poking my forehead. I look up, and Ruby is naked, on top of me, smiling. But her teeth are not normal anymore, they are shark like teeth.

“My lord, I am sorry to wake you, but I am hungry…”

I look around, the sun is just coming up behind us, the sky still has that quality of a new day that is not fully there yet.

I try to move a little as possible so as not to wake the other girls. Some of them grunt, but I think I managed. I go to the basin that I have put apart, and I put some kraken meat on it. I turn to her.

“Unfortunately, Roberta is sleeping, the kitchen is closed. You can heat it to the point you want.”

Ruby opens her mouth, but instead of the normal flames, it comes a ray with intense heat. Star like temperatures. The meat disappears. There is a hole in the sand, liquid glass dripping from the sides. The flame was closer to nuclear fusion than to fire itself.

I get close to it, and I try to sense around. I enhance my vision, to see if there is radiation there. There is some. The other girls wake up with the heat wave, almost jumping up, looking for the threat. Ruby has a yellow smile on her.

“I am sorry, my lord.”

“It’s ok, but you have to be really careful with that… You probably have to be careful with everything probably. Does anything else feel different?”

“Yes. I haven’t applied the neutron crystals yet, but I feel like my nails can get close to it. It is not fair that even improved your magic is still more powerful.”

“Life is not fair.”

“What happened, my lord?” Opal asks.

“Ruby was trying to heat a piece of meat, but instead that happened.”

They take a look at the whole in the sand. Cecilia is the one to comment.

“Wicked…”

Ruby changes from a yellow smile to a proud stance. She smiles, the other girls notice her teeth.

“Can’t you morph your teeth back?” Opal asks.

Ruby touches her teeth, and notices their format. The teeth start to stretch sideways, assuming a normal shape. I create a new glass basin, and I bring in another piece of kraken meat. I warm it up myself, and we cut it with a knife I borrow from my kitchen. We eat. Ruby eats a lot, about twice the amount she used to eat previously.

“How are you feeling?” I ask Ruby.

“I am feeling great. I wonder if anything else changed… Sister, what about a quick spar?” Ruby asks, while looking at Opal.

“Sure, but let’s leave it to later. Proper attire.”

“Ok.”

I keep looking at Ruby’s body. It didn’t change much. She feels lighter, though. Instead of just walking, she is kind of almost hopping around. I really enjoy looking at it. She bites her lower lip.

“Do you like what you see, my lord?”

I smile.

“You know I enjoy eyeing all of you, my wives…”

I open a portal to our room, and we jump in. We have a long shower. We fool around in it. We get down later, for breakfast. I turn to her.

“Remember, we still don’t know what level of strength you have yet. You can break something or hurt someone by mistake.”

“I will take care, my lord.”

We start a new day. After I portal the girls to knight school, I decide to go there to keep an eye. I take my short walk.

I arrive there still in the morning, and they are still in their theory classes. I wait for the bell to ring in the cafeteria, and then join them for the second class. It is a theory class on bestiary. They talk about some theories they have, that the more mana an area has, the stronger are the monsters. The class is not bad, actually. It doesn’t teach us much, but it is not bad.

We go to the cafeteria. There is an uproar, much like the one I have already seen in the past. Cecilia joins us. She uses her hand as a zapper in order to open a path to reach us.

“Did you already spar?” Cecilia asks Ruby.

“Not yet. The mornings have been kind of boring.”

“Did you enjoy the classes with them, my villain?”

“It was ok. Nothing new, though.”

“How come you don’t come to my classes?”

“Oh, is my wife jealous of her sisters?”

“Fuck you.”

I whisper in her ear.

“No, fuck you… I can just imagine myself fucking you all over…” And I create a lot of strong pheromones that I sent to her nose. She breaths them in and goes with it for some seconds. Then she realizes the manipulation.

“Asshole…”

I shrug.

“I never said otherwise. But sure, I will come with you to a couple of classes as well. The problem is Ambrose will be close.”

“Oh, it is not only Ambrose anymore. You also broke professor Tacitus. Now they both keep pestering, about as much as these guys.” Cecilia says, gesturing around at the girls’ fans.

“I am glad that you are popular… Give me a kiss, my teacher’s pet.”

Cecilia puts a piece of fruit in her mouth, while pouting.

I take the moment to take a look at Ruby, now that she is more stable. She exhaling mana through her pores. Her colleagues are not good at mana sensing, being mostly knights, but I can feel it. I am a little bit concerned on her sparring with Opal in a place like this, with people around.

“Ruby, I have been thinking… Perhaps we can have the spar somewhere else…”

“Why, my lord?”

“I don’t think we know yet how strong you are. If something like this mornings cooking experiment happens here, there could be a lot of people hurt.”

She looks around. I can see she is doing some math in her head.

“Remember, you burned away a piece of kraken…”

She sighs.

“Ok…” She pouts, adorably as ever. I kiss her on the lips.

“We will do that tomorrow.”

After the cafeteria we to practice classes. Ruby explains that she is not well, she is going to sit this one out. We both watch Opal and Shandon sparring, while Aquamarine looks bored. Ruby is also bored. After a yawn, she comments.

“Why are they so slow?”

I turn to her.

“They are not. This is around the same speed I have seen when I visited you in the past.”

Ruby raises an eyebrow.

“This is going to be fun!”

I smile at her.

“Or boring…”