~ Chapter 28: Nanya’s pranks ~

[Illsyore’s point of view]

That night, I had a really weird dream.

I was back in my old world, at my parents’ apartment in Romania. Alina was there as well, but I couldn’t see her face very well. I couldn’t see mom or dad’s either, they were all blurry, but I recognized the place. The photos of the old me were up there on the shelf, commemorating various moments of my life.

Suzi, their cat was yawning on the floor, looking as bored as always. It had a white fur with a small black spot on the back. For some weird reason, it kept staring at me with its slit brown eyes.

My parents were talking with me, and Alina was trying to say something as well, but there were no words coming out of their mouths. It was as though I was deaf. In my hand, I was holding an old phone, but on it was a picture of me together with Nanya, Ayuseya, and Shanteya at the beach. I was right in the middle of them, smiling happily, and they looked rather tempting and beautiful in those swimsuits.

“You left me alone…” was what Alina said at one point and showed me a picture of her in a wedding dress.

She was standing in front of a typical orthodox altar, letting the white veil cover her face. I couldn’t see it, but somehow, I knew she was shedding tears of sadness.

At first, I didn’t notice anything wrong with the picture, I thought of it as a cosplay photograph or something like that, but it wasn’t. She was standing in an actual church, and the most disturbing detail about it was the white marble cross placed right next to her. On it was written a blurry name, my name.

That was my cross...

“Just like you left me, you are going to leave them as well…” she said and then pointed at the picture of me and the girls at the beach.

A chill ran down my spine, and it was in that moment when a strange darkness took hold of me and swallowed me whole. I was left floating inside my Inner Mind, crying and trying to break free of it. I panicked and tried to push the darkness away, but it didn’t budge… I wasn’t strong enough.

“I’m going to kill you and them as well…” I heard Dankyun’s voice.

“I’m not going to let you!” I screamed back at him, but I couldn’t reach him.

I was left floating in the darkness, listening to Dankyun’s laughter and hearing Shanteya, Nanya, and Ayuseya’s screams. My whole body shivered and feared their dreadful fate. Among them, I also heard the battle cries of the teachers at the academy and the screams of the students. Speaking of which, I didn’t really interact with them much, did I? I couldn’t even name one of them…

When I woke up, I was shivering and breathing hard. Seeing myself surrounded by the darkness of my Inner Mind confused me, and for a moment, I thought I was still in that dreadful nightmare.

In the end, it was Shanteya’s warm embrace that calmed me down.

Letting out a sigh, I looked up at her. She was still sleeping, showing me a gentle and peaceful expression on her face. It felt like nothing could ever bring harm to her, but then I remembered the awful screams from my dream, and the fear of losing her resurfaced. I squeezed her tight in my arms and pushed my face in her chest, taking in her warmth and listening to the soft beats of her heart.

I don’t want to lose either of you… I said in a whisper.

Although I felt the need to close my eyes and go back to sleep, I resisted the temptation because I didn’t want to risk returning to that dreadful nightmare.

[Ayuseya’s point of view]

 For the past two days, I stayed away from Illsyore. He didn’t call me out to sleep with him anymore. The only company I had during that time were my tears and books.

After letting go of my mother’s letter, I didn’t try to look at it again. I didn’t feel the need to do so, I couldn’t bring myself to do it either.

In a way, I was waiting all this time for Illsyore to return and kick me out in Dankyun’s claws. That was all it would take to be rid of me. As for this marriage… It was strange, but in this world, the black ring didn’t exist.

For a while, I was wondering if it wasn’t just some illusion cast down upon my mind, a simple spell meant to enslave me to his will, but if that was so, why didn’t he act like it?

I didn’t feel like returning to him, but running away felt even harder. My future was uncertain or rather predisposed only to pain and suffering.

The one thing I never thought about was suicide… Even though life treated me so badly, suicide was something I never considered as a possibility or means of escaping this torment. What would have been the use of it anyway?

Letting out a sigh, I spread my arms and looked up, or where I thought was up.

It’s Illsy’ fault… I said.

I really wanted to trust this Dungeon Lord. I really wanted to think that this marriage could be the actual thing I always dreamed about, but I had no definite proof towards it being so.

How can I test him? I thought and then looked over at my book collection.

There were many stories in which I could find a source of inspiration, but many of them required me to be outside of this place. It wasn’t like there was no way, but the only question floating through my mind was: What’s the first step I need to take?

[Dankyun’s point of view]

 Breakfast, as always, was edible, but rather pathetic for one of my status. The thought of killing the cook crossed my mind, but alas, a good one was hard to find around these parts. On the bright side of things, the tea was made by me, and it was delicious even if the assortments were rather... limited.

There was no doubt about this academy being the most boring place where I could have spent my precious time. The academy was filled with nothing but pathetic weaklings of all kinds and of all species. Only the beast folk were missing from here, but they were forbidden to ever leave their continent, unless they wished to become slaves, of course. Nanya was the only one I could somewhat view as a possible threat, the rest could be annihilated with a single punch.

Still, while I appeared to be doing nothing, I was actually charging up my Supreme Skill. Once I left this dump, a small ‘accident’ was going to happen, and all of a sudden, the academy was going to vanish. The bothersome bureaucratic and political nonsense was going to be handled afterwards. I had many pawns to use as a scapegoat if the blame for this whole thing hinted towards me.

Meanwhile, my two el’doraw assassins were keeping me informed of what happened outside the dungeon’s territory. So far, there was no actual proof to support either theory. In other words, Ayuseya left this place, but at the same time she didn’t. The dungeons were too small and too weak to offer a possible shelter, but until those two finished searching every nook and cranny on this place, I had no intention of making the first move. My soldiers were already instructed on what to do. As for the draconian students enrolled here, I planned on luring them to my side. There was no need for them to study in such a place. It would only bring to shame the name of our species. Of course, if they refused, the punishment would come later.

When I was young, a draconian adventurer once told me: “We are the most powerful and perfect species out of all of them! We are descendants of gods and demigods! We are the first to conquer a dungeon! We are the oldest and the wisest! To see a species like the humans or any other hold more power than us is a disgrace and a shame a true draconian must try to rectify at all cost!”

I kept those words true in my heart ever since, and I was constantly shown proof after proof that my kind was stronger than any other. At the same time, I noticed that I was better even than my fellow draconians, I was stronger, faster, and smarter! Gaining the rank of Supreme was merely a formality I had to go through in order to achieve greater power. But now,… now I deserved more!

Ayuseya was going to be a good stepping stone for me to achieve it. Afterwards, it would be rather easy to get rid of that pathetically weak royal family that kept relying on others for strength. They don’t deserve the royal blood flowing through their veins, and I was intent on removing every last drop of it! As for my soon to be bride, with or without her, there were many ways to gain the throne.

Thinking about it logically, there was no need for me to exhaust so much energy only on this one. If I waited another 10 or 20 years, I was sure another woman was going to be born in the royal family, and I could take her. This time, however, I was going to make sure she didn’t try anything stupid.

Even I had to admit that the trick she used to get out of our engagement was completely unexpected, but even so, just a minor setback for one such as I. After all, I wasn’t called a Supreme for nothing.

The only ones who could actually try to stop my plans were the other Supremes in this country, but none of them had either the strength or will to do so. Together, let’s say they could, but in the end, I would certainly come out as victorious. Besides my sword, I had my armor as well. It was… a very useful tool for all sort of situations. Then, I had my rings, my amulet, and Spell Crystals like the one I was using now to charge my Supreme Skill. When the time was right, I could activate them and use them without spending even one drop of my own Magic Energy.

These Spell Crystals were some rather interesting artifacts. Although usable only once before the Magic Energy inside them was depleted, they could become a real game changer, depending on the skill infused in them. They had their own limit of capacity, and they were rather difficult to recharge. Few had the patience to go through the painstaking process of supplying one with Magic Energy. For a Supreme Skill, it could even take up to a few days to charge, which made my wait for Ayuseya to get out of her hiding hole not to be such a waste of time. I did wonder, however, if Nanya had any, but it was rather doubtful. These things were expensive to both make and buy. There was also another reason as to why she wouldn’t have any. That woman would surely refuse to use something that was once a part of a dungeon’s core.

As such, while no one was looking, I was charging up my Spell Crystal. I had a few others as well, including one with [Flight] and another with [Invisibility]. Although I didn’t have these skills personally, paying a Godlike or Emperor Rank Adventurer to imprint the spells on them and charge them up wasn’t considered a waste at all. Of course, I did pay for them, especially when they did a good job with it. The only condition I had was for them to be draconian.

In the end, my schedule at this so-called Fellyore Magic Academy was rather simple: I woke up in the morning, had my breakfast, then I charged my crystal until noon. After that, I listened to the reports of my men and those of the assassins. I had my lunch, then continued with another session of charging my crystal. While I did this, I summoned some of the draconian students over and persuaded them to join my cause and leave this pathetic place.

“Hm, I guess I’ll be able to finish this by tomorrow evening?” I said as I took a sip from my tea. It wasn’t bad, but next time I was thinking of adding a leaf of Ratgrey.

[Illsyore’s point of view]

 The nightmare kept me awake for a good couple of hours before Shanteya woke up. I tried to get back to sleep, but I simply couldn’t. I kept my eyes closed and listened to my el’doraw’s heartbeat. The soft thumps were like a sweet melody, and her calm breath reminded me of the fact that I was safe, in her arms, and not facing Dankyun in a battle of life and death.

In all honesty, I hoped he would leave quietly, but something told me it wasn’t going to be so. If the cliches from my world worked here as well, then without a doubt, he was expected to do something to stir trouble. Somehow, someway, he was going to cause us to fight.

Maybe it’s all in my head… I thought at times while the many possibilities of the future flashed through my mind.

At the very least, I managed to calm down enough to greet Shanteya with a smile.

After our morning kiss, I released her from my Inner Mind and allowed her to sneak off into the forest, where she would resume her massacre of the local fauna for my constant leveling. I had no idea how this was going to affect Nanya and Shanteya, but until they allowed me to check their statuses, I couldn’t do a thing about it. Technically speaking, I didn’t need approval, but I wanted to be polite about it.

I forced myself a bit, but I managed to finish the escape tunnel for the students. No one had any idea where or how long it was. The enchanted walls would keep it lit and safe from whatever was going to happen above. In short, the war preparations were going smoothly.

This took about five and a half hours, give or take ten minutes. I worked without stop and made it as fast as I could, always making sure never to go overboard with my Magic Energy consumption and at the same time use as much as I could.

Upon returning to the academy, it was already noon. With a yawn on my lips and waiting for my Magic Energy to be replenished, I looked around for anything I needed to fix. Finding Nanya or Tuberculus was an added bonus.

“Nothing seems to be out of place… and no soldiers are misbehaving.” I said as I was floating around.

When I spotted Dankyun, I stopped and approached him slowly. Tuberculus was there too. As far as I could tell, the two of them were having a ‘calm chat’ about something. It wasn’t polite to eavesdrop, but I was invisible, so it didn’t matter.

“Absolutely not!” said the old headmaster.

“It’s not a matter that needs to be debated, the draconian students themselves agreed with this after I had a nice talk with them yesterday.” Dankyun explained without even looking at the old man.

With his chest puffed up like that and his hands behind him, I had the impression I was looking at a noble with a stuck-up attitude, but maybe I wasn’t that far off from the truth. He didn’t even want to show the smallest sign of respect to those around him.

“Even so, I have a responsibility to uphold towards their parents! Even if they are draconian, to suddenly enlist them in your troops, that… that’s…”

“That’s an honor. For someone who is below Master Rank to participate in combat and training sessions with those of Master Rank and higher is a true honor! Also, do remember that I am a draconian Supreme who is engaged to their Princess. I don’t believe they would stumble upon such a great opportunity again any time too soon or at all.” he explained, but just like before, he didn’t look at Tuberculus.

“These students aren’t ready! They are too weak and too young!” the old man still tried to get him to change his mind, but Dankyun wouldn’t even hear of it.

I listened to them for a little bit longer, but the draconian was determined not to change his decision, or rather he saw no reason in listening to Tuberculus’ opinion. It wasn’t a matter of being right as much as it was about him not being of the same species as him.

Back in Romania, such a gaze in a man was hardly seen. In general, Romanians simply didn’t care about skin color and country, however, there were exceptions there as well. I saw these sort of eyes in the people often tagged as xenophobic or racist in movies or on the news. These people saw others as either ‘things’ below them or simple enemies for the simple fact that they existed.

If I were to think about it carefully, there was a high chance that racism and speciesism were more common and thought about as normal in this world which resembled Earth’s medieval period. Human rights, Draconian rights, Elf rights, El’doraw rights, and those of any other sapient species felt a bit on the missing side. It wouldn’t have been strange if I was the only one withholding such morals about equality.

Should I simply ignore this sort of behavior? I asked myself as I flew away from Dankyun.

When I looked around, I saw some students of different species laughing together.

Interesting how laughter was a common thing for all species and so was crying, pain, love, and any other emotion. This made me remember something someone once told me.

I think it went like this: We speak of sapient artificial intelligence and sapient alien life outside of Earth as though they are enemies which we must hate for the simple fact that they are not human. However, what makes a human, human? Is it the bones and flesh of our bodies or is it our minds and souls? I believe it’s the latter, for once we speak of flesh, there are many differences even within our species to make us hate each other to no end. Of this, we see proof in the racism and xenophobic behavior many display for no other reason than just the fact that other people look different. Therefore, I believe that in order to perceive without prejudice those different than us from their very basic physical construction, we must remember that if we have the same soul, emotions, and even thought patterns, then we are pretty much the same. I thought, but I had the feeling these weren’t his exact words.

Anyway, he was right.

My experience alone in this world could confirm these words. Despite me, Shanteya, Ayuseya, Nanya, Tuberculus, and the many others at this academy being different from the point of view of our species to the locations of our births, we could still live together on the same plot of land without jumping at each other’s throats. Honestly speaking, I had yet to witness any fights between students, or one of them spouting speciesist remarks at someone. Aside from them, I was a rather curious case because as far as I knew, Dungeons were jerks in general.

I know for certain that it doesn’t matter how you are born. I was a human before, so simply hating or discriminating against someone just because they don’t have a body like mine is wrong. Our souls are more or less the same… It’s certainly not right… Dankyun’s views are wrong, I’m certain of it! I thought as I shook my head.

If he saw the draconians as superior to humans or other species, it was wrong. Maybe it was biologically correct, but morally, it wasn’t. Unfortunately, I couldn’t do anything about it at this moment. These were things which were strongly embedded in society. To be able to change any of those, I had to become a very powerful being against which someone else had no way of competing at the level of either strength or political influence.

Does this mean that I want to teach?

The sudden thought popped in my mind, and I blinked surprised. I didn’t mind the idea, but was there a way to do something like that? I could speak to them of the things I knew from my previous world, but I wasn’t an expert in any of them, and I had no idea if there were similar examples in this world to which the students could relate to.

I let the thought go and flew off to find Nanya. The teenage-looking teacher was minding her own business guarding the students from the soldiers. I had no idea what happened to those I punished before, but she most likely handled it with care, seeing as there was no fuss about it afterwards.

“Nanya, are you bored yet?” I asked as I approached her.

Thanks to the little perk of her being my wife, she spotted me immediately and raised an eyebrow in reply.

“That bad, huh?”

“Things are a bit too quiet for my liking. Dankyun is behaving too…” she expressed her concern on the matter as she looked towards the temporary camp set up by the soldiers.

“Tuberculus was having a chat with him a moment ago. Something about him pulling the draconian students to his side?” I informed her.

“Hm…” she looked down and rubbed her chin.

“You think he’s up to something bad?”

“It’s a bit hard to say. The Dankyun I know was a fake he created just to steal my sword. The real one is still a mystery, but one thing I know for certain is that he views draconians as the best species out of all of them. He would be far more inclined towards listening to one of his own than a human or elf. After that, I know that he dislikes those weaker than him and shows somewhat respect towards those more powerful than him.”

“Basically, if you are human and weaker than him, you are completely ignored. If you are weaker and a draconian, you have one shot at being listened to, but the weaker you are, the more likely it is that he will look down on you?” I asked.

“Sort of, but to add to your words, if you are weaker than him, you are looked down upon no matter the species.” she shook her head and sighed “I can’t believe a man like him is a Supreme.”

“Aren’t others far worse than him?” I asked.

“Yes, Paramanium Draconian Supremes are the worst bunch, but they won’t move without being ordered to. Those could be just rumors, however. I have yet to meet any of them. The only Supremes I know are those of Shoraya, Dreziurne and Pendaros, who are lower Supremes. They are quite kind towards others. I also know that the third continent has far more Supremes, but I never met any of them personally.” she let out another sigh and looked up at me. With a smirk on her lips she then told me “Alright! Let’s pull some pranks on Dankyun’s soldiers!”

“Huh? Are you sure about this? Won’t they get mad?” I asked.

“Let them, but as long as they don’t find out who pulled the pranks, everything will be fine!” she gave me a thumbs up.

“Very well.”

Between the two of us, she had to be the stealthy one. I was already invisible and mostly undetectable as long as I didn’t open my mouth. Nanya sneaked up inside their camp and hid in one of the bushes. The soldiers occupied most of the back garden, making a mess of all the bushes and flower patches. 17 tents were raised all over the place, and roles were assigned to each and every one of them. While a part of them slept, the other kept watch. This way, they didn’t need to worry about surprise attacks. They had a cook, a few who cleaned the messy armors, some who handled the weapons and sharpened them, while the three commanders beneath Dankyun were handling the training of the weakest of them.

If I didn’t know better, I would say I was looking at an army camp in the middle of a war zone. They were on the ground of a Magic Academy, they shouldn’t have acted so strictly and cautiously. The air around the place was really tense. Even I could feel the pressure these soldiers had to deal with, but they could all be possible enemies, so feeling pity for the pranks we were about to play on them was out of the question.

The first one Nanya had planned was what I would call a classic. The target was the cook, who was currently in the middle of preparing a large batch of soup.

“Extra spicy Tongue Blister Pepper.” she said with a smirk as she pulled it out of her pocket.

I squinted my eyes at the small black pepper. It didn’t look that dangerous, but knowing Nanya, there was a high chance I was wrong about it.

“What do you want to do with it?” I asked.

“Not me, you!” she grinned and offered me the thing.

“Huh?” I blinked surprised.

“Take it over to the pot and squeeze the seeds out of it. Those are extra hot! Then drop the rest in the barrel of water over there.” she pointed at the pot and then at a big barrel not far from it.

Speaking of which, where did they get all of that stuff? I didn’t remember them carrying around huge barrels and pots of those sizes.

“Alright.” I said and using [Telekinezy], I picked up the black pepper and flew over there.

The mission was accomplished quickly and then I returned to Nanya. She was giggling about it.

“How long will we have to wait?” I asked.

“We’ll hear the results.” she smirked and then moved away from there.

The next target was one of the guards who kept bragging about how beautiful his wife back home was. Even I was getting curious about her when I heard him.

“She be as gentle as a moon’s ray, as beautiful as a lily, and supple as a noble maiden! Ah! Me beloved is waiting fo’ me, and I can’t wait to snuggle up in her arms! Did I tell you about the time…” he said and the other guard rolled his eyes.

“YES! More than a hundred times already! Even the rocks are bored with it already! And I swear to Melkuth, the God of War, if you dare say the story of how you met her for the first time again, I’m going to grab you by the tail and toss you to the first Dayuk pack I see!” retorted the other guard, trying his best not to unsheathe his sword and swing it at his neck.

“Aw, I thought you like it!” he said while looking a bit down.

The draconian threw him a glare and then looked away, trying to focus on his job.

Meanwhile, not that far away from where those two were, me and Nanya were listening to the whole thing while laying low behind a thick bush.

“So… what exactly are we going to do to them?” I whispered to her.

“Ssh! I’m thinking…” she said squinting her eyes and furrowing her brow.

Nanya was trying to concentrate. On the other hand, I could only think of banana peels and some stuff I saw on TV or over the net. Just thinking about them, I realized they really weren’t that funny. Some were rather scary and bad, while others would have ended up quite bad if the ones being pranked had some sort of weapon on them.

“Should I try to Colly Tos their pants away?” I asked a bit bored.

“Illsssy…” Nanya looked up at me with a glare, while a pair of pink panties floated down from above.

“Sorry.” I said, and she snatched them from the air.

“Hm.” she squinted her eyes at me. “Target the skinny one and try to use that spell on him, but this time, FOCUS!” she glared and crossed her hands at her chest.

“Alright…” I looked over at my new target.

I concentrated on stealing only and only his pants. If he didn’t have a [No Steal] enchantment on him, then it would work.

“Colly Tos!” I said after I focused really really hard.

Something appeared in front of me and fell down on the ground. It was white and certainly not a pair of pants. Looking at Nanya, I saw that she was still dressed and her pair of panties was in her right hand, so it certainly wasn’t hers. I knew what Shanteya was wearing, so she was off the list too.

“What is this?” I asked as I used telekinezy to pick the piece of cloth and lift it up in the air.

It was huge, even bigger than Nanya was. I wondered if it was a blanket or something.

“What is this thing?” the teenage-looking woman asked just as surprised.

“A flag? A bed sheath?” I asked as I lifted the thing by the other end.

It was indeed over 2.5 meters in length, but it couldn’t be… could it?

“AH! Me wife’s treasured panties is be missing! It was me lucky charm! Did I drop it?” I heard the skinny draconian say as he searched through all of his pockets for the giant piece of cloth I was holding in my telekinetic hands.

“Oh for the love of… I’m going over there, and don’t you dare come close to me!” said the other guard annoyed beyond his limit.

Nanya was trying hard not to laugh.

“Hehe! I know draconian women are huge, but this is ridiculous!”

I wasn’t laughing. I was frozen in both fear and shock. I was holding in my hands a pair of giant panties. They weren’t even of the cute kind, they were plain, really plain.

Letting out a sigh, I folded the panties back into a ball and then tossed them back at the skinny guard. It was direct hit in the head, which made Nanya barely contain her laughter.

“Me lucky charm! Huh? Where did come from? Did a god send them my way? Oh, bless be the heavens!” said the draconian man, hugging the pair of giant underwear.

The soldier didn’t bother trying to find out where they came from, so as soon as he was out of our sight, Nanya burst into a loud laughter.

“It’s not funny!” I groaned.

“Hahaha! But Illsy! I can’t stop! BUHAHAHA! That’s one broken spell! Even when you focused on only one item, you managed to get the only thing of any connection to a female, a pair of giant panties! BUHAHAHA! I guess size doesn’t matter!” she laughed rolling on the ground.

“I can’t help it! The spell is broken! Also, I have a weight limit…” I complained.

“Hooo? What if Ayuseya reaches that size?” she asked with a big grin.

“I’ll invent the treadmill.” I replied quickly.

“Trea…trelmilg? What’s that?” she asked blinking surprised and tilting her head to the left.

“A magic device that helps you lose weight.” I squinted my eyes at her.

“Hahaha! What’s up with that? Just buy a weight losing potion! Also, don’t you know? Being fat means your rich. Some nobles even have competitions to see who has the biggest belly! I saw some human noble once who was fatter than his pregnant wife, who was in the 9th month! Buhahaha!” she continued to laugh.

Weight losing potion? I better learn how to make those before they invent fast food. I’ll make a killing! Sell food on one end of the dungeon and the weight losing potion on the other. Perfect! Still… belly size competitions? I thought as I looked at the giggling teenage-looking teacher.

“Alright, wifey, what’s the next prank we’re going to pull?” I asked trying to change the subject.

“Oh, right! We’re going to put oil on the handles of their swords!” she smirked.

“Isn’t that dangerous?” I asked.

“Who cares?” she shrugged and walked off. “Pfft, giant panties…”

With a sigh, I followed her back to the other side of the soldier camp. We hid behind one of the tents and using my [Telekinezy] spell, I managed to pour the slimy, slippery oil on the hilts of the swords placed tip down in a barrel. I could still grab them without a problem, though. The last thing we did before we left was to pour itching powder on the training grounds and mix it up with the mud there. Every tumble the soldiers took would end up sending them in a itching frenzy.

Once we were done, we sat back and enjoyed the show…

“AARGH! Too hot!” shouted the first victim who dared to taste the effect of the Tongue Blister Pepper.

Nanya was giggling already, seeing him head straight for the barrel of water.

“THIS IS HOTTER!” he screamed as he ran left and right, trying to extinguish the flames in his throat.

His only solution ended up using magic. Using a spell that summoned a water ball, he shot it up in the air and stood right under it when it fell down. It wouldn’t extinguish the flames in his throat, but it was good for a temporary reliever.

“Watch out!” screamed one of the soldiers who used the sword with the slippery handle.

The blade flew through the air and stabbed the ground between the feet of one of them. The man was ‘this close’ to ending up unable to sire children anymore. Seeing this, he fainted a moment later, causing a great explosion of laughter from Nanya. The other soldiers were also laughing, both at the unfortunate fellow and the ones trying to grab the handles of the swords.

Over at the training grounds, two serious looking draconians were trying to measure their strengths against each other. It was going to be a wrestling competition, the perfect thing to get them all dirty and covered in itchy mud. Even I was waiting to see the funny result.

After a few tumbles, the men started to scratch like crazy. They went out of the ring and jumped straight into the pond in front of the gazebo. The itching dust was quite strong, but the water weakened the effect.

Of course, no one suspected the two of us to be the actual pranksters, and instead, the draconian soldiers blamed one another. It even ended up with a battle between a few, which their commanders broke up shortly after. Those weren’t the only victims of our pranks, but the end result was more or less the same, draconians itching all over, screaming ‘HOT!’, and grown males barely able to hold a sword in their hands.

“Well, that was fun! Nihihi!” said Nanya with a smirk.

“I suppose.” I replied.

We were walking through the forest, going around the camp to head back to the academy.

“And you with those giant panties! That was really funny!” she laughed.

“Don’t remind me, I’ll get nightmares… Speaking of which, who invented panties anyway?” I asked.

“Who knows?” she shrugged “Maybe the God of Panties?” she snickered.

It was a joke, I knew that, but there was something like the God of Big Boobs, so maybe…

Nah! It can’t be! I shook my head and firmly denied the existence of such a ridiculous god.

“Do you think they will find out it was us behind those pranks? I’m surprised no one heard you laugh like that.” I looked back at her.

“Oh that? I used a spell that silenced all sounds around me. It’s not a perfect stealth spell, but for something like this was enough. As long as they didn’t hear or sensed our presence, we have nothing to worry about. Besides, what are they going to do? Point a finger and complain?” she shrugged as if it was nothing.

True, if they did try anything, Nanya alone was powerful enough to finish off all of them. In my case, it was just a matter of casting a 5000 Magic Energy Points offensive spell of any type of those I had at my disposal. Still, not all of the soldiers were there. I knew some were searching my other dungeons, and no one managed to find my secret dungeon yet, but they did destroy all magic summoning circles and traps they found.

They were trying to weaken me. That was what it felt like. For Dungeons, traps and monsters were their weapons.

“What are you going to do now?” I asked Nanya when we arrived at the academy.

“I’m going to go back there and pretend like nothing happened. What about you? How’s that thing we talked about progressing?” she asked.

“It’s going good, one part finished, the rest almost done. ‘You know who’ is helping me level.” I replied.

“Good! Good! With a bit of luck, maybe this bastard will leave without causing too much of a fuss! Nihihi! Also, you didn’t forget to strengthen your Magic Armor did you?” she asked me with a raised eyebrow.

I stopped in my track and gulped. I knew there was something important I kept forgetting, but I couldn’t put my finger on it.

“Oopsie…” I said.

“Don’t you oopsie me! Go and strengthen it! Now!” she glared at me.

“Yes! Oh, and Nanya?” I said when I reached the entrance.

“What?” she asked raising an eyebrow.

“Colly Tos!” I smirked, and her panties appeared above me. “Bye bye!” I said and then quickly flew away from there.

“ILSSY!” she shouted as she snatched her panties back.

She didn’t give chase after me, only sighed and put them back on. The soldiers weren’t the only ones who ended up getting pranked.

Once in my room, I strengthened my Crystal Body, infusing it with as much Magic Energy as I could without fainting. Nanya did say not to foolishly charge it, but I had the feeling the stronger and bigger my armor was, the better. This always seemed to be the case for heroes in manga and anime. The more energy they put into something, the stronger it got, however, I did try my best to strengthen and focus on it.

With that done, I moved off to Shanteya. By now, she managed to stockpile quite a lot of monsters. I absorbed the small mountain of remains and gave her a quick ‘Hello!’, after that, I moved towards my dungeon. There was no time or need to chat, she was busy killing off a tribe of Goblins.

The construction of my dungeon proceeded nicely. I managed to finish about 70% that day, but looking at it as a whole, this floor was far deadlier than the ones before. The hardest part was probably the one with lava traps. Basically, it was a corridor of pressure traps that dropped hot lava from above. It was a one-time use type of trap, which I had to reset in a very troublesome way. Once the lava hardened, that path was blocked, and they had to go back through another trap filled corridor in order to reach the next section of the maze.

The giant panties gave me an interesting idea though. I built a primitive type of treadmill, which was basically a combination of roller pins covered with a leather belt. The trouble came from trying to make them spin fast. I had to make a batch of oil and enchant it so that it didn’t get dirty and wouldn’t spill off whatever was rubbed on.

Once I finished the whole installation, I realized I could simply enchant the roller pins and the band to have them move very fast without using oil. I let out an annoyed groan when I realized that. Nonetheless, I finished the trap by adding sharp metal spikes on each end of the treadmill and a couple of piston triggered sharp giant axes. Anyone going through there would need to be very very agile or have a powerful Magic Armor, otherwise, they would end up in pieces or skewered.

Another thing I decided to add to every section of that maze was a gas trap. The air would become poisonous to breath in once triggered. After the danger was gone, meaning the intruders died or fled, I could safely activate a small Air Crystal placed on top of the ceiling, which absorbed the gas. Once filled up, all I had to do was just switch it with a new one and use this one for another trap, or as a smoke grenade.

There were multiple paths leading to my room, but all of them were extremely dangerous. Unfortunately, I had no way to escape from there. If Dankyun or any other enemy reached me, it was going to end up as a battle to the death between us.

Honestly speaking, I had no idea how powerful and dangerous this dungeon was going to be. I wanted to be more creative with it, and although my mind moved in the direction of advanced quantum physics and mechanics, I had absolutely no idea how to make black holes or gravity controllers. I couldn’t even make a car if I wanted to.

Thinking about it, I might have been extremely lucky with the Inconel super-alloy. If I didn’t need to research it for my bachelor’s degree back at the Polytechnic University, I might have ended up with regular steel or iron walls. Then again, did I make it or was it already stored inside of me by the previous Dungeons? If so… how could those Dungeons know how to make a super-alloy discovered only in the modern times of Earth? I pondered about this matter while waiting for my Magic Energy to recharge.

The mental fatigue showed its effect towards the end of the day when I accidentally built a tilted wall instead of a normal one. I was tired and simply had no drop of desire left in me to build anything anymore. It was a bit annoying that I was so slow at building stuff and had no way of building in bulks. The idea of a copy-paste method sounded good, but unlike the case with the tunnel, I had to focus on minor details on this one.

Exhausted, I left the dungeon when it was starting to get dark outside. I flew straight to Shanteya, I picked her up, absorbed the pile of monsters and then flew back to the academy. If there was anything left to fix, it was going to be left for the following day. I only desired to slip back into the comfort of my Inner Mind and fall asleep.

I’m sooo tired… I groaned as I flew into Shanteya’s arms.

Then please, rest well, Master. she said and let me cuddle up to her.

Erm… Illsyore? I heard Ayuseya’s voice coming from behind me.

[Dankyun’s point of view]

 “Miss Zoraya Del’argo, I presume?” I asked as I looked at the young lady who entered my room.

It was already dark outside, but even in the faint light of the candles in my room, I could still see her beautifully shinning green scales covering her tail and cheeks. She was a bit shorter than me and rather thin around the waist and chest. Her green eyes were like a pair of perfectly carved emeralds.

Unfortunately, she was of a low noble origin. You could say that I saw it as a wonder how she managed to reach Fellyore Magic Academy. Despite everything, this place was rather far away from her home back in the Teslov Kingdom.

“Yes, Milord.” she replied with a polite bow.

At least she knows a bit about manners. I thought as I looked at her.

“Do you know why you have been called here?” I asked her looking straight into her eyes.

She gulped, but she didn’t run away from my gaze. I was frightening her.

“No, Milord.” she shook her head.

I tilted my head a bit to the left and waved my tail up and down next to me. Her eyes fell on my dark-brown scales and then looked away, thinking that I didn’t notice her frightened gaze.

“I called you here to offer you the possibility of joining my people. You will be trained by my Emperor Rank and Master Rank commanders. You will receive all the appropriate gear you will need to function as a soldier in my unit, however, if you desire a more ‘away from the battlefield’ job, I can guarantee you something back at the Imperial Academy in the Paramanium Empire or the chance to work under a close associate of mine in the Teslov Kingdom’s capital, in the palace or outside of it, depending on your choosing.” I explained the deal using a calm tone of voice.

“T-That’s mighty generous of you, Milord…” she said blinking surprised at me.

“Indeed, it is. All that I ask of you is to renounce your loyalty towards Princess Ayuseya Pleyades and the royal family. Swear to serve me and only me, and I will make sure to turn your future into a bright one. What do you say?” I asked with a smirk.

No draconian in their right mind would refuse to work under me. These misguided fools were of my own species, and I had the right to make sure they didn’t stray from the right path. Promising power and riches were usually the best ways to motivate a change in their loyalties.

Even so, there were those few fools who believed the alternative was better…

“B-But Milord, I can’t betray the royal family… They are…” she started to speak, but the rest of her words were simply cut off for me.

“Enough.” I said lifting a hand up, and she closed her mouth.

I closed my eyes and rubbed my temples in the futile attempt of chasing away the headache these idiots were causing me. Why couldn’t they see what a pathetic bunch the royal family was? Why did they still retained their loyalty towards a dying cause? I simply couldn’t understand. I couldn’t comprehend this preposterous thing!

Ugh! Either they are all idiots or the princess told them something to turn them against me. I thought as I looked at the young lady waiting for me to speak again.

“Do you know what a Generation Curse is?” I asked her as I moved a hand away from my left temple and looked with one eye at her.

“N-No, Milord.”

She was frightened of me. Good!

“Let me teach you then. A Generation Curse or Supreme Curse as others call it is a curse that affects your entire bloodline starting from your generation and going further to the next ones. Basically…” I released the other temple and leaned back on my chair. “If I were to curse you, then you and your children and their children would receive this curse instantly. Can you follow what I’m saying?” I asked.

“Y-Yes, Milord, but I…” she tried to speak again, but I silenced her by lifting my hand up.

“You need not say a word, just listen.” I took a deep breath and looked into her eyes “A generation curse is stronger the more generations it can engulf. The one on Princess Ayuseya for example is for 1000 generations.” she blinked surprised. Of course, not many knew all the details behind the royal family’s curse. “The interesting part, however, consists in the specific effects of these Generation Curses. The one on the Pleyades family forces them to die at extremely young ages and renders them extremely weak. They are so weak that even a human peasant could kill them. Do you understand?” I asked.

“Y-Yes, Milord.” she replied, but I could see her shivering already.

“Now, do you still wish to serve a princess that is bound to die in a few years from now?” I asked and pointed at her.

“I-I… I…” she trembled and looked down for a moment.

Be a smart girl and pick the right choice. I thought.

“I do.” she replied.

“Is that so?” I leaned back in my chair and looked up at the ceiling. “So far, I only managed to persuade three students to join me, which have already been sent to be trained by my soldiers. To think that out of all of them, only three picked the right choice… Sigh! Disappointing… so disappointing.” I said out loud, but it didn’t really matter if she heard me now.

“Mi-Milord?” she spoke with a trembling voice.

“I’m bored of this game. If you don’t want me to kill you right now, undress. Refuse, and I’ll kill you and your entire family and friends.” I ordered her.

If she didn’t wish to join me, at the very least she could be useful to please me for a night. In my eyes she was nothing but a traitor anyway…