Mage And Wolf
Chapter 66

Chapter 66: Chapter 66

In the middle of my bath, Allie comes barreling into the room, bouncing off the wall and landing in the bath.

"Report from Auntie Lelou! Problem is solved."

I ruffle her now soaking wet hair and notice she’s wearing a simple purple long sleeved dress with the church logo on the front and back, paired with black tights and sneakers. Thinking back, Ellie was wearing the same thing, they must have given the girls uniforms so they’re not interrupted while running errands.

"We’ll need to get you some footwear with better traction before you hurt yourself. Now, tell me, what happened?"

"Well, Ellie came back with your message, and then Auntie Lelou transformed into this huge Red Dragon, so big it could set its head on the city walls. And that’s what it did, it just stuck its head outside the barrier and melted all the bad guys that were shooting at the city."

"I’ll bet she’s in a bad mood isn’t she?"

"How did you know Auntie Kat?"

"Because she only got to attack one time and the war was over. Let’s pick up some cream puffs and go pay her a visit. One fluffy tailed messenger alone won’t be enough to fix her mood."

Lelou was surprisingly calm, having held extremely low hopes for a satisfying war, so snacks on the wall in the morning light was quite the enjoyable time.

Lelou suggest we make an outing to go clear the spiders from the labyrinth, as she hasn’t seen them herself, so I gather up Hui’Jin, send Ellie and Allie back to Karl and off we go.

"You look much better with your wings out" Lelou compliments.

"Thank you Highness, the penitent’s robes didn’t have a slot for them, but now my Acolytes robes do. I feel today will be a good day, the energy in my body is surging."

The entrance is still quite clear, but the centaurs have moved out to the cave formerly occupied by wild boars. A single flame spell from Lelou clears them in an instant. The energy from the kills flows into me and Hui’Jin and the energy in both our bodies reaches a breaking point. Both of us break through at the same time.

For me the process is simple and quick, but there’s still a lot of energy in the air. It seems to be flowing from me to Hui’Jin, increasing her cultivation step after step. When her body finally stabilizes, she’s grown to the 5th stage of the Foundation realm. 4 stages gained in just a few moments, due to the overflowing energy from my mark changing her body to the Goddess’s will.

"That growth rate is simply exceptional" Lelou exclaims "I’ve heard that cultivating near a High Priestess of your order helps, but how many High Priestesses have the time to go out with someone at the Foundation stage?"

"Thank You Highness" Hui’Jin is practically wriggling with excitement.

"How about we let our freshly empowered acolyte take the first spider pull? Hui’Jin, please clear the small spiders with the best flame wall you can manage at your level. We’ll take care of the rest."

The walk down the hallway that usually contains the spiders is a tense one. Well past the usual ambush spot, there’s still nothing in sight.

"Did we accidentally scare them off?" I wonder out loud.

Hui’Jin points at the room ahead on our left where the last few spiders usually hide "I think they’ve all retreated into their den"

Even better. "Then kindly burn them out, I would greatly enjoy seeing your new power level."

The casting takes her a full 6 seconds, building far more mana than I’ve seen her use so far. Even Lelou looks impressed.

"She’s almost on par with a full blooded dragon at her cultivation level" Lelou whispers as not to interrupt her spell.

When it does go off, it roasts in grand fashion. The shriek of suddenly burning spiders is deafening and the flames burn pitch black, barely throwing any light at all into the corridor. The intense heat is visibly melting the rock, leaving it glowing and smooth when the flames finally fade away.

"Absolutely superb. Would that be a new holy spell you’ve gained?" Lelou asks.

"I believe so Highness. As I was gathering mana the inspiration came to me, and when it cast it used some of the stored Death energy on me."

Man, Mages get it extra easy don’t they? Or maybe they’re just stronger at the early stages until the rest of us catch up? I’ve heard mystic cultivators that aren’t mages get off to a comparatively slow start and aren’t considered as great of a threat when they’re limited to the Fortification realm by our world.

All that’s left is that annoying poison elemental. Lelou and Hui’Jin both have their determined faces on though, so maybe it won’t be too bad.

"Watch and learn youngling" Lelou instructs Hui’Jin. "Here’s how you target Holy flames properly, don’t throw them from your hand, ignite them on your target." With that she lights up the Elemental, which turns to a rapidly solidifying scorched goo within seconds.

That’s way better than last time.

"Alright ladies, it’s time to clean up all the spider’s mana stones for the base vault. This should be enough to finish city construction and start filling our coffers. At least until there’s someone outside the clergy capable of clearing this dungeon."

"That’s s problem for later" Lelou assures "It usually takes a year or more to reach Fortification, and another 2 or 3 years to reach the Condensation stage where most mediocre cultivators get stuck for decades. This dungeon is at low to mid Fortification by human standards, Dragon blood just gives a big advantage to young cultivators."

"So we can expect the advantages to start to even out eventually?"

"Yes, but no. A young dragon fights a whole cultivation realm or more higher than an equivalent human. A Lycan such as yourself shows a little over half that advantage. However, as all your acupoints are open, you seem to have unlocked a racial ability to use inner strength to form claws without using mana or internal Qi.

That’s something average human cultivators usually can’t do until condensation stage. An advantage the mages have to a much greater degree."

I nod, thinking how mages will lose much of their advantage when others can do something like cast spells too.

"Dragons rarely choose physical cultivation, as our magic gets so powerful with centuries of practice. But in your case, you’re much stronger than humans to start with, and a physical cultivator, so the advantage will continue to compound until much later. A point you might not reach for a century. When you reach condensation stage, you should be able to absorb bullets and spells at this level using only your body, with minimal damage."

"Don’t forget how fast Lycans heal" Hui’Jin adds helpfully and Lelou gives me a confused look.

"Regular Lycans heal at a visible rate. cuts in minutes, broken bones within an hour if the overall injuries aren’t too severe. But as a cultivator circulating energy, the rate is much faster, though I haven’t really tested it much. I prefer to simply not get hit."

"Why don’t we test that? We’ve got a moment while the acolyte cleans up" Lelou suggests with a smile.

"You know what? Why not." I roll up my sleeve to bare my lower arm. "Claw my arm, you know how fast it should heal"

The High Priestess of the Red shows no mercy, dragging her claw through my arm so deeply it gouges the bone and I mutter curses under my breath. But I don’t stop circulating energy to the area and focusing on healing, letting the wound close at my wrist by the time her claw reaches my elbow.

"Now that’s impressive. Dragon inflicted wounds heal more slowly than usual, if I’d used a regular knife it would have been hard to even see the injury."

"I told you it’s impressive right?" Hui’Jin cheers before snapping back to formal decorum." I mean it’s truly impressive Your Highness"

We both laugh and stroke her wings "Let’s go get dinner"