Chapter 40: Iron Dragon (4)

“A soulbound weapon....” the dwarf said in awe. “I’d never thought I’d see one myself. The art was abandoned long ago when it was discovered that it shortened the forgers life span. Whoever forged that for you must have thought very highly of you. Treat it well.”

“...I will.” Thadius said quietly as he turned to leave.

So Carson had shortened his life span to give him, what could quite possibly be, his greatest weapon. Thadius hoped that he would get another chance to truly thank his master’s brother as he made his way back to the amatuer waiting area.

If the reaction to him was bad the first time, then it was terrible the second time. After his overwhelming display in the arena and the fame he’d gathered from killing, Thadius had proven himself as someone to be feared. Thankfully, there were fewer people in the pseudo tavern than there were earlier. The bulk of them were still being cleaned out of the arena.

Thadius took his previous table, setting his shield against his chair as a familiar face came out to greet him.

“So the Iron Dragon returns to our humble establishment.” Sarene smiled as she sat down in her previous seat. Thadius struggled against temptation as her beauty monopolized his senses.

“I’m just thankful that I survived. I had no idea it was going to be a free-for-all.”

“From what I heard, many are thankful that they survived you.”

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“It wasn’t that bad.” Thadius waved his hand.

Sarene raised an eyebrow. “We could hear your mighty roar from here Thadius. One of the few that quit the field came in running from what he called ‘a dragon in a man’s body’. And look at your robe, all those cut and scratches, but not a single drop of blood. Just how skilled are you?” she wondered with narrow eyes.

Thadius smoothed out his ruined robe. His master had made it so that no blood could be spilled on it. It could still get dirty, but he’d never have to worry about blood stains. “I could ask you the same thing. All this terrible talk about me and you seem to be the only one who’s perfectly fine with it.” Thadius countered.

“What can I say? I was raised by Amazons. To them, beauty is strength, and strength is beautiful.”

“Raised by Amazons? Now that sounds like quite the story…” Thadius said as he leaned forward in interest.

“Oh no you don’t. You still owe me the story about what you wrote for that man earlier.” she laughed. The sound was music to his ears.

“Well, it seems I have a bit of time till the tourney rounds actually start. But if i’m going to tell such a long story, I’m going to need something to drink.”

“I know just the thing.” she said, tapping the table as she walked to the back towards the kitchen. She returned with a pitcher of Seredin tea and two glasses, pouring some for the both of them before she sat down.

One look at the glass had Thadius suddenly parched, and he drained the contents quickly. The extra bit of tang caught him off guard. “Mmm!”

Sarene laughed at his facial expression. “I told you I’d try it.”

“It’s even better than I imagined.” he replied as he poured another glass.

“Much better.” she agreed, taking a generous sip from her own glass. “Now, tell me about what transpired between you and our guest.”

“Well, first I’ll have to explain to you about the game of football.”

--- Church of Thena, Todos, Todos Kingdom ~ Sometime earlier... ---

Christina was being lead down a wide corridor to the girls dormitories by one of the priests. Yuna was following beside her using Vanish. After years of being blind, she could sense presences to some extent, but trying to find Yuna was completely beyond her. As such, she felt all alone as she trailed behind the stranger.

As soon as she walked into the building after being dropped off by Thadius, she was immediately given a set of robes and a tour by the priest. He was tall and thin with hair only covering the sides of his head. He seemed nice enough, but whenever he smiled, Christina had to resist an urge to shudder. Even though she didn’t really know him, she could tell that he was one of the men that Thadius had warned her about so long ago: a man without self control.

“And this here is the girls dormitory.” he said as he stopped by a staircase that lead to the second floor. “Now should you need anything Christina,” he said as he put a hand on her shoulder. “Be sure to let me know.”

“Thank you, but I’m sure I can manage.” she replied as she moved away to walk up the staircase. She didn’t want him to touch her under any circumstances.

The priests eyes flashed with anger briefly from such a quick refusal, but he quickly concealed it. “Well, in any case. I’ll be here if you need me.”

“Of course.” Christina replied. She waited a few seconds for him to walk away before she climbed the stairs. She didn’t even want the priest to watch her without her knowing.

“That guy feels really weak.” a voice said from beside her.

Christina jumped. She couldn’t even tell that Yuna was standing right next to her! It was a weird feeling. “W-what do you mean?”

“I mean, I know he can’t fight since he’s a priest and all, but he just feels really weak mentally I guess. I don’t know, it’s hard to explain. It’s like the way he acts and talks is a complete lie.” Yuna whispered beside her.

“Well let’s just hope we won’t have to run into him too often. I don’t like the way he looks at me.”

“I bet if it was Thadius that looked at you like that, you’d be happy.”

“That’s because Thadius is different.” Christina replied with her chin raised. Yuna sighed heavily beside her.

“What’s wrong?”

“Your head is filled with ‘stuff’ isn’t it?”

“No it’s not! And you brought it up!” she blushed.

“Your lies hurt my ears.” Yuna sighed again, shaking her head at her friend’s hopelessness.

“Yuna!”

“Who are you talking to?”

Christina looked up at a face peeking from behind the doorway at the top of the stairs. It was a young girl with freckles and dark brown pigtails. Her thick spectacles made her eyes look huge.

“Oh, I’m just...talking out loud. Please forget about it, it’s quite embarrassing. My name is Christina. I’m going to be a priestess initiate starting today.”

“I’m Teta.” the girl said as she opened the door.

Behind the door was a one large room with several rows of bunk beds. When Christina walked in, several faces turned toward her from the beds while the Teta examined her closely.

“You’re really pretty.” Teta said, tugging on the sleeve of her coat. She was even smaller than Yuna.

“Thank you.” Christina smiled at her.

“Oh, we got another one!” One of the girls rushed over from her bed. She had a darker skin tone with cat ears and a long tail. “Hi! My name’s Esaa. I joined today too! Just like Teta. There’s an open bed beside mine so all of us initiates can be together!” she said excitedly as she pulled Christina by the hand.

“Right. Here’s where home is gonna be for the time being. I sleep on the top. Teta sleeps on the bottom, and you can sleep over there!” Esaa pointed to the bottom bed of the bunk next to her. “I hope we can stay together when we become priestesses too! I heard that priestesses only sleep four to a room, so I want to make some friends so we can stick together.” she said as her tail swished happily. Her slanted yellow eyes were dancing with happiness.

“It’s good to have friends.” Teta added as she looked up at Christina, pushing her spectacles back up her nose.

“That’s fine with me, it’ll be lonely if I don’t have anyone to talk too.” Christina said as she removed her coat. “Is there anywhere I can change? I’d like to change into my robe.”

“The bathroom is on the first floor, so you might as well change here. No one will mind. Right everybody!?” Esaa asked the room. There were a few murmurs of agreement. Otherwise, no one paid her much attention.

Christina shrugged as she changed, stripping down to her undergarments to put on her priestesses robe.

“What’s that!?” Esaa asked excitedly as she looked Christina over with wide eyes.

Christina was wearing a black set of the first generation of Wolf Gear. The black sports bra and matching briefs complemented her fair skin.

“Oh, this? It was a gift, I suppose.” she blushed. She never thought she’d get the chance to show off her gift from Thadius.

“Who gives you undergarments for a gift!? Don’t tell me… YOU HAVE A LOVER!?”

“Shh!!” Christina hissed as she rushed to cover Esaa’s unnecessarily loud mouth. “It’s not like that….yet.”

By this time, other initiates had gathered to take a look.

“It looks pretty comfortable. Where did you get it?”

“How much did it cost? It is better than a strap?”

“I don’t like black though, does it come in different colors?”