Chapter 111 – Complication
The first sign that something was wrong came not long after my return to Windwater Barony, in the first days of Telvast.
Things had been going well. Galous had found the barn on the property that once belonged to the first Hero I killed acceptable, and it only took a few modifications to make it a comfortable home for a centaur. Sure, his direct pay was less than he had been making in Crystalshield, but the open fields were better to his sensibilities than the hemmed in streets of the city. Plus, he had magic items to take care of his food and water requirements, and the promise of a regular visit by my enslaved succubus cut down on his expenses quite a deal. And I knew that he had already spoken with a few alchemists in the town to see about providing ‘ingredients’ for potions to help mere humans measure up to a centaur’s size and performance.
The first group of thirty militia were already training with him. They wore gambesons with brigandine armor over it, and basic helmets. For weapons, they had a spear and shield, with a short sword as a backup, and a light crossbow to attack at range. It was a simple setup, but not a bad one. As a bonus, I found out from Galous that, as the recruits trained, they would unlock [Militia Armor Proficiency] and [Militia Weapon Proficiency] as general skills, along with any others.
Those skills were simple enough. Both gave basic proficiency with any weapons or armor that the militia members were issued. They’d keep that proficiency so long as they were part of the militia, even as a reserve. If they were issued a new type of weapon or armor, they’d have to spend a tenday working with it to familiarize themselves with it, but would then be proficient. If they left the militia, then the proficiencies would lapse, though Galous said that they could likely buy skills like [Weapon Mastery] and [Armor Mastery], if they’d practiced with enough types of weapons and armor. The militia skills were known as a shortcut to those more advanced ‘composite’ proficiencies, which is one reason why people did not mind training in the Crystalshield militia, along with the pay and the fact that even a Merchant or Craftsman class would gain levels during the training.
The slaves I had rescued from the bandits were also doing well. Ivette, the Healer, and Wyliame, the young Priest of Wobris, set up in the village of Roseborn, on the south road to Ravenharbor, along the banks of the Tiverdare River. The village was glad to have them, as their healer was getting on in years, and it was high time for them to retire, and enjoy their twilight years. Having a much younger Healer, along with a young Priest as her assistant, was a boon for the little village.
Elincia Bryfaren, the elven weaponsmith, and Izett Faircheeks, the halfling jeweler, made themselves welcome in Stonebreak, as well. The village was still recovering from the Goblin Hero’s attack, so having two new crafters added to the ranks was no hardship. Plus, the headwoman Katelyn was canny enough to understand that having two crafters who were bound to the Baroness ruling over the village as residents meant that Stonebreak could count on my attention being there more often, which would help any problems get resolved quicker. Not that anyone in Stonebreak thought I would ignore them, after all I’d done, but they knew I had an entire barony to pay attention to, instead of just their village.
Simona, the Ranger and Beast Tamer, had already found a male Silverwolf, which she tamed as her companion animal and named Quicksilver. An adult Silverwolf was roughly a meter tall at the shoulder, and half again from snout to tail, and could grow to almost 140 kilograms in mass, most of it being muscle. Not big enough for the Ranger to use as a mount, but a fine companion all the same. She blushed slightly when I offered to help her with the [Ritual of the Beast], but accepted, since that would bind Quicksilver to her more thoroughly.
Finnea Venric and Libbe Whitguard, my two sorceresses and scholars, made themselves at home in my manor, quickly tallying everything in the manor’s library, and the libraries of Windwater Towne. Between being in a new place, with new potential lore to uncover, and having a unique being like myself to study, they were more than pleased with their new conditions. Which is why I went to them, and Angelina, my cute healer, when the first signs started appearing.
It had started small. A desire for more spice in my foods, a bit more of an appetite that I couldn’t sate with enchanted rations or through sex. When I realized that I was craving raw meat, I knew something was up. It wasn’t until I went to Angelina and my scholars that I found out what it was. In hindsight, I probably would have learned it earlier, but I wasn’t in the habit of checking my Status that often. I had a new title.
Dragonbred
Few are those mortals who lay with a dragon, willingly or no, and fewer still are those who survive the experience. Rare amongst even those are ones who find the dragon’s seed taking root. However, those mortal women who undertake such a task find the rewards are substantial.
Immune to the [Frightful Presence] of dragons. The breath weapons of dragons heal her, rather than dealing damage. Immune to damage from her draconic offspring. Draconic offspring is immune to damage from her.
My [Seedblock] skill should have prevented anyone from impregnating me against my will. Unfortunately, it seemed that the protection offered by the skill was not absolute. Ilbanth the Firelord, the Lesser Dragon that was the boss of the Dragonskull Caves, was higher leveled than I was at the time, and he had the [Forced Fertility] and [Enhanced Seed] skills. I knew this, because the skill orbs from the [Skill Stealing Ritual] were still in my inventory. That wasn’t what I wanted advice about.
When I finished explaining the situation to my healer and scholars, I asked the obvious questions. “So, what am I going to need to deal with as this progresses, and how long is it going to last? Because in a few days, I will need to head to the capital for the King’s Anniversary celebration, if I want to get there before the event itself.”
The celebration was on 25th Telvast, and it was the tenth today. I could not attend the King’s Anniversary as the ‘adventurer’ Alis Pureheart, which meant I would need to travel with at least something of a procession. That meant it would take roughly a tenday to reach the capital, and one ought to try and arrive at least a couple days before, both to give room for delays upon the road, and to ensure that I could deal with any politicking that needed to be done. Not something I was looking forward to, but it was part of the job of being Baroness.
Angelina opened her mouth to speak, but nothing came out. She tried again, and said, “Unfortunately, Mistress, I don’t know much about dragon pregnancies in particular. I’m not sure how long it will be until they are born, or how that will come about. However, my [Healer’s Lore] skill suggests that if you are craving more spice and raw meat, then you should eat that, as there is likely something in those materials that your growing child needs, in order to grow to their full potential.”
Libbe cleared her throat, and said, “While it is not common, for obvious reasons, there have been enough occurrences before, both in the wild, and with dungeon creatures, that we can make some assumptions. Dragon offspring from mortal women are born from eggs, even if the mother’s race does not typically lay eggs. Given the timeline, I expect that you will produce a dragon egg sometime near Halfmark, either in the tail end of Vaims, or in early Wust. After that, if properly cared for, the egg should hatch sometime in the month of Brasu, next year.”
“Properly cared for?”
Finnea nodded. “A dragon’s egg needs exposure to its element and strong mana in order to grow properly. For dragons, breathing on the egg regularly, and infusing it with their mana, is more than enough to satisfy that condition. However, some Beast Tamers have raised dragons from the egg, and so we know that you can use flames for fire dragons, icy water for frost dragons, and so on. Now, normally, we could go ahead and start preparing things, before the egg is laid, since the draconic parent is not in doubt. Unfortunately, Mistress, your nature complicates things.”
“Meaning the dragon might be part demon, part angel, or both?”
“Indeed,” the elven scholar nodded. “Or it may have an element like Hellfire or Radiance, instead of a Tier 1 element. And things will be amplified if you use your [Blessed Seed] and [Blessed Progeny] skills to increase their traits and attributes, and ensure the young dragon has a race equal to your tier, and probably inherits some of your titles.”
Angelina nodded as well, one hand touching the swell of her own belly. “Yes, Mistress. I am limited in the tests I can do, at this stage, but when I used the [Communion] spell to ask Lady Krenrena about our child after you ensured both skills were on me, it would seem that our child will be born with a Tier 3 race, and will have attributes far beyond what a normal child would have, even one with such a race.”
“Well, I would be a fool to not give the kid the best shot I can, then.” I took a moment to ensure that both skills were active on myself. They settled in, ensuring that I would be the mother to a very healthy dragon. Or dragon-related being. Which was freaking wild to even think about.
“So, when will we know what the child will be, and what elements they’ll need to be exposed to?”
“That, I can tell you,” Finnea said. “When the egg is laid, you can start using [Appraise] on it. The result will just come back with something like ‘Lesser Fire Dragon Egg’, with the class and profession being locked. If the child is something else, like a Half-Dragon, or Draconic Succubus, or Angelic Feldrake, or so on, that will be put instead of the Lesser Dragon part. Unfortunately, even after they’re hatched, the Voice of the World will not let you glean more than their name, race, and gender with [Appraise], until their Status unlocks. For humans, I believe that it is at roughly twelve or thirteen years of age, while for elves, it is twenty-five. I do not know how long it will be for a dragon.”
“Well, that’s just wonderful,” I said. “Now, I guess that I’ll have to see what the kingdom’s laws are about inheritance. If the child does come out as a dragon, that could be a problem as they get older. Would a dragon even be able to inherit a barony? Or would I need to make one of their siblings the new baron, and make sure they kept their scaly brother or sister as a trusted advisor? Assuming they stick around on this continent, once they’re older.”
Angelina chuckled, and said, “Mistress, I think we’ll all be lucky if you don’t end up heading across the ocean to different continents because people keep trying to cause trouble for you.”
I narrowed my eyes at her, but couldn’t help laughing. She wasn’t wrong, after all. With the amount of things I’d gotten into since I appeared in this world at the start of Braness, just two months ago, it was likely more ‘excitement’ would come my way, sooner or later. Didn’t stop me from wanting to relax for a while, though. Running a barony would be enough work. I didn’t need ancient evils and wannabe heroes ruining what relaxation time I still got.