"A Sea Serpent, whether Rank 1 or Rank 10,000, is still a Sea Serpent. Its bloodline is only the vaguest and diluted form of the Aqua Dragon, so how could its child be able to grow further?"
"They are even lucky their child could be conceived in the first place, and that it could become a drake. As such, its further growth is extremely limited."
The Dragon Soul shrugged though. "Of course, in terms of support and combat, it would grow through the combat ranks and become more powerful, offering its abilities in the form of flight, battle, defense, and healing capabilities. It is still a great pet deserving of the price... for a normal person that is."
Draco shook his head. "But I have no need for such deadweight. Increasing its State of Being would require a lot of materials and time, both of which I do not wish to waste on a Drake."
The Dragon Soul nodded and made a 'you get it' gesture. "My soul in that body would allow me to reforge it in the remaining time using Worldly Energy. Since it is still an unborn fetus, changing its biology would be very easy for me."
"I can turn it into a proper Low-Rank Fire Dragon with the potential to grow up to the Divine Rank, like my original self. This wouldn't require any external resources, only natural progression."
The Black Dragon's eyes gleamed slyly. "However - in exchange - I stand to lose the boons of our fusion, which is the increase to my Draconic abilities by a factor of five, the increase of my fire damage by 400%, and the increase in my battle power by 1,000% for 1 minute."
The Dragon Soul faltered a bit and had an embarrassed expression, but powered through. "True, however, do you really need these things? It is clear that you stand to gain more with your combat pet having a clear path to the Divine Rank than one that would be trapped."
"Not to mention that the boons provided by our fusion would soon become obsolete. How can a mere Red Dragon like me hope to amplify the power of a Black Dragon? It should be the other way around!"
"As for the fire damage boost… hehe. I won't even argue, you know your own situation better than handsome me!"
"As for the power boost, it… well, that one is something that needs to be sacrificed for the greater good."
"Besides, you hardly ever use it! It is only there to amplify the damage of your Dragon's Roar, but you've never truly needed it. Am I wrong?"
The Dragon Soul made its case with utter seriousness and solemnity. It was clear that it was staking everything to get the chance to regain a body and get out of the prison that was Draco's soul!
The Black Dragon snorted with disdain but didn't disagree. "And? What about my second question?"
Seeing the light of hope, the Dragon Soul channeled all of its charisma and wit into its words. "It is possible for sentient fusion items to de-fuse with their host as long as both sides agree."
"Your Eyes of Caelo and I can both be removed if you wish it, but your Mystic Flames cannot, as they are non-sentient, more like primordial beasts. If you try to pull them out, they will rampage and harm you."
"If you try to add more like them, it's the same thing as putting two wildly territorial beasts into the same enclosure, the initial one would feel threatened and combat the newcomer inside your body!"
This was news to Draco. The specific details as to why Mystic Flames could not be changed and how fusion items could be removed that is.
So, it turned out that this was the reason. The fusion item needed to be sentient in order for a successful diffusion.
"Interesting. And this will bring no harm to me, correct?" Draco asked with a light smile.
"Of course not! On my honor as a Divine Dragon, nothing will happen to you once we separate apart from the loss of the benefits!"
Draco hummed without giving any hint of his thoughts, making the Dragon Soul feel depressed. Goddammit, at least frown or smile so that I can tell how to go forward!
"And my third question?" Draco inquired while flicking his claws lazily.
His casual and uninterested demeanor made the Dragon Soul sweat internally, but it didn't dare to lie on this matter because if Draco found out… whew!
"Dragons and humans are the same. A Dragon Soul is formed when the Dragonling hatches out of its egg and consumes the shell. After that, the Worldly Energy would gather and celebrate the birth of a new pinnacle species member."
"In that ceremony, the absorbed energy would coalesce into a soul and the child would gain sentience."
"Occasionally, the child would also face problems occurring if there are interruptions or defections, causing the soul to either end up incomplete or non-existent."
"In that situation, you would be in the face of a beast or a deranged monster, not a sentient and proud member of the Dragon race. Still, given your capabilities, you should be able to subdue such a fledgling."
This particular tidbit of information was well received by Draco, as he had two eggs with Hikari already. Knowing this ahead of time would certainly allow him to prepare properly when the time came for them to hatch.
Draco quietly mulled over the pros and cons of allowing the Dragon Soul to de-fuse from his body and enter the Drake.
On one hand, he would lose the three boons the Dragon Soul gave, but would get a combat pet that would be even stronger than Qiong Qi in his prime, and was more useful than Eva's Light Phoenix, Luxia.
On the other, he could keep these boons - especially the crucial boost to his draconic techniques and skills - but gain a slightly retarded pet that would definitely fare well in battle, but would have almost no growth potential.
Draco considered this not from a benefits angle solely, but from a visionary perspective. He would eventually become an Origin God, how could he have a Drake that was - at best - half a Low-Rank Dragon?
It would be like working out over the course of many months to become a hunk, but one wore tank tops that were meant for kids or teens, instead of those for a.d.u.l.ts that would fit one's form.
Putting aside his dignity, wouldn't even his own draconic children laugh at their father? Picturing the scene of his kids pointing at him while howling in laughter, Draco couldn't take it anymore.
"I might be amenable to this idea…" Draco began, and the Dragon Soul seemed extremely excited when it heard his assent.
"… but I need more than your word. I want a formal contract." Draco said with a sharp glint in his eye.
What a joke! How could he make such a rookie mistake and allow the Dragon Soul to separate from himself without some immutable control over it?
The mere fact that fusion items needed approval from both sides was a red flag. It naturally meant that once the fusion item separated, the host would most likely lose connection or control over the fusion item.
Whether the former owner could even retain ownership of the item was up in the air. As such, Draco would never agree so freely.
The Dragon Soul froze and then laughed awkwardly. "Brother Blackie need not fear! I was about to suggest this anyway!"
Draco smirked. From its reaction, it was clear that this fellow had harbored some evil schemes in his heart, but they had just been all crushed hopelessly. Just what about him attracted all those shameless characters like Qiong Qi?
Draco was confident in the contracts of the system. They were infallible and unbreakable as far as he knew.
They were a core game mechanic that ensured safety and trust, so Draco doubted that the AI would be short-sighted enough to present loopholes and counters to contracts.
If such a thing existed, who would bother to use system contracts then? No, take it a step back, why should the system even have such a function?
As such, Draco drew up a truly horrible contract and sent it over to the Dragon Soul, who fished some reading glasses from somewhere and then perused the contract slowly.
What even made Draco question if this was a comedy show was that the fellow found a cup of tea from somewhere and was sipping as he read through.
However, the Dragon Soul spat out all the tea it swallowed and coughed violently when it perused its contractual obligations as well as the penalties for breach or termination.
This was a robbery! No, this was slavery! Once the Dragon Soul agreed to this, it would be giving free will the middle finger while farting on its face!
It looked at Draco, then the contract, then Draco again as if to make sure that such a gallant fellow could write a contract that would have even the wickedest Devil Broker ashamed.
However, with trembling claws, the Dragon Soul signed the contract. No matter what, the obligations it had to follow were pretty much what it was supposed to do, but had planned to shirk.
Draco smiled when it saw the signature, and his demeanor toward the Dragon Soul changed.
"Haha, Little Red, your insight is truly great. A Dragon like you is destined for great things! This Black Dragon will help you reach heights, far surpassing your prime as long as you stick with me... and provided you work your part!"
Even though this was Draco's first time praising the Dragon Soul, it didn't feel happy, only extremely bitter. It wanted to cry, but there were no tears to shed.
"Ha… ha… haaa… right, very… insightful…"
If someone told Draco that the Dragon Soul had been forced to sell his own mother, Draco would believe them based on how the fellow was behaving.
However, he had no sympathy for it. It was this Dragon Soul's greatest fortune to have bonded with him, not the other way round!
"Well, begin the process then." Draco demanded with a bored expression. After all, he had crafting to do, and he had little time to play games with this fellow here.
"Of… course… ha…ha…" The Dragon Soul said weakly before retracting its fused aura from Draco's soul.
｢System to Player Announcement
The Dragon Soul Fusion item is attempting to separate from you. Accept?
Y/N ｣
Draco chose yes and allowed the fellow to detach from himself. True to the Dragon Soul's word, there was no pain, only a significant feeling of loss that was noticeable.
After that, he saw the Dragon Soul fly out from his forehead with a look of intoxication, relishing its freedom. It twirled and spun around happily, excited by the smell of fresh air.
However, its happy time was cut short when Draco suddenly snorted behind it. Then, with a bitter expression, it flew over to the Drake's egg and entered it post-haste.
After doing so, Draco noticed that a significant amount of Worldly Energy was being pulled into the very same egg in torrents, making it as if a small breeze was passing through.
As beings with Draconic Source Origin, Hikari and Eva were alerted by this and broke out of their little bundle of coziness together.
They both stared at the culprit, the Drake's Egg, and looked bewildered. What a strong attraction force! It was even stronger than Hikari when she had gone all out!
"Draco, why is the egg behaving this way?" Hikari asked with confusion.
Draco smiled and said: "It's being upgraded by its new host."
Hikari still seemed confused but Eva seemed to understand. "You mean the Dragon Soul? It can separate from you?"
"What? Dragon Soul?!" Hikari asked with shock.
Draco nodded. "I forgot to tell you about it, but I received a portion of a Red Dragon's Divine Soul when I first came into this world through a Legendary Treasure Chest."
Hikari looked utterly lost. "Such a thing happened? Wait, forget that, can I meet this soul? I might know them!"
Draco seemed to agree that it might be possible for her to know the soul, but he doubted it. From the way the Dragon Soul had behaved and spoken, it was clear that it was part of the group of gods that had receded into heaven.
Of this group, many had decided to leave their Godly Remnants in the world for various purposes and the Dragon Soul was one of these remnants!
So, he hadn't mentioned it to her up till now partly because he forgot since the Dragon Soul was abnormally quiet ever since the Black Dragon had been freed, and partly because he subconsciously didn't form a link between Hikari and it.
According to Hikari, the whole Dragon race had been culled until there was only one member, which was herself. Yet the Dragon Soul seemed to believe that it was not alone and its true form was in the Realm of the Gods.
Interesting!
Draco felt like he had to interrogate the Dragon Soul when it hatched from the egg, as there seemed to be a disconnect between Hikari's perception of past events compared to the Dragon Soul's.
However, it was currently refurbishing the body of the Drake, so it was spared for now. 45 days later, the Dragon Soul would be forced to cough up all its secrets… or else!
Draco put this out of his mind and called Hikari over. "Rest tonight, Hikari. Tomorrow, I'll need your help to craft some items!"
After all, unlike Pair Dadeni, Draco couldn't easily craft with Mjolnir due to the damage accrued. Even though it had now greatly reduced, it was still there.
He could heal away simple damage, but he couldn't do something like Hikari's White Light Healing that restored everything about a person's health in one go.
Hikari nodded to show that she understood. "No problem. I won't even mind helping you tonight if you want me to."
Draco shook his head and gently played with Hikari's pure white and flowing hair. "You've pushed yourself to lay the egg of our second child. I dare not ask you to do anything but rest peacefully."
Seeing that Draco cared for her wellbeing so much, Hikari smiled and let the matter go. The three of them went into the super mini small world bath and cleaned themselves up.
After that, Draco served them a bit of his beer, and Eva seemed to like it, while Hikari spat it out with a 'yuck' expression. Draco laughed at her reaction, because he guessed that it wasn't due to the quality of the beer, but due to Hikari's taste.
If a woman like Hikari actually liked alcohol, Draco would have been shocked for weeks. He might've even become a vegetable!
Eva wasn't a fan of alcohol, but she wasn't averse to it either. Whatever the case, her rebuilt body had always made it that normal food was treated as impurities by her body.
Alcohol was in that same category, so she hardly indulged in it. But the beer Draco made, while common in Rank, was made with perfect mechanical accuracy with no deviations.
As such, it was at the pinnacle of its Rank, and the taste had this feeling of perfection which was what had her surprised.
After lounging around playfully, they finally went to sleep together, each pinnacle beauty on one side of Draco freely expressing their physical, mental, and spiritual comfort by ruthlessly drooling on him!
......…
In the morning, Draco began by prepping breakfast for them. The Epic dish really sat well with both women, and they seemed extremely content.
Draco then prepped his Blacksmithing set that was at the Semi-Epic Rank thanks to Hikari's hard work. After that, he took out some Common and Uncommon ores in a row.
Both Eva's and Hikari's expressions changed when they saw this. They realized that this was not going to be like before where Draco acted with moderation.
The fellow was going all out!
Draco threw one Common ore after the other into the furnace, refining them into perfect ingots. The same went for the Uncommon ores, and there were all done to the perfect grade.
This meant that Draco didn't need to use the filtration and other preparatory methods, but could directly jump to the action stage.
When Draco heated the ingots and placed them on the anvil, he raised the hammer up and brought it down without a trace of his usual hesitation or fear!
Eva and Hikari were both impressed and secretly proud of Draco for forging into such a perilous battle with the ingot, knowing exactly what kind of pain he would suffer under its hands.
However, their expressions froze when the saw a small mana shield envelop Draco's right hand. The mana shield was natureless, which was usually the weakest type, but Draco had reinforced it with an extremely thick amount of Worldly Energy.
Not only that, but it was focused on a very small area, which was Draco's right hand, up to his wrist. This was the area the backlash would affect with his current Tradeskill level, so Draco didn't need to worry about anything else.
When the hammer collided with the ingot, it transformed into an Epic variant which was higher up the elemental/mineral hierarchy.
This was a more common ore with no distinct properties except that it was extremely malleable yet brittle. The Epic variant seemed to be like liquid mercury, and it was extremely docile compared to the other ingots.
However, backlash was still backlash. Draco felt a strange and penetrative force try to creep into his hand when the hammer struck, but was resisted by his natureless mini mana shield.
This was a force similar to what he used on fatty Jarko back when he first reincarnated and wanted to buy a Virtua Helmet. It was a sort of martial arts technique that transferred hard force into soft force, allowing the damage to bypass external defenses and damage internals.
Draco's mana shield shook, but stayed intact under all the Worldly Energy he was supplying it. Not only that, but his strengthened Dark Angel Inheritance made his mind not even shake under the bombardment.
Draco laughed madly as he continued to hammer the ingot without a care, and Hikari, who planned to assist him, suddenly felt useless…