"Yet without resources, we couldn’t craft the proper tools and without tools, we couldn’t learn powerful magic and acquire resources. We’ve been stuck in this vicious cycle until the plague." Khalia said.
Lith pondered their words, finding them to be as ugly as they were true. Every lab needed to be shielded by external influences and each failed experiment usually exploded.
’I didn’t have most of such problems because of Solus, yet I can’t even count the number of times one of my experiments would have killed me if not for the tower’s protection.’ He thought.
"We are masters at using water and earth magic to create artificial underground flows. We use them to make Reghia completely self-sufficient and to travel safely from our city to here.
"We even created a thermal bath to keep the humans clean." Mal said.
"I would love to visit your underwater city one of these days. Reghia is way too boring for my taste." Lith wasn’t thrilled at the idea of teaching the Kingdom’s language to a bunch of strangers nor did he care to fight and protect Reghia from the monsters.
"I thought that Dragons didn’t like water because it dampens the heat of your bodies and it temporarily weakens you." Rem, the plump woman said.
"I’m not a Dragon, but that’s a theory I’m willing to test. As I said to you earlier, I’m a hybrid. The real issue will be breathing underwater." Lith put his scaled arm inside the cold water, feeling slight discomfort.
The moment he pulled it out, he felt it heavier than usual due to the water trapped in-between his scales that were now of a duller color than their usual pitch-black. It took them a few seconds to evaporate the water and a few more for the dulling sensation to disappear.
"I stand corrected. Maybe I’m a Dragon." Lith shapeshifted into his human form and immerged his right arm again. This time, his enhanced physique didn’t even feel a tinge of cold.
"I’m sorry for the rude question, but are you a human or a beast?" Suddenly Khalia seemed to have lost most of her interest and now looked at Lith with suspicion.
"Both. I told you, I’m a hybrid." Lith could tell by their gazes that the merfolk had a deep-seated grudge against humans and he could easily understand why.
’I bet that beautiful people like Khalia or Zhen would be captured and sold as slaves, no matter if it’s illegal. The others would be either treated as pets by nobles or turned into ingredients by mages. My money on their blood having a high affinity with water magic.’
"It was nice to meet you." Zhen said, but his tone didn’t match his words. "Now we’re sorry but we got to go."
The merfolk disappeared in the pond without even saying goodbye, almost expecting Lith to try and capture them.
’That went well. The good thing is that they said that the deep is full of natural treasures. If I can trade some dimensional amulets for them, I could net a huge profit. The bad news is that if Kami hears about another woman who finds my scales hot, she’ll never let me hear the end of it.’
Lith was surprised that despite Khalia’s stunning beauty had made him thoroughly check her out, the moment she had touched him, the only thing Lith could think about was Kamila.
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