359 Dras

Remian expected as much, considering the treatments he could afford while he was in 'jail'. If he had had the money, he could have not only been fixed, but could have had his life extended to a few hundred years. But of course, that much money was completely out of his reach, as well as the reach of the average Blue Star Corporation employee.

There was a bit of a chance with Xiao Yan's world. They had alchemists and elixirs that could have restored his health, but again, at a terrifying price. He had been able to make some money there, but nowhere near enough to cure himself. At the most, he managed to extend his life with Green Jade Vitality Pills.

He still had four of those Pills. The first one had extended his life expectancy by a few years. The second, he was told, would be less effective, only granting half that much time. The third could only offer a year, the fourth just a few months, and the fifth perhaps a month or two. After the fifth, the effects would be hardly worth mentioning, likely not even a month.

Anyway, it seemed unlikely he could go back to Xiao Yan's world. Getting there the first time had been pure accident. Repeating that accident was far less likely than getting trapped in the void or hurtled into some burning star. Thinking back on his reckless attempt to use space magic now, Remian could only shudder.

"What are you thinking about?" Zor'khan-dras came up to Remian, having returned to Craggy Falls with his entourage and a sleeping Nai'khan-dras.

"I was thinking about how I messed around with space magic and chaos magic recklessly in the past."

"Chaos magic?" Zor'khan blinked. "Since when did you mess around with Chaos Magic?"

"Last year or so, I think?" Remian scratched his head.

Zor'khan shook his head. "That's impossible. We would have felt it. If even a little smudge of Chaos mana leaked into our world, every dragon on the planet would have sensed its presence. Whatever you were playing around with, it wasn't Chaos Magic."

"You would have sensed it? Are you sure?" Remian stared.

"Oh yes. We're Dras Clan. We couldn't have missed it if we tried."

"But maybe I was just too far away…"

"Unlikely. Not unless you were in the next star system or farther away."

"But… I thought…" Remian puzzled over the little he could learn from Quarin remnants, what he studied in Conglomerate space, and what Zor'khan-dras was saying. Frowning, he pointed to the sky and said, "Light!"

A beam of power as thick as himself lanced out into the evening sky.

***

Somewhere up there, an offended cloud protested its innocence and sudden unreasonable abuse.

***

"Nice shot." Zor'khan-dras squinted. "What's your point?"

"Mana? What mana?" Zor'khan stared. "I didn't sense any mana. At all."

"That…" Remian was speechless.

"Trust me, if there had been mana involved, I would have sensed it. Especially if there was Chaos Mana involved. I'm standing right in front of you and I have one of the purest Dras Clan bloodlines in the star sector."

"So… there was no Chaos Mana?" Remian's face fell.

"Nope. Whatever you just did, it wasn't Chaos Magic. In fact, as far as I can tell, it wasn't magic at all. There's no mana involved." Zor'khan shrugged.

"H-how can you say that so easily?!" Remian blurted. "Isn't that… impossible?"

"Impossible? My granddaughter could burn this entire town down with fire from her mouth without using any mana or any magic. Just her bloodline powers alone would suffice. How is any of that impossible?" Zor'khan frowned.

"A bloodline power?" Remian repeated, eyes wide and blinking. "But… Nai'khan only uses fire, as far as I can tell. As for me… I seem to be able to use anything."

"Anything? Even… this?" Zor'khan raised his hand, and lightning crackled around his palm.

As expected of the Great Dragon of Thunder! He really could control lightning just like that!

"Is that a bloodline power too?" Remian asked.

"Something like that. But it's different. Everyone in my Dras Clan can use fire. But some of us have extra elemental affinities due to our mothers' bloodlines."

"Your mothers?"

"We all share the same father, but different mothers. It's the same with my children. That's fairly common in my Clan." Zor'khan paused. "Little Rou's mother is of an especially noble bloodline, if you're interested."

Remian choked. "That wasn't why I was asking!"

Seriously, why did Zor'khan seem to be trying to recommend his daughter to every young man he knew?

***

Oddly enough, Mindy and Rou'khan-dras were discussing that very same thing!

"Ling Yun thinks you're aunt Se'lea?!" Rou'khan pealed with laughter at the sixth boutique they visited.

"I know, right? That's so weird!"

"But at least she didn't think something worse."

"What could be worse?!"

"She might have thought you were my mother!!"

Mindy splurted tea through her nose and started coughing.

It took a while, but eventually they settled down and the boutique staff cleaned up the mess, bringing them fresh tea and a few more dresses to examine.

"By the way, I'm rather curious about that. Who's your mother?" Mindy asked. "If you don't mind my asking."

"Oh, not at all! She's of a very noble bloodline." Rou'khan said proudly. "My mother is Lu'na-ris!"

"That's… different. I thought all you dragons had names that ended in 'dras'."

"Only the Dras Clan bear that name." Rou'khan explained. "My mother is a pure blooded Great Dragon from the Ris Clan."

"I see!" Mindy lit up. "I thought there were only eight Great Dragons on this world, and they're all named 'Dras'."

"That's true. My mother is not on this world." Rou'khan said, suddenly looking a bit lonely.

"She's not? Then where is she?" Mindy stared.

At that, Rou'khan's gaze drifted upward… to the moon.

"You really seem to miss her." Mindy said, with a melancholic sigh.

"Not as much as my father does." Rou'khan said wistfully. "Did you know, Mindy? My father did something that Dras Clan members rarely do."

"What's that?"

"He had two children from the same mother." Rou'khan almost whispered. "My brother Zar'khan-dras… he was born from my mother too."

"That's unusual? Wait, but that means… Bol'khan and Sior'khan…"

"Bol'khan was born of the earth dragon Ro'vuna-tarn. I'm not sure how it happened, the Tarn clan aren't particularly friendly with us half the time… and Sior'khan was born of the wind dragon Ga'lesa-dras, whose bloodline is from elevated retainers of the Dras Clan."

"Elevated…?"

"They weren't Dras Clan before, but because of merit and service, they were adopted into the Clan and allowed to bear the Dras name." Rou'khan explained. "Ga'lesa was actually a maidservant of my father's for a long time before her family was elevated. From what elder brother Zar tells me, she and father were close for a very long time. Soon after Ga'lesa's promotion, Sior'khan was born."

"Does it bother you? That your father had children by other women… I mean, other dragons… than your mother?"

Rou'khan-dras stared at her blankly. "Why should it?"

"Uh… never mind." Mindy suddenly felt a bit guilty and ashamed for asking weird questions about other people's way of life.