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“...and so the gods created the fourth realm after the void swallowed the third, this time they decided to separate the races into clear territories by having each territory have their own unique type of mana and only their respective race capable of taking into their core without suffering mana sickness, this was to try and prevent territory feuds which had cause so much strife and suffering in the last realms…”

Nero sighed as he rubbed his eyes as they were starting to unfocus from the text again, it looked like he would have to put down reading again for some time and do something else.

Honestly he wasn’t really a believer in the divine, but if they did exist and divided the lands like they currently were for that purpose then he supposed they had done a decent job, it was pretty much impossible to invade territory which had different mana than what your core could process, the workarounds were few and either costly like mana vessels or disadvantageous like not using magic or skills.

Turning his head Nero looked at the slowly trickling sandglass which was the only indication he had in the underground chamber that time indeed had passed.

It had been about two days ago that the master of the grey order had entrusted him to stay behind while he and most of the order went to an important gathering in the human capital which could end up lasting as much as a week, leaving only him, the teachers of the order and their students.

Nero looked at the reason he had to stay in the underground chambers, the order’s long-range communication crystal, due to their order’s low budget compared to the lavish ones of the white or black order they could only afford this huge stationary monstrosity and it only worked when underground and it had to be manned at all times to receive emergency calls, which was the entire point of the three orders aside from their usual duties of magical aid to the surrounding lands, though in Nero’s opinion the only one of the three who actually dutifully carried out that duty was the grey.

The white order was so far up its own ass with piety and “divineness” and basically pushed any emergencies that wouldn’t make them revered by the people to the grey order and the black order was much the same, just with their “honor”.

Honestly Nero couldn’t stand either of them, both orders had rejected him when he tried to apply just because he was from the frontier and not “civilized” like those closer to the capital and didn’t have an outstanding core.

Aside from their bigotry they were also inanely limiting what type of magic their members could use, the white only used “holy” magic, which was pretty much glorified healing and enhancement spells with the rare few exceptions while the black order only used either destructive or defensive magic, anything that couldn’t do either in a straightforward manner was not something a member of the black order would learn.

Honestly he had wished he had known this about their orders back then rather than just know what the average wide-eyed commoner thought about them so he could have avoided making a fool of himself.

Since reading wasn’t going well Nero got up and over to his make-shift target range that he had set up for light training, he had to stay in near peak form in case any emergency suddenly arrived so he could only train using undemanding spells.

Nero imagined the overly smug white and black order mages’ faces as he hit the targets with his magic, if it hadn’t been for Vulin; the grey master running into him and offering him a place in the grey order, he would have given up and gone home and never pursued magic again despite what he had been told was a clear talent for it.

“Nero, I’m here with dinner.” Nero turned and saw one of the order’s female teachers arriving with food.

“Supposed I can’t convince you to stay and chat a bit?” Nero asked Inora who shook her head “sorry, the exams are really taking up all our time, just hang in there, Vulin will secure us some better funds.”

Nero watched her go, he knew of course they were busy with preparing the hopefuls for the exams, it just so happened to coincided with the gathering so he would sadly have little in the way of company, one of his meals had even been delivered by a magical construct, that’s how busy the teacher’s were with the students right now.

Not being hungry quite yet Nero preserved his meal with a spell and let his eyes wander around the dull grey stone walled room that would be his residence for some time still, the solitude would be much more unbearable if the resident instructing beastmancer hadn’t set him up with a gem that let him see the outside world through the eyes of one of the order’s birds, but it still wasn’t fun by any measure.

Turning back to the targets Nero smirked and formed two quick spells, one created a small but dense water mist and the other was just a brief electric jolt, but the result fried one of the targets.

This was the kind of creative spell-casting that the other orders shunned as either “heretical” or as “overly complicated” and the reason he was glad he ended up in the less known grey order than either of the more, in his opinion undeservedly, prestigious ones.

Controversially to what most people thought most grey mages were tougher than those from the other orders and would definitely outlive black or white mages in the wild due to their wide range of spells as they didn’t discriminate where spells originated like the white order or didn’t mind being creative with spells unlike the black order, that and their long standing low budget had made it necessary to teach their members to take care of themselves and either get or make what they needed on their own.

Nero and everyone who graduated could take care of themselves even if the order collapsed, which was much more than he could say for the other orders, one made up mostly of rich clergy and one of mostly rich noblemen. Neither would last a week without supplies in the wilderness in Nero’s experience, those pompous pricks.

Another target suffered a spell combination which melted it, Nero sighed.

He had been so proud that Vulin had entrusted him with this task, it meant he trusted him a great deal to man their entire operation section on his own responsibly, but the pride was starting to give way to annoyance, he could really have used just one partner so they could at least rotate the duty between them, but clearly Vulin was going all in on this gathering to impress the royal family and the nobility to secure some funds and needed as many hands on deck as he could possibly scramble together.

It was now just him to man the communication room, response preparation chamber below it and the tether room at the bottom of the underground part of the order’s stronghold for emergency tether teleporting and honestly Nero was starting to wish an emergency would be called in just so he had an excuse to get out of this place.

The chances of that was small however, the white and black order were usually prioritized by most in the human kingdom and the types they didn’t like to do or the emergencies outside the human territories that both orders usually dumped unto the grey order were rare.

Nero stared at the mana vessel that had been entrusted to him, the only one of three the order had due to the intense cost of their construction and thought he likely wouldn’t get to ever use it.

“Well…at least I got to study you…spent most of my first day here doing so…oh great gaia I am starting to talk to inanimate objects…” maybe it was time for some sleep…

As if prompted by his innermost desires, the communication crystal lit up indicating a pending communication which Nero hastily put through.

The caller was a quite well-groomed looking white mage who looked quite nonchalant despite there being an obvious emergency. Through the crystal he laid eyes on Nero and scoffed. “Take care of this won’t you?” the mage said dismissively as if he couldn’t be bothered and with a wave of his hand and a flash of light the communication was ended. The grey order mage winced from the sudden flash of light. He slowly opened his eyes to see a scroll had materialized, floating just before him.

Nero rolled his eyes, he should have figured that even in a possible dire moment, those from the white order wouldn’t bother to even relay the needed information. Unfurling the scroll, he quickly read the details himself.

“We have reports of sudden massive surges of mana in the nearby draconic lands and a brief activation of the beacon in the human settlement of Iatoa right next to it. This could well be a false positive and our order wishes not to possibly waste precious time and resources. So we bestow the task of investigating this upon the lowly Grey Order. Survey the area and deal with whatever it may be.”

Nero shook his head. He didn’t know which was more irritating, the White Order foisting a mission they could not be bothered with onto him, or the possibly real meddling of dragon mana via human hands. They were most likely warned to not tamper or use such power as a mere stipulation for settling there. From what he heard, the terrain close to the dragon lands was known for being rather rough and harsh terrain. They likely used mana to assist in their settlement’s construction and to maintain it. But a surge like described meant they might have tried to tap into the mana on the other side of the border, mana which was not for humans to use.

The grey mage hurried down a level to the preparation room, this could spell all sorts of trouble…worst case they had used a ritual, and those were forbidden for a reason!

The whole area could be covered in fluxed mana which was harmful to everyone until the mana naturally recovered.

Given he was alone and had a possible disaster on his hands he didn’t ask for permission and stuffed as many appropriate ingredients and tools into an enchanted backpack, small on the outside and [i]big [/i]on the inside.

Why couldn’t ordinary people just leave magic to the professionals? Oh right…because people were greedy…or stupid…or a combination of the two.

Before Nero exited the underground he primed the biggest tether he could, just in case he needed to bring in a lot of people out of danger, which he had a feeling might be the case.

With haste, he found the runic circle meant for instant travel. “I always hate this part.” The runic circle they had was rather old fashioned. Rather than simply sending one from place to place in a flash of light, they would instead be flung through sub-dimensional pathways at high speeds. It was no less efficient but still upset his stomach when launched through.

Taking a deep breath and casting the spell Nero was flung through an sub-dimension and back into his own in a split second, thankfully landing on his feet.

“Looks like the calibrations actually worked out this time.” Thank magic…last time he had appeared upside down and gotten a mouthful of grass.

Turning Nero paused “oh…fiddlesticks…” the sight was of the near worst case scenario, the air was a purple hue indicating fluxed mana.

Some had spilled over into the human settlement, but the dragon lands beyond was far worse.

“Be careful what you wish for…” Nero muttered to himself as he decided how to approach this. If it had been any black or white mage they would immediately have focused on the settlement and neglected the resident dragons who would be far worse affected regardless of the circumstances, but Nero could tell even through the obscuring flux that there had been a ritual in the settlement which very likely meant they had been responsible for this.

When weighing which party needed the priority, the decision was near instant. Gripping his mana vessel Nero began drawing from the human mana within so his core wouldn’t start to try and draw on the corrupted draconic mana in the air. Nero formed a barrier around himself. Without so much as a passing glance, he strolled past the settlement and ventured straight into the dragonlands. It was rather harsh, but there was only so much time left to save the affected dragons if they hadn’t managed to shield themselves. Perhaps leaving the humans to wallow in this mess for a while would make the warning stick in their minds this time. The settlement was soon left behind entirely, leaving the humans to whatever fate their actions brought down upon them.

“Alright…I need to find the dragons and quick…” Nero cast hawk-eyes on himself to increase his perception to hopefully spot signs of the dragon clan of this land.

“If I was a dragon where would I settle?” The grey mage kept his eyes up high, looking for any plateau that would be excellent for landing and big enough to house a draconic structure.

This would have been a lot easier without the flux, he could just have summoned some flying familiars to aid in the search, but they would quickly wither in this dense corrupted mana.

Finally Nero spotted a dragon pillar which was a clear waystone to his destination, but it was quite high up from where he was.

“Time to see if this works as well in practice as it does in theory…” Nero focused three spells “Potens, Amphia, LEAP!” and launched into the air with a mighty jump…actually passing his intended target.

“A [i]bit [/i]too much, I need to work on the power formula.” Nero pondered as his ascend stopped and suddenly began to drop again.

Though he had the perfect spell for this the grey mage did yelp a little as he was dragged down. “Floatln” he hastily called out and began to float down far more gracefully and landed on the plateau.

He was definitely in the right place, there were huge dragon structures all around, but he set his eyes on the huge temple which had remnants of a barrier around it.

“They must have gathered here for protection and the surge of flux from the ritual must have broken through.” As bad as that was there were two positives to finding this; one this meant that the dragons had all gathered here; and two the remnants of the barrier spell meant not a lot of time had passed.

Entering the temple Nero saw signs of more failed attempts at keeping the flux out as he hurried deeper and deeper into the halls carved into the mountainside.

While he hadn’t personally visited a temple like this before he knew enough about magical sanctuaries to guess where the best place to have the final line of defences was and thankfully he wasn’t far off the mark.

Stepping into the deepest part of the temple, he found a hoard of dragons. They were all huddled together within the barrier. Nero had always heard that dragons were the most brutal and fearsome of creatures. But to him they looked rather scared.

But even as the clearly elder dragon strained to keep up the barrier it was clear to see that flux had already seeped through, at this point, it was just being kept from spreading any further. If the dragon’s strength faltered for a moment, they would be fully exposed to all the mana being kept at bay.

“Are you a forward scout? Is the rescue team far behind?” The old dragon asked hopefully, his voice strained with effort.

Nero shook his head “it’s just me, but I had something set up just in case.” With the situation being so dire, the mage had no time for theatrics. The dragon was amazed as Nero phased through his barrier through an unorthodox combination of spells.

“Whatever it is, please hurry…” the dragon pleaded.

Nero hastened to the middle of the room “Gather as close to me as you can, we are gonna to a tether teleport.” Normally teleporting so many would be reserved for archmages but with the grey order’s ingenuous tether system even he would be able to take this thankfully modestly sized colony of dragons with him, though of course only to the location of the tether.

“A grey mage…” They realized and looked a lot more hopeful and did as he asked, though a lot of them were very weak, including the largest dragon who was undoubtedly the leader.

One by one Nero began teleporting the dragons until there were only a few and the old mage left.

“I will stay behind and…” the old dragon mage tried to offer selflessly to keep the flux from being dragged alongside with them.

“You are coming too. Linkzal!” Nero bound himself to the dragon so he would get teleported alongside him. He had planned ahead for such a thing and made sure the flux could not travel by his tether thanks to adding a bit of warding and repulsion magic. It was just enough to keep the corrupted mana from entering the brief magical tunnel he and the old dragon mage exited as the last in the room.

It worked perfectly, they were now in the tether-room of the grey order’s tower. Though the dragons were away from the flux, some of them were lightly affected, likely coming in contact ahead of time. If left unchecked it could worsen and spread to others…

First off Nero opened a link to the dragonlands in an area that wasn’t fluxed and let dragon mana seep into the room so the dragons wouldn’t draw in human mana and get sick.

The tether room was made to be able to hold multiple types of mana for this exact reason.

The solution to the corruption of the dragons was purification, but that was easier said than done given the situation. Dragon scales naturally turned away magic that wasn’t their own. This natural protection normally wasn’t a problem for those who wanted to help dragons. If wounded, channeling magic through the wound would bypass the protection, but the flux didn’t cause any physical damage, just corruption.

Trying to come up with a way, Nero inspected the largest dragon. He was the king of the pack and gave the mage permission to look him over, though he was clearly holding back urges brought on by the corruption. The signs of corruption were easy enough to see. While scanning his eyes along the underbelly, he got a glimpse at the beast’s package, namely the rather neat opening where they hid.

Nero was still pondering on how to get the purifying essence past the scales and their bodies when a thought hit him. Their magical defenses nullified all his usual tricks, meaning he would have to think outside of the box..

Now any mage of white or black persuasion would have balked at what he had in mind, but as a grey mage Nero didn’t mind using some very [i]creative[/i] solutions. Slowly, his hands trailed along the scaly underbelly, reaching lower and lower. Scanning magic was channeled through his fingers, searching for an “opening.”

Just where the dragon’s testicles were hidden, there was a change. Through his fingers, he felt the resistance to his magic dampen just enough, the area was discolored from corruption which was likely the cause of the gap in the dragon’s natural defence. He could possibly use this…

The idea that came to him would have made an incubus proud.

“I got an idea your highness, but it might be a bit [i]intimate[/i].” Even if the idea was good he couldn’t just go ahead without consulting his patient.

The dragon growled and began tossing a bit. The mana’s corruption was steadily worsening. “I can feel that it is starting to cloud my mind…do [i]whatever[/i] it takes.”

Given express permission, Nero acted. Taking advantage of the weak spot, he challenged purifying magic through spot, the king’s internal testicles were affected just enough. The magic seeped into the king’s dragonling-makers and his dragon’s seed was infused with purifying essence. That was the most he could do, trying to do any more was met with the body’s natural resistance just as he had suspected.

Though he felt the new magic’s aura, that was just part of the method. Luckily for the grey order mage, his indiscriminate curiosity of all magics led to him learning a handful of tricks and spells from some infernal sources.

Some might call use of such magic evil, but it was no more evil than say…a sword, it wholly depended on how it was wielded.

It was clear the king was starting to lose his mind so Nero activated the binding spells in the tether room and ghostly silver chains sprung forth and contained the dragon and held him in place on his back as a precaution.

There were a myriad of books in the grey tower’s library and a handful of them were of…amorous nature. Being the curious mage he was, Nero not only read them but picked up a few tricks for them as well. One of them had been written by an incubi and contained some infernal spells on the subject, one of which he was going to have to use now that the king was going feral.

To get it to take effect Nero mixed different kinds of magics around the incubi spell. A calming spell and just a bit of draconic magic as well. With some effort, Nero casted the spell which pierced through the dragon’s natural resistance. The calming spell fought back against the corruption’s madness. In the brief moment of clarity, the draconic magic snuck the incubi’s spell past the king’s now corrupted mental barriers, filling the dragon’s mind with lustful imagery and fantasies conjured by his own deepest desires.

The change was near instant. The lust took hold of the king. He continued to pant and squirm, but out of a new kind of need. The only thing his mind was allowed to process was the primal need to sate himself. While on his back and made to keep his hindlegs spread, the rising of his shaft came, pushing open and rising from his slit. Being the biggest of the hoard, the king had quite the majestic maleness. But Nero wasted no time with being impressed…okay maybe he did gawk for the briefest of moments.

He had to admit, it was rather exciting what he was about to do, even if it was purely for the purpose of healing.

Nero grabbed the portal wand which was usually used to transport material between the floors, he was gonna use it for a different purpose today…hopefully the quartermaster would understand.

“Garante” Nero used the wand and created two portals, one hovering in front of the dragon’s face and the other above his throbbing erection. Easing the second portal down, it began to engulf the dragon’s shaft, what disappeared from view began appearing from the other portal, steadily showing more and more of the mighty length, being presented to its owner.

With his mind being filled with nothing but lust the dragon only hesitated for the briefest of moments in surprise. When his entire length was put through the portal the tip was already touching his lips. There was a moment’s pause, but there was a lick given to the shaft, a sign for Nero to slowly move the other portal, gently pushing the tip inside of the king’s mouth who happily welcomed it. Licking at the first inch, the king groaned from the pleasure it brought him, being enhanced by the incubi’s spell.

“That’s it.” Nero encouraged as he maintained the spell, though the dragon clearly didn’t need it. More and more of it was taken into the dragon’s maw. Quicker than expected, the entire thing was inside, evident by the slight bulge in the king’s throat. That implied the royal creature had quite the experience in doing something like this.

“Okay…I am gonna loosen the chains on your neck a bit” This was the slightly risky bit, the dragon might just turned his head off his shaft and blast him with his breath, but hopefully he would just start… ”helping” himself instead.

He took the risk and to his relief, the king was much too focused on giving himself pleasure to even consider what else he might use his newly found mobility for other than start to bop his head up and down his own shaft. Nero looked the king over and noticed some of the corruption was already being eased away. The king’s precum carried the purifying effect and it was clear to see his [i]very [/i]unorthodox method was working.

The muffled grunts and growls of the reigning dragon filled the tower, being clearly lost in the pleasure. The motions of his head were becoming faster, the sounds of sucking becoming more intense as well. From the flawless execution and no pauses occurring, Nero was certain the king was rather experienced in doing this.

Keeping focus on the task despite the very distracting scenario in front of him, Nero kept an eye on the state of corruption. It was steadily fading but not by much. For a moment, the grey mage feared that this plan wouldn’t bring the results he was hoping for…

The king was getting very close, having his entire cock pushed down his throat, endlessly letting it pump back and forth. It didn’t take long for the intense pleasure to become too much. Hilting his own mouth and growling deeply around it, the king came hard into his own gullet, feeding himself a mighty rush of imbued draconic seed, the effect of the purifying essence was visible as it traveled down the dragon’s throat, spreading like ripples in water and removing any visible signs of flux corruption until it reached his chest where it stopped.

When the climax ceased, the portal pulled back, easing the shaft from the king’s now messy lips.

“Oh…right…it would stop in your stomach.” Nero didn’t know how he hadn’t taken that into account. [i]What to do, what to do[/i]…Nero’s eyes fell below where the dragon’s erection was laying spent after he had pulled the portal off it and noticed another entrance. Of course! Through the anus he could reach the other end of the dragon’s body.

Was he really going to make a dragon penetrate itself? Yes…but [i]purely[/i] as a medical procedure, not for any other reason! He wasn’t some sort of …pervert.

Nero blushed as he re-activated the incubi spell which had paused due to the dragon’s orgasm. Though his orgasm had been very recent, the stimulation of the spell very soon had the dragon king erect again and pining for more.

Even through the haze of pure lust, the king did look a bit surprised to see his cock being moved and aimed underneath his tail through another set of portals. But there was no actual resistance to the act.

“M-more…” he groaned, showing he had gained more of his senses.

Nero nodded and proceeded. With even more care than before, the wet shaft was pressed to the king’s entrance. The mage expected some resistance but it pushed inside with a surprising amount of ease. The king’s groan of pleasure filled the room, squirming a bit as more and more of his own length filled his hole.

Even as seasoned as Nero had come to suspect the king was, this was likely a very unique experience to him and proceeded at a gentle pace. Again, he found himself getting rather distracted watching the dragon enjoy himself and now also the rather embarrassing erection pressing against the fabric of his pants.

[i]Traitor![/i] Nero thought, his embarrassment directed at his body for reacting like this, he wasn’t a pervert dammit! This was just…very arousing to watch and listen to.

Putting focus back into the task, he made sure the entire length was pushed inside, holding it there so the king could adjust to the full feeling. Having been freed from the corruption of his mind, the leading dragon openly reacted to and embraced the feelings.

Pulling back and pushing the dragon’s cock back in made the bigger male groan. “Yes!” A pace was set by the mage, smoothly sliding the shaft along the soft anal walls.

Nero sighed deeply as he blushed and turned his head away, now he was being an active participant rather than just the king’s facilitator, if anyone came and saw him do this he would never hear the end of it. It was the best way he could think of given his resources okay!?

“Faster…” the king pleaded, snapping the mage from his embarrassed thoughts.

Choosing to focus on the task first and foremost, Nero moved the portal to simulate the motions of another penetrating. Keeping the pace smooth, the king’s own cock slid back and forth, reaching fully inside before pulling back.

The corruption was steadily being eased by a constant steady flow of precum, showing its effects, working better than the first round had. With the slick fluid lubing the hole, it was easier to pump the length. The mage steadily increased the speed and power, earning louder moans and gasps from the dragon, clearly enjoying himself.

It was clear that the king was reaching his limits again. So Nero did even more, seeing that the dragon could handle it. He needed another big climax to fill the dragon up and fully disperse the corruption, which would hopefully completely cure the king.

“Ancient kings!” the dragon swore, being put through more pleasure than ever before. Nero was moving his own cock with great speed and precision. Humping his mouth was one thing but this was on a whole other level; not only was there the pleasure of penetrating a soft and warm anus, but there was the added sensations being filled, feeling his shaft rubbing against his sensitive walls and his hole clenching down on it. The pleasure was doubled over all, making it hard for the king to keep still or control his voice.

After a bit more, an almighty roar filled the room. The king came hard into his own tailhole. Just as Nero hoped for, the load that came was rather large, pumping the snug passage full of the enchanted essence. Nero watched eagerly, feeling a huge relief upon seeing the corruption fully fade away. The dragon continued to bask in his orgasm, still shooting ropes of his ejaculate, panting hard from the strongest sensations ever felt before. When coming down from the feelings, the king was grateful to the mage for both saving him and the deep satisfaction that came over him.

As the dragon was catching his breath Nero noticed a stubborn small remnant on the dragon’s tail and dealt with it directly, flux was annoyingly hard to get fully rid of.

Finally, the mage released the magic, letting out a sigh of relief himself. It took much more effort than Nero had expected. While he was glad that the king was freed completely, there was still a whole hoard of dragons left to purify, something he certainly couldn’t do on his own, not before the others got back. And he was not ready to have that conversation!

Releasing the king from his bonds Nero looked at him “I hope I can borrow your stamina…I am gonna need you to fill the other dragons like I had you do to yourself, once they are purified I will infuse their testicles with purifying essence like yours so they can aid you.” It was quite an embarrassing request to make, but he simply didn’t have the capacity to do this to all of them.

“Are you embarrassed human?” The king asked teasingly and Nero blushed even more “Absolutely not! This is purely a medical procedure!” The dragon chuckled.

Next in line would definitely have to be the elder mage, as he was the second most affected and also to a degree that might end up worsening over time. The king certainly assisted in the process. He got his subjects in line by who was in the need of purification the most.

Nero didn’t have to work as hard. Some dragons needed to be chained, being just short of losing themselves. The king acted quickly, laying his body on top of the held down dragon mage, grinding their bodies together until his shaft was hard again.

Again, the mage had to keep his focus. A few times his chain’s faltered from him getting distracted. He wasn’t prepared to see the dragon’s rutting before him. It was rather rough, carnal, and messy. Their voices boomed in the tether-room, the elder dragon being steadily restored by his king’s precum.

Being able to form words again, he cried out for his king to rut him harder. The king in question looked back at Nero, smirking as he could sense the sheer arousal that radiated from the grey mage. Nero blushed and averted his gaze. [i]Keep the chains tight…

[/i]The king came hard into the pinned elder dragon not only purified him but gave Nero the chance to pass on the spell, imbuing yet another one’s testicles with the purification magic.

“My my…this certainly is a…unique way of dealing with this problem.” The dragon mage smirked at Nero who once again averted his gaze.

“I had to use what I knew and was capable of and given my level this was the best way I could think of…” he excused.

The old dragon chuckled, “I wasn’t criticizing your method, quite the opposite.” Nero muttered annoyed about overly horny dragons.

The dragons were soon breeding like rabbits. Nero’s chains became unneeded, as the strong lust seemed to spread between them all. Rather the mage was going back and forth, scanning for any persisting corruption. The entire time, he had to endure the tenting in his pants and the lust that he felt, being surrounded by the sight, sounds, and smells of what could only be described as a huge dragon orgy.

The king only briefly apologized, they had been immensely pent up even before the flux incident and they had needed this for quite a while.

“Well…at least I am not bored anymore…” Nero muttered to himself, though he was dreading how to make the report on this whole incident. To his dismay, even after every dragon was well, some were still going at it. He went to the study to get away from them before he succumbed to temptation. He was seriously considering taking care of his very persistent erection now he was away from the dragons.

“You went away just to deal with it yourself?” a familiar voice asked just as Nero took off his belt. Nero jumped up from the desk in surprise to see the head of the king dragon poking through the doors. He was too big to fit but still tried to push his way in.

“What are you doing?!” the mage got up from his seat and rushed over. He tried to push the dragon’s head back but it of course did nothing.

“I wanted to find you. So I could thank you for what you have done for me and my pack…”

“Well…thanks received, now please get back before you break the door…”

“I shall, but you will be coming with me.”

“Huh?” Nero muttered confused before the dragon turned around and a good length of his tail shot through the large door. It coiled around him and pulled him off his feet. The king just chuckled as he brought the mage back to the tether-room, having something very special in mind. After all, such efforts needed to be rewarded.

Thankfully the last remnants of the percisting orgy had died out. The others had stepped aside but they were all looking at him a bit strangely, as if they were waiting for something to happen soon. Nero was put down in the center of the room. The king turned around to face him. Without saying a word, the biggest dragon blew his breath on the mage. Nero expected to feel some sort of pain, but what he felt was magic, the powerful and unfiltered might of a dragon’s own magic.

The tiredness he felt was eased away. But a sudden shock came from his clothes being “burned” away, fading from view until he was nude. Before he could cover himself, the mage was pulled in by the dragon. Still dazed from the experience, Nero was being cuddled by the king, nuzzling his exposed body with his snout and cheek.

“Err…this is hardly appropriate…” Nero muttered as he shuddered. The smooth scales rubbed against him, stimulating his shaft into an erect state.

“I wouldn’t say so…I know what you were about to do before I interrupted you.” Nero froze and blushed as his erection throbbed.

“The least we can do is help give you some relief after riling you up so much.” Oh by the four realms, was this really happening?…wait…[i]”we?” [/i]Nero noticed the surrounding dragons coming closer from all sides.

The dragon king pulled back but at that point, the mage was already surrounded, leaving him with no means of escape. The circle they formed grew tighter and tighter until their warm puffs of breath could be felt on his skin, causing Nero to shudder.

Acting first, the king both touched and dragged his large, warm tongue across Nero’s back. As if on cue, the other dragons proceeded to lick him as well. One tongue quickly became two and it only multiplied from there. He could feel it all over his body, the soft and wet touches that continuously sent shivers and tingles through him.

Nero was of course caught completely off guard by the sudden onslaught of large tongues. But upon calming down, he couldn’t deny that the feeling was rather pleasant.

Now being surrounded by huge powerful dragons should have made anyone nervous, they could tear him to bits in the blink of an eye, but Nero could only feel a strange sense of being safe and protected.

The licking continued but there was something different about it. He could feel something else besides the gentle warmth upon each lick. The tingling sensation was steadily building in strength. It was now feeling so good that it was hard to focus on what it actually meant.

The mage hadn’t realized that their licks were infused with magic. Specifically the dragons were channeling their own lustful spells, using them to subtly influence and enhance Nero. With each lick, the mage’s stamina was boosted closer and closer to draconic levels.

Before their ploy could be figured out, the dragon king cast another subtle spell to distract the mage, muddling his mind so he would only focus on what he was feeling.

They wanted to fully prepare Nero for all the fun that was yet to come. He was being endlessly teased by both the magic and the dragons not licking anywhere near his erection, purposely teasing him.

The building stamina had finally reached the level of the dragons that now surrounded him. Not wanting to overwhelm their new friend, all licking ceased at once. Despite that, the effects were still easily felt. Without any more licks being given, the pleasure from it all still lingered on his skin. Between the pleasure that radiated from the licks and his mind being unable to focus on anything else, Nero was feeling quite pent up and almost desperate.

“So…how about it Nero…want to play a little with us now?” The dragon king asked teasingly “You do look a bit needy.” he noted as if he and the rest of them weren’t the cause of said need.

Before Nero would have been too flustered to agree. But these many feelings made it hard for him to lie. He needed pleasure and release…

“I… I am,” the mage admitted. That was all the dragons needed to hear. Usually the thought of interspecies intercourse would have been more than sufficient to hold Nero off, being frowned upon by human society, but right now he just didn’t care.

The dragon’s did not hold to notions of being put off by difference in species, simply wanting to repay the mage for helping them and not just with the flux corruption, but by helping them get rid of some stress that had built up inside them that they hadn't had time to deal with while securing up their frontier outpost.

With the draconic magic flowing through Nero, the king could feel Nero’s own hidden stress. It seemed they were quite alike, and that made him determined to assist the mage, with not only repayment but some overdue stress relief as well.

The dragon got low to the ground, rolling over on his back, much to Nero’s surprise. He wasn’t sure what to expect, but it was not this. The king made a gesture for the smaller male to approach him.

Nero was hesitant at first, but when getting close enough, his body was lifted up and set back down just past the king’s neck, the dragon’s head bent down to nuzzle against the human, pressing his snout between Nero’s spread legs. A shudder ran through him, feeling his shaft touching the warm, scaly lips.

“I offer my body as a reward for your aid Nero, your wishes are my command…” The dragon got a small gasp from the human as he slowly and carefully licked him between the legs.

“I am…honored,” the mage gasped. He finally got to feel the large and soft tongue lapping over his erection. For a bit of time, Nero just basked in the pleasure that came from being licked.

“But you are a bit…large for me.” The sheer size difference was more than enough to make him feel quite inadequate.

“Mind it not Nero, just enjoy yourself.” the dragon encouraged.

“O-okay…then would you mind…you know…” Nero put a hand on the dragon’s snout and pushed it down towards his erection.

Nero shuddered as his erection was pushed past the dragon’s lips and into his hot maw where the dragon’s tongue greeted it by pushing against and rolling around it. He couldn’t hold back a moan in response, feeling pleasure unlike anything before.

Being spurred by the feeling he started to get up, the dragon dutifully followed along with his head, and kept pace with the beginning humps.

While Nero was fully distracted the dragon was little by little shrinking his size down with magic to find a size which was more enjoyable for Nero. Being distracted by the pleasure, the mage didn’t notice until the hold around his shaft was noticeably tighter. Looking down he finally noticed that, while still much bigger than himself, the king had shrunk himself down quite noticeably.

“Is this better?” Nero heard the king’s voice clearly in his mind, amusement being clear in his tone. Nero wasn’t sure if the dragon had used that method to communicate to be better understood or if it was because he didn’t want to slow down his pleasurable actions at all.

Nero knew the reason that the dragon’s tone was so amused was because the bastard knew he couldn’t form words properly given how intense pleasure he was feeling. He was practically at the beast’s mercy, his own body almost working on its own. Pleasure was all the mage could focus on, helped by the dragon working his own muzzle and tongue perfectly in time with his actions.

“How is it?” the king asked. He could taste the precum and feel the soft pulses on his tongue. It was clear that his friend was enjoying himself but he wanted to hear it from the mage himself.

“I-Its…so good. Your mouth is so warm and soft…” It befitted a dragon perfectly and the king was clearly satisfied with the answer. So much so that he put more effort into pleasuring the other male, working his long tongue along the entire shaft’s length. Nero’s moans intensified, the sensations increasing exponentially. He shook and panted hard, feeling his limit already approaching.

“I’m… I’m close!” Nero shouted internally. He moved his hips faster, pumping his cock in between the soft lips and over the smooth licking tongue. The dragon kept pace with him the entire time, helping him get closer and closer to his limits. Groaning deeply and trembling from the sheer overwhelming bliss, the mage came hard, shooting his seed over the awaiting tongue, feeding the king the taste and warmth.

The dragon sucking him off made a low rumbling purr, still working his tongue to coax as much as he could, enjoying the flavor that streaked across his taste buds. It was rather unique compared to the usual taste of other dragons. Nero’s voice became more controlled as his orgasm died down, leaving him to pant a bit. Despite the strong climax, he could feel that his own cock was still hard and throbbing with need.

Nero pulled his shaft free from the soft mouth. “In the mood for more?” the leading dragon asked temptingly.

“You can have any of us…in any way you want…” The mage became flustered as he looked around and the dragons made various teasing gestures or got into suggestive poses. The rest of the pack had followed their king’s lead, shrinking themselves down to an appealing size. When the mage climbed down, he was then presented with quite the selection.

One that caught his eye was a dragon that looked much older than the rest. He recognized him as the mage who had held back the flux, even though his appearance had changed a bit since his purification.

His form was different, less bulky and more sleek, like one of those dragon guardian statues that the eastern human kingdoms had.

[i]‘Does his snake-like form extend to his tongue too?’ [/i]Nero thought and imagined the dragon rimming him, that would certainly be something special.

The dragon chuckled “Not quite…but it is quite a bit slimmer than the rest of my pack brethren and could certainly perform what you had in mind.” Nero blushed at having his thoughts read.

“My apologies…but your mental barriers are completely down and I couldn’t help but hear it.” The dragon chuckled again. “If you want it, you just have to ask, you know?” The mage dragon tempted Nero, sticking out his tongue to give his fellow mage a preview.

Having his desires already known, Nero just nodded and began to approach, his excitement flaring up the closer he came to the eastern dragon. It had started out as a passing idea but now he was excited to be able to experience it in reality, honestly what few reluctances Nero still felt were being drowned out by his lust.

When close enough, the bigger mage gently took hold of him, already knowing what the human wanted from him. He had to admit it was rather unique, making him want to try it out as well.

“Are you ready?” the dragon asked. A nod was quickly given and he proceeded with gently guiding the mage’s body toward his maw, opening it wide enough to seemingly eat the smaller male, though that was certainly not the intention.

The dragon slid Nero into his maw by his feet until the mage’s belly had passed his lips and then stopped and opened his claws to let Nero lay there in his hand as he started to get to work.

Nero could feel his body being cradled by a soft and wet tongue. He spread his legs and immediately groaned upon feeling the massive tongue slowly rolling between them, lapping right over his balls and his erection’s underside at the same time.

He felt both completely at the dragon’s mercy and worshiped by him as that tongue lovingly caressed his lower body, but focused particularly between his legs, smothering his balls and cock between that soft wet tongue and his own body.

It ground over his pinned down shaft, getting him to squirm and continually moan in response. He could hear the dragon chuckle, amused by the human’s delight. It was as if the creature knew exactly what the other mage wanted, then Nero remembered that his mind was being read in real time, even the slightest consideration was acted upon by the bigger creature.

At first, Nero simply basked in the warmth that enveloped his lower half. He was spared the pricks of sharp teeth and left to only feel the heat and softness of the damp interior. At this point the tongue’s slow licking had slathered his loins in saliva that seemed to have a warming effect. Even when the tongue pulled back, the tingling warmth persisted, passively teasing him. It was better than he imagined. And that led him to consider what it would feel like if that tongue were to go just a bit lower like he initially had imagined…

“As you wish…” the dragon responded, talking to Nero’s mind directly. That single moment of consideration was all he needed.

The tongue rolled back, leaving the shaft without direct touch. It slid against his balls, making Nero groan. As if to tease, the pink muscle crawled down slowly until it reached the spot, lapping over the human’s rump before worming its way between his cheeks. There, a direct lick over his hole was given, forcing a gasp out of the smaller mage.

It was a bit daunting having a dragon’s tongue prepping him, but also really exciting. Even as lost in pleasure as he was, Nero could still feel the small tingle of magic the dragon was subtly using as he generously licked his entrance.

After a bit more, the twirling tongue finally started to push its way inside. This was quickly followed by Nero groaning and tilting his head back. The penetration was slow and careful, thankfully so as the human couldn’t handle any more than the tongue’s thin tip. All the same, the dragon worked with what he could, having more than enough control to slip the narrowest part of his tongue back and forth, lapping at the soft walls.

From the human’s perspective he was being filled quite deeply. He began to feel that warm tingling deep inside of him, being stronger than it was on his cock and balls. It filled him so well being plenty slick and just thick enough to give him a satisfying full feeling.

The dragon had got the hang of rocking his tongue’s tip back and forth. He surprised Nero by folding his tongue again, having the rest grind against his shaft and balls again, all while licking far into him.

Nero certainly wasn’t prepared for the onslaught of pleasure that came. Every sensitive part of his lower half was being stimulated all at once, being done so skillfully and smoothly by the elder mage. Each push and pull of the tongue not only slid it back and forth within his hole, but it rubbed along his groin with the same amount of intense warm pleasure. He was panting hard from it all, giving the dragon ample taste of his leaking precum.

“I suppose even an old dragon like me can learn some new tricks,” the elder chuckled to himself. Dragons had a very blessed way of aging, once they hit their peak their bodies didn’t degrade until their last few months, only picking up the occasional faded scale or two. He had been the pack’s mage for a long time now and was beginning to think his “spark” was starting to wane.

“W-well, I’m glad I could be a source of inspiration…” Nero chuckled. “Though I suspect you aren’t as old as you try to make yourself out to be.” The dragon actually paused and blushed a bit at the teasing remark.

“F-fine…I only just passed the age to be an elder recently…I still got a few hundred years left.”

“Sounds like you still have some golden years left, [i]old timer[/i].” Nero teased.

The dragon responded by shutting him up by resuming and intensifying his tongue’s assault. The younger male was again at his mercy, crying out and squirming while his tongue was simply moving back and forth without much effort. He supposed that Nero had a point, though not quite in his prime now, he was far from the end and could still have many new and exciting, and even pleasurable experiences ahead of him.

“Enough talk, [i]boy[/i],” the elder dragon chuckled, sending the playful tease right back to the younger male. “There’s a whole pack waiting. You shouldn’t be wasting your time on me.” He winked and proceeded to work his tongue with more vigor.

Nero cried out even louder than before, being pulled into a rush of intense sensations. He knew he wasn’t going to last much longer so the younger mage did his best to control his breathing, just enjoying all that he felt. Upon relaxing a bit he realized the tingling sensations had gotten stronger. No wonder it all felt so good.

“No fair,” Nero teased.

“All’s fair in the world of dragons and pleasure,” the mage made a few more strong licks that pushed Nero past his limits, the dragon pressed his tongue up against him just as he groaned aloud. His second load was being pumped into another dragon’s maw, being another healthy amount despite how much had been unloaded into the king’s mouth before. Naturally, the mage suspected this was draconic magic at play, affecting his body. He certainly wasn’t going to complain about it, not as he was still being licked and milked for all that he could give as he kept shooting loads onto the elder dragon’s tongue…

Just as he suspected Nero was still hard and ready to go another round when he was let down by the dragon despite the two mind blowing orgasms he just had, but honestly any remaining hesitation was slim to none and he just wanted to keep going, he had no idea he had needed this so much.

“Desiring more?” the king asked with his usual teasing tone.

“Yes,” Nero admitted, getting right to the point. “I now desire your tail.”

The sheer bluntness of his request did surprise the dragons briefly “I mean…you offered and…you were also the one who dragged me into this…” Nero trailed off, starting to lose his initial courage.

But the king kept his amused smile, “Of course…we promised we would do anything you wanted with our bodies.” The king turned around and presented himself to the mage, even going as far as to lift his rump and raise his tail, showing off the soft hole usually hidden from view.

With renewed confidence due to the dragon’s submissiveness, Nero approached the king, his erection throbbing every step of the way. Thanks to the king shrinking, it wasn’t much trouble to get behind him. The dragon lowered himself to the floor and rolled onto his back, giving the human ample space to work with.

Even with the dragon on his back and Nero on top of him and hovering his erection at his tailhole the mage had his doubts as to how much the dragon would actually get out of his exchange, he saw the way dragon’s mated and his shaft wasn’t nearly as big as theirs, even after reducing their size.

That is likely why it was such a surprise when Nero pressed inside the dragon and found his hole to be quite tight, the king had smoothly taken his own length, how was it putting resistance on his?

Looking up he saw the leader’s mischievous smirk and realized that if they could control their size they likely could alter other aspects of themselves too.

“Something the matter?” The dragon asked teasingly and Nero felt the dragon’s hole clench around his length.

“Mmm… You are quite mischievous for a king,” Nero smirked. “And full of surprises.”

If the dragon wanted to play that game he certainly wasn’t without tricks of his own.

As Nero started a slow rhythm of thrusting he focused and found the portal wand and activated it remotely, surprising the leader when a portal formed and engulfed his erection once more, only this time it wasn’t to allow him to blow or penetrate himself.

The portal the dragon’s length emerged from was in the midst of the onlooking dragons, in the perfect height for some oral fun.

“Why don’t you all play with him a little? I am sure he would love that.” Nero smirked at the king playfully. For once, the leading dragon looked stunned, not expecting something like this to happen. His shaft was left to float just in front of his subjects. Nero further encouraged them and finally one dragon stepped up to run his tongue along the lengthy shaft.

With one daring to take the first step, the others joined in. Those close by gave the flesh a lick before it floated past them, moving along the circle of gathered dragons.

On top of his tailhole being filled, the king groaned from one tongue after the other, continuously pleasuring him. “W-well played…” he admitted.

Nero was the one to smirk this time before he proceeded to hump into the soft tightness.

The hoard of dragons eagerly attended their leader’s cock from all sides, with no body in the way, they could get at it from angles they usually wouldn’t have been able to, giving their leader the most amount of simultaneous oral attention he had ever had. No inch wasn’t being either licked or suckled upon by his subjects.

Nero groaned as he rocked his hips, the dragon’s hole was so smooth and warm. And the king continued to tease him further by clenching around his moving shaft, they shared grunts from their respective sources of pleasure. The dragon had to give the human his due respect. Between his ass being humped and the many mouths stimulating him at the same time, the feelings of pleasure within him were impossible to hold back. A deep moan came and his tail flicked, thumping against the ground as a show of enjoyment.

Seeing this Nero smirked “You won’t hold much longer will you?” he asked teasingly.

“We can’t have that…” With a brief moment of concentration the portals disappeared and the leading dragon moaned as his formerly intensively stimulated length was throbbing needily between his legs again.

Wanting to finish the dragon on his own terms, Nero gripped the king’s hips for a better hold. He had had another idea how to use his magic, namely to stimulate far further than his length would normally allow.

The leading dragon started to feel an odd buzz from Nero’s pumps, but slowly it started to spread, each thrust sending an increasingly spreading wave of energy through him, and when the ripples hit his prostate the dragon couldn’t help but gasp and have his eyes roll upwards in pleasure.

Humping as hard as he could, Nero continued to back up his actions with ripples of strong magic. Some of it was focused directly onto the king’s prostate, getting the bigger male to squirm and cry out, clearly being at his limits.

The both of them raised their voices, sharing climactic pleasure. At about the same time, the dragon and mage came. While Nero sent a generous load into the squeezing hole despite his two recent prior large loads, the king himself was shooting his own thicker ropes of cum onto his own belly scales and chest.

Due to the intense orgasm and the prior orgy he had been part of, the leading dragon was utterly spent, which the dragons thought Nero would be too, even with the bit of dragon-stamina boost they had given him he shouldn’t be able to continue…

Indeed it seemed at first he was as he cuddled a bit with their leader and basked in their combined afterglow, but then he jumped off and looked at them with his erection still hard with an almost feral smile.

“Alright…Line up, I ain’t done just yet.”

The dragons wondered, a bit worried, if they might have accidentally overdone their enhancement a bit as Nero started working his way through them seemingly insatiable…

One dragon was taken standing, one on his side, another was strung up with the containment chains and had been taken hanging freely and Nero only got more creative with their positions and his methods the further he went along using both his body and magic to ensure that both he and his partner got plenty of pleasure. Each dragon got both a load and an orgasm that utterly tired them out despite their tremendous stamina as they were already quite tugged out from the orgy they had had like their leader.

They assured each other that Nero would tire out, but as he worked his way through the pack, soon to reach the very last dragon, they worried if they might have created an unstoppable monster. But just as Nero finished inside the last dragon the enhancements finally wore off and he collapsed alongside that final dragon into a pleasurable stupor. He and the others fell asleep while sprawled all over the floor, finally feeling utterly free of stress.

[center]***[/center]

Nero never even bothered to send the followup report. He was well aware that the White Order was planning to take credit for his efforts, which wasn’t an uncommon thing for them to do. Despite it being a near common practice for them to do, the power and prestige they held kept the Order from receiving any punishment for claiming the credit for other’s labor.

Rather than give them any time of day, Nero put his focus on the recovering dragons. He extended them hospitality at the gray tower until the mana settled itself in their territory or they could temporarily move into the territory of another dragon clan. The dragons were quite grateful, even surprised to have a human going the extra mile for their wellbeing. In exchange, they tried their best to not be too bothersome and keep any sexual activity in places that were private and that they could put up sound barriers.

The mana had finally settled down at their home a few days later, allowing them to return. Though Nero saw the pack as his friends, he was rather glad to hear they would be departing. More than a few objects and decorations had been knocked down or broken. The dragon mage used his magic to repair the damage done, him and the king apologizing for any trouble they may have caused.

“We cannot thank you enough for what you have done,” the king said to Nero, actually speaking in a rather regal tone.

“Is there [i]anything[/i] we could possibly do in exchange for the great kindness we have been shown?” The leading dragon asked.

“Well…you might have noticed that us grey mages aren’t the most…well funded…” Nero knew this was a long shot, but it couldn’t hurt to ask.

The dragon mage perked up upon hearing this, “Well, I may have an old friend in the dragon court I could ask to bring it to the high-king’s attention.”

“Could you really?” Nero asked, unable to mask his awe. He had read about the great dragon kingdom and their sovereign leader was quite reasonable, respectable and kind.

If news of his actions reached his ears there was a good chance he might at least give them a small personal reward.

“It's the least I could do,” the mage assured. “One good deed deserves another. After all, I haven’t felt this young in years.”

This was why Nero liked dragons so much, their way was to reward good deeds, but humans, as the saying goes “no good deed goes unpunished.” saw kindness as an opening to exploit or tear others down.

“Well…” the king nodded. “Old Elrik and I should be heading back. [i]I[/i] will be passing my recommendation for a title to be given to you for your quick response and rescue alongside the kindness you showed us afterwards.” He flashed a playful smug grin at Elrick, as if they were competing for the mage’s favor.

“Before you go…could I know your name?” Nero asked, dragons were a bit protective of their identities and didn’t give out their names to just anybody.

“I am Clawforde, the third leader of the blackstone outpost.” Nero bowed in respect, titles were very important to dragons and had to be shown respect or it would be taken as a direct insult to their person.

Barely had the dragons left before Vulin and the other mages returned and they looked rather doubtful and unsure of the future. It seemed that their gamble didn’t quite pay off like they had hoped. Their presence at the conference was largely ignored, making it clear how little influence they had among the nobility.

While Nero wanted to cheer them up with the news they might get a bit of funds from the dragons in return for his help he didn’t know for sure and so kept quiet for now.

Instead he directed them to the stricken human village to help him clean up whatever they could now the flux had passed.

The instigators of the ritual had all perished in the attempt at whatever they had tried to do, the remaining villagers who had either stood by and done nothing or been unaware of what was going on had been punished in another way by what had been brought about; transformed to varying degrees in draconic fashion from being exposed to dragon mana.

Their attempts at getting help from other nearby settlements had failed as they had been chased away for their appearance and so had to remain in their town.

They couldn’t pass as human nor draconian, the anthropomorphic dragon race that lived a bit further past the border with the dragons, and so were very recognizable, shunned as freaks by their human neighbors and refused help by the dragons who all knew what they had done.

Nero vouched for them, clearly they had learned their lesson about tampering with mana. At the moment not much could be done for them. But he convinced the grey order to help support them as best as they were able, in exchange they could do some labour, they always needed more hands anyway. Some of the money they would make would go towards bringing about the services of a morphologican, a mage specializing in transformations and body modifications, to revert their draconic changes.

A few days later, Nero was in the study when a scroll manifested next to him, being surrounded by a fiery aura. When grabbing it, he could feel that it was Elrick’s magic. He unfurled the scroll and read its contents.

Word of what he did for the blackstone dragon pack had reached the ears of the other nearby packs. And as Clawforde and Elrick had promised, their recommendations had reached the high-king and they wanted to let him know he wanted to meet with him personally to discuss the matter of his reward.

At the very end of the message were words. He recognized it as draconic. Doing his best to pronounce the words, Nero was suddenly standing right in front of the dragon king and mage. It happened so fast and didn’t leave his head spinning this time.

“Ah…I see my message reached you.” Elrick said a bit amused as Nero looked around in awe at the architecture and splendidness of the royal dragon palace, it was not a sight many humans had ever been allowed to have.

“We wanted to meet you before your meeting with the king…”

“Hold on…aren’t you a king Clawforde?”

The dragon paused “It is a common misconception I am afraid, pack-leader or alpha is a more suitable title that fits my position. Only the high-king can truly claim to be king of the dragons.” Ah…so some misconceptions had snuck their way into the texts, Nero made a mental note to have that revised once he got back.

They helped the mage prepare for his meeting with one of the most powerful beings in their realm and he was quite thankful for that, he had no idea what to expect.

The throne room was even more dazzling than the room he had been teleported into and Nero had serious trouble not just openly gawking in awe or examining things out of curiosity.

“Ah…you must be Nero.” Though on the other side of the room Nero could feel the sheer power in the dragon high-king’s voice. Taking a deep breath, the mage stood tall, being ready to finally meet him.

Now Nero wasn’t religious and didn’t believe in the divine…but standing in front of the high-king he felt was likely the closest to standing in front of an actual god one could get.

Regal and powerful beyond measure was the only way Nero could describe the dragon.

The dragon’s eyes scanned him thoroughly as if looking for something that normal eyes would never be able to see. “You are not quite what I expected.” The dragon admitted.

“The fact you managed to pull off what you did is all the more impressive when your limits are below what I assumed they would be.”

The dragon looked at him again and Nero sweated a bit under the intense look “Oh…have I forgotten to suppress my presence again?” Instantly the heavy presence of the high-king disappeared, the dragon looked a little sheepish. “Apologies…it’s not often I get visitors who would find my presence daunting, so I sometimes forget.”

Nero breathed relieved “Pay it no mind your majesty, we can’t be perfect all the time.”

“Well…let’s get to matters then shall we?” Nero nodded in agreement. “Due to your hasty aid the blackrock pack escaped without any permanent disfigurements or damage, which is quite a feat when flux is involved, you even passed up the human settlement in favor of helping my kind…may I ask why?”

Nero paused and thought about it for a moment. “Because between your people and mine…yours were the innocent party, while the town was responsible for the disaster.”

“Many would prioritize their own kind despite this.” The dragon inquired further.

“I follow the grey order’s teachings, we do not discriminate, not even if our own kind is involved.” The high-king to his relief seemed to like his answer.

“I have heard plenty of the white and black order and their deeds, but it was only after Clawforde brought your aid to my attention that I was made aware of the grey order. I was intrigued and looked further into you and was surprised how obscure your order was despite the wealth of work it did, not only in my own lands, but those of my neighbors.”

Nero nodded, they were the only order who really went outside the border, there wasn’t any admiration to be earned from the human commonfolk or the nobility to work past the border.

“We do our duty not for glory your majesty, this has been exploited by others to take credit.” The dragon nodded. He admired the young mage’s modesty.

“Yes…but today is the last day that your work shall go unrecognized and unrewarded.” Nero felt hopeful, it sounded like a fairly large reward might come their way.

“After I learned of the poor treatment your order receive I consulted the court and the leaders of the nearby kingdoms and we all agreed we owe you much and decided that from now on [i]we [/i]shall fund your order so you can continue your altruistic work unobstructed by the whims of the human nobility.” Before Nero could recover from this surprising outcome a document appeared and he glimpsed the budget. It was enough to make him feel faint.

“T-this is too much…” The dragon merely chuckled in response.

“We wish for you to establish more presence outside human territory, and set up more locations that you can work out of.” Nero also understood the unspoken wish for them to cut ties with the human lands who didn’t value them. That wasn’t hard at all for him to accept.

“O-okay…I’m sure that Vulin would more than happily agree.” Nero took a breath to calm down.

“With that done we can move onto the matter of your own personal reward.” Again, Nero was stunned. He was being further rewarded. Already the funding granted went beyond what he could have dreamed…

“Please come in front of me and kneel.” Nero did so. “Nero, for your deeds I bestow upon you the title of “Dragon Guardian” so that all of dragonkind will know that you're an ally and close friend to us.” Now Nero wasn’t very well versed in titles, but that sounded like a rather high title.

“It is the best title I can give you without having the uncontested backing of the court.” Nero assured the dragon it was more than enough. Honestly if he was given anymore he was sure he would faint on the spot.

“Now please do enjoy the joys of the dragon palace while your return spell is being prepared.” The high-king invited Nero and the mage found himself fed exotic food while relaxing in a magical hotspring and watching exotic dancers and performers conduct a stage play on the stage set up for performances for guests in the hotspring just for him to enjoy. It was the kind of treatment that would make nobility green with envy.

When Nero returned he reveled in the shocked face of Vulin as he gave him the document, he swore the old mage was on the cusp of having a heart-attack. After he had calmed down though he quickly began work as Nero knew he would.

With the additional funding affording a morphologican for the stricken villagers wasn’t an issue, but some of them didn’t ask to be reverted. They had come to embrace their new forms and asked to be what they described as “dragon-touched”. Their scattered draconic features became spread throughout their entire bodies, having scales, horns, and tails, making them no longer human. They could at a first glance be mistaken for lizardmen, but their draconic features did set them apart.

Nero took it upon himself to study them. In time, the dragon-touched started to develop abilities. Though not as strong as those of actual draconic blood, they were stronger and faster than any human. Some even developed the aptitude for magic even if they had had no prior talent.

A rather…in depth experiment produced the results that they could not reproduce through “normal” means. Rather than through sexual reproduction, a rather complex method of magical blood transfusion could create a new dragon-touched, of course requiring a “normal” willing human to be changed.

Given the human’s apprehension towards the former humans, very few were interested in changing so dragon-touched remained a rarity, having a single colony housed and watched over by the grey order.

Nero’s notes made their way to the dragon courts and the dragon-touched were accepted as a new kind of draconic being, having their support and protection.

Those who were turned back into humans returned to the settlement. They had rebuilding to do and called upon the nobility and the orders to lend them aid. But no support came. Their settlement was considered “cursed” and all ties were cut on grounds of superstition.

Nero was quick to step in again. The gray order continued to do good where no one else would, extending support to the settlement, which was expanded into more than a mere housing colony. They became an accomplished trading hub, sharing resources between the humans and dragons. It turned out humans did have some crafts and inventions that dragons could use.

Of course, the hub cut all ties with those who turned their backs on them. All contracts with nobility, the black order and the white order were abandoned in favor of their newfound leases on life, having the chance to live for themselves rather than working for someone else to claim the benefits.

This independant colony gave way to more than a few merchants who traveled on behalf of the gray order, spreading their name across the settlements.

As per the agreement, the gray order’s main base was moved out of the human lands. But they were able to make extensions that allowed them to still support humans. Their need for any nobility of any kind or other order had fallen away and with it, they cut the influence that the nobility and black and white order had used to control them. With support of the dragons, they were able to build things such as an academy to teach their ways.

The academy made many interested, usually you had to join an order to learn magic and it would only be taught within the grounds of their castles or estates. But anyone interested was able to join without making any sort of commitment beyond promising to uphold some basic rules of ethics.

Within the academy many kinds of magics were taught, not being constricted by the other order’s preferred restricted ways of using them. More began to join, giving the grey order more and more legitimacy.

This caused the White and Black orders to double down on their own students. Within their school’s halls, no one was allowed to even mention the grey order, but that didn’t stop rumors from surfacing. Promising young mages were subjected to increasing pressure until they could no longer take it, being driven to go back on their contracts to attend the more free-spirited academy instead.

Pressure was put on the teachers as well, experienced and high-ranking mages. They were also pushed past their limits. They retired from the orders and took up the grey order’s call for experienced tutors. Each was put through training that rekindled their dreams of learning the endless aspects of magic, with their minds now more open, the experienced mages became much needed teachers, while also learning more themselves.

With creativity being encouraged and students praised for experimenting and thinking outside the norms, a lot of novel magic and solutions to minor long-standing problems were discovered and developed at the academy.

The academy accepted all who came, even some young dragons attended alongside humans to learn magic. It was hoped that in time the two groups would eventually find some sort of way to work together beyond the individual level.

With their desire to help anyone who needed and them finally gaining a name for themselves, the grey order took the final step in breaking away from both the nobility and other orders for good. They became known as the Global Grey Mage Guild, though it was more commonly just known as “The mage guild.”

---

The tension between the dragons and humans escalated due to the flux incident and the dragons asked the humans to move settlements away from the border to remove the possible temptation of tampering with any other kinds of mana.

The humans didn’t much like being told what to do, especially by those “beasts,” and pretty much asked the dragons “Or else what?”

The “Or else” turned out to be a magical wall being slammed down the very next day. It prevented mana from being drawn through it and it would span the entire length of the borders they shared. It also prevented any unwanted humans from crossing into dragon lands much to the human government’s dismay as it would heavily isolate them and cut off many resources.

Within mere hours, the requested law was passed, written faster than the ink could dry on the paper and all settlements deemed too close to the border were required to relocate. The dragons did put up a much less intrusive barrier over the following weeks just in case, it let all travelers through unless they were on a list of unwantables or harbored unclean intentions.

With all of that finally over, Nero thought he could just return to his duties as normal. For his many tasks, he was not only recognized by the dragons but was granted the advanced title of professor by Vulin himself.

Though a source of pride, it made him no less busy around the guild and the dragons were regularly sending him invitations to “parties”, which he knew even at the very first one were no regular parties.

They were a good excuse to get away from work and de-stress though. But best as he was settling, Vulin approached him.

“Nero, I have a task I feel I need to entrust to someone and I can think of no better candidate than you.” Nero let him continue.

“I want you to hunt down and destroy all the remnants from the former realms containing knowledge of rituals, they were never supposed to be used in our realm as you have experienced more than once and I fear what will happen if someone gets ahold of a more powerful ritual and foolishly try to use it.”

That sounded like quite the quest, but Vulin assured Nero he would have the support of the guild and the leaders of all the beastlands as the humans so crassly called all lands not their own.

“But first I have been told you have been invited to lord Clawforde’s lands for a gathering, please do go there, it can only help improve our relationship with the dragons.”

Nero sighed, if only Vulin knew what those “gatherings” were really about…but perhaps he [i]did [/i]need to “unload” a bit before he started his quest?

Gathering his belongings Nero prepared to set out, a grey mage’s work was never truly done, but honestly? He wouldn’t have it any other way.

This ending was however only the start to Nero’s true adventure as “the ritual hunter”.