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Leo

Leo now had ‘almost’ nothing to fear from the dragons, apart from them turning the entire world against him, but he did have some conflicted feelings toward his new acquaintance, ‘Fel’.

Fel may have summoned him to this literal magical world, but Leo was pretty sure she went behind the other dragons backs. She has goals and an active plan to take over selaria, but something told him that they were less than peaceful, and even though she 'asked' him to join, his gut feeling told him that doing his own thing won't be an option with her.

Leo furrowed his brow. 'And to be frank, even though I love how blunt she is, it irks me that she acts so stub...born... Oh… Well don't I feel like the pot right now…' He thought to himself.

Fel crossed her arms and wore a critical expression. "Leo, don't you want to help change this broken kingdom? Because I'm here to do just that, and our plans are to change the rest of the world for the better." She questioned pointedly.

Leo frowned while crossing his own arms, and tilted his head up as he eyed Fel critically. "See, that's the problem right there, 'your plans'. I have my own plans to do both those things, and probably way faster and more efficient than yours. Considering I single handedly sent you into a time crunch, I have very little faith that you or your plan is all that competent." He admitted harshly.

'That last part was probably a bit much, maybe I'm still not over the whole 'being left in the woods' thing as I thought.' Leo thought when he noticed the dragon's tail stiffen at the insult.

"She’s-we've been planning and preparing for years, ‘you've’ only been here for nearly two weeks. So in terms of 'competence' whatever you have planned might as well be winging it." Fel snarled, but it only looked half hearted.

Leo mentally winced. 'Not entirely inaccurate...'

Keeping up his confidence, Leo’s face grew stern. "Well I have most of my people's entire history to draw from, with hundreds if not thousands of successful revolts, coups, and revolutions, all of which have been failing on this world. Also if we're criticizing my time spent here, then let me remind you that just over a week ago I was slowly dying alone in a forest, a full world away from home, and since then I've learned magic, become an arch mage, and acquired enough land and wealth to be considered a lord. So if you're not as dense as I assume you are, then imagine what I could do in a month from now, much less a year." He explained with a little condescension.

Fel sneered, her tail whipping in visible irritation. "Ok then oh wise one, how the fuck do you think of dealing with the dragon council, because they support the academies! You don't have the power to even take me on, how do you think you’d do against over two hundred of the most powerful mortals on the planet!? Because if you don't want to hit a roadblock and die early, then you need to have entire kingdoms as well as a sizable number of dragons backing you."

Leo mentally grimaced. 'There's a council of dragons? Fuck me, I need to do some lore diving…. Wait a minute…'

Leo raised an eyebrow, believing that she was taking him way too lightly. "Did you not spy on me yesterday?" He asked curiously.

Fel rolled her eyes. "No, I was preparing for the takeover of Telnar, which was smooth and bloodless, considering it was supposed to take a year, no thanks to you, and you've still not given me an answer.” She prodded impatiently.

Leo couldn't suppress his shock. 'She took control of Telnar? I hope Glia’s safe, but that's… Bad… That means the academy is going to come knocking. Damn it, I think she just fucked me! The last thing I need is a death squad of mages combing through town. Ah, and the fact that a new lord just happened to pop up on the border right before the town was taken by rebels just screams involved… Fuck! Now I'll need to do my own damage control, but I'd rather not work with…. Wait.' His thoughts trailed as a cunning little idea started to form.

Leo smirked as he regarded Fel. "How about I show you, while resolving our little dispute at the same time. I assume you're the leader of your little uprising, correct?"

Fel raised an eyebrow while she eyed him suspiciously. "Myself and a few others, but I am completely in charge of taking Selaria." She responded cautiously.

Leo's face lit up with joy. "Let's make a little wager, and If you win I'll join you no questions asked, I'll even follow all your orders like a good little summon. But if I win, you and your entire operation here will follow my plans for turning Selaria, and you will follow what I say to the letter."

Fel was visibly taken aback while giving him an incredulous look. "You must be out of your mind. I have way more to lose, so why would I agree to that?" She questioned critically.

Leo grinned, and knew that a dragon's pride would see it as the other way around. "Because we're going to have a duel, and first to submit to the other wins."

Fel stared blankly at Leo, before breaking into a shit eating grin. "Well, I could use the workout, so let's go to that field you like so much. I'd like to get this over with as soon as possible." She remarked confidently.

Leo sighed, wanting something a little more binding than just her word. "Hold on a moment, I'll have Allis draw up a contract."

Fel scoffed. "No need, a dragon can bind a deal themselves, and our oaths are a hell of a lot stronger. We were the ones who taught the other races how to make contracts after all." She told him while putting back on her cloak.

'Note to self, make her spill everything she knows about her race… Once I win.'

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Allis & Elaria

Allis and Elaria both could not describe the mixture of emotions felt upon seeing an actual dragon reveal themselves, but fear was definitely top among them.

Allis was terrified of being caught in a crossfire if the two fought, but she knew if Leo landed the first blow then he'd come out on top.

Elaria was torn between her mind telling her to run out of self preservation, while her heart kept her in the room, because she was unable to leave Leo alone with her.

As they both passively watched them argue, their fear subsided into confusion and then utter disbelief.

Allis was speechless, because Leo issued a duel to a dragon, only second in power to a minor god. She only hoped that they both didn't go all out, because she wanted to watch and not die from a stray spell.

Elaria was less shocked by the duel, and more baffled by how similar the two seemed to act. Neither backing down, both determined to see their way through an argument, their confidence and bluntness showing clearly in how they spoke, and how completely sure of themselves they seemed to be. But as similar as their personalities were, they seemed to give off an open dislike for each other.

Even though Allis and Elaria had very different takes on the situation, the both of them had the same thought as they followed the two most dangerous people they've ever met.

'The hell have I gotten myself into…'

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Fel

As they all walked across town to the field, Fel couldn't help but wear a smug expression. She was going to enjoy venting some of the stress and irritation that he caused her. From making an utter mess of her schedule, to his infuriating stubbornness, she couldn't wait to finally put the cocky bastard in his place.

‘I have to be careful so that I don't accidentally kill him though, he's not a dragon after all.’

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Leo

Leo couldn't help but notice the number of armed selarins patrolling the streets, which more or less confirmed what Fel said about taking the town.

As Leo turned to Fel, he furrowed his brow because he was still concerned about Glia. “Hey, Fel, was it? You said that your takeover was ‘Bloodless’, so what did you do with the guard?”

“At the moment we are trying to recruit as many of them as possible, and any who don't join will just be dispersed into the town, but we are going to hold on to the leader. It will prevent any unwanted reorganization of the guard, not that they would try since they believe that the academy is going to wipe us out anyway.” Fel casually explained.

Leo deadpanned a little. “And I'm guessing that you won't tell me how you plan to overcome that obstacle without getting directly involved? At least not until I win.” He finished with an assured tone.

Fel rolled her eyes. “Yes, of course I'll reveal all of our plans once ‘you’ve’ joined ‘us’, paper dragon.” She mocked.

Leo frowned at the insult, but wasn't at all actually hurt by it. ‘Ouch, double insult there, though both are factually incorrect. Maybe I should take my time with this, so I could get a general Idea of the limits of an actual dragon… And totally not to wipe that smug smile off her face…’

When they reached the gate, Leo was surprised to find Glia at her post, and he arched his brow at her presence. “Glia, you joined the rebels?” He asked in disbelief.

Glia cocked her head as confusion overtook her. “The what?”

“Didn't you go to the gathering outside the base?” Fel asked from behind.

Glia barked a laugh. “And spend hours either listening to a lecture or doing practice drills? Yeah, no. I'm content to watch the grass.” She responded while giving a nod to the open field.

Leo let out a deep sigh, and turned to Allis and Elaria. “Can you two explain the situation while we both go fight each other for the future of the kingdom?”

Glia fell back into a confused look. “Future of the kingdom? What ar-” Her words caught at the sight of Fel de cloaking, and Fel let out a chuckle while Leo shook his head as he sighed in exasperation.

Leo made sure that they walked farther along the tree line, to be far from his recent use of acceleration magic. When they finally reached a seemingly safe distance, Fel stopped to form the oath for the deal. All they had to do was shake on it while visualizing the intent for both of their sides of the deal.

Fel held out her hand. “So are you sure you want to do this? last chance to back out.” She offered, and sounded a little worried for his safety.

Leo smirked while meeting her grip. “Funny, I was about to offer the same.” He remarked while giving her a firm handshake.

A massive amount of mana pulled between them both, and Fel’s eyes grew wide as a bright light appeared around their hands for a few moments before dissipating. When it was finished, Leo looked back up to Fel, and saw that she wore a hard expression.

Her piercing gaze made Leo a bit concerned. “Uh, did it mess up?” He asked sheepishly.

Fel turned around and walked to a starting position. “No.” She answered harshly.

Leo was still not convinced. “Then what's wro-” He was cut off by Fel.

Fel seemed very determined as she readied into a firm fighting stance. “Let's just get this over with. Come at me when you're ready to begin.”

Leo didn't like the sudden shift in personality, as it meant she was taking him seriously now, but figured that it was for the best, since Leo wanted to know what dragons were fully capable of. So he also decided to hold off on using gravity magic on her, and was going to test a lot of the combat spells he cooked up out of boredom.’

Leo summoned a fireball knowing full well that she was probably immune, but wanted to verify all that he could. As soon as Leo let the ball loose at her, she bolted right into it toward him at an insane speed. Leo barely had time to react, as she went from sixty feet away from him, to just a few wide steps in seconds. He flung himself backwards into the air to put some distance between them, and not a moment too soon as she nearly grabbed him by the collar.

‘Fuck me! I've never felt like I've wanted to shit myself before, but that was def-’ Leo’s thought cut short when he saw wings phase onto her back, and she immediately took to the air toward him.

Leo sped away while he flung foot-long ice shards at her, hoping to slow her gaining speed. It was working for a little bit, as she dodged to avoid them, but that stopped when she phased in scales to cover her arms and long sharp claws to slice through his ice.

Leo swung back to the ground and pushed mana down into it, feeling the earth all around him, like it was a part of his body. When Fel torpedoed herself at him from the sky, he pulled up a massive two story arm and swatted her into the ground over a hundred feet away. There was an audible thud, and for a moment Leo hoped that he didn't actually hurt her, but that was a very short lived sentiment as she bulleted out of the mist of kicked up debris.

Leo winced a bit by the fact that she just shook off such a heavy attack. ‘Ok, pulling out some of my more advanced tricks…’

Leo transferred the thermal energy from the surrounding environment into the ground between him and Fel, creating a twenty foot wide, but shallow, pool of lava. Fel skidded to a stop just at the edge of the pool, and Leo could see the surprise of it written across her face.

Leo let out a breath that he'd been holding. ‘Oh thank god, I found the bar to impress her.’ He thought, but a manic smile crossed her face.

Leo could feel a massive amount of mana get used, and the pool grew as large lava tendrils started to emerge from it. ‘Oh, of course dragons can use lava magic.’ He mentally facepalmed.

Dodging a glob of lava flung by one of the tendrils, Leo looked between it and the pool of lava a little wide-eyed. “No no no no no, none of that now.” He remarked sternly.

Leo pulled all the thermal energy out of the lava, using it to help fuel a constant stream of fire directed at Fel. She just seemed more annoyed than hurt by it as she shrugged it off, and when the lava was gone she became a little confused, but then flung herself back towards him.

Leo floated himself an inch off the ground and immediately made the surrounding area frictionless. Fel slipped onto her stomach and slid right past Leo, who casually floated out of her path. Fell was not only unable to stand back up, but she yelled out in frustration as her body couldn't even attempt to lift itself up from the ground.

Leo scratched his chin while he became deep in thought. ‘Okay brain, think of a few more ideas while you still have time.’

Fel started to flap her wings to get off the frictionless ground, and once she was up she looked at Leo with a ‘very’ pissed off expression, so he dispelled the frictionless surface out of a bit of guilt.

Leo then figured that he should stop trying to run, so he cast an ultra thin form fitting, colorless magic barrier while imagining it's structure to be that of carbon nanotubes.

Seconds later Fel barreled into him, knocking him on his back as she straddled his stomach, and Leo locked the motion of the barrier around his top half.

“Yield!” Fel growled.

Leo made a show of considering her demand. “Mmm Nah” He said with a bit of sass.

Fel balled her fist and punched him in the face, but his head didn't budge.

Leo smiled, as the barrier didn't even dent. “You know, if you wanted to ride me all you had to do was ask.” He taunted.

Fel lightened to a shade of red, but then scowled as she delivered another punch, and this time Leo felt a small amount of pressure against his skin.

Leo frowned a bit. ‘Okay, that's a little scary…’ He thought a little worriedly.

As Fel pulled back her arm for another punch, Leo could feel her push a massive amount of mana into it and his eyes widened with fear. ‘And that, is fucking terrifying!’

Leo used gravity to yank himself out from under her right before she landed her insanely powerful blow, which shattered the ground, creating massive twenty foot cracks from the point of impact.

Leo furrowed his brow as he floated a bit off the ground, looking at the end of the crack leading from him to the impact crater. ‘I think I should end this soon…..’

Fel stared at Leo and wore conflicting emotions for a few seconds before she stood up and relaxed, then started to take in a long and slow breath that seemed to stretch on forever. As she continued to breathe in, it looked like streams of fire were rushing into her mouth.

It was then that Leo realized what she was doing, and that his position made it so that she wasn't in line of sight of the town. Leo could feel the hairs on the back of his neck stand, and a genuine feeling of fear fell over him.

“Nope.”

Leo lifted his temporary bar on using high level gravity magic, and created an ultra dense bubble that he ‘hoped to god’ would curve what was about to hit him.

Fel stopped her inhaling, and a massively bright glow emitted from her chest, and Leo decided to just add a couple hundred more G’s as well as creating a few layers of subzero air on the inside wall of the bubble.

Leo smiled. ‘Now I feel safe.’ He thought comfortably.

Fel let loose a massive beam of plasma that shot out from a small ball that was held just at the entrance of her mouth. The beam came out from the ball and stretched out to a diameter of fifteen feet, vaporizing everything in its path and scorching anything twenty feet on either side of it.

As the beam hit the gravity bubble, it enveloped the bubble completely and curved perfectly to its surface. Leo could feel the heat start to seep in, so he just refreshed the sub zero wall.

Leo frowned while shielding his eyes from the surrounding bright light. ‘Less safe, but still safe…’

When the beam stopped, Leo surveyed the damage around him. A ten foot wide and five foot deep impression of molten earth led from Fel all the way to him. Turning around to gauge how far the beam continued, Leo’s jaw dropped when he saw it stretch beyond his sightline.

Leo's expression fell into concern at the excessive use of power. ‘Wait, did she intend to kill me there…..’ He thought while he turned back to Fel, and she was visibly exhausted with an utter look of disbelief.

Pursing his lips, Leo decided that he'd seen enough. “Yup, I'm done with this.” He remarked emotionlessly.

Dropping the protective barriers, Leo pulled Fel over to him with gravity, and she struggled to break free the entire way. He completely restricted her movement when she got to him, and she had a look of utter terror.

Leo wore a blank expression as he crossed his arms.. “So… You tried to kill me… Anything you have to say for yourself?” He asked as if he was talking to a child.

Fel shrunk at the question. “Sorry?” She answered sheepishly.

Leo smiled wide and placed his hands on his hips. “Alright, I'll accept your apology…. After you yield.”

“I… Yield….”

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