《(Small Exploits)》Chapter 46 - Start of Arc 2 (Selaria)
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Time skip : Seven Months :
It has been over half a year since the massacre in Telnar, and much had happened in that time, especially in regards to Selaria.
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Leo
Leo was sitting in his new favorite chair, one of those large soft cushiony types, while he attempted to read his book in the living room of his newly constructed manor home.
The construction would have normally taken over a year to complete just the main home, but once the guild found out who Leo was, they started pushing for the whole estate to be done within that time. So his main home was done in just four months, as they sent hundreds of people to help in the construction, though they halted as winter began to approach, and would start up again after it passed, but before leaving they managed to complete the guard and servants quarters.
Leo agreed to let the branch stay open in Telnar, but made it clear that slavery was outlawed, and that any slaves that stepped into their territory would be freed on the spot. Instead of the guild being angry or trying to renegotiate, they gave Leo the mountain next to his estate, which was originally split by the Elven border, just for letting them operate in Telnar. Even though he really wanted to kick them out of Telnar, he decided that he needed to pick his battles, and right now they were a major asset in helping with two of them, Selaria and the dragons.
Leo was deep in thought as he flipped through his journal. 'I want to make an airship, but like hell if I'm using gravity, not after seeing that bus implode... Or explode… Kinda hard to tell when it went off in high atmosphere. So I'll just have to use a float system... Damn that's going to be a- ' His mind was brought back to the present, as a loud and irritated cough sounded from the chair across from him.
An exhausted breath left Leo's lips, as he looked up from his much more interesting book. "Oh, you're still here? I thought you would have taken the hint." He remarked with a bit of his own irritation.
The old selarin high noble woman across from him huffed in indignation, her excessively flourished garments waving around with the gesture. "Is this how you address an ambassador of noble blood? It is no wonder this meager territory attracts so many of low birth. How you managed to partner with a dragon is beyond me." The noble finished with a tone that insinuated one of insult, but Leo simply stared impassively at the woman.
Leo closed his book, closed his eyes, and took in a deep breath. "Sixteenth." Leo sighed out with zero emotion, running a hand up to comb back his grown out dark brown hair.
While the noble was confused by the remark, the faint traces of a sneer was still present on her face. "Excuse me?" She questioned with condescension.
Leo leaned back in his chair, completely done with constantly explaining that it wasn't Fel who was responsible for repelling the inquisitors, or destroying the academy. Apparently, Leo's message was subjected to ‘telephone’, as people thought that since a dragon was there, then she must have done it all. So every person who came to visit ‘Fel’s’ estate, assumed everything was her doing and treated her like royalty, while either treating him like her squeeze or receptionist.
Once more he closed his eyes and took in a deep breath, as his patience for the woman in front of him ended the moment she opened her mouth. ‘I can't fathom why I’m even trying to correct these fucks… In fact, the only reason Fel’s not doing it, is because I walked in on her breaking the arm of person zero. And knowing how alike we are, I can only imagine that it was because she was sick of them constantly insulting me. It was fun at first to make them piss themselves by rocketing them a few miles in the air, but now it's just annoying to hear them speak words… God I think I'm actually losing brain cells...’ Leo finished his mental rant, while all the effort to even waste an explanation had left him.
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Leo looked at the noble with a pure ‘no fucks given’ expression, as he could not find the will, or the fucks, to give any more. "You are the sixteenth person to essentially say, to my face, that I am a bitch. And frankly, it's no longer funny to prove you stuck up ass-hats wrong. So here's the deal, since you already know my demands, or else you wouldn't be here, you are going to get up, get the fuck off ‘my’ property, and tell the next person who will inevitably come here, to go fuck themselves."
The noble woman scowled at Leo, and stood up in a rage as she held a hand behind her back.
‘Christ, I think you could give Yez a run for her money with how subtle you're being… I wonder what she's up to?’ He thought with slight amusement, and double checked that his ultra thin carbon tubed structured mana shield was still up, as after the first assassination attempt he chose to keep it up at all times.
“You are nothing but low born filth, how dare you command your bet-” The noble's words were cut short, when her ‘hidden’ blade was cut short, as it broke clean off it's hilt when it struck Leo’s invisible skin tight shield.
Leo smiled at the wide eyed woman. “And congratulations, because of the sixteen people to insult me directly, you are the fourth to try and kill me. So you get a prize!” He stood to applaud the very dumb selarin while the large viewing window swung open, and she was sent flying all the way to the remains of the academy.
An audible sigh could be heard from the doorway, and Leo turned to see Elaria in a loose dressing gown with her arms crossed. “You know they're just going to keep sending them until they either convince or kill you.” She remarked as she walked over to him, her hips swaying a little exaggeratedly as she did so.
Leo pinched the bridge of his nose, dreading yet another ‘ambassador’ coming to ‘negotiate’. “Well if they keep sending people like that, then they are nowhere near desperate enough to send someone competent.” He finished with irritation, while his mind was torn between relieving some stress with Elaria, or thinking about the continued cause of said irritating stress.
Not soon after Leo's debut in Selaria, the merchants guild had pulled entirely out of the shocked kingdom, closing all of its branches and liquidating all of the assets it held there. What's more, the Dwarven and Elven kingdoms also condemned the massacre and decreased trade with them, saying that it was in response to killing the merchants from their kingdoms. And as soon as the two giants took such a stance, every other allied kingdom followed suit, essentially isolating Selaria.
Even though they all openly condemned Selaria’s actions at Telnar, Leo knew that it was all just political maneuvering, but Leo would take full advantage of the neutrality he gained between the two giants, as well as fleecing the guild as much as possible, since with the market for enchanted items being way over priced, Leo made deals worth thousands in gold, which was quickly making Telnar an economic powerhouse for trade.
As Selaria fell into economic collapse, thousands migrated from their lands to seek work elsewhere, work that was readily available in Telnar. Which worked out really well since Leo was pouring money from his dealings with the guild into the town, which was spiraling it into the beginnings of an insane economic boom.
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When Elaria reached Leo, she wrapped her arms around him and pressed herself against his front, her cool scaled body swaying them both slightly as they embraced. They shared a quick kiss before resting their foreheads against each other, still rocking one another back and forth in calming motions. “Well don't stress about it too much. I don't like to see you get so worked up by a few dried up sleeves.”
Leo smiled as he enjoyed Elaria’s presence.
Over the last couple of months, Elaria had not just found her footing when it came to her feelings, but had tuned in more to the feelings of others, with Fel having a small hand in her progress. And slowly Leo's own emotions had deepened for her, as all of his support was met with an even more eager and attentive partner. Especially during his night time episodes, as it took nearly two months for his nightmares from the massacre to stop, something that logically he could get past, but emotionally was deeply injured by.
Though he had to admit that physically he was somewhat frustrated with her restraint for months, as she was still only edging them both on as she grew accustomed to her emotions, never going as far as actually having sex. But still, having little moments like this was more than enough for him, if it was enough for her, as he fell genuinely for her as she learned how to support another person emotionally.
Elaria pulled away slightly, and looked into Leo's eyes while placing a hand on his cheek, and her large pools of light amber eyes calmed him as he became lost within them. They both stood like that as each others breathing started to quicken from the physical and emotional desire to give themselves to one another. Leo expected her to either pull away before they both tripped the boundary, or they would 'relieve' each other without the full experience, but Leo was surprised to see her let slip her gown and start pulling him toward their room. And she wore a lustful desire that told him that she was finally ready to give in, and fully experience each other's feelings for one another physically, now that she felt ready emotionally.
Leo was both proud of her for coming so far, as well as more aroused than at any other point that he felt with her, but it wasn’t that of just wanting sex. He wanted them to give each other to one another on a much deeper level, and they were finally going to-
"Lord Le- I mean Leo!" The voice yelling frantically for him down the hall felt like glass being shattered, as his deeply intimate moment with Elaria was all but ripped from him, and she seemed to be of the same mind.
Not moments later and the offending intruder showed themselves, one of his hired guards, and she had a look of abject terror plastered across her face. "Leo, there ar-" Leo raised a hand to halt the woman.
Leo pulled Elaria close, running a calming hand across her side as they both glowered at the woman. "Look, who ever you are, if you deal with whatever the problem is yourself, I'll fuck your brains out later. I'm in the middle of something way more imp-" The guard cut him off.
"Over fifty dragons are hovering above the estate!" She yelled, her words submerged in an abyss of fear.
Leo could not suppress an eye twitch at the one thing that he had been expecting to show up since he revealed himself, just now choosing to confront him. He felt Elaria pull away from him and sigh, while she tightened the belt on her gown. "Not happening today, isn't it...." He questioned with a level of dejection that he could not begin to describe, while Elaria shook her head with an apologetic look as she began to take her leave.
Leo scowled at the ground, before he stomped outside to relieve his stress in a more violent way. When he walked out onto the porch he was met with the cold chill of the winter air, and the sight of a few large carriages parked outside his home, most likely from the noble he sent on a short trip to see his work.
An impressed whistle sounded from his right, and he turned to see a heavily dressed Glia leaning over the railing, her arms folded as she thoughtlessly tapped the tip of her wooden foot on the floor. “Go get’em champ.” She remarked with a smile, but Leo could see the slight uncertainty in her blue eyes as she looked back out across the estate.
Tracing her gaze, Leo saw a cluster of dragons flying above the center of the estate, as well as a very crossed looking Fel on the ground below.
Leo casted a frictionless spell on his feet to skate over to Fel, which was his new preferred method of travel while on his flat estate grounds.
Fel turned to regard Leo with a near equivalent look of irritation. "Oh look who finally showed up, was the noble bitch really that entertaining?" She asked sarcastically.
Leo stepped into kiss Fel deeply, the affection more for releasing each other's pent up emotions in regard to the situation. "No, she's probably shivering in front of Rak’s statue by now, but there should be a few mages around to pick her up. Also, I'm going to make you bed ridden for the rest of today, after I deal with… This…" He finished with a frown, while his eyes pierced daggers into the crowd in the sky.
Fel's eyes widened with a smile, but then frowned when she considered how angry he was. "Did Elaria finally?..." She trailed off worriedly, and with a simple nod from Leo, she winced and looked at the dragons above with genuine pity.
Leo stepped forward with his arms held wide to address the three dragons flying closer to the ground. "So where the hell have you been? Because I was expecting you chuckle fucks to confront me for months!" He berated the crowd loudly, but their focus seemed to be fixed entirely on Fel.
Leo spun around to Fel with a look of disbelief, because he was being completely ignored. "Are you serious right now!?"
Fel sighed exhaustedly, and looked at the center dragon. "Could you repeat yourself for my paper dragon, he's a bit sensitive about not getting enough attention." She finished with a smug expression.
With a loud facepalm, Leo's hand ran down his face in frustration. "You know what, you just earned yourself an entire week of being fucked into a puddle, so don't complain when you're mostly stuck in bed for the next few days!" He declared loudly, while Fel snickered as she looked up at the crowd.
Leo frowned and traced her gaze back to the intruders to see that all the women were staring at him with lust and intrigue, while some of the men were glowering in disgust. 'I'm so done with today...'
The apparent leader of the group held the same look as the rest of the women for a few moments, but her stern visage rebuilt itself. "Fel'aristriza Quitial'tis, the council requests your presence. You may decline, but we are confiscating your summon, and will be establishing an academy within your territory. Resist in any way, and you will be executed as a traitor to the council." The dragon declared with a disciplined tone.
'Confiscate… Ya, I can see why she's a little peeved. Oh, and given their attitude toward me, all these dragons are for her, since they probably think that I gave Fel knowledge to do what ‘I’ actually did… I fucking hate rumors...'
Fel picked at the tip of her horn, while her expression was that of complete disinterest. "Well I obviously decline, and as for the other two things..." She paused to turn on her heel, then started to walk a safe distance away from them. "You're up Leo, you wanna make a proper statement, here's your chance." She remarked while giving him a thumbs up after taking a seat on the ground.
Leo blanked at Fel. "God, I'm such an ass..." Leo jabbed indirectly.
Fel grinned as she leaned back on her hands. “Ya, I know I am.” She jabbed back playfully, earning an unsuccessfully suppressed smirk from Leo.
Leo shook his head and sighed before turning his attention to the floating irritations. "Alright there seems to be a missun-" he was cut short by the leader.
"This went smoother than I thought, take him." The leader ordered her subordinate, as she tilted her head toward Leo with mild uninterest.
As the said dragon flew down and casually walked up to him, Leo let out a not entirely disappointed sigh. 'So much for talking softly.' He thought with pursed lips, as he held a hand out toward the manor, and right before the dragon grabbed him, his staff flew out from the building into his hand.
The dragon's face wore one of confusion for only a split second before Leo swung his staff like a golf club into the trespasser, sending the poor man rocketing through a gap in between all the flying dragons and arcing back down somewhere out of sight.
All the dragons slowly turned from the direction of where the man was sent, back to Leo, and all of their expressions were that of shock.
Leo was standing with a hand on his hip and the staff over his shoulder, while wearing a shit eating grin. "Attention dip-shits, just to be crystal clear, 'Fel' is 'not' the one in charge, and a large part of me is 'really' envious of that."
A loud cheer sounded from behind, and Leo rolled his eyes before continuing. "So, sorry to disappoint you, but all of you will be leaving empty handed today. And if any of you dare mess with Telnar, I will not hesitate to give Rak a friend.”
The leader scowled at Leo, her face that of a sneering disgust. “Scenario four!” She yelled, and all the dragons spread out loosely in the air.
It only took moments to recognize what they were all doing, as each one was sucking in a familiarly long breath. “Oh no you don't, I just got settled in here.” He remarked as he used gravity to slam all of them to the ground, creating small craters in the compact dirt.
Leo lined all of the dragons up in front of him, while heartlessly dragging them all through the dirt as they were brought to him. He walked up to the leader, who, like everyone else, was completely immobilized, their arms to their sides as they were as straight as a plank with their wings folded in.
Leo frowned at the dragon, but then a slightly amused expression crossed his face. “So, you attempted to kill me. Do you have an-” His call back was interrupted by Fel yelling a critical ‘really?’ from behind. “Fine!” He yelled back as he pulled a tree out from the forest for his hopefully enlightening demonstration.
Flying up over his audience next to the floating tree, Leo looked over the wide-eyed formation. “Okay, now that I have your undivided attention, let me explain to you all about how the rumors of my abilities have been ‘greatly’ under exaggerated.” He paused to let out a chuckle. “Now I seem to have made two mistakes, the first one was relying on college students to reliably pass on information, and the second was not going to the council myself and snapping away their building, like this.” With a snap of his fingers, the tree bled away into nothing, and all of his audience just sunk further into visible shock and fear.
Leo floated down closer to the small crowd, directing his attention to the leader, but speaking loudly for everyone to hear. “So before I let you all go, I want to make it clear that though I may not be a god, my abilities are on the level of one. And in light of that clarification backed by my demonstration, I'd like you to deliver a simple message to the council.” He smiled broadly while releasing his spell and opening his arms wide.
“Fuck off.”
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