Asterios lay on his back with his two beastfolk mates snuggled to his sides, caressing his chest. They were all still breathing a bit roughly after finishing their celebration just recently. Countless beads of sweat decorated their skin, glistening in the low light coming from sporadic torches fitted with magical crystals.

Something tickled his right cheek, making him turn his head towards Miria. The adorable panthergirl’s face was still covered by a weak tinge of rosiness as she stared at him with a warm smile.

He smiled back at her and leaned in, starting to brush his nose against hers. Miria quickly mirrored the motion while purring quietly and they both chuckled softly. Her eyes skipped towards his lips and she pushed herself forward to peck them lovingly. She was unable to describe the bliss she felt at the moment.

“Is it weird… that I’m starting to think more… about having your kittens, Master?” Miria asked shyly.

Asterios moved his hand to her hair and scratched behind her cute ear.

“Of course not. Especially after we have learned that I can cross our realms. Maybe our children would be able to do it too, if not right from the start then at a later time.”

A sweet smile formed on her lips as she nuzzled her face into Ast’s neck. She planted a few gentle kisses on it and withdrew herself to face Asterios again with an even bigger blush.

“I think I will wait until you get a few more companions, Master. That way, I won’t worry so much about not staying by your side all the time. I’m sure my parents would gladly help take care of our kittens when I wouldn’t be around, but…”

He pressed his finger over Miria’s delicate lips and followed it with a tender kiss.

“I understand. I’m sure I would love to spend as much time around them as I could too. At least that’s how I feel. I haven’t been a father ever, hahaha.”

Miria giggled and nodded. Something poked Ast’s left cheek this time and he turned around to see his vulpine mate lying belly down while supporting her chin on her hands, staring at him with a knowing smile as her six bushy tails made mesmerizing waves.

“What about little foxes, fufufu~?”

Asterios switched himself onto his left side and began caressing Selene’s beautiful, slender back.

“If that would make you happy, perhaps.”

She sighed delightfully while staring into his crimson eyes. They started bringing their mouths closer, but just moments before their lips connected, Selene rolled herself onto his chest, grabbed his wrists, pinning them above his head, and dove in for a passionate kiss.

Asterios let her shower him in affection while enjoying the feeling of her supple breasts brushing against his skin. After Selene released his arms, he wrapped them behind her waist and they continued to make out for a few moments longer while embracing each other.

Selene broke their exchange first. “You are already making me happy like every other day, my Lord. I think that would be way too much happiness for me to handle right now, fufufu~ I will wait until my limits increase a little.”

He nodded, pecked her lips once more, and they sat up. Selene wiggled her chest a little while chuckling softly, causing her enticing breasts to sway in front of him. Asterios smiled at her flirtatious behavior and gladly welcomed the little show, brushing his hands over her slim sides.

Miria pressed her own breasts into him from behind and her head popped over his shoulder.

“Oh. Looks like your marks grew,” she commented cheerfully.

Asterios moved his eyes to Selene’s arms and noticed the change too. The dark patterns seemed to cover more of her limbs now, extending somewhere to the middle of her upper arms.

After the fox lady curiously brought her legs to the front, accidentally exposing her girly parts to them as a side result, they could confirm the same happened to the circuits on her calves, which now reached Selene’s thighs.

“Seems like everyone had some gains recently,” Asterios added with a smile.

Selene glanced up at him and chuckled. “And thanks to whom do you think it was? I’m starting to worry about what will happen to us when you become a powerful Dragon.”

“You will become powerful Spiritual Fox and Pantherkin, obviously. Everything that’s mine is yours.”

She shook her head with a soft sigh. “Weren’t Dragons supposed to be prideful and greedy?”

“Beats me.” He shrugged. “Ask someone who actually grew up around them. I’m pretty much a stray. If I even count as a Dragon and not a half or something.”

“I’m sure Master is a real True Dragon!” Miria exclaimed with sheer confidence and glee while nuzzling her cheek into his. “That bonding ritual of Dragons has worked so there’s no way you aren’t!"

He left a peck on the lips of his enthusiastic mate and nodded. “I guess.”

“Alright. Do you mind if I test something out, my Lord?” Selene asked.

“Of course not.”

She smiled, left one more kiss on his cheek, and stepped away from the bed. Taking a deep breath, Selene made a triangle with her fingers in front of her stomach while facing them. Her spiritual energy began leaking into the air.

Soon, she raised her legs and started levitating in a lotus position. Her external circuits gradually glowed brighter and brighter. After a few short moments, a powerful explosion of mana surged from Selene, surrounding her body with a clearly visible blue aura shaped like a flame. It made her look like she was the little spark in the middle of the lit-up candlewick.

Five of her tails shook like in a fierce wind, with the sixth one slowly beginning to match them. When all of them finally synchronized with each other, another strong wave of energy burst from Selene, sending a pillar of light into the ceiling as the thick aura intensified.

Miria stared in awe at the beautiful spectacle, hugging Asterios from behind. They could feel the insane amounts of mana filling the air in the underground apartment. It was obvious Selene was trying to properly consolidate her advancement right in front of their eyes.

Three minutes later, the powerful energy was sucked back into Selene’s body and she slowly landed on the ground. She made a deep sigh while opening her eyes, which flickered with profound light.

Examining her body with her Spiritual Sight, she smiled to herself and turned her face towards the other two. Just as she opened her mouth to speak, loud thudding reached their ears. Both she and Asterios inherently knew someone was bashing the Golden Gate with their fist, seemingly becoming aware of what was happening to it through some mental connection.

They could also send an order for it to open with their minds and that was exactly what Asterios did. In a flash, a visibly concerned Lerisse rushed into the chamber, stopping at the doorstep while in the fifth stage of her Awakening.

“Are you guys alright? What was that explo—”

She gasped when her eyes landed on Selene and her hands shot to cover her mouth. In complete silence, Lerisse strode towards her friend and stood in front of the white-haired fox lady while completely stunned.

Selene smirked at the Matriarch and turned around to show herself from the side, taking a slightly suggestive pose. But, Lerisse's eyes completely ignored it and focused on the six fluffy clouds gently swaying above her friend’s butt.

“Heavens… This is inconceivable… You just barely jumped from third to fifth and you have already surpassed everyone again?” Lerisse muttered to herself in awe while examining Selene’s tails. “Ronye will faint at the spot when she hears about this…”

As if being called, the young Foxkin girl appeared in the room, most likely following the Matriarch after she had run away in the middle of their conversation. But, contrary to Lerisse, the first thing Ronye’s eyes registered was the naked Asterios sitting on the bed with Miria glued to his back, both looking at her.

Her gaze subconsciously shot down Ast’s toned stomach and locked on the man’s mighty spear standing tall and proud between his legs, causing Ronye’s eyes to widen. Even the owner was still surprised by his vigor recently but they all had assumed it was connected to his draconic heritage. Just another useful boon.

Ronye blushed immediately and tried her best to quickly avert her gaze, but, unfortunately, it moved straight to Selene and Lerisse. Her face paled instantly when she realized that the cause of the powerful spiritual spike that had brought the Matriarch here was Selene herself as six tails decorated the fox lady’s back.

The Matriarch noticed her in the corner of her eye while still circling her friend.

“Oh no. Ronye! I told you to stay in my office!”

The young foxkin jerked. “I’m sorry, Matriarch! You looked very distressed and I thought you might need my help… But… I think I was mistaken…”

Her eyes kept jumping towards Ast’s waist repeatedly as she tried to look at the Matriarch. Something just kept urging her to take just one more glance, just for a bit longer. She hadn’t gotten to see a fully erect male member from up close yet.

Lerisse sighed and rubbed her temples. “I’m sorry, Asterios. I should have made sure I wasn’t followed. I will have Ronye swear to keep this a sec—”

She finally noticed Ast’s and Miria’s state too and also couldn’t stop herself from taking a peek at his nether regions, pausing for a moment. Since the situation was slowly turning a little awkward, Asterios quickly resummoned his spiritual attire, to the dissatisfaction of Miria, who pouted at him for not being able to snuggle with his warm, naked back.

“Ekhm.” Lerisse cleared her throat. “As I was saying, this place and its contents will remain a secret, isn’t that right, Ronye?”

“Yes! I swear to the Heavens to keep everything… I saw… only to myself!” the silver-haired girl promised, briefly shooting another glance at Ast’s crotch, now fully covered.

Asterios stood up from the bed with Miria still latched onto his neck and helped her onto the ground. The slightly embarrassed panthergirl pecked his cheek and hastily trotted towards the desk on the other side of the apartment to grab her clothes, joined by Selene around halfway.

He watched his beautiful mates from behind for a second and turned to the Matriarch. “It’s fine. We must have made you worried when Selene consolidated her stage.”

“I thought you had triggered some kind of a defense mechanism. I would never suspect the source to actually be her. She’s growing so fast. You are truly a god amongst men.”

A wry smile painted Ast’s lips. “Maybe not a god but I guess a Dragon can have some positive effects on his mates too, thanks to the powerful source, or Dragon’s Heart as someone called it.”

“D-Dragon?!” Ronye shouted in shock.

Meeting Ast’s eyes and seeing his gleaming crimson irises with deep black vertical pupils again she finally understood why they seemed so mighty and ferocious. Those weren’t just some fierce eyes of a random beastfolk but belonged to the fabled mystical creatures of many legends.

Lerisse chuckled. “I had the same reaction when Selene told me not that long ago. It was hard to believe but you opening the Dragon’s half of the gate confirmed that possibility. Now, we should get back. I apologize for disrupting your time together.”

“Everything is alright, Lerisse. I’m sure my Lord doesn’t mind, fufufu~” Selene replied, coming closer with the blushing Miria behind her, both girls dressed up.

“I should have materialized my clothes earlier.” He smiled while rubbing the back of his head.

“We all got a little confused amidst this chaos. I’m glad our presence and gazes didn’t bother you,” the Matriarch said with a barely noticeable rosy shade on her fair cheeks.

“Well, I can always just beat the sight out of Ronye’s memory if it did.” Selene cracked her knuckles. “What do you say about a little spar, my dear junior?”

Ronye’s face lost its color again. “I-I don’t think I’m your opponent, S-Senior…”

Selene chuckled and left the room with the other two fox ladies, informing her friends mentally that she would like to exercise her strength a bit after the advancement. Miria and Asterios stayed behind to tidy the desk and bed up a little while enjoying each other’s sweet company.

For the next few days, they studied some more of the man’s notes, mostly focusing on the parts related to Dragons and Summoning Magic, leaving the research about external spiritual circuits for later. They didn’t want to neglect Svertaniel and Silvia for too long.

That short time after the two women had become Ast’s mates in the truest sense of the draconic traditions served as their brief honeymoon. They learned more about their bond together and shared their essences with each other in plenty. Selene really wanted to find out the limits of Ast’s boosted vitality but he could pretty much match theirs now and they didn’t try to go too far.

They were curious about the possible effect the non-romantic draconic connection could have on Umbra and their shadowy companion agreed to enter the ritual meant to register him as Ast’s servant. He didn’t mind it and was fascinated with the prospect himself.

Since saliva or the other liquid were out of the question, Asterios shared his blood with Umbra’s shadowy form. One of those was required for any stage of the Dragon’s Coupling Bond to manifest, and how Grea and Tina had triggered it with a kiss.

After the ritual, Umbra felt a slight change in how much essence and mana he could draw from Asterios. It was much more potent and effective than just the Summoner’s bond. And there was no doubt these two enhanced each other too.

It allowed Umbra to quickly regain a part of his limited strength and raised the rate of his growth. But, as a small side effect, he now had Ast’s crest somewhere on his shadowy body just like the girls had their rings. In his raven form, it was located on the bird’s belly. Fortunately, it didn’t glow all the time but only when he drew on Ast’s mana.

Then, Asterios notified Svertaniel through Umbra and told the demon man they would be holding one more ritual and finally moving out. Svertaniel had supposedly gathered some interesting and useful rumors and promised to share them when they met so everyone agreed on the time and place.

Before heading to one of the remaining places Trish had pointed out to them, Asterios and the girls regrouped with Silvia outside of the Ashen Barrel’s walls. Miria beamed at the princess while waving and hugging Ast’s arm. They had spoken in the last week or two, of course, but it still felt like they had been away.

“You guys feel a bit different,” Silvia said, letting her gaze wander over the trio and the misty raven perched on Ast’s shoulder.

“Same goes for you. Perhaps thanks to everything that had happened, I can tell you are stronger,” he replied.

Silvia showed a soft, calm smile and closed her eyes. Soon, bright, orange flames materialized over her military uniform, taking the shape of burning plates that covered her long coat. A small, beautiful diadem hovered over her scarlet hair.

“Whoaaaa!” Miria marveled over the sight and clapped joyfully.

“It’s still not as good as Father’s, but I’m already proud of it,” Silvia opened her eyes and spoke.

“Amazing. Congratulations are in order. I’m sure the king would be overjoyed to see this. Do you want to let him know?” Asterios asked.

She shook her head. “No, thank you. It’s not necessary. I would like to pay Father a visit after I get more used to this. What about you guys, then?”

Selene left Ast’s side and stepped forward. Her eyes switched colors into white and six tails materialized behind her back. Her external spiritual circuits began glowing with blue light, penetrating the material of her sleeves and tights.

A big demonic phantom in the shape of a humanoid with a head of a fierce fox came into existence behind her back. It shrunk and shifted, phasing into Selene.

Soon, her arms and legs were covered in the familiar demonic gauntlets and greaves. But, additionally, she had now a full, translucent, blue spiritual armor on her, complete with chest piece, pauldrons, and reinforced plates over her dress. A transparent helmet with a long feather-like projection protected her head.

She smirked at Silvia with her hands on her hips.

“You weren’t able to do that before, were you?” the princess asked with a smile.

Selene didn’t have to answer for her to know. It looked like the fox lady was as proficient in her own kind of Aura Manifestation as she was, or even better.

Miria also took a step forward, capturing Silvia’s attention. The panthergirl hit her palm with her fist and started growling aggressively.

They watched Miria’s fur crawl up her body until it completely covered her arms, shoulders, and legs. Her shorts and vest hid the rest of the transformation but some fluffy fur peeked out from under the bottom part of her top, and from above her belt, onto her navel.

She finished with a wide grin too. “It might not look as impressive as Selene’s amazing demonic apparition but I’m a lot stronger and faster like this. This is a bit more than fifty percent of my bloodline drawn out.”

Silvia nodded, still smiling softly. “I’m happy for you two. I thought I was going to compete with Asterios but this feels nice too. Especially since your ability seems very similar to mine, Selene. Did you manage to practice that partial transformation of yours?” she asked Asterios.

“Master spent a lot of time studying our bond and helping us grow stronger so I think it should count as his effort rather than ours,” Miria suggested.

Asterios scratched behind her fluffy ears. “Thank you, Miria, but I, in fact, did. Would you like to see it?” He glanced at Silvia with a mysterious smile.

Both Selene and Miria looked at Asterios with slight confusion. He had practiced a bit, of course, but he had spent most of the time either with them or in the notebooks.

He chuckled at his mates. They couldn’t know he had chosen to train something very specific during the short moments the girls had been away or sleeping peacefully. It would be as much of a surprise to them as to Silvia.

The princess nodded with a curious spark in her bright topaz eyes.

Asterios walked back a little and took a slow, deep breath, closing his eyes. The spiritual energy in the air grew a bit denser as a faint crimson, smoking mist steamed from his body. He groaned as his face scrunched in pain and began releasing deep, quiet growls.

Miria and Selene gasped while Silvia’s mouth opened a little. They watched how two draconic wings gradually grew from Ast’s back, gaining in size until they were almost as big as he was. The dark crimson membranes and even darker scarlet skeleton gave off fierce and vicious vibes.

He finished with another deep breath and opened his crimson eyes. Miria could barely hold herself steady from excitement and it was a miracle she hadn’t launched herself at him already.

“Why didn’t you tell us you could make wings?!” she shouted, almost screaming at the top of her lungs. “Can you fly, Master? Please, tell me you can!”

Asterios smiled at her and waved his hand. She quickly crashed into his chest, nuzzling her face into it.

“There’s only one way to check that.” He moved his eyes between the other women. “See you two at the plains?”

He scooped the snuggly panthergirl up into a princess carry, crouched down, spread his newly formed wings wide, and shot into the sky with a mighty flap, leaving behind the fading voice of Miria, who screamed in excitement like a little girl.