I Shall Devour Everything

Mei said in a reassuring tone, "I will tell you once you are ready for it. Because right now you wouldn't understand it, and you won't be able to do it without sufficient resources as well, which we definitely won't get in a small place like this village."

"Oh, is that why most of the aspiring Defiers in our place go far away for training? And also participating in the trials by risking their lives?"

Mei nodded, "That's true. Because of how the world is being haunted by Dreadlings, the resources available to us are very scarce, because of which the good ones are quite expensive and hard to get. Once you get to bigger places, you will see how big the world is and at the same time learn how deadly it is as well."

"I guess Sister Mei must have really traveled around the world, huh?" Arion casually asked.

Mei smiled as she looked away momentarily, "Yes...I guess you can say that."

"You still didn't ask how people fight Dreadlings with such a small amount of prana in their hearts," Mei mentioned, hinting at the previous discussion they had.

"Ah, yes. How do they?" Arion curiously asked as he had the same question in the back of his mind.

"Once you are in the Prana Releasing Stage, you could be called a Defier since you at least learn to utilize prana by the end of that stage. But still, the prana in your heart won't be nearly enough for battles against any opponents stronger than you. So the solution is to have more prana," Mei answered.

"And how do we get that?"

"You need to create a Pranic Mark," Mei said with a subtle smile.

"Pranic Mark…" Arion mumbled as he remembered seeing these two words in his status screen. But he had no pranic mark based on his inner perception, which was nothing surprising after getting a vague idea about it now.

"But what is this mark actually?" Arion eagerly asked. He felt like the more he was learning about prana and Defity, the more interesting it seemed.

"It is called a mark since we are practically carving a special 'mark' on our heart. Pranic Mark is a very profound concept and is something that could be used for a lot of other things other than just increasing your pranic force, which is more like artificially increasing your pranic force," Mei explained.

"Artificially? You mean it has some drawbacks or something?" Arion asked with knitted brows.

Mei shook her head slightly, "No, there actually aren't any drawbacks other than the excruciating pain you would have to undergo each time you carve a pranic mark on your heart to increase your pranic force. The reason for this pain is because you are forcefully connecting your prana with a foreign pranic item that acts as a container to store prana."

"Item? Container? What do you mean?"

Mei answered, "In this world, there are some items that are either naturally formed or man-made ones that have the ability to store more and rejuvenate prana faster than what your body can. So since Defiers inherently had only a minute amount of prana in their heart, our ancestors found a way to 'merge' these items with our pranic heart by forming a connection of sorts."

Things began to click in Arion's mind as he asked, "And what are these items specifically?"

"They could be any man-made item or naturally formed ones. Since these days we are also able to make one of our own, they could come in various shapes and functionalities. But the most common ones we Defiers use are weapons."

"Can you show me yours?" Arion eagerly asked.

Mei smiled as she got up and placed her hand near her chest. 

Within just a moment, a faint white light momentarily flashed out from her chest as a beautiful green bow manifested in her hand magically.

Arion's eyes widened as he didn't expect the weapon to truly come out from inside someone's body. After all, how could something that big be stored inside her heart?

However, the bow's design and elegance distracted him as he could even feel a mystic aura from it.

This beautiful-looking bow seemed to have been flawlessly constructed from some silver wood. Its string seemed to be made from good quality silk, and its limbs were decorated with blade-like attachments and end in slight curves ornamented with obsidian-like tips.

The handle seemed to be wrapped in soft silk and decorated with mysterious symbolic writing.

In all, the bow looked like it came right out of a magical world indeed, and even a blind man could tell that it was no ordinary bow by just being near it. It felt as if the bow had a presence, radiating some kind of aura.

Arion was feeling more relaxed and refreshed, as if the bow was directing fresh air towards him.

"It's so exquisite...but where are the arrows?" He asked with sparkling eyes. He felt like he wanted a bow as beautiful as that.

After using a bow before and after he was captured by the Dreadlings, he felt like he could develop a knack for it. He loved how the bow and arrow offered one the ability to fight long range at a safer distance and also target precise areas of the enemy.

Most of all, he noticed how silent arrows were. He felt that he could stealthily kill enemies from afar, especially in a place where he could use cover.

His enemies, be it Dreadlings or humans, would never even know where he shot from.

Hearing his question about the arrows, Mei simply twisted her body around as she stretched the string of her bow.

Arion's brows raised as a white light escaped from her fingers and quickly took the form of a glowing white arrow that perfectly placed itself against the nook of the bow and the string, ready to be fired.

"Is that arrow made out of prana?" Arion asked with a dazed expression, seemingly mesmerized by how otherworldly the arrow looked, just like Mei. It looked no less than a divine arrow, especially considering the fact that someone as beautiful as a goddess was holding the arrow between her bow.

"That is right," Mei said with a radiant smile.

"Wow...it looks so beautiful just like you…" Arion muttered in a daze as he got up and got closer to Mei to get a better look at her bow and arrow.

Mei's eyes fluttered, clearly hearing his mumble, and felt her cheeks becoming warm.

He got even closer as his body brushed against her back and whispered in her ears, "Can I touch it?"

Mei's heartbeat began to rise as she nodded in a flustered manner.

Arion smiled as he enjoyed her fragrant scene while letting his arms caress over her willowy arms, feeling how soft and slender they were.

Mei couldn't help but take quick short breaths as she felt a tingling sensation in her arms as Arion's hands passed over them.

She didn't know if he was doing it on purpose or if she just imagined things. All she knew was that her thoughts were becoming quite chaotic now.

"B-Be careful. Don't connect to your pranic energy when you are holding my bow as it might cause a backlash," Mei warned after somehow collecting together her rational thoughts.

The last thing she wanted was her weapon to accidentally hurt Arion.

Arion was surprised and didn't know that such complications could arise if he connected to his prana.

So he simply caught the bow's handle and felt how sturdy and thick it was. But most of all, he could feel some kind of mystic energy from the bow seeping into his body, making him feel revitalized as if his body was being invigorated.

He felt that it had got to do something with the Light Aspect, especially considering that Mei had it.

"Ahn~"

Arion got distracted when he felt like he heard a soul-melting moan that could make a man imagine the wildest fantasies.

Mei grimaced as she shut her eyes, desperately praying that Arion didn't hear the sound she accidentally let out now.

Arion then realized that his lower part was pushing against something soft and silky, as if his little brother was going to get swallowed.

He then knocked his head inwardly when he realized that his naughty dragon was trying to trespass into uncharted territory.

He immediately pulled back his waist and acted as if nothing happened as he said awkwardly, "Ahem, a fantastic bow you got there. I felt like I was holding some magical weapon."

'Damn, why a boner now?' Arion regretted pressing himself up close to Mei since apparently, his body unconsciously reacted to her soft body before he could realize it.

He couldn't help but feel ashamed for coming off as a pervert yet again and hoped Mei wouldn't take offense.

This also made him realize that right after he woke up after surviving the attack of Dreadlings, he had been having increased libido, which was apparently quite going out of control.

'Is it because of my lizard bloodline??' Arion couldn't help but wonder.

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A/N: Please vote more to push this humble novel up the ranks :3