Haru is walking through a forest and he stops at a large tree. Haru looks around.

"Where is he?" Haru asks as he looks around. "I know I'm an hour early, but he's usually here by then."

Haru's ears twitch and he looks up to the tree and sees a large red cat rest on a branch, looking down at him.

"Oh, hello Mr. Cat." Haru says as he waves. "Have you seen, Lord Smaug, by any chance?"

The red cat gains a smug face.

"How can a cat be Smug?" Haru asks.

Suddenly the cat poof and Smaug, in female cat-kin form, is sitting where the cat was.

"Lord Smaug?!" Haru yells.

Smaug laughs and he jumps down to Haru; changing into his regular form as he falls.

"I didn't know you could do that." Haru says.

"There's a lot you don't know about me." Smaug says in a smug voice.

"Well, the teachings that The Golden King church teach, tells us a lot about you."

"Kinda forgot that there's a religion about me." Smaug whispers then he slams his fists together. "Well, for your training today I've called in some help."

"What's the training today?" Haru asks.

Smaug:

"Magic?" Haru questions.

"Yeah, I called in some people that I know that know a lot about magic, since I can't teach about magic." Smaug explains. "I only know how to use magic, not how it works."

"So who'd you call in."

"DAD!" A female voice yells.

Someone jumps onto Smaug from behind. It's Megumin.

"Hello, Megumin." Smaug greets.

"Megumin that's not very lady-like." Another female voice says as she walks out from some bushes.

It's Morgan and she has her dragon features out.

"Hello, father." Morgan bows.

'Why is she so formal?' Smaug and Megumin question in thought.

"Um... Lord Smaug, who are these people?" Haru asks.

Megumin gets off Smaug's back and stands next to Smaug and Morgan stands on the other side.

"These are my daughters." Smaug then motions to Megumin. "This is Megumin, I adopted her after her village was burned down by an asshole when she was a baby." He then motions to Morgan. "And she's the daughter of one of the most powerful mages in the world."

Haru's jaw is dropped. "I didn't know you had kids!" Then he straightens up. "I'm in the presence of royalty!" He bows. "It's an honor to meet you."

Megumin nervously laughs while Morgan is indifferent.

"It's also nice to meet you." Megumin says.

Smaug looks at Megumin. "Is Ilulu still mad?"

Megumin nods. "She's still pretty mad, but she's calming down."

"Who's Ilulu?" Haru asks.

"Oh, one of my wives." Smaug says.

"Wow. Lord Smaug is so cool."

Morgan turns to Smaug. "Mother is also a little mad."

"Your mother's crazy." Smaug says.

"Hey! Don't speak ill of mother."

"Yeah, yeah."

"So why did you call us here, today?" Megumin asks.

"Well, my little friend here needs some magic training." Smaug says as he points to Haru.

"I'm not that much shorter than you." Haru points out.

"Hmmm, I guess I could make time to help out." Morgan says.

"Me too!" Megumin says.

"Great!" Smaug yells. "Cause we're going to be doing this for a week.

"Wait, what?" Morgan and Megumin question.

.

.

.

In an open field sits Haru with Morgan and Megumin sitting in front of him. Smaug is off to the side, sleeping.

"Okay, first we're gonna go over the three forms of mana." Morgan says.

"I thought there was only two?" Haru questions.

"Nope." Megumin says. "There's three. Raw Mana, Refined Mana, and God Mana."

"God Mana?" Haru questions.

Morgan nods. "Let's start with Raw mana. It's mana that's all around us, though we can't see it, without mana vision, it's all around us. The true form of mana that only a few experienced mages can use. Though it is dangerous to use in its raw form, it makes spells more powerful. Though if the spell goes wrong the consequences are bigger."

Megumin speaks up. "Next is Refined mana. It's the mana that our bodies naturally make. Our bodies take in the Raw mana and refine it so we can use it. Everyone's bodies have their own mana pools, that hold different amounts of mana. And everyone's bodies take a different amount of time to fully restore their mana pool."

"Then we move onto God mana. It's refined mana that's refined again, to put it simply." Morgan explains. "As its name says, God Mana is mana that only Gods can use. God's mana is a very powerful version of refined mana. The higher up the god's rank is the more powerful their god mana is. God mana can make a simple fireball spell into what feels like the sun. Now that we've gone over the three types of mana, what spells do you know?"

Haru puts a finger on his chin as he thinks. "Well, I know the flicker flame spell, the luminous spell and a simple create water spell."

"So a few of the basic adventurer spells." Megumin states and Haru nods.

"So what kind of spells do you want to learn?" Morgan asks. "We can teach you many different spells."

"Fireball!" Haru yells in excitement.

"Fire?" Megumin starts.

"Ball?" Morgan finishes. "Why such a simple spell? We can teach you spells that can change the tide of any battle."

"Because as a great wizard once said; 'Fireball solves everything.' So I want to learn it."

Morgan and Megumin look at each other then back to Haru.

"Why not Explosion?" Megumin asks.

"Or some illusion spells?" Morgan asks.

"Well, explosion is so loud it hurts my ears." Haru starts. "And I've tried to cast an illusion spell and it made my head hurt. And I already know Flicker Flame, it's just a very degenerated version of fireball."

Morgan sighs. "I'm almost as powerful as my mother and I'm teaching someone how to conjure up a fireball spell. This is so degrading."

Megumin looks over to the sleeping form of Smaug. "He knew this would happen, didn't he?" She looks back to Haru. "Well let's get started."

"Yes!" Haru yells.

Both Morgan and Megumin sigh in disappointment. 

.

.

Haru is holding his hand out as he tries to cast a fireball, his eyes are closed. Megumin and Morgan are behind him. Smaug is off to the side watching.

"Just imagine a flame in your hand." Megumin says.

"And when you do, condense it into a ball." Morgan says.

A flame flickers into the palm of Haru's hand and he begins to sweat.

"Don't lose focus!" Megumin yells.

"Don't be so loud." Morgan scolds Megumin.

The flame in Haru's hand flickers for a few seconds then disappears. "Aww, man. I almost had it."

"You lost focus." Morgan says as she glares at Megumin.

Megumin looks away and crosses her arms.

"Nice try Haru!" Smaug yells from his spot.

"Thank you, Lord Smaug." Haru yells back.

.

.

Smaug is eating a sandwich and suddenly an explosion goes off from the side and Haru flies past Smaug. Smaug stops eating mid bite and he looks over to Haru.

Smoke rises from Haru's left hand. "Ow."

"You okay?" Smaug asks.

"Yeah." Haru says as he looks at his burnt hand.

.

.

The gang is walking through the forest with Smaug in the lead.

"Where are we going dad?" Megumin asks.

"We're going to the beach!" Smaug says with some excitement. "Haru's training has been going well the past few days, so I thought we could take today off from training."

Haru rubs his bandaged left hand. "I'd like that."

"Hmmm, I guess a small break is well deserved." Morgan says.

The group walks out from the forest and see a beach.

"Yes, a beach!" Smaug yells as he runs towards the water and is about to jump in, but he sees a whale tail breach the surface not too far out. "You know what, I think I'll just rest on the beach."

Smaug sits down

"I didn't bring a swim suit." Megumin says.

"I got it." Morgan says and she casts a spell on Megumin and changes her outfit.

"I look cute." Megumin says.

Morgan casts the spell on herself and she changes into a swimsuit.

Haru is off to the side with a big blush on his face and he turns away. Suddenly he's hit with a spell and he's now in a pair of black swim trunks. 

"There, now we're all ready." Morgan says as she walks into the water.

Megumin grabs Haru's hand, causing him to blush more. "Come on, Haru. Let's go!"

"Right." Haru says.

Megumin and Haru run into the water.

Smaug falls onto his back and looks up to the clear blue sky. Smaug's mind starts to wonder. Then he looks at Megumin and sees her laughing as she falls onto her back and splashes some water on Haru.

Smaug then looks over to Morgan as she sits on a chair floaty with a cocktail in her hand.

Morgan puts on some sunglasses as she takes a sip of her drink.

Smaug then looks back up to the sky and he puts a hand on his aching scars. 

.

.

The sun is setting on the beach and we see Morgan sitting on a beach towel with a Chibi Dragon Smaug sleeping on her lap.

Megumin is using a floaty as she swims around. Haru walks over to Morgan and sits next to her.

Haru looks at Chibi Smaug. "I didn't know he could do that."

"There's a lot you don't know about him." Morgan says.

"He said the exact same thing a few days ago." 

Morgan is silent as she stares out to the setting sun. Then she turns to Haru. "What does the Church of The Golden King, teach you?"

"If we pray to Lord Smaug everyday, he'll protect our town from evil treats. To not like the name Dave. And that Smaug never loses."

Morgan gives a chuckle. "Never loses? Not exactly true."

"But all the ancient tomes and books we find, all state that every battle Smaug has participated in he won with great ease." Haru says.

"Well, there is a saying; 'History is written by the victor.' Smaug may have won all his battles, but not with a great ease. What did they tell you about when the Black Dog Mercenaries took over?"

"That Smaug saw the size of the mercenaries army, so he went into the shadows and built a bigger army while also taking out outposts at the same time."

Morgan just shakes her had. "What about the four hour war?"

"Smaug took down many enemies and slayed Scatha the Worm as he protected everyone."

"Really?"

"Is that not what happened?"

"Those may be very exaggerated of the actual events." Morgan states. "Though Smaug does say he always wins in the end. But many of the great battles my father has been through have put some trauma on him." Morgan rubs Chibi Smaug's head. "I think the battle year long battle he had with the Black Dog Mercenaries has messed with him. He may not show it, but I can feel it. He has this dark cloud hanging over him."

Haru looks at the sleeping Chibi Smaug.

.

.

The group is walking back home and Haru looks to Megumin.

Megumin looks at Haru.

But suddenly Smaug walks between the two with a not so happy face as he looks at Haru.

Haru's eyes widen and he looks away.

.

.

It's the final day of training and Haru manages to cast a fireball, then a bunch of ice spikes, then some lighting. He lowers his hands and he breathes heavily.

"Wow, you managed to learn a lot." Morgan says.

"Yeah, your learning speed is great!" Megumin compliments. 

"Thank you." Haru says as he wipes his brow.

Smaug walks over and pats Haru on the back. "You did good kid."

"Thank you, Lord Smaug."

Smaug turns to his daughters. "Thank you two for helping me out."

'Any time dad!" Megumin says with a smile.

"It was a pleasant experience." Morgan says.

"Well, I better take him home, or his mother will get mad at me." Smaug says. "She's kinda scary."

"Good bye, Dad/Father." Morgan and Megumin say.

Smaug and Haru begin to walk away.

"Next week will be a rest break for you." Smaug says to Haru.

"Why?" Haru asks.

"Well, I've got some important business to attend to and I'll be busy for a little bit."

"Can I ask what it is?"

"Nope."

"Oh. Well, I hope you have a good time."

"Yeah, I hope so too."

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08-18-2022

2240 words