My Dragon King System-Chapter 342: After 14 Days

"Two weeks! Two whole weeks and you all have nothing!"

King Oberon’s voice echoed through the council chamber as he slammed his palm against the round table.

The eight guild masters of Dragonhold and Grand Magus Talen were in tense silence, with each one avoiding direct eye contact with their king. 𝐟𝐫𝕖𝗲𝘄𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝕧𝐞𝚕.𝕔𝕠𝐦

"Fourteen more days from now and the Holy Grail War begins, and yet we have nothing on the champions of the kingdoms across the seas!"

Oberon was speaking of the other continents, the lands beyond Valaross. Those were the true unknowns and threats he couldn’t measure or prepare for.

"Your Grace, if I may—" Talen began, raising one hand.

"No, you may not." Oberon cut him off sharply. "You all should leave my presence."

The room fell silent.

"Leave now!" he yelled again as his frustration boiled over.

Slowly, the guild masters and the grand magus rose from their seats.

Elena sighed and shook her head as she walked toward the door. The others followed, filing out of the chamber one by one until only Oberon remained.

The king paced the length of the room, and after a moment the door opened again.

Thamoryn stepped inside, closing it gently behind her. She watched the king pace for a moment, saying nothing.

Finally, she spoke. "Husband."

Oberon stopped but didn’t turn toward her.

"I understand your concerns," Thamoryn continued in a calm voice. "But you’re being a bit unrealistic with your request here."

"What?" Oberon turned sharply to face her with disbelief on his face.

Thamoryn walked closer. "Gathering information from other kingdoms within Valaross would take weeks. The kingdoms across the seas? That would take months, perhaps longer. There’s no way they could possibly have that kind of intelligence within the one month we’ve had to prepare for the Grail War."

Oberon replied, "No. They’re just incompetent. If you were still Grand Magus, you would have had something for me by now."

He shook his head. "Till this day, it will never make sense to me why you chose to step down from that position."

Thamoryn smiled at that. "Like I told you then, I’ve never been a wife before. I got the opportunity to do it, and I chose to do it right."

Oberon sighed, and after a moment he said. "True. Maybe I’m just being paranoid."

He turned back toward the window, staring out at the city below. "I just don’t want Dragonhold being in any disadvantaged position."

Thamoryn stepped up beside him. "You’re worried about the other continents. What about the kingdoms right here in Valaross?"

Oberon shook his head. "They don’t worry me. Even in the scroll we received from Eden two days ago, the structure for the battle is still the same. The champions of each continent will go against the champions of the others in the first stage."

He gestured vaguely. "In that first stage, our representatives from Dragonhold will learn what they need to from the other kingdoms we’ll be allying with."

Thamoryn listened, then tilted her head thoughtfully. "In a sense, can we not apply the same logic to the kingdoms across the seas? We’ll also be learning about them during the war."

Oberon sighed heavily. "It’s not the same."

He turned to face her fully now. "It’s true the Grail War won’t end in one day. But eliminations start that day. Valaross as a whole could be eliminated if we’re not ready."

Thamoryn scoffed lightly and reached out to take his hand. "Give us some credit. Within this city are some of the strongest mages. And somehow you expect our own continent to be eliminated on the first day?"

Oberon’s gaze dropped to their joined hands. Then, slowly, he pulled his hand away and walked toward the balcony overlooking Dragonhold.

Thamoryn watched him go but said nothing more. She knew when to push and when to let him work through his thoughts on his own.

And right now, it was just his paranoia talking.

She turned and left the chamber quietly, leaving him alone with his worries.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

———

Inside the castle of the dragon god, there was chaos...

Tristan was hovering near the ceiling, with his tiny dragon wings flapping about. His baby fangs were visible in a wide grin as he bobbed through the air, giggling.

"Tristan! Come down here right now!" Laela called from below.

The baby responded by doing a wobbly barrel roll, laughing harder.

Then Andrea suddenly flew away from Arianna’s grip and joined Tristan.

Her own wings sprouted as she rose and her red eyes sparkled with mischief as she circled around Tristan.

"Andrea, no!" Arianna shouted, taking several quick steps forward as if she could somehow reach her daughter from the ground.

Both babies giggled and flew higher, weaving between the massive pillars that supported the ceiling.

Rin rushed into the hall from a side corridor, alerted by the shouting. "What’s going on?"

"They’re flying!" Aeris said, pointing upward.

She’d been trying to coax Andrea down for the past few minutes without success.

Innis jogged in from another doorway, stopping short when she saw the scene. "Oh no."

Laela and Arianna exchanged a glance, then both took flight themselves. Arianna could lighten her weight till she could maintain it for flight and Laela was still using a levitation spell.

But the moment Tristan saw his mother coming, he squealed with delight and flew in the opposite direction. Andrea did the same when Arianna drew close, thinking this was all a wonderful game.

"This is not playtime!" Laela called out as she banked around a pillar, trying to intercept her son.

Tristan giggled and dove under her outstretched arms, looping back toward the center of the hall.

Andrea followed, her laughter mixing with her brother’s as they darted past their frustrated mothers.

Rin covered her mouth to stifle a laugh. "They think you’re playing with them."

"I can see that," Arianna said through gritted teeth as she chased Andrea in circles.

Their growth over the past two weeks had been remarkable.

Unlike regular babies, Tristan and Andrea had developed at an accelerated rate. They now appeared to be several months old rather than just two weeks.

From below, Innis shouted, "Andrea, your mother said come down!"

Andrea responded by doing a little spin in midair, clearly enjoying the attention.

——

Outside on one of the castle’s wide balconies, Uriel walked over to where Aiden stood overlooking the ground below.

Katherine and Piers were locked in combat, with their swords clashing in rapid exchanges.

Uriel stopped beside Aiden, glancing sideways at him. "Your children are wreaking havoc inside."

Aiden chuckled without turning. "I know."

Then he snapped his fingers.

Inside the hall, both Tristan and Andrea suddenly felt an invisible force take hold of them. It wasn’t rough or frightening, just firm and guiding.

Their wings stopped flapping as the force gently brought them floating downward toward their mothers’ waiting arms.

Laela caught Tristan as he descended, pulling him close to her chest. "You little troublemaker."

Tristan grinned up at her, completely unrepentant.

Arianna scooped Andrea out of the air, holding her daughter tight. "No more flying without permission, young lady."

Andrea cooed, reaching up to touch her mother’s face.

——

Back on the balcony, Uriel’s attention had drifted toward the ground as well.

"I admire them both," she said. "Husband and wife."

"Master and student," Aiden added.

Down below, Katherine and Piers had just unlocked from a sword clash and leaped to opposite sides of the courtyard.

Both landed in a stance, with their swords held at the ready.

Katherine grinned. "Is that your best still? Surely you can do better"

Piers wiped sweat from his brow, his own grin matching hers. "Want to go for real?"

"Bring it, rookie," Katherine dared.

And then the aura of Qi began pouring out from both of them

The ground beneath their feet trembled slightly as their power built.

From the balcony above, Uriel leaned against the railing, with her expression shifting into genuine interest.

"Well," she said, "this should be a fun watch."

Aiden smiled, his eyes never leaving the combatants below.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​