I Became Part of the Dragon's Hoard-Chapter 38: Kraken My Knuckles

Bery sat on Valerie’s lap, looking towards an empty water glass on the table in front of her. The kitten turned towards Valerie with unease. "Are you sure that my element is water?"

The dragoness nodded. "That is the affinity that you have. In these times, it’s better to not ask too many questions. Magic is something to be felt, and ever since you’ve spoken to the goddess, your magic power has grown a little."

Bery turned back to the glass, putting her hand above it. She tried to clear her mind as Valerie had said before, but she had no idea what it even meant to use magic.

"Notice. If you are able to produce magic on your own, Y.U.R.I might come to an understanding of how it works."

The kitten closed her eyes, leaning back into Valerie’s embrace. She felt the dragon channeling magic power around her body. With Valerie’s power, it was easy for her to make even non-magical beings feel it.

Bery opened her eyes, feeling her own little whirlpool swirling within her. The feeling of mana spinning around inside her was almost enough to make her barf.

A part of her thought it was hilarious. How could she be a water mage if she wasn’t even a good swimmer? The feeling of the ocean resounded in her mind. The salty water, the little forest of fish, and the feeling of it all rocking against her body. She channeled that into her fingertip.

A singular droplet of water dripped down her finger, landing in the cup. The kitten’s eyes widened, and she jumped from Valerie’s lap with glee.

"I did it! I used magic!"

Valerie grinned at her little dancing kitten and clapped. "Congratulations, kitten. Though, I must say...Your usage of water magic is even better in bed. I imagined you would be good at it, since you are always a little faucet."

Bery ran over to Valerie with a pouty face. She bit down on Valerie’s extended fingertips that were reaching to pet the kitten.

"I’ve already told you," Valerie said, "kittens need to sharpen their fangs before they start biting people."

Bery crossed her arms and flopped on the bed. "Hmph, I guess I won’t go anywhere with you today, meanie dragon."

Valerie rushed to placate her kitten. She knelt beside the bed, grabbing onto Bery’s hand. "I’m sorry, kitten. I was wrong!"

Bery opened one eye, peeping at the dragoness. The kitten grinned slyly. "As long as you understand."

Valerie kissed the back of Bery’s hand. "I understand very well, my kitten princess."

"Then I forgive you."

The two of them started laughing, interrupted only by a knock at their door. Valerie leapt to open it.

Elanore stood out in the hallway, anxiously fixing her robes.

"I can’t believe you would disturb our peace," Valerie said.

Elanore sighed. "I didn’t want to disturb your peace, but you are the one who told me to arrive in the morning. I am here, so can we just get this over with?"

Valerie held Bery’s hand, and the two followed the vampire outside.

"I believe these matters should be broached with sincerity," Valerie said.

The vampiress sighed again. "I am not sincere about any of this. I am only doing this because I am scared of you killing me."

Bery giggled to her dragon. "At least she’s honest."

Elanore ignored the other two, leading them towards a crab apartment building. It didn’t take long for them to spot the Granchin they were looking for. He searched around all over the building, and he was running frantically along the outside in an attempt to find his precious pearl.

"Go on," Valerie said.

Elanore wiggled uncomfortably and finally called out to the man. "You there!"

The crab flinched and turned to them with a surprised look in his eyes. "Travelers? Are you talking to me?"

"Of course, I’m talking to you..." The vampire caught the gaze of Valerie and calmed herself.

"Do you have some business with me?" The Granchin asked.

Elanore pulled the pearl from her pocket. "Yes, I believe you misplaced something..."

The crab rushed in to grab the thing in her hands. "Thank you! Where did you find this? I thought I placed it on my night stand."

Catching a glare from Valerie, Elanore became apologetic. "I am sorry. The truth is, I stole it."

"You stole it? From my nightstand?"

Elanore nodded, looking down towards the ground solemnly.

The Granchin pocketed the pearl before answering. "Thank you for bringing it back to me."

Elanore lifted her head with a face of astonishment. "What?"

"I mean, it’s worth a lot right?"

"It is! But that’s not the point. Don’t you want to turn me in to the guards or something?"

"I suppose, I should, but you gave it back to me. I understand that this is a harsh place."

Elanore grit her teeth. "Whatever, just don’t lose it again. And stop twirling it around in the sunlight, you buffoon! Also, you need to quit smoking that stuff. It’s bad for your organs."

The crab wiggled his antenna several times. "I understand. You are right. I shouldn’t have held it up like that. I was just so surprised."

Elanore nodded. "Good, now you and that pearl better get out of here before I steal it again!"

The Granchin didn’t say anything, but he acknowledged her request and left them there.

"Why did you steal that thing in the first place?" Bery asked.

"I dunno, I saw that crab holding it up in the air, and I thought it looked pretty."

"Ah!" Bery nodded and looked towards her dragon. "I see now, you are also a kleptomaniac."

"Hey," Valerie said, pulling her kitten to her. "I am not a kleptomaniac. Most of those things were either given to me or I found them."

"Did you know if they had an owner beforehand?"

The dragoness mouth opened and closed. "No...Their owners were probably long dead."

"I see, so you are a grave robber."

Elanore started laughing that the kitten’s questions. She pointed towards the dragoness and nearly doubled over on herself. "You are a grave robber!"

Valerie lit a flame on her fingertips, but she was interrupted by a distant loud wailing.

Towards the ocean, the wailing of a large beast echoed in the air, and the vibrations shook the ground. Granchins started panicking and running up the street away from the water property.

"What’s happening?" Bery asked, gripping her dragon’s dress with her hand.

"It seems that I don’t need to find a kraken in the first place. One has come to us." The dragoness frowned and looked towards the vampire. "Is this your doing?"

"What? No? I am as confused as you two are."

Valerie leapt with her kitten onto the nearby building.

In the distant ocean, a kraken breached the surface of the water. Its large, grey pointed head surfaced above the waves. Tendrils lashed out against the water, and it swam towards the shoreline.

The creature howled, a high pitch wailing sounding against the ocean rocks. There was no hesitation for the monster. One of its long tentacles slapped against a beach building, and the stone crumbled in its grip. The whole building topped to dust like it was nothing.

Bery sat in stunned silence, her eyes staring in disbelief. In terms of size, the monster was even larger than Valerie’s dragon form, and it had a large piercing eye on its front.

Another howl from the creature, and it gripped yet another building. The windows shattered, and the building crumbled in half.

Valerie looked towards the vampire. "Can’t you do something about that?"

"Are you kidding me? A kraken? I would die after getting a few hits in."

That’s right. Bery remembered the creatures from books. They were said to be able to topple entire cities in a single day, but they rarely attacked anything that wasn’t water bound. There was a commonality in the instances where they attacked beach fronts. Usually it was due to someone provoking them.

She wished that weren’t true, looking pleadingly towards her dragoness.

The dragoness placed her hand on Bery’s shoulder calmly. "I already told you. There is not a single creature in this world that can stand against me." The dragoness placed a fire shield around Bery and looked at Elanore. "Don’t let anyone get close to her. I will deal with this wretched creature that interrupted my quality kitten time."

Valerie sprouted her wings and took to the air. Valerie stared towards the kraken reeking havoc on the beach. "Someone brought you to this place, did they not? Well, it doesn’t matter if it was orchestrated or not. Anyone and anything who gets in the way of me and my kitten shall be trampled beneath my claws. Besides, what better way to get fresh kraken?"

The gigantic eye of the kraken turned towards Valerie. Water dripped from its sideways eyelids, and mana began to channel up its body. The creature had accepted the dragon’s challenge.

A huge ball of water formed in front it, and then it launched its attack.