The dragon's harem

Half an hour after their return, Arad was sitting on Hati's backyard's porch, looking at Mira working in the workshop. It's already nighttime but she wanted to at least refit the binding on a sword so she'll have less work in the morning.

Arad started thinking about what he had seen so far. The universe is enclosed in a massive sphere and it contains many small worlds, numbering in the billions. Today he managed to help Eris, but Nyar was around things might've ended badly.

^I'm strong, but not enough. The overgod and Kayden need to work together to suppress Nyar, that leaves me far outclassed. Getting stronger might take a long time, I need first to find a way to be able to grab everyone and run away.^ He closed his eyes and sent a faint magic wave. In the next moment Betty was sitting on his lap, "You called me?"

"You aren't standing on my head?" He looked down at her and she looked back at him, "You like me standing on you that much?"

"You're not standing on my head means that something is off, and I would rather you stand on my head then be troubled by something. Not many things can make you feel anxious." Arad replied and she looked forward, "You're right, Eris told me about the fight with the abominations. If something stronger was there it might've ended badly. But she didn't pull her expansion or divine magic out, kept them as a trump card to buy her time in case she needed to run away."

"Then we're thinking about the same thing. It'll take time for me to get stronger so I want to first find a way to be able to grab everyone and run away. My stomach would do, but it's not suitable for living beings and if I'm really in a deadly fight then I would be a detriment to have to constantly focus on giving those inside me air to breathe and such."

"Demi-plane magic can work, but I doubt you could maintain or cast such a costly spell in battle. We need a way to improve the living condition of your stomach, since that's easier to use and costs no mana." She looked at him, "I know of a way…but we probably can't do it. We don't have the people needed and even if we had them, there is no way they'll agree."

"What are you two talking about?" Plum emerged from the wooden floor and looked at them, quickly shouting, "MIRA! Arad is cheating on you with this toe!"

Mira looked out of the Shed, "And who asked you? Arad, don't give that fairy anything." She waved her hand and went back to work.

"See?" Betty looked at Plum, "You can't cause trouble here."

Plum growled and sat on Arad's head. "So, what is it that you two were talking about?"

"It's nothing, useless anyway." Betty shook her head.

"Come on, I want to know. Arad, what was it?" She bent down, grabbed him by the eyelids and pulled his face up. "I don't know either."

Betty sighed, "Maintaining an ecosystem inside his stomach using the spirits. It's one thing for the spirits to be born in the world and get tasked to maintain their regions by the gods, but it's another thing to drag a spirit to work as a slave." Betty looked at her, "Many mages tried it but failed. It's like spitting in the spirit's face, might as well piss on in that case."

"But I don't mind…" Plum said above Arad.

"...We should think of…" Betty was speaking and then stopped, slowly looking up at Plum, "This isn't something to joke about. I didn't talk about it with one or two spirits. I've discussed this with thousands of fairies, spirits and pixies and all made it clear that it's a humiliation akin to being dragged naked on a leash in the middle of the street at noon."

"I'm not joking." Plum flew down and looked at Betty in the eyes, "If it's him then I don't mind. But I have a condition, if he agrees, then you can count me in."

"For a spirit queen like you to accept such a thing, the price must be stupidly high." Betty looked at her, "Come, impress me. What do you want?"

"It's not much…" She flew to Arad and whispered into his ear. "You won't tell me?" Betty looked at her with a tired face.

The moment Arad heard what Plum wanted, his face froze, almost turning into dust. Confused, baffled, and flabbergasted, he sat there stunned for a few seconds. "Please…come on, I know it's strange but please entertain me. It really works…and sorry about not telling you before. Please don't get angry at me…"

Even with how scared and apologetic Plum looked, Arad was unable to wrap his head around what she was thinking. He sighed, holding his face… "What the hell were you thinking?"

Betty waved her hand to Mira, "I come here! Plum might've done something bad to Arad!"

Mira sighed and walked out of the shop. She had just finished working on the sword's handle. "What is it now?"

Plum looked at Mira for a second and then back at Arad… "It's not as you think?"

"I'm still not thinking about anything, but speak up. What did you do to him?" Mira stared at her and Plum flew toward her, whispering in her ear.

Mira's face twisted just like Arad's. She sighed and looked at the apologetic Plum, "You're both crazy and disgusting… But I at least understand the logic."

"What did she do! What did she do?" Betty waved her hand, "Did he cheat on you? Or did she…"

"No…it's something else… Something that should be bad for her, not him. In fact, what she did doesn't affect him at all." Mira's eyes quickly shifted to Plum, "Are you serious? You're really okay with that?"

Plum nodded and Mira sighed, "I'll leave it to you, Arad." And went back to clean the workshop before returning.

"Fine, got yourself a deal. Once I start working on that I'll call you over." Arad gave up trying to hammer some sense into Plum's rotten head and turned back to Betty, "How many spirits do I need for that?"

"First you'll need a massive piece of land, then put a powerful earth spirit to care for it, the stronger the spirit, the better. Then you'll need a wind spirit for breathable air, a water spirit for water, a fire spirit to regulate temperature, and a plant spirit to sow some plants and trees." She looked at Plum.

"So I've secured a plant spirit, now I need the rest." Arad sighed and Plum flew into the house, soon returning with Salamander and Undine. "They'll help."

"What is it?" Salamander looked at Arad.

"Plum…" Betty sighed, "Don't just drag them in, it's not something they would want to help with."

"Is it something dangerous?" Undine flew and sat on Arad's shoulder, "Tell me, I can help."

After explaining everything to them, the two spirits had troubled faces. It was indeed a hard ask, "I don't know about this…" Undine leaned back on his head.

"Listen…I'll strip down and dance naked like a fool then kiss your feet before I accept such a thing…" Salamander growled, "But…if you can convince everyone else, I'll do it."

Undine stared at her, "Are you serious?"

Salamander snorted, "Of course, if I'm the last hurdle in his way then I won't let my pride get in the way."

"Then me too, find everyone else and I'll join as well." Undine sighed, "But…this is more than a big favor. Don't forget it."

"I won't forget it."

"Then we'll need a wind spirit, an earth spirit, and a large piece of land." Betty looked around, "How about the abyss? You have a lot of unused land there, just take a piece from there."

"I'll look into it then." Arad stood and Plum flew around him, "I've also got some people in mind that might help. Excuse me for a second."

****

An hour later, as Arad was about to head to sleep, someone started knocking on his door. "Arad! It's me!" Plum shrunk herself, tried to flew through the keyhole only for her butt to get stuck. She then shrunk herself further to free herself and then opened the door.

Aella, Frida, and Astrid walked into the room, "How about those three?" She flew at Arad, "Aella has wind spirit magic and even Zephyr's crown, and those two only need to keep the earth piece together."

Aella approached Arad with a smile, "She told me that it's supposed to be something humiliating a lot…But I can't see the problem in it. I'll gladly join, but I don't know if Zephyr would like it."

"And what about them?" He looked at Astrid and Frida.

"Merlin said that she doesn't need then anymore and Hati said that you're free to use them however you want," Plum said with a smile, and Arad sighed. "I asked if they want to help or not?"

"I want a spot in exchange." Astrid pointed at him, "Aella already said it's fine. Isdis also said it's fine…political marriage to link your empire with the beast lands."

"And don't worry, we'll wait for our turn." Frida approached Arad, "But if you want to pound us right away we won't object…" She licked her lips but was promptly caught by Aella. "Plum, get the other two."

"Then I'll go cut a piece of the abyss." Arad teleported to the abyss and an hour later everyone had gathered.

Arad swallowed several mountains and hills from the abyss and threw them into his stomach, realising that the biggest chunk he can swallow is a 40 km sphere, which should increase as he gets older.

Betty couldn't believe that Arad gathered everyone in just a few hours, but this was all thanks to Plum's efforts…she could only wonder what the thing is that Arad has and would make her work so hard for?

Everyone entered Arad's stomach and the first thing they did was allow Astrid and Frida to stabilize the land, make it one large piece where everyone can stand. At the same time Aella extended her wind magic to cover as large of an area as possible with fresh air.

Arad used his gravity magic to make sure they don't float away, while the three spirits started working.

Plum planted trees and vegetation, helping Aella and the Fenrir twins. Her plants made oxygen and reduced the load on Aella and the roots of her trees held the world, making the twins' job easier.

Salamander made sure the world's temperature was suitable for life, not too cold and not too hot. And Undine made sure to water all of Plum's plants.

Two hours later an oasis was built inside Arad's stomach. A two-kilometer-wide heaven where people can live without Arad actively wasting energy to keep them alive.

Arad could already notice a few limitations. First, the twins were the bottleneck for the land. They aren't related to the spirits in any way, which made them extremely inefficient with this spell.

The second bottleneck after those two was Aella. Even with Zephyr's crown, she isn't a real spirit, but she also performed at least three times better than Frida and Astrid combined.

They'll need to remain inside Arad's stomach for a while before that world can be called stable. Betty will keep an eye on them so Arad can rest a bit. Tomorrow will be a long day.

****

Plum walked inside the oasis and stood in its center, planting a branch of herself. "You think it'll grow?" Betty landed beside her and Plum nodded, "Yes. My real body might be planted inside the space crack, but I can also plant it here. It won't lack anything and I'm sure it'll provide some benefits to Arad."

"Benefits? Like what?" Betty still couldn't sense anything strange from the branch that Plum planted, but that's to be expected.

"Well, if he won't eat my peach." She smacked her butt, "Then I'll give him some plums. But seriously, touch my hand and you'll know."

Betty touched Plum's hand and she suddenly found herself standing beneath a great tree in the middle of shattered space. "This is…the middle of a portal between worlds? And time isn't flowing that well here." For a moment there Betty almost aged a hundred years, but the plum tree protected her beneath its shade.

"This is my true body. You'll be safe as long as you stay beneath my shade." Plum flew out of the plum tree's great trunk, "I was to keep growing here and eventually expand my roots to many worlds, then link them all to the small oasis inside Arad's stomach."

"You're basically a lesser Yggdrasil…" Betty giggled and Plum smiled, "She is a lemon tree, I'm a thundercloud purple leaf plum tree."

Betty walked around the tree and noticed some stirred dirt that looked to have been plowed recently. "There is dirt here? And it's even plowed? Do you need someone to take care of this place?"

"I'll find some wood spirits and dryads to take care of me." Plum nodded and Betty suddenly froze in place, "Wait… it just clicked in my head. What you wanted from Arad was… fertilizer?"

Plum looked away…