They were all stunned at Mirrory's words, so they turned toward Tatyana. However, the Death Empress just raised her eyebrow and said. "Since she wants to teach all of you, I am not someone that likes to steal the glory."
Their lips twitched. 'Even if we can't detect that you said a lie, it doesn't mean our brains are lacking!'
However, they could only sigh as their seniors liked to act mysterious from time to time. Of course, they understood that most of the time, it was for their own good, so they didn't push the matter.
Kali stood up and said. "Although it is comfortable to lie here like this and do nothing, I'm curious about the [Earth Refining Cauldron]. I want to test the Transmutation feature."
Yasenia felt a pair of hands out of the six leaving her body and snorted in annoyance. They chuckled, getting the message clear. 'I want to be pampered!'
However, Andrea, Evelyn, and Angel were curious about this Cauldron. Therefore, one by one, they stood up with words such as. "Yasenia, I also want to learn about it. We'll cuddle later!"
"My love, I can maybe increase the production rate of equipment in the future, so I'm also very interested."
"My tailoring skills are mediocre compared with the others, so I can maybe use this thing to compensate. We'll come back later."
Yasenia snorted, but she obediently raised her body and allowed all of them to stand up. The four of them smiled and approached Yasenia's face to shower her with kisses and scratches, one after another. Yasenia's tail wagged and hit the sofa with rhythmical sounds.
Then, the dragoness said jokingly. "Hmph, since I've received such a good payment, this majesty will allow you to leave!"
The four of them laughed and went to the third floor; Ebirah decided to follow them.
This left Yasenia, Tatyana, and Cecile in the living room, with Sierra lying softly in the garden right outside the panoramic window.
Everything became calm again, and Yasenia laid back on Cecile's and Tatyana's laps. This time, however, she was with her belly upward, folding her wings in a way that wouldn't bother them too much.
Of course, Cecile and Tatyana didn't lose a second as they began caressing Yasenia's body tenderly. They used their hands to feel the scales, press on them, and relax Yasenia's muscles.
Cecile copied how Yasenia had massaged them in the past, which was very comfortable.
Tatyana was on another level, making Yasenia feel like her limbs had lost strength. Even her usual swishing tail had become limp, and she was almost drooling in comfort.
Cecile was awed and asked. "Tatyana, you know how to massage dragons?"
Tatyana nodded. "I know. However, I've only massaged one in my life. To allow a human to touch their body this way, the dragon must trust the human with their life."
Cecile blinked. "Why?"
Tatyana caressed with her index and middle finger an exceptionally shiny scale in the spot where Yasenia's long neck and head met and said. "This is a weakness most dragons have. It is called the Reverse Scale. A dragon's core is normally hidden here. There are some that have it in their brains and others in their hearts, but the most common spot is this place."
After Tatyana touched that spot, Yasenia let out some menacing growling noises. They weren't purs of comfort; they were warning signs. Cecile could even feel Yasenia's body tensing!
Cecile was stunned. 'Not even Tatyana can stop Yasenia from having involuntary reactions when touching the Reverse Scale!?'
Tatyana stopped touching it with a tender gaze, and Yasenia's body relaxed right after. "The fact she allows me to touch it is something impressive. You can try if you want, but I wouldn't recommend it."
Cecile frowned. "Not even her [Interlocked Soul] can touch it?"
Tatyana shook her head. "No, you can touch it. Do it, just so you see."
Cecile nodded and extended her hand to that spot. Instead of touching it directly, she slid her fingers up Yasenia's neck until she reached that spot. Even before touching the Reverse Scale, Cecile could already feel Yasenia's growling.
Looking at Yasenia's opened golden eyes, she could feel a natural and beastly intent trying to override Yasenia's consciousness. As if a defense mechanism was about to trigger.
Sierra, on the side, felt her hair standing up and cautiously looked over.
Cecile sent calming thoughts through their connection. She didn't believe she couldn't touch it. After feeling the turbulent feelings inside Yasenia calming down, Cecile moved upward and finally touched the Reverse Scale.
When her index and middle finger touched it, she felt through the connection an electrifying feeling. Then, she saw Yasenia's slit eyes thinning to lines, and the growl was similar to when Yasenia was about to get furious. Even the tail and frontal limbs were about to attack in reflex. Even the claws were fully tensed.
Sierra also had to control herself fully not to run away. 'Dangerous, dangerous. Yasenia's anger can be so terrifying even before exploding. My Heavens, I pity those that make her angry in the future.'
At first, when Cecile looked into Yasenia's eyes, her instincts told her to stop touching her there immediately; she felt that the dragoness was about to attack her.
However, she locked eyes with the dragon about to pounce and send comforting thoughts. 'It's me, dearest. I'll never hurt you. Control your instinct, my love. You know that I'm even willing to die for you. I'm your mate, your soulmate, and I'll accompany you to the end of time.'
With Cecile's calm and soothing voice, Yasenia's pupils slowly relaxed, but the growling didn't stop.
Cecile could also feel the twitching tail and frontal limbs stopping their spasms. Tatyana lifted an eyebrow, 'She can calm her to this extent? However, doing more can be dangerous.'
Tatyana said. "Cecile, stop. You will force her too much if you continue."
Cecile wasn't stubborn and retrieved her hand. Yasenia's aura mellowed out when she did so, and her body became soft again. Cecile smiled and caressed the golden-scales belly. "Good girl. You controlled yourself perfectly."
Yasenia purred, and the sounds were as different as day and night. The warning growl was deep and rumbling; hearing it would make even the soul quiver. However, her purring, although deep, it was much more mellow and tranquil. Anyone hearing it would feel their muscles relaxing.
Tatyana said to Cecile. "Cecile, I know you are considering training Yasenia to control this reflex. But I recommend not to. This instinct is fundamental to Dragons, and almost all dragons tamed and forced to learn to control this reflex didn't end well."
Cecile frowned. "What happened?"
Tatyana sighed. "They lose their fierceness and become very passive. It is like castration. Although it would mellow the creature, they would also lose many basic instincts besides that one, and their bodies would become less resistant to any outside threat. After a lot of time, some become so sluggish that allow people to kill them without resistance."
Cecile was shocked.
Tatyana sighed. "Although it isn't a big deal if the worst-case scenario doesn't occur, which admittedly is rare, it is never worth it. Making her lose so much and risking it only for us to touch a little part of her body is stupid beyond compare."
Cecile agreed. "I understand."
Yasenia had been silent all the time because she was controlling her reactions. "Sweetheart, don't worry about it too much. My reaction means nothing; you can relax."
Cecile laughed and lowered her head to kiss her dragoness's belly. "I know. I was curious about it, nothing more."
Yasenia felt relief after hearing that answer. She was afraid that Cecile would think she loved her less because of that. Both things almost didn't have any correlation.
The reason Yasenia was more comfortable with Tatyana was that, as well as her lover, she was her mother. The parent-child bond wasn't less influential for a dragon than the [Interlocked Souls] bond.
Even then, Yasenia guided the conversation away from that topic. It was something she had been curious about for a while. "Mom, why are only blacksmithing, alchemy, and formation branches inside the Academy? There are plenty of other professions, right? Transmutation, Spirit Tailor, Spirit Cook, Botanic, Talisman Master, Acupuncture, Cultivation Architecture... There are many, many professions."
Tatyana commented. "That's true. However, in the end, the most important ones are those three. A cultivator is not someone that stays in the same spot; if they do, they need personal strength to be safe. What's better than alchemy, formations, or blacksmithing?"
"Alchemy can give your family or power plenty of pills that can accelerate, strengthen, or heal the people inside."
"Blacksmithing can create powerful treasures that allow people to battle above their cultivation level."
"Formations are one of the few professions where a weak cultivator can fight against strong opponents as long as they are in a previously planned place."
Yasenia and Cecile nodded. However, it didn't fully explain why they couldn't have lower branches for the other less essential professions.
Tatyana seemed to have read their thoughts, so she chuckled and said. "Moreover, there is one thing that it's important if you want to coexist with other powers. Can you tell me what it is?"
Yasenia thought for a moment and then nodded. "If you have a monopoly in every industry, the other powers will eventually raise their weapons pointing at the Academy. Even if it is a very influential power, fighting against the whole Continent is not worth it. Even if you win, it would be at a very high cost, and for what? To have a monopoly and stale development because of the lack of competition? It's illogical."
Tatyana scratched her chin and smiled, "My little treasure is so clever~."
Yasenia growled and squinted, her tail wagging happily. Cecile chuckled and caressed her belly. She then commented with a teasing smile. "Even with double your previous age, you still are so adorable, my love."
Tatyana chuckled, and Yasneia snorted. If she received belly and neck scratches, she was willing to become as childish as they wanted!
Tatyana finally said. "Monopoly sounds good in the short run, and mortal species always fall into this trap of momentary absolute power. Imagining themselves holding all the money, resources, intel, and being able to control society as one wants is very tempting."
"However, this only leads to eventual destruction. Without competition, there isn't progress; without progress, a society eventually crumbles before others that have continued to advance. What pushes technology the most?"
Yasenia answered without a doubt. "War. In times of War, there is always a staggering improvement."
Tatyana nodded. "The reason is that, during a real War, there are only two outcomes for a power. You win, or you lose. And to win, you have to advance; you have to become creative; you have to improvise and, thus, create new and more powerful techniques, treasures, or cultivation methods."
Cecile looked outside, and seeing that it was becoming dark, she said softly. "However, in war, there aren't always winners."
Tatyana nodded calmly. "That's true. War can end with only losers, but never with only winners. However, it is inevitable as long as there are benefits involved. Words can only do so much, and once one side stops obliging to terms... Other means have to be used."
With such a sentence, the three became silent, and Sierra became thoughtful. The Wolf Queen managed not to flee previously, so she had been listening to the whole conversation. 'Is this what separates humans from other races? Wisdom is taken very seriously. Even someone as young as Cecile and Yasenia can understand these things. Compared to them, even I, at almost four hundred years old, am basically ignorant.'
Their thoughts roamed free as they pampered Yasenia, and night arrived.
Andrea and the others left the attic and went toward the living room, meeting with a relaxing scene of a dragon, a phoenix woman, a woman, and a giant wolf looking outside the window with dim lights around them.