"Brown worms?" Arad closed the door, "Those were big,"
"Too big," Amber grunted, "Should we get back?"
"No, we have to clear the layer," Merlin looked at them.
"But you saw that," Arad pointed to the door, "That's huge. None of my spells would even dent its skin,"
"Neither mine," Amber sighed.
"You two are...right," Merlin looked down, "Without my magic, taking those things down is almost impossible,"
"Wait, did you just say those?" Arad stared at her, "I only saw one,"
Merlin stared at him, "You should've read the monster manual at the guild. Brown worms live in groups like maggots. I bet there are tens of them out there."
"We can't win a fight," Amber stared at them, "Do you have a solution?"
"We run," Merlin squatted down and started drawing on the dusty ground.
Brown worms are blind and deaf, but they can sense things with their tremor sense. Their range differs depending on the worm's size and age, but it's usually fifty to one hundred meters in all directions, on the ground.
She drew a wavy line depicting the sand and multiple thick ones beneath it to depict the worms.
Due to their low intelligence and weak senses, they can be easily baited by mages and wizards.
Merlin drew a cube on the right side, signifying the stairs they were in, and beside it, she made a splash of the sand lying everywhere. Amber's flames could create a big enough shockwave to draw the worms toward it.
Merlin erased the worms and drew them beneath the explosion, and in the middle of the air, she drew a bad dragon with two stick figures on it, one with large breasts and one with a wizard's hat.
"Why the details?" Amber stared at her. "Who's who?"
"Arad's the dragon," Merlin replied with a smile.
"That isn't what I meant," Amber growled.
Merlin ignored Amber and drew a stream of fire coming from the dragon's butt and a second large cube to the left with a door.
"I do not fart flames," Arad stared at her, "But you can fly with us, can't you?" She stared at him, "I don't know how you'll do it, but can you?"
"If I used fire from all of my limbs, that might be possible," Arad replied.
"The two of us combined would barely weigh as much as you do," Merlin looked at him with a smile, "If two fire jets from your feet can carry you, I'm sure four can carry double the weight,"
Arad scratched his chin, staring at them.
Merlin followed Arad's eyes, finding them staring at her chest and hips.
"What are you thinking about?" She cried.
"As a human, I weigh 200kg," He replied, "You look thicker than Amber, so you're around 120kg, and she's 80kg." He stared at Amber, "It's a problem if you two weigh as much as I do. Even Aella, Eris, and Isdis combined won't weigh as I do,"
"Since when did this become a conversation about our weight?" Amber cried, "And she said we'll barely weigh as you do. You're the heavy one here,"
"Weight is subjective," Arad replied.
"What's your point?" Amber stared at him.
"Weight slows you down. Acceleration, deceleration, and general speed are important in combat and in dodging small and large monsters' attacks." Arad flexed his leg, almost ripping his pants apart. "The more weight your muscles have to move, the less likely you're going to survive an encounter,"
"You sound like Alcott," Merlin looked at him, "If the weight on you is muscles and bones, then it's okay since they would help support and move your frame, but if it's something else, it's just slowing you down,"
Merlin sighed, "You don't value strength," She approached him, "You value survivability. You can't help but point things out. You don't want to see people around you fail to dodge an attack and get killed."
Arad remembered the first time he went on a quest with Aella, and she got eaten by a giant toad, and how their fight with the bandits ended. The sheer speed and raw strength of Alcott was what saved them.
"Humans are fragile," Merlin smiled, "Every bit of advantage is worth going for,"
Arad could remember how Isdis got sniped out of nowhere. She wasn't perceptive enough to notice, Aella wasn't fast enough to react and save her, and even he wasn't good enough to prevent the attack.
"Magic is powerful, but it isn't omnipotent," Merlin sighed, "Even the best wards can't save your life all the time,"
Arad remembered when Vlad attacked, no one was able to stand. Even Merlin's magic couldn't protect her. Yet, beside him, one was able to move, Nina.
The sheer power and strength in her lean yet dense muscular body allowed her to stand and take a step. If there was only one opening, she might've been able to run away.
"You're afraid," Merlin approached Arad, patting his head, "It's not that you don't want weak people around you, as if that's the case, we're the last race you would've approached. It's just that you're afraid, scared, and terrified of losing those around you,"
"We're the last race he would've approached?" Amber stared at her.
"Calm down, Arad," Merlin smiled, "We're alive. We won't die," She patted his head, "We aren't weak, we won't get eaten, won't fail to run away,"
Arad stared at her in silence.
"I said we barely reached your weight, but that was just a description. I and Amber combined might not reach 150kg. We aren't slow, we aren't dense, and we won't get snatched by those worms," She looked at Amber.
"You can fly with fire, can't you?"
"Of course," Amber replied, "You can carry me, can't you?"
"I should be able to, yes," Amber replied while being a bit confused as her earlier question wasn't answered.
"You heard her," Merlin looked at him, "We can fend for ourselves. We aren't as fragile as you see us,"
^To a dragon, we're too fragile to risk. Arad is like a soldier asked to run across a field filled with hungry wolves, while we two are little kittens hanging on for dear life on his back. Of course, he would be concerned if we said we weigh as much as he does. He would think our claws won't hold up.^
Merlin looked at her drawing. ^Arad didn't seem to display fear when fighting with Nina or Eris. He seems to trust their powers. He fought them and understood their powers well.^