While I had been quite confident in my claim of ruling this world it did not appear to be happening anytime soon. I was now sitting in a large puddle of rat blood while in a giant swathe of mud next to a pond.

I sighed and started walking away from the corpse but my stomach protested. I stared at it for a few seconds as my legs seemed to move on their own. “No! No, I refuse! I can’t do it. I won’t eat peasant food!”

But my body wouldn’t listen as I began to devour the corpse. The slimy meat slid down my throat. Its texture is a mix of shit and paper.. I felt like vomiting but I feared that my body would just start eating that. Truly, the gods were testing me, their wealthiest devotee.

After eating the rat, I decided it was time to explore. To survey this new land of opportunity. I walked through the mud flat I had apparently been born on. Looking for any landmarks that stood out. The only noticeable thing was a rock cluster by the shore that towered over me.

The mud flat itself was surrounded by a dense forest that I did not fancy exploring. I was apparently a lizard now, and mud was in my name. Staying near the mud was the game plan. I walked around for a while, looking for something to do but nothing popped out.

I sighed and flopped onto my back, staring up towards the sky. “Why me? Why a mud skink?” I sighed and yelled. “Why not a dragon huh? I have the personality of one!” Then I paused. What if I was a dragon?

Of course! One of my noble heritage and status would reincarnate as a dragon. A lesser one of course but a dragon! It all made sense now. I rolled onto my belly and said. “Alright, I’m a dragon. It’s time to think like a dragon.

I need a horde, lots of money to sleep on. Valuables to flounder in. That means I need a lair. Somewhere to store my golden hoard. I looked around and once again noticed the rock outcropping. I walked over to it and found a big enough hole to squeeze through. The outcropping formed a natural lair.

The rocks were stacked in a way that made a nice space completely protected by the rock. I rolled onto my back once again this time in my new lair. No, my new castle! “Hahahaha! Nothing will stop me now. I’m a dragon!”

I rolled around in the mud for a bit before getting up and looking around. There was one glaring issue. There was no money, no valuables, nothing other than mud. But as a hardworking wealthy awesome dragon of power and richness I would change that. I liked my new title.

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I walked over to the hole and noticed that the rocks were pretty big in comparison to the trees. How big am I? I walked over to a tree, not entering the forest itself but just looking at myself in comparison. The size of a small dog was the best comparison I could make. “Maybe half a foot tall and two feet long.

That’s actually quite small for a dragon although I had just hatched. Wait a second, where are my parents? Were dragons not very attentive with their children, annoying but my parents hadn’t done much with me as a human and I had turned out great.

All they had done was pay for everything, buy me a large mansion and hired around a hundred servants to care for me. Those cold hearted alcoholics. I paused at that word. I would miss wine, it had been one of my favorite pastimes, consuming the nectar of the rich.

Maybe I could make some? No, I was a dragon! I can take whatever I want whenever I want. I smiled smugly and continued patrolling the mud flats. If I was correct in my own size estimation then the mud flat was about 25 square mile. Quite large but it was nice to have so much territory.

I tumbled around in the mud for a few more minutes before scaling the rock pile. It took far longer than it should have but I reached the top right as the sun was starting to set. I looked around at my surroundings, burning the image into my rich brain.

The forest surrounding the mud flats cracked and swayed as something squawked within. The pong which now that I look at it is more of a lake was murky, I couldn’t see a thing. The mud flats were muddy, and there didn’t seem to be anything within them.

I started jumping from rock to rock, trying to get used to this horrid tail. Every time I jumped it either snagged something or just flat out wouldn’t move! I grumbled out at it but calmed down after a bit.

Dragon’s didn’t need to feel stressed. I slid into my small cave and started planning. I was a small dragon, but I still needed to control my territory. When I had fought the rat, after I bit it a few times it had stopped moving.

Maybe I had some sort of venom? Some would say I was poisonous but that was something only a commoner would say. There is a clear difference! Just like between envy and jealousy. Honestly, these peasants just couldn’t wrap their heads around anything complicated.

This paralyzing venom would be a massive help against anything I fought! Who needed to breathe fire when your enemies simply froze after getting bit once! Although that did mean that if I couldn’t bite them then I probably wouldn’t be very effective.

Oh well, worrying was for the poor. I was rich! It was time to begin construction of my castle. The rocks formed a natural room but I needed more. A few floors, filled to the brim with gold, jewels and all sorts of artifacts would do perfectly.

I began digging a hole, at an incline of around 45 degrees. I used all the excavated mud to patch some of the other entrances into my lair. After an hour of digging I was done! There was now a hole twice as long as me that would soon be filled to the brim with money!

I walked out of my lair and climbed onto the crops, once again surveying my land. It was time to start filling my treasury. But where to go first? The forest or the pond? Also what if something attacked me?

Maybe exploring the mud flats for a bit would be a better idea. I started looking for a way down when a shadow fell over me. I glanced up and saw the talons of a hawk bearing down on me. I let out a small squeak before being grabbed and carried off into the sky.