BWAHAHAHAHA! Their Faces, though! Letting my mirth fade away rapidly, I analyze my opponents. Of the eighteen of them, there are none with levels higher than 60 among the guards while the slayers average around level 100. Strong for humans, but considering their visible power, they shouldn’t stand a chance against me.

Tilting my head upwards to keep an untimely arrow or spell from entering my throat, I roar a challenge and swipe forward with my front claws. Putting a little magic into the swipe, my claws trace lines of fire into the air that further expand the range of my attack. Surprisingly enough, the drake slayers managed to pull themselves together and disperse attacking me from different angles and dodging out of the way of my swipe. The guards however, were nowhere near as skilled. Instead of dodging my blow, they raised shields and tried to stop it. Quite a futile gesture as my flame enhanced claws bashed through them ripping tears into the nearest and launching the rest flying into the thick metallic walls of the trailer.

With them taken care of for a moment, I rapidly turn my head from side to side to take stock of the situation. Having spread dirt and rock all over the trailer floor, I can for spikes, walls, and boulders to attack them. Meanwhile, I of course have my fire  which is very effective in this enclosed space. Finally, I can blast any particularly resistant foes with pure aura, something I have not done since I left the forest of my birth.Finishing taking stock of the situation, I whip out with my tail, shattering an archer’s shin and slamming him into a wall. Grunting with pain, he bellows out.

“Watch it! He’s as fast as a lightning drake and so much strong-- ah!”

I cut him off with a spike of earth, and rumble,”That’s one down drake-slayers! Let’s see how long it takes me to kill the other seven…”

Lunging forward, I claw one of the warriors who stood out in the open. Strangely enough, he manages to catch the blow on his shield. Hmm, how could he…? Aha! Those runes on his shield form a magic barrier. Hmm, they seem to be glowing brightly. Let’s see what happens if I use a little more power.

Pouring spirit power into my claws, I press downward on him as the runes grow brighter and brighter. Unfortunately, right as they collapse, my head rocks to the side, leaving my slightly dazed as a massive bolt of power blasted into it. Snarling I turn to see the three mages chanting together desperately to prepare a second bolt. Standing in front of them is another warrior and the second archer. The warrior I had pinned to the ground yells out:

“No you Idiots! Get away from each other! Run! Leave me!”

Hmm, he seems to be the commander of the group. I suppose it’s only fitting that he die last. The mages had placed a thick shield of power in front of them to protect themselves from my fire. Snorting derisively, I open my jaws wide a build up a massive amount of aura. The archer fires a mana infused bolt, trying to pierce the back of my throat while the warrior knelt down raising his shield in front of him. Pitiful attempts.

The arrow, which had actually been made out of metal, melts away in the storm of spirit power and splatters harmlessly against my mouth. Contrary to the ridiculous common belief, dragons are fire and heatproof on the inside as well, so the molten state of the metal made no difference.

Then the mages fired their bolt, a respectable attack. It is purple in color and I can feel the combined power of the three nested within it. As their desperate eyes follow the attack, I release my own aura beam.

Launching forward, the pure white beam meets the bolt, and after a moment's hesitation, continues onward burning away the mages’ shield and all 5 humans who stood behind it. Unfortunately, I had been slightly overzealous with my power as the beam kept going, blasting through the wall and continuing onward until it gradually dispersed. Only about a half a mile away, and of course after it had passed through the cities walls and hit the, now empty, markets. Whoops…

….. (Sigh) Terrus? Could you please refrain from using that beam anywhere near civilization? Luckily enough you only hit the external market and the walls, but if you had hit a crowded slum with that?

Yeah I think that might be a good idea. I just didn’t think it would be THAT strong. I mean, I’m only level 147. Those three mages were all around level 100, and their attacks were so weak. Why is that?

That’s because you’re a Champion Dragon with an SSSS growth rate. Right now you’re gaining about 14 points per level in each of your stats. These stats are just a measure of how strong you are in each specific area, so actually your body is growing about 14 points stronger in each of these areas every time you level. Humans on the other hand? The strongest and best bred human in the world can, at best, have plus 5 in one stat. Even then, all his others would be pitifully weak to balance it out. Usually, they have about +1 to +2 per stat with one of their stats being +3. On the flip side, for every dragon, there are over a thousand humans. So ultimately the races reach a balance of power.

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Pondering this, I turn to see the last warrior yelling and charging me furiously. Lunging forward, he brings his axe down on my scales with all his strength, and I watch amused as it bounces off my side. Continuing to kick and hack away at my side with pure anger, I ready a blast of fire to end his life. Before I let loose however, The leader, still pinned under my front leg yells out.

“Wait! Please, noble dragon! I beg of you! Spare his life for he is my only son. He only came to day because our third warrior had a fever. He doesn’t yet have a beard and has a long life ahead of him. With my death, his mother will need him all the more to keep her safe and fed. Please, just dragon, it is my only wish.” The warrior pleads with me, moving me despite of the contempt I had felt for them.

“You have given me reason to stay my hand, but I do not enjoy leaving foes alive. I will give you a choice: Swear to the goddess of justice and honour that the two of you will never take any draconic creature’s life again, and I will allow the both of you to leave here alive. Do not do so, and the two of you will perish.”

Unsurprisingly, the elder warrior immediately swore the oath, and after some calming and coaxing, his son did as well. Allowing the two of them to leave, I exit the trailer to enter the battlefield that used to be the dwarven camp. Seeing a large group of guardsmen guarding the entrance to the trailer, I blast out a cone of flames and burn them to ashes. Then, roaring a challenge, I enter the fray.

Immediately, my champion’s aura takes effect as all the dwarves rally, cheering and rushing forward to meet the raiders. Spearheading the charge, I break through them and leave nothing but corpses in my wake. In a few more minutes, they routed and the dwarves pushed them back to the edge of the camp.

With the raid defeated, the dwarves turn to the task of counting the dead as I take  to skies and look for Eitri. Spotting him, I land near the main tower and slowly close in on the circle of dwarves that had formed. In its center, knelt Eitri, cradling his grandfather in his arms. The old dwarf was still in his bedclothes and his normally braided beard hung loose and tattered over his unmoving chest. Many injuries covered his body, clear signs of how he died. Likewise, the 30 slain city guards in the area also gave a very open clue.

Tearfully, Eitri looks up and spots me. Standing up and tearfully holding Balrin’s body he yells to me,” Terrus! Look what they did to my grandfather! They butchered him in his sleep! Please Terrus,” his eyes darken greatly as his sorrow turns to burning anger,” BURN THEM ALL.”

Also saddened by Balrin’s death, I manage to keep my composure. “Eitri, there are many innocents in that city. Many who had nothing to do with this. I deal out justice, not revenge. I will however, make the ones responsible pay for this. That you can trust me on.”

Lunging into the air, I look out over the city and roar angrily to wake the people who live there. As many of the citizens crowd in the streets, I bellow:

“Today, your leaders betrayed the dwarven caravan, a caravan I was hired to protect. For their betrayal today, they will lose many precious things. First, The walls!” I manipulate the rock in the walls and pull down all the painted pieces and precious gems. Burying them deep below the city, I pull apart the remaining stones, letting the tall walls and towers sink into the earth.

“And then, the keep!” (Writer’s note: A keep is the central building in a castle or fortified city. That is where the nobles live) raising massive jaws of stone from the ground, I form a rough dragon’s head that closes around the citadel and plunges it down into the bowels of the earth, leaving behind a flat ground.

Deciding to make sure the humans of this city remembered, I land on the newly flattened ground and raise a densinium statue of Balrin, the now dead caravan master, along with a plaque with a short eulogy written in three languages.

“Here is remembered Balrin, grandfather of Eitri and Brokk, master of the grand caravan. Slain by treachery, he stands here over the grave of his betrayers, the rulers of Aleran.  See this and remember: justice will always come.”

Leaping into the air, I snort. It had been the work of half an hour to bring a city of humans to its knees. It did completely exhaust my power reserves, but still: that was hardly a challenge.

That’s because this is a tiny city-state at the edge of humanity’s sphere of influence. There are no dragon holds or major beasts in this area, so there is little reason for them to build up defenses. Anyways… Thank you, Terrus. I was afraid you would lose sight of what we stand for and merely burn the city down. It’s good to see that I didn’t give my blessing to someone who didn’t deserve it.

I know Themis. I did struggle but, many of those humans are innocent. It would hardly be justice for anyone if I burned the city to ashes. I would just cause more hatred and anger and leave more foes behind. Ultimately, once I stopped to think about it, it wasn’t really much of a choice.

(Gasp) A male thinking? Quick let me tell the greater Gods for it must be a miracle!

Chuckling and shaking my head I don’t dignify Themis with a response to that rather obvious attempt to lighten my mood. As, I land at the dwarven encampment, I see a tall wooden monument built in the center of the camp.  Sniffing it lightly, I immediately realize what it is. A pyre.

Backing away from the dwarves performing a ceremony around the pyre, I return to my treasury and clamber up on top of the trailer to look at the stars once more. Lost in my own thoughts, I wonder aloud to Themis.

Themis? What happened to my parents? Terra and Pyrus? Where are they?

They’re always watching over you Terrus. Remember when I told you that I’m limited in how much I can talk to you? They’re an order of magnitude more powerful than I am so of course they can speak to you even less often. That is unless  you want your brain to be fried by divine power. As you get stronger, they’ll be able to talk to you more and so will I! In fact, I’ll even be able to show myself so you can see me in all my divine glory!

Reassured, I grin and slowly fall asleep.