P.O.V. Terrus:

    The Dwarves were a merry but hard working pair. Only fifteen minutes after being released from their bonds, they had refilled their stocks, gathered up their goods,  and hitched their wagon to a group of camels. Interestingly enough, the wagon had two sets of wheels a thin-rimmed inner set and a very broad outer set. When I asked them about it, Eitri the brother who had opened up to me,  replied:

“Oh those are for traveling in the desert. They spread out the wagon’s weight and keep us from sinking up to our beards in sand.”

Chuckling at the image that brought to mind, I merrily reply,” Well considering your height and the length of your beard that isn’t exactly a great height now is it?”

“Hahaha! That’s a bit of a low blow don’t you think?” He banters back. What an interesting fellow. Less than one fifth of my height, barely level eighteen, and still joking along. Ha, if all dwarves are like this, then I’ll be very entertained on a journey with them.

Meanwhile the elder seems a little unsure of the situation. Judging by the way he flinches when I speak, he’s probably still slightly afraid of me. Hmm, let’s see if we can’t fix that. As we set off on foot, I casually ask:

“So Brokk, why are you Dwarves out here in the desert? I did not see any cities on the peninsula to trade with, and you can’t exactly say the climate agrees with you.”. Seeming slightly surprised by my question, he takes a moment to respond.

“Well your… Terrus, We’re actually just passing through the desert to reach the mountains. Our portal from the lower realm opens up right at the edge of that Beast Forest and so we regularly make this crossing.” He replies hesitantly. His explanation did confuse me slightly.

“Lower realm? What is that?” I ask while tilting my head slightly. The dwarves seem surprised that I don’t know. Hmm, so it's probably common knowledge.

“Uhh Terrus, you’re pulling our leg right? Surely you know of the realms!” Eitri responds as confusion floods his features..

“I apologize for my ignorance, but I evolved from the Beast Forest. This is my first trip out into the wide world and I still know little of my surroundings.” Hmm, a bit fluffy, but I need to regain my mystique after all ! I can’t just look like a country bumpkin!

“Ha! No wonder you’re such a weird dragon! You haven’t even met another of your kin have you?”He responds, alight with realization. I wait for him to continue and after organizing his thoughts, he begins a thorough lesson on the worlds.

“Alright Terrus, I’ll tell you the common knowledge of the world.” Pausing for a second, he hastily adds,” Remember that this is the tale from the perspective of the dwarves. Every race has a slightly different view on what has occurred. Now, this is the story of the creation of the worlds.” His voice is far more grave, and his recital almost seems ritualistic. I listen intently as he begins.

“Long ago, there was nothing. Nor land, Nor sea, Nor air, Nor fire. Nor Space, Nor Time had come about. Then came the Self. Almighty and All knowing, he was dissatisfied with his surroundings. First, he made fire to light his way and warm him. Next he made the Earth to walk upon and the seas to drink from. Lastly, he made the Air to feed the flames and protect Fire from Earth and Water. All these came from his essence so he grew tired and rested. None know on which day or how long he rested for Time had not come about yet. When He had recovered, he created space to keep his elements separate, and then walked upon his world. His footsteps dug into the ground, carving out the laves rivers and seas while raising up the mountains and hills. Once more he grew dissatisfied with his world, so he created the dragons and Dwarves from the earth and fire. Giving the dragon's dominion of the sky, and the dwarves control of the land, he split the world equally between them. Working in harmony, they built vast palaces and Temples for the Self. This was the First age of Life. However, all too soon, the land had been covered, the skies had been tamed, the seas had been plundered, and the fire had been spent. Seeing this, the Self created Ruin, Time, and Chaos to rebuild the world in its original state. The world was shattered, and so began the first age of Death. Seeing the destruction around them, the dragons and dwarves pooled their powers together and Struck two pieces from the Self, Bringing into the World Creation and Order. Furious, the Self rained power down on the two firstborn races. Weakened, he did not manage to exterminate us, only decimate. Eventually, his wrath subsided and he retreated to the realm he had come from. Thus began the first Age of War. Order and Creation rallied the races and took command of the elements, building Gods to govern them. Each God feuded with the others and created races of their own. Ventus brought the Humans, eternal wanderers, into the world, Tritus created the graceful elves from his seas, Terra mothered the elementals, spirits of rock and stone, and Pyrus, not very talented with life, adopted the dragons and dwarves. Eventually, these main races split, with groups following each god. That is how you can see Water dragons and flying Dwarves today. But Ruin and chaos had not been idle. Corrupting the cores of many members of the races, they brought about their own people and continued the everlasting war. That is where we are today good dragon.” Eitri concludes with a flushed face.

Continuing to walk in thoughtful silence, I The tale is interesting, but it is clearly incomplete. When where the beasts and plants formed? How did the cores come about? What is the lower realm? Why can Dragons like me evolve but the hominid races can’t? Wait, can they?

“That is a grand tale,” I respectfully begin,” ,but it did not answer my question. What is the lower realm?”

To my surprise, the reserved brother Brokk answers my question:” That’s quite simple Terrus.  The two sides split the world into three version. Lowest, there is the underrealm, source of all chaos. Above that, there is the lower realm. It is a vast untamed land, with just a few cities and villages built over its entirety. Finally, the highest realm we can reach is this one, the spirit realm. Here, spirits are reincarnated into cores and are born to a member of their new race or evolve naturally into that race. This evolution is what allows for the many subspecies, like Sea Elves and Lightning elementals. Like you for example! I assume you are a lava drake?” He ends with a questioning tone. Hmm, Themis what is a lava drake?

Hey! I’m your Goddess not your personal dictionary! You’re still too weak for me to do more than talk to you a couple of times a day, so you’ll have to figure this stuff out on your own. Anyways, since I’m talking to you, a lava drake is a common type of dragon. They have pretty decent physical stats, but a growth rate of only S, which is the base for dragons.

Hmph, I Way stronger than that thing! HAHA I’m all powerful!

Of course, there is a bloodline of star dragons with an Enigma level growth rate. The rate is exponential by the way. You are SSS so you grow 100 times faster than a normal dragon. They grow 1,000 times faster than you. But don’t worry, they only live in space

My shoulders immediately sag. Didn’t you say you could only talk to me a couple of times a day? Did you really have to waste it like that?

Oh I wouldn’t call it wasted. You’re hilarious AND adorable when you’re pouty! :D

Trying to regain my dignity, I try to recall all my epic moments while turning to Brokk to correct him.

“Actually Brokk, I am a Champion Magma Dragon.” Their reaction was unexpected.

First confusion flitted across their faces, then a hint of realization, and finally open mouthed awe. Slightly embarrassed by the gaping looks they were giving me, I look around while they collect themselves. The sand is getting rougher and the dunes have been shrinking. Those mountains also seem a lot bigger. Hmm, they are actually huge aren’t they? Anyways, judging by all this we should be out of here by tomorr…

My thoughts are interrupted by Eitri blurting out.

“ My Gods! You’re a Dragon Lord!”  He still stares at me open-mouthed. Hmm, I wonder why that’s so surprising to him.

“Not quite yet, but by my next evolution I should be. Why, Is that rare?” Please be rare. Please be rare, I need some ammunition for my next argument with Themis.

Brokk sonrts out loud, and shakes his head. “Is that rare? Is that rare he asks. Hahaha I’ve met a dragon lord and lived to tell the tale.” This surprises me, why would it be so shocking to live after meeting a dragon lord?

Eitri explains while his brother is still laughing in shock.

“Terrus, Dragon Lords are almost legendarily rare. Look, a community of dragons is called a Hold. There are a few hundred Holds spread out across the spirit realm. Outside of these holds, dragons live completely isolated. This isolation is the normal way of life for dragons. So why do some gather and form holds? Simple: it's because of dragon lords.”

This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

I digest this information. So my species of dragon forms the center of dragon society? Well that’s nice I suppose but I don’t understand why it's such a big deal…

Eitri continues,” There is one dragon lord in each Hold. He either has a group of Dams or one queen to mate with. Now while dragons are normally very powerful beings, any who are sired by a lord receive a bonus to the racial “dragon’s blood“ ability. The lord’s mates also receive a bonus, “Consort of the Dragon Lord”. These bonuses all growth in Strength as the lord does, so a Hold is very dependent on their lord. That’s why my brother’s so shocked you see. Dragon lords are far more prideful than normal dragons and remain in the center of their hold. They only leave to battle or for the occasional hunt. In both cases swarms of dragons patrol, making sure no harm befalls them.”

The information shocks me. I had no idea that I was so powerful. It's more than enough to rebuild my pride after being called “adorable”. I wonder how my own Hold will be like in the future. I’ll have to make sure to treat hominids better, it really disgusts me how fearful they were of my presence…

Once again my thoughts are derouted, this time however it was Brokk who asked me a question.

“So Terrus, not to be rude, but which God are you a champion of?” He asks the question rather hesitantly. It must be a taboo then. Hmm, let’s have a bit of fun with this and hopefully fix that fear.

Freezing in place, I turn to him and snarl. Spreading my wings and surrounding myself in a coat of flames, I boom out,” YOU DARE! YOUR IMPERTINENCE HAS GONE TOO FAR THIS TIME DWARF!”

Their reaction is priceless. Both of them jump back and begin to desperately beg forgiveness.

“BWAHAHA You’re both so easy!” I break down laughing.

After peaking up to make sure it was just a prank, both of the spooked dwarves begin to chuckle with me. Growing serious quickly, I say to them:

“ I apologize for the bad taste of the prank, but seriously, you two need to calm down. I’ve noticed the hesitation and that fear proved it to me. I maybe be a terrifying 30 foot tall master of fire and Earth, but it's perfectly okay to joke between friends. I do consider you two friends, so don’t be afraid. Ask away.” I felt that showing them that I could joke around as well would get them to open up to me. Thankfully it seems to have worked as Brokk walks over to me and punches me in the foreleg. While it didn’t really hurt, I felt it was slightly symbolic.

“Ouch.” I say and pull my leg up.

Brokk smiles a wicked grin and says,” Alright Scaly, that’s for scaring the shite out of us.” The grin falls from his face as he notices that his hand is bleeding.

“You dragon’s are too strong! I can’t even hit you without getting hurt!” he good naturedly continues as he walks back to the wagon to bandage his fist. That reminded me of my ability, Aura of the Guardian. Activating it and toggling the brothers, they jump in surprise as they see the buff.

“Aura of the Guardian from Terrus,” Eitri says aloud,” P..P...PLUS 366 CONSTITUTION AND RESISTANCE?” He looks at me, shocked.

“Yeah it's one of my abilities. It grants my allies 25% of my defensive stats. It’s nothing major, just 366 points. I thought it might help the two of you out a little.” Not paying to much attention to the conversation, I look around and comment:

“Hmm, it’s getting dark isn’t it? I suppose We should set up a camp or something right?”

Still staring at me, Eitri is about to answer me, when he is suddenly interrupted by an echoing roar.

Standing two dunes away from us, a reptilian beast is roaring at us. With Eight heads. It has a tan hide, and is about as tall as I am. Analysing it, I am impressed by the wealth of information I received.

Sand Hydra: lvl 115

Unnamed Common Beast

Racial abilities: Acid spew, Infinite Heads are Better Than One.

This hydra doesn’t seem too strong, but it should be a good test of my strength. Turning to Eitri, I ask one question: “Is it edible?”

“Yes it should be. Watch out though, its heads regrow if you slice them off and it can spit out a stream of acid.” He looks concerned as he says this. I imagine a beast like this would be his death if he encountered it alone. Well good thing he has a Friendly Neighborhood Dragon Lord around!

I launch myself into the air, flying towards the Hydra. Hissing viciously, it spouts out acid. I ignore it and merely wreath myself in flames, evaporating most of the acid before it even hit me. What little did hit me couldn't even eat away at my scales. Diving down, I land and reply with a stream of fire breath. Why didn’t I just launch fireballs at it? Because I’m a dragon and what dragon doesn’t breath out streams of fire? Plus, it just looks far more majestic. Unfortunately, the hydra doesn’t seem to be hurt too badly by my flames.

Instead of burning away to a crisp, it dashes forward and uses four of its heads to clamp down on my front legs and wings. Holding these limbs in place, it uses its other four to bite at my neck and underside viciously. Fortunately, I had retained the thick plating from my previous evolution, so I calmly prepared my energy for a Spirit Blast. Opening my jaws wide, I’m surprised to see that my blast is drawing in streams of sand and fire. Launching it forward, I hit the hydra head on, dissolving more than half of it. Desperately staggering, it tries to dive into the sands, but I catch it and burn its exposed insides to ash. Not so fireproof on the inside huh? Devouring its core, I’m surprised to see that I don’t even get any experience.

It’s not going to be as easy to evolve anymore Terrus. You have to pull in energy of the elements you’re attuned to. That core’s energy, while it is within you, is far too little to boost your  own. You need much more power to grow in levels now.

Wait, what do you mean i have to pull in energy from the elements?

Levels 100-200 take far more energy to level up. You woke up at level 125 only because of the crazy amount of pure energy Terra, Pyrus, and I pumped into you as a reward for purifying the forest. That won’t happen again, so it's more efficient to absorb the energy around you. This naturally happens at all times, but it works faster in your natural element. So if you want to get stronger very quickly, get to a volcano!

I ponder this as I drag the hydra’s remains back to the dwarves. When I pay attention closely, I can feel energy flow into me. The dwarves seem overjoyed to get it. They say something about getting stronger when they eat it, but I wasn’t really paying attention. Instead I lie down and focus on the two streams of energy that enter me.

The larger stream is brown so it's probably from the earth. It comes from the sand and bedrock far below me. The second is red and, strangely, comes from all around me and the dwarves’ bonfire. Hmm, it must draw from the ambient heat then. Intrigued, I try to draw more power through them.

Congratulations! You have discovered Meditation! With a small amount of focus, you can draw in far more power from your surroundings.

Your new ability Meditation has reacted with your Dragon’s Blood! It has advanced to Draconic Meditation! Now, a small fragment of you has formed to constantly meditate!

And you get a freebie! And you get a freebie! And YOU get a freebie! HAHA this is too easy! Actually, I notice that while the rate of absorption has been doubled, It’s still very slow. Dismayed, I realize that, at this rate, if I don’t get to a volcano, it’ll take me centuries to evolve!

With those thoughts running through my mind, I close my eyes and go to sleep.