{Arthur's POV}

Arthur looked over the drow. He really should have thought ahead. He glanced at his metal chest. The chest didn't have enough room to fit the elf, he could tell. If Arthur were to put the chest in his mouth, like a dog with a bone, that would work best he thought.

Arthur heaved his metal chest up and clamped down on it with his teeth, careful to not damage the chest yet firm at the same time. It didn't feel too awkward, as he was many times larger than this chest. He picked the drow up with one clawed hand and started to walk back towards the entrance.

He had to cast reduce on himself once more to exit the cave entrance, the chest shrinking with him but the drow remaining the same, still unconscious. He managed easily enough even reduced and made it outside back into the forest.

Arthur returned to his full size the second he left the cave. With his loot in his jaws and an evil elf in his claws, he soared into the air and directed himself towards Mirfield. Nothing eventful happened during his short few minute flight, and he was soon within sight of the town. He saw overhead people outside, gawking at him. Hmm, they usually go indoors pretty quickly when he visits Mirfield. Perhaps they've grown used to him?

He landed in front of the gate carefully, the drow in his hand still unconscious. He must've whacked him pretty good. This time a guard didn't even need to fetch the town master, them coming out merely half a minute after he appears at the gate, shouting, "I'm going to lose weight if I keep hustling here! I assume you have completed one of the slaying quests? And it seems you have a drow with you?" He didn't seem suspicious, merely curious as he waited for Arthur to explain.

He cleared his throat and said, "Yes, this drow was apart of a cult worshipping Lolth. I don't know any more than that, but the spiders and the cult have been dealt with. I brought him with me so you could question him for information. And you know, I could just talk to the guards if you didn't want to come to meet me each time."

The guards around looked as if they were struck with a lot of anxiety all of a sudden. With a chuckle, the town master humbly said to Arthur, "I think it would be best if I were the speaker in this situation, although I appreciate the offer I can handle these short jogs now and then. Gets me out of paperwork too." He chuckled again, and Arthur chuckled too, although it came out way more ominous than he meant. Arthur handed over his quest scroll (which Arthur had picked up from the ground because he dropped them when he entered into that rage) to the town master, who took it with a smile. He seemed to have the gold pre-prepared, as a guard was over quite quicker than the other times Arthur had gotten gold. As he took the bag of a thousand gold coins and placed it in his chest, he deposited the drow over the fence, which the guards took away.

Arthur remembered his yochlol eye, and he pulled it out. The town master reared back in surprise, saying, "Is that an eye of a beast? It is quite big." Arthur handed it to him, which he tentatively looked over.

"It's an eye of a Yochlol, a demon that serves under Lolth. I was wondering if I could get a bounty of some sort for bringing this eye into you." The town master seemed to think, and then spoke up saying,

"I know an associate who would likely buy a demon's eye. A wizard type. I will take it for, say, four hundred gold? It's not every day you get demon eyes brought to you." Arthur nodded his assent, and the town master smiled and ushered a guard to get the appropriate gold.

As they were waiting, the town master seemingly observing the eye the entire time with an appraising gaze, a young boy suddenly dashed from the bushes to Arthurs right, straight towards him. Dumbfounded, he did nothing as the boy stopped inches from him, reaching out and running a hand over his scales. The boy looked up at Arthur, giggling and completely unafraid of the gargantuan dragon. As the town master flustered and stuttered, ordering a stupefied guard to go get the boy, Arthur looked down at this astronomically brave kid. He was about the size of one of his shorter claws, and they just continued to feel Arthur's tough scales with wide eyes.

"Your mother will be furious, you know. You should not run up to creatures such as I." Arthur said to him. A guard had pushed through the gate and was approaching the kid, but paused at Arthur's voice. The child replied,

"But you're nice! And I wanted to see if you felt like my pet lizard, and you do!" Arthur said nothing in response as the guard recovered his wits, scooping up the kid with rushed apologies, practically running back into town. The town master coughed and said to Arthur,

"I must apologize on behalf of the child. Thank you for your kind words, Arthur! I'm sure their mother will punish them accordingly. A long time out awaits them." He chuckled nervously. Arthur waved his apology away, stating,

"I would not be so upset over the actions of a young boy. That one will probably grow to be an adventurer, no?" The town master laughed, albeit nervously still. At this point, a guard had arrived with Arthur's money. He took it and tossed it into his chest. "Will that be all?" the town master asked.

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"Yes, I will deposit this in my lair and continue the second quest. Expect me soon." Arthur nodded politely and flew into the air, considerably heavier chest in tow. He charted a course for his mountain.

After a brief flight, he was back in his minions camp, which looked much more advanced than this morning. There were crude baskets holding firewood, racks that held raw meat, pelts of various animals and sizes in piles, and a lot more minor things. He saw Alek in the middle of making another basket, two goblins replicating him.

Alek looked up to Arthur when he landed, saying, "Hey Arthur! We made a lot of progress, and most of all we found wild apple trees and berry bushes in the forest! Although the bugbears don't seem all that excited, hehe."

Arthur nodded politely, saying, "Everything looks much better than it did this morning, thank you Alek. I recently finished a quest, and I'm going to finish two more. I'm going to deposit my gold here and continue my quest hunting." Arthur gestured to his metal chest, which he jingled. Alek nodded and smiled, saying,

"Sweet! Well, ill let you get back to it!" He continued his work on the basket, his goblin students fixated on Arthur at the moment. Arthur turned back into his cavern, going back to his small pile of gold. He quickly scanned it with his eyes briefly, finding not a single coin out of place. Satisfied, he opened the chest and dumped out the contents onto the pile, increasing its size considerably. He lightly ripped open the tops of the two sacks and added their contents to his growing hoard as well.

He had to say, it was coming along nicely. The precious gems really added a lot to the overall look of his hoard as well. Arthur ran his claws through the sweet gold, letting them wash over his claws. Deep satisfaction and another stab of greed for more filled his mind, which he ruthlessly cut down. He wouldn't be greedy. The satisfaction can stay though.

Done with depositing his loot, he opened the second scroll and read it. It stated, 'A pack of kobolds has been terrorizing the main road that connects Mirfield to the closest town for half a year and counting. Drive or kill them off. Be wary of their traps! 500 GP reward.' Followed by details on their location and extra info on kobolds, which he already knew.

Kobolds, huh? They worshipped evil dragons as demigods, so he was suspecting the outcome of this mission would result in him securing some more minions. This was quite honestly perfect if he said so himself. Arthur exited his lair and after a brief goodbye with Alek and his minions, set off in the direction the quest described.

{Mirfield's POV}

Donald, town master, sat down heavily into his office chair. The anxiety bubbling in him was slowly subsiding, but it was still there as he sighed. It was just like any other meeting, Arthur being polite as usual, and handing in the quest. Arthur didn't know, but he was really increasing the monetary gains of Mirfield! As word will inevitably slowly spread across the kingdom of a civil red dragon who was willingly helping Mirfield, it would dramatically increase the number of visitors to his town, which brought natural income into the town's coffers. And with Arthur clearing so many threats, he could seriously expand and make more profit in the long run.

But his heart dropped out of his chest when a child no more than eight years of age sprang out of those bushes and ran towards Arthur, he thought Arthur would instinctively lash out, killing a child and therefore permanently ruining his relations with the town of Mirfield in one fell swoop.

He was caught completely by surprise when the child started feeling Arthur's scales, and the dragon didn't even seem to mind, at most just curious! And when the child compared Arthur to his pet lizard, he had visibly paled. He was sure that event had shaved off ten years of his life, his heart couldn't handle this!

He sighed again, running a hand through his black hair. He had really underestimated Arthur, and he was beginning to see the dragon in a new light.

{Hobgoblin POV}

War was what filled Krog the warrior's mind every day of his life. He was used as a servant before he grew big enough to challenge those who would use him, slaying them all. Krog proved himself in martial prowess and a merciless cunning that surpassed all others who would challenge him. Krog quickly grew in power, leading a merc group of hobgoblins at the age of sixteen.

Krog had his sights on bigger things than mercenary work, and by the time he had become a fully-fledged adult hobgoblin, he ruled a small town of his brethren. He would constantly raid towns and villages of valuables, capturing the survivors as slaves to do menial labor.

Krog grew too quickly and unexpectedly. When a detachment of the human army came to slaughter his town and men, expecting an easy victory in overwhelming numbers, Krog flipped the tables on them with traps and clever strategies, utilizing beasts and other things. He knew his actions would attract the army, and he had been planning for this battle for years.

Krog had stripped all of the bodies of their resources, armor, and weapons, and kept the survivors as expendable slaves. His actions attracted a slew of hobgoblin groups, who swore fealty under his rule and the promise of war and carnage.

The hobgoblins grew too quickly in power, and under Krog's leadership secured a foothold in the world, slowly spreading their borders. The other races would have united under this threat in most cases, but every leader seemed to have some sort of excuse for not participating with the humans in the war.

For years, more and more hobgoblins joined Krog's army and naturally children hobgoblin's made in Krog's borders grew up in his strict training regimen, destined to join his armies ranks. Krog wanted to eliminate the humans, as they were the biggest nation around and therefore the biggest threat.

This was where Krog was now. Planning an absolutely massive siege war with the humans using a war table. The meeting with his generals complete, Krog stood for a moment, staring at the war table, and suddenly and violently pulling a dagger and slamming its blade into the picture of the mini-human kingdom. His mind churned and roared for blood.

Cutting through the bloodthirsty fog was a memory of another life, a peaceful one where Krog-no, Anthony- stood around a table with friends, laughing and rolling dice. Then the fog consumed his mind once more. Such foolishness, Krog thought. His mind will not be deluded with fantasies. Krog was war, and he would let every race in this realm know it.