Perhaps I had taken some things for granted in life. Unlike mortals, when I attain a Skill, I generally know how to use it. The knowledge is so instinctually ingrained in me that I wield the secrets of the arcane with ease. As such, I rarely had to struggle with understanding how to best use and control new Skills when I acquired them. Perhaps this lack of experiencing repeated failures and forging the power to strive when overcoming such shortcomings precipitated my current predicament. For on one day of no particular note for most people in camp, I had increased enough in [Age] to unlock [Parallel Minds], the forerunner of similar but more sophisticated Skills that would allow me to split my consciousness across multiple streams of thought simultaneously.
For now, I lay on the floor, twitching and flopping around with all the grace and dignity of a fish plucked from the waters and cast ashore. Nanu also lay beside me on the floor, but where I labored to follow her earlier instructions to pull my consciousness back to a single mind, she rolled around in a fit of laughter at my misfortune. Skull stood nearby with a huge smirk upon her face, and Chooka, gods bless her, sat nearby and tenderly tried to soothe and calm me as my frustration gave way to a veritable tantrum that was not entirely within my control to suppress.
From an outside perspective, dragons can seem to be a tad cruel to one another, with verbal barbs and unveiled delight at the misfortunes of others, especially dragons, to be commonplace. But one would be foolish to expect dragons to have the same norms and perspectives of mortal races. To dragons, such ridicule is a test and a challenge to rise above one’s pride, to be its master and not its thrall. The weak grow up to be children, and the strong grow into legends, ones who accomplish deeds that their lessers would balk at attempting for the thought of the shame it would bring. I made a mental note to keep Nanu’s current treatment of my undignified situation in perspective later on, to remember that she meant well, but that note would be buried deep in a pile of mental notes and may well be lost forever.
“36,” I managed to utter somewhat coherently to Chooka.
“Ha, wrong again!” Nanu commented from the peanut gallery as I failed to solve another simple math problem on a flashcard that Chooka presented to me.
“Hush now, darling, the grown-ups are talking,” Chooka chastised Nanu as she continued to console me. “Not quite, but more accurate than last time. Try again, I know you will get it right soon. And if not, that is fine too. We are in no hurry.”
I found it taxing and difficult to focus, my additional minds clamoring for things to do as they pulled my concentration one way or another. Sensory deprivation did not help, for it only made them all dreadfully bored. Likewise, an abundance of stimuli would lead to no end of distractions. Being inside my home with only a few people struck the right balance. Simple algebraic equations as something to focus on in a task-oriented manner was deemed a time-tested method for dragons to master their errant minds.
“15,” I tried, knowing my answer would be wrong, but my minds desired the gratification of a task seen to completion. Through our combined prowess, I was effectively thinking faster, but every calculation was wrong. It was almost like my new minds possessed no native intelligence, that they had no context or understanding of patterns, and they needed sample data from which to produce useful results. Fortunately, each mind fed and trained the others, and as they grew in competency, they copied what more they could comprehend from my primary mind and used that knowledge to advance.
“Not quite,” Chooka replied with a small frown. “You forgot to carry the 1. Don’t worry, I still love you and I am certain you will get them right soon enough.”
Ever my beacon in the darkness during these trying times, I could feel one of Chooka’s Skills lurking near the outskirts of my sense of self, the Skill wanting to impact me but unable to bypass my resistance to such manipulations. With a conscious effort, I lowered my defenses and allowed the soothing effect of her Skills to wash over me and to carry away my frustration and anxiety with its cleansing ministrations.
Now calmer, I could focus, and with much the same attitude I used when reining in The Boys when they were up to mischief, I forced my other minds to surrender to my will and to clear their thought streams of all idle whims of pondering. With each now clear, I experimented with giving each only one specific task. One mind focused on performing mathematical calculations, another on handling error checking with the guidance of my primary mind, and a third focused on suppressing all other nascent minds that desired purpose. I could ramp up over time the number of minds I could manage at once, but for this moment, these were all I could wrangle to a common cause.
“44”,” I answered with more confidence than normal.
“Correct!” Chooka answered with a small fist pump of victory. “I knew you could do it. Let’s do another.”
Some may find her coddling to be patronizing, similar in manner to how one talks to a child. However, I knew that she meant no such slights and that her words secretly wove her Skills to placate my negative emotions while stoking those that were positive. Such was an important Skill for a [Courtesan] to manage rowdy customers.
After half an hour, I was able to sit up without twitching. After another half hour, I could walk and talk at the same time while also solving the math problems. By two hours, I had enough practice to handle three additional minds to satisfactory performance. I wouldn’t trust them to handle the stress of combat, but they could handle routine tasks just fine. I set one to coach more minds while another worked as a proctor, checking in occasionally with my main mind’s memory to confirm that they were all behaving in the correct manner.
By the time my fourth mind was up and running, I set it to plotting contingencies and schemes on how to get back at Nanu. That seemed like an appropriate test to see how useful [Parallel Minds] could be - a challenging task considering how perceptive she would be to shenaniganry and how resilient she would be to most unpleasant mediums of torment. Scorpions in her shoes would barely even tickle if she somehow didn’t notice them, and mostly, only the goop from their mushed corpses would be much of an issue before she used some sort of cleaning Ability to unspoil her shoes and feet. Ice water poured onto her would feel as refreshing as a gentle spring breeze. Perhaps something further out, like six months from now when her guard was lowered, would do the trick.
More importantly, as more minds were prepared, I acquired Skills to give them a virtual world to practice certain things. They could draft schematics, work on my library of runes, produce documentation that I would need for administrative tasks, or plan out the city structure I would require here directly. That’s right, I would be building my own city in the Ashlands, one placed about 50 miles from where the portal would open. The city would serve as the last bastion of civilization and all the comforts it could provide for the defenders of our world who would rotate out for some rest and relaxation.
And plan away my minds did as I spun up seven or eight of them, depending on the complexity of the tasks and how stressed I was dealing with things around me. Unfortunately, while they could plan and record things in fine detail internally, they could not actually make things for me. That would come later, but I did have some Skills to help me quickly put ink to paper or otherwise relay their thoughts into a physical medium, assuming I used my primary mind as the middleman. Overall, a huge improvement on my ability to multitask and plan for the future, and this new Skill only left me salivating at the prospects of acquiring better versions.
Not two days later, my first batch of whelps were born. One of them was a bit larger and smarter than the rest, for it was my first Imperial Whelp. Tenacious and cunning predators, within moments of hatching, they sensed the nearby weakness among them and pounced with ruthless determination. Skull instantly became a casualty of their insidious manipulations, for she fell into a cuddle puddle of seemingly weak and defenseless whelps that cried for her attention and affection, which she was all too happy to provide. She was so oblivious to the world around her while enthralled by their cuteness that she had to be carried around on a palanquin by a gaggle of kobolds, such that Skull would remain by my side if I actually needed her. Eventually, I made my whelps relent in their inexorable snuggles. As they wandered off to do my bidding, they left behind a bawling Skull who cried out to them to return and to let her love them. These were dark days for my constant companion with her erstwhile new “scale babies”.
Some of you may recall that I invested much of my flight’s benefits into whelps. I also invested many of my [Flight Management] Skills into whelps. These little buggers, fresh from their eggs, could give most Gold Adventurers a run for their money. My whelps may not win in sheer power, but the versatility of what they could do was beyond most people. They could sneak and scout, were almost unapproachable without the interloper being detected, could soothe crowds, administer light healing, conjure up wards, barriers, and shields, and deliver potent magical attacks of the blasting variety that would make [Artillery Mages] weep tears of joy. They could also clean, transport goods, and generally follow any instructions a small child could comprehend. In short, I had a small flock of familiars the likes of which only [Archmages] that went all-in on familiars could match.
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And I was just getting started. I already had a dozen more eggs ready, and soon, my first True Dragon children would be born. Any day now. They just need to cook a little longer. Any second now…
All estimates predicted they would be born after I finished building my new city, World’s End. The name felt spot on, since the world could be ending soon and it would be located at the end of civilization in the middle of the continent. One had to travel pretty far east or west to arrive at the coast where the bulk of civilization was located in this region. I had the full plans for the city drafted, with my army of engineers and other specialists to review it and give proper tweaks, also with Torborg reining in those who wanted to take things to the extreme. Too many cooks spoil the broth and all that, and this city needed to be functional more than it needed to be pretty. I had already done the math on it, and I did have enough time to make things pretty if I did not hit more than what would be an acceptable number of snags.
Speaking of snags, my biggest dilemma was how my city would need some kind of [Noble] to maintain civilization. Without a [Noble], monsters could literally spawn inside the city, which, as one may guess, is not conducive to maintaining civil order. Skilled individuals had been hired to suppress or handle such events, but they were far too costly for a permanent setup. For a city of such prominence, I couldn’t just get a regular ol’ [Baron] or something, not to be confused with a Baron, which was a rank of peerage for dragons. No, I had my sights set on a [Princess], and the only problem in the way of my plans was that said [Princess] was the daughter of a [King] who was not inclined to part with his beloved progeny… without me paying an absurd price. Beyond all sanity, the political implications of how such a gift to me would expand his own influence and ingratiate himself with a rising power eluded him, despite, as rumors said, how his many advisors had counseled him on the wisdom in cooperation.
With diplomatic options having been exhausted, alternative methods of conflict resolution and acquisition of critical resources were underway. And by that highfalutin’ lingo, of course I mean what dragons are best known for. I was going to kidnap a [Princess].
Now don’t get your knickers in a twist here, reader. I did secretly conspire with said [Princess] for her abduction, for she possessed the mental wherewithal to recognize a golden opportunity when she saw one. A [Princess] could expect to be married away to a man she has never met, to live in a land not her own, all for the advantage of her family. She would be little more than a cow trapped in a gilded cage, one whose purpose was to pump out babies with [Noble] Blessings.
I offered her a brand spanking new city, one with most of the bells and whistles that many older cities just do not have. She understood that she was but a puppet, one who would govern according to my rules and that she would be subordinate to my flight. Mostly, I expected her to perform the critical duties relevant to a [Noble] to maintain civilization, and the rest of the time, she could enjoy the comfortable and privileged life as granted to her by a reasonably generous stipend from my coffers. Sadly, the prestige and pageantry of a [Noble] matters, and a [Princess] simply could not abide by a smaller stipend lest the authority and potency of her Blessing be compromised.
Fortunately, unlike true feudalism, she would have no need of vassals, especially since the city would have no fiefs under its protection. Ergo, I would not need to pay, hmm, what is the collective word for a bunch of useless [Nobles] that don’t really do anything other than be pompous and waste money. A group of lawyers is almost the same thing, so let’s go with that. I wouldn’t need to pay a firm of [Nobles] to attend court.
It was actually rather sad how easy the whole process was of kidnapping a [Princess], albeit a willing one. Nanu and I loaded up with an elite cadre of handpicked guards. We flew over to the kingdom, scooped up the [Princess] who had hoodwinked her way out of her quarters in the middle of the night, accidentally lit the castle on fire, and flew back to the work camp, all in the matter of about 30 hours. Easy-peasy. No need to go into details of how the castle was half-destroyed by the time we cleared the horizon. If anything, that castle was a disaster waiting to happen and was not up to building code.
Naturally, I waited until the work camp had arrived at where World’s End would be before I conducted the heist. The city was not built yet, but with a model made of [Illusion] magic and much of the work done to haul all the building materials on site, the rest was just a matter of simple construction. I let the [Princess], I wanna say something like Kimberly, Kimbloria, Kimbronica…, anyway, I let [Princess] Kim assess the designs for her city, to which she had no real complaints seeing as how she was no architect and not in a position of power to expend any political capital in annoying me with frivolous changes, and I went on my merry way. I only ever saw her a handful of times after that, but some of my children would “interact” with her extensively. And by that, I mean the worst kept secret of what dragons were known for when concerning [Princesses], or pretty much anyone to be honest if they catch our eyes.
Ah, but the city itself, what a gem. Black obsidicrete outer roads. Elevated roads, mind you, much like bridges, but with support piers so frequent that one could not pass underneath the bridge itself. One possessed of ignorance and crass manners may try to liken the construct to a wall, but I am “The Dragon of Roads”, not “The Dragon of Walls”. Roads and walls are pretty much the opposite of one another, as the former enables travel while the latter restricts it. This perimeter road even has ramps to connect it to the lower roads of the city itself, each ramp connecting just shy of the corners of the square city. What kind of wall has such things? Indeed, similar roads would be a staple of securing borders of places of interest in my domain as it grew. They are also wide enough on top for two carriages to pass one another. Show me a wall that can boast such width. Hmph.
The city proper was a clean and orderly grid in an 8x8 pattern of straight roads, all perfectly aligned with the cardinal directions. Well, as much as one can when considering the curvature of the planet, but you know what I mean. Each building, made of a mix of obsidicrete and obsidisteel, stood five stories high, with a few observation towers throughout the city to enable trusted observers to keep an eye on things. The city roads were wide, with different lanes for commercial traffic and pedestrians. Left turns and straight-through traffic used roundabouts and right turns were made before said roundabouts via a special turning lane. I played with the idea of portals to handle intersections, but my current Skill at making such enchantments would bankrupt the reserves of mana collected from ambient mana, but it remained something to consider for future developments.
However, having lights in place to control when left turns versus straight-through traffic could enter the roundabouts is dirt cheap. Traffic flows smoother and the animals that pull carts are calmer when four carts enter at time, all make their journey without impediment, and then the next batch can enter to repeat the process. It’s more important to avoid collision or gridlock with cumbersome vehicles that lack the agility to handle multiple lanes in a roundabout. Additionally, big wagons and their draft animals just don’t have a tight enough turning radius for multiple lanes in a roundabout. One has to consider these practical limitations when dealing with more primitive modes of transportation.
Long-distance travel in the city was all underground. That is also where the “speedsters” could travel quickly without having to worry about colliding with small children or something. Authorized individuals were permitted to leap from rooftop to rooftop, but they were advised to keep such skulking to appropriate hours and to not hog the best brooding locations. The rooftops were almost flat, designed with a slight slope and a drain in the middle so the scarce rain could be pooled into underwater aquifers, which would augment the water supply from the pipeline I had made and would ease the burden on the storm drains.
World’s End was MY city. I personally own every single building in it. It is not open to immigration, but accessible by invitation only. Each nation had options and quotas to supply the best and brightest in pretty much every profession to come live here, for the world was in it for the long-haul in the war for our very existence that would undoubtedly last for centuries. A whole army of [Scribes] and [Clerks] had arranged for recruiting and vetting these people, I just made the places for them to live and work. Already, many were on their way here, and so construction would need to be completed quickly.
The city foundation was dug a full 635 feet deep. The bottom was filled in with 135 feet of obsidicrete and obsidisteel, the primary component of all buildings. Last thing I wanted was for an earthquake or some large tunneling worm to wreck my city. Working my way up, various networks of tunnels, saferooms, secret passages, sewers, pipe networks, cabal gathering points, and the like were built, or at least the space for them. Like, my sewer system would not be implemented for a long time, in part because I had already negotiated the contract to have sewage managed by gong farmers for the next 30 years, but it was still there, even if it had nowhere to drain to. Then the “ground” of the city was placed, along with the roads. Finally the buildings were constructed one after another, with a small army of workers handling the furnishings, cosmetics, art, and other detailed work after I made the superstructure.
Thematically, the architecture of the city followed mostly the Gothic patterns, minus the flying buttresses. A smattering of Art Deco and Art Nouveau was thrown in, as well as some Brutalism and whatever one uses to describe the bulky yet artistic style of dwarves. Some of you readers may think architectural styles and the names for them are native to your world, that you invented them, but I assure you, they were not “developed” by accident. Whatever over-gods exist in the multiverse, they have a particular way they like things, patterns they want in their worlds, and language and measurement systems are not far behind architecture when it comes to standardization.
But all of this was fine on paper. As I built the city, the reality of how the world works was beaten into me by uncooperative and greedy individuals. Like, if I were on a sinking ship with these people, they would rent out buckets at a premium to anyone willing to bail us out. More and more, I was understanding why dragon diplomacy often started and ended with eating people.