《Onyx Dragonling》 Precious I woke up in darkness. There was no visible light around me yet I knew deep inside I was dead. I must have died from a heart attack or something. It doesn''t matter now the only thing is why am I conscious in a void. As soon as i thought those words i heard a *ding* sound. What followed afterwards was information flooding my mind about all the accumulated experience points I achieved while I was alive. "Congratulations you have been rewarded 8900 points for living for 89 years as Anthony Harris. You are allowed to pick your next life species and skills. Or if you wish you could gain an extra 8900 points if you deem to allow a randomized choice which will use all of the points for the most optimal path." I wasn''t much one for customization as I could care less what happens to me so obviously I choose the randomizer process and hope whatever happens I can finally leave this void. It happened so fast that I had no idea what had occurred. One second I was in nothingness and now I''m in some kind of cage and it feels incredibly cramped in here. So I did what anyone would do in my situation and started to struggle. Just like that I popped out covered in slime. Looking around I could see that I was in some kind of cave. Not only that but I just came out what looked like an egg. Further inspection of myself I looked to be some kind of reptile. That''s when I felt the arms on my back or wings. Holy shit am I a dragon? Looking around the cave all there seemed to be was rocks and my shattered egg. On further inspection of myself my scales seem to be black. If it was dark inside this cave I couldn''t tell if that means my scales are even darker than darkness itself. "Hello there little fellow." Who said that? There was no one around me. "Don''t be frightened. I am the core of this dungeon you are inside. I am talking to you telepathically. I am also something like your mother." Core? Mother? Dungeon? How? "I am relatively new and just formed from the ambient mana inside of this cave. Gaia has blessed me with the ancient core of a dragon that was buried inside of me which I revived making you." Mana? Gaia? Revived? "Yes little one like myself you are also made of mana." Calming down, I decided to rethink this situation. Obviously nothing is going to make sense anymore. I have died and been revived as a dragon. So what now I just hatched but yet I don''t feel hungry like a newborn should. "How about we name each other? Maybe afterwards you could explore. You aren''t imprisoned here with me. So how does onyx sound for a name?"Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon. Onyx sounds decent. I guess I am covered in black scales. So where are you at? It would be easier for me to name you if I knew where you were. It was only then I saw that I was standing on top of it the entire time. A massive gold rock. I don''t know how I knew it was the voice talking to me but I just did all of a sudden. Gold of this size could only be called precious. "Precious. I like that name, thank you Onyx." Something akin to air started to flow deep inside of me at that moment. I could feel something marking my soul giving me strength I have never felt before. Not only that but Precious seems to start to melt underneath me. Slowly but surely it moved up my legs and started to cover me from head to toe. What is going on? Was it consuming me? But it stopped and I could feel that it was forming something akin to armor on me. Golden armor that fits my body completely. "It seems I''m no longer a core but a living armor of sorts. This is good as this dungeon doesn''t seem to attract anything and is void of life besides the two of us. Let us be off to find out where we currently are Onyx." I truly have no clue how Precious did what it did but moving with it on me wasn''t difficult in the slightest. The cave had a rocky terrain but I didn''t feel any discomfort as I stepped on jagged rocks. I smelled it before I saw the light as I found the exit. The problem was there was a massive boulder in my way. Maybe I could dig my way out. The stone gave way from my claw as if I was digging in hay. It only took me a couple minutes of digging through the boulder to make my way outside. Maybe it was due to Precious coating my tiny dragon claws that I was able to get out so quickly. It was nighttime outside with two beautiful moons in the sky. There was also a disc further beyond that looked ridiculously massive and beautiful as well. Outside the cave seems to be a forest covered in outgrowth and life. I could smell countless creatures which made me kind of nervous as they could be fearsome and possibly lethal to me. Remembering that i was covered from head to tail in golden armor i decided to swallow my fear and figure out where in this world i was currently at. "It''s beautiful outside Onyx, maybe we will find other dragons like you somewhere." Finding others like me doesn''t sound half bad. I wonder if there are humans on this planet as well. How would they react to something like me though? Maybe terrified as dragons are destructive and dangerous. Walking through the grass was incredibly easy and it seemed every time I would pass something it would make itself scarce. I walked for hours in this dense forest and everything I saw looked typical. A horned rabbit or a grassy looking boar. I mean they look slightly different. It wasn''t until I saw goblins that everything seemed to feel like a dream. The goblins would be carrying horned rabbits over their shoulders but as soon as they saw me they would toss it over at me and run. Not one for wasting good food. I would obviously eat it and you would think raw meat would be disgusting but I enjoy the rabbit''s flavor. "The goblins might ambush us. Be cautious from now on, okay Onyx." Flexing my wings made me wonder how long it would be until I could start to fly or breathe fire. I am just a couple hours old. I am the size of a large dog, maybe three feet tall. Those goblins are maybe four feet tall but even so I ain''t worried much about them ambushing us as I have Precious as protection. A couple of hours later I found what looked like a village with what looked like elves in it. At first they didn''t seem to notice me as I walked inside of it. But as soon as I got in the center of the village someone spotted me and shouted. Everyone who was outside ran indoors and the village became a ghost town. Not one to intrude, I decided to simply just pass through. It was odd. I wonder why all the hunters weren''t nearby. Irregardless it is none of my concern. Maybe they were in the tree and didn''t attack me due to the fact I was a dragon. Not only a dragon but an armored covered dragon. The more I think about it the more I understand why they just let me pass through. Couple more hours of walking and I could see a clearing outside of the forest. To what looked like farm lands of some sort. Not only farmland but also a dirt road that leads to what looked like human settlement. Humans The smells of cows, horses and chicken were strong as I made my way into this settlement. It was almost dawn now as the sky turned a lighter shade of violet. Everyone must be still asleep and oddly there were no guards stationed nearby. Now that I think about it I only saw docile creatures in the forest. Maybe this area is usually relatively safe. Irregardless it''s very peaceful. As I was walking in the center most part there seemed to be a lady washing a cover near what looked to be a well. Her clothing was just a yellow gown and she was kneeling scrubbing. She stopped to brush her sweaty hair from her face and turned her head, spotting me just standing two yards from her. She just stared at me with brown wide eyes. She then patted her face as if she was trying to wake up from a dream. Once it dawned on her this wasn''t a dream she slowly picked up her covers and got up. She then slowly back stepped on which I had an urge to follow. I kept my pace with her as we came to a house that was a couple of kilometers west. As she came to her door she slowly opened it and walked inside. I have no clue why i even bothered to follow her but to be honest i got exhilaration from it. Not long after a man came outside holding an axe. As soon as he saw me he stopped moving and just stared. It was some other older woman who grabbed him from behind and tugged him back inside. Their reactions were somewhat very pleasing to watch, obviously they had never seen a dragon before and not one in golden armor. The older lady who was wearing a brown gown came outside boldly holding a bloody steak in her hand. She tossed it at me and it landed right in front of my claws. Not being one to waste any food I decided to eat it and it tasted good. Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there. "Humans seem to know their place. I think you made the right choice in following her here Onyx. Why don''t you take a quick break and sleep beside their house." Now that I think about it I was oddly tired. As I walked beside the house and layed down the older lady went back inside and as she did I closed my eyes. As I slept I dreamt of flying and finding lots and lots of gold. I don''t know why but I really want gold and to sleep on top of it. Waking up I found what looked like a tied up goat eating grass in front of me. Was this tribute of some kind. It had to be because there was no goat here yesterday. Looking around I could see there were people standing a couple yards away talking while their kids were looking wide eyed at me while pointing. Should I eat this goat, Precious? "Yes it''s an offering and it''s good nature to take any gifts offered to you." I wasn''t particularly hungry but equally not hungry so I walked up on the goat and bit its head off with no resistance. What followed afterwards is me devouring it. Afterwards, not liking the mess I made, I dug a grave for its remains. Once I was done I needed to find a way to clean off the blood. Lucky for me there was a bucket with water not that far from me. After using it to clean myself I decided it was good enough time to go on with my journey to find others like me and gold. Alpha dire wolf The humans scattered as they watched me walking towards them. Obviously they didn''t go far just enough to stay out of my immediate reach. They followed me all the way out to the outskirts of their settlement. It was in the late afternoon nearing dusk and ahead of me was more dirt roads leading into a grassy field that reached for miles with rocks scattered on its sides. It is extremely peaceful with nothing dangerous or threatening meaning this area must rarely have any predators. That is when I heard snarling coming from behind a particular boulder beside me. Not worried in the slightest I kept on walking but as soon as I crossed a couple feet ahead of the boulder something leaped off the top of it in front of me. It was a bear wolf hybrid looking thing with a massive body and long ears and tail. It was a rusty looking brown. It must have stood six feet tall towering over me. It attacked as suddenly it appeared, swiping with its front paw. As the hit landed on top of my head the impact could be heard from miles away but for some odd reason I only felt the impact and no pain. Retaliating back I clawed at its still extended limb and cut it deeply, seeing bone. It let out a pained howl before lounging at me with its massive jaws. Seeing my chance as it got close, I aimed a brutal strike on top of its muzzle. Its teeth shattered in its broken snout and blood gushing from its bitten off tongue, it was knocked out.If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. "That must have been an alpha dire wolf. It must have been a loner or we would have been surrounded by now. I heard that they also have a beast core deep inside their chest next to their heart. How about finding it and consuming it Onyx." Clawing deep inside of its massive chest I found both its heart and a bloody blue gem. I slowly ate them both. The heart was nice and chewy while the gem was crunchy. It tasted like nothing I have ever had before. I felt warmer inside and it spread throughout my entire body. I was energized and ready to continue on with this trail. It was beginning to dawn as the sun was dipping ever so slightly in the sun horizon. My snout and claws were covered with blood and it felt sticky yet I didn''t see any rivers or ponds nearby. Hopefully the blood doesn''t draw any unwanted attention yet deep inside I hoped for a battle. Yet two hours in dawn there was nothing but insects buzzing near me. In the distance I could see what looked like a massive stone gate. In front of it was a drawbridge and armed guards. It was still open as I came a couple of yards away. The half asleep guard noticed me and took out a whistle and blew it alerting the other passed out guard on his feet. They both were wielding spears. Not frightened in the slightest, I simply walked up on them. Shakingly they both ran into the city they were guarding. Not seeing any other options i followed them inside. Mages As I made my way inside the gated city you could see people gathering up their belongings from stands they were selling stuff at. Some people didn''t even bother and just left food and clothing there. The previous guards had gotten a fair distance away as I could only make their silhouettes out by how metal looked compared to the ordinary civilians. That is when I saw an assortment of robe individuals running towards my direction. Bewildered by who they were, I walked forward unimpeded. They stopped a couple yards away and from a better view on things they all had wands of sorts and potions on their belts. These must be the fabled mages and i bet they came to stop ol little me from terrorizing their inhabitants. Not shocking in the slightest one of the bolder mages decided he had enough with pleasantries and started chanting something. More out of curiosity than pride I just stood there waiting to see what surprises he had to offer for me. But instead of some grandiose spellcraft once he was done he just simply glowed before he somehow spoke "Why have thou come upon us simple humans today oh mighty dragon?" The author''s narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. It wasn''t me but Precious who responded by saying, "We came to this area by happenstance and are just passing by. We are also looking for others like ourselves and if you know would you please give us a direction." I couldn''t have said it any better to be honest. Their expressions slightly morphed and one of them even gasped which confused me but one of them spoked with extreme delight by stating, "It just spoked using its mind!" Right telepathy must be unheard of in this small part of the world. The oldest one in the white robes let out a cough before saying, "We only know of dragons from legends but there are rumors that they are some that inhabit the other continents. Now that we know of your intentions and intellect let us humble humans help you wash that grime off your beautiful golden armor and give you something to eat." I could feel Precious somewhat blush from that statement. So it wasn''t surprising when it answered,"That sounds divine. Please lead the way." Finally a bath this dried up alpha dire wolf blood was starting to smell and not in a good way. I bet I must look fearsome with the dried up blood painting the gold red. No wonder they were all scared of me but the question is why weren''t the mages. To be honest they must''ve known if anything could wear armor it must have some form of intelligence. Now for this bath and meal i can''t wait. Temple As they shepherded me to what looked like a white temple the once frightened people were more or less at ease just gawking and pointing in my general direction. The relaxed expressions that the guards showed were somewhat humorous to me. If I was smirking or could with my adorable snout I would give the attention I had which made the farming village pior look like a simple family gathering. Hundreds of eyes were staring at me and all I felt was curiosity on those other continents that might harbor my kin. As we finally arrived at our destination s group of guards quickly open the metallic doors and what was inside could only be said to be typical. No carpets, just pillars holding the place up. As we walked through the older mage stopped walking and turned around and spread his arms wide before saying, "Welcome to the mage tower. Phillip here is our water mage as his robe hints at it being the shade of blue. He will show you to our baths and make sure all your needs are met." Phillip the water mage then looked somewhat embarrassed before he nodded. He then gestures to follow him to a hallway on the left where there were wooden doors. Inside was a massive pool of water that was steaming obviously just heated up or might be constantly provided heat with some type of magic. He stepped out the doorway to let me through and not wanting to smell like carrion anymore I walked right in. The water felt great on my scales and I could feel precious enjoying it too. Turning around I could see Phillip looking bewildered as i was laying body deep in the warm water. That when it dawned on me that he must have expected me to take off my armor. I must have looked bazaar bathing in full armor. Regardless, I felt cleaner now and not wanting to linger any longer i got out but the problem now was that I was now dripping wet. Thankfully Precious was already a step ahead of me as it asked, "Would you mind drying us off with your magic?"If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement. Phillip shook out his stupor and began the take out his wand and channel the water off my body into a ball right in front of me. Magic was very interesting. I can''t wait to learn how to perform them as well. Maybe I should ask that white mage if I could take some lessons from them while I am here. Feeling nice and dry, I waited for Phillip to show me my next destination. After he puts his wand back into his robe somewhere he gestures for me to follow him which leads towards the northern part of this so-called mage tower. We came into what looked like a dining room with a long table with a bunch of chairs and an assortment of fruits on it in baskets. It was obvious I wasn''t going to be served at it but suspiciously Philip had other ideas as he pulled out a chair for me to sit at. This guy must be joking right not only am I barely three feet tall but sitting down is impossible giving my not so dexterous tail. But who knows maybe this is a magical chair. So I decided to humor him and walked next to it and jumped on it. I found out if i stand up and use the table itself to hold me i can somewhat see how it may work. The only problem is how am I going to eat like this. Walking out from the kitchen area in the back came the only female of the mage group who was wearing a green robe. She was carrying a tray with alot of cooked meat on it. As soon as she saw me she started to laugh, almost dropping everything. Having enough of this embarrassment I got down to the floor on all fours. Looking at Phillip he looked like he was trying his best to hold back his laughter as well. I had a feeling of the greatest of urges to bite something of his off but refrained myself as you don''t bite the hand that feeds you rule. After the green mage stopped laughing she gently set the tray of food down in front of me. Taking all my embarrassment and frustration i devoured the food like there was no tomorrow. Phillip POV It was a normal thirdsday as I normally meditate in the bathing room given the moisture helps me gather my water elemental mana. Travis, our eccentric light mage came barging in interrupting me which he always does when he wants something. But when I looked at him not only was his expression dire but he brought everyone with him. Susan our nature mage, Brandon our earth mage, Pete our fire mage and Henry our air mage. This could only mean trouble and with no explanation needed I simply got up and followed them. Outside was pure chaos. People were running and I even saw guards which means whatever we are facing must be a real threat to make even our trained soldiers flee. It only took us a couple minutes to get to the drawbridge and what awaited us was unbelievably a golden dragon. Not believing my eyes I had to blink a couple times and yet no matter what I did it was just standing there waiting like a statue. On a better inspection it appears I was mistaken. It wasn''t a golden dragon but a black dragon wearing golden armor. Yeah, maybe I must have been meditating way too long. That is when Travis casted a basic communication spell and asked why it was here. And to our amazement it answered with telepathy. Its voice in my head felt androgynous and its used plurals when referring to itself which must have been a dragon thing. Travis decided to show the intelligent creatures some hospitality by inviting it to take a bath. That is when I noticed the blood. It was all over it and also it didn''t even look like it was damaged from whatever it fought to get here. Hopefully it wasn''t human but then again if it was what could i do about it. Not even noticing we had walked back to the tower I was woken up from my stupor when Travis told me to go help it get cleaned. Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation. To my surprise it was oddly obedient and well behaved while I showed it to our bathing room. Expecting it to shed its armor like some magical dragon it just simply walked into the pool of water and laid there. Thinking about it, how would a dragon even put on armor in the first place or maybe it had a master who put it in it. Maybe it killed its master and all that blood was theirs when it escaped and came here. Coming back to reality I notice it staring at me. Before it stood up and got out of the pool. It looked at me before asking if I could dry it off. Taking my wand out i casted the simple spell water ball while channeling all the water from the dragon''s body. It looked oddly pleased and also a sign to lead it to the dining room. Never being a host before, I just led it to the table and pulled out a chair for it. Coming back to my senses I realized I just made a grave error but to my disbelief it actually jumped on it and stood hunched over on the table looking ridiculous. That is when Susan came in with the food. As soon as she saw it she started to laugh. Trying my best not to join her I bit my tongue but to my horror the dragon had already got back on the floor and looked pissed at me. That is when Susan saved my life by putting the food beside it, taking its attention off on me. One of these days my air-headedness is going to lead to my downfall. Kafkaesk Feeling full I watched as the green mage picked up the tray and carried it back into the kitchen. Feeling thirsty I just looked at the only other mage in the room with an expectant gaze. He stiffened like he was getting ready to run but Precious helped the poor fellow out by politely asking, "Could we have some water please?" The look of relief washed over his panicked sick face and replaced it with a smile also as instantly as it appeared. He went over to the table and grabbed a bowl before filling it with water using his mana which got me curious. What would mana water taste like? As soon as he placed it down in front of me I took deep gulps of it, draining it dry in a blink of an eye. It had no flavor yet it was very filling. I had no complaints. That is when the white mage came in holding what looked like a map. The red, brown and yellow mages were nowhere in sight. The white mage walked up to me and crouched down to show me the map he was holding. It was absolutely massive when he unrolled it on the floor.Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site. He pointed at a green splotch on the map and said, "This Is where we are. This city is called Crestview and we are in the empire of Kafkaesk." He then pointed out the empire entirely. If there was a tiny splotch on the map and third if the map was owned by the Kafkaesk empire the question is how big is this world. He then showed their neighboring kingdoms as there were many. It seems that there is only one empire present in this part of the world. Feeling a little overwhelmed, Precious decided to help out by saying, "We appreciate the information about our surroundings but our objective isn''t the knowledge on who owns which lands but where we can find other dragons like us." The white mage looked slightly embarrassed and rolled up the map before saying, "Like I said before, dragons are only known in legends and we haven''t seen any. There are wild drakes and wyverns but unlike you they aren''t dragons. Sorry I couldn''t be any help to you. What do I even call you? And as for myself I am known as Travis the wise." "You may call us Onyx the dragonling. And it is fine I am sure we have plenty of time to find our kin on our travels." Travis looked somewhat pleased by Precious words. Magic I decided to spend time in Crestview to learn magic inside the mage tower. I found out I had the affinity for fire, air and lightning magic. I have a suspicion that I have more but these mage''s knowledge was too limited. Casting spells was alot more simple for me than humans as all I had to channel all my mana either to my claws or mouth and release the only difference was the fire which actually took my stamina and could be only fired from my mouth. Each element I used came out black which looked extremely cool. When I first used the air element everyone thought I created shadows or darkness. It is cool as I can spread pitch black air around and shroud the area in a cloak of darkness. After a month of studying I decided time to travel again but before I left Travis decided to give me a mage cloak with a medallion that signified that I was officially a mage which I thought was intriguing. A dragonling mageling who wore golden armor that can breathe fire but can''t quite yet fly even though he jumped off said mage tower a couple of times and came off more annoyed than damaged. A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. Heading north from Crestview will lead us to a small unnamed village. The road leading there was still just dirt and the trees weren''t much present, just more open plains. The trip there only took us a couple hours of casual walking. We only saw a couple of carriages which rushed once they saw me. The village was actually very lively once i got there. People were moving back and forth around doing different activities like moving furniture, baskets of clothing or barrels of some type of drink. They were so busy they didn''t even notice me entering. I have no clue why everyone on this side of the world is so relaxed when there are dire wolves that could hunt them down. To be honest I haven''t run into any dire wolves but the one. Maybe they aren''t as threatening as I thought. Not wanting to make a scene, I just walked right through the village. I even saw someone looking at me but they just continued what they were doing. Why is that? "Maybe the mage cloak is magical and alters your look for people." What would I look like then I wonder? Dwelling on it wouldn''t be productive on to our next adventure. Goblins Another advantage of having a magical cloak would be weathering the rain. It''s been a week since I left the unnamed village and found myself heading north westward towards Vestan, the capital of Kafkaesk. Unlike the last plain land this one had troublesome bolder goblins who didn''t care if it was an armored covered dragon as they had numbers and crude weapons. But one thing I can''t fault goblins on is their taste. You think a green barely hygienical creature would be disgusting but to be honest they tasted like pork but without all the fat. And the great thing was they kept on coming either to prove themselves or to avenge their fallen comrades they made good magical practice. I could use my fire breath about twenty times before needing to find something to drink as it dries my throat something fierce. I could use my lightning claws about twelve times before I felt drained of mana and had to wait an hour before I could use it again. Now if you good at counting i have murdered a whole lot of goblins. Now it seems they decided to try to use their limited intellect by making crude traps to try to do me in. A good example is a spike pit that was covered with twigs in the middle of the road. Yeah I know passing humans aint going to like that one. Other traps were cages with food in it and more pit traps like the first were successful. Too bad they smell like skunks because they could hold their breaths for a long time in ambush but too bad for them it ended with them roasted like the pig flavoured species they are. Regardless this journey was more exhausting and oddly more filling than the one prior. And just like that I finally came to the massive gates of Vestan.Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site. A survivor goblin POV Gob Bo told us we be warriors and we fight. Gob Bo be king of Goblins and Gob Bo wanted dragon meat. Gob Te first seen dragon and Gob Te came back with proof. Gob Te lost an arm but had a black scale in Gob Te maw. Gob Te was Gob Bo brother and died that night. Gob Bo called war and us goblin listen. The dragon must die and feed us by Gob Bo orders. But nothing we do did nothing to the dragon. We were being eaten instead. Gob Bo mad screamed and shouted and told us goblins we were weaklings. Mad like Gob Bo we pushed our attack. More died and like that there were only few goblins left. Gob Bo having no choice join the war. He ordered us to dig holes and put sharp sticks on the bottom. It failed he got more mad. He ordered us to make cages and put food in it. It failed. Gob Bo lost it then and decided to lead our final charge. I aint no smart Goblin but I know fighting that dragon I''ll die so I hid. That the last time i saw Gob Bo again. Now i am alone. Now i am goblin king. I shall now be king Gob Go.If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. Beastmen Entering Vestan wasn''t difficult but moving through the extremely busy crowd was. Unlike goblins, humans didn''t seem to notice me. That was when I saw my first beastmen. He had a hood over his head and wore twin axes on his back. He looked like a wolf standing on two legs. He was talking to a dwarf who looked like a blacksmith. He suddenly stopped speaking to the blacksmith and started to sniff the air. His head turned towards me and our eyes met. He started to snarl and grab his axe handles from behind his back. The dwarven blacksmith looked confused so he ran. The once bustling crowd all too noticed the enraged beastmen and started to take cover behind alleyways and stands. The beastmen, not wanting to waste anymore time, decided to begin his attack with two heavy swings with his axes. Using air mana I send him flying through a building nearby with my breath. Because of how my mana function it created a smokescreen which also created more chaos. The beastmen not yet defeated came out the wreckage bloody and enraged. I was obviously at the advantage of being able to see in the dark. So when the beastmen came charging he noticed that this beastmen also could see in the dark as well. Finally frustrated I decided to end it with a mana packed lightning breath frying the beastmen charred. Not wanting to linger any longer, I made my way towards the exit on the other side before more non-humans noticed me. It seems this mage cloak only works on humans.This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience. Bounty "Be cautious around the beast folks as they seem aware of our presence." Thank you Precious, what would i do without you. Apparently Vestan was packed with elven and beastmen. I have a feeling that they integrated here from another kingdom. I was noticed by a couple beastmen but they simply ran instead of attacking me like the prior did. As I reached the exit there was a group of armed guards standing there waiting. Most of them were humans and only a few of them were beastmen but that was enough for them to point at me and yell. I guess its time to up my newly formed bounty by crushing these foolish soldiers. They all came at me charging. Some of them was apparently confused but not caring one bit to their lackluster attempts of killing the dragon. I let them have everything by showing them to fear a dragon regardless of it''s size by breathing black fire upon them. The smell of burned meat filled the air so bad my eyes started to water and i had to hold my breath as even i was a victim to my own ability. Lucky there were no buildings around or I might''ve just started a wildfire here. With no survivors I exited Vestan with now a big bounty on my head. I bet the emperor is going to want me dead now. What am i going to do now that i murdered both humans and beastmen. Yeah let me get out here this smell is going to make me want to throw up. It''s a lot worse than filthy goblins. At least they smell like pork when roasted. The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement. Flight Jumping off trees finally rewarded me with flight after two whole weeks of trying my damndest to fly. The secret was to caste a constant air spell to keep me from falling. Flying was extremely disorienting and my poor wings were sore from all the constant flapping to the point I just glided heavily reliant on my mana capacity. I could stay flying for about an hour before I had to take an hour break which was fine for me anyways as I needed to hunt and find something to drink. A good wild deer rabbit thing and some fresh lake water help me relax while I sun bath. Those humanoids were nowhere to be seen and I found myself back into a heavily populated forest again. I have no clue what to do anymore but flying and exploring this area seems fine maybe its too much to hope for to find other dragons like myself. Maybe I could focus on finding some minions to train and start my own society. All I need is a plan. Eating that beast core from that deer rabbit made me feel stronger. I think I need more power and if Precious was a dungeon core maybe there are more dungeons to take over. What do you think, Precious? "It sounds like a great idea but dungeons aren''t easy to find, sadly."Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation. There goes my plan on dungeon diving. I am sure to come up with something instead of simply surviving. A dragon needs a horde you know. Lots and lots of shinies. But who am I going to show it off to if there are no other dragons left? I wonder what is out there and waiting on me. ???? Pov "Is the summon circle ready?" "Yes my lord it is and it only cost us 2 of our casters." "Good Sible, I heard that there is a baby dragon on the loose. It is time to rein it in. Start the ritual." "Yes my lord. Let your reign last another thousand years." "As it should and unlike my father Kraztes, I, Zelebres will make Bane Kingdom into the greatest demon nation of all time. Now summon me that damn dragon!" There in the throne room in the middle of the grand hall stood about four demon sorcerers chanting on a blood circle with tons of gold in its center. As the ritual came to its end the circle started to glow melting the gold into a pool of precious metal. It began to hum and turn crimson before shining brightly. When the light finally died down you could see inside of it was a sleeping golden dragon. Beacon As I woke up from my nap I found myself in some type of hallway. Looking around I saw a bunch of cloaked people. They were all surrounding me. Looking down I felt somewhat pride as I was laying on gold. But it smelled of blood and mana. It made it feel somewhat tainted but that made me like it more. That is when someone started to chuckle. Looking around I found a highly decorated man sitting on a throne. Taking my eyes off his expensive looking necklace and all the gems on his fingers I could see a golden crown on his head. But there were also two horns jetting out his head. He wore an expensive looking suit that was pitch black. Once he stopped chuckling he spoke "Welcome little dragonling to The wonderful Bane Kingdom. I bet you are wondering if you can trust some stranger who kidnapped you but before you smite me with your punishment in the form of fire. Let me explain why I summoned you. First off I have answers to what happened to the dragons and second I would like to hire you to be our kingdom''s beacon of war. You see we are at war with a human kingdom named Shaiya. They call us demons devils and should be obliterated. Now what do you say to that offer? Will you join us versus the humans?" Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions. Before I could even think about it, Precious answered by saying, "We expect our payment in gold and monster cores." Clapping could be heard all around us from every cloaked individual. One of them stepped forward and revealed a massive core and put it in front of me. Eating it was very enjoyable and the power it brought me was ten times more than even the dire wolf I had so long ago. So I am now going to be the demon kingdom''s mascot. I think it''s a lot better than my idea of finding a random minion when instead they found me. Fate works in mysterious ways sometimes. Princesses I had servants who reminded me that my mage cloak I had on was now completely tattered and filthy with dirt and blood. Wearing Precious for so long took all feeling off my back and I completely forgot about it. I finally was told of my patreon named King Zelebres Diablesh Valebane. He wasn''t married to one wife but many and instead of having a queen he just had concubines. There were apparently five of them and only two had his children. His children were actually recognized as royalty but he only had princesses, three of them. Two were from his newest concubine and one by his first concubine which was also his first born. For some odd reason i had some weird urge to meet these princesses but to do what i have no clue. Apparently the oldest one was only twelve and her two younger siblings were both five and twins. Zelebres decided that my mage cloak wasn''t good enough for someone of my standing so he had his best tailors use it as material for a more suitable one which he claimed will be black instead of the white of the previous one. With my mind on his daughters a cloak was the furthest from my mind but instead of me looking for them they came to us. Apparently Zelebres wanted to introduce them to me, and taking a look at them proved to me that elves weren''t the best looking race on this planet but the demon kind. His eldest daughter Corina had blond hair which looked great on her marble skin and red eyes. Her horns were tiny poking out from her head like daggers. Her sister on the other hand had black hair and red eyes. They looked adorable but there were no horns on their heads yet. Their names were Grace and Tate. Once they saw me they all started to scream in joy rushing over towards me petting me. I had an odd feeling of adding them to my horde. Am I thinking of these children as objects now?Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. Challenge Finally wearing my new black cloak it felt different. Actually I felt mana drifting off it but I had no idea what it actually does. The princess showed me around the castle and everything looked expensive. Servants would bring me all types of monster cores and just like that weeks passed and I got larger. I must have grown a foot and I am a good eight foot long now. Flying around the castle I found that the Demon Kingdom Bane looked to be heavily militarized. Everyone wore armor or training and it looked like they loved it. I was finally actually able to learn more spells and found out I had some more affinity for poison, necromancy and illusion. And the fun thing is I can mix them together meaning I can make my flames also toxic or my lightning with illusions. I would help King Zelebres train while his daughter watched. He would use a massive claymore to cleave me in half but using my tail I was more than a match for him. It always ends with my victory. Corina apparently was a magician and also wanted to challenge me. I decided to use air mana against her and her lightning. She had more talent than her father as she actually made me feel tingly from her spells but she lost because she had not enough stamina or mana to challenge me. War was coming and it was now autumn and demons could handle any type of weather which is why they wanted to push the humans during the time they were the most vulnerable. The preparations on supplies and strategy were going excellent not only that but King Zelebres told me that my kin was still part of this world but are currently in hibernation which may take up to hundreds of years. They would dig deep underground and hibernate and when they come back into our world they bring destruction and chaos. The reason why no one knows where they are is because they killed everyone and the ones who survived were too much of a coward to know anything. If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. Necromancy At night I decided to head to the graveyard which was located in the cemetery behind the castle. Channelling my mana I tried to summon some skeletons but what came out were these shadowy phantoms. They look incorporeal and weak. Disappointed, I allowed them to do as they pleased which was not surprising entering my shadow. I guess necromancy was more than just using mana on corpses or maybe I just don''t have a talent for it. Spreading my now ten foot wingspan I lifted off the ground with my inky black cloak fluttering dramatically in the wind as I flew back to the castle. The next following week was more training with both the king and his daughter. They seemed to wise up and decided to take me on together. It was no challenge for me as my tail and gust were enough of a match for both of them with room to spare. It seems the army finally got all the supplies and logistics handled and it was almost time to head out for war. Shaiya won''t know what hit them when we come burning their holy kingdom down. Grace and Tate both were begging me to give them a ride but with the help of Precious it told them for me it was far too dangerous but after getting permission by their father the king i decided to agree as well. Their screams of either terror or joy were so loud i could even hear it with the wind blowing in my ears. They used my cloak as leverage and I decided to just fly around the castle for a bit. I didn''t need the help of air mana to fly anymore. My wings were strong enough now. Landing Corina was waiting there looking very jealous. What am I going to do about these spoiled girls treating me like some glorified pet. Taking off with a very thrilled princess on my back i plotted on where to put her in my horde once i had one.Love what you''re reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on. War And the march has begun. Zelebres was riding on his black armored bicorn he named Pitch. He was wearing his heirloom armor making him look like a dark knight. He had conscripted trolls and ogres to help him with the humans but unlike his soldiers they were wearing hardly any armor and had clubs and mallets. Zelebres wanted me to stay behind in Bane and watch over his kingdom while he was gone but with Precious help I was able to get him to agree to allow me to accompany them. The army numbered in the hundreds of thousands with fifty thousand ogres and twenty thousand trolls. They marched in the front of the army and were used as the fodder force. Zelebres had five war generals who were in charge of their own parts of the army. I myself haven''t met these war generals yet but heard rumors of their brutality and valor. Once we get to our destination we will have a war counsel before I could meet them. I decided to follow Zelebres in the sky while he travels to the valley of death. The valley of death is a location between Bane and Shaiya. It is used for many generations of conflict between the two nations and this war would be the first nor last one they will have. We travelled for what seemed to be a week before we finally arrived. Finally it was time for war.The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. Counsel A mile away from Death Valley we set up our command tent and began the war counsel. There was a table with a map on it with blocks that indicated each party that would be involved situated on the map. The five war generals were all standing around looking blood thirsty and ready for a fight. Zelebres was in the center of the map putting miniature flags on ideal locations we should blockade and standing beside him was his vanguard general Braxtaz. He wore crimson heavy set armor that covered him from head to toe. He had a huge war axe on his back. To his left was the artillery general Calikux. He wore light armor and leather mixed together with a bow strung behind his back. To Zelebres right was his strategy general Jalanbra. She was the only female demon I saw with the army. She wore tight fitted dress that look more like something you wear at a ballroom than a warzone in the darkest shade of purple. Beside her was her twin brother who looked extremely like her and was the information general. He wore all black and looked to be always staring at me. They talked mostly about how to feed their army and how to make use of the trolls and ogres. What seemed like a couple hours they finally agreed to just simply throw all the trolls and ogres at them to begin this war to see if they can break up whatever strategy and to lessen the burden of feeding so many people. And just like that the first battle has started.Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. Battlefield Giants, mother fucking nine foot giants. You think that seven foot trolls were fearsome but the humans had god damn giants and they had lots of them welding goddamn tree trunks as weapons. From drows to dwarves the humans sent out all their outcasts just like the demons. The battlefield looked like a complete mess and we had the best vantage point on top of a hill a couple yards away watching it like a blood sport. The ogres and the drows were going at it while the trolls and giants just leveled areas. One thing the giants didn''t have but the troll did was regeneration. You think you saw everything when a giant cleave a troll face off and for it to instantly grow back like it wasn''t just bone a few minutes ago. The poor ogres and drow were just collateral damage at this point. The humans who saw their obvious disadvantage decided to start the fireworks by sending in their mage forces and start casting massive spells that took out both the armies combatants. The battlefield looked like a bloody swamp of body parts. But the trolls never stayed down; they kept on getting up. They even reached the enemy line and started to destroy their blockades. It took the humans to resort to using their ballista bolts and completely destroying the troll''s head for them to stay down. That is when I felt a pulsation from deep underground. It felt oddly familiar that is when Precious chipped in by saying,"There is a dungeon core nearby. I can feel its power growing from all the carnage. There soon might be a monster invasion." So not only a war but a monster invasion on top of that and I had no real loyalties to tell Zelebres about it either. I going to keep that information a secret and watch from a safe distance to all this.If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. Skirmishes Once the fodder skirmishes have all been completely and utterly annihilated the real war has started. The army split into five separate entities and started to put up trebuchets and ballistas. The humans started to fix up their barricades because they were down hill while we were uphill. It started to snow and the once bloody field was now frozen over. I could still feel the subtle pulsating of that unknown dungeon core that was still underneath us. I am curious on how the monster will invade. It was nearing dusk and the cavalry knights, Zalabres section of the army, took charge first. They had mana shields buffing them while they charged and trampled the human soldiers who were desperately trying to fix up the barricade. They were unstoppable, killing humans right and left while the field slowly turned crimson and white. This went on all night with the rest of the demon army slowly making their way towards the human main forces. Feeling sleepy i decided to stay where i was on top of the hill and get some rest.The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation. Chaos I woke up to pure fucking chaos. Idk how or when but there are now skeletons of all kinds fighting both the demons and humans. At first I thought maybe a necromancer had joined the army but remembered Zelebres telling me how necromancy isn''t allowed on Warfield and it is a universal pact that honors the fallen. So whatever happened now involved hordes of undead skeletons in the midst of it. That is when I saw it the ground would pulsate and a skeleton would crawl out from the ground. It was the dungeon core and it involves the undead for some odd reason. But when you think about it with how this valley is used for massive amounts of death and killing over the years it makes sense a dungeon would form here. The war has gone completely chaotic, each side is fighting each other and there are spells being flung around like light shows. I couldn''t even see Zelebres from on top of this hill nor any of the generals. I guess i will wait until whatever happens happens and this battle is over. Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit. Roar This war has gone on for two days straight and i am having problems understanding how. Maybe they are using potions of some kind. The skeletons are consuming the fallen and turning into freaks of nature. Two headed four armed with four legs. They seem to be targeting the humans more as they had more fire mages. I finally could see Zelebres dismounted fighting a horde of skeletons while rallying his army into a slow retreat. Feeling bad for them, I decided to fly and give them some cover from the sky. Blowing out my signature black flames I scorched alot of the skeletons and watched as the flames spread. Pure utter chaos ensues in the matter of seconds as the flames consumes everything it touches without discrimination. I landed on charred land, spread my wings and roared with the feel of pride I had single handedly taken down a horde of mutated skeletons with just one single attack. The humans all pointed at me and ran. Just like that the war was finally over. Now to dig up that dungeon core and consume it.If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. Core I dug for hours before falling into a cavern. It was littered with bones and had knee high murky bloody water. Floating above it was a lime green orb pulsating. It must have noticed me because it glided fast towards my slowly descending flight with green tentacles like aura coming out of it to grasp me. It must have known wasting its mana on summoning undead would only lead to me burning everything down including it or just maybe it wanted to test its strength against me. Its tentacles were numerous and the size of the orb was at least six feet tall. Taking the full force of each blow felt like being hit by boulders. I tried biting one of its translucent appendage but they seem to be ethereal and faze out of existence. Out of pure frustration I collided with it at my full descending force making us both crash to the ground. One of my wings seemed to be broken which pissed me off as I tried opening it. Taking a look under me I noticed that the battle was over as the crash had split the dungeon core in half. That was anticlimactic and brief but without any warning I felt Precious pulsate on me and watched as the broken green core turned into jell and moved up my body and started to be devoured by Precious. I could feel that our link has strengthened and something more has been added into my core next to my heart. Now how do i get out of this bloody pit?Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. Back Zelebres had used their tent rope to help me out of that hole I was in. I had to walk as my magnificent wing was still out of commission. The trip was very long back to the demon kingdom for me as I flew last time. But after the first week of our journey i could finally move my beautiful wing again but I doubt I could fly yet. Everyone in the army treated me with absolute respect now and even gave me some of their dried meat as tribute. As for Precious she apparently gained two nice sized emerald gems where my horns were growing in covering them. I could feel my magical abilities increase and possibly more but I have yet to put it to the test. As soon as we walking into the gates everyone was cheering and obviously set up a welcome back parade. Seeing this had me curious how did they know unless there were messenger birds sent ahead updating everyone on our progress. Anyways my wing had fully healed now but was still tender and i just wanted to take a rest and nice bathUnauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings. Vampires After a nice bath I noticed that there was something odd going on with the shades I raised in my shadow. They were so silent that I totally forgot about them but I could feel them changing into something else entirely. Mental forcing one out I noticed it was now with flesh and not only that had hair. It looked at me with red eyes as if it was waiting for orders. It was Precious who spoke saying," Apparently your shades have become vampires. Maybe it was due to the dungeon core or possibly all the blood in that cavern. Whichever it was, you must feed them now or they will get out of control." I had five shades and if all five of them evolved into vampires I would need to feed them five living things a day. My responsibility has increased because I wanted more power. But because I can now raise vampires from the dead make me probably the most dangerous necromancer to exist on this planet. Hopefully King Zelebres will help me with them. I must test out their weakness and capabilities once the sun is up again as it was now dusk. Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more. Testing Apparently my vampire minions understand me by telepathy which made getting my cloak cleaned so much easier. There were five shades in total, three that were female and two males. Zelebres reacted like anyone would when being told that his symbolic dragonling is also a blood zombie summoner. He wanted more. Simply, he was thrilled and apparently had plenty of prisoners to feed them. He wanted an army which had me curious if I truly could make them or the shade just simply evolved on their own. I headed over to a graveyard like before and sank tons of necrotic mana into the ground. What came out were actually pretty naked vampires. I have no clue where the flesh comes from or how a husk turns into one with just mana but yeah I can summon a vampire from the dead. It took me only a few weeks to make an army of vampires. They seemed unresponsive and not actually threatening also like zombies but other than that they looked like humans. Their hair was white and eyes were red like some albino but i''m sure no one would notice.Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more.