# 5 Dragons

Research on the life cycle of the draconic races faces unique difficulty. Dragons are secretive, and have more than enough power and skill to enforce that secrecy. Regardless, I have made efforts to record what little is known, and separate out the speculation and folklore.

One bit of folk wisdom which I have determined to be false is the pervasive belief that dragons are born already at a high tier. This is certainly not true; kingdoms that have managed to capture and hatch dragon eggs have found them to be tier one, and as weak at birth as any other large animal. The incredible power of the average dragon can instead only be explained with their culture and instincts.

When a clutch of dragons first hatches, the newborn dragons will immediately throw themselves at their siblings, fighting until only one remains alive. This might also serve as an explanation for the surprisingly low dragon population, despite the well-documented fact that they breed annually and lay multiple eggs at a time.

After the initial culling, it is known that parent dragons will immediately begin training their child in hunting. Within a year of rapid killing, a typical dragon will already be tier four. Such rapid growth may be shocking to a Sapient, but it comes at a cost that most would not be willing to pay. Even putting aside the death toll of the cullings, only a tiny fraction of wild dragons survive their first year of life.

During this year of training, a dragon will participate in a ritual of some kind which will grant them a strong affinity for a certain element, as well as changing the color of their scales. While normal dragon society is secretive, the details of this 'Dragon Rite' are perhaps the most carefully guarded of all. As a result, dragons raised in captivity have consistently been unable to achieve this transformation, remaining instead as the inferior drakes. There are also known cases of wild dragons raised without parents, usually due to the parents dying, that become drakes. Attempts to uncover details of this ritual are universally met with aggression from dragon society, so I strongly advise any reader not to dig any deeper on the subject.

Those fraction of a fraction of dragons that survive their first year of life and complete the Dragon Rite are accepted as full members of dragon society. At this point, each individual dragon then separates from their parent to pursue whatever their personal interests might be. Some of the greatest artists, warriors, poets, and wielders of Ideals have been dragons. The only unifying trait which seems to apply to all dragon-kind is a love of fine craftsmanship and a powerful pride. I for one think that pride is well earned.

-Excerpt from Rupert's Encyclopedia of the 365 Magical Beasts

The first major obstacle as Mud's group made their way east was the formidable town walls of Geltheas. Currently, the gates were lowered and firmly shut. A sensible choice; as Mud understood it, the walls were effectively a backup in case initial containment of the wave failed, in the same vein as evacuating the city to defensive fortifications.

Defenders could fall back to fortified locations throughout the city and take their time slowly wearing down the insects without concern of the monsters escaping into the surrounding countryside or harming civilians. Having such beasts roaming unchecked would be a considerable risk to trade and farming. The walls also served a dual purpose of keeping the town safe from outside danger year-round. Not that it had worked this time.

Now, though, the walls served only as a hindrance for those that sought to flee the city. While Mud could easily contort its own body to fit through the metal portcullis that now blocked the gate, the same could not be said of the remainder of the party. Mud's equipment, particularly its new metal endoskeleton, would likewise not fit through.

"Jabrax, fly the humans over the wall. I'll climb." Pushing its body tight against the wall, Mud carefully formed its body to fit into every tiny crack and imperfection in the wall, pulling itself upward along the smooth face.

The demon scooped Novus up in her arms, extracting a surprised yelp from the shorter girl. "That's fine, but you won't make much progress trying to climb."

"What do you-" Mud was unable to finish its sentence as was suddenly pushed back from the wall by a small force. While the power behind the push was tiny, it was enough to separate its body entirely from the stone structure. Having lost its grip, Mud frantically grasped towards the wall in an attempt to regain a hold, but to no avail. The golem soon splattered onto the cobblestone streets below.

Laying on the cold stone and looking up at the sky, Mud considered its options. Meanwhile, Cob was doubled over in laughter.

Instead of flying as she usually did, Jabrax instead seemed to leap from invisible platforms as she climbed into the air. After a dozen such hops, she crested the wall and disappeared from sight. Moments later she returned, sans Novus.

"Your turn, ugly." Jabrax advanced towards Cob.

"Don't mind if I do!" With a lewd grin on his face, Cob walked towards the demon with arms spread wide. His attempt at a hug caught only air, however, as Jabrax elegantly ducked under his arms and grabbed the man by the back of his shorts. Before he could protest, she was again leaping into the air.

Mud righted itself as it completed its plan. First, Mud quickly climbed to the top of a nearby building, reaching approximately half the height of the wall. Next, Mud applied Skate to its body and equipment to reduce air friction and its body weight as much as possible. Finally, Mud charged a powerful force bolt. Angling it at a steep upward angle, Mud fired the spell into the internal sphere of metal with a full seventy points of mana. This was, by far, the strongest force bolt the golem had ever attempted.

The result was, perhaps, greater than Mud had calculated. Mud easily cleared the wall, and continued to arc high into the air above the forest. At the highest point of the arc, Mud could see the entirety of the city Geltheas and The Master's mansion spread out below it.

After a moment of weightlessness, Mud began to accelerate towards the ground. As Mud fell, the lack of air resistance accelerated the golem to worrying speeds. As the treetops rapidly approached, Mud focused on keeping its body together when it struck the ground.

An explosion of wood and dirt flew through the forest as muddy cannonball struck the forest floor. Not long after, the remainder of Mud's group arrived at the landing site.

"Mud, are you okay?" A worried Novus rushed over to the small crater and lifted Mud. Slithering out of the girls hands, Mud replied.

"Yes, I am fine. Please stay away for a moment."

Dutifully taking a few steps back, Mud made a bit more distance between the two. After a few seconds of preparation, Mud smashed into the ground with incredible force, causing another explosion. Novus screamed as she cowered below her shield, dirt and wood raining down on her.

"What the abyss was that about, Mud?" The girl screamed angrily at the golem.

"I had to fix a dent. The operation was a success." Returning to its feet without any sign of harm, Mud began to walk steadily east. "Follow me. We must secure the mansion."

Taking the whole ordeal in stride, Cob and Jabrax followed after the construct. After taking a moment to look at the two new craters in the forest floor, Novus followed them.

"Boss, I understand this place is like your base or whatever, but I think we should leave this area entirely. Let's just grab the valuables from the place and split. Come back when this all blows over."

Mud immediately rejected Cob's suggestion. "Leaving is not an option. I must protect The Master's home."

"Look, Cithlar is dead isn't he? That's why you're running wild, right? So who cares if his stuff gets wrecked?"

"What? Cithlar is dead?" Everyone ignored the surprised yell of Novus.

"I care if his stuff gets wrecked. We must remain here to defend it."

Finally, the mansion in question came into view. As Mud proceeded immediately towards the door and unlocked the entrance, Jabrax had a conflicted look on her face. Eventually, she seemed to make a decision and spoke.

"Actually, it might be possible to do both. Flee and protect the mansion from the invasion forces."

As soon as they entered, Cob sat heavily on a nearby chair. "Hey, this is where we fought that one time, right? I probably could have killed you back then and looted all that stuff if I didn't get cold feet. What a missed opportunity." Novus began carefully examining the many rare books on display on the bookshelf.

"Both of you are not to damage or destroy any of The Master's possessions. The punishment for failure is death." Novus quickly pulled back a hand that was reaching for a book. "I will provide you with a list of items which may be utilized to perpetuate your metabolic processes soon." Mud then turned its focus towards Jabrax. "What is your suggestion?"

"Well, I told you before that I don't really know how that Drive works, but I have a guess. Combined with those motors..."

Cob interrupted her explanation. "Can this building move or something?"

Jabrax sneered towards the scarred man. "It's really annoying how quickly you figure things out, you know that right?"

"Yes."

"Anyway, I never looked into it because then I would have to tell you if I confirmed it to be true. Now, though, I think it's in my own best interest if we can get out of here."

"If we simply leave now, won't we face repercussions for leaving with Ego? We have not completed the tournament, and leaving the wave early will likely lower our contribution."

Jabrax scowled. "Yes, it's an unfortunate waste of our efforts until now. Things have accelerated beyond our expectations. We already have the church after you anyway. Throwing the kingdom on top of that shouldn't be too bad."

"I think I am beginning to understand humans better. It was a mistake to ever attempt to integrate with their society. The first humans I encountered tried to steal from The Master and destroy me. When I first encountered a human organization, they would destroy me for being a golem had I not deceived them. When I entered the human settlement for the first time, a human attempted to extort me with an implied threat of violence for a trivial gain. When I attempted to follow the human's rules and cooperate to protect The Master's possessions by joining their 'Delver's Association', I was heavily damaged and nearly died three times. Each time, I gained no benefit from nearly dying. The only benefit I have gained from dealing with humans is access to the dungeon, their markets, and the class changing artifact. However, that is not truly a benefit of cooperating with humans, for the humans were the ones limiting access to those things in the first place. A powerful human organization now seeks my destruction despite the fact that I have performed no action that conflicts with their interests and I have expressed no desire to perform such an action. I have been forced to direct a large amount of my time and effort since I was created to defending myself from the unreasonable aggression of Sapients."

Jabrax made a jagged tooth smile. She seemed to like where this was going. "And your conclusion? What do you think of these cattle of the Archon?"

"Sapients should not be treated as rational agents or dealt with under the assumption of mutual cooperation. I understand now that it was my mistake to assume that they would act in a manner that would make it logical for others to interact with them peacefully. Sapients are unreasonable and unpredictable, and can not be trusted to have any chance to betray me. Sapients are to be used as tools only, controlled when possible, and either avoided or destroyed if they can not be controlled. I should assume all human organizations are enemies unless proven otherwise."

"And what about those two?" Jabrax indicated the two humans now resting nearby. While both feigned interest in the surroundings, it was clear they were focused on the half of the conversation they could hear.

"They are useful, and I can control them. I will retain them for the time being as tools."

"Good. You shouldn't go too far with your distrust and waste a useful resource. For all their flaws, Sapients can still make useful things. I'll go down to the Drive room and see if I can't puzzle out some sort of controls. I don't know how long it will take, however."

"That is acceptable. I will prepare defenses."