AN: So, here we finish the final part of chapter 37.

Chapter 37.3: The Dreams of a Dragon

The hustle and bustle of the gated community that Scott and crew had started, was as loud and lively as ever. The cloud of darkness that was the master of that domain, avoided the crowds by slipping through the wall and then down into the earth for a time. He wanted to reach the top of the main headquarters building, the place where he and the girls slept and called home, so that he could speak with Shara. She was on guard duty, or should be.

He shifted back to human form then made his way to the roof. While he could have ghosted his way up to the roof, there was a chance that he would startle someone. People were not allowed to enter the top four floors of the building, but they often came in to store things or for other necessary purposes.

Up on the roof, Scott spied all three of the girls who so sweetly tormented him whenever they could. He was slightly annoyed by their existence on that rooftop, as two of them were supposed to be asleep.

"Hey!" called Ashton warmly. She waved at Scott while sharing a bright and energetic smile.

A slight nod of his head was his first reply, but upon seeing the light start to dim a little in her eyes he forced a smile and called out to her warmly as well. "Hey, Ashton."

Her ears perked a little. It was nice to see him. He had been gone all night. That would not normally have been a problem, but with the way the world worked currently, anything might have happened.

Scott greeted Sonja and Shara as well then got down to business. "Shara, what can you tell me about being a dark lord?"

"A dark lord?" she asked him curiously. There were many things that she could tell him about that.

"Yeah, there was a world update at dawn. My profession title level rose to six, and a lot of things happened." replied Scott.

"Oh! System mechanics, stuff? I can tell you a little, but some things might not be possible to explain." she said.

"I wouldn't understand it, or they won't let you speak it?" he asked.

"Depending on the topic, possibly both." said Shara.

Scott nodded to her. "That's fine. I just want to know about peerage and a few of these new abilities of mine."

"Peerage? What, you're a noble now?" asked Shara with growing excitement.

Sonja blinked then stared at her master. That was a major accomplishment in her world. The fact that he had been gentry had been enough to cause her to defer slightly toward him earlier, but this was a massive shift in his station!

"You're a noble?" asked Ashton in surprise. She bit her lower lip and little daydreams about expensive parties and fancy dresses began to flow through her mind. Perhaps she could become a foxy princess? What girl didn't want to be a princess?

He rubbed the bridge of his nose then nodded. "Yes, I'm apparently a baron now since I have a castle and other lands."

"Oh! Oh! Ok. Yes, that makes sense. If you're a baron then you've become part of the major nobility. If you want to be a peer of the dark there are a few things you need to accomplish first."

"Such as?"

Shara smiled. "Well, first you need to receive permission from the dark goddess."

Scott quirked his eyebrow. "I wonder if she'll give it?"

The red head waggled her eyebrows suggestively. "You'll have to ask her."

"Right... What else. Do I actually have to be a peer before I can create my army?" asked Scott.

"Ah, you mean the dark army creation?" she asked. When Scott nodded she replied with a grin and a warmly spoken, "Yes."

"Once you are a peer, you'll be able to use that sort of creation ability properly. I see you've been reading your pamphlet."

"My dark army really can't be this cute..." muttered Scott.

Shara laughed then wave her finger back and forth. "Exactly!" Before Scott could reply, she continued. "You can use those creation abilities already, but the cost is obscene. If you become a peer of the realm, the cost will be reduced but you'll have to offer tax and other things."

"Tax?"

"Yes, that's part of being a peer of the realm. You'll receive a seat at the table of dark lords, and access to the monster auction. However, you'll have to create and send either thirty monsters of your level to be used by the dark goddess."

"What would she do with them?" asked Scott curiously.

Shara grinned. "Where do you think boss monsters come from before they spawn? Dark realm peers create monstrosities and those monstrosities become part of the system. They are then upgraded accordingly."

Scott blanched slightly. "So, I'd be giving you monsters that you would use to kill people?"

"What? No! That's not it." Shara shook her head emphatically.

"What is it then?"

The ninja girl sighed dramatically. "Boss monsters exist to balance the world. They are both obstacles for the adventurer to face, and a means of keeping those adventurers from causing monster species to become extinct. There is a limit on the number of monsters that can spawn in a given region."

"Really? How many can spawn around here?" asked Ashton.

Shara opened her mouth, but no words came out. She tried to speak again then sighed. "I can't answer that. I can tell you general things, but specific mechanics are usually off limits."

"What about the humans I can create?" asked Scott. That bit had been a little worrying for him.

"You can make people?" asked Ashton, her tone incredulous and her eyes wide.

"Well, sort of. The people the system claims that I can make seem more like meat robots."

"That's because your spirit stat is so low."

"You can tell me something like that?" asked Scott.

Shara nodded. "It's a basic factor in all acts of magic, so it's not like it is some major secret."

Sonja spoke up then. "If his spirit were stronger he could create people?"

"Anyone or anything he has killed that the system recognizes. Though, with humans and similar creatures, even a higher spirit stat might only create a newly ensouled monster that would have a very basic personality. If they were part of a story they would seem like flat caricatures rather than actual people."

"So, if I made a human bandit, they would act like some sort of bandit stereotype?" asked Scott.

"Yes, pretty much. They could not learn anything outside of banditry, come equipped with basic stats and skills in accordance with their scaled creation level. You can give them equipment but they can literally only use stuff that a stereotypical bandit could use." said Shara.

"Not really people then, just sort of a digital rendition of one?"

"Not entirely. Think of them as sort of a magically constructed non-player character bandit in a role playing game. They can think and act logically in accordance with their nature, but they have a short shelf-life unless you pay maintenance costs every so often."

"I see. So, this ensouled monster. They can feel pain and have emotions?"

Shara nodded. "Yes, but the souls drawn into them are all people who opted into that position. It is one of the reincarnation options for the souls of the fallen in this and many worlds. It is a common core system that most game related world-settings utilize."

Scott frowned slightly. "So, someone chose to become available to be a screaming onion?"

Shara shrugged. "People do weird things. Besides, being a monster builds soul karma which—" She was stopped mid-sentence, her voice cutting out before she could explain the reincarnation system's mechanics.

"Cut you off, huh?" asked Ashton.

"Sadly, so. Anyway, about the bandits! If your spirit stat is high enough, you can create a true human. You basically conjure into being a body for a fallen soul to inhabit, and they are then reincarnated as your bandit servant. They would have a pre-fabricated backstory that they have agreed to believe to be true for the duration of the time that they work for you."

"I would be creating people who have false memories?" asked Scott, uncertain of what he had heard.

"Don't think of it that way." said Shara.

"How should I think of it?" he asked, concern in his tone.

Shara shook her finger. "When you play as Link, or Samus Aran, don't they have their own backstory and overall characteristics?"

"Zelda and Metroid... yeah." said Scott. He recognized those names easily enough.

The ninja girl leaned forward and spoke as though she were sharing a secret. "If you were given a chance to gain a reward for inserting yourself into the life of one of those two characters, and during that time fully believe yourself to be that person, would you do it?"

"Would I be myself afterwards?" asked Scott. There were dozens, perhaps hundreds, of fictional characters he would like to be if possible.

"Absolutely. You would have been roleplaying. Think of the souls being born into your monsters as the same. They are playing a role you designed for them, and one that they accepted." replied Shara. "For that matter, sometimes my people play the part of monsters as well, and allow their mentality to be limited just so they can have a little fun and pretend to be something else."

Scott nodded. It made sense. Hell, he was a dragon after all. He had the body of one, but the only difference between him and the monsters he could create was that he could remember who he actually was before the change. "Makes a strange sort of sense."

"I can't even make a screaming onion yet, though. I need to level up a few times and train a bit more." admitted Scott.

"Planning to go after the zombies tonight?" asked Ashton.

"Yes, probably for the best. At night their levels would be high enough that I could probably gain one or two levels just from fighting them."

Shara spoke up then. "You know, there are simpler ways to increase your level."

The girls and Scott glanced over to Shara. He asked her, "By all means share! I figured that would be something that you could not tell us."

"It's not really a secret. The best method to increase your level is to make sure you are performing equal parts skill training, socializing, and fighting." said Shara.

"So, how is that any different from what we've been doing?" asked Scott.

Shara grinned at him. "You've been over-specializing on a few skills and neglecting others due to how long they take to increase. That min-maxing attitude is holding you back."

"How can min-maxing hold me back? Isn't that the entire point of skills and stats?" he asked.

Shara laughed in an almost musical manner. "I never get tired of that sort of question." She saw Scott's expression then stopped laughing. "Normally you might be right. The problem is that the idiot programmers used the wrong world-engine version."

"Come again?" asked Scott.

"Delighted to do so..." She granted him a friendly wink that made him a little uncomfortable. "Anyway, they used the OEC GPL one-point-three version. That's the most stable version of the basic engine, a stripped down version of the ARS world-engine used on the classic server."

"Classic server... You're losing me here, Shara." said Scott.

"Well, that's not too important. It's just that it is a stable engine when used for a basic build-up. However, they overlaid it atop an existent world-setting and updated a far different system. It creates all manner of bugs and issues." she replied.

She then shook her head and sighed. "They should have used version three-point-seven. It was designed specifically for post-apocalyptic modern Earth settings."

She touched her chin. "Well, no they should have paid attention to what they were doing and not actually update the world-base. That was the real problem."

"You keep talking about world updates, and honestly I remain a bit lost about things like that." said Ashton.

Shara nodded to her. "As long as I don't try to say anything too specific, I can explain a bit."

"Sounds good." said Scott. Ashton nodded her head in agreement as well. She was curious to hear what Shara might have to say.

The ninja goddess pursed her lips slightly, and her eyebrows pressed together a little while she thought about how to explain things. Finally, she nodded then said, "Physical realities have rule-sets, you know. Natural realities are ones that form when mortal souls decide to communally agree on a set of rules through simple interaction. They sort of form over time and settle into order out of chaos."

She raised up one of her index finger. "This world, your Earth, is a divine garden created by a specific deity and his family group, his clan or empire if you will."

"Did he do it in seven days?" asked Scott with a smirk.

"No. I doubt that. It was too ordered and well-structured. He also did not re-use external code. This world was a homebrew design, you could say." said Shara. She took a breath then continued. "These sorts of gods are called gardeners or farmers. They are typically among the oldest and most experienced of our people and capable of performing feats of creation and programming that would be impossible for other gods without supporting programmers."

"So, we were some god's garden?" asked Ashton.

"Yes. Once the garden grows to the point that it is self-sustaining, the gardener will usually sell it off to someone who wants to purchase copyright."

"Copyright? Seriously?" asked Ashton.

"Yes, the right to copy the world and its laws then create a new world based on it. In other words, they would not harm to original creation, but would make a second world with the exact same base design. That second world would then become a game world, or one in active play."

"That didn't happen with us, though, right?" asked Ashton.

"No. The idiots who bought the copyright messed up the world-engine installation and installed the engine on the original world instead of the copy version."

"I get it, so not only did they screw up the installation, but they added in a poor version of the world-engine?" asked Scott.

"Yes, but it's a wonderfully well-crafted world-engine. It just isn't the best fit for what is happening here. It was meant more for a stable environment than one that is rapidly changing."

"How so?" asked Ashton.

"In a stable environment it allows for continual development over time at a steady and reliable pace. It is well-balanced and fair. In a dynamic environment like the apocalypse it leads to the eventuality of drastically over-powered individuals who no one can touch unless they are also extremely fortunate. The balance, for lack of a better word, goes to hell."

"Like a guy becoming a dragon?" asked Scott.

"Not really. Race changes are expected. The biggest issue is the dream world connection, or rather the fact that things can be moved back and forth. That's technically a major bug in the system, as unlimited transaction between those worlds allows for wildly imbalanced things to occur."

"We're exploiting a bug?" asked Scott.

"A major one, but system administration has to allow it for now. It was a known problem before. The dream world was attached to this world to prepare humanity for the coming changes. So, eventually the connection will dissolve altogether." said Shara, she took a breath then said. "People will have to choose to live in one world or the other and never interact with the opposite world again."

"So." said Sonja. She had listened carefully to everything that had been said to this point. "The only reason that I met, master is that someone made a serious mistake."

Shara nodded to her. Sonja tilted her head to the side. "I see."

Scott reached over and lightly patted her on the head. "Well, at least one good thing came out of that screw up."

"I think so as well." said Sonja. She did not even attempt to remove the hand patting her head.

"How long till the connection dissolves?" It was supposed to be about three or four months Earth time, but it seems things are not working out well for the programmers. So, probably at least a few more months."

"Maybe a year in dream world time." remarked Scott. That would suck. Soon, the people of this world wouldn't have anywhere to retreat. It would be all apocalypse, all the time.