AN: So, here we go. :)

Chapter 38.2: Sweet Dreams

A meeting had been called once Scott and Ashton had stopped having their quality time, and a few important matters were discussed among the group. The first order of business was Scott's current ailment and strange emotional states.

Shara tapped her chin. "Honestly? I'm not sure."

Scott blinked at her. "How can you not be sure?"

The ninja girl shook her head slightly. "Sorry, but I don't know much about that race. It's a true dragon species, that's all I know for certain."

"Look Shara..." said Scott. He didn't believe her, how could he? She had given him the damned ring and even let him choose his new race!

She lifted her hands in a placating manner then shook her head again. "Dragons are one of the noble races, like humans or gods. We can make their bodies, but a true dragon's soul and nature are unique just like mortals and gods. Rather they are specialized mortal souls."

"That's fascinating... I guess, but what I want to know is why I feel so tired and hungry all the time."

"I could ask my brother. You met him when you died." said Shara.

"Your brother.... Wait, that guy?" asked Scott. He recalled the affable person he had met after his untimely death. "Well, he did recognize what I was..."

Shara nodded to him. "I know what you are, but the finer details elude me. I have never really had much interaction with your particular dragon species. We're both going to learn what you'll become, together." admitted Shara, while pointing emphasis on their togetherness.

"Alright, please ask your brother about my situation." said Scott.

Shara smiled. "Sure, I can do it now unless you absolutely need me for something."

"I would appreciate that." he said.

The ninja girl grinned then placed her arms down on the table and rested her head atop it. Soon she began to snore lightly.

Scott assumed that action meant that she had chosen to go talk to her brother somehow, and continued on with the meeting. "How are we looking on funds?" he asked Ashton.

The business fox opened a folder she had made and began pulling out paperwork that she had prepared. The generators that had made their way into the small community area were used mostly for emergency lighting, food storage, and group business. Ashton had missed her computer and copy machine, and finally had a reason to use both.

"As you can see, we currently possess a wide assortment of tradeable goods. Our actual funds exceed four hundred thousand dollars, and two hundred fourteen thousand Jerin. However, completing the work on our Earth base here will cost roughly two million dollars or an estimated six hundred forty thousand Jerin."

"Jerin and the dollar are becoming closer to the same value?" asked Scott. He recalled that it used to be a much different margin.

"It seems so. One of my skills involves monetary valuation information. I just look at two pieces of money and get an idea of what they are worth in the region I am in." said Ashton.

"Like checking stats on an item?" asked Scott.

"Exactly like that. Yes." said the business fox.

Scott rubbed his chin. They needed more money. "We need to open a local store in town and staff it I think."

"Want to just claim Archer's?" asked Ashton.

"Maybe, it's in a nice location and it's defensible. What we really need, though, is to acquire a trained militia. We start a store there and looters will try their best to loot the place."

Sonja chimed in after that. "Speaking of militia, I have news from my people."

Scott blinked. "Really? I thought the messenger we sent would take two weeks to arrive."

"He ran across one of my sisters while traveling through a small village. She ran ahead."

"What did they say?"

Sonja smiled brightly. "They want to meet you. If you're impressive enough, they will all gladly relocate to Earth."

"All? You said there were over three hundred people in your village?" During recent discussions, Scott and Sonja had decided to make a few overtures to her people on the off-chance that they wanted to relocate. The idea of a whole new world to explore, one where they could expand freely and could find interesting new husbands, had obviously made them happy.

"Yes, we are a nomadic people by nature. We move every few generations anyway." said Sonja. She did make one adjustment to her statement, however. "We do need to find a few eligible bachelors to introduce them to, however."

"What constitutes eligible?" asked Ashton curiously.

"Level forty and single, at minimum." said Sonja. She qualified her statement a moment later. "Recall that most of the young girls of my clan will have levels of power equal to a level thirty or forty human. We'll need to find stronger men than that if we are to make my older sisters and the house mothers happy."

Scott grunted. "It's going to be a while before we find anyone like that on Earth."

"They're patient and long-lived." replied Sonja.

"Well, I suppose it might be a good motivator for guys who want to find a nice quality woman who won't die horribly every time she steps outside of town." he said.

Sonja laughed. "They feel the same way about their potential husbands. They don't want one that will get killed by a rat or something."

Scott grinned at her. "Fine, how about we set off in about three days? We can go meet you people after I clean out the zombies."

"That's not nearly enough time to make you impressive enough. We need to train you further." said Sonja with a shake of her head.

"Really?" asked Scott. He had been fighting constantly for days and had only increased his level to eight. He suspected that his level would increase tonight when he fought the zombies, though.

"Yes. You will need to be stronger than the man who captured me. You're close to the same level of power I think, but your skills need more work and a few more levels wouldn't hurt, either." suggested Sonja.

"I need to fight stronger opponents. That much is clear." said Scott. Sonja agreed with him, and once again they discussed the possibility of hunting in the forest near Argent.

After that particular discussion died down, Scott turned back to Ashton. The business fox was busily reading over her paperwork while biting her lower lip.

"What is it?" he asked curiously.

Ashton glanced over to him. "I've been running the projections on the repairs and upgrades to the castle town."

"Ah, yeah. We did discuss a few things." said Scott. "What are we looking at?"

"Yes. If we repair everything completely that will cost roughly a little under four million Jerin. The upgrades will cost around fifty-eight million."

Scott blinked then stared at her. "Seriously?"

"Yes, it's an entire ruined town. You wanted it upgraded with new facilities and war capacity."

"Damn, we don't have anywhere near that much." grumbled Scott. "At our current trade levels, how long would it take to scrape that much up?"

Ashton ran the numbers then shook her head. "We're earning a bit over thirty-thousand Jerin per day at the moment. We can easily increase that amount once our production and trade efficiency increases. At that rate, though, it will take nearly five years. That's if we purchase absolutely nothing else."

Scott rubbed his chin for a moment. "We have to pay out wages to the militia we will be starting. There are upkeep expenses as well. How much will it cost to simply repair the city walls and maintain the currently repaired buildings in town?"

She ran the numbers once more. "The walls will cost a little over two million Jerin. Maintenance for both the walls, the repaired buildings, and the facilities will be about another one hundred eighty thousand. Maintenance would need to be yearly at about that rate currently."

Scott tapped the table lightly for a moment. "We need at least another two million Jerin, and almost as many dollars."

"More. We'll have to purchase food and supplies from towns in the dream world in order to feed everyone. The stores around here will all be looted soon." said Ashton.

"True. We can supplement food supplies with monster meat and loot drops. I think." He turned to Sonja. "Say, Sonja. Are there any other monsters like the onions? You know plant monsters that are edible near Argent?"

She smiled. "Yes, many. Carrotitas, Aspericas, Pepper Belles. Lots of others. We would have to set up camp about two week's peasant walk from town."

"That would be a good way to train the militia, I think. We could collect food, loot, and get some training. I could go hunt down a few dozen scorpions as well. The meat is tasty and I need materials anyway." He had not hunted them as much recently due to the fact that he had wanted to kill and eat as much as possible. The scorpions were more difficult to deal with than onions and leapers.

They spoke at length about the situation and then Scott nodded. "Right. We'll start our militia with four divisions; hunters, guards, exploratory force, and regular army."

"I'd like to see at least twenty people in each group as soon as possible." said Scott after a moment of thought. "Food and equipment should be enough payment for now. Once we have a surplus on either, we can offer wages. Money is less important for most people now anyway. The barter system has more weight."

"Sounds good." said Ashton. She was about to say something else, but Shara woke up.

The ninja girl yawned delicately then said, "Oh, excuse me!"

They all turned toward the recently returned goddess. Shara waved at them then looked to Scott. "My brother said that your condition is perfectly normal if you consider how long you have been a dragon."

"Huh? What does that mean?"

Shara grinned at him. "My precious little baby is growing up!"

"Wait, do you mean I'm going to grow?" asked Scott.

"Yes, though your stats aren't quite right, yet and you need to prepare a bed." said Shara.

"What kind of stats am I missing?" He asked, and then tacked on a question about his bed preparation requirements.

"Your Vital Essence and Spirit need to be just a little higher." said Shara. She took a moment to consider the other question and then said. "You need to eat a lot. Oh and, you'll want somewhere quiet and comfortable. You'll need lots of enchanted items nearby as well."

"Can I just make the enchanted items myself?"

"Of course." replied Shara.

Scott nodded slowly then released a soft sigh. "So, that explains it. I had wondered if it was the case, but I had no idea when it would happen."

"Well, usually about a month or two after hatching a true dragon of any species enter their first growth. I thought it might be the case as well, but since you're species is one I am not overly familiar with I did need to ask."

"How long will he sleep? When dragons grow they tend to sleep for a while." said Sonja. "At least, that's the way it works with the ones my people are familiar with."

"Usually it is about one to four days. However, the first growth is about a week for your species since you'll become considerably larger. It takes longer for each age category afterward as well."

"How much larger?"

"No way to be certain, but considerably larger. Your species is the blots out the stars sort of dragon when they reach ancient status." stressed Shara. "You probably need to eat a lot more than you have to maintain your growth, and will need to stock your lair with food since you will sleep eat."

Scott rubbed his chin. "Do you know when I will actually increase my age categories in the future?"

"It varies, but it's something like base seven after you reach yearling status. Right now you're a hatchling, after your first growth you'll be an dragon infant." Shara paused for a moment to consider the math. "After about seven months to a year you'll become a yearling. Something like seven to ten years later you'll be an adolescent dragon. Seventy to one hundred years after you'll be a young adult."

"Wow, that makes it sound like I'm going from newborn to a six month old or something." said Scott.

Shara nodded. "Essentially, you are. As far as dragons go, you are currently a newborn. After your growth spurt you'll be something like a six month old. At the next one you'll be more like a human who is between five to nine years old."

"Ah! I get it. I become an adolescent around the same time a human child would, but my aging slows down greatly afterward?"

"Yeah, for your race you won't be considered a young adult until the age where most humans are on social security and about to die off." remarked Shara.

Scott could not help but laugh at that. He stopped laughing when Sonja spoke up. "So, how long till he's old enough to ride?"

"Probably when he wakes up." said Shara. "Never." said Scott.

His insistence that he was not a pony to ride, set the girls off on a merry round of giggling amongst themselves. It seemed that they did not want to take no for an answer.