Wassup! For some reason, when I was writing this chapter, I imagined Azure, Erebus, Massath, Dissolve, and Rolut doing the Ginyu Force pose... Don't judge me. Please.

Back in the present day, it was the second day and the continuation of the Dragon Council meeting.

Rolut sat at the head of the long table while massaging his temples. The headache he received from the previous day had faded to a dull throb. “Now then, continuing on with the issue of the trading of our mana stones.” He closely resembled a man who had put under too much stress. Dark eyebrows yet prematurely white hair...

Lisset crossed her arms and glared at Erebus. “Thanks to this fool, we lost one of our possible leads.”

“Eh? Why are you blaming me... there was no way that I would have known,” Erebus whined. “I’m not omnipotent.”

“I’m with the others on this one, Erebus,” Azure said. “You should have gone to the vendor who was selling the stone.”

He scratched his head. “The vendor thought the [Magma Heart] was a cursed item, there’s no way they would have known if was from the Dragon Continent if they thought it was cursed.”

“Well, they had to get it from somewhere,” she argued. “The [Magma Heart] is only produced here! None of the other continents have a suitable environment.”

“Erebus, you must understand the danger it poses if other races were able to get their hands on the stones that we have here.” Rolut folded his hands on the table, leaning forward slightly.

“Pah, there are only two people in this entire world that have items created of our resources. And only one of those people knows how to forge it.”

Erebus shook his head. These old ladies(?) were getting their panties in a bunch. They needed to calm down.

“You’re referring to Triton the Exiled Emperor and the Demon Emperor Yvick, correct?” Frize questioned. When Erebus nodded he continued, “Triton has received our permission to use the [Soul Stone] to craft a weapon for Yvick. But, he is not the only blacksmithing mastermind. There are others who would be able to forge weapons or magical items out of the stones. And if they do that...”

“You’re afraid of them making weapons strong enough to rival our power,” Erebus concluded.

“Rival? No. Provide a very difficult opponent to defeat? Yes. If enough of them ganged up together, the gap between our power and their power would be lessened significantly.”

“You seem to be under the assumption that they would instantly use this power against us.”

“Erebus,” Ayirn intervened in her sweet voice. “It would be naive to assume that they wouldn’t. The only reason they listen to us is because they’re afraid of us. If their 0% chance of winning turns into a .4% chance, they will take it.”

He sighed. “Believe what you want, then. The others may try to challenge our authority but the lower dragons will not. If we make the decree banning the sale of mana stones from our continent, they will listen.”

Rolut said, “And if they don’t obey, the punishment, as always, is death.” The other members of the Council nodded their heads in agreement.

“Hmm... shall we make an announcement then?” Frize asked. When Rolut nodded, Frize stood up and walked out to the platform. The rest of the Council followed behind him.

Greur stepped forward and inhaled deeply. The nine other original dragons clapped their hands over their ears. “Gather around you fools!” Greur’s powerful voice boomed across the Dragon Continent.

Triton’s boisterous voice would be a whisper compared to Greur’s shout.

“If you don’t get over here within two minutes, I’ll kill all the stragglers!”

That was not an empty threat.

The sound of thousands of wings beating could be heard and soon, all of the dragons of the Dragon Continent came.

It was a magnificent sight, there were so many different types of dragons. Some were wyverns, others resembled the Japanese and Chinese dragons of our world. The color of their metallic scales different from the shades of the rainbow and everything in between.

There were thousands of them, all beating their wings in near unison. They surrounded the perimeter of the Dragon Council’s castle.

It was Rolut’s turn to address them now. The ancient dragon stepped forward, his back ramrod straight, head held high. “Greetings, children.”

“Greetings, 1st Dragon Rolut,” the thousands of dragons all said, their voices melding together into one.

“The mana stones of our continent have reached the others,” Rolut began. “Does anyone know how this happened?”

A few dragons tossed glances at others.

“Would one of you care to step forward and explain to me why? What danger this poses?”

No one came forward.

“Shall I enlighten you, then?”

“I will explain it, my lord,” a timid voice called out. If Rolut explained it... someone would definitely die during his demonstration.

“Step forward, child,” Rolut said.

A small dragon with stumpy limbs came forward. His scales were white and speckled with purple. His big blue eyes had a cute effect on his small face. He was a rather adorable fellow.

The kind of dragon that would be given away as plushies for small children. In fact, if they started selling toys based off this one, I’m sure they’d make a fortune.

“Your name?”

“Weryn, my lord.”

“Teach your brethren, Weryn.”

Weryn nodded his tiny head at Rolut. “The mana stones of the Dragon Continent are unique to only the Dragon Continent. No other continent is capable of producing these stones.

“The stones, when forced into a magical item or a weapon, are extremely powerful. If the other races were to get their hands onto these mana stones and craft them, the dragon race existence would be threatened. That is how dangerous the sale of these mana stones is.”

Rolut smiled kindly. “Good job, Weryn. Come down here.” Rolut gestured for the small dragon to land next to him.

“Y-yes.” Weryn was a little afraid, but he still descended gracefully next to Rolut.

“Shift,” Rolut told him.

The small dragon’s form glimmered and morphed until a young boy of about seven or so stood there with magenta colored hair and big blue eyes. Freckles dotted his small face which held a childish androgynous to it, from the frailty of his cheekbones and the plumpness of his lips.

Too cute.

Ayirn looked like she wanted to run over and rub her face against his. His appearance awoke the mother hen deep within her.

Rolut placed his hand on Weryn’s head and patted his head (it seems Erebus isn’t the only one with a habit of patting others) as he continued to speak, “As the young Weryn said, mana stones going to other continents puts us in grave danger. From here on out, the sale of mana stones is banned. If anyone is found selling mana stones, the 5th dragon Erebus will deal with them.”

Wait? Me? Erebus thought, but his face didn’t portray his surprise. I didn’t sign up for that. I didn’t ask for this!

Erebus’ eyes focused in on Rolut. Damn old man...

The other dragons weren’t experiencing the same surprise.

They didn’t know Erebus to be a careless man.

They knew him as this: a dragon whose face was always blank, even when he had grown angry and beat anyone who challenged him to a bloody pulp. It took the strongest dragon, Rolut, to calm down an enraged Erebus. They had also heard about his exploits along with Massath and Azure during the First War.

Scary, Erebus was scary.

“Do you all understand?”

“Yes!” all of the dragons said.

“You may leave.”

The mass of dragons began to spread out back to their homes. Their wings still beating in near unison.

Rolut’s hand stayed on Weryn’s head. The young dragon was a little worried. He would be spending time with the ten original dragons. Rolut had patted his head.

He was in the presence of royalty!

What did they want from him? He was afraid. Weryn cast a glance at the ten dragons.

Rolut was practically guiding Weryn around without removing his hand from his head. Frize looked slightly relieved and was speaking to Lisset looked annoyed, like she always did. She was leaning against a wall while tapping her foot impatiently.

Ayirn was braiding Azure’s long hair and talking to her animatedly. They resembled two schoolgirls who were spending the night in the same house.

Erebus, Massath, and Dissolve were all looking up at the sky while talking about something. It didn’t look to be very serious, considering the fact they would laugh every now and then.

Finally, Midrn and Greur were talking to Rolut, who still had his hand on Weryn’s head.

“Um~ L-Lord Rolut... is there a reason I’m still here?” Weryn asked timidly. He was only a couple centuries old, he felt extremely daunted by all of them. “D-do you still need me for something?”

“Ah.”

All the dragons turned their powerful gazes to the small child.

They had forgotten Weryn was there.