“You can shrink yourself?”

“And make myself invisible.”

“Well I knew that one.” I was talking to a kobold thief when the emerald dragon had interrupted me. With her countless years of magic she could locate the missing chosen incredibly quickly. So quickly in fact that she already had. Bronze told Emerald about it. That damn Bronze. He’s useful but I don’t like having him around.

“He’s under the bar. There’s a whole system of secret passages.”

“Easy.”

I fly to the city. The bar is old, the timbers rotten. “Exit the bar.” I declare. Everyone rushes out. I then pick up the back and chuck the rubble into the distance. With one finger I poke through the floorboards. Peeling them back. There’s cages under the ground. Cages of monsters and demihumans. I spot Redeal. The skin on his arms has been peeled away. I look to the other creatures in cages. All have parts of their skin missing. It’s odd. I begin lifting cages and pulling them out from under the bar. The prisoners barely notice what I’m doing. Their eyes are glazed over. I begin to heal their wounds. An explosion hits my back. I am knocked forward. I brace my front claws to catch myself before I fall atop the caged people.

“Hey! You almost made me crush the people I was rescuing.” I yell as I carefully turn to face my attacker.

It’s one man in a black robe. He still has a smoking claw pointed at me. I grabbed for him but he dodged, my claw hooked in the fabric of his cloak. He quickly discarded it. He wore only pants. His upper body was a patchwork of the different skins of different specieses. “Haha! You’ve seen my power now, dragon! I have taken the powers of everys species I could get my hands on. Thanks to this hand of dragon skin. My magic is even on the same level as yours!” He speaks like a villain who just revealed his big plan. He had taken the innate magic that other species have access to and incorporated it into himself in the most frankenstein way possible. He takes a fighting stance.

“That’s cool.”

“What?!”

“That’s super cool. How’d you make it so that your body wouldn’t reject the new parts?”

“I was once a humble master of healing magic. Until the university caught winds of my experiments and banished me from this land! I had to move to the shadows to continue my operations.”

“The university was against it?”

“They could never understand! I don’t care about my human purity. I care about power!” He emphasizes his point by shooting lightning into the sky.

“Still skinning people alive isn’t something a healer would do.”

I turn to the people in cages. They might still be in need of healing, but no. Their wounds are healed closed. Their minds are still not all there.

“Did you use mind magic on them to mitigate the pain?”

“No, I used the new medicine that the Chosen brought to this world.”

“That was nice of you. To numb the pain. Though you are still a torturer. Do you think there are any ways you can do your experiments without hurting people?”

He shrugs. “Never tested any.”

“Shame. I was going to set you up with your own workshop.”

“What?” The mage looks confused.

“I like your idea. When you’re gone I will pour over your notes and find a way for your magic to live on without hurting anyone.” I smile at him. Getting ready to grab him again. He casts another fireball spell. I catch it with my claw then reach out for him. He is already running away. My claw grabs air. I stand up to get him, but I quickly stop. My size wouldn’t allow for a chase. I would crush the town just chasing him down. I sigh. “Get the guards to catch him. Also get the guards to check the bar owner isn’t associated with him. Kidnapping is a big crime.” I command and many random peasants run off to grab a guard. I let him go for now.

I can drop off the monsters and demihumans at a hospital, but Redealer. He's chosen after all. I will report his safety to the baron and then imprison him at my cave.

The baron seems taken aback by my actions. “Did he do anything wrong?”

I shake my head. “No, but he has the ability to progress into a threat to myself. Don’t worry my prison is very nice. Just ask Edmund with your message spell.” Of course I knew they were communicating. The prison isn’t anti-magic, they can talk all they want. I don’t care.

“You’re losing your humanity, my lord.”

“I wonder why.” The baron tugs at his collar then quickly changes the subject. He waves for me to get close to him. I bring my head down to the ground. “There are many things we need to discuss. I’ve been trying to handle it all, but I need your delegation.” I nod for him to continue.

“The university? The professor of monster research is getting worried that his job might be over. He is a very strong wizard.”

“Tell him his job will remain, but if a monster can speak then it is to be researched with consent. If he wants to research a goblin he can pay them. It’s pretty easy.”

“Taxes, I’ve been setting aside the taxes that I normally give to the king, would you like to receive them?” I sigh, this stupid. I have two mountains full of gold. “I don’t care about the five gold you’re supposed to pay to the king. Invest it in the city. Build me a statue or something. That’ll give people jobs.”

“Then the taxes we collect in the form of grain and goods. What should we do with them?”

“Use them, obviously.” the questions kept coming and they kept getting more and more boring. They were starting to be questions that even an idiot of a baron could answer. “Where you this incompetent while under the king’s rule?” He doesn’t respond.

“Are you in some kind of ploy? I make you not the leader of this city. I keep you in power to protect the status quo. If you’re trying to put me off by wasting my time with the work you should be doing, then don’t.”

“My lord, I would never plot against you.” I look at him. He’s shifting nervously.

“You are plotting! Did I call your plot?” He holds up his arms. “Yeah you got me, my lord. I was trying to make you not want to rule this city.”

“That makes no sense. You rule the city. I rule you. You’re a man ruled by profits. Serving me would be extremely profitable.”

“Maybe some things are greater than profits?”

“Like what?”

“Like not serving a filthy monster!” He yelled it at me in a voice that lacked venom. Since getting here I have experienced genuine hatred for being a monster. He didn’t seem hateful. He seemed like a stage actor saying a line they didn’t agree with. So there is a ploy in action, he’s keeping me bored here.