POV Brown:
A single player jumped out of a carriage, his boots landing on the paved and wide street of the capital. The whole street was largely deserted, the previously bustling crowds gone, replaced only by a few smaller groups moving to work.
He had an arduous task before him, the task that he had no idea how to even accomplish, ‘I can’t just knock on the gate of the royal castle and ask for an audience with a king, nor can I just enter and disturb the dragon in the lair.’
The black flags with a red dragon were hanging from each tower and on each corner of the city’s streets.
Suddenly shouts came from the street corner as two figures approached him. One was wearing heavy black plate armour, with a long crimson cape falling down its shoulder.
Everything about that being screamed that it wasn’t a human, the shape of its helmet, its height and posture, the tail poking from the back side of the armour and the golden shining eyes in the helmet’s visor.
“Hey, immortal! Do you want to join the new reformed royal draconic army? We are offering great rewards and a large amount of freedom.”𝒪𝗏𝔩xt.𝗇t
A second figure followed close behind the kobold, looking like a human wearing a black robe and mantle, his face hidden underneath a dragon-shaped mask.
“Do you like dragons? If so, do you want to join our cult? You will gain priest powers!” the cultist waved at him, holding a pamphlet in his outstretched hand.
‘That’s it. If I join them, it will increase my chances.’ his gaze stopped upon the cultists, a broad smile forming on his face, ‘There must be someone high-ranked who must be promoting the priests! So maybe I can likely meet with someone high-ranked or maybe even with the dragon himself!’
“Give it to me! I want to immediately join your cult!” he snatched the pamphlet out of the cultist’s hand, not even thinking about the perks, ‘I will be famous!’
POV Vesuvius:
The dragon and the wyrm flew high above the kingdom, fields and villages passing under them, occasional smokes of war rising from burned castles.
The whole sky around them was dark, the sun obscured by clouds and smoke. A strong wind accompanied their flight, trees and crops underneath them rustling as they flew above them.
All the people on the fields, the farmers working there, and the players moving towards the nearby forest stopped what they were doing and looked up, surprised by the sudden change in the weather.
The dragon and the wyrm ignored them, their golden eyes glowing within the dark clouds. The sound of electricity and the rumbling of thunders constantly reverberated through the farmlands with each flap of their wings.
As the two giant draconic monsters passed above their heads, all of the workers and players froze, the two powerful auras paralysing their bodies.
Everything turned quiet, even insects and birds quieting down, hiding within their nests or burrowing underground.
Only a bunch of players kept shouting at each other, the peasants and farmers around them begging them with their eyes to shut up and not to provoke the beasts.
“They are two of them???” one of the players shouted, his eyes going wide when seeing the two mighty bosses casually fly by him.
“Probably even more! Don’t you remember the screenshots of different dragons and wyrm from the mountains…”
“Dude, it was all one and same dragon, only evolving…”
“Dude, that is just a theory! I think that the whole Azerlisia mountain range is filled with these monsters! They must be making some evil plans for world domination!”
“Have you forgotten to take your meds again?
Vesuvius flapped his wings faster, refusing to acknowledge the dumb players under him.
‘If I took my time to attack them every time, I would be doing nothing else.’
The land under him turned into a blurry canvas of green and brown as he flew above the countryside.
Finally, he braced with his wings, the wyrm stopping behind him.
Under him was a massive green valley.
The fields with occasional small settlements stretched as far as the dragon could see. A broad and deep river flowed through its centre. Hills and mountains were rising on the horizon, smaller rivers flowing down, joining the large river.
Castles stood on the mountains overseeing valleys and villages under them.
“This part of the kingdom will be your territory, you can collect taxes and all, but you have to protect it from internal and external threats. I think it is called Allorela valley.”
Vesuvius felt no need to even explain to the wyrm not to drain the lands of all of the resources with taxes too harsh, ‘We might be greedy, but we are capable of thinking in the long term more than humans thanks to our unlimited lifespan. So we know that in the long term, we will make more gold with proper management.’
The dragon’s golden eyes glowed even brighter, his mouth opening and showing his sharp, shiny teeth, “Of course, I will take my portion of the taxes.”
‘It is good land, but it is too distant from the capital and close to the borders. It requires powerful force to guard and control it.’
The wyrm just flapped its wings, its eyes also looking around, likely already calculating profits and taxes.
“I will uphold my deal and take over this territory.” the thundering voice of the wyrm passed through the lands, and Vesuvius immediately noticed the faster heartbeats of the mortals on the ground, their faces pale and their eyes looking like these of dead fish after hearing the words.
“Stupid mortals, they should be grateful. They will gain more security than ever, yet they all look like they are going to die.” The wyrm swept the huge valley with its golden eyes.
“With the territory also comes a title. From now on, you will hold the title of the duke.”
The dragon flapped his wings and shot towards the capital, leaving the wyrm and its territory alone.
POV Great Archmage Nubok:
A dull thud resonated through a chamber, the space warping and twisting with the light getting so warped that the whole chamber looked like some twisted abstract painting.
The mana pulsed, and in the next second, two figures in blue robes stood in the centre of the chamber, a blue, glowing circle pulsing under their feet.
The chamber was circular, with plenty of magical runes and circles engraved on its smooth granite walls, faintly glowing in the dim light. A small group of people, all wearing the plain grey uniforms of the mage association, already stood there waiting for the newcomers.
The whole group immediately lovered their heads in respect, all looking with reverence at the tall newcomer, “Ohh, your excellency grand archmage, we welcome you to our humble branch.”
The old white-haired man with a white beard and wrinkly face that made him look like a good-hearted old mage just stood there, his eyes moving between the members of the welcome committee until he finally nodded, ‘None of them is worthy of my attention. Such shameful behaviour for all the high-ranked mages to just run away at the first sign of trouble.’
He stepped out of the circle with quick steps and a wide grin, unfitting his old looks.
‘It isn’t every day that a dragon wants to hire an archmage specialised in space magic.’
He felt no fear. Instead, he felt curiosity burn within his old heart, ‘Mages that refuse to explore danger can never succeed. How foolish of them. This might be the last dragon on this continent, yet they are all running away instead of rushing here just to glance at the beast of magic, the remnant of the old world.’
“Come, my apprentice. We have work to do!” he waved at the girl behind him, her face hidden under a plain white mask and hood, only her long and brown hair peeking out.
‘Ohh, these children and their edgy phases…’
POV ???:
Two large groups of players stood in the middle of a field, each holding glowing enchanted weapons as they faced each other. The sun high in the sky baked on their backs, the NPCs in the distance just watching them, already used to the constant fighting of players.
“This is our territory now; get out, Humungus and take your dogs with you!”
“Nonsense, Max, we were first here!”
The guild moved closer, the glow of their weapons intensifying as the atmosphere turned even tenser.
None of them refused to back away, knowing it was a rare opportunity to gain their own territory where they could rule.
‘As long as we keep the province in order and pay tribute to the inner kingdom, then no one will move against us.’
The whole outer kingdom was for their taking. Guilds and powerful NPSs were already moving in, wanting to grab a piece of the cake for themself.
Normally if a guild wanted to gain its own territory in human lands, it had to acquire it through contribution to a country, but here it was different.
A grin formed on the Humunguse’s bald head, the massive two-handed, double-edged axe in his hands crackling with electricity as he leapt forwards, the ground cracking under his feet.
‘Now, it is only about strength. If you are strong enough, you can just grab it!’
Both groups rushed towards each other at once, rising dust clouds under their feet, bright lights and projectiles launching through the air.