The history of the Volcan Empire was a curious one without a doubt. The first inhabitants were losers that had been chased into infertile northern lands. Many of them perished but some adjusted.
These separate families split apart and made themselves at homes in different parts of the frozen wasteland. Splitting apart seemed like an asinine decision when at threat of freezing but human ingenuity knew no bounds.
The first inhabitants kept themselves warm by making use of the large volcano in the center of the northern lands. The tall mountain that oversaw even the forested greenery of the Bosque kingdom and the windy prairies of the Galeburst Dynasty. Of course, it was also a source of both jealousy and greed.
These losers had to live with pent up jealousy and rage at being cast out of what they felt was their rightful land. Ultimately these thoughts didn't birth a war between the countries, the real killer was greed.
They put aside their jealousy and anger to fight amongst themselves for the area near the peak. These internal struggles created many different kingdoms. It wasn't until many years later that these scattered families would unite under the banner of the Volcans.
They, with overwhelming strength, started to parade over the other families turned kingdom and forced them to serve under them or to perish. Their mighty display made it unthinkable for anyone to consider the second option, however.
Under this new banner, the Volcan Kingdom continued to expand and expand until absorbing the entirety of the northern lands and being labeled an empire, they were a formidable force.
But Mite Volcan knew that this history wasn't so simple, no, in fact, there was a helper behind the scenes.
"Pyre…" The forsaken prince closed his eyes and muttered. It was the name of a forsaken existence. One not forsaken out of contempt but rather out of fear.
With the volcano as the epicenter, the ground vibrated and shook fiercely. It was a tremor of low magnitude but great significance. The dormant Volcan peak as it was called was a dormant volcano. While some dormant volcanoes could cause habitual earthquakes, this wasn't one of them. The Volcan people ran out of the warmth and comfort of their homes in panic.
This allowed them to see a monster, no a dragon.
A magma spewing catastrophe, A creature clad in dark blood red scales that bore sharp sword-like teeth. A creature whose wings were the span of your average house and whose height-challenged some resident towers.
That was a dragon of the olden tales, a beast capable of nothing but destruction. Intentional or not, these beasts were a true menace. A true A-rank threat. Yet that alone could be considered an understatement as even a full party of A-class adventurers would be hard-pressed to defeat the fearsome beast.
The residents who had run out of their homes and spotted the menace exiting the volcanic peak were prepared for its deafening roar yet… it never came.
The dragon which had flown into the sky quickly swooped back down and headed straight towards the Volcan Castle, no, the fortress that rested at the flank of the Volcanic peak.
Dragons were mythical existences, one thought to be scarce or extinct. Even the fiercest of dungeons did not seem to possess these creatures with awe-inspiring raw power.
So, how exactly was it that these majestic creatures remained as a fairy tale or a long-gone creature? Well, the answer was quite simple. People.
In fact, the Galeburst dynasty shared an interesting story. The story of Augustus Galeburst, the mad king as many knew him. But… wasn't he simply a bit eccentric? How could one say he was mad?
That's because he was a dragon slayer. He was among the first and few to slay a dragon at a time where they were often compared to gods, by himself no less. Were it not for the dragon scale armor that the Galeburst dynasty passed down to each family head, no one would even believe it!
Augustus Galeburst having slain a dragon and formed its body into his personal arsenal became unstoppable in battle. This lead to the inevitable persecution of dragons at the cost of countless human lives.
To those in power losing a couple of thousands was nothing if they could ensure themselves a legacy, Ultimately the dragons that survived the initial attacks decided to go into hiding.
Even if they could fight they would only be chased again and again by new generations of humans each growing in strength and wit from having analyzed and dismantled some of their own. It would be stupid to stay, no? They were smart creatures.
Yet, this smart creature had revealed itself in front of a human.
"Mite, remember your promise" The dragon spoke as it landed inside one of the fortress' many courtyards.
"Of course" prince Mite Volcan replied without an ounce of hesitation. He was speaking to a dragon, would he dare act out of place?
Realistically, his encounter with the dragon was a strange one. One that Mite would have never in a million years seen coming.
On a fateful day, the forsaken prince contemplated throwing himself into the fiery pit of the volcano. At the time, perhaps having taken pity on him Pyre, the dragon, offered him a contract. An unofficial one by all means but a contract nonetheless.
Help me create a land of dragons, in return I shall help you rid and rule over those you scorn
The verbal contract sounded unfair by all accounts but in his eyes, he would be benefiting the most from such a deal. With many dragons at his side, it was very well possible to take over the entire continent never mind the Bosque Kingdom and its fertile lands.
It was also worth mentioning that the dragons were few in number, With their slow aging came along slow birth rates. It could take decades for a dragon to hatch and decades for it to mature and be able to repeat that same process. With their scattered members, it would be hard to repeat the said process, however.
Outside of that, Mite also cared about these dragons. There was something about their grandness that inspired both awe and admiration. Unlike many who would tremble in fear at the sight of a dragon, Mite was fascinated.
"In that case let's get started" Pyre was well aware of the reason it was called over and it also knew that soon people would come to hunt it.
"Sure" Mite said watching as trembling knights started to gather in the courtyard.
He then shifted his gaze away from the spectacle that was about to start and thought of his siblings. He felt pity at the thought of not being able to watch their deaths or doing it himself.
'That's the pain of having reliable and capable subordinates…' A pain that many ached to have.
***
That included Ed who was for some reason tasked with some of the matters of the settlement.
'What did I revive you for???' Ed thought when Vorgarag first ditched them in favor of exploring the surroundings. Realistically he didn't mean it as he hadn't revived him for the sole purpose of being a slave.
The real problem came when they started to notice a lack of meat compared to the settlement's new population Ed had to oversee this while Sharog continued to handle affairs with the new residents.
'Taking care of a bunch of pregnant orc women and their kids alongside our current population is too taxing' Ed had only kept them alive due to his increasingly unreliable moral compass.
Once there he simply found that the dumb orcs didn't know how to do anything other than fight!
"Hahaha beat it! Come on!" They were somehow smart enough to host boar fights, however.
"What the hell are you all doing!?" Ed yelled in frustration at the first sight of this. Until recently, the orcs were used to constant wars and struggles. These struggles kept them preoccupied and even served as a display of strength.
Now, however, the time interval between battles had decreased. Not only that but the new residents never even got the chance to participate in battle! The orcs were bored out of their minds! That meant that Ed also needed to propose a solution to this problem.
After disbanding the betting crowd and admonishing them harshly, Ed had to feed the boars himself as well as try and arrange for someone reliable to take charge.
'But… I don't have any more such orcs…' Sharog was already busy, Vorgarag needed to get used to his new body, Shel was a bit goofy, and the others such as Dakgu were too young.
'Well, he was technically a tribal leader once!' Just like that, Ed found proper justification. Dakgu had job experience!
When Ed first approached Dakgu with plans to leave this on him however he was flat out refused.
"Ummm…. Can I say no?" Well, not quite flat out but Ed certainly didn't take that as a positive response.
"Dakgu! What are you training for?!" Ed, therefore, decided to put his eloquence to use.
"Fo- For my tribe!" Dakgu declared with Vigor though bewildered.
"That's why your training is all wrong. Think about it, if brawn was all it took then why was Durgash always feeling regretful and incapable?" Ed asked the young orc who was instantly hit by a mix of anger and realization.
He was angry that Ed called Durgash incapable but fell into realization once he considered the truthfulness lying in Ed's words.
"You… you are right…" It also took brains to run an orc tribe. To learn to manage tribal affairs now would only help him in the long run.
"Th- Thank you!!!" Dakgu then yelled and added in genuine glee. He was happy to know that even after taking his tribe's techniques Ed was still willing to look out for him.
Ed only replied with a smile before waving goodbye and going on his merry way.
'Now that I've dumped that on somebody else, I should check out the wisdom stones' Ed had considered over and over again on what exactly he could do to fix the tribe's entertainment issue and found that hobbies were by far his best shot.
'There are definitely craftsmen here too' Ed hadn't forgotten about the crude orc iron axes and armor that the sacred tribe members wore and used. The knowledge had to be inside of the stones.
'Teaching them blacksmithing and other similar trades would ultimately benefit me as well' Having a reliable production line couldn't hurt. Ed's own craftsmanship skill also relied on learning this knowledge.
Unlike previous skills, this one was too far-reaching. That meant that his knowledge of what bordered 'craftsmanship' was at the beginner level for each trade.
Ed found this all to be really convincing.. With the excuse of fixing the entertainment issues, Ed got ready to improve his craftsmanship.