POV Alesia:
Alesia was looking into the dark clouds of smoke spreading through the cave. She couldn't see the dragon hiding it, but she easily felt the magical radiating out of it like the heat out of a furnace.
Her keen magical sense of an elven dragonkin still caught the magical energy radiating out of the thick cloud, and as an experienced runic enchanter, she quickly distinguished the magical energy of runes from the massive storm of magic, feeling that their power was much more significant than before.
'This is not possible; runes can't just become stronger out of nowhere...' runes were her life, and she couldn't but feel angry about her not knowing something, 'Wait, these runes are on a living being, so can the growth of the dragon empower the runes too? I designed them to draw more power naturally radiating from the dragon, so it is possible.
'No, the aura radiating out of the dragon is stronger, but the runes are much more powerful, and that can't work like that. Something must have happened!'
"Your Highness! What have you done?"
Her heart pounded faster as she tried to penetrate the thick smoke in anticipation.
She couldn't help but raise her voice, "Please answer me! I just want to know! Yo..." realising that she was shouting at the giant terrifying dragon, she closed her mouth, putting her hand over it in fear.
'I have already finished my work... doesn't it mean that I am useless now?' she could already imagine the feeling of flames enveloping her whole body and turning her into cinders.
"Why such a fear? You are my, and I approve of your passion for your art." the cold words felt like a lump of sugar to her scared heart.
"As for the change... my scales simply changed, incorporating the runes into themself on a biological level. They are now part of my body, making them stronger."
"How could something like that hap..."
"Are you forgetting that dragons are a perfect existence? They are nature itself. And nature always changes and evolves."
'That makes sense. Dragons are at the apex of all magical beasts... so it shouldn't be weird for their bodies to be so miraculous. But it still kinda feels off for any change to happen so fast.'
The dragon interrupted her thought, "Alesia, I have another task for you. I will order my minions to make you better accommodations, but I will need you to open a workshop here and enchant weapons of my minions..."
The draconic blood flowing through her immediately flared up, her heart unsettled at the thought of her working for free, 'Am I slave now... to work for free for eternity.'
As If reading her thoughts, the dragon suddenly laughed, the smoke violently whirling and the orange light flickering through the room, "Hahahaha, Don't worry, my little minion, you will collect payments from them. There is nothing free in this world, especially in a world ruled by a dragon."
The smoke suddenly moved away, revealing the armoured head of the dragon gilded by gold lines and crowned by the three glowing horns covered in runes with tendrils of lightning striking between them. The large dragon's mouth was open, showing his sharp teeth as he grinned, "Of course, I will collect my share as a broker."
Alesia immediately turned happy, smiling, 'Isn't this why I came to the human's lands at first, to open a workshop and have plenty of customers? I will have enough money to finance my research... Well, the greedy dragon will take some of it, but there is no difference between it and rent or tax.'
"If you need something, ask my minions, and they will take care of it."
Excited, the young elf turned on her heels, excited to start her own business, as she rushed out, with her long blonde-haired waving behind her.
Suddenly a cold voice sent shivers through her body, causing her to stop so abruptly that she fell.
"Start to prepare a plan to place runes on my bones and split your time between it and the workshop plan. We can't ignore any of these!"
POV Vesuvius:
The small elf hastily skipped out of the chamber, leaving the dragon only with his thoughts, 'I need to evolve for my upcoming meetings to show my strength.'. He looked at his slowly filling XP bar, seeing that he didn't need much XP to level up.
The book, with the cover made out of simple brown leather, appeared on the ground before the dragon. Vesuvius outstretched his dimly glowing claw towards it, gently poking the book with its tip.
The book immediately burst into a swarm of glowing rainbow orbs that flew towards the spot on the dragon's chest where his heart was. A warm feeling spread through his body.
[+1500XP]
The dragon uncoiled his tail, rose from the ground and walked towards the white light that entered through the distant entrance. His claws were scratching and throwing sparks against the bare stone ground as he slowly walked out of the hideout.
'Time to clean up the rats in my forest.' Vesuvius shuddered at the thought of his enemy freely walking through the forest, creeping closer and closer to his hideout.
The dragon reached the exit, took one last look at the two watch towers on each side and unfolded his large wings. The wind rose up, the smoke around him dispersing, revealing the mass of black stone armour intertwined with magma and golden-like metal as he flapped his fiery wings, launching towards the sky.
The high towers on the horizon were throwing their long shadows over the forest under them, their ugly exterior being like an eyesore to the dragon's eyes.
'Time to finally get rid of these. They were making my forest ugly for too long... no, maybe I should leave them be, for now, at least until I finish negotiations with the traitor of the baron. There is a big chance that I can use them as a bargaining chip.'
The dragon's sensitive hearing immediately caught voices coming from the forest under him.
"What the hell? We have been waiting a few hours for one of these masked edgelords, but no one came?"
"Patience, my friend, patience."
'What do I hear? Is it a free XP?' Vesuvius chuckled to himself as he descended from the sky towards the voices, his stomach growling from hunger.
'Well, maybe also a free meal! Such a perfect deal.'
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