Sen stirred as he awakened from his sleep.The sixty-foot long beast of legends, with scales more radiant than molten rubies and great jet black wings, yawned as he stretched his body, pushing away some of the gold and jewels of his hard-won hoard. How good, he thought, his golden eyes opening and acclimating to the darkness of his cave, to rest on the wages of victory after a feast. He could spend another half a century here if he didn’t feel the urge to eat some cattle this morning.Sen slowly stretched his mighty neck until his crown of horns scraped against the stone ceiling. He surveyed his cave deep within the southern mountains of Valen, marveling at the beauty of his shining conquests. A bed of rubies, diamonds and gold coins, looted from beastkins, mermaids, the retinue of an elven princess, and the corpses of armored humans foolish enough to challenge him. A good hoard, but a small one; one he promised himself to double in size before going back to hibernation.Maybe he shou

"Declared dead!"Lilian couldn't help but wince as the dragon glared at her. “A-a group of Barinian adventurers brought back a red dragon skull twenty years ago after Barsino’s march through the mountains, declaring it belonged to Sen… and since no red dragon showed up for years afterward…”“This, this is an indignity!” The news had infuriated the beast almost as much as Kyle's attempted robbery, smoke steaming from his nostrils. “Minion, order human Lilian to inform your primitive, credulous species that I, Sen Krendrath, am not dead!”“I am sure the news will travel fast after Your Majesty’s mighty show of force,” Kyle deadpanned, the dragon thankfully too incensed to notice the sarcasm.“They better do!” Sen calmed himself, his eyes fixed on the board. “What kind of requests does this human get?”“Lilian, can you read a few quests for His Majesty’s benefit?”A bit more confident due to being in her element, Lilian grabbed a paper sheet and read it out loud. “A clan of trolls callin

Of course, the humans would copy this honorable dragon institution. They learned from the best. “I did not get a Ability this time, which I find confounding.”“It’s only one per two levels, Your Majesty.”“Who decides that?”“The gods, I think. Or maybe the Fomors.”“These good for nothing upstarts? They always claim they made the world when everyone knows dragons did it first. Tell me where I can find and reprimand them.”Kyle gave him a strange, incredulous look. “Reprimand the… I don’t know Your Majesty, I’m not a religious guy. Maybe we could ask a bishop.”“We will after you climb down and recover what is mine.”“After I what?”“According to this Old Money Ability , the trolls below should drop treasures when they die. You do not expect me to get down and sully myself with ashes?”Kyle glanced down at the fiery crater below them, then back at his master. “Your Majesty, I am not immune to fire.”Not immune to—ah yes, he had forgotten. By the elder wyrm, how could the humans avoid

The marquise and the count exchanged worried glances. After all, like most aristocrats, they probably had levels in that class too. “A red dragon should not have access to a Rogue Class,” the marquise stated. “How did this happen?”Kyle wisely decided not to mention his own responsibility. “No idea. He was already like that when I found him. Now he’s set on becoming an adventurer because it pays well, and it’s easy for him. Look at the forest.”“The monsters of Gevaudan plagued the regions for ages, especially with the chaos of the Century War,” one of the knights said. “To destroy the entire area in minutes…”Francesca Blenheim nodded. “While the loss of my pantry is devastating, the economic gains do outweigh it. We might as well make use of the dragon’s current fancy. If he wants to be an adventurer, we could send him on a fool’s errand.”“My lady, you cannot be serious!” the count protested. “A dragon adventurer? What else, a troll prince?”“The creature is toying with us,” a guar

“A lava…” the female frowned. “No, Your Majesty, no, we do not have a lava bath.”No lava bath as a basic accommodation? They truly were backward peasants. “I will sleep on your hot sand, but my minion probably does not have my quality standards.”The female made a strange face, while the minion concurred, “Certainly not, Your Majesty. I will be sure to enjoy a good, warm bed.”Sen brushed the matter off, focusing on that Class Scholar, who began to speak up. “Great Sen, your friend Kyle told me your majesty needed advice on the class system—”“Majesty, with a capital M,” Sen corrected him. “Also, what is a friend? Some kind of minion?”Henry blinked. “How can you… does Your Majesty have the [Super Senses] perk?”Sen checked his menu, noticing it among his ‘personal perks.’ “Ah, yes, I do. How do you know?”“It’s a Perk common among highly perceptive species, such as beastkins.”“Henry is our city’s class expert, advising us on how to develop our career, stats, and perks,” Lynette tol