He shrugged. “I simply know that you are important.”

  Once again, my natural instinct was to blurt out that, of course I was important, but I stifled it. I needed to process his words. It seemed clear that he felt a connection to me because of my true nature. That meant this must be another example of Miseria keeping a mortal from discerning that I was actually a dragon.

  “I’ve undergone some changes. I was hoping that you could help me work through them.”

  His eyes opened. “Changes?”

  “Call it an evolution, if you will.”

  For a moment, the hook of a smile appeared at the corner of his mouth, but then it was as though someone had pushed his expression down and his eyes glazed over. Ugh… at the time, it had seemed important to have Miseria help to hide me. In fact, looking back, it likely had been.

  But something about seeing Edgar’s free will and intelligence crushed like that angered me. A shiver ran down my back.

  I recognized that feeling. It was a good one. It was part of the draconic nature which made us well suited for our role in the Pact, but my understanding of draconic greed was evolving just as my mind had. If I allowed my greed to be a narrow thing centered on myself, then I’d aim for gold and loot, perhaps a few minions, a quiet lair, and plenty of food.

  That was the way of the dragon. It was what I had known for over fifty years. The dream spoke of little else to me. Yet I had come to see that there was more to it than that.

  The greed of dragons was meant to protect this world. It was our world and we would not put up with gods or horrors trying to damage it. Thus, when I saw Miseria’s power suppress Edgar, I felt a rage build within me. Electrical current began to build up in my body. An instant later, blue arcs of power leapt from one hand to the other.

  Edgar arched an eyebrow. “Control issues?”

  “No, I’m feeling more in control of myself than ever. There are simply things you need to know. What I’m about to show you is for you, and for you alone, because I am tired of godlings messing with those who are part of my world.”

  I expected some type of rebuke, but Edgar’s expression went flat. It was the look he gave me whenever he closely examined some technique of mine. Then, after a few seconds, he hopped to his feet in a single smooth movement—without his hands ever touching the mats.

  “Spar with me,” he said. “Motion creates emotion. Or, in this case, motion will give you a channel to push your emotions into. It will help clear your mind.”

  Training for months with Edgar had drilled into me a response to his instructions. It wasn’t that I felt compelled to obey him—it was more that this was his lair, and proper respect should be shown to another within their own lair. Even as the thought crossed my mind, I wondered if I had shown proper respect to the fat red dragon calling himself Draconis when I had visited his lair.

  Then again, maybe respect wasn’t meant for reds.

  I tamped down that thought as Edgar’s fist passed through the space where my head had just been. Instinct lead me to shift my body and move. He wasn’t pulling his punches, either—there had been some real power behind that blow. I could even feel the mana he was pushing into his limbs.

  Then I lost myself in the dance. His blows came at me fast and furious. Fire danced along his right hand and a frosty ice covered his left. I knew from experience that he also had control of electricity. It was some mark of distinction within the clan of the dragon that he had three different elements at his command. Apparently, it spoke to his unity with dragonkind.

  A grin covered my face; I loved sparring. Our pace was faster than normal humans could follow. Edgar’s raw stats couldn’t match mine, especially in terms of Strength, but he made the most of everything he had. He moved with certainty. There was zero wasted movement.

  He could block with his elbow just as easily as he could pivot or twist his body to avoid the attack. Experience had taught him not to use electricity when sparring with me, though. He never commented about how I seemed to be immune to the element; he simply adapted.

  Edgar came in low, swinging his foot in a wide, sweeping motion. I leapt over it. If this had been a purely physical fight, he would have put himself in a bad spot. I would have been able to come down on his extended leg, and even with enhanced stats, a human with a broken leg was in a bad way for a melee fight.

  But I knew what his tactic was. Even knowing it, there was only so much I could do. A gout of flame blasted out of his mouth, filling the air that I leapt into. When last I had trained in this building, I would have been stuck between the two aspects of his attack. But I had grown since then.

  Anti-magic Pulse

  Fire once magically conjured is no longer magic, it is fire. So my pulse couldn’t undo the first part of his attack. I just had to tank it. What it did do for me, however, was to stop the stream of fire, which would otherwise have continued. It also had a very unexpected effect. Edgar landed a few feet from me and seemed shaken.

  My face and hands were lightly burned, but my Durability had been growing so much that even though my skin in my human form didn’t compare to dragon scales, it was still much stronger than a normal human’s, and my regeneration was fast enough now that the couple hundred points of burn damage the flame had done would be healed within a few hours even. And that was if I didn’t use any of my abilities or spells.

  As I pivoted to re-engage Edgar, I saw him wobble. He held up his hand to call for a stop. “I concede,” he declared. “I have no idea what you just hit me with.”

  “It was a new ability. It disrupts magic.”

  He nodded. “Good, I didn’t think you’d stoop to using a magic item in a sparring match.”

  I grinned at that. I had certainly thought about doing so, but many of the items I had would only deliver lethal force. The attacks stored within my bracers would probably be more than even the martial master was prepared for.

  “I just haven’t ever heard of any dragon disciple gaining an ability like that, and I know all of the epic dragon disciples alive today,” Edgar explained.

  “Then perhaps it is time for you to learn my secret,” I said.

  He kept his face calm, but there was suddenly a light in Edgar’s eyes. He wanted to know this. He was always striving to improve himself, and if I had some secret that would allow him to do so, then he wanted to know it.

  “I’ve known there was something different about you since the grand priestess introduced us,” he admitted, “but I haven’t been able to put my finger on it.”

  “You’ll need to step back and make sure that no one else enters the building. I will allow you to share this secret with your most trusted students, but know that I’m not ready to go public with it—not yet.”

  Edgar again seemed confused, but he wasn’t one for wasted words. He ran and closed all the doors while shouting out instructions for some of the sub-instructors to keep all of the students outside the building. Then he waited against the wall.

  For some reason, this reveal seemed different. Maybe it was because of the Clan of the Dragon, or maybe it was just my increased emotional sensitivity. Either way, I tamped down the strange feelings I was having and triggered my transformation.

  My clothing and gear all shunted into an extra-dimensional space as my body expanded. I understood why Cami had taken the class she did, and it made sense, but the changes in me had been substantial. Gaining 70% growth into Mature Adult had not only doubled my size, it had increased my mass by about 75%. And that was literally a ton. I was now well over seventy feet long and my weight had doubled.

  Even with my increased Strength and Agility, this body felt difficult to control. This was undoubtedly a side effect of such rapid growth. Normally, a dragon would have taken decades, or even centuries to grow this much. Any changes would have been so incremental as to go unnoticed.

  But for me the difference was massive. Each point of Strength increased the value of that stat. I was truly a force of nature now, if I hadn’t been before.

  Edgar contained a small gasp, but his eyes widened. Then it was like understanding hit him, which I suppose it did once Miseria stopped suppressing it.

  “This makes so much sense!” he almost shouted.

  Then his body started to glow, too, until a golden hue surrounded him. The glow around him grew in intensity till he fell to his knees. He grasped his head and for a moment, I thought he was under attack. But when he raised his head to stare upwards, he let out a whoop of exultation.

  His body started to twist and change shape. As it did, a notification popped up.

  You are witnessing the first Dragon Disciple class evolution to its Legendary equivalent in more than a century.

  Edgar Lev has evolved from Dragon Disciple to Dragon Paragon.

  The notification sounded impressive, but it was nothing compared to what his body was doing. Right before my eyes, Edgar’s form twisted from that of a flat-faced, ugly, hairless monkey—otherwise known as a human—to that of the most beautiful and majestic form ever to grace this world with its presence.

  The transformation took a full minute, but when it was done, a red dragon stood before me. He was much smaller than me. No larger than a Young Adult, but he was fully a dragon. What was more, his red scales had tints of blue and white along their edges, showing all the elements he had mastered.

  He opened his mouth, but whatever sound he had tried to make came out garbled. He clearly wasn’t used to making human sounds with a dragon's mouth. It was not easy, I was willing to admit, and I was thankful that my magical ability eased the burden of doing so greatly.

  Edgar only held the form for a couple of minutes before he transformed back into his human shape. As soon as he did, he dropped to his knees and lowered his head to the ground.

  “Great one, please forgive this humble servant for not recognizing you before.”

  I sighed. Yeah, I could get used to this.

  Chapter 23 - The Dragon’s Claw

  Part of me wanted to bask in the feeling that a human prostrating themselves before me caused, but Edgar was my friend.

  “That isn’t necessary,” I rumbled.

  Edgar lifted his head from the floor and sat back on his knees. “I was raised in the Clan of the Dragon. Our entire way of life is centered around one core belief and a number of conclusions which arise out of that,” he explained.

  When I just stood there silently, he continued, “We believe that dragons are the guardians of this world. We don’t revere them like gods, though that is a close approximation to how we honor them. In some ways, we have more respect for dragons than we do for the gods. Gods are distant beings who may or may not have any real sense of connection with us, but dragons live among us.

  “Some of us believe that dragons should rule over all. Others believe that they should be kept free from political entanglements, in order to be free to defend the world. That is why any dragon who joins the clan never has to worry about their needs. We see to all of those things.”

  Conflicting feelings arose within me. Being free was part of being a dragon, but I couldn’t shake the tremor of desire which ran through me at the idea of minions galore waiting to meet my every need. “Does that make you all dragon minions?”

  “No. There are dragon minions in the clan, though. They tend to be the ones who believe that dragons should take a more active role in ruling the world. There is even the Cult of the Dragon, which is a splinter offshoot of the Clan. They worship dragons as gods.”

  He shook his head. “Most of us simply treat dragons as respected elders and do whatever we can to make sure the mission created by our founder is never interrupted. That said, we always make sure that each dragon has enough minions to fulfill all vital roles. Named minion roles are highly sought after positions.”

  “What mission is it of which you speak? And before you say to defend the world, to defend it from what?”

  He nodded. “I have heard that some dragons didn’t know about the clan. Apparently, none of your ancestors were part of the clan. Thus, the dream wouldn’t tell you about it.”

  I stared at him more closely. The fact that he knew about the Dragon Dream told me much, but he continued, “During the last great dragon war, dragons fought against horrors trying to invade this world. As you know, that was a very long time ago. But the desert to the south was caused by it. What you may not know was that a great wyrm, a blue was Draconis at that time. He was the one who led the forces of men and beast, along with Reegor his bonded rider. He was also the first to allow the creation of the Bond which was designed by the gods.”

  I liked Cami too much to sever our bond now, if that were even possible, but I never liked to be reminded about the role the gods had played in creating the Bond.

  “I know that dragon,” I growled. “He was my ancestor. I have seen the war through his eyes more than once.”

  “Good. Then that will make it easy for you. Draconis had two offspring with two different mothers. I assume you came from the line of Wasnera? She was also bonded, like her father.”

  “Yes, I know.”

  “I’m never sure how much you got from the dream, but while Wasnera didn’t always agree with her sire, she honored his will and fought with her companion, an orc, named…”

  “Tra’vis. Yes, I know that part, too.”

  “What you may not know was that the son of Draconis also bonded, but then broke away at the end of the war. He believed that an organization needed to be created to prevent the horrors from ever invading our physical world again. Thus was born the Dragon Clan.”

  “But what about the gods? The role of dragons, as I understand it, is to stand against both horrors and gods. This world is for physical beings, not extra-dimensional interlopers.” My question was as much a reminder to myself as it was to feel out the position of the Clan.

  “As I said, the clan focused on dealing with horrors. The gods only want to help the people of the world, not destroy them. But if they ever overreached, I’m sure the Clan would stand against them, too. But that isn’t our primary mission.”

  “Horrors are beginning to enter the world again. Where is the Clan in all of this?”

  Edgar hung his head. It took him half a minute before he answered me. “The Clan has grown weak. We have only three bonded dragons who are part of the clan. Most dragons seem to want nothing to do with protecting the world. We believe that something happened to your kind, even before the last dragon war, which has made you withdraw from the world around you. That trait seems to have grown with every subsequent generation.”

  “You mean the Pact?”

  His eyes widened. “I know that word, but none of the dragons or their bonded will speak of it, even with other members of the Clan.”

  I thought about this for a moment, but was pulled from my thoughts when Edgar asked, “Can you explain what it was?”

  “I think I’ll honor the tradition of your dragons and keep it to myself… for now. Perhaps they have good reason not to reveal such information.”

  A bit of frustration crossed Edgar’s face but was quickly gone. “I will respect your wishes, great one. Not only are you a dragon, but you also gave me the insight that I needed to obtain my legendary class. I owe you a debt which will be very difficult to repay.”

  “Perhaps,” I allowed. “And while I won’t turn away any help, we are friends. I’ve been learning many things recently and, at the risk of sounding blasphemous, I now have a sense that there just might be more important things than gold.”

  A grin teased the corners of Edgar’s lips.

  “Not many, mind you,” I growled, “but some.”

  Edgar laughed, then. “You really are a strange dragon. I never would have guessed that one would deign to keep to a human form as long as you have. And to hear one say something is more important than gold… well, today has been a day for many surprises.”

  He paused for a moment before asking, “Now that you’ve revealed yourself, will you join the Clan?”

  “No,” I replied, “or at least not now. I’d like to meet with one of your dragons if that is possible.”

  Edgar sat back onto the ground. “It is possible. But they don’t fly where I or any human member of the clan, even the council of elders tell them. They are the great ones, after all.”

  He pursed his lips, which I had come to learn meant a human was considering something, even weighing the merits of it. “I expect that one of them would be willing to meet with you. May I ask a question? You can simply ignore it if you don’t wish to answer.”