Ruben rubbed the back of his neck, his cheeks turning a ruddy color. “Even at my level, making epic magic items is never a guarantee. This item, however, will be charged up by your body’s natural processes and will work with each of your breath weapons.

  “For now, the drawbacks are that it is more fragile than I’d like for armor—though it does provide some minor defensive and stat boosts. Offensively, though, our testing suggests it will more than triple the effectiveness of your base breath weapons… and potentially do more than that.”

  I again identified the item and, while I wasn’t keen on having to wear a helmet, I was excited by the potential.

  Helm of Phased Attacks

  Helm Quality: Rare

  Weight: 3.0 Durability: 80/80

  Passive Effect:

  4 armor

  6 Agility

  Active Effect: Once per hour when using your breath weapon, you may add a phasing element to the attack. This will allow the attack to bypass most physical and many magical barriers. Instead of your enemy taking the damage from the outside in, they will be damaged from the inside out.

  Daggin said, “The grenade is still being tested, but you can take the helm with you today, if you want M’lord. It would help if you can test it some; we hope to be able to improve it.”

  We discussed it a bit further and what I might like to see for future versions, but then moved on.

  Rubin explained, “The third area that we think we could help you with, was in coming up with better ways to free the captive dragons.”

  I was all ears at that moment.

  “While you can break their collars off, and we could make copies of the choker we made for you, that was a challenge to make and would be costly to mass produce. So we came up with what we hope is a better option. We don’t have a final functioning model yet, but that is partially because we couldn’t get our hands on one of the collars to examine until Serius took over running the university. Cami got a collar from him for us to test three days ago and what we’ve learned is quite promising.

  “The collars work by suppressing the dragon’s Mind Stat and forging a limited telepathic connection with the wearer of a matching ring. If you break one of the collars, the wearer of its counterpart ring will immediately know. Thus, freeing Matilda only worked because her rider had already been... uh, terminated.”

  Cami continued for the enchanter who seemed bothered by the death of the pseudo-rider. “Anyway, Ruben had the idea to reverse what the collar did. We believe we can place a new collar on the dragons which will connect to the ones they are wearing, except it will give them control over the telepathic connection and will actually boost their Mind Stat rather than weakening it.”

  The implications of this were huge.

  I wanted to know if that would prompt the system to reclassify them. We talked about that and theorized, but none of us thought it would be that simple. If we could get a few of these working, though, that would be a good first step.

  There was still one thing on my mind that my minions had yet to address. “Okay, but you are forgetting one of the most important functions of a minion.”

  Daggin and Ruben looked at each other and then at Cami. Instead of looking embarrassed the half-dwarf got a big grin on his face. “We thought ya might feel that way, M’lord. Which is why we created a number o’ basic magical items boosted with yer blood so that they’d be in high demand.

  “Ruben has made HP rings that give 300 health from a rather simple enchantment rather than the usual 100. I’ve made armor and weapons tempered with small amounts of your blood which are 20% better than anything on the market which can be made for the same price. With them, we are confident that we will be able to make you a significant pile of gold with just a few more months o’ work. It is partly why we’re training apprentices. The two of us can only do so much, after all.”

  “Is 20% really that much of a difference?” I asked.

  Before Daggin could answer, Cassandra stepped up. “I think you are missing the point, Nico. If they can mass produce items for the same cost, but those items are superior to the competition, you’ll be able to sell them for at least double the price or perhaps more. I know that healing potions using just a tiny bit of your blood as an ingredient would sell for four to five times as much as a weaker potion.”

  “But why so much of a difference?” I pressed.

  “Simple. If an adventurer is in combat, they may only be able to take one potion. Which are they going to want to take? The potion that heals a maximum of 500 HP or the one that can heal 1500? That difference might not seem so significant to you, but everything counts in combat. Think about a shield which can take 20% more damage before breaking. It would keep its user alive longer, and humans will pay a great deal to live longer.”

  I thought about what she’d said, and it definitely made sense. Their lives were so short, they would do just about anything, pay any price, not to lose them sooner than they had to.

  I tilted my head to Cassandra. “Thank you for the explanation. I’m not sure why you’re here, though. Did you want to schedule some alchemy lessons for me?”

  She laughed. “That and so much more. When I heard about the benefits of becoming a minion, I was immediately interested. When you get to be my age, the thought of better health and living longer becomes rather tempting. When you are at the top of your field in a craft, the thought of boosting your effective level is just as much of a draw.

  “I’ve been intrigued by you for some time, but I still wasn’t going to bind myself to serve someone who might turn into a monster and the enemy of humanity. That said, I needed to see how you treated your minions.” She spread her arms to indicate not just Ruben and Daggin, but the entire shop.

  “You’ve listened to what they have to say and not once have you talked down to them about their expertise of designs. And that is to say nothing of the way you have allowed them to expand their operation to better serve you. You clearly have a bit of arrogance, but given what you are, I suppose that’s to be expected.”

  At first I was angered by the idea that she’d been testing me, but then I remembered my musings about how the best minions were those who approached the prospect pragmatically. I decided I couldn’t blame her too much for being cautious.

  “And have you come to a conclusion?”

  She bowed to me. “Yes. If you’ll have me, Nico, I’d like for you to make me a minion. I believe I have a great deal to offer you—both in terms of earning gold, but also with potions which can enhance you in battle.”

  I smiled. She had me at ‘gold’.

  Chapter 26 - Soul System

  What followed ended up turning into a minion party. I accepted minion contracts with not just Cassandra, but also with ten apprentices for each of my Master Craftsmen minions. That took up just over 30% of my available minion positions, but once I reached the Elder age category, I would go from 100 minion spots to 500, so I wasn’t worried.

  The terms of the contract were favorable to me. Neither I nor the minion could act against the other while the contract was in effect, but even if they broke the contract, they couldn’t take action against me for a full thirty days—whereas I’d be free to act as I deemed best, right away.

  For a moment, I considered promoting one of the minions to an exalted minion. Now that I had reached Mature Adult, I could have one exalted minion. Thinking about the discussion I’d had with Edgar. I realized that while what they were doing was valuable, I needed to be careful about who I made an exalted minion.

  Even at the Elder age category, I could only have three exalted minions.

  I had looked up the information about minions to see if I could determine what the extra perks were for an exalted minion, but the description was less than informative.

  Exalted minions gain all of the benefits of a regular minion dependent upon your age category. Exalted minions also gain individually customized benefits, pursuant to their designated role or roles.

  That didn’t explain much, if anything, but at the moment all of my minions were quite happy with the benefits they had gained. Each of them had their lifespan increased by 20%, but it seemed to act retroactively. Cassandra now looked closer to thirty than being in her sixties.

  Additionally, they treated either their combat class or their crafting class as though it were effectively two levels higher. It made my Master Craftsmen minions effectively Legendary Craftsmen. I couldn’t help but wonder what would happen when I had some combat oriented minions.

  Once all the details were set up, Cassandra said, “I need to go do some testing and see what I can do with the remainder of your blood that you gave me. That is, unless you’re willing to give me some more blood, now? You know… for science? The more I can experiment, the better potions I’ll be able to make for you.”

  I bit down and locked my jaw before I snapped at the alchemist. That was my first, almost automatic, instinct. But since my evolution, I’d been more aware of how others might view things. It hit me then that while Cassandra now was ready to free the dragons—she’d even accepted the quest—and she had been willing to become a minion, she didn’t understand the current state of dragon-human relations in the Empire.

  I took a deep breath, and then slowly let it out.

  “Minion…, no I’ll be better than that.” Another deep breath. “Cassandra, you need to make a decision. I know the benefits of becoming a minion might have been what you focused on, but our contract is a genuine one. I won’t be your apprentice in the conventional sense. We may portray that image in front of other humans, for the time being, but if you want those benefits, then you have to understand that I’m your lord now.

  “I will be better than humans, though. I don’t need to collar or enslave you. I only want willing minions. But I’m still a dragon. Now, rather than working on new potions, you need to consider how I might feel about humans and what share of blame every human has in the treatment of dragons.

  “You may not have personally participated or helped to enslave any dragons, but you also didn’t seem to give it much thought. Now, your first task—if you still want to be my minion—is to consider that. I’ll see you in a few days, I have a great deal to handle right now.”

  She swallowed and stared back at me, but without showing any of the intensity I was feeling. For the first time since I’d met her, Cassandra’s words weren’t filled with that combination of humor and confidence which I’d come to expect.

  “You’re right. I don’t accept personal responsibility for the actions of others, but I have been ignorant about the plight of dragons. Not willfully ignorant, though, since I wasn’t sure about the differences between wild dragons and domesticated dragons. That said, I didn’t look into the matter and simply accepted the benefits they provided to the Empire. I really will help to rectify this, as much as is possible. I’ll look at ways which alchemy might be used to help restore domesticated dragons to be more like you.”

  I nodded, but didn’t say anything else. We locked eyes for another moment and then she lowered her head, bowed, and walked away. I was strangely calm about all of this. There was some rage that wanted to bubble up within me, but I could now understand that no individual was responsible for all the actions of their people, their nation, their city, or even their family.

  Up to this point, my increased introspection and understanding of others had brought me a feeling of peace. That changed as I thought about the treatment of dragons by the Empire. Sure, it was the system which had struck the true blow—changing their nature—but that had only happened in response to the actions of the Empire.

  Yes, it had been the previous dynasty, as Lisella had explained. Yes, the Emperor supposedly was open to options for dragons, but he hadn’t freed them. A part of me understood the chaos that releasing a couple hundred domesticated dragons would cause, but was that my problem?

  And all the other humans had looked at the plight of my kind, but had not seen. They had ignored the miserable state of my people. The knowledge about what a true dragon was like hadn’t been commonly known, so maybe, instead of eating all the humans, I’d just demand some form of tribute for dragonkind.

  What to do with dragonkind was another issue. I knew we were the greatest, most beautiful race in all of Iliea, but why was it so hard for us to care about anything other than ourselves? Even the minion contracts should have taught us that we were stronger with others to aid us.

  Despite my evolution, I found it difficult to care at times. Caring for the lesser races made about as much sense as a dragon believing that death was only something that happened to handicapped dragons. This clearly wasn’t going to simply change overnight.

  Before I could think about it much more, I sensed Cami approaching from behind me. I turned on her and bared my teeth in a smile. I almost laughed at how this expression meant something so different for dragons.

  “I’m sorry that I’ve been busy,” I explained. “I wasn’t trying to keep you out. I just needed to sort through what the evolution did to me on my own.”

  Cami smiled, but then I sensed a thorny spike of emotion in her. “Alone? Or with Lisella?”

  I was caught off guard by the raw emotion within her. I thought we were beyond this, but then I realized it had never passed. I couldn’t stop loving gold and, even evolved, I still struggled not to fall back into my old habits. Why should I expect Cami, who was young even by human standards, to be able to suddenly switch off an emotion?

  What was worse, though, was that I now understood her feelings for me much more clearly. It wasn’t about breeding… or not just about breeding. Humans treated that so differently than dragons and emotion was the bedrock of their relationships, even if physical attraction played a part in it, as well.

  If it weren’t for having experienced Wasnera’s emotions for Tra’vis and seen some of their life together, I would have dismissed this as impossible. But… No.

  I shook my head. I didn’t have time for this. Not now, at least.

  My thoughts raced by, but no sooner had Cami said those words than she was shaking her head. “I’m sorry, Nico. That was unfair of me. You don’t owe me anything like that. You have made your position clear about that, and I don’t want to poison our bond with bad feelings.”

  My bonded was hurting. It was like she had been wounded, but the wound was on the inside. I felt an urge to transform and fly away with her. I’d protect her from all the world. Except, I had just enough insight now to know that would be the wrong thing to do. We needed to be around others, but she also had to know I was here for her.

  I didn’t intend for my words to go so far, but they just sort of came out. Her eyes widened as I spoke.

  “Cami, I don’t have those sort of feelings… or at least, I’m still trying to understand myself. But, if I ever have them for anyone, it will be for you.”

  I felt hope blossom within her and worried that I’d done more harm than good, but the words had been spoken and we weren’t alone. Looking past Cami, I said, “Modessa.”

  The rogue stepped forward, putting her arm around Cami. Neither human woman said anything to the other, yet it almost seemed as though there was some silent form of communication that passed between them. When Modessa looked back at me, our eyes locked and I saw some of that fire which I was used to seeing from her.

  “Have you considered my request?” she asked.

  “I have, but I’m not willing to grant it at this time. I’m not sure what use I would have for a rogue minion.”

  She snorted. “Are you kidding me? I get why you want crafters; it even makes sense. But you need me more than you need any of them. You are a walking social disaster. You seem a bit different since your evolution, but attacking goons of Nilarue today only proved that you aren’t ready to be allowed into human society without a minder.”

  “Says the woman who was on her knees in front of me,” I snapped.

  She adopted an expression which was somewhere between rage and hilarity—half-angry and half-amused. I wasn’t sure about the nuances of it.

  “You really need to learn about euphemisms,” she retorted. “But that’s probably the least of your needs. Truthfully, the benefits for being a minion are tremendous, but I wouldn’t agree to it if not for my soul damage. If there’s any chance that it can help to repair my soul, then I will do anything for you. The pain is almost unbearable.”

  I bit down on my tongue. I should have known better than to assume she would suddenly become meek. She needed something from me—but then again, that was the truest basis for a minion contract. The reality, though, was that while I likely wasn’t going to kill her after her unnecessary attempt to save my life, I still felt like she had some punishment coming.

  “Lisella explained to me that the pain is excruciating. Is it true that you can’t use any of your mana based abilities or spells?” It was difficult to keep the slightly gleeful tone out of my voice, since I already knew the answer to the question.