The dragon Winkle, the catastrophe of his time, awoke from his sleep.
This legendary beast was 60 feet long, had scales that shone brighter than molten ruby, and had huge jet-black wings. It yawned as it stretched and pushed away some of the gold and jewels from its hard-won treasure. He opened his golden eyes wide and adjusted to the darkness of the cave, thinking how nice it would be to enjoy the rewards of victory after the feast. If he hadn't had the urge to eat cow this morning, he could have stayed here for another half century.
Winkle slowly stretched out his thick neck until the top of his horns touched the stone ceiling. He surveyed his cave deep in the mountains south of Alban, marveling at the glistening beauty of his conquests. A pile of rubies, diamonds, and gold coins, looted from the corpses of beasts, mermaids, the elf princess's attendants, and the armored men foolish enough to challenge him. It was a good stash, but a small one; he promised himself to double his size before returning to hibernation.
Maybe he should attack the dwarves next? He heard they collected enough gems to fill the underground vaults.
Here, to his left, one of his loyal goblin servants is cleaning a silver sword, one of his most precious treasures. It was a tall goblin with smooth skin and a dirty hood. Winkel had a horrified expression on his face when he looked at him...
wait.
That's not a goblin, it's a human. Open.
Winkle blinked in sudden realization, as did the man who had just realized he had woken a dragon.
"Thief!" roared Fankel, moved by a fit of rage, and tried to crush Manling with his upper arms, the frightened rogue leaping aside with his sword before rushing for the exit. Fankel kept trying to step on Manlin like a piece of fruit, but the cloaked man responded well.
It doesn't matter, the cave is too small and the exit is on the other side. The dragon quickly cornered the bandit, trapping him between a wall and itself. Manling took the sword as a weapon of despair, but it was the threat of melting his treasure that kept Wacker from burning the treacherous animal to ashes.
Fankle took a quick glance at his collection and was relieved to find nothing missing. He caught the thief red-handed.
"I swear." Vaikr cursed in dragon language. “You take a nap for fifty years—fifty years—and everyone forgets about the food chain.”
Even the fact that he had built his lair on the highest mountain known to the Dragons of the West did not stop the thief.
Did he allow those damn orcs to live there in exchange for being their guards? Did they run away? Or did the thieves kill them? Why is it so hard to find good help now?
in spite of. He would eat the fool and then raid a nearby village for cattle; so the Manlings would not bother him again. "My sweetheart," he said to the thief in Manlin's tongue, "what's your name?"
The man's scary little eyes bulged under the hood. "Can you talk?"
"Yes, yes, sometimes I talk to my breakfast." Or the girl he kidnapped in his youth. "Answer me, Manlin, before I lose my patience."
"I, uh..." The man trembled at Winkle's astonishing authority. "Victor, sir..."
"Knight Baine I, the catastrophe of this era, the king of the Alban Mountains. But you can call me your majesty."
"His Majesty,"
"With a capital M," Winkle corrected his disrespectful foodie. "I can tell."
"Your Majesty, I swear this is a mistake!"
"I don't think so, Manling. Now, tell me, because I really want to know. How did you come to think that stealing my stuff was a good idea?"
The man narrowed his eyes, realizing his stupidity. Winkel knew little about Manling, but this one sounded young, almost not like an adult. "I swear," he said. "I didn't know this mountain was yours. I was hired to find that sword, that's all! Others thought it was lost, not yours."
"Liar!" Winkle yelled, his voice shaking the ceiling. "You must have jumped through a group of orcs to get there!"
"There have been...no goblins in the mountains for decades, Your Majesty. They escaped from Balsino's great march across the Alban Mountains twenty years ago."
What's the matter? Winkle hummed deeply, trying to smell the goblin's stink. His keen senses detected nothing, not even the faintest hint. Manling was right, no goblin had guarded his lair for at least ten years.
"Those idiot cowards, I just took a nap and ran away?" Winkel cursed in dragon language. Manling couldn't understand the clever elder language. The dragon deigned to return to its original language. "Do you have a retinue, Manlin Victor?"
"Slave?" He knew that as long as he answered, the dragon would let him live. "I threw a party once and it didn't work out. It's like I was the only professional with more ambition than petty theft."
“It’s hard to find good help anywhere,” Wankel growled to his audience. "I suggest you never hire an orc, even if you don't live that long. I won't let you make that mistake again."
"Wait, wait!" Manlin panicked. "Even if you kill me, they will send someone else! No one knows that His Majesty lives in this mountain!"
"They will, if I burn the countryside to ashes," Winkle replied, although Manring did pique his curiosity. "But I'm curious, who sent you?" I'll eat first. "
"I don't know!" "This is an anonymous request from the town hall of a nearby town," Manlin Victor said. "The reward is a thousand gold coins."
"Such a dirty business, there is really a lot of money." Winkel condemned, and vowed that once the mastermind behind the scenes was found, the coins must be recovered in return.
"Yeah, but I mostly took it as a challenge," Manling admitted. "I think I can get some level out of it. Maybe even a special perk that comes with climbing."
"Level?" What was that, some kind of cow food? Winkel was intrigued. "what is that?"
"You, you don't..." The man closed his mouth. "Levels are abilities you gain in a profession, such as Knight, Wizard, or Outlaw, that grant you additional abilities, known as perks. You gain levels through work, experience, or killing. I think I at least Gonna get one or two.”
What nonsense is that? "You can't even imagine how many thieves I killed, Manlin Victor, and I never got these 'levels.'"
"Maybe you just don't know," Manling said in defense of his miserable life.
That's stupid. Class? For example, a thief? He is a great red dragon, the king of mountains, the top of all things! If this kind of power existed, the powerful dragon clan must have been opened long ago!
congratulations!
What's the matter? Winkle thought as the words came to him.
Through your pure self and noble dragon blood, you have gained a level in the [Noble] profession!
+30 hp, +10sp, +1st
, +1 agi, +1 cha, +1 lack!
You get [old money] career allowance!
What kind of witchcraft was this? Mathematical magic? The sight puzzled Winkel. "Old money?" he said loudly, much to Victor's confusion.
(Old Money) Doubles the chance of a monster dropping treasure after it dies.
ah. alright. "Manling Victor," the dragon asked about his food. "Do you think you're a monster?"
"Of course not!" Manlin replied, without sounding like he was bluffing. "The monster is an orc or a troll, or..."
"Or a dragon?" Wenke said this, feeling very funny. Well, if this "perk" worked on that damn arrogant frost dragon "Ice Fang" from the north, he might triple his treasure. The dragon shrank its head, only an inch away from the thief, while the thief tried his best to put on a strong face. "Take off your hood and cloak, Manlin, slowly. Look into my eyes."
The man did so and showed his face. As Winkel had guessed, it was a young adult Manlin with disgustingly short black hair and no giant horns; how these animals could live with them, Winkel would never understand. Still, the dragon liked the fear and cunning in those small amber eyes. The would-be thief also had two metal toothpicks hanging from his belt, not worth adding to his collection.
That Manling isn't a goblin, but it would be a good replacement. "Opening winner."
"What is it, Your Majesty?"
"Put the sword back to its original place. You take me directly to this "Town Hall" so I can see this request with my own eyes. Since I am now short of Orcs, you will become my new servant until you pay back As long as you owe me your life.”
Manlin couldn't believe he was given such a great honor and thought he didn't deserve it. "I am totally unsuited to this role, Your Majesty."
“I am a dragon,” Winkel reminded Manling of this timeless wisdom. "You are my servant now."
Manling was silent for a moment, then graciously accepted his new role, "It is an honor, Your Majesty."
"Very good. Do what I want and you will get a big reward. That is life. If it were another dragon, if you had committed a crime, it would have eaten you long ago and would not have let you serve it, but I is magnanimous and merciful.”
"Your Majesty, you are so generous."
"I know, Manling. Now, tell me more about these Perks..."
