The Adventures of Rose Hood

I hunted spiders for a day and developed the egg laying skill. Now I could reproduce whenever I was interested in doing so.

“Nice, now if you could find a mate, your offspring would be even stronger.”

“No potential mates though.”

“Ah, right. Unlike other species, dragons can mate with any humanoids and still develop pure dragons, so all you need is to find a male you like. Just make sure they’re ok with reproducing dragons.”

“No humanoids would live to my point of childbearing.”

“Elves. They live a long time.”

I considered Dallel...

‘No, can’t see him as proper mate.’

“Don’t know any I’d be interested in.”

“Well, if you mature early, you’d also be able to bear children earlier.”

“I guess, but don’t like killing.”

“No? How many are you on?”

“4.”

“Ah, I’m on late 99900s.”

“So, close.”

“Yep, I was waiting for a massive subjugation group, so I could destroy all of them and mature early.”

“Good idea.”

“I thought so, but I’ll have to act dead for a little bit.”

“Sorry.”

“Nah, you are good, mythics show up here quickly, and I can handle most of them.”

“What if another sibling shows up?”

“Dual dungeon masters!”

“Ooh!”

“Honestly, if you weren’t an adventurer, I’d ask you to join me.”

“Yeah, I like humanoids. They can be so nice.”

“They can, in fact, you aren’t the first I let go, when I first got here, I let a few go on a contract to not reveal me. They just said something powerful was there.”

“Smart.”

“Yep, anyways, try on your gear. I fit it better for dragon combat, as it was crafted for catkin battle.”

“Thanks.”

“No problem.”

“Well, I need to go.”

“Be sure to visit!”

“I will. If you're ok with it, I may bring Granny.”

“I’d love to meet the woman who helped you.”

“Alright, cya.”

We waved and I left. It was good to know my sibling was alive and well, and thanks to her help, I developed an ability that allowed me to reproduce when I got older. And if I found a proper mate, they’d be potentially stronger than me.

I got the fang and scales and left the dungeon.

“It’s good to see you return.”

The same guard was there.

“Was it a powerful mythic?”

I held up the fang and he gasped.

“It was a dragon?! No wonder so many died. Thank you for getting rid of it.”

“No problem.”

Couldn’t say that Thalia was alive and well. They’d investigate me and then send a party strong enough to kill Thalia. Better that they assume the dragon was dead.

I went back to the inn where they heard I defeated the beast of the dungeon, so people bought me drinks. The owner also thanked me for the money and said that after I left, he purchased top notch locks, so it’d take a master locksmith to open it.

I smiled and someone asked to see the proof of the kill, when I pulled out Thalia’s discarded fang, they were shocked and admired me.

I slept peacefully that night before returning to the capital much how I left it.

I got into the line and a guard recognized me.

“Rose? You are back already?”

“Yep, cleared dungeon.”

“That fast?”

“Yeah. Only challenge was boss.”

I realized that normally the travel itself was a week, however, due to my size as a dragon I could make the journey in a few hours, so what would normally be a 3-week trip, was only 4 days for me.

Dallel came out and looked at me in shock, before escorting me to the guild.

“How did you get back that fast?”

“Have a few tricks.”

“Clearly. That was the quickest subjugation of that dungeon ever I think.”

“Most of the time was against the boss.”

“Ah, what was it?”

“Fire dragon.”

“Wait, really? And you beat it? I knew you beat an arcane dragon, but I thought that was through trickery. You can’t trick a dragon in a dungeon.”

“Saliad beat 3.”

“Yeah, but he also used shock and trickery. He would struggle greatly if he faced a dragon head on.”

… That explained why I won. I didn’t underestimate him for a second, unlike what Father and Mother did. Ravi was probably taken by surprise, while I was fully aware of the fight. Saliad was probably overconfident from beating 3 and didn’t take me as seriously as he should have.

“So, the fact that you could beat a dragon head on is incredible.”

“Thanks.”

“Well, may as well visit the guildmaster. Do you have proof of the kill?”

“Fang.”

“A fang, huh? I guess after a fight like that very few materials would be salvageable.”

I keep forgetting that most people see dragons as no different from strong magic beasts. He does have a point though. Dragon scales were strong enough to repel A rank weapons. Our fangs and claws could make powerful weapons, capable of breaking even S rank items and armor.

“I also noticed you got a bit of an upgrade.”

“Met sibling during travel, she’s a master blacksmith. She could even make F rank S rank if given enough time. Think Gallson smiths would be offended?”

“Not at all. I find that smiths love to see masters enhance their work. It makes them realize that people are better than them and they need to improve. Still, it looks like the armor was made far more precise. Given that it’s made of grammite, it’s really heavy, but if it’s your sibling, it makes sense that she could hold grammite and temper it better.”

I enter the guild, and everyone turns in shock. After all, they didn’t expect me back for at least another 2 weeks.

Mammon steps out.

“Did you chicken out?”

“No, conquered dungeon.”

I pulled out Thalia’s fang and he fell on his butt in shock.

“In 4 days, you not only made 2 weeklong trips, but also subjugated a dragon? That’s insane, even for you.”

“I’m fast.”

“I could tell.”

“What kind of dragon was it?”

“Fire.”

“Incredible, then again, you defeated an arcane. I guess I shouldn’t be surprised.”

“Ok.”

He bonked me.

“Don’t be so casual about defeating two dragons, and in a dungeon, you’d have to take it head on. Even Saliad would struggle in a head on fight with dragons.”

“Eh.”

He sighed.

“Oh well, may as well get your armor rep... that ain’t the same armor you left with.”

“Met my sister, she refined it.”

“Someone able to refine Thalias’s armor. Incredible. What’s her name?”

Wow, they had similar names.

“... Thalia.”

“Really?”

“Yes.”

“Oh wait, I remember you mentioning you were nameless at one point. Did she pick her name?”

“Dunno. When we grew up, all of us were nameless except for eldest brother.”

“Why was he named?”

“He could beat our Father.”

“I see, so names were a privilege in your house?”

“Yep.”

“How’d you get named then?”

“Royce named me.”

“Ah, well ain’t that sweet. He may have a crush on ya, how bout you, lassie?”

“Eh, too old.”

“Hah, he’s only 5 years your senior. Guess you want someone closer to you in age. Hear that Dallel?”

“What are you implying, old man?”

“Hah, I ain’t that old, only 50.”

I actually meant I was too old, but I guess they don’t know I’m over 100. The two bickered and I just sat down and ordered food.

“You know, you eat a lot of meat.”

“Hmm?”

The waiter had remarked on my diet.

“I’ve met a lot of catkins and normally they eat more balanced diets. Almost 90% of what you eat is meat.”

“I like meat.”

He had a point, dragons were carnivores, so I ate more meat, and really just ate vegetables to provide more cover or seasonings for meat.

“Yeah, but you eat a lot.”

“Fast digestion, plus active most of the time.”

Despite my small stature, this was still mostly an illusion. My stomach was still dragon sized, so I could eat a lot more than anyone other than a dragon.

“Yeah, I noticed that too. Frankly, I feel bad for you, you probably ate up the dungeon village’s food supply. You were starving over there.”

I glared at Jalad who came in and laughed at his own joke.

“Hunted a lot both out and in dungeon.”

“What could you eat in dungeons?”

“Goblin, orc, ogre. Cook properly and tasty.”

“Aren’t they incredibly poisonous?”

“They are? When my parents were out, we had to hunt them down and eat them. Didn’t know they were poisonous.”

“Jeez, I’m sure you could write a novel about how you were raised.”

“Maybe, was that unconventional?”

“YES!”

All the adventurers yelled at once.

“No wonder you are strong. You had to fight for life on day one.”

Mammon wasn’t wrong. I remember Ravi almost eating me when I had just hatched.

“Not wrong, had to fight siblings shortly after birth.”

They looked at me in more shock.

“Which sibling was that?”

“Eldest brother, Ravi.”

“Huh, how old was he.”

800 at that point.

“18.”

An 800-year-old dragon was close to an 18-year-old humanoid, so it worked.

“Holy crap. Did you win?”

“No, was just born. Father had to pull him off.”

“Ah.”

“Could never beat Ravi, Thalia said it was because I never fought to kill.”

“That would decide most battles.”

“Still, training from birth, it makes sense how you’d be a match for Saliad now.”

“I guess.”

“Well, the king invited you to meet with him tomorrow, he heard you were back and wants to meet you again.”

“Alright.”