A Chronometric Defect

Strange?

Strangely incredible!

Even other dragons can't match me.

I decide to admire my amazing draconic body.

I am quite the prize! I'm such a prize that some parts of me don't make sense. Losing my organs just makes me an even bigger prize. Now I'm the only dragon who has no weak spots on my entire body.

I should relax for a moment after these last few days.

I lift up my tail and plop it onto my lap.

*THLOP*

I scratch it like last time, but lightly to not overdo things. No way am I gonna cause that weird awful feeling.

*skrrrtch*

*skrrrtch*

*skrrrtch*

Roh, that feels so good. Like I've become a little lizard. I want to nuzzle something warm.

*skrrrtch*

*skrrrtch*

*skrrrtch*

It's such a shame I'm the only one who can have myself. Isn't it? I'm sure all these little ones would love to have a Chronometric Dragon God of their own.

*skrrrtch*

*skrrrtch*

*skrrrtch*

I decide to let myself enjoy the moment.

"Rawrrrrrrrrr."

*skrrrtch*

*skrrrtch*

*skrrrtch*

"Rawr. Rawhhhhh."

*skrrrtch*

*skrrrtch*

*skrrrtch*

"Rawh. Rhem."

I look over my many admirers. They're continuing to shower me with praise, worship, and affection. They're not bothered at all by my happy rawring.

*skrrrtch*

*skrrrtch*

*skrrrtch*

"Rehhh. Rehreh."

I am perfection, indeed.

*skrrrtch*

*skrrrtch*

*skrrrtch*

I decide to take stock of those admiring me. Most of them are humans, but I see a few elves and dwarves. Roh, hey, there's quite a few kaizen, too. How did I miss so many of them?

*skrrrtch*

*skrrrtch*

*skrrrtch*

Well— their presence should've been a given for a nation previously named 'Dracon State.' Honestly, I'm surprised their Head Housekeeper isn't a kaizen. Rictor must've worked really hard for his position.

*skrrrtch*

*skrrrtch*

*skrrrtch*

"Rewh. Rahh, rah."

I see him ordering dozens of dramaids around. They're all doing various pointless things. It's all because they want to please me, so I can't mind.

*skrrrtch*

*skrrrtch*

*skrrrtch*

I notice I've started drooling a bit. Greh! I can't do that in front of so many admirers.

...

Just...

*skrrrtch*

*skrrrtch*

*skrrrtch*

Rah, reah. That's enough.

I work very hard to suppress my IMMENSE desire to continue scratching my tail. Only now do I realize the desire was getting stronger the whole time I kept scratching my tail— but luckily it does, in fact, slowly subside.

...

...

...

...

Rokay. Whew. Rawh.

It's just my tail. Scratching it doesn't have any right to feel so relaxing. It's like I've become a pet lizard when I scratch my tail. I even start drooling.

Is that okay? I'm supposed to be a super-intelligent dragon. Is it alright to have the same reactions as a pet?

I briefly think of Thaddeus' Chronopet insult.

Mreh. He's dead.

...

I'm often reminded that I'm not human any more. Still, this isn't a change I expected. I wonder if kaizen possess the same physical response to scratching their scales?

I motion to one of them.

"There, kaizen."

The kaizen flips his weapon down and points at himself.

I nod and he walks over.

"Ah, yes, my lord Chronomet?"

Rh, it's so wonderful being respected.

"Do kaizen enjoy their tail being scratched?"

"No, my lord. Uhm..."

"You may speak freely."

"Well, my lord, our dragons don't either. They do like when we massage their tail, but, scraping their scales may cause damage. That's off-limits."

Reh? Then why?

"Do the dragon's scales break?"

"No, my lord. They get dull and need buffing."

Which explains all the buffing they're doing, I suppose.

"How does it feel if you scratch your own tail?"

"You want me to do that, my lord?"

"Rah, I'm curious."

He tries it, but his eyes go wide and he shivers. He looks like he's about to cry. Yaie. I should stop him.

"Rokay, I think that answers my question. You may stop."

He does, then bows to me, before running to help the others he was working with previously. They crowd around him and treat him like a hero. Well, at least he didn't have it all bad.

It seems scratching a dragon's tail isn't supposed to work like it does for myself. I thought that might be because our claws are too sharp. Except that kaizen wasn't going very aggressively and his nails aren't nearly as sharp as mine.

Then why the hell does it feel so relaxing?

I look at my tail and suddenly feel RIDICULOUSLY motivated to scratch it again. BOTH of my hands instantly move toward my tail— claws ready. I freeze.

??!!

What the?!

Nooope. Heck no.

I force the overwhelming desire back down. It fights and struggles against my decision, trying to encourage me to scratch my tail again. I look at my tail once more, which causes the desire to dramatically intensify. It's more intense now than ever. My clawed hands grab my tail, and I feel an OVERPOWERING urge to scratch. Right! Now!

Nooooo.

Do. Not.

I push my tail off my lap such that it flops back onto the ground.

*THOP*

Hoh. What in the world was that?

...

...

I decide to ignore it.

Many little worshippers rush over and begin giving my tail various treatments. Some are trying to emulate what I did to my tail earlier, since I obviously enjoyed it, but I feel nothing from their attempts. Rah well, it's the thought that counts. You're all so dedicated! I love it!

Hrr.

Reah, I don't need to admire myself so much. They're doing quite the fine job. If I give myself too much attention, they won't be able to compete with my own self-admiration.

Alright, they can do the admiring for now! I must allow them to appreciate me as much as I appreciate myself.

Hraaah.

This is great. Reah, let's get back to work.

What about the Dragonblood Sigil?

Sealing a dragon's lineage isn't enough. Our study bodies make us nearly invulnerable, yes, but that's not all.

I've tested Thaddeus' enhanced Dragonblood Sigil by splitting off a copy. He's been doing science while I sit here, getting admired. Obviously, I can't be lazing around doing nothing while my hoards stagnate! Never!

I must understand why was I unable to cast magic. Lineage has nothing to do with spellcasting beyond a few bonuses. I do have a lot more lineal bonuses than a typical dragon, but I should've maintained at least some ability to cast spells. Losing my magic entirely is illogical.

As I review the results, I see that the Dragonblood Sigil nourishes my lineage with all my body's gathered Mana, like heat rapidly flowing into a cold region. Sealing my lineage doesn't remove my body's infinite Mana conductivity. No, the Dragonblood Sigil is akin to an excellent lineal tonic.

That's hilarious.

The Dragonblood Sigil puts all of my infinite magic power into making my draconic lineage grow stronger. Combined with my talent, it was probably helping me evolve.

Luckily for Garne, my growth was limited by the amount of nearby Mana. If there'd been a large leyline under Haitos, who knows what would've happened? I won't test that for fear of damaging the planet's Mana circulation.

Given the god realm's far higher Mana concentrations, it's possible some dragons would want to be sealed so they could evolve. Rokay, no. That's impossible due to our pride. Point is: sealing a dragon helps our power increase. A lot.

I presume aiding a draconic god's already exponential growth is undesirable? If the goal is to kill us. I don't see any other way for the Dragonblood Sigil to function. Magic isn't some whimsical thing; it works by affecting real physical properites in repeatable ways.

The Dragonblood Sigil, for example, functions by changing a dragon's blood into a too-effective Mana attractor. This causes all of our body's Mana to be drawn toward our blood and then become trapped within our blood vessels. The sigil next converts this trapped Mana into another form which annihilates with Mana.

Though I don't have blood vessels, it should still affect me. My perfect Mana conductivity should cause Mana to flow wildly toward my Origin, which would have the same effect. Including the conversion to another form of Mana on the way.

I've decided to call this other form of Mana, 'Antimana.' The fact that it annihilates like a matter-antimatter reaction is the reason behind my naming scheme.

Also, it's the same stuff I ate back in Tengerii when the wall blew up. It's pretty darn dangerous. I'm glad I didn't let it touch the ground or a large amount of ambient Mana.

However, since most of the Mana is already converted by this Sigil, these annihilations don't happen often. Instead, the vast majority of the Antimana is ferried into our draconic lineage, located in the middle of a dragon's torso. For a typical dragon, it's indeed a monster core. I prefer to call it our draconic lineage for obvious reasons.

The nexus of my Origin also resides in my torso. Rea, it's that weird spatial hole thing. That's the core of my Origin. It's a little closer to my upper chest than in a typical dragon.

I suddenly realize that when Mana annihilates with Antimana, it leaves behind Origin. Hraw? Mana-Antimana annihilation is somehow creating more of... ME? Reh?

That doesn't make any sense.

I remember all that freaky clear goo. Well, the rah. The core of my Origin is on my chest, at least. So that's like. Like a dragon. Right? But, the tail thing, with my 'armor.'

I start getting super-ultra-nervous thinking about what it means if a physics reaction is creating more of 'me.' Why do I have different physical reactions from a normal dragon? Moreover, none of this is like what I witnessed from Parasite. Parasite was a clear blob of goo, but it didn't have an Origin. Or armor. Or a tail, for that matter.

...

What in the everliving hell AM I?

...

...

...

I decide to ignore that.

I'mma dragon!

"RAWR!"

Numerous worshippers drop in praise of my happy roar. I feel so pleased seeing them happy alongside me.

I smile toothily, which for some reason doesn't terrify them.

...

Rahm, back to the Dragonblood Sigil. The result is the same for me as any other dragon. The lower half of our body's nervous system gets overloaded by the Antimana surging into that very important core. In short, all of this complex magicology causes a mundane disease.

Dystonia, also known as 'excessive muscle tension.' A medical ailment that can afflict any species that has muscles.

How VERY lame learning that my venerable dragon species could be injured by something so...

Boring? Normal? Typical?

I'd hoped for a more magical explanation. Also, I have no idea why that works on me, since I apparently lack muscles. Actually, come to think of it, I did have muscles back when I ate Shridenia, because I was messing around with their mass. Plus, since I'm using my Origin to move my whole body, the Dragonblood Sigil must affect my Origin directly. Now that I've replaced my nervous system with Origin Threads, and I no longer have blood, it should paralyze my whole body.

Does it?

I cast a Dragonblood Sigil on myself.

Ragh, reah. It does fully paralyze me now.

I wouldn't be able to roar like this.

I dismiss the sigil.

This suggests I still had my organs after I ate Shridenia but lost them sometime after Garne—.

Rurrrrgh. No.

I can't. Not right now. I can't think about that.

...

I shake my dragon head in frustration.

On the plus side, this means truly shutting down a dragon's nerves would require a Dragonnerve Sigil or similar. If that were invented before today? It probably hasn't been used much. All I had to do was grind up a dragon's nerve tissue rather than use blood, so chances are it's been tried before.

The Dragonblood Sigil's true function is that conversion of Mana into Antimana I was thinking about earlier. The dragon blood acts as a third component, thereby guiding the sigil to only affect the selected tissues.

Unlike what one might expect, Antimana doesn't destroy a dragon's body: it makes us stronger. If our dragon blood wasn't ferrying all of the Antimana into our draconic lineage, it'd make us physically stronger rather than causing us to evolve. If used on a dragon's nerves?

I tested that a moment ago. Their nerves quickly evolve and overwhelm the sigil. It took mere seconds. Therefore, any dragon who survived a hypothetical Dragonnerve Sigil attack would likely become multiple times smarter and grow more agile. I notice that the test dragon's nervous system became denser, too, much like the Dragon God's overly-developed brain. Did someone try to use a Dragonnerve sigil on him?

Hraw!

As if my already overpowered dragon species needed an even better nervous system. I'll do this for all my dragons once I remove their sciolation. Not just the nerves, of course. Their entire body! Since it doesn't directly nourish their dragon core, they'll solely get stronger without the muscle tension. Any extra will still be ferried into their lineage, but without overloading their nervous system. Plus, they'll become more resistant to the Dragonblood Sigil, which is good.

Dragons should always get stronger; especially the dragons I care for myself.

I smile toothily at the thought. I see the little creatures below me worship my toothy smile. Rewh, thank you!

...

In any case, my prototype Dragonpower Sigil must be used regularly. I mean, who doesn't want stronger dragons?

That's right, I already made a Dragonpower Sigil. I copied cells from every part of a dragon's body and applied them to the section which specifies what the sigil affects. Now the sigil nourishes our entire body with Antimana. As a bonus, I've learned it doesn't need to be totally drawn with blood or tissues. Just one of each cell is enough.

That was... Easy?

It's a prototype in case I somehow messed something up. Pathfinder says I didn't miss any cell types, though.

But let's be honest, what kind of person would want an already overpowered dragon to become even stronger? Hraw hraw.

I look across the former Dracon State dramaids and housekeepers. Probably these guys. Though, they're religious, and religion has a tendency to get in the way of science. They likely don't do much research.

Maybe I should do something about that? Religion isn't incompatible with science; they simply need to worship an ideology which respects scientific thought.

Or, me, I suppose. They could worship me. I'm a strong believer in science. Despite, yanno, being a dragon.

I look around at my worshippers and smile more. Oh, I'm so happy today.

I finally manage to relax my head on my throne's headrest.

*tok*

Rah, I really needed this. I know they're not actually doing anything, but... The attention is just so nice.

I squirm in my chair a bit, enjoying the moment.

*shrrsh*

*skrsh*

...

Here's what I learned via my copies' tests of the Dragonblood Sigil over the past few minutes. I instructed them to create functional dragon bodies and test on those, though these experimental bodies have no mind.

Just like a Mana sealing array, the Dragonblood Sigil isn't absolute. First, its effects wear off if it's not maintained. Second, it requires more Mana to seal stronger dragons. Third, using the blood of a specific dragon makes the sigil stronger on that dragon, but also increases the sigil's lineal nourishing effect. Fourth, the quality of the sigil puts an absolute cap on its sealing ability.

Thanks to my knowledge and power, I'm already able to overwhelm a perfect Dragonblood Sigil's sealing ability. Even with one of my copies! At least, that's when it's casted by a group of human mages. My Tengerii mages were very confused when I asked them to seal me, hraw. Their confusion turned to astonishment and praise when the sigil didn't work.

Which makes this one of my most enjoyable experiments. Such genuine veneration is both rare AND desirable. Many of those mages also wanted to study my body's composition— an offer I was more than delighted to oblige.

That, sadly, turned out to be useless. I'm such an efficient spellcaster that my tissues perfectly absorbed their every test spell. We then tried to use my orange wing membranes, but the warp bug's talent caused my tissue sample to grow uncontrollably. Turns out— I can't remove passive talents from my Origin. Grekh.

I should brainstorm more ways to experiment on myself. It's not solely because I like the attention, though I must admit— that is a big reason why.

I look down and admire my spatially black body.

...

...

Reh, I'm awesome. Some things never change.

...

Rr, back to the draconic gods.

Given what I now know... Given all of this...

How? How are there no draconic gods? If there are some— why don't they defend their young?

Us!

...

It seems this is a mystery I can't solve today.

...

I sit up straight in my throne due to immense surprise.

Rah? One of the dragon test bodies came to life? Is that... Possible? What did I do this time?

I put an Origin thread on the dragon's body.

...

I notice his status says 'Aitia.'

Wait, he has a name?

HOW?!

Ruh. Damn. I'm really turning into a god if I can create life.

I... Feel like I shouldn't do that, though. Let's not.

I decide it's time to attach my Origin to my bretheren. I spool out thousands upon thousands of Origin Threads.

The little creatures underneath me watch my actions with awe and wonderment. I feel no fear from them. They don't seem to mind the countless shining threads I'm spooling out of myself, even though this should appear strange and foreign. I suppose they accept it because I'm their god.

I rapidly connect my Origin with every dragon via these many threads. They won't have access to my thoughts, strength, or abilities, but I will be able to read, use, and alter theirs, as well as use my abilities on them. They also won't receive my passive talents because this only connects me to their Will, not their body. Their Will should be protected from most attacks, though, thanks to my passive talents.

That said, I COULD use all of them as puppets, remove their talents and skills, make all their abilities the same, or whatever else I desire.

I won't. I may copy their talents if I like what they have, but... That's as far as I'll go.

After all, each one is a sapient creature.

As I watch my map, I see each of the red dots begin moving. Every single dot is heading straight toward Dragon God City as though they all know there's a new god here.

I sit up in my throne.

*shrrik*

I didn't tell them anything.

Why are they gathering here?

I address all my tiny worshippers.

"You all need to clear out. More dragons will be arriving here soon. This room isn't big enough for all of us dragons, never mind having you in as well."

Rictor politely addresses me.

"Of course, my lord! Did you summon them?"

"I didn't, they're coming on their own. I blocked the gods' sciolation, so their intellect must've returned."

"Lord... LORD!"

Rah?

"PRAAAAAAISE!"

*THUMP*

Oh crud, he's crying.

"Seriously, clear out. The first dragon will be here in less than ten minutes. Exit the room."

"YES, LORD CHRONOMET!"

"And calm down, too."

"Yes, lord Chronomet."

He didn't calm down. At all.

The crowd filters out with extreme coordination and efficiency. Okay, you know what? They're not traumatized. This is pretty clearly religious fervor.

It's interesting how religion causes blind faith and devotion. It almost seems unnatural or unhinged. I suppose that's the point of faith, though. One doesn't need a connection to others' realities so long as they can believe in their chosen divinity. Religion is not unhinged, nor contorted, so long as the subject of their worship is itself healthy.

I've gotta make sure my dragons are healthy.