A Chronometric Defect

"I am sincerely sorry."

Rather than feeling better, many of the dragons start covering their heads, just like Unlo did earlier. Ragh.

"I'm not like the former Dragon God. As I said during my speech, I don't want to oppress or hurt you. What kind of deity would I be if I took out my emotions upon my followers? Especially if I harmed my beloved family members. You."

I watch as many of them slowly ease up.

Good. My criticism of the Dragon God's poor behavior seems to have done the trick.

"You all may think I'm an unusual dragon; gifted in magic, but weaker than the former Dragon God. That I merely defeated the one weakness of all dragons. Yes, 'merely.' That tiny achievement is nothing."

A few look up at me questioningly.

I point at my Dias' ceiling art.

"The image you see there, on the north side of this ceiling? That art is not metaphorical."

I checked, after all. It's not.

"That artwork shows a small fraction of my power. I could easily eat this whole planet in one bite."

The few dragons looking at me go wide-eyed.

I show them all my status.

Name: Chronometric Dragon God

Stats:

Str: 1.8qi (1,848,472,779,168,620,150,121,442)(1.84q)

Sta: 1.7qi (1,776,270,961,632,912,639,135,871)(1.77q)

Int: 2.2qi (2,216,184,028,220,271,222,947,901)(2.21q)

Wis: 1.7qi (1,704,083,336,556,193,361,719,010)(1.70q)

Rewh, my adjusted stats on the left were still in the trillions earlier today. It took a few hours to build my temple after I fooled around in space, but seriously? My evolution is still at 0%.

What is this even? How? Why?

When I said 'small fraction,' that wasn't an understatement. I tested my size against the planet when I was roughly 2,000x weaker. Considering the square-cube law, I'd be roughly 12x larger than the last time I checked.

However, I've realized that the square-cube law doesn't apply to dragons. Our stats are shown after they've compensated for our size. The amount of power it takes to manage our bodies is not included in the tally. Which means I'm 2,000x stronger after accounting for fundamental physics. It's not a 12x size increase— it's a 2,000x size increase.

Reeeeh?

Apparently, dragons get more benefit from stats than other species. A lot more. Our species is borderline nonsensical. Being a planet-sized dragon is neat. Star-sized, though? Rah, I like it. I like it a lot. I'm not sure anyone else does.

This discovery finally explains why we dragons are stronger than all opponents at the same level. Granted, we're physically strong, heavily armored, and decked with weapons. Still, in the back of my mind, it didn't make any sense why humans treated sciolated dragons with such caution. Reah, we're strong, but a dragon without its mind seemed like it should be relatively easy to kill.

Now? Now it makes perfect sense. Even when we're a mere 3 meters tall, the universe itself is making us dragons abnormally powerful relative to our stats. Which helps explain the gap between my stat panel and my actual power.

Rehm. Just how strong am I?

I'm hesitant to go out there and test my size again. I wouldn't be able to hold this planet. A single claw of mine would obliterate the whole planet just by coming close. Gravity exists, and I surely have a lot of it.

I'll need to take precautions in the future. I don't want to cause mass destruction simply by being too close to a celestial object. I'd probably damage most planets even when I'm not at my full size.

I'm still not a god, either. That means one of two things: One, I'm way stronger than the gods, or two, the god I killed didn't give me even close to all of his power.

Hrem. Maybe something else? I don't have enough info to rule out other possibilities.

I wish the human god had bothered to look at his damn status panel. He was having too much fun tormenting mortals on various planets to bother. Blithe idiot! He deserved to be eaten.

Considering how long the gods have been around, and how many stat points they must've stolen over time, they surely have more power than myself. There's no way I can go curb-stomp them. Perhaps this god was a weak one.

Can't say I'd mind if the gods are much stronger than I presume, though. At least I'll have plenty of powerful enemies to bash! Cuz.

I'mma dragon.

"Rawr!"

The dragons looking up at me all instantly put their heads back down. I take it happy roars are still a 'no?'

Rah well.

"As you can see, I have no need to be anything other than what I choose. No need to do anything other than what I desire. No need to twist others to my whims. I'm simply too powerful to be bothered. By anyone. That includes all of you."

I look over each of them again.

"So when I say I have no desire to oppress you, it's not a trick or a game. It's not a test or false choice. It's not a dragon having fun with its food. It's simply my Will. That divine Will, is powerful enough to crush this entire planet with ease— but that very same Will is telling you that you're safe. So, please. Be at ease."

...

They don't ease up.

I shake my dragon head and sigh.

"Hraah. Those who died earlier today were sacrificed to help me kill a god. Yes, an actual god. I ate him too. Since I ate his power, there's no longer much risk of that happening again. So long as I'm powerful enough to protect you all from the gods? You and this planet will be forever protected. I mean that: I'm literally immortal."

They continue to stay prostrated.

"Please, raise your heads and show that you understand. You don't need to forgive me for killing and eating your loved ones, but allow me to at least seek your forgiveness with your eyes open."

A few raise their heads. Then, one after another, they all do, until the whole group is looking at me. A few, notably Unlo, are staring with shaking eyes.

I kneel and bow toward them.

"I, Chronomet, am sorry."

Silence.

Then, finally. FINALLY!

"I don't know about the others, Lord Chronomet. I would've been happy sacrificing myself for your glory. There is no greater gift to a dragon than to participate in killing one of those damned abominable gods. Good riddance. Er— except you, of course."

"No harm done. Besides, I'm not actually a god. I'm a Demigod. Just a much, much stronger one than the deceased Dragon God. He was also a Demigod."

"My lord, you killed a god as a Demigod?!"

"I had a lot of help."

Gasps from nearly every dragon.

"Huuuuu."

It sounds weird because we dragons don't have lips. We have a rough, interlocking set of scales lining our maws. I think there's an organ deeper in the throat which articulates our words? I don't know; I didn't look when I had organs. But clearly, we're not forming the 'o' sound by moving lips we don't have.

Maybe we're not speaking English? I can't tell the difference. I don't know. There's absolutely no reason why English should be the primary language of some random planet. Come to think of it, I've not heard any other languages. Why would dragons, humans, dwarves, and kaizen all have the same language? And why English? Rawh, something's not adding up.

...

It must be because I'm amazing. Hreh!

Every dragon simultaneously moves onto two knees and kneels in a praying pose like a trained army.

*SHROK*

The one from earlier speaks again.

"Thank you. Thank you, my lord."

"Your name?"

"Aitia, my lord."

Reh, why does that sound familiar?

...

Rah, reah. I made him. How does he have intellect already? Did I recreate a dead dragon? Is that possible?

I send out a few copies to test my newest hypothesis.

"Aitia, thank you for having the courage to speak your mind."

I turn and gesture toward the other dragons.

"All of us should seek to model ourselves after Aitia's actions, today. He's shown the pride and dignity with which a dragon should carry themselves."

He puffs out his armored chest. I point my left index claw at him, then continue talking.

"It's important that we learn from him, and from the sermon I gave earlier. We are powerful. Not solely myself; all dragons. We're powerful. We do not have a duty to use our power for others as those others may claim, but we do have a duty to use and exert our substantial power responsibly."

I scan their praying draconic bodies. Not much shaking. That's better.

"Building our grand prestige among all other species is an urgent matter of top priority for all dragons, myself included. Urgent, not just now, nor until tomorrow, but for all time. Our matchless power gives us both the right and the ability to earn similarly matchless prestige, and so we shall."

I gaze upon the many kneeling draconic figures. They all finally seem to ease up at my mention of building our prestige. Some are already holding themselves proudly and uprightly per my words, as a proper dragon should. It seems the correct way to heal their minds is to stoke their proud draconic instincts. Which is what I was going to do anyway.

"What say you?"

"YES, LORD CHRONOMET!"

I slowly nod my dragon head.

Though I don't know how they learned my nickname. I didn't say it. Maybe they all told each other?

I need to make them feel safe; such fearful behavior is unbecoming of a proper dragon. They should all feel proud of their draconic heritage— willing to state their name before expecting me to state mine in return. Pride must beget dignity and respect. These are the tenets of honor which were lost to human history in my past life.

I don't intend to enforce honor among my hoard. Honor is a faulty ideal; it creates a fixed hierarchical status for those who are supposed to be dignified and respectful. The 'honorable' ones are thus considered a permanent heiarch, yet they should also act dignified and respectful? Rawh! That's like asking said dragons to never act prideful. What kind of ideal contradicts itself?

I don't mind extolling the concept of honor. However, honor should not be rigorously practiced in my hoard. It'll at most be a concept. At least for now.

I may eventually create a few positions for 'noble' dragons. But they must represent the best traits of my dragon species. Intellect, wealth, and power being some of the top considerations, but also character and leadership. Moreover, any dignity and respect they receive from their position must be repaid tenfold. Which is to say that their position is not an one given to honor them, but rather the position is earned through honorable merit. Any so-called noble must be one which gives back far more than they receive, lest my dragons become filled with arrogance and insularity.

That can never happen.

I start building a basement in my temple's thick Reptillium slab. I also add some conditional transference inscriptions. Ragh, I really should've thought this out more. Well, it's not like my dragons will know the difference. Reh, probably?

The basement should also be self-expanding in case the dragon population... Rehm, rises. Their mental faculties have returned and they're not as scared anymore. That could cause a rebound effect. I'm not familiar with dragon mating cycles, and to make it worse, I'm missing all of my organs. All of them. Yes, even the ones males should have. Reeeeegh.

Anyhow, the purpose of this is to make them feel unshakably secure. A sort of disaster shelter, perhaps, for an emergency? That way they'll have both a home and a retreat in case things go south. That'll hopefully motivate them to open up and take bigger risks without getting too caught up in 'what ifs.'

Plus, it's protected by my magic. Which should remind every dragon: I'll protect them, but they must uphold my glory.

Rokay, the framework is done. Now my copies can finish it.

Speaking of copies, my tests just found out a moment ago that dragons magically inherit knowledge over time as they grow into an adult. Hence, dragons created as whelps inherit different knowledge than those created as adults. It appears to be an actual magic spell of some sort, similar to the automated spell on the seeds, but this spell is far more complex and ancient.

Thus, when I created Aitia as an adult dragon, he inherited this shared knowledge. Who made this spell? Dragons aside from myself can't cast magic; especially not such complex magic. Maybe another dragon overcame this limit in the past.

I transfer my other successful test dragons here while giving them memories of what I said earlier. I won't be doing that anymore, though. Creating blank dragon bodies feels like I'm abusing my species' intellectual inheritance.

That said, the whelps were almost solely given instructions on how to eat non-dragons. These instructions aren't even meant for dragons; it's for some sort of sapient plant? Strange. I'll have to examine this later. For now, this part of our inheritance needs to be changed. Its presence clearly explains the sciolated dragons' vicious behavior, as well as our bad reputation overall. I'll assign a few copies to fix it.

Annnnd, all set.

Speaking of the whelps.

"First off, this city, Chronomet's Nest, and this temple, my Chonometric Temple, shall be your new home. I expect you to treat both my temple and its guests with the utmost care. You are expected to sleep here, not in Chronomet's Nest— that city will be a training ground for young dragons."

I nod my dragon head at them.

"We'll educate and assist every young dragon until they grow into a wonderful adult dragon. Naturally, I'll add inscriptions which benefit these young dragons' growth phase. It'll be like what I have in my temple, here, but the inscriptions in Chronomet's Nest will only affect dragons. I have many reasons for doing this, so don't assume it's because I want to favor my dragons. Though, that is true— I do favor you."

I toothily grin a little. I can't wait to see all my little dragons become giant powerhouses. I continue.

"Speaking of favoring, I've created an underground bedding facility within the densest Mana of the foundational slab of my Chronometric Temple. It's explicitly designed to keep you absolutely safe while also empowering your draconic bodies as you sleep. It has a few inscriptions which the above Chronometric Temple does not, such as a modified Dragonblood Sigil which will, instead of paralyzing you, will strengthen you in ways you won't expect. If you ever worry you aren't strong enough, simply take a nap down there. You may visit my most holy rest area by praying in front of the Chronometric Dais, which I'm currently standing atop. You must exclaim 'Chronomet, I desire rest!' or some variation thereof. This area is solely accessible to dragons."

I'm looking forward to seeing how augmenting their bodies with Antimana works versus absorbing Mana over time. It's wild how Antimana directly makes our bodies stronger without so much as a waiting period. It really puts normal Mana cultivation to shame. Though I wonder why that is, and also why it makes us stronger without increasing our body size, I can't argue with the results.

Hreh.

I drop a Dragonpower Sigil onto my body's array. I feel my body immediately begin changing somehow.

WOW. That feels so good, like when I was scratching my tail— all over. Everywhere. I start having an intense desire to curl up and go to sleep. I forcibly lock myself in place to not move. I then notice the feeling is quickly intensifying; much faster than it did last time.

Uwahhhhhhhhhhhhh.

I mentally struggle to tone down the feeling, but it ignores my Will and gets even stronger. I try to disable the inscription buuuut my own mind decides it enjoys this too much. It doesn't want to listen. Roh crap.

Should I just... For a...

...

NO! I decide what's what. My instincts can reward me for being a proper dragon, but this? This isn't being a proper dragon. Sleeping to get stronger may be very enticing, and many dragons would likely oblige, but that means my other hoards are stagnant. I can't let go of my loot!

Surprisingly, the feeling starts to fade into the backdrop of my mind. It's still intense as ever, and it's still rising.

Except— I'm the one in control.

How I feel is my business. If my instincts want to mislead me? They picked the wrong dragon.

That said, it's nice in a way. I'll always be feeling like I'm in top-notch condition. Rawh. I can't imagine how embarrassing that'd have been if I'd passed out on the floor.

Would my dragons stay here or wander off?

Rah, reah. That's a good point. I'd be shirking my duty to my hoard by not taking care of my dragons as promised.

I feel something in my mind shift as though my subconscious is annoyed with my decision.

How odd. Aren't my mind and my subconscious the same thing?

Reh, no matter. That's a topic for later.

I look back at my many praying dragons. I wave my powerful arms widely toward them, palms up.

A few flinch, but no shaking.

Excellent.

"Prove to me your dedication. As you build your hoard, do this through community: your family, your friends, and your alliances. As you expand your network, grow also your knowledge, your competency, and your thoughtfulness. Each of these can be seen as a hoard all its own."

I gesture to my grand temple.

"We need not collect only physical treasure!"

I gesture back to them. No flinching! Rewh.

"The treasures of the heart and mind are, in their own way, unmatchably brilliant and valuable. The rewards they grant you shall grow over time like a tree which bears endless fruit."

I breathe deeply. Alright. Here goes. It's time for the final rallying cry.

"I want to see each, and every one of you, become stronger! Faster! Wiser! More powerful in every way! As you do, I want to see you put that back into expanding your many hoards!"

I raise my head high.

"We! Are dragons! We never give up our loot!"

I roar— without an attack. Yay for self-control.

####ROARRRRRRRRRRRRR####

My dragons all roar in return.

#ROOOOAAAAAAARRRRRRR#

"Now go! Prove yourself worthy of your dragon lineage! Prove, that you— ARE DRAGONS!"

"YES! LORD CHRONOMET!"

They all rise with military-like precision. They similarly all extend their wings from their backs. Though they don't have excessively large wings like mine, it's plenty to fly with.

#THOOM#

#FLAUCH#

They jump into the air.

#CHAAUK#

Quite loud when done by over a hundred thousand dragons at the same time. Wow. I'm guessing the Dragon God ran a strict military-style government in the past. I'm seeing the benefits of that right now.

...

At some point, I may need to create the position of dragon general. They'll set any unruly dragons straight, but hopefully without terrorizing anyone too much.

The group splits; each pack flies toward a different portal.

That's partly why I made those portals three hundred meters tall. The other reason being 'it looks cool.' Rawh.

Though, admittedly, I do expect my dragons to be at least that tall in the not-so-distant future. What kind of dragon only stands at a height of twenty meters? A normal dragon. When has normal ever been good enough for a dragon?

Nope— good enough is not a phrase in my draconic lexicon. We can't allow ourselves to stop at good enough. There's always more conquest to be had, more loot to be plundered, and more things to learn. If there isn't? We obviously aren't trying hard enough.

I look outside my temple in a way that only a deific being could: straight through its side wall.

The sun's going down in some places, including here, so the exit sides of my city portals should be fading to black. Apparently, one of my copies thought to add this effect to the portals. It'll prevent my cities from being blanketed in obnoxious white colors all night. It's a good idea even with all the other visual restrictions.

Plus, I wouldn't want to diminish my prestige by being gaudy. My people don't truly 'need' to see my portals. Especially not during all hours of the day.

Alright. Hopefully, my dragons will do well and that'll be one less potential catastrophe. I think I'll mosey over to the other continent for a bit and see what's happening.

If anything.