While the Dragon slept, life moved on around him.

  Among them were people like Finoli.

  Finoli was a lumberjack. Finoli was the best lumberjack, in fact. He could fell a tree in the least swings of his axe, he could carry the biggest logs, and he could clean and cut them to the best of shapes. His father had been the best lumberjack before him, and his mother, may she find rest beneath the shade of the Dragon's Wings, had been among the first women to learn how to read and write, so she had taught him as well.

  So Finoli wasn't just the best Lumberjack, he was the leader and head of the Lumberjack Guild, and for that job, he had been taught directly by the Priestess and Magna Argentum, their lord and master and the Dragon to whom they owed their fealty.

  He did not think that he would find an use to learning of numbers, to learning of words and of mathematics. He thought that he only need know how to swing his axe, and yet, there he was, using numbers and words and making the job many times easier, faster and more organized than his father had ever dreamed of.

  A Father who, rather than become useless as age took his strength, had instead become a leader and teacher alongside his own son, and was now among those who imparted and shared the most wisdom to the younger ones. Even if he could neither read nor write, nor could he add numbers beyond two digits much less multiply or divide them, he had much to teach still.

  The Dragon had given them purpose and goals and a mission and they were eternally thankful.

  Even if they were chafing at the limitations imposed on them. The Dragon insisted none was to work beyond ten hours, eight would be the standard for a work day, though the maximum limit of ten had been imposed since almost everyone chose to stay for longer.

  Wiping the sweat from his brow and looking at the position of the distant sun, using those same fancy maths that he had once disdained to calculate what time it would be, considering its position high in the sky not just towards the east but also north, he realized it was about time for the first of the three mandated daily breaks.

  The hollowed out horn of a Blaster Ox hung from his waist, from a leather cord, and he took it then blew into it as hard as he could to call out the attention of all his workers. He was their supervisor after all, and should it be discovered that he was not enforcing policy and protocol, there would be hell to pay.

  Even while Magna Argentum slept, the Eye of the Dragon was forever watchful. Inspectors could come into the forest at any time.

  Slowly but surely, the workers surveying the woods began to trickle out, as well as the armed and armored warriors that were escorting them. Not too far, Finoli caught in the corner of his eye the imposing figure of the armored Dragonguard.

  A fine one, to be sure.

  He had seen those women tear through monsters that would usually take entire squads. At first many had been wondering why it was that the Dragon had chosen exclusively women for his Dragonguard, but these days, none doubted it anymore. Whatever the reasoning, the truth was that each of them was a powerful force that made everyone feel safe.

  Not just from monsters and enemies, but also, from those who would trample on the rights granted and endowed by their protector.

  Finoli waved his hand at her, and the Dragonguard sent him a nod, a barely perceptible smile pulling at the corner of her dark red lips, before she seemed to almost melt into the greenery. He knew she'd be patrolling, as they always were.

  None, human or monster, were allowed to disturb the Dragon's rest.

  Still, as the workers gathered at the woodcutters' camp and the kitchen workers began to put out lunch, he set out an extra plate, and everyone pointedly looked away from it for just about long enough that it was taken, and later, as everyone went back to work, the workers took back the empty plate.

  After all... what kind of husband would leave his wife with nothing to eat for lunch?

  There were also others, like Shalandra.

  Shalandra was of the Water Dragon Tribe. Her name was Shal, and by tradition, she had taken her husband's name as part of her own. She had once been a dedicated warrior, who fought any that would present a challenge, and never shied away from any battle.

  And yet, there she was, blushing and shaking like a leaf, feeling even more nervous than on the day when she became a woman by going on her first hunt and returning bloodied for the very first time.

  How could she not?

  After all, the Dragon to whom she had sworn fealty, the Lady of the Ocean Aqua, had come to see her personally, after a failure so embarrassing and pathetic that she had seen no end of mockery. She sat on a bed of straw, and thanked the mercy of the Dragon that she had not been chewed up and killed on the spot.

  The Lady Aqua's form was a statuesque work of art, the likes of which generated envy and admiration among all of her tribe. She was bigger, taller and stronger than anyone else, and she filled her armor like none of them could.

  It was a rare sight before. She only ever appeared in that form briefly... before she had been defeated by Magna Argentum. But she actually spent most of her time in that form since that defeat, which wasn't too strange considering she had taken so much damage it would take centuries to regenerate entirely.

  Compared to that, spending months in bed recovering from losing both her legs and one of her arms was a paltry suffering, so Shalandra felt silly that she had thrown a tantrum, now that she stood before her Lady, just because she wanted to lash out.

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  "I've heard of your plight," Aqua said. "I've heard that you've been a nuisance to those around you, that you've insulted and thrown things at the healers."

  It was true, embarrassing, but true. "I've no excuse," she admitted.

  "Since you know not how to read or write," Aqua stated, raising a hand, "you will present them with an apology personally, and you will mean it, and then when you're done apologizing to all of them you will work for six seasons as an aide and helper to the healers," she spoke.

  "Eh? But how can I work if I ain't got legs and only one arm?" she asked. "Also shouldn't I get punished for failing the mission?"

  "I've got the response for both those questions!"

  The Dragon Priestess' accent was insanely strong, but she managed to speak the language well enough. She entered the tent behind the lady Aqua, and of course, that meant she remained hidden behind the muscular and tall Dragon in human form.

  The Dragon's Will, the staff granted upon the Priestess by the Dragon himself, was a tool of immense power. It was said it granted the Priestess the eternal youth and regeneration that rendered her effectively immortal, and more importantly, it was said she could grant that power, temporarily, to another.

  "First, though you did indeed fail to secure the elusive Brightfur, with your sacrifice you prevented the deaths of your team and rescued the fallen. Magna Argentum has given his verdict, and he said..."

  Practically trembling, Shalandra prepared for the worst.

  "'I don't know give her a medal for bringing everyone back and a civilian job so she doesn't get herself killed or something!', end quote," the Priestess said, sounding quite official. "So here's your medal for bravery and success," she said.

  "What's a medal?" asked Shalandra.

  "I asked the same, it's an award given to those who perform great deeds," the Priestess replied, digging into her robes and pulling out a vaguely round piece of gold. "Also this," she then pointed her staff at Shalandra, and then hit her with some green bolts of energy. "It'll take a couple of weeks but your legs should grow back."

  "Wait, just like that?"

  "Yeah, just like that," the Priestess said. "The healers will work with you on enhancing the rate of regeneration and rehabilitation. The arm will be faster but it will also be weaker for a long time so be careful about stressing it ok?"

  Turning back to her Lady, Shalandra looked upon her. "My lady, does this mean..."

  "Your husband will be quite happy that you'll no longer be risking your life out there."

  Even if her life's original calling was gone... she could find something more to do with her life. It had been spared, saved by the will and power of the most powerful Dragon, and she would devote the rest of it to repaying that kindness and mercy.

  Even if that meant she had to learn how to read and write, which she hated.

  And of course, there were even more still.

  Nar Abert, formerly of the Shusudu Tribe, was aware he stood out among the rest of the Argentumites, but he didn't care. Long ago he had laid his eyes on the magnificence of the Dragon, and had become enchanted with the glorious shine of his scales, with the awe-inspiring might that he wielded and the majesty of his wings in flight.

  Even if his form, being more slender and darker skinned than all others around him, would get him stared at, it did not matter, because he was the most devoted of those who worshiped the dragon's might.

  Because of that dedication and devotion, the Dragonguard had allowed him privileges that most could only dream of.

  And that included being an assistant to the Scribe.

  The weight of her name alone was staggering. She wasn't 'a' scribe, she was The Scribe, named so by the Dragon himself, given her title by Magna Argentum. Simply being near her was reward by itself, but being able to share in her knowledge was bliss.

  Dozens upon dozens of texts penned by her hand, records of audiences, the Words of the Dragon, the Wisdom of the Divine... even the pearls that dropped during the Dragon's own sleep, she had collected.

  Once upon a time the Tribe that would become Argentum was weak, small in number and poor to the point they were destitute, and with just the wisdom of the Dragon, they had turned their fates around.

  The secrets of advanced agriculture, crop rotation, soil nutrition and farm plotting were laid bare for him. There were many schematics, blueprints, drawings and detailed explanations of the technology that the Dragon had gifted Argentum.

  There were even models of pieces, and on a specific table, was laid out a model and blueprint for the construction of some sort of building with a huge wheel on its side.

  Why, if he were a spy, he could take all that wisdom back to Shusudu and become a hero!

  But...

  Fuck those guys, really. Nar Abert owed the people who had seen him as a nuisance nothing. They had even sent him to Argentum to die, the Eye of the Dragon was forever watchful after all. So even had he not fallen for the silver scales, he would've probably still turned on them anyway.

  "This is incredible... what is it?" he asked, turning to the Scribe who adjusted that most wonderful of inventions, the eyeglasses.

  "This is called the Water Mill, though the design is yet incomplete, it is the assignment given to us by Magna Argentum," she explained, gesturing to the laid out blueprints. "We've yet to learn what it is that the Dragon wishes for us to-"

  "Ah! I think I get it, this wheel would go in a moving body of water, right?" Nar Abert said, tapping the big wheel on the side.

  "That is correct yes, but we know not how to make it turn the inner wheel," she spoke. "The Dragon said we should think sideways, but-"

  "Right! Sideways, so you would need this wheel to turn a wheel on the other side, which in turn turns a wheel that's on its side... like so..." he grabbed the wheels, and though he half expected the Scribe to panic, she simply watched as he put them together, slipping one of the wheels on top of the actual milling device on its side.

  Then he turned the wheel on the outside and, just like he expected, it turned the milling device, causing the two rounded stones to grind on one another.

  "The Dragon's wisdom is incredible, the device is as simple as it is ingenious!" he said.

  Nar Abert was about ready to be shown the next step, when...

  The Scribe placed a hand on his shoulder. "From now on," she said, "you work for me."

  He was confused.

  "Do you think you could help build this in full size?" she asked. "Can you do math?"

  "I... yes? Though the maths used here are a bit more advanced than those I've learned, I did work as a peddler's apprentice in my youth."

  "No problem, I will teach you the rest," she said, "you're going to learn how to finish the designs and blueprints and turn the Dragon's Designs into reality!"

  At that, Nar Abert was so giddy he could explode.

  Life in Argentum... was changing. Little by little.

  And now, you might be wondering, what was the Dragon that the town revolved around doing at that time?

  Well... surely it was something important, right? Something that required privacy...

  Right?

  ...

  Meanwhile, back in the shrine...

  "I don't want to do checkers, everyone does checkers," the Dragon muttered to himself, scratching his chin with his jaw. "And there's no way they have the means to make lasting playing cards so can't go with those either. Chess? Nah, that'd expose me as an idiot way too quick. Reversi's overdone too..."

  He sighed despondently, rolling on his back, then remembering he had wings, so he had to turn back on his front to collect it back.

  "Shogi... don't even know how to play that... Oh! I got it! We'll do Connect Four!"

  Then he turned his claw forward and launched some zappy zaps in front of him, creating a wooden board with a lot of holes, as well as circular pieces, in both dark and light wooden hues.

  "Now how do I explain this game..."