25 Dragon-chan’s trip, part 1: more titles

I decided to travel the continent, so that I could use {Gate} to get wherever I needed to go. To that end, I used {Gate} to go to the border, and, after shifting into my Dragon form (a bit smaller than normal, only 8 meters long with 3 more in tail), I flew along the highway leading out of the country. I did remember to hide myself with light magic, so I didn't panic anyone... for a while. A day or so after I started flying, I came across bandits attacking a merchant, and so I shifted into an even smaller form (3 meters long with 1 more in tail) and landed on the roof of the merchant's carriage, before I released my light magic.

"Mind if I ask what you wish to do with the ones I've decided to guard? I sense hostility, but..." (Nene)

"Ru... ru... RUN!!!" (Bandit A)

"Oh God... Oh shit... I'm gonna die! I don't want to die!!!" (Bandit B)

"Mommy!!!" (Bandit C)

With just that, the bandits ran, and the merchant asked why I helped him and his men, with a quavering voice.

"Is it wrong to help people who are being attacked by criminals? Is it wrong to do what I feel is right" (Nene)

"N... No... But... what's in it for you?" (Merchant)

"Nothing much. I just felt a bit bored. This'll keep me entertained for a day or two, and there's no harm in it. In fact, I think I did some good with this. Killing two Wyverns with one breath, right?" (Nene)

"Two birds with one stone is what we humans say, but I can see how that doesn't really apply here" (Merchant)

"Whatever. I'm off now, unless you want something else. Actually... I see you have a man injured pretty badly... Just a moment... {High Heal}" (Nene)

"My arm... It's healed... Thank you... Thank you so much... What can I do to repay you?" (Guard)

"Nah, there's no need. That used up less mana than I recover in a minute, so it's truly nothing" (Nene)

With those words, I left them and continued on my way. A few hours later, I started to get hungry, so I was about to land and pull some food from my Hoard, when I heard a girl's scream in the distance. I flew over, and saw a girl of about my age in a dead end of a canyon, getting eyed by a pack of a few dozen Wolves. I released my magic, and swooped down to land behind the wolves, before I lunged forward and ate three in one bite. I chewed for a few seconds, and then spat out three magic stones. With that, the Wolves were ignoring the girl, and focused on finding a way to avoid me. I spat out some icy breath, freezing most of them in whatever position they were in before they got hit, and the girl just stood there, shocked and resigned for her impending death. I killed the rest of the Wolves, and then walked towards the girl.

"Are you okay? If you have an injury, speak up. I'll heal it" (Nene)

"Umm... Thanks?" (Girl)

"Why is that a question... oh, right" (Nene)

I shifted back to my humanoid form, and the girl's eyes opened wide, as did her jaw.

"Better?" (Nene)

"You're not going to eat Alice, right? Alice wouldn't taste very good, compared to the Wolves, an-" (Alice)

"I don't eat people. I prefer to eat the food they eat than to eat them. After all, I am more than three fourths human... So, are you okay? Why are you here?" (Nene)

"Alice... Alice is fine, and she's here to gather some Magic Moss for Alice's quest. Alice is an E ranked adventurer, you see? Alice would like to know your name too" (Alice)

"My name is Nene... It's a pleasure to meet you, Alice. Would you like an escort for a while? I'm an adventurer myself, and I'm pretty strong, being a C rank after only... three months of having my card?" (Nene)

"Alice would appreciate that very much. Would you like to get the materials from the Wolves?" (Alice)

"If you'd like them, they're all yours. I have several hundred Wolves that I'm never going to be able to get rid of, so if you want them, I'd be fine with giving you a few of mine in addition to these" (Nene)

"Alice can't carry more than one of them by herself, and that would prevent her from carrying enough of the Magic Moss. The magic stones would be nice to have as proof that they were killed, but... Alice would feel bad for taking credit for your work" (Alice)

"You risked your life to give me an opportunity to kill them all. It's only fair that you get the credit, since I got the meat from some of them, and a guide to your town from this" (Nene)

"It's still not enough. Nobody would believe that Alice killed them all, and-" (Alice)

"How about this story: You came across me, I was trying to hunt some Wolves for my food, as I was hungry, but they would stay away from me, so you drew a pack of them to me, and I killed them. That way, there's a way for people to understand that you made a large contribution to this, and as I got the meat and fur, you got the magic stones and some of the credit for it, as well as a guide to some Magic Moss that hasn't been picked clean. What do you say to that story?" (Nene)

"Uh... Well... Alice thinks that is fine. It has enough of the truth to it that it's able to get believed, Alice thinks. Will you be the one dismantling them, or should we bring them to the guild for them to do it?" (Alice)

"I can do it. Hmm... There's some Magic Moss in that crevice over there, so you can get it from there, right? Why don't you harvest some of that while I dismantle the Wolves?" (Nene)

We did just that, and she brought me to her town. It was a rather gloomy place, with plenty of empty houses and stores. When we went to the Guild, Alice gave the receptionist her Moss, an amount several times what was requested, and an item bag with 43 magic stones from the Wolves. All seven people in the guild besides the three of us (Alice, the receptionist, and myself) were watching after the receptionist exclaimed "What's this? An item bag?" and started to count the stones.

"I don't believe it. You couldn't have killed all of these. You've never even killed a single one before now. How'd you get these?" (Receptionist)

"Well, Alice was in the canyon to get the Moss, when she came across this girl here, who was hungry and trying to catch a Wolf for her dinner, but she was strong enough that the Wolves would avoid her instinctively, or something like that. Alice helped her by luring a pack to her, and she killed them all. As she got the meat and the pelts, as well as me to guide her to town, it was only fair that Alice get some of the credit and all the magic stones, as well as a guide to some of Magic Moss, as she could have lost her life doing what she did" (Alice)

"Ah, I see. It's rookie luring... but if she's that strong, she wouldn't need to do so, as she should have a base somewhere, and she should have enough money from better requests to pay for food..." (Receptionist)

"Yeah, I have plenty of money, but I came here from Crimonia in Erufanica. I haven't stopped in any town before now... and so, you can guess how my food supply is probably like, right?" (Nene)

"Crimonia? That's three weeks away on a fast horse, let alone on foot... Are you an adventurer?" (Receptionist)

"Yes, I am. Here's my card, and here're most of the pelts from the Wolves. The rest are ones I plan to use to sleep on, make a cloak out of, or otherwise use" (Nene)

"Hmm... Rank C, Age 12... Yeah, this is really well done. It's an excellent forgery, to say the least. I can't tell the difference between it and a real card, save for the believability... How'd you get this?" (Receptionist)

At the word "Forgery", the gazes of everyone turned icy as they glared at me.

"Hm... I think I got it when I registered, as did everyone else. I-" (Nene)

"You're twelve. You can't register before thirteen. Please tell a more believable lie next time" (Receptionist)

"Read the note at the bottom of the card. When and where I registered, there were no restrictions on age, only a minimum standard for strength. You can and should also try to verify it with that there crystal, instead of discounting it just on an assumption that the rules here apply everywhere else" (Nene)

"Hmph. We'll see... WHAT? IT'S REAL?" (Receptionist)

At that, I could feel the surprise of the adventurers in the room, and one of them, a B rank, tried to recruit me into his party... considering that he had three young-looking, very, VERY scantily clad girls and nobody else with him, I could tell he wanted more than just my strength, so I was even more convinced that I wouldn't join him.

"Sorry, but I'm a solo adventurer, and that's just how I like it... Well, actually, I'm not exactly going solo. I have my summons with me, but still. I especially don't want to join the harem party of a lolicon who is so, very, VERY much weaker than I am, so... Thanks, but no thanks. Besides... you wouldn't like my summons" (Nene)

"I mean, it's not like they're scary like Undead or fearsomely strong like Dragons, right? And wha-" (Lolicon)

"Actually... They are" (Nene)

"Huh? Say what?" (Receptionist)

"You mean... you're a necromancer? You can't be strong enough to tame a Dragon..." (Loli Elf)

"It doesn't really matter, but no, they aren't undead or anything like that. They're just strong enough to make you piss yourself and run screaming when you see them, if you don't already know of them" (Nene)

"Anyways... What did you mean when you said that I'm weaker than you? You're a C rank. I'm a B rank. That should tell you tha-" (Lolicon)

"Gordan. Enough. How many titles do you have again?" (Receptionist)

"None... Why do you ask, guildmaster?" (Lolicon, AKA Gordan)

"Nene here has at least twenty. TWENTY. That includes titles such as Behemoth's Bane, Kraken Killer, Wyvernslayer, and ev-" (Receptionist, AKA Guildmaster)

"THIS IS REALLY BAD!!! THERE'S A GOLD-BORDERED ORANGE COMING THIS WAY!" (Message Runner)

"Looks like it's time I earned myself the Godslayer title. Come on, if you want to watch. Here's a record crystal if you want, this is going to be a story that'd make people call you crazy if you told it without proof" (Nene)

With those words, I left the guild, trailing everyone in the guild building. I summoned some of my weaker Dragons, none higher than Silver, save for Aura, and had those wanting to watch get on some of them, as I flew there on Aura. When she got near the Gold-bordered Orange Dragon, and I saw that all of my Dragons were high enough to be out of range, but close enough for their riders to see, I jumped off, landed on the rampaging Dragon's back, and cut its head off with {Icecalibur}, an A rank ice magic spell that creates a blade of ice that can cut through almost anything. Yes, that name is a pun on Excalibur. The real name is {Fimbulvetr's Edge}, I just like calling it {Icecalibur}. That blade of ice cut through the Dragon's neck, then it cut down several dozen trees, before hitting the ground, continuing several meters into the earth before stopping, and then I vaporized it with {Ragnarok}, its counterpart A ranked fire magic. My Dragons and their riders flew back to the guild building after I collected the Dragon's corpse and got back on Aura.

"So, if I recall correctly, some of the ways to get the Godslayer title are to either kill an Ancient Dragon on your own, or to kill a God Dragon in a group of five or less, right? Well... you all saw me kill an Ancient Dragon on my own, so... I think that means I just got the rarest title I know of... despite this not even being my tenth one... Like, I've killed a dozen or so Ancient Dragons, and even a pair of God Dragons... and I mean that, I killed two within the span of ten minutes. Gordan, do you see what I meant when I said you are much weaker than I am? See what I meant about summons strong enough to make you piss yourself?" (Nene)

"I do think that you deserve the Godslayer title for this... But, uh... Holy hell... you are much stronger than you look, and your summons... is the one you were riding your strongest one?" (Guildmaster)

"Yeah, those Dragons... they are strong enough to make one want to run, but they aren't ones that'd make me piss myself" (Gordan)

"No, I have several stronger ones. One of them is in my hood. Lapis? Come on out, please. What? Oh, don't give me that. You knew what you were signing up for when you agreed to be able to sleep in my hood. Yes, I know you're trying to sleep. Fine, I'll get someone else, but you aren't getting any of my cooking for the next few days, due to backing out of- There we go. I knew that'd get your attention" (Nene)

Lapis flew out of my hood, and as we were still outside, I was comfortable with her growing to the size of a large Tiger Wolf, and so she did and showed off the scales that signified her as a God Dragon. Sure enough, Gordan showed a growing wet spot in front, as well as (unexpectedly) a large bulge in the back when he turned and ran screaming.

"So... you've tamed a God Dragon... Uh... Just a moment..." (Guildmaster)

With that, the guildmaster went inside the building, and ten minutes later, he returned. If you were wondering what we did in the meantime, we were just talking about my past... well, only some small number of parts, like the ways I earned various titles.

"So, I checked. There's another title you deserve, which is the God Tamer title... which has only been given once, to the man known as the [Sage of Taming]... Actually... Mind if I ask how many Ancient and God Dragons you have tamed?" (Guildmaster)

"Uh... 35 God Dragons, 234 Ancient Dragons. Why?" (Nene)

Just about everyone who heard that collapsed, leaving me standing, facing the only other person standing, the guildmaster, if you exclude Lapis.

"Well... Uh... Let's see... the titles of Leader are given to those who can command three of a given tier, with ten of the next lower tier counting as one of the higher one... King and Queen are for ten... God and Goddess are 50... Uh... How many Elder Dragons do you have?" (Guildmaster)

"540, with 273 Dragons, and 271 Young Dragons" (Nene)

"So... the equivalent of 300 Dragons... that's 30 Elders... added to 540... 570... that's 57 Ancient... added to 234... that's 291... 29... add that to 35... 64... the equivalent of 64 God Dragons... So... Uh... You should have the title Goddess of the God Dragons... That's funny... but also terrifying..." (Guildmaster)

"So, I guess this means that I'm getting three more titles today?" (Nene)

"Yeah... Um... How many titles do you have that are only visible to guildmasters of the capital of a given country?" (Guildmaster)

"Only two" (Nene)

"So... 20... 22... add three from today... 25... You are getting four titles today, as you are also eligible for the title of Title Maniac, due to having 25 titles other than it" (Guildmaster)

Just then, one of the adventurers who had collapsed stood up, cursed, and then spoke to us.

"Holy hell... You said you have several God Dragons under your command, right? Mind if I ask where you were about three weeks ago? What city?" (Adventurer)

"What are you getting at?" (Guildmaster)

"Well... I was in the capital of the Regulus Empire, actually. My activity there gave me a title. Let me show you... {Five Minute Title Restriction Release: 22}" (Nene)

With that, I handed over my card to the guildmaster, who passed it back to me while wearing a look of confusion on his face, and then I handed it to the adventurer as well, who glanced at it, handed it back, and started cursing again.

"So... What's that about? I don't know that title... What... What happened three weeks ago in Regulus that could have given that title?" (Guildmaster)

"So, that title is given to those who single-handedly stop a war in a public way, such that people can and will be able to identify the person who did so. It's even more likely to be given if the method of doing so produced few casualties on the side who held the advantage due to the actions taken. Three weeks ago, Regulus declared war on Erufanica, and the same day, I leveled... well, melted... the imperial castle, drove off their army, and drove off their fleet. The reason he could figure out that it was me who did that was because I had the help of several God Dragons to melt the castle, and one of them was obedient and trusting enough to be used as a bed while I was sleeping in the warm area - well, no, it had been really hot to humanoids, but it was only warm to us Dragons - where the castle had been. The thing is, it was actually Lapis's idea, not mine" (Nene)

"Oh... Wow... Cold-hearted much?" (Guildmaster)

"I simply can't stand slavery of any kind besides crime slaves, and as they declared war on the country I was living in and enjoying living in with a sneak attack from land and sea that started at the exact time they delivered the declaration, I just retaliated, and with them legitimizing capture of non-humans and turning them into slaves against their wills, I decided that the imperial family tree needed some pruning... and by that, I mean it needed to be burnt into cinders, as it did. If that makes me cold-hearted, I guess I am. It's just the result of my early life, where I was bullied until the point I felt like I had no choice but to just withdraw from the world... I came out of my shell when I decided to become an adventurer, after I learned that I have an incredible aptitude for magic, and a strong body for my size and appearance" (Nene)

"Hmm? You say you have a lot of strength in your muscles, not just your magic? I have trouble believing that... wait... I just noticed something in what you said... you said that it was really hot to humanoids, but only warm to 'us Dragons'... Are you saying that you aren't humanoid, but a Dragon?" (Guildmaster)

"Yeah... Well... Yeah, I am" (Nene)

"Uh... mind if I ask what kind? Red? Black? Gold?" (Guildmaster)

"Gold-bordered Purple" (Nene)

And with those three words, I ran out of people to talk to. About an hour later, I got my card back with my new titles, and I left to continue my journey.