Wait, Am I Actually OP?
It turned out that being fitted for clothing was far more hassle than I ever could have imagined.
How these people got by without mass produced, garbage, Walmart cloths was beyond me.
Mind you, the quality of the cute but functional dress and corset I was currently wearing was far better than any big box store could come up with.
But having to wait an hour for the palace's very skilled seamstresses to poke and pin it to my size was a drag.
"Can we be done yet?" I sighed, standing on a small wooden step the women had brought with them. Becoming a dragon, I had noticed that I had become both vain and impatient.
The woman kneeling at my feet, finishing up a stich, glared up at me. "No." She said firmly. I glared back but it did not seem that the ire of a dragon did much to move this elderly shrew at all.
The head seamstress was nearly ancient in years and her proficiency echoed the decades she had sunk into her art.
No doubt it was also those many years dealing with egotistical nobles that also allowed her to be so firm and fearless before a dragon as well.
Even if that dragon currently looked like a petite teen with big, round green eyes and a set of bone white horns growing out of her head.
I had to admit that, even in this less than ideal human form, I looked quite fetching. Bot adorable and dignified...
"At least you are having fun looking at yourself." Chuckled Leon.
I glared over my shoulder though the reflection in the tall mirror before me at the prince.
He and Loric had be allowed back in once I was 'presentable', and were currently enjoying a mid morning cup of tea while waiting for the Shrew to finish her delicate and immaculate work.
They seemed to be taking great pleasure in my ever growing inpatients, and the fact that the seamstress was not bending to my will at all.
They may as well have been sitting back their eating popcorn, how much entertainment my suffering was bringing them.
"Who wouldn't have fun looking at me." I retorted, daring the prince to argue.
"Fair point." He said, not looking nervous as I had expected. Instead he just looked happy and relaxed. "Even in such a lowly form you radiate the poise and glory that only the race of dragons dare possess."
I narrowed my eyes at his blatant flattery.
I wanted to snap at him again that it wouldn't work on me.
.. but it kind of did. So I simply resorted to a derisive snort, ignoring his satisfied expression and returning to examining the reflection of my artfully placed pink scales.
Both men chuckled behind me, while the lesser seamstresses smiled off to the side where the Shrew had sent them once they were no longer needed.
Of course, the woman herself made no comment what so ever, solely focused on the job at hand. I could appreciate that at least.
"I am looking forward to seeing this town, especially now that I can fit through doorways." I glared down at the irritating flared skirts the Shrew was putting the final touches on. "Theoretically, at least."
At that she actually looked up at me, glasses half down her sharp nose and steely eyes narrowed aggressively. "Woman have been getting in and out of door ways for generations in these skirts. I am sure you will manage." She stated, the most she had said in a level voice all day.
"One would think it was about time for some innovations in fashion then." I huffed, crossing my arms and causing the pretty dress to move, irking the woman at my feet.
"One can not expect a dragon to appreciate human fashion when they, themselves, are already clad in the finest of garments." Piped up the prince once again.
"Do they teach senseless flattery at this dragon academy of yours?" I asked, glaring at his blue eyed face once again, not really irritated. More exasperated than anything. "You do know that excessive flattery just sounds fake don't you?"
"They do teach it, as a matter of fact." He laughed as the Shrew backed away, getting to her feet and doing a final check that she had done all she wanted.
I clicked my tongue and rolled my eyes causing the others to chuckle.
The moment my dress was done I wasted no time convincing the others to get me the heck out of there.
It looked like the Shrew was revving up to get me into other garments!
I was only in this form till I grew back my poor scales.
On top of that, I was clearly still growing, so having expertly fitted cloths would be a waste.
Not to mention, if my human like body changed each time I shifted, then it was a moot point no matter what.
It was something I had pointed out to all concerned parties right from the start, but nobody listened.
No I was joyfully wandering about the pretty town with a very relaxed looking prince and several body guards, including Loric. The younger royals were having a tea party with the duchess, apparently.
This wasn't a real 'village experience' as I had hoped it would be. Not that I was surprised. How could someone simply wander about the market and go to a random store when one is doing the wandering with a prince and his entourage?
It didn't help that I also happened to be a young girl dressed in fine cloths with patches of pink scales and white horns sticking out of my head.
"No to mention your eyes." Laughed Leon as he and I wandered about a busy market street.
"What's wrong with my eyes?" I asked, hand automatically jumping to the eyes in question. I had just been lamenting to the prince about our inability to do what we wanted.
The streets were busy with men a women getting their shopping and other business done.
Many did not pay us much mind, too focused on their own things to pay heed to two nobles being escorted around town.
At least, that was how we appeared to them at a glance, as the prince was wearing less glamourous cloths than he normally did, and Loric and the two other guards had foregone their uniforms for more plain looking leather armor.
If it weren't for my own odd appearance, we may have drawn less eyes our way.
"Nothing is wrong with them." Leon smiled as we passed a noisy fruit stand. "They just don't look human."
They didn't? I hadn't noticed when looking at myself in the mirror during the fitting.
"Ugh." I said, basically pouting at this point. "You try changing your shape from a dragon to a person and see how well of a job you do then!" I huffed, causing the men to share amused glances behind my back.
"It is, indeed, an amazing skill you have, Allura." Stated Loric, his hand resting casually on the hilt of his sword while his eyes roved the masses.
"The gods have surly blessed you." Agreed another of the guards, whom I had forgotten the name of. "I hear that dragons are highly favored by the gods, and receive many more blessings than we humans do."
"Really?" I asked, intrigued. It made sense that they wouldn't have the option to pick a skill that turned them into humans, since they already were, but what about other similar skills? Also, was it the gods that created that list of skills?
"I see that you do not know too much about the blessings of the gods either." Observed Leon carefully.
I frowned, lamenting my lack of basic world knowledge. No doubt Mother would have transferred something like this to me, either through the genetic memory, or simply word of mouth had we had the chance to talk...
"So the gods grant all those skills?" I asked, deciding that my time would be better spent learning than fretting over what could have been.
"Yes." Said Leon, holding out a hand so that he could assist me over a puddle in the cobbled road, like the fine young gentleman he was.
"There are many gods. Some a very famous, others not so much.
Some are only worshiped by a few races, while others are widely acknowledged across the whole world.
And it is these gods who grant us our skills from the moment of our birth. "
"Everyone's skills are different and varied." Loric continued as he and the other guards followed behind us. "And the skills that the gods hand out often change depending on species. For instance, you are not likely to come across a forest sprite with a flame attribute skill."
"What about humans than?" I asked, finding this all rather fascinating. I had seen all attributes in the list of skills. I guess dragons really were special in that regard as well.
"Human kind are amongst the few races not beholden to a specific attribute." Mused our guard. "But we are not given as many options, individually, as some of the more magically inclined races."
Leon nodded. "Indeed. Elves can have upwards of fifteen or even twenty separate skills to choose from during their life times, while humans are very fortunate if they have five to ten. And those that have ten are very few and far between, often becoming men and women known throughout history."
"Dragons are said to be amongst the most highly gifted in this regard.
" Continued Loric. "Admittedly, a wild dragon isn't likely to divulge such information with us, but it is said that they can have dozens of options to choose from.
Dragons who partner with a dragoon certainty have upwards of two dozen. "
Wait... That was it?
Thinking back to the last time I invested points into things, I distinctly remember a veritable rolodex of skills to choose from! Never mind a couple dozen! Was that true for all wild dragons? It had to be... Right?
"Mind you, just having access to the skills is only half the battle.
Even if you have the greatest skills in the world, they can only be used if you have the skill points to put into them.
" Said the guard, as if he were teaching a lesson.
"And such points can only be gained through personal growth, or combat.
As you can imagine, the average citizen does not engage in combat much if at all.
So, many never awaken more than a skill or two over their whole lives! "
"I see..." I said, not revealing the damn near unlimited points I had inherited from my dear mother.
"I take it that most people choose things like their careers based on skills then?" I asked, eying up the butcher across the road and wondering if he had some kind of knife wielding skill.
"That is correct. Often people live their whole lives around the talents the gods have given them. They are a gift from the gods after all, and it would be shameful to just ignore such gifts."
Still, even if a person had a really pricy skill, like my 'Humanoid Form' skill, I bet it was very unlikely that they would ever activate it.
Without engaging in combat, the speed at which a person gained points must be very slow.
Reaching 20 points may take them years of diligent work and saving.
I was willing to bet that the average person just invested in lower cost skills and then spent their time polishing those. Like the elemental magic skills I saw.
"I'm surprised there are not more mages.
" I mused out loud. Now that the topic was being addressed, I realized that I hadn't really seen anyone using things like fire or water spells.
Then again, their may vey well be restrictions to using magic like that in highly populated areas.
An unskilled person could set half this town on fire on accident if they were not careful.
"Magic skills are quite uncommon amongst human." Leon said. "Most combat type skills we receive are in the form of martial or weapon skills, not necessarily magic. Elves are the opposite, and they have more people talented in magic than hand to hand combat."
"What about dragons then?" I asked. Now that I thought about it, it was really odd that I had access to things like 'Swordsmanship' or 'Archery', when, as a dragon, I did not even have the necessary body structure to pull those things off.
But I defiantly saw them on the list of skills I could choose. Weird.
"Most dragon skills are in the form of magic.
We learn in the academy that every dragon has a least one element that they can learn, on top of their fire breath, of course.
Some even have two or three elements! I have heard that there are dragons who can read minds, those who can summon storms, and even dragons who can make volcanoes! "
"Really?" I asked, a little horrified at a bunch of dragons just flying around changing the weather and whipping out cities with volcanoes. Maybe my race were, indeed, flying natural disasters...
Leon chuckled. "It is rare. Besides, even dragons have to adhere to the laws around skills.
They too, need to invest points in order to activate their skills.
I am sure that most dragons would be more practical than to sink countless skill points into making volcanoes, when just their own bodies could take out countries, heedless of skills. "
"Er, that sounds right." I laughed nervously. "What skills do you guys have? Or is that something that is rude to ask?" I added hastily, as I hadn't even thought about that till now.
"Most people do keep it private, at least among strangers." Said Loric, making me blush shamefully. I always ask the most awkward things... "Though, if you spend enough time with a person, you tend to learn their skills naturally."
That made sense.
As we meandered around the town, ignoring the gawkers and stopping to partake in a few local treats, I contemplated my own skill set.
I knew that the number of points I had inherited from my mother had to of been astronomical; though I suddenly felt like I had underestimated it.
How had my mother gotten so many points?
My best guesses would have been that she was scary powerful (Though I would imagine that, had that been the case simple bandits wouldn't have been able to take her out, even if she was distracted with protecting my siblings and I), she had done exactly what I had done and swallowed down one or more of other dragon's stones. .. Or she was just scarily old.
I was betting on one of the final two. I had no doubt that mother was strong, and that her death had to of been due to a combination of wanting to avoid crushing her eggs, and some sort of foul trickery put forth by the disgusting egg snatchers, but I highly doubted that she was 10000 skill points strong.
The amount of killed monsters and achievements required to reach that level would be crazy.
This also brought to mind the sheer number of skills I had available to myself.
It was true that the men had stated that they couldn't be sure about wild dragons, but tamed ones didn't get any where close to the options I seemed to have at my finely serrated claw tips.
Did being reincarnated make me crazy OP after all?
I mean, I already figured that being a dragon (Once full grown at least) meant that I would be damn well near the top of the food chain, but could this make me even grander?
"Should we head back, Prince Leon?" Loric eventually asked, his eyes on the distant setting sun, staining the horizon a color nearly as brilliant as my own scales. "Princess Serenity will be feeling left out at this point."
Leon sighed, but nodded his head all the same.
"Best to return before she causes problems for my aunt and uncle.
That, and we could do with a good night's sleep before heading out tomorrow.
that is-" He said, turning to me, who was finishing off the last of a rather tasty apple pastry.
"- So long as you are alright with traveling in this form? "
I nodded, swallowing the almost too sweet bun and barely avoiding choaking myself. Who would have thought that I already adapted to the wider throat of a dragon, and forgotten that humans couldn't swallow quite as much in one go.
"It isn't exactly comfortable to be in this shape." I said, feeling a little like I was a foot stuffed into a too small slipper. "But I don't want to be the reason we have to delay. The faster I get to your home, the faster I might find out something about the eggs."
"Good, that is settled then." Said Loric, waving for us to hurry back toward the mansion on the hill. "Lets make an early night of things, shall we?"