Guild Wars

The moment Draco sat on the throne, more notifications popped up.

｢System to Player Announcement

Warning! Detected that player has sat on the Dragon Throne, and will be assessed for ruling rights by the system!

If it is found that the player is not qualified for the seat, the player will be killed and their Immortal spirit tortured for 500 years within the dungeon of the Ancestral Dragon City!

This cannot be avoided!｣

｢System to Player Announcement

Checking player race… ｣

｢System to Player Announcement

Analyzing player specific reputation… ｣

｢System to Player Announcement

Checking player titles… ｣

｢System to Player Announcement

Verifying player's State of Being ranking… ｣

｢System to Player Announcement

Authenticating player bloodline… ｣

｢System to Player Announcement

All the above have passed the requisite criteria for appointment. With this qualifications, the player has met the criteria to apply for the clan head position of the dragon race and will undergo the 50 Dragon trials of Death and Suffering.｣

｢System to Player Announcement

Warning! Detected that player already possessed the title of Dragon Race Clan head due to specific achievements from an earlier announcement. As such, the player can shoe to not undergo the Dragon trials and take up position without affecting anything.

Continue?

Y/N｣

Draco looked down at this notification and pondered. While it did sound tempting and novel to partake in these trials, the AI had specifically said that he would gain or lose nothing whether he undertook them or not, meaning it was essentially a rewardless endeavor.

Draco was a stickler for beating and causing trouble, but that was usually because there was a visible or invisible benefit at the end. Here, where there was obviously none, was not where he wanted to be.

As such, he naturally chose to ascend to the clan head position right away. Immediately he made the choice, the screens disappeared and throne beneath his Draconic form began to glow. With a red light, a certain power seeped into Draco that made him feel great.

The red light entered his body for a long time before it stopped, and just as suddenly as it began, it also quite suddenly disappeared. The only thing it left behind was a screen for Draco.

｢City-State Name: Ancestral City of Dragons

Tier: 25

Loyalty/Upset: 100/0

Gold: Uncountable

Worldly Energy: 100%

Aetheric Energy: 100%

Divine Energy: 100%

Origin Energy: 25%

Tax rate: 50%

Population: 12

Personnel: 6,009,845

Food: Uncountable

Lumber: Uncountable

Stone: Uncountable

Metal: Uncountable

Prestige: Limitless｣

Draco was surprised by these numbers. First of all, it was a known fact that cities or City-States had a cap of Tier 7. After tier 7 there was no way to improve, so one had to either up[grade to become a kingdom or remain as they were.

Clearly, this was another mistake and ignorance of the current era compared to the old, or it was just the Ancestral City of Dragons that was special and could breakthrough the limit.

Given the lore, the power and the situation, Draco felt the second theory was more likely. It would be too farfetched for hundreds of city lords over many millennia to not discover how to cross Tier 7, so it was more like that the greatest city in the entire history of Western Fantasy could break the limit, thereby solidifying its greatness.

As for the loyalty and upset, that was a given since there were no people around and there had been no leader previously. Even then, getting to live in the Ancestral City of Dragons, how dare you feel any form of upset?

What was funny was the uncountable gold. Since every form of wealth was included and calculated into the gold, including fixed assets like buildings or capital assets like businesses and the like, it was natural that this number would be high for most competent cities.

After all, it wasn't just about the money in their pockets or liquid funds available for spending, but the total monetary value calculated for the city. Even vita had a monetary value despite its great prestige and high wealth making ability in this era.

Yet, the Ancestral City of Dragons was actually uncountable. There had to be something here that prevented the AI from easily putting a number on their wealth. Well, now that Draco owned the city, it would be easy for him to find out in due time.

As for the energies, they were much as he expected. A city full of Dragons would definitely have max Worldly Energy and Aetheric Energy. Even if they didn't store their Aether crystals, just the fact that they shat it out every hour would definitely make the place soaked with the energy.

Even the Divine Energy sorta made sense, because about 90% of all Divine beings were Dragons in the old era. For them, reaching the Divine stage was as easy as eating and drinking. Even a fool like Clarent was a Divine Dragon before he died.

What was surprising was the 25% Origin Energy. One should know, even a Semi-Origin Goddess like Norma only had 1% concentration in her Treasury, which was her personal small world with all her wealth.

The Ancestral City of Dragons was special yes, but to have this…? One should know, even a newborn universe only had 10% Origin Energy, which was what Draco's inner universe had at the beginning. This number also goes down the more the universe develops and grows.

Draco only now had infinite of all energies because of the Eternal tree, an Eternal Rank item. Could it be that there was another Eternal Rank item supporting this city?

Draco wouldn't find it impossible. If anyone could have discovered and kept an Eternal Rank item, it would definitely be the Dragon race. In fact, it was more likely that it was a Pseudo-Eternal Rank item given that they could only produce 25% concentration.

As for the 50% tax rate, it might seem brutal, but don't forget that the only citizens in this place were Dragons. We all knew about the Legendary Dragons hoard, but it wasn't even targeted at that, but the Aether Crystals produced by Dragons in a month.

You basically gave half of your freely produced money to the city and the city uses it to actually better your life, forming a perfect cycle until they reached fucking Tier 25.

The Dragons likely would not care, because Draco knew he wouldn't. Getting to live in a place exclusive for your race, with 25% Origin energy concentration… Its no wonder every fucking Dragon became a Divine being and a good amount reach the peak, where Hikari's dad even became Semi-Origin.

What baffled Draco was the 12 population. He had walked through a lot of the city and only saw Automatons. In fact, the reason the personnel count reached over 6 million were exactly the automatons patrolling and taking care of the city even until now.

But population? This meant that they were recognized citizens by whatever system put in place by the leadership of the territory in question. No, it was not Draco not anyone in his inner universe for obvious reasons.

Draco thought hard and long, then his eyes lit up!

He remembered that at one point in the past, Essence Stalker and Fitter had met Snoop Dragon and received a quest to secure some Dragon eggs in the Ancestral City. They had gone through a lot of suffering back then because while Essence was a dragon, Fitter wasn't.

Why do you think Draco hadn't released any of his people to come and enjoy the view yet? Even Hikari and co were kept in just in case, because Draco wanted to claim ownership of the city first. Once he did so, he could tweak the rules as he liked and give his people citizenship.

Back then, Essence and Fitter had to rush through the city to the nursery area for newborn eggs which was still being run by nurse automations and deliver the eggs while fighting off hordes of police and military automatons without destroying them.

No wonder, they were so angry and stressed when they came out, but the rewards must've been good. That was almost 2 years ago, so the eggs should have hatched by now and were being nursed.

Draco decided to check on them later.

The resources of the city were also uncountable. Endless food, metal, wood and stone? These were the building blocks of every city in the finest sense and enabled the 'kingdom building' aspect of it all.

To also have this as uncountable, that Pseudo-Eternal item must be a resource production type. That was the only way that this would make sense to be honest.

As for the limitless prestige, well. The prestige and honor system had to do with assets and merits respectively. For prestige, the more riches and social value your city has, the higher it is. For honor, the more kills your military have and the more their exploits, the higher it is.

Honor only unlocks once one reached the Kingdom level.

They had their uses, but nothing that Draco really cared about at the moment.

Done with his inspection, he tweaked the permissions to make it such that anyone with his family surname and those who were affiliated with Umbra could became citizens, while any race was allowed to enter as tourists for a maximum of 48 hours.

The Ancestral City of Dragons actually had many commercial buildings, but the patronizers were either dragons or their servants at the bottom. This was because the Dragons didn't want too many flies buzzing around their peaceful city and getting addicted to their Origin Energy.

Draco had his inner universe and Vita Kingdom, so he didn't much care. Only the best of the best would be allowed to come here, and one would need to pass a martial, financial or mental test to qualify to enter as a tourist.

Done setting the rules, he naturally released everyone in his family as well as the reborn dragons. When they entered the Ancestral City, the Dragons seemed to be shocked at such a beautiful locale and flew up to the various Dragon perches, inspecting the real estate.

Hikari though, stood rooted to the spot as memories of many years flashed through her eyes, her tears flowing slowly down her cheeks as she was overwhelmed with bittersweet grief.

Her home was still intact and as beautiful as the day she left it. However, the people - her people - that used to fill the city with life, love and laughter were gone, as if a stain on the parchment of history.

Feeling Hikari's pain, the entire Morningstar family comforted her. Eva especially hugged Hikari gently and rubbed her back, reminding Hikari that all was not lost.

She was a mother now, of a handsome young hatchling and a prospective egg yet to be born. Not to mention that with the revival of the skyrim dragons, there was hope for re-population and even an evolution of the dragon race down the line.

This was especially true when Draco mentioned the eggs that were likely in the nursery. The moment Hikari heard about them, her face changed and she bolted towards the general location of the nursery, making everyone chuckle.

The rest dispersed to explore the city while Zaine and Roma went to make sure that Hikari didn't get into any trouble.

As for the Evil Duo, they shared a look and nodded. Draco returned to his human form and teleported with Eva towards the courtyard of the Dragon Palace.

There, Draco took out one of his three keys to the Divine Dragon Treasury and inserted it into the atmosphere, turning it as if a lock really existed there.

The key was then absorbed by space and the area in front of Draco and Eva warped to reveal a large Dragon-sized portal. The two did not hesitate to step through and were transported from where they were into a place of darkness.

Then, the lights came on, revealing what was around.