Chapter 10: Chapter 9 – Core Strength

The rock carefully focused on being just [Like a Rock], making sure the dragon would not notice anything strange about it. After all, it was just your average rock. What could be strange about such a thing?

So the dragon did not notice anything strange, and just nodded approvingly at the Gneiss decoration it would have for its brand-new lair. A proper centerpiece for its display. And so, it began decorating.

And how would a dragon decorate a lair?

Although their intellects were great, their sort actually had rather simple desires, which naturally reflected on the décor of their living environment.

First, the gigantic green-scaled monster reached into its [Astral Pocket], and began taking out its favorite arcane lighting. Great gleaming orbs which emanated light in a dazzling array of colors were spread out all around the cavern, where they floated in midair, like suspended droplets of water.

Next, the dragon looked to the corners of the room, and inhaled—then breathed out. Fire. A great cone of Dragonfire was sent at the corners of the room, and the dragon spun languidly around in a circle, dragging the ray of fire with it, covering each and every corner.

Dust was burned off, and eternally burning Dragonfire was left behind in flickering patches, giving the room a distinctive background tapestry.

So, the walls and ceiling were handled, and all that remained was the floor space. Giant red eyes focused on the stone, calculating its optimum placement relative to the other things. Once more, the dragon reached into its [Astral Pocket], this time opening it wide, facing the room.

And an avalanche of gold spilled out.

Coins, golden coins of all shapes and sizes, with the stamps of a hundred kingdoms on them spread out to cover every inch of the floor. The dragon reached out with its great muscled tail, and lifted up the stone, setting it up at the very top of the golden mountain.

And then it looked over its small kingdom, satisfied.

For it was time to engage in the favorite pastime of dragons. In a way, it was kin to stone. For they both had a shared patience born of immortality.

The dragon curled in place, around the mountain of gold, and fell asleep.

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And the rock looked out at its new sleeping roommate, on its new perch atop a mountain of gold. The rock was beginning to understand the cycles of the world. Even if it proceeded steadily down a mountain, it might eventually end up on top of a brand new one. Such is the way of the world, where those who reach for immortality and power will always find a new peak of Mt. Tai beyond the last one.

But the stone was not dismayed. So what of peaks? As long as it could level and grow stronger, the world was its oyster. Or quarry. Maybe it would like something like that more. And regarding its next leveling plan… The dragon fire at the edges of the room was steadily heating it up. It could feasibly move just a bit.

It ran some calculations in its mind. Could it launch itself out at the dragon, aimed precisely at the head, and then crush it?

Just imagine the experience gains from that…

But a faint sense of danger held the stone in place. It was learning, and though the dragon seemed to be sleeping, there was a trace of awareness there, in the tail that swished about as it slept.

Attacking it would be… risky.

Picking up the rock had been so easy for the muscled tail, the rock did not doubt it could be crushed in an instant. Or be put inside that terrifying [Astral Pocket].

However, the rock also noticed something else. The material all around it—this so-called “gold”… It had heard the term before. Where was it? The rock looked over at its stat sheet.

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