I place the cage of prisoners inside the freshly constructed building. It is my new prison. “This will be your home. Toilets and showers are in the back. Food will be dropped into the kitchen area. I point to the tiled floor with a wood burning stove. I point to the door on the side. “That door leads to your yard.'' The yard is an outside area. It is kept separate from the rest of the outside world by iron bars, but it is large enough to walk around in. I even planted a tree in the middle for them. In theory they had everything they needed to be happy little prisoners. The prison is three bricks thick with no door to the outside besides the door to the yard. I open their cage then quickly pick up the roof to the building. I place it on the prison like a terrarium lid. It occurs to me that this isn’t much of a prison. More of a cage that one would keep a hamster in. That would make me the doting pet owner. “Do you need more food? How is the water? You two don’t lack stimulus do you? I’ll try to get you some books.” I want them to be captured. Not unhappy. If they are captured and happy then they will rest on their laurels while I level up. Each chosen has the potential to rise to my powerlevel and beyond. It’s best to keep them at their current power level, plus as long as they are in my care they keep the demihumans peaceful. I think they understand that last part. That is why they aren’t resisting too much. In case there are any Chosen who are already at my powerlevel I need to train harder.

“I think I’ve lost my humanity.” I muse to myself as I fly over villages carpet bombing them with my fire breath. This serves a dual purpose. It’s a way to level up and a means of getting back at the baron. If I fly high enough then I can’t see the individual people that I’m burning alive. I can only see the exp drops. A way to keep my sanity intact.

“Oh a guard barracks.” I fly low for these. I need my force of my fire breath to collapse them on all the higher level knights inside. The building tumbles over and crumbles like a tower of legos.

Level up! X43! You have reached max level for your race, choose an evolution for both branches. Major and minor.

I fly back to my cave to choose. Since unlocking major races now at certain evolution points. I get to evolve twice. Not really twice, just one major and one minor evolution.

I try to pull up the screens for both, but only the major evolution paths pop up.

My options are the colors. Wow, how very informative. This is a life changing decision and I have no information to go off of. It’s like choosing my major in college.

Blue, red, black, green, yellow, grey.

Those are my choices for my major evolutions. Okay gods. This isn’t funny. This is the same as walking in blind. I can rule out some options. I’m not choosing green. I don’t want to give my older kobolds PTSD attacks when they see another green dragon. I don’t like blue, black is edgy, yellow is ridiculous. That leaves me with red and grey. If I recall things like the Monster Manual or actual folklore. Red are the most generic of all dragons and grey isn’t something that I had ever heard of on Earth. Black Eris whispers to me. Why black? Just pick it. Black is an edgy color for edge lords, but if Eris wants me to pick it then I will. She’s becoming incredibly useful lately. She’s actually been almost exclusively useful lately. She reaffirms my actions when I do something inhumane. She knew how to survive the assasssination. Farther back she knew about the goblins and the knights before I knew about them. I've been writing her off as an inner voice that has direct access into my subconscious, able to peer into parts of my brain that I’m not conscious of and give me advice, but it doesn’t feel like that anymore. I glance at my sacred artifacts. Bow of Artemis, Scales of Nemesis, Quiver of Dionysus. They are all named after greek gods.

“Eris?”

Yes?

“You’re real aren’t you.”

Took you long enough.

The gods are real. Like actually real. This realization is odd. It’s almost crazy. They aren’t supposed to be real things. “Does every Chosen have a god in their head?”

Just you. The other gods are too high and mighty to personally care for their chosen. That would mean that she has been watching me since I was on earth. Are the gods really all powerful? They control the outcome of all worlds?

Not all powerful. Let me give you a crash course in gods and goddesses. You got the top gods people like Helious who represent the sun. Everyone wants the sun so many people pray to him. A god's strength is relative to their role and how many people worship them. Then you get the second tier gods people like Ares the god of war. Some people like him, but not many. Last are the third tier gods. Gods with little worshipers or such specific domains that they are barely more powerful than demigods.

“Which are you?”

It’s rude to ask a lady her powerlevel.

Quicks maths would tell me that she is third tier. Eris is the goddess of chaos. She threw the golden apple that started the war of Troy. Her brand of chaos doesn’t even attract the edgy world ending types and the normal people would worship Dionysus instead of her. “How many followers do you have?”

“One on this world and dozens back on earth.”

Just me huh? I don’t intend to give her anymore. I’m just thinking of my future here. I’m already at a country destroying power level, then next comes the world threat level, then comes the universe threat level. At world power level the gods start to show up. It is in my best interest to keep Eris at a low power level incase I have to fight her. Then who will defend you from the other gods? I can’t see her, but I know she’s wiggling her eyebrows.

“Alright Eris, fuck it, aint no war like a holy war.” Looks like I have to spread the holy word of Eris to my little monsters. This will increase her power level.

My scales have finished turning black. I’ve grown as well, if I grow anymore than the cave will be unable to support me. I pull up my lesser evolution paths.

Obsidian dragon- A dragon well versed in psychonics. Controls other creatures through manipulating their brains. Enjoys volcanic mountains. Skilled in high tier mind magic. It’s breath turns creatures into slaves to the dragon’s will.

Plague dragon - Found normally in the swamps they create. Plague dragons breath fetid air that turns life to rot. Solitary beasts that leak poison from their scales.

Brutal black dragon - large even by dragon standards. They rule by fear and intimidation. Their breath attack is black fire that can only be extinguished through magic.

If I go obsidian dragon then I could solve my problems easily. I’d just have to breathe on the demihumans and they would agree to not have war anymore. One breath on the humans and they would free their slaves. I could enslave the entire world and make them live peaceful happy lifes. Pick it, come full circle. Eris, back to her old self. Her encouragement to pick obsidian gives me enough pause to realize how much of a mistake that would be. I would become what I wanted to get rid of. My laugh causes loose rock to fall from the mountain tops.

I picked brutal black dragon. It’s my only real choice. Obsidian conflicts with my morals and plague would poison my citizens. The egg envelops me and I fall asleep.