After an hour of socializing in the hot springs, the hosts informed them that it was time for the midday meal.
Karl hadnāt considered the time difference when they had arrived, but it was at least manageable.
Everyone simply changed into comfortable loose robes provided by the hotel, and Karl waited by the changing room for Dana to come out.
But she did not come out alone.
Button and Lyric were with her, brought from the Tiny World by Cara, along with an older supervisor that Karl didnāt recognize, but that Dana apparently did. The little dragon and Lotus were animatedly discussing the various ways that you could use plant growth spells, while Button held hands with Dana, so she didnāt get lost.
Ophelia smirked when she saw that Karl had noticed them, and took Lotusā hand with a sly wink, then walked beside Dana, so the short people could continue to talk.
It looked a bit odd to see them both talking and gesturing with just one hand, because someone was holding their other, but the guests found it absolutely adorable.
"Are you adopting a baby dragon after I told you that you couldnāt have a dragon egg?" Nacht joked when he saw the scene.
"She lives in a Tiny World that I created. Sheās become attached to Dana, and to anyone else who will spend time with her while everyone else is busy." Karl whispered back.
Then he realized something. "Iāve actually obtained a number of dragon eggs lately. There was a group of dragon hunters from another world who were capturing dragons and breeding them for combat. Similar to the drake riders, but I didnāt see any signs that they were riding them, just causing them to go berserk and accompany their forces to attack."
The black dragon frowned. "I have heard of them. There were some in Newbon not long ago, but the Emperor and General teamed up to eliminate them. It was quite the pain, as they brought a number of berserk dragons with them.
What did you do with the dragons that they had trained?"
Karl shrugged. "I just broke the spells on them and let them free on the Neia Continent. Theyāll have to figure things out from there on their own.
But there were a number of leftover eggs whose mothers were not present, or not willing to claim them.
So, I brought them into the Tiny World and placed them in an appropriate environment for their development.
I have a group of druids and Nature Priestesses, the group that Button belongs to, caring for them until they hatch."
Nacht nodded slowly. "And then what?"
"And then I have two hundred baby dragons?" Karl asked hopefully.
Nacht rolled his eyes in dismay. "I will arrange for someone to come collect them after they hatch. We can take them to the church, or specifically a Red Dragon Orphanage for raising.
The first few years can be a bit chaotic, but plenty of dragons are raised in them, so we have the experience."
Karl smiled. "Why didnāt I think of that? I can just recruit more Red Dragon Clerics for the job. Iāve already got some in the work space in Drodh. I volunteered them some extra space in exchange for having the older Orphans work the market while they look for full-time work."
Nachtia crept up beside them and bumped shoulders with her uncle.
"Heās slowly collecting them all. All we need now are gold, bronze and white. Weāve even got a silver dragon living at the Drodh Guild House because he wanted to study the experiment that the blue dragons are doing." She greeted them.
Karl smiled at her, then realized that the dragon smelled different than he remembered.
"Youāre about to reach Totem Rank." He realized.
Nachtia nodded. "Indeed. Being with the Darklight Host has been good for me. Iām years ahead of schedule. By the time that the wedding is over, I should be there. And Iāve got a solid start on my power matrix, so I shouldnāt slow down too much after I advance."
Nacht smiled at his niece. "Itās good to see you again. At least the Karl has someone reasonably responsible looking out for him."
She giggled and winked at him. "Iām not the responsible one. That would be either Tessa or Librarian Sapphire. That dragon is absolutely driven to organize things. You should see how tidy the Library in the Guild House is now. She thoroughly organized the tomes after she arrived.
Originally, we just had them separated by themes onto shelves. Now theyāre in the proper Dragon Library organizational order, by title and age."
Nacht poked her in the side. "By Librarian Sapphire, do you mean..."
"Yep, that one. The Myth who refused to pick a trade skill. Sheās actually got one now, though. Karl granted her Runecrafting, and sheās been doing wonderful things with it.
But mostly, sheās been making skill books to help with her mission to eliminate the base warrior Class from Overlord and higher Ranks." Nachtia laughed.
That made the old dragon laugh. "I should have known that the day she finally left the Library to accomplish something other than training generations of Blue Dragons to organize books, she would pick something so absolutely insane."
Nachtia shook her head. "Oh, I wouldnāt call it insane. Itās actually working. Theyāve converted hundreds of them so far.
Mostly into Paladins and Crusaders. But theyāve also created some Blood Knights, advanced Berserker Classes, and one Mystic Blademaster. That one shocked everyone, but a Warrior managed to learn a Monkās fighting style on his own, and asked to try to learn Lightning Bolt.
Somehow, it actually worked, and he got a new class.
We suspect itās because heās a lightning affinity Dragonkin, but they are waiting until they can replicate the phenomenon to prove the theory."
Nacht frowned at Karl. "You really are a bad influence, you know that, right? Even after they sent you to the Dragon Isles, youāre still causing chaos."
Cara preened with pride, and Karl smirked at the black dragon.
"Did I ever tell you the story of how I managed to defeat a Mythic Ranked Warrior in a one-on-one Guild Duel?"