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Dragons of Science - Part 5

"Immigration!"

That was the last thing Leopold had said before vanishing in a storm of magic and smoke. The wolf man had indicated a distant building, and had simply told a freshly transported purple bag of fat and scales to head off in that direction. It wasn't the best of directions, or even all that helpful when it came to answering questions, but there it was. Apparently the building in the distance was where questions would be answered, so Greg didn't have much choice in the matter.

Huffing, the big pudgy purple dragon hefted himself up from a rather comfortable sitting position, and started lumbering down the road. He idly considered turning around and going the other direction entirely, but practicality shot that idea down quickly. What would he find going away from immigration? Who knows! And there may be legal problems. If the society in this strange new world was developed enough to have an immigration department, then they likely didn't take kindly to illegal aliens. Or dragons, in this case. After all, Greg was not an alien. Aliens were all grey and had big black eyes, or something. Sure that theory had never been proven, but it stayed in popular culture all the same. But we weren't talking about aliens. We were talking about fat purple dragons.

Which I'm sure we've clearly stated are not aliens at all. If you're still having doubts, please re-read the paragraph above. We'll wait. Are you finished? Well good, we can continue.

Putting one large paw in-front of the other, Greg found himself making fairly good time. That was definitely one thing to say about quadrupedal locomotion. It was quick! The trouble was, he wasn't really in a hurry. He was still somewhat raw over being chased across the solar system, mistreated at every turn, and eventually dumped here in an unknown land against his will. After walking for a short time, he sat his fat behind down once more, and huffed out a smouldering little puff of purple smoke and fire. The little cloud of purple smoke drifted off along the wind, likely to join vanish into thin air at some point. Greg remembered similar puffs of smoke from before, and from when Leopold was jumping from one place to another. He wondered what it all meant.

All of a sudden he noticed that his hefty middle was rumbling quite a bit, and he placed a fore-paw over that fat mass to calm the trembling. He couldn't recall when he last ate. Lifting his wings he discovered that some of his carefully gathered and lashed together bags were still securely in place. Apparently some contents had been shifted, crushed, pulped, and otherwise mangled however. His wings and flanks were sticky with fruit juice from smashed melons, and whatever else was inside. Sighing, he went about the business of prying his hoarded goods off his hide, and lapping up the mixed contents from the bags. It wasn't much, and it was mostly ruined, but it shut his belly up for the time being. He buried the ruined plastic bags off the road a ways, and hoped that would do. There wasn't exactly a recycling depot nearby or a public refuse collection bin.

The state of his personal effects spurned him into action somewhat, and he once more resumed trundling down the road. He had no personal effects, no items to trade, no money, no food, and no clothing. The latter had been normal for a while, but the fact still stood. Swishing his tail around with frustration, he looked this way and that along the road for anything of interest. Perhaps he'd find a fruit tree, or some wild vegetables that looked edible. He presumed that he wouldn't just be able to raid a public field. He didn't know how things were set up here.

Eventually he noticed a small path diverging from the main road, which lead down hill somewhat past the tree line. Shrugging, he decided to take a look, and altered his course to wander on in that direction. He found himself looking out over a wide and brightly lit valley, which was dotted everywhere with farm houses and huge rolling fields. The path he was on seemed to serve all the farmhouses in the local area, and wound away out of his sight. He was once again amazed at how bright and alive everything seemed here. Everything was clear and sharp, with the brightest colours he'd ever seen. It almost looked like a perfect digital image, but it was as real as he was.

As he stood there looking around, he faintly heard voices or something apparently aimed in his direction. Tilting his large horned head downward somewhat, he noticed a few small shapes waving their arms in his direction. They were apparently people of some sort or another, all poking up from the middle of one of their fields. He wondered what they wanted, and decided to amble over in that direction. He wound up waggling his tail around somewhat as he approached, wondering if he perhaps found some friendly contacts for once. After all, he'd pretty much been alone and invisible for months.

Meanwhile his forgotten puff of purple smoke just kept on drifting, and eventually met up with a bird in flight. The bird almost immediately ballooned up to 5 times its previous size, and exploded in a shower of feathers. Magic is a hell of a drug.

Greg continued trundling onward, not noticing the explosive effects in the sky some ways off. Eventually he reached the fenced border of some field or another, and glanced down at the people who had been waving at him. They were bipedal wolves much like Leopold was, and they greeted him with very toothy smiles. One of them, dressed in loose fitting blue jeans and nothing else, advanced his way and held out a furry paw to shake.

The big purple dragon sat down on his haunches and extended his hand in return, swallowing the fuzzy paw completely in his large grip. Shaking, he returned a rather fang filled smile, and said hello. The black furred wolf was the first to strike up a conversation.

"Hello there! Welcome to our farm. We saw you there at the top of the rise, and figured we'd call you on over to welcome you here. We've never seen you around these parts before, so we gathered you were new to the area."

Greg chuckled, wondering if the knew exactly how new he was.

"Yep, I'm knew here. Just arrived very recently, in fact. Some wolf fellow dropped me off just up the road."

The pants wearing farmer arched a fuzzy eye-ridge, and glanced off up the hill.

"Dropped you off? What do you mean?"

Sighing, Greg began to explain the situation. Spurned on by an attentive audience, he found himself laying out the whole misadventure, right from day one in the labs. The crushing loneliness found its way out to the surface, and soon he found himself laying flat on the ground, sobbing, and being soothed by many patting hands. The gathered wolves let him give into catharsis for a while, then encouraged him to buck up and get himself back together again. It was no easy feat, that much was certain. Greg hadn't realized how miserable he'd been until that point. All the fun things he'd been doing were merely a distraction to keep his mind off his problems.

Sniffing, and blowing his considerable nose on an offered handkerchief, Greg eventually calmed down enough to continue the conversation along. The pants wearing wolf got things started again.

"There there big fellow, sounds like you've had quite the shock. We haven't seen an immigrant around here for quite some time. Well you're on the right path, at least. Whenever you're ready, you can head back down the road to the big building in the distance. They'll take care of you. In the meantime, let us help get you cleaned up at least."

Greg nodded his large head, and allowed himself to be led around the fenced in field, to a big clearing with a very lovely looking farm house. Before long he was presented with stacks of sandwiches, all the hot tea and cold juice he wanted, and lots of fresh fruit and vegetables. He happily filled one hole inside himself, and discovered he was in better spirits soon after. As he ate, he learned a little about the family. They were known around these parts as the Blackpelts, and his hosts were Steve and Mary. They had several children whom were inside at the time, and two farm hands named Buck and Clifford. The hands had since gone back to work in the field, while Steve and Mary saw to their guest.

He was directed to a large outdoor basin with running hot and cold water, and provided with rags, soap, and even a huge scrub brush. Steve mentioned that the brush was a novelty item they kept in the kitchen, but he figured it would work just fine on the leather hide and scales of a dragon. The two left Greg to get himself cleaned up, and went to tend to other things. Greg helped himself to the first half decent bath he'd had in a while, and made sure to scrub good under his wings. It felt better when all the sticky residue was gone.

Washed, dried, fed, and comfortable with creatures who could actually see and interact with him, Greg began to feel truly fine once more. He glanced off to the north and saw the giant building again, just barely poking up above the tree line on the other side of the huge valley. That's where he needed to go, alright. He thanked his hosts for the meal and the use of the water, then asked if they needed anything in return.

Steve scratched at his fuzzy jaw in thought, then snapped two claw-tipped fingers together and perked his ears up straight.

"As a matter of fact, there is! One of our tractors got stuck out in the fields yesterday, and we haven't been able to get it out. Could you lend a hand?"

Greg eagerly nodded, and padded off in the direction indicated. Sure enough, there was a fairly basic yet highly functional tractor sitting there in a mud pit. He realized with a start that he was larger than the machine, and likely outweighed it quite a bit as well. He decided that he really needed to start noting his growth again. All too easily he reared up on his hind legs and grabbed the tractor with both hands, and ripped it right out of the mud. Taking two large steps back, he turned and set the machine down on firmer ground, and dusted his paws off. He once again marvelled at this new body of his, and wondered how he ever got through life without it.

The farm hands cheered at the display of strength, and he took a little mock bow before once again plunking down on all fours. On his way back up to the main road, the Blackpelts stopped him and handed over a collection of sandwiches and things all wrapped up in waxed paper, and tied up with string. Snacks for the road, they called it. Well, they certainly understood that dragons ran off lots and lots of calories.

Thanking the group of farmers once again for their help, he started trundling back up the road. He barely made it two steps before Mary called after him. Craning his neck around to look, he saw the group of wolves looking at him funny.

"Err... yes?"

One of the farm hands laughed and slapped the other on the back, and Mary shushed them sternly. Steve chuckled, and pointed at the huge pontoon like wings that were tucked tight against Greg's flabby sides.

"What the hell are you walking for anyways? You've got wings, don't you?"

Greg practically slapped himself, twitching the huge limbs and fanning them open. He wasn't on Mars anymore, so he could easily fly now in this thick air. Blushing and waving sheepishly once more at his hosts, he broke into a flapping run up the dirt path, and soon took to the skies. He hooked his collection of snacks off his various horns for safe keeping, and focused on keeping airborne. It felt wonderful to soar along, even though he wasn't too good at it yet. Still, it wasn't much effort to keep on flapping, and glide whenever practical.

Aligning himself with the main road, he soared on toward the immigration building in the distance. Look out world, there was a new dragon in the house!

* * *

Before long Greg found himself approaching the huge building in the distance, and decided to circle around it a few times for good measure. It looked like an office building of fairly modern design, cylindrical with a rounded dome top. There appeared to be a park of all things in the dome, which reflected the high sunlight with its transparent surface. A quick glance showed the building to be at least 30 floors from ground level to the domed area, which definitely made it stand out. The exterior walls were all stone, which only added to the buildings striking features.

Glancing down, the big purple dragon noticed what appeared to be lights being waved around. Curious, he banked lower and took a closer look-see. There was some humanoid form down on ground level, waving his arms around. In his hands were rods that emitted light, which made Greg snort with mirth. Why, he was being waved at by what appeared to be an air traffic controller. The individual seemed to be making a lowering or landing gesture with the lights, so Greg complied.

Circling lower, he eventually came to a stumbling but ultimately successful landing near the wand waving individual. Grinning sheepishly, he padded over on all fours to see what the fellow wanted. The creature in question was a bipedal and rather robust looking turtle like creature. It had a smooth shell, rather large belly, and huge stocky limbs. It also was wearing an ill-fitting high visibility vest, which showed signs of tearing all along its seams. Whatever the creature was, it looked at him sternly and waved a wand around in a reproachful manner.

"Hey, didn't you see the signs? No flying within 500m of the tower."

Greg blinked, sighed, and decided to be diplomatic about the situation. Hunkering down to be more at eye level with the shorter creature, he waved a hand around and tried to explain.

"No, I didn't see any signs. I just got here. As in, this is my first time in this entire world, or whatever this is. I've never been to this building before."

The large rotund turtle creature blinked a few times for good measure, then sighed and put his wands away in a vest pocket.

"Well, I guess if you just got here, you couldn't possibly know all the rules yet. I'll let you off the hook, this time. No fines. You'd best get inside the tower and get processed right away."

The shell-sporting critter then turned and walked off, muttering about "immigrants" in a volume that Greg could still plainly hear. It appeared the more things changed, the more they stayed the same.

Sighing once more, the big porky dragon hefted himself up onto all fours once more, and went trundling down a tightly set stone walkway to the huge building. There was a big sign pointing him in the direction of a large double door, which was clearly marked "IMMIGRATION." There were taped off banisters and poles forming a queue line as well, but it was currently empty. Greg mused that they must not get many new citizens anymore.

Wandering up to and through the doors, the big pudgy dragon found himself in a well lit and relatively well decorated lobby. There were more queue lines within, and a few people waiting in line to see one bored looking lizardman sitting behind a lone counter. Greg shrugged his wings and waddled into line, getting behind a family of wolves, some kind of floating octopus, and what appeared to be a talking Rhinoceros. His wide bulk nearly pushed over some of the queue poles, but other than that his trip to the line was uneventful.

Feeling that he was in for the ride of his life there in the queue, he sat his fat behind down and broke out his packs of sandwiches. He tried to make them last, munching away slowly, ignoring the odd stare of longing from the other people in line. The family of wolves finished their business and moved on, and before long the floating Octopus undulated away to fill out more paperwork. The Rhino was applying to move from a distant land to this one, and needed work of course. He was given more forms to fill out, and sent over to a desk to fumble with various writing implements.

Finally it was Greg's turn, and the corpulent dragon waddled up to the booth. He noticed that he was towering over the booth and the lizard within it, and politely sat down to bring his head closer to eye level. The lizard apparently appreciated the token gesture, for he showed the slightest of smiles at the corner of his terribly bored expression. The fellow fetched out a few token forms and a pen, and got ready to take down all the appropriate information.

"Name?"

Greg blinked and spoke up, responding to each question in turn.

"Greg."

"Time of arrival?"

"Um, a few hours ago?"

The lizard looked through his files, and tapped some keys on what appeared to be a relatively ancient computer.

"Ah, here we are. Greg the Human, from Earth. Obviously they forgot to correct the species alteration. We'll have that changed to "Dragon" promptly. Now then, there are instructions here, to take good care of you... hmm..."

The lizard looked Greg over a few times, and whipped out another form from his stack.

"Now then, making you a citizen is easy enough, but you'll need to pay the entry fee, plus pay off some fines..."

Greg scoffed, and rolled his eyes.

"Entry fee? Fines? Do I look like I'm made of money? I just got here mere hours ago, with nothing. Absolutely nothing. I doubt I can access my bank account on Earth from here, and even if I could, the government has likely closed it by now and declared me dead. Plus I got chased over half the bloody solar system running from your goon squad, now you want me to pay fines?"

The rest of Greg's rant descended into roars and grumbling, followed by the stomping of feet and claws tearing up the carpet. When he was quite done, the lizard blinked slowly and returned to his paperwork.

"As I was saying, yes, fines and fees. There aren't any free lunches in this dimension, kiddo. Now if you're quite done with your tantrum, I'll lay things out for you. We have an entry fee to make sure that anyone who wants to live here REALLY wants to live here, and is willing to pay for the honour of doing so. The fee is relatively trivial, merely a month or two's pay depending on your wages. And as for fines, you broke many magic related laws when you first pulled your escape artist stunt back in your labs. If you had held tight, been picked up, and not led the soldiers on a merry chase, there wouldn't have been much of anything in the way of fines. But you did, so there are. You'll also be paying for their time, and you'll be adding a nice tip for them too. After all, they asked that we do our best to help you out."

The lizard cleared his throat, and went on to detail all the charges in detail. The cost of it all added up to several hundred gold coins, a currency Greg most definitely did not have about his person. Feeling defeated, all he could do was shrug and wait for the lizard to continue. It wasn't like they could bleed a stone, right?

"Now, we were already notified that you would be arriving broke. This is almost always the case for fresh magical converts. As such, we've tried to find a solution to the problem that will benefit you as well as us. To further this process along, it would help if we know what you can do."

Greg blinked, focusing in on the conversation again.

"Do?"

"Yes. What can you DO?"

Greg had to think about that one for a while, and was fortunately given the time to do so.

What could he do? He was a scientist, of course. But really, he was a lab tech. He had run experiments that other people set up, and mostly pushed buttons on a computer. He could make coffee, he could do paperwork, and other light clerical duties. He was smart, but that wasn't "doing" something. He felt like he should be sweating, but apparently dragons didn't do that.

"Umm, I used to be a scientist?"

The lizard wrote it down, and tapped his pen against the stack of paper."

"And?"

Greg looked up and around, and then started walking to the nearby wall. Placing his paws against it, he effortlessly climbed up the wall, transferred to the ceiling, then dangled there upside-down for a moment before hunkering down as if he were laying on the floor.

"I can do this?"

The lizard placed a claw-tipped hand over his face, and sighed, trying to stifle a chuckle. Greg's stomach chose that time to gurgle strangely, and the big dragon belched out a cloud of purple smoke like a projectile. The ball travelled down and wound up going right inside the mouth of the Rhino as the fellow was yawning. The creature gagged somewhat as he inhaled the purple gas, coughed, and backed away from his papers. He turned to yell by the looks of it, then suddenly stopped with a look of surprise on his face.

All at once he belched, shook violently, then ballooned up two or three sizes larger than he previously was before. He put on quite a deal of weight as well, so much so that his wide feet barely reached the ground around his enormous gut. Panting, the now gigantic pachyderm found himself filling up a good portion of the lobby. He looked down over himself, and his expression of surprised turned to one of shock, then one of awe-struck glee. Smiling with tears in his eyes, the huge beast reared up to Greg's eye level and kissed the dragon full on the snout.

"NOW I CAN JOIN THE SUPER HEAVY WEIGHT SUMO LEAGUE! Thank you thank you thank you thank you!"

The huge and rather rounded fellow reared up on his hind legs and charged right through a wall, running and laughing maniacally into the distance. He wobbled with very thunderous step. Greg blinked a few times, and blushed at the kiss, and dropped back onto the floor with a heavy thud. The lizard bounced off his seat a few feet, then collected himself and added a new fine to Greg's total. Greg looked sheepish and hooked a thumb-claw in the direction of the huge crumbling hole in the wall, and the receding form of the giant fat Rhino.

"Um, I can do that too. Apparently."

The lizard couldn't help but bark a quick laugh, then shook his head and wrote down some more notes.

"Well, you're obviously just chalk full of magic, and a growing user of the craft. I think I'll place you with one of our local wizards... he was looking for a new apprentice to help out around his business. Well, consider yourself in the door."

The lizard stood up and handed over some signed papers, which Greg only needed to scrawl upon somewhere with one implement or another.

"You are now indentured to the great Wizard, Artemis Strange. If you follow his rules and do a good job, you'll likely be free and clear in a few years. Unless you do a REALLY good job, anyways. All will be explained by your new master. For now, I hereby welcome you to the great nation of Aeria, part of the greater nations of Wyrmlund. Hopefully you'll learn to love it here."

Greg somewhat reluctantly signed the paperwork, accepted a hand shake from the lizard, and trundled off back outside again. A passing mason inspecting the damage to the wall instructed him how to get to his new "masters" property, and sent him on his way. So that was that, Greg was in the door, but at what appeared to be quite the steep price. He'd have to play things by ear, with this wizard fellow. Still, at least he could stop running for a while. That was a start.

* * *

Placing one paw after another, the big pudgy purple dragon lumbered along down mixed cobblestone and dirt roads, following the directions he'd been given to arrive at his new residence. Eventually the streets became nicely paved stone, with wide sidewalks set outside row houses and small businesses. He was in one village or another, and took a moment to really take in the sights. Everywhere he looked there were creatures that months back he would have described only as monsters. But his perspective had definitely changed, what with the species alteration and all.

One critter after another was busy walking to and from stores, hanging out at outdoor markets or cafes, or just chatting with one another on public benches. Greg even saw other dragons, but they were in a bipedal state and smaller than he was. Still, they smiled and waved as he passed, so he returned the gesture. It was definitely nice being in a place where everyone could see him, and nobody had a problem with there being a big fat dragon trundling down the road. Most people were even kind enough to get out of his way, so he wasn't held up any.

He made a note to come examine the various shops and such at some point, if he ever had the opportunity. Sighing and turning his large head back to the road, he followed it out of the little village, and down another path which led further into the valley. He was once more in farm country, and soon spotted what he was after. There was a very large fenced in area of crops, plus several large buildings up front in a big clearing. At the gates to the massive compound, there was a single large sign hanging off a metal pole.

It read: "Artemis Strange. Wizard, farmer, grocer."

Not seeing any other way of announcing himself, the big dragon continued walking along, and headed in the direction of the buildings. There were many buildings further back on the property, which popped into view as he walked around looking at things. The main building up front seemed to be a fairly large farmers market of all things, with high ceilings that could even accommodate big fat purple dragons. He poked his head in one of the open doorways, and saw row after row of fresh produce, plus other goodies scattered about. A few people noticed the big confused looking dragon snout enter the building, and waved at the fellow. One of them, a wolf fellow wearing a big utility apron, padded over to greet the prospective customer.

"Hello there! Don't see many full dragons around these parts. Were you looking for something? We just brought the bread out of the oven, so it is warm and fresh. I can make you a meal if you want, or pick up any groceries you might need. Or if you need any other services, just let me know and I'll see if we can make it happen."

Greg blinked then smiled at the helpful and obviously eager wolf fellow, especially when he started wagging his tail. He tried not to snicker, and instead shook his head.

"No, I'm sorry. I'm not here to shop. I'm looking for Mr. Strange?"

The wolf smirked somewhat and nodded, putting away the dedicated salesman face for the time being.

"Ah, you must be the new arrival, and apprentice. I hear you caused quite a stir getting here, and even some damage up at immigration. Did you really make that Rhino as big as everyone said?"

Greg was somewhat taken aback, and tilted his head to the side with some confusion.

"Err, yes I did. How did you hear about that? I just did that a few hours ago, I think. Come to think of it, I don't even know what time it is. Or what day. Or month. Or where I am..."

The big purple dragon felt himself getting upset again, but managed to quell the feelings of helplessness for the time being. He was being taken care of, so all was well for now. The wolf must have noticed the twinge of emotions, and came to realize just how much the big fellow had been through lately.

"There there big guy, no getting upset on my watch. The immigration fellow called ahead to let us know an apprentice had been found, and the various terms and conditions involved with your employment. He also let us know about your various antics, so that answers that. Artemis is out at the moment, on one errand or another, and he'll be back later. So! Here's what we're going to do. You're going to take a seat outside at the large table, and I'm going to make you something to eat. Then you can explore the compound until the boss gets back. He'll take care of the rest. Deal?"

Greg couldn't argue, and soon found himself being led back outside the market, to a big stone table near a babbling fountain. There he was left to sit and brood for a few moments, before the wolf fellow came out holding a fairly loaded down tray. A big urn of chicken soup was placed before the dragon, plus a plate of sandwiches, fruit, cheese, and even a huge mug of strong tea. The big dragon sniffed the bounty with a happy sigh, and thanked his host. The wolf sauntered back off again without a word, to tend to some customers whom were still inside the market.

There being nothing better to do, Greg happily tucked into the bounty he was given. The sandwiches were excellent, and the bread was freshly baked. The soup was perhaps the best he'd ever had, as was the cheese and fruit. And to top it all off, the tea was wonderful. Full once more and sated, he gathered up the dishes and set them down on a stand just inside the market. Then he began wandering around the huge compound, and sticking his nose into just about everything.

There were fields of vegetables, and fruit, and even some livestock. Some of the buildings turned out to be greenhouses, which held various seasonal fruits and veggies that needed a higher temperature or humidity level. There were cottages and cabins far back in the livestock fields, plus many barns and workshops. All the things a sizable farm could ever need. If nothing else, this was definitely a well equipped establishment.

In the dead centre of all the open paths, cluttered fields, and many buildings, there was a spherical building surrounded by gardens. It was quite large, and seemed to be made out of a single chunk of stretched out plastic, or some other somewhat flexible material. Greg had to sit down on his haunches for a while and really give the structure a good looking over. It was as if somebody had blown a gigantic bubble, then caused it to set into a thick semi-transparent state. He had of course seen similar constructions back on his old world, but they were mostly built of of concrete sprayed over an inflated air-form. With a nod, he realized that this type of building would have fetched a high price in the designer markets back on Earth.

As he was sitting there, tail thumping this way and that, a lone figure in plain brown robes walked up beside him, and put his clawed hands upon his hips. Greg tilted his head down to better see the creature, whom appeared to be another lizardman with tan scales instead of green. The figure pushed back the hood from his robe, revealing a multitude of head fins. He also tilted his head up towards the dragon, and smiled.

"Do you like this building?"

Greg nodded with a happy expression, once again admiring the seamless geometric perfection of the structure.

"Yes, I must say that I do. It is so simple, yet so elegant at the same time. Like a functional work of art, really."

The lizard beamed, and patted the big pudgy dragon on one fat flank.

"You'll do. And thank you for the complements, the building is of my own design. This is my home, and my office. Please, do come in. I'm going to go out on a limb and assume you're my new apprentice. I am Artemis Strange."

Greg followed the fellow in through a huge round doorway, to a very large main room that contained all sorts of things. The exact scale of the room was hard to determine, as the walls kept sloping away and up everywhere he looked. There were benches and bookshelves that followed the curve of the walls, plus a central fireplace and quite a lot of ample seating. Off in a corner was a winding set of stairs that went up to the top portion of the dome, which was another floor entirely. Using himself as measurement, Greg estimated that the dome was at least a hundred feet in diameter, which gave quite a lot of open space. And much to his delight, enough head room to avoid getting his horns tangled in anything.

The tan lizard directed Greg to a big pile of soft things near the fireplace, so he could get comfortable. The wizard meanwhile sat at a nearby desk, and fetched out some paperwork. He got the various files all stacked up nicely, then tented his clawed fingers together and looked the huge dragon over.

"Well I must say, you certainly did do a number on yourself when you broke the magical barriers. I can only imagine how much of the stuff you absorbed directly. From a few stories I've heard, you likely got quite a high dose. No matter, magic is my business, so I'll help you learn to work with it. Now then, on to your contract. You'll be an employee here for a while, to settle your debts to the state..."

Greg scoffed somewhat at that, figuring he was in for something else entirely.

Artemis did not seem to enjoy being cut off mid sentence, but didn't say anything. Instead, he cleared his throat and waved a clawed hand.

"Did you have something to say on the matter?"

Greg nodded.

"I was of the understanding that I was going to be an indentured servant, or something to that degree. As if I was being punished for an accident."

The robe wearing lizard sighed and covered his face with one hand, shaking it slowly back and forth.

"That damned lizard at immigration services... Always insisting on using the oldest and most blunt terms on the books. Look, you're not indentured, or a servant, or a slave, or a prisoner, or anything of that nature. That may have been the case a very long time ago, but things change. Here's the long and the short of it. The state placed many fines against you for the time and resources required to get you here. Frankly I think some of the charges are silly, as like you say, this was an accident. If I understand your file correctly, if nothing had gone wrong you'd still be human, still be living on earth, and none the wiser of magic and the like."

Greg nodded that this was the case, and allowed Artemis to go on.

"Anyways, be that as it may, the charges are there. I agreed to take you on as a paid employee and apprentice, as I was looking to help further the art in another creature. You'll get room and board from me, plus a little pocket money to cover any extra things you might want from town. In exchange, I pay off your fines. To completely pay off all the fines, you'll have to work for me for 2 years. But I'm not a slave driver, so I hope you find the time acceptable. When you're done, you should have enough knowledge and experience to work for yourself, or get better work somewhere else. Or if you'd like, you can stay here and take better pay, as I won't be paying off debts on your behalf."

The tan lizard took a moment to take a drink of water, before continuing.

"So that's it. I'll train you, give you work, give you a place to live, feed you, and even pay you a little. In exchange, you'll help out around the farm, in the market if you're needed, and anywhere else around the compound. Even I have to go out sometimes to repair a fence. If this is acceptable to you, then we'll get started. If not, you can go back to immigration and request a different placement. Though you might not like what you get. Or you could run off to the hills and live off the land, but that's no way for a dragon to get by. Trust me, this is for the best."

Greg though it over for a few minutes, and was thankfully given the silence to do so. It really was a good deal, when he thought about it. Here was a fellow interested in his well being, that was willing to pay to keep him around. He supposed that magic really was a big deal here, or something. Perhaps apprentices were hard to come by. Shrugging to himself, he realized that he really didn't have any better options, so he nodded his head in agreement.

Artemis smiled, and put the papers away in his desk for safe keeping. Then he stood up and waved a hand around the room.

"I'm glad we're in agreement. Well, I had better start by giving you the 2 bit tour. As I already mentioned, this is my home and office. I live upstairs, and like keeping it my private space. You're free to come and go from this lower area as you please, as you'll be studying here pretty soon. I've already got a place on the compound that should work out just fine as a place for you to live. You're not the first large creature that has passed on through. Come on, I'll take you there."

The big purple dragon was led outside and further back into the compound, next to some of the greenhouses and a workshop. There was a gravel path leading to what appeared to be rather plus sized cellar doors, made of sturdy wood indeed. Upon further inspection, there were various wood and stone structures poking up out of the grass as well, but that was it. In general, it seemed to be the entryway to a huge underground storage cellar. Greg blinked and looked down to Artemis, who looked back up at him.

"This should do. Go ahead, take a look inside. I'll wander back to my office for a while, come meet me there when you're done."

Greg thought the structure was somewhat questionable, but then again he'd been living in shipping containers for weeks. He reached out and opened the huge doors, noting that they had quite a bit of weight to them. They stood open on their own however, locked in place on large steel hinges. This was good, as he didn't want them slamming shut on his tail. The doors revealed a large stone ramp going down into the earth, which was wide enough to hold two dragons his size standing side by side. Almost immediately Greg was reminded of old military bunkers from Earth's past, built to withstand the impact and explosion of crude nuclear devices.

Walking down the ramp, Greg soon found himself in a rather open and comfortable looking mixed wooden and stone room, with high ceilings. There were sky-lights up above, which explained the things poking up out of the grass above. The room was well lit and warm, and even appeared to have electric lights. There was a dragon sized kitchen off to one side of the big room, and even a huge bed sunk into the floor somewhat. To top it all off, there were bookshelves filled with tomes and novels, a wall safe and lock-box for personal goods, and some furniture for smaller folk.

Along the back wall past the kitchen, there was a doorway with a large cloth screen draped across it. Poking his nose behind the curtain, he found the remaining facilities required for a good home. Namely a large toilet pit set into the floor, which seemed functional enough. There was even a cover and a pull-rod overhead for flushing. And to top it all off, there was a pool sized bath tub, and a cabinet full of various cleaning products. Greg smiled, and realized that he may have just found a home again. He made a mental note to give that tub a try when he had the next opportunity, and really get cleaned up.

He took one more quick look around the underground warren, and went back up the ramp to see Artemis once more. The tan lizard was once more at his desk, fiddling with a pile of metal disks. He looked up as the big wall of purple lard advanced upon him.

"Ah, there you are. I trust everything down there will work out fine? I thought it might. Now then, I like to start off new employees with some good times on their first day. So take these, and go into the village. Look around, enjoy yourself, and enjoy your new living quarters whenever you get back. We'll get started tomorrow, after breakfast."

Artemis slid over a small pile of copper and silver disks, plus an empty leather pouch to carry them in. Greg looked them over, and found himself confused.

"Umm... what are these for?"

The tan lizard arched an eye-ridge and opened his fanged jaws to speak, then noticed the real confusion on the big dragons snout. He chuckled somewhat instead, and fetched out some different disks from some hidden place in his desk.

"Ah, my mistake. I failed to remember that your kind don't use this kind of currency anymore. Or currency at all? You still use money, right?"

Greg nodded, and gave a brief summary of the universal electronic credit system in place at his home archology. Or what used to be his home, anyways. Artemis made a mental note to learn more about all the advanced technology Greg had grown up around. The lizard meanwhile took four different disks, and laid them all out in a line. They got progressively larger, and appeared to be made of different metals.

"Alright, here's how our money works. This small disk is a copper coin. It is of course made out of copper. This is the lowest denomination, and you won't find much that goes for a copper. A few of them might buy you a meal at some poor service establishment, or get you some treats at the candy store. The next coin is the silver, and you'll likely handle lots of these. One silver will buy you a good meal anywhere, plenty of goods and services, and even a room for the night at an inn. One good rule of thumb to follow is the price of a pint of beer. If a bar-keep asks you for more than one silver for a full pint, you tell him to go to hell."

Greg chuckled, and made mental notes about the various price of goods as he went. No doubt he'd learn in time. Every economy could be figured out eventually. In the end, it was all math.

"The next one here is a gold coin. One of these could buy you a really fancy set of leather clothing, custom made for any shape or figure. A few of them might buy you a solar tractor, or even a small house of your own. Finally we have the platinum coin. I only have one of them, as they're not a commonly used form of currency. A handful of these would buy my entire property and businesses, if not the entire village further along the road. The whole system works on units of 10. 10 coppers to a silver, 10 silver to a gold, and 10 gold to a platinum. I'll be giving you some copper and a silver or two every week, as promised. It isn't enough to go hog wild at the bar every weekend, but it should help you get the odd treat when required. Fair?"

Greg agreed that it was more than fair, and gathered his small bounty of copper and silver coins into the leather pouch, and draped it around his neck with a large leather cord. He found he could easily fish out coins with one free paw, where it was, and put them back again without any trouble. He thanked Artemis for his trouble and turned to leave, then turned back and picked the lizard right up off his feet. Artemis found himself getting hugged rather firmly into quite a lot of fat dragon underbelly, and heard a very happy rumble coming from deep within the purple dragon. He chuckled, and returned the gesture in kind. Soon he was placed back on his feet once more, and got to see a happy dragon trundling away to the village with his shiny new coins.

"Yep, this one is definitely going to be a keeper."

Laughing somewhat and shaking his head, the lizard went back to work at his desk, mulling over large scrolls and the like.

Greg meanwhile had taken to the sky, and quickly flew to the village. He was polite enough to land just outside of town, and walk the rest of the way in. He doubted anyone would appreciate a large heavy dragon landing heavily in the middle of the road. The rest of his evening was spent poking his nose into one shop after another, seeing what they sold and how much it went for. Then he made comparisons to his old familiar credit system, and arranged facts and figures in his head. Prices were actually a little cheaper than he was used to, and the money was different. Other than that, nothing really changed. He got himself dinner at a cafe, and happily turned over a single silver coin for a huge plate of freshly cooked meats, and various fruits.

After seconds, he wandered on to a few other shops, and got himself some chocolate to munch on, and some other tasty sweet things. The shop keepers were all too happy to part the well padded dragon of his coins, and likely add to his padding in the process. Finally Greg visited a general store, and managed to find a few important things he felt he needed. With a few coins remaining in his pouch, he draped his purchases over a few random horns, and once more flew back to the farming compound that was his home. He easily slid into his underground warren and closed the doors behind him, just as the sun was going down.

Not long after he was lounging in the big stone tub, letting it fill to capacity with nicely warm water. Once he shut the taps off, he fetched out his new purchase, and hoped it worked well. It was a family sized jug of liquid soap. He uncorked the thing and poured almost half of it into the water, and began sloshing all four paws around to really work up a good lather. Several minutes later, he had a bubble bath fit for a king, or one big fat dragon in this case.

Sighing, he relaxed in the warm frothy mounds of soap fluff, and really let himself get clean. He decided this was the best day ever, and really relished in the pleasure of a good bubbly bath, and eventually the pleasure of his own body. In the end, he was pleased that the bathing chamber was easy to clean, and had large drains.

Dragons were most definitely virile.

* * *

Greg woke up on the dragon sized bed once the light level had risen enough in his underground warren, and smiled to himself. He was comfortable, the night before had been delightful, and he felt at home. He also felt hungry, so he decided to do something about it. Within minutes he was up, up the ramp, and into the compound, wandering to the big semi-transparent dome in the middle of it all. Poking his snout inside, he found that Artemis was not there. Or at least, he was not on ground level. Shrugging, he raised his head outside once more, and sniffed the air.

Several powerful smells came wafting in, and most of them definitely smelled like breakfast. So the big pudgy critter followed his nose, and made his way to the back of the farmers market. There he found what appeared to be everyone on staff all starting to line up, helping themselves to a long buffet full of goodies. One of the cooks caught Greg's attention with the wave of a spatula, and pointed off in the direction of a larger warmer that contained just one big basin of food. They must have placed it there out of consideration for his portion requirements.

Greg thanked the cook with a smile and a nod, and took the required steps in the direction of the serving station.

It was loaded up with eggs, various cooked meats, lots of oatmeal, fruit, and various beverages. As it was apparently all for him, the pudgy dragon happily grabbed the whole thing and a conveniently placed serving spoon, and sat down to eat. He found he could rear up somewhat from his sitting position, and lean his weight against the back of the market building. A few planks groaned in protest, but the structure held. This enabled Greg to use his forelimbs without any trouble, and shovel one tasty bite after another down his long throat.

It all proved rather filling, and he found himself quite sated by the time he had licked up the last crumb. Though some voice in the back of his head was already asking what he'd be having for lunch. He rubbed a paw over his considerable middle, and concluded that it took a lot of work to stay looking this fine. Artemis walked up to his plus sized student after he'd finished eating, and patted the large dragon on his big exposed belly.

"Well good morning, Greg. I see you found your breakfast OK. Hopefully that was enough?"

Greg belched somewhat and nodded, smiling down at his new boss and teacher. He made a mental note to thank the cooks somehow.

"Oh yes, that was quite filling, thank you. Well, I've eaten, so what's next?"

Artemis pointed one clawed hand at a group of wolves and a gryphon that were just finishing their own meals, and starting to pick up tool kits and other equipment.

"Follow these guys around. They'll be going around the compound mending things, tending things, and generally doing farm related stuff. They'll teach you what to do, and bring you back here for lunch. After lunch you'll come to my sanctuary, and we'll start your training. We'll stop at dinner. After dinner, you're on your own for the rest of the night. Sound good?"

Greg nodded, thinking that it sounded fine indeed. Manual labour out in a field might have worried him months ago, but now he was the size of a cottage. He could probably bench press two tractors strapped together, and barely raise his heart level. He doubted that some hands-on work would phase him in the least. Artemis went off to tend to his own affairs, and Greg went off with the workers.

He spent all morning driving huge poles into the dirt, helping to dig trenches, tend to crops, and even round up some livestock. During a rest break late in the day, Greg felt an ominous gurgling deep down in his guts, and quickly aimed his rear end down-wind from the workforce. He jumped somewhat as he produced quite the loud emission of gas, and mixed purple mist, which shot out over the pastures.

All the workers looked up and over at the loud noise, and saw a blushing dragon with a paw over his face. They chuckled to themselves, then caught sight of something else entirely. The purple mist collected around a stray chicken, which suddenly surged out several sizes bigger, and quite a deal rounder. Then it puffed up again, and again, before exploding in a shower of feathers. Everyone watching blinked for a while, before roaring with laughter, slapping one another on the back as they enjoyed the crazy situation.

Greg soon felt like he'd get along with these folks rather well. Though he made a mental note to try and avoid bursting too much livestock. No doubt they were more valuable in a decidedly less exploded state.

Lunch came and went, with plenty of sandwiches and other tasty treats to keep a big dragon nice and happily full. He washed it all down with an urn of fresh milk, and another one of warm tea. He learned once more that the cooking staff were used to dealing with plus sized creatures on the farm. Before long he was lounging happily in the big dome, reading through some books Artemis had given him to start off with. The lizard reasoned that before he learned anything else, he should learn about his new home.

He learned that this world had been around for thousands of years, and that most of the occupants had come here from Earth, via various means. It was quite a long ways away from the Sol system, and some reasoned that it might even exist outside of what Terran scientists considered "normal" space. Then again, it might just be normal space, but with different technology. One thing that Greg soon learned via book lore, was that on this world, science and magic were considered the same thing. Magic was considered its own field of study, however, like how chemistry was different than astrophysics. It had rules, laws, people who researched it, the works. Not many were gifted enough to work with it however, but the energy was everywhere, just waiting to be used.

It was a pleasing thought, to think that his skill in the sciences may be of use after all. He spent the rest of the afternoon reading through one book or another, surprising himself by committing everything to memory in a relatively short period of time. Life as a dragon was still just full of surprises. Once more meal time came, and Greg ate well, waddling back to his warren in a food stuffed state of bliss. Soon it was time for a bath, then some recreational activities, then bed. The sight and thought of that popped chicken kept coming back into his mind, and he wondered if he could do that to himself. Minus the bursting, of course. The thought made it difficult to focus on sleep, but eventually he tired and drifted off.

His days passed much the same for quite some time. He worked the farm, studied with Artemis, ate, slept, and gradually grew larger. After several months he was starting to learn the absolute basics of magic, namely feeling the energy inside himself and in the world itself, and trying to make it manifest. His first few attempts did nothing other than make him belch up larger clouds of swirling purple gas, which was apparently a good start. At one point he caused Artemis to swell up like a parade float, and bob around the big domed structure. Greg had a laugh at it for a while, and Artemis didn't seem to mind. Eventually the tan blimp got back to normal, and announced that Greg was just chalk full of magic. Quite literally, it seemed.

Greg soon found he could expand himself if he was careful, and spent many evenings swollen up huge and round, filling his warren to the limit. Other nights he lounged in the bath, working a little magic to make the bubbles froth themselves up, rather than having to splash around. On one such evening, Artemis surprised him by walking into the bathing area while Greg was neck deep in a growing mound of suds, and nodded with appreciation.

"Well, it seems you're getting the hang of the basics. Using a little energy to make air force itself under the water, and churn it all up. I must ask though, what are you doing? I've never seen anyone do... whatever it is you're doing."

Greg blushed somewhat, then waved a fluff covered paw around at the rather impressive volume of suds.

"Well... I'm enjoying a bubble bath."

Artemis blinked, and looked over the huge mound of fluff once more.

"Yes, so it would seem. Is this something that people used to do back on Earth?"

Greg nodded his large horned head, which was also just covered in still rising soap fluff. All that could really be seen of the dragon was his head poking out of the sea of giant suds, which by now was starting to touch the ceiling in places. Artemis carefully kept a neutral expression, and took a few steps back from the advancing wall. The big purple dragon cleared his throat somewhat, looking bashful, and tried to explain.

"Yes, this was one of many relaxing things I indulged in. Its really quite nice, you should try it sometime."

Artemis shrugged and thought it might be worth a shot. If nothing else, it might be a new venture to get into some day. The folks around town were always willing to try new things, especially fun things.

"Well, I'll keep it in mind. You hold onto that idea, it might be worth something some day. You might want to end that spell of yours, before you flood the entire warren."

By that point only Greg's eyes and nose were visible in the fluff, and bubbles were pouring out an air vent and spewing into the sky, like a soapy volcano. Greg hastily willed the fluff to stop foaming itself up, and all was calm once again. His sheepish expression was completely hidden, and Artemis walked away chuckling to himself. Greg was once again left to enjoy his bath, which by now had gotten somewhat crazy. But he enjoyed the sheer volume of suds all the same, even though it took quite a while for it all to burst and wash away.

The large fellow went to bed once more thinking about what he'd been told, namely that something so simple as a bubble bath was unheard of here. What else was he used to that they might be missing in their lives? He decided to write it all down some day, as possible business ideas for when he was on his own.

Eventually he slept once more. His next day awaited him.

* * *

Time seemed to pass by quickly for Greg, as did everyone else on the huge farming compound. There was an old saying back on Earth, namely do what you love, and you'll never work again. Greg enjoyed every day, with good food, good friends, and a good time studying the science of magic. He went from a poorly educated magical creature to one whom was actually in control of his power, and who could bend it to his will. Somewhat, at least. As he learned from Artemis, one was never truly finished being a student of magic. Such was true for his old Earth bound sciences as well, so it was a concept he understood well.

Months flew by, and before he knew it the big pudgy dragon was celebrating his second year in his new form. He had only recently paid off his debts, and was now working for Artemis as a fully paid farmhand and apprentice. It meant more coin in his lock-box, which had become savings for the future. There would come a day when he'd strike out on his own, and that day seemed to be coming closer and closer.

One morning after breakfast, Artemis called Greg into his large spherical office building, and served tea and snacks. Greg had grown considerably over the past year or so, and was now about 50ft long, and roughly 25 at the shoulder. His underground warren was a tight fit, but it still served its purpose. Still, he'd taken to sleeping outside more often than not of late.

Artemis had a small tray of extra breakfast goodies and a small cup of tea, while Greg had a giant dragon sized mug and a huge serving tray loaded with anything that looked edible. Dragons needed a lot of energy to keep going, especially big fat ones. After a few quiet moments munching and slurping, the tan lizard cleared his throat and looked up at his plus sized apprentice, and smiled.

"Well, I just got the paperwork back. Your time as an apprentice is finished."

Greg sputtered in his large tea mug briefly, then spoke up with his rather deep and booming voice.

"What paperwork? I don't recall filling out any paperwork. You didn't tell me my apprenticeship was ending."

Artemis laughed to himself, and thumped his scale covered tail around with obvious delight.

"Well that's half the fun of being the master. I don't have to tell the student every little thing. Several weeks ago I decided you were getting ready to stop being my apprentice, and start learning the craft on your own. You've been self taught most of the time you've been here as it is, and have definitely picked up the talents of Magic faster than most. I figured your background in sciences helped."

Greg nodded, and looked back over all he'd learned so far. Quite a lot of the rules and instructions were the same as other sciences. You followed directions, there was frequently math involved, and there were limitations. Past that point, it really was an art form, seeing as you could think up new magic that other people hadn't tried before.

He had expected to be an apprentice for years, so the news definitely came as a surprise. Waving a large pudgy paw, be bade Artemis to continue.

"As I was saying, I've figured for weeks now that you were ready. When I saw you floating over the compound like some sort of airship, all bloated and round, I figured you knew what you were doing. So, that's that. I could probably teach you a few more things, but you really need to start exploring your own talents in a direction of your own choosing."

Greg had one burning thought in mind.

"So, what does that mean for me around here?"

Artemis shrugged, and took another slurp of his beverage.

"Well you can stay on as a farm hand if you want, but frankly that would be a waste of your abilities. If you want advice, I'd go count that growing hoard of yours, and think about what you can do with it. You could do well for yourself just selling your services as a magic user. Speaking of which, I didn't finish mentioning the paperwork..."

Artemis reached over his shoulder and grabbed some stuff off his desk, and passed it over to Greg.

"This states that you've finished an apprenticeship with me, and that I've judged you fit to become a junior mage. When you've studied enough on your own, and possibly come up with some new magic of your own, you can report to the guild or government that you're ready to further your career. At which time you'll report for testing, before being granted the title of senior magic user, or wizard, or whatever you decide to call yourself. But don't worry about that for now, you'll probably be studying and working for a decade or more before that becomes an issue."

Greg once again nodded his large head, and considered the prospect. Perhaps it was time to strike out on his own, or at least time to start seriously planning. Eventually he finished his snack and excused himself from Artemis, and padded off in the direction of his underground warren. The doors opened easily as always, but it was definitely a tight squeeze to get through them and down the ramp. He had to really suck in his gut, and was already wearing grooves into the wall.

His lock-box was just where he left it, sitting on the side of a well used counter. As he had done so many times before, he flipped the top open, and dumped the growing pile of coins onto the ground. Then with a grunt, he flopped down onto the soft surface of his bed, and began making piles of the round disks. He had quite a few gold coins now, traded up from piles of silver at the banks in town. There was also a good number of silver coins, and a few copper for good measure. Doing some mental math, he figured he might have enough to purchase some land, and further an idea he'd had in mind for at least a year now. He could expand the operation as he went, which made him snicker to himself. Expansion would likely be on the menu.

He decided to take a trip into the village, and see what he could be done. He didn't need quite everything up front, as no doubt the banks would lend him some gold. Provided of course he could prove that he'd be able to repay it. Still, he liked the idea of staying entirely outside the credit system. If that meant living cheap and having a smaller set of services to start with, then so be it.

Artemis was all too willing to let him take the day off, and soon the large corpulent dragon was sailing through the skies. It was a very short flight to the village, but he decided to enjoy himself and flew in big lazy circles around the general area, scoping out any land that didn't appear to be in use. There were quite a few medium sized plots that would likely serve his needs quite nicely, and hopefully provide the space for all sorts of business opportunities. That and the odd tidbit of shenanigans.

Eventually he plopped back down to the ground just outside of town like always, and walked on in down the middle of the road. Many of the village folk waved at him as he tromped along, doing his best to not shake the ground too much. Being as as large as he was, he really weighed quite a lot. Simply flopping down on his front too hard would likely knock a building off its foundations. He was quick to find the office he was looking for, namely one that dealt with land ownership and titles. Sitting his huge rump down as out of the way as he could, he leaned over and politely knocked on the roof, which was 3 floors up.

Several attentive faces in the windows looked over at the huge dragon with mixed surprise and shock, that gave way to familiar waves and the odd smile. Eventually a well dressed bipedal turtle came walking out on ground level, and Greg extended one fat claw-tipped finger to shake. The turtle took a grip of said offered finger and did his best to shake, while Greg was careful not to lift the fellow right off his feet. Tilting his head right down to better see the guy, he decided it would be a good idea to announce why he was here.

"Hello down there. Did you or any of your fellows have the time today to discuss land sales? I'd like to have a look at a few plots near the village."

The green-shelled turtle fellow shrugged and looked at a small book from one of his pockets, then nodded.

"Sure, I've got the time. Follow me, and I'll take you around to the various lots. Were there any in particular you were looking for?"

The big pudgy purple dragon explained that he was after a medium sized plot. He needed more land than just a country home, but less land than a major farm. Something right in the middle would do just fine. And he didn't intend on growing many crops, so the land didn't need to be prime farming material. The turtle fellow fetched out another book, presumably a listing of parcels around the area, and ticked off a few that might be of interest. Then he walked over to what looked like a very complicated bicycle, which turned out to be electric.

"Alright, just follow me, and I'll give you the tour."

Greg wiggled his huge wings for effect, and gestured skyward with his snout.

"Would you prefer I just flew you over to the sites?"

The turtle blanched somewhat and shook his head rapidly, wiping his brow with a wad of cloth.

"No no, that's quite alright. Being too far off the ground doesn't agree with me. I prefer to ride."

With that he took off on the two wheeled conveyance, putting forth a fairly good clip. Greg found he could keep up with the bike at a steady walk, thanks to his larger size and stride. Over the rest of the morning the two toured the dirt roads that ran just behind the village, on all sides. There were quite a few bits of property available, some more useful than others. One was completely covered by trees, and would need a lot of work to make it really useful. It was scratched off the list. Another had a fairly fast moving stream passing through it, plus a low level spot that showed signs of previous flooding. Greg kept that one in mind.

Other plots of land were too rocky, or were too far out from town for his needs. He kept his mind on the relatively flat and squared of land with the stream, and two others that were highly prized as farm land. Reaching into his trusty coin pouch, he fetched out a small stack of silver coins, and handed them down to the turtle. Some were to pay for his time, the rest were to reserve the sale on all three plots until he'd made up his mind.

The turtle wrote him up a bill, and explained that he had reserved purchase rights for 60 days on the land. If he hadn't made up his mind by then, the land would go up for sale again. With that he bowed gratefully to the large dragon, got back on his bike, and went back into town. Greg decided to head back to the farming compound, and was just in time for a generous lunch. He ate his fill, and flagged down Artemis when he saw the fellow heading back toward his spherical office.

"Artemis! Hold up a sec, I wanted to talk to you."

The two padded on side by side, eventually making themselves comfortable in the large semi-transparent building.

"What's on your mind, Greg?"

The big fellow explained his morning so far, and how he'd been out looking at land. He also mentioned that he had a few ideas in mind for services he could offer, but didn't go into direct detail. What he did mention however, was that he needed a building. And with a claw, he pointed at the big dome all around them.

"Would you be willing to sell me the plans to build one of these for myself? They're definitely dragon sized."

Artemis thought over the offer for a bit, looking over his so-far unique structure with interest. He had been approached before by people wanting to buy the plans, or spells required to whip one up. Perhaps it was time to enter the real estate market too?

"Very well, I could arrange that. As you might have guessed, the dome was put together with magic. You'll have to get all the materials together of course, and the internal work was just normal custom made furnishings and the like. I'll write down the spell for you, and we can settle on a price."

Greg nodded and went to fish out his coin box, and came back after waiting for a while to let Artemis do his work. Eventually they agreed upon a price that was high, but fair. After all, this was a complete functional building for the most part, and a very unique design. Artemis had made the spell one use, with a few nifty little magic triggers that destroyed it after Greg had learned it. He also made Greg promise not to go selling the plans to anyone else once he'd learned how to do it. The big fellow agreed, knowing full well that promises held weight in this world.

Looking over the scroll he was surprised at how easy it all was, and how easy the plans could be manipulated to produce as large a structure as one wanted. As he reflected upon the instructions and made sure they were committed to memory, the scroll burst into flames and was mere ash in seconds. Greg chuckled, noting that Artemis always did like to do things with a little flash.

That done, he announced that he was intending on leaving soon, to start on his own four feet. It wasn't a big surprise to anyone, and they were happy to let him stay on for a few more days as he gathered the required components to build his new home. He needed various plastics, rough glass, metals, and other components to feed the dome as it took shape. It would be quite an interesting undertaking, that much was sure.

Days passed, and bit by bit he was able to get all his plans set in motion. He wound up purchasing the squared off plot of land with the river, plus all the stuff he needed to set about building a new base of operations. He also bought plenty of food, and other gadgets, to further his ideas. This left him almost broke, but it was worth the gamble. He still had enough to feed himself for months, should the worst come to pass. Plus he was quite comfortable living outside, and could likely get work anywhere once again.

After a week he had Artemis join him out on his new land, which was bare minus a large circular pad of stone which had been planted in the ground at the rear of the property. Much to his former teachers delight, the land was just on the other side of the village from his compound, making it easy to get to.

After all, he intended on staying friends with the huge purple dragon.

Greg had invited Artemis to watch as he worked the spell that made his own dome, and he intended on putting on quite the show. With a grin, he looked over his shoulder at the smaller tan lizard.

"Are you ready?"

Artemis flipped back the hood from his cloak and smiled, then waved a paw.

"By all means, continue."

With that, Greg reared up on his hind legs, and rubbed his paws together. Tail stuck up and out for balance, he began manipulating the energies required, waving his clawed paws this way and that. The piles of materials all floated up and above the stone platform, then plopped down onto it and began to liquify. The mess churned and bubbled, mixing itself up until it looked like mercury, all pooled together. Slowly but surely the mass of liquid, spun around and spread out, coating the entire stone platform with its thick gooey mass.

Satisfied, Greg began the next part of the spell, waving his paws around and tweaking a few things as they came to mind. Artemis could feel the power coursing through the air, and was pleased to note how easily his former student changed the spell as he went to add in little details, or fix growing errors. As the two watched, the mass of goop began to rise up in the middle, doming out and obviously filling full of air. It swelled rapidly like a balloon, or Greg when he was in the mood for such antics. Foot after foot the mass swelled outward, until it was a perfect sphere against the stone base. Then it just kept on growing, with Greg smiling impishly all the while.

Already it was larger than the dome Artemis lived in, and still it gained size and mass. Greg rumbled with pleasure at the sight of the expanding form, and shifted his legs somewhat to hide his sudden growing arousal at the massive spherical form. Hidden or not, Artemis could smell the dragons arousal, and placed a paw over his face with a chuckle. Were all dragons so loaded down with kinks?

When the dome was more than double the size of the one back at the farming compound, Greg stopped with a happy sigh, and let his paws rest down on the ground once more. The surface of the sphere rapidly started to set, and thicken from the outside in. As the two watched, it took on its signature transparent look, though it was less so on one side than the other. There was also a bright spot and a dark shade along different parts, which wound up making Artemis smirk once more. From a distance, the whole dome looked like a giant soap bubble. Plus the tinted side would block out the worst of the sun from the day, while the light side would allow maximum illumination during the morning and late evening. The tan lizard had to admit that it was an improvement on his design.

As a final touch, a large yawning portal opened in the glassy sphere, then all was silent. Greg turned his head around to look down at his former teacher, and smiled.

"Ta-da."

Artemis laughed with a loud bark, and applauded the fine work. The two went inside the still setting structure, careful not to touch the still somewhat sticky walls.

"A fine job indeed, Greg. This should provide more than enough room for you, I would think."

Greg nodded and slowly turned around in a circle, looking out at the landscape beyond the dome. Everything was blotted out somewhat from the tinting, but not enough that it didn't function somewhat like a window. Plus the interior was brightly lit, but with no glare. It was as near to perfect as he was going to get, that much was certain. Greg planned to camp outside for several days at least, to let the big structure set properly, and develop really thick walls. If his math was right, the dome would probably still be standing centuries from now.

Artemis eventually wandered back to his own home, and left Greg to his. The dragon was busy for several weeks to come, building this and that, both with magic and good old fashioned manual labour. Slowly but surely his home and potential business came into being, thanks in part to people in town already knowing him and being curious as to what he could do. He had a big sign carved and painted by a local artist, and hung by the road right on the border of his land.

"Greg's Grotto. For services, enquire within!"

Greg thought the name funny. Seeing as the dome wasn't really a Grotto. It did provide a place out of the sun however, and would soon be quite wet within, so it technically worked. Nobody argued the point. He had the sign maker leave space for additions and alterations to his services, as his business grew. For now, he had a limited docket. He decided to use his magic for both productive means, and the fun subject of personal alteration. Specifically, he sold bottles of self-foaming bubble bath, and could make people grow or put on mass. He also offered his services when it came to transportation. He could fly cargo, or people, over long distances without any worry.

Almost immediately he was making fairly good coin running large volumes of cargo to distant towns, or dropping off the odd business person with money to spend and no time to waste. Several people enjoyed his bath products, and wound up helping to provide a rather stable market for the stuff. Not everyone was keen on being huge, round, fat, or bloated as Greg was, but there were a few takers. More than a few customers wanted to be giant sized for a day, or try being all round and floaty. Still others wanted to put on some serious mass, for one reason or another. He was visited by a giant sized Rhino after a few months of operation, who hugged him very happily, kissed him on the cheek, and announced himself as the fellow he accidentally enlarged years back. He had done well for himself in wrestling, and wanted a little more bulk to give him an edge. Apparently other creatures had taken to the giant league of sumo wrestling, and all were doing their best to be the biggest and best around.

Greg was all too happy to help, and worked a little magic to add several more feet to the already huge pachyderm, and quite a few more tons of thick blubber. That did the trick, and he was paid for his time. The big fellow even added a tip for the initial enlarging he'd been given way back in the day, and stomped off with a happy swaying of his plus sized backside. Greg found that he liked what he saw, and had to take the afternoon off in a "special" bath to deal with a rising need.

As time passed, Greg put the finishing touches on his home, and stopped living outside. The top half of the dome was converted into a dragon sized condo, with all the services a big drake could ever want. Rather than building stairs into the dome walls, he had slats left open in the circular floor, that he could climb in and out of, then fly down to ground level. It proved to be much more dragon friendly. It also kept casual observers from climbing up into his private space, and catching an eyeful of dragon when he was busying "enjoying" himself. It suited all parties just fine.

Gradually his finances continued to improve, and he was able to keep working on his land, and his dome. The ground level had been left empty all this time, minus a desk and some chairs for any guests or clients. Eventually he hired a team of masons to convert the ground level into a giant series of pools, with water heaters, bubble jets, open air public showers, and various benches to sit on all around the huge dome.

He left enough space to have a counter for the rest of his business interests, and sitting areas for customers. The sign maker altered his sign upon request, and helped announce to the world that Greg's Grotto was now a bath house. The village and surrounding farming population simply loved the idea, and within days of opening he always had a fair number of people coming and going from his little slice of paradise. A bath cost a silver, and that was that. People were all too happy to pay, and were left to indulge. Some pools were deeper than others, and could even fit Greg. Giant creatures from all around came to make use of the huge pools, making sure there was always lots of bubbles to really get cleaned up. Some pools were left crystal clear and either cool or warm, depending on the season. Some folks just wanted to go for a swim. Thanks to the stream, he had plenty of fresh water on hand, heated up for people to shower off at the end of their bathing session.

He set no time limits, so people could hang out all day if they wanted. The types that would usually tipped Greg at the end of the day, or bought some bottled bubbles to take home with them. It wound up being a very successful business, one which kept Greg fed and happy. Plus after hours he had the run of the whole building, and could fill it right to the ceiling with bubbles if he really wanted to. And he did, more than a few times.

Life was good for Greg, and he once again wondered how he'd ever gotten by in his old life. This was so much better!

As time continued to pass, he had to hire staff to help manage the bath house, and mind his property when he was off flying somewhere. It didn't do any good to leave the place empty when he was out winging around. Greg settled into life as part of this formerly strange and now familiar new community. He was a respected magic user, talented inventor, and damned efficient cargo hauler.

Many people came to him to partake in his alteration magics, either for short or long-term periods of time. The bath house became a daily thing for many, even Artemis and most of his staff. It was a very social place to be, with so many friendly and familiar faces, all covered in soap fluff. Greg never had to worry about money again, and still lives there to this day. The village eventually grew into a town as more people moved in, but not much changed.

Everyone new to the area was always told to go visit the Grotto, and the resident Dragon. Relax, have a bath, and see if any of his products and services interest you. If nothing else, he would certainly expand your horizons!