《Foreststorm》


 Chapter 1 - Birth

    She ran. Constantly fleeing from unseen foes, herded in this direction and back again. They were catching up! She ran faster, ever onwards and never stopping. Whenever she had a small break she¡¯d frantically work on something.


    She woke, panicked and naked, pressed together by unseen walls. She had been caught! She had to escape somehow! Panic started encroaching her consciousness as she searched for a way to escape the dark confines of the prison pressing at her from all sides.


    Doing the only thing she could think of she used her legs to push outward with all her strength. She was strangely weak, she didn''t feel like she could run at all. Yet she could feel the prison bending slightly, she accomplished nothing though, the prison pushed back until she ran out of strength.


    After a small pause to regain her strength she tried again, pushing against the same spot, this time she felt something crack, a little bit of light streaming in her prison and electing a small squeak.


    Squeak?


    Something was wrong about that.


    That didn''t matter now. She had to escape!


    She pushed and squeaked from the strain.


    And again.


    And again.


    Finally her foot broke through, giving her a first taste of the outside world.


    It was cold.


    Very cold.


    She needed a little time to steel her resolve she continued, retracted her foot and and started working on the edges of the hole in her prison. A prison she was pretty sure was an egg. Something felt wrong about that.This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.


    She used the next few moments to widen the hole until she was confident in her escape.


    She started squirming, slowly wiggling herself out of her prison.


    With a final, victorious squeak she managed to get out and look around.


    Her prison had indeed been an egg, she was surrounded by eggs that blocked her vision. She squeaked in indignant protest - there was no parent to take care of her! She was too weak to stand up too, not surprising considering she had just hatched.


    Slowly she started leaving the confines of the loose ring of eggs around her, crawling with ease she didn''t expect. The eggs were heated by warm stones, perfect for small breaks to regain her strength.


    Looking at her arms she was startled to see them clad in pale white scales. She didn''t know why; something about that felt wrong.


    Another egg started shaking just before she managed to get past the other eggs, protesting squeaking coming from within.


    After she passed two eggs she came in view of a wall of mud, someone dug a hole in the ground and used the material to create walls.


    The exit was perhaps a five of the eggs from her position. Nobody seemed willing to get her so she would have to search for someone herself!


    After a short pause to regain her strength next to a conveniently placed warm stone she resumed crawling towards the exit. She didn''t know how long it took her to finally reach the exit, but she needed another break, her small body was already shaking with exhaustion and cold.


    Looking around; she noticed how small the shack truly was, she wouldn''t be able to stand in here once fully grown!


    Behind her she could hear three of her siblings squeaking - escaping their eggs - one already moving in her direction. After a small rest she restarted the exhaustive work of getting up the slope up into whatever the world had waiting for her.


    Once she reached her goal huge arms reached for her, wrapping her in comfortably warm furs. She looked at the being, a humanoid lizard with green brown scales, a long triangular head, small horns, moveable ears and brown eyes. She got the distinct impression the being was female even though she didn''t know why. The being would be about a nine times her height tall if standing fully upright, though she was naturally hunched forwards. She squeaked at her - angry - you couldn''t expect a newly hatched child to work that hard!


    The being smiled a toothy smile, gave her a small piece of meat and patted her on the back until she started getting sleepy. She didn''t want to sleep!


    Her traitorous body didn''t care about that though and the world faded to black even as she fought against it.

 Chapter 2 - Growing up.

    When she woke again she was surrounding by pale sleeping lizard infants, all her size and with rumbling stomachs. She squeaked, she started to get hungry again. Soon enough the same female as before picked her up. Instead of giving her the food she deserved she was carried outside, another adult entering the hut immediately after they left.


    The village of her birth was small - more of a hamlet really - she couldn''t even see a dozen huts! They were in the middle of a forest, tall trees concealing most of the the sky above. Her carrier went towards the group of fires she could hear somewhere to her left. Most of the fires were surrounded by about five to eight people while one only held two. One was taller than all the lizards she could see while the other looked decidedly average. She was pretty sure they were important, some kind of leader.


    The female presented her to the two leaders. Both stared at her for a little while - she started back - expressing her displeasure of being withheld her food with an indigent squeak. The two looked at each other and the tall one said a single word, ¡°Ves¡± nodded at her carrier and went back to her dinner while the other one took a small piece of meat from his fire, feeding it to her eager mouth.


    That action seemed to cause quite the commotion among the villagers and made the female break in a big, toothy smile once the leaders couldn''t see her face. They went to one of the smaller fires and sat down. Every one of the five at the fire gave her a little bit of meat to eat after they settled down.


    Over the time until she ate her fill eleven other lizards came with a newborn, each getting a unique identifier like her, though none were given food by one of the leaders!


    Shortly after the last newborn came - joining her at the fire - she felt full and with the warmth of the fire seeping into her she slowly drifted to sleep.


    ---


    When she woke again she was alone. She was, once again, surrounded by comfortably hot stones. She was quite hungry so she looked around to see if any food was available. There was, she smelled something delicious just above her head. She struggled on her stomach and crawled towards the food. She arrived at the food, ate and went back to sleep.


    She woke a little later when someone placed another bowl of food on the opposite side of her pit. She did what anyone would do, crawling towards the food and eating again.


    The next twenty three times she woke there was food waiting for, going back to sleep after eating each time. She was startled by her own growth, Ves grew a few handspans every time she slept.


    When she woke the twenty fourth time something had changed, the food wasn''t easily available anymore - being placed on a wooden log out of reach for her crawling form. Ves wasn''t discouraged, she crawled towards the log and clawed herself up, taking the bowl down with her. She sat down, her back against the log and was happy to discover she had more food than normal.This novel''s true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there.


    Ever since that day her food became increasingly harder to get to, yet she started sleeping less and less, she was able to spend a whole quarter of a day awake! The challenge of getting her own food also resulted in moving out of the pit, she was far too agile to be confined by it anymore. She now slept with the others of her band, sharing their warmth and slowly learning their language. Her sibling joined her a week later, the boy was noticeably smaller and weaker than her, it seemed he ran into some problems acquiring his food.


    The hunting-band of kobolds she was growing up with had six adult members who were all living in the same long hut she did. The hut was quite big, half submerged in the ground as it was. They had another, smaller hut adjacent to theirs, to store weapons and food. Each day one of her band would educate both of them to the best of their ability, be it speaking, crafting weapons or other necessities.


    The language was easy enough, consisting of mainly growls, yaps and hisses so she only needed a few weeks to learn it.


    While her sibling would occasionally go out and play with their other siblings she did not, they were all stupid. At first she tried, but ran out of patience soon enough. They were all smaller and considerably more stupid so she stopped bothering. Instead she spent her free time scouring the village for any edible bugs she managed to catch.


    The village was really small, nine big huts, seven for the different bands and one for each the shaman and the chieftain. Still, she had enough space to keep herself active.


    The small stream running through the village proved ample entertainment as well, trying to catch the small fish living there was entertaining her good enough.


    Two weeks after she was left out of the pit she noticed a change in behavior, her band took more and more time to hunt and less to stay home.


    ¡°Why are you hunting so much? Are we eating too much?¡± Tes''ro looked at her, amusement sparkling in his eyes.


    ¡°Don''t worry youngling, we prepare for winter. We can''t hunt in winter - even with the shaman¡¯s blessing - and have to store as much food as we can so you will be able to come hunt with us once winter ends.¡±


    ¡°Winter?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s when you will be allowed to try and earn your second name. The shaman will teach all of the younglings and you will attempt a second hatching.¡±


    ¡°But I''m already out of my egg!!¡± She protested, loudly. Tes¡¯ro laughed. ¡°You¡¯ll see in time.¡±


    ¡°Ok.¡±.


    Three months later Ves was waiting for her band to return, dozing in the two suns when she was woken by a cold, biting wind. She shivered a little and looked east. What she saw frightened her, huge, menacing black clouds were rushing towards her village.


    She ran back towards her hut, running inside to find Zet''ra - their teacher for today - she took her hand and started dragging her outside.


    ¡°What''s up? What happened?¡± She asked.


    ¡°Huge monster coming.¡± She said, frightened.


    Zet''ra followed her, laughing a little as she saw the imposing clouds. ¡°Nothing to worry, just a storm.¡± Ves pouted, they could have warned her.


    She decided to stay outside and continue to watch the storm near the stream. Soon enough all the bands rushed back into the village and retreated into their respective hut. Ves stood under the leafless trees, wanting to experience a winter storm firsthand.


    Strong winds came first, bending the trees all around her. Afterwards she could hear lightning, bright flashes of light and loud cracks followed by collapsing trees. Last but not least came rain and ice and cold, unending and uncomfortable.


    She went inside soon after, she didn''t want to stay outside with the weather stealing all of her warmth.

 Chapter 3 - Awakening

    Her days after winter had started were boring without end. The shaman wouldn''t start to teach them for another month and she had already been taught everything her band could reasonably teach while confined to the hut, at least without hunting for extra materials. The outside was too cold to play in and her brother was as boring as ever. The only thing she could do was mope around by herself.


    After two days of that she had more than enough, it was time to do something. After some thought she came up with an idea, she could start to examine the strange feelings that had been with her ever since she was born, a foreign set of instincts, subconscious knowledge she couldn''t have and lastly a mind that developed a lot faster than that of her siblings.


    Ves huddled down near the fire and retreated in her mind. Slowly all external sensations retreated, the heat, smells and sounds all became unimportant. She inspected the instincts first, there was nothing really useful, she was a predator and not prey! Even more confusing was the total lack of the energy she knew to be empowering her body.


    That was interesting - she had been sure every being was filled by that energy but perhaps she was special. She couldn''t think of a way to measure the other oddities so she decided to investigate the energy.


    She left her mind and concentrated on her body, searching it for the energy she knew to be present. She found it easily enough, it flowing through every part of her very being. Sometimes it came up to a dead end right under her scales, leaking small amounts in her surroundings.


    When she tried taking control of the energy she experienced some kind of wall in her head, a resistance that rebuffed her mental commands. Walls were fragile things though, even she, a small kobold would able to break through the most powerful wall in the village in due time!Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator.


    Imagining her command as a wooden club she used the tried and true way of smashing things until they broke to attack the barrier.


    Failure. The barrier didn''t even move!


    Perhaps it would be wise to try and circumvent it instead, all walls had to have an exit.


    After several hundred breaths of mental prodding she knew the wall to be solid, it seemed to imprison her mind just like her egg imprisoned her before she broke free.


    Her egg!


    She escaped one of those before, but she could still remember the bone deep exhaustion she had after fighting for her freedom.


    She could either do the same as she did back then, breaking out of the shell with her legs, but why would she do something like that, she had seen far more powerful and frightening forces than a single kobold. She just had to leave her hut, the storm still raging outside was far more dangerous than she would ever be.


    Ves pictured herself as a dark stormcloud, torrents of water and ice propelled by winds faster than anything could run, an origin of lightning, slowly filling out all available space. She even started to get a little compressed once she was happy with her result.


    She pictured air leaving her first, powerful gusts of wind pushing against the shell. Soon after she added lightning, bolts of electricity and sound, powerful and destructive. Last but not least she added water and ice, a constant, unending assault of nature slowly draining all heat.


    Soon after she felt the shell crack. Power flooded her mind. A part of her knew she couldn''t stop now, she took control of herself forcing the forces of the storm under tight control and continuing her assault, destroying more than half of the shell until she felt her cloud-self would easily fit through the opening without compromise, losing some of its power in the process. It was way harder than she anticipated, she constantly had to stop herself from leaving, all due to the nature of a cloud wanting to spread out instead of compress.


    Ves opened her eyes to a different world. She felt her surroundings like never before, small currents of air, water all around her, even the heat of the fire seemed more vibrant than ever. That was something for later though; first she had to sleep. She had never felt so exhausted before - both her body and her mind were screaming for rest.

 Chapter 4 - The shaman

    Ves woke to the smell of food.


    That never happened ever since she left her cage, she would always be awake by the time food was ready. Suddenly a rush of memories came to her, inspecting the energy that seemed to be pervade her body, finding a second egg and breaking free. She slowly opened her eyes and noticed something strange; she was in a different, a bigger hut.


    Ves followed the smell of food to a different room! A room where she found the shaman sitting on the ground next to a fire.


    ¡°Sit with me.¡± He commanded. Ves compiled immediately, getting a huge bowl of food in return. The shaman watched her devour the food with knowing eyes. He only spoke up again once she was finished.


    ¡°You hatched second time.¡±


    ¡°I did.¡±


    ¡°You Ves¡¯ra now.¡± He stated. Ves was amazed, the second part of her name! She could hardly contain her joy. The time for her second nameday had yet to come.


    ¡°I thought I''m too young!¡± She protested.


    ¡°No. Hatchlings get second name with second hatching!¡±


    ¡°What''s the preparation for then?¡± She asked, intrigued.


    ¡°Younglings need help to find and leave egg.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not that hard.¡± Ves stated.


    ¡°It is the most important moment of any living being!¡± Ves¡¯ra looked at him, confused by the insistence and intensity in his voice as well as his suddenly improved speech.


    ¡°The method you used to break free will permanently determine the magic you will be able to do. Most kobolds only manage to imagine themselves and as such can only use magic to affect their physical body.¡±


    Ves, no Ves''ra nodded in understanding. ¡°How did you break free?¡±


    ¡°I am fire. You?¡± he asked.


    ¡°I imagined myself as a stormcloud full of wind, water, ice and lightning to break the shell.¡± The passive face of the shaman suddenly lit up in glee.


    ¡°You did. That''s excellent!¡±


    She looked at the slightly disturbing, jubilant face and suddenly wondered why she was here. ¡°Why am I here?¡±


    ¡°It easiest to recuperate from your second hatching if you are in magically rich area and taken care by someone knowing what needs to be done.¡±


    ¡°I thought everyone went through this. Shouldn''t they know?¡±


    ¡°You are unusually smart for one so young. Most do not remember the first few months of their life. Minds grow last.¡±


    ¡°Why can I feel so much more?¡±


    ¡°What do you feel?¡±


    ¡°Air, water and heat.¡±


    ¡°That''s your magic, all you can affect. I know all sources of fire and heat. You weak now so you shouldn''t feel more than half a kobold around you, but that will expand later.¡±


    ¡°How long do I have to stay?¡±


    ¡°The rest of the winter. I train you to control your magic and help your siblings with their second hatching.¡±


    ¡°But the adults are more suited for that!¡±


    ¡°They sleep.¡±


    ¡°Sleep?¡±


    ¡°Most adults have to sleep during the deepest of winter so you younglings can grow uninterrupted. You will all come to live in my hut because only warm.¡± Ves¡¯ra shuddered, thinking about living in an unheated hut, she would gladly live with her siblings to avoid that.Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website.


    ¡°When do I start?¡± She asked, magic did sound quite exciting, even her additional subconsciousness agreed to that.


    ¡°When you wake again. Magic takes a lot out of an untrained body and mind. Eat another bowl and go back to sleep!¡± The rest of the meal passed quietly, Ves¡¯ra ravenously ate another bowl of food and went back to the other room, falling asleep the moment her body touched the ground.


    ---


    The next time she woke the shaman was sleeping next to her. Ves''ra saw no reason to wake him, she went into the other room and already found a soup brewing over the fire.


    She didn''t feel any exhaustion remaining so she decided it was time to try some magic. She concentrated to feel the energy flowing through her once again - noting it was way easier than before - and tried to impose her will on a small amount, commanding it to stop moving.


    It worked, at least until she was assaulted by a pain so intense she let loose a scream, losing consciousness soon after.


    Ves''ra was startled awake by the shaman.


    ¡°What did you do?¡± he yelled.


    ¡°I tried to do magic.¡±


    ¡°What happened?¡±


    ¡°I don''t know, I took control over my energy and then I blacked out because of the pain.¡±


    ¡°Don''t do that! Learning magic without teacher is dangerous!¡±


    Ves''ra nodded, she did not want to experience something like this again. ¡°What happened to me?¡± She asked.


    ¡°You stopped the energy didn''t you?¡± She nodded. ¡°That''s problem, it¡¯s like trying to stop your blood from moving, painful and dangerous.


    You are up and ready to experiment so we can start. Do you know where your energy leaves your body?¡± She nodded again.


    ¡°Good, don''t tell me, that''s something you should never tell another, it can be easily exploited!


    Now, you see that some of your energy is leaving your body, try to take control of the energy that''s just about to leave and move it outside. Easy task, do whenever possible. Try and increase the total amount of energy under your control.¡±


    Ves¡¯ra did as told and, to her immense relieve, didn''t feel any pain. She tried forming the energy in a sphere, hovering it above her palm and trying to force it not to diffuse in her surroundings. She failed only moments later, already noticing a slight strain. Both her body and mind felt a little tired, like she ran for a little while or had a small headache.


    The strain grew worse the longer she practiced,she had to stop after only seven more tries as a pounding headache and deep exhaustion rewarded her efforts.


    The next three weeks were spent in or around the shaman''s hut with Ves''ra training basic magic under his guidance. The adults went out hunting whenever the sky was clear. Soon enough all water was replaced by snow until the whole world was hidden under a deep blanket of snow and ice. Her siblings joined them soon after; all while the rest of the village cooled down for the next few weeks.


    A day later they were all gathered near the fire, the shaman preparing her siblings for their second hatching.


    ¡°You all noticed all of your elders are capable of feats you are not. Ves''ra and I will be preparing you for your second hatching where you will awaken your own ability.


    You only have one try so be careful not to rush it, there will be no food if you do and fail!¡± It seemed the shaman was actually capable of speaking in proper sentences if he wanted, she hid a grin as she looked at her siblings. She had been told the best way to make a young kobold comply was with food, looking at the horror in her siblings eyes had her agreeing to that statement.


    ¡°Ves''ra will work with you, teach you how to feel your energy and when the time comes, how to control it.¡±


    Her siblings were quite stupid.


    She didn''t know how different she was until she started to really interact with them. All they thought about was eating and sleeping.


    She was fine with that though, that made them easy to motivate. All eleven managed to feel their energy within a week and a half after of moving in the shamans hut. Afterwards she started to prepare them to break free of their inner egg.


    When the day came a week later she was quite excited, she wanted to know how her band knew she had started hatching. All her siblings sat down near the fire and started their second hatching. It turned out to be quite obvious, they all froze up one after another. She fetched the shaman and they both started releasing as much energy as possible, saturating the air around them, easing their hatching as much as possible.


    As the suns reached their zenith the first was finished, crumbling to a heap. The rest followed soon after until only one of them was left, sitting rigid, unmoving. He would have the rest of the day to break free, if he didn''t they would remove him from the village.


    ¡°Good year. Eleven out of twelve way better than normal, usually three or more fail.¡±


    ¡°What happens to him now?¡±


    ¡°He¡¯ll have time to finish, as unlikely as that is, and if not we will kill him.¡±


    ¡°We can''t wake him?¡±


    ¡°No. Even if we could, why? Without magic he¡¯d be a burden and burdens die!¡±


    ¡°What''s next? We teach them the basics of energy manipulation?¡±


    ¡°Yes, I will. Your control over your energy is good enough to find out what your magic can do. I will teach you access your innate magic. You have to train outside because it sounds destructive, nothing I want near the village with snow outside.¡±


    ¡®Finally!¡¯


    ¡°What do I have to do?¡±

 Chapter 5 - Magic

    Ves¡¯ra slogged through waist high snow. The cold didn''t affect her nearly as much as she thought it would. Probably because of the magically heated stones the shaman gave her.


    She turned around and could just see the last hut of the village; she should be far enough.


    She stopped, ignoring the snow and concentrated on her energy, drawing it out in the open. Ves¡¯ra flattened the snow around her with a little concentration and gerous use of her energy. She was now exposed to the rigid wind blowing through the forest, causing a shiver.


    She removed her energy from the snow and formed it into a sphere hovering above her palm. By now she had enough control for her sphere to be visible as a faint blue ball, meaning the concentration was high enough to be visible.


    She imagined the snow building up, forming a sphere shielding her from the wind.


    Afterwards she imparted that thought into the sphere, knowing it would do her bidding.


    The energy vanished and the snow around her flew up, forming a protective dome around her. Before she could enjoy her success the dome collapsed, thoroughly dousing her in cold snow.


    It wasn''t as bad as she thought it would be, the snow was cold yet not nearly as much as the first snow that fell on her. Her furs were getting wet though, the snow was melting. She extracted another sphere of energy and pictured all water and snow clinging to her flowing out of her furs and into the ground.


    The energy vanished again and true to her imagination all water left her, drying her in an instant. She smiled, that went better than imagined. She concentrated hard, creating a bigger sphere, imagining a shield of wind, swirling around her and protecting her.


    The energy vanished, as did the bite of the wind. She allowed herself another smile, so far her magic practice was a resounding success. The shield collapsed sometime later, exposing her to the cold weather once again.If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.


    She would try and create a shielding with snow again, one that wasn''t dependent on her energy to work. Ves¡¯ra pictured a low wall of packed snow surrounding her, slowly growing upwards as she supplied more energy. It took quite some concentration to keep supplying the spell with energy, she had to keep the goal in mind while constantly adding new energy to the mental construct. Interestingly the energy didn''t even have time to leave her body, supplying the spell the moment she took control.


    After about sixty breaths of continued channeling she was finally satisfied, she would need a break though, already feeling the beginnings of a headache. After the headache subsided she continued her practice, using the heated stones to melt some of the snow, taking control over the resulting water with her energy.


    When the small sphere of water finished forming she started to concentrate hard, keeping the water in front of her snout while extracting a sphere of energy out of her palm. She imagined the water forming into a spike of ice, imparting the idea in the energy.


    Suddenly she was infused with a little warmth, causing her to lose control over both her energy and the half-formed spike. After levitating the icy water again she she continued with her magic, forming two smaller spikes.


    Setting one on the ground she used energy manipulation to shoot the other at a tree nine kobolds from her. It shot off, losing height in the process, shattering against the tough bark a few seconds later. She lost the energy used to levitate the spike in the process though.


    She levitated the other spike, extracted another sphere of energy equal to that amount and pictured the energy entering the spike, forcing her raw energy out and levitating the spike in front of her snout again.


    Without her will controlling the energy it managed to keep floating for about fifty breaths. far less than what was possible with her controlling the energy though she didn''t need to pay attention for it. She¡¯d use manual control whenever possible, no use in wasting energy. Her next experiment involved shooting the spike with the energy used to levitate it, something which worked better like that, the spike neither slowed nor lost height.


    After forming another two spikes she gave her best to shoot the spikes as far as possible, both with magic and energy control. The manually accelerated spike didn''t stand a chance. It fell on the ground about thirty kobolds from her while the other one shattered at a tree double that distance.


    She returned to the village soon after, out of energy. She would have liked to try lightning too but that would have to wait, she didn''t want to attract attention to her village with the noise that would created.


    When she returned she was greeted by the shaman.


    ¡°How did it go?¡±


    ¡°Great.¡± She grinned. ¡°I can do even more than I thought, though I didn''t try lightning.¡±


    ¡°Do tell.¡±


    She did.

 Chapter 6 - Hunt

    None of her siblings had managed to acquire any external magic. While capable of the same energy manipulations she was they would only be able to strengthen their body with their magic. Ves¡¯ra had been quite disappointed but the shaman told her that only one in a hundred young kobolds managed to do that.


    So while she trained her magic by herself, dutifully ignoring lightning, they learnt how to temporarily increase their strength and endurance or restore stamina. She was constantly moving energy out of her body, training to move it while doing all kinds of exercise.


    She was able to keep channeling a decently sophisticated spell for nearly a thousand breaths by the time the adults woke a month later.


    They moved back in with their bands a week later, they were nearly as tall as the adults, only needing to grow another few handspans. Their hunger gradually decreased too, they only ate double the amount of the adults by the time the last snow vanished.


    ---


    Ves¡¯ra was excited, her first hunt was about to start. She couldn''t wait. They would finally be able to contribute to the tribe. The preparation of the last months was sure to pay off.


    They set out late in the morning after heating up at their fire. Kes''ro called for a stop soon after they left the village, it was time to start. The easiest way to catch small game was to avoid hunting it entirely, instead trapping common feeding grounds.


    Each band had a set direction to hunt in, they would follow the stream. Creating traps for rabbits was easy enough, they only had to make a lot of bark rope and find a suitable stone. Six of the traps were sprung, four with a rabbit, so Ves¡¯ra and Vet¡¯ro had to reset three. Ves¡¯ra had to admit that fresh rabbit was way tastier than the usual smoked meat they had.


    While most of their time was spent checking traps the adults started to teach them how to track bigger game and what to avoid.


    Ves¡¯ra had feared she¡¯d have problems keeping up, lacking the improved body the others had - she was mistaken - they didn''t move fast enough for that to matter.


    The first day had been pretty anticlimactic, she¡¯d hoped for a lot more excitement than checking traps and looking at dirt.


    ---


    The next month passed like that, Ves¡¯ra and Vet¡¯ro would check and replace their traps - searching for new spots every now and then - and learning what beast made which tracks. The first excitement came nearly two months after she started hunting.


    They had just killed a squirrel stuck in one of their traps and got ready to return to their village when a loud howling sound caused them to flinch.This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.


    Wolves.


    Not normal wolves - these were perfectly fine with easier prey - but nasty, evolved wolves that only seemed to prey on intelligent beings.


    They were only predator that was interested in hunting kobolds, a fool''s endeavor if one asked her. Watching her band huddle together had her rethink that though.


    Ves¡¯ra had no interest to die, so she took her spear - more of a wooden stick - and gave each of their band a solid smack on the head forcing them to concentrate on her.


    ¡°Gather up, form half a circle two rows deep with your backs to the tree! And give me your water!¡± She commanded.


    The other kobolds seemed glad to be given direction, even if from one as young as her. It only took a few moments for seven additional waterskins to be next to her. She would be useless in a melee fight, simply lacking the strength to fight at the same level the others could, but she had other strengths. She froze most of their remaining water into several spikes of ice with a significant portion of her energy, energizing herself with the additional heat.


    ¡°Everyone, give me your spears one after the other!¡± Once the first spear was in her hands she reinforced the tip with ice, sharpening and hardening the tip.


    Ves¡¯ra knew the wait would be the worst, she could feel unnatural fear creeping up on her too. The fear would paralyse them the longer those horrible howls came out of the slowly darkening forest.


    It took way too long - three hard smacks on the others heads - for the first wolf to emerge from the trees, soon followed by two others. They looked quite young, smaller than the shadows they could see darting around them yet nearly as tall as all of them.


    Ves¡¯ra didn''t wait, instantly flinging three of her spikes at the one in her front. The first missed, electing a startled yelp from within the forest, but the other two hit, one penetrating deep in the shoulder while the other crippled its leg. It collapsed while the other two surged forwards, getting a spear in their face for the trouble.


    The rest of the pack emerged from the forest while the two young retreated back to the safety of their pack. With two limping and one unmoving the pack counted eight.


    Even Ves¡¯ra had to swallow when the leader of the pack emerged, a huge monster of a wolf, a whole head taller than all others. It had a nasty burn scar all over its face, disfiguring the already hate filled face further.


    That one wouldn''t be stopped by a few spikes to the body. She raised another three spikes - the maximum she could to at this time - and imparted the idea of the spikes seeking the head of the monster. They shot off one after another, the first shattering on its skull. The second was nearly dodged, flying through its ear.


    She got lucky with the last spike, the yelp of pain because of the last two attacks put its eye directly in the path of her last attack. The other wolves had already started harassing her band while she concentrated on the leader, the ground in front of them was full of both wolf and kobold blood.


    The other wolves howled in anger as their leader fell, hateful eyes concentrating on her. She levitated another three spikes, attacking another one that was about to attack. She went for its limbs - an easier target than an eye - as the skull proved too thick to be penetrated.


    That pack broke at that, leaving their injured and dead behind.


    They stayed alert for another few breaths, making sure their enemies actually retreated. Once they were safe the rest turned to her, reverence in their eyes. That was awkward. She decided to take control of the situation.


    ¡°Alright, let''s kill the two still alive and prepare something to drag them back to the village! Go, daylight is waning.¡± Ves¡¯ra approached the leader, prodding him with her spear to make sure he was actually dead. She created a knife of ice after, extracting the head and other best bits.


    They were better than anything she ate to date, creating a satisfied smile on her face.


    Once she was done the others ate to their heart''s content, filling their stomachs.

 Chapter 7 - Hunted

    Their return to the village was triumphant, they escaped a pack of wolves with only a few injuries, killing three in the process. Ves¡¯ra was forced to accompany Kes¡¯ra to a meeting with both the chieftain and shaman, making her want to stare down another pack of wolves instead. She had never met the chieftain, other than the day of her birth.


    They were given no chance to compose themselves, a commanding voice raising the moment they entered the hut. ¡°Tell us what happened.¡±


    ¡°Wolves back.¡±


    ¡°Who did you lose? And why is the youngling here?¡±


    ¡°None. Ves¡¯ra killed leader and crippled two. She immune to fear too.¡±


    ¡°You sure?¡±


    ¡°Yes, she commanded defense and threw icicles.¡±


    ¡°Where did you get the ice?¡±


    ¡°I extracted heat from water.¡±


    ¡°Interesting.


    Kes¡¯ra, you can go and warn the others - we will only be hunting as large group and wait for them to pass once again - I want talk with the youngling myself, I¡¯ll sent her out once we are done.¡±


    ¡°Yes chieftain.¡±


    Ves''ra finally had time to inspect the chieftain as she watched Kes¡¯ra and the shaman leave. The chieftain was strange, two heads taller than any kobold she had ever seen. She held herself differently too, shoulders further back than koboldly possible. The chiefs scales were dark green too, helping her blend in the forest.


    ¡°Done with your inspection?¡±


    She nodded. ¡°What did you want to talk about chief?¡±


    ¡°Your future. You know what will happen?¡±


    ¡°Yes, the shaman told me.¡±


    ¡°How long till you are ready?¡±


    ¡°Another few months. I would like to wait until summer passed.¡±


    ¡°No need to stress yourself, take as long as you need.¡±


    ¡°Yes chief.¡±If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.


    ¡°Now go to your band, and good job with the wolves.¡±


    ---


    The next two weeks were tense, they only left the village in groups of ten or above, always with either Ves¡¯ra or the shaman or the chieftain in tow. It was the first time Ves¡¯ra and her siblings experienced real hunger, not something any of them wanted to repeat.


    They only set out in their bands once they were sure the danger had passed. The first day had everyone returning without food, having eaten all their prey on the spot. Their life normalised over the next week, until Ves¡¯ra and her band returned back to the village after a successful hunt. She knew something wasn''t right the moment they neared the village, there was tangible tension in the air.


    Several bands were chattering fearfully, all huddled in a big group. They joined the two groups, wondering what happened. It seemed one of her siblings had vanished while the group was hunting. That was indeed concerning, even though it was possible she got lost that was very unlikely - she was in the middle of the group.


    The chieftain sent out two bands search for the missing child, though Ves¡¯ra thought is was more to appease the others. By the next day the excitement passed, they didn''t find Kes¡¯ta, but the forest was dangerous, it had been a wonder they lost noone to the wolves.


    Ves¡¯ra found the footprints of a herd of deer. She grinned, deers tasted so much better than the normal vermin they ate.


    Following the tracks was trivial and they soon came upon a large clearing. Several deer were grazing in the morning suns, unconcerned with the world except for a few young bucks watching the surroundings.


    A deer was tastier the older it was, quite fortunate because older deer were easier to kill too.


    ¡°Can you kill one with your ice?¡±


    ¡°Shouldn''t be a problem.¡±


    ¡°Go on then.¡±


    Ves¡¯ra created several spikes of ice, took a look at the clearing and sent them flying. The spikes homed in on two deer nearest to them, breaking their legs and causing the others to flee.


    After ending the suffering of their prey they ate their fill and started their return home. Just as they were about to leave the clearing Ves''ra heard a cry from above. Startled she looked up, scanning both sky and treeline for the sound. She only saw a small bird far above them.


    A sudden gust of wind pushed her forwards, staffering her. Something was wrong. She looked around but nothing came to mind. She¡¯d know when she did, no use worrying. Kes¡¯ra decided the same, she concentrated on them once again.


    ¡°Ok, that''s enough of a break, pack of the deer Ves¡¯ra hunted for us and let''s return to the village, it¡¯s getting dark.¡±


    They dragged the corpses back under the protection of the forest, the open sky was deeply unsettling.


    Someone was missing.


    ¡°Be careful, something just snachted Kes''ro.¡±


    ¡°Did you see what?¡±


    ¡°No, I looked up and he vanished right after.¡±


    They hurried back to the village, if a predator capable of that had moved in the area the chieftain and shaman would have to do something about it. That would be the first time in her life, the two most powerful beings she knew - leaving the village. She couldn''t wait! They made a good time back, arriving only a little after setting out. Ves''ra was completely exhausted, while she was able to use her magic to warm her body, increasing its efficiency, she simply didn''t have magic to boost it.


    She wasn''t allowed to rest though, she had to relay what happened to the chieftain again, being the most articulate of her band.

 Chapter 8 - Humans

    As chieftain and shaman didn''t plan to leave the village to take care of the monster Ves''ra resolved to get more powerful. The two most powerful beings of her village didn''t seem too worried about whatever hunted them, certainly not enough for them to leave the village. She didn''t even notice when Kes''ro was being snatched so she knew whatever it was was more dangerous than they assumed.


    She sat down and started replaying her memory from the last time she saw him. He had been standing behind her when she heard the strange cry. She was sure the two were related, as was the wind that knocked her forwards.


    Thinking about it now made her wonder though, why did she look up as long as she did? That wasn''t like her at all. Something had to have affected her mind somehow! Its cry dazed her probably, and only the gust of wind made her snap out as fast as she did. She''d have to do something to make sure she was constantly guarded against that, hovering a sphere of ice above her head or something.


    She would have to upgrade her magic too, she did very much doubt she''d hit something moving fast enough to cause gusts of wind with her ice. She would wait until tomorrow ask the chieftain for permission to go deep into the forest to improve her magic.


    She was quite nervous after waking up, but it had to be done. The chieftain was already sitting outside, watching her approach with obvious amusement.


    ¡°What can I do for you youngling?¡±


    ¡°I need to improve my magic. I won''t go hunting today.¡±


    ¡°Sure, you''ll have to hunt your own food though. And tell your band. How long do you need?¡±


    ¡°I don''t know.¡±


    With the permission to go secured Ves''ra said goodbye to her band and left the village. She didn''t know how loud her lightning would be and decided she''d move for half a day at least. After following the stream to a small pond she decided it was time to start her training.


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    The bolt of lightning impacted the tree with a loud crack. Ves''ra was quite frustrated, lightning didn''t seem all that useful to her, it took an extraordinary amount of energy to keep it from impacting the ground all by itself. The best she could manage was five kobolds, sure anything getting within that area would be fried but that didn''t help all that much.


    Perhaps she had the wrong approach again, lightning obviously wasn''t suited for attacking so she should use it to defend herself. She already knew she could impart ideas on her magic, something she intended to bring to a new level.


    Ves''ra created a sphere of energy - the origin of all her higher magic - and instruced it to discharge at anything which would harm her. She had no way to test if it worked, but seeing that her energy vanished she was reasonably sure it did.


    She went to sleep afterwards, climbing on a tree for a medium of security. She was exhausted by both the walk and magic - lightning needed way more energy than all other magic.


    She had obviously been more exhausted than she assumed, the suns were quite high in the sky as she woke. Suddenly she heard a loud snapping out of the forest, instantly all sleep washed away, there was something foreign in the forest. She decided to investigate and retreat if whatever it was was too dangerous for her. She warmed her body with a quick spell, stealing the heat from her surroundings.


    The group of beings was easy to find. Humans. Another strange tidbit of knowledge she had no way to know. While three of them moved with the silent grace of a predator the other five were having serious problems keeping their noise to a minimum.


    They were chatting in an unknown language, heedless to the danger the forest contained.


    They didn''t seem all that dangerous, so she decided to follow them - perhaps she could learn something interesting.


    With all the noise it was only a matter of time until something took offense to the invasion of its territory. The monster that decided to teach the invaders a lesson was some kind of boar.


    Ves''ra¡¯s band made sure not to attract undue attention of such beasts, they were dangerous and would almost always result in death of at least one of them.


    The three dangerous humans noticed the boar running at them only moments after she did, alerting the rest of their group of the danger.


    They reacted as one, all but three stepped back while the silver ones stepped forwards, taking hunks of metal from their backs and bracing themselves for impact. Ves¡¯ra could practically see the boar snorting in amusement, no sane kobold would take a boar charge head on. She was glad not to be a human.


    To her immense surprise the humans didn''t budge when the boar impacted their frontline. She heard a grunt and saw the boar stumbling backwards, stunned. Before it could recover it already sported three sticks, shot from strange contraptions in the human¡¯s hands. It took only seconds before the sticks were joined by two balls of fire, impacting the beasts head and finally killing it.

 Chapter 9 - Cathal

    Cathal took in the smells of the boar that Maol and Aimil just roasted. He silently cursed the bumbling fools, they could have arrived at their destination ages ago, but the constant sound caused by them made that impossible. Ciorsda came to join him.


    ¡°How about a small break, we¡¯ll never make it in the time than planned anyways.¡±


    ¡°Sounds good to me. You can see they need a break, just look at them.¡± He answered.


    ¡°Yeah, it¡¯s quite pitiful for seasoned adventurers.¡±


    ¡°True. So, did you notice our stalker?¡±


    ¡°Sure did, what do you think it is?¡±


    ¡°I''m not sure, it¡¯s quite small, probably a goblin or kobold, they live in this part of the forest.¡±


    ¡°So a kobold; a goblin would have attacked us long ago.¡±


    ¡°Probably. Do you think it knows something? The wyvern must have come through here.¡±


    ¡°Doesn''t hurt to ask. Let''s warn the others first though.¡±


    ¡°Good idea.¡±


    ¡°How will we talk with it though, I doubt it can understand us.¡± He said.


    ¡°Hey Aimil, can you do illusions?¡± She yelled. The mage looked at them, her thoughts plain on her face.


    ¡°I''m a fire mage, not an illusionist.¡±


    He chuckled. ¡°At least she didn''t add the insult. She can probably do anything you want, if you are happy with red, orange, blue and green.¡±


    ¡°You worked with firemages before?¡±


    ¡°Yep, three times. Swore I wouldn''t work with one of the arrogant assholes ever again every time!¡±


    ¡°But hunting a wyvern without magic is suicide.¡±


    ¡°Yep. Now, let''s talk to the others and see if we can lure out whatever is following us.¡±


    ¡°Right, do you think it will come out if we lure it with food?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s quite patient, though I think it will if it is hungry enough.¡±


    ¡°A lone kobold? I''m sure that won''t be a problem.¡±


    ¡°Let''s do this than.¡±


    ¡°Alright folks, we¡¯ll take a small break and ask one of the locals if they have any leads on our target. I trust one of you two is capable of structuring your magic in the form of a wyvern? I doubt it can talk our language.¡± He yelled. The two mages immediately sat down in relief, making him snort in disgust. Real adventurers should be able to walk for days and still be in peak condition to fight after! The three fighters that joined them carried most of their luggage in addition to their shields and looked as ready to fight as the day set out.


    They didn''t need long to start a camp, practice made perfect after all. Once the seven of them were situated around the fire and the boar was roasting he turned to the location he knew their stalker to be. He had to commend the being, it perfectly blended in with the forest, he couldn''t spot it even knowing it was there.


    He cleared a little room at the fire and looked at the hiding spot and waved towards the spot next to him. His magically enhanced hearing heard something jump with a hiss, confirming their assumption. He had to repeat the action three times for something to happen.


    A small kobold dropped out of the tree he had been looking at, hesitantly edging towards them. It was clad in furs. Most of that fur looked like that of a direwolf, not something he expected a kobold to wear.Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.


    ¡°It¡¯s a child.¡± Ciorsda noted.


    ¡°Perhaps it¡¯s lost, is it a he or she?¡±


    ¡°That''s a female, they are more slender than males. And I very much doubt she¡¯s lost. She looks well fed, and more curious than desperate. Considering winter wasn''t more than two months ago she probably ran into us while playing in the forest.¡±


    ¡°That''s true. Why did she follow us than?¡±


    ¡°Curiosity; children are always children.¡±


    While his group chatted among themselves he kept watching the approaching child. For someone who had probably never met humans before and had just watched them dispatch a boar she seemed remarkably relaxed, normal kobolds were far more cautious than that. Not that the intelligent denizens of the forest had anything to fear of them, the free cities forbid killing anything intelligent without cause.


    Once the child sat down he started trying to communicate with her, starting with their names. He introduced each of them, starting with himself.


    The girl was remarkably quick on the uptake - normal kobolds were rather dim - understanding him at the first try and responding in kind.


    ¡°Ves¡¯ra. ¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­.¡± He only understood the name, and that only because it was different than the rest of her language.


    He got her meaning after a lot of gesturing and confusion. Once he did he had to chuckle.


    ¡°What''s it?¡± Maol asked as the child stood up.


    ¡°I''m pretty sure she asked why we burn our food.¡± He was proven correct as the kobold stood up and approached the fire. Conn went to offer his knife but Cathal stopped him, he wanted to see what she had in mind. She fumbled with something on her hip, a waterskin if he guessed correctly.


    Mana left the kobold, entered the waterskin and water rose out moments later, forming into a knife and freezing in seconds. Every conversation stopped immediately. They all watched as the small mage cut some of the uncooked meat, sitting down in satisfaction after and looking at them with obvious confusion at their sudden silence.


    ¡°I feel inadequate.¡±


    ¡°Yeah.¡±


    ¡°Me too.¡±


    ¡°You sure she¡¯s a child?¡±


    ¡°Yes, adult kobolds are a good deal taller than her. A kobold can grow up in a little more than a year with enough food, so seeing as she isn''t starving I assume she¡¯s about nine months old.¡±


    ¡°A mage and not even a year old? No wonder she doesn''t fear us.¡±


    ¡°What do we do?¡±


    ¡°Nothing, we can''t ask her to leave her family, we¡¯ll report her to the guild but she doesn''t seem dangerous so I doubt something will happen.¡± The rest agreed, now that they knew she was an ice mage they knew she could have easily killed one of them while they were ignoring her.


    ¡°Well, let''s start after she ate, I''m sure she¡¯ll understand us.¡±


    ¡°Yep, but how do you want to ask her, we are really unable to form illusions, just like our little friend here.¡±


    ¡°How good is you control over you fire, and can you change your flames to green?¡±


    ¡°Good idea, Aimil should do it, her fine control exceeds mine.¡±


    After the kobold was done devouring the meat she smiled at them and happily resumed talking in her tongue - a strange combination of hissing and growling - completely ignoring that they couldn''t understand her at all. He interrupted her, starting the slow process of conveying his meaning to her again. Aimil interrupted him.


    ¡°Stop it, I think I¡¯ll be faster.¡±


    The fire under the boar transformed, forming into their group walking through a forest, obviously searching for something. Soon enough they found a clearing, a wyvern feasting upon a deer within. He watched as the wyvern noticed them, lifting up into the air with a silent cry. She had them run in the direction the beast fled, looking around confused as the wyvern faded in the distance.


    The child looked at them, transforming her ice into a perfect replica of the wyvern she just saw. She pointed at them, their weapons and than back at the wyvern. They nodded.


    The incredulous look that came upon her face told them what she thought about that idea. She clearly thought them stupid. He had to chuckle, most humans would agree with her.


    ¡°Do you think she saw it?¡±


    ¡°I''m not sure, I didn''t see any reaction but I can''t read a kobold¡¯s face.¡± They were interrupted by a wyverns cry, causing them to jump up and check the trees around them. Spotting nothing they looked back at the child in their midst, a child that had a guilty look on her face.


    More water joined the wyvern on her claws, dissolving into a scene.


    They watched as a band of seven kobolds moved through the forest, how the child killed a deer with her magic. After doing things they didn''t want to think about the kobolds got ready to leave, all suddenly freezing up. Suddenly a wyvern dove down, catching the outermost kobold in its claws and flying off.


    The child looked at them, making sure they knew she wasn''t finished. The scene formed again, though the kobold was snatched by a huge wolf this time. She looked at them again, tilting her head and indicating she was finished.


    ¡°That was impressive.¡±


    ¡°So, something killed one of her family, it could be our wyvern or something else, she didn''t see it.¡±


    ¡°That cry did sounded awfully close to that of a wyvern though.¡±


    ¡°Well, she can lead us to its new hunting grounds at least. Aimil, ask her about the clearing.¡±


    They turned towards the fire again, showing the kobold leading them towards the clearing. She seemed to think, tilting her head in the process. After a few breaths she nodded, sitting down again.

 Chapter 10 - Tracking

    Humans were strange. That''s the only thing Ves¡¯ra could think about as her new friends ate the roasted boar. Why would they preserve the meat before eating it? At least they let her have something before they did, it was delicious, though not as good as the wolf.


    Even worse, they wanted to hunt some strange flying monster, a monster that was apparently responsible for Kes¡¯ro¡¯s death.


    She didn''t really want to be anywhere near that thing - a ¡®wyvern¡¯ - but she had no choice as the humans would probably find her village if she didn''t lead them to the clearing. They were friendly enough, but she wouldn''t trust them with her home.


    The clearing would be easy enough to find, the humans were already moving in the right direction and she would only have to slightly change the direction of their path. They started their journey shortly after midday, the two human shamans needing more rest than the other humans.


    It seemed humans didn''t have more shamans than kobolds, seeing their reaction to her magic. Judging by the speed the humans moved before she joined them she knew she¡¯d have problems keeping up with them, their bodies were just better suited for moving extended periods of time. She could somewhat alleviate that problem by increasing her body heat, but she would need way more food and be dead tired the night after.


    She didn''t want the humans near her home for any longer than possible though, so she decided to tough it up move as fast as possible. They wouldn''t reach the clearing today anyways, it was on the other side of her village.


    They had to pause three more times, all because of the humans that didn''t know how to move in a forest. They were attacked by another two boars and a bear, the humans took some of the parts of the boars, but most was left in the forest, what a waste! Seeing as they didn''t want to eat the best parts she claimed them for herself, they would just be eaten by something else if she didn''t.


    The last animal to attack them was a bear, an animal that had no right moving as silently as it did. Ves¡¯ra had dutifully warned the humans once she heard it approach, already salivating at the delicious feast that was sure to come.


    Sadly the bear was smarter than the boars and decided they weren''t worth the trouble after taking a few sticks - ¡®arrows¡¯ - in its body. She moped for a bit, but ultimately got over herself, she couldn''t expect others to hunt for her.This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.


    The lead human stopped her a little before sundown and they set about making camp. One of the human shaman lit a fire while the rest got more of their strange skins out of their packs. They had their own food too, a little meat and lots of strange plant products that wouldn''t help them blend in with the forest at all! Why they ate the strange plants was unknown to her, though to be fair they didn''t have any scales for the plants to color. Still, she took some of the meat offered, having burnt as much food as she had just to keep up with the human¡¯s long legs. The meat tasted like all preserved meat, bland but it would satiate her.


    She woke with two rising suns, noting how they seemed to grow and move apart every day ever since winter. Only one human was up, keeping watch. He wasn''t all that good, only noticing her once she stopped next to his sitting form.


    She nodded a greeting and left the camp to hunt for her breakfast, she wanted a fresh meal. Just as she finished her squirrel she thought of the humans, they shared their food yesterday, so it was only right to do the same.


    Finding a warren of rabbits only took a little time and flushing them out by creating lightning near their home made it easy to catch two rabbits for the humans. And another one for the journey back.


    The humans were already up when she came back, all but two looking ready for another day of walking. The two shamans looked like they didn''t want to move anytime soon, let alone another day. They looked relieved when she returned, as if she couldn''t have easily snuck out in the night. She indicated the suns and what position the suns would be in once they arrived and set to eat the rest of her rabbit, dropping the two rabbits she hunted near the newly ignited fire, pointing between humans and rabbits.


    They set out soon after, the humans following her once again. The attacks decreased as they neared her village, the chieftain cleared all things that would be dangerous to hatchlings whenever she felt like it. Nothing noteworthy happened for the next quarter of a day, they came upon some old traps but she made sure none of the humans had time to notice them.


    It took a little longer than she estimated, but they arrived at the clearing with nearly half a day before darkness. The two shamans plopped down in the shade of the trees the moment they arrive while the warriors scanned the sky.


    Ves¡¯ra decided to stay, she really wanted to see how they would track a flying monster. The humans didn''t need to know that though; and having been in the company of their trackers for most of a day she could reasonably predict the range the humans were able to detect her in. She would still be able to follow them, courtesy of their two shamans. It was quite interesting to watch, three of the humans went all over the clearing and even started climbing some trees until they seemed to decide on one direction for a reason she couldn''t comprehend.


    She would follow them further, they left enough food for her to keep up anyways and if they actually managed to kill their prey she was in for a feast!

 Chapter 11 - Wyvern

    Cathal was glad they met the small kobold. She had easily shaved three days off their search - he didn''t mind she led them on a slight detour - he wouldn''t trust strangers with his home just like that too. The other two scouts agreed, there was no need for the others to know about that as it was. He could understand that, watching her eating the raw hearts and livers of the animal they killed had been disgusting.


    Finding the wyvern¡¯s lair had been easy enough, wyvern built their lair on the highest points of their territory. It had to have grown quite a bit since it had been spotted though, a kobold was quite a bit more massive than its normal prey.


    They turned in early, the two mages would need all their strength tomorrow.


    They had all been surprised by the speed of the kobold, they had a natural advantage, being a good deal taller and built to move for days without end, so seeing her easily outpace the two mages had been quite the shock.


    The girl had left them once they arrived at the clearing, choosing to return home instead of following them further. It was the smart thing to do, she was quite small and its venom would probably be able to kill her.


    Their camp was hidden in deep foliage so they were unable to see the beast, they didn''t need to though, their target announced itself with a loud cry shortly after they made camp.


    They rose early in the next day, preparing everything they needed to kill the wyvern. They had an hour to get ready, afterwards the air would be warm enough for the wyvern to fly and it would start hunting. They already prepared everything they could yesterday, scouting a clearing for their trap and assembling the magical trap itself.


    Wyvern always hunted in the same way, finding prey they could easily carry off while flying and wait for the prey to enter a clearing. After starting their swoop down they would let out a piercing cry that stunned nearby animals and inject venom in their prey¡¯s blood. Very deadly venom. It wouldn''t kill a human - at least a forest wyvern¡¯s like the one they were hunting - but anything smaller was fair game. It hurt humans like hell though, he still shivered thinking about it.


    They didn''t take any chances this time, they bought everything needed for a standard wyvern hunt, it would hurt their overall income but be well worth if they didn''t fail again. They managed to set up the trap with enough time to spare, so they sat down and started a late breakfast in the shade of the trees.Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.


    He watched the nest afterwards, climbing a tree and increasing his eyesight with magic. It didn''t take long for their prey to leave, he immediately left his perch and warned his team to get ready.


    The two mages started supplying mana to the trap and a small doe left the woods next to them soon after, looking pitifully lost and scared - a perfect target for the wyvern. He grinned, he couldn''t wait to see the beast get its fill.


    They were in luck, it only took half an hour before they could hear the wyvern¡¯s cry. The beast came swooping down only seconds later, the small form in the sky growing with each passing second. The illusionary doe froze, ¡®stunned¡¯ by its piercing cry.


    Before the wyvern was able to grab its target it hit the block of wood disguised as a doe. They were out of the woods on their way towards the beast in seconds, the two mages were already starting to cast the spell that would enable them to keep the fight on the ground. They finished just as the wyvern managed to come to its senses, crying out in pain and anger; its eyes narrowing at them.


    The wyvern tried to regain its advantage, flapping its wings to lift off. That''s when the mages finished their spell, chains of pure mana bound its legs, connecting it to the two mages and Horas, one of their three warriors. The wyvern managed to lift off, only to be yanked down to the ground again.


    His bow was at the ready, the moment it hit the ground he shot off his first arrow, same for the other two scouts. The two warriors arrived a moment later, blocking its ability to lift off again. The wyvern had really grown, it was nearly double its previous height, with shoulders reaching up to a normal human¡¯s torso. Two of the arrows flew wide, only scratching its wings while the last managed to hit center mass, piercing its scales and depositing the paralysing venom in its blood. It wouldn''t hinder a wyvern this massive too much, but slow it enough that they shouldn''t have problems killing it.


    It lashed out at Tormod, batting his shield with its head. He managed to weather that blow, but was knocked down by the two following blows with tail and wings. Conn managed to get a blow at its left wing, his mace breaking its bones while it attacked.


    The wyvern fell down, losing the support of its left wing. Yet even while it fell its tail lashed at Tormod again - who was just starting to get up - depositing one of its stingers in his neck. He immediately fell down, screaming in pain as the venom entered his blood.


    He had never stopped shooting arrows, by now the wyvern had five arrows sprouting from various body parts. It got up again, despite its broken wing and only a little unsteady because of the wing and all the venom in its blood. Before anyone could react it managed a last act of defiance.


    It bit down and nearly ripped Tormod¡¯s head off his body, killing him in the process. The wyvern collapsed after that last act, hateful eyes glaring at them.


    ¡°Well damn, that''s not how I imagined how this encounter would go, that was one tough son of a bitch.¡±


    ¡°Yeah.¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    ¡°Let''s get to it then, I want to be on my way back to Cardent before midday. Conn, you dress it while the rest of us pack up and come back here. Let''s go!¡±

 Chapter 12 - Boar

    The humans had impressed Ves¡¯ra quite a bit. They were way smarter than she gave them credit for at first, binding the monster to the ground after luring it with an illusion. She really wanted to know how they did both, she couldn''t do a illusion and the two shamans seemed unable to do them too. The magical chains looked even more useful, something to ask the shaman about when she returned to the village.


    She would wait for the humans to return to their homes first though, a beast as powerful as that wyvern was sure to be delicious. Although the humans took more of their prey than ever before, taking its scales, claws, teeth and stingers, they left the most important part behind - the meat. Once she was sure the humans left she entered the clearing and cut out the hearts and liver.


    ...


    Bliss.


    ¡­


    Not even the wolf came anywhere near that taste, she really didn''t understand why the humans left that much.


    She wouldn''t complain, the more left the better for her!


    Once she ate her fill of wyvern she looked at the spot the humans had buried their dead, contemplating on digging him out too.


    Eating another intelligent being didn''t sit right with her in the end, so she decided against it. It was high time to returned home anyways, she missed sleeping with her band. She took as much of the wyvern¡¯s meat as she could carry set out to return home.


    She came back in the early evening, exhausted and ready to fall on her furs and sleep for a week. She didn''t do that though, she first had to report back to the chieftain. She was already waited for, bidden inside before she could ask to enter.


    ¡°Come in, I was waiting for you. You took quite long time.¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡±


    ¡°Why?¡±


    ¡°I encountered some humans, they were searching for something and would have found the village.¡±


    ¡°What did you do? I hope you didn''t kill them?¡±


    ¡°I didn''t, they didn''t look tasty and were clearly intelligent.¡±


    ¡°What did you do then?¡±


    ¡°One of them spotted me while I stalked them and they invited me to eat with them.¡± She recounted her meeting and subsequent journey with the humans.


    ¡°A wyvern huh, well we were quite lucky the humans took care of it, one as big as that could easily hunt all of us down.¡±


    ¡°You know wyverns and humans than?¡± She asked.


    ¡°Let''s say my youth was quite turbulent and leave it at that. You did good though, it¡¯s never worth to fight humans, if you kill one of them they will always come back in force. Do you want to learn their language?¡±


    ¡°Of course I do! Only communicating with magic is tiring!¡±The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.


    ¡°Very well, you will visit me after you are done hunting everyday and I will teach you what I know. Did you achieve your original purpose?¡±


    ¡°No, I explored lightning magic, but it¡¯s of no use offensively. It¡¯s quite good defensively though. I can enchant myself with lightning, so the next thing to attack me will get zapped. The spell will last about an eighth of a day, so I¡¯ve kept it up constantly ever since I discovered it.¡±


    ¡°That''s a good idea. Now, go and rest, I''m sure you had to push yourself to keep up with a bunch of humans, I know I did.¡±


    ¡°My magic really helped. I would have had no chance without the extra heat I stole from the environment.¡±


    ¡°That''s a really convenient spell; I¡¯ll have to admit. Do you think you could target other beings with it?¡±


    ¡°I''m not sure, the shaman told me it¡¯s nearly impossible to affect others with magic if they don''t allow your energy inside.¡±


    ¡°Let''s test that shall we, heat me up like you did with yourself, it could prove invaluable for you later on.¡±


    In fact, she was able to affect the chieftain, both if she was blocked and if she was let in. Of course being willing was better, she could directly warm the chieftain¡¯s flesh, opposed to only being able to heat up her scales.


    ¡°Your village will most definitely prosper. Now, go to sleep; you look like you¡¯ll fall asleep standing where you are if you don''t.¡±


    ¡°Yes chieftain.¡±


    Once she entered her hut she lay down on her furs and fell asleep immediately. She woke later when her band returned, but nothing stopped her from resuming her sleep apart from a short greeting.


    She was up and ready to go in the next morning, willing to resume her normal life for as long as possible. She really didn''t look forwards to summer, especially what came after.


    The next days passed in a haze, everything was nearly perfect. They hunted small game and an occasional deer. They didn''t encounter any dangerous animals and sustained no injuries. Ves¡¯ra got her first lesson in the human language ¡®common¡¯ on the day after she returned. It was a complex language compared to their native tongue, but she was sure she¡¯d be ready to communicate in it within a few more months.


    Excitement spread over the village about a week after the humans left, some kind of villagewide feast was planned, just like on the day she was born. There were no new eggs in the village - that couldn''t be the reason. She was curious, even going as far as asking her siblings for knowledge, but they were as clueless as she was.


    The adults remained frustratingly silent and no amount of prodding produced any results - that never happened before! Once it was clear she wouldn''t get any answers she stopped, all she could so was wait and see.


    Four days before the feast was to be held she was called to the chieftain¡¯s hut and given a very interesting task.


    ---


    A day later Ves''ra and her band were further from the village than the others had ever been. They were also talking carelessly, completely different from their normal behavior.


    Suddenly their heard something heavy crashing through the woods, accompanied by very angry squealing. They went alert immediately, their prey finally found them.


    They were ready only seconds later, and not a second too soon as a boar charged them from the underbrush. Four of her band grunted as a sturdy rope made of bark rose between two trees in between them and their prey, tripping the large beast. Before it had a chance to get back on its feet a heavy branch with a head of ice came down on its head, knocking it out cold.


    ¡°Good job.¡± She said. ¡°Now break its legs and load it up.¡±


    They were on their way back home a few moments later, having knocked out their prey again after breaking its legs.


    She entered the chieftain''s hut that evening, distaste about what they did to the boar still fresh on her mind.


    ¡°I did what you asked me to do. Why does it have to suffer? That''s unnecessary and not something we normally do.¡±


    ¡°It''s for the feast. You know that fresh meat just tastes better, and we don''t hunt boars. The only time we do is for a feast, when either the shaman or me will go and hunt one for the village. Hunting without killing is quite hard, we fully expected you to fail on the first few tries so we sent you out earlier. You''ll be sent out a second time on the day of the feast, now that we know you can manage yourself.¡±

 Chapter 13 - Feast

    The day of the feast approached and Ves''ra and her band were sent out to hunt another boar. She succeeded again, finding solace that the boar wouldn''t have to suffer as long as the first did.


    They returned with ample time, only to be roped in to help prepare the rest of the feast. They cleared a large area in the middle of the forest for some games and constructed a fire for each band. Ves¡¯ra had to create large blocks of ice under direction of the chieftain. Which were used to construct a parkour later - one for climbing and one for running. Finally they fetched the two boars, readying them for slaughter in the middle of the cleared area.


    All bands returned earlier than usual, together with her frustrated siblings - they were left in the dark just like she was. Once everyone was assembled and the fires were burning - full of small game the other bands hunted - both shaman and chieftain left their huts and moved to the middle of the gathering.


    ¡°Now that everyone is back let''s begin! First order of business, you can thank young Ves¡¯ra and her band for the boars of this year!¡± She yelled, causing everyone¡¯s attention to land on her. The shaman continued immediately after, leaving no time for any interruptions. ¡°Let the games begin, and may the best win!¡±


    Ves¡¯ra stood up, these courses gave an advantage to all others in the village and she decided to get over with it immediately. She was forced to sit down immediately before she moved, hearing the best message she could have hoped for.


    ¡°You too young, feast only for adult kobolds.¡±


    That wasn''t just fine, it was perfect - she wouldn''t participate if she didn''t have to. Ves''ra would definitely enjoy the show though, now that she didn''t have to participate.


    Weightlifting was easy, the participant got a proportional amount of points for each lifted weight, but was only allowed to lift three weights in total. If you failed to lift a weight you lost all further tries. It was quite fun to watch, especially when someone overestimated him/herself and lost in the first round.


    Not everyone participated though, she noted that only half of the adult kobolds - which in this case meant over three years old - took part in the strength competition. In the end Tes¡¯ro - one of her band and Zer¡¯ta, another one of the kobolds won.


    The whole village cheered once the shaman made the two winners known, both joining the chieftain at her fire. They made a small break, allowing all to regain their strength.


    Climbing was about speed and tenacity, the participants had to climb the trees up to a marker, one at a time, and weather the children throwing small rocks at them, trying to get them to fall down. Whoever managed to climb the most trees won. This was even more fun, throwing stuff at other kobolds while they were doing their best to climb their tree as fast as possible. They had to throw in shifts, or the latter participants would have a serious advantage, but that did little to stem their fun. Ves¡¯ra had no connection with the two that won this time - Zet¡¯ko and Vas¡¯za. If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.


    The last competition started soon after, the other kobolds had to run as many laps around the clearing as possible - all while jumping over a log or crawling under another and the kobold with most laps once the suns had vanished over the horizon won. It was won by another two from different bands - Ges¡¯vo and Zes¡¯sa.


    They killed the boars soon after. Her siblings were experiencing the joy of eating boar for the first time, and it showed in the glee on their faces. The six winners of the competitions were given the six best parts - the hearts and livers. Ves¡¯ra was a bit ruffled with that, HER band hunted those by themselves, but she supposed the winners deserved some kind of reward.


    She returned from the fire where the two boars were being roasted and set down next to Kes¡¯ra.


    ¡°So what is this competition for then? Other then the boar of course?¡±


    ¡°I suppose I can tell you now. They will have eggs together.¡±


    ¡°That''s it? I thought we were competing for something interesting.¡±


    ¡°I heard it¡¯s quite the pleasurable experience, I definitely plan do compete next year!¡±


    ¡°Good luck. So the three with children will take over the production of our spears and stuff?¡±


    ¡°They will.¡±


    Ves¡¯ra went to sleep early that day, she had felt stuffed ever since the first bite of wyvern a week and a half ago and the feeling grew unbearable after eating the boar this evening, it was making her cranky. She decided to meditate on that feeling before sleeping, it had helped her so far and wouldn''t hurt even if it failed.


    No wonder she felt like bursting, her energy-veins were strained, nearly bursting from their seams. She would have to do something about that, she didn''t think something good would happen should her energy run rampant.


    She¡¯d have to somehow compress the energy to a state it would naturally stay at.


    Of course she had noticed how her total amount of energy had been growing ever since she started hunting, but she hadn''t paid it any mind as she was unable to use all of it at once and it seemed natural. That had obviously been a mistake.


    After some thinking Ves¡¯ra remembered how Kes¡¯ra taught her how to make ropes out of bark, how the long stripes were slowly transformed into the slightly thicker and shorter but way sturdier ropes. She started with a strand of energy just leaving her magic heart, separating it in three strands. She twisted these strands around themselves first. Once she felt the strands would regain their original shape if twisted further she rotated two of the strands around themselves while rotating the last in the opposite direction, around the two others.


    Once the first part was done she made sure the energy wouldn''t unravel of its own - it didn''t, her energy seemed fine to stay in that state on its own. She was pretty was sure the energy would stay as a rope, for now. It would unravel in time, if she didn''t transform her entire energy into an energy-rope.


    It took nearly three thousand breaths before the pressure on her energy veins was back to a comfortable level. She needed another thousand breaths to add the rest of her energy to the rope, until there was no energy outside of the rope left.


    Once she left her meditation she saw that most of her band had already returned, sleeping in a pile around her. A quarter of a day of continuous energy manipulation had her pretty wiped as well, especially the fine manipulation needed to spin the rope. She fell asleep with a smile on her face regardless, feeling content with her lot in life for the first time this day.

 Chapter 14 - Evolution?

    Ves¡¯ra searched out the shaman first thing in the next morning.


    ¡°Ves¡¯ra, what can I do for you?¡±


    ¡°My energy felt strange ever since I ate the wyvern.¡±


    ¡°Strange; what do you mean with that?¡±


    ¡°My energy-veins felt like they full, unable to further contain my energy. Apart from an uneasy feeling and more energy leaving my body it didn''t impact me all that much, but yesterday when I ate the boar it seemed like my veins would burst the moment I went to sleep.¡±


    ¡°That doesn''t sound good, but I can''t help you there, I¡¯ve never had that problem. How did you solve it?¡±


    ¡°I wove my energy into a rope.¡±


    ¡°That does sound like a good solution. I have an idea what happened though, we¡¯ll have to talk to the chieftain.¡±


    ¡°What can I do for the two of you this early?¡±


    ¡°I think Ves¡¯ra needs your advice.¡±


    ¡°How so?¡±


    ¡°I have an idea, but I think she should tell you herself, I don''t want to influence your opinion.¡±


    ¡°Oh, that does sound interesting, do tell Ves¡¯ra.¡±


    ¡°My energy veins were about to burst before I went to sleep yesterday, I only managed to stop it by weaving my energy into a rope.¡±


    ¡°That does sound like it yes, can you tell her band she won''t be hunting today, we have much to talk about.¡±


    ¡°Sure; was I right? Did she stop her evolution?¡±


    ¡°You were.¡±


    ¡°I was about to evolve?¡± She asked, shocked.


    ¡°It does sound a lot like my evolution, so yes I''m pretty sure you were.¡±Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.


    ¡°So I shouldn''t have stopped it?¡±


    ¡°Not necessarily, evolutions can be both good and bad. You are young, so your life couldn''t really influence how you evolve too much, so it¡¯s probably a good thing.¡±


    ¡°So energy is tied to evolution?¡±


    ¡°More than that, once you amass enough total energy it will infuse your body and change your very essence. You will effectively be a child again, and slowly grow into your new form.¡±


    ¡°So can I do anything to affect my evolution?¡±


    ¡°You can, and before you ask, no I don''t know how. I went to sleep and woke a different kobold.¡±


    ¡°So I shouldn''t try to stop it the next time my veins feel like bursting again?¡±


    ¡°That''s on you, but I don''t think it would hurt you. You should make sure to get a familiar before you evolve though, I wasn''t able to get one before I evolved and that''s not something you want to give up on.¡±


    ¡°Thanks and bye chief, I¡¯ll go out and hunt something.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, you do that, have fun.¡±


    ¡°Thanks.¡± She cried cheerfully.


    Their talk took a sixth of a day, so she had most of the day free to do more stuff for herself. She promised the chief something to eat, so she decided to go out hunting and try to kill something with her lightning. She would have to get really close for that, so the hunt would serve a dual purpose. She would also have to find an animal or monster baby to serve as her familiar, it was best to start building trust as early as possible - she didn''t know how long she would take to evolve again - so it was best to start the search now.


    She¡¯d try to find a lynx or something, she really didn''t like wolves and birds were not strong enough. It would prove tricky, but she was sure she¡¯d manage. She would check the wyvern¡¯s nest too, perhaps she was lucky and it left some eggs behind.


    She didn''t find any worthwhile prey before midday passed, not really surprising as chieftain and shaman killed everything dangerous near their village. She would have to settle for something weaker on the way back.


    Ves¡¯ra slowly inched forwards - taking extensive care not to be noticed. She could see her target only ten steps in front of her, an old deer that had a small limp. Animals tasted better the older they were, at least while still fresh. She split her focus, one half was still cautiously approaching her prey while other created a sphere of energy - now shining with a definitive yellow tinged blue compared to the pale blue of winter.


    She made sure the sphere was as big as possible, hidden by the deep grass. She needed another few breaths to get in range, but she could already cast her spell. That was one of the most useful things the shaman taught her, though it only really worked with magic that didn''t have a physical component. She could enchant parts of her body with her spells and connect them to her mind, enabling her to cast spells with but a thought.


    By the time she was in range of her spell all her limbs were shaking in exhaustion, moving as careful as she had was way more exhausting than sprinting across the clearing several times.


    Ves¡¯ra directing a thought into her left arm, commanding the stored spell to leave at her claw and hit the deer¡¯s head. Lightning left her with a loud crack, arcing towards the deer and solidly connecting to its head. The deer jumped upwards as it was hit, twitching a few times after falling down. The herd of deer vanished in the forest, startled by the noise and death of the old deer.

 Chapter 15 - Summer

    Summer started three weeks later. The air heated up to almost unbearable temperatures and the suns split in the sky for the first time in her life. They now lived in a constant day, with either the yellow or the blue sun shining down on them.


    They slept when the blue sun was up, the yellow one being way cooler with less harsh light. Ves''ra and her band were able to work longer than anybody else, all thanks to her magic. Still, they barely managed to spent half the time hunting as before. Summer only had one good thing, she had much more time for the chieftain to teach her the human language.


    The three mothers gave birth to the next hatching of eggs a few days after summer started, which were then stored in the same hut she was born in, they removed the roof of the hatching chamber though - the heat of summer was good for that at least. The eggs would need another three months to hatch, just as she did. She could hardly believe it - she was already eleven months old!


    She and her siblings were winter¡¯s children - the adults told them that there was only winter in years dominated by the blue sun while the years of the yellow sun were mild, without winter. She was quite lucky in that regard - she really didn''t want to do that in a year with winter.


    ---


    Summer was nearly over, the heat was already lessening and the suns were less dominating. They even had several thousand breaths of darkness yesterday! They were on their way home when Ves¡¯ra heard a familiar cry from above the treeline. That was a wyvern! She really ought to have checked the nest for eggs.


    No crying over spilt milk - she would take care of it tomorrow, she was sure the chieftain wouldn''t mind a last service to the village. Her band didn''t seem affected by the cry - or recognize it - and she saw no reason to worry them.


    Their return was uninterrupted - they didn''t enter any clearing so they had nothing to worry about.Stolen novel; please report.


    Once they arrived she immediately excused herself and went to visit the chieftain.


    ¡°Back already?¡± She was asked.


    ¡°Yes, I heard something on my way back. There was a wyvern about, I''m going to kill it.¡±


    ¡°Do you think you can manage?¡±


    ¡°Yes, I watched the humans and I am sure I¡¯ll manage.¡±


    ¡°Are you sure?¡±


    ¡°Yes. I think it¡¯s time. I¡¯ll do it after I leave.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯ve made up your mind then? It¡¯s a good idea to do that now. Tell me where to find the nest, should you fail. We¡¯ll need to take care if you don''t.¡±


    ¡°Sure.¡±


    ¡°When will you go?¡±


    ¡°I think I¡¯ll wait for the new hatchlings and set out after.¡±


    ¡°Any specific reason for that?¡±


    ¡°I''m not sure how, but I know it won''t be able to fly if the air is hot enough, so I¡¯ll take its biggest advantage if I move now.¡±


    ¡°That''s a good idea. We better ramp up your lessons then huh?¡±


    ¡°That would be best, I do plan to search for humans first.¡±


    ¡°Well, you are capable of communicating with them, you¡¯ll mostly need practice and that''s something even I lack.¡±


    ---


    The hatchlings needed another week to hatch. They already had relatively normal nights - only a little shorter and warmer than normal. She was feeling completely at ease, all thanks to her magic. They were currently feeding the new hatchling - not the first to be born since another band watched over the chamber at the time - when her thoughts were interrupted.


    ¡°What are you brooding about?¡±


    ¡°You know what I am?¡± She asked.


    ¡°You are a shaman.¡± Kes¡¯ra answered, not getting her implied meaning. ¡°oh.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, I think it¡¯s time.¡±


    ¡°Are you sure you are ready?¡±


    ¡°As ready as I¡¯ll ever be.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll miss you.¡±


    ¡°Same here, but a tribe can¡¯t allow internal conflict. And there can only ever be one chieftain and shaman - both positions I don''t care about.¡±


    ¡°We would have helped you.¡±


    ¡°I know.¡±


    ¡°You don''t want to kill shaman or chieftain don''t you?¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡±


    ¡°You could¡¯ve though?¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡±


    ¡°Come see us again sometime.¡±


    ¡°If I can manage.¡±


    ¡°You''ll go tomorrow then?¡±


    She nodded.

 Chapter 16 - Exile

    Ves¡¯ra left early in next morning. She had enjoyed sleeping with her band for the last time, but it was time - to stay any longer would challenge the leadership of both the shaman and the chieftain - as well as giving up her name. And she really wanted to keep her name, it would serve as a memory of her tribe for the rest of her life!


    She travelled at a leisurely pace, to push herself would serve no purpose. She would try to sneak in the old wyvern¡¯s nest in the night - when it would be sleeping and helpless. If all went according to plan she would just drop her prey on the ground and have a delicious meal without any fight.


    She would set out to leave the forest after - there was no need to immediately seek out a tribe of her own. She was sure the humans she met were some specialized monster hunters - perhaps she could join them. That was for the future though, she had a wyvern to kill first.


    She arrived at the site of the battle early in the evening and climbed a tree that had good view of the huge tree the other wyvern lived in. She¡¯d observe the place for a few days if needed - she saw no reason to climb a tree as huge as this one without reason.


    She didn''t need to wait long - the wyvern returned only a little after she started her observation. She immediately left her perch and started trekking towards the tree - it was still three fifth of a day from her position and she needed a little food before she started her adventure.


    Ves¡¯ra managed to catch two squirrels before arriving at the clearing the tree stood in - she ate one immediately while keeping the other as food for the her climb. The tree really was huge - at least a hundred times her height - more than three times more than the normal trees around.


    She¡¯d need about a quarter of a day to reach the wyvern¡¯s nest if she didn''t want to be noticed, not something she¡¯d normally do, but she¡¯d suffer through more for another wyvern.


    She began her climb once the sun set - she wasn''t sure how good her prey could see in the dark, but seeing that it was a diurnal animal she doubted it would see much. The tree wasn''t warm enough for her to see in the dark by itself, and while the air and water - or their absence - gave a rudimentary understanding of her surroundings it wasn''t enough to climb. She had to surround her claws with a thin film of energy and use the minimal glow to orient herself.


    That made the whole exercise a little harder, but Ves¡¯ra was confident she would still be able to reach her target in time.


    She wasn''t so sure an eternity later. Her arms and legs were shaking from exhaustion. She needed a break, luckily she had already planned for that and there was a dead squirrel secured by her side.


    She felt a whole lot better with her belly full of food, though the squirrel was dead long enough that it would taste better if cooked. She couldn''t start a fire in a tree though, even less being as far up as she was now.


    Ves¡¯ra set out with new energy - ready to tackle the last part of the climb. She was ready for another break when her magic - constantly searching for another heat source - finally found her prey. There was only one problem - the wyvern guarded one egg and she really really wanted that egg!


    The wyvern wasn''t newly born - it was the second parent - the humans only killed one after all. The wyvern was curled protectively around its offspring, so she couldn''t kill it as intended - the egg would get destroyed as well!


    Perhaps she could steal it while the parent was out hunting and kill it the night after? But that wouldn''t work, the tree lacked any kind of green and she seriously doubted her ability to conceal herself during the day.


    While she may have had some chances fighting the beast on the ground she wouldn''t bet on her chances up here, in the middle of its domain. Perhaps she could use her magic to lift the egg out of the protective embrace of the wyvern? But she¡¯d have to get really close to do that and wasn''t that sure of her ability to get near the wyvern undetected.Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website.


    ¡­


    Perhaps she was approaching this wrong. The wyvern was taller than her, even walking on its wings, and even less agile on the branch than it was on the ground. As long as she was right and it wasn''t able to fly in the night she was actually better off than she would be on the ground!


    She could increase her advantage further, there was no reason to fight fair after all. Ves''ra wasn''t sure how feasible her idea was - she had never tried magic within an area as big as now - but now was the time!


    She immediately started creating a dense sphere of energy between her claws, making sure no light shone on the wyvern.


    Once she was at her limit she imagined the spell drawing all heat out of her surroundings. She would probably die if she took all of that heat into herself, so she didn''t. She told the spell to heat up the air around the tree, but not directly near the tree. Furthermore, she directed the spell to continue drawing heat from around the tree, and above them, heating the air immediately around them.


    She created another sphere of energy, imagining it using the air to rip her prey''s wings apart, to stop it from flying off, and released the spell.


    Her plan worked even better than intended, the spell ripped a huge gashin the wyvern''s wing, causing it to cry out in pain and anger.


    Being as near to the creature as she was she immediately froze up, only for a sphere of water to land on her head, startling her out of the cry induced haze.


    Ves''ra allowed herself a grin, her precaution had worked exactly as intended!


    The wyvern was still looking around as far as she could see - her sense of heat was somewhat hazy because of the water running over her head.


    The wyvern didn''t seem to notice her - it obviously had no way to see in the dark - so she created another sphere of energy. Her prey''s gaze instantly focused on her, and she shot an ice spike at it just to make sure it knew it was her that attacked it.


    The wyvern shot her a hateful glare, knowing it wasn''t only fighting for its life but also for the life of its spawn. Seeing that she was way out of its reach - she had decided to climb up until the branches wouldn''t be able to support something as heavy as the wyvern - it would have to take flight to get to her or wait for her to kill it with magic.


    She grinned at it - she wasn''t sure if the beast was smart enough to understand the gesture, but it wouldn''t do any harm. She remembered how the wolves had bared their fangs to them, so she smiled at it again, making sure to show her teeth this time.


    It seemed she had thought right - the wyvern snarled in anger and head snapped forwards, intent on driving the intruder off its tree. Well, it never hurt to try and intimidate one¡¯s enemy she thought. It was futile with her though, she knew to be unreachable for it.


    The wyvern seemed to know that too - it was suspiciously eyeing the cold air around it - she didn''t want to give it anymore time to think, so she sent a strong gust of wind at its fully healed wing while attacking its head with another spike of ice.


    The monster made up its mind - it looked around once more - noticing the slowly rising sun that would allow it to see at least a little.


    It rose in the cold air with a triumphant cry - at least until it left the immediate surroundings of the tree, the surroundings that had slowly been cooled down by her magic for the last few minutes - and then dropped like a stone as it arrived in the magically hot air.


    Ves¡¯ra watched the wyvern¡¯s death with barely concealed glee, she had killed a superior enemy solely by relaying on her wits, and a little magic. Her eyes focused on her prize. The wyvern egg. She would only be able take one with her, so she was glad she there only was one - she didn''t know what she¡¯d have to do if she had to chose.


    She studied the egg a little - noting it was nearly double to size of a kobold egg - before taking it and reverently placing it in her bag, encasing it in a protective cage of ice that she enchanted to draw heat from her surroundings, creating an as effective incubator as possible. She really hoped the wyvern wouldn''t decide to hatch while she travelled downwards, that would be highly inconvenient.


    She made it down the tree without anything hatching, and was happy to see the adult had actually died from the fall - she was really hungry. After indulging herself on as much wyvern as possible she took as many scales, spikes and venom glands as she could carry.


    Now she had to plan what to do next. She wanted to go out and find a human village, but that would have to wait until she had a familiar, the chieftain¡¯s warning fresh on her mind.


    It would probably best if she waited until the wyvern hatched anyways, its egg was quite heavy and carrying it for an extended period of time would tire her out fast. She didn''t really have a time limit, she was young and winter wouldn''t be for more than a year. She would have to create a hut to safely sleep and keep the egg, she was tired of sleeping in trees.


    Ves¡¯ra had to admit to herself that she probably didn''t have the patience required to built her own hut like in her village. She didn''t have to though, she was a shaman with powerful magic! She could just built a hut of ice - she would have to find a stream for water - getting all that water out of the air would otherwise be tiresome.


    With a new plan firmly in mind she happily set out in the direction she saw the humans leaving, it wouldn''t hurt to move towards her target.

 Chapter 17 - Forest

    Ves¡¯ra took most of a day to find a suitably powerful stream. Once she did she started immediately - drawing water from the stream and freezing it. She dug down half a kobold first, creating walls and floor of ice. Once done she built the walls of ice over the ground, making sure to include plenty of sticks, leaves and dirt into her ice, camouflaging it from sight. Once the basic hut was done she had to secure it from melting down - that wasn''t really hard, she just set up an enchantment that would regulate the temperature in her entire hut.


    While the enchantment was relatively complex to cast - drawing the heat entering the ice into the spell, heating the hatching chamber and all interior rooms and expelling all excess heat - it was quite easy to maintain. She would only had to refill it with energy once a day.


    The hut was quite extravagant by kobold standards - she had three rooms all for herself. Of course one was used as an incubation chamber. She used the second room to cool the food she hunted. Last winter she noticed how food stored in the cold took longer to decay, so she made use of that. The last room was entrance and sleeping chamber at once.


    She added another part to her enchantment once she settled down - she didn''t have any way to roast her meat - so she created a flat plane of ice and had the enchantment expel intense heat at her command. It worked even better than planned, if she cut the meat in thin strips they were both easy to roast and store.


    ---


    Ves¡¯ra hut stood for eight days when the wyvern finally hatched. She had just returned from checking the traps she spread out in her surroundings and was preparing to roast a rabbit when she heard an unmistakable sound from an adjacent room.


    Finally!


    She couldn''t wait to meet beings she could speak with again, though she held very little hope for the wyvern.


    She rushed in the small room to her right, excitement propelling her forwards. The shell had just been cracked, the beast would still take some time to break out. Ves¡¯ra accessed her enchantment, returning the room to normal temperature - and sat down.


    She had nothing to do for the moment and had always wanted to see how something hatching looked like.


    Ves''ra understood why her village handled hatchlings like they did. She never wanted to see that process again!


    The egg had been about five handspans tall, but she couldn''t believe that the wyvern managed to fit into its egg. It was actually a quite beautiful creature if it didn''t want to kill you. Unlike her siblings and herself the wyvern was already colored at birth, clad in all shades of green. It stood on the raised perch she had kept its egg at, supporting its two legs with its wings.


    She decided to name him Arvog, he would get a second name if he managed to hatch again.


    The wings and tail were actually smaller than those of the an adult wyvern, so she was sure it would only be able to glide. The spikes at its tail still looked quite weak, incapable of piercing anything. The wyvern looked at her expectedly, obviously waiting for food.Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel.


    Ves¡¯ra approached carefully, she didn''t know if it would be aggressive and its teeth looked quite painful.


    The hatchling didn''t make any aggressive moves, it seemed more interested in the strips of rabbit in her claws. She didn''t know what wyverns ate as hatchlings normally, but hers seemed perfectly fine with rabbit.


    The wyvern astonished her - it nearly ate the whole rabbit before rolling into a ball and falling asleep. She really hoped it was fine with roasted meat or she would need to hunt for most of the day in the next few months and that wasn''t something she wanted to do.


    At least it would be able to accompany her - it was still small enough to perch on her shoulders.


    ---


    The wyvern was fine with roasted meat, though she made sure to only feed it fresh meat for the first week of its life. Watching the hatchling grow was really fascinating, the spikes on its tail hardened within days and it took two weeks for it to have the same proportions of its parents.


    Ves¡¯ra took that as a clue to start educating her future familiar. Now whenever it wanted food it had to leave its perch - or return to it. She didn''t give him any food if he attacked her or got too pushy.


    Overall she really liked the little bugger - he was her only company so she would talk to him for days without end, only leaving to hunt for more food or sleep. Soon enough she only left for food - the moment she let him leave his room for the first time he would only sleep with her, sharing their warmth.


    ---


    Today was a special day, she deemed Arvog mature enough to hunt with her. He was able to reliably glide through the hut - and even fly if she raised the temperature high enough - he could look out for himself. She managed to teach him a few commands, to ensure he would obey her while in the forest.


    Ves¡¯ra needn''t have worried, Arvog was perfectly fine staying curled up around her neck, his small head darting around, taking in all new smells, sights and sounds as well as the different currents of air. They were on their way to a nearby clearing, the hut may be good to learn the basics of flight, but she had no way to simulate the outside world.


    She killed a squirrel on the way, causing Arvog to move for the first time, but he was quite smart for a beast and knew he would get more food if he wasn''t greedy. He managed to hold out - only sniffing at the squirrel slung over her shoulder once - so she rewarded him with the whole thing once they reached their destination a little while later.


    Next she had him climb one of the smaller trees - she noticed he was quite the good climber - and glide down to her. He had less problems than she thought, he seemed to instinctually be able to adopt to the different currents of air.


    He even managed to land in her arms, so she gave him a pat on the head. They played for the remainder of the day, Arvog even managed to freeze a squirrel with his cry, killing it all by himself.


    Ves¡¯ra and Arvog went hunting together every day after that - the wyvern was still small enough it had no problems climbing trees with its sharp clawed wings. Very few animals actually expected to be attacked from above while under the protection of the trees so he was surprisingly effective. They would have to move on soon though, there was only so much vermin they could hunt in their immediate vicinity and their prey was becoming sparse.


    Originally she¡¯d wanted to wait for the bond she could feel building to complete, but that wasn''t going to happen before they would have to search for bigger prey.


    ---


    ¡°It¡¯s time we move on Arvog.¡± The wyvern tilted his head, showing her did didn''t understand what she said. ¡°Let''s go.¡± She went into her storage and fetched everything she wanted to take with her, a bag made from the skin of a boar - filled with the scales of a wyvern, a large waterskin enchanted to extract water out of the air and store it inside, her wooden spear - now used as a walking stick, an new pair of furs to cover herself, lots of rope she made in her free time and finally a comfy deer bedroll, modified to allow her to sleep in trees without worry of falling.


    She left her hut once everything was secured - the thing would melt down in a few days anyways - and set out in the direction she hoped to find humans. Arvog was bounding along in excitement, the wyvern loved being outside and would always beg her for more time.

 Chapter 18 - Familiar

    They were moving far slower than she imagined. She had thought she wasn''t made to move for days without end, but she had it easy compared to Arvog - the wyvern really wasn''t made to move on the ground at all and flying was way more exhausting than walking, especially since his wings were still unable to support him for extended periods of time. Ves¡¯ra was unable to carry him anymore - he had already grown to half her height and was way too heavy.


    That led to many breaks and an early rest every day, though they were able to cover more ground every day. Luckily they managed to find a stream that went in the same direction they wanted to move, significantly increasing their speed of travel as neither had to dodge trees anymore.


    The stream moved off into a different direction two days later, and Ves¡¯ra decided it was time for a break. She decided they would hunt something more tasty than their normal prey, she was sick of eating rabbits and squirrels for days without end - something she never had a problem with before meeting the humans.


    ¡°Do you want to go and eat something better than squirrels?¡±


    ...


    ¡°Yeah, you do, don''t you?¡±


    ...


    ¡°Good idea.¡±


    ¡­


    ¡°Yes, I know you can''t understand me.¡±


    ...


    ¡°Let''s go, and don''t talk about that anymore.¡±


    ...


    ¡°Boars are the third best thing I¡¯ve ever eaten, you¡¯ll like them.¡±


    ¡­


    ¡°Yes, I know I need to meet someone I can talk to.¡±


    Before she could continue her one sided conversation she heard some high pitched screaming coming out of the forest.


    People.


    Someone she could talk to! Only they seemed to be in danger, she couldn''t talk to them if they were dead!


    ¡°Let''s go save them!¡± She yelled and took off, looking over her shoulder to see if Arvog was keeping up. He did and they neared the source of the screaming after a small run. Ves¡¯ra slowed down, neither she nor Arvog were any good in a direct fight so they should make sure to know the situation before they lost the surprise.


    The fighting was happening in a light filled clearing - an ideal spot for Arvog. She directed him up on a nearby tree, while she snuck up behind the same tree. She was quite surprised by what she saw - a group of nine small green humans were screaming incoherently while stabbing sharpened sticks at a panicked deer in their midst.


    She didn''t know what to think about that - she really doubted she could hold a meaningful conversation with them and didn''t want anything to do with such savage beings. They could hunt more tasty prey tomorrow, she didn''t want to wake to the face of one of these drooling savages.This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.


    Arvog didn''t need much convincing to leave, he liked it quiet and these beings were making lots of unnecessary noise. They moved in for another sixth of a day before resting, eating a few trail rations before continuing.


    ---


    The boar squealed in pain as Arvog''s tail hit its flank, several spikes injecting their venom in its blood. It didn''t take long to kill it after, while the pain and anger were converted into strength they also made it predictable and as such easy to kill.


    Just as she was about to dig in she heard a branch behind her snapping. She immediately spun around and called a warning, looking directly into the face of one of the ugly green humanoids from yesterday. It seemed just as shocked as she was; though its shock was probably that she managed to detect it.


    Ves¡¯ra looked between the being and its raised club, berating herself that she didn''t renew her defense enchantment after killing the boar. The being screamed, rushing to close the last of the distance between them before she managed to pick up her spear.


    Luckily she had magic - instead of bending down to retrieve her weapon she simply opened her hand and the spear flew up, propelled by her energy. That display of magic caused it to halt for one moment, but that moment was enough for her to deflect its blow and plunge her spear in its belly.


    The being collapsed, now screaming in horror instead of anger. That was the moment its friends chose to show themselves, seven more of the ugly green attackers. She carefully retreated until she had a tree to guard her back and started started forming several spheres of energy. The first was immediately spent to increase her body heat - and with that her speed of thinking and reacting.


    She used the second to give herself a lightning attack - just in case she was unable to block an attack. Once she used the first two she created another two, hoping her enemies would give her enough time to prepare another four spheres. No such luck, the goblins - for that was what they had to be - decided she was unable to defend herself if they all attacked at once.


    As the screaming foes rushed her she shot one with a freshly formed spike of ice. Then she stabbed the second¡¯s legs before he was able to reach her, causing the third to stumble over its body. That left four enemies to fight, though luckily they hadn''t had their second hatching yet.


    Before she could react Arvog landed on the fourth, viciously biting in its head and injecting venom in its blood. He already jumped off, on his way to the next goblin before his first victim managed to scream. That left her with two enemies, so she blasted one with her stored lightning while she diverted the last¡¯s attack from her.


    Goblins seemed physically weaker than her, so she killed the last standing assailant only moments later. When she looked up she saw the fallen goblin was getting ready to club Arvog¡¯s while he was chewing on his last victim. NO!


    Anger she had never felt before cursed through her veins, and she threw her spear with an angry yell. The goblin hesitated, stunned by her shout. Her weapon flew true, hitting the goblin''s torso and killing it. She immediately rushed over, getting on her knees as she checked Arvog for injuries.


    Luckily it seemed he was healthy. Once she made sure her companion was safe she retrieved her spear and made sure all goblins were dead. Instead of returning to her meal she secured the clearing, enchanting several stones to shock anything sneaking up on them.


    Once that was done she returned back to her wyvern¡¯s side, seeing him eager to begin the feast.


    ¡°Oh no! We won''t be eating the goblins, only the boar!¡± She created a knife of ice and cut out the best parts, throwing them in Arvog¡¯s waiting mouth.


    Suddenly she felt the bond that had been forming over the last weeks lurch, deepening. For the first time she was able to feel more than his rough location, she felt his desires and feelings - no thoughts because he was not intelligent - but she was sure she knew him better than any other being. Ves¡¯ra returned that trust, completely exposing herself to him and flooding the bond with energy.


    She could feel the bond solidifying, burying itself so deep in their beings that only death would be able to sever it. They were both frozen, overwhelmed by the feeling of another mind and set of senses right next to them.


    She instinctively knew what had happened. They had finally bonded and now they were partners for life.


    She had done it.


    She had a familiar!


    Ves¡¯ra laughed out loud, elated. Not even the thoughts of goblins managed to sour her mood.


    They didn''t move anymore that day, her spells would keep them safe for the night and Ves¡¯ra really wanted to explore the bond to its fullest while the sensations were still fresh.

 Chapter 19 - Grasslands

    It had been a week since she bonded to Arvog, and Ves''ra had to admit that a familiar bond was a wondrous thing. Ves¡¯ra could actually use Arvog¡¯s energy to cast her spells from his location. That sparked several very interesting ideas for attacking enemies and had her create a waterskin for him to carry around immediately. It was about as big as hers and would enable her to rain death on her enemies from above.


    Once again she was reminded about her own weaknesses, she''d be way more effective if she was more. She really hoped her evolution would be able to fix that, though she still was way off, her braided energy was way more tolerant to stretching than she ever hoped.


    The most important effect of the bond - at least for her - had nothing to do with any magic, Arvog was able to understand most if not all of her instructions once she learnt to convey them as ideas rather than speech. That had been harder than she liked to admit, but she managed in the end.


    Moving became easier, now that they could understand each other on a more fundamental level. The bond wasn''t finished though, she could feel it changing, adapting with each interaction. She had only been able to get a rough understanding of his surroundings at first, but as she focussed on the sensation it evolved to a point that she was able to share his senses.


    That had been very disorienting at first, and still was - but she was sure she''d manage in time. She was sure it would be able to help her with magic too, if she had to focus on two points of view casting several spells at once should be easy.


    She felt the bond would finish evolving within a week, but that didn''t concern her - it was even more useful than she had hoped.


    ---


    A week had passed since the bond was fully formed and Ves''ra was in awe. In front of her was nothing, nothing but a huge clearing that stretched as far as she could see. And she could see very far indeed, with no trees to block her sight. It looked a little like the last time Arvog had risen above the trees and seen nothing but more trees is all direction. He didn''t like flying too high - the air would lose density very fast and the muscles in his wing would get tired quickly. She wasn''t worried - his parent had no problems flying high and he wasn''t nearly their size.If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.


    She had to admit she was intimidated - she never noticed how much she relied on the cover of trees. The sun would set some time later anyway, so she decided she would leave the known tomorrow, and enjoy her last time in a familiar environment.


    She was ready to head into the unknown in the next morning, though a few preparations would have to be made. She wouldn''t run into any problems regarding her water supply - her magic made sure of that - but she couldn''t see anything in the way of edible prey anywhere. She asked Arvog to fly as high as he managed, helping him with her magic by using her magic to increase the density of the air around him. She closed her eyes and focused on his eyes while he rose. The process took a few seconds - but she was sure she would be able to decrease that in time.


    She was shocked to discover an entirely different landscape - the land presented from above wasn''t nearly as flat as she thought - there were rolling hills with valleys that could conceal her entire village several times. Arvog would have to fly more than ever - she couldn''t trust her own eyes in the landscape and she really didn''t want to miss the human village!


    She was relieved as long as she stayed in the valleys she wouldn''t be nearly exposed as she feared. Her worry about food evaporated too - she could see large rabbits running around in most valleys and could see a big herd of strange deer - they lacked any antlers, had broader bodies and were significantly taller. One of them would be able to last them quite some time, though she would have to be careful when hunting the first - there was no guarantee the deer would actually be peaceful - she stood little chance if that herd chose to just trample over her.


    Sadly her target was nowhere in sight - she would just have to continue in the same direction for now. Either she¡¯d find the human village in time or she¡¯d meet another human hunting band, now that they could properly talk she was sure she could convince them to lead her to their home. It was quite lucky that Arvog was able to fly longer every day - it would be far harder to navigate and hunt without aerial vision in these strange grasslands.


    Ves¡¯ra knew they would need a lot more water than in the forest a day later - there was no river within sight and the suns were a lot warmer without any trees to provide shade. She had already deviated from her original plan - she really wanted to taste one of these strange deer, so she followed them through the grasslands, studying their behavior.


    She was happy to notice they were no predators, or most of them were not. The biggest one - leading the herd - was happily stomping all small animals in its path and eating them after. She really wanted that one, and had already started a plan that would involve the least risk for the both of them. She decided to wait until they settled down for the night, it would make it easier despite the added complications.

 Chapter 20 - Deer

    It was time, Ves¡¯ra and Arvog had been shadowing the herd of deer for two days now, and she was sick of rabbits. They didn''t even die like they should, instead attacking her the moment she neared their burrows. While not dangerous is was quite painful to be hit by the plates of bone on their forehead.


    The rabbits were quite tasty if roasted, so she was snacking on some meat while waiting for their prey to stop for the night. She had to use her magic to roast all of her food - there was no wood and grass didn''t burn. She hated that grass. Nothing to do about it though, her scales didn''t fit her environment anymore, so she had to regularly eat grass for her scales to take its color. It worked - just like she had been taught - her brown scales were slowly falling off, only to be replaced by the lighter green of her new scales.


    It took quite some time for the deer to stop for the day, and once they did Ves¡¯ra breathed out a sigh of relief. Now that she decided it was time she was eager for a change in her diet. She used both her and Arvog¡¯s energy to cast one of the most important spells for the success of the hunt. Ves¡¯ra used her energy to increase the density of air around her familiar, as well as stealing the heat around herself to increase the temperature of his blood. The magic was using him as an origin, so the bubble of dense air would follow him, allowing him to fly even faster than normal.


    Arvog rose with powerful strokes of his wings, soon vanishing from her sight. She concentrated and was able to see the world from above soon after. Arvog didn''t have to fly very far - they were on top of an elevation right next to the herd. Keeping up an already cast spell wasn''t all that hard, so she focused on a new spell. She packed the spell with as much energy as possible - her control wasn''t good enough to use all his energy, let alone hers with one spell. Once the spell was cast and ready to seek out a target of her choosing.


    She chose the lead deer of course, she was sure she¡¯d manage to kill it with that spell. She unleashed the spell once Arvog¡¯s eyes saw their target. The leading deer was already laying on the grass, so the magic wouldn''t miss.


    Arvog opened his mouth and lightning left him with a loud crack. The lightning curved towards her target, now that her magic wasn''t working against the world it was way easier to use. The attack impacted with a loud crack, and the herd of deer jumped up and scattered in all directions.


    All except the lead deer, it didn''t die - it only looked a little unsteady on its feet. it jumped up and started scanning the sky, its eyes locking on Arvog soon after. The deer let out an angry neigh, angry eyes focussing on her familiar.


    The spell used nearly a third of Arvog¡¯s energy, and while that energy was already replenished they had never used a more powerful spell while testing that method. Ves¡¯ra made a mistake though - Arvog grew up way slower than her and was still a child.Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.


    It didn''t matter that their prey had no way to reach him - he decided to flee into the safety of her presence.


    The beast followed, and Ves¡¯ra had to swallow a lump in her throat as a monstrous deer several times her mass came running at her position. Her spear wouldn''t be able to stop that!


    She had learnt from her past mistakes though - she always kept two defense spells, one on each arm. She¡¯d hoped she wouldn''t need to use them - but it never hurt to be prepared. The deer would be here in another hundred breaths, so she had a little time for additional defenses.


    She used all her water to litter the ground in between them with short spikes of ice - if she managed to hurt its feet it wouldn''t be able to run as fast as it did now.


    Arvog arrived seconds later, closely followed by the huge deer. Seeing it from up close made her gulp again - its shoulders stood at double her height, and that only if she stood perfectly straight. She started diverting some of the heat she sent to Arvog into herself - she needed all advantages she could get.


    The huge deer reached the top of the hill she was hiding behind and its gaze locked onto her. It seemed to connect her to Arvog¡¯s attack to her, though there was no indication of one except her presence.


    The deer stopped its casual pursuit and charged her, heedless of its surroundings. It charged straight through her spikes, shattering the ice without noticing. She jumped to the side, just clearing its path with the help of her magic.


    One of her spell discharged into one of the legs, causing it to miss a step and tumble down in a heap of limbs. Not one to let a chance like this slip away Ves¡¯ra immediately sprang forwards and stabbed her spear in its side.


    The beast let out a pained cry, she discharged another one of her enchantments directly into its flank - giving it no chance to react. The deer sprang up again, its legs even more shaky than before. The deer turned towards her and rose on its hind legs, kicking at her with the other two.


    She managed to duck just in time and stabbed forwards once again, barely penetrating its flesh this time. She discharged her last lightning - a big mistake as one of its legs hit her bit her with the strength of a charging boar.


    She cried out as she was flung backwards, all air leaving her lungs. Her opponent didn''t feel any better, her last attack caused it to collapse. She heard a cry from above and Arvog landed on the deer before either of them could stand up. Her familiar started savaging the deer¡¯s throat, causing fountains of blood to paint the grass red.


    The deer was dead by the time she managed to get back on her feet, and Arvog was already feasting upon their prey. Ves¡¯ra dragged herself back - her breath was still rattling - she was lucky she didn''t break anything. She could feel Arvog¡¯s satisfaction through their bond - the deer had been powerful and, as a result, was extremely tasty.


    Ves¡¯ra created a dagger of ice and started cutting her food. She had to agree to Arvog, the deer tasted marvelous. After both of them were satisfied she set to skin their prey, the hide of a beast as huge as this would surely prove useful.


    Once she was finished she banished all remaining energy out of the hide with her own and added a spell that would draw out all water over the night. Tomorrow she¡¯d restart her search for the human village.

 Chapter 21 - Merchants

    Ves¡¯ra''s chest felt much better after a good night¡¯s rest. The deer¡¯s fur was just about ready, so she canceled her spell and opened her pack. While eating some of the leftover meat from yesterday she thought about what she wanted to use the hide for.


    In the end she decided to make herself a new pack, her old one was already falling apart, especially because it was made from numerous rabbit hides. The first thing to do was removing as much of the short fur as possible - something that didn''t take too long thanks to her magic. Once she was finished she cut several thin straps from the side of the hide and took the bone needle out of the pack.


    She sharpened it with ice and started sewing the fur into a new pack, adding two thicker straps to sling the pack over her shoulders like the human packs. Once Ves¡¯ra was ready she transferred all her belongings into the new pack - mostly wyvern scales, teeth and meat - though she had an assortment of tools too, while she was able to form all tools she needed with magic ice wasn''t the most flexible of materials, so she only used her magic to increase the sharpness of her tools.


    After a last helping of deer that didn''t taste like deer at all she set out for the day. She had no hope to find the location she left the forest, but she wasn''t too worried. She knew which direction the forest was, so she only had to move in the other.


    Once she found a stream she would follow it until she arrived at the human village. She started tapping into Arvog¡¯s senses the moment she set out, she could easily walk past any number of streams without his help.


    ---


    Ves¡¯ra needed three whole days to find a stream. She slept fitfully that night, knowing she was nearing her target. She decided to follow the stream downriver, it came out of the forest and the humans were nowhere near a forest, she was sure of that.


    She followed the stream for another week, hunting lots of small game as well as a huge animal that moved in a huge group. She didn''t know that one, it moved on four legs, was about two heads taller than her, had long brown fur and two short horns. It¡¯s weight was at least ten times her own, and she was a little sad at the waste - she couldn''t take nearly as much of the meat as was available..


    She hadn''t tried to kill their leader this time - it had been another two heads taller and she doubted her lightning would be powerful enough to do enough harm. The male she managed to kill had been good enough, though she had expected it to taste better seeing it was as massive as it was.


    ---


    Ves¡¯ra came upon something strange a week after she started following the river. A huge wooden construction spanned across the whole width. The wood didn''t look natural, so she assumed she found the first sign of human civilisation.


    The biggest wild path she had ever seen was on both sides of the river, winding itself through the grasslands. The tracks on the path were really strange too, lots of parallel tracks that belonged to no animal or monster she had ever seen. There were lots of tracks from the huge deer too. Nevertheless she decided to follow the path, there had to be a reason the humans built there.


    After half a week of travelling Arvog spotted something new. There was a long caravanUnauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.


    of wooden constructions towed by the huge fourlegs moving in her direction. She could see lots of humans sitting or moving next the wooden things. She had already seen how humans reacted to a wyvern, so she told Arvog to hide himself while she sat down at the side of the road and waited for the humans to reach her.


    ---


    Mata Sginnearach couldn''t wait for the next week to pass. When she joined the caravan towards Lokervik she didn''t know that the oxen pulled wagons would be so slow. She couldn''t wait to sleep in a real bed! The suns would soon set, so she stated looking for a good place for the caravan to stop.


    After rounding another corner on the road she saw something strange, a lone kobold was sitting to the side. It waved at her once she was noticed. She waved back. The kobold seemed to be waiting for something, so she called back.


    ¡°Donnchadh, back me up and stop for a little, we have a situation here. Donnchadh, one of the other adventurers in the caravan came a moment later. The man was a scout, and a damn good one at that.


    ¡°What''s up?¡±


    ¡°You know of any kobold tribes in the plains?¡±


    ¡°Nope.¡±


    ¡°Where did that one come from then?¡±


    ¡°Why don''t we go and ask it?¡±


    ¡°You think it¡¯ll be able to understand us?¡±


    ¡°We won''t know until we try. It¡¯s not aggressive at the very least.¡±


    ¡°Let''s go then, you¡¯ll cover me?¡±


    ¡°Yep.¡±


    Mata confidently moved towards the kobold, she wasn''t really afraid of a lone kobold, but there was a chance its tribe hid in the tall grass so she kept a hand on her weapon. It didn''t differ from any of the other kobold she had seen, roughly a meter and thirty centimeters tall, hunched forwards and clad in primitive clothing, and a wooden spear in its hands.


    ¡°Hello there, are you lost?¡± She asked. The kobold tilted its head to the side before answering in broken common.


    ¡°Yes, I searching for human village, but got distracted by huge herd of deer.¡± Deer? She didn''t know of any deer in the plains. It probably didn''t know the right word.


    ¡°Do you have a name? Are you male or female? And why were you searching for a town?¡±


    ¡°I Ves¡¯ra, female. The human town sounded interesting.¡±


    ¡°The free cities don''t belong to us humans. We live with many races.¡±


    ¡°What''s a city?¡±


    ¡°A huge village. I could ask the caravan master if he will allow you to join us, we are moving towards the next town anyways.¡±


    ¡°That would be nice.¡±


    Mata turned around and waved at Donnchadh. ¡°The caravan can continue, tell the lead merchant to join me.¡± The portly merchant that was the leader of their caravan joined the two of them moments later, it seemed he had been interested what had her stop them.


    ¡°So, what do you have for me?¡± He asked.


    ¡°Can we take the kobold with us? I don''t know why she is alone, but she is on her way to Lokervik too.¡±


    ¡°Why did she leave her tribe? And what can she do for us?¡± He asked. Mata didn''t have a chance to replay, the small kobold behind her spoke up first.


    ¡°I''m a shaman.¡±


    Both of their head snapped towards the small creature, what would bring a tribe to let a mage leave?


    ¡°And why did you leave your tribe, I won''t take a criminal in my caravan!¡± He said.


    ¡°I''m a shaman.¡±


    ¡°And that tells me what?¡± He asked. The small kobold looked at them like they were stupid, they could see the foreign face wondering if they were actually asking that question. Once the kobold deemed they were really wondering she actually answered.


    ¡°A tribe only has one shaman, a second would only lead to strife and conflict within the tribe. I didn''t want to hurt my mentor, so I left.¡± The merchant was obviously pleased with that answer, they only had one mage in the caravan, and one couldn''t have enough of those.


    ¡°I¡¯ll pay you half the normal pay as well as a place on one of the wagons if you help defending us when we are attacked. Sound good?¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡±


    Mata watched the small kobold leave, wondering why anyone would only want a single mage per tribe before leaving the merchant and kobold behind, moving towards the front once again.

 Chapter 22 - Puppy

    Humans were quite efficient creatures, though they also made lots of useless stuff. All humans had some strange mobile hut made out of either plant fibres or leather called tent. She watched them build their houses with interest, until she remembered her familiar. She searched for the human chief - the caravan master. He wasn''t hard to find, loudly direction his tribe where to set up their huts and care for their horses. She waited until his screaming was at a lull before approaching him.


    ¡°Oh, hello Ves¡¯ra, can I help you?¡±


    ¡°Yes, I always sleep with my familiar, so it will join us soon. As long as your tribe doesn''t kill him.¡±


    ¡°Why would my caravan kill your familiar?¡±


    ¡°The first humans I met killed his parent.¡±


    ¡°Are you trying to find them to take revenge then?¡±


    ¡°No! Why would I - I killed the other one.¡± Ves''ra answered.


    ¡°How did you manage to bond it then?¡±


    ¡°He wasn''t born by then, he only knows me.¡±


    ¡°So, your familiar is some kind of rare creature than?¡±


    ¡°I don''t know, I only left my tribe a few months ago, but I haven''t seen another one of his race since then. He is a wyvern.¡±


    ¡°Wyvern, that''s quite the precious familiar. I¡¯ll warn the adventurers.¡±


    ¡°So they won''t try to do that, because if they do I¡¯ll have to kill them.¡±


    ¡°Killing a mage¡¯s familiar is a crime punished by death, so feel free. I¡¯ll warn them nonetheless.¡±


    ¡°Thanks.¡±


    She told Arvog to wait for a little before joining her. The human chief did indeed warn the other humans a few moments later. The announcement that she was had a familiar caused a little commotion - she didn''t know what the matter was - but Arvog joined her soon after. The human she talked with first - Mata - came to talk to her with some of her friends.


    ¡°So that''s a wyvern. I have to say I imagined one to be bigger.¡±


    ¡°Why would he be bigger, he is still a child.¡± Ves¡¯ra wondered.


    ¡°How did you find a wyvern egg? That''s something very precious.¡±


    ¡°I met a few humans while training my magic. They were searching for something and I helped them.¡±


    ¡°And they gave you a wyvern egg in return?¡±


    ¡°No. But they killed one of his parents and didn''t check their nest. I killed the other one a little later and found his egg in the nest.¡±


    ¡°You killed a wyvern by yourself?¡±This narrative has been purloined without the author''s approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.


    ¡°Yes.¡±


    ¡°How did you do it? That''s not something most adventurers can do, or would attempt to to be honest.¡±


    ¡°I burnt a big hole in its wing and it fell from its nest, trying to get at me.¡±


    ¡°You climbed a wyvern¡¯s nest.¡± The woman sounded very sceptical at that. ¡°It¡¯s fine if you don''t want to tell us, but don''t lie.¡±


    ¡°I didn''t lie!¡± She cried out. ¡°It couldn''t fly in the night, so it was quite easy.¡±


    ¡°You climbed it in the night.¡± Now she raised her eyebrow.


    ¡°Yes. How would I get to the nest otherwise?¡±


    ¡°If you really did that than you are a lot more daring than anyone I know. Where was the nest located?¡±


    ¡°On the tallest tree I ever saw. I was at least a hundred kobolds tall!¡±


    ¡°Kobolds?¡± She asked, clearly amused.


    ¡°Of course, I''m one kobold tall. You don''t measure height in humans?¡± The humans around her broke out in laughter. She really didn''t know why that question was so funny, how could one get a better measuring system than one based on one''s own body?


    ¡°So you are not one human tall?¡±


    ¡°No. I''m a meter and seventy.¡±


    ¡°What''s a meter?¡±


    ¡°You would be a meter and thirty, so a meter is about eighty percent of a kobold.¡±


    ¡°That''s a really stupid measurement, who thought of something like that?¡±


    ¡°I don''t know, but everyone uses it and you should too, for the sake of us stupid humans at least.¡±


    Ves¡¯ra thought about that for a while, deciding that it wasn''t worth to discuss over. When in rome do as the romans do ¡­ where did that come from? What was a rome? It seemed fitting though, so she skillfully ignored the strange knowledge just as always.


    ¡°Sure. Do you want to pet him? He likes to get petted.¡± The humans looked at her like she said something strange, muttering to themselves. ¡°Yeah sure, pet the huge highly venomous wyvern, why not. IT¡¯S NO PUPPY!¡± He yelled at her.


    ¡°Of course not! Why would you pet a puppy? You eat them!¡± All humans looked at her like she lost it.


    ¡°YOU DON''T EAT PUPPYS! They are cute and adorable and defenseless!¡±


    ¡°All the better, it won''t fight back! Though the older an animal is the better it tastes. ¡­ I should think about that, just wait for it to grow up, it will taste better and have more meat.¡±


    ¡°That''s not what I meant! You don''t eat puppies! Don''t do that - someone will own them!¡±


    ¡°So it¡¯s ok if I buy one?¡±


    ¡°NO! Yes. Just don''t do it please!¡±


    ¡°I don''t like wolves anyways. I¡¯ll only eat them if they attack me.¡±


    ¡°I would like to pet him.¡± A little noise came from behind. Turning around Ves¡¯ra could see a human hatchling, looking at Arvog with both awe and fear.


    ¡°Feel free, he already ate today, and you don''t look tasty.¡±


    ¡°Of course not! He is a child!¡± One of the humans cried out. "Would he do it if he were hungry?"


    ¡°I don''t eat sapiants, and I made sure he doesn''t.¡±


    ¡°How would you know if he looks tasty than?¡±


    ¡°I can see through his eyes.¡±


    ¡°Without meditation?¡±


    ¡°Of course! That would be stupid, why would I want to be defenseless when looking through his eyes?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not a matter of want. Most people are simply unable to do that.¡±


    ¡°They should practice then, it gets easier with practice.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, that''s not how that works.¡±


    ¡°It was for me.¡±


    ¡°You aren''t human, perhaps it¡¯s easier for you.¡±


    The human hatchling - child - ignored them and started petting Arvog. She could feel his contentment as he leant into the small hands of the human, letting out small growls of contentment. She shot the other humans a smug look, their hatchlings had more courage than them.


    Some of the humans chuckled at her look, while two others wandered off. Mata spoke up a few moments later, asking about something about a watch. once they regulated that they parted ways, she would have to stand up early in the morning and keep the humans safe, all for some mysterious reward called money.

 Chapter 23 - Scouts

    The driver of the carriage Ves¡¯ra was allowed to use was quite talkative, something she found out the day after she joined the caravan. She was quite happy with the arrangement, her body wasn''t made for walking days without end and her knowledge of the human¡¯s language increased in leaps and bounds over the last days.


    The driver explained the meaning of lots of words she knew but had no context of to her, for example the deer towing the carriage weren''t actually deer - they were horses. Humans actually had names for every little thing, it was exhausting to keep track of - for example the huge wolf she killed in her childhood wouldn''t be called wolf again, it was a direwolf - at the very least she could see where that name came from, meeting one was a truly dire circumstance.


    They would arrive in the city of Lokervik, a really big village full of humans and other sapient creatures. Apparently the nearest fourteen human cities had some kind of bond - they called themselves the free cities. The alliance was mainly used to trade with each other, but they would aid each other should they be attacked by other humans.


    That tibit of knowledge had been the strangest yet, apparently humans and others like them liked to kill each other regularly. And they didn''t even want to eat each other - they just wanted a bunch of yellow and grey rocks and a few other equally useless things.


    Furthermore the humans didn''t seem to like each other at all, it was possible to starve and no one would do anything against it. That would never happen in her village! If one of them starved the rest would too. Everything could be obtained by trading these rocks, so she would have to get some. Though the caravan master promised to pay her for helping them repel human or monster attacks.


    She had no problems with that, though she had yet to kill a thinking being - the strange green humans excluded, but they didn''t count. The city they were travelling to - Lokervik - was one of the smaller human cities. She couldn''t believe that - the driver said that ¡®only¡¯a few thousand! people lived there.


    She would only believe that if she saw it - there was no way to feed that many people in the grasslands, they would kill all creatures in a day¡¯s walk within a week! Suddenly something broke her out of her thoughts, Arvog saw three humans in leather laying on a nearby hill, watching the road in front of them. Each had a horse grazing in the valley behind them, that didn''t seem normal - she had been told having your own horse was quite expensive. She turned to the human next to her.


    ¡°Do rich humans like to watch others?¡± She asked.


    ¡°Hmm, well that depends, I heard some of the powerful merchants like to do that, apparently it lets them feel superior to us common folk. Why did you ask?¡±


    ¡°Because the three humans on the next hill watch us and you told me only rich people have their own horses.¡±


    ¡°What are they wearing?¡±


    ¡°I don''t know, human clothes. A lot like the adventurers. They did paint them green though.¡±


    ¡°Damn. And here I thought this one would be a peaceful journey.¡± He turned towards one of the ¡®guards¡¯ of the caravan. ¡°Tell master Curatha that the kobold spotted a few bandit scouts.¡± He turned towards her once again. ¡°How did you spot them? I thought your eyes aren''t nearly as good as a human¡¯s?¡±


    ¡°I didn''t, but Arvog did, it¡¯s really hard to hide from him.¡±


    ¡°That''s real useful to have, there aren''t that many scouts who have a flying familiar, I hear you have to hatch them and most people don''t manage to teach the birds how to fly.¡±This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.


    ¡°Why not? It¡¯s easy, you just have to reward them, and perhaps a little encouragement by throwing them off ledges.¡±


    ¡°I think that not something most people are willing to do.¡±


    ¡°You humans are strange. Do we have to worry about the other humans? They just spotted us. One of them is already retreating towards his horse.¡±


    ¡°We can''t do anything then. Our horses are bred for endurance and not speed. Now that they know we are here it¡¯s better they don¡¯t know that - that way we have surprise on our side instead of them.¡±


    ¡°So if we kill them their friends will know?¡±


    ¡°Exactly. Maybe we are too big a target to attack, so I hope we¡¯ll be in luck.¡±


    The guard the driver sent away came back moment later, looking like he ran the whole way. ¡°Can your familiar follow them back to their hideout? The master would like to know their location and numbers.¡±


    ¡°Yes, I¡¯m sure he can, I¡¯ll need to concentrate though, just in case they spot him.¡±


    ¡°How can you help in that case?¡±


    ¡°I can just magic with his energy.¡±


    ¡°You can? That''s quite the rare ability.¡±


    ¡°Why would it? You¡¯ll be able to if you want, at least as long as your familiar has enough energy to cast the spell. Further you will only have to shoulder the mental strain.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯ll be a very rich person, there aren''t many artillery mages, especially free ones.¡± The guard looked at her in envy.


    ¡°What''s an artillery mage?¡±


    ¡°Someone who can cast magic through his familiar. Unlike what you assume it¡¯s quite the rare ability to have.¡±


    The bandit entered the road once they wouldn''t be able to see him anymore, following it for a quarter day. The lone horse was quite a bit faster than their caravan, they would at least need another day to catch up. She saw several good campsites, most with remains of older caravans left behind, and the man left the road once again.


    He rode through several valleys, until he was way out of the line of sight. Ves¡¯ra spotted a strange amalgamation of several big trees, forming some kind of huge hut that he rode into. She knew trees - that wasn''t natural even if found in a forest! The day was already nearing its end, so she cast a long lasting warmth spell on Arvog and told him to return. They only see each other on the next day, but she didn''t want him anywhere near humans she didn''t know, especially humans that preyed upon their own.


    She returned most of her attention back on to her own body, only monitoring Arvog with a sliver of attention. They had already stopped for the night, and she saw the master of the caravan, the other mage as well as the leader of the guards and adventurers. They jumped up once she stretched her arms, exercising all the muscle pains half a day of not moving brought her.


    ¡°So what did you find? How many are there and when will they try to ambush us?¡±


    ¡°I don''t know how many are there. And they¡¯ll try to attack tomorrow night.¡±


    ¡°You should¡¯ve counted them. Were they more than you can count?¡±


    ¡°No, I didn''t see anyone. They had some kind of mage and he used his magic to grow a shelter with huge trees.¡±


    ¡°They have a druid? Damn. You couldn''t see anything?¡±


    ¡°Nope, but the trees can hide a lot of humans. At least as much as you have.¡± The humans looked at each other, bleak expressions in their eyes.


    ¡°Are you sure?¡±


    ¡°I can''t be, I didn''t see anyone but the three from earlier.¡±


    ¡°That will be tough, but I think we¡¯ll manage. What can your magic do? I gathered you are some kind of fire mage?¡±


    ¡°No. I''m a storm mage.¡±


    ¡°So I heard you are an artillery mage, can your familiar kill their leaders once the attack starts?¡±


    ¡°Yes, I think it¡¯s possible if you give me a lot of fires, otherwise my magic won''t be able to support him with flying. The hotter the fire the better.¡±


    The mage nodded, speaking for the first time. ¡°I can manage that.¡±


    The leader of the guards spoke up too. ¡°Let''s get as much sleep as possible - we¡¯ll need all the strength we can get.¡±


    Ves¡¯ra had to agree, if the worst case happened they would need to give their all, though she wasn''t all that concerned about herself, she was sure she could escape from a bunch of clumsy humans.

 Chapter 24 - Bandits

    They set out early in the next morning, nervousness in the air. Apparently most of the humans were noncombatants, a concept she really struggled with. Stranger still, even some of the combatants hadn''t hatched - awakened - a second time, most humans didn''t even try. Interestingly humans had more mages than them, perhaps one in seven was a mage.


    The nervousness affected her too - at least until they caught up to Arvog - once her familiar was her eye in the sky again she calmed down fast. The two bandits that stayed back yesterday were still tailing them, taking care not to enter their sight.


    The two would probably report their camp to their friends, so made sure the two stayed out of sight. They came upon a suitable location for a camp early in the evening - a small hill right next to the road. The caravan master had the wagons form a protective circle around the hill''s top. Ves''ra told Arvog to rest out of the way of the bandits, far behind their lines. Depending on the bandit''s numbers they would either encircle them, or storm in from one side.


    They lit the fires quite early, the other mage making sure they would burn as hot as possible. Ves''ra started her magic immediately after, using a spell to store as much heat as possible.


    Once night fell she jumped up on one of the wagons and watched the night, eating smoked horse and keeping watch. She used her magic to augment her sense of heat, so she was the first of the watchman to notice their approaching enemy. She used the agreed upon signal - extinguishing one of the fires - to warn the caravan. She didn''t look back - that would destroy her night sight - she heard the mercenaries getting ready behind her.


    She woke Arvog and started heating his blood, inceasing the density of air around him, simultaneously holding it in place around him. She added a spell that would allow him to see in the night - as a purely diurnal animal his sight in the night was atrocious.


    She would hold off attacking for now, she had to take care of any mages that popped up while the other mage would take care of any enemy concentrations. She counted about a hundred bandits before they stopped coming.


    That was the upper limit of what they would be able to take - though they¡¯d have some real problems if Arvog hadn''t found the scouts. As it was the fight would be hard, she had been told that a mercenary was worth two average bandits but that still meant they were outmanned - they only had about thirty mercenaries and adventurers defending the caravan.


    Arvog spotted her targets soon after, five of the attackers stayed back on top of the hill they came from.


    She didn''t attack though - she decided to take out the mage first, ignoring the others for now. It didn''t take long to spot him - apparently no one taught him how to properly use magic because he decided it was a good idea to lift his arm and point at them before starting his spell. She had no clue what he set out to do, but resolved to kill him before he had a chance. About a fourth of the water on Arvog¡¯s back left its confines and formed a spike of ice about a third as tall as she was.Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.


    The spike shot off with a small flex of her mind, piercing the man¡¯s chest and killing him instantly. As people around him were showered in blood, Arvog finished his dive and started savaging the face of another, his screams alerting the bandits they had been found out. The third was hit by one of the defensive enchantments she laid on her familiar¡¯s wings as he move to attack him, collapsing with twitching muscles.


    As the last two men moved to kill their attacker Arvog jumped from the human he just killed, quickly vanishing in the dark sky - aided by her magic.


    Ves¡¯ra raised from her position as the last two leaders screamed insults in the sky. Looking in the direction of the attack she could see the bandit grunts sprinting in their direction. She ignored them for now - she had more important prey to kill and the caravan would take care of them - none of the enemies seemed to have hatched a second time.


    While she would like to wait until Arvog regained his energy - something that wouldn''t take too much time as she could already feel his body drawing in all energy from his surroundings, purifying it and refilling his pool as fast as possible, that wouldn''t be possible, that would still take several hundred breaths seeing as he had yet to hatch a second time.


    She gathered a full third of her energy - the maximum she could hold at this time - and formed a complex spell, anchoring it in a small drop of water. She propelled it forwards, already knowing that it would gather all water in its surroundings and searching for a source of heat once the spear of ice had fully formed.


    Once the spell hit a target - one of the two leaders - the second part would activate, scorching everything in its surroundings with lightning. It worked just as intended - the spell flew over the bandits heads, not yet big enough to target their heat and homed in on the leaders moments later.


    The hill she targeted suddenly lit up, accompanied by a sharp loud crack - releasing the power of lightning all around it.


    That bulk of the bandits arrived at their wagons only moments later, knowing something went wrong, but they wouldn''t do anything without prompting by their leaders. The wagons were massive so they could only try to swarm in between the gaps where they were waited for by angry mercenaries. The few people with bows unleashed their arrows into the mass of bandits, felling the first of them.


    Now that the bandits were all bunched up, trying to force their way into the camp with sheer mass it was time for the other mage to act. Streams of fire left his hand, curving above the wagons and raining down onto their attackers.


    The fire formed into balls, bursting like water upon impacting the ground and setting fire to all surrounding bandits. Those hit collapsed on the ground, screaming out their throats in pain, rolling on the ground and trying to extinguish themselves.


    The rabble attacking broke down, running from the hill they rushed moments later. Some unfortunate souls trampled over the burning bandits - catching fire themselves. It didn''t take long for the fleeing bandits to vanish in the night.


    The mage stopped his flames only moments later while the mercenaries swarmed out, swiftly killing everyone that remained alive. She was called down from her perch moments later, the leaders of the caravan wanted to conclude the business.

 Chapter 25 - Fort

    Ves¡¯ra joined the leaders of the caravan moments later. They all turned towards her, new respect in their eyes.


    ¡°That was some mighty fine magic you got there. With that I¡¯ll be paying you for the full job, that raid would have been disastrous without your support and scouting.¡±


    ¡°I''m glad I could help.¡± The leader of the adventurers didn''t look all that good, it looked like he had too much energy spoke up.


    ¡°Yes, yes that good and all, but there are more important things to think about! Can I go now?¡±


    ¡°And what would that be? We already set double watch, though I doubt we¡¯ll be attacked a second time.¡±


    ¡°Are you an idiot? We have a whole bandit fortress and dozens of bandits to loot! And the others are on their way! We¡¯ll be cut out if we don''t hurry!¡± Ves¡¯ra looked at the person in disgust, how could one be so happy about killing so many sapient beings? It seemed like she wasn''t the only one, all of the persons around her looked at him too.


    ¡°You have been paid to protect my caravan! And not to run off at the first opportunity to steal everything a couple of criminals stole from other people!¡± The master hissed.


    ¡°You¡¯ll let all these riches laying around like that? What kind of merchant are you?¡±


    ¡°We will take care of all that in due time, for now you are to join the others in clearing the corpses from our camp! Do what you are paid for!¡±


    ¡°And what about the fortress?¡±


    ¡°There is only one person who knows where to find it and she will lead a contingent of guards to check up on it tomorrow. If even one of you leaves I will consider your contract void and report you to the guild!¡±


    The man paled at that and quickly excused himself.


    ¡°I fucking hate his type. Those like him can only think about money. Ves¡¯ra you will take a group of seven mercenaries to check on their hideout tomorrow while we rest here. Take anything you deem valuable and free any potential captives. The money will be be split between everyone who partook in the fight. Can you do that?¡±


    ¡°Sure, I know how to lead a hunting party.¡±


    ¡°Very good, get some rest than. Ateratos, pick seven of your people to accompany her and get them to rest too, they¡¯ll be exempt from watch duty for tonight.¡±


    ---


    They set out with the rising suns, hoping to catch any remaining bandits off guard. The seven mercenaries all had their second hatching and were able to enhance their bodies like most of her tribe. She had Arvog fly above them, so there was no chance to be ambushed by stray bandits.


    As they reached the top of a hill Ves¡¯ra saw the fort for the first time. Tall trees stood interwoven, forming a rough circle. The canapony was unnaturally low, hiding everything within the circle from their eyes. Her magic senses had expanded since her birth - she was able to feel everything she was capable of manipulating in a sphere with a radius as tall as her by now.


    Because of that passive sense she knew humans constantly gave off heat, so she cast a spell that would show them all heat within the fort. There wasn''t much, she could see about twenty human sized heat sources. Some of them were frantically running around behind some horses, probably preparing to flee their hideout.


    ¡°There are eleven humans filling two carts, but there is no lookout so we can easily get the drop on them. Now, each of you give me your weapon so I can give them a little shock with each attack.The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.


    We¡¯ll go in as quiet as possible and I¡¯ll try and kill as many of them as possible. Any questions?¡±


    ¡°You can enchant weapons? Permanently?¡±


    ¡°As long as it still has a supply of energy. It will vanish once the energy is depleted.¡±


    ¡°So as long as we keep pushing mana in our weapon it¡¯ll shock our enemies?¡±


    ¡°Yep. Get ready, they are packing up. Change of plans - we¡¯ll ambush them once they leave the fort.¡±


    They ran to the entrance of the fort and hunkered down. After a few breaths the first horse left the row of trees, obviously pulling a cart behind it. It didn''t take long for the rest to emerge - two bandits sat on the first carriage while three more walked next to it.


    Ves¡¯ra gestured to the mercenaries to kill those on foot while she took care of the other two. They were easily within reach of her lightning magic, so she simply created two balls of energy and threw them at her targets, transforming them into lightning on the way.


    Her attack happily discharged in their targets with a loud crack, causing the horse to jump in fright while two of the mercenaries jumped at the other bandits in their view. The remaining five passed them and surged into the fort, intending to take out the remaining bandits before they had a chance to react.


    Ves¡¯ra joined them, only to see that all bandits were already taken care of. After returning the carts back into the fort and calming down the horses Ves¡¯ra spoke up again.


    ¡°Good job. You all know what we are here to do, and you¡¯ll have to help me with that, I don¡¯t know what you humans perceive as valuable. We¡¯ll split up, two of you come with me and search for the rest of the humans in this building. Let''s go!¡±


    The remaining heat sources were in the back of the building, barely within the range of her spell, but the fort wasn''t all that big for all its height so they arrived at a very sturdy door soon after. It was locked from their side, so they were quite sure there were no bandits within.


    They key was still in the lock so they didn''t have to destroy anything and entered an entirely different complex only moments later.


    Everything was dark, she couldn''t see anything with her normal eyes, but before she could offer the two humans heat sight they took out a strange contraption that started to glow immediately after.


    They were in a long curved hallway with locked doors every few steps. Most of these cells weren''t filled however, so she ignored those. Of the fifteen cells three were fat man looking alot like the caravan master. The rest were humans females that did not look good.


    Half of them had empty eyes and looked like they didn''t want to live a moment longer. The other five were extremely frightened - like deer caught in the open.


    They didn''t seem to want to be anywhere near the human males and took cover between her and the female mercenary. She didn''t know what happened, but she didn''t want to know - probably more human strangeness.


    The last female wasn''t human - an elf she was told and was really strange. She was taller than every human she had seen so far, she was also far thinner and had long pointed ears. The elf moved with a grace she had not seen in many humans, so she was probably the most dangerous of the captives. Dangerous enough that Ves¡¯ra wasn''t sure why she was here. While Ves¡¯ra didn''t know what to think about her she seemed to decide to be the leader of them, approaching her.


    ¡°Who might you and your companions belong to young kobold?¡± She asked.


    ¡°I''m Ves¡¯ra, and am part of a merchant caravan that was attacked by the human bandits. Who are you?¡±


    ¡°I am Miafiel of Lokervik. More importantly you won? They didn''t seem foolish enough to attack something too dangerous and even had two mages.¡±


    ¡°My familiar spotted their scouts a day early and we killed them when they attacked.¡± The elf raised an eyebrow, something she had seen many humans do to express doubt, she wanted them too, but she didn''t have any fur so that was an unachievable dream.


    ¡°You¡¯re a mage? That''s quite impressive. I don''t know of any kobold living in the free cities.¡±


    ¡°I just left my tribe. We should get going, we still have to search for the valuable stuff and get back on the street. You can help or wait in the main hall.¡± She turned towards the two mercenaries. ¡°Let''s go.¡±


    Searching the fort for valuables didn''t that all that long, the bandits had been kind enough to load up the most of it for them, and they only found a few more valuables. They left the fort about an hour - a really practical human method to measure time - after they entered it.


    She found a few interesting things the humans deemed worthless - a metal knife, a magical object to see time and a few upgrades for things she already had.


    They joined the caravan as they finished packing up after cleaning the bodies, and set out only moments later. They would arrive at the human city in a week, though they would pass the first human village the day after tomorrow. She was really looking forwards to see one of the human settlements.

 Chapter 26 - Lokervik

    The village was quite easy to spot once she knew what to look for. Ves''ra had been confused at first - the grassy hills had suddenly been replaced by huge golden grasses. They were so tall in fact that she wasn''t able to see anything apart from the grasses around her.


    She spotted the human village only from above. Human houses were very different from kobold ones. They were bigger - unsurprisingly seeing as most humans were half again as tall as she was - and didn''t look like they were built from any material she knew. When asked she was told most houses were built out of processed wood which was then painted.


    It was a few hours before midday when they arrived at the village, later than she thought when looking at the size of the buildings. The houses were even bigger than she thought, which explained the long time they needed to cross the fields, even the smallest house was several times her height.


    They didn''t have anything to sell for such a small village - the caravan only toured the biggest settlements and traded stuff most villages didn''t need. After only a short break to warn the village of the remaining bandits they moved on - they still had half a day remaining.


    ---


    Arvog spotted the human city five days after passing the village. It was hard to miss really - huge walls of stone that were as tall as most trees in the forest. The city was in the middle of a huge valley between the hills - bigger than any she had seen so far. The human driver next to her told her that the mages that helped build the city were responsible for that!


    Instead of moving all the stones they needed for a city as huge as this they just excavated the stone beneath the soil and used that to build the walls she was now seeing.


    The city was perfectly circular, with three entrances, one for each road leaving the city. The houses within were nearly as tall as the walls themselves, obviously held up by magic she couldn''t comprehend. They neared the city from the south - opposite from the huge castle that held the city¡¯s leaders.


    The free cities - a small state of thirteen cities were governed by the seven most powerful guilds in these cities: The Adventurer¡¯s Guild, The free Merchants, The Blacksmith¡¯s Association, The Mercenaries Guild (really just a grouping of several groups of mercenaries to ease finding work), The Enchanter¡¯s guild, The Alchemists Guild and the General Craftsman Guild.


    Each of these guilds sent two representatives in the castle who then governed each city. The cities themselves were largely independent from each other and would only band together in a time of war.


    She had Arvog land on the wagon she was hitching a ride on - an unpleasant experience because she had nowhere to put her tail - because he had to be registered as her familiar to be protected by the law. Once they arrived at the gates - huge wooden contraptions reinforced with magic - the caravan master called for her.


    Happy to move again she jumped from the wagon and went forwards, with Arvog hot on her heels. Together they went to the front, where they had to wait for the people in front of them to enter the city.


    Once they were in front of the line Ves¡¯ra could see a human sitting at a small table with two small boxes and several sheets of paper in front of him. Unlike the other humans guarding the entrance he was not clad in the same clothing - he was probably important.Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.


    ¡°Hello esteemed merchant, a good day to you.¡±


    ¡°Good day to you too.¡±


    ¡°I assume you are Argen of Redrisk? May I inquire why your caravan has been delayed?¡±


    ¡°You are correct. We have been attacked by bandits a week from the city.¡±


    ¡°We assumed as much, there have been no lone travellers from Redrisk for quite some time. The council planned to send a bunch of adventurers to scout the road. I take it you took care of them?¡±


    ¡°We did. My young companion spotted their scouts and we were able to turn their ambush onto themselves. On that note, she will need full papers for herself and her familiar.¡±


    ¡°A kobold? There aren''t many of you in the free cities.¡± The man said and turned around. ¡° LITAVIS GET OVER HERE, SOMEONE NEEDS PROCESSING.¡± He yelled.


    ¡°Litavis will be over shortly. He¡¯ll get you everything you need.¡± He then turned towards the merchant. ¡°You¡¯ll cover for the entrance fee for your caravan?¡±


    ¡°I will. I will also pay for a full package for the kobold.¡± He said and took out a strange card, pressing it against one of the contraptions on the table. He turned back towards her afterwards. ¡°I will ready your reward at the guildhall, just ask them about me and tell them your name. I hope we¡¯ll see each other again.¡±


    They were joined by a human woman moments later, so she wasn''t able to answer before she and Arvog were practically dragged in a small room just inside the walls.


    ¡°So you¡¯ve never been to a real city before huh? Well it doesn''t matter, we¡¯ll get you sorted in no time. You can understand me can you?¡±


    ¡°Of course I can!¡±


    ¡°Very good. Sit there, this will take a bit. I take the wyvern is your familiar? That''s quite impressive, I know few mages that would even attempt to.¡±


    The indicated chair was obviously not built for a being as small as her - or for beings with a tail - so she turned it to the side for at least a little comfort.


    ¡°Oh, sorry about that, we don''t get to process many beings with a tail, should I get a chair that fits for you?¡±


    ¡°No, that''s fine. What now?¡±


    ¡°Now you will be issued the most important object you ever held. The merchant you came with was generous enough to pay for a full package, so you¡¯ll get several functions on top of your identity. So let¡¯s start: Name?¡±


    ¡°Ves¡¯ra.¡±


    ¡°You are a kobold are you not?¡± ¡°Very good. Age?¡±


    ¡°A year and a four months.¡±


    ¡°That''s quite young, well it doesn''t matter. Seeing as you have a familiar you¡¯re awakened too. What''s your magic?¡±


    ¡°Storm.¡±


    ¡°Storm, that''s a rare one, you¡¯ll probably hear something from the enchanters guild soon enough. Does you familiar have a name?¡±


    ¡°Arvog.¡±


    ¡°Good, good. Are you a core mage?¡±


    ¡°What''s a core mage?¡±


    ¡°So you are not, what a pity we always need more of that. Anyways you are young so you¡¯ll have enough time to get there.¡±


    ¡°WHAT''S A CORE MAGE?¡± She asked, slightly irritated with the rapidfire question.


    ¡°Core mages are the most powerful mages in existence, they form their mana into a crystal core and increase their mana reserves several times.¡±


    With that the woman started ignoring her and inserted her energy in the contraption on the table between them. The pattern the slightly yellow energy formed before entering was incredibly fascinating and captivated her for the entire time it happened.


    Once the human was done the contraption stirred and a metal card left it she concentrated on her again, mentioning Ves¡¯ra to pick it up.


    ¡°Did you cast magic today?¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡±


    ¡°How much, is your mana still mostly your own?¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡±


    ¡°Good. Now you¡¯ll have to insert your mana into the card to bind it to you, once that happens you¡¯ll be able to identify yourself by doing so again. If any changes happen then you¡¯ll have to be reevaluated.¡± Ves¡¯ra did as told, and the card absorbed all of it. Once done she did so again the card lit up in a green light.


    ¡°Good, now scamper off. I want to go back to sleep again.¡±


    Ves¡¯ra compiled happily, she had a huge city to explore. She would search for the merchants first she resolved, the humans world seemed to revolve around money and she had none of it.

 Chapter 27 - Guilds

    Ves¡¯ra left the immigration building and immediately went towards the next guard - she had been told they would help her if asked. Guards were easily identifiable by their armor, so she had directions for a place where Arvog could rest. Keeping up with the caravan had been hard on him.


    Once she had secured him a place inside a house for flying familiars she set out. She really wanted to explore the huge human city, but humans wanted money for everything and so she opted to visit the merchant¡¯s guild first.


    There were seven streets that led directly into the middle of the city, so she returned to the first one and turned towards the middle. She was glad to be back on a main street - walking in the smaller side alleys felt a lot like walking in a narrow canyon, not something she wanted to do normally.


    There was a definitive difference between the houses on the main and side streets - there were murals adorning the walls, all paint was fresh and most had some kind of shop on the ground floor. They showed lots of interesting stuff - sadly she had to get money before being able to buy stuff.


    She needed about twenty minutes to get to the middle of the city, a huge plaza filled with different stands selling everything she could imagine and more. The eight biggest buildings she had seen in the city so far were surrounding it. One of those was the headquarter of the free merchant¡¯s, though she did not know which one.


    All of the eight buildings had a very distinct sign, but she didn''t know the meaning of any of them. That was a problem she¡¯d have to take care of as soon as possible - there was no way she could stand being this obviously unknowledgeable!


    For now she¡¯d have to ask one of the humans around her. She wouldn''t have a problem finding a human - there were hundreds of them all around her!


    The free merchants were located in the third biggest building on the main square - its sign were a bunch of crates behind a feather. She should have made the connection - the caravan was filled with crates.


    She set out without further ado - she really wanted to explore the human city. Perhaps she¡¯d even be able to get rid of her wyvern parts that would open up a great deal of space in her bag.


    After entering the building through the huge doors Ves¡¯ra felt like she stepped in a new world. All humans around her were dressed in bright clothes that no sane kobold would ever think of wearing and ran around with a sense of urgency the rest of the city lacked. She didn''t really know what she was supposed to do once she was here so she decided to wait for a human to enter and copy them.


    She didn''t have to wait long, the next human entered only minutes after her. He was dressed differently, using the metal garment humans seemed so fond of. He approached one of the people - for there weren''t only humans there - standing around the edges of the room and started speaking with her.


    With her next course of action set she left the immediate vicinity of the doors and went to the next attendant.


    ¡°Hello there, are you lost? Can I help you?¡± The being asked, sniffing its nose in the process. The being looked a lot like a humanoid cat - full of fur and inverted knees, a nuzzle and sharp teeth. Ves¡¯ra didn''t know if she should be insulted - she knew why she was here!


    ¡°Yes you can help me, and why should I be lost?¡±


    ¡°Well, what would a child like you do in the free merchant''s headquarters otherwise?¡± Now she was being insulted. Just because she wasn''t as tall as all the other stupid humanoid didn''t mean she was a hatchling!


    ¡°I''m a fully grown kobold and I have business here!¡± She hissed.


    ¡°Oh, you are no lizardkin? I''m terribly sorry, what can I do for you young lady?¡±


    ¡°I''m here to get my pay. I helped protect Argen of Redrisk¡¯s caravan when we met on the road. I didn''t have any identity back then so he told me to come here to pick up my pay.¡±Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.


    ¡°I¡¯ll check your story and be right back, wait for just a moment.¡± The cat excused herself. She didn''t take long, coming back out of the door she vanished in only moments later.


    ¡°You story checks out, if you would accompany me please.¡±


    ¡°Sure.¡± They left the main hall through one of the many doors, entering a long hallway filled with dozens of doors. They entered a spacious room, filled with only a table a chair and a very broad chair with a hole for people with tails - she approved of that!


    ¡°Sit down please, do you want any refreshments while one of our employees gets your reward?¡±


    ¡°What do you have as refreshments?¡±


    ¡°Water, various fruit juices, coffee.¡± Ves¡¯ra had to suppress a gag - who in their right mind would want to contaminate their drink with plants?


    ¡°What''s coffee?¡±


    ¡°Hot water mixed with coffee beans.¡±


    ¡°Are those plants?¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll take a hot water than.¡±


    ¡°Very good, this will only take a moment.¡± The cat left her chair and inserted magic into a table on the side of the room. Ves¡¯ra could feel the water being sucked out of the room while she saw a transparent glass of energy coming into being.


    She watched - fascinated - as water filled the energy. She¡¯d have to try that - she didn''t even know you could use energy like that!


    ¡°There you go.¡±


    ¡°Thank you. Can I sell something here too?¡± She asked.


    ¡°Depending on what you want to sell yes, I¡¯ll have to disappoint you though, we don''t need any bone or fur implements.¡±


    ¡°You really think I''m a savage don''t you? Are all of you cats so bad?¡± She asked, anger seeping into her voice once again. The cat looked taken aback, all fur she was able to see standing up as she hissed at Ves¡¯ra.


    ¡°What did you just call me?¡±


    ¡°Cat. If you want to insult me so can I.¡±


    ¡°When did I insult you you little savage, be glad I even took time for you!¡±


    ¡°What about all the time. Do you think me stupid enough not to notice the veiled insults, if so you aren''t smarter than you think me to be.¡± There was a knock at the door before the situation could escalate any further, and soon a normal human entered, carrying a contraption that looked a lot like the one she had seen on the way into the city. Ves¡¯ra spoke before the cat had a chance to speak up.


    ¡°I would like to have someone else attend to me if possible, that person didn''t stop insulting me.¡± The man didn''t bat an eye and instead turned towards the cat.


    ¡°I will attend to the young kobold than, if you have nothing against it miss Nerru.¡±


    ¡°Go ahead.¡± Just as she left the room Ves¡¯ra heard her mutter again. ¡°Damn savages! It can be happy I didn''t throw it out with how hard it stank!¡±


    ¡°Would you like to file a complaint against miss Nerru?¡±


    ¡°No, she¡¯s not worth the hassle. So what do I have to do?¡±


    ¡°I read the esteemed merchant Argen paid for a full Identity?¡±


    ¡°So I was told, yes.¡±


    ¡°Very good - if you would let me see that so I can confirm your data with the data I have been given that would be very much appreciated.¡± She did, inserting her energy to show it was her card, and soon enough the merchant was comparing the symbols on her plate with those on a piece of paper he took out somewhere.


    ¡°Everything seems to be in order miss Ves¡¯ra. If you insert your card here than the money will be transferred to your account, redeemable in any house of our guild - just ask at one of the counters. I¡¯m obliged to tell you that I have only transferred the money for the escort and a second payment will be made once all materials have been processed. Can I do anything else for you?¡±


    ¡°Yes, I would like to sell something.¡±


    ¡°I can''t guarantee we will buy everything, but you can certainly show me what you have.¡±


    She nodded and took her pack on her lap.


    ¡°Can I really put it on the table? It¡¯s so clean and you¡¯d have to do so again.¡±


    ¡°No problem, the table is enchanted.¡± With permission she dumped all her wyvern products on the table, causing the merchant to raise an eyebrow.


    ¡°I hope you didn''t harvest those from you familiar?¡±


    ¡°Of course not, why would I do that?¡±


    ¡°How did you get them than?¡±


    ¡°I killed one of his parents.¡±


    ¡°And you still managed to bond him? That''s impressive. We will certainly take those. In addition to the four hundred coins you got for escorting the caravan I could probably take all of this for five hundred coins. Though the adventurer¡¯s guild would be more profitable.¡±


    ¡°That''s fine for me. I don''t understand your fascination with money. Can I have a quarter of that coin on hand? I don''t have anything I saw nowhere where I could pay with the card.¡±


    ¡°Certainly. It was a pleasure doing business with you.¡±

 Chapter 28 - Adventurer

    Ves''ra happily left the merchant''s guild a few minutes later. Her walking pace slowed significantly now that she had something humans wanted and she could do more then enjoy the sight.


    She was hungry so she decided to buy some of the burnt meat humans liked so much, it did taste better than normal, though she still preferred fresh meat.


    She decided to take care of lodgings first - while she didn''t mind sleeping under the sky she preferred sleeping inside.


    She didn''t need long to find something called an inn - one of the bigger houses that was specialized in housing people. She paid fifty silver for the week - one meal a day included. With a place to sleep secured Ves''ra set out towards the main square once again, she wanted to join the adventurer''s guild.


    The guild was easy to find - the building was even bigger than the merchant¡¯s guild, though there was a bigger one still. The sign of the adventurer''s guild was a goblin full of arrows.


    She entered the building and arrived in a entrance hall just like in the merchant¡¯s guild. Instead of waiting she immediately approached one of the counters - there were more than enough. Luckily there even was a counter for smaller people like her - it was manned by a strange human, about as tall as she was with an impressive beard and a very stocky build.


    ¡°What can I do for ya?¡± He asked.


    ¡°I want to join the guild?¡±


    ¡°You sure you''re old enough?¡±


    ¡°I''m an adult.¡±


    ¡°Reason of ¡®oining?¡± He asked.


    ¡°I''ll get paid for hunting monsters. And information on how to do it.¡±


    ¡°Out for revenge than? That''s a normal enough reason - who did you lose?¡±


    ¡°No! Monsters just taste better than the burnt meat you humans like to eat.¡±


    ¡°Your reason is your own, but I aint no human lass, I''m a dwarf.¡±


    ¡°Sorry for that mr. dwarf. What do I have to do?¡±


    ¡°Wait just a moment, I''ll be right back.¡± The dwarf turned around and left through a door and came back with another box reeking of magic a few moments later.


    ¡°I''ll have to ask you a few questions to determine your rank.¡±


    ¡°That''s fine with me.¡±


    ¡°Ever killed a monster?¡±


    ¡°Yep.¡±If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.


    ¡°What''s the most powerful monster you killed?¡±


    ¡°Wyvern.¡±


    ¡°Ye have a way to prove that? Wyverns are mighty dangerous even for humans.¡±


    ¡°Its child is my familiar. That''s confirmed on my identity card.¡± She said, taking out said card once again.


    ¡°So ye''re already awakened then? That''s impressive for one so ¡®oung. How long have you been awakened?¡±


    ¡°A little more than a year.¡±


    ¡°Ye''ve awakened within three months ofyour birth - that''s bloody impressive. I see ye''re a storm mage, that means ye''re a backline fighter then?¡±


    ¡°Now if ye''ll confirm ye''re the one on that card we can proceed.¡±


    ¡°Sure.¡±


    ¡°Good. Now what do you want to do?¡±


    ¡°Huh I already said that, an adventurer.¡±


    ¡°Not what I meant, do you wonna join a team or go solo hunting? There''s a different ranking for that.¡±


    ¡°Solo hunting, there isn''t even a question.¡±


    ¡°Ye sure about that? Teams are safer.¡±


    ¡°Why even ask if you''re insisting on a team? Yes I''m sure.¡±


    ¡°Figured you would. It¡¯s guild policy, I have to ask ye. Nothing personal. What do you know of the guild?¡±


    ¡°You hunt monsters for money.¡±


    ¡°That''s a very basic description, though partly true. A few centuries ago both the adventurers guild and the mercenary guild were one. It¡¯s true that adventurers usually go out to hunt monsters, but we can do everything a mercenary does too. The main difference is the size of each groups - adventurers won''t run around in groups larger than eight, that''s just not economical for most missions, while you¡¯ll be hard pressed to find a group of mercenaries with less than fifteen members.


    Because of that the two guilds split apart - each with their own speciality. Adventurers take small time work that doesn''t require many people - like hunting monsters - while mercenaries work in bigger groups, mostly protection of caravans or bolstering armies in a war.


    Due to our origins each mission has a difficulty ranking that scales with group size which is determined by the guild. Additionally the client can demand a mission to be taken by someone with a set amount of experience.


    Experience ranking is from copper to mythril while combat ranking is from F to SSS. Everyone that joins the guild can have any combat ranking - with proof of their ability - but starts with a copper plate.


    Of course the more difficult a mission the faster your experience will grow.¡±


    ¡°So how difficult is a wyvern?¡±


    ¡°Wyverns count as a B rank threat, mostly because of the venom and flight.¡±


    ¡°So I¡¯ll be a copper-B rank than?¡±


    ¡°Yep.¡±


    ¡°So who pays for hunting monsters?¡±


    ¡°Mostly craftsman that want to use exotic materials, of course the more powerful a monster the better. There are other reasons too - sometimes the city pays to suppress certain monsters that tend to gather in groups big enough to threaten villages or all monsters of the dire class - basically everything who¡¯s main prey are sapient beings like you and me.¡±


    ¡°Ohhh, I met one of those too.¡±


    ¡°Can''t help you without proof there. Good job anyways - those are nasty buggers.¡±


    After inserting her card into magic box the dwarf handed it back to her - now several new symbols had joined the previous ones while the card took a coppery hue.


    ¡°That''s it, do you want to look for a quest right away or can I do anything for you?¡±


    ¡°No. Do you know where I can learn how to understand all those symbols you put on everything? I don''t like not knowing what something means around me.¡±


    ¡°You should probably go to the mages guild, they teach everything - for the right price. Learning how to read and write shouldn''t be all that hard though - a hundred fifty silver should be enough for a basic understanding. You can learn the rest by yourself by going into the grand library and practicing yourself.¡±


    ¡°Thanks, I¡¯ll be on my way.¡±

 Chapter 29 - Mages guild

    After leaving the adventurer''s guild Ves''ra turned towards the biggest building on the main square - the mages guild. The guild was unique insofar that they didn''t participate in any politics.


    She didn''t know why that was special, but she did care that she''d be able to learn ¡®reading¡¯ there, so she walked towards it immediately. The building radiated energy - more than she had ever seen. It was grandiose, several stories high with magic flying all across the facade. A snake of fire transforming into one made out of ice then water and back again was only one of the magics adorning the building.


    The entry differed from the other buildings she entered so far too - instead of a wooden door she saw people vanishing into a horizontal lake. She didn''t know if she really wanted to enter that - she didn''t know how to swim.


    Ves¡¯ra shook her head and entered the building before anymore doubts entered her mind. She was right to do so too - the moment she passed the portal all doubts in her mind vanished.


    Looking around she noticed she was in a long hallway- longer than it had any right to be. turning around she only saw a solid wall of stone. She shook her head once again, starting to circulate her energy through her head. The wall vanished, replaced by the same strange lake as before.


    Turning around Ves¡¯ra was greeted by a different scene, a slim human with long ears - an elf she remembered - stood only a few meters in front of her, sitting behind a desk and reading something. Ves¡¯ra took a step, carefully looking around for more magic tricks. Once she was sure there weren''t any she immediately stepped towards the counter.


    The elf ignored her, obviously reading was more important than she was. Well, she was in no hurry so she leaned against the wall opposite to the elf and took out the human timekeeper. Ves¡¯ra decided she would wait for an hour, if the elf wasn''t ready by then, than she would interrupt him.


    It didn''t take long, the elf spoke up after only twenty minutes.


    ¡°You aren''t going to speak are you? What can I do for you?¡±


    ¡°Why would I, it would be rude to interrupt someone. I want to learn to read and have been told I can find someone teaching here.¡±


    ¡°That''s no problem, do you want a personal tutor or is studying with our students fine.¡±


    ¡°I don''t care as long as I¡¯ll learn how to do so.¡±A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.


    ¡°You shook off the illusion pretty quickly - how did you do it?¡±


    ¡°That wasn''t really hard, I only had to shield myself from the energy in my mind with my own.¡± The elf¡¯s eyes widened a bit. ¡°You''re a mage?¡±


    ¡°Why is everyone asking that? Of course I hatched a second time, otherwise I wouldn''t be here.¡±


    ¡°Where would you be?¡±


    ¡°I would be dead.¡±


    ¡°Dead?!¡±


    ¡°Yes. Each of my siblings had to try their second hatching with four months.¡±


    ¡°EVERY single being in your village is a mage?!¡±


    ¡°Yes. I don''t know why everyone seems to wonder about that? How can you hunt if you can''t do magic or empower your body.¡±


    ¡°Wait, you said your siblings had to try? You didn''t?¡±


    ¡°I was faster. I have had strange feelings for all of my life and found my second egg when investigating one of them. Then I had to hatch again, though I used the winter storm that was raging outside instead of my body.¡±


    ¡°Damn, your whole village has to awaken within four months of your birth.¡±


    ¡°Or they die yes. Now, can we get back to more important matters. How long is such a course and how much does it cost?¡±


    ¡°More important than a village full of mages, yeah, sure. Are you an adult or a child?¡±


    ¡°Adult.¡±


    ¡°Well, basic writing for adults takes four weeks and a hundred silver. The next one would start in a week. Private tutors cost a hundred and fifty silver a week and takes as long as it takes. What would you like?¡±


    That wasn''t easy to answer. A private tutor would cost six times as much, though only if she did indeed need four weeks to learn that. Ves¡¯ra was quite confident in her ability to learn, so she decided she¡¯d try the the private tutor for one week - the other course would only start in the next week anyways, so she wouldn''t waste any time.


    ¡°Can I change my mind later on? I¡¯d like to try the private tutor for the rest of the week and change if it doesn''t suit me.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯d have to pay for the week anyways, but yes that is indeed possible.¡±


    ¡°So, when do I start?¡±


    ¡°Tomorrow. You¡¯ll have to pay the tutor directly. Just think of library before entering the portal, you¡¯ll be waited for there. How may you be addressed?


    ¡°I''m Ves¡¯ra.¡±


    ¡°Very good. Good luck.¡±


    ¡°Thank you, bye.¡±


    ---


    Vamir of Lokervik looked at the kobolds back as she left the guild. She obviously didn''t know how ridiculous her claims sounded - a WHOLE village full of mages. Only one of every twenty would awaken. And only one of those twenty was an actual mage. That village sounded like a very important asset to have - if they managed to copy their technique to awaken then the free cities would be the most powerful nation overnight.


    He¡¯d have to alert the guild master, they had to find that village! Finding the tutor wouldn''t be hard, though he¡¯d have to make sure they would milk the stupid thing for as much information as possible.

 Chapter 30 - Reading

    Ves''ra left the mages guild happy, she''d be able to work on her ignorance soon enough. Learning new stuff was always fun to do. She had about three hundred silver left if she discounted the money she''d need to complete her lessons and live in the inn while doing so.


    That meant she had enough to try lots of human food! She didn''t hope for too much - humans ate too much plants and way too little fresh meat. She would give them the benefit of the doubt though, it was obvious humans had more success than her village, so perhaps they had actual food somewhere too.


    As Ves''ra entered the mages guild thinking of the library on the next morning she had to admit she was disappointed. She didn''t find anything that sold fresh meat - and even some of the meat was tainted with plants.


    Well, at least she wouldn''t have to worry about her money running out - what she ate was easy to come by and quite cheap.


    The library was huge - or looked huge until she started circling energy through her head again. It was still full of thousands of books even after that, but it wasn''t nearly as impressive as the endless rows of books, going on forever and high up in the sky.


    The walls where she came out were full of doors - she''d probably use one of these rooms for learning. Ves''ra''s musing was stopped by an old human soon after.


    ¡°You''re Ves''ra?¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡±


    ¡°Good, good. Follow me, we can start right away.¡± He said with a strange grin while wringing his hands.


    Once they entered one of the rooms and sat down she waited for the man to speak up.


    ¡°So, what can you tell me about you? Where are you from? How long did you take do get here? Do you have any previous knowledge?¡± He asked, surprising her. She narrowed her eyes, what were the chances to meet a human that didn''t want his money first? Not high she decided.


    ¡°Don''t you want your pay first?¡± She asked. The human somehow seemed unhappy, even though it didn''t enter his voice.Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site.


    ¡°Oh, silly me, I was so excited about teaching a kobold I forgot about it. You have the money here?¡±


    ¡°I do.¡± With that she took the money she fetched out of the merchant''s guild the day before. She really wasn''t happy about things, the human clearly wanted something from her - she''d have to be careful of him.


    ¡°Very good, that''s enough for a week, you''ll have to pay more if you want more after that.


    Now, returning to my earlier questions?¡±


    ¡°I know your language, but have no experience with reading.¡± The human waited for a bit before continuing, obviously waiting for her to answer his other questions. She decided not to notice, that was definitely the easiest.


    ¡°Well, let''s start then. Common is the easiest language there is, made to be learnt quickly and by everyone, so reading and writing is easier than in most other languages ¡­¡± After the man droned on about the history of the language they were speaking for the next hour Ves''ra had enough.


    ¡°I want to learn how to read, not how the language came to be.¡± She interrupted him.


    ¡°Sorry about that my dear, I just love the topic and can lose myself. Just interrupt me if I go off target again. So the written language is made out of ¡­¡±


    The remaining three hours were actually useful, and she was confident she''d be able to learn how to read in two weeks. She wouldn''t be fast by any standards, but that was secondary and would happen in time.


    ---


    Vamir waited for the teacher with expectant eyes. He was sure he''d be able to put up a quest to find the stupid kobold''s village today and have someone take care of her after.


    ¡°So how''d it go? Where can I find that village?¡± He asked.


    ¡°That savage has no clue how things work! Why did you ask me to teach it?¡±


    ¡°I asked something.¡±


    ¡°I have no clue. I asked it what you wanted but it isn''t smart enough to remember my questions. I didn''t even ask for pay like you asked me to, but it paid me anyways. Now I have to teach it for a week, do you know how disgusting that is you fucking twig?¡±


    ¡°No need to get personal. There is something in it for you too, get over it. You still have a week to find out, if you don''t you won''t get anything.¡±


    He really hoped the racist idiot would just do his job. That man was the worst teacher in the guild - he talked about everything but what he was told to teach. In the worst case he''d have to knock the beast out and torture the information out of her.


    Over the next week Vamir became more and frustrated, the idiot wasn''t able to get any information, apparently the kobold didn''t get even the most simple of social clues. He decided he''d have to take drastic measures - he didn''t know if the kobold would ever return to the city - and even if it did, he wouldn''t know about it.


    He would follow it back towards its inn this evening and use some of his less legal contacts to bring it in.

 Chapter 31 - Koboldnapped

    Ves¡¯ra was happy when she left the mages guild that evening. It had been a frustrating week - the ¡®teacher¡¯ definitely knew what he was teaching, but she had to interrupt him every few minutes because he would get off target again. Even the elven clerk that followed her couldn''t ruin her mood.


    Wait.


    The elven clerk that followed her?


    That hadn''t happened before. Beings shadowing oneself wouldn''t normally want the best for anyone. Violence was forbidden in the city - or she¡¯d have already shown him what she thought of the ¡®teacher¡¯ she had to endure. Well, perhaps he would attack her, she¡¯d be allowed to defend herself then.


    Her wish didn''t come into being, he followed her until she reached her inn - though he was so incompetent at it she wondered if he was even trying. Perhaps he¡¯d try something later - he had to know she was a mage and would probably wait for her to sleep before acting.


    It would be best to prepare for that, so she practically inhaled her meal and went to her room. She took out all the daggers she purchased over the week, strapping them in easy to reach places. She decided she wouldn''t try to fight in the middle of the inn - the innkeeper had been kind to her and didn''t begrudge her for her unique diet.


    She could as well sleep she decided - it would definitely be less suspicious than being awake and not struggling.


    Ves¡¯ra woke violently as someone ripped her arms on her back, binding them together with a strong rope. She put up a token resistance - but there was no way for her to free herself from the rope.


    ¡°Who are you? What do you want?¡± She asked.


    ¡°Shut up.¡±


    ¡°I don''t have anything valuable.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ll shut you up if you don''t!¡±


    ¡°Fine, just don''t hurt me please.¡± With her duties after being koboldnapped done Ves¡¯ra watched interested as the men tied her up - not bothering to search her at all - and then left the inn through her window, locking it after leaving.


    They held to back alleys as she was slowly transported to the outer quarters of the city. She could spot a flickering flame every now and then, but a quick glare by one of the thugs ¡®shut¡¯ her up before she could yell for help.


    She was sure none of the thugs was a mage, so she started gathering water from the air, storing it in fur of her clothes. That was uncomfortable, but nearly impossible to spot by eyesight. While being at it she added water into the ropes too - it would make her escape inevitable.


    They took about an hour to arrive at their destination - an old looking building, the first she had seen in the city. The thugs entered the building through a side door and secured her to a wooden chair. All but two of them left the room afterwards, as the remaining two started guarding the door.Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.


    The elf that followed her this evening came in soon after, looking completely out of it.


    ¡°You?¡± She asked. ¡°What do you want with me? What did I do?¡± The elf shook his head.


    ¡°You don''t even get it do you? You''re sitting on a literal goldmine and don''t even notice!¡±


    ¡°Why did you need me then? I''m not sure how I could help you dig up the ground.¡±


    ¡°DON''T MAKE FUN OF ME! YOU KNOW WHAT I MEAN!¡±


    ¡°Not really. How would I? We only talked once, after which you gave me a useless and rude teacher.¡±


    ¡°Your village, what is its secret? Tell me!¡±


    ¡°My village? There is no secret to be found. What do you mean?¡±


    ¡°Every fucking one of you is a mage, you told me yourself! I want to know how you do it.¡±


    ¡°And you kidnapped me for that? I would have told you about the second hatching if you asked me.¡±


    ¡°You know the secret? Tell me!¡± He yelled.


    ¡°There is no secret. The shaman tells us what to expect - we¡¯ll find ourselves in our second egg - and then we just have to get out like we did with the first. If we manage than we are a full member of our tribe.¡±


    ¡°That''s it? No potion, spell, anything? No, you must be lying! Yes that''s it, don''t you dare lie to me you savage. I saw through you!¡±


    Ves¡¯ra had enough of the inane ramblings of the mad idiot in front of her, so she froze the water in the ropes binding her. They shattered with only little force, startling the two guards into action. Ves¡¯ra summoned her magic again, roasting the elf in front of her with a bolt of lightning. She ran at the two guards after that, taking out two of her daggers in the process.


    She was on the first before he had a chance to process her attack, plunging both daggers in his chest.


    She had to jump back after, barely avoiding the fist of the second man. Just as she was about to jump forwards again she heard footsteps from the other side of the door, so she stepped back. The man saw that as her being intimidated by his bulk and stepped forwards, intend on driving his advantage.


    The ones behind the door kicked it open, directly into her assailant. The man fell over, out of commission for now. The last three of her kidnappers entered through the now broken door, slowly pressuring her in a corner.


    She would lose like that. Ves¡¯ra threw one of her daggers at the farthest opponent and took the second in her mouth, dropping on her four limbs and exploding towards one of the man. She passed the one nearest to her in the process, giving him a good slap with her tail.


    She must have hit something important as the man fell to the ground, arms between his legs.


    Ves¡¯ra had no chance to wonder about that as she came into range with her target, jumping at his face with a last jump. The man was not prepared for that, and fell to the ground. She landed atop his chest, plugging her dagger down with all her strength.


    The third man had just dodged her dagger and was at a loss at what to do - pausing for a moment. That was the last problem he had, as it gave her enough time to finish her next spell.


    Water immediately started flowing out of her clothes, rapidly cooling into ice. The lance of ice pierced his chest, making the man fall to the ground as life left him.


    Ves¡¯ra stood up, blood still pumping through her veins as she looked at the carnage around her. Three of her attackers were still alive - the elf, the man hit by the door and the one her tail hit.


    She killed the two thugs first, they were obviously hired and would have nothing interesting to tell her. Once that grim work was done she turned towards the elf - he was just coming back to himself and obviously didn''t like what he saw.


    Ves¡¯ra used her magic to secure him, completely immobilising everything except his mouth with a thin layer of ice.


    ¡°Well, let''s talk shall we?¡± She said with a grin. The thugs had come from somewhere and she wasn''t one to leave enemies behind her - and the elf was her only connection to them. It would be a bloody night.

 Chapter 32 - Underground

    Ves''ra left the warehouse soon after, the elf had been surprisingly well informed, apparently he was an informant of the underground chief of the city, planted in the mages guild to hear about interesting rumors and such. Well, he obviously wasn''t a high level member of the organisation, and had been terrified that she would torture? him. Why would she hurt someone to get information, that seemed just cruel, especially because she was going to kill him after anyways.


    Well, the night was young and the underground guild knew of her village, and for some reason they wanted to find and hurt her family. While she knew it was very unlikely to find a random kobold village more than a month of travelling from here, especially because she didn''t give any directions, humans had already proven resourceful, so she better take care of them.


    The elf only knew about the headquarters where he reported, so she made her way back into the respectable part of the town, avoiding the guards much like the thugs that transported her. With her smaller size she had it easier moving through the streets, and the guards weren''t really perceptive anyway, so she managed to arrive at her destination, a large building only three streets from the main square, half an hour after she set out.


    Seeing anything but heat was really hard in the dark, so the only impression she got from the building was huge and sturdy. Well, she could see two human sized heat signals directly behind the door. They were obviously standing watch, so she¡¯d have to do something about that. If she was being honest with herself she didn''t want to kill more people than necessary, and she was sure she¡¯d manage to subdue the two silently.


    Ves¡¯ra sneaked up on the door and started funneling water through the slit, turning it into a fine mist upon entry. She had the mist creep up the two men¡¯s bodies, slowly forming transparent sheen of water in front of their mouths. The two didn''t notice a thing as she slowly decreased the amount of air entering their mouths.


    After a few minutes she saw the two sitting heat-signals slump together, indicating they lost consciousness. She continued for a few minutes just to be sure before she turned her attention to the door. She didn''t feel any magic from it, so she just sent her energy through the door and lifted the bar blocking the door, slipped in and closed the door behind her.


    Without the thick outer walls restricting her vision Ves¡¯ra could see almost everyone on the floors above and below her. While both the floor she was in and the one above were fast asleep she could see quite some activity below her. Most were people sitting at their desks, but some were patrolling the floor or equally useless stuff. Well, she¡¯d have to get to the third floor underground, so she¡¯d have to pass them.


    It would be easy, these people obviously didn''t suspect anyone entering their stronghold and were quite lax. Better for her. Ves¡¯ra took quite some time searching for the entrance into the cellar, finding a trapdoor under one of the knocked out guards after returning to the entrance in desperation. Moving the guard without waking him up was quite the challenge, but she entered the cellar not soon after.The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.


    Even though the cellar was full of light, strange heatless torches flickering on the walls, it was quite easy to slip past the guards as the shadows were even deeper and perfect for a small kobold to hide in.


    While she knew the location where to find the leader in she hadn''t asked the elf for a floor plan, so she had to backtrack several times, just to find the way down, it was a bit harder, but in the end she managed just fine. The second underground floor was smaller, with nearly no people still moving, so she had no problems navigating it, bypassing the few guards in front of what she assumed to be underground warehouses.


    The elf told her the third basement floor was solely for the leader of this branch to use, as such it was the smallest, with only a guard, who she took out in much the same fashion she did with the other two.


    There were only three other sources of heat on the floor - a slowly cooling fireplace, a person and what she assumed to be the office. The last one was strange, normally heat originated from a single, small source, but the whole office seemed to emit the same heat as the person sleeping in the other room.


    She was certain there was magic involved, so she ought to be extra careful. Ves¡¯ra entered the room and indeed, the man sleeping on the bed resembled the one the elf described her. She inspected him for magic, and sure enough she could feel a thin strand of energy going off into the strange warm room.


    She had had a bit of time to learn about humans, and was sure whatever happened wouldn''t be pleasant for her, even if it only alarmed the humans above her, she had little hope to fight all of them off, even if she could get herself to kill them. A plan was needed. She probed the spell attached to the man with her own mana, analysing it to the best of her ability.


    She completely lacked magical education, but she did find out that the spell would send out a signal if something happened to the man, and that the energy used to cast it wasn''t his. That meant he was no mage, so she wouldn''t have to worry about waking him up with her probing.


    Well, the trigger certainly gave her ideas, perhaps she could design one herself. She definitely did not have time to design one as complicated as this, completely independent from herself and able to stay active for that long, but she wouldn''t have to, just long enough to escape the compound and trigger it herself. She was pretty sure it would be impossible to hide his death, so she used half her energy to attach a spell to the man that was sure to kill him. The spell wouldn''t go off until she wanted it to, being tethered to her with a strand of energy noticeably bigger than the one connecting him to his office.


    She¡¯d have to see about getting a human to teach her magic, it seemed way too useful to let up on but they¡¯d probably want a lot of money. Perhaps it was time to hunt for something tasty? She didn''t join the adventurers guild for fun after all.


    Yes, she would do just that, getting out to hunt a strong monster, giving Arvog the chance to move around a bit more too. Well, first she had to get past the first floor again, this time with less concentration as she had to concentrate to keep the thread of energy from snapping.


    Ves¡¯ra took nearly an hour to sneak past all of the humans on the upper two floors and leave the building, locking it behind her again.


    Holding up the thread of energy had been getting increasingly harder, and she didn''t trust herself in holding it up until she reached the next corner, so she triggered the spell and legged it, not waiting for whatever was happening.


    She immediately went back towards her inn, entering in the same way she had been forced to leave and going back to sleep. It had been quite the exhausting night so she fell asleep quickly.

 Chapter 33 - Conjuring

    As Ves¡¯ra left her room late in the next morning something was different. There was a restlessness in the air that she had not seen so far. At first she panicked, thinking that the humans knew what she did last night, but she noticed her worries were unfounded soon after, they didn''t even take notice of her.


    When the human working at the inn brought her her breakfast she spoke up.


    ¡°Did something happen? Why is everyone so excited?¡±


    ¡°You just woke up huh. Well, there was a big fire in one of the buildings near here.¡±


    ¡°I thought your buildings were protected against fire?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, me too. That''s what everyone is worried about too, especially because the building¡¯s owner is a noble from a nearby kingdom, the people worry they will use the accident as the reason to invade.¡±


    ¡°You humans are strange? Why¡¯d you want to kill each other over every little thing? It¡¯s not like there isn''t enough land to go around all around us, why would you want what others have?¡±


    ¡°I''m not sure, I''m just a small waitress, I don''t know what those in power think. I¡¯ll have to go back to work though.¡±


    As Ves¡¯ra moved out of the inn she couldn''t help but wonder why the house owned by a foreigner was the base of the criminal organisation. It was pretty obvious that the spell attached to the man she killed caused the fire, so she wasn''t really wondering about that. Well, it didn''t really affect her, she was an adventurer and not a mercenary so she didn''t worry about being conscripted into the human army.


    With a spring in her step Ves¡¯ra entered the adventurers guild for the first time in a week. She knew what she wanted to do, find a powerful monster to hunt, and seeing that the guild was the prime location to find monsters and would even pay for the unimportant parts of her food she saw no reason not to use them.


    Just as she was about to walk over to the request board she saw a bunch of young humans entering the building. They were too large a group to be actual adventurers, so she was intrigued. Ves¡¯ra went over to one of the older humans observing the ongoings within the guild.


    ¡°Hey, what are all these hatchlings doing here?¡±


    ¡°You''re new? Well, it¡¯s no secret, the guild offers every new or prospective adventurer a lesson on essential knowledge like tracking, a few mana spells and basic knowledge.¡±


    ¡°Oh, I''m new too, so I could join in? Do I have to sign up somewhere? How long are these lessons?¡±


    ¡°Not really, you can just follow that group. And it¡¯s more of a single five hour lesson, if you want to be successful you¡¯ll have to use and further the basics yourself.¡±


    ¡°Thank you.¡± Ves¡¯ra ran after the group of young humans, just managing to follow them. She was really interested in what the guild saw as basic mana spells, as the only one she really knew was telekinesis, so she was understandably interested in learning more of those.


    The first part of the lesson was quite boring, she didn''t learn anything new about tracking, so she lost her focus for a bit. Hearing talk about common monsters was quite interesting, and some did sound delicious, so she made a mental note to look for quests involving them.


    It took about two hours before the adventurer in the front left the room and they had a small break as another entered the room and started giving out several objects to each of them. A few minutes later the man clapped loudly, stopping all conversation.


    ¡°Silence. ¡­ Good, you can listen. Now, a little about me before we start. I''m an B-ranked adventurer, a watermage and will be teaching you a few essential mana spells. As you know mana-sorcery is something every awakened can do, with enough practice.


    Of course, mana-sorcery isn''t instinctual unlike normal magic, so you shouldn''t expect to be good at it without practice. Now, we¡¯ll start with the easier spells and do the more difficult ones later. I know some of you have yet to awaken, so you can either leave or watch anyways.


    Let''s start.


    The first spell I want to teach you is one of the easiest and at the same time most important spells, something every mage will need. Afterwards we¡¯ll talk about some of its most common uses, and perhaps one of two harder ones.


    If you fill anything with your mana - even a bunch of air - and will your mana to connect to the material you will be able to control that object with your mind.


    There are some important things to note, first of all you''re using your mind to lift something, but your body will still experience strain, the weight of the object will be distributed over your whole body, but the stronger a being''s body the heavier an object it can lift. It feels like gravity magic, so you''re just getting heavier all over. Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.


    Secondly the range of telekinesis is limited by both your control over your mana and the power of your mana. That''s true for most of the spells I will show you, because unlike elemental magic mana gets exponentially harder to control the farther it is from you.


    Now I want each of you to try and levitate the block of wood I set down in front of you before we continue.¡±


    As she was already proficient at telekinesis her block started levitating only moments after the teacher stopped talking. She was soon followed by about a third of the people in the room. About half of those remaining didn''t seem to be trying - obviously not yet hatched a second time. Once everyone who tried managed - something that didn''t take long as it really was easy - the man continued.


    ¡°Very good, I see you managed that. Now as you noticed it did take some of you quite some time to fill the block with your mana, so there are a few tricks possible. Most objects you¡¯ll want to use telekinesis on will be solid, so if you are looking for speed rather than control it¡¯s easier to only connect to a small part of the object.


    There are a few thing to note about that though, if you want to keep the orientation of the object you''re affecting you¡¯ll need to actually need use some of your mana otherwise the center of mass will always be under the point you are holding it. Try to only connect your mana to one of the corner of the block.


    ¡­


    ¡­


    Very good, as you can see that''s a lot faster, but you won''t have nearly as much control over the spatial orientation.


    Now, see if you can connect your mana to two different corners of the block and try to move them apart.¡±


    It took a little mental gymnastics to get that right, but once she did manage she immediately noticed the intense mental strain as her mind fought against itself. After a few seconds the block of wood gave up and splintered apart.


    Every eye in the room came to rest upon her, making her sink deeper into the seat she was in.


    ¡°Very good, you need quite the experience to manage that. I usually have to demonstrate that myself. Now that our small friend managed to do that I¡¯ll let you try that for a bit more, before we continue.¡±


    Other than her nobody else managed to break the block apart, though one of the humans did manage to collapse.


    ¡°Don''t be discouraged my young friends, telekinetic fighting is something even some experienced mages have problems with. As you surely noticed your mind will feel quite queasy if you try to apply a force against another force.


    As you can imagine telekinesis is incredibly useful to increase the power of a warriors strike, so usurping his control over his weapon is a skill that could save your life one day. I¡¯ll go over one other essential use before we continue with other spells, I want you to spread your mana and form a shield in front of you. Then you¡¯ll bond the mana to the air and command it to be at a set distance from you.


    Once you''re ready call out and my helpers will test your defense.¡±


    Ves''ra was intrigued, she had never actually tried to control air - air just was - but it shouldn''t be hard, energy easily spread through air, far easier than through solid matter. She engulfed her front with a spherical shield of energy a few handspans from her body and connected said shield to the air. After calling out one of the people that entered the room with the mage suddenly started throwing stones at her, at first she didn''t even notice the impacts, but after he was sure her shield would hold she physically felt the impacts. It wasn''t much, but considering the force of the last stone managed to nearly tip the chair she was sitting in she was sure she¡¯d have been heavily injured if she didn''t block the throw.


    The other managed the same, and soon there were stone flying all around her. She decided she¡¯d keep the shield up, there was no reason to risk getting hit by a bouncing stone.


    The mage stopped the fun soon after, starting to show them more or less useful spells only achieved with mana. There was a spell similar to her cloud of detection, though it was less useful as she lost control over the mana as soon as it touched another living being. She was happy though, the telekinetic shield alone was worth the invested time. She really would have liked to learn how to create chains out of mana, like the adventurers that killed one of Arvog¡¯s parents did, but it seemed she was out of luck - the lesson would end in ten minutes.


    ¡°Now, we don''t have time to practice anymore spells, and even if you were faster I wouldn''t be able to do more than tell you about it. Being able to conjure mana objects is one of the skills needed to surpass the normal rankings of the guild. Most mages that actually intend to climb in the guild will practice that skill as soon as possible.


    Creating objects out of mana is, as you can guess, incredibly useful. You would never run out of arrows as an archer, never lack weapon or armor. There are downsides to all these points - mana has no weight - but the skill is too versatile not to have it.


    The first thing you need is mana, a lot of mana, the second thing you¡¯ll need is a precise image of what you want to create, be it weapon, armor or something else. Then you¡¯ll have to force that image upon your mana, not unlike normal magic. It doesn''t have to be created in one go - you can add as much mana as needed - as long as you manage to keep the image in mind.


    Now, if that was all it wouldn''t be too hard, but your mana won''t be useful like that, it¡¯ll just be a light blue outline of whatever you wanted. No, while keeping both image and mana in control you¡¯ll have to force the mana into a semisolid stage. That part is the hardest - mana is either weightless energy or a hyperdense crystal, so while it¡¯s possible to force your mana into that state of matter it¡¯s hard, really hard. About one in a hundred mages ever manage to have enough control and willpower to solidify their own mana.


    Now, you can practice that on your own, perhaps you¡¯ll manage in a few years. Thank you for your attention and good luck in the adventurers guild.¡±


    Ves''ra skipped out of the room moments later. The last few minutes had been worth all five hours. She hadn''t managed to solidify her mana like the mage had described, it just did not want to be in that state of matter, but she was sure she¡¯d manage in time! She¡¯d have to practice every day until she was able to do that, it just sounded too useful not to use it.


    She left the guild a few minutes later - her search for a snack long forgotten by plans for the next weeks.

 Chapter 34 - Stalking

    Ves¡¯ra returned to the adventurers guild early in the next morning, her funds were still running out. She realised she still had to pay for Arvog''s lodging, which meant she had to get a target to hunt now, she''d be able to continue her reading lessons once she was back.


    The next half an hour was frustrating, there were four request boards in the guild, each for different quests. She asked one of the people which was for monster hunting and spent some time deciphering one of the requests. Once she did that things became easier, she searched for a monster less powerful than a wyvern - she''d have more problems with land based enemies, and they lacked the extra difficulty a wyvern gained through flight.


    Two hours later she decided she¡¯d go and hunt an elder lynx. These large cats were relatively powerful, and their fur was coveted by the rich, being softer than most other beings as large as them. Ves¡¯ra slept in her bed for the last time in the next weeks and went to get most of her funds early next morning. Once said funds left her hands and wandered into the care of the familiar inn she left the city, happily skipping forwards - she missed the wild.


    She followed the road south for the next week, finding nothing noteworthy until she had to leave the road towards the east. Only a day after having left human controlled lands the wildlife became a lot more versatile and dangerous. She had no problems finding and killing prey for both herself and Arvog to enjoy, she just killed their food from the air, using magic though her familiar.


    Now that she left the human city she could feel herself advance once again, the steady increase of her total mana had stopped to a mere trickle in the human city. She¡¯d have to make sure not to stay in human cities too long.


    She met only a few monsters in the grasslands, making sure to hunt all of them and taking proof of kill for those that had a constant rewards for killing, something she had learnt in the class she visited. Having an eye in the sky was liberating, a feeling of oppression she didn''t know she had in the city finally being lifted.


    After another week of travel through the grasslands, orienting herself with the help of the sun, she arrived at a forest edge once again. She knew it wasn''t her forest - it was on the opposite side of the city - but couldn''t help but feel home in the familiar environment. Ves''ra ate a few leaves and bark to color her scales according to the environment, taking a short break in her trek. Once her scales absorbed the colors from her environment she continued on her way east, actively searching the forest for powerful predators.


    She found a lot more monsters than she could ever anticipate, it seemed the powerful beings simply didn''t bother with beings as weak as kobolds. She was glad they did - some of those she found could swallow her in the blink of an eye.


    Ves''ra still had to shudder remembering the footsteps of a canine being which had to be big enough to eat a whole wagon in one bite. She ran into one group of goblins, having to kill the incredibly aggressive beings again, and fought all the weaker beings she could find. She needed another week to reach the estimated destination of her target, severly slowed down by her constant hunting, and started tracking her target.If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.


    She informed herself of elder lynxes before leaving the city, so she knew she wouldn''t find any traces on the ground. She groaned, finding traces of a cat like being up in the canopy did sound like a giant pain in the ass. She did accept the quest, so she¡¯d have to fulfill it, she could only get started.


    Assuming her prey was a predator like her, something she was pretty sure of, she¡¯d have a better chance of finding her prey by stalking its prey. Ves''ra further assumed the elder lynx was a normal being like her - it didn''t burn its food before eating it - so she was confident to find it.


    The next week was filled stalking the beings in the vicinity, using her knowledge of the elder lynx and herself to judge their worth as prey. Elder lynxes were normal lynxes that actively sought power, much like her. That meant she excluded all beings that she would only hunt for food, whittling the list down by more than two thirds.


    That smaller list included a pack of dire wolves - not something a lone hunter would want to attack, a big bear, a really strange deer that didn''t do what nature intended for it and hunted its own brethren, a huge lizard, two packs of lizards walking on two legs and a few more lone beings. She was sure there were several beings that eluded her, she didn''t catch a glimpse of the lynx either, but she wanted a real challenge.


    Ves¡¯ra assumed the most likely target was the bear, the deer seemed to terrify everything, even the direwolves. If nothing happened for a week she would kill the bear herself and continue afterwards, so the time wouldn''t be lost either way.


    ---


    Ves''ra was in luck, as she and Arvog slept in the vicinity of the bear¡¯s cave, protected and masked by her magic, she was woken by sounds of fighting. She moved forwards slowly, still marked by her magic, and managed to see her target for the first time.


    The lynx was terrifying, nearly as big as the bear, though much more slender and two times as fast. It certainly was beautiful, but also as deadly as anything she ever fought with. The lynx danced around the bear, swiping at its legs and darting back again and again. Its prey was clad in its own blood, making for a terrifying sight with its angry, or pained roars.


    She found it eerie, how it did not make a sound even once, despite fighting a being like that bear. It didn''t need to - it was obviously superior in all ways that mattered. Ves¡¯ra was tempted, very tempted to attack it while it was fighting, but she had a plan and that did not involve attacking two foes so obviously superior to herself.


    Just as the battle was about to be over, the bear was only staying conscious by the will to survive when the lynx made a mistake. Only a small one, but when fighting on this level even a small mistake spelled doom. It didn''t retreat back fast enough, and was hit by the swipe of a paw.


    The lynx was thrown backwards, unsteadily landing on its feet. After shaking its head for a few seconds it refocused on the bear again, destroying her hope the bear did her job. It wouldn''t be able to do so anymore - the last attack had been a last effort to survive and the bear collapsed.


    Ves''ra could attack now, but she wasn''t sure of her win - one hit on her would be able to kill her - and she was not confident to kill it with one hit, or dodge one for that matter. So she watched in envy as the lynx gorged itself on bear, eating nearly a third of the powerful predator before dashing back onto the trees, fleeing the scene of its hunt as she could hear other predators approaching.


    She wanted some of that meat, but she didn''t know how long it would take to find the lynx again if she did. As she set out to follow the lynx through the forest, aided by the trail of blood, she cast a spell on Arvog, enabling him to fly in the night. She told him to eat as much as he safely could - no need for both of them to miss that meal.

 Chapter 35 - Elder Lynx

    Ves¡¯ra followed the elder lynx for an hour until they arrived at its lair. As it approached the ordinary looking tree she didn''t think much of it, focusing only when it didn''t emerge back from the thick canopy. She stopped immediately, making sure all her carmouflage spells were still up. They were, so she had time for both scouting the place and waiting for Arvog to come.


    She felt her familiar would take a few more minutes - more than enough time for scouting. Ves''ra concentrated on her energy, spreading it around her into any water she could find, and sent that cloud of water vapor into the lynx''s lair.


    She was surprised - the lynx had rudimentary nature magic and managed to turn the treetop into a cave-like dwelling. There was not enough space for much more than one lynx though, so she''d have to draw it out into the open and fight it on the ground - both close quarters and treetops would serve as a disadvantage for her.


    Ves''ra retreated a few dozen meters into an area which was more sparse than the lynx''s lair. That done she waited for Arvog, creating a rabbit out of ice in the meantime. Once he joined her she had him bite and inject the magically warmed ice sculpture with as much of his venom as possible. She created hollow spikes of ice and injected them with his venom. After another half of an hour of preparation she was as ready as she''d ever be.


    She told her familiar to return into the air and only intervene if he saw a good opportunity. After safely storing the spikes on her body she removed any energy from them and formed a large ball of ice. She shot the ball at her prey''s lair with an effort of will. She watched her attack break through the lynx''s lair in glee, already salivating thinking about the feast she was about to get.


    The huge cat sprang out its lair with an enraged roar. Now, without spells hiding her Ves''ra was easily detected by her adversary, which let out another roar when spotting her. It didn''t seem to appreciate her damaging its lair. It left the trees and stalked towards her, just like she planned.


    It seemed to be wary, something she could understand - she obviously waited for it, so it waited for the trap to spring.


    As time went on and nothing happened Ves''ra could see its patience wearing thin, so she spread her magic out in front of herself, waiting for the inevitable attack.


    As the lynx stalked closer she had to gulp - its shoulders stood two heads above herself, there would be no coming back, even from one hit.


    It was too late anyways, so she stopped her thoughts and focused on the enemy. It was steadily getting closer, and would soon be able to pounce on her.


    Suddenly the ground all around the lynx shot upwards, tiny spikes of ice accelerating towards its face and belly. Most hit the belly, but were nothing but scratches. Those hitting its head were more important - it was already injured so they were able to penetrate the soft flesh underneath its fur.This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.


    The lynx jumped back with a pained roar, hateful eyes glaring at her. She didn''t mind, slowly levitating two of the spikes on her back.


    Suddenly the lynx disregarded all caution, accelerating towards her at a speed she had trouble seeing. She couldn''t suppress a flinch as several hundred pounds of muscle pounced, Ves''ra directly in front of it.


    The lynx stopped a few centimeters from her face with a sickening splat, causing the tree behind her to crack loudly. She was really glad to have set up that shield - she''d be dead otherwise.


    Ves''ra shot both of the spikes under her control at the lynx before it had a chance to recover, injecting its blood with Arvog''s venom. She knew she''d hit when it flinched backwards, only to jump forwards again, repeatedly slamming into her shield.


    Ves''ra could feel the energy draining with each attack, all she could do was feed the enchantment anchored in the tree as much energy as possible. She grabbed the two remaining spikes on her back, still draining all possible energy into the tree.


    She grabbed one of the spike hard enough to see cracks forming in the ice and then threw it at the lynx, where the ice shatter all over its nose, giving her a few moments of respite. She didn''t stop - the shield''s energy already lost nearly half of its total energy.


    She threw the next spike, but the beast was able to learn and thus dodged her slow attack.


    Seeing that she didn''t have any more surprises the lynx resumed its attacks, draining the shield faster than Ves''ra could charge it.


    After it attacked another time she gave up, and instead started to attack back, defending would only lead to death.


    She used all her energy to create a new shield around the monster, concentrating on removing as much breathable air as possible. At the same time she removed as much heat from it as possible, hoping to slow it down enough for Arvog''s venom to take effect.


    With the airshield in effect she recalled the ice behind it, forming it into a long blade and cutting at its stomach with all the might her magic had to offer.


    She managed to cut deep, and thick red blood started streaming out of the monsters belly. Arvog fell out of the sky with a cry, sinking his teeth in its neck too. The monster was now visibly slowing, its attacks draining less and less of her shield.


    Ves''ra wasn''t off much better - draining so much of her energy so fast had tired both body and mind, she wouldn''t last much longer.


    The lynx collapsed moments later, still bleeding out of its wounds, so Ves''ra picked up her spear, took aim and rammed it into the lynx''s brain, ending its suffering. After that she created rolls of ice and transported the monster in her shield, altering the shield to block out all smell and turning it opaque by adding water.


    As she started cutting the being apart - concentrating on preserving as much of the fur as possible - she started thinking about what she could''ve done better in the fight. Once she removed the fur they dug in, gorging themselves on the best meal they ever ate.


    And it was the best, even better than Arvog¡¯s parents had been. The both of them only managed to eat a quarter of the meat before they were full, but Ves''ra didn''t plan to leave until the meat went bad or there was none left.


    She went to sleep moments later, a satisfied smile on her face. Just before she nodded off she could feel Arvog snuggling himself into her, trusting her magic to protect them both.


    The sun was high in the sky and the inside of her shield stunk to heaven as she woke up on the next day. Arvog was somewhere in the sky, enjoying the sun so she wasn''t worried about him.


    After another breakfast of lynx Ves''ra set to prepare the fur as specified in the quest. It would need another two days to be ready for transport - aided by her magic. She''d use the lynx''s lair as a base, nothing went there and it would take time for its smell to wane.

 Chapter 36 - Evolution

    Ves''ra felt like she was about to burst. The lynx lost its taste yesterday, so she had to hunt something new on her own. She killed one of the two-legged lizards, which were tasty but nowhere near as good as the lynx.


    She remembered the first time she''d felt like that - just after eating her first wyvern - and managed to solve the problem by binding her energy into a rope. Well, she could do the same again. Ves''ra returned to the lair of the lynx and checked her protections. Finding nothing out of order she sat down and slowly sank in meditation. She felt her energy, coiled into a rope, yet again ready to burst into her body.


    She had a problem though, she''d need three times as much energy to create the next layer of ropes - a good deal more than she had. There was another problem - she felt she''d have a problem if she did that, that her body wouldn''t be able to withstand that much energy.


    She''d have to dive into the unknown - she didn''t know what would happen if she let the energy free on her body, but knew she''d have a problem if she didn''t. She was too young to die, so she took control over her energy and uncoiled the rope of energy.


    She didn''t let it leave her control though even as her energy-veins felt like they would burst at any moment. Instead she slowly released the energy into her body, still under her control and observed its reaction with her body.


    Nothing happened at first, but as she slowly increased the energy she started to feel something, the more of the energy she released the clearer the feeling got. Once half of the energy had entered her body the feeling grew into something else, an awareness of her body and self, and she knew she was able to influence it. She was slowly seeing her essence, her true self she realised. As she released the rest of the excess energy into her body her feeling of self increased, and she felt something odd.


    A part of her didn''t fit into her body, it felt too big, constrained by herself. That part wanted to take another form, one not herself. It was really uncomfortable. As all of her energy entered her body she started using it, first she increased both strength and thickness of her energy channels, that was a must. That took about a third of the total energy, but she felt that actually changing herself wouldn''t be as hard, especially if she followed the strange feeling.


    Ves''ra thought about herself, did she really want to change herself, or was she influenced by something not her? Yes she did. She wanted to be stronger, faster and be able to walk for longer.


    How did she achieve those things? Humans. They were able to walk for days, were stronger and faster. Did she want to be a human then? No! She did not.


    They had several good options speaking for them, but in the end humans were still prey.


    This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.


    Now, with a plan in mind Ves''ra set to change herself, she focused on walking for a long time instead of high explosive strength. She willed her hands and claws to be more slender,adding another digit to be able to influence the world better. Slowly her image of herself changed, growing slightly taller as her spine straightened up. Her tail lost some of its width, becoming longer and more slender. She lost her ability to sprint on all four of her limbs, but she didn''t do that very often, and thought it a good trade.


    As she looked at the new image of herself she wasn''t happy, her head didn''t fit at all, she wouldn''t be able to look down on her feet, the long snout would have to go. She concentrated on her head, slowly shortening it as well as adding a neck, allowing a larger movement of her head than before. She improved her sight, sense of smell and hearing. Her mouth needed to be adjusted, it didn''t fit the head overall, so she shortened her teeth and moved them back, adding a flap of flesh to hide them in.


    She was happy with her head, it looked good, even her other self seemed satisfied. She took another mental step back, and her legs and arm were too wide for her new slender frame, so she adjusted those too, moving her shoulders back a little in the process.


    Finally she was happy with her new appearance, a lot more humanoid, about a meter and forty centimeters tall. Her body, arms, legs, tail and head were more slender, made to move large distances. She now had actual hands, though they still ended in claws, so she¡¯d have an easier time using anything human made and could actually craft with her hands and not with magic.


    She looked good, elegant, except for one thing. Her scales were too large, they didn''t fit the new body at all, so she made them more uniform and smaller. It took quite some time to be happy with the scales, in the end even the biggest scale was only as big as one of her eyes, but it completed the look she wanted to have.


    Still, all these changes didn''t even take as much energy as changing her energy veins, so she had to change more. Ves¡¯ra took a deeper look, searched for the part of herself that was responsible for coloration and both changed her base color, adjusting it to a light brown with a little red instead of the while it had before, and connected the part that could use the color of things she ate to her brain, making herself capable of changing her color at will.


    She looked deeper again, increasing the power of her muscles while keeping their weight, she didn''t want to be heavier, or she¡¯d never be able to fly with Arvog. With that thought she strengthened everything else, her bones, tendons, organs, scales and hide. She focused on the two most important parts of herself last, the brain and her heart.


    She strengthened her heart, more than the other organs, adding a small cavity inside, something to store her core once she learnt how to create one. The brain was the only place she allowed to get heavier.


    She concentrated on getting smarter, improving her memory and thinking capacity. Most importantly though she increased the amount of energy that she could influence at any one time.


    Just those last two changes cost half of the energy she still had, while improving her muscles and inner body nearly cost the rest. Ves¡¯ra thought about what to do with the rest of that energy, it wasn''t much, just enough for a minimal change. She thought about humans again, and how human females stored fat on top of their torso. She added the same, two round slabs of fat - it never hurt to store excess food.


    Ves¡¯ra viewed all her changes once again, adding small improvements here and there. Once she was finished she released her control over her energy and could feel it start working on changing her essence.


    She¡¯d need a lot of food to evolve into her new, better form. Before falling down in exhaustion, having used up all her mental strength by controlling all that energy for such a long time, she sent a thought to Arvog, she asked him to get food, a lot of food.

 Chapter 37 - Summoned

    I was just about to go shopping when the world dissolved around me. I looked around, slightly panicked and saw seven others, all having the same expression I did. We were in a huge hall, surrounded by savages in shining metal armor or robes.


    ¡°Welcome heros!¡± I couldn''t help but groan, that was so cliche, in fact it was suspiciously so. The fancy old man looked insulted, but continued on moments later.


    ¡°You have been summoned to help us defeat the demon king.¡± ¡°More like kidnapped.¡± I muttered.


    One of the others seemed to share my opinion and spoke out too. ¡°And how will we help you? We¡¯ve never been in a fight before, and I for one have no intention of changing that. Can you send me back?¡±


    ¡°That is not possible, I''m sorry. I know you will fight though, or the demons will kill us all.¡± He said, casually predicting genocide. Well, if they decided we didn''t fit the bill they would be able to easily kill all of us, so I decided to shut up and see what happened. Nothing much as it turned out. We were lead out of the room by some guards soon after, all others already strangely accepting of our fate, even the person that complained.


    I really wondered what that was all about, I knew of no normal human that would really want to fight for their life.


    ¡°I''m not tired, do you have a library?¡± I asked the guys showing me around.


    ¡°We do, please follow us my lady.¡± One of them answered.


    ¡°I did so happily, still wondering why I was understanding them, they were not talking english at all. I wouldn''t go anywhere they wanted until I managed to understand that mystery, surely it was convenient, way too convenient. NOBODY fucked with my mind! NOBODY!


    We entered the library a few minutes later, where some old dude started showing me around. I asked him about magic, there had to be magic if they managed to teleport us so I wanted to learn about it.


    He was all too happy to comply, it seemed he had noone to talk to. We chatted for a bit, until I managed to extract myself of the conversation and start reading the book ¡®An introduction to magic¡¯ - I felt like I was learning how to read the unknown letters perfectly while doing so - even more suspicious!


    One had to be able to control some form of energy - mana - to use it. Mana was everywhere, no matter where you were. Apparently talented individuals were able to feel and influence it, at first their bodies would only let them use small amounts but those would increase with use.


    I started the exercise mentioned in the book, closing my eyes and concentrating on feeling the energy around me.


    That was most definitely not normal. I was easily able to feel mana, probably because I had never felt anything close to it, but I didn''t feel mana only around me,.it filled me too. I tried exerting control over it, which I was able to do too. Hell, I could control all the energy around me with relative ease. That couldn''t be healthy.


    I returned to my book, jumping over everything that talked about sensing and controlling mana and searched for spellcasting. There. Casting spells could be done in several ways, forming runes to influence the environment, directly controlling mana to do what you wanted and more. Runes had the advantage that they were using the mana in the surroundings to do magic, and the only mana one needed to control was forming the rune.Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.


    Well, that was useless for me, but also very lucky - I could use mana to spare. I felt inwards again, and took control over a tiny amount of magic, willing it to create a small droplet of water in front of me. I felt the mana leave my control, and a drop of water landed on my pants a moment later. I grinned, that was awesome.


    I had something more important to do though. I took control over all the mana I could and willed it to search myself for spells and tell me what they did without alerting the eventual caster.


    I wasn''t surprised, but a little disappointed to find my worries proven true. All but one spells were sinister in meaning, hell, they were even more sinister than I thought they¡¯d be. Every single of the spells cast on me had a clause to worm itself into my psyche, permanently embedding itself, becoming a part of me.


    I really wanted to burn down this fucking castle, they didn''t even try to control me, they wanted to CHANGE my very being. I managed to control myself, the spells were still just that, I had to concentrate on the most important task.


    Whoever cast these spells would be alerted if I simply dispelled them, I would have to be tricky. Well, these rune-spells were a lot like programming, and while I only knew the very basics they were enough. First I used my mana to contain the spells, trapping them in a fake mind. They continued to worm themselves into that mind, but mine was free.


    Now that I¡¯d taken care of the most immediate problem I could start more lasting countermeasures. I would like to attack the mind of those that did this to me, but someone like that was sure to have a defense against that. Yes, that was the next part, I wove a permanent spell, one feeding on the mana continuously flowing into me to create a copy of my mind around me, it wasn''t aware, but was identical in any other regard. I added another feature, the spell would rely everything done to my mind to my real being, just so I knew what they wanted me to do.


    I looked around for the friendly old man afterwards, and while I regretted what I had to do I would do everything to survive. I deleted his memory of ever meeting me, returning the book on magic back into the shelves. I had my guards - who had been waiting for me - lead me to my room afterwards.


    ¡°I hope I didn''t stop you? That you don''t have anywhere to be?¡± I asked them as we arrived in the luxurious room made for me.


    ¡°No my lady, we are to stand guard on your room until our replacement comes.¡± Good. Very good. I wiped every memory of my visit to the library from their minds. I went towards my room immediately after all.


    I checked the room for spells too, and found some more, to no one''s surprise. They would accelerate the spells in my mind whenever I slept, making the slow acting spells take permanent hold within ten hours.


    Well, we would be learning magic in two days then. There were none that tracked me though, they only took effect when I was sleeping, and reported their time of use to the caster.


    With a smile on my mind I went to sleep, ready for the bullshit I would have to see tomorrow - the spells already clued me into some of the things I was to expect.


    When I


    NO!


    woke later I


    NO!


    Ves''ra forced herself awake, forcing the memories that appeared in her mind back into the depth of her being. She was Ves''ra, not some random human visiting a strange world without second hatchings and with mind control!


    She¡¯d think about that later, she had something more urgent to do, eating. She was positively ravenous, which was the only reason she managed to free herself of the foreign memories. She wouldn''t be overwhelmed again - now that she knew what to expect she could defend against the being wanting to take over her mind.


    Ves''ra inspected herself, noting that her evolution had already started to take effect, and that she shouldn''t move much, it would be detrimental to her growth. She searched for her connection to Arvog, happy to find the bond intact. She contacted her familiar, asking how long she had been unconscious and informing him she was awake again. While he wasn''t smart enough to answer in words he knew what she meant with days and sent her the image of the sun leaving the sky two times. And hunting, a lot of hunting.


    She looked around her and was happy to find food, lots of food. She plunged into the food, happily gorging herself until she couldn''t eat more.


    After that she set to cure all the meat around her, it was more than she could eat before half got bad. She thanked her familiar for caring and protecting her. For now she would sleep again, she was still dead tired and would probably be until her body had changed to fit her new self.

 Chapter 38 - Return

    After a week of only sleeping and eating Ves''ra had finally finished her evolution. She packed up everything and started her trek back, she¡¯d have to hurry, summer was fast approaching and she didn''t want to get caught in the open when it did.


    She wasn''t sure if she¡¯d manage in time, she did need a month to get here, but she was confident she made no mistakes when evolving, so she should be able to move a lot faster, especially if she only hunted for food.


    ---


    She did move a lot faster, it was inconceivable, with a small change to her spine her walking speed increased by nearly twenty percent. Thanks to that, and only hunting when necessary, she managed to shave off nearly two weeks. She had more to carry, even with her increased strength, so her walking speed wasn''t as fast as it could be.


    Even though she made utmost haste the suns grew apart with every day, with nights growing shorter while the suns stayed in the sky for ever increasing times. Three days before she arrived at the city - just as she entered the road - summer truly began.


    The days had been getting hotter daily, and days were long indeed, further adding activity to both herself and Arvog. That didn''t last long, Ves''ra had to cool both of them only a day after summer begun. At least the spell didn''t use any energy - she transformed the heat she drew out of them back into energy, making the spell essentially self-powered.


    There was only one guard standing in at the city entrance, and nobody wanting to enter before her. The guard seemed quite bored, so his eyes lit up as he saw her approaching.


    ¡°You late eh? What happened?¡±


    ¡°I evolved, took me a week to be able to travel again.¡±


    ¡°Oh you evolved? You¡¯ll have to go in and change your identity then? What are you if I''m allowed to ask?¡±


    ¡°I don''t know, I was a kobold before though.¡± The man raised an eyebrow.


    ¡°A kobold? That was one hell of an evolution then, congratulations.¡±


    ¡°Thank you. Updating my identity is done in the same building I registered in?¡±


    ¡°You know it. Good luck.¡±


    ¡°Thank you. Have fun guarding the gate.¡±


    ¡°Haha. Very funny.¡±


    She entered the administration building a few minutes later, finding the same woman that had already registered her when she came into the city.


    ¡°Hello there, I would like to update my identity.¡±


    ¡°Oh, reason for your update?¡±


    ¡°I evolved.¡±


    ¡°That''s good. You got a core now?¡±


    ¡°I can get a core when evolving? I thought you had to form them.¡±


    ¡°Nah, only us humans have to do that, we don''t evolve after all.¡±


    ¡°You sure that''s normal, and not just your own fault?¡±


    ¡°Well, there is the odd adventurers that does evolve, but that''s so rare you can ignore it.¡±This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.


    ¡°No wonder, adventurers are the only ones that get to eat the monstermeat they hunt within a reasonable timeframe.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, I know, I know, people can evolve when they eat enough mana filled meat. You do know we can''t really eat raw meat? It¡¯s not healthy for us. And the ingested mana has to be from something more or equally powerful to really work, and you build up an immunity really fast. We¡¯re not stupid.¡±


    ¡°So, what am I now?¡± She asked.


    ¡°You¡¯re yourself. Every evolution is individual, so we just add monikers to your base-race. You¡¯re a kobold, so now you¡¯re a high kobold.¡±


    ¡°That''s neat.¡±


    ¡°Yep. ¡­ Here you go, good luck.¡±


    ¡°Thanks, so, anyway I can get money in the city? I doubt the rewards from my quest will be enough to last three months.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯d look at the enchanters guild, you¡¯re a mage yes? They always search for new mana.¡±


    ¡°Thank you, I¡¯ll be on my way then, bye.¡±


    ¡°Good luck.¡±


    Ves''ra didn''t bring Arvog into the same place as before, she¡¯d search for an apartment of her own - there was little reason to pay for an inn if she wanted to stay these three months - and use the city as her base for some time.


    First she had to get her quest reward though, hunting and killing the elder lynx had been a C-rank quest and the rewards would last her and Arvog for about two months, so not enough. She approached the counter for small people again, she was still smaller than an adult human.


    She didn''t know what race the girl at the counter was from - or if she was just a hatchling - but it didn''t matter to her.


    ¡°Hey, I¡¯d like to complete my quest.¡±


    ¡°Sure thing, can I have your card?¡±


    ¡°Oh, you killed an elder lynx, nice, I''m sure Mister Bronson will be happy to hear of it. Now, if you¡¯d hand over the fur I¡¯ll mark the quest as complete. You¡¯ll be able to get your money at the merchant¡¯s association.¡±


    ¡°Oh, I can''t get it here?¡±


    ¡°Well, it¡¯s standard procedure, requesters promising missions with high monetary rewards will have to show a voucher that they do indeed have the money. I¡¯ll give it to you so you can redeem it at the merchant¡¯s yourself.¡±


    ¡°That''s smart, safer too.¡±


    ¡°Yep. Can I do anything else for you?¡±


    ¡°You can. I¡¯d like to get the rewards for a few standard monsters I killed.¡±


    ¡°No problem, show me your proofs and I¡¯ll get to it immediately.¡±


    ¡°Here you go.¡±


    ¡°Wow, this¡¯ll take a minute. How long did you take to find this many?¡±


    ¡°I killed them on my way, my familiar saw them so we took care of it.¡± She said, pointing at a curious Arvog.


    ¡°Ooh, that''s a beautiful familiar, where did you find him?¡±


    ¡°His parents killed one of my band. One was killed by human adventurers, and I killed the other.¡±


    ¡°I''m quite envious, I do hope to get a familiar as beautiful as this once I manage to awaken.¡±


    ¡°You aren''t? How do you operate these machines then?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not that you need to be a mage for them, it¡¯s just easier as a mage.¡±


    ¡°That''s good to know. Well, I wish you good luck with your hatching.¡±


    ¡°Hatching? That''s a curious word for it, I wouldn''t have thought common wasn''t your first language.¡±


    ¡°Thanks, I still have some problems with some of the words but I¡¯ve been using it ever since I met that human caravan. Practice makes perfect.¡±


    ¡°That''s true. Now let''s see, you get another five hundred thirty-two silver for those.¡±


    ¡°Yep, now I know that''s not something you have to do, but I¡¯ll ask anyways, are there any dwellings that wouldn''t mind my familiar that I could rent for the summer? I don''t want to be in inn, and I really don''t want to separate from him like I did the last time I was here.¡±


    ¡°No problem, we¡¯re here to help, and summer is sooo slow, any distraction is good. I would ask around the outer quarter of the city, there always are a few rooms available. At least if you don''t mind stairs.¡±


    ¡°I don''t. It¡¯s probably better the higher it is, as long as I have a window - Arvog can come and go as he likes.¡±


    ¡°If you do that you¡¯ll have to pay extra, cooling down apartments is quite hard.¡±


    ¡°Can''t I do it myself? I''m a mage and have control over both heat and ice.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯ll be able to get a room easily as long as you help cooling the house down then. Good luck.¡±


    ¡°Thank you, and a good day.¡±


    ¡°A good day to you too.¡±


    The advice proved to be right, the second owner was more than willing to offer her a few rooms under the roof as long as she helped him cool the building three hours a week. She was pleasantly surprised - she didn''t have to actually pay any rent for the whole summer - cooling things down with magic was quite sought after it seemed.


    Ves¡¯ra was fine with that, she¡¯d have three months to search through the huge amount of memories that had appeared in her mind after her evolution. Visiting the enchanter¡¯s guild would be interesting too, she really wanted to learn more about enchanting - all of hers decayed over a few days without her supervision.

 Chapter 39 - Armor

    A day after she returned to the city Ves''ra woke up in her new bed and was happy. Arvog lay cuddled up next to her and with the sun was blocked by the windows they were able to get their first restful sleep in days.


    After a short breakfast she sat down in her living room and allowed herself some more time to relax. She had finally time to actually think about her plans for the future - she simply did not have time for much thoughts after evolving - the approaching summer had her too worried to take notice of the changes.


    Now though, relaxing in her living room she could finally appreciate her new body. She liked her new, glorious form - it was superior to her old one in every way imaginable - but that wasn''t the most significant change.


    The ease her thoughts and energy flowed from one into another was astounding. She could think faster, her energy was easier to control then ever and didn''t even have to leave her body for her to cast magic anymore. Creating the cavity in the middle of her heart really was one of her best ideas - nothing would be able to stop her from casting spells anymore.


    There were more important things though, with the new durability and thickness of her energy-veins she¡¯d be able to create another layer of energy-ropes once she hunted some more powerful beings to get the energy for that rope.


    Right now the excess energy just flowed through her veins, anchoring the newly formed rope to the middle.


    The next three months would be boring, she never really thought this far forwards before, but she wouldn''t want to leave the city in summer, and just lazing around wasn''t her. She¡¯d have to find something to do!


    First she¡¯d have to find someone to finish her reading lessons and teach her how to write. That shouldn''t take too long, she was confident to learn everything in two weeks at most. She¡¯d have to see if she found a human to teach her something about magic, perhaps even one how to form a core, though she assumed that wouldn''t be cheap, humans seemed to want to limit the power of their entire species.


    That still boggled her mind - the world was hostile enough, why would anyone want to limit their own people?


    It came down to money, as always when she was here.


    Wait.


    She suddenly remembered something, the merchant that helped her enter the city still owed her money. She was pretty sure he¡¯d managed to sell the bandits belongings by now.


    What would she do after summer though? She only had three months until winter came, and while it wasn''t nearly as deadly as summer - she could just sleep the whole time - she really wasn''t interested in that. Still, it wouldn''t allow her more than one or two hunts, something she had to think about before leaving.


    She had time though, three months was quite long to think about her future. And that. But Ves''ra wanted to do something now. She asked Arvog if he wanted to come with her, but her familiar was happy to sleep in their bed, so she left him there - he earned a good rest.


    A few minutes later Ves''ra entered the empty streets - summer chased everyone inside. She arrived at the merchant¡¯s guild not long after. The big doors were closed - just like every door she passed - but one could still enter through several smaller doors.


    The main hall was nearly empty, with only a few people there to take care of visitors. Those few attendants were obviously bored, bored enough that three immediately moved towards her.


    ¡°Hello, I¡¯m Eliza, how can I help you?¡± The human asked in a friendly tone.


    ¡°Hi. I''m Ves''ra. There should be some payment for me, a merchant named Argen of Redrisk. I also wanted to redeem a quest reward.¡± She answered.The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.


    ¡°Sure, follow me please.¡± The woman did sound a little disappointed, though still friendly. They left the main hall and entered the hallway full of rooms again. She was led in a different room, when the human, Eliza, turned to her again.


    ¡°Please wait here, I¡¯ll come to you in just a moment.¡±


    Ves''ra sat down in the chair made for people with a tail and looked around. The room was quite tasteful. Two chairs, one for her and the other one of the attendant. The chairs were padded in red cloth, and quite comfortable. The walls were adorned with beautiful paintings, some of the city, others of nature. She really liked the one across her, a painting of a deep forest, deer and squirrels frozen in time.


    Eliza returned as she was appreciating the painting, carrying a large ledger. She could see the symbols humans used to write on the cover, but had no time to decipher it before Eliza opened it.


    ¡°So you have outstanding payment from Argen of Redrisk? Can you tell me your name, race and date of payment please?¡±


    ¡°Sure, I¡¯m Ves''ra, formerly kobold and I don''t know.¡±


    ¡°You don''t know? I can''t really help you then.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s just, I can give you the date we arrived here, but he didn''t have a date for me back then, and I haven''t seen him since.¡±


    ¡°That''s different, let''s see. ¡­ Yes, I have something here. I take it you evolved in the last few months then?¡±


    ¡°Yes, just a few weeks ago.¡±


    ¡°Can you prove who you are?¡± Ves''ra didn''t answer, and took her identity instead. After entering some of her energy it glowed green, confirming her claims.


    ¡°Thank you, someone will transfer the money on your account. Can I do something else for you?¡±


    ¡°... No, thank you, I¡¯ll be on my way. Good day.¡±


    ¡°Good day.¡±


    As she left the building Ves¡¯ra didn''t return home immediately. Something just sprang into her mind as she talked to the woman, she didn''t have any armor. There was no reason not to have one and she wouldn''t have to fear dying from one hit - the beasts she planned to hunt wouldn''t get weaker.


    She set her eyes on one of the buildings next to the merchant¡¯s guild instead, entering it with resolute steps soon after. The entrance was completely different from any she had seen so far, her vision was heavily impaired by racks filled with all kinds of weapons.


    Ves''ra wondered if she was in the right building, she didn''t want a weapon. As the door slammed shut behind her she decided she would ask someone, there were a few armors in sight after all.


    As she followed the wall to her right she soon came upon a group of adventurers inspecting the weapons in front of them, helped by a dwarf. They looked like they¡¯d need quite some time, so she resumed her walk. It didn''t take long before she found a free dwarf, so she walked towards him immediately.


    ¡°Greetings. Where can I ask someone about armor?¡± She asked.


    ¡°If you''re searching for armor you''re just right with Jovid. How can I help you? Repairs, a new set, something else?¡±


    ¡°I''ve never had any armor and want to fix that.¡±


    ¡°A new customer?Well, you''ll need a custom armor, I''ve never seen someone looking like you. Come, we¡¯ll talk about what you need.¡±


    ¡°Thanks.¡± They left the main hall through a cleverly disguised door. They didn''t enter a hallway like in the merchant¡¯s guild, but a series of rooms full of metal and leather. They passed one of the two doors out of the rooms into a small office.


    ¡°What do you need?¡± He asked.


    ¡°Something to protect me, I ran around without any armor and I really don''t want to die from one hit.¡±


    ¡°That''s a good idea. Are you a mercenary, adventurer or other?¡±


    ¡°I''m an adventurer. What is other?¡±


    ¡°Can be anything really, city or houseguard, a foreign knight, there are limitless options.


    So, an adventurer, that''s good, your kind are always the most interesting. What''s your rank?¡±


    ¡°I''m a Silver-B rank.¡±


    ¡°That''s impressive, where did you start?¡±


    ¡°Copper-B¡±


    ¡°Only one quest then? You''re a smart one, most that start as powerful as you take a lot longer to get some good armor. I don''t see a weapon, what do you use?¡±


    ¡°I don''t use weapons, I''m a mage.¡± She answered.


    ¡°A mage, well that''s even more rare. You don''t look like you want to get up close and personal, so something light?¡±


    ¡°Yes, I don''t want to be attacked if possible.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯ll cost more, light and strong armor will only be useful if its enchanted, and enchanting is expensive. It¡¯s the only thing really useful at your level though, other than some very heavy metal armor.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯ll have to be it then, I really don''t want to die. How much will it cost me?¡±


    ¡°The armor won''t be that much - about two thousand silver, I don''t do enchantments - you¡¯d have to go to the enchanter¡¯s guild for that. I can say it¡¯d take about double that though.¡± Ves''ra¡¯s eyes widened in surprise, she could afford the armor, if barely, but she¡¯d have to kill a lot more monsters if she wanted her armor enchanted.


    ¡°I¡¯d like the armor without enchantment for now. I can always get it enchanted later, can''t I?¡±


    ¡°Sure thing. When would you like it?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll stay here during summer, but I¡¯ll return to the hunt afterwards.¡±


    ¡°That''s no problem, now I¡¯ll just need to take your measurements and then you can return a week before summer¡¯s end to fetch it.¡±


    ¡°That''s fine, thank you.¡±

 Chapter 40 - Enchanters Guild

    After leaving the blacksmith¡¯s guild Ves¡¯ra turned towards the mages guild. She¡¯d check out the enchanter¡¯s guild once she was able to properly read, because she really wanted to fix that glaring problem in her knowledge as soon as possible. A new set of lessons was easily organized, she decided to get a personal tutor again as she didn''t want to wait five days for the next set of lessons to begin.


    ---


    As Ves¡¯ra left the mages guild nine days after she ordered her armor she was pleased with herself. It had taken longer than she thought, but she was finally happy with her own reading and writing skills. While the suns made determining the actual time hard she thought it was about midday, something her timekeeper agreed with - more than enough time to pay the enchanter¡¯s guild a visit.


    The enchanter¡¯s guild was the second biggest building on the central plaza, apparently they were the most powerful guild in the free cities as their services were universally required and they didn''t allow any competition, so the only way to learn enchanting was to join the guild - which was the same for learning magic.


    That she¡¯d be forced to join the mages guild for learning magic was a bummer, especially because it would bind her to the free cities. She¡¯d be required to work for them and that was not where she wanted to end up. Now she¡¯d see what the enchanter¡¯s required of her to join and see if it was worth it.


    The splendor of the enchanter¡¯s guild far outshone that of every other building she had seen so far. The ground was made of one single piece of perfectly while marble, radiating enough magic energy to stop her in her steps.


    The marble walls were just as white, though they had grey lines running through them. The walls were full of glowing gems, encased in gold. The gems didn''t touch the walls, so they had to be suspended by magic. She was glad she followed the advice of her teacher and spent a little money on a more expensive attire than her furs. She couldn''t believe how much that changed the way the residents of the city interacted with her, they were more friendly and helpful.


    The middle of the entrance hall was filled with expensive looking couches and tables, some filled with people, while most were empty. The walls were full of desks, filled with descriptions of the services offered. She saw enchantments for houses, armor, weapons and utility items. There were a few counters that were unnamed, so she went to the one with the smallest queue. After a little wait she looked up at a human woman clad in fine clothes.


    ¡°Hey there, I''m Nerli, what can I do for you?¡± She asked with a smile.


    ¡°Hi, I''m Ves''ra, I¡¯d like to ask what I need to do if I want to join the guild.¡±The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.


    ¡°Well, there aren''t many rules you need to follow. First of all, are you a mage?¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡±


    ¡°Good, that''s the most important requirement the rest is a formality really.¡± The woman smiled at her. ¡°There are a few rules you¡¯ll have to know, first of all all enchantment work will have to be done through the guild if there is a guildhouse present.


    You''re not allowed to teach anyone not of the guild any of the guild¡¯s secrets.


    You''re required to submit a sample of your elemental mana to the enchanter¡¯s guild and will be compensated whenever it is used.


    Failure to comply with those rules will result in the guild hunting you down and killing you.¡± The lady recounted these rules with a dispassionate voice that showed how often she¡¯d had to tell them.


    The rules didn''t seem all that restrictive, but she didn''t understand some parts of the rules.


    ¡°So, what is this elemental energy you''re talking about? Can I use the things I learn here to enchant my own gear without the guild? And how do you know if someone breaks your rules?¡±


    ¡°Your elemental mana is the aspect of your awakened mana, most common types are available for everyone, but rare ones still pop up here and the guild won''t have someone waste those by simple greed.


    Using someone¡¯s mana will still incur a small fee, but you''re allowed to enchant anything for personal use without costs.


    I honestly have no idea how you''ve never heard of the last one, that''s one of our most important sources of income. Enforcing an agreement isn''t possible, but one of the founding members created an enchantment that is able to track someone. We will both track your physical location - so running away will not be useful - and make sure you follow the rules.¡± Ves''ra detected a hint of pride in the woman¡¯s voice, apparently she really liked this founder.


    ¡°What about someone breaking your rules on accident?¡±


    ¡°That will be determined on a case by case basis, but if you do the spell will inform you of your misdeed as well as show you the nearest guildhouse. If you are seen returning on your own we will hear your case.¡±


    These rules wouldn''t affect her too much, she didn''t plan to teach anyone or use enchanting for anything other than personal use, so she looked up and spoke up: ¡°That doesn''t sound too bad, how do I join and learn how to enchant?¡±


    ¡°You¡¯ll have to fill out a form, you are able to read and write, are you?¡± The woman asked,


    ¡°Of course.¡± Inwardly she was quite glad to have finished her writing lessons before coming here, otherwise she¡¯d be in a very awkward position now.


    ¡°Good, if you¡¯ll please take this and fill everything out then I¡¯ll do the rest. I will help you with the rest afterwards, and don''t hesitate to ask if you have any problems, ok?¡± Suddenly the woman was genuinely friendly, without the mask most humans wore when talking to each other. It scared her a bit if she was being honest with herself.


    The forms were quite extensive, asking her stuff about herself and her magic that she had some problems answering. In the end she took nearly an hour to fill out everything before returning the small book to the woman.


    ¡°That took a lot longer than I thought, but here you go.¡±


    ¡°No problem. We will take a little to process this, so if you¡¯d return tomorrow we¡¯ll have a suitable mentor for you.¡± Nerli said, a smile still present on her face.


    ¡°That''s fine for me, when do I start?¡±


    ¡°An hour after the blue sun is up, we are operating by the dominant sun after all.¡±


    ¡°Thanks again, and a good day to you.¡±


    ¡°That''s my job, good luck with enchanting.¡±

 Chapter 41 - Enchanting

    Ves''ra was up bright and early, happily entering the enchanter¡¯s guild a few minutes before her appointment. She was approached by an elderly man before she could sit down.


    ¡°Hello young lady, are you Ves''ra?¡± He asked.


    ¡°I am. Who are you?¡±


    ¡°I''m Estrum, your enchanting teacher. I will teach you the basics of enchanting until I''m sure you can fulfill the minimum standard of the guild, which can be done in a few hours to a few days.


    Afterwards you¡¯ll be able to use any unoccupied room in the guild for your enchanting, take commissions on the novice level and use all elemental mana we have stored for a small fee. I will still be available should you have some questions and I will teach you advanced enchanting should you ever reach a point where the guild deems you worthy. If you¡¯ll follow me we can start immediately.¡±


    ¡°Let''s go.¡± She answered, happy to learn something new, there was nothing that beat learning new stuff about magic.


    They entered one of the concealed doors, walking down a set of expensive looking stairs.


    ¡°We will start with your elemental mana, producing it without a spell is the single most important thing for enchanting. The theory behind creating it is relatively easy, but most people take quite some time to manage it.¡± He explained her, creating a sphere of energy in his palm and somehow transforming it into something different, burning.


    They arrived at the bottom of the stairs before he could elaborate though. And the sight in front of her took her breath away and banished the teacher¡¯s words from her mind.


    Thousands of small crystal spheres adorned hundreds of shelves, all filled with spheres.


    There were several counters, all staffed with someone. Estrum went to one of the free counters with her following him, silently marvelling the sight in front of them.


    ¡°We need two unattuned spheres.¡± He said, voice gruff but friendly.


    ¡°Sure thing master Estrum.¡± The lady said with a chipper, friendly voice. She took out two of the crystal spheres, giving it to the mage. After he received it he thanked the lady and mentioned Ves¡¯ra to follow him.


    ¡°Now, where was I?¡± He asked.


    ¡°Attuned energy.¡±


    ¡°Right, creating it is relatively simple, if you form a sphere of mana you have to impart it with the same feeling you had when awakening. There is no reason to hurry though, you''re a self taught mage and creating elemental mana is easier for those, though everyone gets it in time.¡±


    ¡°Can''t I just cast a spell? My energy will transform on its own as I do.¡± She asked.


    ¡°That''s not possible sadly, but if you already know that then you won''t take long.¡± Estrum didn''t actually tell her why it didn''t work, she¡¯d just have to find out herself then.


    Her teacher stopped talking as they climbed more expensive stairs, passing the lobby and another three floors before stopping. For one reason or another he was breathing heavily, he must be hurt. After a short break they entered the long, branching hallway in front of them. They didn''t take long to reach a door with her teacher¡¯s name on it, a door he entered without hesitation.


    ¡°Welcome to my workshop, you sit down over there and start trying to attune your mana. I will be working, call me once you are finished, we will proceed then. Starting now wouldn''t do you any good - enchanting needs attuned mana, so we will start with that afterwards.¡± He explained, before leaving her and sitting down in an expensive chair, smoothing his robes in the process.


    ¡°Ok.¡± Ves''ra sat down too, repeating the process in her mind once again.


    Once she sat down Ves''ra immediately created a big sphere of energy, something way easier ever since her evolution. She thought back to the moment she hatched the second time, remembering the awe she felt at the storm raging outside, the sheer power of the wind, rain, ice and lightning. She also remembered the fear she felt as the storm was raging against her, stealing all of her energy and nearly toppling their hut. She pushed all those feelings through her body and into the sphere hovering above her palm.


    She knew she had succeeded as the energy became extremely volatile all of a sudden, fighting her control, wanting to spread out as well as cooling the air around it. She cried out in surprise, she had no idea that attuned energy would have such an effect.


    Her teacher looked up, clearly hearing her shout and came over as he saw the energy under her control was now an icey blue.


    ¡°Very good, you only took an hour - that''s a little better than average. Let''s see how long you¡¯ll be able to hold it, attuned mana isn''t nearly as easy to control as unattuned mana.¡±


    She could feel that, it took all of her will to stop the usually docile energy from leaving its shape. She was pretty sure she¡¯d have a serious problem if not for her evolution, the greater amount of energy as well as the bigger veins enabled her to barely keep control over it. She could see Estram come over, deliberately slowing down before reaching her.


    He observed her for a few minutes, until it was obvious she wouldn''t lose control.


    ¡°That''s surprising, most novices can''t control elemental mana for more than a minute, especially mana as volatile as yours. How do you do that?¡± He asked with interest.


    ¡°That''s easy, I evolved about a month ago, and that improved my energy control.¡±


    ¡°You did? How can you stand eating raw meat?¡± He asked, his voice filled with equal parts interest and disgust.


    ¡°How can''t you, fresh meat just tastes the best, the more energy the better!¡±


    ¡°Huh, what were you born as?¡±


    ¡°A kobold.¡±


    Estram looked at her and raised an eyebrow. ¡°That was one hell of an evolution then, if not two. Well, not that it matters to me, though it will make teaching you a lot easier. Now take the sphere and fill it with your elemental mana.¡± She did, and asked him the question that had been in her mind ever since yesterday.


    ¡°How does enchanting work? The shaman in my home village taught me how to enchant stuff, but these always stop working when they run out of energy.¡±If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it.


    ¡°That''s not enchanting but imbuing. It¡¯s an advanced form of spellcasting. Imbuing only charges a material with mana, while enchanting changes it on a fundamental level. There can only be so many enchantments in a material and how many is dependant on the material itself. Almost all metals and inorganic materials are only able to hold a single enchantment while even the most basic organic material will be able to hold two. There are some very precious metals that can hold more, but you won''t be using those for quite a while.¡±


    She stopped him before he could continue, giving him the filled sphere. ¡°So, what are these spheres good for?¡± She asked with interest.


    ¡°They are the most important part of enchanting, only the most talented enchanters are able to both create attuned mana and enchant a material at the same time. We use these spheres instead, they are filled with a certain type of attuned mana and store it. If you thread your mana through a sphere it will attune it to the mana, enabling us to enchant with any element saved by the guild. Now these spheres are the most important secret of the guild, as they allow novice mages to enchant.


    You can actually use other elemental mana, but it''s inordinately harder to use foreign elemental mana than your own, but it¡¯s possible which is why you are required to submit a probe of your elemental mana to the guild as you join.


    Now, fill that second sphere and I can actually start teaching you.¡± She did as he continued, giving her a few wooden blocks. ¡°Very good. If you have any questions you just have to ask, I like to lose myself in the theory. The most important thing for any enchanter is the material they have to work with, the lesser a material is the harder it is to anchor the enchantment.


    Furthermore higher quality materials will be able to hold more enchantments. Organic materials are able to hold more enchantments than inorganic ones, but they break significantly faster. Even the most basic enchantment will eventually break a material, but the speed of deterioration depends on several factors.


    First is the quality of a material as well as its compatibility with the enchantment itself.


    Secondly is the amount of enchantments on a material, generally the more enchantments there are the faster a material will break.


    Thirdly is the interaction of the different enchantments - if you enchant a material to be resistant to both fire and water the different types of elemental mana will constantly fight each other, slowly destroying the material.


    The skill of the enchanter is important too, the better you are at containing the enchantment when creating it the longer a material will hold


    Last but not least is the power of the enchantments, basic enchantments will create the wanted effect as long as they have mana, and have to be refilled once they are empty. The higher the energy needed for an enchantment is, the faster the material will deteriorate.


    Now, pick up your sphere and we can start. Enchanting is a little like imbuing, you can''t enchant a material with raw mana to use mana-sorcery. That''s simply not possible as raw mana will always diffuse without anything living to hold it together, so don''t bother.¡± Estrum took several colorful books out of a shelf above her, setting them down in front of her. ¡°These book contain most of the theory you need, the rest can be found in the library, let''s get to actual enchanting.¡±


    The teacher fetched several cubes of wood, all about fifteen centimeters long.


    ¡°These are simple oak cubes, so there isn''t anything to worry about when enchanting them. Oak is a very poor material to enchant and will destroy itself after a few dozen uses even if the most talented enchanter were to use it, so you don''t have to worry about destroying it. You¡¯ll be able to get any number of these cubes on the first floor once you run out.


    To start any enchantment you¡¯ll have to start with filling the material with elemental mana; there is an upper limit to all materials which will limit the total power of the enchantment. You will notice once a material is filled with mana as any more will simply leave it.


    For now start to completely saturate a material before enchanting it, as that will allow the longest use.¡± Ves''ra stopped him for the first time, something didn''t add up.


    ¡°Wouldn''t it be better to limit the energy you use to as little as possible? If a material will deteriorate with more energy filling it shouldn''t it be as limited as possible?¡± She asked.


    ¡°That depends. If you want a continuous effect then you¡¯ll want to to be as much mana as possible, but if the enchantment simply casts a spell then you are right, of course it takes a lot more skill than just filling the material to its limit.


    In time you¡¯ll be able to gauge the amount of mana needed for an enchantment, but that will take a lot of practice.


    Where was I? ¡­ Yes, filling the material with elemental mana. After you are done with that you have to hold the mana in place while you concentrate on the effect you want to achieve and transfer that into the material. You will then feel the enchantment take hold. Unlike casting spells that will take a lot of time and you will be able to feel once the enchantment is complete as the mana will shake off your control once it¡¯s filled. Now use one of your weakest spells for the practice, and please use something that''s not destructive - I had to repair my workshop a few times already.


    I¡¯ll look at your results in the evening, don''t interrupt me please, just leave them on the table, I¡¯ll look at them tomorrow.¡±


    Before she had a chance to respond the mage had already turned around and sat down on his comfy chair again, concentrating on a strange contraption on one of the tables in the room. The teacher was obviously more skilled than he let on as she didn''t see him using a sphere.


    Ves''ra look at the cubes of wood in front of her and took one of them. They all had a handy dent on top of them, a perfect fit for one of the spheres.


    She was excited, a completely new field of magic ripe for her to explore it! She filled the block of wood with energy filtered through the crystal sphere, until she felt the block was full. Once done she thought about what spell she wanted to use.


    Something not destructive.


    Most of her magic was harmful by design, but there was one spell that she had always active - the spell she imbued into her water skin.


    Ves''ra concentrated on holding the energy within the cube as she created the spell in her mind. The warning that she¡¯d have no control over the enchantments once it was cast firmly within her mind she adapted the spell slightly, limiting the speed it drew water out of the air by a few orders of magnitude and having the water put into the depression for the crystal.


    She imparted the spell onto the energy within the wood, and just as the teacher said she could feel it changing the material itself. What he didn''t say was that her energy would be even harder to control, and she lost control over the energy a few moments after she started enchanting.


    The energy ran rampant, freezing the block of wood as it escaped her control. She cried out in surprise, and quickly took the crystal out of its socket, taking another block of wood.


    ---


    Enchanting was immensely frustrating. Ves''ra had already destroyed all but two of the cubes and had yet to make any significant progress and she was already beginning to feel a serious headache approaching, warning her to stop using magic for today.


    Sure, she managed to hold the energy in place for a little longer every try, but the longer she took the harder it was to control it. Everytime she lost control something different happened to the wood - it froze, immediately cracked as all of its heat or water was drawn into one point, one time it was pushed off the table by a random gust of wind!


    Ves''ra eyed the second last block with an evil eye, she was a mage and no simple block of wood would defeat her! Fueled by her anger the wood was filled in record time and she started creating the now familiar spell in her mind, slowly pushing it into the wood.


    She felt the energy change again, rampaging throughout the wood, changing it on a fundamental level.


    She tried to slow that reaction down, the energy got increasingly hard to control the faster the material changed. As so many times before the energy obeyed her, easily at first and fighting her control the longer it took for the material to change. She managed to slow the reaction ever so slowly, but still rampaging through the wood. She managed to slow it down more than before as always - she felt she could manage in a few more tries.


    Ves''ra fought with all she was, she wouldn''t submit to a simple block of wood!


    Suddenly she lost her connection to the wood. She looked at the cube with interest, the failures had been interesting so far and she wanted to see what her energy would do this time.


    Ves''ra grew concerned as nothing happened for quite some time, until she noticed that the crystal sphere was shaking ever so slightly. With a cry of joy she lifted the crystal out of the depression, seeing it slowly filling with water. It filled slowly, very slowly - perhaps she dumped the spell down a little too much.


    She looked at the teacher, happy to see her involuntary cry had not disturbed him.


    Still, Ves''ra was elated - she had finished her first enchantment! She looked at the last block of wood and thought a little, but in the end she decided to end the day with a victory, her head was already killing her and she wasn''t sure she had enough mental energy to enchant another block of wood left.


    She made sure not to disturb the old human as she left, now that she did some enchanting herself she could understand the concentration and absolute silence one needed. She left the guild in a good mood, making her way home without paying much attention to the humans around her, otherwise she¡¯d have noticed the tense atmosphere that had seemingly gripped the whole city.

 Chapter 42 - Council

    Ves¡¯ra returned to the enchanter¡¯s guild early in the next morning for the next two weeks, getting a few gruff pointers by Estrum before being left to her own devices. By the end of those she was able to enchant a cube of wood in nine out of ten tries and managed to half the time each enchantment took.


    She used some of that knowledge to create an object that did the job of cooling the building for her, she just had to inject energy and it would suck the energy in her surroundings, transmitting it above the building. The first one already broke down and had to be replaced, but it still added nearly half an hour she could use other activities to her days.


    She had tried herself at enchanting metals - but she¡¯d soon noticed she wasn''t able to use metal, her elemental energy was extremely damaging to all metals she tried. She noticed all inhabitants of the city were gloomy, and she managed to find out after some asking around once she finally noticed something was going on.


    The people she asked painted a grim picture, apparently the man she killed to protect her village was a spy of the neighboring kingdom of Yufacan. She had exposed their invasion plans by killing him, activating a failsafe that was meant to burn all evidence. That obviously didn''t work, but doom was on the horizon anyways, the other nation was much larger and hated the free cities and all they represented - it seemed the adventurers she met would have attacked her if they came from there. In the end it didn''t matter to her - she wanted to see a lot more than just the free cities, though she still hoped to learn how to create a crystal sphere before she left - waging war wasn''t really feasible for now, the world was too big to move the armies needed to conquer even one of the cities in the three months that weren''t winter or summer.


    There was something strange with master Estrum too - he had yet to cast the strange tracking spell on her, something she believed he should have done by now, but the man seemed more distracted by the day, barely even bothering to pretend to work and staring into space instead.


    Humans were strange.


    Today was the last day before she¡¯d be allowed to take the basic exam, allowing her to accept novice contracts for enchanting. She was allowed to use spheres containing other¡¯s powers too, so she could start researching what she would enchant her armor with after that. She¡¯d just have to visit the dwarf soon, to know what materials he wanted to use for her armor.


    As she walked into her teachers office she knew something was wrong, his entire air had changed. His previous scholarly but gruff air had transformed into that of the powerful mage he was. He exchanged his robes for silken trousers and shirt as well as expensive looking shoes.


    ¡°Follow me.¡± He commanded, his previous friendliness a thing of the past.


    ¡°Why?¡± She asked, reluctant to follow someone capable of that level of transformation.


    ¡°Because I said so. If you want me to teach you you will follow me!¡± He said, forcefully.


    ¡°I''m sure I can find all I need in the library.¡± She resisted, turning around to leave his room.


    ¡°I didn''t leave you a choice young woman! You will follow me this instant if you know what¡¯s good for you at all.¡±


    ¡°No.¡± The door slammed shut in front of her, held in place by telekinesis.


    ¡°That was an order. Not a request. The guild leaders want to see you and I have to get you there. By ANY means necessary.¡±


    ¡°What would they want from me? I''m just an evolved kobold and have nothing to do with any of that. You must mistake me for someone else.¡±


    Estrum didn''t reply and gave her the written order instead - there was no mistaking it, that was her. She didn''t like it, but she doubted she could fight her way out of the city if its leaders wanted to see her. She could do something though, Ves''ra told Arvog to leave the city, protecting him from the heat with a quick spell, tethering it to his control. He could use the heat stored in the spell to attack anything with an intense wave of heat.The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.


    ¡°I will come with you, but strongly protest about your treatment.¡± She said with a scathing voice.


    ¡°Duly noted, not let''s not dally any longer.¡± He said with a dry voice, ushering her out of the room. They were intercepted by a guard, someone really wanted to see her. Estrum lead them through the building at a fast pace, to a pair of unassuming stairs that only led upwards. Upwards? If they were going to see the guild leaders shouldn''t they move down and towards the castle? She would just have to see.


    Arvog reminded her she was not alone as he notified her he successfully managed to leave the city, causing relief to spread through her - he was safe.


    As they reached the top of the room Ves''ra only saw a small room radiating an insane amount of energy, all concentrated on a circle in the middle. She looked as Estrum stepped in the room center and motioned her to join him. She eyed the enchantment dubiously, giving it a few seconds to do something before joining him.


    He extended a tendril of energy into one of the many runes - what were those even for - before both of them vanished. Ves''ra looked around in confusion, they were in a different room. Calling it room was doing that auditorium they were in now a disservice, the room brimmed with so much magic she wasn''t even sure if she¡¯d manage to create a spell at all.


    A raised dais ran through the room. On it she could see seven sitting people with lots of others swarming around them. Estrum directed her to a small chair in the middle and had her sit down, moving to stand behind her shoulders afterwards. A loud clap sounded throughout the hall and suddenly the wooden chair grew around her, constricting her movements and disrupting all energy flow in her arms and legs.


    Ves''ra look around and raised the scales atop her eyes, she did not expect that. She wasn''t worried, her situation didn''t really worsen, so this had to be a so called ¡®powerplay¡¯, something one of the elves she met told her about - she told her humans really liked these.


    ¡°Are you Ves''ra, kobold storm mage?¡± A booming voice asked. Couldn''t they tone that down, her ear-holes were worse than human ears, but that hurt.


    ¡°Yes.¡± She answered.


    ¡°Do you know why you are here?¡± The voice boomed.


    ¡°I have no clue.¡±


    ¡°How about I tell you a story.¡± It boomed.


    ¡°Please not, my ears are hurting as is. You should really tone that down, it can''t be healthy to speak like that.¡± She said. She wouldn''t play their game after they had Estrum ruin her day. As the voice took time to answer, and she could see the seven people discuss something, protected by a magic barrier she sat there, relaxing now that her ear had time to recover.


    ¡°I apologize for my colleague''s eagerness, but the last days have been stressful for all of us.¡± A new, female voice bloomed, this one at a much more manageable level.


    ¡°Why did you want to speak with me? I''m just a normal kobold.¡± She asked.


    ¡°Oh, you''re anything but. You are quite the exceptional young lady. Killing and binding a wyvern, killing an elder lynx and evolving all in less than two years of life. Not to mention managing to finish your first enchantment in less then one day.¡± The woman elaborated.


    ¡°I still don''t see what your point is.¡± She said. The woman coughed before she continued.


    ¡°Sorry about that, anyways, we would like to ask you about something that happened roughly a month and a half ago, just before you left the city.¡±


    ¡°You want to ask me about your friends?¡± She asked, still angry at the treatment.


    ¡°Our friends?¡± The woman asked, taken aback.


    ¡°Your friends, you know, people like you that like to koboldnap innocent kobolds against their will. I won''t tell you anything about my village!¡± She said, anger now clear in her mind.


    ¡°What do you think of us, what would we want with your village?¡±


    ¡°I have no clue, but everyone asks about them once I tell them of home.¡±


    ¡°We don''t care about a random kobold village, there are more important things at stake. We want to know about these ¡®kidnappers¡¯. You already answered what they wanted from you, but what did you do to them?¡±


    ¡°I removed the threat to my village.¡±


    ¡°What about the mages guild¡¯s employee? Did you kill him too?¡±


    ¡°Yes, he was the reason they kidnapped me.¡±


    ¡°What did you do after that?¡± The woman asked.


    ¡°I went for his boss, he said he knew about my village, so he had to go.¡±


    ¡°Please tell us what you did.¡±


    So she did, retelling the whole story from the moment she noticed the elf following her, omitting anything related to her village. She was quite relieved, they didn''t want to know anything important - not that she¡¯d be able to help them with finding her village, the world was just too large to find a small kobold village.


    Before the people could ask her more questions she continued. ¡°Can I go now, I think I¡¯ll leave your shitty city as fast as possible, if that¡¯s how you treat innocent people.¡±


    ¡°No, you will stay here. You are a criminal and still need to be judged for the murder of all the people that died in the fire. You could have just asked any guard for help.¡± The booming voice interjected.


    Ves''ra couldn''t help but snort, the only kills that could reasonably be called murder were on Arvog¡¯s parent, the man in the basement and the elder lynx. She would leave here as soon as possible! Luckily she already told Arvog to leave the city.

 Chapter 43 - Freedom

    Hendrik was absolutely livid. The day had started so good - they were finalizing their plans for the war and had found the kobold responsible for the warning only two weeks prior. Even better the kobold was one of his own guild - an adventurer.


    Sadly that incompetent prick Malcom had to destroy everything, he had no idea how the enchanters could tolerate someone like that leading their guild, though he had his suspicions.


    They had the encounter planned out, he warned the others not to try their usual tactics, intimidation didn''t work on beings with predatory mindsets at all. Even worse, if you did try to intimidate them and then didn''t go through with your threat you lost all respect they may have held for you before.


    ¡°That went well.¡± Evelyn - the merchant guild¡¯s guildmaster - said sarcastically.


    ¡°I wonder why.¡± He mocked, looking at Malcom.


    ¡°Was that really necessary?¡± Molaen, the blacksmith asked, irritated.


    ¡°You don''t need to rub it in, I know I messed up. But seeing someone like that, completely at ease while meeting us really rubbed me the wrong way.¡± Malcom defended himself.


    ¡°That''s a very bad reason Malcom, you couldn''t keep your ego in, so you messed up all our plans. I wonder why you''re allowed to lead this branch.¡±


    ¡°BECAUSE I''M THE BEST!¡± Malcom yelled, once again showing his incompetence.


    Hendrik thought that he only was a guildmaster because the real enchanters couldn''t be bothered with leading, they just wanted to pursue their craft. He¡¯d have to talk to some of them today, they couldn''t allow someone like this to lead in times like these.


    ¡°How did you come from rewarding her to imprisoning her anyways?¡± Evelyn wondered.


    ¡°The little shit was too arrogant!¡± Malcom stated.


    Enough was enough. Hendrik looked at the other guildmasters and saw the same, the enchanter¡¯s guild would be excluded from these meetings until they supplied a suitable replacement. He spoke up for the first time.


    ¡°Master Estrum, would you please convene with your colleagues, your leader is unfit to represent your guild as of now. We will continue without him.¡±


    ¡°¡±¡±¡±¡±Seconded.¡±¡±¡±¡±¡± The others agreed.


    Estrum looked slightly startled, but seemed to agree with them. ¡°I will take care of it guildmaster, we have been thinking about replacing him for some time now, but didn''t see a good reason to until now. Seeing that he blatantly disregarded our laws I''m sure the others will agree with you.


    Please express my regret to my pupil, I did not think she would be imprisoned illegally.¡± With that he interjected mana into the teleportation formation and vanished. Hendrik looked at Malcom, only to see him raging in his asile. They couldn''t hear him - he was deemed unfit by all six of them - and had thus been stripped of all privileges the moment they did.


    ¡°Now, what do we do?¡± He asked. ¡°The young girl has no reason to trust us after what we did, and she is involved in several of our more useful plans, I doubt we can find another kobold anytime soon.¡±


    ¡°What do you mean plans? I know nothing of any plans.¡± Sidor, their resident dwarf asked.


    ¡°Me and Evelyn did some planning for the war at home. Some of the better ones did involve the kobold. Funnily enough one also involved getting rid of Malcom, but he took care of that himself.¡± He answered with a grin.


    ¡°We can''t keep her locked up, that''s for sure.¡± Evelyn said.


    ¡°I will take care of that, she''s one of mine and my people would riot if I did nothing.¡± Hendrik said.A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.


    ¡°Good, see if you can talk her into meeting with us tomorrow, master Estrum didn''t sound like hiseguild will need long.¡± Evelyn said.


    ¡°Good idea, so let''s convene here tomorrow again then. All in favor?¡± Hendrik asked.


    ¡±¡±¡±¡±Aye.¡±¡±¡±¡±


    ¡°Good, now if you excuse me I have a talk to attend to.¡± He excused himself.


    ---


    Hendrik made his way to the dungeon as fast as possible - keeping a mage imprisoned was hard and the kobold certainly didn''t deserve to be locked up in one of the high security prisons. He made his way deeper into the castle, hoping she wouldn''t be too angry to talk. As he arrived at the prison tower - every decent mage was able to break out of an underground prison - and spoke to the warden.


    ¡°Hello there, your newest prisoner needs to be discharged. But I''d like to speak to her before.¡± He stated. The warden took a surprised look at him, and paled slightly as he recoginzed Hendrik.


    ¡°Of course guildmaster, I''ll show you the cell and prepare the prisoner''s belongings after.¡±


    ¡°Lead the way.¡±


    Of course the idiot Malcom had someone put the kobold in one of the high security cells on the tower¡¯s top. He couldn''t help but shake his head.


    ¡°Leave us, wait for me at the ground floor.¡± He commanded.


    ¡°At once guildmaster.¡±


    ¡°Good. Get to it.¡±


    Hendrik couldn''t help but shudder as he entered the high kobold¡¯s cell, the feeling of entering an area devoid of any mana was always unsettling. That didn''t seem to bother the captive though - she calmly sat in the middle of the bare room, completely at ease with herself and the world.


    She looked at him and showed him a toothy smile as he entered.


    ¡°Are you here to let me out?¡± She said.


    ¡°Yes. I''d also like to apologize on behalf of the free cities, the guildmaster of the enchanter¡¯s guild has been discharged of his duties.


    Now, before you go I''d like to speak to you as your guildmaster. ¡­ Out of this room, I don''t like it.¡±


    ¡°I have no problems with that.¡± The girl raised her hands ¡°If you would free me of the cuffs please.¡±


    Hendrik did, and they left the room a few moments later.


    ¡°I''m glad you didn''t try to break out yet, that would have complicated things.¡± He said.


    ¡°Why would I? You had no reason to keep me there and the booming voice was alone. And even if I tried something, why would I do so in the middle of the day.¡± She answered with a grin. He couldn''t help but curse in his mind, of course she would be one of those.


    ¡°So what did you want to talk about guildmaster?¡± She asked.


    ¡°You are in a unique situation, and we''d like to hire your services.¡±


    ¡°What for? I''m not gonna fight in your war, I kill monsters not people.¡±


    ¡°While you would surely be a great asset in fighting that''s not what we had in mind. You probably know that already, but we don''t have to fear an invasion for at least another year, and we want to know when they come for us.¡± He explained.


    ¡°And how would I be able to help there?¡± She asked.


    ¡°You''ll see. I''m glad you asked.¡± He said, explaining the most promising plan he and his wife had been able to come up with. The girl''s eyes lit up a few times as he talked, and he was sure he managed to convince her.


    ¡°So what do you think?¡± He asked.


    ¡°I am able to do it, but I want some things in return.¡±


    ¡°That''s to be expected. We can discuss rewards tomorrow, in attendance of the new enchanter''s guild guildmaster. Think hard about what you want.¡± He said. ¡°Now let''s get out of here, I hate this prison.¡±


    ¡°Lead the way guildmaster.¡± She said.


    ¡°Just out of interest, how would you try to break out? Not that it''d work, the prison held mages more powerful than you before.¡±


    ¡°Even a core mage?¡± She asked, smirking. Hendrik looked at her, searching for signs of a joke, but finding none.


    ¡°No, stopping a normal mage from casting is possible in the right environment, but stooping internal casting isn''t. You have a core?¡± He asked.


    ¡°Not yet, but I can cast without moving engery out of my body all the same.¡±


    ¡°Don''t do that, something like that is extremely dangerous!¡± He admonished her.


    ¡°Not for me.¡±


    ¡°Well, I can''t do more than warn you. Just be careful, you have a bright future if you don''t die prematurely.¡±


    They left the castle a few minutes later. So what will you do today?¡± He asked.


    ¡°I want to know how I came into the castle, I am sure I''ve never heard of an enchantment using strange symbols and transporting people.¡± She said.


    ¡°You should look for teleportation or space-magic then, both the mages and echanter''s guild have good information on that, it is one of the most researched topics after all. Good luck.¡± He said, making his way towards the mountain of paperwork waiting for him in his office.

 Chapter 44 - Agreement

    A day later Ves''ra approached the castle in a cheerful mood. While Arvog had yet to return - she didn''t want to risk his life - she was confident the day would bring great benefits to herself. The humans wanted something from her, and while she planned to do some of the things the guildmaster wanted her to do eventually, she was happy to accelerate her plans if the humans would help her with the endeavor.


    After a short search for weapons and check up on her identity she was allowed into the castle, as one of the servants led her to the council''s chamber.


    ¡°I will announce your arrival, and call you in once the masters are ready to see you.¡± The young man said, smoothing his clothes.


    ¡°Sure thing. No need to be nervous, they are just humans like you.¡± She answered, grinning at him. The young man let out a laugh and quietly entered the hall. Ves''ra took one of the seats in the waiting room, and started thinking about all the rewards she''d be able to squeeze out of the humans, they were at a disadvantage now and she had every intention to use it to the best of her abilities.


    There were several things she really wanted, one of them being the ¡®teleportation¡¯ magic the guildmaster told her about. In theory it was just another type of elemental mana, one that allowed you to connect two points in space with one another, but its use was heavily regulated, and only the most trusted enchanters were allowed to use the affinity. There were more things she wanted, but the young man had returned, so she hopped off the chair and confidently walked towards the now wide open doors.


    ¡°Ves''ra the high kobold is here on the masters request.¡± The young man yelled, quickly closing the door behind her. Ves''ra looked around the room, noticing it was smaller, more personal. It also lacked the high amount of energy, making it easier to keep her calm. She could easily pick out the faces of the seven guild masters, this time without helpers.


    ¡°Welcome young lady, I hope you¡¯ll forgive us the incident yesterday. We already removed the person responsible for your imprisonment. We can discuss a sufficient compensation afterwards.¡± The lady next to the adventurer said with a calm, slightly smug smile. Damn, if she just agreed like that then she¡¯d lose the advantage, she had to do something about that.


    ¡°Of course, all is forgotten, I''m sure you can add the compensation to the task you want me to perform. I have to apologize for my behavior too, but all the energy in the air made me excited. Who are you by the way?¡± She answered, smiling at the lady while tapping her claws on the armrest of her chair.


    ¡°Yes, that is no problem. I am Evelyn, leader of the merchant¡¯s guild. Shall we start then?¡± Evelyn said, a bitter smile on her face as she slightly bowed her head.


    ¡°I have no problem with that, how about you start by telling me who you are?¡±


    ¡°That''s a splendid idea, I will start then.¡± A humanoid lizard chirped. She was different from herself, taller than everyone else, blue scales, a very long neck and no sharp teeth. ¡°I''m Khossez, a draconian and leader of the Alchemist¡¯s Guild.¡±


    A gruff voice spoke up next, a very buff looking dwarf with an impressive beard. ¡°I''m Dhubok of the Stonear clan, blacksmith. The very charming lady next to me is me wife, Runsyl Stonear and leader of the Mercenary¡¯s guild.¡±


    Ves''ra looked at the indicated dwarf, noting that she looked nearly identical to her husband, except missing the beard. She looked mighty pleased with the introduction and smiled at her inquisitive look. A polite cough interrupted her inspection of the couple, bringing her eyes to the most massive person she had ever looked upon. He was nearly as tall as the draconian - who was two heads taller than everyone else - but easily two times as wide as everyone else. He was also completely green, had a pair of tusks as long as her hand sticking out of his mouth. The only thing not fitting his image were the expensive clothes and the strange metal and glass contraption on his eyes. ¡°I''m Hrok, leader of the Craftsmen¡¯s Guild.¡± He whispered in a deep voice, shrinking into himself, as if to hide behind the table. Ves''ra looked around, but nobody seemed to wonder about the huge being¡¯s strange behavior, so she ignored it.


    She turned to look at the last person in the room, an elf. She had never seen the woman, but seeing as all but the enchanter¡¯s guild were there she assumed her to be an enchanter.Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel.


    ¡°I am Ayas Preslen, new guildmaster of the Enchanter¡¯s guild.¡± She said, a look of contempt crossing her face as she talked. It seemed she didn''t like being a leader.


    Evelyn clapped her hands. ¡°Now that we all know each other how about we start. Hendrik told me you already know the plan we had for you, and are willing to do it, is that correct?¡±


    ¡°It is. I have to ask you though, why don''t you just sent out a bunch of adventurer''s to patrol your borders?¡± She asked.


    ¡°We will do that too, but most adventurer''s won''t be fine with living in the wilderness for a significant amount if time.¡± Hendrik answered with a sigh.


    ¡°So you think I am because I was born in a primitive village?¡± She asked.


    ¡°We did, yes. Are we wrong?¡± Evelyn asked, worry in her voice. Ves''ra didn''t understand why, she already agreed she''d help them - for the right price - so they didn''t need to worry.


    ¡°You are not. Now, if the plan has not changed then we can talk about what I get to do that?¡± She asked with a devious smile.


    ¡°We can. We are prepared to pay you with a thousand silver per month, until completion. You will be paid for five months in advance, and supplied with everything needed to complete the mission. Any questions?¡±


    ¡°Yes, can you pay me in something other than money?¡± She asked.


    ¡°And what would that be?¡± Hendrik asked back, looking surprised she didn''t want their rocks.


    ¡°Knowledge. And one other thing. I want to know how you humans do your magic, all I''ve seen of your casters makes me believe you know something I don''t.¡±


    ¡°That''s all? We can have a few books on magic here tomorrow. What is the other thing?¡±


    ¡°Not all, no. I want a certain type of elemental energy as well as a book on advanced enchanting and the knowledge how to make crystal spheres.¡± Her audience were stunned in silence, Ayas paled slightly.


    Being a merchant Evelyn was the first to recover from her demand, and spoke up with a shaky voice. ¡°You know what you are demanding of us, aren''t you? Enchanted goods are the prime export of the Free Cities, because no one but a select few have access to that knowledge.¡±


    ¡°Yes, but if you lose then that secret won''t be of any use. I have no interest in human money, so I would be fine with swearing myself to secrecy, not to use that knowledge against your financial interests.¡± She said, she really didn''t care about human currency. The guild masters looked at each others, before Ayas spoke up again.


    ¡°We would like to talk about your offer between ourselves, can you leave the room for a little while? Please.¡± She asked.


    ¡°No problem.¡±


    ---


    ¡°So what do you think? Should we accept her proposal?¡± Hendrik asked, turning towards the only elf in their midst.


    ¡°There is nothing wrong with it, if she¡¯s really as talented as Estrum seems to think she is then she would get taught about the secret in time anyways.¡± She answered, ¡°We would have to take some measures of course, see if she really doesn''t want to sell it once she left our sphere of influence.¡±


    ¡°What about the rest?¡± He asked.


    ¡°Well, be can copy all elemental mana indefinitely, so that won''t be a problem. Any ideas what she¡¯d want?¡±


    ¡°That''s easy, she asked me about teleportation yesterday, so I¡¯d wager she wants spacial mana.¡± He answered.


    ¡°She won''t be able to use it to break through the wards, so I see no problem with that.¡± Evelyn said. ¡°It''s quite fortunate really, she only wants things she could freely get with a little effort, things that aren''t even worth half of what we would pay her. I take it you will have everything prepared in an hour?¡±


    They had some of the servants ready a table while Ayas and Evelyn designed the contract, clearly stating the terms as well as the offered compensation. The contract was written on a magically enchanter paper, one they couldn''t produce themselves. It was split in two, each half meant for one signature. Ayas, as the guild that would take care of most of those, signed one side, and the paper lit up green.


    Once done they called in the kobold again.


    ¡°Have you come to an agreement?¡± She asked.


    ¡°We have, there is a contract on the table in front of you, it¡¯s enchanted and will glow green if the people signing them intend to keep to the terms. As you can see we already signed it, so you just have to do the same.¡± Ayas explained.


    The kobold nodded, before sitting down and reading through the whole paper. He approved, it would be foolhardy to sign a contract without. Once she read the whole contract she signed it, it lit up green just like before. Hendrik let out a relieved sigh, he hoped that would happen but wasn''t sure until now.


    ¡°We will need a while to set everything up, so you¡¯ll have more than enough time to learn.¡± He explained.


    ¡°That''s no problem, I still need to wait for my armor to be finished anyways.¡± She answered.


    ¡°Good. You can follow me, and I¡¯ll start teaching you, as we agreed.¡± Ayas said, standing up and walking towards the door.

 Chapter 45 - Core

    ¡°Do you know how to create a mage-core?¡± Ayas asked her after they left the meeting, the elf¡¯s head looking down at her.


    ¡°Sadly no, otherwise I¡¯d have tried to form one already.¡± Ves''ra answered.


    ¡°You''re in luck then, you need to know how to form one if you want to create a sphere. You also need to form your core for that, a mage without simply lacks the required mana.¡± She explained, walking in one of the many branching hallways.


    ¡°So I¡¯ll have to form a core before we start?¡± She asked.


    ¡°Yes, but if you''re as talented as Estrum said then you¡¯ll face no problem.¡±


    ¡°So, how do I go about creating a core?¡± Ves''ra asked.


    ¡°What do you know about cores?¡± Ayas asked.


    ¡°They increase my total energy and make casting spells easier.¡±


    ¡°That''s certainly true, even if very rudimentary. You don''t actually create a core in one go, the mana needed for that is inconceivable. No, every core starts with a seed. You have to concentrate as much of your mana as you can control in one single spot. If you have enough then a core-seed will come into being, the first physical representation of your mana-veins in your body. It will only be able contain about half as much mana as you used to create it, but that''s already enough to cast most spells without expelling your mana.¡± She explained as they arrived in front of an ornate door.


    ¡°So I just have to concentrate my energy? I''m already doing that.¡± Ves''ra said.


    ¡°What?¡±


    ¡°Do you know how it feels when you''re about to evolve? I didn''t know, so I did something against it and bound my energy into a rope.¡± Ves''ra explained, just as they stepped into the middle of the room.


    ¡°That''s interesting, and would explain your abnormal evolution.¡± Ayas pondered as she injected energy into the enchantment around them. They appeared in a room devoid of anything but a long, metal pole in its middle. A teleport anchor Ves''ra realized. ¡®Abnormal¡¯ evolution, well, she had already thought about that, she clearly was a lot more powerful than the chieftain. She followed Ayas through the enchanter''s guild, climbing one stair after another.


    Soon enough they reached to uppermost floor, and Ves''ra noticed an increase in the beauty of the hallways, the marble was a little bit more polished. It didn''t take long until they reached her private office, a nice cozy room not unlike Estrum¡¯s.


    ¡°Welcome to my office. This is where I worked before the others forced me to be guildmaster, and the room I want to spent as much of my time as possible.¡± Ayas mourned. Ves''ra decided she would ignore what she just heard and focus on something else instead.


    ¡°So, what do we do now?¡±


    ¡°You will attempt to form your core-seed, and I will observe you. Forming a seed isn''t really dangerous, but it never hurts to be careful.¡± She said, waving Ves''ra over to an expensive couch. After they sat down Ves''ra asked again. ¡°So I just have to compress my energy as much as possible?¡±


    ¡°Yes, it will solidify by itself.¡± Ayas said, taking out a strange pair of glasses before sitting down next to her. ¡°These will allow me to watch the movement of mana in your body, if you are fine with me using them.¡±


    ¡°Sure. Hit me when I don''t seem to do anything for quite some time.¡± Ves''ra said, securing herself against another vision. She closed her eyes, concentrating on the energy that permeated her body. All external stimuli faded, allowing her to feel all energy held within her body. There was something else, something huge compared to her. It cowed her, seemly wanting to crush her in a huge wealth of experience and knowledge. NO! No! No!


    A sharp pain on her shoulder snapped her out of the meditation. Ves''ra breathed in and out, slowly calming down. She looked in a concerned face.


    ¡°Are you ok? You need to be relaxed to form a core.¡±


    ¡°I''m fine now, I just need a minute, thanks.¡± Ves''ra answered. Ayas nodded, obviously not understanding why Ves''ra was as panicked as she had been. This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it


    Ves''ra closed her eyes again, ignoring the huge presence next to her. That had happened every single time she tried to meditate, but now that she had someone to snap her out of the panic Ves''ra found it much easier to control herself.


    She focused on the energy permeating her body. Without focusing on the memories it was a lot easier, so Ves''ra set to work, concentrating on the cavity in the middle of her heart. She could feel all of her energy-veins coming together in its middle making the perfect spot to form a core.


    She took control over all bound energy, leaving the unbound energy to continue flowing through her body. She slowly filled the cavity in her heart with energy, marvelling the amount of energy she could control inside of her own body. Once the cavity was filled with slowly rotating ropes of energy Ves''ra took manual control over them, coiling them tightly in the middle of her heart, compressing with all her power.


    Why did she do that?


    Because Ayas told her.


    But crystals were able to take much more energy than anything else! She should take manual control over the process, and form the ropes in a crystal matrix before compressing them.


    That did sound reasonable. Ves''ra stopped the pressure before the core had a chance to form. Once done she formed the energy into a crystal matrix, compressing it once again.


    She should have her energy disconnect from her veins, there was a reason her energy circulated through her body.


    Ves''ra completely stopped her control over her energy, watching as it integrated into her own veins again. She was correct. This time Ves''ra took control over all veins entering her heart, forming the crystal matrix again, but this time each vein naturally entered and left the core.


    Ves''ra started compressing her energy again, feeling as it fought against leaving its natural pathways.


    She shouldn''t compress it as fast as possible, slowly compressing would leave her body time to naturally reinforce the structure, making for a much more potent seed.


    Ves''ra naturally relaxed her control, slowly compressing her energy. She could feel it, how nearly all energy entering her core was used to fortify it against the compression.


    Too fast!


    Ves''ra was too fast, she could see that less and less energy left her core. She relaxed her compression a little bit, waiting for energy in- and outtake to stabilize before continuing. She was in a daze, compressing the core a little more each time, and waiting for it to stabilize again.


    Ves''ra continued, heedless to the passage of time as she compressed her energy into a seed worthy of a mage. After more than one hundred compressions she stopped, her energy didn''t want to compress any more.


    She was finished.


    Ves''ra continued observing the energy as it sat there. Now that she was only holding it in place, no longer compressing it she felt it change, solidifying from the middle, the point where every single vein crossed. The core did not harm her veins in any way, instead they seemed more physical, her energy rushed through them faster then ever.


    The core solidified faster and faster, until the seed was fully formed. Once it was she didn''t leave meditation immediately, instead observing the way her energy behaved. Ves''ra was pleased with herself, the energy moved faster, much faster then it did before, sped up by her crystal core as it was. She could observe her unbound energy leaving the veins and filling the core, forming a huge reservoir of energy ready to do her bidding.


    Ves''ra opened her eyes, only to look into the awestruck face of the elf next to her.


    ¡°What did you do?¡± She breathed out, disbelief on her face.


    ¡°I formed a core like you told me.¡± Ves''ra answered.


    ¡°No, you formed one at first, what you have is no normal core!¡± Ayas said forcefully, excitement on her face. ¡°I''ve never seen anything like this, how did you even manage to do that? Mana doesn''t stay in form like that!¡±


    ¡°I controlled it.¡±


    ¡°Why did you do it, how did you get the idea?¡± Ayas asked in fascination.


    ¡°I formed the core like you told me, but then I thought: ¡®Crystals are able to hold more energy than anything else, why not form one?¡± WAIT! How did she know that?


    ¡°How do you know that?¡± Ayas asked.


    ¡°I don''t know.¡± Ves''ra asked. But she did. The strange memories that wanted to take over must be responsible, the person did seem very knowledgeable. Perhaps she had been a little fast in ignoring it, she could feel the connection to the energy in her core even now.


    ¡°Well, that doesn''t matter, we have to test your seed! I''ve never seen something like it.¡± Ayas cried, forgetting her manners in front of a new magical discovery. Ves''ra could understand that, it was a trait they shared.


    ¡°No.¡± She denied. ¡°You promised to teach me something first.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, yeah, no problems.¡± The elf said, obviously distracted as she mumbled. ¡°We will need a new core mage to compare her too, and something to measure their total mana, yes, yes. This is so fascinating!¡±


    Ves''ra shook her head, before blasting the elf with a gust of wind. Ayas looked around, confused to be taken out of her planning.


    ¡°I want to learn how to use my core too, but you have to teach me about crystal spheres first!¡± She stated.


    ¡°Yes, let''s get started right now. Edeis will need time to form her core, yes, perfect. We can start now.¡±


    ¡°Let''s.¡±

 Chapter 46 - Testing

    ¡°How do I go about creating a crystal sphere?¡± Ves''ra asked.


    ¡°You need any kind of crystal to start with ¡­¡± Ayas started explaining. Ves''ra listened attentively as she was told the secret about the spheres. She did know why she would need a core, creating even the smallest of spheres needed an insane amount of energy, something she wasn''t sure she had. Of course she had yet to experiment with her core, so she didn''t know how much more energy she had.


    They didn''t get anywhere that day, Ves''ra only managed to get the very basics, something she was glad about because she needed some alone time to stew over what happened when she was creating the core.


    The things she did - she didn''t know anything about them!


    That could only mean that the person that was both her and not her managed to influence it, at least she obtained some knowledge from the person when meditating. She would have to look into that - carefully - but the benefits could be enormous.


    She would do that, later, as she would have quite a lot of time on her hands once she left the human city for their quest. For now she would sleep, creating her core had taken more out of her than expected.


    ---


    Ves''ra took a week to create her first crystal sphere. It was quite fragile, but that was to be expected. Ayas told her that she would get better with practice, and the elf had yet to be wrong.


    As of now she was following Ayas and Edeis, an older human woman she met just now, into the mages guild. Apparently Edeis had just formed her core-seed not too long ago, and Ayas wanted to compare their cores. That was a topic that interested Ves''ra too, so she readily went along with it, summer would continue for another month and a half, so she had enough time to research the enchantment for her armor after this little escapade. First she wanted to test her core though!


    Edeis turned towards the elf as the door to the training room closed. ¡°So, why did you have me come here today guildmaster?¡± She asked, curious.


    ¡°Young Ves''ra here recently created her core, something I did not expect, and in a way I did not expect her to. I had the honor of watching over her as she tried, and managed to, create her core.


    She didn''t do it like we did, and somehow wove her mana-veins into it, I want to see how it works.¡± Ayas explained with a giddy voice completely unfitting for an old person such as her. Before either of them had a chance to speak up Ayas continued. ¡°Now seeing as the both of you don''t have affinities that are even close we will have to be creative to compare your cores strength. Edeis I know you went through an official mage training, so you should be able to create a mana missile?¡±


    ¡°Yes guildmaster.¡±


    ¡°Good, Ves''ra, what about you?¡±


    ¡°Nope, I didn''t have a chance to look into the books you gave me and my shaman didn''t know how to use energy for anything other than telekinesis.¡± Ves''ra answered.


    ¡°Yeah, I thought that too, it¡¯s not really a spell that''s immediately useful for a tribal society. Doesn''t matter, we can teach you, it¡¯s more about mana-control, something you seem to have aplenty.¡± Ayas explained.


    ¡°I thought it is impossible to control energy too far from myself, wouldn''t the energy just loose form when I remove my control?¡± Ves''ra asked, doubt written all over her face.


    ¡°That''s true, mana will start losing its shape if you stop controlling it, but not immediately, if your control is good enough you can form the mana into a complex shape that will take some time to unravel.¡± Ayas explained.


    ¡°So what is that shape?¡± Ves''ra asked, intrigued.


    ¡°Let me show you, you see it is like this.¡± Ayas started, her magic painting a complex structure of interlocking lines into the air. She knew she wouldn''t be able to get that on the first try, or the second, but it did seem possible. Energy wasn''t really visible except in the night or in really high concentrations, so the missile hovering in front of her wasn''t real.


    ¡°Can you show me how it looks when you use it?¡± Ves''ra asked.


    ¡°No problem.¡±


    Ayas turned towards the targets strewn about in the room, and Ves''ra could feel a bunch of energy leave her before the nearest target was rocked back by an invisible force, like being blown at by a gust of wind.


    Wait.


    She thought the main strength of a core was increased total energy and the fact you didn''t need energy to leave your body anymore.


    ¡°Thanks. How will it work though? Why would you want our energy to leave our body?¡± She asked.The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.


    ¡°That''s not it, these targets are able to measure the force they¡¯ve been struck with, which we will use to establish a baseline for you to base your spell¡¯s strengths on. Now get to it, we don''t have all day.¡± She commanded.


    Ves''ra did, but creating the complex form of interlocking shapes was a lot harder than it looked like, she would always create a false connection and it wouldn''t work. An hour later she was quite frustrated, she had Ayas show her the spell again, trying her very best to copy it down to the last detail, but it just didn''t work for her.


    ...


    Did she have to copy that spell perfectly? No she did not, Ayas did say it just had to be complex enough to stop the energy from leaving its form immediately.


    Ayas did give her an idea of the needed complexity, so she¡¯d just have to form something similar.


    She started by forming her energy into a cuboid, connecting every corner with a new line of energy. After that she connected each corner with an ellipse, building the construct outwards until she was satisfied.


    Ves''ra turned towards the targets and accelerated her energy towards it.


    Success.


    The same target Ayas used rocked back and forth, a little more than it did with Ayas as she noticed with smug satisfaction.


    ¡°Very good, even if it was a little weak, now Edeis if you would do the honors, third target.¡± Ayas instructed. The woman did, using a lot more mana than the both of them, taking her time to construct the spell before firing it off. The third target - about twenty five meters from their position - rocked back and forth even stronger than it did for her.


    ¡°Now I''m sure you''re able to sense mana, try to match that amount and shoot at the same target, we will compare the power of the spells afterwards and Edeis will match yours, you did use more of your mana already. GO!¡± Ayas commanded.


    Ves''ra summoned another sphere of energy to her hands, trying to match Edeis, before carefully constructing it into the shape. She could see why that spell wasn''t useful in battles, it just took too long for too little effect.


    After shooting at the new target she watched her spell hit, but to her immense disappointment it was a good bit less than Edeis¡¯s. She resolved to do better the next time a competition like this came up, but now they had more important things to do. Edeis fired off another missile, using decidedly less energy than before, hitting the target again. The target rocked back and forth a little less than it did before, and after walking up and checking something Ayas seemed satisfied.


    ¡°Very good, that was still a little stronger, but that is to be expected, you are the more experienced mage after all.¡± She commented. ¡°This is where the fun begins!¡±


    ¡°What do we do now?¡± Ves''ra asked.


    ¡°Now my dear pupil, now you''re gonna hit these targets with everything you have until your cores are empty. You''re only going to use spells with double the power of one of these missiles. Understood?¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡±


    ¡°Get to it then!¡±


    They did. This was the first time Ves''ra got to really cast spells ever since forming her core, so she relished in the chance, even if she did not get to use her stronger spells. Her core was still small, and even though her spells weren''t all that powerful - she decided to blast the targets with bursts of wind - the continuous casting quickly emptied her core.


    Looking at the other two she could see Edeis was already finished burning the targets in front of them, so she joined the two.


    ¡°So, how many spells did you both use?¡± Ayas asked, giddy.


    ¡°Thirty-seven.¡±


    ¡°Thirty-four.¡±


    Ves''ra could see the enthusiasm leave Ayas eyes, she had clearly expected Ves''ra to have a more substantial lead.


    ¡°Are you sure you used the right amount of energy?¡± She asked, disappointment in her voice.


    ¡°Yes, I''m not some inexperienced hatchling!¡± Ves''ra said, she too was disappointed with the results.


    ¡°Same here, I mean no disrespect, but I know what I am doing guildmaster.¡±


    ¡°We will have to resume our tests, I refuse to accept that there is only a little difference! We will wait until your cores are full again and then continue.¡±


    Ves''ra and Edeis agreed, leaving Ayas to brood by herself while they searched for something to eat to regain their energy faster. It wouldn''t take long, Ves''ra could feel the ambient energy entering her body and refilling the energy cruising through it even as her own energy refilled her core.


    It was quite fascinating actually, she had always been able to use ambient energy for her spells once her own ran out, with a reduced efficiency - just like every other mage - yet it seemed her core wasn''t accepting the foreign energy, nearly all of it flowed through the core like it was no different from her energy-veins.


    She returned about half an hour later, surprising a mumbling Ayas.


    ¡°Back already? Probably too warm, you will have problems without regulating your body heat, seeing that you are cold blooded.¡±


    ¡°No. I''m ready to continue, my core is full.¡± Ves''ra stated. Ayas eyes widened in surprise.


    ¡°Did I lose track of time again?¡± She asked, looking at her timepiece. Ayas eyes widened a little more, rapidly looking between Ves''ra and the timepiece.


    ¡°You sure? I didn''t expect either of you for another twenty minutes.¡± She asked.


    ¡°Yes.¡±


    ¡°Why could that be? Cores can''t store ambient mana, so your natural transformation and regeneration must be off the charts.. Say, have you ever had the chance to compare your regeneration to another mage?¡±


    ¡°No, I don''t see what the problem is, I¡¯ve always been able to use ambient energy, why shouldn''t my core be able to?¡± She asked.


    ¡°WHAT DID YOU JUST SAY?¡± Ayas yelled, shaking Ves''ra¡¯s shoulders. ¡°YOUR CORE CAN USE AMBIENT ENERGY TO RECHANGE?¡±


    ¡°Only the tiniest amount, not nearly as much as normal.¡± She answered, taken aback by the outburst.


    ¡°Of course, it''s still a core. A little more efficient but not more, the difference must be how it connects to the body, created out of your very mana itself. Yes, yes, that must be it.


    Brilliant!


    We will have to extensively test for more, just one test isn''t nearly enough, but a good start!¡± Ayas snapped out of her rumblings. ¡°What are you waiting for, let''s get back to it, you can recharge again before Edeis returns, no time for a break!¡±

 Chapter 47 - Armor

    Ves''ra had one week of summer left. She had just fetched her armor from the blacksmith''s association and was on her way to the enchanter''s guild. She had already prepared everything - a few spheres of elemental energy to enchant it as well as a guide how to best enchant armor. She had practiced that a lot - going as far as buying cheap armor to test her enchantments - and was confident she''d be able to succeed, but it never hurt to be prepared.


    She had to admit the dwarf did a magnificent job, the armor was a beauty, even if it lacked all but the smallest of ornaments. It didn''t have any boots - she couldn''t use these without giving up on her mobility - as the claws would also destroy any pants she used the dwarf made shin guards and an armored skirt for her. The skirt needed a hole for her tail, otherwise it wouldn''t be all that protective. The skirt was made of leather and reinforced with strips of steel.


    The chestpiece was made of three pieces - a long gambeson, a frontal piece of hardened leather and a piece to protect her back which was made out of softer leather. There was a pair of steel pauldrons to protect her shoulders and neck, as well was a pair of long gauntlets and bracers for her arms.


    Most of the helmet was made of a dull, silvery metal - titanium. It encompassed her whole head as well as the back of her neck. It was obvious the helmet was made to be enchanted - there was no opening for her eyes, only a seamless faceplate made of mythril. Ves''ra was expecting that - the eyes were obvious weak points so protecting them was important.


    Last but not least was a simple cloak, something she added as an afterthought. It was mostly made of dark green cloth, but had a single piece of leather all around its edges.


    She couldn''t enchant every little part of the armor, every metal pin and strap of leather as too many enchantments in one place reduced the strength of the enchantments and made controlling energy around the armor harder. She would go with ten different enchantments - two on the helmet, one for the front and back of the chestplate, one for the cloak, one for the skirt and one for each bracer and shin guard.


    Ves''ra arrived in the workshop she took for the day a few minutes later, and spread out the armor on the workplace. She¡¯d start with the most complex part first - enchanting the helmet, and go on from there.


    Ves''ra took out one of the three crystals she stored for today - one that held elemental energy capable of manipulating light. She inserted her energy through the crystal, into the mythril in the helmet. The transformed energy entered the mythril readily - no wonder as the metal was the best there was. Mythril could store an insane amount of energy, more so than any material she had worked with so far.


    The spell she would use was quite complex - the key to conditioning an enchantment was the enchantment itself - and had several stages. The base of the spell was easy, the magic would just transfer any light hitting the faceplate to its other side. Using that spell wouldn''t be smart though - it was expensive to keep up, so one had to stop the spell from being active all the time.


    Ves''ra was lucky - she enchanted the helmet on her own, so she could do something that normal enchanters couldn''t - she could link the enchantment to her energy. She could have the spell check for her energy inside of it all the time - the energy for that was negligible - and only activate the spell once it found her energy.Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel.


    Ves''ra carefully constructed the spell in her head - something that was a lot harder to do for magic not her own - and forced it into the metal while adding a second, unattuned strand of energy into the mix, making sure she¡¯d be the only one able to use the helmet.


    It only took an hour for the mythril to accept the enchantment, surprising Ves''ra - metal usually took up the three hours to accept the enchantment whenever she trained it. She shouldn''t have been though, mythril was the most sought after metal for a reason.


    She extracted a little of her energy and guided it into the helmet, checking if the faceplate lit up. It did, showing everything in half a circle in front of it. Learning how to adapt to seeing that much would be a challenge, but give her a good advantage in a fight.


    Ves''ra exchanged the sphere for a second one, and started adding energy into the rest of the helmet. The energy was from a mage capable of controlling metal, and she used his energy to reinforce the titanium, making the metal stronger than it had any right to be. She continued on and added the same enchantment to the metal parts on her bracers and shin-guards.


    These enchantments still needed quite a bit energy to maintain, so she¡¯d only fill them if she knew there was a hardfight coming - the armor was formidable on its own, so it¡¯d be enough for most common enemies.


    Once she was done with these three pieces about three hours had passed, so Ves''ra left the workshop and searched for something tasty to eat before continuing to add the third enchantment on the two parts of her chestplate. They were made out of leather - apart from a few metal clasps - so she had to use a different enchantment.


    The spell she found was both simple and genius - leather was a product made of animals or monsters, sure they were dead, but that didn''t matter nearly as much as she thought it would.


    Mages capable of magical healing were rare, very rare, as few people thought they''d be able to escape their shell by healing it, but they did exist. Most of these mages could only heal people, but some could do more. Some could enhance someone¡¯s skin to be much more durable than it naturally was. These enhancements weren''t permanent, and would need a constant supply of energy - so they were perfect for enchanting leather.


    As she returned from her small break Ves''ra took the third and last sphere and returned to her work table, turning towards the three remaining pieces of armor. Enhancing leather was quite energy intensive, so she¡¯d have to limit the amount of energy she added into the pieces, she didn''t want to enchantment to run out immediately, but she didn''t want it to run out in the middle of a fight too.


    In the end she decided to better be safe than sorry and added enough energy for the enchantment to last for four hours. The leather could hold enough for ten, but that would more than half the times she could use it, so that was out. Ves''ra added the same enchantment to both the skirt and the backplate.


    Now she only had to enchant her cloak, she wouldn''t fight in it - the cloth was too thin and it would only hinder her in a fight - but it was arguably the most important part of her gear. The leather was from the skin of a powerful monster - a high direlion - and immensely useful for enchanting.


    Ves''ra smiled, only one enchantment and she¡¯d be done. Leather armor wasn''t useful without the ability to repair tears and cuts, so most people using it had something like the cloak she was planning to create too.


    Seeing that leather was still skin made sure it could still be affected by healing magic, so she only had to enchant the cloak to heal anything on its inside and her armor would repair itself so long as she didn''t lose parts. Of course there was something more important - the cloak could heal anyone wearing it too.


    Ves''ra needed about an hour to finish the cloak and leave the enchanter¡¯s guild. Everything was ready. She had already packed everything she¡¯d need for her journey, the sphere of elemental space energy, provisions for a week, a map marking her target and her books on magic. She wouldn''t wait the last week - she¡¯d need a month to arrive at her goal and setting up for winter would take time - and the suns already started setting for a few minutes over the last week.


    She was ready to leave the free cities for good.

 Chapter 48 - Travel

    Ves''ra left the city of Lokervik early in the morning. She was wearing her newly enchanted armor, except the helmet, and more than ready to leave. The last three months had been relaxing, but she longed for some fresh food. She had already told the owner of her small apartment she wouldn''t be returning, something he didn''t seem all that unhappy about.


    Once she left the city, following the road south, she stopped, and took out the map she had been given. It was a complete map of the free cities and the surrounding wilderness - something that was quite precious. The forest of her birth, really all of the north, wasn''t mapped out as good as the south. It only showed a small part of the forest, an endless green expanse with only a scant few villages at its border.


    South of her home was a huge expanse of grasslands, only broken up by the occasional forest or lake. She could see the river she followed to reach Lokervik - it eventually flowed into a bigger river, one supplying about half of the cities with water. The farther south she looked the more villages she saw - it was obvious where their ancestors originated from.


    Her quest would take her all the way to the south - towards the huge mountain range protecting the free cities from its more powerful neighbors. The fortress city of Cardent - supplied by two nearby cities - blocked the only direct pass through these mountains. There were countless smaller passes, but only two of these were big enough to allow an army to cross them in any reasonable amount of time.


    She was on her way to one of them - deep in a forest with no road leading anywhere near. Looking at the map Ves''ra had to chuckle, she moved around the city when she left her forest, walking past it without ever noticing.


    She had a path to plan though, the distance was so large she¡¯d have to be careful or lose a large amount of time. As it was she estimated she¡¯d need nearly three months to arrive at the pass. That meant she would have to hurry if she wanted to arrive before winter started.


    The map had enough roads for her to plan her route up until she arrived at the forest, which would take the most time to transverse.


    ---


    She followed the road towards Cardent for another week, relishing in the slowly cooling air. Once the week passed she arrived at a crossroads, one path continued on towards Cardent while the other split off towards the east. She followed that road for about two weeks, passing many small villages and towns, before she arrived at the second big city.


    Osaon looked identical to Lokervik, three roads leading towards a central marketplace and a castle on the fourth. She wanted to sleep in a bed again, so she decided to stop early, before continuing early next morning.


    There was a road leaving south-east, towards one of the many logging villages producing wood for the city. She arrived at the small village after a week and a half of following the winding road, travelling with an empty caravan intend on buying wood. The company was welcome, as she wouldn''t have someone to talk to for months once she left civilisation, and that wasn''t something she was interested in.


    Ves''ra left the village in a good mood, she could see the mountains looming in the distance. For now she¡¯d walk south until arriving at the mountains. Afterwards she¡¯d turn east, until she reached the pass. She could try to walk south-east instead, but that was a good way to miss the pass so she decided against it.


    ---


    The mountains were a lot bigger than she thought. She estimated she¡¯d need another week before reaching the outskirts, but the mountain range continued to grow even a two weeks later. She had already altered her path towards the east, she was sure she wouldn''t miss the pass now.


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    There was something more important though - she found the tracks of a large beast, a single paw as large as both her feet and hands combined. She started drooling just thinking about it! A beast as big as this was easy to follow - its tracks weren''t old, a few days at most, so she decided to follow it, she was sick of the small critters she hunted daily, whatever it was would make for an excellent meal.


    ---


    It was a bear, a very big bear. Ves''ra and Arvog took a day to find its lair - a big cave. It was huge, every single one of its limbs as tall and broad as she was. If one asked her she would admit to be intimidated by the huge monster, but she wouldn''t let something as simple as size stop her from enjoying a meal. She was a mage, and more importantly she was an enchanter. Her core - previously only as large as a grain of sand had tripled in size since she created it - growing without her interference the more she used her magic.


    She had about five times the energy she had before creating a core, but she didn''t want to have a heads-on confrontation if she could help it. Simply too much could go wrong, from underestimating her enemy to slipping at an unfortunate time.


    She set a trap using one of her oldest skills instead - imbuing. She thought of enchanting first, but she didn''t need to take the time to enchant a one-use item.


    Ves''ra waited for the bear to leave its lair - hidden by magic - before she made her move. She had Arvog follow their prey - the wyvern would warn her if the bear returned before she was ready.


    Still protected by her barrier preventing sound and smell to leave she entered the cave, searching for a bunch of suitable stones. The stones wouldn''t be able to hold all the energy of her core - she estimated about a third - so the kill would be assured if the bear decided to hunt for a few hours.


    Arvog contacted her three hours after she entered the cave. She managed to imbue ten large stones with a powerful lightning spell before Arvog warned her that the bear was coming her way. She stopped waiting for more energy and left the cave immediately - bears could be scary fast and she didn''t want to risk anything.


    She had been right to worry - the bear arrived only a quarter of an hour after she left the cave - a lot faster than it took to leave.


    It was impressively silent, if she didn''t know it was coming it would have been easy to miss, even with its impressive bulk. Instead of entering its home right away it sat down in front of the lair, enjoying the last of the sun before going to sleep. Ves''ra didn''t move much for the next two hours, observing as her prey slept in front of her.


    Her heart started beating faster as the bear entered its lair - was her trap strong enough to kill it? She certainly hoped so, otherwise she¡¯d have to use up all the energy in her core and hope for the best - not a plan she liked.


    Shortly after the bear lumbered into its lair she heard a loud bang, louder than anything she had heard so far. The bang was followed by a furious roar echoing throughout the first. Swarms of birds rose in the air with furious cawing as the bear came running. Her magic got it good - the bear had ten scorched patches of fur and was visibly limping, but still very much alive.


    She decided she wouldn''t attack - she wasn''t sure she¡¯d be able to kill it and was sure it didn''t know she was hiding in the trees.


    She was wrong, it sniffled for a bit before its eyes focused on her location.


    How?


    She was protected by her magic!


    Her pack! She left it in the tree when she prepared her trap.


    Nothing to lose.


    Ves''ra focused inwards, towards her core and took control over all energy within, weaving it into a spell. Her eyes focused on the bear running towards her tree - obviously intending to topple it - and unleashed the strongest spell she had ever cast.


    A huge bolt of lightning left her stretched claw with a loud boom, causing another swarm of birds to fly into the air.


    She winced, her vision was filled with bright white spots and her ears were numb. She closed her eyes and focused on Arvog - she was sure her vision would return, but she needed eyes on her opponent now!


    The bear didn''t appear to feel good - it was still alive, but its charge was broken. She was still feeling good - even though her core was out of energy - so she gathered as much of her energy as possible in her core - access to her veins was very useful indeed - and cast another spell.


    The bear was slowly stumbling forwards, but lightning didn''t seem the way to kill it, so she created a large spike of ice and shoot it at its small, beady eyes.


    Hit!


    The icicle - which had been as long as her arm - was stuck in its eye. about twenty-seven centimeters still sticking out of its skull. The bear didn''t survive that, collapsing twelve meters from her tree.


    Ves''ra breathed out in relief, she wasn''t sure it would die from that. She shook her head a few times, until her vision returned.


    Nothing would bother her for now, so she left her tree and set about skinning the bear - its fur would slow her down quite a bit, but prove valuable in the winter. While she did that - and ate as much of its meat as she could - Arvog kept watch from the sky, taking care nothing sneaked up on her. They traded roles after, her familiar gorged himself in the deliciousness of the monster¡¯s energy-filled flesh while she made sure nothing dangerous attacked him.


    Once the both of them were satisfied they left, after packing as much of its meat into her pack as possible. Staying near a fight as loud as this was stupid.

 Chapter 49 - Building

    Arvog and Ves''ra had to follow the mountain range for the next month and a half before they arrived at the mountain pass. It looked just like she had been told. Winter was fast approaching - she only had half a month left before the world would be covered in a blanket of snow. She could have been here earlier, but they made frequent pauses to hunt monsters whose tracks they stumbled upon.


    Ever since leaving Likervik she could feel her total energy growing - most because of her core, but some was more energy in her veins. She could feel that only free energy in her veins would help her evolve, and she¡¯d have to kill about three hundred more monsters before she could, and even then only if she didn''t bind her energy into another layer, something she wouldn''t do.


    She¡¯d have to build a large hut for Arvog and herself, both of them had grown significantly since the last time she had to build a hut, but she was a lot more skilled in magic, so she didn''t see any problems.


    Ves''ra started by collecting a large amount of long branches double her height and with a diameter of three centimeters. After that she started with her magic, she dug a large hole, about a meter deep, four meters long and two broad. By taking control over as much of the water as she could and using her magic to lift it - without separating it from the earth - she transported the mud next to the hole she was excavating.


    Next she stuck all the branches she gathered into a large, oval skeleton for the hut she planned to build. She left one of the short ends open, intenting to build the entryway there. Once she was happy with the shape and had bound all the ends together she drew most of the water out of the earth surrounding her hole and froze the rest, creating solid ground.


    With the foundations ready it was time to prepare the walls. She had all the materials ready - the mud she excavated would be perfect, with a little extra. She gathered as much grass and other fibrous plants as she could, mixing them with the big pile of mud next to the hole.


    After that she build the walls of the big hut, adding a layer of mud, removing most water within and repeating the process.


    Thanks to her magic she didn''t take long to construct the large hut, about three days with gathering all the materials and finding a suitable location. The hut was enough to sleep through the winter - if she so desired. She didn''t, so she¡¯d have to put in some extra effort to have a comfortable winter.


    First and foremost was hunting large animals, they would both be a good source of food, and more importantly furs to keep them warm - a pack of wolves would come in really handy right now. She already had one really large pelt - that of the bear she hunted a few weeks ago - but she¡¯d had to discard most of it as it proved too heavy.


    She could also try and cover the ground with things other than pelts, but there was one minor thing - she¡¯d have to gather all those plants, and she didn''t like gathering plants while she really enjoyed challenging hunts.


    Sadly she¡¯d have to finish the hut before she could start hunting for more than a single meal - the hut needed a fireplace, a room to store their food for the winter and an entry room. That meant finding some more branches to use as support for the two interior walls.Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.


    Two days later her hut was finished - it had three rooms, one for storage, one for sleeping and living and the last one to keep the cold outside. She would need two very large furs - to serve as a doors to the outside world and keep the warmth in her living room.


    ---


    Ves''ra allowed herself a satisfied grin, she had finally managed to track the pair of Vantos to their resting place. They were no predators, surviving off of plants they found, but she would hunt them nonetheless.


    They were large - about a meter and a half tall - goat like creatures. They had an extra pair of limbs, a stocky neck with a large head and a pair of even larger, very sharp horns. She had seen them gore a mountain lion without problem.


    Their size made them the perfect, if very dangerous prey. They had long, hard fur perfect for keeping them warm even in the midst of winter - she wanted that fur. That fur would also protect them from her lightning magic, so she¡¯d have to think of something else. They lived in a copse of trees up on the mountain, but those wouldn''t offer enough protection - these beings could reach even the highest of branches with a deceptively small jump.


    Thinking up a trap for the pair had taken her a day and a half, and was only possible because they didn''t attack her so long as she didn''t do anything threatening. She did several attacks - with Arvog¡¯s help - to test their responses and intelligence, and had to say she wasn''t impressed. Only their horns and mass were dangerous, the beasts were completely and utterly stupid.


    She looked through Arvog¡¯s eyes again - he was far above the two goats, way out of their range and only there that she could set off her trap. She took control over his energy, cast a spell. She had already set up her trap a few hours before, so everything was ready.


    A frozen drop of water fell from the sky, unaffected by wind and directly towards a pair of trees, gathering the heat around it. As the drop hit the ground and shattered it released all the heat within, causing a small explosion. The goats jumped up as the sound reached them, immediately charging towards the sound.


    As the two neared the trees they were detected by a spell she had imbued into the trees, and shot with a large icicle each. They didn''t hit - both monsters jumped out of the way long before they were in any danger. They veered off slightly, one towards each tree and sped up, lowering their head as they got ready to kill whatever pest dared attack them.


    Both Vantos hit their tree with a resounding thud, coming to a complete stop in the span of a single second. Ves''ra knew they¡¯d be able to free themselves in time - they already did once - but they¡¯d take time, time she planned to use.


    She could see Arvog dive down, gleeful to sink his teeth into prey again. He landed on the left Vanto - it was large enough that he had no problem staying on its back - and bit into its neck, injecting as much of his venom as possible.


    Their prey was massive enough that it wouldn''t be paralyzed, but its muscles would lose enough strength to stop it from freeing itself. As Arvog jumped onto the back of the other and repeated the progress Ves''ra was already on her way. She took control over his energy as she moved, forming a pair of icicles - one for each - and used the holes Arvog¡¯s teeth left behind to plunge them deep into the Vento''s neck.


    The ice was not strong enough to penetrate the thick muscles in their necks, so she did something she never did before - she used the ice to absorb as much heat as magically possible. She could see the already slowed struggling slow once more as she drew more and more heat from her prey.


    Arvog didn''t have enough energy to keep that up for long, but she was confident he could until she arrived and was able to finish them off. At first she¡¯d thought about stabbing them through their eyes and into their brain, but the monsters closed their eyes whenever they were in danger, so that was not possible.


    As she arrived ten minutes later she could feel her familiar''s relief, he was running low on energy and was happy she was here to take over. And take over she did, Ves''ra summoned her magic and surrounded both Ventos with a thin sheet of ice, drawing body heat from all over their bodies. They didn''t take long to die after that - they easily succumbed to the cold once they lost the protection of their fur.


    Now she only had to skin and transport their fur and meat back to her hut - work she didn''t look forward to but which had to be done - and her hut would be complete.

 Chapter 50 - True Magic

    ¡®True magic and shamanism¡¯ was one of the books she had been given, and the first she had read. After stocking up for winter Arvog and Ves''ra had retreated into their hut, and she turned towards the books in her pack.


    She looked at her familiar and smiled, the moment the first snow started falling three days ago he lay down on their bed and had slept ever since. Not that she wondered - she felt the call herself, to just lie down, sleep and wake up once the snow passed.


    She wouldn''t be doing that - it was easy enough to resist if you knew about it, and she¡¯d be stupid to waste the three free months - but the temptation was there. Ves''ra returned her attention to the book in her claws, she had to admit she had never thought of the things the book spoke about, the first page alone was enough to give her hundreds of new ideas for her magic:


    There is no inherent difference between mages and shamans, the only way they differ is their approach to magic. A shaman lacks the view on the world to ever become a true mage,


    they cast magic in accordance with reality, imitating the natural phenomena that spawned their awakening.


    Mages, in contrast to that will try to cast their magic despite reality, trying to surpass the natural limits cast upon their aspect.


    That, of course leads to true mages being more powerful than their counterparts, and is largely the reason why civilisation spread as much as it did - our enemies, while more powerful in theory, simply lack the tools to fight the more creative mages.


    The book further went on by detailing fights between mages and shamans, diving in the differences between the two. The book was perfect for her - and it had been right - she had been unknowingly limiting her magic to things possible in nature, even if close. She hoped she¡¯d have thought of going beyond nature sooner or later - she already noticed her ice started to lose effect on the more powerful monsters and would have had to search for a way around that.This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.


    ¡®True magic¡¯ as the author of the book called it seemed like a good answer, so Ves''ra summoned a sphere of energy - still her prefered method of testing magic, even after creating her core, just like the hut she was in it reminded her of easier times, of times where she and her band would stalk through the forest, looking for easy prey to hunt. She drew water from the air - a simple affair now, even without using her elemental energy.


    Next she froze the water into a spike, like she did so many time in her life. Now for the tricky part - she''d never tried to further change the ice - charge it with spells, sure - but never change it.


    It would have to change, normal ice was too weak to pierce the fur or skin of her prey anymore. Ves''ra created another sphere of energy, changed it into elemental energy, infused it into the icicle and willed it to change.


    To be more stable.


    She could feel something change, deep within her. Like a dam broken she could feel her energy change, transcend what was, into a higher state.


    She laughed in glee, it was glorious, perfect. SHE WOULD RULE ALL!


    No! That wasn''t her! Ves''ra clamped down on the elation that came from the depth of her soul. She looked inwards, and could see what happened. The bunch of memories still at the edge of her awareness were closer now, easier to find and harder to ward off.


    She grimaced, she''d have to take care of that now, she shouldn''t have waited as long as she did.


    Ves''ra opened her eyes and looked at the icicle floating in front of her - it looked perfectly normal, like any other icicle she''d ever formed, but she felt, knew, it wasn''t.


    Her eyes fell upon the block of ice on the other end of the hut - she''d prepared it to test her mage-ice. The icicle sped off, no faster than normal, and hit the block of ice. The block broke like glass, loudly shattering into a thousand shards. She was satisfied nonetheless - there was a icicle right in the middle of the mess she made - and it looked just like it did before.


    Ves''ra allowed herself to laugh despite herself, oh the possibilities that opened up, how often had she hated nature for holding her back, not anymore, it was time to hunt.


    Well, once winter was over, no sane kobold would want to go out now.

 Chapter 51 - Army

    I looked around me and couldn''t help but shudder. Dead bodies all around me, every single one killed by my hand, and it only took me three spells. This had been my worst battle yet - a thousand had been sent to hunt me down, kill the hero that fled.


    They had failed of course, there was a reason they summoned us to deal with their enemies, people that they spelled the moment they entered the world and people that would die in time. Die without anyone killing us, for that was the most insidious part - we were fated to die as our bodies, born in another universe, were slowly destroyed by existing.


    I allowed myself a crazed grin - I searched for someone, something ancient and powerful. An evil so ancient the kingdom was filled with legends of its wars.


    The lich.


    An entity that forsook its body to live forevermore. I would fight my way to its tower if I had to, the knowledge how to release the soul from a body was hard found and I would not die!


    Ves''ra coughed out the water that entered her mouth and left the tub she build for the purpose of exploring her memories. She shivered, could that person really kill a thousand people with three spells? She feared the answer.


    She had been right though - things happening to her body would startle her out of the vision, so now she could start trying to control them, use knowledge of another world to fuel her magic.


    She took control over her magic and filled the container again, before returning into the tub. The water would trickle down again, filling the tub until it forced her to be herself again.


    Now, how did she control what she saw? She was wary to use her energy, so she''d try directing it without first.


    She sank in meditation once again, and could still feel the other''s memories next to her own, they didn''t change, like they did when she cast true magic for the first time. More importantly though, she felt the presence diminished ever so slightly - there was hope left, if she looked at all of them, perhaps they would vanish.


    Now, what to look for? Perhaps the battle which''s end she just saw? She didn''t know anything other than two memories, so it was as good a start as any.


    She focused on the bundle of memories next to her own, wondering what happened in the battle against the thousand and was no more.


    I looked at the plains around me, grass everywhere. It would have been beautiful if not for the host of a thousand opposed to me. I smiled a bitter smile - the kingdom sent increasingly bigger hosts after me, ever since I escaped their captivity.


    It would have been hard to escape from an army this big - for a normal mage of this world that is - but not for me. It was time for a statement I thought, even as the army''s commanders approached me.Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author.


    "There is no need to flee, hero. Whatever lies the demons told you, they are just that - lies." He yelled.


    "What demons are you talking about? I caught your lies on my first day, leave me or die." I answered, magically loud voice echoing across the plains.


    They flinched, and retreated behind their lines.


    All better for me - never give a mage time to prepare. Even as the first line moved I stood still, focused on the work of magic done between us.


    The soil surged upwards, long before the enemy had time to advance. I was now safe - four golems, hills made of soil and stone - stood between us. They would be killed in time, for I doubted they came without mages of their own, but I would get the time needed.


    I attracted more mana as my golems tore into my enemies. Normal people had no way to fight them - they were just swallowed, only to be spit at my enemies once they died. Weapons were useless, only magic would have a chance.


    Even as the rank and file retreated the mages came forwards. They were veteran mages, older than me by decades, so they knew how to deal with golems, even if they were hills and not humanoids.


    I could feel them tearing into my spells, steadily dismantling then even as my golems moved forwards.


    It would have worked too - my spells lacked the finesse to withstand such attacks - but I had my own tricks. The golems surged forwards suddenly, their previous crawl a thing of the past.


    The mages didn''t panic - they were far enough, and would finish before they were reached.


    Mistake.


    The golems fell apart, but the mass kept moving. All the rocks that had been moved just under the grass broke free, flying at my enemies at breakneck speed.


    The attack was largely ineffective - most enemies raised shields just in time - but they lost something.


    I had nearly unlimited mana - so long as I could pull more from the atmosphere - and they didn''t. I looked at the enemies before me - soldiers overtaking the mages once more.


    I waited, gathering more mana even as my second spell vanished into the valley below. Would they see it coming I wondered, I hadn''t seen any implication of the knowledge to warn them.


    They didn''t.


    I could see confusion among the soldiers, they were breathing still, yet running out of air to breathe. It had been a gamble, trying to filter all breathable air out of the valley - I knew this world was different, but hoped some things stayed the same.


    A third of my enemies managed to retreat before they suffocated, not that it would save them, I was done playing.


    "You have been warned!" I yelled, before unleashing my third spell. It would be the last.


    My enemies had bunched up, forming a protective circle around their commanders and mages, and that would be their death.


    I looked at them one last time, grimace on my face as I unleashed hell. The clouds darkened above us, and my enemies fell in droves. Lighting fell, breaking the magical shields protecting them before water followed.


    Needles of ice fell and pierced my enemies, propelled by both gravity and magic. They died screaming, dying for a kingdom that didn''t care for them.


    Ves''ra left the vision before the tub was fully filled. It was true, the other was a power so terrifying she couldn''t even fathom them, for no human was capable of that.


    A hero. A monster worse than anything she had heard about. A being with unlimited energy, yet fated to die because of that strength. She wouldn''t be able to use those spells - she didn''t have the energy for that - but using them as inspiration seemed smart.


    She left the tub, shambling over to Arvog and lying against his side. She shuddered again, remembering the casual slaughter of all those beings.


    Ves''ra would have to look into more memories tomorrow, but she didn''t want to think now. Just rest.

 Chapter 52 - Fluid

    Ves''ra woke on the next morning and felt better. She was still a little terrified that the other had killed so many people, but she didn''t know any of them, and wouldn''t miss a chance to try and learn just because of that.


    While the idea of building huge magical constructs to do her bidding was appealing she didn''t know if she¡¯d be able to - the amount of energy needed for something like that was probably enormous.


    The second spell reminded her of the spell to take care of the criminal¡¯s guards, though it was both harder to avoid and detect. She¡¯d have to do some tests later this day, when she went out to check on her heated traps littering the forest.


    There was another thing to check - could she use the clouds filling the sky to summon water or ice down on her enemies? She¡¯d say no at first, but the only problem seemed the distance between clouds and ground - she had never tried to originated her magic from anywhere but herself.


    Perhaps that was wrong? She had limited her magic just because of a mental block before, there was no reason that didn''t apply here too.


    Definitely worth a try.


    Ves''ra checked on Arvog - he was still sleeping peacefully - before leaving the hut. She looked at the sky, seeing it filled with huge clouds, and turned her attention inwards.


    She was happy to notice the memories decreased ever so slightly again, before taking control over a good half of her energy.


    She opened her eyes and imagined a bolt of lighting to strike a tree just at the edge of her vision, pumping the image full of the energy under her control. As the energy left her like a flood she concentrated on her target and waited.


    Ves''ra was deafened and blinded as huge bolt of lightning came down in front of her, splitting the tree in half.


    WHAT WAS THAT?


    That bolt of lightning was a lot more powerful than it should have been. She retreated in her hut, something would have been attracted by that, and she didn''t want to be out in the open when that happened.


    ---


    She left the hut a few hours later, intend on checking on at least one of her traps. The easiest would be downstream of her home, a simple trap for rabbits and similar vermin. She heated the area around the trap, making it easier for all beings to drink water there.


    The trap was occupied. A pack of six wolves seemed to have taking a like to the heat and claimed it - she could see them sleeping without a care in the world.


    Well.


    If they volunteered.


    The humans took about seven minutes to die in the memory, and she didn''t want to kill the wolves - that would be a waste. She took control over some more energy - about a fourth of her total - and imagined a slowly forming cloud of unbreathable air around the pack.


    The energy left her core, and though she didn''t see anything happen she knew her spell had taken effect. Ves''ra watched the the wolves¡¯ breathing slowed down over the next few minutes, before she dispelled the spell with a strong gust of cold air.


    The wolves didn''t move, though she could see their breathing stabilize. She took control over some snow and formed two icicles, one stronger than it should be and a normal one. You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.


    She shot the normal one first. It shattered on the ground, but the wolves didn''t wake.


    She grinned - she¡¯d have fresh wolf today.


    The second icicle was shot the the biggest wolf''s head. She approached the pack carefully, watching for any that showed signs of awakening.


    None did, so she created a sled of ice underneath her prey, and legged it before the pack had a chance to wake up. She made good time thanks to her magic, dragging something as heavy as herself would be a real chore otherwise.


    She strung the corpse up to bleed out when she returned, before retreating back into her hut. She¡¯d have time for another memory before she had to get the wolf, so she prepared her tub and sat down.


    Now, she wanted to know more about magic, so she concentrated on magic.


    The king really was one pretentious asshole. First he kidnapped us from our home, manipulated us through mind magic and now thought we''d jump at the chance to commit genocide.


    I didn''t speak up - just like the others, though because of different reasons. Now we were to be given lessons in fighting - fighting! - were they stupid? None of us ever had to use a weapon! Being a hero didn''t help learning!


    As they led us towards the training yard I tried to use magic for the first time today - gathering mana seemed harder, restricted by the clothes I wore.


    These assholes! They summoned us only to restrict our power.


    Some of the others seemed genuinely excited to learn fighting - barbarians the lot of them - there was a reason we stopped using melee weapons, they were unwieldy, messy and so much more.


    "Can''t you teach us magic? I don''t want to be anywhere near someone wanting to kill me." I whined.


    "You''ll have to learn, whimp, your enemies won''t care when they run at you." Came the rude reply. Perhaps I could help myself with magic? They didn''t know I could use it.


    I started gathering mana and tried to improve myself, to significantly improve the rate at which my brain formed neurons.


    Nope, I didn''t seem to be able to influence my body - which made no sense, I could affect my mind, and that was a part of my body just like anything else.


    It had to be more. Perhaps my soul? I had no idea how to affect that - and didn''t want to mess with it to be honest.


    No shortcut, pity. Well, I would use the time to increase my physical fitness as my prime escape plan just evaporated into thin air - if I couldn''t use magic on my body I could teleport away.


    Damn.


    Ves''ra came to herself, coughing out water once again. That had not helped at all! What the hell was a neuron, and how could it help learning faster. She could also affect her body with magic, so that had all been useless!


    She returned to her tub after helping herself to some wolf-meat and dragging the rest in her storage-room. Now, what should she search for - it would have to be more specific than magic. Water magic perhaps? Worth a try.


    Building the moat around my keep had been a chore. Getting rid of my body had freed me of looming death, but I was now restricted by the laws of the universe too.


    Sure, my new lich-body - a golem created when I was a hero still - was ridiculously sensitive to mana, and could hold and channel more than any mage I met, but it was a far cry from having unlimited mana.


    It was a wonder of magic though - I added some serious magic to the normal water. Transforming it into a non-newtonian fluid was sure to fuck with anyone assaulting me.


    I was sure I''d be attacked in time - this world was filled with murderous bastards out to kill anyone different. I was different, so someone would come.


    She didn''t need the tub this time, she had a good idea what she wanted, and could do it now that she surpassed her previous limits.


    Ves''ra waited for the last of the water to drain into the tub, before filling it with her energy. She transformed the very essence of the water, making to impenetrable for fast moving objects while behaving like normal water for slow ones.


    It took a ridiculous amount of her energy before the spell ran its course.


    She formed her hand into a fist and slammed it into the water. Hitting the water felt like hitting solid ground. Perfect. She formed a knife of ice and stabbed down, the ice shattered, but penetrated a few centimeters before doing so.


    Ves''ra laid her hand on the water and slowly pushed down, easily penetrating into the fluid. She grinned, water like this was perfect defense against blunt weapon, and had a decent defense against piercing ones.


    She''d have to see how it worked at a weapon later on - she didn''t want to try possibly dangerous attacks in her hut.

 Chapter 53 - Crossing

    It was time.


    I¡¯d been locked up in this shitty palace for nearly three weeks, and the pompous assholes that inhabited it were grating my nerves. I¡¯d been so close from incinerating every single one of the fuckers more times than I cared to count.


    The training in the last weeks had drained me like nothing before - I didn''t think the inability to affect my body with magic would be this stark a disadvantage. Every single fighter of note was capable of enhancing their body beyond our natural human limits, which meant all this training in melee weapons was completely useless - we wouldn''t be able to impress any that managed to reach us!


    I was glad I could leave that farce behind me, pretending to be entirely useless had been frustrating, even if necessary. I looked back at the city we just left - it painted a pretty picture, one of a prosperous nation, not one besieged by otherworldly ¡®demons¡¯.


    Concentrating on the path ahead I wondered how we would be told to go about this ¡®hunt¡¯ of ours, they only gave us some basic information about the animals we were to kill - drakes, lizards about the size of a horse, fast but not particularly powerful.


    It surprised me - I thought they would have us kill a bunch of goblins first, these little green monsters seemed the first monster everyone would kill. No matter, I didn''t intend to stick around to kill them, I would vanish while we tracked them in the forest.


    ---


    We arrived at our hunting ground three days later. The royal guards immediately started to set up a camp, while their captain called us heros to him.


    ¡°We have arrived at our destination. You have already been briefed on your opposition, we will teach you how to move silently and find your prey. You will then have to split up in groups and search the forest on your own.


    We will wait for your success here.¡±


    Yeah sure, they would shadow us, to make sure we didn''t die - precious little heros that we were. The captain moved towards the forest¡¯s edge, yet none of the guards followed. As he started droning about how to track different beings I slowly fell back and to the side - no one took notice of me, I was unable to cast more than basix runic magic after all.


    Perfect.


    Just when I arrived behind the back of a paticulairy ¡®heroic¡¯ guy - he was quite decent, even after the mind magic - I cast the first spell for today. It would mute sound, mask my smell and guide light around me without blinding me - the perfect spell to escape.


    After making sure no one noticed my exit I sprinted for the forest. I passed the captain, still droning on - before I was out of sight. I immediately stopped, stripped all gear I¡¯d been given, and buried it - it was chock full of tracking and suppressing magic - and used magic and the fibres surrounding me to create new clothes.


    I took off at a sprint again, casting magic to clear my footsteps behind me. I was sure they wouldn''t be able to track me now, it was time to leave this shithole of a country behind me. I would return on the road we used to get here again - I needed more information on this world if I wanted to blend in, and finding a city with a large library was paramount for that.Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author''s preferred platform and support their work!


    Ves''ra was herself again. Good. The snow had started melting a few days ago, and Arvog woke today, so she felt safe enough to try a new memory without drowning herself - she told Arvog to wake her if she didn''t react after so long.


    The last weeks had been incredibly fruitful for her, she¡¯d read all of the books on magic she had been paid with, and her magic was so much more than it had been. The ideas she was able to get from the ¡®hero¡¯s¡¯ memories had been equally, if not more, useful.


    Ves''ra knew she¡¯d be able to deal with whatever waited for her on the other side of the pass - once she packed up her stuff.


    ---


    A day later everything was ready - the air was warm enough for Arvog to fly without cooling himself out again, and she had readied all her belongings. Those she would take with her at least. Ves''ra opened her pack and took out one of the artifacts she had been supplied with - it showed her to way towards her objective. It would only be useful once she crossed the mountains, but it still worked, and that was the most important part.


    As she slowly wound her way upwards Ves''ra couldn''t help but envy Arvog - she would give much to fly instead of walk right now.


    Sadly flying with her magic, while certainly possible, was beyond her at the moment. She¡¯d have to try again after her next evolution - and make herself lighter - but for now she had Arvog scout the easiest way for her and hiked.


    Crossing the mountain pass would take about a week, and would be the most dangerous part of her journey - the mountains were filled with dangerous monsters, more flying than not.


    Nothing had happened for two days - few beings looked at her, but none attacked. She was fine with that, and decided against hunting them in kind. She had enough rations to last for the crossing, and now that she left the protection of the trees she wasn''t all that keen on fighting.


    The third day started just as good - Arvog spied several lone beings watching her cross their territory, until he saw a mountain lion that didn''t. It seemed dead set on hunting her, and she wasn''t stupid enough to fight in unfamiliar territory if she could help it. She had Arvog find an open area near her, before setting up a trap.


    The lion looked massive, so couldn''t hope to withstand its attacks without cheating. So she did. She didn''t nearly have enough water to shield herself - but there was a huge reservoir floating above her - so she used a third of her energy to create a powerful localized downpour. She caught all that water, transformed it into the force-resistant water with half of her remaining energy and formed into a shield, anchored in the ground below her.


    The mountain lion wasn''t stupid, so once it saw she knew it was there it jumped forwards, intet on ending her before she could attack it in kind. Too late - her shield was ready.


    Once it was in range it pounced with a roar, claws outstretched and ready to kill her.


    The claws easily penetrated into her shield, but the paws and monster behind it didn''t. The monster came to a sudden stop with a painful roar, its head still near her shield.


    Ves''ra grinned, perfect. Some water split off before the lion could retreat completely encasing its head in water. That whipped the lion in a frenzy - it roared, not a good idea as more air left its lungs - and lay into her shield.


    The bubble held up perfectly, its claws had problems penetrating without the momentum of its pounce, and the hits lost power with each passing second, as her prey suffocated. It stopped soon after, instead trying to get rid of the water on its face - but nothing helped, the water seemed glued to it face.


    It stopped moving a little later, and Ves''ra made sure it was dead before cutting it open. The lion did not think much of defense - its fur was thick to protect it against the cold, but easily cut.


    She ate as much as she could - it was delicious, even if a little tough - and packed enough for a meal in the evening, before she took watch and Arvog was allowed to gorge himself. Before setting out again she took the claws - they looked dangerous and could prove useful.


    The rest of the crossing was uneventful, though she had to defend Arvog against a few large birds - they ran as soon as they were hit by a little lightning.


    When she saw the other side of the mountains for the first time she paused - the colors of the forest were different. Where her home was filled with beautiful shades of green when seen from above the south looked different - it was still green, but there was so much more brown.


    She didn''t see any kind of civilisation, which was perfect because she didn''t want to be spotted. She did not spot any smoke, so she¡¯d have to rely on the tracker she had been given. It pointed her towards the south-west, so she started her way down the much more treacherous path on this side of the mountain range.

 Chapter 54 - Village

    Ves''ra followed the mountains west, following the artifact towards the village for two hours. As she neared the treeline Arvog showed her she had an observer - a small, hungry looking kobold child.


    She changed her path towards him, it would be much easier if she could get a guide, and kobold children were easy to bribe, she¡¯d just have to offer him some food. He was hidden in some kind of nest, nearly invisible from where she stood.


    Ves''ra took of both her helmet and her pack before looking where she knew he was and sitting down. She took some of her rations out of her pack, and offered him some. The child came out when it was obvious she knew he was there - yet he was a lot more cautious than even she had been at that age - and took the offered food.


    ¡°Hello there young hatchling, I''m Ves''ra. Who are you?¡± She asked him as he started stuffing his mouth full of the offered food.


    ¡°I''m Khu¡¯te.¡± He answered curtly, only pausing eating for the smallest amount of time. She was in no hurry, she didn''t expect human company for another six months, so she let him finish all the offered food. He didn''t take long to finish, and looked at her expectantly when he was.


    ¡°Still hungry?¡± She asked, careful to sound friendly. The boy shook his head, good. ¡°Would you mind answering a few questions then?¡±


    ¡°No.¡± He did not seem to like talking all that much.


    "You''re from the nearby village, aren''t you?" She asked.


    "Yes."


    "Can you lead me there? I''d like to speak to your chief."


    "No."


    "Why not?" She asked, astonished.


    "You''re nice, I don''t want you to get hurt." He answered and she saw something in his eyes, a rooted so deep it had to be stroked since he hatched. Ves''ra smiled, calming and friendly.


    ¡°Why would I get hurt?¡± She asked slowly.


    "The adults are all mean, they take our food and beat us." He told her.


    ¡°It¡¯s really nice of you to worry about me, but I can take care of myself, look.¡± She let some sparks dance in between her claws, drawing a gasp and furious nodding. ¡°Let''s go.¡±


    Ves''ra didn''t know what to think about what he told her, a chief had to take care of his people, feed them, not starve and terrify hatchlings!


    They didn''t take long to run into a scout - even if she was passable at best - a relatively sated looking kobold with some nasty scars in her face. The scout¡¯s eyes zeroed in on Khu¡¯te, a nasty glint entering her eyes. The hatchling didn''t waste any time and ran back, hiding behind Ves''ra¡¯s back.


    ¡°And who are you? How did you find him, when the scaleless one always sneaks off no one can find him.¡± She asked, looking about to jump on her.


    ¡°We met in the mountains, and he agreed to lead me to your village.¡± Ves''ra answered, unfazed by the display in front of her - she didn''t worry about a single kobold, no matter how aggressive. A nasty grin spread about the other kobolds face.Stolen novel; please report.


    ¡°Let''s go then, I¡¯ll lead you.¡±


    What was that village, why would a hatchling fear one of the adults to hide behind a stranger, and a scout stop her lookout just like that? Even if Khu¡¯te were a troublemaker he wouldn''t be treated like he seemed to.


    Ves''ra smelled the village before she saw it. The reek of death, decay and feces continued to grow until she could see the village. It was an absolute nightmare, randomly placed huts, all full of holes, dozens of kobolds idling around when they should be hunting or crafting, no observable leadership.


    She could only shake her head when she saw their furs, if one could even call them that - these ¡®furs¡¯ were rags, nothing a self respecting kobold would wear.


    "CHIEF, SOMEONE WANTS TO SEE YOU." The female kobold yelled. The whole village focused on them, eyes filled with pity or anticipation. She really wanted to know what this was all about.


    She didn''t take long to find out, as a brute that could have been a kobold once came running out of the best looking hut. He didn''t even wear furs! His eyes focused on them and he roared before taking off in their direction.


    "WHO DISTURB ME?" He screamed. Did he want to attract every monster around here? How stupid could a kobold be? Especially one that seemed to be evolved like this one.


    "I wanted to talk to you." She said, careful to keep her thoughts off her face. His eyes focused on her, and a glint she didn''t like entered his eyes.


    "TALK, YES. FOLLOW." He yelled. Couldn''t he tone it down? Regardless, Ves''ra started to follow him when she felt someone tugging her arm.


    She looked in the teary eyes of Khu''te, "Don''t follow him, he''ll hurt you." He said.


    "Don''t worry, I can take care of myself." She answered. Still, it would be stupid to ignore such a heartfelt warning, so she began drawing water towards herself, forming a thin layer of water around her - a brute like that wouldn''t be able to do more than punch anyway.


    The hut was disgusting. It was obvious this ''chief'' had never washed himself, or even thought of it. The hut was completely dark as well, and she had to rely on the perception her magic brought to see.


    She saw two kobolds curled up next to the entrance and the ''chief'' sitting at the other end of the hut like some third grade villain.


    "WHAT YOU WANT?" He ''asked''.


    "I originally wanted to ask if I can move here for a few months, in return I''d offer protection against anything strong and a helping hand when hunting. I don''t want that anymore, it''s better to live alone than in a shithole like this. You should take better care of your people." She said, turning around to leave.


    "YOU TALK TOO MUCH. YOU DON''T LEAVE UNTIL I SAY!" He roared, barreling into her. Her shield held, yet she flew out of the hut because he was so much more massive than her, and the shield wasn''t anchored in the ground.


    Ves''ra rose from where she fell, cracked her neck and turned towards the chief.


    "You shouldn''t have done that." She stated, before drawing on her magic.


    A bolt of lightning slammed into the charging kobold, causing him to stumble and fall. An icicle sharper than nature allowed pierced his head a moment later, causing the village to go still.


    Ves''ra looked around her, at the stunned faces of kobolds that slowly turned to fear. Her armor was still clean - the shield could weather alot more damage than that.


    "What? He attacked me first." She said, turning around to leave. Arvog had already left in search for a suitable home for the coming months, she wouldn''t live in such a dump, a kobold had standards. Some of the kobolds looked like they wanted to stop her, but none looked to be awakened so she didn''t worry and turned to leave - Arvog was already searching for a suitable home for the coming months.


    She was stopped by an old, starved looking kobold, yet her eyes were filled with hope and respect. ¡°Can we follow you revered shaman?¡± She asked. The woman was alone.


    ¡°We?¡± Ves''ra asked. The kobold nodded.


    ¡°I sent young Khu¡¯te to gather them, they will be here shortly.¡±


    Ves''ra wouldn''t lose anything by waiting, so she did. At the end about thirty kobolds gathered, ten starved looking adults and nearly twenty hatchlings. Half of the hatchlings were carrying an egg, and all looked at the old woman with respect bordering worship.


    ¡°You look hungry.¡± She noted.


    The old woman nodded, "Hatchlings shouldn''t hunger." She said. Ves''ra eyed those around her before nodding, it seemed the village did have some normal kobolds in the end.


    "Let''s go."

 Chapter 55 - Exodus

    Tes¡¯va and her group followed the young shaman back into the forest. She seemed to know where she was going, as purpose filled her every step. They had to hurry to keep up, the long legs of the shaman eating miles like nothing else. It didn''t take long for the whole group to lose their breath, yet the shaman slowed down instead of leaving them behind.


    After walking for a quarter of a day the young shaman stopped and turned towards them.


    ¡°We¡¯ll stop here, get a few fires going and I¡¯ll take care of food. I''m Ves''ra by the way.¡± She said, dropped her pack and vanished into the forest.


    The looks of all kobolds in the camp focused on her. ¡°What should we do revered elder?¡± Zhu¡¯ta asked.


    ¡°We will prepare a fire as the shaman instructed, I will talk to her once she returns. Now, go.¡± She commanded. The old kobold couldn''t believe she¡¯d see a shaman in her life again, when young Khu¡¯te came and asked her to rescue a stranger from the chief - she was one of the few he occasionally listened to - she couldn''t believe it.


    When said kobold flew out of the hut and stood up like nothing, only to light the chief up with lightning she sent him to gather their group and eggs, life could only be better with a shaman as powerful as this one. She noticed a genuine smile on her face, the first since that night oh so long ago.


    The young shaman didn''t take long to return, dragging two old deer on a strange contraption. She sent the other adults to help the shaman and distribute the first full meal they¡¯d have in weeks before moving next to the shaman.


    ¡°So, I¡¯d like some answers.¡± She stated.


    Tes¡¯va nodded. ¡°I will answer with to the best of my abilities revered shaman.¡±


    ¡°Why didn''t you light the fire?¡± She started.


    ¡°Fires attract dangerous beings, humans or worse.¡± She explained.


    ¡°Don''t worry about that, I can protect you.¡± The shaman stated, and suddenly all of the fires were lit and warmth spread throughout the camp.


    ¡°Why was your village such a dump?¡± She continued.


    ¡°It was some seven winters ago, when humans last came into the village. They came in the night, killed the guards with small, pointed sticks. They had silver hide, not unlike yours, that ignored our shaman¡¯s magic. We fled, but their silver weapons cut scales like paper and only few managed to survive.


    The chief was just hatched then, and went into the forest to hunt them down. He returned two winters later, like you saw him, a cruel, twisted kobold. He gave into his base instincts somewhere between leaving us and returning. You''ve seen where that led.¡± She explained.


    ¡°Thanks, you should eat something too. Don''t bother to hold back, I¡¯ll hunt for breakfast if needed.¡± The shaman said, before circling around the campsite. She gathered all of them when she was ready.


    ¡°Alright, please don''t leave the perimeter I just created, it will protect or at least warn us when something decided to attack. My familiar will be coming in a few moments, but don''t worry, he¡¯s harmless.¡± She explained.


    While Tes¡¯va was wondering what a familiar was she heart some rustling above them and saw a huge winged shape land next the the shaman. The being¡¯s head reached her own shoulders, its tail had wickedly sharp spikes, its teeth looked capable of ripping a kobold in two and the didn''t even speak about its claws.


    Yet for all its terror the shaman didn''t seem fazed, instead enthusiastically greeting the monstrosity like an old friend. The shaman looked them over - each and everyone of them frozen in terror - and spoke up again. This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.


    ¡°You really should sleep, we¡¯ll watch out for you, you¡¯ll need the energy tomorrow, I want to arrive at the site where we¡¯re gonna build a village in the evening.¡± She commanded them, before curling up with the monster and promptly fell asleep. Tes¡¯va shook her head a few times, but the monster really did seem completely harmless. If the shaman spoke the truth - and she didn''t have a reason not to - then they were going to need sleep now.


    ¡°You heard the revered shaman, we¡¯re going to need the energy.¡± She commanded, before laying down by one of the fires.


    ---


    Another two dead deer were already waiting to be eaten when the shaman woke them, none the worse for the grueling journey and her fight on the previous day. They ate with relish, they didn''t have such a meal in a long time.


    Tes¡¯va looked over to the shaman, she still wore her armor without helmet, though her cloak laid beside her. Once they all ate their fill the shaman cut the meat into easily carryable stripes, and gave them to everyone that didn''t carry an egg.


    Afterwards the shaman once again stopped to address all of them. ¡°Arvog,¡± She pointed at the monstrosity next to her, ¡°found a suitable spot for a village yesterday, and we¡¯re on our way there. Before we go each and everyone of you will come to me, one by one, and I will heal your injuries so we won''t be slowed down. Get to it, hatchlings first, and take the eggs with you.¡± She commanded and they obeyed.


    One of the youngest hatchlings was first, yet nothing visible happened apart from the shaman draping her cloak around her. It seemed to work nonetheless, the hatchling seemed to breathe easier, and walked with a little more spring in her step. That continued for quite some time, until it was her own turn.


    The young shaman looked a little tired - healing so many kobolds wasn''t easy, even for one as powerful as that. When the cloak was around her she could feel it happening - scars under her scales healing, wrongly healed bones aligning properly, many of the aches she associated with age receding into non existence.


    The shaman looked them over once, before nodding. ¡°Good, it¡¯s best you eat a little now, healing takes alot out of a body. We set off in ten minutes.¡± After saying her fill the shaman put her cloak on again, before sitting down and closing her eyes. It was fascinating to watch, how the slightly haggard expression slowly left her eyes and energy returned into the young shamans frame.


    Tes¡¯va didn''t know what a minute was, but everyone was ready when the shaman opened her eyes and stood up. The shaman left in the same purposeful stride as before, setting a slightly faster pace than yesterday. She must have a way to communicate with her familiar otherwise Tes¡¯va couldn''t imagine how she knew where to go.


    They needed a break around midday, so the shaman vanished in the forest and returned with several vermin a little later. They were no deer, but everyone got something. The second part of the day went better, the shaman walked a little slower and they had no problem keeping up. Tes¡¯va felt the shaman could move a lot faster and only regulated her pace so they could keep up, and was thankful for it.


    They seemed to arrive a little before sundown, as the shaman stopped at a small steam leaving a cave. She turned towards them.


    ¡°I''m going to clear that cave of threats, you can rest for a little. Yell when something you can''t handle comes. I¡¯ll get you when it¡¯s safe.¡± For the first time since she saw her the shaman used her helmet, and Khu¡¯te was right, she really looked terrifying like that, a faceless, gleaming monster.


    She didn''t seem bothered by the lack of light such a contraption should bring, and strode into the dark cave without a shred of hesitation. Nothing happened for quite a while, until angry howls started echoing out of the cave. All of the kobolds around her shivered, the village had to deal with wolves like this a few months ago, and they didn''t come out on top.


    Angry soon turned in pained and then faded altogether, and the shaman exited the cave a while later, unharmed and with a big grin on her face, the helmet hanging on her belt like it did most of the day.


    ¡°Good news, we¡¯ve got ourselves a few home. Even better, there were some pups left, the first six of you to hatch a second time will have a familiar. Come on, let''s get dinner, wolf is delicious.¡± She stated, before turning around.


    They looked upon a scene of slaughter, the pack had been big, eleven normal wolves and five which the shaman called dire-wolf when asked. They were indeed delicious, Tes¡¯va had never tasted anything like this.


    Once everyone was sated again the shaman once again got ready to address them.


    ¡°So, if we¡¯re going to build a village here then I¡¯ll have to make a few things clear. First, we won''t stay here, there is probably a huge host of humans coming, and some will be more powerful than me, so we¡¯re moving the moment we see them.


    Secondly I won''t be chief of a village that can''t defend themselves, so I¡¯m gonna teach you need to know about your second hatching and you will try it. Either you¡¯ll manage or die in the process, but every kobold I knew until yesterday did the same.


    You¡¯re free to go if you don''t want to try that, because I won''t tolerate someone useless living here, you¡¯re only turning into a liability for the others and me. I can see you''re all exhausted, so we start tomorrow. Good night.¡±

 Chapter 56 - Awakening

    After the kobolds ate themselves in stupor on the next morning Ves''ra had all of them gather around her.


    ¡°I see all of you are awake, good.¡± She said, looking over the gathered kobolds.


    ¡°I assume you all know you hatched once already, but you don''t know that only your body hatched so far your mind is still trapped within your egg, which stops you from doing magic.¡± She explained, seeing excitement spread through the gathered kobolds.


    ¡°The first step to hatch is to go into yourself and find your energy and control it.


    You Do Not Do That Until I Say So! Understood? Good.¡± She warned, waiting until everyone nodded in agreement.


    ¡°Now this second egg, unlike your first one can be destroyed if you believe in whatever you use to be strong enough. Most kobolds I knew were hatchlings when they attempted their second hatching, and they escaped the egg like they did their first - with their body.


    That way is the easiest, because you know your body and its capabilities best, and know it already escaped an egg when much weaker than now. I won''t tell you how to escape - if you don''t feel confident in you escape you should definitely use it.¡± She cautioned.


    ¡°While the safest it¡¯s also the most boring way, you can use anything you can think of to escape, there¡¯s no limit. I, for one, destroyed the egg with a storm and thus escaped, the shaman of my village burnt it down, and much more.


    As I said I will not have any one of you not hatched, so you will all attempt to do that now. The first six get a wolf to care about and bond with - as you can see familiars are the best, even now Arvog is out hunting for a meal for all of us.¡±She bragged.


    ¡°You best get to it - you won''t be allowed to eat until you have awakened.¡± She stated, before walking towards the cave¡¯s exit, she¡¯d have to fortify the cave if she wanted to live here for any significant amount of time.


    ---


    Tes¡¯va heard the shaman explain the secrets of shamanism like they were worth nothing and knew she made the right choice. She didn''t even move from the spot she was at before closing her eyes and searching for the ¡®energy¡¯ under her scales. It wasn''t hard to find, and with a firm will formed by years of hardship seized control and moved it.


    She came upon a wall, a wall that blocked her. First she tried to moved around it, but encased just like an egg did - the shaman was right. Her body was old, so she didn''t even try to leave the egg like a normal kobold, instead she thought about the shaman, how she came to them and saved them from the chief, about all the hatchlings and kobolds that joined her in leaving the village, and the deep gratefulness that brought with it.


    Suddenly her mind¡¯s eye saw row upon row of kobold standing in front of the wall, some old and feeble, some full of injuries, and all led by the shaman. Tes¡¯va knew what to do, she willed the injured to be healthy, and the old be strong again. The kobolds battered against the egg, destroying it for her. The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.


    Tes¡¯va smiled as she moved out of the egg that constricted her her entire life and opened her eyes.


    She was the first to finish, so she went to search for the shaman and ask for help understanding what happened.


    ---


    Khu¡¯te sank into himself, and for the first time in his life tried to seize control over the energy under his scales. It didn''t work, he was blocked by something - the second egg the revered shaman spoke about he realized.


    She also said he would only believe in his method of escape and it was possible. What was the best way to escape the mean adults? Speed. Khu¡¯te imagined himself in the egg, and the egg as the adults wanting to beat him and ran, zipping past every single one of them, and before long he stood behind them, having escaped the confines of his second egg. He opened his eyes and smiled a toothy smile.


    ---


    Kes¡¯te took a bit to find the energy cursing under his scales, but when he did he didn''t stop and took control over it. He was stopped, but the egg would only be able to stop him if it saw him, so he hid and snuck past the egg before it had time to properly form. He opened his eyes and smiled.


    ---


    Thu¡¯va was trapped again. She escaped the village, followed the shaman because old lady Tes¡¯va said she should, and now she was trapped in a lightless room with no way out.


    ¡®It doesn''t matter how you want to leave, if you believe it you will¡¯ The shaman said. But how should she escape if she didn''t see anything. She needed a light!


    With but a thought a beautiful light bloomed, lighting her path out of the egg. She followed it, trusting her elders knew what they were talking about, even as her light dimmed and forced her to make several detours. In the end she arrived, opened her eyes and smiled.


    ---


    Keh¡¯te always believed fire was beautiful, it had been forbidden and so the shaman earned his undying loyalty when she told them to light a fire on the first day. Now she told him he could escape the confines of his being just by lighting a fire with his mind.


    The moment he arrived in his second egg he lit a bonfire worth of years hunger, and cackled madly as his egg burnt around him, he alone untouched by the fire. Once his shackles were naught but ashes he left and opened his eyes, a mad grin permanently etched into his face.


    ---


    Thu¡¯ta always liked plants. Unlike people they didn''t die, could age indefinitely and were the undisputed kings of the world. They were the epitome of slow and steady, never stopping their growth, destroying rocks, bending in the wind withstanding rain and snow.


    The perfect lifeform.


    So she imagined herself as a plant, her roots slowly spreading outwards, piercing the egg a thousand times and using it as nourishment for more roots. She didn''t know how long she spent here, spreading her roots more and more, but when she left the egg she was content, so she opened her eyes and smiled.


    ---


    Ves''ra looked at the six kobolds in front of her with amusement in her eyes. They should be incredibly confused just about now, too tired to move and filled with sensations they did not understand, yet they went to find her first.


    ¡°Go to sleep, you need it, we will talk when all are ready.¡± She commanded, and returned to the wall of ice. She had tried something new this time, trying to change the color of the ice to disguise their base. It worked, even if it took an insane amount of energy to change the outermost layer of the ice.


    She was done now though, they could look into proper fortifications once everyone was up and running. She looked at the retreating kobolds and allowed herself a smile, they had been fast, faster than her even, and she couldn''t wait to know what their magic could do.


    It would be fun to build a village from the start, especially one filled with mages. She¡¯d have to see who would be worthy to hear the secrets of true magic, because she didn''t think everyone should be able to surpass nature like humans seemed to, it was a privilege that had to be earned - or found.


    For now she''d watch over her village, as they hatched anew, becoming true kobolds in the process, secure in the knowledge she''d watch over them.

 Chapter 57 - Organizing

    All in all seven of the kobolds died - five adults and two hatchlings. Ves''ra was quite happy with that - she had fully thought more would die, especially of the adults. Of the twenty-two surviving kobolds thirteen were mages while the others were all body-enhancers. Ves''ra thought herself quite lucky - some of the magics seemed really unique.


    All those magics needed testing for their limits, but looking at the previously starving kobolds she decided to give them some more time to recuperate from living with too little food for too long. Well, the old kobold - Tes¡¯va - wouldn''t get a chance, she was a healer and everyone else looked upon her with respect.


    ¡°You wanted to talk with me revered shaman?¡± She asked.


    ¡°Yes, I have noticed that all kobolds that followed me look upon you for guidance, so I think it¡¯s time you get an actual position. You are our shaman now, while I will be the chieftain.¡± She explained. Tes¡¯va looked taken aback, before speaking up.


    ¡°I did nothing worthwhile of such a position, you should look for someone more younger, more powerful.¡± She resisted.


    ¡°No, you''re actually perfect for the position.¡± Ves''ra stated, ¡°Every single one of these kobolds looks up to you, listens to you and asks you for guidance. As for destruction - you can believe me, I have more than enough of that for both of us.¡±


    ¡°I humbly accept the decision then. What do you want me to do?¡± She asked.


    ¡°We¡¯re going to organize the village first - four bands of at least five with one of the adults as leader. You know them best, so you¡¯ll do the division.¡± She commanded. ¡°And bring one of the bands to me, I¡¯ll start teaching them to hunt immediately.¡±


    With all of the village temporarily occupied Ves''ra thought about how to equip her people - they didn''t take any equipment with them. All of them would certainly need new furs - the rags they wore even now just wouldn''t do - but furs were no armor, they were padding at best. Looking at the wall she created to block of the exit Ves''ra had an idea - what stopped her from making ice-armor and weapons for her kobolds? Ice was light, and she could form it into any form she wanted, it perfectly suited her needs.


    She¡¯d have to think about something else before they met the humans though - while she wanted to avoid that at all costs she wouldn''t be stupid enough not to plan accordingly anyways.


    One of her books - True magic and shamanism - also  talked about something called dispelling, powerful mages could dispel true magic, she didn''t quite get how it worked, and couldn''t try with her own magic, she¡¯d have to wait and teach one of her kobolds before she could. Apparently shamanism directly influenced the real world and thus could only be countered directly, not dispelled.


    The hatchlings already started to look better after two days of good food, but the adults would still need a few weeks to recover - both were too weak to encumber with armor now she decided. Weapons were a must though, she would protect them if necessary, but they had to learn how to defend and take care of themselves - she didn''t want to sit in her village most of the time so long as there were still powerful beasts to be hunted.


    Ves''ra focused on the wall of ice in front of her and imagined twenty-two spears leaving the ice, falling on the ground in front of her, before supplying the image energy from her core. These spears weren''t really good yet - just magic ice in spearform - so she took her time to improve each of them. In the end they were about as strong as the steel-weapons humans seemed to love.This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it


    She could make them stronger, but that wouldn''t really serve a purpose - they were strong enough as is.


    Tes¡¯va didn''t take long to form the kobolds into bands, and joined her together with a group and a single hatchling that hid behind her - she didn''t seem to be part of any group, yet Ves''ra recognized her face - she was one of the kobolds to awaken first.


    ¡°Chieftain.¡± They greeted her.


    ¡°Are you ready?¡± She asked.


    ¡°We are.¡± The group answered. Ves''ra bobbed her head up and down.


    ¡°Good, each off you take a spear and wait for me, the shaman and me have some things I need to talk about.¡± She said, before waving her hand and opening the wall with a little magic. Ves''ra turned around to Tes¡¯va.


    ¡°So, why do you have a hatchling hiding behind you?¡± She asked, curious. The hatchling seemed fearful, clinging to the old kobold like a drowning puppy.


    ¡°Thu¡¯va doesn''t feel safe in here, it¡¯s too dark for her.¡± She explained. Ves''ra turned to look at the small hatchling - she was smaller than nearly all of them.


    ¡°So, what''s your magic?¡± She asked her.


    ¡°I can create light.¡± She answered.


    ¡°How did you hatch?¡± Ves''ra asked. The hatchling explain, and Ves''ra had to admit feeling intrigued.


    ¡°Close your eyes, feel for your energy and take control and have it gather around your body, can you do that for me?¡± She asked, keeping her voice calm. The hatchling nodded shyly, and closed her eyes.


    ¡°Nod when you are ready.¡± Ves''ra commanded. She could see a pitiful amount of energy gather around the hatchling¡¯s claws, and before long she nodded.


    ¡°Good, now imagine a ball of light coming into existence, a ball that will guide us to the light beyond this wall. Then force that image on the energy around your claws.¡± She explained. The hatchling¡¯s face scrunched up in concentration, and Ves''ra could feel the energy around her claws waver, before a ball of light sprang into existence around them, everything else fading deep darkness.


    The ball floated off, so she went to follow it. ¡°Let''s go, what are we waiting for?¡± She asked the two, startling them out of the wondrous inspection of their surroundings. The passing of time in this world of darkness was strange, but they arrived at a new point of light only moments or hours later.


    Ves''ra - still taking point - stepped out into the light, and found herself next to a group of extremely surprised looking kobolds. She turned around just in time to see Tes¡¯va and Thu¡¯va came into existence with a flash of light. Ves''ra smiled at the hatchling.


    ¡°See, you are never far from the light, it will alway guide you.¡± Ves''ra looked over the group in front of her, noting that none of them were among the first to awaken, before creating a canal of wind around Tes¡¯va and herself, allowing them to talk unheard.


    ¡°You should take her to the wolfs, she needs a companion all the time, and you can''t get a better companion than a familiar. They are both young, so she should be able to form a bond in no time - if she feeds one of them. Just make sure no one feeds them wolf-meat.


    Get someone to distribute the spears, I made one for each, and then take the other five with you to feed your pups.¡± She commanded. ¡°And keep a look if any of the other hatchlings need something special, I¡¯ll try to provide them with it if I can.¡±


    ¡°Yes chief. I¡¯ll take care of them. May I ask where your familiar is?¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s out, searching for whatever it was that has you fearing making fire, I need something interesting to hunt, and this sounds exactly like that.¡±


    ¡°Take care chieftain, no one to hunt for the horror has ever returned. I''m not sure the others would find the energy for anything should you and your commands vanish.¡± Tes¡¯va said, worried.


    ¡°I can take care of myself. Don''t worry, I will only attack if I know I can take it, and even then I would be stupid to attack openly. Everytime one is in open combat means that one¡¯s preparations were not sufficient.¡± Ves''ra explained, ¡°Anyways, we¡¯ll be off now, a village doesn''t feed itself. We¡¯ll need to talk some more when I return, I still have some questions.¡±


    ¡°We will be waiting chieftain, good hunting.¡± Ves''ra nodded at her, before stopping the spell and turning around.


    ¡°Let''s go. Ask when you have questions. I won''t intervene unless I see one of you making a mistake. Show me how you hunt.¡± She commanded.

 Chapter 58 - Drake

    It was no wonder these kobolds looked so starved - even the worst hunter in her village could outperform all of them. Two weeks had passed since she cleared the cave of wolves and the six kobolds that awoke first were starting to form a bond with the wolf-pups - they were the only ones allowed to feed them after all.


    Exploring the magic of all the kobolds proved quite fun, and she had been relieved to note they had an earth-mage, that made most of her plans easier. Non magical defenses were vital - as the free cities had shown - so she had him create walls in the entrance of their cave, and excavate chambers for the different bands - as well as one each for both Tes¡¯va and herself.


    Now that she had fire-mages at her beck and call - a whopping six of the awakened mages! She had them imbue stones with fire every morning, which she used to keep the eggs warm. It still boggled her mind - how could they have eggs that wouldn''t hatch right after summer? The sheer irresponsibility was maddening!


    Now was not the time to think about that though - a hunt had no place for feelings like that. It had taken a lot longer than she thought, before Arvog managed to find whatever monster claimed this territory as its own - not surprising, for he did find a drake, a huge, nomadic lizard with four legs.


    It was undoubtedly the most dangerous being she had ever hunted, and she looked forwards to eating it. Still, fighting such a being in the open was best left to stupid kobolds or humans - for some reason all adventurers seemed to fight their prey openly, without stacking the odds in their favor.


    The drake was massive - its shoulders stood at four meters height, were three meters broad and it was nearly six meters long without tail. While it was capable of running through trees she¡¯d be fast enough not to be caught - having a flying familiar was way too convenient! Everything was prepared, and she had to strike before it left the area again.


    The drake had yet to detect her, she was far enough after all, so she¡¯d try to kill it with her first attack - doubtful but worth a shot. She didn''t even try lightning - the sky had been clean of clouds for days and natural lightning was the only lightning powerful enough to really hurt something this massive.


    Her ice was better anyway - it could pierce right through everything she had seen so far, and there were so many interesting ideas that had to be tested on a powerful target.


    She now had the perfect target to test her magic on, and intended to use it! The base of the attack was formed in moments - a simple spike of water which would harden upon being impacted. At first she thought of using Arvog¡¯s venom, but it decayed once extracted and she¡¯d need truly staggering amounts to even faze a drake.


    Venom was a good idea though - she was sure she could create a magical venom. Now was the time to test that. Creating the spike of water and altering it took about half of her energy, and propelling it fast enough to to be sure it¡¯d punch through its scales another fifth, so she was uncomfortably low before the fight bagan.


    The bolt of water left with a loud bang, startling even herself - the attack surpassed the speed of sound! Still, Ves''ra had plans for this hunt, and staying around right now wasn''t one of them, so she legged it the moment the attack left her control, giving herself boosts with wind whenever necessary.


    She didn''t need to watch the drake anyways - she had eyes in the sky after all. The attack didn''t even take a second to fly the two hundred meters between them, so the drake had no way to react before the attack hit.


    The drake roared - more in anger than pain - and birds flew up kilometers around them. It had certainly heard where her attack came from, and started running towards her fleeing form. The attack pierced its chest, near the heart, yet Arvog didn''t see as much as a speck of blood. Ves''ra allowed herself a small smile - her spell worked. A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.


    Her prey was slowly catching up, occasionally letting out furious roars. It didn''t take them long to come upon a large clearing and Ves''ra charged straight through, the drake hot on her heels.


    She jumped, was hit by a powerful gust of wind and catapulted past the clearing just as the ground gave way to her prey''s mass. It roared in defiance as it fell, and Ves''ra allowed herself a satisfied smirk. There was no getting out there.


    Through Arvog''s eyes she could see the drake fall five meters down, and being impaled upon dozens of spikes, each two meters long and being forced through its scales by the sheer weight behind the fall. As the drake slowly died - there was a suspicious lack of blood still - she cast another of her new spells.


    Her spell had had four components - one was to deliver the water into her prey, another to freeze the wound that the attack created, stopping any water and blood from flowing out. The third to take in all heat it could and using said heat to power the fourth - freezing as much blood as possible. It seemed to work perfectly, so she cast a wind spell that took her voice and transported it to another.


    "All set, you can come Tes''va." She commanded. Right now about half of the village would leave, on their way towards her. Tonight they would feast!


    Her people took half an hour to arrive. The body enhancers started pulling the corpse back towards the village with the help of a wooden sled. The earth-mage, Tis''ve had already created a ramp, so they arrived about an hour before sunset.


    "Alright, you know the deal." Ves''ra yelled. "You can eat as much of this drake as you can after you processed all of its meat."


    That rule didn''t apply to herself, she was both the chief and did most of the hunting and planning after. Furthermore she suspected most kobolds would evolve after eating, and really didn''t want to process all that meat herself.


    Yet one thing had to be checked before anyone, even herself could eat - her spell had performed perfectly, freezing the drakes blood and using its body-heat as fuel - but she wouldn''t want that spell in herself.


    Perfect. The spell that fed the magical venom - using heat to power it - ran out of energy like planned, making the other spells run out too.


    "Dig in." She said to Arvog, before carving herself some of the food too. The meat tasted fantastic, leagues above anything she ate before. She could practically feel her energy-reserves growing.


    Something felt strange. Ves''ra looked around, alarmed, and spied as Arvog ambled towards their cave. But he was a glutton, why would he stop eating? She concentrated on their bond and knew - her familiar was finally ready to evolve.


    Could she influence his evolution like she did her own?


    No. Her familiar may have enough excess energy for that, but meddling would be harmful regardless - he had yet to awaken and her energy would bleed over if she did.


    Ves''ra returned to her own meal, eating to her heart''s desire as she watched her village work to process the huge creature taking up most of their main cave. She was finished eating long before her people were finished, and after watching them work for another hour she decided to have mercy upon her subjects.


    "Form up!" She yelled, and all kobolds practically ran towards her. "I''m going to freeze the corpse now, after you ate a good meal. All of you may have noticed already, I''m no normal kobold. That''s because my energy-veins burst, and I used the energy to change me." She could see excitement spread through her village. "You are right, this being was powerful, powerful enough for even me to attempt evolution again. I won''t do that, because I don''t have to, but you will, because your bodies are not powerful enough to hold that much energy regardless of what you do." She explained.


    She could see they were weary - at least until the first of the meat entered their mouths. The best they ate until now was a dire-wolf - a far cry from this wonder of taste.


    Ves''ra could see how the overabundance of energy - unchecked, as her people didn''t bind their energy in ropes, they would feel more exhausted than ever.


    Once kobolds left to evolve Ves''ra froze the drake - about two-thirds were left - and started transporting some food to each of the bands. They''d be hungry when they woke up.


    After casting a spell to alert her should one of the eggs hatch - and another should someone approach the cave - she returned towards her own cave, arms full of food for her sleeping familiar.


    Once everything was ready Ves''ra sank into meditation herself and bound her energy into another layer of rope - she didn''t want an uncontrolled evolution, and while she didn''t want it for her people they needed to evolve - the drake¡¯s energy was simply too powerful for a simple kobold to contain. Well, she¡¯d see what they would become soon enough.

 Chapter 59 - Village

    About ten hours after the other kobolds lay down to evolve Ves''ra felt one of her spells go off - at least one kobold hatched just now.


    She left her familiar''s side, grumbling about the irresponsibility of having eggs after summer. Ves''ra had set up the hatchling''s chamber like the hut back at her village of birth - hatchlings had to move out of it to be worth of joining the village.


    The hatchling had no problems escaping, and looked just like any kobold that just hatched. She bundled the hatchling up in a bunch of cloth - a plant-mage was perfect for creating cloth - and started warming some food.


    "How do I call you?" She asked, not expecting an answer. The hatchling was a male, but that would only come in play when he earned his second name.


    "You''re Vhe." She told the sleeping hatchling. Vhe was joined by another three hatchlings - probably his brood-siblings. She called all of them Vhe, their second name would be determined by the band that took them in.


    ---


    The kobolds of the village finished the first part of their evolutions six hours after Vhe hatched. She didn''t see any physical changes when they joined her at the communal fire, but that was to be expected - you couldn''t gain mass when evolving, and a body took time to change.


    Ves''ra mentioned the six kobolds with a forming bond over.


    "I hope your bond is still there?" She asked. "I completely forgot about that, sorry."


    "I can still feel him chief." They told her.


    "Good, then you should visit them, shouldn''t you?" She said.


    "As you command."


    Arvog took another day to finish his evolution - wyverns were a lot more powerful than kobolds, so his energy took more time to change his essence than that of a kobold.


    The kobolds of the village already started to change - she forbid them to leave until their evolution was finished - most of the mages started walking more upright while the body-enhancers bulked up considerably. Hunting that drake had really been luck, Ves''ra doubted she could hunt enough for thirty ravenous kobolds and an even more ravenous wyvern.The author''s content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.


    ---


    Most of the village took five days to a week to finish their evolution. She had been right - the mages looked a lot like her, though a little smaller and more stocky. The fighters bulked up considerably, only gaining a couple of centimeters in height.


    Arvog took the longest to finish growing, needing nearly two weeks to gain his new form. Ves''ra didn''t know what he was now - he still looked the same, even though he grew alot, the base of his wings shoulders now reaching her head when walking.


    She started creating a harness the moment she noticed him growing, she really wanted to fly!


    Ves''ra already waited for three days, leaving her familiar time to get used to his new body, but that stopped now.


    The whole village stood around them, watching as Ves''ra strapped herself on her familiars back. They were ready moments later, and excitement spread through her.


    "Let''s go!" She cried, and Arvog jumped into the air. They rose noticeably slower, but rose they did. It was glorious, the air flowing over her scales. She looked down and whooped, flying was great.


    Still, fighting like this would put the both of then at a serious disadvantage, so Ves''ra cast two spells. One to take the heat infront of them and warm Arvog''s blood, and another to take the air in front of them and gather it under his wings, making it denser.


    Arvog lurched forwards, suddenly finding a lot more purchase in the air. He dove down on her request, it was perfect. As they plummeted down towards the ground Ves''ra started wondering, why didn''t she teach her people how to cast true magic, how to bind their energy into a rope and a lot of other, smaller things?


    That wasn''t what she would do, so why did she?


    The human. It seemed she was being influenced unconsciously, because keeping knowledge to oneself wasn''t the kobold thing to do. She¡¯d take care of that once they returned, but only after an extensive flight!


    ---


    The last month and a half had been incredibly productive. They had widened the clearing in front of the cave, built a small keep on top of the entrance and used the stream to built a moat around the keep. None of them lived in the actual keep - it was solid, ten meters tall and twenty wide with only a few walkways to reach the battlements.


    They decided against using magic stone - instead using solid granite - because they didn''t know how dispelling worked, and didn''t want to risk the keep breaking down with them inside. By now all of the eggs were hatched, and the first batch of eggs was laid.


    ¡°What do you plan to do in the summer revered chieftain?¡± A younger Tes¡¯va asked.


    ¡°We continue as we have, though we¡¯ll have to evacuate eventually, I''m pretty sure there will be a lot of humans coming sometime after summer, more than we can take.¡± She explained.


    ¡°Why are we still here then? Wouldn''t it be safer if we left now?¡± She asked.


    ¡°I would, but I have obligations outside of the village, and someone wants to know when the humans come.¡±


    ¡°How will you tell them if you''re here?¡±


    ¡°They gave me a way, don''t worry about that, I highly doubt anyone will be able to catch us. I don''t even plan to fight, we¡¯ll collapse the keep the moment we see them.¡±Ves''ra said.


    ¡°I see, that''s good to know. I¡¯ll start to send some hunting parties out then.¡±


    ¡°Do that.¡± She said, before turning to look over the forest in front of her. She couldn''t wait to move again, hunt for more monsters like the drake and evolve into something even more powerful.

 Chapter 60 - Attack

    Colonel Richards cursed inwardly even as he heard his scout¡¯s report.


    ¡°Are you sure?¡± He asked, hoping for a no.


    ¡°Yes Sir. I didn''t dare let my familiar get closer, but I know what I saw. There is a small keep near the pass.¡± The scout said, confirming his fears.


    ¡°On our side? That can''t be, they wouldn''t dare.¡± He stated, trying to convince himself their invasion wasn''t known.


    ¡°I don''t know colonel, but the inhabitants seemed smaller than humans.¡±


    ¡°So we¡¯re in luck? It¡¯s just some random tribe of monsters?¡± He asked.


    ¡°That''s possible colonel, sir. I don''t know for sure though.¡±


    ¡°Dismissed soldier, make sure no one leaves the protection of the camp.¡± He commanded.


    Now that he was alone he allowed himself some excessive cursing, his regiment of two thousand man was just supposed to scout and secure the pass, not fight any opposing forces. He had no doubt they would take the keep - two companies would be enough - but really hoped the keep was in neutral hands, the enemy couldn''t know about the invasion. He called for his aide. "Send some scouts towards the enemy, find out if they are from the free cities." He commanded. "And find me two experienced captains, they are to take the keep while we keep marching on the pass."


    "Yes Sir."


    ---


    Captain Wells cursed the colonel under her breath. Why would he send her company out with the incompetent lordling, Captain Harrington? At least the enemy didn''t know about them, she got some of the battalion''s illusionists to cover their advance, but that seemed to be for naught.


    The enemy keep was unaware of their presence, manned by stocky, small lizard monsters. Instead of walking up to the keep and slaughtering their opposition under cover like any sensible human Harrington wanted to attack head on...


    For fucking glory!


    She hated the insufferable prick, but sadly the noble had senior command over both their companies.


    "Ready the man to attack, we''re going to show them how to fight." Harrington commanded both their aides.


    "It would be prudent to let the man rest before attacking." She tried, but going by the evil eye Harrington gave her she doubted the man would listen to reason.This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.


    "Drop the illusion as soon as we are assembled." He commanded instead, ignoring Wells.


    Cries of alarm and surprise came from the enemy camp when the illusion fell, showing the two hundred men of their two companies. The archers let loose the first volley, arrows filling the overcast evening.


    None of the arrows hit the enemy though, all of then having ducked behind their fortifications just in time.


    "Advance." She called out. hoping to get some soldiers in the looming hole that was the entrance.


    ---


    Khu''ta grinned in anticipation as the rest of the village stormed out of their cave. The chieftain warned them humans could attack anytime after summer, so they had only been a little surprised to see humans materializing out of thin air.


    None of them ever saw the chieftain go all out, but she wouldn''t have a choice when arrayed against humans nearly ten times their number.


    "Prepare for evacuation, get the hatchlings out of the way and close the gates, let''s get this party started. Melee, protect the mages. Mages, light them up or help with the evacuation." She commanded, even as she jumped on the huge wyvern.


    "Good hunting chief." They said, still in awe of their flying chief.


    ---


    "Fuck." Was all Wells could say as a new type of enemy appeared on top of the enemy fortifications. These were slender, taller beings, led by one wearing expensive armor. These were no simple monsters, but they were committed now.


    She didn''t even bother to hide her curse when a huge fucking wyvern appeared next to the one wearing armor, and it mounted it before rising in the air. The heavens seemed to agree with her as the clouds darkened, and air seemed to blur as the wyvern accelerated upwards, and she lost sight of it soon enough.


    It didn''t stop there though, as roots dug out of the keep and closed the only entrance, fire bloomed into existence above the keep and flew straight into their front ranks.


    "Retreat!" She yelled.


    "We do not retreat. Attack!" Harrington screamed on top of his lungs. She saw despair spread through their ranks - they were just told to attack a mage-defended keep without mages of their own. She rode up next to Harrington. "Are you an idiot? We don''t have the men or mages to win this!" She hissed.


    "Captain Wells, I gave the command to attack, yet you dare gainsay me? Your commander? You''re here to advice me, not usurp me!" He answered with barely restrained anger.


    "And it''s stupid to attack now, we only stand to lose, even if we win." She answered. "If you press this attack we will be out of this war one way or another, assaulting a fortified position without a ten to one majority is foolish!" She told him, even as more and more of their soldiers burnt. He took a while to respond, and the storm above them finally decided to let itself be known. Lightning struck in their ranks, thinning them even more as ice fell around then, shredding through everything that wasn''t steel.


    "Retreat!" She yelled, heedless of the idiots commands. She saw him get ready to contradict her again, so she decked him over his head and threw him from the cover of the trees, right into the magical attack that was decimating her soldiers.


    "Retreat!" She yelled again, and the soldiers got moving. "You saw nothing." She stated, looking at the terrified aides a few meters behind them. They nodded eagerly, before speaking up. "Orders ma''am?"


    "Prepare the illusions, the colonel will need to send a mage-corps to deal with these, that''s no normal keep, they have to have four mages, just to come up to that volume of fire." She commanded. The aides retreated, even as the survivors of the ice-storm came running, shields over their heads.


    She shook her head, what a disaster.

 Chapter 61 - Northwards

    Ves''ra watched with interest as the humans vanished into thin air. Did they teleport? She told Arvog to fly a little lower and cast a spell that allowed her to see heat and lo and behold the humans were still there. The enemies retreated towards the south-west, so she decided to let them off with a small warning - an icicle directly next to their apparent commander.


    She trusted Tes''va to handle the evacuation - they had been prepared for over a month now. With that in mind she decided to take the time to check on the main army, and perhaps leave a small ice-storm as a present before leaving herself. Arvog easily overtook the enemies below them, and they flew south - she doubted they could hide whatever army their attacks came from in the same manner as the smaller companies, so they ascended high enough to be mistaken for a bird - no need to tempt fate.


    The main army was easy to find - they already left the forest and started ascending the pass. Ves''ra watched in fascination as the treacherous ground she passed a few months ago was flattened by the army''s mages, continuing the road she could see snaking all the way through the forest, towards the horizon.


    The human army looked a lot like ants, and she lacked the eyesight to see individual faces, but Ves''ra waited to see if someone would spot her - no one did, so she took control over the rest of the energy in her core - it grew to five times its previous size while living in the village - and unleashed a spell.


    Ves''ra tested her storm-magic over the past months, whenever clouds hid the suns, and found out that using her energy to influence a storm was a lot easier than it should be. The impact her spells had pack five times the power of her magic when used directly, and this would be the biggest spell yet.


    It was similar to the spell she used an hour prior, leaving out the lightning. It was perfect against single enemies, but not worth the cost against an army, especially because she had to shield herself and Arvog when in the air.


    Half her energy went into the clouds, causing small shards unnaturally sharp of ice to fall down, while the other part went downwards, causing sharp whirlwinds to pick up around the human army.


    She saw a ripple go through the army before her spell finished, so she turned Arvog around before they could be spotted.


    She''d miss the impact of her spell, but her life was more precious. Either the humans didn''t manage to spot her, or she was out of their range, so Ves''ra had no problem getting away from the army and returning towards the village.If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.


    Seeing the cave they lived in for the last few months was depressing, no kobold was left, the only sign of them the artificial caves and a single torch.


    Originally Ves''ra planned to enchant herself a gate with the spacial-energy she extorted from the humans, but that turned out to be impossible - the energy was unable to do that!


    Luckily they had a different mode of transport - Khu''va could do something similar, though the time spent in her shadow-realm increased with distance travelled. Moving through the whole mountain-range would take about seven hours, so she laid her claws on Arvog''s back, activated the spell embedded into the keep and lit the torch.


    Its fire seemed to leave the torch, so they followed the light to reach their direction.


    ---


    Colonel Richards eyed the slowly forming road with appreciation. All was going perfectly, his two captains should clean up the monsters in a few hours, and join them tomorrow. He hoped Harrington would take Captain Wells seriously. The woman was an experienced commander, and the noble too reckless, too obsessed with glory - they''d make a fine team.


    The feeling washed over the army like an approaching storm. He knew that feeling, it meant an archmage was getting serious. His soldiers felt it too - the huge amount of mana only grown core-mages possessed, used up in a single spell. When a whirl-wind picked up around his people and started knocking down soldiers, lifting tents and supplies into the air he knew they had a problem.


    When the clouds darkened and ice began to fall he cursed. Colonel Richards watched in impotent rage as his regiment was torn apart by a storm of ice and supplies, all while he stood secure inside his enchanted command-tent.


    ---


    Arvog and Ves''ra reached the temporary village roughly ten hours after they left the keep to its doom. She saw all the kobolds of her village, gathered in a forest clearing, their belongings around them.


    "Everything ok?" She asked Tes''va.


    "We are fine chieftain, some kobolds got wounded, but nothing I couldn''t heal. The hatchlings are tired and will need a good night''s rest before they can travel again, even with my support." She reported.


    "Good, let''s get a watch going and meet me here again." She commanded, walking over to her pack.


    She searched for the next iron casing in her pack, before opening it and crushing the crystal within.


    A cloud of energy formed above, and formed into an approximation of her head when she injected some energy within.


    "They''re coming, building a road through the pass. I left a small gift, but I doubt I saw more than a fraction of their army." She reported, before injecting energy again. The cloud compressed down to a fraction of its previous size, before shooting off somewhere north.


    Tes''va joined her again just as she finished unrolling her map of the free cities on a table of ice.


    "What do we do now?" Tes''va asked. Ves''ra gestured towards the map.


    "What I have here is a map of the country we are in now. I''d suggest we move far north, in the forest of my birth." She explained.


    "What would we do there?"


    "Hunting obviously, the humans know of no other humans further north, so the deep forests should be filled with powerful monsters we can hunt and eat." She said.

 Chapter 62 - Arrival

    They had yet to enter the forest, but Ves''ra felt great. Breathing the air of the forest of her birth was just great. The air felt fresher, the trees looked greener and the ground was softer. It was good to be home.


    They crossed the free cities in about three months, meeting a few groups of soldiers moving south in the later part of their journey.


    They asked for news from the south, but they couldn''t help there - the last thing Ves''ra saw was part of the enemy army before her spell hit. They kept to roads most of the time, with Arvog and Ves''ra doing most of the hunting the other kobolds could focus on moving.


    The hatchlings born after they killed the drake were off worst, being the only kobolds not evolved. Ves''ra didn''t have much hopes to do anything about that until they reached the north though - the free cities made sure the surroundings of their roads were safe for all travellers.


    Now she noticed Arvog''s increased size had its downsides too - her familiar could no longer land everywhere, he needed a clearing to land in.


    "What are we going to do now chief?" Tes''va asked.


    "We are going to evolve the hatchlings while searching for more monsters like the drake." She answered.Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.


    "Arvog and I won''t be able to help as much now, after all he can''t see through trees and I will need to be with you as we''d lose each other otherwise." She answered.


    "So we send a few of the body-enhancers, have them hunt powerful prey?"


    "Yep, I''ll have Arvog sweep the forest, perhaps he can find interesting things. I''m pretty sure mountains would be good, I heard powerful beings like to live there." She answered.


    "And for how long, hunting powerful monsters is sure to get kobolds killed." Tes''va stated.


    "Well, we do make a good village, so I''d say we search for something with high ambient energy and settle down after another evolution or two."


    "So you don''t have a plan." Tes''va said.


    "I do." She paused for a moment, "I know what I want to do. You remember when I told you about the human wanting to take over my mind?" She asked.


    "Yes, that was quite the shock."


    "Well, I want her out there, but I will need to be a lot more powerful to achieve that, and extremely vulnerable when doing so, so you will need to be powerful to powerful too, to protect me when I act." She examined.


    "You can count on us!" Tes''va said with fervor in her voice. "But losing all that knoege you used to train us would be a waste." She added.


    "Don''t worry, I know that and have a plan. I''ll need to dive into the human''s memory before I can start too." She said. The knowledge was useful, more than useful and she wasn''t one to needlessly give up a powerful advantage.


    "We will move north." She yelled. "The humans didn''t explore in the direction, so the beasts should be more powerful, without adventurers hunting the most delicious."


    All eyes focused on her, and they set out after packing everything.

 Chapter 63 - Spiders

    Wolves lost the terror they evoked in her young self. Ves''ra still remembered the sheer horror when her band had been hounded by a pack of wolves, lead by a direwolf. She had grown, she thought as she killed the last of the wolves with a bolt of lightning.


    Sadly they had yet to find anything actually powerful - a few wolves, evolved deer and bears, nothing that really helped anyone. They still killed them, hoping to evolve the last if the hatchlings before they found worthy prey.


    Ves''ra focused on her bond - Arvog was out far, scouting for prey to hunt. He could nearly double the ground he covered without her, so she moved together with the village most of the time.


    Her familiar currently circled above a large lake, he felt something.


    "Arvog found something, perhaps it''s even worth to kill." She said, "Let''s get back to the others and move out."


    The three kobolds accompanying her nodded, loaded up the five dire-wolves, and followed her towards the temporary camp.


    ---


    They didn''t know what hid in the lake as they arrived there a day later, but that wouldn''t really be a problem. They had more than enough fire-mages to avoid any diving.


    "Let''s cook." She stated, gesturing the fire-mages forwards, protected by the melee mages. She felt the energy flowing out of their cores, entering the water. She joined in too, transferring the heat of several fires lit for that purpose into the lake.


    They need a few hours until the lake would heat enough for the residents to feel uncomfortable, so they sat down to wait.


    The monster struck without warning or sound. She expected something like this though, so her magic was spread through the shore in front of them, giving her ample warning of the attack.


    Thu¡¯ve, one of the melee fighters, easily blocked the attack with a generous amount of energy.


    Ves''ra took a moment to marvel at the sight in front of her, a huge snake, about twenty meters long, clad in deep blue, glistening scales. The fangs she saw peeking out of its maw were as long as her forearm, and she really didn''t want to feel these.


    While the snake was still reeling from having its attack stopped dead Ves''ra and the kobolds around fired their magic, ice and fire quickly killed the large monster. Ves''ra felt disappointed, the snake was big, quite stealthy but ultimately no real threat if you knew about it.Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.


    ---


    ¡°That''s one big web.¡± She stated, looking at the strings spread through the forest in front of them.


    ¡°That it is. Do we go further in?¡± A kobold asked,


    ¡°We do. Just make sure not to touch anything. We don''t know if it¡¯s still alive or already killed by something meaner.¡± Ves''ra said, making a point to move in first. The forest looked transformed, eerily quiet. The only beings she could see were spiders, both small and bigger than any insect had a right to be. These had to come from somewhere, so there was a good chance they would finally have a interesting hunt. Her introspection was stopped short by one of the scouts. He jerked her to an abrupt stop.


    ¡°Careful.¡± She warned, ¡°There are webs on the ground.¡±


    Ves''ra looked down, and sure enough, she was just about to walk right into a nearly invisible web.


    ¡°Thanks, warn the others. And find a good spot, one without any webs.¡± She commanded, careful about her steps.


    ¡°Yes chieftain.¡± She said, nodding in respect before making her way over to the others, who froze up in alarm and checked the surroundings for threats when the scout stopped her.


    The scouts spread out to find her spot. She now had time to think up a strategy for the spider, what did she know about them? She ate a few as a child, but that was the extent of this life¡¯s knowledge. The human had a lot of knowledge though, perhaps she¡¯d know something about spiders.


    ¡°We¡¯ll wait for the scouts to return, no reason to walk in further and walk in a trap.¡± She said, sitting down right where she was after checking the ground for webs.


    I loved spiders. Looking at the group of soldiers send after me getting torn apart by a few monstrous spiders was glorious. I should get a few more of these.


    Ves''ra tore herself out of the memory, not what she wanted, and seeing a few humans visibly liquify was making even her queasy. She¡¯d have to try again.


    This was absolutely fascinating. I usually didn''t like leaving my castle - and my soul with it - but every good villain needed a pit of monsters, and killing all those soldiers was getting tedious, so I¡¯d get some monsters to do that for me.


    The forest I just entered was the first direction my divination-spell showed me, and here I was, wandering a forest more white than green or brown. None of the spiders could see me, now that my body could be affected by magic. They were big - about the size of a small dog - and I wanted something bigger.


    I really lucked out here, humans were filled with a deep seated fear of spiders, and one as big as these would have been impossible on earth. After moving for another three hours I slowly came upon the middle of the forest of webs.


    The spiders had slowly grown, and the biggest ones reached the size of a horse, these would do. I searched for a spot where several webs from the bigger ones converged, before throwing in some rocks, moving them to simulate struggle. The webs were naturally sticky - these more than any I had ever seen - so it wasn''t hard to do so.


    My new pets came eagerly, happy to get their mandibles on some fresh food. I captured one after another, before returning home and leaving the spiders to settle in their new homes.


    I divided the spiders into two groups. I would test if the spiders in a room with higher pressure would perform better, or if they actually developed lungs to ...


    Tes¡¯va snapped her out of the memory, but she saw enough. She suspected the spider was big, big enough to have to lay a horizontal web instead of a vertical one. They could easily set up a trap and could just wait for the spider to come to them.


    ¡°The scouts have returned.¡± Tes¡¯va said. She nodded.


    ¡°Let''s go, I know what we will do.¡± She stated. ¡°I want to prepare our trap before night, so we can kill it in the morning.¡±

 Chapter 64

    The trap was quite easy to prepare, as all they had to do was send Arvog out to hunt a deer and bring it back to them.


    Once done they gently deposited the deer carcass on the web, before pulling it back towards them, as if the deer wanted to escape. They gradually decreased both strength and frequency of the tugs until they stopped to wait.


    About three hours later Ves''ra broke the silence. "Something is coming, Arvog sees movement from the north. Get ready." She warned.


    The warriors nodded, tightly gripping their weapons and turned towards north.


    The spider was deceptively fast, so fast in fact that Ves''ra had to wonder how far out it had been to take so long to reach them.


    The spider emerged the forest without a sound, an impressive feat considering it was nearly two meters tall, taller than all kobolds present. It looked unhurried as it moved towards the deer and sank its fangs into the corpse, injecting its venom and completely ignoring the camouflaged kobolds right next to it.


    Ves''ra took a moment to take in the beast''s appearance and had to admit that the spider was terrifying. Thousands of small, unblinking eyes sat on its head, looking in every directions at once. A few drops of green venom had already fallen on the ground before it reached their ''offering'', and were slowly eating in the ground.


    It was decked in short, spikey black fur, and had large claws on its forelimbs.


    Ves''ra started the ambush with a tiny nod, and many things happened all at once. All kobolds exploded with energy as they fired off their magic, the earth opened up, swallowing the spiders feet. Khu''te exploded into motion, moving faster than her eyes could see.


    Dozens of ropes were thrown towards the village''s warriors, each attached to one of the spiders eight legs. The warriors heaved even as the spider hissed in anger, its feet ignoring the rock binding it on the ground.


    Her warriors were flung in all directions as their prey turned towards the mages, helpless in the wake of the spider''s mass. It made a squelch and a glob of green venom left its maw, flying directly at one of the kobolds. The acidic venom was immediately intercepted by a wall of dirt, leaving the kobolds unharmed.


    After another three globs left it the spider it finally noticed the futility of the action, and its head turned, looking at each of them in turn.


    Once done all its eyes focused on her, having determined her as the utmost threat for its life. The massive monster jumped forwards, claws extended, directly towards Ves''ra. She was prepared though, having already surrounded herself with a layer of impact absorbing water and anchored it in the ground.


    Still, she was relieved as one of the warriors intercepted the attack. He was flung towards the trees, but Ves''ra knew he''d survive. She started attacking with the rest of the mages, firing a multitude of lightning bolts towards its eyes.Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.


    The spider recoiled in pain as her attack hit, only to be flung backwards itself as the concentrated force of the rest of their mages hit its body.


    The warriors were back on their feet, and she could see the energy rolling out of them as they heaved again, hoping to make the spider loose its footing.


    "On my mark." She yelled, holding up three claws.


    "Three.


    Two


    One


    Go!"


    Finally the massive spider lost its footing, thanks to all kobolds working together as one. With the spider incapacitated the wolves attacked, giving their best to destroy one or two of their prey''s joints.


    "Give it all you got." She commanded, changing up a powerful lightning attack herself. She could see the rest of the village starting various spells themselves, well all but Geh''ve, one of the fire mages. He was the only kobold-mage who decided it strengthen his body instead of his mind.


    "Fire on my mark." She yelled, holding up a claw for a few moments before letting it fall down. All kobolds around her did just that, all except Geh''ve, the mad kobold, by now on fire, just started screaming and fell on all fours, running at their prey with full speed.


    They were long used to that by now, so no one was surprised when he jumped before arriving, directly at the spiders head.


    The prey did quite obviously not expect that, as it flinched for a second, giving the fighter-kobolds the time needed to pin it down long enough for him to land.


    It started screaming immediately after, Geh''ve''s ridiculous flames burning through its caraparace like it didn''t even exist.


    It shook a few times, dislodging both the ropes and the kobold, before its remaining eyes turned on Ves''ra. She had to gulp a bit, but immediately started pouring mana in a shield as the spider ducked, before jumping straight at her.


    Its mandibles pierces straight through her shield, coming to a stop only centimeters before her snout as its face was stopped dead by the water.


    Not one to let such a chance go Ves''ra froze the water around its mandibles and extended spikes of ice towards its remaining eyes.


    The spider tried to recoil, but was unable to move, losing its last three eyes. The horrible that screech convinced her to stop her attack and retreat out of its range, allowing the other kobolds to finish it. And finish it they did, laying into the nearly unmobile spider with all they got while Ves''ra grew her shield around it, doing her best hold it.


    Soon enough the struggle grew weaker as more and more fluid left their prey and her slowly freezing shield enveloped its whole head. The spider died soon after, and the village erupted into cheering.


    "Alright, Tes''va take care of any wounded. The rest of you prepare the feast." She said, more than ready to eat something powerful again.


    "Yes chief." Her village agreed, all wounded lining up in front of Tes''va while the fighter-kobolds started taking apart their prey. The last few hatchlings that were born after they killed the drake came out of their hiding places as well, more than ready to finally evolve and be a full adult.


    Being the chief made sure she got the first and juiciest bit. Ves''ra couldn''t help but be alarmed once she ate the first bite, that spider wasn''t nearly delicious enough to be the ruler of this place.


    She slowly looked around, searching for anything out of place and finding nothing. She looked at Tes''va and mentioned her over.


    "Keep your eyes open, that spider was too weak, we''ll have to do double watches from now on, spread the word, and be careful, I''m sure we''re already being watched." She said, starting a spell she hadn''t used in a while.


    Slowly all water in the air came under the control of her mana. As the small bank of fog moved over the clearing nothing seemed to change at first, but slowly a different picture revealed itself it her mind, they were surrounded.

 Chapter 65 - Surrounded

    Why were any spiders living deeper in their domain? That question should have been asked by them, because Ves''ra very much doubted much could pass the smaller spiders.


    Now she knew. While something that somehow managed to stay invisible through her fog was slowly spinning a huge web all around the clearing the forest floor as well as the trees slowly filled with insects.


    Bees and Ants to be exact.


    They didn''t worry her - every mage in her village would be able to kill them - though the big spider did very much worry her. She wouldn''t want to fight it head-on with millions of monstrous insects supporting it.


    This called for a subtler approach.


    She had time, only about half the forest edge was trapped and insects were still coming under the illusion that hid them. Looking up she saw a few clouds above, but knew it wouldn''t start to rain anytime soon. Well, she could change that, couldn''t she? With a small effort of will waves of energy left her, vanishing up into the clouds. A few minutes later rain started falling, decking everything around them in water and giving her more than enough to work her magic.


    Waves of energy left her, suffusing her surroundings and entering even the tiniest waterdrop.


    While her magic worked, slowly raising the water into the air and creating a thick bank of fog around them she continued to eat like nothing was happening.


    By the time her fog started leaving the clearing the spider made significant progress, which spoke of it being huge.


    She wouldn''t let her future meal intimidate her! As the fog thickened she actually saw the web-maker speed up, and an outline of a spider appeared on her senses. It was huge, nearing four meters high and double that in width.


    Perhaps she should prepare something else, should the fog not work out. It would add a few minutes to her preparation, but you couldn''t be too prepared.


    "Gather up." She yelled after her preparations finished. The kobolds looked up, already slightly alarmed by the increase in watches saw the serious look on her face and immediately assembled around her.


    With a small application of her will all water around them was repelled, forming a shield around them.


    "We are surrounded." She stated. The kobolds looked around, first panicked, then confused.


    "There are a few thousand insects and one very big spider around us." She explained. "I assume they''re hidden by the spider''s magic, though I don''t know for sure. Prepare for battle, I will take care of the spider, but you''ll have to kill the insects. It''s best you don''t leave my shield though"


    A part of her considerable energy-reserves left her, vanishing into the surrounding fog. The fog around the spider froze immediately, before forming into spikes of ice that tried to pierce its eyes. They missed, as she didn''t really see more than a vague outline. The spider screeched in anger, and its illusion vanished, all webs and insects suddenly appearing in thin air.If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.


    The insects, all about as big as a hand, surged forwards, loud buzzing filling the air as the bees took flight.


    "Now, take care of them." She commanded. The kobolds nodded, happy to do something. As another part of her magic left towards the spider she took a moment to take in its form.


    The spider was around four meters tall with nearly translucent white fur and chitin. It was obviously not meant for direct fighting as much as their earlier prey, as its head was bigger. Its small, beady eyes were filled with anger, all focused on the kobolds assembled in the middle of the clearing.


    After her ice hit its body she immediately started melting it, using the head she still had access to and started spreading water around its head. The spider started thrashing about, trying to shake the water lose - to no avail, her magic made sure of that.


    Just as the whole head started being covered in water, stopping any air from entering its lungs and started constricting the spider stopped suddenly moving. Ves''ra was about to snort in amusement, that wouldn''t let it escape, her water crashed together, suddenly without purchase.


    Her village started fighting just now, ants slowly making their way through her shield while bees dived down, stinger first.


    Her people were prepared, and even though the insects were huge they were only huge for insects, and thus easily dealt with by the kobolds. She should have told the fire-mages to hold off though, because the air in the shield started stinking, invading her nostrils and nearly causing her to cough.


    Suddenly the spider appeared a few centimeters from the still floating ball of water. Just as she was about to react it jumped at them, only to be stopped dead by the shield of water.


    As it swayed back, head obviously fuzzy from the sudden stop she saw its mandibles were cracked from the force. Ves''ra grinned a toothy grin, and activated her first contingency be for it had the time to vanish again.


    Suddenly small bolts of lightning appeared everywhere in the fog, no longer held at bay by her power, instead directed to gather as a single, huge ball of electricity.


    The fog around the spider rushed towards it, completely wetting its fur on body and head. The ball of electricity dissolved into a bolt, and discharged into the spider with loud cracking and a blinding flash of light.


    The spider screeched again, this time in pain. As her vision came back a few moments later she was greeted by a slightly smoking spider, laying on its back with its feet curled up on its abandon.


    "Let''s go, surround it, we can''t have these insects steal our food. Geh''ve, clear a way." She commanded.


    The mad kobold nodded, laughing madly as he set himself on fire again, running towards the dead spider crackling madly. The rest of them followed, together with her shield of water.


    Once they took care of the hundreds of insects already swarming the spider they turned outwards again, and started killing off the insects still trying to attack them. It didn''t take long for whatever entity that controlled them, probably a hive-mind or queen, to see the futility of its actions and back off, leaving them with their prize.


    "Alright, let''s build a small wall and get back to eating." She said. "And I really hope that was a female." She muttered, shuddering at the thought that an even bigger spider could be lurking around.


    The kobolds nodded, and soon enough they started cutting the spider apart while Tes''va increased the strength of their metabolism, allowing them to digest the smaller spider within moments and making space for the bigger one.


    After one bite Ves''ra felt bliss, the spider''s body had been significantly weaker than that of the drake, but arguably more powerful, being invisible and somehow absent when moving slowly as well as being a powerful mage, so it tasted just as good, if not better.


    A few hours later Ves''ra curled up against Arvog and ready to sleep. The few hatchlings still with them were already in an evolution induced sleep, and would awaken as new kobolds sometime soon.


    With all her village nearly as powerful as her it was only a matter of time until they hunted their next worthy prey, so she started drifting off with a smile on her face, nearly drooling while thinking about the next such monster they''d hunt.

 Chapter 66

    I woke to rain. It was dreadful, cold rain and the clouds didn''t look like they would stop anytime soon.


    Good. No time to waste, my liberal use of magic made sure my time on this planet counted in the months, not years like when I was summoned.


    That was good enough because the kingdom that summoned me should know that too, and stop bothering me with mercenaries.


    It was time to start moving with haste because I had no plans to actually die, no I would live forever!


    After I calmed down a few minutes later I rose, my body protected by a thick, wooden armor. Large branches stretched from my back, forming a huge pair of wings.


    I rose up into the air like a goddess of death, smiling maniacally as I was in my way to freedom and life. No one could track me now, no soldiers, no heroes, no one.


    Finding a way to survive the death of my body wasn''t actually all that hard, nearly all good libraries I visited had them, but more as a warning, and less as a way to go, so finding a teacher had been a little challenging.


    Had been, as a short visit to an adventurer''s guild had been enough to find a direction, and liberal use of divination magic did the rest.


    Soaring through the skies like that was perfect, flying monster would be cautious to attack me, unknown as I was, and now that I deviated from my former path of destruction by a good bit, and these people had no way to follow me anymore, as I discarded everything on my person, and my body was still immune to all direct magic.


    My goal was still days away, far from any civilisation. Not if they could help it, but my future teacher had made sure any attempts on settling near him were doomed from the start, so eventually people stopped bothering.


    He was sure to be ~delighted~ by my presence, it couldn''t be healthy or fun to live by yourself for all this time.


    I grinned, a certain kingdom would soon come to regret summoning me, oh yes they would indeed.This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it


    "It stopped raining chief." Tes''va informed her, stopping the memory.


    "Are we ready to leave then?" She asked.


    "Yes."


    "Good, let''s go."


    She could have stopped the rain of course, and started moving as soon as they woke, but there''d been no reason to, the village could use the rest, and Ves''ra still needed something from the hero''s memories, so she used the chance, ordering Tes''va to interrupt her once they could start moving.


    Looking at the slowly heating forest, water evaporating into a thin fog, Ves''ra decided she didn''t want to move like that, so she cast a small spell that would dry them a small path, allowing them to move faster.


    The first order of business was to leave the spiders behind, she very much doubted there were any worthy of hunting left behind.


    Afterwards, they''d move northwards, and hope for the forest to thin out a bit, well she did, so she could fly around with Arvog, searching for worthy prey.


    ---


    A few days later Arvog spotted a large mountain range in the distance, and the forest started thinning out considerably.


    This was it, she could feel it, they entered the territory if another, powerful being, and it was stalking them.


    Ves''ra had Arvog turn around immediately, it would be stupid to continue further without knowing what they were hunting. Still, she could feel her heartbeat accelerate, the thrill of a new hunt coming over her.


    Suddenly, a chill on her back alerted Ves''ra of something looking at them something dangerous. Arvog, deeply connected to her mind while they were flying noticed too, and dove down with all his strength, Ves''ra''s magic decreasing the air resistance under his wings.


    An angry screech sounded from behind them, followed by a plume of fire sailing just past them. Ves''ra couldn''t look back, she had to keep her profile pressed against Arvog''s flank, but she felt pretty confident their prey found them. And it was capable of flight. Just great.


    Ves''ra and Arvog deepened their connection even more, nearly becoming one. Air thickened behind them, as sharp shards of ice appeared. Their pursuer screeched again, in both anger and pain this time. They continued their flight down, soon reaching the treetops, nearly kissing them while they evened their flight. They had stopped increasing the air resistance behind them a few dozen metres over the treetops and heard a satisfying crash sound out behind them, their pursuer caught off guard by the change in air pressure.


    Just as they were about to turn around, to finish the being off, an angry screech, as well as more crashing, sounded out behind them. Immediately they dove downwards, into the trees as a barrier of air appeared around them, stopping their smell from escaping.


    Water gathered around Ves''ra as they jumped down until they reached the ground.


    The water surged into the loose forest dirt, scooped up as much of it as possible, and surrounded them in an irregular sphere, hiding them from the angry predator above.


    As their minds became two again, Ves''ra''s heart started beating faster. A real challenge. A fast, agile flyer - one neither of then saw coming, and one neither of them managed to see in the change. This hunt was going to be glorious.

 Chapter 67

    A whole day! It took the huge bird a whole day to calm down and stop searching for them. Still, because it lost their scent in the first hour, and their location in the second, Ves''ra managed to get a good, if distant look at their prey.


    A really big bird. Judging the size of something flying was always hard, but this thing was big. It would be a feast. Embarrassed, she quickly swallowed the line of drool leaving her maw, glad no other kobold had been around to notice.


    ¡°Let''s go back Arvog, we know where to find it now.¡± She said.


    And they did. Their prey lived deep in the mountains. Finding it would be hard, but they should be able to find its nesting place with liberal use of magic. Mainly to disguise themselves, because missing something this big was impossible if you looked for it.


    ¡°You¡¯ll have to be careful when flying around from now on, perhaps even fly a little less.¡± She said to her familiar.


    Carefully, they climbed to the top of the forest, a few kilometres from their initial hiding place. Arvog flung himself in the air, staying close to the trees, while Ves''ra scanned the sky for predators. No need to tempt fate after all - what if the bird that attacked them wasn''t the only one? They fell for such a ploy once, which was excusable due to their inexperience. But doing it a second time? That¡¯d be on them, and here Ves''ra didn''t have the time to prepare. If something were to swoop down on them, she¡¯d barely have the time to get a few litres of water out of the air around them.


    Lighting was powerful, but she very much doubted a bird as big as their new prey would be bothered by it at all. And air? Air wouldn''t really work against something build to cut through the air as fast as possible. So she had to use water, her slowest magic by far, but arguably also the most powerful magic she could think of, given enough time to prepare, or a nearby lake.


    They didn''t take long to arrive at the camp, hidden behind magic, rocks and trees.


    ¡°Chief, I''m glad you returned. We all heard our new prey.¡± Tes¡¯va said.


    ¡°Yep. A really big bird. Nearly got us too, swooping down from above.¡± Ves''ra admitted. ¡°I''m famished, do we have anything to eat?¡±


    ¡°We do, follow me.¡± The other kobold said. ¡°So, a big bird, what do you think it evolved from?¡±


    ¡°I''m not sure, I didn''t get a good look at it. But eagles are some of the biggest birds I know of, so I assume it¡¯s some kind of eagle. Anyways. We need to go deep into the mountains about a week or two of travel from here. And find its nest, I really don''t want to fight it in the air. Fighting anything in its prefered space is just stupid after all.¡± She explained.


    The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.¡°A big eagle huh. I never ate eagle, how does it taste?¡± She wondered.


    ¡°I don''t know, I''m not a big fan of birds. I don''t like their bones.¡± Ves''ra admitted.


    ¡°Yeah, small birds are annoying to eat but better than nothing.¡± The old kobold said.


    ¡°I ate a lot of them as a small kobold. Birds are really easy to catch if you know what you¡¯re doing and gathered some seeds beforehand. One of my minders taught me that they like seeds, so I always went out and gathered them when I had the time, putting them near me and just sitting there for hours, waiting for a bird to come close enough to snatch up.¡± Ves''ra recounted. ¡°But eagles don''t eat seeds, and after I became a mage getting food was significantly easier, and a rabbit just has more meat than a bird does, and no bones that bite back.¡±


    ¡°True enough. I didn''t see anyone but the youngest hatchlings eating birds ever since you freed us. And young hatchlings eat everything they can get their maw on.¡±


    ¡°Isn''t that the truth. So, on the topic of eating. Do you know if our scales change colour if we eat rocks? Like they do when we eat leaves?¡± Ves''ra asked as they arrived at the cooking area.


    Several large deer were slowly roasted over the fire, readied for transport. After all, you never knew when you needed food but couldn''t hunt. And while roasted meat was tasteless, it still satiated hunger.


    ¡°They do. Why do you ask?¡± Tes¡¯va answered.


    ¡°Because Arvog and I will go fly towards the mountains tomorrow, and get some small rocks. So our scales will be ready for the new biome when you arrive. Arvog and I will join you afterwards, the skies are too dangerous right now.¡± Ves''ra explained.


    ¡°I see. That''s a good idea chief.¡±


    Ves''ra nodded towards the old kobold and moved towards the fire, getting herself something to eat. You could never have too little food after all.


    Now, what would they need to take that bird on? Its feathers should be perfect for armour, so long as they weren''t attacked with fire. Which made fire magic an absolute no go. What remained though? Stopping air from entering its lungs? Possible, but what stopped their prey from just flying off? No, they¡¯d have to kill it within the first minute or injure one of its wings enough that flying off wasn''t possible.


    Blunt force perhaps? With several of the physically inclined kobolds supporting one of the earth mages, they should be able to create and use a really big club. Ves''ra grinned dangerously. That big chicken wouldn''t know what came for it! And even better, she didn''t need the hero to come up with that answer.

 Chapter 68

    I hated birds. What kind of self-respecting adventurer used an overgrown chicken as a mount? And not even for something useful, but to assault a poor, harmless girl living in her own castle? It¡¯s not like I wanted to kill their friends!


    I just defended myself when they came for me, it wasn''t my fault I didn''t want to die and had to take some extreme measures to survive my assured death. My new body didn''t even look different from a normal human body, ignoring the improvements I made. It wasn''t like I cared about their strange adventurer''s guild, they could do what they wanted as long as they left me to my own devices.


    Sure, currently those devices mainly consisted of plotting the fall of a certain kingdom, but really, what did they care, vagrants that they were!


    I continued moping about the unfairness of fate as I looked at my previously clean castle top. A really beautiful castle top too, at least until they decided to fill it with bits of humans and big birds. Really, what kind of idiot did not secure their castle against incursions from above in a world like this?


    It just cost a little bit of magic to do it too. Just a few hundred, razor-sharp wires of magic, arranged in a thin-meshed net, flying right over the top of my castle. and everything bigger than a fly got shredded when landing.


    Well, probably the kind of idiot that didn''t want to clean their castle from giant birds every time they were attacked. Ah well, no matter. I just focused a little and all the blood, destroyed gear, skin and feathers floated upwards. My spiders always needed something to eat after all. Time to get back to more important activities. Plotting and doing my research. After all, true immortality didn''t come from nothing. Just being unaging was not enough, no. I want to transcend even death! And I would if my research bore fruit.


    An evil grin spread over my face, the look on all those peoples faces once I returned from beyond my premature grave. It¡¯d be more than a little delicious.


    Because, honestly my death really was just a matter of time, considering how many people I killed.


    Someone too powerful for me to defeat would come in time, come to take me out. But that didn''t really matter. I didn''t care if that kingdom died now, or a few thousand years in the future, as long as I was the one responsible for their downfall!


    ¡°Chief, we are ready to go.¡±


    ¡°Good, don''t let me stop you.¡± Ves''ra said, smoothly rising from her sitting position.


    A week and a half. They had been walking towards the mountains for a week and a half, and now, they stood at their feet, scales perfectly adapted to the grey of the mountain.This novel''s true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there.


    ¡°Did anyone see our prey already? If not, let''s just move forward, we¡¯ll find it eventually.¡± She asked.


    ¡°No chieftain.¡± All kobolds said.


    ¡°Let''s go then.¡± She said back.


    After a week of walking through the same endless canyons Ves''ra had to admit a change of plans was needed. These mountains were huge, and you couldn''t really see anything from deep in the canyons. What to do though? Canyons were the safest place to be, too small for anything really big to enter. But they needed to change things up.


    What though?


    Get a better vantage point, after all the bird really should be big enough to notice. And something that big needed enough food too, so she wasn''t all that worried about finding it.


    ¡°I will ascent a mountain if we don''t find it soon.¡± She said. ¡°Is it still immune to our scrying magic?¡±


    ¡°It is, we know it lives somewhere around here, but it somehow can avoid any further tracking.¡± Tes¡¯va explained.


    The view was glorious. Normally, Ves''ra wasn''t a kobold to appreciate nature, after all nature just was, but she had a sweet spot for mountains. The simple, white mountaintops, the grey stone, and the green forests deeper down, they just made a perfect picture.


    But she wasn''t here to look at nature, she was here to spot their prey.


    Nothing, but Ves''ra already expected that. A little mana left her body, building herself a small protection against the glaring sun, and a way to keep the heating spell she had to constantly use, being this far up cooled her down real fast without magic. Being cold-blooded really had some disadvantages sometimes.


    There! Ves''ra had been sitting up here for nearly two days, watching nature, killing and eating the occasional animal that got a little too curious, but she finally spotted the bird. And it was a big bird. Nearly triple Arvog¡¯s size the bird really reminded her of a powerful eagle.


    She didn''t know all that much about powerful bird monsters, but she had read about the most common of them. A Roc. Great.


    Rocs had no innate magic themselves, but their scales made them nearly immune to all magic in turn. Killing them was rarely worth the effort, considering their incredible strength and the need to kill them via physical power.


    Perfect. Her plan would work then.


    After all, a stone club-shaped by magic was still a stone club and thus perfectly capable of clubbing that overgrown chicken to death.


    Ves''ra returned her attention to her unsuspecting prey, following its progress with watchful eyes. The last three days weren''t something she wanted to repeat, so she¡¯d watch the roc for now, and stay for a few hours, to see if it returned. Following it now, only to find out that they followed in a hunt would be quite embarrassing.


    About four days after she left her village Ves¡¯ra returned to them.


    ¡°I know where we have to go.¡± She said.


    ¡°Where to?¡±


    ¡°We need to go east. I saw it a few hours ago, flying west, but it returned with prey in its claws later on.¡± She explained. ¡°I''m probably going to have to climb a mountain another one or two times, that thing is so fast it can easily cross double the length of this mountain range in a few hours.¡±


    ¡°Let''s get moving then, we have a lot of ground to cover.¡±


    ¡°Let''s.¡± Ves''ra agreed.

 Chapter 69

    Three weeks. They needed three whole weeks to find the roc''s nest. And of course, it was located in the middle of a jagged cliff. If she and Arvog were alone still, she would have honestly just turned around and went to find an easier target.


    But now? Ves''ra had access to a stone mage, so tunnelling up to reach their prey''s nest wouldn''t be a problem. The roc itself was huge, and she guessed it made its nest in a large cave. Good for them. The easiest way to kill it probably involved collapsing the cave mouth, and simply wait for it to starve.


    But that''d be stupid, considering they wanted to eat the roc, not get its feathers. So a direct fight it was. Wait. Suffocation would work too.


    "Ok, change of plans. We''re going to collapse the cave mouth, and I''m gonna fill the cave with unbreathable air. That way we don''t have to fight something so dangerous." She explained.


    "A good idea. I''ll prepare the village." Tes''va said.


    "Let''s start with making a tunnel and cave for us to use first. It can return any moment and I''d like to have something solid over my head when that thing comes." Ves''ra said.


    "Let''s." Her second agreed.


    Soon enough, the whole village was gathered inside a small cave, happy chatting and eating as they waited. Now, their next mana-filled meal was only a matter of time. Ves''ra herself spend the time to go over some more of the heroine''s memories, refining her plan, and waiting.


    Two days later the small tunnel towards the roc''s nest was finally finished. Ves''ra, along with two other kobolds lay in wait, ready for their prey to come home and go to sleep. They were protected by layers of natural magic, as she feared their prey would be able to detect actual magic.


    Soon enough, day became night, and the roc returned. It really was huge!


    Brown feathers nearly half as long as a grown kobold protected its body. It had a beak large enough to bite anyone of them in half. From her estimations, the roc was nearly ten metres long, half that tall and had a wingspan of nearly fifty metres. It really was a monster.


    They watched as it tore into the prey in its feet, a large deer. Larger than any deer either of them had ever seen. Ves''ra wanted to taste one!


    She would have to hunt one down herself though, because she wouldn''t go and fail the plan now. And the plan was to wait for the roc to sleep, before attacking. After all, small weak kobolds like them had to use every advantage they had, and that meant the ability to plan, and the option to surprise their prey. This one time at least.


    If they failed now though? They¡¯d either be dead, or their prey would be warned. So they had one try, after which they¡¯d probably have to follow their prey for another month or two, to find where it fled to. If they managed to keep up at all, which was doubtful.


    The roc went to sleep about an hour after it arrived, obviously sated by the deer it ate. Good, now they only had to wait another hour, to wait until it slept as deep as rocly possible. Slowly, Ves''ra started gathering mana in her core, stopping it from circulating inside of her.The author''s tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.


    And she started casting a powerful spell. A spell that would take all breathable air and replace it with unbreathable air. And they waited. And waited. Ves''ra could feel her magic working, by now it had filled the cave about half a meter up from the ground. Another few minutes and the roc would breathe in the first of the air.


    There. She waited, ready to give the signal to collapse the cave mouth, and bolt, but needed have worried. Their prey didn''t so much as twitch as it breathed in the first mouthful of unbreathable air.


    They continued waiting, and their prey continued breathing. Slowly, she watched at its breaths got a little slower, shallower. Still, they continued to wait. Something this big wasn''t to be messed with. No, they¡¯d wait until the last breath had been at least half an hour ago. Then, they¡¯d collapse the cave mouth, to wake the roc up if it still lived.


    Only after that would they leave the safety of their tunnel, and check on their meal. A perfect plan.


    Suddenly, that slow breathing roc showed signs of waking up. Its breathing increased in speed, taking in even more of the unbreathable air that nearly filled the cave by now. Slowly, its eyes opened. And it moved its head.


    The roc slowly fought itself to its feet, let loose a screeching cry of anger, and took a step towards them. Ves''ra¡¯s heart jumped into her throat, but the roc stumbled taking its second step and lost its footing.


    It did not get back up.


    ¡°Close the cave, but leave a small hole to I can return actual air in there.¡± She commanded finally, as the first rays of sunlight shone into the cave.


    ¡°Yes, chief.¡±


    Mana left the kobold next to her, passed through stone until it passed the roc. After that, a large wall of stone rose, sealing the cave. The roc did not move. Ves''ra formed a spike of ice, sending it at their prey. No reaction.


    Still, she did not move into the cave. Instead, two long arms made of ice slowly formed on her back, and moved into the cave in her stead. One had a hand, while the other had a long spear at its end. She concentrated but saw the bird¡¯s eyes were still open. Did birds even have the eyelids required to blink? No matter.


    The spear of ice stabbed forwards, right through the roc¡¯s eye, and deep in its brain. It didn''t so much as blink. Ves''ra grinned savagely.


    ¡°Fetch the others. We have a feast to consume.¡± She commanded.


    ¡°Yes, chief.¡±


    Ves''ra herself cast another spell and made a strong gust of wind move the unbreathable air out of the cave, drawing breathable air from the tunnel behind them. By the time the other kobolds joined them the air in the cave was breathable again, so long as you didn''t bow down.


    ¡°Let''s get this thing processed, and moved back down. I don''t know why, but it cried for something before it died. Probably backup.¡± Ves''ra said. ¡°And I don''t want to be around when that happens. Let''s go.¡±


    The kobolds nodded and started working. About half the village plucked the roc¡¯s feathers, with the other half cutting it into pieces and transporting their loot down the tunnel. Ves''ra herself helped too, creating knives of magical ice to cut its flesh. Furthermore she cut both its beak and claws off herself, after the magical knives lost their sharpness too much for anyone but her to use them. After all she could keep them sharp while cutting. They should be good weapons.


    They didn''t take any bones, birds lacked the solid bones of land-bound animals after all. After that, a big bonfire was lit, and they dug into the raw roc. It tasted glorious. Totally worth nearly dying for. Arvog seemed to agree with her too, and send her a feeling of happiness as he dug into his food.


    After she ate her fill Ves''ra carefully threaded the new mana into her channels, noting she was getting close to evolving again. Another monster of the roc¡¯s power and it was time. Perfect. They¡¯d leave the mountains as they fled from the army, shaking any pursuers the roc may have called. They¡¯d need a break after that, process the roc into a useable form, before moving on.


    She smiled, things were looking up.

 Chapter 70

    ¡°That''s as far as you can go. Another step and we will pepper you with arrows lizard scum,¡± a voice stated.


    Ves''ra stopped, and Arvog started circling above them, his eye from the air allowing her to spot the beings surrounding them. All twenty of them.


    ¡°And you are?¡± She asked cooly, pouring mana in her core.


    ¡°We are the seventeenth scout squad. And you are trespassing our territory. But you know that already, don''t you?¡± The being said.


    ¡°I don''t really. It¡¯s not like you put a sign anywhere,¡± she said with a shrug.


    ¡°A SIGN? You try sneaking into our territory, and have the audacity to ask for a sign!¡± She yelled.


    ¡°We weren''t sneaking,¡± Ves''ra stated. ¡°We just moved on. We are hunting.¡±


    ¡°Yes. Hunting us,¡± the being snorted.


    ¡°Why would we hunt humans?¡± Ves''ra wondered. ¡°You''re neither powerful, nor are you a monster. We don''t care about humans.¡±


    ¡°HUMANS? Now you are just mocking me! WE ARE PROUD ELVES!¡± The voice yelled.


    ¡°Humans, elves. You''re all the same, hell you even look the same, if you ignore the ears,¡± Ves''ra complained.


    ¡°You''re a very a typical lizard, lizard,¡± the voice said.


    ¡°I''m not a lizard. I''m a kobold,¡± Ves''ra stated. ¡°And if you insist on insulting me I will be cross. It¡¯s not like the twenty of you can offer any resistance if I decide to go serious on you,¡± she threatened, annoyed at the rude being.


    Not that she would actually kill them for annoying her. She avoided killing other intelligent beings whenever possible. The other didn''t know about that though.


    ¡°Now you show your true face, lizard scum. Leave, or die!¡± The elf threatened back.


    So Ves''ra allowed some of her mana to leak into the surroundings. Arvog saw as all elves lowered their weapons, so she grinned a toothy smile at the elf that had been speaking, hidden in the forest around them.


    ¡°You are an archmage,¡± the elf stated.


    ¡°I am,¡± Ves''ra agreed.


    ¡°Where did you come from?¡± She asked.


    ¡°We hunted the roc in the mountains, and moved past them, to find other worthy prey,¡± she explained. ¡°Though we wanted to make a stop first, and process our materials.¡±


    ¡°You killed the roc? Impressive, we already wondered why we didn''t see it in the last week,¡± she said. ¡°We came off at the wrong foot here, how about we start anew?¡±This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.


    ¡°Sure,¡± Ves''ra agreed easily, as the elf walked out of the forest around them.


    ¡°What do you seek here?¡±


    ¡°Prey,¡± Ves''ra answered.


    ¡°Prey? Deer or something like that?¡± The elf asked.


    ¡°No. Prey like our previous prey. Powerful monsters filled with mana,¡± she explained.


    ¡°Powerful monsters. We may have something for you there,¡± the elf said.


    ¡°You do? Do tell,¡± Ves''ra said.


    ¡°There¡¯s an earthworm plaguing the countryside. It staked its territory, and simply kills everyone entering it, it¡¯s been quite the annoyance, but none of our earth mages have the time to go and deal with it. And warriors aren''t suited to fight an enemy that can vanish in the ground they stand on,¡± the elf explained.


    ¡°So the only monster you know about is one you want to get rid of? What¡¯s in it for us?¡± She asked.


    Hunting prey was a reward in itself, but if there were a bunch of humans nearby that you could get more stuff from? Why not use the chance! Of course, the stuff humans found valuable was mostly useless, but they had centuries to gather knowledge and information, and were far easier to convince to let go of it than they were of their useless material possessions.


    ¡°What would you want?¡± The elf asked. ¡°There is a bounty on it, but that¡¯ll not be enough for a group as big as yours.¡±


    ¡°Easy. We want someone to show us how to get the most out of our roc materials. And any information you have on powerful beasts nearby. All that before we hunt your earthworm, because we will risk our lives for you,¡± Ves''ra demanded.


    ¡°That doesn''t sound too bad. But I am in no position to negotiate for my lord. I can take you to him if you want to, I''m sure he will be delighted to have you here,¡± she explained, turning around. ¡°My people will stay here and continue to watch for sneaky lizardman trying to infiltrate our borders.¡±


    ¡°Lead the way then,¡± Ves''ra said, following the elf.


    She wasn''t all that worried about being ambushed later on - Arvog had their back from the air after all, and their host didn''t know about him. No need to risk anything, so she cast a powerful shield on all of them. Just to be sure.


    Soon enough, Arvog spotted a settlement in the distance. Quite a big settlement, but still smaller than the human cities she had been to before.


    ¡°So, tell me more about your country,¡± Ves''ra said. ¡°And those lizardmen you took us for.¡±


    ¡°The last question is easy. We have been fighting a large tribe of lizardmen for the last months. They raid our villages, take our people and retreat. They flee from any force send to punish them, so we just placed patrols all along our borders,¡± the elf explained. ¡°And my country? What is there to say, we¡¯ve been founded some two hundred years ago, by our ancestors. We started as a single town, but are now a proud kingdom with two cities, three towns and several dozen villages. Well, until we lost nearly a dozen villages to those damned lizardmen. But the king will do something about it soon!¡±


    ¡°I see. Well, I wish you good luck in dealing with the invaders. The country I was in last got invaded too, though by an army, not a tribe,¡± she recalled.


    ¡°So that''s why you left?¡± The elf asked.


    ¡°No. I was just visiting, finding more powerful monsters to grow, to evolve. And they had a very convenient system in place. One that allowed me to know about such monsters from more than a month¡¯s journey away,¡± she explained.


    ¡°You seek even more power? What for, there are few beings in the world that can fight an archmage in open combat,¡± the elf said.


    ¡°I have a certain problem that needs addressing. A problem I need more power for, but that''s all I''m gonna say about it,¡± Ves''ra said. ¡°And we are here anyways. Your city is quite pretty.¡±


    ¡°Yes we are. How did you know, it¡¯s still out of sight,¡± the elf said.


    ¡°I am a powerful mage, I have quite some tricks up my sleeve,¡± Ves''ra explained.


    The elf nodded, her explanation made sense after all, and she now had to talk with the guards, to allow them to enter the city and work for them. Sleeping in a real bed for change would be quite welcome.

 Chapter 71

    "So you are, or were a kobold?" the elf in front of her asked.


    "Isn''t it obvious?" Ves''ra asked back.


    "No it is not. You look like a lizardmen," he said.


    Ves''ra looked at the elf in front of her like the idiot he was.


    "We look completely different!" She stated. "Lizardmen are some of the most ugly creatures I''ve ever met, they''re too massive, their scales are too big their teeth look weird and their snout is all wrong," she explained. ¡°Humans like you are just strange, but lizardmen are ugly.¡±


    "Humans look nothing like us, but I see your point,¡± he said. ¡°Say, you wouldn''t be up to kill a bunch of them for us?"


    "No. I don''t involve myself in wars," she stated.


    "It''s not a war. There''s not much fighting going on," the elf lord contradicted.


    "A war does not need a drop of blood to be shred to be a war,¡± she stated. ¡°I don''t involve myself in killing other intelligent beings if I can avoid it.¡±


    ¡°Are you sure? Everyone has a price, what is yours?¡± he asked.


    ¡°I don''t care about your human money. I don''t need it, and do not see any value in it,¡± she stated.


    ¡°There are other ways to pay someone than money, name your price,¡± he said.


    ¡°You don''t have anything interesting enough to even start considering that, no powerful monsters, and neither magic to speak of,¡± she stated.


    ¡°You don''t know anything about our city though, you came here regardless,¡± he said.


    ¡°I know enough. The only halfway interesting thing you have is the shield, but that isn''t all that advanced, I''ve seen better,¡± she said.


    ¡°You seem awfully well travelled for a simple kobold,¡± the elf lord said.


    ¡°I travelled for most of my life. I had to leave my village of birth because I awakened as a mage, not a warrior. So I travelled, explored the world, hunted for powerful monsters and got more powerful myself. I even evolved two times,¡± she said.If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.


    ¡°And how old are you?¡± he asked with interest.


    ¡°I should be somewhere around four years of age,¡± she said after a moment of thought.


    ¡°FOUR YEARS? YOU''RE JUST A TODDLER!¡± He yelled.


    ¡°Not really. I am a fully grown kobold. It''s not my fault you all grow up so slowly,¡± she stated.


    ¡°I see. You do seem mature enough. So, you''re here to hunt the earthworm that¡¯s been plaguing the countryside for the last few months?¡± he asked.


    ¡°We are,¡± Ves''ra agreed.


    ¡°Would you mind waiting a bit? Summer is coming fast, and the earthworm is in a quite opportune spot for us, it''s right near our borders, so you can think why I have not offered enough of an incentive to kill it so far,¡± the elf asked.


    ¡°I wouldn''t mind. If we can spend the summer here, I don''t want to do so outside of a city if I don''t have to,¡± she said. ¡°My people could use the break anyways. We have been travelling for quite some time now, and they need a break.¡±


    ¡°Good. Very good. Why do you not need a break though?¡± he said.


    ¡°I have something personal to do. I will have all the time in the world to take a break after I''m finished with that. But that''s not a matter that really concerns you. It¡¯s very much private,¡± she said.


    ¡°I see. Will it impact my city?¡± he asked.


    ¡°It won''t,¡± she stated confidently. ¡°So. Seeing as we are going to stay here for a little, do you have any lesser monsters around? My hatchlings need some training for their new forms,¡± she said.


    ¡°You''re just offering to hunt monsters for us?¡± he asked.


    ¡°Well, I would send my hatchlings out to hunt regardless, they need to learn. And the best way to learn how to swim is being thrown in the water,¡± she stated.


    ¡°That''s really not the best way,¡± he said.


    ¡°I''m going to keep watch of course, but they don''t need to know that,¡± she said.


    ¡°Well. I don''t know about that, I do not concern myself with monsters that do not impact our safety or our economy. You¡¯ll have to ask the captain of the guard for that,¡± the elf lord said.


    ¡°I will do that. Now, do you have any building we can use for the summer? We can build our own if you don''t, we just need some space,¡± she said.


    ¡°We do have some free space within the walls. But do know that every mage living inside the walls is required to help protect it in a time of need,¡± he said.


    ¡°That''s fine. But only mature kobolds. I won''t have my hatchlings in an unsupervised fight!¡± Ves''ra stated.


    ¡°Who do you think we are? We don''t force children to fight,¡± he said outraged.


    "We are in agreement then. Do you have any craftsmen capable of working with roc feathers? We can cobble something together, but we lack true expertise,¡± she asked.


    The elf perked up, nodding.


    ¡°I can. We have some of the best craftsmen in thousands of miles, I''m sure they¡¯ll be more than happy to help you out with something as rare as roc materials,¡± he said.


    ¡°That sounds perfect. I¡¯ll find them. Bye,¡± she said, and turned around.


    She marched out of the hall after the talk, more than ready for a good flight. Dealing with humans and their ilk was just exhausting. Her village could wait a little longer.