Thorian led the two brown kobolds back to the village hall, where they would be officially initiated as citizens. Melina, the elegant elven lady responsible for handling citizenship matters, greeted them with a warm smile.

"Ah, my lord, more citizens to join our ranks?" she inquired, her voice soft and melodic, betraying an air of familiarity with the various creatures that had approached her desk that day.

Thorian noticed the subtle change in her demeanor but chose not to remark upon it. Instead, he glanced back at the two brown kobolds, who were curiously surveying their surroundings. "Yes, these two fine gentlemen have expressed a desire to join our community."

"Citizen, here?" One of the brown kobolds asked, venturing further into the hall, his eyes wide with wonder.

"Yes, please come here," Melina gently beckoned the two brown creatures to her desk, where she had already prepared the stamp-needle and citizenship parchments.

After pricking their thumbs with the needle and pressing the parchments with their blood, the two kobolds became official citizens. As the golden dust settled, their eyes cleared, and they gazed at Melina and Thorian.

"Did we become citizens now?" one of them inquired.

"Yeah, was that it?" the other chimed in.

Thorian chuckled lightly at the exchange before nodding. "Yes, you are now true citizens of Wolvendale Village. Congratulations."

"Oh, I can understand you clearly now," the brown kobold remarked, raising his eyebrows in surprise, his companion mirroring his reaction.

"Well, the feeling is mutual," Thorian replied before turning toward the door. "Let's return to the gates. We'll need the rest of your group to come here as well."

The two kobolds nodded and followed Thorian outside the hall. As they meandered through the quaint village, one of the kobolds couldn't resist asking, "Is there more to this citizenship?"

"There are additional benefits, but those will come later," Thorian explained, not breaking stride. "For now, simply being able to communicate effectively is more than enough. Isn't it better now that you can fully understand me?"

"That is indeed true," the kobold acknowledged. "You seem wise, flame kobold, much like the elders back in our cave."

"My name is Thorian. You may address me by my name," the flame kobold said, casting a brief glance at the two before continuing. "And what cave are you referring to?"

“It’s our little home in this new world,” the brown kobold revealed with a sigh. "Our entire tribe lives there, under the rule of our chief."

Thorian nodded, allowing a brief silence to settle between them as they continued their walk. He could sense the somber mood in the air.

"Were there issues within your tribe?" he finally inquired, prompting a long sigh from the brown kobold.

"Of course there were. The chief took half our food," he clicked his tongue and shook his head, clearly disheartened by the memory.

Observing his friend's agitation, the other kobold chimed in, "That fat bastard, his body could feed the entire tribe."

As the two conversed and exchanged jests, Thorian asked a more pointed question: "Is your chief strong?"

The response was a mere gulp. The two kobolds fell silent, but their reticence spoke volumes to Thorian. He looked ahead, realizing they were nearing the southern gate, where the two priests stood on standby beside the watchtowers.

This is a heaven-sent opportunity, Thorian mused, scratching his furred chin in contemplation. If their chief is such a tyrant that his own men would rather remain with strangers than return to him, their entire tribe will soon crumble.

A sly grin tugged at the corner of Thorian's mouth. And when that happens, I'll be there to capitalize. If we're lucky we can bring in enough new blood to fulfill the requirements for the Village Upgrade.

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The clamor of battle reached Thorian's ears even before he opened the gate. Outside, the brown kobloids were locked in combat with a horde of goblins, commanded by spear-wielding hobgoblins. Nox and the three assassins dealt with the more formidable green adversaries, while the brown kobloids managed to overwhelm the smaller, weaker goblins.

As the battle drew to a close, Thorian and the two brown kobolds approached Nox and the assassins.

"Ah, Thorian!" Nox exclaimed in his innocent voice, noticing his king. His eyes flicked to the brown kobolds. "And you two! Did you become citizens?"

"Yes, we did," the two brown kobolds replied, chuckling as they strode toward Nox. Thorian could see how much more at ease they were in the company of the guileless shadowstalker. "It's so much easier to understand you now. My head hurt whenever we talked before!"

"Same here, my friend. It was so difficult to understand you two," Nox laughed along before turning to Thorian. "So, what should we do next?"

Thorian surveyed the battlefield. As usual, the priests moved among the brown kobloids, tending to the wounded. Meanwhile, the three silvery-white assassins sat on the ground, catching their breath.

With a strategy forming in his mind, Thorian turned to Nox and explained, "I need you to instruct the three assassins to escort the brown kobloids to the Village Hall, where they can become citizens. The four of us, along with the two priests, will remain here to guard the wall."

"Ah, we're going to fight together?" Nox's face lit up at Thorian's words. "Yes! It's been so long!"

Thorian chuckled at his follower's endearing reaction. "What do you mean 'It's been so long'? It has been just a little over two hours."

"Yeah, but I wasn't evolved back then. Now I can show you my true skills!" Nox replied excitedly, while the two brown kobolds chuckled at the exchange. The shadowstalker then turned toward the three assassins and declared, "I'll go tell them to get moving. Their break has been long enough."

As Nox strode toward the group of assassins, Thorian took a moment to clear his thoughts and devise a plan for the future.

Stabilizing the village is extremely important, but I should not ever forget my personal growth. Without holding formidable power, all my efforts in raising the territory would be in vain. As for the village, while we don't have enough registered citizens yet, we can still upgrade the statues to proper guilds.

Absorbed in his contemplations, Thorian glanced around to see the pack of kobloids following the three assassins into the village. The final part of the plan is assimilation. We need to reach 100 registered citizens to upgrade the village, but those citizens need to be naturalized with the rest of the tribe.

As their comrades passed through the gate, the two brown kobolds sidled up to Thorian and inquired, "Is there something we need to do now that we're citizens? Share our food?"

"Everything you hunt is yours," Thorian chuckled. "You'll have so much food, you won't know what to do with it all."

As Thorian and the two kobolds bantered playfully, the brown kobloids filed into the village and the gates closed. Nox, who had been attentively monitoring the operation, returned to the trio.

Thorian glanced at the approaching black kobold and remarked, "Good timing. We were just about to discuss our defense strategy."

"Oh? That sounds interesting. Strategy..."

Unfazed by Nox's child-like enthusiasm, Thorian voiced his concerns. "Our current approach to defense is, at best, clumsy. Concentrating most of our military force at the two poles while leaving our east and west sides virtually unprotected is unwise."

"Should we then split the two groups in half?" one of the brown kobolds suggested. "That way, we can put one team in the west and the other in the east."

"That's one possibility," Thorian acknowledged. "But the North side has its own challenges to contend with, and dividing their forces might invite more trouble than we're prepared to handle."

There are still the orcs on that side. I cannot be naive and weaken the North.

"I believe the two of you should manage the west and the east," Thorian proposed, catching the brown kobolds off guard. "You'll divide your pack in half, and each of you will oversee one side."

The pair exchanged glances before shrugging. "Since the kobloids have leveled up a lot, we shouldn't have trouble against weaker creatures like goblins. But if a large horde of them appears or we face really strong monsters, I'm not sure we can handle them on our own."

"You don't need to worry about that," Thorian reassured them with a smile. "The way you've been handling the defense hasn't been very strategic. Typically, an army should stand behind the wall, not in front of it. You should only venture out if you're confident you can manage the threats beyond."

"But how do we see what's happening outside from behind the wall?" The brown kobold inquired, puzzled by Thorian's line of thinking.

"You can use those," Thorian indicated the two watchtowers flanking the gate. "By climbing the watchtowers, you can get a clear view of what's happening outside without exposing yourselves to unnecessary danger."

"Oh, truly wise and knowledgeable," the brown kobold marveled at the watchtowers before praising Thorian. "I don't think even the elders would have known such a thing."

"This is nothing for Thorian; he knows everything," Nox responded, pride swelling in his voice as if Thorian's accomplishments were his own.

Thorian dismissed the excessive compliments with a shake of his head. Then, his ears caught a sound from the forest. His eyes immediately shifted toward the shadowy woods in the distance, where a tall silhouette emerged from beyond the trees. It had a lithe, inhuman figure, with a diminutive core and torso that contrasted with its length and size. Its limbs extended into scythe-like claws, and its face featured twitching mandibles, eager to tear into the flesh of its victims.

Is that a Thri-kreen?