After waiting outside amidst wary eyes, none of the group had been prepared for how awkward it was. Save Prince Baik, the trio of outsider kobolds sweated and stood mostly in silence. The only exception had been when both Hanaya and Ango pried in Nehlka's grasp of magic. Both had never even trained in it so it wasn't surprising that they reflected so much bottled curiosity even in such a tense scenario.

Baik spent the time, however, studying the kobolds and the veteran. After them, he surveyed the walls and the familiar curvature of the town that he had seen long ago. Two years had dulled most of his recollection since most of it came from when he was much smaller than he is now. Yet as Bailaka buzzed and the kobolds worked to ferry news and get orders on what to do, he couldn't help think of just how ironically large the changes seemed.

Things feel that they changed... but I think it's more that it was me who changed.

Both Hanaya and Ango had grown large and strong from hunting and eating much more meat than a traditional village kobold might, yet it didn't show until here. Only the most elite of the warriors in the armor-clad kobold's posse were comparable to Hanaya while her lover was as big as the old veteran. Nehlka was more average and even she was about head-level with the shortest warrior. It was astounding that he considered her a runt, yet among his own people she was more than adequately sized for a woman kobold.

"Let my Prince in!"

An effeminate voice barked out over the gateway, graveled with the earliest onset of age. The kobolds all immediately turned and kneeled, while the electrocuted kobold merely cracked his arm across his breastplate. The trio at Baik's side all turned their attention toward the suddenly moving bunch, eyes filled with various emotions of worry and caution, whilst the prince merely smiled. Ango raised his shield only for Baik's tail to sweep and thunk the top dismissively.

"No need," Baik whispered, ignoring the grumpy kobold's glare. Instead, he started walking forward toward the clacking staff and creamy-pink figure cutting her way between the guards. All the bowmen on the walls lowered their weapons much to the confusion of the prince's guards, inspiring the two muscleheads to relax but Nehlka to furrow her brows. Yet none of their displays had been seen by their leader; the tower-master had no interest in wasting any more time.

The blue kobold comes to a halt a few feet ahead of the saluting armor-clad kobold, looking down on the newly arrived figure. She was no taller than his waist, yet the memories of his human life fighting against the emotional dampening he'd prepared from hunting during the trials.

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Kobolds rarely get to live with their mothers for very long. Whether through death or their societal structure, the only reason young mothers have many children is that they expect them to often be slain. This causes most kobolds who are young to keep large amounts of kids, while most of the older females are busy acting as teachers or aides. This fits with the logic of the first Key Law of the kobolds; replenishing the species was left to the young. However, the third Key Law ensured the role of older kobolds to train and ensure the survival of the species. For a long time, however, there was an issue that always gave me pause in this cyclical pattern. Those laws were how kobolds handled the lesser kobolds. Princes, when born, only had two tutors. They never stayed with their mothers or received tutoring from other kobolds.

This is because from the day we're brought before a Prince or into a village without one, a Kobold Prince is raised by the Druidess. Where some kobolds may have two or three that are similar or fulfill motherly roles, a prince only ever knew and met with the druidess who raises them.

Of all the things that the kobolds did, this left me confused; would it not be beneficial for kobolds to ensure that a prince learns as much as possible? We may occasionally get the aid or advice from a Prince, warriors, or a craftsman but it's largely insignificant in the grand scheme of the education I received. Such a singularly focused upbringing was counterpointed to the ideas of apprenticeship and basic education, yet it was the sole period for a Prince to get formative help before taking on the Trials.

But when I saw her again, I realized what the answer to all that was. The sole reason that kobolds seemingly disobeyed logical Key Laws that they applied hand-and-foot to try and enforce over their kind.

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"My, my... you have grown quite well, my Prince."

The kobold woman looked up at him, her right hand clutching an old iron staff bearing an unusual sigil. The iconography of it alone weighed into human designs, emblazoned with a visage of flame and a kobold's skull. Once upon a time, the weapon had likely been a fair staff for someone around six feet tall, yet the nearly three-foot-four-inches-tall kobold wielding it had broken it at its base and recrafted a stone moon end-cap to serve as a pronged cane. Her age had only just begun to show in her hair, with its pink streaking silver as it drew back into a taut ponytail bound by a simple black cord. But unlike her hair, she still looked healthy; a supple body for a kobold with clean creamy scale-skin that made her almost appear human.

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Unlike all the other kobolds, however, her eyes glimmered with a power that only now did Baik understand after his own awakening; the kobold smiling up at him may have been kind but with a twist of her wrist, the entire village could be buried beneath the surface as if it never existed. Although sensing the depth of one's magic was more extreme in this world, Aggel had told him once that the differences between those who have awoken can be felt tangibly when that divide is wide.

Right now, despite towering over her, the kobold who had raised him seemed like an army by herself. Yet there wasn't fear in his body... because all the time he spent with the woman beat those dangerous instincts back. Baik gritted his teeth and scowled, despite the cheery demeanor in his old mentor. If not for biting his tongue, it'd take everything in him to not lunge out and try to fight for survival as he had done against countless creatures far bigger and powerful compared to him.

The reason that they do this is so that when a Prince returns...

She struck him on the knee playfully, snapping him from his thoughts and meeting his gaze. Neither of their gazes broke away, instead snaring his green eyes in an unfathomable depth of mana and deadly magical prowess.

"You grew," she cooed. "But, the fact you didn't attack... now you understand that question you were rattling around in your head for the last few years, mm?"

Ango started stepping forward but Baik's tail snapped the dirt behind him to stop the kobold. His friend's heavy figure stomping around made it obvious that he was worried about some sort of disrespect toward Baik yet it was unnecessary.

"If I weren't the prince I claim to be... I'd have attacked you the instant we met eyes, right?"

Aggel's lips twist into a smirk, whilst all the kobolds behind her visibly shake. The sole figure who seems unphased by the image of that is the armored leader.

"That is correct. And if you had attacked me, I would have destroyed you."

The older female looked back at the trio. "And then immediately sent those two fools and your selected-druidess along after you. To imagine your charisma and guile would have snared kobolds from beyond our walls..."

Given her age and experience by now, Baik wasn't surprised that she could deduce the status of them. Nehlka didn't appear happy at the isolation, paled by the riotous snarls from her brother and his lover, yet bowed her head toward the elder.

"Baik's Druidess Nehlka greets the Druidess of Bailaka." Nehlka kept her head down, turning her staff into both hands to lower even further... yet rose when Aggel kept staring at her. The older kobold made Nehlka squirm uneasily before finally glancing at Baik.

"My prince, did you pick her because of her proportions?"

Baik's tension finally loosened, turning to look back at the now reddening green girl.

"No. Despite her uncertainty in me, she didn't run away. Her sense of duty to other kobolds is what netted her the title."

Nehlka raised her head and bashfully met his gaze for a few seconds before the prince turned to Aggel, grabbing his blanket-sash. Reflecting on the decision, it had been one that was questioned even by Nehlka but her potential would perhaps someday match Aggel if his gut was right. At their current levels, Nehlka was already poised to become a better mage than Baik.

"With her magic," he started, lifting a hand to his chest. "She will protect me. Is that not enough reason to pick her, teacher?"

The iron-clad kobold lowered his salute, stepping up alongside Aggel. The pair shared a glance whilst the veteran nodded; the older woman returned her gaze to Baik, yet the warrior unfastened the clasps of his helmet and removed it. Although it had been many years since that faithful day, the purple kobold beneath the iron visage burned brightly in Baik's memories. Though he had lost one of his eyes to a fierce burn that coated the right side of his face, Toif had barely aged over the years.

"You grew, runty prince." He sat his helmet on his waist. "Shocking me was an unexpected move as well. Now that you've returned, however, does it mean you believe your trial complete?"

Baik let his tail rest easily and reached up, brushing his free hand along the back of his feathered ear. A simple stance with one hand showcasing the amount of plumage he bore whilst the other on his belt or waist could flex to demonstrate muscle.

"By the five laws, I have upheld my ideals. I am strong, I have allies, and unlike before... I have changed. I stole from humans, killed beasts, and even survived the venom of a chimera."

Toif's jaw nearly fell open whilst Aggel seemed quite smugly proud at the last bit. All the kobolds at the gate looked at his ridged tail, confirming for themselves the accounts.

"Between all the kobolds of Bailaka, I stand alone without any of them at my side. I made a home for myself and my friends for two years and we all live with ease. We have not merely survived... but thrived."

Baik turned to look at the trio, remembering each and every struggle. Fighting boar, their harsh winter, and the death of their friend had merely been the beginning of their life. Now, faced with his destiny, he knew the next step that lay ahead only now when faced against his people. The Prince looked back to Aggel, then to Toif... and then finally up toward the uppermost layer of Bailaka at the place he had called home: Bai's fortress-like home.

"By the key laws of the kobolds, Prince Baik of Bai's Bailaka, desire the right to lead. I am young but the true end of the Trials can only come when I face the Prince who protected me." His hand fell from his ear, grabbing the handle of his club before his eyes drifted down to the pair of old, familiar faces.

"Aggel," he spoke, letting his own magical power flare. "I request the chance to fight Bai, so that I may lead kobolds myself either in alliance with Bailaka or from my tower. We may work together if he accepts, but if not..."

Every bone in his body shook, feeling anxiety as his own willpower took hold. The green gleam in his eye flowed red like the all-too-familiar sight of blood. Decision-wise, he normally let his training and education take the lead. But right now, the only thing Baik could feel was his body shaking in primal competitive instinct. His decision to return hadn't been made lightly, yet the souring gazes of the kobolds behind the pair made it apparent that his bloodlust was worn on his sleeve.

"I've not had a chance to really go all out; maybe that old lizard can give me a chance."