Something’s behind me... I’m not sure what it is, but it’s making Lena and Roy scared. Can’t I take a nap in peace? Roy is doing a good job standing in front of Lena putting her safety first, Atta boy. I quickly turn around to confront what is causing them to be so afraid. And I see... a wall? I tilt my head and examine the wall, but there’s nothing there…not even a mouse or giant cockroach just... a wall.

I check back on the kids and Roy has his sword up and they look at each other looking confused and scared at the same time. Maybe it’s some kind of magical creature that I can’t see normally…? Or it’s camouflaged? I turn around again and check again… still a wall…

“That’s strange… what’s making them scared… “

I mutter under my breath as I scratch my chin.

“Can’t keep them safe if I don’t see it, or hell know what it is...”

While I was thinking about the situation I hear Roy’s voice.

(Roy) “Lena… I think it’s Blackie…”

Well of course it’s me, who else did you think it was? Santa Claus?

(Lena) “The hair is the same color and his eyes, they’re the same color as Blackies…”

Even you Lena? I thought you were the smart one, and what do you mean hair? Maybe she meant scales, that  silly girl. I then walk over to the wall and touch it just in case and it hits me… I’m upright right now…? I take a look at my claws and they were replaced with small human hands? What happened!?

Panicking I touch my face and my head… nose...mouth...ears… hair? My skin felt smooth unlike the usual feel of my scales. Now that I think about it I’m slightly above Roy’s eye level now...  So for some reason, I’m now a human again and probably around 10 years old now?

“What the heck is going on! Gah! They can’t even hear me speak. How the hell am I going to get any answers!”

I grab my head in frustration and Roy hands me his extra pair of clothes he uses to change into if he gets too sweaty.

(Roy) “We can hear you Blackie…”

What? I can talk too!? Changing into Roy’s spare clothing I start to think. Why did this happen and how come? Maybe this has something to do with me being here…? Maybe there’s a reason for me to be here some kind of calling? Ha! Almost let my imagination get the best of me there.

Apparently this isn’t that uncommon of a thing, they said since I’m apparently a Dragon. Being of the Dragon species it seems that I naturally have a lot of “Magic” which would enable me to change. But then again since I’m just a giant gecko... how does that work? The main issue they had was the fact that I didn’t look like an Elf… how I knew what human looked like.

It took some convincing but I was able to make them think it was just a coincidence. It’s actually nice to be able to talk with them now and it’s a nice surprise that I can speak. Lena during our conversation was very excited about the fact that I could talk but Roy… suddenly became indifferent? I thought he’d be more excited since I could help him with his technique easier now.

I also decided to give myself a name here since honestly, I’m not too keen on the whole Blackie bit. After thinking for a bit I decide to go with the name Kurogane, it just seems to have a nice ring to it. Lena was very against it but Roy helped in convincing her to start calling me by my chosen name.

(Roy) “So Kurogane… you’re a boy?”

Well I was naked when I turned into a human so I guess it was apparent, one less thing to explain. Wait… he wouldn’t… I then see Roy pull his sword out and point it at me… he would.

(Roy) “Fight me Kuro!”

*sigh* He totally feels threatened now.

“Roy, first of all I don’t have any weapons… I use a two sword style and need a short and a long sword.”

Hearing this Roy runs outside in a hurry. He didn’t even give me a chance to explain.

(Lena) “Roy is such a boy, he must be so excited to have a sparring partner now.”

I’m really tempted to just yell out that he’s just jealous and is in love with her but I refrain. That’s something he himself has to say, and I should probably confirm something while I’m at it.

“Lena… you guys are childhood friends... right?”

Lena looks at me blankly and tilts her head

(Lena) “Yes we are… we grew up next door to each other, and have played together since we were babies.”

Phew… that’s good I would have to step in if they were related by blood but this way I can cheer them on from this side. Roy eventually comes running inside the shed hugging 3 swords and a shield, two were longer and one was short. He really wants to have a fight doesn’t he? My brother used to do that a lot when he was younger, never learned his lesson.

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(Roy) “Here you go Kuro, now we can have a duel!”

Roy throws me a short and long wooden sword and I grab them. He probably wants to look cool in front of Lena too but I really can’t let him win or he’ll never grow. I hold the longer sword in my right hand and grasp the shorter in a reverse grip for defense and hold the reversed blade in front of me.

“Don’t regret this Roy… come at me when you’re ready.”

Roy holds his shield in front of himself but it’s too low to properly defend himself so I instinctively tell him to raise his shield. Shaken, he follows my directions and waits for me to nod in approval before he starts. He starts to run forward at me with his shield in front of himself. Once I was in range he moves his shield aside and stabs towards me with his sword, I in turn side step out of the way and move behind him.

Odd I don’t feel like my speed has changed from my previous life? I then try to give him a light tap on the back but end up having to lean in more. I misgauged the distance between us, my arms are shorter aren’t they. Roy loses balance and trips forward but he quickly recovers and charges again with a upward vertical slash this time.

I hold out my left sword and catch it with the blade and redirect the sword over my head and slide forward putting my foot behind his and give him a push making him fall on the ground. At this point I felt like I was picking on him but it is the duty of the older brother to put his brother in his place. Huh…? What’s that sound… I can hear what sounds like a muffled laugh and look to see Lena holding her mouth shut and her feet were flailing about.

It looked adorable honestly, made me want to give her a big hug but Roy wasn’t giving up yet. He stood up again and this time tried to bash his shield into me and I meet is shield with my right sword forcing him to stop mid attack and push him back again. Stubborn kid doesn’t know when to give up… but then again it’s not a bad quality to have when learning.

“You know Roy, I can do this all day.”

Hearing this Lena broke, she started bursting into laughter kicking her legs about making Roy’s face go bright red. Taking this chance, I walk up to Roy and counsel him and whisper into his ear.

“I love you both like you were my little brother and sister. So don’t worry… I’m not going to steal her away, and seriously tell her you love her already. It’s painful to watch you sometimes.”

I thought Roy couldn’t get redder but oh man was I wrong…

After our little fight the children left for home and I have some alone time finally. The first thing that came to mind is during the sparring match with Roy was I found out I’m not longer fully used to moving around as a human anymore. That and the fact that… I’m much smaller than before… going from the body of a 28-year-old adult to a giant lizard… to what I feel like is an 10 year old's body is rather troublesome.

Just thinking about it makes me sigh, I had to dodge with a much larger amount of movement then required against Roy because of this. Since the kids are gone it gives me some time to practice and get back into the swing of things. This should be fun, especially since I feel like I’m stronger than before, how far can I push this body?

Sadly the hut is only so large restricting my training, and adjusting my reach is harder than I thought it’d be. Good thing the kids aren’t here, I’ve already missed my target a couple times when trying to graze it, their image of me would crumble apart. After running around for a while I end up going to bed looking forward to when I see them next.

The next time I see Lena and Roy they as usual came together and started talking to me more about their village. I’ve heard little things here and there but they would only tell me little things before such as what they ate for breakfast, what they brought for me and about their parents not letting them do something.

(Roy) “Kurogane! Let’s have a match!”

Roy today wanted another bout of sparring but it seemed more like actual training so I obliged. After a while Lena called out for me.

(Lena) “Kuro~!”

She looks at me as pats on the ground behind her. I change back into a lizard and lay behind her as she reads her school books. She seems to prefer me my lizard form as a back rest… why is that? I can’t see a lizard as being comfortable but I didn’t bother asking.

After the children left I continued my training for a while but I need a more open area to train. I’ve slowly grown accustomed to my human body again when the children leave to go home and I’m honestly amazed with how well I can move. But now I’ve run into a problem, this hut is too small for me to experimenting with other techniques.

Training outside would be ideal… but I remember last time I tried to open the door that foul smell  snuck in as soon as the door cracked… I’d rather not have that happen again. But this time I’m in the form of a human boy… is it different? Curiosity overcomes me and I approach the door and take a deep breath and creak the door open.