I died in my sleep. Even though memories of my previous life were hazy and faded as quickly as they emerged, I somehow knew that I had died in my sleep. What happened afterwards could have been a dream, or it could have been reality. All I knew was that it felt like I had drifted in a sea of darkness, completely alone. I couldn’t tell how long I floated there. However, I did notice that my memories were becoming more ephemeral the longer I was within the void.

The life I once knew had been slipping away, like grains of sand through my fingers. I couldn’t even remember my name. It was at the tip of my tongue, but just out of reach. Yet, amidst the void's oppressive darkness, I found a peculiar sense of peace. It started to feel like home. Before the last fragments of my former existence started to fade away completely, a new awareness began to stir within me. I didn’t even realize at first that the darkness had changed.

Yawning, I stretched my arms and legs, or at least I was going to do so until my arms and legs knocked onto something hard. I frowned. My mind went completely blank as I struggled to come to terms with what had happened. I was no longer trapped in the void. For some reason, it felt like the protective blanket that was keeping me warm had been ripped away.

I slowly took stock of my situation. Judging by how my wings and tail were sliding along the curved surface underneath me, I was inside something spherical. Surprised, I mumbled, “Tail? Wings?” I abruptly opened my eyes and muttered to myself, “Since when did I have wings and a tail?”

At least that was what I was trying to say. What I actually said was something like, “Taa? Wees? Sans ven di I ab ings in a ail?” My voice was odd too. It was very high pitched, almost like a little dog yipping and yapping. “Wow, this is embarrassing,” I mumbled as I tried to turn around to catch a look at my tail.

The tail appeared reptilian, with a wide base that slowly tapered down. It was longer than my body was tall and had a row of spikey ridges that traveled down until it ended with what looked like a stinger. A layer of stiff downy feathers covered the entire tail. However, after touching the down, I discovered it wasn’t soft like that of a baby bird, but rougher, almost rubbery.

Quite curious about the rest of my new body, I pulled one of the wings for a closer examination. “Interesting,” I said without thinking, not even noticing that I was speaking more clearly with each word. “Too bad the wings don’t look big enough to use for flight. They don’t even look big enough to slow me down if I fell off a cliff.

“Okay, this is strange,“ I continued to mutter to myself as I looked around, trying to form the words more clearly. I was pleased to discover that talking was becoming easier. What was even more strange was that I could see, even though it was completely dark. It appeared as if I was scrunched over inside a large egg. Considering that there was nothing inside the egg except for me, I was apparently ready to hatch.

“Let's look at this logically. I have wings and a tail, and I’m in an egg.” After a brief pause, I added, “Now, wings and tail could indicate a dragon.” I paused for a moment to look at my body. “However, I look like a humanoid dragon. That means I’m not a pure dragon.”

A hazy memory of half-dragons and dragonborn bubbled up from the back of my mind. Did dragonborn have tails and wings though? Wait…weren’t there creatures called draconians that were born from dragon eggs in some of the novels I used to read? I couldn’t remember much else except that there was a magic user in that story who happened to be my favorite character of all time. It was as if I was remembering a dream which rapidly faded away. Sighing, I forced myself back to the present.

“I wonder what my face looks like,” I said quietly. I didn’t want to talk too loudly in case someone could hear me. After all, eggs were usually laid in bunches and not individually. I gingerly felt my face, amazed at feeling the lizard-like skin. I pushed up my lips, so to speak, and felt tiny sharp teeth.

So, apparently I was not a vegetarian. Although after feeling around my teeth gingerly with my tongue, I did notice some of the back teeth were slightly wider. However, they definitely were not wide enough to be considered molars. After feeling around my face for a moment, I noticed that the tip of my nose dipped down somewhat and was slightly harder. It felt almost like a crocodile or lizard face that tapered into an eagle’s beak.

I then moved my hand to the back of my head and touched what felt like dozens of tiny broad short feathers that were growing from the back of my head. Still trying to figure things out, I moved my hands from the downy feathers on my head to my shoulders. However, the down was less prevalent on my arms and legs.

“Okay, now I know I can’t be related to dragons since dragons don’t have feathers, or whatever it is I have. Wait, didn’t scientists determine that many dinosaurs had feathers? Could I be some type of humanoid dinosaur? After all, birds descended from dinosaurs. Actually, some mythical dragons had feathers now that I thought about it. Weren’t they called amphipteres?”

Love what you're reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on.

“What am I?” At that exact moment, a window appeared in my mind with a ding, almost causing me to pee into my shell. “What the…?” I trailed off as I started reading.

image [https://i.imgur.com/Ufy6lth.png]

I stared at my information screen and tried to learn as much about my new situation. “Okay, my name is Nóttormr,” I said after reading over the information once again. “While it is kind of disappointing that I’m a kobold, at least I’m a special type of kobold, a high kobold. I wonder what the differences between a kobold and a high kobold entail.

For some reason, the answer just bubbled up from the back of my mind. It was as if I had always known the information. It was just that I had forgotten about it until I tried to dredge up the memory from my past. While normal kobolds had a thin thread of a draconic bloodline in them, high kobolds possessed strong draconic bloodlines, which were further purified and strengthened by rituals.

Then I remembered that there was actually a plant that high kobolds used in some of their rituals called Dragonroot. How it was prepared would determine the effects it would have. If mixed with other foods as an edible, it could be eaten before a battle and would reduce the effect of fear while increasing physical attributes. If used as incense, it would reduce stress and give off a sense of peacefulness. I frowned, wondering how I knew that piece of information before another thought bubbled up.

I tried to dredge up more memories about the differences. “Ah, I see. Regular kobolds have dog-like features, such as big ears and noses. They look more mammalian, with rat-like tails. Some of them even have pug-like faces. High kobolds, on the other hand, are definitely reptilian in appearance and don’t have a dog-like appearance. In addition, high kobolds have access to ancestral memories which regular kobolds didn’t possess.”

Regular kobolds were inferior in almost every way. They were skittish and had chips on their shoulders. They were a lot like chihuahuas, scared and trembling, but unable to stop barking at anything that annoyed them. High kobolds, on the other hand, were dignified. Unlike their distant cousins, high kobolds were like a completely different race, such as dragonborn and lizardfolk.

Pushing these thoughts to the side, I went back to the idea of ancestral memories and muttered to myself as I sorted my thoughts, “The fact that high kobolds have access to ancestral memories must be how I know this information. Hmm, apparently, countless years ago, dragons created the high kobolds by infusing them with their blood in return for their loyalty through the ages. That is most likely the source of the ancestral memories. Interesting.

“So, dragons and high kobolds are born with the ability to access general knowledge which gradually unlocks as they grow older. They are born with some basic knowledge, but not much. Certainly not as much as I possess. Usually, they gradually gained these memories in the first years of their life.

“What a wonderful cheat,” I thought as I realized just how powerful unlocking ancestral memories could be. It would save me a lot of time. While it was an extremely practical ability, I was pretty sure that there had to be some way of abusing the skill.

“This ability might even explain why I still retain my mental attributes from my past life,” I said to myself, considering that possibility.

“It looks like most high kobolds can only access a basic level of knowledge. However, those who have awakened a draconic bloodline are gifted with superior abilities and knowledge. I probably wouldn’t have remembered anything about my previous life if I hadn’t awakened my bloodline.” Suddenly, I felt extremely lucky that I had been reborn as a high kobold. Pushing aside that thought, I concentrated on the information screen again.

“Anyway, what about the Nox Ancestry? I’m pretty sure nox means night or darkness, maybe both. I think there was even a goddess of the night named Nox. I wonder if Nox might have been the name of the dragon that gave her blood to the kobolds when turning them into high kobolds.”

I tried to see what other information I could “remember” about high kobolds. I thought for a few moments as thoughts bubbled up from who knew where. “Hmm, apparently, high kobolds can go through a series of rituals that can further refine their bloodlines. If they served their dragonlord well, they might be gifted with dragonblood which could be used as a catalyst in rituals to give high kobolds wings, increased size, magic abilities, and other draconic abilities.

“Of course, actually completing these rituals is rare. On the other hand, some of these abilities can be inherited, such as the wings. Go me,” I said, smirking as I shrugged my wings. While the wings weren’t big, I still had them, which was an indication of status.

“Still, why couldn’t I have been born as a dragon? Well, at least I do have the bloodline of a dragon. Maybe that will mean something,” I continued to mutter to myself as I mulled over the information I had learned. If there were dragons, there was magic. Maybe with magic, I could become a dragon. Unfortunately, I had zero magic power, at least for the moment.

I really wanted to know how I died and the reason I was reincarnated in a fantasy world. I wasn’t complaining though. In fact, I was actually glad. However, I did want to know where the system came from. I tried to search through my ancestral memories for the answer. However, it would appear that I was unique. None of the other high kobolds possessed a system, at least as far as I could determine.