“Well, the tribe definitely doesn’t seem to be lacking for kobolds if they can make this many traps,” I thought as we walked. I had seen what seemed like thousands of eggs waiting to be hatched and thousands of young kobolds as we walked through the corridors and caves. I had to wonder how the kobold tribe was able to feed so many mouths.

There was even an area filled with animals. Of course, none of them were what I would want to pet. There were huge weasels, oversized rats, massive bugs, and some creatures I didn’t want to think about too much. I had never liked small spiders and bugs, much less big ones.

The crystal clear lake of water we passed at one point did look inviting though. I resisted the impulse to say, “Ohh, shiny water.” After that, I felt like beating my head against the rock walls nearby. Why in the world did I keep on getting the impulse to say stupid things? It was almost like I was on a first date with a gorgeous woman wearing cowboy boots.

I also saw storage rooms, living quarters, and forges where weapons were being created. I paused when I saw a weapon being made, especially since it was not made out of metal. When Dróttinn saw that I had stopped, he looked to see what had attracted my attention. It was a large piece of obsidian that was being chipped down into a dagger.

“If you want some of the scraps, go ahead and grab a few pieces,” the chief said, gesturing for me to take some of the obsidian chips.

Feeling sort of like I didn’t have much of a choice, I stepped forward as the kobold smith took a step back. I carefully scooped up the biggest chunks of obsidian. For some reason, I was very leery about cutting my fingers on the sharp edges of the rocks, almost as if it had happened to me before.

After I had picked up the pieces, we started down again. I could tell it was getting noticeably warmer. Speaking of doing thoughtless actions, while I was distracted looking around, I didn’t even notice that I had started popping the obsidian stones into my mouth and swallowing them whole.

My steps faltered when I realized what I had done. “Oh, my goodness, this is going to hurt when it comes out,” I thought to myself. “Hopefully this is normal, and I won’t start bleeding out of my…” I involuntarily shivered at the thought.

I considered making a joke about pooping, but I decided not to since poop jokes always stink. It was at that moment that I almost pooped myself when another window popped up. “Hmm, it popping out almost made me poop,” I thought to myself. Taking a deep breath, I glanced at the window while trying not to step into one of the traps while I was distracted.

EVOLUTIONARY MATERIALS INGESTED: OBSIDIAN. Do you wish to assimilate the obsidian in order to evolve your draconic bloodline?

I blinked and still almost stepped into what looked like a glue trap. The only reason I figured out what it was was because of a large beetle that was struggling to escape the slime. I decided to wait on answering until I was in a safe space. I needed time to think about my options and what would be the best thing to do. After all, there was no telling if I would be able to undo the assimilation if it turned out to be a bad idea.

I still hadn’t even had time to consider the implications of being chaotic evil and having the favor of two gods. What did that exactly mean? Would I be able to trade the favor for something tangible? Or was it just a favorable impression with no actual reward? I had a lot to think about and after being named a Child of Folly. I figured that I should take a few minutes to think about things before I was given some new type of title that was even worse than the ones I already possessed.

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Soon we reached our destination, a large open cavern that had what looked like a pool of water heated by a lava flow while I considered whether I should assimilate the obsidian. It was both warm and humid and the water seemed quite hot judging by the steam coming from the pool. In fact, the only way it could be that steamy and not evaporate was if there was a spring feeding the pool.

The water in the pool was probably heated with geothermal energy, probably from magma vents or a volcano. “I do hope he isn’t planning on boiling me,” I thought, wondering if the experience was going to be anything like the Native American Indians going on a vision quest in a sweat lodge.

I decided to continue holding off answering the question about assimilating the obsidian. There didn’t seem to be any rush, so I might as well wait until after the ritual. Having more time to think was never a bad idea anyway.

The chieftain moved toward a recess carved into a cave wall and took out a chest, though of course, not before disarming a trap. “Really? Even here, in this supposedly safe space, there are traps,” I was flabbergasted as I tried to remember all the traps, I had seen on the way to reach the cave. I watched as he took out a small bottle before replacing the chest and reactivating the trap.

He motioned for me to sit down, “Please, take a seat.” He opened the bottle and poured the contents of the bottle into the steaming water. “I’ll leave you alone for now. I will be back once the vision mist has run its course.” With that, the chieftain quickly left. To me, this indicated that prolonged or repeated exposures might be unhealthy. If that wasn’t the case, why would he seem to be avoiding the magic-infused steam?

I nodded, and silently waited, glad I didn’t have to jump into the boiling water. Perhaps the alchemical liquid was too strong to be taken orally, and had to be delivered transdermally using the boiling pool of water as a nebulizer. This would indicate that the potion affected the lungs and entered the bloodstream in that manner instead of being absorbed into the digestive tract.

Nothing happened at first, but then I noticed a sweet scent starting to permeate the cave. Before long, my thoughts began to wander and visions of the world started flowing through my mind. I flew through the darkness, a black shadow covered in mystical symbols, breathing in the night, absorbing dreams, nightmares, and even the lifeforce of the living. I danced through the minds of those sleeping beneath my wings. When my shadow passed, the souls of the dead would follow me into the twilight.

Soon the visions changed as a group of kobolds worked diligently in the darkness, mining gems and precious metals. Battles raged as enemies invaded their territory. The kobolds persevered and fought valiantly against the aggressive invaders who were bigger and stronger than them. Because of this, the kobolds laid traps. Despite their bravery, they faced repeated persecution, and enslavement attempts by the other races.

Then a kobold god appeared among the people, causing the fortunes of the kobolds to begin to change for the better. He was a trusted companion to a dragon god and helped him out as well. Unfortunately, a gnome god did something sneaky and the kobold god was never seen again.

Ever since then, the kobolds were often forced to depend on their greater kin, the dragons, whenever the other races pressured the kobolds too much. The kobolds only wished to be left alone to mine, but the other races wanted to enslave them because they were small and weak. They captured the kobolds and used them as slaves as many of the dragons slowly forgot about their pledge of protection.

The visions changed, and he was dropped into the lives of many different kobolds who had lived and died long ago. No matter whether they used magic or swords, they lived, learned, and struggled to survive the dangerous depths against the various monsters and races that lived underground. Some even abandoned the caves and explored the surface world.

Eventually, the visions started to fade. While it seemed as if I had only been daydreaming for a moment, it could have been hours. I actually felt like I had experienced months, or even years, while under the effects of the potion. As soon as I emerged from the visions completely, a new window popped up.