I was tempted to take advantage of the almost defenseless castle, but then decided that wasn’t the best idea. One reason was because someone else might already be planning to do that. Afterall, if I could come up with that idea after briefly overhearing a short conversation, someone who was more intimately knowledgeable of the situation would definitely be able to make a similar plan.

In fact, the green kobold tribe might already have sent experienced rogues to loot the castle’s treasury. While it was possible that they weren’t behind the two raids, one by the mercenaries and one by the soldiers, I doubted it. The timing was just too coincidental. However, I couldn’t say with complete certainty that someone else wasn’t using the green kobold tribe as a pawn. There was just too much I didn’t know about the new world in which I had found myself.

My tribe wasn’t likely to attack the castle since even if we succeeded, we wouldn’t gain much out of it. No human kingdom would allow one of their castles to be taken over by a group of kobolds. The most we would get out of it would be the loot. In exchange, we would incur the wrath of a large kingdom who would spare nothing to eradicate our tribe. Since I was already worried about a baron and his men attacking, the thought of provoking an entire kingdom sounded especially stupid.

However, my tribe could make the benefits outweigh the losses. If the baron was worried, he would lose more than he would gain, he might leave us alone. Then again, since someone had assassinated the baron’s younger brother, he might not think rationally. In fact, assassinating the baronet might have been a terrible decision.

Considering that I might have worsened the problem, I felt like I needed to do something to fix it. The problem was that I didn’t really know what to do. I hated that feeling. Ever since I was reincarnated, it was as if I was always unsure what to do next. While I had plans, I didn’t have a clue how to turn those plans into reality. Now that I thought about it, I guess I didn’t really have a plan. I had a dream.

Since I wouldn’t be able to accomplish any of the goals on the list, I had made without becoming more powerful, that was probably the first step I needed to take. I had gained some experience from the recent fights, but not enough to get me to the next level. I also wasn’t willing to level up yet with the experience I hadn’t spent yet since I might lose access to the experience I called the giant bats.

That left me with a dilemma. I needed a lot of experience, quickly. The problem was how I would get that experience. It looked like I didn’t have to worry about the low-level soldiers as much anymore. The fact that they were mostly untrained recruits really soothed my mind. Now I could start hunting in the caverns again without fear that there wouldn’t be a kobold city to return to when I get finished.

I was tempted to start hunting immediately, but I also felt like that was a dumb idea without more spell points. Then I remembered that I could always stop by my room and see if the spell books had been dropped off yet. If they were available, I could search through them for any spells that might be useful in hunting the giant bats. In fact, I could see if there was a spell that would work with the Soul Collector class feature as well.

I smiled, very happy with myself for having formulated a plan. With a definite plan of attack, I flew back to my room and quickly glanced inside. As soon as the door closed behind me, I did a happy dance. Not only had Dróttinn found a spellbook, but he also actually found three of them. In fact, there were also supplies that I hadn’t even asked for.

For example, there were additional inks and quills. There were also several bags filled with various spell components. I frowned, confused for a moment. I hadn’t needed spell components to cast any of the spells I cast. One reason I was confused was because, now that I thought about it, the Sleep spell had a required component, which was sand. Was I able to cast the spell because I was always surrounded by dirt, rocks, and sand when I cast the spell?

Getting out my spellbook, I looked at the spell description more closely. From the description, even rose petals or a cricket could be used to cast the spell. Those certainly hadn’t been present when I cast the spell earlier. However, nowhere in the description did it say I had to have the components on my body. One unanswered question I had was about how far away those components could be away from the spellcaster.

I had said the magic words and made the correct gestures almost without thinking. I was instinctive, as if I had practiced casting the spells for years. Was I exempt from needing the spell components? After thinking about the other spells I had cast, I realized some of them required components that I hadn’t possessed. For example, the Shield of Faith spell required some type of holy text or holy water. The fact that I could cast the spells without these components definitely supported the assertion that I was able to cast the spells without needing ingredients.

“Wait, I’m an idiot,” I said as I realized the reason why. I already knew the answer. I had the Sorcery class feature from Eldritch Mind which allowed me to shape magic without using words, gestures, or components. However, they did require me to focus and introduced more chances of failure. The more I relied on my mind to replace the gestures, words, or components, the more likely I was to fail.

I smiled as I realized how overpowered I was and flew up to the table and sat down next to the books. “Dang, you could have at least dusted off the spellbooks,” I muttered, although I wasn’t really mad. It was probably because I was still annoyed with the chieftain, even though he was taking good care of me. Something about him was nagging at my subconscious, although I wasn’t sure why.

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Every one of the spellbooks were extremely old with one exception. It was an empty spellbook wrapped in black leather, or at least I hoped it was leather. One cool thing about the spellbook was that it was intricately designed to mimic the appearance of dragon scales, giving it a majestic and otherworldly look. Even tiny blue and black jewels had been added to the spellbook. Together, they created a mesmerizing pattern that caught the light and hinted at the ancient magic contained within

As for the other spellbooks, I could tell with just a cursory look that they were old. In fact, they looked hundreds of years old. I was actually a little worried the books would fall apart if I wasn’t careful when I handled them. I wondered, “Are wizards really that rare in the kobold tribe? I know sorcerers aren’t uncommon due to our draconic bloodlines, but I would have thought there would be at least a few wizards in the tribe.”

Apparently not, I finally concluded. Then again, maybe there were some wizards, but they had long ago copied the spells they needed. I was just being given the backup spellbooks. Either way, wizards were much rarer in the tribe than I had expected. I knew that the vast majority of the kobolds embraced dexterity-based classes, such as rogues. Even rangers and dexterity-based fighters were common.

Shamans, clerics, and sorcerers were uncommon, but they did exist. A few others were probably rare, such as druids. There were probably a few other classes, such as bards and monks, although they hadn’t been options, I could choose, that also fit in the rare category. Wizards, barbarians, and paladins were probably in the extremely rare category of classes, at least where kobolds in this tribe were concerned.

With this in mind, I guess I should have been overwhelmed with joy to be given three different spellbooks. I gingerly opened the first spellbook and looked inside. After studying it for over half an hour, I finished getting a rough idea of the spells written down in the book. None of them were higher level spells, but there were numerous low level spells that I could copy into my spellbook. Not only were there a lot of spells, but there were also various cantrips that I could learn.

Unfortunately, some of the spells I found weren’t unique. For example, each spellbook contained the Detect Magic spell. Despite this, I realized that I had a lot of work ahead of me if I wanted to copy all the spells, I didn’t already have in my spellbook. Since I didn’t have a lot of spell points at the moment, now was the best time to copy them so I got started.

Unfortunately, I then realized I had a problem. While it was possible for me to copy down the spells without needing most of the supplies and spell components, I would need to spend a lot of time learning the spells first before I could use them. Basically, it was like copying directions. I could copy them and have no idea what I was doing, or I could actually take the time to read and understand the directions. Then I would be able to use the spell.

Actually, spells were a lot like apps or a computer program. I could download an app or program but have no idea how to use it because of a steep learning curve. Once I practiced with it, however, I could use the app or program without too much difficulty. If I knew enough, I might even be able to make changes with addons or with coding.

However, wizards, like people, could generally only remember the intricacies of a limited number of spells, in other words, apps or programs. Just like how after not using a certain app or program for a long time, I might have to study the instructions again before using it again. The same was true for spells. Also, wizards could only memorize a certain number of spells before they would need to refresh their memory by looking at their spellbooks. While they might be able to cast a spell that they are familiar with that they hadn’t fully memorized, the chances of failure were much higher. In fact, there might be a catastrophic accident if they misremembered.

I certainly wouldn’t want my doctor to say, “Don’t worry. I learned how to do this surgery in college. I know that I am a general practitioner, but I am sure that I remember most of the details on how to reconnect the nerves in your hand. Just let me get my scalpel. Now, where is it?”

Therefore, simply copying them into my own spellbook wouldn’t help me until I actually learned the spells. However, even the most basic spell wasn’t easy to remember. While I could use the Eldritch Mind Sorcery as a crutch to make it easier to learn the spells, that might backfire on me. Realizing I was going to have to actually study, I took a deep breath and spent the next two hours learning one single spell, the Shield spell.

While I knew it wasn’t a spirit spell, I hoped that if I learned it, I might eventually be able to convert it into a spirit shield someday. Maybe instead of creating an arcane barrier to act as a shield at a moment’s notice, I could call upon a spirit to shield me instead. Although I doubted that was possible for me with my current skills, I was pretty sure that I would be able to in the future. Also, I just felt like it was a good idea to have the spell. Protecting my life came before everything else.

After learning that one spell, I realized just how much work I had ahead of me. Each first level spell took at least two hours to learn and transcribe into my spellbook. Just the somatic hand gestures for the spell took up almost a full page in my spellbook. This was despite drawing the pictures as small as possible.

As for the verbal components to the spell, it was difficult to write the words since they twisted in my mind each time I tried to understand them. Equally as difficult was trying to convert the hand gestures into muscle memory. I spent a long time just trying to contort my fingers into the appropriate positions. I was starting to feel like a gang member throwing up hand signs.

“I wonder if magic is like sign language,” I murmured. I was curious how the somatic and verbal components of a spell interacted. If I broke down the words and gestures from numerous magic spells in a systematic fashion, would I be able to create or alter spells? Absently, I popped a mushroom into my mouth as I started studying the different spells, making notes about their similarities and differences. Quickly, I lost myself, fascinated by my new obsession.