By the time I reached the tunnels, I still hadn’t made a decision. The only thing I could decide upon was the fact that whatever decision I made, I would probably change my mind. Maybe I really was chaotic. Still, I had to disagree with the evil alignment though. Then again, one person’s hero was another person’s villain.
Since I still didn’t need to worry about the invading soldiers, I sent a mental message to Alsvartr to meet me at Chuck Norris Bridge. I was a little worried about my feelings toward my familiar. I worried because I wasn’t really emotionally attached to her. It was sort of like she was one of my family members. Although I cared about her, I didn’t feel any need to be around her. As long as I knew she was alive and doing well, I was happy. That was enough for me.
Apparently, she felt the same. Not once in the last week had she been the one to contact me first. In fact, I was starting to feel like a third wheel. Alsvartr and Hyggiandi were getting along wonderfully. Even though the necklace had despised every kobold that wore her, for some reason, she didn’t seem to have a problem with my familiar.
Every time I talked toAlsvartr, she seemed smarter. Well, maybe not smarter, but at least more knowledgeable. Hyggiandi was doing a great job as a teacher. That might even explain why the two of them were getting along so well. Unfortunately, Hyggiandi was teaching Alsvartr some bad habits.
For one thing, despite Hyggiandi knowing a lot about kobolds, there was just some information that couldn’t be found in books. Because of this, she would sometimes have Alsvartr peek at what was happening in the bathing pools. I almost choked on my food the first time she had Alsvartr ask me to explain in detail what was happening at the “breeding grounds.” Almost every time we met, there would be a new inappropriate question.
Predictably, as soon as I met Alsvartr at Chuck Norris Bridge, my familiar obviously paused to listen to something Hyggiandi was saying. Sighing, I rolled my eyes and prepared myself. A moment later, Alsvartr said, “Hyggiandi says congratulations on getting bigger. She wants to know if you are an innie or an outie. What does that mean?”
I had to close my eyes, once again realizing just how much Dróttinn must hate me for having given me the phylactery. At least I was smart enough to give the necklace to Alsvartr. Despite this, Hyggiandi was still able to torment me. I was about to say something when Alsvartr said something else. “She also wants you to prove it if you are an outie,” Alsvartr said.
For the next thirty minutes, we flew to the next giant bat colony while Alsvartr peppered me with questions that Hyggiandi was curious about. I, in turn, ignore her completely. Finally, I couldn’t take it any longer. “Don’t ask me anything else that Hyggiandi wants to know about. It is none of her business how big it is or what it is shaped like. If she asks one more question, we’re going to stop at one of the lava pools and make a deposit.”
“Hyggiandi wants to know why you are so hot and bothered,” Alsvartr said. “She also wants to know how long it usually takes to make a deposit. Also, do you make large deposits or small deposits?”
By the time we reached the giant bat colony, I needed an outlet for my frustration. The bat massacre that followed relieved some of my killing intent, but I couldn’t bring myself to stick around and wait for the foraging party. I activated the Beacon Ring and placed it into a bag around Alsvartr’s neck before flying away. I was finding it more and more difficult to be around my familiar every day. I was afraid that, pretty soon, I would stop seeing her completely.
By the time I reached my room, I had settled down. However, I was rethinking teaming up with Alsvartr for the next few days. Instead of counting on her to find new giant bat colonies, I could always revisit previous colonies I had visited. The only thing that was good about my time with Alsvartr during this excursion was the fact that I could still gain a lot of experience from the giant bats.
Of course, I wasn’t likely to be able to team up with Alsvartr again in the foreseeable future anyway. Before fleeing from her questions, I asked her to check out any cave systems that Hyggiandi might know about. I wanted to have a backup cave complex that could be used as the basis of a new city. It could be considered an escape plan for my tribe, or if that wasn’t needed, a new city that I could rule. Afterall, I was a dragon myself now and needed my own city filled with kobold worshipers.
I half-expected Dróttinn to be waiting for me when I returned to my room. If he hadn’t already been told, I was sure that he would soon find out that I had “grown up.” Because of this, I was fairly certain that he would show up soon after.
Since I was still a little irritated, I scattered all the gold and silver coins on my bed. Then I switched into my dragon form and curled up on top of them. For some reason, it settled my emotions. After that, I pulled the Aegis Libram spellbook out of my spatial storage space and started attuning the book. I hadn’t done so before because the spells inside were above my ability to cast. However, now that I was a magus, I could start learning the spells inside the spellbook.
Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.
Luckily, I was able to attune the Aegis Libram before Dróttinn arrived. While I hadn’t been able to read all the spells that were previously in the spellbook, now I could at least read some of them. To say I was amazed was an understatement.
The spellbook was much more powerful than I had realized. I had to wonder how a spellcasting mercenary was able to obtain the book. Luckily, the spellcaster didn’t know what he had in his hands, or he would not have risked losing it. In fact, a small part of me wondered if the person who gave me the system intentionally slipped the spellbook into the loot.
As for some of the pages that had been blurry before, I now realized that they were also ritual spells. However, unlike most ritual spells, as long as I was holding the Aegis Libram in my hand, I would be able to cast them. Of course, there were a lot of restrictions, but it was still amazing. The main restriction was that once I used a particular spell, although the spell would become permanent, it would also disappear from the spellbook.
Most of these spells in the spellbook were used almost exclusively defensive spells. They included spells like Private Sanctum, Guards and Wards, Stone Guardians, Antipathy/Sympathy, and Dungeon Core. With the Aegis Libram, I could use these spells to build my own city. The Dungeon Core spell was the most interesting spell. It was actually the highest-level spell in the spellbook. From what I could see, I would be able to create an underground cave system. It would also create a control room where I could see everything happening in the “dungeon” and cast spells through the dungeon core.
Now I was feeling conflicted. I had just sent my familiar on a long journey to find a cave system for a new kobold city. After thinking about it for a minute, I decided that it was still a good idea. Afterall, having a backup option was rarely a bad idea.
While I was basking in the glory of my discovery, Dróttinn knocked on the door before entering. He didn’t even give me the chance to answer before striding in. This made his reaction to my draconic form even more satisfying. Dróttinn just stood there for a full minute before finally speaking.
“Uh, Gothi Nóttormr?” Clearly, the chieftain’s small mind was still struggling to take in my magnificence.
“Yes? Oh, this form,” I said, as if I had forgotten my current appearance. ‘Yes, I grew tired of the tiny body that I was trapped in, so I used some of my divine power to uncover a fraction of my true abilities.” Of course, I had no divine power. However, I wasn’t going to tell him that.
In fact, I even tried to make it sound as haughty as I could while still retaining my dignity. He needed to pay the price for giving me the Phylactery of Hyggiandi. I was forced to use my familiar as a sacrificial scapegoat to escape that evil necklace. Seeing that the chieftain was once again struck speechless, I smiled, and asked, “I know that you are very busy. Did you need me for something?”
Dróttinn shook his head, then blinked and said, “I heard you had a growth spurt. Since I needed to speak to you anyway, I thought I should come by and see you.”
“So what did you need to speak to me about?” I really was curious and wasn’t asking to be polite. I had no idea what he wanted. He might be coming back to say thank you for all the food I had brought in or he might be upset that I kept on doing whatever I wanted, whenever I wanted. I could even see him telling me that since I was all grown up now, it was time for me to move out and leave the nest.
“For years, we have been preparing contingency plans in case the humans ever decided to attack our city. While normally we wouldn’t worry too much about this since the humans fear Einvaldskonungr, the situation has changed recently. The humans must have discovered that Einvaldskonungr has entered liggja, the long slumber. Greed has clouded their minds.
“Obviously, they haven’t considered the consequences of what would happen if they destroyed our city. Einvaldskonungr would take it as a direct insult to his dignity. As soon as he awakens, he would raze the nearest towns in retaliation. He might even go so far as to destroy one of their cities.”
I nodded as I listened, completely agreeing with the chieftain. While the red dragon might care nothing about the lives of the kobolds, every red dragon had a volatile temper who took even the slightest of affronts as an assault on their pride. They were arrogant and easily angered.
Then again, I would probably react the same as Einvaldskonungr. If I woke up and discovered that my minions had been killed and all the gold they were going to give me had been stolen, I would go on a rampage. Just the presence of the red dragon was usually a strong enough deterrent to stop the humans from invading the kobold city.
Dróttinn continued, “While it is possible that the humans will come to their senses, we need to start making preparations to insure that our tribe survives. I’ve already sent out several small groups to various locations. They are preparing these places in case we need to retreat. As a Gothi, you will be in charge of the largest group which will leave our present borders and establish a new city.”