None of her siblings had managed to acquire any external magic. While capable of the same energy manipulations she was they would only be able to strengthen their body with their magic. Ves’ra had been quite disappointed but the shaman told her that only one in a hundred young kobolds managed to do that.

So while she trained her magic by herself, dutifully ignoring lightning, they learnt how to temporarily increase their strength and endurance or restore stamina. She was constantly moving energy out of her body, training to move it while doing all kinds of exercise.

She was able to keep channeling a decently sophisticated spell for nearly a thousand breaths by the time the adults woke a month later.

They moved back in with their bands a week later, they were nearly as tall as the adults, only needing to grow another few handspans. Their hunger gradually decreased too, they only ate double the amount of the adults by the time the last snow vanished.

---

Ves’ra was excited, her first hunt was about to start. She couldn't wait. They would finally be able to contribute to the tribe. The preparation of the last months was sure to pay off.

They set out late in the morning after heating up at their fire. Kes'ro called for a stop soon after they left the village, it was time to start. The easiest way to catch small game was to avoid hunting it entirely, instead trapping common feeding grounds.

Each band had a set direction to hunt in, they would follow the stream. Creating traps for rabbits was easy enough, they only had to make a lot of bark rope and find a suitable stone. Six of the traps were sprung, four with a rabbit, so Ves’ra and Vet’ro had to reset three. Ves’ra had to admit that fresh rabbit was way tastier than the usual smoked meat they had.

While most of their time was spent checking traps the adults started to teach them how to track bigger game and what to avoid.

Ves’ra had feared she’d have problems keeping up, lacking the improved body the others had - she was mistaken - they didn't move fast enough for that to matter.

The first day had been pretty anticlimactic, she’d hoped for a lot more excitement than checking traps and looking at dirt.

---

The next month passed like that, Ves’ra and Vet’ro would check and replace their traps - searching for new spots every now and then - and learning what beast made which tracks. The first excitement came nearly two months after she started hunting.

They had just killed a squirrel stuck in one of their traps and got ready to return to their village when a loud howling sound caused them to flinch.

Wolves.

Not normal wolves - these were perfectly fine with easier prey - but nasty, evolved wolves that only seemed to prey on intelligent beings.

They were only predator that was interested in hunting kobolds, a fool's endeavor if one asked her. Watching her band huddle together had her rethink that though.

Ves’ra had no interest to die, so she took her spear - more of a wooden stick - and gave each of their band a solid smack on the head forcing them to concentrate on her.

“Gather up, form half a circle two rows deep with your backs to the tree! And give me your water!” She commanded.

The other kobolds seemed glad to be given direction, even if from one as young as her. It only took a few moments for seven additional waterskins to be next to her. She would be useless in a melee fight, simply lacking the strength to fight at the same level the others could, but she had other strengths. She froze most of their remaining water into several spikes of ice with a significant portion of her energy, energizing herself with the additional heat.

“Everyone, give me your spears one after the other!” Once the first spear was in her hands she reinforced the tip with ice, sharpening and hardening the tip.

Ves’ra knew the wait would be the worst, she could feel unnatural fear creeping up on her too. The fear would paralyse them the longer those horrible howls came out of the slowly darkening forest.

It took way too long - three hard smacks on the others heads - for the first wolf to emerge from the trees, soon followed by two others. They looked quite young, smaller than the shadows they could see darting around them yet nearly as tall as all of them.

Ves’ra didn't wait, instantly flinging three of her spikes at the one in her front. The first missed, electing a startled yelp from within the forest, but the other two hit, one penetrating deep in the shoulder while the other crippled its leg. It collapsed while the other two surged forwards, getting a spear in their face for the trouble.

The rest of the pack emerged from the forest while the two young retreated back to the safety of their pack. With two limping and one unmoving the pack counted eight.

Even Ves’ra had to swallow when the leader of the pack emerged, a huge monster of a wolf, a whole head taller than all others. It had a nasty burn scar all over its face, disfiguring the already hate filled face further.

That one wouldn't be stopped by a few spikes to the body. She raised another three spikes - the maximum she could to at this time - and imparted the idea of the spikes seeking the head of the monster. They shot off one after another, the first shattering on its skull. The second was nearly dodged, flying through its ear.

She got lucky with the last spike, the yelp of pain because of the last two attacks put its eye directly in the path of her last attack. The other wolves had already started harassing her band while she concentrated on the leader, the ground in front of them was full of both wolf and kobold blood.

The other wolves howled in anger as their leader fell, hateful eyes concentrating on her. She levitated another three spikes, attacking another one that was about to attack. She went for its limbs - an easier target than an eye - as the skull proved too thick to be penetrated.

That pack broke at that, leaving their injured and dead behind.

They stayed alert for another few breaths, making sure their enemies actually retreated. Once they were safe the rest turned to her, reverence in their eyes. That was awkward. She decided to take control of the situation.

“Alright, let's kill the two still alive and prepare something to drag them back to the village! Go, daylight is waning.” Ves’ra approached the leader, prodding him with her spear to make sure he was actually dead. She created a knife of ice after, extracting the head and other best bits.

They were better than anything she ate to date, creating a satisfied smile on her face.

Once she was done the others ate to their heart's content, filling their stomachs.