A few days had gone by since Asoirir’s death. Our teacher had called us to the training room. We stood there, confused, as he grabbed one of the crates in the back. He brought it to us. It was dead silent for a few seconds. He grabbed his dagger, that was always at this side, and pried it open.

“Your training has been completed! From now on, you're all worthy fighters! You’ll be instructed in the making of traps and other things by the master tinkerer! I wish you all luck!”, he practically shouted.

All of us still remained silent. We were taken by surprise by this. He began grabbing leather armour from the crate and handing it out to us.

“If there’s ever a time you’ll need to defend the nest, or need to hunt, wear this”.

He handed everyone else a piece. At the end of it, he came to me with one. It had holes in the back.

“Did you modify this just to accommodate my defect, teacher?”, I asked.

“Defect? You were never told, huh? Whatever. Yeah, I had them modified for you. Those things would get in the way if they’re just stuffed into you armour”.

“Thank you”.

Mom also acted a bit weird about these bumps of mine. I figured they weren’t just some defect, but it seems that no one will just tell me what’s going on. Either way, at least they won’t get in the way.

I’m surprised at the fact we even get armour. I must’ve been staring at my piece for a bit too long, as Vyth seemed to have noticed there was something.

“What’s wrong?”, he asked, “Is there something wrong with the armour?”.

“No,...there’s nothing wrong with it”.

I flashed him a quick smile, to set him at ease. But I still had all my questions about this world. If it were based on a game I’ve played, it would make things a lot easier. Kobolds that look like these are certainly a D&D staple, but I don’t remember them wearing armour. Now that I think about it, the teacher didn’t wear any on that day.

“Hey, teacher! Why didn’t you wear your armour when we went hunting?”.

He seemed a bit surprised by that question. That look of surprise quickly turned into a gloomy expression, however.

“I… didn’t think I would need it. I’m sorry. If I had it with me, perhaps I could’ve stood up against that thing. It’s probably still roaming around, so who knows how many more of us will be killed by it”.

That explains it! He’s blaming himself!

“It’s not your fault. You would’ve been killed, with or without armour”.

“Don’t….Don’t sell me short kid. I’m the one who teaches younglings like you how to fight for a reason”.

“That thing is far stronger than any single kobold. The only one I can see having a chance is the grand sorcerer”.

The teacher remained silent. I wonder what he’s thinking. He seems surprised by what I said. Was it the strength assessment or the fact that I know about the grand sorcerer. I haven’t seen that sorcerer aside from that time he took Cirauir, but then again, I barely go outside of our room. Just like my previous life.

We soon left. Our group was splitting up. We got the rest of the day to ourselves. Starting tomorrow, we’d learn about tinkering to a good enough level. The group was splitting into smaller groups, as they went to do their own thing. Mom told me not to hang out outside our room, so I guess I should be returning.

“So, what do you want to do, Othokentir?”, Vyth asked.

It caught me off guard.

“Huh? Shouldn’t I go back? You can go with the others, if you want to. You don’t need to always be at my side”.

“Go back? Why waste your free time there? I know mom told you to, but soon enough we’ll be leaving her anyway, so what does it matter”.

We’ll be leaving her soon? I know we’ve matured quickly, but isn’t that a bit quick? The mining took a week tops. The fighting and hunting training took about 4 months. I’m guessing the tinkering might round everything down to 6 months. Isn’t half a year a bit too early?

“When will that happen?”, I asked.

“Huh? Oh yeah, you never got to talk with anyone outside our family. After our training we’ll get to dig out our own room or get one of a previous owner, if you’re lucky”.

“We’ll get our own room right after?”.

“Yeah. So, do you want to do anything?”.

“Umm, sure. How about we go outside? Is it safe to go, with that beast prowling around?”.

“The last ones on hunting duty said they didn’t see it, so probably”.

“Then we’ll go outside”.

We left the nest, going past our room and the middle area, I guess what’s this places plaza. I got those same weird looks. A mix of shock, surprise, anger and a bit of glee. Those looks were definitely targeted at me. Vyth noticed them too. I could tell that it pissed him off. I guess he really cares about me.

It’s weird. I’m not that sad about my previous death. I hated it first, even thought that there might be a way to go back. But now, I don’t think about that. Living like this isn’t all that bad. I might not have any video games anymore, but I still have those memories. Besides, you get used to it after a week or 2, or 5 in my case.

We got to the outside. The sun shone bright and beautifully. I walked into the open, but was quickly pulled back by Vyth.

“What are you doing? Do you want to suffer?”, he asked.

I just looked at him in pure confusion.

“Are you not afraid of the light?”.

“Should I be?”.

“You’re a strange one. Everyone, including me, fears it. I’ve had the misfortune of standing in it at one point. My eyes felt like they were being cooked”.

Is that an instinctual fear of kobolds? Kind of like how many people are afraid of spiders. I guess that fear is there for a reason. Today has been pretty good. Let’s not ruin it by testing out whether I should fear it or not.

There was a tree nearby our entrance. He used the shadow it was casting to cross over. Now it just feels like he’s playing the floor is lava, but instead of lava, the sun will just incinerate you.

“What do you want to do?”, he asked.

“Just walk around I guess. Maybe we’ll see something new!”.

“Something new? Like what?”.

“I don’t know. Maybe an insect you’ve never seen before, or a nice spot to rest. You never know what you’ll find”.

I was surprised by myself. I’ve never been the outdoorsy type, so this was something new indeed. I want to learn more about this world. I guess I might have been the outdoorsy type back then if the world was more interesting. Then again, this is interesting because of what I have to compare it to.

We set out on our little adventure. I could tell Vyth still wasn’t quite following me, but just going with the flow for the moment. It didn’t matter. I’m sure he’ll see what I meant when we find something cool.