I’ve found out the hard way why he had such a sinister grin. The chief has been teaching me for a few days now, trying to get out my magic potential. Each time I failed, which has been every time, he hit me with a stick.

The stick must’ve been tailor made for this exact purpose, because even though my hands were bruised and felt like they could break at any time, the stick was still in mint condition.

His method of teaching is extreme, but I can tell his heart is in it. Teaching is clearly his passion. But still, he should definitely take it a bit more easy.

I've been getting looks from the sorcerers and sorcerers to be. Some look angry, but certainly not all of them. I've been getting looks all my second life, but it just seems to have intensified a bit since.

I've been kinda trying to figure out why this is, but telling how someone feels was never my strong suit, unless it's pretty obvious. To add to it, a kobolds face structure is obviously different from a humans, so I pretty much had to relearn expressions.

I could ask, I suppose. But I'm not interested enough and it would be awkward. I'll eventually figure it out. Right now, learning magic is more important.

I was hoping that the chiefs lessons would be enough, allowing me to rest outside of them. That's sadly not the case. I'll have to start practising more starting today, but I'm so tired.

I'm just laying in our room, staring at the ceiling. I've made the most of the situation, but I'm really starting to miss video games. There's nothing to do, other than practising I suppose.

Going outside everyday isn't an option. The daytime is a game of the light is lava and the night is probably filled with monsters that could snap me in half before I've even realised that I'm in danger.

There's also the problem with humans, but seeing as there are owlbears in this world, they're probably far from the scariest thing in this world.

I sat right up and started concentrating. I slowed my breathing and tried to feel out the magic inside of me, just as the chief has taught me. I couldn't feel anything out of the ordinary though, just like all the previous times I've tried.

After about 10 minutes I gave up. Frustrated, laid back on my grass bedding. Why can't I feel it? The chief says I have a talent for magic, so why can't I even feel it? Man, I'm useless.

It's just like my previous life. I'm not good at anything. I'm useless and weak. At least then, I had video games to give me something to do. I don't have that here.

There's a lot I still want to know about this world, but I guess I won't be able to learn much of anything if I can't even do something I supposedly have a talent for.

I noticed Vyth entering the room.

"Hey. How're your classes going?", he asked.

"Still not so well".

"And he's still being hard on you I see".

I look up a bit questioningly at him, before remembering the state of my hands.

"Yeah, but it's fine. He does mean well".

"I know. I overheard him speaking with our master. He is concerned about you".

I lightly smiled, before drily saying: "He'd be better off giving up on me".

Vyth sat down next to me.

"You really shouldn't be so hard on yourself. You can be pretty amazing".

"There's no need making me feel good. I know I'm useless".

"I'm not, though. You really are amazing sometimes. Although you can also be pretty weak".

"Easy for you to say, Pebblebrain".

We laughed a bit at our stupidity. I'm glad I have someone like him, someone to get my spirits up when I need it the most. Still, I haven’t changed my mind. I’m still useless. I’ll keep trying for now, but I might have to give up after all.

It’s not like there’s anything else to do. I sat up right next to Vyth.

“I’m bored”, I said, “What do you want to do?”.

“It’s evening. Wanna go outside?”.

“You sure? What if we get attacked by something?”.

“Like what? The area’s been relatively peaceful for many years. At least, according to mom”.

“Can you still say that after the owlbear incident?”.

“Well, that things dead now. We don’t need to worry about it. Just come along you wuss. You don’t need to be afraid. Your big brother will protect you after all”.

“I’m the older one”.

“Yeah, well, only by a few seconds!”.

“It was more like a few minutes, but sure. Let’s go. I guess it should be fine”.

We got outside. The sun had just barely disappeared below the horizon. There was a nice cool breeze that truly felt refreshing. As I took in the air I caught the smell of freshly cut grass. That’s strange. They shouldn’t have invented lawn mowers yet. I thought for a minute. I guess animals could cause the same smell, if they eat grass.

I looked at Vyth. It seems he must have noticed it too. He was slowly walking in the direction the smell seemed to come from. I guess he already figured out what caused the smell. He was walking slowly and quietly, just like when he’s hunting. I followed him.

We went up hill. When we got on top, we could see faint movement behind the trees and bushes that were blocking our view. Whatever it was, it was large. It seemed to have a long, yet thick, tail and something protruding from the other end of its body. We got into one of those bushes and crawled to the other side. When we could finally see from behind the leaves, our jaws dropped. Before us was a large, beige triceratops calmly grazing.