The robed figure and I had a standoff, daring each other to make the first move. My opponent was a quick one, but I still felt I had the upper hand even with just a dagger. To my surprise, however, it put away its weapon. Instead it suddenly bowed forward, as if showing respect.

“Excuse me for that uncouth attack. I simply wanted to test your combat ability, brave knight. You truly are as talented as the rumors said... Arma the Black Paladin.”

Calvar and I stayed uneasily silent for several seconds.

“Oh boy, that's awkward,” said the skull.

The robed figure seemed confused. I guess it was left up to me to explain.

“Sorry, I am not Arma. She is gone now. I'm simply an adventurer who inherited her armor. If you're looking for her, then I can only give my sincerest apologies.”

The figure did not seem bothered.

“Oh, sorry for the mistake. Alas, you are still a brave knight who has taken upon my request, correct? Then you'll do just as well. Let me introduce myself.”

With a single swift movement, the figure removed the robe. It revealed a scaly lizard-like face, digitigrade legs, and a pointed tail. No matter which way you looked at it, it was a kobold. I was expectedly surprised.

“I didn't know kobolds could talk.”

The lizard was visibly bothered by the comment.

“Well, that's awfully racist of you! I'll have you know that kobolds are a perfectly intelligent and civilized people. Most of us don't bother to learn the human tongue, and with these kind of comments I am not surprised why.”

She was more childish than I expected. And just to note something, I called her a “she”, but that's merely due of the pitch of her voice. I had no idea as to her actual gender. What would kobold secondary sexual characteristics even look like? Perhaps I was thinking too deeply into this.

“Sorry. So, what did you want? You must have had a reason to confront me in the forest like this,” I said.

The lizard gathered herself and answered.

“Yes, please allow me to explain. My name is Lacerta, and as you can see, I am a kobold. I arrived at town earlier donning a disguise and pretending to be a human. This was purely for my protection, as humans tend to be hostile to my kind. In the town, I sought out the most well-known of the local adventurers for a difficult task.”

“That task, was it clearing out the kobold fortress? Or was that a lie as well?”

The lizard meekly wagged her tail.

“Oh no, that part was true. My goal is indeed the elimination of the fortress. This is a task beyond my capabilities, so I required outside assistance. What I said about the payment was also true, as I possess very few valuables to give away. But despite knowing of this, you still took up the quest, correct? I thank you for you generosity.”

Lacerta bowed forward once again. Being treated with so such respect was so unusual -- it was refreshingly pleasant.

“As brave a knight as you are, clearing such an encampment by one's self is a difficult task. To that end, I would like to offer my personal assistance. You could think of it as compensation for my previous deception. We share a common goal, and so I believe this arrangement would prove mutually beneficial,” she said.

An interesting proposition. Having some company while venturing through this dungeon would be beneficial, but at the same time, it seemed a bit fishy. Why would a kobold request the destruction of a kobold fortress? Was this an internal feud between kobolds? And if so, why request the help of a human? It's equally like that this was a trap, and she would turn on me once we confront her comrades. It was too risky. I came up with an excuse to refuse her offer.

“I'll have to decline. I'm perfectly capable of clearing the fort by myself, and in all honesty, you'll probably only get in my way. I fight better on my own.”

The lizard smiled and paced around sheepishly. Her body language was surprisingly expressive for such an inhumane creature.

“Oh? You will decline the help of a young and talented kobold mage? I knew humans were chivalrous, but that seems rather foolish. I am asking for nothing in return, and my skills are considered quite valuable. I suppose I could leave it up to you, but it would be such a shame.”

The comment piqued my interest. If she's telling the truth, this is the first friendly mage I have encountered so far in Tritaria. Forget about the aether from the fortress; simply getting her on my side as a possible tutor would be a far greater accomplishment. The best course of action would be to strike a deal in the hopes of establishing a friendly relationship afterward. Even if this was a trap, it was worth the risk. Taking a page out of her book, I bowed forward.

“Please excuse me, I was not aware you were so graciously talented. If it is as you say, I would love to accept your help in this task. If it works out, I would be glad to cooperate on future endeavors as well. Also, allow me to formally introduce myself. My name is Eren. ”

I put my hand forward. Perhaps it's because of my days working in the office, but I got used to initiating handshakes when meeting new people.

“Oh, this is what you call a handshake, right? I've never done it before.”

The lizard put its claw forward as well. As expected of one unfamiliar with the custom, she played passive as I firmly shook her hand. Afterwards, she seemed quite flustered. Was it really that big of a deal?

“I... actually shook hands with a human. It's so... cool!” she said.

She began nervously pacing and dozed off into thought. One could only imagine what hepped-up scenarios she was imagining. Was this normal behavior for a such a creature? I was only familiar with the SoD representation of them, so I had no clue.

“Psst, Eren. Watch out, that kobold seems seriously messed up,” said the skull.

I guess it wasn't normal. But it didn't especially matter to me. Many NPCs in Spirit of Darkness were quite eccentric, so meeting as kobold like this is not completely out of the left field. Eccentricity did not necessarily imply hostility. I did have one concern I wanted to clear up, however.

“Lacerta, I just want to make sure. Are you okay with killing your own kind? This is something you'll have to do if we infiltrate that compound, and I can't imagine it would be easy. Are you mentally prepared for this task?”

The lizard snapped out of her daze and gave a serious answer.

“That's an odd question. Do humans not murder each other over the most trivial of reasons? Do you not slaughter thousands of your own kind over simple arguments that could be solved by diplomacy? A knight does not waver at the thought of murdering the evil witch, does she? By the same token, I have no problems with striking down anybody in my path. Even if they happen to be kobolds. No matter their identity, in the inhabitants of that fortress are my enemies. For that, they must all perish in blood.”

“Ah, interesting. I have another question: why is it that you want to take down this fortress so badly? With such a strong impetus, you must have a pretty good motivation.”

The lizard smiled.

“Does it really matter?” she said.

I shrugged.

“No, I guess it doesn't.”

With a hastily-made comrade by my side, we made our way to the kobold fortress. Along the way Lacerta seemed to take an interest in Calvar.

“Will your pet skeleton assist in the assault? It must be difficult when she's only a head.”

Before Calvar could make a snide retort, I shut him up and answered in his stead.

“Oh, his name is Calvar. He's not a pet, but more of my personal consultant.”

The lizard was intrigued.

“So humans don't keep skeletons as pets, but as consultants? And here I thought it would provide combat support by shooting fireballs out of its mouth! I was naïve. There is truly much more I have to learn about human society.”

Calvar and I stayed awkwardly silent.

“Kid, at this rate you'll make this weird-ass kobold even more messed up. I hope you're ready take responsibility,” he said.

The fortress soon stood before us. A large entrance graced its front, with kobolds guards on patrol wielding metal spears. Lacerta insisted on me charging the front, while she took a back entrance and provided support from the shadows. She seemed intimately familiar with the layout of this fortress. Did she prepare ahead of time for this attack? The possibility seemed likely.

Following the plan, I charged the front entrance. One of the kobold guards spotted my advance and confronted me. He barked unintelligible sentences in hisses and roars. Unlike Lacerta, it appeared this one could not speak English. Ignoring his words, I drew out my weapon, and so did he in response.

In SoD, Kobolds were small and agile creatures featuring hard scales that resisted slashing attacks. Their hide was easily penetrated by piercing strikes and magic, however, so a balanced adventurer never had too much trouble. They were normally only a problem when fought in groups. Since this was a single enemy, I should have no trouble facing it.

The kobold swiftly moved towards me, but with my heightened dexterity, matching him was was a trivial task. My spear easily pierced his hide, and as he was stunned by the pain, I finished him off with a mana bolt. Thanks to the ring I procured from the skeleton mage, I could memorize both mana bolt and fire bolt at the same time. Quite useful for enemies such as these, which are relatively resistant to fire. As the creature died, a wisp of aether escaped it corpse.

With the outside guard taken care of, I entered the imposing fortress. The first floor was largely empty and seemed to serve as a simple entrance hall. One of the side rooms was a kitchen, with a pen of pigs visible on the outside. Looks like kobold cuisine is not that different from that of humans.

As I explored the floor, I absorbed several more wisps of aether. That must have been Lacerta's handiwork up head. This confirmed an important fact: wisps worked the same way as they did in SoD. No matter how a monster died, the nearby adventurer is the one who gains the aether. It made me wonder just how far this effect could reach. It must have a limit, as otherwise I would absorb wisps from the other side of the country.

I made my way up the stairs to the second floor. More and more wisps entered my body as I did. Just how many enemies was Lacerta taking out? Even if she was talented, she was still but a single kobold. The amount seemed to defy reason. If she could do this on her own, did she really even need my help?

With a growing sense of unease, I wondered what exactly I was getting into.