The guilt of burning a forest down has waned and the curiosity about the spell it gave me has only risen.

“Spellbook: Create Water, Create Fire, Cure(Minor), Heal(Minor), Fireball, Firestorm.”

Great, two spells that I will never use. I can’t risk another fire growing out of control. Guess I’ll check my evolution options.

Evolutions

Ruby Kobold- Fire aspect kobolds able to withstand even lava. Usually serves magma dragons.

Bronze Kobold- Earth aspect kobold able to dig through mountains. Usually serves bronze dragons hidden deep within the earth.

Primal Kobold- A kobold that has taken a step back in it’s bloodline. The first kobold was the birth of a human bard and a silver dragon. Over time they were bred to be the perfect servants for dragons.

It’s like the evolution paths are determined by my actions. The first two are obviously inspired by my high Digging and Pyromancy skills. The last one, Primal Kobold, while not based on a skill it is the choice for me because of my attitude. One step back from being a species born to be slaves is a species born to be freeer. While it doesn’t offer any immediate benefits it is the only evolution path that doesn’t push me towards serving a dragon. I select it. The white shell encases me and I fall asleep. When I awake I’m larger than I was before. I even have the bones on my back of what could be wings in the future, but currently they are just small bones jutting out of my back. From four feet to five feet. One more evolution and I’m no longer a manlet. Though I don’t much pass for a kobold anymore. I look more similar to a lizardfolk. My bow is small and my spear seems tiny now. I spend the rest of the day crafting new ones. I tie Robin Hood’s belt around my waist and place the daggers into it. Now that I’m large enough I could probably fit into his clothes. I could go back to get them, but it’s not like I’m showing anything indecent without him. It’s a perk of being a kobold. Your dangly bits don’t dangle. They hide up in a slit thing. Though in the future I should grab a pair of pants.

I felt strong now. Very strong, strong enough to take on a dragon. I climbed the mountain. Following the smoke from the bonfire that was in the main room next to the dragon. There was a small hole in the top of the mountain that vented smoke from the bonfire. Giving the mountain a volcano-like appearance. From that hole, when the smoke was low I was able to peer down at the dragon. He looked no bigger than a bus from up here. I observed him for a few days. He had a schedule of sleeping for twenty hours a day. Then he would wake up, eat whatever livestock the kobolds offered to him, or if that was too little he would eat the kobolds. I shuddered everytime I watched this. Sitting up upon the mountain top I thought up a plan. I give credit to this idea to The King of Random, I don’t enjoy his personality but I did begrudgingly watch his video on making gunpowder from scratch. Gun powder is made with three ingredients. Charcoal, saltpeter, and sulfur. I can make charcoal and saltpeter. I know where to get sulfur.

I squeeze out of the tunnel into the mountain. My backpack is full of sulfur. Its rotten egg smell and it’s yellow color made it easy to find. Next is the hard part. I dug a kiln into the mountain side. I shoved a large amount of wood into the over. Then using mud and a large stone I sealed it in with an airtight seal. I lit a fire underneath and heated the wood inside until it turned from wood into charcoal.

I had set up camp some ways up the mountain. Nothing seemed to come up this mountain. I had a safe spot to process out saltpeter. Using wood and clay I crafted a large compost tub. I filled it with plant matter and animal excrement. I know, I know. Animal excrement? Where did you get that? From myself obviously. I’m an animal. I put the lid on it and let it ferment occasionally adding more.

It takes a month for the saltpetre to ferment. In that time I focus on surviving and preparing. By the end of the fermentation the other side of the river has begun to return to it’s once vibrant green color. As for preparing, I’m no engineer, but from what I gathered from the peephole in the mountain and from my ability to be spatially aware. The mountain cross section is like this. I draw a diagram in the dirt.

If I place four bombs in a square pattern on those levels then the blast should be enough to drop the thin portions of the hill side that the dragon sits under. The kobold area will be unscaved and since the entrance extends through their area then they will be able to escape. A fuse is just rope covered in gunpowder. Sure it is. They’ll be easy to make.

Yellow crystals formed atop the mixture. It was time to wash it out. I washed the mixture then placed the water in clay bowls to evaporate. Saltpetre is a salt. Like table salt it dissolves in water and when the water evaporates it is left behind.

I combined the three ingredients. I now had clay jar after clay jar of gunpowder. Place them in holes at the weak spots of the mountain. They cut far enough into the mountain that they should have their max effect. I stick the fuse through the clay. Leading the fuse out. I ran it down the side of the hill. With all four bombs in place I line them up. “Create Fire!” A small amount of fire flashes. It ignites all four fuses and they zoom up the mountain. Of course the bombs weren’t the only things I prepared. The beetles that poisoned me when I first got here. Their insides are poisonous to anyone without poison resistance. The green dragon, despite its massive level hasn’t experienced the real world. It lacks all forms for poison resists.