Vol. 2 - Chapter 28 - Victims of a Sham

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Mathias, guided by Vek, was on top of the mound, using the steps carved by what one could deduct was pickaxes, he could see the craftsman of the house being quite rustic and simplistic, something that could send you to the medieval era. When he finished ascending on the steps reaching the house, he was guided inside by Vek who quickly kicked some stones from the courtyard pathway.

'Wait a minute, those stones had some sparkling to them. What could those be?' thought Mathias who instinctively turned his head to gaze at the stone Vek threw away from his path.

'Still can't figure out what that was.' continued Mathias who walked after Vek, stopping pondering on what he just saw.

Entering inside it made him feel awkward barely with enough space to pass his head.

'So this how the Nordics feel when they come around countries who have the average of height smaller. Now that I think about it, sometimes it is better not to be so tall, while there are advantages from being tall, the drawbacks in the long run are harsher.'

'What am I even thinking about, I have no reason to be flustered about my 1,80-meter height, I can still dream a bit until I turn 23 for 1 more centimeter of growth.'

Still unable to stop from thinking about random things, before entering the lobby of the house, he heard the voice of the old kobold who he meet in the Beta Phase who remained unchanged.

"Please, come in, human guest."

As that old voice waned off, he stepped inside entering deeper in the house, and with Vek whispering description, Mathias entered the main room of the house that was in a circular shaped manner, where the old kobold he saw in the distance before was sitting on the ground with his legs crossed and the staff close by.

Standing on his feet it made him feel like a Giant, compared to the smaller kobolds who had to raise their heads to look at him. Then seeing Vek who walked close to the elder and sat in the same position like him, which he followed suit not finding that position difficult, especially when it was reminiscent of the Chinese martial arts that he saw in some old movies, with the addition of becoming rather flexible from all the MMA training he went through.

The two kobolds turned their sharp eyes at Mathias, observing the human guest hold his legs crossed, similar to a monk, and could be seen some admiration for this human to do the respectful stance of the kobolds when discussing, point where the kobold Elder was the first one to say to Mathias.

"From what Vek told me, you and your friends have defeated that evil necromancer who experimented and even turned my children into undead. I am truly grateful for this gesture, and for this I will give you all my support and offer the patience of my tribe."

Staring at the Elder, observing his behavior and settling his crimson eyes on the tooth necklace, he heard the old kobold mention it in a calm manner.

"This is a soul item to us Kobolds, it represents our experience in life and how many circles have passed. By human years, I should be 90 years old, but by my ancestors and Gods blessing, I am still able to watch as the new generation of kobolds is rising. Nevertheless, it has been a harsh time for my tribe because of the necromancer and its monstrosity."

"Elder, my colleagues and I will take care of the bear monster since this was our intent from the start." replied Mathias, after the old kobold told him how old he was, which he remembered from the Beta Phase when Vek and Morlk visited him.

Nodding his head, the old kobold gazed quietly at Mathias before telling something to Vek using the draconian language." أحضر نبيذ الفاكهة من قبوبي " (A/N: Forgot to note down what I've wrote here, but it's in the shorts of "Get my fruit wine from the celar")

"Ahem, elder, let's talk in common since we have a human quest. He can't understand draconian."  told Vek, when gazing at Mathias whose face remained unchanged, with his body giving off a red aura that looked dignified and also calming.

"This is right, thank you for reminding me. At my age, I started forgetting certain things. Go get my fruit wine from my cellar little Vek, I have to serve the human quest before taking on the challenge of fighting that monstrosity. Ahh, I almost forgot to ask you human, how are you called?"

Mathias got curious about what wine the kobolds had brewed which could be spotted by the old kobold, and as he heard his question, he waved his head and later bowed his head mentioning in a calm tone.

"Don't worry, there's no problem, also thanks for the wine. My name is Mathias."

Vek didn't wait for further instructions, getting on his feet, he walked to another part of the house, leaving out Mathias and the old kobold, a friendly NPC of level 65 with a silver nameplate with some golden fragments around.

Remaining alone in the room, the Elder stroked his long beard which looked rather comical and asked Mathias curious about something.

"Mathias, and interesting name. Does it mean something in the human language?"

The latter who received this question, gazed at the old kobold in a calm way, and after pondering on the meaning of his name, he opened his mouth replying.

"My name means, the "Gift of God"."

Nodding his head at Mathias's explanation, the Elder also noticed how his body was giving off a serene aura around him which looked more like a veil protecting this crimson-haired young man with ruby eyes. Yet, this was Mathias's Red Energy emanating outside with the recovery of his unique stat bar, which proved troublesome because he had absolutely no idea how to hide this power, which made the latter counterpart ask him curiously.

"Are you by chance a magician, human Mathias?" asked Elder Morlk another question, trying to figure out what that red-crimson aura around him was.

"Hmm? You can count me as one part magician because I still haven't become a full-fledged apprentice to the craft. However, I can cast spells, why are you asking?"

"Your body gives off pure magic, like the dragons my clan reveres and the ones my ancestors and predecessor All-Watchers have taught to spread the word about. Also, I am also the sole Sorcerer of my people who have managed to pass the 'Draconic Rite of Passage' and awakening my latent dragon bloodline."

"Interesting, does this make you a half-dragon?"  inquired Mathias curious to find more about the kobolds, apart from what he knew from some fantasy books.

"Hahaha, I can't even consider myself half-dragon since I didn't awaken my entire bloodline. I am far from reaching that stage, and old kobold like me? My potential has been wasted. All I care about now is to pass the torch to the next generation."

"So, little Vek is the future leader of the tribe?" remarked Mathias placing together the puzzle from the bits he was receiving from Elder Morlk.

"Yes, I wanted for himself to prove against that monstrosity, and if he defeated together with his brothers, I would have stepped down from the leadership position and allowed Vek to take on the spot of chief, while myself would only be the All-Watcher and Sorcerer of the tribe. But, why do you seem so warm when mentioning little Vek, are you familiar with the kobolds?"

"Ohh, no, not really. I just have a feeling I have met him in a past life of mine where we fought together, and also about your kobold tribe which would have prospered being lead from the shadows of the Gravelmark and reach a bigger world."

"Hah, my tribe ever prospering? A bigger world to be seen? Those words, young human, are familiar to me. My predecessor has mentioned them, about how his own predecessors followed by the older generations told a story about a human who has fought against my ancestor who at that time settled on the lands of Gravelmark, and wanted to expand the territory our kobolds would have, in order to impress God Nevartan along with God Asgorath and gain their blessings."

"As my ancestor fought against that human, he still lost, but in an act of respect, and even sympathy for my tribe cause, that human didn't mind us settling inside Gravelmark as long as we kept to a binding promise. To never leave Gravelmark, or expand and disturb the life of the humans."

Listening to the old kobold story, he could only humm, as if registering the story, and what followed next from the kobold, was something surprising.

"There's been this treasure from the ancestor that each generation of All-Watchers have to safely protect, attesting a sort of a human legal bid attesting something akin to a right to holding this mountain."

"How long was that been, Elder, do you remember or has your predecessor even bothered to mention?"

"Ohh, but they did, it has been 800 years since that event."

"I see, it must be hard for you people to not see other places, and be bound by this piece of paper. Don't you feel like wanting to see the outside?"

The old kobold give a laugh, before telling to Mathias in a brash tone.

"Since the ancestor has died, the older generations didn't bother too much to respect the agreement drawn by that human and the ancestor, and still allowed a selected few elites of the tribe to explore the world and collect information. But everything ended, when Gravelmark started becoming the breeding ground of the monsters, which has restricted our movements. It must have been because of the magical powers of the mountain, since there is a guardian spirit of the mountain who we would talk to for guidance."

When Mathias heard about the spirit, his face shifted a wrinkle, starting to contemplate, asking himself a simple question.

'Could it be? This kobold refers to that old ghost who cursed me?' I mean that tree's roots were quite deep, so it could be that? However… No way, there can't be such a case even if this is a fantasy setting. Yet, I got to ask.'

"Sir, by chance his voice sounded like this?" asked Mathias before starting pulling off a cheap imitation of how shamelessly the old ghost sounded like a female.

'Fuck, glad this is a kobold and doesn't understand much about human concepts. If this was a player or a human inhabitant of this world, I would have dug my head underground for shaming myself so badly.'

Deep inside his ring, an old man with snow-white hair, and wrinkles on his face, went to scratch his ass while sleeping and talking. <Someone's cursing me? Is that you Dehakel? Do you have a problem if I stole the girl you had butterflies? Bah, whatever, it has been so long, you probably forgive me by now.>

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When Mathias imitated Haycien using or at least trying to sound just as close to him, Vek walked inside the room holding an obsidian jug, that he was carrying with both hands, before stopping in place, when hearing Mathias who he viewed as the most dignified human he saw.

"Sorry, young man, but this doesn't feel familiar. The spirit talked with me when I was checking on a precious plant of my tribe and it was a male voice."

Getting another lead, Mathias checked on the Elder using Haycien's male voice, which made the old kobold immediately react, rising on his feet and even step back, even Vek reacted, feeling the voice familiar, barely containing himself to place the jug down without breaking it.

"How do you know the Gravelmark Mountain Spirit Voice?"

"Elder, sorry for what I am about to tell you, but that is not the spirit of Gravelmark, it is just a damned ghost who cursed me, almost making me die for good, even if I am immortal."

"How can it be? It knew so much information and even said he saw the fight against my ancestor. He told details about each generation of All-Watchers." inquired the old kobold staring at Mathias in some indignation in his expression.

Even Vek, nodded his head, being one who talked with the spirit when he was taking care of Dahlia's Tears.

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Immediately the sound of footsteps could be heard with haggard breaths, with the door of the house being opened with two people entering inside, and telling the Elder in the draconian language.

"All-Watcher! Something bad happened to the Grove! Dahlia! She started losing its luster. Could it be that the Spirit of the Mountain got upset on us?"

"Something happened to the Grove?" asked Elder Morlk, shifting his attention to the two kobolds who held tunics, and also some decorations composed of precious gems.

Mathias couldn't understand what they were talking about, but from Vek's expression and the old's kobold expression, things were serious.

"What are you waiting for, let me see with my old eyes what happened to the Grove! Human, you come too since you talked about something sensible and it is better to hear the spirit too for yourself. "

Not lingering too much on empty talk, the two kobolds who from Vek explanation were the Clerics of the Tribe, along with the Elder, himself and Vek went in an alerted rhythm to another place of the underground settlement, where his perception of his surroundings changed abruptly.

From the dark and chill gallery environment that gave you the impression of a large cave depression, to suddenly waking up in a lush jungle.

'Green? What is this? How could a tropical forest grow inside a cave? Is this the fantasy part?' thought Mathias as he stepped inside this 'Groove'.

It was something he only saw on the internet or in fantasy books, never with his two eyes.

It looked like a tropical forest of sorts, with a freshwater stream being heard in the distance with the voices of the humans being most vibrant, giving Mathias the impression, only he was suffering all sorts of unnecessary events to him.