Hearing the recognition of the great ancestor Drazird and him saying my name means that I am proving to be worthy of my lineage. I know that inside me a part was jumping with joy; seeing that so much effort was recognized gave me that joy, but what I appreciate the most is that, despite not starting on good terms and knowing my greatest fear, he just supported me and told me he "understood" me; that simple word made me break down in tears, not of sadness, but of peace. Someone knew who I was and everything I had lived through until today. There was someone! That was all I wanted, and although the only thing I could say to him was a simple "thank you," it was one that came from the depths of my being.

  The next morning, I told everyone about the seal and that we were ready to begin; we also shared our future plans with the great serpent and the lady spider, it was only fair, and although they were sad that we would leave once the magic seal was finished, they understood that we wanted to find our people; we also promised them that it wouldn't be immediate, and that of course, we would come back to visit them. Moreover, someone would have to keep an eye on the good condition of the magic seal; even, with a bit of luck, we could convince some of our people to repopulate the great caverns; with the magic seal active, it would be a safe place to live.

  Finally, I told Garrl the name of the great ancestor and that he recognized us as worthy of our lineage, but that it didn't mean we shouldn't keep growing; as well as that he would support us in our dream as much as he could. What can I say? Garrl didn't know how to react from the excitement.

  And so, several days passed where I was teaching Garrl how to draw the symbols we needed, the shape, size, and type of mana minerals we would require to complete the magic seal, where it should be placed, and how much mana we needed to infuse to connect them. Now with the snake and lady Spider, we sought to define where we would get those materials and how to transport them, so we proceeded to outline a plan of action together.

  The first thing we defined and agreed upon was to go for materials closer to us, where the great serpent would help us obtain the materials in the approximate dimensions we needed or as far as she could; for that, I had to make an approximate scale of one meter with its respective centimeters. I took advantage of human items to estimate it, according to the size of humans and comparing it with ours; and I had to explain those measurement scales to everyone to work with greater precision.

  Next, after the great serpent gave us the blocks, it was up to Garrl and me to finish the details, including carving the symbol; luckily, the hardening and sharpening of the mana for our claws that the great serpent taught us was very useful. Once that was done, we had to carefully move the rock slabs; both the great serpent and the lady spider's offspring were of great help; that was until we reached the magic barrier, where Garrl and I had to finish the transfer and place the stones; of course, the magic barrier still affected me, and that was the hardest part for me, but with the help of the great ancestor, I managed to endure it.

  Finally, it was Garrl's turn to close the mana circuits; unfortunately, my control and amount of mana were not optimal for this job; and even for Garrl, it was complicated and exhausting. On many occasions, I could only place one rock slab a day; I know the great ancestor told us it was almost done, but that was more than 70 rock slabs in different sizes, weights, and shapes; but compared to everything Tammat and his predecessors did, I know it's little.

  We continued like this for months and even had to negotiate passage with other creatures of the great caves due to the remoteness of the materials. Luckily, none of them refused or put any obstacles in our way, although I think part of it was because we had both the great serpent and the lady spider as bodyguards, and I don't blame them, haha. However, something curious was meeting other mana creatures with self-awareness. As the great serpent explained to us, each one lives in their own world; some had never even seen a human. They also didn't care about the magic seal as long as it didn't harm them. For their part, their way of living, at least for me, is peculiar. They just seek to live peacefully, as long as they can feed and survive. They generally live alone or in pairs. I tried to invite them to join a community, thinking of Garrl's idea, but for them, it didn't make sense. In their own words, "that's only what kobolds do." While most rejected my proposal, some at least accepted that if we needed them for something, we could just look for them, and they would see if they could help us. I suppose it's a start.

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  Later, the great serpent also told us that she used to think the same way about all the cave creatures, and that the three of us being together, helping each other despite being from three different species, is not common in the great caves; however, she learned from Tammat that what you can't do alone, you can do with others; because that's how kobolds think, Tammat told her, and it was true, that way of thinking was very convenient, so she advised us not to stop insisting on seeking alliances in the caves with other species. Maybe we wouldn't form a community, but we would have allies, she told us.

  - I told you, brother. Our dream can start here. We can create alliances and, if we manage to convince our people to return, we would create a community that gets along with all the cave creatures, just as our mother tried to do.

  - Yes, I know, Garrl, but remember "One step at a time."

  We kept at it, and it was about three months of hard work, by the time we only had 10 rock slabs left to finish the seal.

  - Come on, Garrl, almost theeeere …………………….. That's it! Damn! ……………………. I'm exhausted!

  - Yes! We did it, Breigon; I just need to connect these 10 rock slabs before activating the seal. We did it, Breigon; I just have to connect these 10 rock slabs before activating the magic seal. We did it, brother! We did it, brother!

  - Yes, remind me to celebrate when I catch my breath.

  - Breigon.

  - Yes, great ancestor.

  - I need you to be the one to connect that last rock slab they placed and imbue it with your mana.

  - But, great ancestor, Garrl is better at that than I am.

  - It's not because of that, you promised that they would return and maybe even with more kobolds, the great serpent and the great spider, right? You don't expect me to keep protecting you from the miasma field when it's active in all the great caverns, do you?

  - That means this rock slab ………………..…

  - If you allow the miasma field not to affect your essence, unfortunately, it will only be in the miasma field; for the magic barrier, it was impossible for me to correct it without affecting it.

  - Thank you, great ancestor Drazird, I …………………. don't know what to say.

  - Just tell Garrl to help you, and remember only your mana.

  After asking Garrl to help me connect this rock slab, as the great ancestor requested it, I understood the difficult work Garrl was doing and how skilled he is.

  - Damn, Garrl! How do you do it? That left me without mana.

  - Well, brother, after practicing with the 20th rock slab, I think I've got the hang of it, haha, but don't worry, I've run out of mana too. Come on, let's rest for today and in the coming days I'll finish this work, and together we'll honor the great ancestors and our people, unless you want to practice more.

  - I'll think about it, Garrl, haha, but I think I'll pass for now.

  ……………………………………………………………..

  Unbeknownst to both kobolds, on that very day, a group of humans, whose numbers far exceeded any that had come before, was at the main entrance of the great caverns. Their objective, although unknown, was clear: they would finish what they had started several months ago.