After saying our prayers and bidding farewell, we left the magic seal calmly, as we were not in a hurry. During the journey back, we reminisced together about the time we had with the great serpent and its incredible tales of Tammat, and how Kirkarrg would react upon learning the reason behind my strange behavior. The truth is, there were several happy memories, but we also remembered the sad ones. It hurts to lose a loved one, in this life as in any other, but we must move forward; she would have wanted that.

  Upon arriving again at the Mrs. spider's place, we realized that several of the creatures who helped us fight had returned, so we took the opportunity to thank them for everything, to explain that the magic seal would protect all the great caves and that this victory was thanks to everyone's support, as well as the sacrifice and effort of our people, Tammat's, the great serpent's, and those who gave their lives that day; I don't know if everyone understood us, but it was worth a try.

  In the end, the last thing we told them was that we would leave, but that we hoped to return with other kobolds and with the promise that this time our people would live in peace with everyone. After telling them everything, to my surprise and Garrl's, one by one they approached us, thanked us for everything, and reaffirmed their commitment to stand together against any threat that seeks to attack their home, as well as not to hesitate to ask for their help if needed. What can I say, it was incredible to see how different creatures could get along and that they offered us their support. It makes me know and feel that we did well in protecting this place.

  After saying goodbye to the last creatures and before training with Garrl, who might possibly give me a beating, I had to check one last thing: the human weapons, specifically those imbued with mana. And before taking a short sword that the Mrs. spider had saved for me, the great ancestor Drazird spoke to me.

  - You don't need to use that magic, you have our heritage now, and while I would love to see the faces of the great spirits if one of our descendants could use their mana, it is not worthy of your lineage; however, I cannot deny that it can be useful in many ways and even necessary, so just this once and for all the times to come, I will pretend I haven't seen anything, but I repeat, Breigon, you must not depend on this magic, you have your heritage.

  - I know, great ancestor, but this saved my life and helped destroy that magic barrier; I just want to research and be able to take advantage of any benefit it can give me. You don't have to worry, great ancestor, for me it's just a tool. Besides, I have no shortage of desire to learn from my legacy and prove that I am worthy of it.

  After talking with Drazird, I began to examine the weapon; it was a well-crafted short sword, although I know nothing about blacksmithing, it is evident just by looking at it. Its materials allow it to accumulate mana, and now it is full of it; it has several inscriptions in symbols that I suppose must be similar to the ones we use in the magic seal, and that must allow harnessing the mana to carry out the attack.

  - Come on, brother! I want to see if it's true that you can use their weapons.

  - If you're so confident that it's not, why are you so far away, Garrl?

  - Hey! I don't know if you don't remember, but I do; when you were experimenting with mana minerals, on more than one occasion we had to run away, and now you're going to experiment with their weapons. I protect my scales, brother, that's what I do.

  - Hahaha, that's true, but that's what research is about, sometimes you have to take risks, but don't worry, these weapons are well designed, they won't just explode for no reason, or at least I hope so; it would be foolish of humans to have weapons with that kind of danger. Besides, the one I used against the magic barrier only exploded because I pushed my mana into the sword and combined it with the other mana. I still don't understand why the explosion was so intense; I knew that different manas repel each other, but I didn't imagine such a violent reaction. That was more than just repulsion; something triggered that reaction and I will find out in due time.

  So, I take the sword and attack, hoping to release the mana it contains, but to my total intrigue, nothing happened; I swung it several times, but nothing.

  - But what the heck! Before it worked, what am I doing wrong?

  - Maybe you imagined it, brother.

  - That doesn't help me, Garrl! I really could do it, if not, ask Mrs. Spider, she saw me do it on two occasions.

  - Your mana.

  - What?

  - Before, when you used the sword, you had little mana; now your body overflows with it. Maybe your essence is human, Breigon, but now it is covered in draconian mana. I don't think the great spirits believe you are human now, or it could also be the inscribed spells that detect your mana.

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  My point is that this must be the one preventing you from using that sword. It's like you say when you investigate, how was it? A hypothesis?

  - That …………….. makes a lot of sense, but then there's only one way to validate that hypothesis: I must exhaust my mana! Thank you, great ancestor.

  - Garrl! I think your wish to train can be fulfilled; let's do it now.

  - Really? Have you really given up so quickly on human magic? From my side, I'm glad you prefer our lineage, but I was just joking about you not being able to use it; if you need more time, I'll wait for you.

  - I appreciate the gesture, but I haven't given up, it's just that apparently, I need to deplete my mana, as it might be interfering with my ability to use the magic of this sword, and what better way to deplete my new reserves than training with you, Garrl.

  - What do you need, to exhaust your mana training with me?

  A smile accompanied by several very sharp teeth and fangs dazzled from Garrl's snout, and I knew what it meant: we were going to face everything head-on. Damn! Me and my big snout.

  ……………………………………………………….

  I knew that Garrl is more accustomed to his new body than I am, and I know that physically he is stronger; he has already proven it and it is evident at first glance. For his part, I don't think our amount of mana is very different; besides, my only possible advantage, "the power to fly," is out of this fight, and despite having everything against me, I remember how my kobold self-wished to beat my brother and dreamed that, by awakening our lineage, we could achieve it. And you know what? I'm going to try! I am also a descendant of the great dragons, after all!

  - Come on, Garrl! Attack!

  And thus began the fight between two kobolds who had awakened their lineage, and as expected, Garrl is stronger and more agile in his strikes. He had already surpassed me in technique when it came to self-defense since we were young; he liked it and trained so much that now I, the supposed master, am the disciple. I could barely avoid his attacks thanks to expanding my mana to perceive them, but he was cornering me. I had to use my hardening to withstand his strongest blows, which were also reinforced with his hardened mana. Damn! It's stronger than before.

  At one moment, we joined our claws and began to measure our strength, both trying to bend the other; of course, whoever started bending the other felt as if they were getting the upper hand. My legs barely held up to keep me from kneeling, and my claws dug into the ground to prevent me from falling.

  - Come on, brother! Is that all you've got?

  Out of nowhere, I see Garrl trying to headbutt me, and without thinking, I do the same; our horns clashed, both reinforced with mana. I thought I would lose consciousness. That hurt! But I know it hurt him too.

  - You know, Garrl, I would never think I could beat you in strength, but there are other ways to fight!

  I take advantage of the fact that my tail is longer and more flexible than before, and I grab one of Garrl's legs, making him lose his balance, and I use the moment to move away and put quite a distance between us. I needed to think! Unfortunately, Garrl won't give me that time, and he starts gathering mana in his snout, launching a series of fireballs at me, which I barely manage to dodge, and then, without me realizing, Garrl was in front of me, but how? He propelled himself with his mana to leap closer! I only had time to gather mana to try to cushion the blow, but it still sent me flying.

  After falling to the ground, I tried to get back up; Garrl didn't attack me and waited, while speaking to me from a distance.

  - You waste a lot of your mana, brother! You don't move it fluidly and automatically; you keep thinking before letting your instincts do the work! You don't move it smoothly and automatically; you still think before letting your instincts do the work! I thought you had already mastered it! I thought you had already mastered it!

  Of course, Garrl didn't know; it was my kobold self who did that, he had taught me, of course, but now it's just me with my human instincts alone who fights. The difference in efficient mana management was also true; I had exhausted more mana despite Garrl having made more attacks. He surpasses me as a warrior, that's obvious, but I still don't want to give up so soon; I still have mana and strength to keep going. In that moment, I noticed that our fight had kicked up a large amount of dust, and an idea came to me.

  I stand up and look for what I need and, luckily, it's nearby. While I yell at Garrl.

  - I'm not defeated yet!

  I gather mana in my wings and unleash bursts of it, raising so much dust that it obstructs the vision for both of us, but I already know where to go and what to do.

  - Maybe I can't see you, but I can sense your mana, Breigon! ……………. There you are!

  Garrl begins to gather mana again in his maw and launches an immense fireball, but to my surprise, it fell into the trap: I was no longer there. I infused my mana into a mineral rock that I know absorbs it easily, and while he attacks a rock, I am already behind him.

  - Who are you attacking, Garrl?

  I gather mana and strike Garrl with the intention of lifting him into the air.

  - Let's fly, brother!

  And while he is in the air disoriented, I gather mana in my legs and in my antlers and launch myself, just like I did against the human, and crash with all my strength against Garrl, throwing him against a wall of rocks.

  - Oh no! I didn't gauge the strength of that attack, I got too carried away! Garrl, I'm sorry. Are you okay?

  Arriving on the ground, I ran towards where I knew GarrI had crashed. I was barely on my way when, on his own, he came out of the wall.

  - That was incredible! You completely fooled me, and that last attack seriously hurt. If I hadn't hardened my mana all over my body, you would have already defeated me. You are strong, brother! Worthy of our lineage! Let's go!

  That I'm strong? The truth is, I was never someone who liked fighting; I learned self-defense and the basics just out of curiosity, but now this new kobold body is incredible. I can do things as a kobold that I could never do as a human, and my memories of my kobold self-remind me how much I enjoyed fighting, and despite the fatigue, despite my dwindling mana, despite knowing what the outcome of this fight would be, I didn't care. I understand how strong Garrl had become, and that reassured me, but I still wanted to win.

  - Shall we continue then, brother?

  - Let's continue, Garrl.