Free Web NovelChapter 7: Threat Of Humanity
Apart from the horrible food and uncultured lifestyle, Ka’z’s most disturbing experience as a kobold was the nudity.
Kobolds possessed tough scales covering their backs and limbs, while the front side of their bodies remained comparatively soft. It was where their vital organs and reproductive organs were located.
Everyone walked around with their breasts and private parts exposed as if such things were completely normal.
Unfortunately, the madness did not stop there.
The concept of monogamy simply didn’t exist.
Kobolds slept with whoever they wished and whenever they wished, then raised the resulting children together as a community.
Even for Ka’z, who had died a virgin in his previous life, this lifestyle felt deeply unsettling.
Going from a virgin to a dragon-inspired orgy culture was a bit too much for him.
He couldn’t fathom sleeping with a woman only for one of his many stepbrothers to sleep with her as well.
The entire concept felt barbaric.
No matter how much he tried, he simply couldn’t wrap his mind around it.
Regardless, Ka’z could only keep his complaints to himself and continue living his life.
It was his duty to bring prosperity and civility to this race after all.
Sigh!
Ka’z accidentally sighed out loud before quickly covering his mouth as he remembered he was sitting in class.
The entire classroom immediately turned toward him with curious expressions.
When nothing interesting followed, they eventually returned their attention to Lady Zira.
For the past few weeks, they had been trapped in the same routine.
Morning classes.
Afternoon labor sessions.
Nightly Aether Core training.
Despite his complaints, Ka’z had learned quite a lot during that period, especially when it came to magic and the fundamentals of cultivation.
"As I was saying, every kobold possesses what our ancestors called the Gathering Instinct. It is a gift inherited from the dragons. While dragons gather treasures, artifacts, and entire mountains of gold, kobolds gather whatever they can find. Food, stones, tools, shiny objects, useful materials, even strange plants. If a kobold thinks something might be useful later, their first thought is usually to bring it home," Lady Zira explained.
"So that’s why Ru’k keeps bringing dead bugs to class?" one of the children, Lu’k, asked.
Ka’z immediately facepalmed.
Lady Zira nodded.
"Exactly."
Ru’k proudly puffed out his chest.
"I have seventy-three."
’That is not something to be proud of,’ Ka’z inwardly scolded while rolling his eyes.
"The Gathering Instinct is one of the reasons our race survived extinction. Long ago, when food was scarce and predators hunted us constantly, the kobolds who gathered more resources lived longer. Over generations, that habit became part of our blood."
Lady Zira continued speaking while slowly walking around the classroom.
"Look around you. The tunnels, the farms, the traps, the watchtowers, the storage chambers. Everything you see exists because countless kobolds gathered one stone, one stick, and one clawful of dirt at a time."
Ka’z inwardly nodded.
To be honest, from everything he had seen so far, their colony was fairly prosperous.
It possessed a respectable amount of wealth.
There was a cultivation chamber.
Dire weasel pens.
Agricultural fields.
The clan had even expanded beyond the cave and was currently digging drainage channels to reduce the flooding caused by seasonal downpours.
By every reasonable measure, Vaal’kor Clan was moving in the right direction.
Yet Ka’z understood the fatal flaw hidden within this lifestyle.
He slowly raised his hand.
Lady Zira immediately pointed toward him.
"Yes, Ka’z?"
"If we constantly gather valuables, doesn’t that create problems?"
The room became quiet as several children turned toward him.
Lady Zira blinked in surprise.
She had not expected him to think that far ahead.
Especially considering the fact that he barely appeared to pay attention during her lessons.
In truth, she had been preparing to discuss this exact topic next, but now she found herself curious about just how far the Child of Prophecy had already followed the logic.
"What kind of problems?" Lady Zira asked.
Ka’z rested his chin on his palm.
"If people know kobolds collect treasure, resources, monster materials, and valuables, wouldn’t that attract attacks? Doesn’t it make us look like walking treasure chests?"
The smile on Lady Zira’s face slowly disappeared.
She nodded.
She genuinely hadn’t expected him to identify the core issue so quickly.
Truly, this child was different.
"That is actually exactly what I was about to discuss."
Lady Zira folded her hands together.
"The Gathering Instinct is both our greatest strength and one of our greatest weaknesses."
She slowly walked toward the center of the room.
"Kobolds accumulate wealth over time. Not just gold. Food stores. Monster materials. Rare herbs. Crystals. Tools. Weapons. Resources. We gather everything."
Her expression gradually hardened.
"And because of that, others gather around us as well."
The children looked confused.
Ka’z already knew where this conversation was heading.
"The greatest threat to the kobold race is not wolves, bears, or even goblins."
The room grew silent.
"It is adventurers."
Several younger hatchlings visibly stiffened.
Even they recognized that word.
"Human adventurers?" Za’r, a unique yellow-scaled kobold, asked nervously.
Lady Zira nodded.
"Human adventurers."
She pointed toward the distant cave entrance.
"To most races, a kobold colony is viewed as loot. When human adventurers hear rumors of a kobold nest, they do not think about the families living inside. They think about treasure. They think about monster materials. They think about rewards. Because kobolds are considered weak, many adventurers see us as easy targets."
Several children were beginning to look disturbed.
Ka’z wasn’t surprised.
’Well, of course,’ he thought.
A group of human adventurers could spend weeks risking their lives fighting powerful monsters.
Or they could attack a kobold colony and steal generations worth of accumulated resources.
The choice was obvious for many people.
It was expected.
And the worst part was that the stronger a kobold colony became, the more likely it was to attract attention.
Prosperity itself became a beacon.
Things might look calm today.
The farms were growing.
The colony was expanding.
The warriors were holding the borders.
Life appeared stable.
But Ka’z knew better.
All it would take was one wandering adventurer, one careless rumor, or one greedy merchant hearing whispers of a prosperous kobold settlement.
Then everything could change.
Very fast.
That reality was precisely why he remained anxious despite everything appearing fine on the surface.
Because the more successful Vaal’kor Clan became, the closer it moved toward the moment someone stronger decided to take everything they had built.
