The Worst Kobold Chapter 14: Chapter 10 - Obligatory Beach Episode

Read chapter 14 of The Worst Kobold by Thalaas on NovelPedia.

“So you’re an aether mage?” Griffon asked as they continued their long journey. The unusual crew of goblin, kobold and newly-discovered dragon had been walking for hours now. The weather had been fair, and they fortunately hadn’t run into any other problems. Ember had decided to change to a different path from the main one they were on previously. Before, she wanted speed. Now she opted for one that would have less conflict. She wasn’t really afraid of being mugged again, but she knew Fluke wouldn’t fight so she decided best to avoid people. She was slightly in the front as she led the other pair. “A minor one. Very minor,” Ember continued her discussion with the buff kobold. The two of them had been on much better footing since their ‘girl stuff’ and had been chatting almost constantly now. “I think my newt has more magical power than I have,” she joked as she felt her ponytail’s resident give a little random twitch. “I always got the other three spheres, you know. White sphere is healing. Black sphere is death. Elemental sphere is nature. But the aether one I found confusing,” Griffon admitted. She had no magical aptitude, and had only learnt the basics in how to deal with mages in combat. Shockingly, the best way to deal with many mages is ‘get in fast and smack them hard repeatedly’. Ember nodded. Griffon’s knowledge was a very simplistic way of how most non-mages saw the four spheres of magic. “More or less. I always thought of the elemental sphere is manipulating the physical world, and the aether sphere is, well,” She held out her hand and a little butterfly formed on it not a second. Not a very good one. The wings were different sizes and it had no colour. “Manipulating the mental one. Illusions, glamour spells, communication magic, empathy reading.” “So not a destructive one like the dark sphere?” “Pfftt,” Ember snorted at Griffon’s response. “Don’t start that. I know a lot of good dark sphere mages! Well, one. But magic’s like anything. You can use a hammer to build a wall or smash someone’s skull in. Black magic’s got a lot of uses too. You got a horde of locusts causing a famine? A few good plaguemancers can stop that. Meanwhile? A white mage can make himself stronger to beat you to death. An elemental one can set you on a fire. Hells, the slave collars are made with aether magic by causing pain if…,” she stopped suddenly as she saw Griffon’s glare darken. “Sorry! I shouldn’t have brought it up. I tend to talk too much without thinking sometimes and…” “No, it’s not like you’re slapping those horrid things on my people left and right,” Griffon sighed. “Besides, it’s not like goblins are treated much better in a lot of kingdoms.” “Yeah…,” Ember had to admit. “I mean, you can’t take us as slaves…but that's about it. A human in the village accuses you of something? You're fried pretty much.” “Did… Did I do something wrong?” That made both the ladies jump in shock. The words were meant to be a whisper. But to Ember, and now Griffon? It was a soft shout mixed with a deep rumbling roar. “What? No!” Griffon had such trouble looking up at Fluke now. It dawned on her that she always had to crane her neck up so high to speak to him. So many little things that the glamor spell made her think was normal now seemed absolutely absurd. “Why would you think that?” Fluke was staring down at her bare clawed feet. It was hard to meet her gaze. “You’ve um… haven't talked to me since last night.” A soft pause hung in the air. “Was… Was it the bandits? I'm sorry about getting captured…” Griffon was now reviewing that battle in her mind with a completely different frame of reference. She saw that absolute absurdity of Slitthroat Pete holding Fluke hostage with a dagger that would barely be a sliver to him even if he could pierce the nigh-impervious dragon scale. She cracked a smile at the image, but it faded quickly when she saw how upset he was. “No, it's um… not that… I…um…” How did she explain this? This was Fluke. Her dear friend sinc