Ch. 1 Cruel Fates Collide

The adventurers had come to kill all of them. Young Fritz could not believe his eyes. He had always heard of the dangers of tall people. Being a kobold was not easy in this world. Adventures regularly killed monsters, and today Fritz saw the complete onslaught that was the human race. A young man with a bloodied sword came charging in, swinging left and right, killing unsuspecting kobolds. Bolts of fire lit the dark tunnels, and the screams of his friends filled his ears.

Fritz could do nothing to help them. He ran for his life; it was all he could do. Further and further into the tunnels dodging left and right, ducking corners and dodging incoming bolts of fire and arrows. Fritz was terrified for his life. It was a matter of time before they caught and killed him. The tunnels were going to end soon, and there would be nowhere else to run. He had to think of something, or he would soon be dead.

***

The classroom was emptying as the class had just dismissed. "What are you staring at, freak?"

The voice of the girl Kaz loved questioned him. He realized he was spacing off while staring at her again. Everyone in the class looked at him like he was some kind of alien. They could never understand him, and for some reason, they never seemed to want to. The class had just ended, and Kaz thought about what he was going to do when he got home. There was nothing he could think of except play more of his favorite MMORPG 'Forged Fantasy' He had played that game for years, accumulating every single item he could find and becoming one of the most influential players in the game. He, of course, played the evil faction because he loved the idea of raw uncooked power.

The game itself was unique for its time. Each player would start as a simple peasant and work their way into positions of power in the world, accumulating resources and people to build either an empire or a dungeon. Then they would hire heroes or monsters to defend their base or assault the enemies. Each time they won, they would grow in power. The fun part of this game was the interesting customization available to the characters. Delving into ancient tombs or stealing objects of power from Wizards and Liches would grant you the ability to change your race and appearance, giving you even more control. The end goal was to become either the Prince of Darkness or the Savior of Light.

Daydreaming about what he was going to do when he got home was to his downfall as he quickly found himself surrounded by a few large kids, each one menacing in their own right with one of them, Derik being the most dangerous of them all.

"Look at the little freak daydreaming about Anastasia again," Derik smirked as he pushed Kaz back a step. "I bet you wish you had a chance with her, don't you?"

Kaz looked around and noticed they were the only ones in the classroom now. Everyone else had left the room. A few stayed by the door to watch, but no one acted. They all knew what would happen if they did. Derik would target them, and to them, it was better that some weak loser was their target.

Kaz hated his life outside of the game. He knew what was going to happen now. Derik and his thugs would pick on him and probably humiliate him somehow and then give him a light bruising before getting bored and going home. This was a common daily occurrence for Kaz.

But today, something felt different. Kaz looked Derik in the eye; the punk smirked his way, and Kaz gave him a stern stare.

"What now, do you have the hots for me, freak?" Derik laughed as he shoved Kaz again. This time pushed back into one of his thug friends who pushed him again to stand in front of Derik. Using the momentum of the push, Kaz did something he was not expecting. He swung at the leader of the bullies with full force. Kaz was not a fighter, but today he had had enough. Years of constant harassment built up in his swing, and he used his rage to fuel his punch. It connected with Derik's Jaw and sent him flying backward into a desk. Spitting a little blood on the ground, Derik looked back at Kaz and wiped the blood from his mouth. "You did it now, idiot. Now you're going to get it!"

Kaz tried to rush towards Derik with all the rage his little body could muster, but he quickly stopped as the large boy behind him grabbed him by the arms and lifted him in the air to squirm. It was over before it even began. Kaz was helpless now, and Derik was angry. Stepping up slowly towards Kaz, Derik laughed a little to himself. "I don't know where you got your spunk from today, Maybe your balls finally dropped, but I will tell you this only once."

Punching Kaz in the gut, Derik continued. "No one lays a hand on me and gets away with it." The air left Kaz as he heaved forward, slumping a little in the large boy's arms. His vision was going in and out as he tried to look at Derik. Anger turned to terror as he realized this was not going to end well.

***

Fritz had finally made it to the end of the tunnel. There was nowhere else to run. The screaming had stopped for the most part. Only the brief moans of his friends came through as he quickly scanned the walls for something, anything to get out of this mess. He saw nothing and promptly turned around to look at his fate. "If I were human, none of this would have to happen. I could live a peaceful life in a village somewhere and not worry about being killed by greedy humans." The thought entered his mind that maybe in his next life, the gods would be more forgiving and allow him to live a more peaceful life. Besides, he had never done anything wrong, so why wouldn't the gods be kinder?

Torchlight approached, and the outline of the adventurers came into view. Blood soaked their clothing, and a smile decorated their face. "Looks like this is the last one. Might be enough for me to finally level!" The warrior man said as he menacingly stepped forward. He looked like a demon straight out of hell to Fritz. The light of the fire reflected off the blood that coated the young warrior's armor. It was the end; all he could hope for was a quick and painless death now.

***

There was nothing he could do. Kaz took another punch to the stomach, and this time he threw up in front of Derik, who quickly stepped back and laughed harder. "What a pathetic worm you are. Maybe in the next life, you will grow a pair sooner."

Kaz could not hear the words coming out of Derik's mouth anymore; he was too far gone. His head bobbed around, and he saw the students watching him. How annoying, all they did was stare. How messed up is that? To just watch as your classmate gets beat to death by some stupid bullies. Humans were disgusting. If he had his way, he would eradicate them all just like in Forged Fantasy.

Vision fading, Kaz closed his eyes and waited for it to end. He did not feel anything anymore. The blows that came felt so far away.

***

The sword came down with swift accuracy as it cut Fritz down. Blood dripped from his chest as the tunnel began to spin around him. The last thing he saw before his eyes gave out was the warrior cheering as his level increased. "If only I were human, then none of this would ever have happened to me."

***

"I promise I will get my revenge on you, all of you, someday." Kaz thought as the large boy holding him let him go. Falling to the ground like a sack of potatoes, Kaz was now completely unconscious. Darkness enveloped his entire world. He knew that a few punches to the stomach should not have done so much to him, but with the accumulated beatings every day, his body finally gave out. There was nothing he could do. The world slowly became colder, darker, and better now that he was finally free.

"You seek to change the world, do you not?" A voice called out to Kaz. It was quiet, distant, but it felt powerful. Kaz could not see anything around him; he felt like he was floating in a void.

"A world like this does not deserve to exist," Kaz responded as he continued to float.

"All worlds have their flaws. Do you wish to eradicate all of them?" The voice replied, devoid of human emotions.

"If all humanity wants to do is walk over the weak and claim power over the helpless, then I don't want to be a part of that world." Kaz was not angry with those words. He felt calm, relaxed like he was on a cloud now.

"Very well, if you do not want to be a part of humanity, then I will grant your wish. With it, I will give you the power to change humanity to fit your image. Do you accept?" The voice seemed a little eager this time now as if expecting the answer from Kaz.

"To change humanity while being separate from it?" Kaz thought to himself as he remembered the MMORPG he always used to play where he was the prince of darkness devoid of human emotions and changing the world of Forged Fantasy to fit his every whim. "Perfect."

A small dim light appeared in the distance. With it came a solid wet feeling as Kaz slowly regained his vision. He was lying on a dirt floor surrounded by something wet. While he had his vision, it was very different. Everything was in black and white except for the light at the end of the tunnel. That was a soft ember hue. Slowly regaining his composure, Kaz tried standing up and found that his legs did not bend the way they usually do, instead of bending inverted a little. He looked down at his feet to see they were scaly now and very small. He also noticed he was standing in a dark pool of something that smelled like Iron.

He felt light-headed and frail. He stumbled a little but managed to get his bearings as he checked himself over. The first thing he noticed was his smooth, toned muscles and short stature and the tail that he now had. "What is going on? I look like some kind of lizard." Kaz grabbed his face and began feeling around. The long snout and pointed horns on his head made him realize something quickly. "I'm a kobold?"