Chapter 62: Little Kuku

This was far too humble an origin.

"Is there any race in this world weaker than us?"

"Throughout the entire multiverse, is there any intelligent species more chaotic and pathetic than us?"

"To think there are actually races proud of being slaves, to think there are truly tribes longing to wallow in underground mud for a lifetime..."

Newly born, he opened his eyes amidst chaos and stench.

Possessing an intelligence far superior to his peers, it was a scene that remained etched in his memory throughout his long life.

In a cramped space less than a meter wide, over thirty hairless, flushed red "puppies" were piled together, clawing and shoving one another.

Cries, the stench of urine, and the scent of milk blended together, yet no one cared.

*Wow, so many little monsters.*

He looked down, seeing his own five stubby, rounded little paws and the deeply flushed skin of a newborn.

*Well, never mind, I am one of them too.*

"Waah!" He saw the loudest crying cub being picked up by a dog-headed monster to be fed milk.

Consequently, he felt a bit hungry himself.

After a moment of hesitation, he began to wail loudly as well.

"Wah-wah!" Compared to his seven littermates, he was the smallest, yet he cried the loudest.

Thus, he was picked up too, and the caregiver even gave his little appendage a playful pinch.

"A male... Such a spirited little fellow, look at that cry. Hmm, let's call him Kuku." And just like that, Kuku was given a name that would stay with him for life.

Do not ask why he was given such a name; even the gods could not comprehend their thought processes.

Perhaps they favored repetitive, onomatopoeic names simply because they were easy to use and remember. Although they spoke Draconic as their native tongue, their tongues were poorly suited for other common intonations.

Their universally low intelligence made it difficult for them to articulate overly complex sentences, let alone remember complicated "foreign names."

It was just uncertain how many Yayas, Wawas, Anas, and Kukus existed within that single tribe.

Lili was said to be the most common name, usually reserved only for the tribal chieftain because it sounded powerful.

Kuku was a kobold, a member of what could be called the weakest race in the entire continent.

His childhood ended quickly. By the age of three or four, he was already following his peers to dig pits, hunt, and weave—this was entirely normal within the tribe, as they reached adulthood and reproduced by the age of six or seven.

Kuku grew up alongside the other little ones in the tribe. He vaguely knew who his parents were, but he had never cared; kobolds had no concept of a family, and parents were merely old geezers with a very familiar scent.

Being oviparous, they bore young twice a year, up to seven or eight per litter. Weak races were always the most adept at reproduction.

Yet the total population of kobolds in Kuku's tribe had never really grown much.

"Great dragon! Evil dragon! We are willing to offer you everything!"

The reason? The tribe had a "benevolent" master.

This greedy, giant green dragon always made the kobolds tunnel underground to search for gems, or hunt and fight on its behalf.

Many tribesmen died in mine collapses, but the majority of deaths occurred because they acted as the cannon-fodder vanguard for the evil dragon's army, despite being even weaker than goblins.

Although known to the world as kobolds, the kobolds of this world were entirely different from canine beastmen.

Although weak, these scaly little fellows were indeed true dragonkin.

Their heads, resembling those of hairless dogs, were actually rather rounded, miniature lizard heads.

They were born miners and excavators, as well as natural dragon worshippers who would even eagerly volunteer to serve evil dragons. The master of Kuku's tribe was a wicked adult green dragon, a young dragon with ambitious designs on expanding its territory.

Make no mistake, the kobolds of Kuku's tribe were not forced into service.

They had come to pledge allegiance voluntarily, more than happy to serve their master.

Being able to witness the massive, majestic posture of a true dragon (especially a chromatic evil dragon) at close range gave them a heartfelt sense of safety and joy.

Following a more powerful dragon was an instinctive urge deeply embedded within their bloodline.

Some said kobolds were the malice of the evil dragon gods, a slave race created solely for their own kind.

Others claimed they were the result of wizard experiments, degraded lifeforms born from dragon blood.

Yet these creatures genuinely felt heartfelt joy in serving evil dragons...

"...Sigh, this isn't right. Kuku thinks this isn't right."

Yet Kuku was an anomaly within his tribe.

Having reached adulthood at seven years old, he was much smarter than his contemporaries and slightly stronger as well. He stood a full two and a half feet (0.7 meters) tall, making him a minor leader within the tribe.

He felt that his tribe shouldn't be working for the green dragon for free; at the very least—

"Kuku thinks it should at least pay in gold coins! Sigh, pay wages!"

"If it won't pay us, we'll sell the ores and gems ourselves! We'll go trade for shiny-shinies! Pretty, sparkling shiny-shinies!"

And with that, he was kicked out of the cave, experiencing his first expulsion from the tribe.

After wandering for a time, enduring an unpleasantly adventurous period filled with manhunts and racial discrimination, he inexplicably learned the Common tongue and returned to the tribe.

Yet this time, he still didn't stay for long.

"Sigh, these are seeds, these are farm tools! We can farm! We can provide for ourselves!"

Amidst the completely uncomprehending gazes of his tribesmen, he was promoting his new discovery.

The big guys outside lived just like that; it was far more stable than hunting or eating the dragon's leftovers.

Yet no one cared about his discovery.

Undeterred, he cleared a plot of land himself, but before the crops could even ripen, they were completely trampled and ruined by passing beasts and monsters.

An entire year of hard work, wasted.

"Clown" Kuku acquired his first moniker.

Yet in his future career, this wasn't even considered a particularly harsh one.

Before long, because he refused to participate in hunting and mining, nor was he willing to do chores for the master and its subordinate legions, he was expelled once more.

Yet it wasn't long before he returned.

"Delicious food, fun toys, I've got them all here! Just trade for them using the scales dropped by that stupid dragon, or the items left behind by adventurers!"

"I bought a house in the nearest big-guy settlement, we can go live there! We can farm! We can mine—miners get paid wages there! We can trade ore for lots of food! Delicious food!"

Still, not a single kobold cared about him. In fact, the tribe had long since treated him as if he were invisible.

Yet this time, they actually went to that nearest "gathering place of the big guys."

They had a plan all along.

"Boom!"

The evil dragon descended from the skies, its breath weapon obliterating the city walls and the town.

Driven by the evil green dragon, which was eager to expand its territory, a legion composed of various demons and monsters surged into the town.

On the day the evil dragon built its nest in the vicinity, the destruction of this small town of just a few hundred residents had already been sealed.

Kuku's friends and family—those seemingly foolish yet good-natured kobold kin—were now as ferocious as jackals, frantically venting the killing urges buried deep within their bloodlines using crossbows, spears, and wooden clubs.

They were biting, pursuing, and imitating the evil dragons as they tore into flesh and blood.

Their faces were contorted in ferocity, yet amidst the slaughter, they smiled like bloodthirsty demons.

That terrifying sight stunned Kuku, who was witnessing it all from a hillside.

"This isn't right, this isn't right..."

Kuku left the tribe for the third time, and this time, he left on his own terms...

Unable to understand why any of this was happening, with a vacant gaze and a halting gait, he walked toward the unknown distance.

This was merely a beginning, an unremarkable starting point in his long life...

"What a truly humble origin indeed..."

When Lein awoke from his dream, he fell into a prolonged state of daze.

Previously, at least his hosts had been human, but this latest experience had been far too stimulating.

For a kobold whose aesthetic standards were based on dragon scales, tails, and lizard heads, it took some time to readjust his appreciation for normal aesthetics... Lein had to stare at Lana the entire morning just to recover slightly.

"Ah, scale colors and tail curves don't matter! What matters is a red-eyed, white-haired beautiful maiden!!"

Once he finally sobered up and returned to his residence, he realized what he had done the day before.

Lein forced a wry smile, though things wouldn't end here; this Heroic Spirit was truly extraordinary.

He pondered for a moment, turned toward the backpack he had brought back, and spoke up.

"Respected Heroic Spirit Kuku, or rather, Mr. Li Ensu, please come out and let's talk." Yet his seemingly paranoid invitation received no response for a long time.

The opening of the backpack had unconsciously drifted open, yet there was not the slightest movement.

"Click." A sudden sound made him whip his head around.

A tiny figure had been sitting on his bedside table for quite some time.

He put down his book, a look of disdain crossing his face.

"What is there to talk about, you foolish, bad dragon knight? Let's get one thing straight: Kuku doesn't talk to idiots."