God Agent: All Hail The Great Kobold

After conversing with the rest of his friends, Ka’z finally remembered that he had another creature to check on. He made his way toward the weasel pen, still thinking about everything he needed to accomplish before leaving.

The moment he approached, however, he stopped in his tracks. West was not alone. His dire weasel was running around the enclosure with a female counterpart, while three much smaller dire weasels chased after them, tumbling over one another as they tried to keep up.

Ka’z stared at the scene for several seconds, his expression slowly changing from confusion to amusement.

"So you started a family while I was gone," Ka’z muttered.

West immediately noticed him and rushed toward the edge of the pen, its ears rising as it recognized its owner.

The three young ones followed behind, though they were far less coordinated, stumbling over their own legs as they tried to keep up with their father. The female remained nearby, watching Ka’z cautiously while West sniffed toward him through the wooden barrier. Ka’z crouched down and reached a hand through the opening, allowing West to sniff him before gently rubbing its head.

He looked toward the three young dire weasels again and smiled. For months, he had barely thought about West. He had returned from the eastern campaign, become consumed with building the village, protecting the goblin artisans, studying the Red Scripture, dealing with the Halflings and Gnolls and spending time with Za’r. Through all of that, West had simply continued living his own life. Apparently, it had not needed Ka’z as much as he had assumed.

"I was worried you were lonely," Ka’z said quietly, watching West move around the enclosure with its family. "Looks like you were doing just fine without me."

There was something comforting about the sight. Ka’z had spent so much time worrying about the people and creatures around him that he sometimes forgot they were capable of building lives of their own.

West had found a mate, had three children and seemed perfectly content. Ka’z felt a strange sense of gratitude as he watched them.

He stayed there for several minutes, watching the young dire weasels play. One of them eventually approached him and cautiously sniffed his fingers before quickly running back toward its siblings.

Ka’z chuckled and shook his head. "You three are going to be trouble."

He gave West one final rub before standing. "Take care of your family, alright?"

West released a low sound in response, and Ka’z smiled before turning away. He left the pen feeling strangely lighter than when he had arrived.

When he returned home, Ka’z immediately threw himself into work. He had only six days before leaving Vaal’kor, and he refused to waste any of them. He started with the blueprints for the carriage and wagon, carefully drawing each component and labeling the parts so the goblin artisans would understand how everything was supposed to fit together.

He made the wagon simple and sturdy, focusing on functionality and ease of construction before turning his attention toward the carriage. He knew there was no point designing something overly complicated when the artisans were still learning the basics of his world’s technology.

Once the designs were finished, Ka’z moved on to the information that was even more important. He began writing down everything he knew about the Mana Body, carefully explaining the principles behind it and drawing simple diagrams showing how mana could be circulated through the body.

He included what he understood about the techniques used by Grash and Loki, then added his own observations from fighting them. He didn’t expect the Vaal’kor warriors to master the technique immediately, but even partial mastery could improve their physical capabilities.

After that came the runes.

Ka’z drew the symbols carefully, writing down their meanings and explaining how mana should flow through them. He included the basic elemental Words of Power he knew, then showed how different runes could be combined to create more complicated effects. He made the explanations as simple as possible because he knew the people learning from these notes would not have his understanding of magic or his ability to instinctively comprehend the principles behind it.

The arrays took even longer.

Ka’z spent hours drawing patterns, correcting mistakes and redrawing entire sections whenever he realized something wasn’t clear enough. He knew that simply giving his friends information wasn’t enough. If they couldn’t understand what he meant, the knowledge would be useless. Every diagram needed to be something they could look at and reproduce themselves.

The work consumed the days.

He barely left the house except when necessary. Food was brought to him, and whenever Za’r returned from the infirmary, she would find him hunched over his desk with ink stains on his fingers and sheets of paper scattered across almost every available surface. He slept less than usual, sometimes falling asleep at the desk before forcing himself awake again. Every time he remembered that only another day remained, he pushed himself harder.

By midnight of the sixth day, Ka’z finally placed his feather down.

Huff!

He released a long breath and leaned back in his chair, his entire body feeling exhausted. The room was quiet except for the faint sound of rain outside.

Ka’z slowly raised his eyes toward the ceiling before lowering them toward the candle sitting at the edge of his table.

Dozens of sheets covered the surface around it, the ink still drying on several of them. His gaze moved toward the ink jar and the feather resting beside it, and a small smile slowly bloomed across his face.

Without the Ashmork artisans, they would never have had anything like this.

Even Tud’or had been forced to carve his findings about the Elemental Body into wood because Vaal’kor simply did not possess the resources or knowledge necessary to produce something better.

Yet in only a few months, that had changed completely. They had gone from living underground with almost nothing to having workshops, farms, written records, an academy, a functioning settlement and artisans capable of producing tools that could transform their military.

Ka’z stared at the papers spread across his table.

"And we can still go farther if we keep pushing," he muttered. His smile faded slightly as another problem came to mind. "The only problem is our population. We are mostly made of fools and morons, and even worse, they are all cowards."

He rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "Out of seventy to eighty plus citizens, only twenty five or so are in the military. That needs to change. I need at least fifty of them in the military. The remaining twenty or thirty can cover the limited roles open in this village."

The cool breeze of the night suddenly poured through the open window, brushing against his face and scattering a few loose sheets across the table. The candle flame flickered violently before being extinguished completely.

Ka’z didn’t bother relighting it. His vision was good enough to see in the darkness, especially with the faint moonlight filtering through the clouds.

He pushed himself out of the chair and walked toward the window. His home was located at the far eastern edge of the village in a slightly secluded area, leaving a considerable stretch of unused land between it and the next building. From there, he had a relatively unobstructed view of the village and the surrounding forest.

Ka’z leaned against the window frame and stared outside.

Rain poured steadily from the dark sky, covering the rooftops and streets in a shimmering layer of water. Thunder flashed violently across the clouds, briefly illuminating the entire village before plunging it back into darkness. Ka’z watched the storm in silence, his mind already moving toward the next problem.

"When I get back with enough gold, silver and bronze to make coins, I’ll make the military the highest earners just below government officials," Ka’z said quietly. "That should be enough incentive to push many into the military path, and with Tu’ka as the Chief Warrior, I’m very certain he will drill that discipline they lack into their skulls."

The thought actually made him smile.

Tu’ka was exactly the kind of person Ka’z needed for the job. He was aggressive, disciplined when it mattered and completely unwilling to tolerate laziness among warriors. If Ka’z gave him the authority to train the military properly, he had no doubt that Tu’ka would make sure every warrior understood exactly what was expected of them.

Ka’z’s gaze eventually drifted toward the dark sky, and his thoughts wandered somewhere else entirely.

"On Earth, I was useless and still living in my parents’ basement when others had already started their lives, but look at me now..." Ka’z smiled faintly. "Running a country. I don’t know, but I think Dad and Mom would be proud of me if they heard how far I have come in this new world."

His smile remained for a few seconds before becoming quieter.

His greatest pain from his previous life had not been his death. It had been the indifference he saw in his parents’ eyes after his death.

But he couldn’t blame them. Neither did he consider it some sort of reason to start his villain arc.

Ka’z had been a fat, overweight loser who couldn’t even clean up after himself. He spent most of his time hiding in his room, playing video games and avoiding everything that required effort and because of this he had no love life or career.

There had been a time when his parents genuinely worried about him. They tried to pull him away from that life. They encouraged him to go outside, find work, make friends and start taking responsibility for himself.

He refused.

At first, their concern had been obvious. Then it became frustration. Eventually, he watched their worry and affection slowly erode, replaced by disgust and disdain. Even then, Ka’z never made any serious attempt to change. He had become comfortable with the person he was, even if that person was miserable.

Deep down, Ka’z truly believed he had gotten what he deserved. That was why he worked so hard in this life. He didn’t want to become a burden to anyone ever again.

He wanted to become someone whose existence mattered. Someone whose absence would be felt. Someone people would cry for when he died.

The thought lingered in his mind for several moments before Ka’z finally pushed it away. He had spent enough time dwelling on the past. Tomorrow, he would leave again, and there was still one night left with Za’r before that happened.

Ka’z reached for the window and slowly shut it, sealing out the cold wind and rain before turning away from the room. He walked quietly toward the bedroom and pushed the door open.

Za’r was already asleep.

She lay peacefully beneath the blankets, her breathing slow and steady. Ka’z stood there for a moment simply watching her, and the exhaustion he had been ignoring for the past several days finally caught up with him. He carefully climbed into bed beside her and settled down, making sure not to disturb her too much.

Even in her sleep, Za’r seemed to sense his presence. She shifted closer and instinctively wrapped herself around him, her sleepy eyes barely opening before closing again. Ka’z smiled softly and pulled her into his embrace.

Within minutes, Ka’z fell asleep easily.