“Grroura!”
“Grrouuh!”
With spears in their hands, two kobold sentries rushed towards me without letting me say anything for myself. Still flustered from not knowing what was stalking me all this time, all I could think at this moment was to get the hell away from this formation.
Earth Wall!
Creating an earth wall directly beneath me, I shot my body up in the air to avoid their attacks. Using my immature wings, I tried to fly by flapping them, but dreams wouldn’t come true that easily. Still, while I couldn’t keep myself in the air for long, it was good enough to escape from being surrounded.
They followed after me, even throwing stones at me, but by creating more [Earth Walls] underneath me, I was able to obstruct their movements long enough for me to fall down. I looked around myself and noticed the warmth behind me, realizing I was almost in the middle of their camp.
I need to stop this!
Once the kobold came running out from the woods, I shouted at them to stop.
Stop!
“Krriiiak!”
But they did not listen.
“Grik!” the kobold leader shouted as he thrust his spear forward.
It was easy to dodge as my mind finally turned its focus on the unknown threat to my current issue. As I turned around, I noticed six kobolds hiding far behind. Two were as tall as the ones I was fighting while the four remaining ones were the children.
Did they think I was threatening them?!
“Kriiisha krias kreeek!”
Please, I don’t want to fight!
“Kriash Kruek! Kriek krah!”
I’ll leave! Please, just stop this fighting and we can talk!
But all my cries went to deaf’s ear. All my talking did was agitate them even more. Communicating as a lizard with other races was not possible.
Shit! Then I should just escap—
“Grie!”
“Gresha!”
“Groush!”
All my thoughts shut up, instincts and reflexes activated in my time of need! A coordinated attack came from the four kobolds hunters, stopping my thoughts, while the four sentries threw their rocks at me.
I wanted to escape. I wanted to cast [Earth Wall] to launch myself back into the air, but the frantic battle was too chaotic for me to properly cast my spells. I would conjure up the magic spell, only a few seconds left to cast it, but then a spell came and nearly hit me. Flustered, the spell was canceled. I needed concentration to cast my spells. I needed focus! But all I could do was dodge!
Just let me go! I’ll leave! Verdammt! Fuck you! Leave me alone!
I will die if this continues. I will die ‘cause I just wanted to make some friends. I will die if I don’t fight back now!
FUCK YOU ALL!
A sudden feeling of wrath and the want to kill these kobolds exploded inside my chest. I could feel my blood pumping faster and faster, filling my head with the need to fight and defend myself. What good was being diplomatic gonna do for me here? None of them could understand me!
The more I thought of it, the more my mind began to drift away from seeing these kobolds as nothing else but prey. Prey that had to be defeated! Prey that I could defeat in a heartbeat, right now! This regained focus allowed me enough time to cast a single spell.
Shine!
““Grouuahk?!””
An incandescent light burst out from the tip of my tail, blinding the kobolds around me severely. As they grunted and covered their eyes in pain, my head snapped towards the four sentries. They were too far away to receive the full brunt of my spell, only momentarily dazed.
Haste!
Take the range classes out first! went through my head as I slipped past the kobold hunters and pounced at one of the sentries, all while preparing the next spell.
Imbue Fire!
Flames spewed out from a red magic circle as they wrapped themselves around my front claws like gloves. I could feel the heat but not the pain. It was soothing, but I could see from the kobold’s eyes that it only saw the flames as the reaper’s scythe.
With a combination of [Enhanced Claws], [Mana Strike] and [Imbue Fire], my fire cloaked claws tore through the throats of my foe. I might be smaller than it, but you didn’t have to be larger to cut somebody down.
“““Grouuk!!!””
The other three sentries cried out, but my mind was so laser focused on surviving that I even thanked them for making their location easier to pinpoint in this darkness. I shot out two [Firebolt]s at the ones furthest away from me as I dashed towards the one closest to me. Simultaneously, as my fire spells blasted the kobold’s heads on fire, I seared off the last senty’s vocal cords.
“Gra?! Graaaaaa!”
“Grou?! Grouuahhh!”
Slingers, down.
Growling, I turned my head around after stuffing the four corpses into my storage. My eyes were locked onto the five kobold fighters left to kill. When I thought of that, the sound of my heartbeat echoed throughout my body. Was it excitement? Was it bloodlust? Or was I slowly becoming a battle junkie?
I didn’t know. All I knew was that I had to defend myself here. I had to beat these kobolds!
Holy Protection.
“Gurarghhhhhhhh!”
By the time I buffed up my Vitality with [Holy Protection] to defend myself from physical attacks, I heard the war cry of the kobold leader. Leading the remaining fighters forward, I materialized an [Earth Wall] right in front of the kobold leader, to block him, before shooting a [Firebolt] at one of the four hunters.
Unlike the sentries, these kobolds were able to react to my spell, but I didn’t rely on one single attack to be successful. I could only be sure they were dead if they were either in my storage or I leveled up.
I dashed forward, intentionally going against them head-on, however, I wasn’t planning on fighting fair. Using my magic to my advantage, I constructed an [Earth Wall] to divide the four into two groups of two. Although slightly flustered, the two I was facing quickly recovered and thrust their spears at me.
I deftly dodged them before casting [Shine] on the top of my head. Having not learned from before, they didn’t react to the white magic circle before getting blindiedng again.
Idiots, I thought before shooting a [Firebolt] directly at one kobold’s head. Staggering, but still alive, I ignored him for now to strike at his friend, snapping his crude wooden spear with a crunch before slashing him with my claws.
As he fell onto the ground with blood spraying from his throat, I turned around to the singed kobold and shot a [Rock Blast] at it. Penetrating its head, the kobold wobbled around before falling onto the ground. Two hunters down.
Three more to go
“Grrrruuugraaaah?!”
My head snapped towards the blood curdling cry. The two kobolds saw me subdue its comrades. While one was befuddled while the other cried, both went into a frenzy a few seconds later. With uncontrollable rage, they roared and charged.
Rock Blast!
Stopping their movements had priority now. Them being enraged made them predictable, I believe, but getting surrounded still wasn’t a good idea. However, against my expectations, the kobolds managed to dodge the rock projectile.
Even after trying a [Firebolt], it missed with the kobolds moving well and powering through right into my personal space. As they lunged forwards with their weapons, I immediately cast [Earth Wall] right before me, redirecting one kobold’s attack while ducking underneath the other’s. Noticing me dodge, it stomped its foot down and threw a kick at me.
Instead of dodging it, I stood up on my back legs and took the full brunt. Sure, it was painful, but some damage was nothing to somebody who could use healing magic.
“Gra?!” The kobold yelped as my aflammed claws dug into its legs, singing its fur. I then pulled on it, tripping it. Now vulnerable, it was the perfect opportunity to land a hit… but before I could, I noticed something approaching using my [Enhanced Enemy Sense]. A single target was coming closer.
I snapped my head around, only to reflexively dodge a spear aiming for my head. It chipped off a few scales as he pierced through the earth, a warning I took and backed off from the kobolds for now.
Damn! I was too slow.
The kobold leader had arrived. Pulling out a bone knife, it charged forward with a war cry, but I wasn’t planning on engaging it. I cast another [Earth Wall], blocking its direct path to me, before pulling out the spear it threw with my mouth and hurled it onto the kobold lying on the ground.
It managed to flail out of its trajectory, but I simply followed up with a powerful [Smite]
A radiant light materialized from a white magic circle. So brilliant was its glow, that even I was slightly entranced by it. The spell shot forward, basking the kobold’s head in holy light.
“Graaaa!”
Without letting my momentum slow down, I snapped my head around just in time to see the last living kobold hunter throw its spear at me. I jumped over it and stomped on it, breaking it in two.
I fired off a [Firebolt] at my assailant but was stopped mid-way at dispatching it by another thrown spear. It slightly grazed my immature wings as I jumped away, still unaccustomed to them attached to my body so I forgot to retract them.
Damn that boss guy! I cursed in my head when I saw the kobold leader had taken up the fallen kobold’s spear and threw it at me. Like some scavenger, he also picked up two more from the bodies of the first two hunters I killed.
Mana going low. Stamina also getting used up. Only Health is pretty much full, aside from that wing damage. Shit.
The rage I felt at the beginning started to fade away. Was it ‘cause I satisfied my bloodlust or my wish to pay them back? Or was my mind clearing up now that I felt safer. I felt a blur in my memories of what exactly caused me to feel so hostile against these kobolds. I thought I saw a system message or something, but I shook that idea away.
I only had a few seconds of breathing time before the kobolds resumed the battle. I shouldn’t think of irrelevant stuff right now.
“Grah!” The boss kobold threw over a spare spear to the last hunter before they charged in.
Of course, I didn’t let them get close to me. I was at a disadvantage if I couldn’t fight with the initiative in close combat, so I jumped back and cast [Earth Wall] once again in front of the leader.
However, before it materialized fully, it threw its spear again, missing me entirely but since I had to focus on dodging it, it allowed the other kobold to get close enough to attack me. Thrust, lunge, bash. With fierce conviction, it continued attacking me to buy time for its leader.
Managing to grab another spear, seeing the leader dashing forward caused a cold sweat to rush down my spine. Looking at my mana pool, I was about to run out with how aggressively I used it today. I had to get a level up to restore it!
As such, drastic situations demanded risky moves. Health was also just a resource if it didn’t drop down to zero, if you thought about it. My Health would also restore upon a level up. With that realization, my eyes widened and focused on the hunter’s spear.
Seeing the spear move closer to me, my body reflexively began to dodge it, but at the very last second, I stopped it. The spear drilled into my left shoulder, causing my eyes to become wet as I felt my flesh tearing apart as a cold, sharp foreign object drilled closer and closer to my bones.
“Kriiiiiiiarck!” I screamed from the top of my lungs, never having felt such a pain before. I wanted to cry. I wanted to cry so very much. Just curl into a ball, hoping it would disappear on its own.
But my survival instincts kicked in once again.
Using the momentum of the spear piercing my body, I twisted my right arm around, digging my claws deep into its stomach. It screamed just as I did, loosening its grip on its spear, so I used my other arm to push my shoulder out of it.
Clenching my teeth and forcing back the tears building up inside my eyelids, I channeled mana into my legs and performed a dextrous somersault using my new [Acrobatic] skill. Within seconds upon impact, I infused almost all my remaining mana into my tail, using [Mana Strike] to send the kobold’s head flying away.
Gaaaaaaaaaaaah!
“Krriiiiiiiiiiiiiiaaaaaahhh!”
Health and Mana are back to max! Let’s fucking goooooo! Gosh fucking dammit, that hurrrrttsssss!
My breathing was heavy but my sudden “battle cry” stunned the kobold leader long enough to compose myself. I was correct. At the end of the day, Health was just another resource in this world. If the number didn’t become zero, then I can survive for another day.
That’s right, it didn’t matter how you did in this forest. Survival was winning. Fleeing? Ambushing? Winning at the skin of my teeth? It didn’t matter. I just had to live through all of them and my chance to fulfill my dream will come true one day.
Urck…
I felt a sudden headache. This whole kobold situation has been more stressful than I thought.
Only one left. Identify.
Name: * Level: 14 Race: Forest Kobold
Job: Fighter
Status: Health: 111/113 Mana: 17/17
Strength: 51 Intelligence: 18
Vitality: 42 Wisdom: 21
Agility: 49 Stamina: 54/54
Effects: None
Skill: Physical skills and related:
[Mace Technique Lv. 1] [Spear Technique Lv. 1]
[Shield Technique Lv. 1]
Senses and movement skills:
[Stealth Lv. 2] [Enhanced Auditory Sense Lv. 2]
[Enhanced Enemy Sense Lv. 1] [Enhanced Olfactory Sense Lv. 3]
[Evasion Lv. 1] [Tracking Lv. 1] [Prediction Lv. 1]
Resistances:
[Physical Resistance Lv. 1]
[Pain Resistance Lv. 1] [Wind Resistance Lv. 1]
Others:
[Dismantle Lv. 2]
Ability List: Mace
[Smash]
Spear
[Pierce]
Shield
[Guard]
The kobold before me was the only one I appraised who had a level higher than ten, in addition, a different race. From how it fought, it seemed pretty strong. Underestimating it wasn’t good, even if my stats surpassed it by far.
Seeing how I fought today, I still had so much more to learn. I should have dominated them all, instead of struggling this much. I should use this chance to learn more. For example, abusing its low Wisdom with something like a [Smite]. One or two shots and it will die, just like the other kobolds.
Smite!
“Grie!”
As expected, the kobold managed to dodge my spell. Spells had a clear cast window which could be predicted if you could see the magic circle. What sorta spell came out of them was a different question, though.
For the boss of this group of kobolds, this guy sure knew how to handle itself. It seemed more competent with its [Evasion] and [Prediction] skills unlike the others.
Neat skill.
“Grao. Grao. Graouu!”
“Kra. Kisha.”
I had no idea what it just said just now, but I had an instinctual feeling what it could mean. It’s looking for revenge. Fair, I guessed. I’m pretty much the evil person in this situation after what I did to all these kobolds…
But… Didn’t the kobolds start this whole conflict? In all my time in this forest, everytime I fought a kobold, I was forced into it. Sure, I wanted to hunt them, but I had decided to be diplomatic about it.
I just wanted people to befriend. I just wanted to stop being all alone…
However cruel this kobold thought I was, there were enough reasons for me to retort back. But… so be it. I was fully willing to act like a boss monster so I could continue pursuing my own dream and ambition.
Keep calm. Deep breaths… Survival of the fittest. Just like those kobolds who tried to kill me the moment I was born, I cannot let myself die once again.
I ground my teeth as we glared at each other, waiting for the other to attack first. Anxiety, self-reproach, and that lingering headache filled my head. I felt conflicted, but I already made up my mind to end this. I must commit.
Besides, I had this weird feeling that I had to end this fight sooner than later. Ever since the start of this raid, I had this ominous premonition.
Ark, stop it! It’s only stress. It’s my consciousness, yes, it has to be. Focus!
Whatever it was, it could be dealt with later.
‘Cause the main show was about to start!
Name: * Level: 14 Race: Young Dragon
Age: 1 Month
Status: Health: 180/180(+35) Mana: 550/550(+85)
Strength: 115 (+25) Intelligence: 87 (+32)
Vitality: 69 (+15) Wisdom: 83 (+20)
Agility: 145 (+30) Stamina:114/114(+30)
Effects: None
Skill Points: 1650 (+750)
Skill: Magic skills and related:
[Mana Control Lv. 4] (+1) [Holy Magic Lv. 6] [Fire Magic Lv. 3]
[Earth Magic Lv. 3] [Space-Time Magic Lv. 2]
[Primal Magics]
Physical skills and related:
[Mana Strike Lv. 3]
[Enhanced Claws Lv. 3] [Enhanced Fangs Lv. 2]
Senses and movement skills:
[Stealth Lv. 5] [Prediction Lv. 1] (New)
[Enhanced Enemy Sense Lv. 6] [Enhanced Olfactory Sense Lv. 1]
[Evasion Lv. 3] [Acrobatic Lv. 1] (New)
Resistances:
[Physical Resistance Lv. 3] [Pain Resistance Lv. 3]
[Holy Resistance Lv. 3] [Fire Resistance Lv. 3]
[Earth Resistance Lv. 3] [Wind Resistance Lv. 1]
Stat growths and related:
[Enhanced Health Growth Lv. 1] (New)
[Enhanced Mana Growth Lv. 2]
[Enhanced Strength Growth Lv. 1]
[Enhanced Intelligence Growth Lv. 2]
[Enhanced Wisdom Growth Lv. 1]
[Enhanced Agility Growth Lv. 2]
[Enhanced Stamina Growth Lv. 1] (New)
Others:
[Identify Lv. 4] [Cooking Lv. 5] [Dismantle Lv. 4]
Spell List: Holy spells:
[Minor Heal] [Cure] [Modest Heal] [Smite] [Light] [Holy Protection]
Fire spells:
[Fire] [Firebolt] [Imbue Fire]
Earth spells:
[Earth Wall] [Rock Blast] [Earth Strike]
Space-Time Spells:
[Haste] [Storage Magic]
Other spells:
[Shine]
Titles: [The Light] [Bearer of Kargryxmor’s Blood] [Otherworldly Reincarnator]
“Grroura!”
“Grrouuh!”
With spears in their hands, two kobold sentries rushed towards me without letting me say anything for myself. Still flustered from not knowing what was stalking me all this time, all I could think at this moment was to get the hell away from this formation.
Earth Wall!
Creating an earth wall directly beneath me, I shot my body up in the air to avoid their attacks. Using my immature wings, I tried to fly by flapping them, but dreams wouldn’t come true that easily. Still, while I couldn’t keep myself in the air for long, it was good enough to escape from being surrounded.
They followed after me, even throwing stones at me, but by creating more [Earth Walls] underneath me, I was able to obstruct their movements long enough for me to fall down. I looked around myself and noticed the warmth behind me, realizing I was almost in the middle of their camp.
I need to stop this!
Once the kobold came running out from the woods, I shouted at them to stop.
Stop!
“Krriiiak!”
But they did not listen.
“Grik!” the kobold leader shouted as he thrust his spear forward.
It was easy to dodge as my mind finally turned its focus on the unknown threat to my current issue. As I turned around, I noticed six kobolds hiding far behind. Two were as tall as the ones I was fighting while the four remaining ones were the children.
Did they think I was threatening them?!
“Kriiisha krias kreeek!”
Please, I don’t want to fight!
“Kriash Kruek! Kriek krah!”
I’ll leave! Please, just stop this fighting and we can talk!
But all my cries went to deaf’s ear. All my talking did was agitate them even more. Communicating as a lizard with other races was not possible.
Shit! Then I should just escap—
“Grie!”
“Gresha!”
“Groush!”
All my thoughts shut up, instincts and reflexes activated in my time of need! A coordinated attack came from the four kobolds hunters, stopping my thoughts, while the four sentries threw their rocks at me.
I wanted to escape. I wanted to cast [Earth Wall] to launch myself back into the air, but the frantic battle was too chaotic for me to properly cast my spells. I would conjure up the magic spell, only a few seconds left to cast it, but then a spell came and nearly hit me. Flustered, the spell was canceled. I needed concentration to cast my spells. I needed focus! But all I could do was dodge!
Just let me go! I’ll leave! Verdammt! Fuck you! Leave me alone!
I will die if this continues. I will die ‘cause I just wanted to make some friends. I will die if I don’t fight back now!
FUCK YOU ALL!
A sudden feeling of wrath and the want to kill these kobolds exploded inside my chest. I could feel my blood pumping faster and faster, filling my head with the need to fight and defend myself. What good was being diplomatic gonna do for me here? None of them could understand me!
The more I thought of it, the more my mind began to drift away from seeing these kobolds as nothing else but prey. Prey that had to be defeated! Prey that I could defeat in a heartbeat, right now! This regained focus allowed me enough time to cast a single spell.
Shine!
““Grouuahk?!””
An incandescent light burst out from the tip of my tail, blinding the kobolds around me severely. As they grunted and covered their eyes in pain, my head snapped towards the four sentries. They were too far away to receive the full brunt of my spell, only momentarily dazed.
Haste!
Take the range classes out first! went through my head as I slipped past the kobold hunters and pounced at one of the sentries, all while preparing the next spell.
Imbue Fire!
Flames spewed out from a red magic circle as they wrapped themselves around my front claws like gloves. I could feel the heat but not the pain. It was soothing, but I could see from the kobold’s eyes that it only saw the flames as the reaper’s scythe.
With a combination of [Enhanced Claws], [Mana Strike] and [Imbue Fire], my fire cloaked claws tore through the throats of my foe. I might be smaller than it, but you didn’t have to be larger to cut somebody down.
“““Grouuk!!!””
The other three sentries cried out, but my mind was so laser focused on surviving that I even thanked them for making their location easier to pinpoint in this darkness. I shot out two [Firebolt]s at the ones furthest away from me as I dashed towards the one closest to me. Simultaneously, as my fire spells blasted the kobold’s heads on fire, I seared off the last senty’s vocal cords.
“Gra?! Graaaaaa!”
“Grou?! Grouuahhh!”
Slingers, down.
Growling, I turned my head around after stuffing the four corpses into my storage. My eyes were locked onto the five kobold fighters left to kill. When I thought of that, the sound of my heartbeat echoed throughout my body. Was it excitement? Was it bloodlust? Or was I slowly becoming a battle junkie?
I didn’t know. All I knew was that I had to defend myself here. I had to beat these kobolds!
Holy Protection.
“Gurarghhhhhhhh!”
By the time I buffed up my Vitality with [Holy Protection] to defend myself from physical attacks, I heard the war cry of the kobold leader. Leading the remaining fighters forward, I materialized an [Earth Wall] right in front of the kobold leader, to block him, before shooting a [Firebolt] at one of the four hunters.
Unlike the sentries, these kobolds were able to react to my spell, but I didn’t rely on one single attack to be successful. I could only be sure they were dead if they were either in my storage or I leveled up.
I dashed forward, intentionally going against them head-on, however, I wasn’t planning on fighting fair. Using my magic to my advantage, I constructed an [Earth Wall] to divide the four into two groups of two. Although slightly flustered, the two I was facing quickly recovered and thrust their spears at me.
I deftly dodged them before casting [Shine] on the top of my head. Having not learned from before, they didn’t react to the white magic circle before getting blindiedng again.
Idiots, I thought before shooting a [Firebolt] directly at one kobold’s head. Staggering, but still alive, I ignored him for now to strike at his friend, snapping his crude wooden spear with a crunch before slashing him with my claws.
As he fell onto the ground with blood spraying from his throat, I turned around to the singed kobold and shot a [Rock Blast] at it. Penetrating its head, the kobold wobbled around before falling onto the ground. Two hunters down.
Three more to go
“Grrrruuugraaaah?!”
My head snapped towards the blood curdling cry. The two kobolds saw me subdue its comrades. While one was befuddled while the other cried, both went into a frenzy a few seconds later. With uncontrollable rage, they roared and charged.
Rock Blast!
Stopping their movements had priority now. Them being enraged made them predictable, I believe, but getting surrounded still wasn’t a good idea. However, against my expectations, the kobolds managed to dodge the rock projectile.
Even after trying a [Firebolt], it missed with the kobolds moving well and powering through right into my personal space. As they lunged forwards with their weapons, I immediately cast [Earth Wall] right before me, redirecting one kobold’s attack while ducking underneath the other’s. Noticing me dodge, it stomped its foot down and threw a kick at me.
Instead of dodging it, I stood up on my back legs and took the full brunt. Sure, it was painful, but some damage was nothing to somebody who could use healing magic.
“Gra?!” The kobold yelped as my aflammed claws dug into its legs, singing its fur. I then pulled on it, tripping it. Now vulnerable, it was the perfect opportunity to land a hit… but before I could, I noticed something approaching using my [Enhanced Enemy Sense]. A single target was coming closer.
I snapped my head around, only to reflexively dodge a spear aiming for my head. It chipped off a few scales as he pierced through the earth, a warning I took and backed off from the kobolds for now.
Damn! I was too slow.
The kobold leader had arrived. Pulling out a bone knife, it charged forward with a war cry, but I wasn’t planning on engaging it. I cast another [Earth Wall], blocking its direct path to me, before pulling out the spear it threw with my mouth and hurled it onto the kobold lying on the ground.
It managed to flail out of its trajectory, but I simply followed up with a powerful [Smite]
A radiant light materialized from a white magic circle. So brilliant was its glow, that even I was slightly entranced by it. The spell shot forward, basking the kobold’s head in holy light.
“Graaaa!”
Without letting my momentum slow down, I snapped my head around just in time to see the last living kobold hunter throw its spear at me. I jumped over it and stomped on it, breaking it in two.
I fired off a [Firebolt] at my assailant but was stopped mid-way at dispatching it by another thrown spear. It slightly grazed my immature wings as I jumped away, still unaccustomed to them attached to my body so I forgot to retract them.
Damn that boss guy! I cursed in my head when I saw the kobold leader had taken up the fallen kobold’s spear and threw it at me. Like some scavenger, he also picked up two more from the bodies of the first two hunters I killed.
Mana going low. Stamina also getting used up. Only Health is pretty much full, aside from that wing damage. Shit.
The rage I felt at the beginning started to fade away. Was it ‘cause I satisfied my bloodlust or my wish to pay them back? Or was my mind clearing up now that I felt safer. I felt a blur in my memories of what exactly caused me to feel so hostile against these kobolds. I thought I saw a system message or something, but I shook that idea away.
I only had a few seconds of breathing time before the kobolds resumed the battle. I shouldn’t think of irrelevant stuff right now.
“Grah!” The boss kobold threw over a spare spear to the last hunter before they charged in.
Of course, I didn’t let them get close to me. I was at a disadvantage if I couldn’t fight with the initiative in close combat, so I jumped back and cast [Earth Wall] once again in front of the leader.
However, before it materialized fully, it threw its spear again, missing me entirely but since I had to focus on dodging it, it allowed the other kobold to get close enough to attack me. Thrust, lunge, bash. With fierce conviction, it continued attacking me to buy time for its leader.
Managing to grab another spear, seeing the leader dashing forward caused a cold sweat to rush down my spine. Looking at my mana pool, I was about to run out with how aggressively I used it today. I had to get a level up to restore it!
As such, drastic situations demanded risky moves. Health was also just a resource if it didn’t drop down to zero, if you thought about it. My Health would also restore upon a level up. With that realization, my eyes widened and focused on the hunter’s spear.
Seeing the spear move closer to me, my body reflexively began to dodge it, but at the very last second, I stopped it. The spear drilled into my left shoulder, causing my eyes to become wet as I felt my flesh tearing apart as a cold, sharp foreign object drilled closer and closer to my bones.
“Kriiiiiiiarck!” I screamed from the top of my lungs, never having felt such a pain before. I wanted to cry. I wanted to cry so very much. Just curl into a ball, hoping it would disappear on its own.
But my survival instincts kicked in once again.
Using the momentum of the spear piercing my body, I twisted my right arm around, digging my claws deep into its stomach. It screamed just as I did, loosening its grip on its spear, so I used my other arm to push my shoulder out of it.
Clenching my teeth and forcing back the tears building up inside my eyelids, I channeled mana into my legs and performed a dextrous somersault using my new [Acrobatic] skill. Within seconds upon impact, I infused almost all my remaining mana into my tail, using [Mana Strike] to send the kobold’s head flying away.
Gaaaaaaaaaaaah!
“Krriiiiiiiiiiiiiiaaaaaahhh!”
Health and Mana are back to max! Let’s fucking goooooo! Gosh fucking dammit, that hurrrrttsssss!
My breathing was heavy but my sudden “battle cry” stunned the kobold leader long enough to compose myself. I was correct. At the end of the day, Health was just another resource in this world. If the number didn’t become zero, then I can survive for another day.
That’s right, it didn’t matter how you did in this forest. Survival was winning. Fleeing? Ambushing? Winning at the skin of my teeth? It didn’t matter. I just had to live through all of them and my chance to fulfill my dream will come true one day.
Urck…
I felt a sudden headache. This whole kobold situation has been more stressful than I thought.
Only one left. Identify.
Name: * Level: 14 Race: Forest Kobold
Job: Fighter
Status: Health: 111/113 Mana: 17/17
Strength: 51 Intelligence: 18
Vitality: 42 Wisdom: 21
Agility: 49 Stamina: 54/54
Effects: None
Skill: Physical skills and related:
[Mace Technique Lv. 1] [Spear Technique Lv. 1]
[Shield Technique Lv. 1]
Senses and movement skills:
[Stealth Lv. 2] [Enhanced Auditory Sense Lv. 2]
[Enhanced Enemy Sense Lv. 1] [Enhanced Olfactory Sense Lv. 3]
[Evasion Lv. 1] [Tracking Lv. 1] [Prediction Lv. 1]
Resistances:
[Physical Resistance Lv. 1]
[Pain Resistance Lv. 1] [Wind Resistance Lv. 1]
Others:
[Dismantle Lv. 2]
Ability List: Mace
[Smash]
Spear
[Pierce]
Shield
[Guard]
The kobold before me was the only one I appraised who had a level higher than ten, in addition, a different race. From how it fought, it seemed pretty strong. Underestimating it wasn’t good, even if my stats surpassed it by far.
Seeing how I fought today, I still had so much more to learn. I should have dominated them all, instead of struggling this much. I should use this chance to learn more. For example, abusing its low Wisdom with something like a [Smite]. One or two shots and it will die, just like the other kobolds.
Smite!
“Grie!”
As expected, the kobold managed to dodge my spell. Spells had a clear cast window which could be predicted if you could see the magic circle. What sorta spell came out of them was a different question, though.
For the boss of this group of kobolds, this guy sure knew how to handle itself. It seemed more competent with its [Evasion] and [Prediction] skills unlike the others.
Neat skill.
“Grao. Grao. Graouu!”
“Kra. Kisha.”
I had no idea what it just said just now, but I had an instinctual feeling what it could mean. It’s looking for revenge. Fair, I guessed. I’m pretty much the evil person in this situation after what I did to all these kobolds…
But… Didn’t the kobolds start this whole conflict? In all my time in this forest, everytime I fought a kobold, I was forced into it. Sure, I wanted to hunt them, but I had decided to be diplomatic about it.
I just wanted people to befriend. I just wanted to stop being all alone…
However cruel this kobold thought I was, there were enough reasons for me to retort back. But… so be it. I was fully willing to act like a boss monster so I could continue pursuing my own dream and ambition.
Keep calm. Deep breaths… Survival of the fittest. Just like those kobolds who tried to kill me the moment I was born, I cannot let myself die once again.
I ground my teeth as we glared at each other, waiting for the other to attack first. Anxiety, self-reproach, and that lingering headache filled my head. I felt conflicted, but I already made up my mind to end this. I must commit.
Besides, I had this weird feeling that I had to end this fight sooner than later. Ever since the start of this raid, I had this ominous premonition.
Ark, stop it! It’s only stress. It’s my consciousness, yes, it has to be. Focus!
Whatever it was, it could be dealt with later.
‘Cause the main show was about to start!
Name: * Level: 14 Race: Young Dragon
Age: 1 Month
Status: Health: 180/180(+35) Mana: 550/550(+85)
Strength: 115 (+25) Intelligence: 87 (+32)
Vitality: 69 (+15) Wisdom: 83 (+20)
Agility: 145 (+30) Stamina:114/114(+30)
Effects: None
Skill Points: 1650 (+750)
Skill: Magic skills and related:
[Mana Control Lv. 4] (+1) [Holy Magic Lv. 6] [Fire Magic Lv. 3]
[Earth Magic Lv. 3] [Space-Time Magic Lv. 2]
[Primal Magics]
Physical skills and related:
[Mana Strike Lv. 3]
[Enhanced Claws Lv. 3] [Enhanced Fangs Lv. 2]
Senses and movement skills:
[Stealth Lv. 5] [Prediction Lv. 1] (New)
[Enhanced Enemy Sense Lv. 6] [Enhanced Olfactory Sense Lv. 1]
[Evasion Lv. 3] [Acrobatic Lv. 1] (New)
Resistances:
[Physical Resistance Lv. 3] [Pain Resistance Lv. 3]
[Holy Resistance Lv. 3] [Fire Resistance Lv. 3]
[Earth Resistance Lv. 3] [Wind Resistance Lv. 1]
Stat growths and related:
[Enhanced Health Growth Lv. 1] (New)
[Enhanced Mana Growth Lv. 2]
[Enhanced Strength Growth Lv. 1]
[Enhanced Intelligence Growth Lv. 2]
[Enhanced Wisdom Growth Lv. 1]
[Enhanced Agility Growth Lv. 2]
[Enhanced Stamina Growth Lv. 1] (New)
Others:
[Identify Lv. 4] [Cooking Lv. 5] [Dismantle Lv. 4]
Spell List: Holy spells:
[Minor Heal] [Cure] [Modest Heal] [Smite] [Light] [Holy Protection]
Fire spells:
[Fire] [Firebolt] [Imbue Fire]
Earth spells:
[Earth Wall] [Rock Blast] [Earth Strike]
Space-Time Spells:
[Haste] [Storage Magic]
Other spells:
[Shine]
Titles: [The Light] [Bearer of Kargryxmor’s Blood] [Otherworldly Reincarnator]
