Chapter 10: The dragon hunts the kobold, oblivious of the threat from behind.

Chapter 10: The dragon hunts the kobold, oblivious of the threat from behind.

I began this duel by casting [Fire] a couple of times. Due to his evasive skills, I wasnt expecting them to hit him, but to delay him long enough for me to reapply [Holy Protection] and [Haste]. [Fire] was cheaper in mana compared to [Firebolt], and I was being conservative with it to land the decisive move.

The benefits of my stat boosters were amazing, but the mana costs were already piling up. I got a bit nervous seeing my mana drop lower again, but it would only become a problem if I messed around. I had to finish this fight quickly, or get more mana in the future. Yeah, more mana sounded like the correct idea.

Once my buffs were reapplied, I used my increased speed from the [Haste] buff to close in the distance between the kobold and I. I only needed one or two good [Smite] or [Firebolt] and it should be a kill. Sadly, he could react well with [Prediction]. In other words, throwing my spells out willy-nilly was unwise.

Kobolds werent dumb now that I thought about it. They were as smart as primitive humans, and with proper weapons, their offensive prowess was higher than a [Wind Raccoon]. I was truly thankful that none of them had any knowledge on magic, otherwise this might have been harder to pull off. I did wonder if they hadnt met a [Wind Raccoon] before, but there was no need to think about it.

Hmm?

One of my skills triggered and sent me a warning. Was it from the skill I just got? [Prediction] was it? Oh, thats why! Why did I get it so suddenly? But I guessed it didnt matter considering it warned me of an attack coming from below.

I evaded it out of instinct and witnessed the kobold pulling its spear along the earth to throw dirt aiming at my eyes, only to miss. If I hadnt dodged it, I probably would have been blinded by it.

Recovering from his sly move, he grabbed his spear with both hands and suddenly went into a stance, launching a powerful thrust the next second. I could feel the wind moved from that attack as I dodged it, reminded of the pain I felt on my shoulder. It healed up with my level up, so this was probably phantom pain.

Concentrate! Focus! Dont be scared. We can win this. We can and will win this!

Thinking logically, that didnt feel like a normal attack and, thankfully, through appraising him, I knew exactly where it came from.

Spear Technique

A skill that improves the usage of spear-like weapons

Pierce

A weapon ability that shoots out a piercing attack

Weapon abilities! If you had magic for your mages, then your warriors needed weapon abilities to possibly keep up. Dodging his single powerful thrust wasnt as hard once I understood the cause for the attack, using my higher Agility and [Haste] buff to my advantage.

The more I continued this fight, the more I understood how game-like this world was. Sure, I could feel my shoulder pulsating in pain and my legs screaming out in exhaustion, but I wasnt down for the count until my Health and Stamina reached zero. They were resources. Resources I had to use to my advantage to win this battle.

Acquisition requirement fulfilled. [Parallel Thoughts Lv. 1] acquired

My first battle with an opponent with not only a Job but also a weapon ability began to excite me a bit. If the kobold could get it, could I get them too? It was just too bad we couldnt communicate right now.

Graaah! The kobold continued this assault, lunging his body and weapon to drive me backwards as I stayed on the defensive.

I was evading cause I was waiting for my moment to strike. A window of opportunity. And it was starting to open up for me as I noticed his movements slowing down. I could hear his breathing increasing and becoming longer. I saw him squint with every attack.

My Stamina was low. I was almost at my limit. I couldnt win a war of attrition if I continued wailing around like an idiot. What I had to do was stay calm, analyze, and conserve my strength. Health, Mana, Stamina; it was all about resource management.

Now!

The moment the kobold launched another [Pierce] at me, I ducked underneath it and tackled the kobold, knocking them to the side before shoving my claw into its stomach. However, it pulled out its bone knife and redirected my claw before it could dig in. Fortunately for me, I still managed to carve out some flesh and blood.

Nice reflex.

Using its spears staff, it pushed me off it and tried to attack me, unwilling to let this chance go. I smirked as I dodged its attack, and to its surprise, the spear lodged right into the wall behind me. Its eyes widened as it turned around as I was wrapping my flames in flames with [Imbue Fire].

Slashing up, it managed to dodge my attack by letting go of its spear. Now unleashing a flurry of red slashes, I now drove the kobold into the defensive. Tt was doing pretty well by dodging all my attacks, but similar to how I lead the kobold to the first wall, I was leading it to another.

I have not forgotten how many walls I created around myself!

The kobold only realized my plan when it couldnt dodge backward anymore, snapping its head around to see the large earth wall behind it. When it jolted its head back around, it was all too late.

GrrriiergrrrrrAAAAAAH! It cried out as I landed a direct hit to its chest. The fire around my claws seared its lungs and heart.

Using my pierce claw as leverage, I pulled myself up and threw another high-speed strike to its throat. It had breathed its last.

Experience has reached a breaking point. [Young Dragon *] has risen from [Level 14] to [Level 15]

Attributes have increased due to level up

Acquired 250 skill points

Max level has been reached. Evolution is now available for [Young Dragon *]

And it was over.

Kiiersh Krah I dropped to my legs, breathing heavily to recover from this physically and mentally taxing fight. I blinked as I saw the pool of blood before me and how the red liquid stained my black scales.

I killed them.

Dead eyes. There was no focus, no life, none of that will to fight was left in the kobold leaders eyes. Dull and hollow; a chill went down my spine as I continued gazing into them, until I simply shut my eyes and abandoned its body and the rest of the hunters on the grass.

I wont be taking these bodies to eat. Thinking about it was gross at this point now that my head cleared up. I did place the bodies of the kobold sentries into my storage before, but Ill empty it later on. I was starting to feel ill and I didnt want to deal with that mess now.

Grouuhh!

Graaaa!

As I walked out from the [Earth Wall] maze that I created to fight in, I suddenly heard loud growls and cries from my left. Turning around, my heart suddenly dropped to the floor as I saw six kobolds glaring at me.

Two adults were blocking the smaller kobolds from running forward, all while those kids let out voices so filled with sadness, anger, and despair that I couldnt take it. I shivered. My legs froze. My stomach

KrruuuuARRRGH!

Urghhhh!

Kra! Kra! Kriiiiiiiiieeeeeh! Kraaaaaahhhh

F-Fuck!

The shivering intensified to the point I thought I heard my scales shake like a rattlesnake. I had just slaughtered all those kobolds. I had to! You tried to kill me! I wanted to shout at the six remaining kobolds, but I couldnt. My mouth felt so dry despite having just puked.

Memories of how the kobolds celebrated and frolicked so much appeared in my head again, rocking my head and making that headache even more and more. I could feel the burning pain in my throat, as if it was condemnation for what I did.

I wished I hadnt been here. I wished I hadnt been lured in by the smell of cooked meat. I wished they hadnt found me out. I just wished I wasnt in this situation in the first place

But its too late for any regrets.

At the end of the day, I had to deal with my consequences. Yes, I did it in self-defense, but I chose to kill them. Couldnt I have incapacitated them? Animals killed each other for survival, and monsters with their kind. Maybe a part of me was satisfied with what happened.

By killing them, my path to my new evolution was opened up. I could evolve once again. Another step towards surviving this forest and getting out of it, and I earned it by fighting well.I earned this spoil of battle.

Maybe I wasnt fit to be like an animal. To be a monster was too hard for me. I was unhappy with todays fight cause I was still human thankfully.

Im sorry Ill take my leave.

I should return the bodies of the kobold sentries. Thats the least I could do. While I didnt believe I was in any way at fault for today, I could still sympathize with them for what I did. They saw me as the villain, and that was okay to me. From today on, I will never meet them ever again.

First, the bodies

Proficiency requirement fulfilled. [Enhanced Enemy Sense Lv. 6] evolved into [Enhanced Enemy Sense Lv. 7]

Huh? What is that?

My [Enhanced Enemy Sense] suddenly activated, turning my attention to something forming in the shadow created by the campfire. Walking closer to it, I suddenly noticed small black lines moving and forming what looked like a mag

Dodge left!

A voice similar to mine suddenly echoed through my mind the moment [Prediction] activated. In the next second, something in black fur came out from the shadow. Something large with large, sharp teeth bared in my direction!

Grraaaaah!

My body stiffened as my reflex took over and I dodged to the left with [Acrobatic], [Evasion], and my still active [Haste] buff, just as that strange voice told me to. By infusing my legs with mana, I narrowly dodged flying at me, draining my dangerously low Stamina. However, even then, I wasnt able to evade something hard from hitting me.

Urrrfahhh!

[Holy Protection] managed to reduce the damage significantly due to increasing my Vitality, but I wasnt left undamaged. The smack sent me flying away. I wasnt able to stop the landing momentum and ended up ragdolling on the ground, like a stone skipping on water, until I crashed against one of my [Earth Wall]s.

Uieeeeghhhh!

My body ached. One of my wings was even twisted. I cast a [Modest Heal] to heal my wounds and used [Identify] immediately afterward to appraise the shadow.

Profile:

Name: *

Level: 1

Race: Garm

Status:

Health: 684/684 Mana: 442/442

Strength: 372 Intelligence: 241

Vitality: 304 Wisdom: 279

Agility: 451 Stamina: 410/410

Effects: None

Skill:

[Identify Lv. 3] [Identity Blocker Lv. 4] [Stealth Lv. 5] [Presence Killer Lv. 6]

Information Blocked

Garm

A monstrous wolf which hunts in packs to take down its prey. A garm is a swift hunter specialized at taking down prey through stealth and ambushes. Able to use dark elemental magic. Rank D

The form and appearance of this sudden enemy revealed itself once the stars I saw disappeared, unveiling a giant wolf in jet-black. It towered; it was almost the size of a horse or at the very least, that of a bull. Its yellow eyes, its most conspicuous body feature, focused on me as it raised its head in an arrogant manner, showing off the thing it was holding in its mouth.

A kobold body.

[Easy prey.] Another voice suddenly appeared in my head, however, this time, it was that of a middle-aged man.

Whah?! Wh-What is that thing?! Where did it come from?!Co-Could this thing be the bad feeling I had ever since a few days ago? Could it also be the reason why [Enhanced Enemy Sense] had such a sudden surge of improvements?

Impossible.

What a ridiculous idea. I wanted to deny that stupid thought, but what else explained my [Enhanced Enemy Sense] rising so fast I couldnt even fathom the sudden change? If so, then this went beyond normal persistence It was an obsession.

How long has it stalked me! I need to run!

But I couldnt. My body didnt want to listen to me. I managed to heal myself but I still couldnt bring out the strength to push my legs up. After all, what was that voice? Where did it come from? Did that wolf just speak to me?

Grrr Grah! But that thought was pushed back as I saw the wolf let the kobold body fall onto the ground, only to begin eating it like a savage. It ripped through its skin, tearing off muscles and blood vessels as blood seeped on the ground like a spilled water bottle.

My eyes then moved over to the four bodies lying next to the wolfs foot. It seemed I managed to empty the kobold corpses in time, and this wolf was treating them like its lunch. Easy prey. Those words still lingered in my head.

This was my chance!

Outrunning this thing was near impossible. Its agility was nearly three times higher than mine. As such, if this wolf wasnt interested in me, then it was best to just take this opportunity and run. I could not deal with this creep at this point.

Graaaah!

Grouh!

But as I was slowly shifting into the darkness of the forest, my ears picked up the same cries I heard the kobolds make. Snapping my head around, I saw one of the young kobolds throw a stone at the giant wolf. It simply smacked against its body, leaving little to no reaction but a moving ear.

Graaaah! The young kobold threw whatever it could at the wolf before one of the adult kobolds charged at the smaller one and held it down to the ground. Unfortunately, it was too late.

[Pack Leader]

Did I fall down somewhere. The forest was dark, but not to the point I couldn't see anything. There wasnt even a moon. Did I end up in a cave or something?

If that was the case, then the issue with my Health was now the most pressing matter here. [Arcane Corruption] was sapping it like a poison, and I couldnt use my healing spells to heal myself. Neither could I move my body. I believe the last remaining strength inside me was now gone.

I hate this. I hate this darkness

But, one thing to celebrate about was that I couldn't sense anything nearby nor could I hear anything. In fact, it was so silent, I felt at peace. Did I actually fall into a cave and managed to escape death that way?

If that was the case, then my prayers actually did come true. I was given a third try.

And this chance was about to go away if I didnt do something right now!

System Voice, I want to evolve now!

Would you like to evolve [Young Dragon *]?

Evolution

[Young Fire Dragon]

[Young Earth Dragon]

[Young Holy Dragon]

This was my only option left. The only thing I could know when I was on deaths door. If leveling up restored my Health and Mana, then evolving should do the same, right? I didnt check on it when I evolved at first, but who cared about it right now.

I wasnt bleeding and this place seemed empty. This was the perfect chance to evolve and gamble on my life persisting.

If I did die, then so be it. At least, Ill go in my sleep. High risk, high rewards. Then again, the least I could do was to confirm my evolution choices. I had time; only seconds really, but it was something.

System VoiceIknow its ridiculous of me to ask you this, but

Would you like to buy [Night Vision] for 200 SP? Your current SP is 1900

Uhh. What? I mean, sure?

You have bought [Night Vision Lv. 1] Your current SP is 1700

What the fuck? Well, at least I can kinda see in the dark now but what?

Would you like to evolve [Young Dragon *]?

Back to this? I guess I should ask it now. What is the best evolution choice?

Will you take the default evolution choice [Young Dragon *]?

Is the default the best choice? I mean I could say yes, if you told me what the default choice is.

But then the fatigue of my body caught on. The ground was freezing and hard, but it honestly felt like a soft bed to my damaged body right now. I wanted to sleep. I wanted to rest. Anything but more action.

Evolution choice decided. Commencing evolution of [Young Dragon *]

Hold up, I

And sleep finally overwhelmed me before I could choose.

Title [The Light] description has changed

Title [Bearer of Kargryxmors Blood] description has changed

Choice denied

Attribute change occurred. Evolution error. Evolution stopped

Evolution options updated according to draconic lineage. Genetic mutations applied to evolution options

Evolution

[Young Spark Fire Dragon]

Would you like to evolve [Young Dragon *]?

The first day on the job and this shit happens! I was just made by the damn System Voice! Shit, I should hurry! Yes! Yes! Make my body evolve!

[Yes] chosen

Evolution choice decided. Commencing evolution of [Young Dragon *]

Fuck me Urgh, please, work. Goodnight, and see you in the morning original me.

A note from AbyssRaven

With this chapter, we have set some records.

First, and most importantly, we have reached over 100 followers with the publishing of this chapter.

Guys, I already said it in the beginning, but thank you so very much for reading and giving this story a chance. I, honestly, did not think this story would be able to get this far, so quickly. It exceeded my expectations.

So, once again, thank you very much.

Secondly, our first monster with over 1000 stats. How crazy. This garm leader, she seems pretty strong, eh?

Thirdly, the chapter with the most System messages. Also, the first chapter where our MC was kinda talking with System Voice. It seems so, at least.

We are ending the chapter on quite a few questions. It would be a shame, if I don't release the next chapter soon, right?

Hope you guys had fun reading it, as I had fun writing it.

Edit: Edited to my current writing style

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About the author

1 Fictions 7 Posts 1 Threads

Sunday, January 12, 2020 2:48:35 PM Germany [Member of Zard Skwad]

Bio: Hey there, AbyssRaven here. I'm just an avid Light Novel and Fantasy story reader who randomly thought of a story and began writing about it.

I eventually found out that I've been spending a bit too much time with building, planning, and researching for the story, that I've decided to just share it with others.

Writing is mostly a hobby for me, but I would still love any kind of criticism to improve on it.

I'm also german, so please excuse anything that sounds a bit weird...I wouldn't mind you pointing it out though.

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