Chapter 186 - 180 : Suspicion

"[Greater Fireball]."

From the side, a blazing fireball bigger than an average basketball darted towards the kobold guard. The fireball wasn't that big, being only 22 centimetres in radius(roughly 9 inches), but the power behind it couldn't be estimated based on its size alone. If it were to be measured, then it could be said that this fireball could easily destroy an average sedan with a steel body. Now this very attack, which surely packed a punch, was headed towards the kobold guard.

The kobold could sense the threat behind this attack and simply couldn't afford to ignore it. If it were at its top form, then it could easily swat the fireball to tiny flame splinters. However, with the current injury it had received from both [Kōjin's Arrow] and Fudo's [Explosion], the kobold guard didn't dare to take this attack head on unless unavoidable. In this case however, the attack was easily avoidable as despite it seeming quick in the eyes of most players, it was just average to the kobold guard.

This was due to the difference in [Dexterity] and reaction speed between the two species. A kobold could be said to be a bigger lizard and most lizards are very fast on their feet. A kobold wasn't so different from them in this manner.

The kobold guard hurriedly halted its foots, before dodging to the side, letting the fireball whoosh past it.

As it dodged it, another approached the kobold guard but this one was smaller than the previous one and it could sense that this attack was also weaker than the first. Using its bone sword, the kobold guard slashed at the fireball, cutting it into two separate hemispheres that exploded due to the destabilization of the spell. But that wasn't the end as a mana ball also close in on it.

Every time it spent its strength blocking or dodging one attack, another would be sent its way. This was the horror of battling a mage class player, especially an [Elementalist].

+16 (112/160 Katsuo's HP)

With the kobold guard being forced to pause on its movement and focus on dodging and blocking, Katsuo made use of the time to perform a healing spell, however, compared to the damage he received the effects were meager.

"Damn it." Katsuo cursed.

In this mission, Katsuo's role was to tank the kobold guard. From the clash from earlier, it was revealed that he couldn't even handle a rushed attack from the monster. As things stood, how was he supposed to tank the monster?

Even though the [Paladin] class was said to be able to perform healing spells, in comparison to a true healer class like the [Druid] or [Cleric], its effect was not worthy of comparison. As he just started out, Katsuo had the basic [Minor Heal] that aided him to recover 10% of his HP. However, the downside wasn't just the low amount of HP being recovered but the cool-down of the spell. It was a whole 20 seconds! A lot of things could happen in 20 seconds and considering the strength of the kobold guard, Katsuo doubted whether he could hold on against it.

"Let's handle it together. Xue Yan, watch our backs for us." Yato said. With Sato handling the kobold chief and Fudo assisting him, Yato decided to step up and take command. Unlike Xue Yan, this wasn't his first game and he was way better at commanding than Katsuo was.

"Katsuo, you hurt the creature, right? Where's the stats then?"

"Oh." Katsuo exclaimed as he stood up and glanced at the monster.

'[Inspect]'

Immediately after, a few lines of information were displayed on Katsuo's system interface. He didn't spend much time on it as he immediately forwarded the info to the team chat.

[[ System Interface :

Kobold Guard (Special Elite)

Level : 9

HP : 542/900

Physical Attack Power : 66

Magical attack power : 0 (30) (AN : Can't use magic.)

Physical Defense : 23

Magical Defense : 10

Attack Speed : 42

Movement Speed : 30

Attributes 

Strength : 23

Endurance : 23

Vitality : 90

Agility : 15

Dexterity : 14

Intelligence : 10

Willpower : 10

Skills :

Razor Claws : Passive Skill : Basic Attack. All claw-type attacks contain 130% of basic attack power.

Lesser Strength : Passive Skill : Though called Lesser Strength, this is in comparison to a dragon's strength. All Strength-based skills and physical attacks possess 120% of basic attributes.

Tough Scale : Passive Skill : Defensive abilities against physical attacks increased by 10%. 

Bone Slash : Active Skill : Gather power into one strike to cleave down the opponent. 140% of attack power as base.

Cool-down : 8 seconds.

Slithering Strike : Active Skill : A thrust like a snake. Launch an attack that has a very evasive motion making it difficult for the target to keep track of the attack's direction and location. Attack possesses 120% of user's basic abilities.

Cool-down : 4 seconds.

Wild Burst : Active Skill : Gather potential and momentum just to release it all in one strike. Attack power increases by 40%.

Cool-down : 12 seconds.

Fury : Active Skill : By burning the potential and bloodline within one's blood, all attributes increase by 10% for 15 seconds. With each usage though, bloodline purity and potential decreases. But this can be regained with the aid of high quality ingredients.

Cool-down : 4 natural days. ]]

As descendants of dragons, whether close or distant, dragon-kin, lesser dragons and the rest all posses a few dragon type abilities. By purifying their bloodline even more, they gain the opportunity to get a few special abilities with links to their ancestors. Even kobolds with their useless bloodline are capable of gaining such an opportunity but it only happens once in a blue moon, for a descendant with higher purity than seen before.

Basically, despite having a pretty much useless and weak bloodline, kobolds still possess strength, speed and defense that is higher than most monsters. Apart from that, kobolds wended up depending on external tools and weapons, just like mankind did. The result was that a few of them developed skills closing in on martial arts and the rest. But when being compared to the refined fighting skills of mankind, theirs pale in comparison but compared to their fellow monsters, it was an advantage they got due to their negligible relation to dragons and higher intelligence.

If a player were to underestimate them because of their flimsy bloodline, that player might end up paying with a drastic result.

"It's already so strong...I wonder how the boss would be then." Yato said as he glanced at Sato who was facing the boss in stand-off.

. . .

. . .

. . .

When Sato had drawn the kobold chief 20 metres away from the others, he suddenly turned around and slashed at it. At this point in time, Sato was slowly getting gassed out. This was not because he was weak but rather the high intensity running and concentration he had kept on the kobold chief all this while started to show some side-effects. Even the man with the highest stamina in the world would eventually get tired, much less Sato, whose record was a lot worse.

The kobold chief's eyes brightened as it saw as Sato quit running and faced it. In that moment, there seemed to be a mocking smile displayed on its lips as with a growl, the kobold chief jumped at Sato.

Sato firmly tightened his grip on his sword, sending a slash at the approaching kobold. The slash was well timed such that even with the 5 metre distance between the two parties, the sword would still close in on the kobold chief. Also, the lethal damage behind this strike was something that was even unknown by the kobold chief. Simply stating at it wouldn't help anyone in anyway. However, losing focus on the sword for just a second could be the end of you.

Lotus Sword Art : First form, Swift Kill.

In response to the attack, the kobold chief pulled out its bone spear and finally used it in battle. And so, a spear and a sword went against each other.

The spear is said to be the king of weapons while the sword is the swiftest of weapons. In terms of strength and power output, spear does indeed supersede a sword but in terms of a speed, the sword is supreme. This was a clash against speed and strength.

*Clang*

Metallic reverberations sounded out as the two weapons collided and stopped at a draw. Surprisingly, Sato was able to hold out against the kobold chief but he was forced to take one step back to eliminate the remnants impact from the collision.

'Still not enough.' Sato sighed internally.

Inevitably, Sato's [Strength] was lacking when compared to the Kobold chief's but using a martial skill to cover up his weakness, Sato was able to hold out against the kobold chief without losing that badly. Despite so, he still did suffer a loss and that was why Sato was disappointed.

'It's a world class boss. My holding out against it this far is already good.' Sato comforted himself. As he was about to use [Inspect] on the monster to collect its information, the creature in question was incensed at the end result of the first clash.

The kobold chief hurriedly clamped its claws tightly in the bone spear before it suddenly thrust out forwards, towards Sato.

An inch longer is a level stronger.

In this regard, the spear superseded over the sword as before Sato's sword could reach the kobold chief, this spear might have already pierced him. Hence there were only two solutions; block or dodge. But the spear came too quickly for Sato to respond to it. The scary part however, wasn't the speed of the spear but its bizarre course and movement. One second it would look like the attack was coming from the left side and the next second it would be from the top or elsewhere. Surprisingly, this skill was almost like a martial arts technique.

'[Slithering Snake]'

The bone spear flitted across the air as it stabbed towards Sato. Not being able to easily spot the bone spear's real position from the multitude of after-images made Sato stunned for a bit before he hacked out with his sword in a random manner. It looked like he had lost himself in the after-images and decided to randomly brandish his sword out however, it wasn't that simple.

Sato didn't hesitate to use the same martial skill while attaching a class skill to it.

'Swift Kill. [Parry]'

*Clang*

At the instant he struck out, Sato's sword had actually collided with an object. The collision ended up forcing the spear into view as the other after-images rapidly dissipated.

Even as Sato had gone on the offensive while making use of a skill, he still took two steps backwards. This was because compared to the earlier strike, this one was a whole lot stronger and on a completely different level. Even with his class skills and martial techniques, Sato could barely prevent that numbing feeling from spreading through his palm.

'It's quite strong but for a world class boss, this is disappointing..' Sato frowned.