Chapter 124 Tales and Reprieve

“–You’re not going anywhere!”

Just before its entire body vanished into the solid wall, he managed to grab onto its tail, yanking it out without any mercy. The stench of a kobold was strong, even if it wasn’t directly in front of him; their odor was similar to that of a wet dog, only mixed in with rotten eggs and meat.

As he pulled it from the wall of mud, the creature growled and chucked another few rocks his way, but he brushed it off and used his other hand to guide his blade through its chest.

“Grah!” The kobold cried out.

He had to be quick to disengage from one and onto the other, as he slid the felled kobold off of his steel in preparation as another leapt towards him with a pickaxe being wildly swung.

“How’re you holding up back there?” Vandread asked.

“–Fine!” He replied.

As he answered, he had to take a step back as the rabid kobold swung its pickaxe to-and-from with all of its might, continuing to speak unintelligible murmur as it spit out. Even with his newfound constitution, he wasn’t quick to test himself against such an aggressive assault.

Though a small gust of wind could easily give him an opening, he held back the instincts he had cultivated for years.

Magic is off-limits right now…well, of course, unless I’m really about to die, he thought.

With that half-baked resolve, he managed to maneuver himself around the wild kobold’s unorthodox fighting style, or lack thereof; it utilized its small stature and nimble nature to slip through the walls, shooting out with frantic swings before disappearing back into the walls.

It repeated this all while other kobolds closed in, forcing him to have to make a move sooner rather than later.

Carefully watching his surroundings, he noticed a pebble on the leftmost wall vibrate.

Now! He thought.

The rabid, salivating kobold launched out from the wall with a stone complexion, wildly swinging, but the young man was prepared.

He ducked down and countered, slicing upward with a clean retaliation as his black-and-silver steel cut through the kobold like butter.

“Phew,” he sighed out.

Though that battle was over, he nearly lost his balance as the stallion lost its cool further, forcing Vandread to strain himself as he tugged on the reins, trying to calm the steed.

“Damn, guess this one wasn’t bred for battle…” Vandread exhaled, “Emilio!”

“Yeah, I know!” He replied, already knowing he’d have to fight again.

Though instead of many kobolds approaching, only one confronted him as he stood on the stallion’s back, watching its rear.

One kobold would certainly be a welcome battle in contrast to multiple, that is, unless the kobold in question possessed an unnatural stature itself.

“What the…”

It was huge; likely near three meters in height, though standing shorter due to humpback. The light-red skinned, fur-covered creature was built with bulging muscle, wielding a massive pickaxe made for its size.

“Are kobolds supposed to grow that big?!” He questioned out loud.

Vandread glanced back, “That’s the defender of their clan. It’ll be simple; just don’t let it hit you.”

“Oh yeah, great advice!” He replied sarcastically.

Still, it was a nice feeling; the man who once treated him as a ‘fragile package’ now relied on him to be able to not only defend himself, but handle the entire fight itself.

Technically, I should be in my thirties, mentally, at least…but damn, why does it feel so good not to be treated like a kid?! He thought.

Against such a large foe, he knew fighting on the stallion would only put it in danger, so he hopped off of it momentarily to engage with the giant kobold, who was lumbering towards him while snarling.

With something like this, I’ll need a little magic. But, something complimentary to my swordplay. I can’t weave complex spells without using my staff, but I can still manage! He surmised.

Swinging towards him, the massive pickaxe sailed with immense strength, narrowly missing as he jumped back.

It slammed into the stone crust of the wall, piercing and cracking it as pebbles and sparks alike sizzled in the air.

“Graaagh!” The kobold bellowed.

The behemoth’s pickaxe was lodged into the stone, which he noticed and took advantage of as he lunged forward, however–

“Ri! Ri! Ri!” The kobold chanted unknown words.

“Magic?!”

Blocking his path, sharpened rocks rose from the ground, narrowly missing as he flipped back, surprised at his own agility.

Holy…I feel so light now! He thought.

Though he didn’t have much time to be enamored with himself as the kobold burrowed through its own creation, slamming its pickaxe through the stones as it charged towards the young man.

It was swung towards him again with such heavy power; the rusty pickaxe neared his body.

Again, his instincts allowed him to move in order to counter its swing with his own sword though he’d trained himself to react with spells previously.

CHNK.

The pickaxe and his treasured sword clashed; though it was a struggle, he managed to stop the pickaxe’s momentum completely.

“Grrh…” He strained.

His fingers quivered around the handle of his sword, but he planted his feet down and remembered the “Mountain God Style” fundamentals his father and Veldalla had drilled into him.

Be as rigid…as a mountain of old! He told himself.

Against all reason, the fifteen year-old boy of a slight build overcame the goliath kobold, knocking it back as the creature stumbled backward in surprise, blinking with its emotionless, black eyes.

Vandread watched, gaining control of the stallion while it was stopped in place as he mumbled to himself, “…Huh. Kids certainly grow fast these days, eh, Julius?”

As he pushed forward with his sword being swung back, the kobold yelled out again: “Ri! Ri-Ri! Ri!”

It’s casting again! He thought.

As predicted, the walls around him rumbled before the stone shifted and extended out in the shape of hammers, swinging with their rigid, normally inflexible forms towards him.

Though he didn’t stop as he instead stomped his boot down, “I’ll show you magic!”

Intercepting the path of the stone hammers that slammed towards him were many poles of rock that were manifested in such a way that they made it impossible for the bludgeoning stone to move further.

“Grugh…?!” The kobold let out.

Now nothing was blocking him from the towering, cis-covered kobold, who tried to swing its weapon towards him again. Though the attack was easily negated by a swift blast of wind that knocked the creature off balance again.

He jumped up, holding his blade overheard before using all of his weight behind his downward slash, “Hyaaah!”

SQUELCH.

Through its torso, his steel carved through, tearing the kobold nearly in two before it fell over.

“…Huff…” He caught his breath.

After that encounter, he had a gauge of his new strength granted to him by his “Draconic Constitution” skill.

I’d say it’s roughly three-to-five times, he thought, As a boy who is…a few hairs into puberty, I’m a good bit stronger than the average grown man, but nothing close to Vandread or Father.

Returning to the stallion’s back, Vandread pulled the reins to signal the majestic animal to begin its trot forward again.

“Nice work,” Vandread left a rare compliment, “I know I said a sword was the better choice in this environment, but I didn’t expect you to embrace that against a big guy like that.”

“Yeah, me neither,” he responded.

In haste, they traversed the ravine, it took another couple hours of fending off kobolds, which eventually led back upward to normal ground level, returning the two of them to the surface where the sun greeted Emilio with its soft, orange rays.

“…I almost forgot it was still daytime,” he mumbled.

They were now entering the space between the two mountains, which were colossal in scale, almost seeming boundless in their size as entire forests stretched over their scope.

“We’re close now,” Vandread told him, “–to Larundog.”

After being in the dank caverns, he welcomed any semblance of civilization away from the skulking kobolds.

The first sign of nearing civilization again was that the dirt trail had shifted into a paved road; a welcome sight for Emilio, who had longed for a stop in a city again since Elsia, which felt like an eternity ago.

“I don’t see anything yet,” Emilio said, looking forward.

Vandread replied, “Be patient.”

“Right,” he nodded.

Though it was hard to withdraw his anxiousness as he was ready to make up for what he didn’t experience in Elsia; that is, spending his hard-earned coins in certain premiums that he missed out on before.

“What’s Larundog like? You’ve been there before, right?” He asked.

“There’s nothing of note, really,” Vandread answered, “I only go through it; I never stay there for any prolonged amount of time. Actually, I have heard about one special part of it, though I’ve never bothered with it.”

“What is it?” He asked curiously.

As he waited for an answer, the sound of the stallion’s hooves trotting across the stone road met his ears.

“Larundog is said to have the best brothel in all of Milligarde–well, I’ve heard some day its in contention for one of the best on the continent,” Vandread told him.

“What?!” Emilio let out.

It seemed like a lost dream now set within his grasp again for the boy with aspirations far too big and perhaps lecherous for one of his tenure in this world.

Vandread sighed, “You’re Julius’ kid, alright.”

“Of course I am.”

“Yeah, well, I mean you two are practically identical in a lot of ways. If it wasn’t for your mother’s hair, I’d be looking at the spitting image of that guy,” Vandread glanced back at him.

“–” He looked at the man.

There was still a lot he didn’t know about Vandread; in fact, that was an understatement. Hardly anything at all was known about him besides the fact he was an old friend of his father’s who owed a favor to him, and is somehow immortal.

Such things only made Emilio more curious as to who Vandread truly was, though asking the man about anything was a futile endeavor.

“What was Father like back then?” He asked.

Though he was interested in what kind of person his father was at a time long before his own, part of him knew asking in this fashion may also drag out some information on Vandread himself.

The platinum-eyed man looked forward, “You’ve asked me this fourteen times exactly since we left Yullim.”

“And I’ll keep asking until you answer,” he smiled innocently.

“You’re a real pain,” Vandread kept his gaze forward, “Well, for starters, Julius was a total lech. I mean, we couldn’t walk ten steps without him harassing girls.”

“Ghh…” He winced at how unsurprising, but embarrassing it was, “…That sounds like him.