Red Monster

Red stood, flabbergasted by what he saw. It was unbelievable that the kobold was still standing after that fireball. It was still alive, burning, but didn’t move, or maybe could not move.

Their eyes met, the undying rage that turned into hatred. That might be the only thing that kept it alive. It was kinda scary, but it wasn’t going to affect Red that much. He could not find the second kobold.

The fire should not be enough to incinerate the body into dust. Especially when the one that got a direct hit from the fireball was still standing. He climbed up the root and found the body, lying down not far from the standing kobold.

Red pulled the spear from his back. There were three spears left after his first three throws. That should be enough to kill the immobilized kobold.

He didn’t immediately throw the spear, stretching out his hand, testing his grip, and stretching his legs. Everything was fine, nothing that needed his immediate attention. He was fine; he still could go for another fight.

"Let’s finish this quickly and go back."

He made a short run before throwing his spear. He targeted the kobold’s chest with his first spear. The spear pierced the chest. The kobold almost tumbled backward from the force, yet it quickly regained its balance. It anchored its right leg, choosing to stand despite the threat.

It was impressive and scary that the kobold chose to remain standing. He respected the kobold for trying until its last breath, but that didn’t mean he would show mercy.

Red’s second target was the head, and there was no way he would miss a standing still target. Though he missed a little bit. He aimed at the forehead, but his spear hit the right eye instead.

That only pushed the kobold one step backward. He thought that would kill the kobold, yet it was still standing. Its remaining eye stared at Red still. It didn’t even let out a scream or growl of pain.

"Just die already!"

Red pulled his third and last spear. He thought of securing the kill from a distance, but it was unlikely with how determined the kobold was clinging to his life.

Red was about to make his short run to throw the spear, but he lost his target. The kobold was no longer standing in the same spot. It disappeared. He subconsciously looked up and saw the figure in fire coming down to him.

He froze as the massive figure in fire landed in front of him. The kobold immediately swung his arm down, as if he was swinging a sword. However, the kobold was not holding a sword.

Red felt the breeze brush his face as the big hand stopped before him. Those hands were half an arm away from hitting his head, but it didn’t hit, as it seemed the kobold thought it was holding a sword.

Only he reacted, taking a leap backward, looking up at the kobold. He was about to throw his spear but noticed the kobold had lost the glow of life in his eyes. Its left eye dimmed; it no longer had the rage and determination it had before.

He squinted his eyes, trying to confirm his guess. The chest was no longer heaved up and down. It was a totally motionless, dead monster. It died while standing, after making the last jump.

Red wanted to believe it was dead, but was not going to get closer to confirm it. He threw the last spear at the head. The spear pierced through the skull as the body fell backward from the impact. It fell with a loud thud while its body was still burning.

He approached the body, not too close. Learning his lesson, he tried to exchange the body for loot from further back. The body burst into light particles and dropped four Mediocre Quality Cores and a scroll.

He rushed and grabbed the scroll, afraid the fire might burn his scroll.

[Do you want to learn Burst Leap Skill?]

Red raised his right eyebrow. While it didn’t explain what the skill did, he might understand what the skill did. He suspected that crazy leap was a skill, and he might be right. He might hold the scroll with the same skill. Now the question was, did he want the skill?

He could see the use of the skill, but he didn’t think he would need it. Once he was up on the tree, he was safe. He could think of several applications for how to use the skill.

"The skill might come in handy..."

It didn’t take long for him to decide to learn the skill. There was no harm in having more skill, after all.

[You have learned a new skill, Burst Leap!]

[Burst Leap: Empower your legs to perform a burst leap, greatly increasing the height and distance based on Strength, Stamina Consumption, and Mana Consumption.]

It meant he could jump so high up by consuming more mana and Stamina. He might be able to jump over a village as long as he consumed enough Stamina and Mana. But he needed to do a few tests before using the skill in actual combat.

That was for later to try out. He grabbed the four cores: three magic cores and one might core. This was what he wanted: a Magic Core. He needed 1.2 Arcane Perception, and another 1 Mind to reach the threshold for his Magic Stat.

However, he hesitated to use the core. All the Mediocre Core gave him above 1 stat meant the excess stat would be wasted. But he still used it as he recalled there was not much kobold left in the village. He used two Magic Core and reached level 11.

[You have reached level 11!]

He waited a while after the notification, being hopeful that he might offer an evolution. Yet nothing came after the leveling-up notification appeared. He could not help but feel disappointed as he absorbed the remaining two cores before moving to the next kobold’s body.

If he was not quick, the fire might burn the kobold into ashes. He wished for another skill, but he didn’t get any. The drop was six Mediocre Quality Cores with four Magic Cores and two Might Cores.

Red thought of getting the mighty cores that he buried in the jungle before returning, but he didn’t do so. The situation was quite dire back then. He looked for his sword before rushing back to the village. He had killed another two Elite Kobold Fighters, which would make it five Elite Kobold Fighters.

The first two were when he almost died in the jungle, the third one that he burned in the village, and the recent two. There was one Elite Kobold Fighter that was burned, running around in fire before he lured out these two that he just killed. If that one died, it would make it to six.

He could not see what happened inside the village from the edge. He could see them if he climbed; he chose to rush back instead. The five spears were on his back, and a black sword in his right hand. He ran through the open clearing, running among the kobold bodies and arriving in the village.

The Chief was still battling the remaining three Elite Kobold Fighters with the help of the twelve Goblins and seven goblins. The Chief managed to turn the situation around, killing two more Elite Kobold Fighters when he lured one of them. The Elite Kobold Fighter that was on fire seemed to be dead since it was nowhere to be seen.

The Chief managed to kill two Elite Kobold Fighters. It was not without a price. He saw the black sword pierce his back, going through the chest. The body also accumulated more wounds.

Red tossed his sword to his left hand as he pulled the spear from his back. He rushed forward and threw the spear. The first spear pierced the back of one of the Elite Kobold Fighters. That caught the kobold’s attention, but Red’s second spear already flew off his hand.

The second spear aimed at the head, and it didn’t miss. It pierced the kobold’s left eye. The kobold let out a piercing scream, and the three closest hobgoblins took the opening. They smashed the kobold’s legs as two of them were holding a hammer. They aimed at the knees, then the third one, with an axe, whacked the calf, not just once but several times.

It fell forward, falling face-first onto the ground. That was when the third spear flew, hitting right on top of the kobold’s head. The scream from the kobold disappeared as the kobold stopped moving.

The two remaining Elite Kobold Fighters were on the Chief. They got distracted for a moment when one of them was hit. The Chief exploited the distraction, landing a fatal blow on one of the kobolds. His sword pierced the chest, completely stuck in the kobold’s chest. Then he swung his sword.

The Chief intended to sever the head, but his sword didn’t go through, only half-through. That showed the Chief was truly exhausted from the battle that he didn’t have enough strength to sever the head in one swing. But that was enough; it didn’t kill the kobold instantly, but it was dying, losing its strength as it slowly fell on its knee, clutching its neck.

Red’s fourth spear flew once more, hitting the last kobold in the chest. However, it could not afford to split its attention toward Red when twelve hobgoblins rushed toward it. That was when the last spear hit the kobold’s head from the side. It fell to the side but was still alive. Not for long, since the hobgoblins finished it off right after.

That was the last Elite Kobold Fighter standing, the last kobold from the reinforcement alive. It indicated the goblins won the battle. They managed to wipe out the kobold reinforcement.