Red Monster

Red hoped he was wrong about it, or else this might not be good for him. He was not surprised if they discriminated just like how the goblins treated him in the past. This was indeed bad news for him.

Red thought of taking it slow, thinking it might take a while before the Chief recovered. That meant he would not participate in the battle for a while. However, he was wrong about it. The healing potion would change things, and the reinforcement itself might be bad for the village.

He planned to take things slow, but there was no time for it. He needed to be prepared for what would come. As soon as he got dressed up, he went to the armory to get the Great Longbow again.

The armory should have four to five similar bows, the one they took from the kobold. The problem might be the arrow. The last time he checked, they had limited arrows.

’Maybe it’s time to craft my own arrows?’

It might be time for him to learn to make an arrow. He could smelt the sword and other weapons for the arrowhead. He didn’t know if the branch from the big tree could make a good shaft for the arrow, but it was worth trying.

But the problem was the feather stuff at the back. He realized that each arrow had that feather, and he didn’t know where to get it. He didn’t even know the use of that thing for the arrow. Was that just a decoration, or did it actually have a function for the arrow?

He was deep in his thoughts and didn’t acknowledge the goblin guards on duty as he went into the armory. The first thing he saw was the arrow. There were three quivers filled with arrows; he grabbed them all. Then he spotted the bow at the corner of the armory.

He spotted five white wooden bows at the corner. They got them from the kobolds, the ones they hunted before the war. It was not surprising that no one picked the bow, even though the bow was usually a popular choice among the goblins.

The bow was too big, and it required more strength to draw it to utilize its power. That made sense; the goblin didn’t take it. He grabbed two of them and went back to his home. Keeping one for a reserve, it was never wrong to keep one as a reserve in case it snapped again.

Darla was awake once he returned home. She had prepared something for him. There were eight steaming potatoes; each was split in the middle with three thin slices of roasted meat stuffed inside.

The moment she noticed him home, she poured something thick on top. His figure moved quickly, moving toward the table. He took a deep whiff of the food.

"I am going to the kitchen right now. Come meet me in the kitchen if you are hungry later."

Red tried to understand what she told him, as he only understood fragments of it. He got the gist of it after a while, nodding, "Wait..."

Darla had a puzzled look, but she stayed, waiting for Red to speak.

"Goblin... More goblins come... later..."

He was trying to warn her about it. More goblins would come, meaning it would be dangerous for her. He needed to warn her to be more careful.

Sure enough, that caught Darla by surprise. Her eyes filled with fear and concern.

"No worry... I protect you..." He patted her twice, assuring her it would be fine. The warning was so she could be prepared for what would come.

Darla nodded, still looked worried, but that didn’t stop her from doing her work. She left not long after, but with her dagger and also leather armor. The dagger was hanging from her waist, though he could not tell that she was not excited about using it to stab the goblin.

"Alright... It’s time to work..."

"But before that..." He looked at the potatoes on the table. It was not a blessing, but it made sense considering it was just a normal meal. He was not going to hunt or to a battle, after all.

Red took one potato with his hand and ate it. The potato was soft, but the thick soup was grainy in texture. It surprisingly went well together. The potato was sweet, and the soup was spicy and savory. He subconsciously let out a moan, but he quickly snapped out of it.

He didn’t expect to make such a noise for food. This was the first one for sure. But then he slowly realized that not just Darla could make magical food, but her food had become more delicious. The flavor itself was not new, but the combination between textures and flavor was a hit for him.

For the first time, Red slowly savored the food instead of gobbling it up. He felt like it would be a pity to gobble it up. He wanted to enjoy the food slowly, savoring it carefully.

He took a moment in his chair. It was one of the best meals so far. "Alright. It’s time to work for real this time."

The first thing he did was to check the bow’s condition with his Mana Repair. Mana Repair allowed him to check whether there was a damaged part on the bow, something that was not visible to the eyes.

Sure enough, once the image of the bow appeared in his head, he quickly found three faint red marks on the bow. He quickly took action on it, and he did the same with the second bow.

He used 51 mana for the first bow, and 43 mana for the second bow. Mana Authority truly helped him to control his mana. It was like telling him how much mana he needed to use, efficiently pulling that amount of mana to repair the damaged part.

Then he started with Mana Refining and followed with Mana Tempering. Both processes took a little over one hundred mana for one bow. By the time he finished both bows, he had used a little over three hundred mana.

That left him with 1400 mana to work with the arrows. Based on his experience, that was not going to be enough to repair, refine, and temper all arrows with that. He brought back eighty-seven arrows in total.

The repair itself was around twenty to forty mana. The refining and tempering would take around forty to sixty mana. Then there was another process: sharpening the arrowhead.

On top of the mana issue, working with an arrow needed a lot of his focus. He needed to make sure not to temper it too much, as it might give the opposite effect. Tempering was to reduce brittleness and increase durability, but too much mana would make the arrow fragile instead. The same with the Mana Sharpening; too sharp would thin out the arrowhead. It would snap within one use, and he needed to be careful with it.

Red spent his entire morning up to afternoon with his arrows. The work was monotonous: repair, refine, temper, and sharpen. However, he didn’t consider it boring. This would help him kill his enemies, so he took the job seriously and carefully.

He finished fifty arrows when the sun was high up in the sky. He spent his mana, only having around one hundred and twenty mana left. He decided to pause his work and went out for a meal because he remembered how Darla’s meal helped him regenerate his mana.

It was still unknown whether her food increased his mana regeneration or not. He didn’t receive the notification, just like when he ate the infused dish. However, he had tested how eating her food increased his mana regeneration.

Red expected the kitchen’s menu would be gruel as usual. It was easy to make, especially when they made a big portion. That was not the case this time, as they added a new menu.

He found the same gruel on the table where three hobgoblins ate, but there was an additional side dish. It was the same potato dish he ate early in the morning, with one difference. This potato didn’t have the soup; the thin-sliced meat was there, but not the soup.

The hobgoblin looked up at him, and they immediately looked away when their gazes met. They seemed to be afraid of him even though they were still higher in level than him.

’Ah, right. Maybe they don’t know about it. They didn’t have the Appraisal Skill like me.’

That was what he thought, or maybe they were just afraid of his fireball regardless of their level. His usual spot was empty as he sat at the counter.

Darla spotted him and motioned toward him to come into the kitchen. His eyes lit up as she realized what she was up to. It was the secret soup. She wanted to add that secret soup to his potato, and she didn’t want the others to find out about it.

Red was about to enter the kitchen until someone tugged the hem of his clothes. He looked down and found Tob. He was about to slap Tob’s hand away, but he didn’t do so. If it was Tob, it might be something important.

"What is it?"

"The Chief. The Chief wants to meet you, Boss."

Red frowned, "Now?"

Tob nodded, "Now."

"Do you know something about this meeting?"

The little goblin shook his head, "I don’t know the details, but it might be related to the incoming reinforcement. I don’t think it’s something bad. It’s more like the Chief wants to discuss something with you regarding the upcoming war. That’s just my guess."