Red Monster

Red’s eyes were on his Dexterity. He had 150 Dexterity, and yet the Elite Kobold Fighter could close the gap faster than him. Yet again, the kobold was not faster than him. The kobold used its brute force, jumping to close the gap.

It jumped so fast and high that it reached the first branch, compensating for its lack of speed with power. That was how he got caught, not because the kobold was faster.

That meant climbing up the tree was a mistake back then. He should have just run, using his high Dexterity to get away. That was a lesson to learn.

He was glad that the kobold kicked him flying, or else he would get smashed to death. That kick created a distance that allowed him to use his fireball.

He let out another sigh at how close he was to yet another death. The war exposed how inexperienced he was in an actual battle. He was good at hunting, but a direct confrontation was a different type of field.

Despite how close he was to death twice, he experienced the benefit from the war.

Red realized that the war was actually the quickest way to level up. Not even a day had passed since he reached level 10, and he had already made a big progress to level 11. He had a satisfied smile as he looked at his status sheet once more.

"Alright, time to hunt more kobolds!"

The war started as a retaliation for attacking their village, but he now had a different motivation. He was about to run back, but almost slipped. His right leg suddenly lost its strength, almost falling to the side.

That was when he noticed the bruise that had turned purple. It was not obvious since his skin was red, but it was there. It was also blue around his ankle, the spot where he was grabbed by the troll.

He didn’t feel anything before because of the intense situation, but he could feel it now, the throbbing pain. A sprain maybe. He was not surprised if that was the case after the thrashing he received.

"I guess I earned my little break..."

Red didn’t force himself, leaning against the tree. Even though his health was still high, it didn’t mean he didn’t have a wound. That was something he learned today. As he took a break, he checked the blessing duration. That was his way to track time.

He stretched and moved his sprained leg while his eyes were on for the duration. He finally understood the minute. One minute was sixty seconds or breaths, and one hour was sixty minutes. He finally learned the universal time measurement that was used in his status.

Exactly five minutes- that was his break time. The throbbing was still there, but not as painful, and it should not be hindering his movement. He climbed up the tree, but he didn’t force himself, mainly using his left leg to push himself up.

It was slower than usual, but that should be fine if he didn’t have to face another two Elite Kobold Fighters. Firstly, he was looking for the sword. He left it behind at the highest branch on one of the trees.

It took him a while to find the sword. After finding the sword, he moved closer to the village. He arrived at the edge of the jungle, getting a good look at the battlefield. The Elite Kobold Fighters were joining the fray, and he could see that the kobolds were pushing into the village.

He found fourteen Elite Kobold Fighters: five of them were on the Chief, and the rest were handling the hobgoblins. The goblin was losing the battle.

Red quickly took action, directing his right hand at the kobold’s backline. He shot a fireball with four times the mana, reserving his mana for the Elite Kobold Fighter later.

This time his fireball went unnoticed, hitting in the middle of the kobold’s backline. Bodies were burned and flung in all directions.

Red subconsciously reached his back, thinking he still had his bow. When his hand grabbed an empty space, he remembered he had thrown the bow and the quiver earlier.

The explosion from the fireball seemed to surprise both sides. The Chief glared in his direction, and all Elite Kobold Fighters were also looking in the same direction. Both seemed to be surprised.

They might think that the two Elite Kobold Fighters killed him, yet he survived, firing another fireball.

One of the Elite Kobold Fighters hissed, sending out orders to the other kobolds. More than thirty kobolds were heading toward his direction, yet none of the Elite Kobold Fighters joined.

It was obvious that they had the advantage and wanted to finish the Chief, leaving Red behind for last.

"Then I just have to kill these thirty-three kobolds to lure more kobolds..." Red sounded confident.

The first thing he did was to use his Appraisal on at least thirteen kobolds. Their levels ranged between level 13 and level 16. That was a juicy group even for him. He was still level 10, after all.

He didn’t remain on the tree, jumping down, revealing himself to the kobolds. The kobolds advanced slowly, hesitated at first, but they rushed toward him the moment he showed up.

Whoosh!

He threw one spear that hit one kobold in the head. The spear hit the head; blood sprayed as the body flew backward from the impact. That caused the other kobolds to slow down.

Red threw his second spear, hitting the chest this time. That might not kill the kobold right away, but the kobold would slowly die from that spear without a healing potion. Since he only had five spears, he only aimed at the sure-hit-shot.

The third kobold got impaled in the chest again, but the kobolds stopped hesitating. They realized that Red only had two spears left. They charged while shouting with their distinctive hissing voice.

Red hit the fourth kobold with another spear before turning around, going back to the jungle. He didn’t immediately climb to the tree, still revealing himself while on the ground. He wanted to lure them further into the jungle, and they followed him without suspicion.

The kobolds looked even more savage, thinking they had cornered Red. That was when he went behind the tree and climbed. The moment they reached the tree, Red had disappeared.

The kobolds released a confused voice, flabbergasted that they lost Red. It was until one of them pointed upward, talking in their language. Two kobolds tried to climb, but that was when Red showed up again.

Red landed behind the kobold with his sword. He swung the sword to the neck’s level. The sword sliced through the neck. The head flew as the blood spurted out like a fountain.

He then leaped backward after that one swing, turning his back. The kobold screamed again, chasing after his tail once more. He was much faster than them because of his 250 Dexterity.

He disappeared into one of the trees again. The same pattern as before. The kobolds learned their lesson, turning around as they had their backs against each other, on alert for another ambush from behind.

Unfortunate for them because Red’s fireball was up. As they were on alert for an ambush, a fireball with four times the mana hit them in the middle. The fireball killed eight kobolds in that explosion, sending the remaining kobolds flying. At least more than fifteen kobolds were on fire in that one blast.

The kobolds panicked, in chaos. That was when Red jumped down on one of the kobolds that just stood up. His sword pierced through the kobold’s chest. Then he kicked the kobold forward.

He then swung his sword back, cutting the one behind him. The sword sliced through the armor, cutting through the chest. The kobold stumbled backward, wobbling. He took the chance, three steps forward with his sword up. He swung the sword down and cleaved the kobold’s head.

Again, Red didn’t hesitate to turn around and run. He disappeared into one of the trees again and observed the situation below. It didn’t take long to pick another isolated target. Three kobolds; one of them was on fire, one was standing with the support of the root, and the third one was leaning against the tree.

Red landed next to the kobold who stood with the root support. His sword pierced the kobold’s neck as he tore it to the side. The kobold fell while clutching his torn neck. Then he turned around toward the kobold who leaned against the three. He flipped his sword, catching it on the blade before throwing it.

Swoosh!

The sword pierced the kobold’s chest, pinning it to the tree without being able to do anything. Red grabbed the spear on his back, throwing it at the head this time. That killed the kobold right away.

The kobold that was on fire was not able to do anything to help. It was wriggling on the ground under fire. Red took his sword and finished it off.

This was why he was confident when it came to fighting the normal kobold. It was because of his high dexterity. He believed none of them could match his speed when the blessing was active.