Red Monster

The heat and shock wave from the fireball’s explosion hit him. It was so hot that it felt like it was burning his skin. That was weird with his fireball.

He could not feel the heat when the fireball was still on his palm. It felt like the fire could not hurt him when it was on his palm. However, the moment it left his palm, it was the same as the other fire. It could hurt him as well.

It was fortunate that he was leaning against the tree. He didn’t get blasted; his body was pressed against the tree. Thanks to it, he managed to gather his breath. His skin was still burning; the searing pain remained.

His chest heaved up and down, and his head cleared up a little bit. He finally calmed down after the beating he received.

The Elite Kobold Fighter was on the other side, leaving a trail of fire as it crashed into a tree as well. The fire burned the flesh as smoke billowed through the gap between the armor.

The kobold was struggling to get up; that fireball truly got it. Even so, it was getting up, slowly, supporting its body with the tree. It leaned against the tree, looking around, trying to find the sword. However, the sword was blasted away.

Not finding the sword, the Elite Kobold Fighter’s bloodshot eyes went straight to Red. It started to walk toward Red. Its steps were wobbly at first, swaying and almost stumbling over the roots. It looked like it would not reach where Red was. However, the Elite Kobold Fighter stabilized each step it took.

Red’s mind cleared as he regained the strength in his body. He could tell the fury in the eyes; there was nothing but rage. It was as if he had done something unforgivable.

He took a deep breath and released it in one go as he managed to stand straight now. The kobold might walk properly, but it was still too slow. The goblin walked faster than the Elite Kobold Fighter.

His right hand reached his back, trying to get his bow. That was when he found out his bow had snapped, and there were only two arrows left in his quiver. Fortunately, he still had three throwing spears left.

Red didn’t hesitate to pull one and take a short run before throwing the first spear. He slipped a little; his body swayed as his right leg went weak for a moment.

Whoosh!

The spear still accelerated toward the kobold, but it shot toward a different spot. He was aiming for the head, but it went straight to the kobold’s belly.

It tried to move away, but it was just too slow. The spear pierced through the black armor, stuck in the kobold’s belly.

The Elite Kobold Fighter wobbled, almost falling until it anchored its left leg behind. With greater determination, it started to take another step forward. Blood flowed from the armor, flowing through its leg.

It took three to five breaths to take another step, and another one. Unfortunately, the kobold in its condition was just an easy target, an easy prey for Red. The second spear flew toward it, and it didn’t even attempt to dodge this time. It stopped its track as the spear pierced its chest, right in the middle.

The Elite Kobold Fighter remained standing; his breathing was heavy. Its chest heaved up and down as it tried to gather every breath it could muster. It didn’t want to go down; it still wanted to fight. It wanted to kill Red.

However, the kobold could no longer take another step. It remained on the spot, realizing it might fall if it took another step.

Red was merciless as the third spear shot through the air and pierced the kobold’s head. The spear pierced the kobold’s forehead, pushing it down to the ground.

Red took another breath, gathering his breath before approaching the body. His eyes never left the kobold’s body, trying to determine whether the kobold was still alive or not. There was a chance it was pretending to be dead and ambushed for one last hurray. The kobold had that crazed look, after all.

He didn’t approach from the side, running toward the head side. The kobold’s head was right below him, and he planned to end this with an arrow into the helmet. He raised his arrow, but then a hand grabbed his ankle.

The kobold grabbed his left ankle; the movement was so fast that he could not react in time. But that was it; the kobold didn’t have the strength to pull him down. The grip slowly weakened, and Red wasted no time. He delivered the final blow, an arrow with his hand into the gap for eyes.

The arrows pierced through as the blood spurted out from inside the helmet. Only then did the kobold’s hand fall off from his ankle, and he confirmed the death of the Elite Kobold Fighter.

He exchanged the body for loot, and he wished it would drop a weapon that he could use. The reason he didn’t have his sword on him was that he left his sword behind on top of one of the trees. It was inconvenient and might even slow him down if he carried the sword all the time.

He wished something would drop that was suitable for him. Lady Luck was not on his side as it dropped five mediocre quality cores and three silvers. If he considered the three silvers, it was considered a rare drop, as three silvers were the biggest drop in terms of coins, which he did not need.

It seemed equipment drops were even rarer than a skill scroll drop because he never got one until now. But five mediocre was actually a good drop. He was not going to complain about getting five, three mediocre quality Magic Cores, and two mediocre quality Might Cores.

He absorbed the five cores right away. Then he pulled the snapped bow from his back. He didn’t plan to repair it, as it was impossible for him to repair the bow. He needed Infernal Berserk, or else his mana was not enough to repair it. He would rather refine a new bow instead of repairing this one.

Red also threw the quiver with one arrow on it. He was getting rid of them before looking for the second Elite Kobold Fighter. It was actually not far, as he quickly found the body with a spear in the head.

He quickly exchanged the body for loot. The armor clanked onto the ground as the body burst out into light particles. Then the drop was revealed next to the armor. He was surprised to find seven cores instead of the usual three or four, or even maybe the lucky five. He didn’t expect it to drop seven cores.

It was the big core and the mediocre-quality cores. To ensure he didn’t see things, he used Appraisal on it.

[Might Core (Mediocre): A Mediocre Grade Might Core. Absorb the core to increase a random Might’s attribute.]

He checked on all of them, and they were all Mediocre Grade Cores: four magic cores and three might cores. The minus was the glinting silver that dropped from the Elite Kobold Fighter. Not that he was asking for it; in fact, he gladly accepted the trade: more cores and no silver.

With these seven mediocre cores, he had absorbed sixteen mediocre cores in total. The four earlier from the one the Chief killed, and twelve that he got from killing two Elite Kobold Fighters. He expected a big increase, so he opened his status sheet.

Name: ???

Level: 10

Health: 827 Stamina: 682 (+20) Mana: 1147

[Tier 1 Might]

Strength: 123.2 (+2.8, +20) Endurance: 104 (+1.8) Vitality: 106 (+3.4) Dexterity: 249.6 (+1.8, +145)

[Tier 1 Magic]

Intelligence: 153 (+3) Wisdom: 155.4 (+4.6) Arcane Perception: 154 (+3.4) Mind: 154.8 (+4.2)

Skills:

Tier 1 Skill: Mana Sense (Passive) - Level 15, Levelheaded (Passive) - Level 21, Appraisal - Level 18, Bleeding (Passive) - Level 2, Fireball - Level 5, Bow Mastery (Passive) - Level 6

Tier 3: Mana Smelting - Level 6, Mana Refining - Level 4, Mana Sharpening - Level 3, Mana Repair - Level 3

Tier 4: Mana Forging - Level 1, Mana Tempering - Level 3, Mana Authority (Passive) - Level 4

Tier 5 Skill: Infernal Berserk - Level 1

Positive Attribute:

Mystic Chef Blessing: Strength +20, Dexterity +145, Stamina +20

Minor Health Regeneration I

Minor Stamina Regeneration I

Red was surprised that his health was still high, though he drained almost half of his stamina. That was made considering he had been running for his life from the kobold. It might be thanks to Minor Health Regeneration I and Minor Stamina Regeneration I from the blessing. Without those two blessings, it would be much lower for sure.

As for mana, he still had a lot of mana, and could shoot seven or eight more fireballs with five times the mana. It meant he could kill six or seven Elite Kobold Fighters if he played it smart.

The bigger surprise came from the absorption rate. Three of his magic attributes were halfway to reaching the threshold already.