Those guys clearly weren’t fighters, he chuckled. It was much easier to kill these than those first miners I fought. It's crazy how a few levels make such a big difference.
You have slain Kobold Cook (Level 3)
Experience and SP gained
You have slain Kobold Cook (Level 2)
Experience and SP gained
Alex dragged the corpses over towards the lava and threw them in. After a few seconds, they sank, leaving no trace behind. He tried his best to hide the blood, too, but he wasn’t worried. This area was already covered in blood from all the animal corpses, so what was one or two more?
Shit, I should have done this with those warrior guards, too; it's only a matter of time before they're found.
Having added the coins and cores to his Soul Vault, he checked the new totals.
-Soul Vault-
Coins
System Coin (Unranked) - 10
Gems:
Cores:
Monster Core (Unranked) - 8
How valuable are these? They are from unranked monsters, so I doubt it's much at all. He questioned.
I wonder what's higher than “unranked”?
Searching the area before he left, he double-checked that there weren’t any signs he had been there. A little blood was fine, but if weapons or a severed head were lying around, it would have defeated the purpose of hiding the bodies. Then he moved over to the corner and rested, waiting for his mana to refill.
Ready to go, Alex had started moving back towards the central cavern, prepared to check the next exit he saw. He didn’t pass any more patrols and made good time. When entering the cavern, he’d immediately turned left and stuck to the wall again.
Nothing has changed in the outpost. I don’t think they’ve noticed I’m here yet.
This new tunnel was much more winding than the other. It twisted and turned, spiraling down, but he hadn’t noticed any other changes. The walls were still similar, and there were only occasional pockets of lava, all smaller than the one near the cooks. The farther he went, though, the higher the temperature rose. It was much higher than the outpost up top or even the cooking area. Alex also began to see small structures, and when he glanced inside one, it was empty.
Are these houses? He wondered.
Continuing, he checked several more at random. He assumed they were houses because, inside, there was only a single room, barely big enough to fit a handful of the sleeping Kobolds. He had also passed two more patrols on his way to the bottom, too, and both were similar to the first he had seen.
Always three or four Kobolds in the group: warrior, mage, scout, and occasionally a support… Why haven’t I seen as many support classes? They aren’t in many of the patrolling groups.
Maybe, they’re rarer?
Alex felt his mana getting low again, and he knew he needed to let it regenerate soon. Searching for a building to rest in, he had picked one that looked empty and wasn’t very close to the others.
Most of the little houses lined the walls, a few stacked atop one another. Once inside, he double-checked it was empty, then let his stealth drop. As soon as he did, he felt a sharp pain. He looked down and saw the tip of a dagger poking out of the right side of his torso.
Fucking rogues. He quickly thought, knowing precisely what had happened. Alex wasn’t dumb. He had played games with stealth users and recognized that he messed up for not being more cautious of them.
He lunged forward, ripping the blade out of his side, and quickly drew his sword. Spinning around, he expected another attack to come, but it hadn’t. There stood a Kobold, two daggers in its hands, and one of them was bloody. A sound came from the creature's mouth, reminding Alex of laughter.
Kobold Scout (Level 6)
The asshole thinks this is funny.
Damn, he’s high level, though. That might explain how he found me. He’s probably been following me for a while, waiting for me to drop stealth. Alex thought in an instant, only a second passing.
Why didn’t I see him with my [Eyes of the Cosmos]? Was I not focused on the ability enough to see through stealth? I’m going to need to figure this shit out if I’m going to stay alive.
The kobold was still staring at him and seemed to be enjoying the moment, while it licked the blood from the dagger. It didn't seem worried or in a hurry to finish Alex off.
Crouching with the weight on his back foot, he jumped forward, bringing his sword in an overhead arc towards the scout. He needed to finish it off before he bled out. The scout easily sidestepped the blow, causing Alex’s sword to smack into the ground instead. The impact jarred his arm, almost causing him to drop the weapon. The kobold didn’t retaliate or take advantage of the opening, though; he kept standing there, as if waiting for Alex to attack him again.
He’s toying with me, Alex angrily thought, gritting his teeth.
“Damn lizard. I’ll take my revenge, just wait. You’ll regret this.” He growled at the scout.
He put two hands on his sword and stabbed forward, attempting to pierce the Kobold through the chest. But it didn’t work. The kobold turned its body and skillfully avoided the blade.
Alex attacked again, but used a sideways slash. This time, it wasn’t able to dodge the strike, so it deflected the sword instead. The Scout caught the sword with both daggers and pushed it away.
Keeping up the momentum, Alex performed another stab, expecting the Kobold to dodge again. Thinking ahead, he immediately followed with a front kick. It caught the kobold off-balance. The creature hadn’t expected the kick and was struck back into the shack's wall.
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Alex took advantage of this and brought his sword forward in three quick strikes. The first strike came at the Kobold’s left, but the scout blocked it.
The kobold was clearly faster than Alex. However, it was not able to redirect the force of the blow, only block it, so Alex’s attack severely rattled the Scout’s arms. It didn’t have high strength.
The second strike came at the Kobolds' right. But again, the Kobold blocked it. This time, the scout's arms shook with the strain and gave out.
The blow had too much force for the agility-focused Kobold. This allowed the sword to push the daggers back and bite into the scout’s shoulder. The strike also broke one of its wrists.
The third strike was a stab. Alex put the tip of his weapon right into the kobold's neck, and the blade sank all the way to the hilt. He then released his sword with one hand and used it to grab the kobold's remaining good arm, preventing it from stabbing him with its dagger.
He stared into the Kobold's eyes, their faces close together, the creature’s dying breath on his face, and whispered, “I told you I would make you regret it.”
Then he twisted his blade, severing the head from the kobold’s body.
You have slain Kobold Scout (Level 6)
Experience and SP gained
No level up? What the hell. He thought.
That scout was double mine; I definitely should have leveled up.
Having already looked at the daggers it used, he saw they were the basic kind, same as the sword and axe from other Kobolds. But at least the scout dropped three coins when he looted it.
Three? Damn, nice. He was much harder and higher-level than the warriors. He quickly grabbed the core and hid the body as best he could.
The wound on Alex’s side was still bleeding, so he grabbed one of the dirty blankets inside the house and held it against the wound, staunching the flow.
Ugh, these blankets are disgusting. I'd better not get some magical diseases or infections from putting these on my wound. He thought with a look of disgust.
Before he moved any farther, he decided to let his mana refill and wait for the bleeding to stop.
He had to wait over an hour for his wound to heal enough to continue. Shirtless and missing half his pants, Alex activated his stealth before exiting the house. He searched the area before moving on, and this time, he made sure to boost his Eyes of the Cosmos to seek out scouts.
His vision became clouded when using it to its maximum, only able to see the colors of mana that saturated everything. Alex wished he had more time to practice, but he reined in the power a little, finding a better balance.
This allowed him to clearly see the mana in everything while he retained his normal vision. It felt like looking through a fog, but it was in the walls, ceiling, and floor too— even his own body when he looked down.
The fog didn’t block his vision, though; it enhanced it.
He saw shapes and movements from much farther away than normal. The greatest part was that the darkness of the cavern didn’t impede his Eyes of the Cosmos ability, only his regular sight. Though the tunnels or caverns usually held some magma, giving off low light, it was still too dark for him to see comfortably with his normal vision.
The real test will be finding a scout using stealth. I really need it to work.
Time passed as Alex came closer to the end of the tunnel. He could see it in the distance. During the trip down, he had to stop two more times to recover his mana, while avoiding patrols. Luckily, he wasn’t attacked again. Near the end, he saw a cluster of tiny houses, all set before a vast lava pool.
This looks like a sleeping area, maybe a Kobold version of the Suburbs? I’m not seeing anything else down here. Just houses. He thought, disappointed, that he hadn’t found any loot or an exit.
He poked his head into half the houses, randomly choosing them, while he remained under stealth and quiet. A few of the houses he saw had kobolds sleeping inside, anywhere between one and four per house.
It's a shame I came all the way down this tunnel for nothing. Alex thought as he turned to walk back towards the central cavern.
But he stopped mid-step and got a mischievous grin.
He had an idea.
Good or a bad idea, though, he wasn’t sure.
Am I really going to leave all this easy experience behind? It feels wrong to think about killing them while sleeping, but they're bloodthirsty monsters who’d butcher me without a second thought. Morally, I think I’m okay with this. They would do the same to humans, right? Plus, this is a dungeon, not the outside world. They’ll probably just respawn.
Not to mention how many times these asshole lizards have stabbed or cut me. I’m good with getting some revenge.
Surprise painted Alex’s face at his reasoning and cold logic behind killing them. He hadn’t realized how bloodthirsty he had become since he entered this dungeon.
It’s true that I'm enjoying the fighting, but this feels different. It’s not life or death. I’m planning to kill them simply for experience. Is this the real me, or have I changed from the integration?
Well…. that's a problem for future Alex.
Decision made, he moved.
I counted around 15 kobolds sleeping in random houses. I’ll have to move quickly and kill them with a single blow. If they wake up and converge on me, well, I’m done. Alex stored his backpack in a house on the outskirts, one he would hopefully remember.
He put his sword in the sheath and decided to use two daggers for now. The second dagger he was using, he had taken from the scout. The short blades would be easier to stab into sleeping Kobolds.
Once inside the house, he saw the first kobold. He chose this house because it had only one inside; he considered it a test run. Alex slowly stepped into the room. Footsteps silent, they brought him near his target.
Positioning himself over the creature, he then plunged a dagger into its chest and put the other one into its throat, trying to prevent any noise from escaping its mouth.
The plan had gone smoothly.
Barely a whisper came out of it, and Alex got the kill notification.
You have slain Kobold Warrior (Level 5)
Experience and SP gained
Perfect. Let’s get the next one. He thought as he looted the three coins and core.
The next house he visited had two Kobold Miners inside sleeping. Moving inside, he thrust his dagger into the eye of one, reaching the brain, while shoving the other into its throat. The second miner hadn’t stirred or moved. He quickly performed the same action on the other without a hitch.
You have slain Kobold Miner(Level 3)
Experience and SP gained
You have slain Kobold Miner(Level 3)
Experience and SP gained
In the next three houses, Alex continued his mission, killing another six kobolds.
You have slain Kobold Warrior (Level 4)
Experience and SP gained
You have slain Kobold Warrior (Level 6)
Experience and SP gained
You have slain Kobold Mage (Level 4)
Experience and SP gained
You have slain Kobold Scout (Level 5)
Experience and SP gained
You have slain Kobold Miner (Level 3)
Experience and SP gained
You have slain Kobold Cook (Level 3)
Experience and SP gained
After the first two kills, he saw the beautiful message he had been hoping for.
Congratulations, you’ve reached level 4!
+6 free stats points gained
Keeping the stat points the same as before, he put 2 in Strength, 2 in Agility, 1 in Toughness, and 1 in Endurance, then checked his status.
Stats
Strength: 12->14
Agility: 12->14
Endurance: 8->9
Toughness: 10->11
Perception: 7
Wisdom: 9
Intelligence: 9
Willpower: 11
Free points: 0
No new skill at level 3 or 4? I hope I get one at level 5 then. That power strike skill would be fantastic to have. I haven’t seen any decent weapons or items either. All basic weapons, no armor, and no other kinds of things. Kind of a shit dungeon aside from the experience so far. Alex thought, feeling disappointed by the lack of loot as always.
I’ve killed nine of them; only six left. Fingers crossed the rest goes as smoothly. He thought, probably jinxing himself, then entered the next house. This one had three inside.
