There was an uncountable number of monsters in the world of Faeron and they varied even more in character. However, Kobolds were a special type. They were a humanoid lizard-like monster that worshipped True Dragons instead of the gods and could just barely be considered a race. But regardless, they were still classified as a monster. Unlike Orc’s, goblins and other such creatures; kobolds were very stupid. While they could speak some words and fashion some nailed bats or crude shields as weapons, they didn’t really have a civilization beyond their tribes.

Even though they were social creatures, that only went as far as their local groups and they would attack anyone else, even going so far as to wage war and cannibalize other Kobolds if they ever crossed paths. It was very rare for such a thing to happen as they loved dwelling underground or within mountains. They were very small in stature, standing no more than 1 meter in height and usually had earthy-brown scales all over their bodies with pointy ears and long snouts. The higher-leveled Kobolds might differ in color but they would only turn green or red instead of the dirt-brown of the average kobold. They had a very strong pack-mentality with a strict hierarchy within their own tribes.

The Kobold’s Roost was a small-scale dungeon that was on the very edge of advancing in scale but the garrison at Stormwatch would always swoop in and clear it out before that happened. When NPC’s clear out a dungeon, it’s very different from when players do so. Whether it was part of the rules of this virtual world or something else, the dungeon would regress in difficulty when it was cleared by the garrison and it would take quite a long time for the monsters to increase to the limits like they were now.

At the moment, the highest-level monster was a level 24 Kobold Chieftan and he would usually have 6 Kobold shamans that were level 22-23 with the 4 lower leveled ones in charge of each level and the strongest 2 shamans kept by his side on the last floor. The average Kobold warrior, archer or scout would range in level from 18 to 23 and they would be in the hundreds. This entire expedition would usually last 5 to 6 days, spending around a day clearing out every floor.

As Abel went through all the information he had learned from the men on their way to the dungeon, he stepped deeper into the cave. While a couple of the swordsmen were holding torches to light the dark passage before them, Abel could see perfectly well thanks to his Adaptive Eye skill. He spotted 2 short and scaled creatures with long snouts spying on them from a distance.

“There are a couple of scouts up a head, watch out!” He called out right away but he was also sure the captain noticed them even earlier.

The old captain gave him a look, surprise evident in his eyes but he didn’t say anything. The men looked around but they couldn’t see as far as him as the light from the torches only covered 15-20 meters around them. One of them men was about to admonish Abel for his surprise shout when an arrow went flying above his head.

Whooooooooosh

-103

“ARGGGHHHHH Filthy huughhman!”

“ARRGGGHH Attack huughhhman freshhh meeaaat!”

“Battle formation everyone. Get ready to engage the enemy!” Kel spoke out as soon as he heard the kobold’s shout.

He was given command of the men while his father wouldn’t participate in the battle at all. The captain was only there to make sure none of the men died at the hands of a much stronger enemy. If the Kobold chief had already advanced and was a bona fide tier 1 monster, only then would he step in and that was only if none of the men had advanced by then which was unlikely. He was more like a baby-sitter and was only here to make sure the men advanced without making use of a ritual of some sort. There were many ways an NPC could advance in tier but these shortcuts would always have repercussions of some kind. Real strength was built-up step by step and could never be given without a price.

“At your 1 o’clock, 2 scouts and 4 kobold warriors. I don’t think there’s a shaman among them.” Abel filled in the archers about their position but the 2 archers were even more skilled than Abel himself. They had fired at the same position Abel shot at and soon started pelting the monsters with arrows.

“Inspect”

*Ding*

[Kobold Scout] (Normal Monster)

Level: 18
Attack: 101-112
Defense: 78
HP: 1,897/2,000

Skills: Ambush ???, Hit and Fade ???, Trap Build ???

[Kobold Warrior] (Normal Monster)

Level: 18
Attack: 128-139
Defense: 110
HP: 1,863/2,100

Skills: Battle Roar ???, Rage ???, Leaping Lunge ???

‘It looks like the warriors already used battle roar, it should be some buffing skill that adds to their strength and agility perhaps…’ As Abel thought, he didn’t stop his movements as he unleashed a continuous barrage of arrows while the soldiers swiftly sprang into action.

The shield warriors raised their bucklers and shields, brandishing one-handed swords in their free hand. They formed a stalwart barrier and intercepted the oncoming monsters while also creating an opening for the spearmen and swordsmen to retaliate. The unit's coordination resembled a dynamic, spiral formation, evoking the imagery of celestial bodies in graceful motion. The 6 monsters didn’t last long against a dozen level 24 soldiers and soon, kobolds started dropping like flies.Top of Form

+300 Short bow Proficiency (Greenhorn 36.5%)

+340 EXP
+270 EXP
+330 EXP…

‘Even if the EXP is less than solo leveling, they took down 6 monsters in a fraction of the time I take to kill a Lobster Clawguard… the gain in proficiency is also great, though that’s only because I’m still at greenhorn’ Abel was beyond ecstatic at the EXP gain, he was also gaining a lot of bow proficiency at the same time!

“Bruni, Aberon and Darin… gather up the spoils and place them in the captains’ storage. We’ll redistribute our gains at the end.” Kel continued giving instructions to the men, “Be quick, you have 2 minutes so skin them fast and gather whatever they left behind. Even their trash weapons could be re-smelted into ingots if need be.”

“Uh, excuse me… am I included in this distribution?” Abel asked, he had to know if he was getting a cut too.

“Of course, you’re fighting alongside us, are you not?” Kel replied as a matter of fact then asked the question that was bugging all the men, “How did you see them? They were at least 100 meters away and this shit-hole they call a home is so dark. Do you have some sort of night-vision skill?”

“Yes, I do.” Abel didn’t hide it; the men could guess at the truth even if they used their pinky toe to think of an answer. “I can see as clear as day so I can spot them from a distance.”

“Good. You’ll be our scout and give us an early warning. Kobolds are cunning creatures that like to ambush their enemies. Although our lives might not be at risk, I know fath- I know the captain will only look down on us if he has to intervene so early on, so do not take this task lightly Red Sky.”

“Don’t worry about it, you can count on me.” As Abel and Kellark were chatting, the former couldn’t help but notice the glistening ores among the pile of kobold carcasses. It seemed like this monster dropped ores upon death but he asked just in case, “Kel, why are there so many ores here? Do kobolds like to mine?”

“Yes, they’re natural miners and they are even better at it than the dwarves. A lot of their kind are enslaved by dragons and put to work in gold mines and other such places within the dragons’ territory. Kobolds actually have a faint trace of dragons’ bloodline but it’s so miniscule that it’s worthless. It’s rare to see another creature with a fainter dragon bloodline than Kobolds.”

Abel was learning quite a lot from Kellark as he went on to explain in more detail, he also seemed friendlier after this short battle. While kobolds had lizard-like scales, that didn’t necessarily mean they had a dragons’ bloodline. There were many other creatures with such scales so it could have been any of them really. Although a dragon was seen as a mystical and supremely powerful creature, they too had differing levels among their own kind. At the very top of the bloodline would be the Royal True Dragon, descendants of the primordial dragon that had long left this realm. Right after them would be the True Dragons, pure of blood but not of royal descent. Then came the flood dragons and sky dragons, those with slightly impure bloodlines.

Any creature below a flood dragon or a sky dragon wouldn’t even be considered as part of the dragon race. Dragons had extremely strict hierarchies and kobolds probably inherited such a characteristic from them. There were honestly too many creatures with an impure dragons’ bloodline that came after. From draconians and drakes to wyverns and wyrms, they even include the likes of dragon beetles and draco-horses. While Abel was hearing and learning a lot of things from Kellark, the trio assigned to skinning had completed the job.

‘Their skinning skill should at least be at expert, maybe even higher…’ Abel was too embarrassed to show off his meager skinning skills, he would probably be halfway through skinning one carcass when each of them would have already completed 2 in the same amount of time.

“Alright men, let’s keep moving forward and try to clear this entire floor before nightfall. Remember to listen to Red Sky’s warnings.”

The shield warriors held their bucklers and shields as they advanced at the very front. Even if Abel could spot the monsters early on, that didn’t mean there weren’t other traps in front of them. Kobolds were known for their ambushes and rudimentary snares but for a specialized tank, their low-level traps would only inflict minor damage. Abel followed from behind while keeping a look out for any enemies.

“Another group is right ahead of us, 12 o’clock straight. 6 warriors and 2 archers.” Abel called out after going a little deeper, already notching his arrow to shoot.

“Shield warriors, advance in tandem. Don’t let these miscreants get to our archers. Spearmen, you know what to do. The rest of you, take care of our flank!” Kel gave out orders while advancing with the spearmen.

Whoooooooosh
Whoooooooosh

“ARGHH attack filthy hughhhmaan. Hughhman wreck gghhhommee!”

-96
-497
-513

The damage Abel was doing was embarrassing in comparison to the level 24 archers but it wasn’t just the 14 levels in difference between them. Although Abel’s weapons and equipment were top-notch for level 10 goods, they were ultimately level 10 equipment! The soldiers had great weapons, being prospective warriors of the kingdom, there was no way they didn’t have top-tier equipment courtesy of the army.

+280 EXP
+305 EXP
+290 EXP…

Similar to the last group, these kobolds were quickly taken care of by the men while Bruni, Aberon and Darin swiftly gathered the loot and skinned the monsters. While kobold meat was technically edible, it wasn’t really worth eating. It was tough and tasted sour regardless of how it was marinated. Besides, it would give a mean stomach ache afterwards. At least, that’s what the men had told Abel on their journey, not that he was willing to try it in the first place.

The monster would mostly give ores as drops while skinning them could get you their scaled skin as well as their sharp teeth and pointy ears that were a requirement from some potions. If they had any metallic weapons on them then those could also be smelted to make ingots while any wooden weapons were simply discarded. Abel regretted buying so much firewood, if he had known then he would have used the kobolds wooden shields and bats to make a fire when needed.

After taking care of a couple of smaller groups, they eventually reached a wide-open area. It looked like these kobolds had dug out the interior of the mountain and made it their home. There was a much larger gathering of kobolds alongside small caverns at the sides that seemed to be paths leading to other areas. They had small huts in the center and they numbered no less than 50!

“Hold on, there’s a wide-open space up ahead…” Abel explained what he was seeing and informed Kel. He needed to know how they would attack, even if the men were stronger than these monsters, they couldn’t just storm them at once. A sufficient number of ants could fell an elephant after all so he explained the gist of the area ahead of them.

“So, we’ve reached their first living quarters huh… Get into formation men! Roy, Kaelin get ready to start shooting in rapid fire. Shield warriors, this is no longer practice, you have to hold the line no matter what. Let’s clear out this stronghold before wiping out the caverns on the side…”

‘It seems like they know the layout of this dungeon by heart. It makes sense since the army regularly sends out their fresh recruits to clear it out but are they seriously going to draw all the attention at once?’ Abel was somewhat anxious as he didn’t know if the men could hold more than 100 kobolds attacking together. He steadied himself as Roy and Kaelin shot 2 arrows into the area ahead, aggravating the monster populace before them.

“Argghhhh hughhhman attack”

“Arrggghhh fresh meat”

Abel gulped, taking on a couple of monsters could never compare to seeing tens of them running towards you, eager to eat your flesh and drink your blood. This was the first time Abel saw an attack of such scale but it definitely wouldn’t be the last.