Red Monster

Chapter 56: Hunting Kobold (1)

Red released his breath as he shook the blood from his blade. He killed the four Kobolds easily, but he didn’t get arrogant, thinking he was stronger than the kobolds, especially the Level 9 one.

He killed them as a hunter, not in a fight. Having the advantage and ambushing them, he executed the plan flawlessly, reducing the number one by one before taking the Level 9 Kobold off guard with the Slingshot. That was how he killed them all, as a hunter, not a warrior.

He didn’t have the same confidence that he would win against the Level 9 Kobold if it were a face-to-face fight. Not that it bothered, as this was his way of fighting. If it were a fight for his life at stake, he would use everything, even if the others called him a coward, just to survive.

It was just another aspect that made him different from the other goblins. There were no goblins that were as calculative as he, not even one. There were only two types of goblins. First, it was the foolish, courageous one. Second, the coward who fled when they faced a slightly stronger opponent.

Most of the first ones were dead or had become a hob already. Tob was one of the examples of the second type of goblins.

Red shook his head, throwing off the useless thoughts in his mind, focusing back on the dead bodies. He started to look for his metal ball.

He used the spiky metal ball that underwent Mana Refining and Mana Tempering. Mana Refining would get rid of the impurities, which would make the metal stronger and more durable.

Mana Tempering enhanced it even further, making the metal ball harder, stronger, and even more durable. He did the same to his Slingshot, which improved it. He could crack the shield because of his improved Slingshot and metal ball.

Argent Slingshot

Condition: Excellent

Quality: Rare+

Attribute: +0.8 Attack +0.5 Aim

Argent Slingshot’s bonus attack increased by 0.2, and the Aim was increased by 0.1. It was not much, but an improvement nevertheless. There was the plus sign as well. He didn’t know what it indicated, but it must be a good thing since the bonus increased.

Again, there were still many things that he could not understand. He knew the improvement was good, but he wanted to understand why his skill could improve and why the attack was increased.

"Hah..." He let out a sigh, another useless thought bothering him. It was useless because he had no way of knowing what he wanted to know by just thinking about it. He needed more information, and the human was more reliable than the goblins at this point.

After collecting the metal ball, he started to exchange the kobold for loot. This was the privilege of the Leader of the Hunter, who was allowed to exchange the loot without limit. He didn’t need to lie or cover it up anymore.

He got six Might Cores and four Magic Cores. They were still of inferior quality as they had always been. He wondered when he could get a better quality core. Nevertheless, this was still a good haul, ten cores and thirty-two copper coins.

Level: 7

Health: 722 Stamina: 721 Mana: 1144

[Tier 0 Might]

Strength: 73.6 Endurance: 75 Vitality: 72.2 Dexterity: 74.2

[Tier 0 Magic]

Intelligence: 114 Wisdom: 114.4 Arcane Perception: 115 Mind: 115

Skills:

Tier 1 Skill: Mana Sense - Level 12, Levelheaded (Passive) - Level 18, Appraisal - Level 16, Bleeding - Level 2, Fireball - Level 3

Tier 3: Mana Smelting - Level 4, Mana Refining - Level 2, Mana Sharpening - Level 1, Mana Repairing - Level 1

Tier 4: Mana Forging - Level 1, Mana Tempering - Level 1

Tier 5 Skill: Infernal Berserk - Level 1

Red checked his status after absorbing the cores. He was so close to reaching Level 8 now. He had maxed his Arcane Perception, Mind, and Endurance. Three stats were close to max as well.

If he could find three or four more of the kobold group, he might be able to reach Level 8 quickly. He was eager to find more, but he decided to go back instead. It was important to report the situation and warn the hunter not to go out for now. The kobold was hunting the goblin.

Red grabbed the three shields, leaving the cracked one behind, and their swords as well. The reason was that they were in Good Condition and of uncommon quality.

He returned and found six guards standing at the entrance. It seemed the Matron increased the guards without discussing it with him.

The guards were quite tense after the attack on the hunter. The moment they noticed someone approaching, they raised their spears. The moment they found out the leader, they dropped their spear and were surprised to see the weapons he carried.

Red dropped the shield and the sword, "Bring it to the storage, or use it if you want to. I need to meet the Matron!"

The two guards nodded and quickly gathered the weapons as Red headed toward the Chief Hall. There was only one Matron seated in the Chief Hall. It was the one who sat in the center.

Noticing his presence, the Matron looked up, "Do you need... find something?" She changed mid-sentence, remembering the task she entrusted to Red.

"Yes. I found four Kobolds and killed them all..." Red told the Matron what he found, but he omitted how he killed them. He covered it by telling her it was a hard fight, and he had to run and hit, using an excuse that he was more familiar with the jungle than the Kobold.

However, it was unnecessary on his part because the moment he said he killed four kobolds, the Matron was jubilant. She had a crazed smile on her face for a while. It took a while to regain her composure.

"So you say they are looking for our hunters to reduce our number before attacking us?" The Matron got back to the crux of the problem.

"I am not sure about attacking our village, but yes, they are looking for our hunter," Red nodded in agreement.

The Matron rubbed her chin, seemingly falling into a deep thought. Then she looked up at Red.

"So what do you think we should do in this situation?"

Red was surprised that the Matron asked about his opinion. They never asked about his opinion but gave him orders all the time. He thought carefully and came up with a simple answer.

"We should stop the hunting temporarily, and I will scour the jungle to clear out the kobolds who trespass into our territory."