Chapter 26: The new squad and new gear!

Blake watched as Rakbi, the female Kobold and her opponent stepped into the middle to face off against one another.

"When you are ready. Fight." Blake said, giving them the go-ahead to battle, waiting to see who would make the first move.

"Ok, girly let's see what you've got." The male warrior said as he walked toward her, brimming with confidence before taking a fighting stance.

"Whatever you say," Rakbi responded, also taking a fighting stance, smirking at him for a second before she suddenly dropped down to the ground, spinning with great speed as she kicked out his legs, knocking him over to the ground with a perfect mortal kombat sweep.

"W-Why you!" The male warrior tried to yell.

However, Rakbi suddenly jumped onto the male warrior's chest, landing in a full mount position before she wrapped her legs around his neck, placing the cocky warrior into a mounted triangle position, squeezing her legs tight and forcing him to tap before he fell unconscious.

But, Rakbi ignored his tapping and waited until his body went limp, only releasing her grip over him once he was out cold, wanting to teach him a lesson for underestimating her.

"Winner, Rakbi," Blake said, impressed with her cunning and ruthlessness.

Very impressive he thought, watching as she walked back over to the others, getting all eyes to fall on her womanly Kobold charm, apart from himself.

"Alright, let's get the next fights over and done with," Blake said, getting everyone's attention as he set up the next fight.

The battle soon came to an end, leaving only Nev, Zar, Surge, Rakbi and one other by the name of Ugo. He was petty strong, but he was not on the same level as the others, with Blake knowing he was about to lose.

"Very well, this will be the last match to determine who among you will be joining my squad," Blake said, causing everyone to hold their breath before he announced who would be fighting.

"Surge and Ugo, step forward," Blake said, seeing that it was now Surge's turn to fight next, leaving him with his last opponent.

Both of them stepped into the ring with their heads held high, staring each other down, with Surge standing taller than Ugo.

"When you are ready. Fight." Blake said, giving the order for the battle to begin.

Surge of course didn't waste any time as he charged ahead in a wrestling stance, using his size and weight to his advantage.

Ugo did the same, refusing to back down due to his pride as a warrior. The two of them clashed as they interlocked their hands entering into a contest of strength.

Bad idea... Blake said to himself, already knowing that Surge was stronger than Ugo, watching as he soon overpowered him, smashing Ugo in the face with a strong headbutt that dropped him to his knees stunned from the attack.

Surge didn't stop there and smashed another headbutt into his face, this time dropping Ugo to the ground in a daze, leaving him unable to fight with blood pouring from his nose.

"Winner, Surge," Blake said, seeing that Ugo was unable to fight.

"Nice!" Nev said, congratulating his friend on his victory.

"Yes, yes, very good," Blake said as he clapped his hands twice, getting all of them to fall into attention before him while some of the other losers helped carry Ugo away.

"Congratulations to all of you for making the cut. However, the real challenge lies out there, in the dungeon." Blake said, getting serious all of a sudden.

"I cannot promise you that you will make it back alive. Nor can I promise you that I will be able to protect you, hence why I wished to take only the strongest of you." He explained, watching their faces carefully.

"The only one a warrior should expect to keep them alive is themselves, my lord." Zar suddenly said, saluting him by pounding his chest with his fist.

The others followed his lead, quickly doing the same and coming to attention.

"Good. We head out first thing tomorrow." Blake said, dismissing them before he headed off, also wanting to make his own preparations.

A little later on...

Blake now found himself in the private armoury that had belonged to the previous chief, Kolu. Blake inspected all of the weapons that the Kobold tribe had collected over the years. No Kobold was able to produce weapons other than arrows, spears, and shields of low quality, meaning that each and every weapon other than that had been a spoil of war, ranging from all kinds of short swords, long swords, and even two-handed swords that were much to big for a normal Kobold to wield.

However, to Blake the two-handed sword was more of a normal size thanks to his evolution, deciding to pick it up and give it a few swings.

"Not too heavy..." He said, lifting it with one hand before swinging it around and cutting the air clean.

"Well balanced too."

"This is a fine sword." He then said, twirling it around before strapping it onto his back in between his wings, taking it for himself.

"Now... Let's see what would best suit the others..." He then said, looking at the rest of the armoury, trying to match each of his new group with weapons he thought would suit their fighting styles best, taking his time until he was happy with what he had chosen for them.

The next day arrived quickly with Nev and the others meeting where they were told to wait for Blake.

"Where the hell is he?" Nev asked, growing impatient that Blake was running late, crossing his arms over his chest.

"He is the village chief, I don't think you can be angry at him if he is late, ya know," Rakbi said, not understanding Nev's frustration with the situation.

"Yeah well he was my friend before he was the chief, and he was always late then too!" Nev said, causing Surge to sigh in agreement.

"Who is always late?" Blake asked, having suddenly appeared behind Nev and the others, taking him off guard.

"L-Lord Drak!" Rakbi said as she and the others quickly came to attention to greet him.

"Relax, I was only fooling around," Blake said, just wanting to see the looks on their faces.

"Also, I don't need you to come to attention every time you see me. Save that sort of thing for formal events only from now on." He said, causing the others to look a little shocked, but happy about it at the same time.

"Now, come and take a look at what I picked out for each of you," Blake said, getting their attention as he dropped the large sacks he was carrying over his shoulder onto the ground.

The bags opened to reveal a variety of weapons and armour, with no two being the same.

"W-Where did you get all of this?" Nev asked, never having seen any of it before.

"It was in the private armoury," Blake said with a smile.

"Which belongs to me now." He added.

"No way..." Surge also said, amazed at the sight, never having seen some of these things before.

"I took the time to assess and calculate each of your fighting styles from yesterday, choosing weapons and armours based on what I think will go best with you," Blake said as he laid out each set to the person it would be going to.

"Surge, for you I chose this Warhammer, it can be used with either one hand or two for extra power, allowing you to take advantage of your strength and deal heavy damage. This heavy armour should also serve you well." Blake said, handing over his gear.

"Nev, you have speed and strength, excelling with the spear and a shield, helping you to charge in, giving and tanking damage," Blake said, giving Nev a new spear and large kite shield, complete with a set of medium armour.

"Wow..." Nev said as he took the spear, seeing that it was much nicer looking and stronger than his last one.

"Zar, I believe you to have a well-balanced combat ability, therefore I believe that a sword and smaller shield will suit you well, in addition, take this short bow too, giving you some versatility," Blake said, getting a nod from Zar as he gladly accepted the weapons and medium leather armour.

"Last but not least, Rakbi," Blake said, getting her attention.

"I believe that this set of short daggers will serve your speed and agility well, as well as this short bow," Blake said, handing her the daggers and a long bow, knowing she would also be deadly from afar.

"Take this too." Blake then said, handing her some light leather armour that would help give her extra protection and lots of freedom to move around unencumbered.

Each one of them was amazed by their new weapons and gear, never having been kitted out like this before a mission.

"Alright, then soldiers. I hope you are ready to explore this dungeon." Blake said, waiting for them to gear up as he turned around toward the main gates of the village.

"YES SIR!" They all yelled, excitedly before the gates opened, showing them the path out of the village and into the dungeon ahead.

"Let's get a move on," Blake said, taking his first step outside of the village since the battle with the Goblin hoard, ready to lead the mission of exploring and mapping out the rest of the dungeon.