Part 44

"Still, this place is impressive," Jonathan exasperated with awe as he looked up at the cave walls, "It's not even humid, nor does it stink. Don't Kobolds live here?"

"Kobolds don't stink, though. They're not like goblins, dude. My kobolds are so much better," I replied. I thought back to when I saw the Kobolds for the first time, then remembered the frail bodies and lean muscles they had, "Well, a little better."

"Interesting," Jonathan replied, "So they don't need food or rest?"

"Huh? No? Do they?" I muttered. I had never seen a Kobold get food or rest, so I wasn't actually sure. Did summons not require food? I thought back to when Aros got me a few rabbits on my first day with him and remembered that he didn't eat anything, "I'm not sure. I guess we'll have to wait until we run into some."

We continued to walk through the caves for another minute or two before we reunited with the rest of the group. We found them standing in front of an intersection. Anya turned toward us as we walked toward them, then said, "There are two paths in front of us. We'll be splitting up. If you think this Arthur kid has what it takes, you shouldn't have any problems."

"That's fine with me," I said as I looked back at Anya. She nodded, then turned back around and began to head down the right pathway. Her group of twenty followed her, leaving the adventurers behind. They all looked toward us.

"Well, that leaves us," A voice said. Then, after it spoke, the body of the voice walked forward and made itself known. As they walked forward, I first noticed the bright red hair and bandana they wore on their forehead. The adventurer in question had a large longsword on his side and wore leather armor, the same as some of the other adventurers nearby, "My name is Stuart, nice to meet you. Why don't we select a leader out of all of us? Jonathan, you're friend seems to have some experience with this dungeon, why don't we have him lead us through?"

"Me?" I sighed as I looked toward Stuart.

﹃

Aidan Stuart

Race: Human

Level: 11

HP: 40

MP: 35

AC: 30

DMG: 20

Rank: C

Skills: Sword Skills, Grapple, Claim

﹄

'What horrible stats,' I thought to myself, 'Well, he's only level 11 and his rank is low. I suppose I should get used to it.'

"Sure, I don't mind," I shrugged, "I've only been in here for an hour though."

"You've fought the Kobolds before, haven't you?" Stuart asked. I nodded, "Then you know how strong they are? How do they compare to goblins? History books say that they're pretty weak."

"They're a little bit stronger, but there are a lot of them," I replied, "Twelve per group, I think."

"Twelve? Jesus. Goblin groups are usually eight max," Stuart gasped, "What about their weapons?"

"Usually just clubs, but some just use their claws," I answered. I decided not to tell them about the mage or the elite, just so they could be taken by surprise when they first started fighting them. As I spoke, Stuart nodded.

"Are there anything but Kobolds?" Stuart asked. I shook my head, which caused a few members of the group to sigh in relief, "Good, it looks like we won't have to worry about anything else."

"Sure," I said, smiling. Sweet DP was coming my way. Stuart and the others turned around, then began to head down the path. I followed behind them, as did the twins and Hazel. Icarus was in the very back, almost too lazy to be concerned about fighting some Kobolds.

"Hey, are you sure this is alright?" Jonathan asked me as he whispered next to me. His voice was quiet, far too quiet for the others to hear, which arose some confusion. I looked at him for a moment, then understood what he meant.

"The Kobolds will just respawn," I whispered back, reassuring him, "We're not killing them. Besides, it'll be a good chance to test their strength."

"You haven't seen any fight yet?" Jonathan asked. I shrugged, surprising him, "Huh. I thought you would've."

"Not in person, no. I get them to collect DP outside, now and then, and they fight anybody that intrudes, but I've never seen them fight in person," I replied, "I know they're weak, though. I'm not expecting an effective performance."

"Oh, I see," Jonathan said. He looked forward and concentrated on the path in front of us. The cave we were in was rather large, compared to the caves further in, and contained no traps. Currently, we were walking a slight decline and were turning at a slight angle to the right. We wouldn't run into any Kobolds for a few minutes, as I made sure to place the first group away from the entrance, but the traps could only be found even further into the dungeon.

We continued to walk in silence for a few more minutes. Then, once the first snarl of a distant Kobold was heard, the group froze and went on alert. I looked to Stuart, the one that seemed to take command of the group, and watched as I wondered what his next move was.

I, certainly, wasn't going to lead. I was just here to watch, maybe test the strength of my Kobolds a bit. Stuart was in the front of the group of ten. He wasn't the highest leveled person in the group, but his skill『 Claim 』, a Vanguard skill, allowed a small territory buff that improved the strength of his allies. The only catch, though, was that he needed to be recognized as the leader.

"Stay alert," Stuart commanded as if everybody hadn't already gone on alert. He turned to the group, then met eyes with a small level ten rogue, "You have『 Hide 』, right? Why don't you head around the corner and tell us what you see."

The rogue, now a bit nervous from being called out, momentarily pointed to himself before giving a slight nod. He stepped forward, knees shaking and sweat forming on his brow before he activated his skill『 Hide 』. Unlike Augustine's『 Conceal 』, which was a 2nd-tier illusion skill,『 Hide 』muffled the presence of the user. Of course, skills worked in tiers, similar to spells.

For skills, though, there were only five tiers, unlike the 10 tiers for spells. Tier one, which was the base version of a skill, contained the weakest stats for skill but was the easiest to obtain.『 Hide 』 was a tier one skill, as were『 Sword Skills 』and『 Combat Expertise 』. Tier two skills, which were slightly better than tier one, would usually have to be trained or learned through a skill book.『 Conceal 』was a tier two, as was the upgraded version of『 Hide 』,『 Stealth 』.

Tier three skills, which were usually the pinnacle of what mortals could achieve, were considered the best of the best. Of course, I hadn't run into any tier three skills. I only knew about them thanks to Aros's earliest lessons. Tier four skills were considered similar to tier 8 spells. They were almost impossible to attain, but their strength was legendary. Tier five spells, which were only considered possible in fiction, were capable of destroying a mountain or influencing an entire country.

As far as I knew, the only way to get an upgraded version of a skill was to raise that skill to the max level. Much like actually leveling up, the amount of XP required was astronomical, so nobody had ever managed to pull it off.

So, understandably,『 Hide 』wasn't a very good skill. By the time the rogue turned the corner, the Kobolds that were waiting in solace found him within seconds and began their attack. I applauded the Kobolds for the swiftness, then inwardly celebrated as I heard the panicked screams of the rogue that had already escaped out sight.

The Kobolds had already killed the rogue by the time Stuart had the brains to call the group of adventurers to action. His death was swift but painful.

"Shit! Charge!" Stuart yelled. He unsheathed his sword, then immediately activated『 Claim 』. I watched as a small green circle appeared below him, like a disc made out of energy. The small disc, which was about three meters in diameter, only managed to affect two or three people. The others were left out of the circle and didn't benefit from the circle's effects.

Nonetheless, the group was too terrified to care. They watched as a few Kobolds turned the corner. Each of them was about the size of a child, but their brutish claws or rough clubs were enough to send chills down the back of every adventurer that surrounded me.

"Shit, what are those things?" One adventurer yelled, seemingly having forgotten what we were fighting against. Because Kobolds were supposed to be extinct, or at least endangered, not many people knew what they looked like. As I saw the adventurer's reaction, I couldn't help but smile in glee.

The Kobolds, as well as half of the adventurers, charged toward each other like two armies battling on an epic battlefield. There was no strategy involved. For the Kobolds, this was expected. The Kobold Elite and Kobold Mage hadn't managed to join the battle yet, probably because it had just started, so they had nobody to lead them. In the end, though, it wouldn't have made much of a difference.

For the adventurers, though, I was surprised by the lack of teamwork and discipline they showed off. There was absolutely no coordination in their actions. Everybody that thought they should rush forward, did. Even an Archer found himself on the front lines, for some impossible reason, and quickly found that- oh no, a bow shouldn't be used in point blank range.

I had a feeling this was going to be a very short battle.