XLII

  Kaz tried to control his panicked breathing, as the shock of finding out he has killed more people, without even knowing, was slowly passing. It was obvious to him now in hindsight, knowing that they were skilled beyond the average monsters that he had run into, besides the elites. The first sign should’ve been when they were circling him, instead of diving in on him recklessly as the goblins have done in their previous encounters.

  During his meltdown, his [ Archive ] has been pulsing, letting him know that something requires his attention. While he assumed that he might have Ranked some of his Abilities during that fight, Kaz couldn’t get himself to feel right about the whole situation. After falling into a nap, the potion and wave of emotions finally wearing him down, he woke up sometime later, the environment around him the same, and to his dismay, the bodies of the two slain people still there.

  His [ Archive ] couldn’t stay hidden anymore, and forced itself open, immediately opening to the [ Quests ] page, where his Quest updated. It now read:

  Original Quest complete. Report your findings to the Adventurer’s Guild in Sarus.

  Bonus Quest: Upon discovering the unsettling information of the unidentified species, investigate further, discovering the origins of these people, called Kobolds. A bonus reward will be awarded. Do you accept?

  Kaz sat there in silence, unable to form a decision in his mind. While a bonus reward would be nice, especially rewarded by the [ Archive ] itself, he wanted nothing to with these people. These Kobolds. Where did these Kobolds come from? After twiddling his fingers around, he decided he would accept the Quest, scope out the area from where they might be located, and head back on his way to his next Quest, which seemed so pleasant to him at the moment. All he had to do was collect a few Manashrooms, instead of killing people who were simply existing.

  As he got up, the Quest updated itself, confirming that he had accepted the bonus Quest. Kaz tried to activate the Quest, waiting for it to guide him in the direction he should go, but nothing came. He tried a few more times, and to his dismay, there was no guidance, which meant he had to figure out the location on his own.

  Analyzing the area around him, he realized that the Kobolds had walked in this direction, and with them being Scouts or Guards, it could mean they were on a set path. And with their disappearance, the others would come looking for them, following the same path they did. Kaz’s heart dropped, and he quickly sprang into action, dragging the bodies, which was quite difficult for his small body, while searching for places to hide them. He found a fallen over log, settled next to a few rocks, with moss and mushrooms already growing out, and thought that was as good as he was going to find.

  After stuffing the bodies between the rock and log, he tried to put moss and leaves over the bodies to hide them from someone who did quick scan, if someone were to even look for them. With a satisfied exhale, he then went back to where he encountered them, and climbed a tree, waiting for another group of them to walk by.

  A few hours later, a larger group of Kobolds came by, which consisted of a group of four this time, and looked as if they were on high alert, keeping their eyes wide open and constantly scanning the area around them, not chatting amongst each other. Kaz held his breath, not trusting himself to breathe, as that might alert the Kobolds of his location. After they walked a certain distance with which Kaz felt comfortable with, he descended from the tree, and stalked the group from a distance, using trees as his cover.

  As Kaz was stalking them, he analyzed the group of them, and noticed they were a competent group. The one in the front carried a sword, flanked by two spear handlers. In the back there was equipped with a bow, who was doing most of the scanning of the area, no doubt using their Calling to aid them in their search. What he also noticed was that this group were equipped with better armor, not only having the leather armor he saw earlier, but also with what looked like metal plates in some areas, like the chest area, and on the forearms.

  Kaz saw them communicating from time to time, but from this distance, he wasn’t able to decipher anything from them. After some time of walking, they all stopped, tensing as if something was wrong. Kaz quickly ducked behind a fallen wooden log, peeking over the edge, wondering if they noticed him following them.

  To his surprise, he heard some noises coming from them, which sounded a lot like breathy hissing, and they hastily got into a formation, with one of the Spearmen in front, with the Archer and Swordsman behind, and the final Spearman covering their rear.

  Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.

  Kaz heard a bunch of howling, which caused him to tense up in fear. Then, a large group of wolves pounced on the group, attacking from all directions. The Spearmen expertly wielded their spears, causing the wolves to back off, circling the group. The Archer unleased a flurry of arrows at them, littering the wolves with shallow puncture wounds.

  The wolves, taking damage from being pelted by the arrows, charged in at the same time. The wolves were merciless in their assault, mauling and biting onto whatever they could. The Kobolds stood firm though, with the Spearmen swinging their spears in wide arcs, slashing deep into the sides of the wolves.

  The Swordsman jabbed and stabbed randomly, but with how quick and active the wolves were, he didn’t land many hits. Kaz’s interest sparked when one of the Spearman used the butt of its spear to bash a wolf, creating distance. And in one motion, swung the spear, but kept it angled in the air above its head, and did a complete spin, slicing its spear downwards using the momentum, nearly chopping the head of the wolf off. The wolf collapsed and within seconds, its body disappeared into the air. Kaz noted to himself that when he returned to Sarus, he would get the shaft of his glaive repaired and he would try to replicate the technique he just witnessed from the Kobold.

  The six remaining wolves scrambled behind the trees, giving the four Kobolds time to catch a breath. The Archer managed to spot a wolf that didn’t completely hide, resulting in its head to be peeking out from behind a tree, no doubt keeping an eye on the group of Kobolds. The Archer loaded an arrow, and with a deep breath, pulled the string back. Kaz saw a greenish glow come from the string of the bow, and the arrow shot out, leaving a misty green trial behind it. The arrow managed to slide through the wolf’s eye, and out the other side of its head, causing it to seize up, and then fall over. Like the previous wolf, it disappeared into nothingness.

  A deep, guttural howl came from one of the bigger wolves, causing the rest of the wolves to charge out from their hiding spots. With an uneasy feeling in his stomach, he noticed the wolves charging towards the Spearman who was in the back, and he watched in slight horror as they piled up on the Spearman, ripping and biting the Kobold into shreds. The other members of the group did what they could, landing hits on the occupied wolves, but the wolves’ relentlessness won over, and they managed to take down the Spearman.

  As the Spearman went down, the Swordsman stepped up, putting the slightly smaller Kobold Archer in between. The wolves backed up and as one, they charged at the trio that were still standing. With a sweeping strike, the Swordsman managed to chop into the nearest wolf, instantly defeating it. Kaz counted four wolves left, and the two groups stared at each other, recovering their energy. With a hissing sound, the Archer activated another Ability, and this time, its arm was a blur as it was quick firing their arrows, covering the front wolves in arrows, and thankfully, ending one of the wolves, bringing the number down to three.

  With bated breath, Kaz watched as the remaining wolves lunged at the group again and he had to look away as the front line of the Spearman and Swordsman got overwhelmed, causing one of the wolves to jump over, straight into the Archer. The Archer barely managed to hiss something out as it was knocked to its back, and the wolf tore into the Kobold, brutally ending its life.

  The Swordsman glowed white slightly, and with a flash of its sword, executed the double crossing slash that he saw the other Kobold use during his first encounter with them. The wolf stood no chance as it was torn up by the devastating Skill Ability. And once the Swordsman confirmed that the wolf was defeated, spun behind him, driving his sword deep into the back of the head of the wolf, who was still ravaging the already dead Kobold.

  The Swordsman turned to help the Spearman, who was struggling against the wolf, who was agile enough to dodge the Spearman’s attacks, while slowly whittling the Kobold down with small cuts. As two, the Kobolds made quick work of the wolf, ending it, and with that, the final wolf disappeared into the air.

  The ground was littered with impressive looking crystals, and to his surprise, he noticed that the Kobolds didn’t stop to pick them up. Instead, they casually kicked them away into the foliage, and they both sat down, breathing heavily. The Swordsman reached into its small bag, and pulled out a roll of bandage, and began dressing the Spearman’s wounds. As the Spearman was all bandaged up, the Kobold then began covering the Swordsman’s wounds, hissing in pain whenever it moved too quickly.

  Kaz managed to resist the sudden urge to attack the Kobolds, who seemed so weak and wouldn’t be able to put up a fight against him in their condition. He rapped his knuckles against his forehead, as he admonished himself for those thoughts, trying to remind himself of the Quest he was currently on. He wondered what this unnatural feeling from him was, which caused him to randomly want to attack these Kobolds. After a short rest, the Kobolds got up slowly and pulled out a piece of parchment paper. Following a brief discussion, they hurriedly hobbled in a different direction, diving off the slightly trodden path and heading straight into the foliage.

  Kaz rushed forward, not caring at this point if he was going to get seen. He couldn’t lose these two, and he had a good feeling that they were heading back to where they were gathering. Heading into the foliage, he followed them, slightly annoyed at himself for not picking up the crystals from the wolves, as they would most definitely be worth a lot of Tokens back at the Guild.

  A large rock formation appeared past the nearing tree line, and with a sinking feeling, he realized that the location he was supposed to investigate was near, with them probably being in some kind of tunnel, similar to the Stonerock Goblins. Bracing himself mentally, he watched as the two Kobolds hastily hobbled over a small crest and disappeared from his vision.

  Kaz waited for what felt like an hour, deciding he would wait until it started to get darker with the settling sun. Once the sun slipped behind the trees of the forest, blanketing the area in darkness, he crept up over the crest and peeked over it. What he saw made his mouth go dry, and his heart dropped. A ding rang out in his [ Archive ], but in his shock, he couldn’t bring himself to open it.