Red woke up with renewed vigor. He also glanced at the figure next to him each time he woke up. Darla was still sleeping soundly, naked, covered with a leather blanket.
He didn't know why she liked the blanket because he didn't like it. She covered herself with the blanket with a smile on her lips. This was the second, and he could not help wanting more. But he refrained because it seemed to put some strain on her each time they did it.
It seemed like he was hurting her unintentionally, and she had been teaching him to be gentler. It was the second time, and she also passed out this time. But she lasted longer thanks to the core he gave her.
He discovered that a higher endurance would help her to last longer. That was why he had been giving her more red cores in the last three days. He gave her seven red cores as he had been hunting kobolds in the last three days.
The loot from the kobolds was surprisingly good. He got three cores, and a few times four cores. On top, the kobold increased their numbers. The day before yesterday, he hunted two groups of kobolds, killing seven in total. Yesterday, he killed two groups, eight kobolds in total.
That harvest brought him very close to level 8, and today he would reach level 8. He noticed a pattern that the kobold kept sending more kobolds every time he killed them.
Yesterday, he encountered three groups, and today he might encounter four or even five groups of kobolds. It would be a quiet harvest for him, and of course, he must set aside Darla for enhanced performance. Of course, he stopped bringing back the kobold corpse. Once was enough to show the village that the threat was real.
Thinking about the cores, he checked his status.
Level: 7
Health: 788 Stamina: 796 Mana: 1150
[Tier 0 Might]
Strength: 79.2 Endurance: 79.6 Vitality: 78.8 Dexterity: 79
[Tier 0 Magic]
Intelligence: 115 Wisdom: 115 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
If there was no trouble, he should reach Level 8 today. Two or three groups of kobolds might be enough, and hopefully, he would find them today.
He left the bed early, getting his armor and weapon ready. He still ran with the same set of equipment. The five throwing spears on the back, a blade, and also his favorite slingshot.
The slingshot was not a fatal weapon when it came to fighting the kobolds, but it was easy to use, and a good distraction as well for the actual attack. He could also wear out the kobold with it. There were so many uses that it was a pity not to bring it with him.
Red swept the area, and he was diligent as he tracked the previous area to scour, to ensure the area was safe. He wanted to set up a safe hunting area. It had been four days since they stopped hunting. It might be bad if they didn't start hunting soon.
It was not just about the food, but it would weaken the hunter as well. They had been slacking off, and they were too busy to train either. If it was not something they were not told or taught. They would not do it. They would rather slack off somewhere or spend their time in the breeding cave.
He needed to secure a safe perimeter for them to hunt. Even though he didn't find the kobold in the area, he would scout it again every day. The area where Marget and Rabbon lived was safe. There was no trace of a kobold arriving in the area.
After a few hours of scouting the area, he started the real task. The area that was still far, still part of the area where he found Dire Lupus, but a little bit further. There was something that he realized, that not every area was a certain beast area.
He could not find any inhabitant in the area further from the Dire Lupus. It was still unknown what kind of creature lived there. He thought it was the Jakar area, but he never found any Jakar after that day again.
Red wandered in the thick, finding his yesterday mark. He refreshed the mark with his blade as he continued scouring the area further, hopping between trees. Despite his big size, he was nimble and quick, barely making a noise. Mostly because of how thick the branches were, they barely budge under his weight.
It took him a while to finally find the first group of kobolds, and it came with a surprise. It was no longer a group of three or four, but a group of seven kobolds. The kobolds' side seemed to realize that their group was too small and kept getting picked up by the creature of the jungle.
He was still quite far from the group, out of range of his appraisal. He needed to assess his enemy's level before starting to make a plan to kill them all.
As a hunter, he was cautiously approaching his prey, slowly and carefully. He needed to ensure he would remain unnoticed.
He didn't make any move until he identified every single one of them. Out of the seven kobolds, four of them were level 8, one level 9, one level 10, and the last one was level 11. That was the highest-level kobold so far, and they were more equipped. At least the level 10 and the level 11 kobolds were.
Light-plated armor on their chest, pants that are made of steel, down to their knee. Although it looked worn out, it was still armor. The level 11 kobold had two swords on his waist, and the level 10 kobolds had a shield and a sword.
Two of the level 8 kobolds were using bows, most likely an archer with a dagger on their waist. The other two level 8 kobolds had leather armor covering their chest, and a blade similar to one on his waist.
The level 9 kobold had similar plated armor, but it only covered its chest and knees. There were a lot more openings than the two highest-level kobolds in the group. But that was good enough to protect its chest and knees.
However, the level 9 kobold was one of the weirdest ones he had ever seen. It was made of silver steel, around the same length as the sword, but with a round end with spikes on it. It looked like his spiky metal ball.
"Let's see… How do I start this?"