Melee

The light grew dimmer and dimmer.

Soren gradually entered the dense forest. The calls of various animals echoed around him, and he even spotted a small elk. It cautiously surveyed its surroundings, occasionally lowering its head to graze. When it noticed the shadow where Soren was, it immediately became alert and ran away. Because the wilderness area hadn't been damaged by humans, there were many wild beasts. The dense grassy vegetation greatly increased the number of wild animals; sometimes you could even catch a wild rabbit in a field.

Soren stopped at a puddle. He reached out and picked up a bit of dark red mud, bringing it to his nose to smell.

The smell of blood.

He must be very close to the Kobold settlement now.

Kobolds are small, reptilian humanoids with cowardly and cruel tendencies. They have scaled skin, ranging in color from dark rust to dark black, which provides them with some protection (natural armor +1). Their eyes are red, giving them decent night vision, and they have tails that cannot curl. Most Kobolds are raggedly dressed; they favor red and orange and will strip clothes from the dead to wear. They are about 3 feet tall and weigh around 50 pounds.

Kobolds speak Draconic, but their voices still sound like puppies.

Like Lizardfolk, they are oviparous, hatching in litters, so they are often encountered in the wilderness.

Don't underestimate these little creatures because of their size. Ordinary Kobolds are more capable fighters than commoners. Although they aren't strong, they are quite agile, with Agility scores around 13-15. They also possess the innate abilities of 'Miner' and 'Trap Making'. Most Kobolds can make simple traps, such as tripwires and pit traps. Because they are naturally timid, Kobolds generally don't act alone, often appearing in groups of three to five. They will attack when they outnumber their enemies by two to one. If the numbers are similar, Kobolds will gather more companions or abandon the attack altogether.

If the situation in battle goes poorly, Kobolds will quickly flee, similar to Goblins.

Oh, right.

They eat people.

Soren continued forward along the footprints, simultaneously taking out his heavy crossbow. Poisoned crossbow bolts weren't worth using on these small creatures; otherwise, the spoils wouldn't be worth the items he used. Ordinary crossbow bolts were sufficient for these little things. He still had a little less than half a bottle of Wyvern venom left, and to be safe, Soren carried three such bolts with him.

The purpose was to guard against Kobold Sorcerers!

Kobolds are the creatures most likely to produce Sorcerers, although most Kobold Sorcerers don't have high class levels.

But the frequency of their appearance is a bit alarming.

They are firm supporters of the theory that Sorcerers inherit their power from dragons, because Kobolds possess a trace of dragon blood. They communicate using Draconic, and every now and then, one or two Kobold Sorcerers will pop up.

When dealing with powerful spellcasters, you can never be too cautious.

The bloodstains ahead gradually increased. Soren stopped before a patch of grass that had clearly been disturbed. He took out his curved knife and poked around, immediately revealing a rope. If someone accidentally touched it, something might fall on them, or they might be tripped and hung upside down. Many people suffered losses from these little creatures in the past. Because at first, many people, including Soren, eagerly rushed out to grind monsters, only to almost be ground down by the small monsters themselves. (Kobolds have a natural +20 to Trap skill, equivalent to the level of a regular hunter setting traps.)

A series of chattering noises came from ahead, along with faint barking sounds.

Soren felt for his weapon and approached little by little. Kobolds have decent senses of smell, better than humans, but far inferior to dogs, so he still needed to be careful while Stealthed.

Soon.

A group of Kobolds appeared before Soren.

There were about thirty or so, half of them ordinary Kobolds, and half were Kobold Warriors carrying equipment. There was also a dark red Kobold holding a wooden stick, standing beside a large pot. It was unclear if it was a Kobold Sorcerer. In this world, if spellcasters disguised themselves or didn't carry iconic equipment, it was impossible to tell immediately. For example, a Cleric fighting with a club might fight for a long time, and only when they cast a divine spell would you realize that this guy could use magic!

Often, judgment had to rely on one's own observation skills.

The large pot was propped up with wooden sticks, and Kobolds were throwing firewood next to it. The contents being stewed were unclear, but Soren guessed it was probably Goblins, wild beasts, mushrooms, weeds, and similar things. Kobolds are omnivorous, eating both meat and grass. When they couldn't get prey, they could boil mushrooms, wild grass, and roots from the forest to fill their stomachs. If food was scarce, they would even arrange fights with nearby Goblins. Usually, there was no clear winner, but after the fight, there was always something to cook in both sides' pots.

Being frugal could last them ten days to half a month.

A group of Kobolds gathered around the large pot, drooling, and occasionally making barking sounds. Soren saw chopped-up Goblins, but when he saw the dismembered remains of a human female, his expression instantly turned much colder. Kobolds didn't dare to attack villages directly; they only dared to sneak in. Sometimes they didn't even dare to attack adult males casually, only daring to hunt children and women.

Kobolds are timid yet cruel.

They would secretly approach women and children who were alone outside the village, kill them in a very short time, and then drag their bodies back.

Over thirty Kobolds were not easy to deal with!

Soren hid to the side, carefully counting and assessing the danger level of this group of Kobolds. There were about ten Kobold warriors, armed with short swords, clubs, and short spears, some even wearing leather armor. As humanoids, Kobolds also knew how to craft equipment. Beside them were five Kobold archers, equipped with shortbows and daggers. Their shortbows were self-made from wood and animal tendons; while not very powerful, they could still hurt quite a bit at close range.

The other ordinary Kobolds all had weapons, but most were crude wooden clubs that wouldn't cause much trouble if hit.

The only uncertainty.

Was whether the dark red Kobold beside the large pot was the leader or a Sorcerer.

But there was no doubt it was the biggest threat!

"Kobold [Horde] (Tier 1)."

"Challenge Rating 3, Creature Level 5, possible appearance of leader units and Kobold Sorcerers."

"Highest attribute 17 points, lowest attribute 8 points, total attribute value 60-75 points."

"Special Abilities: Natural Armor, Trap Crafting, Night Vision."

"Challenge Difficulty: C+."

"Loot Level: +1 (Mining, Collecting)."

Kobolds had a bonus to their loot because they had a habit of collecting shiny objects. Of course, it wasn't all Gold Thalers; it could be gold dust and ore they had dug up. In many of the materials Soren had collected back then, quite a few monsters had loot bonuses based on their habits, meaning monsters of the same level would yield loot one level higher.

Goblins also liked to collect, but unfortunately, they often picked up junk.

A slight rustling sound.

Soren began to move his feet, circling from the side towards the bonfire. He had to take out the dark red Kobold first to ensure the battle would be much easier. Challenge Rating 3 meant it would take about five professionals of level 3 to deal with them relatively easily. It wasn't easy for Soren to act alone now; the key was not to get surrounded.

Swish!

A bolt flew out.

The dark red Kobold by the bonfire let out a scream, and the entire den was instantly alerted.

Sounds like small dogs barking rang out. After the initial panic, the Kobolds swarmed to pick up their weapons and search for the enemy. Soon, they spotted Soren with their decent night vision. A group of Kobold warriors let out a low growl and lunged at him. When they found the enemy's numbers were far fewer than their own, Kobolds always became very 'brave'.

Soren did not rush to meet them.

He almost immediately rolled to dodge after shooting an arrow. The spot where he had been was instantly filled with arrows; the shortbows used by the Kobolds were quite threatening.

The scimitar in his hand flashed with cold light!

In just one encounter, two Kobolds were disemboweled by Soren. However, because of this momentary pause, one Kobold lunged directly at his leg, opening its mouth to bite. They had relatively sharp teeth.

Bang!

Soren twisted his waist and kicked out, sending the Kobold flying five meters away. He forcefully twisted his body to dodge a short sword, then swung his leg to kick away another lunging Kobold.

In just thirty seconds.

Soren had killed six Kobolds, but the thirty or so gathered Kobolds had also swarmed him. His leg was grazed by a short sword, but fortunately, it only broke the skin a little. An arrow shot from a shortbow hit Soren, but it didn't penetrate his leather armor. Instead, it shot and killed a Kobold next to him. Kobold warriors with Level 1 warrior skills surrounded him. These creatures, only about three feet tall, were very troublesome. Every attack was a stab or slash towards Soren's hamstrings, forcing him to bend down to attack.

Kobolds had mastered the roll skill; they knew how to use their size advantage to roll and dodge.

—Moon Arc Slash.

Attacks came from all directions, leaving no room to dodge. Soren gritted his teeth and endured two hits with his leather armor, then gripped his scimitar and twisted his waist sharply, spinning in a circle.

Three Kobolds fell, all disemboweled.

But just then, the dark red Kobold that Soren had initially shot with a poisoned crossbow bolt staggered back to its feet. It uttered strange syllables, then extended its palm forward, unleashing a sixty-degree cone of flame. Soren bore the brunt of it, his clothes instantly catching fire. Then the nearby Kobolds were directly scorched by the flames, yelping in pain!

— Burning Hands!