Frequent Accidents

Severing the mental connection, Jose lay on the ground, reflecting on the battle. The practical combat had exposed many shortcomings of the kobolds.

Firstly, the kobold Chieftain's mindset was still stuck in the early days of their small tribe. When facing a strong enemy, he thought of retreating rather than fighting bravely.

Secondly, the kobold warriors lacked ranged capabilities. They could only endure the Goblin's rock-throwing attacks.

Finally, what disappointed him somewhat was the kobolds' poor innate talent. Even with Dragon Vein reinforcement, their initial stage warriors could only fight an ordinary Ogre to a draw.

"Hmm... it seems I need to conduct special training for my familiars too."

Jose pinched his chin, contemplating how to train his familiars, improve their combat effectiveness, and instill in them the ideological awareness to sacrifice themselves for the great Dragonism.

"Perhaps this method of training soldiers can also be applied to familiars. Yes, that's how I'll do it!"

As for the issue of the kobolds lacking ranged attack methods, that was a bit tricky.

The kobolds' claws were sharp, and their fingertips were covered in fine scales. These smooth scales couldn't grip a bowstring, making them unsuitable for archery.

After a moment of thought, he had an idea.

Since the kobolds' primary weapon was the spear, why not equip them with javelins? The spearheads could be used to make javelins, requiring only a section of the wooden shaft to be cut off.

As for the kobolds' physical talent issues, Jose couldn't do anything about that. He could only wait until he was stronger in the future, controlled a larger territory, and gathered more powerful familiars.

As he thought this, the image of Black Bull appeared in his mind.

Minotaurs were a good choice, but unfortunately, they were too few in number, and their fertility was also poor. A litter of two calves was already considered a heroic mother.

Not long after, Jose received a communication request from Clark in his mind, and Jose connected.

"Reporting, Master. We were victorious, killing one Ogre and one hundred and five Goblins. We had three casualties, four severely wounded, and twelve lightly wounded."

Actually, Jose didn't need Clark to report. He had already seen the entire battle process through Clark's memories.

There was no need to elaborate on the battle between the kobold warriors and the Goblins; it was almost a one-sided slaughter.

After the Goblins scattered, the Ogre was surrounded and attacked. While trying to turn and flee, Karak found an opportunity, severed its Achilles tendons, causing it to lose balance and fall. It was then impaled by the kobold army like a hedgehog.

"Take the wounded back and let them rest well."

"Yes, Master!"

Disconnecting, Jose felt a slight sense of relief. He could clearly feel the change in his familiars' mindset after killing the Ogre.

If Clark encountered an Ogre again, he wouldn't be thinking of running away from the start.

Indeed, an army needed to shed blood!

Jose felt even more that his other decision was wise: the arrangement for the formal warriors.

Unlike ordinary soldiers who returned to their original tribes after training, the kobold warriors who successfully advanced were kept, forming a shock troop composed entirely of formal warriors, directly commanded by Jose.

Not long ago, he felt it was a waste to keep these elites in the caves, so he sent them to Hasa Bloodclaw, letting that battle-crazed individual lead the elite troops on hunts.

In recent days, the hunts had been very fruitful, and at the same time, the warriors had been tempered in battle.

Just as Jose was about to lie down and rest, another communication request from his familiars arrived. This time it was from Hasa Bloodclaw.

"My brave warrior, what is it you need me for?"

"Respected Master, we've encountered a Petrification Lizard."

Hasa Bloodclaw's tone was very calm, not like someone asking for reinforcements. Jose felt a bit puzzled and connected to share the visual feed.

"Ha! Isn't this great!"

It turned out Hasa Bloodclaw was sitting by the corpse of the Petrification Lizard and talking to the Red Dragon. Beside them, the kobold formal warriors were resting, and it seemed no one was injured.

A cursory check of the familiars' memories confirmed that indeed, no one was injured.

The unfortunate Petrification Lizard, encountering a Dragonkin kobold and a hunting party of thirty-seven formal warriors, was surrounded and killed.

However, what was unusual was Hasa Bloodclaw's somber mood at the moment.

"Is there a problem?"

"A big problem. Not long before encountering the Petrification Lizard, we just dealt with a Rockhide Boar, and yesterday we killed a Windripper Wolf."

Both the Rockhide Boar and the Windripper Wolf were initial stage Extraordinary Beasts. Jose understood and frowned.

In the Moduo Peak Forest region, most Extraordinary Beasts had fixed territories. The sudden appearance of three Extraordinary Beasts in the kobolds' territory, of different species and at different times, was highly abnormal.

Hasa Bloodclaw continued, "When we encountered the Rockhide Boar, I thought it was a coincidence. But now, I suspect something is driving them towards us."

Jose thought of the wandering Ogre and also felt something was amiss. "Did you find anything on the beasts?"

"No, their fur was intact, and they had no injuries."

"Alright, use your best judgment."

Terminating the call, Jose fell into deep thought in his dragon lair.

Could it be magic?

He glanced at the vine hut in the corner of the dragon lair. Druids had the ability to control animals, and Tilly had a teacher who was an Advanced Stage Druid.

But what about the Ogre?

Elves detested Ogres. Rather than driving them, they preferred to take their lives.

Weren't the ogres and the extraordinary beasts working together?

After thinking for a moment, Jose dismissed the idea that the druid was the mastermind.

Putting himself in the druid's shoes, if he were that advanced stage druid trying to track an apprentice, he would use inconspicuous birds to scout for information, rather than sending in ferocious extraordinary beasts and alerting the target.

Moreover, given the druid's professional nature of loving life, he wouldn't order beasts to their deaths.

Could it really just be a coincidence?!

With too little information, Jose couldn't make an accurate judgment. If there really was an enemy lurking in the shadows, all he could do now was to wait and see, letting them reveal themselves.

After ordering everyone to heighten their vigilance, Jose once again fell into a deep sleep.

Meanwhile, the green dragon Olivia discovered through remote magic that her arrangements had little effect and, instead, had provided the enemy with a lot of bloody food, which surprised her.

"Little brat, you've got some skill!"

Besides her gnoll familiars and a few trump cards, the petrification lizard was the strongest fighting force she could mobilize.

After some thought, Olivia decided against further disruption to avoid alerting the enemy.

"I'll just wait for you to come to me. I look forward to our meeting~."

Days passed, and in the blink of an eye, only three days remained until winter. No unexpected incidents occurred during these days.

Jose's doubts about the frequent unexpected events of the previous days had largely dissipated. He just thought they were coincidental. His days of quietly developing continued: eating, sleeping, digesting the Dragon Heritage, training his familiars, enjoying the service of the elven maiden, and indulging in appropriate entertainment.

"For Q!" Jose, who had used a shrinking spell to reduce his size, threw two playing cards. Tilly and Ergou sat beside him, forming a circle, with a pile of cards on a wooden stump in the middle.

That's right! The three of them were playing the most popular game on Earth, Dou Dizhu!

The days of quietly developing were incredibly boring. Jose happened to discover that a boarman merchant could procure a type of stiff paper, so he made a deck of cards and roped in the elven maiden and his familiar to play Dou Dizhu.

"Beat that!" The landlord, Tilly, threw out a pair of 2s.

"Pass."

"Can't beat that."

"A plane! Haha! I only have one card left!"

"Wait! Something's come up!"

Just as they were engrossed in the game, Jose suddenly received a communication request from a familiar.

"Ah~! I was finally winning a round as landlord!" Tilly looked wronged.

"It's really something."

Jose checked the communication request and found it was from his harpy familiar, Luna Bloodfeather.

"What is it?"

"Master! We're in trouble," Luna Bloodfeather's tone was grave. "The Graytail Centaur Chieftain, Mudakhan Graytail, has commissioned me to scout the Bloodtooth Kobold Tribe!"

Thanks to HeAnShiLa for the 500 coins and Yayla for the 500 coins' reward.