We walked towards the now empty spot where the natural calamity occurred not even five minutes ago. I wasn't sure if the lack of anything in front of me was supposed to be proof that such a thing happened, or if it was supposed to make me question if she somehow managed to teleport those poor pups to a different floor...

[Give me a second. I'll light up the space around us.](Clara)

"Of course you will... Just how many... Actually, I really don't want to know. I'm starting to believe that I'm just a villager character in her fantasy story... This cheat elf!"

["Wind, light my path! Blue Fireflies!"](Clara)

"...!?"

The wind started blowing around us and the same space as previous reappeared, slowly illuminated. The fact that the blue light above me was exactly the same one as the one that was responsible for the devastation of the Kobold village made me feel quite unsafe. I just hoped this cheat dark elf knows what she's doing.

[I think you're right. That skill just now used a lot less mana than it usually does. So I really did evolve my occupation. 'Dark Arch-mage' was it? It sounds rather ominous for my tastes...](Clara)

"Think about it later. However, this is somewhat unnerving. What's with this huge pile of loot!?"

At our feet, there was literally a small mountain of hides and near it a small pouch.

[There's 13 silver coins and 40 coppers in here. Wow, you can make money this easy in here?](Clara)

"Just what do you think this dungeon is!? This is just because of you! 13 silver and 40 coppers you said? That means indeed about 100 Kobolds like you said. Let's count the hides and put them in your magic bag since mine definitely does not have enough room. How big is your bag?"

[It should be 1000 kg.](Clara)

"You bourgeois elf! ...let's start putting the hide away. Also the coins are yours since you did all the work. No complains!"

[I understand...](Clara)

It took us about fifteen minutes to stuff the hides in and the result was 114 pieces. Some seemed better than others according to Clara and she might be right since there was a difference in coins dropped and jobs between Kobolds.

However, the surprising thing happened after we picked up the last hide. Under it, we found something completely unexpected.

[This...what is this?](Clara)

"I might have an idea... We'll need to confirm this, but if I'm right, it should be a really good thing."

Shiny Earning of Health

Provides an increase to the wearer of 100 HP and the 'Charm' stat by 5 points.

Estimated value: 150 Gold coins

"...is what it says."

[By 100? That's like two levels.](Clara)

"You're ignoring the 5 stat points?"

[Well...that is the Charm attribute. No one knows what increasing it does exactly...](Clara)

"That's quite true. I didn't check either... Let's use Identify on it."

Charm

Increases how attractive you become for the people around you, as well as the influence you have over them.

It also provides a boost when it comes to resistance to mental attacks.

When an enemy with lower Charm stat than you will use such an attack, there is a 50% chance of rebound and the enemy to be targeted by it instead.

In case of the rebound not happening, the skill will simply fail or become less effective.

"...is what it says..."

[Wow! That's more useful than I thought.] (Clara)

"In more than one way... Anyway, you should wear it even if is only one piece. I really don't see myself wearing earrings."

[I'll gladly take them in that case.](Clara)

"Guess you're a girl alright... Anyway, we need to check the next thing I had in mind. Treasure!"

[You think something like that chest from the other room might be somewhere in here as well?](Clara)

"There's a high chance. But the light is not enough to be able to see discolorations on the walls...not to mention if is hidden better than the previous room, we have no way of finding it during night time and only with the two of us."

[Actually, there might be something. One of the skills I learned when I leveled up is Mana perception. Even in this darkness, without my senses, I can tell where you are because of your mana. And since the ring we found previously had mana imbued in it...](Clara)

"...you can use it to find it. Perfect! I'm actually glad you're a cheat elf!"

[Could you please stop calling me that? Is not like I was born with this power you know!? I had to train for over 9..for a long period of time to get here!](Clara)

"Yes, yes! Could you please use it already miss hardworking cheat elf?"

[Hmph! Mana perception!](Clara)

With her as the center, a visible ripple made out of mana was sent in all direction, ending up crashing in the walls like waves. She closed her eyes as those same waves returned to her and her brows slightly twitched. Then, she started walking towards the left wall of the floor. It seems that she picked something up...

"I shouldn't think that ever again...it makes her sound like a hound..."

[There's something behind this wall. Should I break it?](Clara)

"S...sure, go ahead."

After breaking the wall with her bare hands, sight which by the way was quite interesting to see in more than one way, a small chest appeared. When it was opened, from inside something seemed to be shining.

"Eh!?"

[CAN I TAKE IT?](Clara)

"...knock yourself out. That way you will get the full set I guess."

Lucky Earning of Mana

Provides and increase to the wearer of 100 MP and the 'Luck' stat by 5 points.

Estimated value: 150 Gold coins

"This one increases the MP by 100 points and Luck by 5 points."

[The Luck attribute, is it? Can you see what it does when increased?](Clara)

Luck

Increases the chance of critical damage upon any attacks.

When inside a dungeon it increases the chance of finding better items based on its total value.

After reading it and explaining it out loud to Clara it suddenly made sense for me as well. The reason why the hides we previously found were better in quality than the ones I had, was most likely because of her Luck stat being higher than mine.

"However, for treasures and boss drops the items should be fixed for all players..."

"Boss drops? That reminds me! Why is there no boss of this floor?"

[Boss? That monster that you said is stronger than the rest of its kind?](Clara)

"Yes. Let's see... Did you find the way to the next floor previously?"

[It is at the back of the room. That way.](Clara)

In the direction she pointed, about forty meters away from where we were and probably about ten meters behind the place where the Kobold village was, stood a new entrance to a tunnel. The light that was still glowing from Clara's magic made the answer to my questions quite obvious.

"Yup. You probably already killed it. There's no boss that would survive that bullshit skill of yours after all..."

[Don't make it sound like I'm the bad guy here!](Clara)

"Leaving all jokes aside, it all depends if it works like the treasure chest we found in the other room."

[You mean if it reappears? An entire village with over a hundred monsters? That is a bit beyond the realm of possibility, isn't it?](Clara)

"Somehow, I'm not entirely sure about that. Did you feel anything else beside mana from this chest?"

[No, this was the only reaction in the entire room beside you.](Clara)

"I see. Let's exit and re-enter. That way we'll be able to find the answer."

With hurried steps, we headed towards the exit of the dungeon, took five minutes to enjoy the smell of fresh air outside and then walked back inside.

As soon as we reached the maze of stalactites and stalagmites again, I had Clara use her Radar skill again and check the surroundings.

[No way!](Clara)

"So, I was right?"

[Yes. Is probably about the same number. I'll use Mana perception again as well. Give me a second.](Clara)

After a couple of minutes, an answer that decided everything followed from her.

[The treasure chest is in the same place and I can feel a reaction from it, so it did reappear. However, I found one more strange reaction from the village. The amount of mana that comes from one of the enemies, is much stronger than the one that comes from the rest of them.](Clara)

"That would be the boss most likely."

Name

Michael Corbett

Name

Value

Name

Value

Job Name

Level

Progress

Race

Human

STR

18(+2)

Magic

5

Scout

8

23%

Sex

Male

DEX

18

Charm

10

Age

25

AGI

22

Luck

15

World

Anhur

END

17

HP

474/474 (+2.5/sec)

INT

18

MP

265/265(+1.8/sec)

WIS

12

After confirming a slight increase of 2% in my experience bar, as well as an extra point in Endurance gained most likely because of the running around I've been doing recently, there was a rather large increase of 5 points in Luck for me as well, without any equipment. There was still way too many things I couldn't figure out because of the lack of information and I was able to tell for certain now, that my Identify skill wasn't the most powerful skill of its type out there...

"Can you tell the general location of it?"

[Do you plan to attack it?] (Clara)

"If we want our elite corps, as well as the rest of the army to use this place as training ground, we need information about the boss and its minions. There might be Kobolds stronger than the average ones. Rather, is guaranteed to be at least a couple of them."

[The others are pretty much on the same level. That one is the only that shows greater mana.](Clara)

"I see..."

To be honest, I was quite excited about this whole thing. However, I didn't have any OP skills like Clara to annihilate the village and the boss in one go. So I will have to do it manually and kill them one by one in order to level up.

"117 Kobolds and one Kobold Boss. My chances are not exactly high..."

[What are you thinking?](Clara)

"I will attack it alone."

[What? You can't do that. Is impossible to fight 118 enemies alone. Also, the 'boss' Kobold seems to be way stronger than you are.](Clara)

"He is after all, isn't he? But that's good. It means that much more experience."

[How do you plan to kill all of them?](Clara)

"I call it guerrilla tactics. Is basic 'hit and run' type of attack. I will use the darkness to my advantage and surprise kill all of them. But first, to be able to win..."

[You want to kill the boss first. That's why you asked for its location.](Clara)

"Exactly! Listen here Clara. There is an important thing that a low level player can do when he has all the information about a place where monsters keep spawning continuously."

[Eh? 'Player'? 'Spawning'?](Clara)

"Sorry, I keep forgetting you are... It means person and reappearing. There are general terms used to simplify a discussion. Anyway, it means that this, do you know what it's called?"

[...what?](Clara)

"Grinding!"

[Eh? Like grinding medicinal herbs?](Clara)

"...not really... In this case, it means repeating an action, until it no longer gives good enough results. In the case of a level 2-5 soldier for example, I think that once they reach level 10, they will be able to go to the next floor without any problems."

[So you want to get all the information first, so that our elite troopes can come and attack them repeatedly?](Clara)

"Yup."

[...is not like I can't see the merits, but it seems difficult.](Clara)

"Once we have the information, it will become easier. That's why we need the finer details about the boss and other minions in order to decrease the level of danger."

With everything settled, I decided on my goal until morning: to wipe out the Kobold village alone, using my own version of guerrilla tactics.

"I wonder what skill I'll get at level 10?"