It didn't take me long to make a full trip around the Kobold village, of course, while 'sampling' the local goods. Thanks to that both my stats and my skills received a pretty big boost, not to mention the job change.

"And that's exactly why I should try some of the skills first before moving on to the boss. Thank you three very much for volunteering! What kind ...dog people? ...good boy???"

Truth to be told, I felt both happy and overconfident. I mean, as long as I stay at least two meters away from them, they won't be able to see me. Plus now that I didn't have to worry about killing them without being discovered anymore. So for now let's check out the new 'updates'.

"From what I see, the Precise Throw is a passive skill, therefore it should be easy to just hurl knives, while aiming for them. Aim assistance though... Strange how I became the cheater all of a sudden."

I took two knives that were poisoned from my belt, one on each hand and silently walked towards the trio. Since both the guards and the soldier have some sort of rally skill, I should focus on killing them fast.

I was close to three meters away from the trio that was resting, with their backs facing me.

"I will have to get used to attacking from the front as well I guess. However...not right now!"

I considered my target the hearts of the two guard Kobolds and let the knives fly. In the next second I also took out my two daggers and ran towards the remaining soldier. The sound made by the two blades piercing the back of their targets was a very dull one, making the soldier Kobold only growled lightly at them, almost like asking them 'what's the ruckus about?'.

Fatal damage inflicted! -538HP!

Stunned status inflicted! Target is unable to move for 2 seconds!

Your target died! Fatal damage inflicted! -572HP!

Stunned status inflicted! Target is unable to move for 3 seconds!

Your target died! Fatal damage inflicted! -541HP!

Silenced status inflicted! Target is unable to speak or chant spells for 4 seconds!

Critical damage inflicted! -490HP!

Bleeding status inflicted! Target will lose 132HP/sec for 7 seconds!

Your target died!

In the next second however, my two daggers pierced through his kidneys and lungs, interrupting any sort of communication, while also stunning his movement and breathing.

It all happened so fast, that in almost ten, maybe fifteen seconds all three Kobolds became fur and coins. A total of 20 copper coins and three furs were picked from the ground and put in the item bag.

With the testing part over, it was time to head towards the boss location and gather information while on the way.

[That was very fast. Here's your knives.](Clara)

"...what exactly are you doing here? I thought I told you to wait behind, in case we need to retreat temporarily. Also, don't sneak up on your allies...is bad manners to give people a heart attack."

[Tsk! I was hoping to scare you...](Clara)

"Don't click your tongue woman! For crying out loud, we're in the middle...we're at the entrance of the enemy encampment. Can you please show some dignity as a soldier or as a human...elf being and do as I tell you for once? I let you do things your way first and now is my turn."

[Fine, fine! You're no fun...](Clara)

"That reminds me, I leveled up also. But we'll talk later... I'll get started now."

"It's amazing how a person that is over 900 years old can have so little patience... Also, I didn't even flinch when she started speaking from behind me... I wonder if that's also because of Fear resistance? Anyway, from the layout of the the huts I saw further away inside the village, the first is placed around the fence in a circle, encompassing the others. That way, there are a total of seven layers. I should check the second layer starting immediately."

How do I know about the total number of layers? Well, after Clara uprooted the village previously, you could tell from the road that was still there. And by that, I mean that the bedrock had a different color, like it has been trampled over and over again, exactly like the one I'm staying on top of.

I now have a general idea since this is a dungeon, but there was too much information lacking, therefore, I walked towards the closest hut from the second layer and peek through the bad crafted walls again.

By then, I also noticed that the exp I was getting from the Kobolds, changed slightly.

"It decreased slightly. I guess it was supposed to happen sooner or later... However, it should be easier to increase it right away through pure grinding volume. Well then, let's see who volunteers next for some detailed inquires."

I walked towards the wooden hut and peeked inside.

"The difficulty increased, huh? Two soldiers... It might get tricky and I don't think throwing knives would work for these two... At least I'm not confident enough to do that yet. Let's try with the daggers and see what happens."

In the hut, on the ground there were two of the same leaf-style beds in which the Kobolds slept. Given its residents, the room looked less spacious now, but I should still manage without stepping on any tails. Therefore, I decided to try and rush in with the daggers and stab both of them at once.

I moved the rag door out of the way and ran towards the two sleeping targets. The one on the right I managed to stab in the chest properly, but for the second one I missed and stabbed between the shoulder and the heart, probably not hitting a vital point.

Awoken by the pain, the Kobold on the left tried to get up, however I pulled both daggers out and prepared to fight it.

"It doesn't move? Oh...stunned status again! Close call however... Now I know that I should aim a bit more carefully next time. Yes, yes, stop staring like that at me with your big doggy eyes... You're gonna make me feel more embarrassed than I already am. Here, go back to sleep!"

I once again stabbed (with both dagger this time just to make sure) the remaining soldier and in about five seconds, 20 copper coins, two hides and some sort of trinket fell from the Kobolds.

When I picked them up, I realized that the trinket was something new and I immediately used my Identify skill on it.

Kobold tooth

A very strong canine, belonging to a soldier Kobold.

Can be used as crafting material.

Estimated value: 1 Silver coin

"Kind of underwhelming, but I'll take what I'm given. Now that I killed two other soldiers, my exp should've went up. Since what I get are all fixed amounts, I finally reached 30%. With this, that's one hut down and nine to go... from the second layer... I'm I even gonna reach my target until morning?"

I didn't exactly want to rush things since that would invite unwanted trouble, but after checking my newly acquired pocket watch, it already showed 11pm. The good news was the fact that my daggers had high damage values that worked very well on this monsters and by targeting specific areas of the body I could easily stun them for a matter of at least 3 seconds.

"Making use of that, I could increase the tempo a little bit. Let's see how it goes."

I ran towards the next hut and entered without checking first. That was a mistake, since both Kobolds were awake and preparing to exit the hut. My luck was that they were just as surprised as I was and that only I had the weapons drawn.

I stabbed the closest soldier on my left side with the left dagger and sent it tumbling inside, after which a notification told me that I have 4 seconds. Then I crouched to avoid a punch coming from my right from the second one and used an uppercut motion to stab the right dagger through the neck and then brain, killing the one outside. After the first one had been taken care of, before the one inside the hut could even growl, I threw 2 knives at it. One hit his heart and the other in between his brows, making it deader than dead.

"Now that they're both gone, I can't exactly say that the tempo wasn't faster, however...I would very much like it a bit slower please!"

I complained while picking the two hides and the 20 copper coins from the ground, but there was no canine this time.

It took me another fifteen minutes to clean up the remaining eight huts, after giving about one minute to check the hut and another to kill and loot. Luckily, the remaining 'residents' were sleeping, so no other incidents happened. I also leveled up in the process.

Name

Michael Corbett

Name

Value

Name

Value

Job Name

Level

Progress

Race

Human

STR

48(+2)

Magic

30

Stalker

12

51%

Sex

Male

DEX

50

Charm

20

Age

25

AGI

50

Luck

25

World

Anhur

END

45

HP

775/775(+3.8/sec)

INT

44

MP

521/521(+2.7/sec)

WIS

38

After venturing into the third layer, I was once again surprised by something interesting, after using Identify instinctively on a Kobold.

Name

-

Name

Value

Name

Value

Job Name

Level

Progress

Race

Kobold

STR

18

Magic

0

Kobold Soldier

6

20%

Sex

Male

DEX

19

Charm

15

Age

1 year

AGI

17

Luck

15

World

Anhur

END

10

HP

365/365 (+1.43/sec)

INT

9

MP

75/75(+0.1/sec)

WIS

5

"Seems like the difficulty is increasing and with it, the levels of the Kobolds. Shouldn't really matter since they are affected by the inflicted status all the same, but it is surprising that they live in a hierarchic position depending on one's strength. Never before did the words 'dog eat dog' type of world made more sense..."

After entering that specific hut, they were sleeping in the same positions on the improvised leaf bed, both being two soldiers. In theory it should take the same fifteen minutes or so, but I decided to spend a bit more time checking their status windows as well. I wouldn't like surprises...anymore.

It took me another twenty minutes and the pocket watch indicated 11:43PM. I managed to clear all ten huts, picked up twenty hides and 400 copper coins.

"I'll be able to retire sooner than I thought initially at this pace. With this kind of money and maybe selling the furs also...I should buy a house or something by the ocean side... Yup, let's do that. Also, it seems like my stats increased for Strength, Dexterity and Endurance. Well, I did run quite around a lot around the village and it should be considered as working out. Also, this looks like a one sided slaughter and I'm starting to get tired...at least mentally. I have three more layers to go and the final layer where the boss is...probably. He should be in the center of the village from what Clara mentioned. Back to extermination I guess... Let's keep grinding exp!!!"

After a short break in which I examined my status page, the pocket watch showed 11:50PM. My fourth day since arriving to this new world was about to end.