Part Thirteen

Hm, okay, now I sort of get it. Or not. Uh, what does it mean by ‘convergence of body and mind’? This is far more esoteric than I was expecting. All the other explanations in the Grimoire have been rather blunt in nature, as if they were scientific theories written for publication in a textbook. This feels more like something you’d find in a religious text, which makes sense given the content.

The Grimoire’s explanation of what a soul was was too vague for me to understand. It was like whoever wrote the Grimoire didn’t fully understand what they were talking about. Actually, who wrote these Grimoires? Was it the System, or is there an actual author? Because I’d like to file a complaint if there is.

I’d hoped that by reading through the section on Abyss Magic more carefully, I’d get a better idea about how to cast [Soul Bind], but it hadn’t exactly panned out. All I’d learned was that because each person’s soul was different, Abyss spells were much harder than most schools of magic. Using them was like trying to solve a puzzle box each time, and every person had a different puzzle. So unless I figured out how to solve my puzzle, I’d never be able to cast another spell from this school.

Haaaah, I’ve been at this for too long, and I’ve yet to make any real progress. Maybe I should just give up. It’s not like I don’t have other things I could train right now. But at the same time, I’d like to find out what a soul binding does to a weapon. If it follows my expectations, then it’ll be something amazing. Or disappointing.

I sighed before closing the Grimoire. I doubted that continuing to read it would help me figure out Abyss Magic any time soon. I should switch to doing something else. Like Sword Aura. I hadn’t been practicing that as much lately.

***

[Alicia’s POV]

After Gwyn had reported on the abnormalities he’d noticed in town, the group had decided to go on a minor expedition to hunt, though Michael had abstained since he wanted to wind down from whatever he’d been doing before.

From what Gwyn had said, the town was mostly populated by Demi-Humans, with there being a scattering of Beast and Insect-type monsters as well. This was perfect since their primary goal here was to help Gwen get used to combat. They could pick and choose from a number of small monster groups to exterminate, instead of having to hope for easy encounters just randomly occurring.

They’d already crushed two Goblin tribes and a pack of Claw Monkeys, and were on their way to the fourth and final target of the day. Or they were, until they were ambushed by a group of Kobolds. The dog-headed monsters hadn’t been after them specifically, but were instead hunting normally. It was kind of a shame that the two groups of hunters had collided, as only one would be walking away from this battle.

“Bawooooo!”

“Garooof!”

“Awooooo……”

Unfortunately for the Kobolds, their opponents were no easy prey. At the beginning of the battle, it had been twenty-four to four in favor of the monsters, but a quick reaction from Alicia had cut the number down by a fourth within seconds. She’d quickly identified the group's leaders and assassinated them before they could react.

As if that wasn’t bad enough, Gwyn was tearing through them as well. Unlike Goblins, Kobolds were E-Rank in their base form, and there were even a few D-Rank specimens within this group, so Gwyn normally would’ve had trouble fighting them all at once. But under the effects of Kalia's [Bless] and his own Skills, he was able to nearly hold the monsters back single-handedly.

The only person really struggling in this fight was Gwen, and that was merely because she’d yet to reach E-Rank or develop a Skill for combat. But that wasn’t to say she wasn’t contributing to the battle, as she still managed to kill several Kobolds before they realized they couldn’t win and retreated.

Of course, our heroes weren’t about to just let those monsters go so easily. With how panicked the Kobolds' retreat had been, it was child's play for them to follow them back to their den. And it was just as easy to pick off the stragglers before they could alert the den to their presence. But this led to a new predicament.

“Are we actually going to try this? Even with Michael, I don’t like our chances of surviving this. There’s at least two hundred of them in there, and Michael said he nearly died clearing a nest of fifty Kovis on his own. This could be a mistake.”

“That’s the thing, it could be. From what I can see, those Kobolds aren’t as strong as they could be, plus there seems to be a large number of noncombatants. If we do it right, we could easily clear them out. Also, there’s a rather large stockpile of items in there as well, all of which could be ours.”

“I’m all for it. There’s a good chance these fuckers will come for us if we don’t get them first. Just lettin’ ‘em be is dumb.”

“Well said Gwen, if not a little crude. Now, first we should return to the base and talk with Michael. If he agrees, then we’ll discuss how to tackle this nest.”

“Oh boy, I can already see him agreeing.”

***

Among the many kinds of Demi-Human monsters, Kobolds are particularly industrious creatures. Many varieties of Demi-Human are content to remain as mere hunter-gatherer tribes, or as bands of raiders. Kobold society, on the other hand, was rather robust and convoluted. As the intelligence of the average Kobold was similar to the average intelligence of humans, their society mirrored that of medieval humans.

Of course, that was when a Kobold tribe was allowed to flourish.

For the C-Rank Kobold Shaman in charge of this particular tribe, the last few months had been an utter hell. Coming to a new land was stressful enough, but just as they’d started to finally establish a firm hold here, all hell had broken loose.

Powerful Spirits had emerged, claiming dominion over the land, and those who resisted or were unable to understand what was happening were repeatedly culled, raised as Undead, and transformed into horrific creatures of hate and rage.

The Shaman had managed to negotiate with one of the Spirits, and secured his tribe's safety, at least for now. All he had to do was use his magic to slowly break the other inhabitants of the town, turning them into livestock to be used in the production of soldiers and pawns. It was enough to give him multiple ulcers.

At the moment, the Shaman was in a meeting with three of his closest advisors, trying to decide on a course of action that would see them through this storm. They couldn’t just abandon their current home, as one of the other Spirits was sure to find and enslave them if they did, if their current master didn’t just do it them-self. But if they stayed, they were sure to be wrapped up in the Spirits' power struggle before long. And given just how powerful their master was, they knew that the others were probably far beyond their capabilities.

“Bark! Bar, bar!” (I still say we need to begin raiding the nearby nests. Meat will help the younglings grow up to carry the torch when we are no longer able to.)

“Graow. Grrr, grrr.” (Of course you would say that. You warriors are all the same. More muscle than brains.)

“Graagh! Brrrrrrrr?” (Bastard! After all we do for you and yours, you’d dare insult us?)

“Bar. Grrrr, graow!” (No one is saying that. The efforts of the tribe's warriors are one of the few reasons we survived the transition to this land. Without them, we would have even reached this point. All I’m saying is that you have a tendency to not think things through. If we raid too often nearby, the population will drop too much. Then what will we do? We can not stand against our masters.)

“Grrrrrrr?” (Then, should we perhaps expand our hunting grounds? The lands to the north and east are claimed by the master, but what about to the west?)

“Graow, bar, bar.” (Dangerous, that’s what. The region west of us is full of insects. Dealing with them would put too much strain on our warriors, as I’m sure you’re aware of.”

“Baooooo.” (Yes, you’re right. We lost far too many establishing our current foothold. We need time to replace those that died fighting the Ogres and Kovis. If only my predecessor was still alive. He could’ve handled those bugs himself.)

“Arrrrooooo.” (We all lost someone dear to us then. My own father fell in the fighting, as did many of our brethren. All we can do is to continue to protect the tribe, and hope the next generation will pick up when we too join our ancestors.)

For once, the Kobold Warrior and Kobold Craftsman were in complete agreement. The solidarity they displayed in the grief after losing someone pivotal to them was almost moving, so long as you forgot that they were monsters who’d most likely killed dozens of innocent people each. Then maybe it wasn’t so moving.

“Bowwow. Graow.” (If I could suggest something? If we cannot go west, north or east, then why not south? Surely we have the materials and manpower to craft a vessel to cross to the mainland? The humans of this land are nothing like the ones we dealt with before, so surely that would be the least dangerous option.)

It was the fourth member of the council, and the sole female of the group, that had suggested this. Unlike in Goblin and Orc societies, female Kobolds were treated with respect and often held prestigious positions within the tribes. This one so happened to be in charge of the tribe’s domestic affairs, and was thus the most informed when it came to the overall situation of the tribe.

“Grrrrr, graow.” (Hmmm, we do have plenty of the materials required to build a ship suitable for deep waters. And if humans can live in a land like this, then I’m sure there’s little to threaten the warriors, aside from the Spirits. Master Warrior, Elder Builder, can it be done?)

“”Bark!”” ((Yes!))

“Graow, bowwow.” (Then I proclaim that we shall begin building a vessel suitable for transporting the tribe to a new land. Elder Builder, if there is anything you need, do not hesitate to ask. Master Warrior, please alert the other warriors so that they do not slack on their training. Madam Matriarch, would you alert the rest of the tribe as to what we decided?)

“Awoo, bark.” (Of course, Shaman. We’ll also begin consolidating our supplies.)

“Grr-.” (Excellent, then I declare this council to b-.)

“GRAOW! Graow!” (HUMANS! Shaman, the hunters have all been killed by a group of humans!)

Before the Shaman could declare the matter resolved, a messenger ran into the room screaming his head off. It looked like the Shaman's troubles weren’t over yet.

***

“Wow, what did you do to them? It’s like you kicked an anthill.”

“We merely paraded a few corpses before their lookouts. I must admit, I hadn’t expected this much of a reaction.”

I’d been practicing Sword Aura when the others came back from hunting. They’d apparently discovered a large group of Kobolds hunkered down in a supermarket, and wanted my help executing a plan to empty it out and claim the spoils for ourselves.

We then spent the next half-hour coming up with a feasible plan, before we all left to do our parts. I’d just gotten back to see the Kobolds all riled up.

“We also killed a few of their lookouts as added incentive, so I’d imagine they’re going to be in quite the fluster looking for us.”

“I almost feel sorry for the poor bastards. Not only will they probably be looking for us all throughout the night, but then there’s what you’re planning on doing to them tomorrow.”

“Do you believe I’m going too far?”

“Nope. When it comes to wiping these bastards out, there’s very few things that are too far. So long as you’re not planning on dropping a nuclear bomb on them or anything, I doubt I’d have any objections to what you want to do with them.”

“Excellent. Then you remember your part of the plan?”

“Yep, though I can’t say I’m happy that I’m the one doing this. But then again, I suppose I’m the only one fast enough to actually survive doing it. And it’s not like I’m the only one who's going to be busy.”

“True. In fact, I too feel sorry for these monsters. Almost. Their deaths will be horrific.”