Red was quick with his preparation, retrieving three of his spears and using one to pin one of the kobolds to the tree. High enough to be seen from five to six trees away. Then he hid behind a tree, waiting for the two level 8 kobolds to return.
He was tempted to fight the two kobolds on his terms, but he decided not to. He kept reminding himself that he was a hunter. Hunter didn't fight his prey head-on.
It took a while for the level 8 kobolds. It seemed they saw the hanging corpse and rushed over.
Red closed his eyes, focusing on his hearing. The hurried steps were getting louder and louder, and I even heard one of them tumbling because of the tall root. That caused one to arrive early and try to get the corpse down from the tree.
He didn't know; maybe that kobold thought the corpse was still alive. Then the second arrived in a ragged breath. He took a peek and saw that one of them was on its knees, laying down the corpse. The second one bent over, trying to regain its breath.
Red came out of his hiding spot, quickly attracting the two kobolds' attention. They snapped toward the figure only to find it was the red goblin they were looking for.
The two kobolds were caught off guard and ended up staring at Red, silly as the latter threw a spear. The first landed on the standing kobold's face, plunging the kobold backward as it landed on its friend.
The last kobold panicked, shoving the dead kobold away from it. As the dead body was shoved to the side, it saw that Red was right before it. A spear thrust to its chest, pushing it down with a strong force. It flailed chaotically—screamed in fear—doing everything it could to survive, but it was futile.
Red pulled the blade from his waist and stabbed the kobold's head. He could still feel the body twitching, and he didn't hesitate to twist the blade, killing the kobold.
He breathed out in contentment as the hunt was clean. He decided to kill the level 11 kobold instead of the two archers, a good decision on his part.
The two archers were easily taken down by him. The situation might be different, and it would take longer to kill them all if he left level 11 for last. He believed it would be the best option he had in this hunt, and he was satisfied with it.
He smiled and started to clean up—gathering his bloody spears—tracking back to the level 11 kobold's body, then he exchanged them for loot.
Level 11 kobold gave him 4 cores (2 Might and 2 Magic), and 30 coppers. Level 10 kobolds gave him 2 Might Cores and 40 coppers. Level 9 kobolds gave him 1 Magic Cores, 1 Might Cores, and 30 coppers. One Archer's body gave him 2 Magic Cores and 1 Might Core, but no copper. The remaining three level 8 kobolds gave him 3 Magic Cores and 3 Might Cores.
He got 17 cores in total with 9 Might Cores and 8 Magic Cores, not bothering to count the copper since it held little importance to him for now. However, Darla seemed to like the coppers as lately he had been bringing back the coppers for her instead of saving them in his secret vault that scattered all rounds in the jungle.
Red immediately absorbed his first Might Core of the day, giving him 0.6 Strength. His second core gave him 0.4 Vitality, and he kept going until maxing out his Might Status.
He absorbed eight Might Cores as the warmth flowed through his body. The warmth flow cleared his mind, rejuvenating his body. It was always the same sensation each time he leveled up. He was left with 1 Might Core and 8 Magic Cores.
Red didn't hesitate to absorb the remaining cores right after. If there was something that he learned from his experience. It was better to absorb the freshly exchanged cores than to wait for them. Maybe that was just his assumption, but he felt that way. He got more attributes if he absorbed the cores right away after the exchange, though he could not really confirm his theory.
"Status!"
Level: 8
Health: 80 Stamina: 756 Mana: 1212
[Tier 0 Might]
Strength: 80 Endurance: 80 Vitality: 80 Dexterity: 80.6
[Tier 0 Magic]
Intelligence: 120.8 Wisdom: 121.2 Arcane Perception: 120.6 Mind: 121.6
Skills:
Tier 1 Skill: Mana Sense - Level 13, Levelheaded (Passive) - Level 18, Appraisal - Level 16, Bleeding - Level 2, Fireball - Level 3
Tier 3: Mana Smelting - Level 5, Mana Refining - Level 3, Mana Sharpening - Level 1, Mana Repairing - Level 1
Tier 4: Mana Forging - Level 1, Mana Tempering - Level 2
Tier 5 Skill: Infernal Berserk - Level 1
He grinned ear to ear when he checked his level, which showed level 8. He didn't know if his progress could be considered quick or slow. But if he had to compare himself with the kids from his generation. He was certainly the quickest at leveling up.
He was satisfied with his hunt and his level. It was without a doubt to continue hunting the kobold, but then his eyes fell on the kobold's equipment.
Their equipment was in good condition, most of it. His attack didn't even hit their armor, and each strike was clean. Everything was still in good condition.
Red's eyes locked on one particular bow that was made of white wood. That one was actually the best weapon he had found so far, including the weapons in their armory.
Great Longbow
Condition: Decent
Quality: Rare
Attribute: +0.5 Attack +0.5 Range
[Range: Increase user shooting range and accuracy based on user attribute and Range attribute. Shooting Range Increase: ((0.5xRange) x User Strength)%. Accuracy Increase: (0.5xRange) x User Dexterity%.]
Red understood what shooting range meant, but he was blanked at the weird number in the additional description. He got the details once he was holding the bow properly. There was new additional information in his status when he held the bow properly. It was called the Status Effect.
Status Effect: 20% Shooting Range 20% Accuracy.
It showed him the end numbers, but Red failed to understand any of it. What did it mean by 20% Shooting Range and 20% Accuracy? He still didn't know how far or how accurate he became with that additional status effect. He could ask Darla, but the language barrier was still an issue for him.
He could exchange a simple word, but it was still far from enough for complicated sentences like this one. He let out a sigh as he decided to head back and store the weapon first before going for another hunt.