Chương 20

About five and a half feet of angry kobold rushed at me. I barely got out of the way as its claws sniped passed inches from my eyes. I quick stepped away, my surroundings blurring to such an extent that I had no idea where I was headed despite the skill's ability to enhance my perception when activated. Shit! I halted the skill with conscious effort and found myself just a few meters away from the kobold boss, which was once again rushing towards me. The earlier scenario repeated itself multiple times.

It kept slashing with its claws and I barely managed to stay away from being skewered, my newfound speed and control helping me immensely. However, I was barely registering what was happening, everything blending into a mess of blurs and moving images. Even though I was able to keep myself from getting injured, I couldn't do much else, as a harrowing thought came unbidden to me. I have no idea how to fight. The blur of claws kept me on my toes, but I had no opportunity in which to try and attack it.

I was too busy backpedaling and dodging constantly, the kobold giving me no time to think or do anything else. Going into stealth won't work as I was actively in combat. I was running out of ideas on what to do and desperately thinking of a way to survive when I felt some heat on my back. I dodged again, and this time I chanced a look behind. I was quite close to the remains of the fire. Even though the kobold had burst through it, I had piled quite a lot of wood and some of it was still burning away.

Immediately, I started consciously moving towards it. The kobold was still swiping away, all reason left behind in favour of pure rage. As soon as I was close to the fire, I chose to duck down to dodge its latest claw swipe and picked up a burning piece of wood. I hurled it straight at the kobolds face, and saw it reflexively close its eyes and turn away, giving me the chance I needed. I desperately thought of starting quick step and moved.

I moved behind and to the right of the kobold, away from the direction it had turned to avoid the wooden piece. The world blurred, and as soon as it snapped into clarity, I activated quick step again, this time aiming for a tree. My surroundings blurred again and thankfully this time I reached the tree. I ducked behind it and immediately thought of stealth, feeling an immense relief at the moment I felt the shift within my body. It worked!

Taking a few deep breaths, I looked from behind the tree to find the kobold destroying everything it could see in a fit of rage, trying to spot me through sheer destruction. The thought of running away came to mind as I knew I was outmatched. Or… am I? I could keep up with it in speed; I just couldn't find an opening to strike as I couldn't really keep track of what was happening. I looked down to my dagger and then back to the kobold. Its skin was tough, but not like the armoured skin of the boars from earlier.

Critical Sense revealed that its neck, eyes, ears, heart, and groin were all sensitive areas that I could target. The kobold was beginning to calm down, and I had to make a decision quickly. If I allowed it to become completely calm and in control, it might be more dangerous than a beast attacking in pure rage. Before I could second-guess myself further, I opened up my status, assigned three points to perception, and closed it back up again. Instantly, a freezing current shot up my spine and into my brain.

My brain went haywire, electrical impulses going everywhere as my world expanded. For a moment, the world felt like it stilled. I saw dust particles suspended in the air. Tiny muscles shifted in my eyes, ears, nose, and tongue. The hair all over my body stood up and stiffened. Then, there was a sudden pressure drop in my brain as my senses adjusted and the world snapped into movement again. I could now see so much further and with more clarity, despite the darkness.

The sounds of the kobold's movements reached me at a higher density, and behind it I could now clearly hear small whimpers and clawing coming from the burrow. The smell of burning wood and the smokiness of the burning grass reached me with clarity. It was… amazing. Shaking my head to clear it, I focused back on the kobold, which had now slowed down and was breathing heavily, looking at the burrow with its back towards me. I stepped away from the tree and bent down, my body ready to explode forward.

Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings. Time for round two. Quick step rushed me rapidly towards the kobold's back, this time the world staying in perfect clarity. I could see the kobold's back heaving with its breaths, and my body somehow knew what to do to make my attack land. Everything felt like it clicked into place as my dagger found its mark, going straight into the kobold's ear before coming to a halt against something hard.

The kobold screamed in pain and I immediately felt an impact strike me hard on the side, taking my breath away and launching me a few feet away. I landed hard, something cracking within me, and rolled a few feet before sliding to a halt. Breathing heavily, I looked at the kobold, completely confused as to what had happened. It was staggering in place, one clawed hand on its ear, trying to staunch the bleeding. Looking it over, I realized what had hit me. The tail!

I had completely overlooked the fact that it had an additional appendage that it could use to strike, and that oversight had cost me dearly. Every breath I now took sent an immense lash of pain through my chest. Something was broken, and I was having trouble focusing on anything else apart from the immense pain. The silver lining was that the kobold was in much the same boat, as our fight lulled while we each fought through our respective painful injuries.

Perhaps because it was a monster used to life and death battles, or perhaps because it was more used to fighting through injuries, the kobold was able to recover first. It stood up straight, one hand still on its ear, and glared at me with pure hatred. I knew I had injured it immensely, but as I looked into its hate-filled eyes, I knew that this kobold would stake everything in making sure it took me down with it. It immediately moved toward me again, much slower this time.

It moved slightly off balance, its steps uncontrolled, like the strike had messed with its balance somehow. Still, it continued toward me, prompting me to get up as well. Tears filled my eyes as a fresh wave of pain hit me, but I wiped them and stood up, meeting its eyes with defiant ones of my own. It snarled and swiped, though it was a far wayward strike then the ones I had gotten used to earlier.

Dodging below it, I planned to strike it in the neck or perhaps in the other ear, but another burst of pain hit me and I almost dropped my dagger as I clutched my side. Thankfully, I was aware enough to keep moving and luckily escaped its tail sweep this time. Each of us moved away and looked at each other again, my enhanced perception alarmingly noticing that its movements were becoming a bit sharper with each passing second, while mine weren't. It's healing?

I wasn't sure if it was healing, or if it was just that much more determined at killing me. Either way, I knew I had to find a way to end this quickly. It moved again, this time swiping with both claws. I hurriedly dodged both, pain flaring at every movement, but I was learning to tune it out a bit now. Putting every ounce of focus I had on the fight, I kept avoiding its strikes, waiting for a moment I knew I could exploit. It stumbled suddenly, its balance still out, and I knew it was now or never.

My arm exploded forward, my ribs screaming in pain but ignored for now. The dagger reached its neck and sliced it deeply before it had even started righting itself from the stumble. I immediately moved away as the kobold gurgled in pain and swiped both claws at the place I had just vacated. I clutched my ribs, my mind going numb in pain, but I kept my focus purely on the kobold. It stumbled to its knees, claw desperately trying to staunch its bleeding neck.

It raised its eyes to look at me, its slit pupils conveying absolute hatred for every fiber of my being, before it crashed to the floor. I kept my eyes on it, as its wheezing breaths slowed down and ultimately stilled. Taking a deep breath and immediately regretting it, I moved gingerly away from the kobold and slid down beside a tree. Having the presence of mind to go into stealth this time, I closed my eyes as I felt the shift take place. My chest felt like it was on fire, every breath hurting immensely.

I knew the kobold had damaged something fundamental, and I needed to get myself healed quickly. The system chose the moment to reach out. Ding! You have levelled up. Class stats distributed. My eyes snapped open, and I tiredly dismissed the screen. The rush from the level up momentarily taking the pain away, though it came crashing back once again. A thought came to me suddenly. Could I use my stat points to raise my vitality or endurance… maybe they could help me out right now?

But when thinking about it more, I dismissed the idea. I observed through the status that my health was steady and not dropping, so I was not in immediate danger. More importantly, I now knew that every stat mattered, and haphazardly assigning points due to an immediate need did not sit right with me. What if I made a wrong choice and it hurt me in the long run? I also noted that I had reached level 9 now, just one away from possibly another milestone.

Moreover, my agility had reached 21, so crossing 20 wasn't a milestone. I dismissed the status and slowly got up, looking around at the destruction all around. The fire was now almost dead, a few embers left weakly giving off light. I looked around when my newly enhanced perception tingled at me to notice something. I looked again over the area but couldn't spot anything off, though the hair on my neck were now standing up. I didn't know what, but something was triggering my subconsciousness.

I took a closer look all around, taking care to slowly go over everything, and froze as a chill went down my spine. At the base of a tree not far away, a small pair of eyes were looking straight towards me despite the fact that I was in stealth right now. Is that a goblin?