It wasn’t much of a wave, though. It was only a single kobold, likely a scout to see how the first two were faring.
Sebastian had kept his guard up and found it just as it
was about to leave the property and report the deaths of another two
kobolds to their pack. He barely caught it in time, but he killed it on
the edge of the farm. He hoped it would give him some room to breath,
but it didn’t do much.
The third wave came just an hour later.
Four kobolds this time, two of whom were armed with machetes rather than their usual knives.
Sebastian’s strategy remained the same, in spite of the
new weapons—focus on one and try to ignore the others. That was easier
when there was just the one extra.
His first target was one of the kobolds brandishing
machetes. They were both slightly larger than the others and wore simple
leather armor as opposed to cloth rags like the rest of them. By the
patchwork, Sebastian guessed that they had stolen scraps of leather and
fashioned together some basic armor.
The armor itself wouldn’t provide much of any protection
against Sebastian’s sword, but their machetes were harder to ignore.
While he was dealing with one of them the other one would do their best
to hack into his legs. His own body was naturally strong enough that it
was equivalent to wearing leather armor. A kobold, however, as strong
than your average man, hacking away with a machete did more damage than
the paper cuts caused by the other kobolds. All the while, there were
also two others cutting and stabbing with their normal knives as well.
While he was trying to catch his target, he did his best
to avoid the others. He dodged or blocked some of the attacks but over
time his back and legs were getting covered in small wounds.
His clothes were dyed red with blood but he knew that he
couldn’t stop until he killed them. Declan and his wife, Rose, had done
too much for him. They were good people, and he wasn’t going to let
these kobolds destroy their home.
The only good thing about the machetes were the fact that they slowed the kobolds down some.
Eventually he managed to get a good reaction from his
target. The accumulation of experience he had gained in fighting the
kobolds guided his hand to the precise position where the kobold was
going.
With a heavy flick of his wrist, he positioned his sword
to force the kobold to double-jump and caught it before it landed. It
wasn’t as clean of a hit as he had gotten on his other kills, but he cut
through most of its neck, which was enough that when it landed, it
stumbled for a few steps before collapsing.
Level 11 kobold killed
Essence drops gained: 0.6
One of the smaller kobolds was caught off guard by the
kill, and Sebastian managed to turn his momentum into a second slash
that cut it down instantly, for once it didn’t even manage to react in
time to dodge his initial attack.
The rush of essence, however small, helped with his injuries. It also gave him a minor, much needed, boost of energy.
He took advantage of the shift in the fight and pounced
on the second of the larger kobolds, and in just a few moves he guided
it into a double-jump and killed it.
The last of them ran in fear, but Sebastian caught it and killed it without much trouble.
Level 11 kobold killed
Essence drops gained: 0.6
Level 9 kobold killed x2
Essence drops gained: 0.7
For the first time since he left the canyon, he was truly exhausted.
Luckily that was the final wave of the night, and he
welcomed the rising sun like someone taking a breath of fresh air after
having nearly drowned.
Exhausted and covered in a thousand cuts, Sebastian
trudged back to the the main house. Even though he felt like he had just
finished a marathon—where instead of running through finish line tape
he ran through a blender—the corner of his mouth lifted in a grin.
Neither Declan nor Rose had much experience giving first aid, but they did what they could.
Sebastian returned to his cottage and immediately began
cultivating. His focus during his cultivation this time wasn’t to
progress but to push as much essence as he could toward his injuries to
help them heal.
It was slow work, but gradually the wounds closed.
This was a good reminder. Even if I
have the level advantage I can still be hurt, or even killed, if I’m not
careful. I’m double their level, but I fought just a handful of them,
and I was nearly cut to ribbons.
I need to get stronger or I’m never gonna stand a chance in this world.
Actually, killing those kobolds did
get me some essence drops. They were too weak for it to be all too
effective, though. Two nights of killing kobolds and I only got about 3
drops. I can get that in a day if I focus on cultivating.
No alerts about any changes in my Status either.
Sebastian decided to take a look at his Status in hopes
of some indication of how far along he had gotten in his [Essence
Consolidation].
System status
Name: Sebastian Moore
Level: 21
Cultivation status
Name: Sebastian Moore
Cultivation method
- Earthen Cultivation Art
Cultivation stage
- Essence Consolidation
- → Minor stage: Low
Physical cultivation stage
- Leather
Titles
- Blessed
- Sole Cultivator
Talent
- Akashic Connection
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Nothing, still at the minor stage Low.
Oh, wait! Actually, I’ve gone up a level.
I wonder why I don’t get alerts for
that, maybe because the [System] operates based off my cultivation and
simply displays my estimated level like a progress bar.
That’s nice, I suppose. Means I don’t have to guess quite as much.
The people who developed the
[Earthen Cultivation Art] probably didn’t have access to the [System],
it didn’t seem to recognize it, after all, and there’s no mention of any
kind of System in the manual. If that’s the case, then they would have
had to go on feeling, trying to sense how far along in each stage they
were manually. The [System] gives me minor stages and a level
estimation, guess I should be grateful about that.
He took a deep breath and cleared his mind to continue healing.
By the time nightfall was getting close, Sebastian had
mostly recovered. Some of the bigger wounds remained but for the most
part he was back to normal. The countless wounds didn’t even leave any
scars.
At first sign of dusk, Sebastian walked
out toward the edge of the farm, in the direction from where the kobolds
seemed to originate.
After last night, he had added some padding around his
arms, legs, and torso. Mostly scraps of hardened leather or some wood
panels he got from Declan. Nothing too cumbersome but enough to minimize
the cuts he might get during the night. Combined with his physical
cultivation, he hoped it would provide some better protection.
He wasn’t sure why they only came at night, but for some reason they always waited until after the sun had set.
Tonight was no different.
As soon as the last straggling beam of light from the sun
disappeared over the horizon, a whole den of kobolds rushed out of the
woodlands toward him.
His first thought was, “Oh, shit!”
His second, “uck it!”
A dash to the left brought him close to one of the kobolds at the edge of the group.
His first target, a larger kobold that had been a little
bit too excited and strayed slightly ahead of the group. Sebastian
swiped his sword wide toward the kobold forcing it to jump back, he
followed up by dashing up to it with another strike.
The kobold was quickly forced to double-jump, and
Sebastian took advantage almost instantly by thrusting his sword toward
it, seeking to finish off his first target quickly.
Before he could make contact, however, another kobold
pounced and stabbed at him. Sebastian managed to block with his padded
arm but the force made him miss his attack.
He didn’t let up, but he did switch targets.
The first one had jumped too close to the main group so
instead he chose the one who stabbed at him by using his arm to push it
off and strike at it while in the air.
The kobold double-jumped, and Sebastian went after it.
As he attacked, he was cut by two other kobolds.
He ignored them and followed through with his attack, properly this time, killing the first of the horde.
The entire group jumped, swiped, and stabbed at him.
He had some experience in dealing with their attacks by
now and managed to dance around them better than the previous night, but
there were just too many.
When he dodged one or two, another three were there to cut him.
Their cuts did very little. Sebastian’s make-shift armor
did its job—for the most part, at least—so he was free to chase after
them one target at a time.
It was harder than ever to actually catch one with an entire group jumping around, but over time he started picking them off.
He killed a second, then a third, and a fourth.
All the while they were landing more cuts and stabs in
between the paddings. His movements became increasingly frantic as his
injuries multiplied.
Six kobolds chased after him like a school of piranhas, dodging his attacks and tearing into him from all angles.
As much as he tried to stay calm and focused, panic set in. There were just so many of them.
His free hand brushed up against something in the chaos.
He felt the fur of a kobold on the palm of his hand, and he grabbed hold
on sheer instinct. Without even looking, he had gotten a firm grip on
what happened to be a kobold’s leg.
His plans and practiced moves faded away, and he resorted
to wild, desperate swings. Sword in his right hand, and a screaming
kobold in his left.
Even without a plan, it seemed that wielding a kobold as a weapon was an effective tactic.
The other kobolds were at times hit by the flailing
kobold, knocking them off balance. Other times they simply couldn’t tell
the difference between the weapon-kobold and a free kobold, and as a
result they failed to dodge, instead getting smacked in the face by
their captured friend.
In the chaos, Sebastian had managed to kill another three
kobolds, not including the one in his hand, who was still very much
alive, though not conscious.
He noticed that there were only two kobolds left. The sudden clarity from the realization freed his mind from the panic.
He immediately returned to form and drove the final two into double-jumps before killing them.
A deep breath filled his lungs as he stood in a large
patch of scuffed up grass, dyed red with blood—both his own
and from the nine dead kobolds.
Sebastian held the final kobold up in front of him and
appreciated the weapon that had served him so well, and he
unceremoniously cut its head off before tossing its body over to the
others.
Level 11 kobold killed x4
Essence drops gained: 2.4
Level 9 kobold killed x6
Essence drops gained: 2.1
Sebastian gladly accepted the rush of energy as he looked out to see if there were any more kobolds coming.
There was nothing.
He sat on the grass to recover and to catch his breath.
As he did, he made sure to keep his attention outward in case another
wave were to come.
Hours went by and there was nothing. Eventually the night was over and no more waves had come.
Sebastian stumbled back to the main house, shaken and
almost delirious, trying his best to keep a straight face. He told
Declan the good news, and they both felt like maybe the whole thing was
over.
Surely, if there were any more kobolds who cared enough not to flee they would have launched another wave.
Still, neither of them wanted to celebrate early. For all
the knew tomorrow night might see twice as many kobolds storming the
farm.
During the day, Sebastian recovered from his wounds, but he
also took a trip into town to sell the remains of all the kobolds he had
killed. Since they were fairly low leveled, and from the lack of
interest from the hunters, he knew they wouldn’t be worth much, but
since he didn’t have much to begin with it was worth a try. It turned
out, he was right. The only ones who would take them were the Hunter
Association, and they would only give a few silver for them all, but it
was a few silver more than nothing, at least.
The next night, Sebastian stood there as usual, ready for any new wave of kobolds that might come running at him.
Nothing happened.
Hours went by but not a single kobold approached the
farm. Sebastian felt like he must have killed them all and a sense of
relief came bubbling up.
As is usually the case, that was precisely when he noticed something coming.
The usual signs of calm and silence that came with raids were all of a sudden there, but they were turned up to eleven.
He focused his eyes and ears toward the woods where the kobolds had come from.
From the darkness of the woodlands, a shape emerged.
It wasn’t a kobold, it was far too big for that.
The figure moved closer and the subtle illumination of
moonlight helped Sebastian’s already impressive eyesight to finally see
it. A creature that resembled a werewolf, just like he had seen on TV
and in movies so many times. A big difference was that rather than being
half man and half wolf, this monster was half man and half hyena.
It was easily a full head taller than Sebastian himself
and had arms thicker than Sebastian’s own legs. Its hands had claws that
would put a tiger to shame. One of which, its right hand, was clutched
around the handle of a massive greatsword. Though, upon closer
inspection, it seemed to be less of a sword and more just a large piece
of metal scrap sharpened on one side with straps of leather wrapped
around to fashion a handle.
Is that a fucking gnoll!?