*BWAAAAAAAH!*
A Stonehoof Stag bellowed before charging full force towards me. Planting my feet with my hands outstretched, I sharpened my senses. Catching the antlers a second before they hit me and wrenching them down towards the right. The stag's own momentum was redirected, crashing to the ground, with me firmly pressing it's head down while it struggled.
"Now, do it!"
Three kobold behind me drew their bows, firing arrows at the pinned stag. It thrashed around, trying to escape, but was unable to stand. Slowly but surely it became weaker and weaker as more arrows filled it until its health bottomed out.
"Not bad...not bad." I let go of the stag, standing up to dust my hands off and walking up to the other kobold. "But you have to aim for more vulnerable areas like the neck or eyes. The less arrows you need to use in battle, the better."
"Yes, we improve!"
"Yes, chief!"
"..."
They all nodded their heads, however, it was apparent they were overwhelmed with happiness or surprised at having killed such a beast. Koro having went silent, grinning to herself and jumping up and down. Even Amon was visibly shocked at our kill.
Rakuta came over and slapped him on the back with a big smile. "We do well! Kill mighty beast! This not happen ever! Marek good chief, yes?"
The former chief frowned at this, giving Rakuta an irritated look. But Rakuta was either to distracted by our kill or too dense to understand, so Amon merely sighed.
"Yes, good chief."
Well, it's good to see them getting along decently well. I'd like Rakuta to put a few points into intelligence, but he doesn't have a status screen like me. Speaking of.
"Status."
***************
STATUS
Name: Marek Antos
Species: Lizardman
Level: 1/30 Progress to level 2: 62%
HP: 50/50 Strength: 42
SP: 15/15 Resistance: 53
Agility: 33 Dexterity: 42
Endurance: 35 Wisdom: 15
Intelligence: 15
Available points: 10
Element: Earth Seed (36%)
Skills: Provoke Lv. 4, Archery Lv. 6, Crafting Lv. 7, Trap Mastery Lv. 3, Blunt Weapons Lv. 1
Abilities: God tongue, Hard scales Lv. 5
***************
It seems like I barely gained any experience from that battle, not even enough to level up. That's probably because I didn't actually deal any damage to the stag. From what I can tell, it seems like the amount of experience gained tends to be heavily influenced by the damage dealt.
"Well, that doesn't really bother me. I did come out here to level these guys up. I guess it's better this way."
Koro: Lv. 10
HP: 15/15
Amon: Lv. 14
HP: 21/21
Rakuta: Lv 12
HP: 23/23
And by the looks of it, it seems this method is extremely effective. Everyone present seems to have jumped up 5-6 levels. At this rate, it won't be long before they can take care of themselves.
"We eat good today!"
"Huh? Oh right, the deer meat. We'll take it back, but first, I can't forget THIS."
Slitting open the Stag's stomach with my stone knife, I extracted it's earth core.
***************
HP has increased by 2 points
Resistance has increased by 2 points
Earth Seed has gained experience
***************
"That taste good?" Koro asked tilting her head at me.
"No, not really."
"Then why eat?"
"It makes me stronger. If you find one of these, bring them to me first so I can decide what to do with them."
"Yes." Koro obediently agreed.
After this, we continued to level them up in the forest. Progress wasn't as fast as I would have liked. Stags were a bit tricky to find, and more often then not we tended to find only small rabbits and badgers. Eventually, everyone reached at least level 15. By the time Koro had finally reached it, Rakuta and Amon were 16 and 17 respectively. If their levels are this high, I shouldn't need to worry too much about them being on their own, and can finally put all of my focus on making some new gear.
"Alright everyone." I said addressing all three of them. "From this point on, you three are my lieutenants, understand." To my surprise, they all nodded in agreement. They know what lieutenant means? I don't think they have a concept like that in the settlement. Ah, it's probably the God Tongue ability. It likely changes my words so they can easily understand them. That's also probably why none of them don't find it suspicious I don't talk in caveman speech like they do.
"I don't have time to level up everyone single kobold, so I'm leaving it to you. Just like we did today each of you will take three other warriors and lead them out into the forest to hunt from now on and strengthen them. Just don't be reckless, if you can come back alive, I won't complain, okay?"
"YES!" Rakuta pounded his chest, and nodded at me. Only to wince in pain from his boar injury that hadn't completely healed.
"Koro understands!"
"I understand, chief." Amon hesitated for a moment, but nodded.
"Good! From this point on, I'll be counting on all of you!"
**************************
"Huuuuuuu...ahh..." I took a deep breath, comfortably sitting in the chief's chair. A shabby wooden table stood in front of me, holding my tools as I worked.
After becoming the chief, I was able to move out of that tiny scrap tent and into the small hut the chief owned. It wasn't a BIG improvement, but at the very least I wouldn't be so cold at night. However, that does mean that every other kobold WILL be cold, so that does sting my conscious a little.
To be honest, sewing isn't my forte, the "Poor" quality boar clothes I made some time ago is proof of that. "What I REALLY need, is to get the noncombat kobold able to make clothes. I'm only one dude, even if I could make clothes and tents, I have far more important things to do."
"Knar."
"Yes chief?" The old hunchbacked kobold hobbled over in front of me.
"How many kobold know how to sew?"
"That..." Knar rubbed his chin, thinking it over. "I not know. Maybe thinks seven?"
"Mmm, alright. Go tell them the chief orders them to start practicing with a bow like the warriors"
"Why chief order that? You make sew kobold warriors?"
"That's right. When they're ready I'll have them hunt too."
Knar looked visibly confused at this. But to his credit, he didn't question my words, slowly hobbling out of the tent to go deliver my message.
In order to make the sewing kobold any good at their job, I'll need to increase their dexterity. Unfortunately, that's impossible to do unless I level them up. Hmm, maybe some of them might evolve into a Crafting Kobold. If so, it would make my job a lot easier.
Putting the finishing touches on my creation, I put my tools down.
************************
Sturdy Longbow: Attack: 1
Durability 9/9 Quality: Good
+3 Arrow damage
+ Increased accuracy when aiming down sights
Crafting has become level 8
************************
"Oh, looks like the Dexterity I gained from evolving made a big difference to the damage huh?"
Every time "Crafting" levels up, new information seems to come to me. Making things seem more familiar, and giving me new details and ideas. So, what if I kill two birds with one stone? Level up "Crafting" by building weapons to gain more knowledge. I can make weapons for kobold to strengthen my village, while at the same time raising my skill level. To be honest, I want to see what happens when "Crafting" reaches level 10. Will it stay stuck like that forever, or will something else happen?
Yawned, stretching my arms before leaning back in my seat. "I'm doing pretty well for myself. Got made a chief, have a half-decent place to sleep from now on, and my tribe is quickly getting stronger."
Still, despite all of this, I can't help but feel a gnawing sensation in my stomach. An odd sense of foreboding. It's never a good sign in life when things go too well for you. Often means trouble is right around the corner. I wonder if I'm just overthinking this...
*****************************
"Phew..." A man with chestnut-colored hair wiped his face, dismounting from his horse. "We've been riding for quite some time now. I'm starting to feel bad for the horses." Around the man and his companions was a small town close to the edge of the kingdom. People came up and down the dirt road, and a few carriages could sometimes be seen.
Tying his horse to a wooden post, he gave the beast a pat on the head as it began drinking out of the water trough. "Be sure and rest up, it won't be long before we reach our destination." He tossed a small leather bag filled with water to which a blonde-haired woman caught it, removing her hood and taking a drink.
"Sir Joshua, do you really think we'll encounter any demons? Our force is nowhere near enough to deal with them."
"Hush." Joshua took his bag back, frowning at how much the woman had drank. "This is supposed to be a secret so don't go using ear-catching words like that." The four of them were disguised in casual leather armor, usually seen on huntsman trying their luck in the forest. In this way, the group wouldn't attract attention, merely being seen as hunters instead of kingdom scouts. "And no, we're only there to look for traces of them. We'll be lucky if we even find that."
Leading his group to a nearby in, they could all finally relax on a soft bed. Each of them letting out appreciative sighs. A vast improvement from camping out on the ground from their traveling.
"In all seriousness sir...can we stay here for a few days first?" Maria looked up from her bed at Joshua busily putting things way. "It's not like this mission has a time limit right?"
"No..." The man firmly shook his head. "We can rest once we've scanned the forest. If there are traces of them left, we don't know how long they'll last. We'll reach the outskirts of the Everfree Forest in three days."