From quite a distance away from the group of boars that had one of them fallen into a 'random' hole on the ground, a group of kobolds and one other creature is observing the group closely.
Matthew was part of that group that heaved a sigh of relief as he saw that his plan worked and all his hard work last night didn't turn to vain and Matthew had almost fallen to his knees while having a very wide smile on his face, showing clearly what Matthew was really feeling inside.
'What's the trend of boars in this area? We've met nothing but boars a few times already. Did the deers have a danger detector that told them to avoid this area or something?'
And while at it, Matthew looked at his back. Focusing his gaze especially on the first kobold kid who had an interesting face that had made Matthew feel a little bad and wanted to laugh at the same time. Matthew could even see the kid opening and closing his mouth several times, but Matthew prevented the first kobold kid to mutter anything out of his mouth yet.
Because it wasn't the right time to celebrate, because even though he had won the bet, the hunting team still needed to bring home games for the villagers to eat.
Matthew had told the hunting team to grab extra spears to implement a new strategy that will slightly enhance their abilities to hunt the boars.
Using similar principles as to how the kobolds usually hunted, by making the boar think they had an advantage or at least equal numbers against the kobolds, Matthew would fine-tune the strategy a little bit to increase their chances of securing kills.
The kobolds used to bring only one spear each because bringing an additional spear with them would be an inconvenience for them by being extra luggage that would occupy their hands.
But with Matthew suggesting carrying an additional spear by tying them onto their back with a rope, the problem of occupying their hand is solved. Although they felt slightly awkward and a little uncomfortable at first when they felt the spears sticking onto their backs, after walking tens of minutes with them, the kobolds felt the discomfort disappear a little and it's not at a point where they are conscious about it all the time.
The reason for Matthew suggesting the hunting team to bring another set of spears is so that they could utilize their first attack to its full potential. Their first attack is basically a type of ambush where their prey wouldn't be able to give them an appropriate reaction to their attack.
And the difference of throwing 6 spears instead of 3 is significant that the damage would even be inside the fatal category for the unfortunate target that the 6 spears are aiming for.
Matthew had briefed the group of the rough outline for the new strategy on their way there and now, they only needed some slight follow-up instructions from Matthew, and Nass could figure out the details himself for the rest of the strategy.
Just like yesterday, Matthew stayed back with the kids to protect them from any kinds of dangers while the hunting team started moving stealthily towards the group of boars.
Once again stopping at around the 10 meters mark, the kobolds put their current spears on the ground while untying the spears on their back.
Their formation used to be three kobolds throwing their spears while the other three prepared to charge right away, but now that all six of them were going to throw their spears, Nass had to make slight adjustments to prevent the spears from hitting and getting into each other's trajectory.
Nass then made the similar hand signs that he used yesterday to inform the other kobolds which one they were targeting and seeing that it only takes a couple of movements for all the kobolds to get the command, Matthew couldn't help but think that using hand signs or other codes in battle is greatly efficient for team coordination.
'Maybe I should try learning them as well…' He thought while seeing the kobolds' beautiful teamwork.
When the kobolds finally finished their preparations, Nass gave them the signal to throw the spears. And in the next moment, all six spears were launched towards one of the boars that were right beside the hole.
Either by the shock and reflex of the boar or by the force that the spears carried with them, the unfortunate boar had successfully fallen into the hole, accompanying its other friend that had fallen earlier in the morning.
If it was the usual condition where they would only incapacitate one of the boars and have to deal with the other three, three kobolds would rush out of the bush that they were hiding in and confront the boars.
However, now that there are only two fully functioning boars left the kobolds had to improvise their strategy and take advantage of the boar's characteristics of not running away when fighting against an enemy that they thought would be similar in number.
"They won't be smart enough to count the spears that were thrown at them right? There's no way that they would realize your true number just because the number of spears thrown increased." Matthew had said to the group when he first proposed the strategy to them.
With that in mind, the kobolds also decided that only two of them should charge forward and confront the boars. Since if the three of them decide to go, the boars will feel threatened and prioritize running away from them.
Of course, being the sole kobold warrior of the group, Nass led the charge forward, followed by the nearest kobold to him. The other kobolds followed the same procedure as usual and stealthily walked around the group of boars to circle them from behind.
With Nass' instruction, instead of 4 of them going into the same side, the 4 other kobolds split into an equal two groups and circled the boars from 2 opposite sides.
With Nass practically only having to deal with only 2 boar at the same time with the assist of one kobold instead of the usual three, he got more leeway as he could also counter the boar's attack and slip in some attacks here and there instead of purely defending against their attacks.
It didn't take long for the 4 other kobolds to get behind the 2 remaining boars and soon circled around them. The group continued their attack and using a slight tip from Matthew, they focused on attacking the boars' leg joints and muscles instead of the usual poking and slashing their upper bodies which are protected by the boar's sturdy ribcage.
The strategy might seem not efficient in the current situation where the two boars' lives are already guaranteed in their hands since there's no way that the boar would be able to make a run for it with the tight encirclement.
However in other cases, in the usual setting of their hunt, prioritizing on attacking the boars' leg joints and muscles, gave the group a chance to incapacitate the boar and prevented them from being able to run away even if one of them does a suicidal move to create an opening for the others to run.
So right now, the kobolds are practicing the new method and try getting used to it first even though it wasn't so efficient when only used against two boars.
It didn't take long for the group to finish off the 2 boars and when they wanted to clear up the remaining 2 boars inside the hole, Matthew told the group to wait and he and the kids walked up to the hole.
Upon arriving at the hole and seeing 2 boars inside, 1 is unscathed from head to toe while the other one is riddled with spears, Matthew was the one who opened up his mouth first,
"So, this means that I win right?" He said while looking at the first kobold kid.
The first kobold kid then also looked at the hole below him and saw that one of the boars was indeed healthy and didn't have any visible wounds and was not bound by anything except by the terrain itself.
Creating a hole inside the circle is something that the first kobold kid had overlooked and didn't think that such a way was possible in the first place.
'What kind of stupid boar would willingly walk into a large and deep hole in the middle of nowhere on their own!?!' Is what the first kobold is currently thinking inside his head.
But the evidence is there and there's really a boar inside the marked circle that he and Matthew had agreed yesterday which means that Matthew won the bet. Even though the first kobold kid was slightly bitter about losing a bet that he thought he would win 100% without a doubt, he accepted the fact that he had clearly been outsmarted.
"I accept my lost brother… I still get to train with the twins together in the afternoon right?"
Matthew was slightly shocked that the first kobold kid didn't lash out or give him any complaints. Matthew had prepared some arguments to further convince the first kobold kid. However, it seems that it wasn't necessary in the first place because the first kobold kid unexpectedly accepted it without remonstrance.
"But can you please tell me how you did it? Are you also able to use magic to make the boars stupid or something?" The first kobold kid asked.
Although Matthew still didn't understand what makes the first kobold kid lose his stubbornness, he didn't ask about it and just went with the flow as if nothing weird had happened and answered the first kobold kid's question.
"Of course not! Don't you remember that I can't use magic at all? What I did was I made a trap to lure the boars to get the boars inside the hole. I can teach you how to make it if you want."
"Yes, please teach me how to do it, brother."
"Yes, yes, no problem kid."
"Now with this, starting tomorrow, you'll be starting to learn magic with your grandpa right?"
"Of course brother, I won't ever break a promise that I've made. But…"
"But?"
"But I only promised to learn it right? I've never promised to ever use it right?"
Now Matthew understands the reason why…
"YOU SON OF A-