This is one thing that I would like not to test out no matter what, even though I m still worried about it.
Alright Michio, stop distracting yourself with needless worries and focus. Your current enemy is holding a weapon, so it means that in this battle the victory is going to belong to the one who will attack the other first, and when it comes to attacking first, I have just the right tool for that very purpose!
(Fireball!)
I invoked Fireball, and as soon as it appeared in my hand I sent it flying towards the Kobold. Back in my old world there was a saying 「never bring a knife to a gunfight」, but here it's the exact opposite: never go with a knife against someone who can use magic!
The Kobold's reaction, even when it saw the ball of fire heading its way was extremely slow. It got hit square in its ugly mug with it, and even then it didn't even try to put itself out, simply allowing the fire to engulf it entirely. Without making a single noise, the Kobold collapsed onto the ground and disappeared in a puff of green smoke.
I really wish I could say something more about it… but I can't, because that was literally it. All it took to kill that Kobold was one Fireball attack.
Weak! So pathetically weak! Was that really a Lv.3 monster?! Even Green Caterpillars, Lv.2 monsters from the floor bellow this one needed more hits, 2 to be exact, from the same spell to be defeated! No wait, maybe it was so effective because Kobolds are actually weak against fire? Let's ask Roxanne about that.
「Roxanne, wasn't that Kobold just now awfully weak?」
「Well, yes, but that was to be expected. Generally speaking, Kobolds are so weak that they have been mockingly called 「Beginner's Monsters」 or 「Cannon Fodder」, so with master's strength killing it with one attack was to be expected.
「Is… is that so?」
It's a weak monster, so it carries a knife to compensate for that weakness, huh? No, actually, it would be more accurate to say it has to use a knife precisely because it is so weak. I wonder if that rule can be applied to all bipedal monsters carrying weapons with them? It would be nice if that was the case, but on the other hand, an attitude like that might be pretty treacherous, because if you assume that all weapons-using monsters are weak, then you're going to have a bad time when one day you're going to encounter a weapon-using monster that won't be weak at all.
When the Kobold disappeared, it left something that looked like a white fang behind it. When I Identified it, it turned out to be something called a Kobold Salt. I wonder if this is something even remotely close to the rock salt that I know from earth. But since this is supposedly salt, then I wonder if it'll be safe to keep it in my Item Box without running the risk of dissolving it by accident?
「Kobolds are supposed to be this floor's native monsters, so if we continue to kill them we are bound to get more of this Kobold Salt item, but I wonder if we won't have any difficulties storing it in our backpacks or my Item Box?」
I summoned my Item Box and placed Kobold Salt inside of it. When I got the chance to touch it a little bit more with my fingers, it really felt like your average lump of crystalized salt.
「It should be all right to store it in you Item Box, but if we decide to carry it in our backpacks, we would have to be careful not to get it wet, because we won't be able to sell wet salt to any of the Guild shops, but even if that were to happen by accident, that wouldn't be that big of a loss, because Kobold Salt is the cheapest item that can be bought from Guild merchants.」
「Oh? How cheap are we talking about, exactly?」
「It costs only 4 Nars for a piece.」
Man, that is dirt-cheap! Ehhh, and here I was thinking that since it is an item obtained at the Labyrinth's third floor then we were going to make some serious profit out of it, but I guess that won't be the case after all, which made me feel depressed as hell. Seeing me like that, Roxanne started laughing. Her smile was more precious than any treasure this Labyrinth might have been hiding though.
「We could always try selling the Kobold Salts to the inn, since they might use it for the seasonings in the food they are preparing, but I don't know if that idea is even going to work. Think we have any chances with that?」
「Unless you're very close with the inn's owner then that might be pretty difficult. Even though it is an ingredient that is frequently used in the gastronomical business, not many places beside the Guilds are willing to buy them due to how easy it is to obtain. That is how weak the Kobolds who drop the Salts are considered.」
So we have no chances of selling it outside of the Guilds, huh? I guess that makes sense. If Kobolds are so weak that a single Fireball was enough to kill them, then I bet they also die to regular weapons pretty quickly, and that is what got them their reputation as 「Beginner's Monsters」, and if they are weak, then it will always be cheaper to go and hunt some of them yourself than to rely on buying their Drop Items from other people who might try to get more money for their items than they are probably worth. Okay, so for now let's forgo the plan of selling the Kobold Salts and let's just proceed with the exploration of the third floor.
On the third floor, where we currently are, the maximum size of the enemy's Party is still two monsters, the same as on the second floor. From the fourth floor onwards the maximum amount of monsters in one group we would fight will increase to three, but since Kobolds really are no actual threat, I think the battles on the third and fourth floor might be a little bit easier then the ones on the second floor, where the only enemies possible to encounter were buffed up Needlewoods from the first floor and the Green Caterpillars native to the second floor itself. That assumption of mine seemed to be truer when I tried to use Fire Storm on a two groups of two Kobolds, and a single spell obliterated them all without a trace. Even when Kobolds were mixed with Green Caterpillars, defeating such a group was still not a problem to me, because it took a single spell to kill a Kobold, and two more to finish the Green Caterpillar off.
They certainly are weak. For a while I thought that they might have some powerful magic as a Skill at their disposal, but that didn't seem to be the case at all. Since they were the first humanoid-shaped enemies I have encountered here in the Labyrinth and because they are so gross-looking, with their big heads, even bigger faces and this bluish skin similar to those of fishes I thought that I won't be able to face them while keeping my cool (Needlewoods were obviously plant-type monsters while Green Caterpillars are just enormous bugs, so I guess I simply got used to their appearances the more we fought with them), especially since they are carrying knives with them, and there is not a human being in this or any world who wouldn't be scared when a monster with a sharp weapon would attack them out of the blue, but those concerns were entirely misplaced. Kobolds are just weak as shit, simple as that, to the point where I was actually beginning to feel sorry for them, thinking that placing them as mobs on the third floor instead of the first might have been some kind of fate's cruel joke. Unfortunate for them, but that is how it sometimes is with life: even though you want to do your best, you still end up picking up the short straw. I am a perfect example of that. But while it might seem not fair for the, that's actually all the better for us. I don't know if there is any reason for such weak creatures to be on the third floor instead of the first along with the Needlewoods. But I am not going to complain about that. That is what this world's reality wanted, so that is apparently how it was supposed to be. And if we're going to have an easier time exploring this new floor thanks to that, then that is the kind of coincidence that I will gladly take any day of the week.