My sword was raised, the spear that the kobold was holding knocked to the ground with a soft application of force.
Immediately though it was picked back up and stabbed towards me. The speed in which it was thrust left me barely any time to breath or even react.
I stepped back as my foot pivoted so that my whole body could lean to the right. It allowed me to sidestep the attack and respond with a flurry of attacks.
This Kobold though had been subjected to my sparring for quite some time now which allowed it to bounce back and doge the thrusts that I had sent at it.
A smirk on its face as it proudly charged back in.
I smiled at that, the fact that it took joy in combat. It would only mean that they took this practice to heart better. Which would lead to more of them surviving.
It was at this point that I dropped the spear in favor of the sword. While I could use both of them well, I favored the sword more than the spear.
If it wasn't for that I would have continued using the spear but if I were to continue practicing it would be with something I am more comfortable in.
A smile lit up my face as I saw the thrust that the kobold had sent towards me.
It was aimed at my throat, not a thought of malice behind it, just pure will to fight.
I dodged to the side again but this time I didn't follow up with an attack, instead I grabbed at the upper part of the spear and pulled it close to me.
While I did this with one hand my other wasn't idle. With the sword in my hand I maneuvered it so that it would point straight at the throat of the Kobold.
It's life on the tip of my sword. However despite the faint fear that I saw was the joy, the happiness that the Kobold had taken in this spar.
With a nod and some chittering it handed the spear to the next Kobold in line. This one had not had a chance yet however it held it with familiarity that I couldn't help but narrow my eyes at.
It was like the moment that he had grabbed it he knew exactly how he should use it.
I nodded in delight, signaling for him to start. A signal that he picked up.
…
[Swordsmanship rank 1 (0.03%)]
The sword in my hand felt lighter, as if I could do more with it than I could a second ago. Yet despite that I was still dissatisfied. It wasn't up to my standards. If I was to survive I could just go into hiding and wait out the timer.
However, that would only lead to stagnation. What I really wanted to do was to fight, use this opportunity where I had loyal subordinates to learn and grow. Not to stagnate in fear.
It was why long after the Kobolds had gone to sleep that I snuck from my bed towards the exit of the cavern we were in.
I tiptoed around the corpses and traps that littered the exit and found myself staring at the moonlight that shone into the cavern from the small hole.
It was at least twenty if not thirty feet above me. Something that I could not climb before but now with the enhanced dexterity I could see a way forwards. A way towards the surface.
I walked over to the wall, the various bumps and edges felt as I looked for footholds and places where I could climb. A whole route was made up in my head and I was determined to follow it.
With one step onto the first foothold I climbed up, my hand grabbing at everything that it could. It wasn't as hard as I thought it would have been, instead the hardest part was pulling myself above the ceiling and into the open.
It was nerve racking, the only thing stopping me from dropping down to the ground, my hands that held onto the opening for dear life.
With some grunts of effort I was able to pull myself above the cavern. My eyes were momentarily blinded by the sun that shone directly on my eyes. However that wasn't for long as they adjusted almost instantly.
With my hand that had blocked the sun out of the way I could finally take a glance at the terrain that greeted me.
It was a great plains, filled with mountainous hills that seemed to be covered with grass that was almost as tall as I was. It wasn't that big of a boast to say the grass was as tall as me but it still was great for them. For them to grow to be almost six feet tall.
CLANG
My sword was out in almost an instant, instincts telling me to block. I was glad that I did, the dagger that had impacted my sword not only had enough force to push me back but was filled with this green liquid.
Faintly I could hear a small 'tsk' of disappointment before another dagger was thrown at me. This time I was ready though so with practiced movements I crouched down as fast as I could.
The dagger flew overhead and I advanced forward but was quickly stopped by more daggers flying at me.
I was unable to dodge most of them, it was why I attempted to minimize my injuries. Unconsciously I activated memoria, the memories of both pain and cuts coming to mind and steeling me for the impact.
I felt as the daggers impacted my skin, a faint feeling that almost paralyzed me if it wasn't for my quick actions. I immediately took the daggers out of place. Disturbing the flow of the poison into my body.
However that only minimized it, the poison still did its work. Though instead of what I assumed the poison would do, paralyzing my whole body, it only numbed the spots that they had stabbed.
Though taking them out still had adverse effects, namely that I couldn't keep them in to stop the loss of blood.
Even now I could feel faintly woozy as blood fell from my body. I couldn't even attempt to bandage them because of the relentless fury of the enemy. More and more daggers accumulated around my feet, my off hand dedicated solely to taking them out as fast as possible.
The other hand was dedicated to blocking as many as it was able to, however many that was. The first one was a stroke of luck and instinct, even now I could feel as more and more slipped past my defenses.
The only saving grace being that they hadn't targeted my legs which allowed me some mobility however impaired it was by the sluggishness that I felt accumulating in my brain.
I needed to finish this as soon as possible, it would be dangerous not to.