Kaden winced as the kobold's spear tore into his side, the sharp pain sending a surge of adrenaline through his body. He staggered but quickly pivoted, keeping both warriors in his line of sight.
The one he'd immobilized with Sanguine Roots snarled, its legs still sluggish but free, while the other advanced with its spear raised, eyes gleaming with malice.
"This is going to hurt," Kaden muttered, gritting his teeth. He couldn't afford to let this fight drag out.
Summoning every ounce of focus, Kaden activated Thorn Whip again. This time, he aimed low, the barbed tendrils lashing out to wrap around the legs of the first kobold with the cracked armor.
The creature let out a startled yelp as it lost its balance and crashed to the ground. Kaden used this chance and struck it on the exposed skin with his spear. Blood spilled out.
[Sanguine Roots] He once again activated the skill, this time on the fallen kobold. The skill activated and the roots burst forth from the ground taking in the blood, as if greedily absorbing it. It did not take long before Kaden started to feel the healing effect.
He dashed towards the other kobold and lunged at it before it could fully recover. Its sluggish movements from the lingering effects of Sanguine Roots made it an easier target, but Kaden knew better than to underestimate it. The kobold snarled, swinging its spear in a wide arc to keep him at bay.
Kaden sidestepped the attack, the spear whistling past him, and retaliated with a quick thrust of his own weapon. The sharp tip struck the kobold's side, penetrating through its patchwork armor and drawing a fresh stream of blood. The kobold howled in pain, but Kaden didn't let up.
With a flick of his wrist, he summoned Thorn Whip again, the barbed tendrils lashing out to wrap around the kobold's arm. The creature struggled, its clawed hand fumbling to free itself, but Kaden used the momentary opening to close the distance.
He drove his spear into its chest with all his strength, the crude weapon sinking deep into the armor and then its flesh.
The kobold let out a strangled gasp, its body going rigid before slumping to the ground. Kaden stepped back, panting as he watched the creature's lifeless form collapse.
[Ding! You have killed a kobold warrior.]
Kaden let out a sigh of relief and immediately went back to get rid of the other one when he noticed a big disturbance a few feet ahead of him. He instantly struck the spear into the other one and retreated back as fast as he could.
Every second counted and if he gets caught without preparation…
Kaden held his breath as he waited. The second one had given him a level up notification and he swiftly allocated the attribute points into soul strength, bringing everything up to somewhat same level.
He then waited for some more time. However, there was no kobold coming for him. He furrowed his brows as he cautiously moved forward. It looked like they did not even notice the two corpses.
Actually it was impossible not to notice the corpses. Maybe they just didn't care? What did they have going on that they did not care about two of their own dying?
Kaden's curiosity was peaked as he could clearly hear lot of disturbance and movement up ahead. He decided to move a little closer to check things out.
He inched closer, pressing himself behind the trunk of a tree. One glance told him the kobolds were too distracted to care about two missing warriors—why was still unclear. He needed better intel. He moved a bit closer and he was finally able to see something.
A bunch of kobolds gathered together.
One of the kobolds in the center clutched what looked like a staff with a crude crystal mounted at the top. Whenever the kobold raised it, the others would howl or stomp their feet.
Some kind of ritual, Kaden thought. The staff-wielder was chanting gutturally, and the purple crystal crackled with faint energy. The ring of kobolds lurched closer to whatever was at the center.
Kaden's gut churned. He risked a glance over his shoulder, confirming once more that no one was flanking him. Then, shifting to get a better view, he caught sight of something lying in the center, three limp human figures.
Kaden's eyes widened as he immediately recognized one of the three humans, the woman with the long silver hair. He couldn't believe his eyes. How could this be possible? But here she was lying in front of him.
The priestess of the moon, the woman who single-handedly saved thousands of humans when the true monsters started showing up. In the end, her strength was also not enough to protect from what was to come but she put up a damn good fight and went down.
What was a woman like that doing in a place like this?