Red Monster

Chapter 72: More New Skill

Red tried his best to look for the movement in the river, hoping to find the remaining kobold. An arrow already nocked on the bow, ready to aim anytime he found the kobolds.

He didn’t see movement from the river, but maybe he was too far to see into the river. The current was not that strong, but it should be enough to carry the panicked kobolds over. He quickly followed the river as he realized those kobolds might get carried by the current.

He hesitated for a moment, glancing toward the still burning. The thought of exchanging the bodies for loot first before chasing the remaining kobolds crossed his mind. He quickly dismissed the notion. That was dangerous as he might get ambushed.

’Today, I am an archer! Don’t show myself until I kill all my prey!’

With that in mind, he followed the river from the top. He remained cautious, slowing down his pace to ensure he didn’t make any noise. The kobolds were aware that he was on top of a tree now. A little noise from the tree would alert them.

After moving three trees, he finally found the surviving kobolds. Three level 13 kobolds were pulling the four kobolds out of the water. One of them was on guard, looking up at the trees.

Two were lying on the ground after getting rescued, coughing up the water they swallowed in the moment of panic. Then they tried to pull two more from the water.

Red quickly noticed that the two on the ground had burning marks on their hands and legs. The fire burned the scales, revealing the charred flesh. He scanned the remaining kobolds, trying to find the archer if it was still alive. To his delight, there was no more kobold with a bow.

Maybe the kobold with the bow was killed by the fireball, or maybe the archer lost the bow in the water.

’This is it!’

He quickly put his mind into action, pulled the arrow, aiming at the kobold on watch. Its face was not covered by the helmet, which was his target. He took a deep breath and held his breath for a moment. Then he released the arrow.

Before the first arrow could reach the target, Red was already pulling another arrow from his quiver. The first shot pierced the level 13 kobold in the eye. It even went through the helmet on the back of its head as the tip of the arrowhead was visible.

The level 13 kobold flopped backward with a thud that shocked the other kobolds. They looked up, trying to find the attacker. However, a second arrow flew toward him and pierced the second level 13 kobolds.

The second shot landed between the eyes, another instant kill, and his arrow once more pierced through head and helmet. The kobolds only reacted after two of them were killed.

The level 13 kobold looked up, trying to find the attacker. Alas, all it saw was leaves. There was no noise, movement, or sight. That was when a fear crashed into the kobold.

At that moment, the arrow whistled through the leaves. The kobold didn’t hesitate to run, following down to the river. The arrow missed, but it still hit its right shoulder.

He was surprised that the arrow was strong enough to pierce the armor. The kobold tumbled for a moment, hissing in pain, but continued to flee.

Red clicked his tongue, but then he followed the fleeing kobold. He must kill them all, and could not allow this group to make it back. They would bring the information about him, how he attacked from the top of the tree.

He aimed at the fleeing kobold, but the moving target seemed still hard for him as he missed the second shot. Fortunately, there were not many tall roots near the river. His second shot landed on the kobold’s right calf.

The kobold felt its helmet collide with a slightly protruding root. He didn’t miss his chance as the fourth arrow pierced the back of the helmet, going through the back of the kobold’s head.

The kobold was twitching, and Red left it be as he traced back to the river, back where the remaining four kobolds were. Two were kobolds that remained on the ground because of the seared flesh on their legs.

He saw two kobolds run away, going upward of the river, going in the opposite direction of the level 13 kobold. They were slightly smart for that, trying to escape when they could beat the attacker. However, they made the wrong decision to follow the riverbank.

They should run back into the jungle. It would be hard for him to hit them while running. The roots would make their movement unpredictable. It also provided them a cover if they were smart enough to use it as a cover.

Red didn’t hesitate to chase, letting the two wounded crawl. His first attempt landed on the shoulder again, sending one of them tumbling forward. Then he changed the target to the kobold that was still running and hit it in the back.

It was hard to aim the head when they were moving, so he aimed the body to slow them down. To his surprise, the one who got shot in the back didn’t get back up again. He was surprised it died in one shot.

The one who got hit on the shoulder was already back on his feet. It tried to jump into the river, but he took it down with a shot on the back. It was still alive, crawling toward the river. It took him another shot to kill the second one, two shots on the back.

Red quickly traced back to the last two kobolds. Both were back on their feet, using the trees to walk. But that made them an easy target. They were wounded, and their movement was completely restricted as they could barely walk with support.

He didn’t come down and kill them with his blade; he remained on top of the tree with his bow, and he finished them off with two shots.

[You have learned a new skill, Bow Mastery!]

"That’s eleven..."

Yet he didn’t come down, remained on top while lurking around. He made sure that there were no more kobolds around and no other group was close by. He put aside the notification as he remained vigilant. After ensuring that the area was safe, he came down.

He traded each body for loot, retrieving his arrows one by one. He ignored the coins this time, just the cores. He was relieved that the burned body could still be exchanged for loot.

After retrieving his arrows and getting his loot, he was back on top of the tree. Then he laid down the cores as his eyes gleamed in excitement.

He got twenty-eight cores, much more than he expected. There were many more coins than usual as well, realizing that he got more than he was supposed to.

He separated the Might Core and Magic Core. It had become his habit to do so before absorbing them. He had sixteen Might Cores and twelve Magic Cores. This time, he didn’t forget Darla’s share, separating two Might Cores into pouches. Then he absorbed the rest.