Red Monster

Chapter 78: The Chief Return

Red worked on the forty-three arrows. He used minimum mana to refine the, trying to use less mana. He just found out that refining the arrow might make it stronger, but that made the arrow brittle, easier to break. There was nothing wrong with the skill; it was more like the limit of the materials to make the arrow.

That was why he came up with less mana for refining. The refining would make the shaft stronger and more balanced, but at the cost of durability. That was what happened to his previous batch that had gone through [Mana Refining]. He hoped using less mana would resolve the issue.

The arrow might be worse than his previous batch, but he got more durable arrows. The normal refining took 35 mana, but he reduced it to 20 mana. Then he used 9-10 mana for [Mana Sharpening]. So he used 29-30 mana per arrow, and he depleted his mana to go through all the arrows.

By the time he finished all the arrows, he was left with just 42 mana. His current mana pool was 1297. He used 1290 mana for refining and sharpening. Of course, his mana also regenerated during the process, hence why he still had 42 mana.

Red was tempted to create a new arrow, trying to understand the process. With a better material, a durable and strong arrow that could pierce the armor without worrying that it would ruin the arrow. But he was limited with his mana and had to stop for the night.

He had more than fifty arrows, with the remaining twelve arrows from the first batch. He took twenty arrows from the new batch into his quiver and put the rest into his small armory. The plan was to bring thirty-two arrows for tomorrow’s hunt.

With his remaining mana, he did a quick check on his bow. He was worried the refining would beat the bow. He was fond of his new weapon, hoping it would not break after one day.

Red checked it with [Mana Repair]. The image of the bow blueprint appeared in his head, and he tried to look at the red spots in his mind’s projection. The red mark meant it needed a repair, and he found three red marks.

Two red marks were spotted at the end of the bow of each end. Then the last mark was at the spot where he held the bow. The red mark on each end was faint, but the mark where he held the bow was quite clear. That was telling him the damage to the bow.

Red navigated the mana toward the red mark and let it do the work. The faint mark only used 5 mana, but the clear mark took 20 mana. He learned something from the repair. He put too much strength, most likely his grip strength. He needed to be careful about it.

He had a guess on what happened to the two faint red marks at the end of the bows. It might be related to his [Mana Refining], reducing the flexibility of the bow. It strained the bow and would break if he didn’t maintain and repair the bow properly. He went to sleep with 12 mana left.

The following morning, Red woke up with the sound of banging on his door. That startled Darla, who entered the bedroom and shook him up. She didn’t dare to open the door. Her fear of goblins remained even though it had been peaceful.

Red woke up and opened the door. He was surprised to find a figure that was slightly shorter than him, a quarter head shorter than him. It was the hobs, part of the Chief’s squat, that left the village.

"The Chief wants to see you! Right now!" The hob said that with an authoritative tone.

"Can I get my clothes first..." He pointed his bare chest, then down on his proud member, which stood tall so that it almost came out of his underwear. Something he wore ever since he lived with Darla. The little red was about to burst the underwear; a little bit more stimulation, and it might come out.

The hob stared at the little red for a moment before responding, "Go, quick!"

Red was quick; he assured Darla that there was nothing wrong, telling her he was meeting the Chief. He was going to be fine because he knew why the Chief wanted to meet him. It must be about the kobold, and he was the only one who killed them.

The hobs didn’t wait for him as he headed straight to the village hall. There was a small crowd around the hall, and they parted ways when they saw him coming.

He entered the hall and found all the hobs were inside with a few goblins and three Matrons who sat below the Chief.

The Chief was still imposing, still wearing his black armor, a pauldron with a growing steel horn on it. A giant axe and a halberd were sitting behind the Chief, and his eyes were on him as he entered the hall.

Red walked closer and dropped to his knees. He learned it the hard way before, getting forced to kneel. While reluctant to kneel, he knew that the Chief was still far stronger than he was, even with his quick progress.

"Get up!" The Chief’s voice was rough, yet it carried authority, didn’t sound forced, just like what the hobs tried to do to him earlier. He realized that the hobs tried to imitate the Chief.

Red listened and got back up, meeting with the Chief’s fierce gaze. That was just his natural gaze, sharp and fierce, which made him even more intimidating.

"Tell me the details of your encounter with the kobolds and how you killed so many kobolds!"

That was not a request; it was an order.

Red didn’t hesitate to recount the encounter and how he killed them. He mentioned how he used the giant tree as his platform, how he used to spear throw before changing it with a bow. He repeated the same report, but with more details about how he killed kobolds.

"Lies! He’s lying, Chief! There’s no way a weakling like him could kill so many kobolds! We need to punish him for lying to the Great Chief!"

That caught Red off guard, not expecting to hear such a reaction from one of the hobs. He remembered that he was on good terms with them before they left the village. They even fought together, so why did the hobs want him to suffer?

He turned toward the hobs, trying to remember if they had a personal vendetta, a bad blood.