Red Monster

Chapter 85: Silly Red

Red exchanged the dead bodies for loot right away. As usual, his hand was quick, grabbing them before moving away. He didn’t want the other hobs looking at his loot. They had agreed with him to have five loot, but they might change their mind if they saw his loot.

His pouch was overwhelmed with the cores, then he climbed up before separating the cores. He got fourteen cores, eight Might Cores, and six Magic Cores. That should be enough for him to reach level 10.

He checked his stat sheet once more. He had maxed out the magic stat, and he just needed five to six Might Cores to max out his might stat. The loot gave him eight Might Cores.

Red started absorbing the red cores. The first might have maxed out his Strength. His strength was at 89.8, just needed one core to max it out. The next core maxed out his Vitality, which initially had the same value as his Strength.

Both Endurance and Dexterity were on the number as well, both were at 89.4. He needed 0.6 for both to max them out. His average absorption was 0.4 per core; sometimes, he would get 0.6 or even 0.8 per core. Of course, he also sometimes got 0.2 but less often.

His average absorption was 0.2 before, but it increased. He didn’t know what changed, but that was a good change regardless. This was why he needed five to six cores. He wished that he would hit 0.6 absorption.

He grabbed another red core and absorbed it. His eyes were glued to his stat sheet, looking at two stats, Endurance and Dexterity. His eyes widened, his lips broke into a smile as his Dexterity shot up to 90. He was lucky to hit that 0.6.

Then he grabbed the core and absorbed the fourth core. He hoped it would be another 0.6, so he could use extra cores for his next absorption, or he could give Darla the extra core. He realized that she might need that extra stat to defend herself if the goblin jumped on her.

The red core disappeared from his hand as the number of his Endurance increased. Today was truly his lucky day because it was another 0.6 absorption.

[You have reached Level 9!]

Red waited for something, maybe another notification that told him about the evolution. He waited for that, and ten breaths passed. Nothing came up, and he waited another ten breaths; maybe it was delayed.

’Or maybe the clue is in my status sheet.’

He opened his status once more.

Level: 9

Health: 900 Stamina: 471 Mana: 1339

[Tier 0 Might]

Strength: 90 (+1.8) Endurance: 90 (+2.2) Vitality: 90 (+1.2) Dexterity: 90 (+1.6)

[Tier 0 Magic]

Intelligence: 135 (+6) Wisdom: 135 (+5.4) Arcane Perception: 135 (+5) Mind: 135 (+5)

Skills:

Tier 1 Skill: Mana Sense (Passive) - Level 15, Levelheaded (Passive) - Level 19 (+1), Appraisal - Level 17 (+1), Bleeding (Passive) - Level 2, Fireball - Level 4, Bow Mastery (Passive) - Level 2 (+1)

Tier 3: Mana Smelting - Level 6, Mana Refining - Level 4, Mana Sharpening - Level 2, Mana Repair - Level 2

Tier 4: Mana Forging - Level 1, Mana Tempering - Level 2, Mana Authority (Passive) - Level 2

Tier 5 Skill: Infernal Berserk - Level 1

Red scanned his sheet from top to bottom. He didn’t find anything that might lead to his evolution. He was frustrated because he could not find anything that might lead to his evolution.

It wasn’t until he saw the number next to his level. He blinked his eyes a few times, ensuring that he didn’t see it wrong. Then he recalled the notification. He didn’t even listen to or check it, tuning it out of his head.

"Ah, right... I was still Level 8, and I am level 9 now... What made me think that I was level 9 before?"

"I mean, 8 and 9 look similar in a way..." He muttered, trying to justify his mistake.

"Red! We are going to rest for a while until they recover. Keep watching the surroundings!"

The hob’s voice caused him to snap from his silliness. Red scratched his bald head, shaking his head. That just proved that leveling up was no longer exciting him anymore. He even mistook his own level, and he didn’t know why it happened.

If he had to guess another reason why he mistook his level, it might be because of his excitement. His excitement about the evolution. He was so close to level 9, and his deduction that level 10 was the threshold for evolution made him forget that he was still level 8, not level 9.

Red let out a sigh, the disappointment was immense, shaking his head, he looked down at the remaining cores. He had four Might Cores and six Magic Cores left from this batch, and he still had six magic cores from the earlier batch.

He considered how many cores he should give to Darla. She for sure needed more Endurance for his future happiness. She needed more mana for her new skills, meaning he might get more delicious food in the future. That was a necessary investment.

He separated four red cores and four blue cores, saving them in his pouch. That left him with eight magic cores, and he absorbed them correctly.

Then he took the post to watch the group, ensuring there was no kobold sneaking on them. Fortunately, there was no group closer by. They were pretty much.

It seemed the hobs were utterly exhausted and piled with the wound, which made it worse. They rested too long, and Red was worried that another group would come to this area.

He jumped down, looking at the hobs clutched on their wounds. The bleeding had stopped, the surface looked closed, but he knew it was far from being healed. However, it was amazing enough that their wounds got much better without any assistance.

"We should move now!"

His words caused an extreme reaction from the hobs. One of them grabbed their weapon, pointing at Red. All six injured hobgoblins growled at Red. They made sure to show that they didn’t like the suggestion.

"It’s easy for someone who fights from a distance like a coward to say that!" That was the response from the level 13 kobold. He had learned his name, Kork, "meanwhile, we have to fight them head-on to be your bait. Yet you still ask us to walk in our condition."

Red shrugged, "It’s not my idea to fight this fourth group."

The highest-level hob also joined in, "Give them more time to rest. They deserve it!" He said it with authority, an order, not a request that was up to discussion.

Red let out a sigh, looking at the highest level hob whose name was Grob, "If we have time, then I don’t mind staying longer. But we don’t have that time."

"What do you mean by that? Do you want to find another group?" Grob looked grim.

Red shook his head, "I don’t find another group close by, but we have killed more than fifty kobolds, wiped out four groups. If they don’t return, the kobold will send another group to this area."

Grob frowned, but he could not refute Red as the argument was convincing. If more than fifty... No, it was more than sixty kobolds. If more than sixty kobolds disappeared and didn’t return, the Kobold Chief would send another group to check the situation.

"It’s not too late to leave once you find another group getting closer!" Kork argued.

He had lighter injuries, but the two youngest hobs were in bad condition. The other three could walk, but they would be slow. It was hard for them to walk now.

"With how slow you are, they will catch up to us. I am not going to stay behind if that happens."

Grob let out a sigh as he agreed with Red now. If that was what happened, he would leave his team behind as well.

"Do you have a plan?" He asked Red.

"Move now. We can rest in another place, but we have to move now. Slowly making our way to the village instead of staying here. We can rest a few times on the way back if it’s unbearable for you guys, but we can’t stay."

Grob stood up, "He’s right. We need to move now. Leave your weapon behind. We can send the goblins to retrieve the kobold to get a replacement later."

They listened to Grob more than Red. While they grumbled, they listened to the order. Two hobs were helping the two youngest hobs, who were limping because of the wound on their thigh. Red honestly didn’t expect such camaraderie from them. He expected them to leave the two youngest hobs behind, given how hopeless they were.

Just as Red was about to climb the tree, Kork called him out, "Where are you going? You should help them walk since this is your idea!"

"Stupid. I need to scout the area and pick the shortest path back to the village. Unless you can find the shortest way back to the village while making sure there’s no beast or kobold to ambush us, then I will help them."

Kork was stumped and could not come up with a comeback. Even so, it didn’t reduce his resentment toward Red. The main reason for that resentment was that Red took the most loot.

The journey back to the village was slow, so slow because they had to stop around eleven times. But they eventually made their way back to the village.

The village was in sight, and the hobs finally smiled. Especially the ones with injuries.

"You report to the Chief. I will organize a group of guards to retrieve the weapon and armor before dark."

Red took the initiative to retrieve the weapon from the first group. That was closer to the village.

Grob had nothing to say, nodding. Kork, who harbored resentment, also said nothing, surprised that Red took the initiative for that. That lessened his resentment, but he still didn’t like Red.

Red watched as the group entered the village. Their return alarmed the village, which was panicked because they were wounded. He lied about organizing goblins, but he didn’t lie when he said about retrieving the weapons and armors.

He would do it by himself because he needed to remain hidden for his plan later. No one should know his whereabouts for his plan, and he needed an alibi for that plan as well. Retrieving the weapon and armor would become his alibi, a great one for his next plan.

His eyes grew colder as he entered the jungle and disappeared into the dark jungle.