Chapter 23: Chapter 22: In the Middle of the Night

After looting and moving the bodies of the Kobolds to the treeline, Drake’s body had finally finished healing, and the adrenaline from the battle had finally subsided.

He checked first to see if there were any more Kobolds making their way to him and was relieved to see that there weren’t. 

“Haa.. now that was a workout. I really need to get better though. My speed and strength are there, but my technique is so awful it’s leaving me open.” Drake mused, raising his arm and touching the cut in his leather armor where the Kobold had slashed him, the flesh underneath now healed and scarred.

Drake looked up and saw the orange hue of the last hours of sunlight and decided it was time to make some food and wash some of the blood off from the fight, he was both a mess and starving.

He began taking out the supplies he needed, some canteens of water, a pot, firewood, spices, some veggies, flint and steel. And finally.

 

[Deer Meat [Grade F]]

• Meat of a magically enhanced deer. Has beneficial properties when cooked.

 

“Time to cook some good old food like the glory days!” He cheered.

Drake moved the firewood into a small pile for the fire, shaving off some of the logs for tinder, and for a spit to hold the pot. After lighting the fire, he poured some water and placed the venison inside.

While waiting for the water to boil and meat to cook he took the other canteens a small distance away, took a swig to refresh himself then poured the rest over his head.

“Ahhh! I’m alive again.” He whispered.

He walked back to the fire still wet, getting close so that he could dry off and watch the food. He took a spoon from his inventory and began skimming the scum off the top of the pot. Once the meat turned brownish he put some cut veggies into the pot with some dashes of salt, pepper and something he wasn’t sure about, but smelled nice.

He stirred the pot and then left it to simmer.

He ran back to the tree line to check on the outpost. And he was surprised to see more Kobolds. A lot more. But they weren’t exiting the outpost, they were entering. Drake saw two Larger Kobolds corral the nearly endless stream of Kobolds into the outpost. Finally ending after a few minutes. 

After that, torches were being lit on the top of the guard towers, to prepare for the night.

“Guess they’re holding up for the night. But those torches might help me out later.” Drake smiled, a plan forming in his head.

Drake moved back to his makeshift camp, feeling comfortable knowing that he would most likely be safe until tomorrow from the Kobolds, based on what he had witnessed.

The stew still needed some time to tender, so Drake pulled up his notifications.

 

[20 of 20 Kobold Warriors have been Subjugated. Quest Complete]

[Accept Rewards?]

[30,000 Experience Points have been rewarded]

[Congratulations! You have increased to Mage x Warrior [Unique] Level 7] [ 28 Free Points have been awarded]

[Please roll for [F Grade ] Item Rarity]

 

Mentally Drake accepted the rewards, and pulled a black die from his inventory, casting it to the ground, without preamble as he had learned better than to get his hopes up anymore. He waited for the die to come to a halt, and it ended on 15. Not the worst and not the best, Drake thought.

The next moment a pair of steel boots sprung into existence in front of him from a flash of colorful light, clattering on the ground. Drake picked them up and inspected them.

 

[Steel Toed Boots [F Grade][Uncommon]

• 35 to 42 Physical Reduction

• 33 to 37 Magic Reduction

• 1% Critical Hit Reduction

• A finely made Steel Boots that offers a small amount of protection. +6% defense proficiency.

 

Drake gave a bright smile as he read the description. He had been needing a new pair of boots as he had actually not come to the tutorial with any. He had been taken out of bed, and the bit- construct hadn’t included any shoes in the ‘feebie’ she had given him.

He was also happy because this pair of steel boots he could actually use, they were lighter than the chest piece he had picked up so it wouldn’t affect his movement, and it didn’t block his vision like the helmets would. Drake slipped the boots on and was happy to feel the cushioned inside as he fixed the straps around his legs.

Drake then took a look at his other quests.

 

[9 of 20 Kobold Rangers [Rank F] Subjugated]

[11 of 20 Kobold Mages [Rank F] Subjugated]

[12 of 20 Miner Kobolds [Rank F] Subjugated]

[1 of 5 Squad Commander Kobolds [Rank F] Subjugated]

 

Still a bit to go huh. Drake thought. But he was relaxed in knowing that he knew exactly where to find them all. Drake had his eyes set on the outpost now, he wanted it as a base and to collect his sweet experience that was just waiting patiently inside.

Moving on from his future plans for the outpost he opened up the Ladder. He had been avoiding it because of his level reset, but he had to stay informed on who was doing what, information was king after all.

 

[Top Level Leaderboard]

[Rank 1: Bear Level 21]

[Rank 2: Shigure Kenzo Level 18]

[Rank 3: Illuminated One Level 18]

[Rank 4: Flagrant Level 17]

[Rank 5: Chris Spears Level 17]

[Rank 6: Kohoo Level 17]

[Rank 7: Joker Level 16]

[Rank 8: Check Him PC Level 16]

[Rank 9: TheLegend27 Level 16]

[Rank 10: Super Megan Level 15]

…..

[Rank 2,460: Shot Level 7]

Drake bit his cheek as he looked at his placement. But he was happy that Bear had kept his lead. It looked like not everything was smooth sailing though as they're leveling speed seemed to have slowed down. If he found anyone he would have to ask why.

He then checked on the TP ladders.

[Tutorial Point Leader Board]

[Rank 1: Bear] [TP: 273,800]

[Rank 2: Chris Spears] [TP: 188,535]

[Rank 3: Joker] [TP: 173,675]

[Rank 4: Kooho] [TP: 170,255]

[Rank5: Shigure Kenzo] [TP: 150,700]

[Rank 6: Shot] [TP: 147,600]

[Rank 7: The Enlightened One] [TP: 145,300]

[Rank 8: Flagrant] [TP: 130,500]

[Rank 9: Super Megan] [TP: 126,900]

[Rank 10: Check Him PC] [TP: 125,600]

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 He was surprised that he had broken into the top ten for the TP rankings, but his TP hadn’t reset with his level after all, and he was constantly in fights. Drake briefly looked at the remaining Participant count, somewhat disheartened at the number. It had dropped all the way down to the mid 3,000s, and looking at the levels compared to TP he could tell why. There were a few participants that were obviously hunting down others for the TP. Drake didn’t want to further upset his appetite and closed the Ladder window.

Finally done with checking things, he moved his attention to the bubbling pot that was exuding a heavenly smell that was making his stomach do somersaults of hunger pain.

Drake scooped up a hefty portion of meat broth and veggies, and blew on it for a moment. Once it was cooled, Drake chomped down on the food, nearly biting off the end of the spoon with it.

“Oh, ohma gawd. Itsh like shome wan ish making a baby in mah mouth!” He cried through tasty bites. He breathed through his mouth to cool the food more as he chewed.

“I’m so glad I survived until now… I think I could die happy…” He cried, scooping up another spoonful.

Drake felt an increase in vigor throughout his body with every bite, and soon looked at the new notification he received.

 

[You have been infused with Mana from another being. Beneficial effects will be applied.]

[For the next 24 hours, you will receive an increase of 5% to your out of combat regeneration.]

 

Drake took his time to finish off the pot of food, enjoying every bite to its fullest, the buff just being the cherry on top. By the time he had finished the last specs of light had winked out of the sky replaced by the black void that was the night. Drake quickly finished up, and put the makeshift camp back into his inventory. And what he brought out were torches. 

Drake moved around the forest, placing torches in places next to his dummies and some in the armor as if they were holding them. Doing his best to not stumble through the pitch black night.

He returned to the firepit, lighting another torch and then kicking dirt on the pit. Drake then moved around lighting up the torches he had placed earlier, placing his final one next to the pickaxe dummy he decided to name Charles. Like a butler Charles, not a king Charles.

“Hold this for me will you, like a good chap.” Drake said to the dummy, then shook his head. “I have to find some people, I'm starting to lose it I think.”

But Drake pushed the thought to the back of his mind. He had a plan that he didn’t want to lose any night time on.

Drake maneuvered his way through the night until he saw modes of orange and yellow light from fire through the trees. He was at the treeline and the outpost was lit up like a beacon in the night with torches. Drake looked towards the guard towers, only to see one Ranger in each.

He then took his time and pulled a crossbow and cross bolts from his inventory. Loading the bolts as quietly as he could, then taking his time to breathe deep and take aim at the towers.

Drake released his first bolt, and saw a Ranger fall from the tower with a yelp. The second tower’s Ranger looked on confused, aiming its crossbow towards the forest in an attempt to find the shooter. But Drake was essentially invisible from the lack of stars and moon in the night sky, the only light source was the torches from the outpost. So he loaded and took aim again at the Ranger, a bolt slamming into it pushing it from the tower.

The first stage of Drake’s plan was now in motion. He would stay at the edge of the treeline for cover, and keep picking off the Kobolds in the towers, until they would either stop sending monsters to the towers, and completely hold up in the outpost until morning. Or they sent out another force to deal with him.

Drake let loose another arrow at a monster nested in the tower, smiling as more began to pop up in the towers, making them easier to hit. For an hour, Drake released arrow after arrow into the towers, racking up massive amounts of TP and experience, eventually completing a quest.

 

[20 of 20 Kobold Rangers [F Rank] have been Subjugated. Quest Complete]

[Accept Rewards?]

[30,000 Experience Points have been rewarded]

[Please roll for [F Grade] Item Rarity]

 

Drake accepted the reward, pulling the die from his inventory and rolling it in front of him, but he couldn’t see what the die had landed on with there being no light. The next moment a mode of light illuminated Drake for a split second and he cursed. Scrambling to pick up the new item and die, before he dashed to a new location as the sound of crossbow bolts peppered where he had just been.

Drake looked at the outpost, as more monsters continued to fill the tower, the gate still closed and unmanned. Seeing this he took a moment to open his inventory to see what he had just gotten.

He found a new chest piece in one of the inventory slots that had the icon of what looked like robes. He quickly inspected them.

 

[Martial Artist’s Battle Garbs [F Grade] [Rare] [Set Piece 1/3]

• 207 to 215 Physical Damage Reduction

• 186 to 192 Magic Damage Reduction

• 5% Critical Hit Reduction

• +10 to Strength, +15 to Dexterity, +5 to Endurance

• Set Effect: Increases Flat Defense Proficiency and Dexterity by 10%.

• Requires a minimum of 2 Set pieces to activate Set Effect.

• The glorious battle robes of the Martial Artist. They are made with mana enhanced threads from the Shadow Moth’s cocoon giving them a comfortable silk feel while offering defense to rival Mana Steel. +20% defense proficiency.

 

Drake’s mouth watered at the sight of the word Rare, and even more as he read over the effects. Even without the set bonuses the flat stats alone were a welcomed sight. 

Drake pulled them from his inventory and tried to put them on but couldn’t get his way around some of the ties and a piece of metal in the dark. So he placed it back into his inventory and tried mentally placing it into the chest slot of the silhouette. When he did a small click sounded in his head as he felt something cover him. He couldn’t get a look at himself right now but he now had some more armor on top of him.

Drake began again to fire bolts into the guard towers for only a few more minutes before the gates swung open, and more than 50 Kobolds hurriedly ran out and formed up. The next moment another Squad Leader walked out pretentiously with a curled rope, no, a whip in its hands. Drake felt no powerful aura from this one as he had the other, and he soon found out why, as the Squad Leader barked and cracked the whip on another kobold.

A tinge of disgust rose up in Drake’s throat. He had killed the Kobolds in swaths by now, but that had been in defense of his life. They were trying to kill him so he fought back, and because he had killed them, they also retaliated in kind. But what Drake saw here wasn’t hardened Warriors ready to lay down their lives, he saw battered and sullen Kobolds holding pickaxes. Half of the force that had come out were Miner Kobolds. But they looked sullen and malnourished. 

Drake’s jaw clenched again as he saw that the Squad Commander wasn’t the only one abusing its fellows. A Warrior kicked one of the Miners to the ground and barked a laugh, as the other Warriors and the Squad Commander joined. They didn’t relent on the Miner for several seconds, eventually stopping when the Miner stopped resisting. Moving away to reveal a bloodied corpse.

They really just killed one of their own for the hell of it?! Drake fumed internally.

Soon another crack of the Commander’s whip sounded the march into the forest. They marched with the Miners in front, the Warriors behind and the Commander safely surrounded by a small number of Miners and Warriors in the rear.

Drake was still disgusted and tried to get a drop on the massive force, aiming his palm out towards the Squad Commander, quickly chanting a Mana Bolt. His magic flared and lit up the area around him. The entirety of the force noticed and started charging towards him, the Commander only cracking his whip and barking. The next second Drake’s Mana Bolt ripped through the air and crashed into a Warrior in front of the Commander and was about to imbed itself into the monster, when it pulled a Miner from its makeshift guard to block the Bolt. The Miner exploded in two, its lower half falling to the ground revealing the toothy grin of the Commander from behind it.

Drake grimaced, feeling disgusted by the display, and felt nothing but remorse for the poor creature he had just killed. It was no way to die like that, essentially a slave and a meat shield. Drake resolved to make sure the Commander suffered in the coming fight. Even if it was the last thing he did.

Drake turned and ran back into the dark of the forest, the large force of Kobolds hot on his heels.

After a minute Drake made it back to where he had set up his dummies, the entire area lit by torches. Him standing just outside of it to not be seen by the light.

Soon the thunderous marching of the massive force entered the light of the torches filling the area with more light from their own torches, the Commander at the center, making them perfect targets.

Drake let loose on the inundated number of Kobolds, shooting Mana Bolts as quickly as he could while moving in the darkness after each shot. He did his best to avoid hitting any Miners for now as he still felt a pang of guilt from the earlier kill. But there was nothing for him to do about it.

At first he tried to avoid the Miners but the Warriors behind them just pushed them into the way of the Bolts leading to more casualties among the Miners than Warriors. And once that began the Miners ran into the darkness willingly, trying to find Drake rather than wait to be used as a shield.

Drake steeled his mind as he reminded himself that they were monsters, and that if he hesitated, they would kill him without question. So he had no choice but to strike first.

Numerous Miners began to storm the darkness Drake was in with Warriors not far behind, holding torches to light their way. But that was their biggest mistake. The light was only making it easier for Drake to hide in the shadows and pick off the stragglers as he snuffed both them and the torches out.

Drake moved with swiftness as he struck at Warriors with his gauntlets, crushing the monster’s skulls and bones under their weight, slamming what felt like countless monsters down to the ground and into the sides of trees with his punches and now kicks with his new steel covered feet.

Soon the lights of the touches that moved from the area away from his dummies were winking out of existence, one by one until only a few remained. The survivors from Drake's rampage ran back to the Commander’s guard, only a handful of monsters left circled around it.

Drake walked from the darkness into the light, dragging a Warrior by its head in his bloodied gauntlet.

The Commander howled and barked at the man that had just revealed himself from the pitch of night, whose eyes began taking on a red shimmer from the torches, a golden shoulder guard shimmering atop his black and gold lined robe.

The Commander began to shiver and kicked the guard of Kobolds around him to move and defend him, but they were just as frozen in fear of the human, no, the beast in front of them.

As Drake moved in closer to the small group he threw the body of the dead Warrior at their feet. The Kobolds scrambled away, first one Warrior ran, then a Miner, and then in a mad dash of everyone but the Commander made a break for the darkness.

The Commander barked and howled at the fleeing Kobolds, and finally raised his whip to crack it at a fleeing Miner. As it motioned for the strike, its arm above its head, a Mana Bolt ripped off its arm at the elbow. It fell backwards gripping at its now stub of a bleeding arm.

The Monster looked up, with defiance and pain, only for it to be replaced with whimpering for its life as it saw Drake walk closer.

Drake looked down at the pitiful excuse for a Commander, at least the other one died fighting, and had a modicum of respect for its troops and the fight. But this one, this one brought out a feeling of disgust Drake had not felt in a long time.

Drake looked past the Commander for a moment as if confirming something. Then a black die appeared in his hand. Drake tossed it at the feet of the Commander, it slowly rolled and bounced towards it, 5 then 17, then 9, finally coming to a stop at the clawed foot of the whimpering monster. 20.

Two rings dropped from a mode of light into Drake’s open palm, and after a long breathless moment a wide grin appeared on his face. The gauntlets he held vanished from his arms, and he slipped the jet black rings onto the middle fingers of both his hands.

Drake squatted down to pick up a nearby sword left on the ground, and threw it to the Commander’s feet.

“Pick it up.” Was the only thing Drake said in a hushed tone.

The Commander looked at Drake and then the sword, shaking his head back and forth, scrambling backwards as it still grasped at its now missing appendage.

“I said, pick it up!!” Drake said with a guttural roar.

Suddenly black tattoos grew from the rings, completely covering its hands and then painting his arms up to his shoulders in illustrations of jet black fire. A faint blue glow started to form around his arms.

The Commander recoiled, then shakily grabbed the sword with its still usable arm.

Drake smiled. “You’re going to help me with a little practice session. We won’t be getting any sleep tonight.”

Drake pounded his fists together as throngs of blue Mana exploded like lightning from the impact and his eyes flashing with an ethereal blue.

The Commander howled, and lunged at him, desperation clear in its eyes.

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