Chapter 51 Kobold Cushion

Just to be clear, she was not just standing in one spot and firing. She would take the shot and duck down, moving to a new location. All the while she pointed out spots for me to appear from, nothing more than that just Arcane Step to a spot where the kobolds could see me to sew confusion.

She was like a scalpel to my sledgehammer when it came to solving problems. It took no more than a few minutes before she had killed almost fifteen of the creatures. Of course, that’s when the roar came. A few of the, I hate to call them houses, even shacks seem too strong a word to describe it, more like stacks of wood laying together to create something that would probably fall anyway, exploded outward from a creature that stood, a comparatively, massive six feet tall.

Kobold Brute (C) – Level 29

Seeing what was making the noise, my worry completely vanished. I cast Arcane Armor and Arcane Step moving right into the creature’s path. Seeing me the creature did not even try to stop. It dropped its shoulder and tried to plow right through me. Instead, I just stepped to the side and tripped it. Kobolds were also not very bright.

As proven by the fact that Evelyn just kept moving around in the background taking pot shots at the creatures while I stood there, anytime the Brute tried to get up I would just shove him back down. A few other kobolds ran at me and attacked using tooth and nail, some even had pickaxes that they tried to damage me with. Not even one, or at least none that I noticed, went after Evelyn as they just noticed me first.

Between the hour it took for her to prepare for battle and the fact that I was now an unwilling kobold punching bag, I had to admit, I was bored out of my mind. If I wanted this to be remotely engaging, I was going to have to convince Evelyn that a little speed wouldn't kill us. Sure, safety first and all that, but let’s be real, no battle plan survives first contact with the enemy, and this wasn’t exactly high-stakes warfare. At this rate, I’d be eligible for a kobold union pension before we finished up here.

It took another agonizingly long hour before she was finished with the kobolds. There had not even been that many left, they had just hidden in their shack things. Instead of going in to finish them off, Evelyn just waited them out. At one point instead of pushing the Brute down, I just sat on it. Evelyn came up to me when no more kobolds were showing up, save for the one I was sitting on and looked at me quizzically.

“Don’t take this the wrong way, but that…” I gestured at the ten or so kobolds still lingering around, “was hands down the most mind-numbingly dull fight I’ve ever been in. Look, I get it, safety first, live to fight another day and all that. But come on, sometimes you have to take a risk, especially when the worst thing that can happen is mild inconvenience. Fights won’t always go according to plan, and if you keep playing it this safe, I’ll have time to knit a sweater between attacks. Now, finish off this big guy so we can see if you hit level 10.”

“You are an ass, you know that, right?” she huffed. I grinned like I’d just won a lifetime supply of chocolate and made sure the Brute couldn’t reach her. Sure, holding it down might cost her a few experience points, but hey, teamwork makes the dream work, or at least makes her job easier.

In the end, it didn’t matter, she gained nearly 3000 experience from the creatures, just enough to reach level 10. Before she could even check, I urged her to hold off on selecting a profession. Then, focusing intently, I attempted to will the privilege of choosing an ascendant class to her. The moment she made her choice, I felt it, a shift in the air, a ripple of power. Just like every other time I’d witnessed someone gaining a class, her presence changed. It simultaneously demanded attention and seemed to blur at the edges, as if she was both more and less there at the same time.

Name: Evelyn Magnalon Talent: Sovereign Instincts

Level: 11

Class: Ascended Battle Arbiter

Experience: 241/2100

Profession: N/A (Available)

Experience: 0/100

Race: Human

Strength – 20

Dexterity –19

Endurance – 19

Constitution – 26

Wisdom – 43

Intelligence – 38

Luck - 64

Skills:

Identify – Level 1

Knife Mastery – Level 1

Bow Mastery – Level 2

Sovereign’s Gambit – Level 1

Truth Sense – Level 1

Adjudicator’s Edge – Level 1

At first, I felt a pang of disappointment, her class name sounded incredible, and I half-expected it to outshine mine. But then I remembered that I absolutely loved my own class, and my envy disappeared faster than a kobold in sight of Evelyn and her bow.

Evelyn did not even wait a second after receiving her class before she started telling me all about the class. Her ability, Adjudicator’s Edge, functioned more as a finishing move, best used at the end of a fight to secure victory. When used the next attack made by anyone was guaranteed to hit, it could not be blocked, dodged, or miss the target.

The skill seemed like a very strong ability that could help us if we were in a situation with a creature that was very defensive or could dodge extremely well. Hopefully by the end of the Dungeon she would be a lot closer to my level and we can see what other types of skills she would get.

After her adrenaline spike wore off from choosing a class, I decided to see what she wanted to do as a profession. “Evey, by chance do you know what alchemy is?” I asked, looking for a reaction of some sort.

For her part she gave me a look like I had asked if she knew the sky was purple. “It’s a profession that uses different types of herbs, combining specific parts in different ways, to create different types of potions. The potions can range from simple healing potions, mana potions, and stamina potions. To more complex things such as potions that can increase attributes or resistances. Or well, at least that is what the profession did in most of the stories I have read.”

Evelyn seemed to ponder the question before answering. “No, I can’t say that I have ever heard of such a profession. It sounds pretty interesting though. Not for me, I would not have the time I would need to dedicate to researching each plant, but maybe we can find people who would be interested in it.”

I sighed slightly in disappointment. The whole reason I chose the profession I did was because I did not want to spend all the time required for that type of profession. Plus being able to find interesting things was an ability that I very much enjoyed. Having a friend that could make them though, that sounded perfect.

“I believe that I will choose a profession called Royal Princess. It allows my perception of time to slow drastically, whenever I wish, while conducting royal duties. This will allow me more time to think through situations to give the best responses. I also gained an ability called Royal Decree, that allows me, once a day, to make a decree that all within ear shot must follow.” Evelyn stated.

I had to agree with her reasoning as well. Not only would it allow her to think through her scenarios, but with her talent it would allow her to choose the best result, not just the first thing that makes sense. I would, however, be trying to get her to figure out how to use that ability in combat.

With those choices made, we decided to set up camp in the remains of the encampment. Firstly, we did this because we wanted to see if more kobolds would show up. We did not want to go in the cave and eventually the Dungeon only to come out surrounded by more kobolds. Secondly, we did it to give Evelyn time to play around with her new stats.

While she ran around, jumping off the mountain walls and climbing trees, I made a fire and started cooking a deer we had killed while travelling over the last few days. While I had plenty of food in my Inventory it was not a bad idea to stock up on fresh meat when we had the chance. In this case though I was cooking it out in the open like this so that the smell might help draw in any kobolds on the area.

With Evelyn jumping around and the deer meat slowly cooking over the fire, my mind couldn’t help but wander. I was a little worried about what had happened with the rest of the army attacking the city. What happened with my father? He said that he was going to come as quick as he could but had not made it on time. My biggest worry though, was Nixy. Our bond was a new one, and while I could feel that she was fine through that bond, I did not know what was happening with her.

My thoughts were interrupted by the sound of battle coming from over where Evelyn had been training. The fighting did not last long enough for me to even get up from my seat, but it had interrupted my train of thought. That was probably a good thing considering it looked like the meat was going to burn if I didn’t turn it soon.