Seeing the increase in his stats, Thorian couldn’t help but grin. Even though he was nowhere near the strength of his past life, this feeling of rapid progression was something he had missed dearly.
With his fur now clean and his smell bearable, Thorian could finally plan out his next moves.
I need to know where I am. This place does look like the forests of Sherwood, but all forests look the same.
He needed to know, once and for all, whether he had gone back in time, or if he was transported to a different world altogether. To do that, he needed to explore more.
He looked at the night kobloid bathing in the lake and asked, “Hey, what’s your name?”
“Name?” The kobloid raised an eyebrow.
Thorian clicked his tongue at his follower’s dullness, “Yes, what’s your name? I can’t be just calling you “You” the whole time.”
The kobloid shook his head in confusion, “Me no name.”
“That makes it hard,” Thorian mused, his gaze drifting off momentarily before lighting up with inspiration, “Oh, I found a good one for you. Nox, your name shall be Nox from now on. It means Night in the old language.”
“Nox…” The night kobloid paused, absorbing his new name before a smile spread across his face. “Me like Nox. Me Nox.”
“Good, I’m glad you liked your name,” Thorian chuckled. “Now, let’s hunt for the whole night. We need to grow strong.”
Nox nodded with a resolute expression, “Nox strong!”
As such, the two walked back into the forest and started hunting once again. For two hours, they killed squirrels, rabbits, hares, foxes, deer, and other weak animals. However, as Thorian reached level 6, he noticed something.
Level 6/15 (exp: 0/70)
Even after killing a few rabbits and squirrels, his experience had not changed one bit.
Honestly, that was to be expected. Those small animals barely even counted when I was leveling up my class in the past. Well... at least the ones that had survived the deluge of monsters didn't give much experience points.
Once the difference in power was high enough, low-level creatures were just no longer useful to slay. Fortunately, Thorian was able to cruise through the early levels by hunting rabbits and hares. However, now he would need to focus on bigger and stronger beasts.
I hope those foxes and deer still provide some experience. Otherwise, I will need to start fighting true predators.
Thorian looked at Nox and gestured at him with his head, “Don’t hunt rabbits and squirrels anymore. We need to focus on deer and foxes, you understand?”
Nox nodded at Thorian’s words, “Fox deer. Nox understand.”
The two continued searching for a few minutes before Thorian’s eyes landed on a large hollow log. He signaled Nox to go to the other side without saying a word.
Thorian walked toward the opening of the hollow log with silent steps. As he looked down to see what was inside, he couldn’t help but smile. There were five foxes; two parents and three children.
Thorian felt no pity for the sleeping family. This was a kill-or-be-killed world, and he hated being the prey. The two kobloids massacred the fox family in less than a minute. They tried to escape, but there was no way out of Thorian’s strong jaws.
Level 6/15 (exp: 19/70)
So, 3 exp for the small ones and 5 for the parents, huh? I guess that went down too.
Small foxes used to give five experience for Thorian and the adult ones gave eight. While this decrease in gained experience was unfortunate, it was not the end of the world. At the very least, they could still hunt relatively weak animals and level up with not much risk.
Time continued to pass, and before they could realize it, three hours had already gone by.
Level up!
After killing another sleeping deer and doe couple, the level-up screen appeared in front of Thorian. Even though the effects of the last level-ups were not as potent as his first one, their accumulation profoundly changed him. His muscles grew, his frame became larger, and he gained around an inch in height. He was now as tall as a normal human teenager.
Thorian smiled at his progress before looking at his follower.
“Did you level up too?”
“Yes,” the night kobloid nodded. “Nox level 8.”
“Good,” Thorian then looked at the full moon illuminating the forest before his smile morphed into a full grin. “What do you say we go for some bigger prey now? These helpless lambs are becoming a bore to slay.”
“Nox not understand,” The night kobloid looked at Thorian with a confused look, before his expression changed into excitement, “But Nox fight strong!”
Thorian chuckled, hearing his follower’s words, “You’re truly simpleminded. But I do like that about you.”
Let’s check our status, I haven’t seen it in a while. Display Panel.
Ding
Status Panel Race White Kobloid Lifespan 40 years Level 8/15 (exp: 0/110) Cultivation realm Qi Gathering First Stage (7.9%) Stats Strength 18 (22) Agility 19 (24) Constitution 8 Mana 4 Qi 1 Skills Minor Moon Boost (Passive)
Seems like my Mana barely ever increases. Good… I don’t need it right now. Strength and Agility are paramount when I don’t have any skills that are worth the name.
Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.
As they continued walking through the forest, a thought suddenly flashed inside Thorian’s mind. He looked at Nox with a raised eyebrow and asked, “Why haven’t you used your skills yet?”
“Skills?” Nox looked at him in confusion.
“Yes, skills,” Thorian nodded. “Night kobolds are known for their shadow skills. When they reach the rank of a lord, they become truly horrifying to deal with.”
Nox shook his head at the explanation. “Nox no skill shadow. Nox skill moon.”
“Huh, interesting,” Thorian raised an eyebrow. “So you only have the moon passive. Maybe you will only gain the shadow skill once you evolve into a proper kobold.”
Nox did not answer him verbally, but he did nod with great enthusiasm. Seeing his excited and happy face, Thorian chuckled.
Simple thing. I guess just the thought of evolving and becoming strong makes you happy… I do not dislike that.
While the two were talking with each other, Thorian’s ears perked up as he heard a shuffling in the distance. His attitude immediately changed and his eyes focused on the darkness in front of them. After a few seconds, his pupils dilated and he could see as well as if it was a clear sunny day.
The two went down on all four to camouflage their presence before they galloped through the bushes and shrubbery toward the direction of the sound. It took them barely half a minute of running before they found the answer to their questions.
“Awoo!”
A pack of five wolves was eating and yanking at the flesh of a hunted doe in the middle of a small clearing. Thorian couldn’t help but grin as he looked at the apex predators that his own species was based on. It was as if he was looking at his own ancestors.
Well… Now I can’t ignore them, can I?
With his increased stats, Thorian was more than confident of his win. However, he still wanted to know how would these relics of the past compare to the monsters of the apocalypse.
With a head gesture, Thorian signaled for Nox to go in. The two bolted into action with a ridiculous speed compared to the start of the night. Before the wolves could even react, Thorian slashed the first one’s chest before biting into his neck. With a herculean biting force, he yanked the wolf’s corpse from the ground and threw it at the rest of the pack.
Using this opportunity, Nox pounced at one of the disoriented wolves and savagely bit into its stomach. His fangs slashed and pierced through its underbelly’s flesh like it was made of soft fabric. The guts and innards of the wolf gushed through its open stomach and the kobloid ate them hungrily.
Thorian winced at the savagery of Nox before focusing back on the last three wolves. Their ears were perked up and their fangs were bared as they growled at the two.
In but a fraction of a second, two of the wolves rushed at Thorian from both sides, but to him, they were terribly slow. The first beast charged at him from the left with its front paws high and its jaws open. With a smooth movement, he sidestepped the attack and grabbed the beast by its back. His hands tightly locked at the wolf’s stomach and it swiftly came to a stop.
The other wolf immediately charged at Thorian and bit at his calves, but its fangs could barely pierce through his flesh and could not touch the bone.
“I have always wanted to do this one,” Thorian grinned as he lifted the wolf he was grabbing off the ground and over his head. With an explosive arching motion, he fell backward and the wolf’s head crashed into the ground.
The beast whimpered in a stunned daze while the other wolf continuously bit at Thorian’s leg. While his constitution was high enough that it couldn’t break his bones, it did not mean that it could not injure him. His leg was dripping with blood from the knee down to his ankle. To add salt to injury, the last wolf also jumped into the fray, and charged at him.
Seeing the situation taking a turn for the worse, Thorian yanked his right leg out of the beast’s mouth before dodging to the side. Holes and wounds covered the white fur on his calve with red blood.
However, even with all his injuries, he was still able to generate enough force on his left leg to pounce at the third wolf and shove his claws into its neck. The beast that injured him before charged at him once again, however, Thorian was not going to fall for the same attack twice.
He grabbed the third wolf by the flesh of its neck while it gurgled and growled and threw it at the beast charging at him, sending both flying backward. Without wasting another second, he pounced at the two on his uninjured leg and slashed through the second wolf’s neck like lightning striking from the skies. Blood shot out like a fountain as the two beasts thrashed on the ground
Thorian then shifted his attention to the last wolf. It was still in a daze from Thorian’s suplex, but the latter did not want to give the beast any chance as he pounced at it before it could regain its balance. His fangs dug through the beast’s hide and flesh, cutting the arteries and letting the blood flow in his mouth. Just as the sweet taste lingered on his tongue, Thorian stood up and spat out the beast’s blood with a grimace.
He continued to spit out the wolf’s blood until the taste completely left his mouth. By then, his prey had already stopped gurgling and life left its eyes. He looked at Nox only to find him feasting on his wolf’s flesh like it was Thanksgiving.
How utterly savage. I need to introduce some manners to this tribe if they want to become my subjects.
With the battle now over, the adrenaline that was rushing through his system had died off, and his past mistakes caught up to him. He winced in pain as he looked at his right leg, it was as if that one part of his body changed subspecies.
Well, no matter. After a level-up or two, it should be good as new.
With that thought in mind, Thorian checked his experience bar to see how far he was from leveling up.
Level 8/15 (exp: 60/110)
Thorian raised his eyebrows and smiled as he looked at the number in front of him. He then looked at the corpses of the wolves around and chuckled.
So each one of them is worth 20 experience? Maybe we should be focusing on them rather than those poor foxes.
While lost in his thoughts, Thorian’s ears suddenly perked up at a sound in the distance. He immediately looked at Nox and signaled for him to hide. The kobloid nodded at his signal and the two ran to the bushes.
After a minute of waiting, they could finally see the source of the noise. It was humans.