Dragon’s Road
Chapter 4
Fun with Kobolds
Ryuu ran through the heavily occupied fort. The doors of each building opened as he passed, releasing more of the child sized creatures which joined the group that was already chasing him.
The difference between running away and tactical retreat is whether or not one has a destination in mind. Ryuu was running along the wall, looking for a passage that would lead to the walkway that overlooked the area. No matter their numbers, if he could find such a passage, they could only follow him through single file.
However he never got the chance. Alarms had been raised all over the fort and kobolds came from every direction. It wasn't long before he was completely surrounded with no practical means of escape.
With no direction to run, Ryuu took a stance and prepared himself. Although this was the first time he was likely to die in the video game, it was not the first time his life was in danger. His master felt someone could not properly appreciate a man's power to take life unless one was put into situation where one's life was not guaranteed. Though the pigmy lizards were quite a bit less menacing than adults with fire in their eyes and guns in their hands.
The kobolds formed a half circle around Ryuu against the wall, but did not come closer. At first Ryuu wondered why, but then he saw a large, seven foot tall figure wearing a helmet approach from behind a building. It had the head of a kobold beneath the helm, but where the others were scrawny and small, this one was thick, with bulging muscles and taller than a man. Above its head in red letters spelled out the name, Rectisk.
The kobolds between the large one and Ryuu shouted, "Make way for the general."
"Kobold general?" Ryuu asked aloud.
The creature moved its hand to his back where It seemed he had strapped a bronze greataxe. It made its way into the circle. It let out an intimidating roar that surpassed Ryuu's own in ferocity and set a stance of his own.
Once again, Ryuu could not help but let a large grin stretch over his mouth. This game was his kind of fun.
The general stepped forward with a horizontal axe slash Ryuu dodged by jump kicking the monster’s face. The kobold staggered back a bit but returned with quick a diagonal slash. Ryuu used Ki Strikes to counter whenever the monster used its large attacks. The resistance his attacks felt against the creature’s skin meant it was much stronger than the fodder he had been dealing with, so he only attacked when safe to do so. One false move and his body would be split in two by the blade of the massive axe, one wasted step and his ki depleted body would be defenseless against the next strike, one command from the general and the dozens of kobolds that surrounded them both would overwhelm him. It was a good day.
Ryuu jumped over the downward axe slam to deal an axe kick of his own to the top of the general’s helm. The impact rang loud and the heel of his foot went numb. After landing he saw that the helm had been pressed over the kobold general’s eyes and he had moved his hands to press it up. Ryuu took a step back for room and charged into the kobold’s gut with a flying, ki powered knee strike. The power sent the kobold into the wall which shook from the blow. The red name Rectisk faded and the general didn’t get back up.
You have gained a level!You have gained a level!You have gained a level!You have gained a level!New Stat: Fighting SpiritSkill level up: Unarmed combat mastery [5]You have learned a new skill: Disarm.
Another new stat and so many skill points and no time to examine the stat or assign the points. Though he did feel stronger than he did since the start of the battle. A ‘Mastery’ skill is one that strengthens whatever is being mastered, so ‘unarmed combat mastery’ would increase his attack and attack speed as the skill grew in level. Sometimes such skills would generate new skills upon reaching a certain level.
The kobolds hesitated to approach, someone who could fell their general was strong enough to be feared.
Ryuu immediately understood the situation, so he took the pause in battle to open his stat bar and assign his stats, he had no time to divide them as he pleased, so he put all he could into vitality. Vitality increased health and Ki, so increasing the stat while injured would increase health, though not restore it. He had hit level 15 so had 75 points to spend, he managed to increase the stat by 24 before the kobolds overcame their shock and charged.
However the attack pattern was as different from before as day is from night. Some attacked, some ran, some slashed aimlessly, accidentally(?) hurting the ones next to them. It was as if the death of the general removed all organization from the kobolds within the camp.
Ryuu attacked the ones who seemed to know what to do and moved closer to the ones that didn’t. Soon he was surrounded by knitwits that seemed to have no ability to attack together. Not long after the crowds of kobolds had spread out, the party from before had penetrated the camp and was killing wave after panicking mobs. Telkin, the ranger, was sniping the fleeing kobolds while the knight was cutting down group that approached the priest who himself was pounding the small creatures with the his top heavy wooden staff.
Telkin shouted, “You’re still alive? Gothor!”
“Healing Hand!” The priest cast another healing spell, it seemed he had recovered at least some of his mana.
The battle went on for another half hour. Many of the kobolds fled, but most had been killed, and Ryuu had reached level 16.
The camp was filled with some two hundred corpses, in hindsight Ryuu realized that coming into the camp alone was foolish. A fort is built to be guarded, and displays its strengths when attacked by small forces. If there had been a second general to command the kobolds, or if they had not scattered so aimlessly upon Rectisk’s death, Ryuu would be dead.
Although he felt truly alive in such danger, there was great loss in death, even in a game. When one died in Royal Road, their account was locked for 24 out of game hours and the skill proficiency percentage dropped 5~12% for each skill, with the ones most relied on taking the bigger hit. Ryuu's Ki circulation skill was at beginner level 8 with 87% towards the next level. If he died, that could drop to as low as 75%. Such a loss would take about ten hours of constant use to regain proficiency. Ki strike would take a hit as well. Counting the loss of four in game days and the time it took to regain lost skill proficiency, dying in Royal Road cost an entire week of game play time, not to mention the possible loss of items upon death.
Telkin walked up to Ryuu and said, "You are definitely an idiot. When you said 'meet up with you here,' I thought you meant you'd check it out and wait till we got here. We could've waited until night and drawn them out in small groups. That's how you get the most out of a field hunting ground."
"Wait until night?" His student didn't say anything about time preferences for hunting.
"You are new huh. Alright, remember this. Monster strength for fields, or areas not apart of a dungeon, increases by 50% at night. The experience for killing them also increases by 30% at night. I'll also tell you this; inside a dungeon is the same as outside at night. So in a dungeon filled with kobolds, they will be 50% stronger, they will give 30% more experience after killing them, and they will drop better loot than the ones you've killed here. Speaking of loot. How about we split it fifty-fifty for this place. My party gets half, you get half. Sound fair?"
"Sure. By the way, what about guys with red names over their heads?"
This shocked Telkin out of his loot collecting, "What? Did you see one here? Where? Is it still here?"
Too many questions. Ryuu simply walked over to the general's corpse and motioned for the ranger to follow.
Telkin examined the giant kobold for a moment and said, "The hell? What level are you?! Kobold generals are level 40, and red names mean they are 20% stronger, they also give more experience."
"My level is currently 18,” he answered, “don't think about it too much."
"Currently? As in killing all that got you to 18? I killed a fraction of what you killed, and I'm at lvl 19. Yeesh, alright, I won't ask, thinking about that gives me a headache anyways."
Ryuu went back to collecting fallen loot. The lot of them would put everything they found in a pile and split it in half for distribution. Ryuu didn't really trust them at this point, but they rushed in to the fort to fight when it would have been wiser not to, so that told him something about them.
After thinking about how to do it for a while, Ryuu opened his status window and assigned the remainder of his stats to strength and agility. 25 to strength, and 40 to agility. His own precision could target the weakest points of a target to increase damage, so he didn't need too much more strength, but he couldn't deliver attacks or dodge at the speed he wanted, so agility was required. He noticed and remembered the new stat currently at 1, Fighting Spirit, and said, “Show Stat Fighting Spirit.”
Fighting Spirit: You can call on superhuman strength temporarily, or bring weaker monsters to their knees with a force in your eyes alone. You are prohibited from distributing stat bonus points to this stat, and it rises spontaneously. Depending on the avatar’s action, especially if you fight monsters for a long time, or often confront monsters stronger than your current level.
It seemed interesting at least. If the skill rose on its own just like Affinity to Nature, he would have to make a point to put himself in situations that would make them rise more often.
After an hour, all the fallen kobold's loot was in a pile in the middle of the fort. After splitting it, Telkin asked, "Ryuu, what are you going to do next?"
"Hmm. Find another place to train I guess."
"I see, wanna join us? We've talked about it and could definitely use a power hitter like yourself."
"And do what? Hunt wolves?" Wolves were level 25, although they gave more experience than kobolds, they moved in small dangerous packs and were highly intelligence. Because of the difficulties of hunting them, it was better to hunt weaker monsters that were in larger groups.
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"Nope, more kobolds. There is a dungeon full of them. These guys probably came from there. With just the three of us we're too weak to give it a go, but with you it'll work."
"Alright." Ryuu remembered what Telkin said before, so although in dungeon Kobolds would be stronger, they would also give more experience.
Telkin said, "Cool, would you like to join our party?"
You have received an invite to join Telkin's party.
Accept?YesNo
"I'm in.
You have joined Telkin's party
"Sweet, let's return to the city to sell the stuff and supply up."
Ryuu sold his loot at the city as the others did, but he didn't buy anything. He didn't need anything. Ki circulation and natural ki absorption increased the rate his usable bars replenished themselves, so he had no need for stamina or health increasing herbs or bandages. He had no weapons that needed repairing or arrows to buy. The only thing he needed was food, and his inventory already had some preserved food packed as well as the makings for traps to catch his own if needed.
The group regathered at the gate after buying what they needed and set off for the kobold cave. It was only a few hours walking distance from the city.
The priest Gothor said, "Oh yeah, we're not the only ones who know of this place, we'll probably encounter another other parties."
Telkin said, "Yeah, just stay out of their way and they'll stay out of ours."
Ryuu had one more question, "Does this dungeon have a boss?"
Telkin answered, "Yep, at the bottom is a level 60 named mob, a kobold king. Since he's in a dungeon he's 50% stronger, and being named makes him another 20% stronger. So his actual strength is about level 100. Don't even think about."
He wouldn't, for now.
The group made their way into the cave. After a minute they found a group of armed kobolds, each with a shield in one hand and a sword in the other. Ryuu loved those flat wooden shields. When his kick didn't pierce through them, the kobold on the other side was launched backwards into whoever stood behind them, knocking the lot down like a row of dominos.
After the shield bearers were down, Telkin sniped the furthest kobolds and the knight helped Ryuu take out the rest.
The group was decently efficient, they stopped to rest a few too many times for his taste, but during those breaks Ryuu took the opportunity to farm Telkin for game details.
"So, if dragon skin has complete resistance to magic and their hides take almost no damage from a physical attack, how would one kill a dragon?" Asked Ryuu. He wanted to know the strengths of the strongest in Royal Road, so naturally dragons came up.
Telkin answered, "That's the question isn't it. Well, if neither physical nor magical strength is enough to kill one, the answer has been thought to be a combination. Specifically, a high damage magic weapon that can pierce through the dragon scales and cast powerful magic beneath the dragon's skin could do the trick."
Ryuu considered it, not one or another but a synergy or both would be required to slay the mightiest creatures in Royal Road.
At one point while fighting in the cave, something unexpected happened. Ryuu was fighting three kobolds in a larger group, two were holding Ryuu back while the other was muttering something. From behind, the knight shouted to him, “Shaman! Get back!”
Three balls of fire shot from the end of the kobold’s staff. Ryuu moved his arms to guard, but at the impact of the first, it detonated and blew them away. The next two struck his body and again, detonated.
You have been dealt 564 damage.You have been dealt 601 damage.You have dealt 631 damage.You are on fire,health will slowly decline.You have been stunned.
Three-fourths of his health disappeared in a second flat, and it was still disappearing. The impact shook his body so badly he couldn’t move it.
The knight charged over the other kobolds and slashed the shaman, when the priest realized Ryuu was still alive he cast healing hand.
After the fight, Telkin said, “I can’t believe you’re still alive. Crap, dap, damn, I'm sorry. I foto tell you about the shamans. They’re really uncommon here, but against low level guys magic can spell the end. How much health do you have?!”
Although he was a little shaken at exploding, his nerves were fine, and he calmly answered, ugh he was a little shaken at exploding, he recovered fine, and he calmly answered, “Not enough to survive a fourth fireball. Do they always explode like that?”
“No, that was probably fire bomb. A regular fire ball spell just causes fire damage without the impact. I’m sure you already figured this out, but strong impacts can stun you in this game”
Ryuu brushed the soot off his arms and checked out his gi. He thought it would be in cinders but it was burning and the gi had high resistance to damaging effects. He had never been on fire before and doubted it would hurt so little in real life. The damage and pain was a burning and stinging sensation, but martial artist is no stranger to pain so it was in Royal Roads it was just background noise to him.
"So. That's magic." This was his first encounter with magic in Royal Road, and it made an impression.
The party continued on for another seven days in the cave. Ryuu had no day job other than overseeing the training of his students and his days as a student at school were long behind him. The others in the party were not so fortunate. A majority of the time, Ryuu fought alone in the cave or with one or two of the whole party. It didn't long for his level to rise above the others to the point it was no longer worth sharing experience as a party. Telkin and the others understood, they had also grown strong enough to train without his protection, so there were no hard feelings.
Since it seemed to Telkin like Ryuu would do it anyways, before they parted Telkin told him about the monthly party that went to fight the Kobold King.
Ryuu was tempted to take on the kobold king alone, but his level was just 34, and from what Telkin said, the boss room was know to have two kobold generals and at least six kobold shamans. Even Ryuu recognized a suicide mission when he saw one.
Ryuu opened his stat and skill menu to see how much progress he had made since leaving the city.
Status WindowExitAvatarRyuuAlignmentNeutralTitleNoneLevel34ClassNoneFame37InfamyNoneHealth3350Ki410Strength115Agility148Wisdom10Intellect10Leadership0Luck0Vitality101Endurance85Affinity to Nature12Fighting Spirit19Attack47Defense7Magic Resistances-Gravity14%
Skill WindowKi Circulation [9] 19%
Move ki throughout the body to increase health.
Health and stamina regeneration increased by 90% during circulation
+5% STR, AGI, and VIT for 20min after performing Ki Circulation.
Requires KiKi Strike [4] 37%
Moves ki to the extremities and bursting it at the moment of impact.
Attacking with Ki increases attack and adds non-physical Damage.
Cost: 17 KiNatural Ki absorption [3] 40%
A skill that takes ki produced by the natural world into the body.
The strength of the ki taken in is determined by Affinity to Nature.
Ki regeneration increased by 30%Unarmed Combat Mastery [6] 87%
Increases attack and attack speed when fighting without weapons.
+60% ATK, +30% ATK SPD When fighting unarmed.Disarm [4] 55%
Removes your opponent's weapon and forces them to fight you bare-handed.
Chance to disarm
(12+ (Your STR -Opponent's STR)/10)%
When he looked through his skills, it became obvious that the skill 'Unarmed Combat Mastery' had more of an affect on his damage than anything. In video games those who attacked without weapons did only a fraction of the damage of those equipped with weapons. The only way to make up the difference was through skills that increased attack power. However, every physical combatant could obtain a mastery skill for their weapon of choice so the bonus was not his alone. He advantage the training bonus stats gave him would not last long, if he wanted to overcome the weapon and magic users, he would have to raise that skill as high as he could, as fast as he could.
The boss raid party would form in a week, until then, he would stay in the deeper parts of the kobold cave and do all he could to increase his combat mastery skill.
?Chapter 5 Victory and Defeat in Royal Road
?Chapter 3 Familiar Training
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