Sheko went to the same spot where he farmed kobolds with GasStar yesterday, and simply getting to the clearing caused 2 kobolds to rush from the trees and immediately charge at him with raised knives. Sheko was already faster than the weak kobolds he was facing before, and with his embryo to help, Sheko simply set his spear in the headline of the kobolds, lightly gripped, and used his mark to spin the spear through the skull of one kobold and then through the neck of the other. Sheko, however, was unharmed from the attack as he simply let the spear turn around his abdomen, immediately releasing it from his light grip. However, after the attack, his spear fell at his side, leaving him in a defenseless position and the spear unmarked. It was better to realize the problem with that tactic now than when fighting a serious enemy.

Sheko crouched to lift his spear and just then an arrow flew towards him - it's from the same direction the kobolds came from - just as Sheko gripped the spear, he marked his whole body and spun it backwards to duck at the last moment. This also activated the new acquired "Matador" skill, giving Sheko a slight buff to his status for the next 10 seconds. Sheko then rolled to the side to avoid another arrow, prolonging his buff, and then stood up and charged at the archer. He received a buff to his AGI and STR from his "Charge" lancer ability. The archer was poorly concealed with its red scales in the green fauna, and with a quick stab to the abdomen, Sheko dispatched that kobold too.

However, this approach to the kobolds seemed to have been a bad idea. Once the kobold archer fell to the ground, the thump of heavy boots running towards Sheko's location was frightening. Someone was leading the kobolds, and what he dealt with was just a simple scouting group in comparison to the hunting group that was quickly approaching the area.

Sheko quickly returned to the forest opening, waiting for the hunters to arrive. Within 30 seconds, the group of four scaled humanoids appeared before him - three half-dragon warriors and one kobold shaman. they had likely discovered his location through arcane means. if this is anything like a normal RPG this is the biggest difficulty spike I ever saw. The half-dragon charged at Sheko with its sword aimed low, while the shaman conjured a pair of flaming orbs.

Sheko stepped into the attack, striking the half-dragon lightly on the side with the butt of his spear. He used Odysseus to turn the half-dragon around, causing it to lose balance, and launched it into the air, intercepting the hurling orbs. Sheko took a breath "that was close", As the monster disintegrated, the remaining two half-dragons defended the shaman, who was concentrating on creating a lightning strike.

Sheko charged at the shaman, spinning his spear's tip to push him above the guards to land behind them. He grasped the shaman's neck and spun it, causing a crunching noise before the shaman died, launching a bolt that grazed one of the guards. Sheko was now unarmed and facing two half-dragons. He lunged at the monster to his left grappling it, spinning both of them 180 degrees, letting a slash from the other monster strike the marked one.

Both the marked monster and Sheko crashed onto the ground landing close to Sheko's spear, Sheko took hold of his spear and got up. He snapped the marked monster's neck, but the half-dragon resisted with damage to its neck. Sheko spun the monster's neck once more, killing it. Now, he was bruised and bleeding, facing the healthy half-dragon.

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Sheko charged at the half-dragon, dodging its first attack by jumping to the side. He spun his spear into the monster's armpit and then ducked, spinning the spear horizontally to cut its stomach, giving it a fatal wound. But the monster's attacked one last time almost breaking Sheko's upraised left arm. Sheko took a look at his bleeding arm flailing without his control "i hope i could get back to the city in time" and walking dizzily to the town.

Call it luck or fate or just good timing, but GasStar, for some reason, was walking to the forest clearing and met Sheko just in time to give him a potion that would close his injuries so he wouldn't die from bleeding out.

"It's good to see you," Sheko spoke as he chugged the potion down.

"Can't say the same honestly. After your little trick 3 days ago, Kaizo has been seething about me setting you against him. And now he's said I gotta repay the group for almost losing the bounty. I thought to get the money by killing the kobold settlement, but I'm at it for 2 days now. Each time a few kobolds appear, and once I kill them, a much stronger group appears eating all my resources."

"I think I can say with confidence how that feels."

Sheko and GasStar spoke together, "It sucks."

"So how many did you kill before running away?"

"Counting the 3 normal kobolds at the start? 7 in total."

"For someone with barely any combat time and not even one maxed low job, it's pretty impressive."

"Thank you. So how many did you kill so far?"

"It's a little hard to count the kills sometimes, but I think I've taken down close to 30 of those shamans, half dragons, and rogues," GasStar replied.

"Wow, that's much better than me, considering you didn't die from all of that. So there are also rogues?" Sheko asked.

"Yeah, they suck. They poison their weapons, so even a scratch can have you killed," GasStar explained.

"So anyway, wanna team up for this hunting trip?" Sheko prompted.

"Did you not hear what I just said? Kaizo is blaming me for your little prank. How do you think he'd take it if he discovered I'm letting you tag along for this?" GesStar almost shouted back.

Sheko started again with an almost whispered reply, "So what? He's been giving you crap for a few weeks now, real-life weeks. Why do you care? Does he usually give a reason for you to not come with the rest of the group?" Sheko finished almost as loudly as GesStar.

GesStar was shocked but replied almost immediately, "Whatever happens between me and my friends is none of your business! How long are you stalking me to know about any of that? I'm giving you one chance: shut up, go away, and don't show your face to me ever again. It's a large game, I'm sure you can do what I ask of you."

Sheko stood up and took a step backwards, keeping his hands clear tucking his spear between his armpit. "I didn't stalk you. This whole drama is pretty clear to see on Kaizo's channel. You were part of the group, then suddenly a large pause, and Kaizo is back with you missing from much of the videos."

GesStar didn't make any moves but was still glaring at Sheko. "Good, so you aren't stalking me, but instead, you're stalking my friend. How is that better?"

"Well, I'm just in the business of dispensing justice against a griefer. Kaizo has gone directly to killing me for my honest mistake, and that's just unfair." Sheko then added in a lower than "and then proceeded to bad-mouth me on his stream afterwards."

"Okay, this isn't great, but I'll make you a deal. I will let you continue farming in this spot and won't tell Kaizo about this meeting. However, you won't get any help from me, and if I ask you to free up the spot, you do so."

"Agreed for the most part. However, I want to challenge myself, and this sounds like a good option for me, so you'll just have to learn to share the spot without making it seem like we work together." GesStar moved the staff at his side upwards and launched a rock at Sheko, who dodged at the last second by spinning the tip of his spear and turn him aside.

"Okay, fine, you can stay, but don't give me any trouble," GesStar replied in an exhausted but somewhat jovial tone.