Colt closed the distance between him and the boss, rapidly firing off his inspection. Still nothing. The thick kobold swarm around the boss closed—making a barrier of small furry flesh that was too many for a single knife to easily slice through. Any time he started to get too close to the boss, the kobolds got in the way, and the big guy, catching his eye, began to spam out as many kobolds as he could in rapid order, bapping them like it was going out of style.
More and more.
There could be only one solution. Colt sunk to knee level—and Cut. An arc of death tore forward, splitting the kobolds at the knees. One, two, then five went down in front of him as they suddenly stumbled into the invisible edge of his knife.
It was almost like a tripwire.
If the trip wire had an infinitely sharp edge, there were gouts of blood, screaming, as the kobolds in front of him fell to the ground. Not quite dead, but certainly no longer in the fight.
Colt stepped forward, feeling the slowly expanding ripple of the blade move forward—shoving the kobolds splayed out of the ground out of his way so he could step.
More.
It cut through several more as it expanded—stretching to the limits of what his Soul could manage. Each kobold that it slid through, exacting just a bit more out of him. Testing the strength of the invisible edge. He winced as the connection to him pulled, rapidly nearing the limits of his soul.
If he’d been more rested, hadn’t already spammed out his edict so many times today…
No.
Colt ignored the feeling, straining even further as he took several more steps—ignoring the kobolds rushing him as he got closer to the boss. They were like angry bees, pissed that he was getting so close to the hive. But he could see the big bad boss right now. Hitting an unconscious kobold in the head again and again—blood pouring from the wound.
He smacked too hard and broke into the skull—thank yanked one of the clones in front of him and began to hit that instead.
The edge of his invisible blade wavered as another ten kobolds lost their feet. Some of the little menaces started to get wise and tried to leap over the line of death, which made Colt have to multi-task, working with his knife on any of the stragglers that got too close while he rode the wave towards the boss.
Just as he felt it sputter out, he reached it. About fifty feet away.
Inspect worked.
———
Name: Kiltus, ‘King Kobold.’ The III - Level 32 (Boss)
Description: An overweight and overgrown Kobold, Kiltus had always been the opposite of the runt in his litter. Over the course of his life, he didn’t follow the typical path. No, Kiltus found out that it was easier to get others to do things for you than to do things for yourself. A revelation that many Kobolds fail to have in their life.
Using this revelation, Kiltus came across a particular and rare magic—the ability to duplicate—and then began to cycle of Kobolds. Never again did he have to lift a finger; no, all he had to do was bash more Kobolds out of Kobolds until he got everything he wanted.
Little did he know that the more mouths you have to feed, the more problems you have. And in a place like the Endless Alleys, more people mean more problems.
To clear the Endless Alleys, King Kobold must be slain.
Noteworthy Skills:
Duplicate [Epic] - Level 16: This skill allows the duplication of others. Note that overduplication results in the degradation of intelligence and civility in affected creatures.
Kings Aura [Rare] - Level 7: This Skill allows the user to impart a feeling of respect to creatures of a similar race and gives them an inherent bonus to leadership and direction.
Consume [Uncommon] - Level 8: This skill allows the user to consume nearby corpses or meat of the recently deceased to regenerate their own physical form.
Arcane Magic [Uncommon] - Level 12: This skill allows the user to cast a variety of arcane spells based on knowledge and expertise.
Inspect (Basic) has gained a level!
———
King Kiltus garbled something and waved his staff towards Colt; the big guy was quivering, his jowls howling as he no doubt commanded his army to attack and to keep attacking. Not that the orders had stopped Colt’s advance so far.
But the numbers had thinned. Throwing themselves at him like animals into a line of death without any restraint had left a gap in their numbers.
Colt locked in.
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The next kobold that dived at him, he leaped over, straining his muscles—when he landed, another of the monsters was on him, biting at his ankle.
A quick slash to its face was enough to get it to withdraw. He twisted around the reach claw of another, jabbing it under the armpit before shoving forward. An unavoidable one came right for him, leaping at his face.
Colt uses the Phantom step, and the monster sailed through him as he phased out of reality.
Step by step, he moved forward, closing the distance between him and the King.
A tide of inevitable death. Fifty feet became forty, and forty became thirty. The King’s panic increased; sweat ran down his chubby ruffles as he moved and bashed more kobolds, straining whatever magic it took to duplicate them.
Yet Colt kept coming, Inevitable.
Thirty became twenty, and the wave of Kobolds around him were little more than tiny roadblocks. They died, or he simply walked through them.
He began to understand what this class was about and what an Edict was.
It was a law. An immutable thing that happened when commanded. As an Edict Carver, he was the same, immutable, etching into reality what he willed. He was no longer someone to kick around, nor did he sit beneath petty tyrants like King Kobold. What he willed would happen. And with this power he earned, he would see justice wrought.
First, this boss.
Then Bill.
And then whatever else this damned reality threw at him,
Colt broke through the last shell—the Kobolds were still stumbling around him, but they had kept a respectful distance from their King as he duplicated more and more of them. The result was that there was a good ten feet around him that they failed to enter, and as Colt breached this outer shell, he finally got his first clear angle at the boss.
Not a second was wasted. As soon as he saw the line, he threw. His knife soared through the air and then slammed into the King’s throat—the big blob gurgled, slamming a meaty paw on the new wound.
Then, unexpectedly, he bit down into the nearest new kobold clone, tearing out a meaty chunk with his jagged teeth and slurping it down.
He removed his hand from the new wound, it healing.
Consume in action once more. A grotesque skill. He wondered how often this guy made a diet of his followers.
The knife reappeared in Colt’s hand, and he dove forward, leaping over another kobold to put him face-to-face with the King—his first course of action was to kill the Kobold around them, slicing the barely-living one the King had been using to spam out clones.
Next, he began to work the king. Testing him with a knife slash.
The big guy blubbered, and a magic shell appeared between them, a pale purple membrane made of glistening squares stacked together.
His knife rebounded, and the boss gurgled and laughed beneath his shield. Then, a spiral of purple energy shattered the shell and slammed into Colt, spinning into his body like the head of a drill. Blood whipped out of him, but the spell broke against his skin, digging in but not spearing through.
Colt grimaced, hurt but happy not to have a hole through him.
In trade, he lashed out with his knife again, trying to carve out his pound of flesh for the pound he’d given.
It slicked through the air and splashed against the arcane shell again, showering him with purple sparks that stung his hand.
The big guy laughed, safe in his perfect bubble.
Fine.
Colt went in harder—faster—his knife knicking and darting, a barrage of steel that slammed into the arcane shell, testing its limits. The King backed up a step; a stray kobold died as the rebounded knife cut through it, but Colt didn’t stop, testing, teasing.
There were no cracks. The boss’s face grew more concentrated under the directed assault, but there were no signs that things were going his way.
He would deal a lot of damage if he could get through, maybe enough to kill this guy. After the first knife throw, he had the impression that, like all kobolds, the King was vulnerable.
Colt threw out his last Edict with his next trash—the invisible edge of the blade crashed into the shield. And it held it at bay; just like all the numerous cuts, it slammed into the barrier with a storm of sparks.
But this was different.
The fat kobold stepped back, eyes wide as his dingy crown fell off his head. Colt’s soul strained, like a hand reached into his heart and yanked it in a vice grip. Trying to stop him, screaming that this was the limit. The knife edge ahead held on, a small tether facing against an impenetrable shield.
One had to give.
Colt snarled and slashed—his spectral knife smashing into the barrier where the invisible edge crashed against it.
It shattered like glass, and the next slash through the shimmering broken barrier took the King in the arm. The blade slid through the fat and meat like butter, and Colt stepped forward, cutting again.
It was like cutting chicken. Exactly so. Each cut split the King; another bolt of arcane energy spiraled into Colt’s shoulder, but he didn’t even feel it. No, another cut. Another part of the king divided—slicing right through the shoulder muscle so the enemy’s arm was useless; another dice in his ribs, spilling guts.
Another Arcane bolt came for Colt. This one he phased out of with a Phantom step. It put his knife into the perfect position to stab through the hand that the arcane bolt came from. Desperate, the King tried to lurch towards another kobold, his jaws extended to take a bite, no doubt trying to use his Consume ability. Colt shoved him back and finished his work.
Once past the shell, the boss was easy; he just had a lot of shell to get past.
Colt took his knife out of the boss as the King slid to the ground.
The rest of the kobolds stared at him after the body dropped. Then they ran.
———
You have leveled up!
You have 3 Stat points to spend. You have gained 1 point of Dexterity and 1 point of Soul!
You have leveled up!
You have 3 Stat points to spend. You have gained 1 point of Dexterity and 1 point of Soul!
*Knives/Daggers Proficiency* (Intermediate) has gained a level!
*Phantom’s Step* (Basic) has gained a level!
*Phantom’s Step* (Basic) has gained a level!
Dungeon Alert: King Kobold has been defeated
Congratulations!
All mandatory bosses have been slain. The exit has been opened. You have completed the tutorial. Welcome to the real world.
———
Colt took a deep breath and collapsed on the ground, happy he didn’t have to clean up. Happy this nightmare was almost over with.