With a mental order, Krall slowly moved into a shadow cast by one of the larger trees and sat in wait.

Noah had a sack filled with potions and weapons on his back. He already made certain that they wouldn’t clang together by tying each individual one in a loincloth. It was a bit uncomfortable, but nothing his extra Strength and Constitution couldn't handle.

He was hoping for a new opponent, but was disappointed to discover that it was just a few kobolds. Stragglers from a distant hunting party. If they hadn’t met him here, they would soon discover their home in shambles. Not one kobold remained. But that wasn’t their fate.

Noah used [Shrouded Presence] and lay in wait for the kobolds to enter their path.

Six kobolds appeared.

Just as they passed into Noah’s line of sight, they charged forward. Noah activated [Thrust] and [Overpower] together. The monstrous strength almost tore the muscles in his arms as they groaned in protest. Noah grit his teeth at the pain of them being pulled taught. The sudden power made it hard to control the spear in his hands, and for the first time, he missed his target.

The spear blasted into the kobolds shoulder as if it was merely a piece of paper. However, the make-shift spear couldn't handle the might of the attack. With the added charging momentum of Krall, the spear splintered into fragments and shot outward like shrapnel.

The shell and wooden fragments of the spear tore into the monster's throat and into the face of the other kobold next to it.

Krall thrashed his club around, the extra stats his evolution brought made the other kobolds wary of getting near the swooping attacks. Instead, they created distance and circled around.

But it was futile.

Noah grabbed hold of the mace tied to his waist and thrashed it into the skull of another kobold. Its skull cracked and it fell to the ground.

Krall attempted to chase, but the extra armour around his body removed the dexterous speed he once had. It allowed the kobolds to scarper to the side and throw rocks, while the two archers peppered them with arrows.

Raising his shield, Krall bolted in the archer’s direction. The moment they shot their bows, Noah leapt from Krall’s back and slammed his mace one archer's chest. He grabbed it’s throat as the other archer loosed a newly prepared arrow. It thudded into the body.

With Krall attacking from one side, and Noah the other, they were soon wiped out.

You defeated a - Level 6 Kobold.

| You defeated a - Level 5 Kobold.

| …

The air crackled. Noah raised his shoulders in anticipation as a grey Common-grade hue met his disappointed eyes.

Touching the Skill Essence, his disappointment turned to happiness.

You have obtained the Common - Strength - Skill Essence - Charge.

Strength based Skill - Charge: Charge with extra strength. Increased the momentum of your first attack.

Do you wish to accept it? This will take up a Might Skill Essense slot. Y/N

“Yes, of course.”

The Skill entered his mind as he smirked. Another piece to the puzzle of his Class. Along with [Overpower] and [Thrust], his first attack was looking incredibly strong.

Now he just had to find the right target to use it on.

Checking the experience gain, his shoulders deflated at the sudden increase when he hit level ten. He was somewhat ready for it, but now that he was here, it was a bitter pill to swallow. The experience gained was okay considering he was on his own now. But the fact it had risen a lot was still there.

Well, he’d just have to up his killing speed.

On the way to the cave, he killed another few kobolds but there was a sharp decline in their numbers. Now that he had culled a lot of them from the area, new monsters would use the opportunity to show themselves.

Although he was certain there was another kobold colony somewhere, and that one had to be far larger than the one he had dealt with. There was no way that was the end of them and he very much doubted that was the main source of the kobolds in that cave.

No, their main headquarters had to be somewhere else. Maybe it had something to do with that challenge log. Noah thought.

Arriving at the cave, Noah gathered all his supplies to one side and moved his mind into the Grace Shop. He had received almost four-hundred coins from the battle of the cave, along with fifty extra from the sponsor.

Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author.

Noah still wanted a bag, but his survival needs were at the forefront of his mind. Namely–water. He needed a way to hold all his water needs, and a few waterskins that began to smell weren’t going to cut it.

300 Grace Coins Used.

Purchased:

| Filter Water Bottle 1 litre: A one litre bottle with a suckable water filter built into the cap.

With the water bottle falling in front of him, he emptied the contents of the waterskins into the bottle and took a sip. The taste was improved–marginally. Although it did filter all the sediments within the water, so that was a plus.

That left him with two-hundred and sixty-three Grace Coins left to spend. The most basic backpack cost three hundred Coins, so he still had a little waiting to do, but it wasn’t a big deal. That was a good few kobold kills which wouldn’t take very long.

With the water bottle secured, his thoughts turned to the Hub.

With his plan on attacking the World First reward to reach the destination, he wasn’t so naive to believe no one else would target the reward.

First, there were the trained humans from Earth. Raised by their families to earn glory around the multiverse. Declan, Cai, and the archer; Jake–were most likely some of them. Along with the others that he hadn’t met with.

Secondly, and lastly, there were the alien races that were newly added within the broadcast. Thraz was one, and he could only imagine what else was included. They were obviously granted an advantage with their terrifying strength, and natural defences like Thraz. While others probably had magical capabilities that far oustripped the humans.

Well, it didn’t matter to Noah, as he would still beat them, but still. They were his competition and he had to take them seriously.

It was also why he hadn’t just charged straight for it without thinking or planning. The deeper they travelled into the jungle, the more difficult the monsters would get.

Just because he had been the one to unlock the area at level ten, didn’t mean the monsters would be limited to that level. Even on the outskirts, the dark feline, and the armoured kobold were above that.

Of course he could well be wrong, but he wasn’t willing to gamble with his life. The other times prior were all calculated although they had their own risk. It was within his control.

With all that in his thoughts, Noah decided on a plan. Complete his Class evolution mission, hopefully select a good evolution, Level up a few times for the extra stats, then charge straight for the Hub World First Title.

It was a race.

Rubbing his hand in excitement, they left the cave again.

After all that had happened, it had only just passed mid-day as the sun was at its highest point. Which also meant that it was the hottest time of day. To Noah it wasn’t too extreme considering he had lathered himself in sunblock before he left, but he could still feel it seeping through somewhat.

It was a testament to just how harsh the sun's rays were.

Noah was certain that not everyone had sun block either as they all had to share Grace Coins. The bigger the group, the more difficult survival was. Sometimes with numbers, came a responsibility that was difficult to bear upon one's shoulders.

He remembered Declan’s party’s skin. It was peeling, raw, and some of the more frail skinned people already had symptoms of bad bulbous burns on their neck. They wouldn’t last long, perhaps they had to get to the safe area quickly. Unless they all pooled their Coins together to share a tub of sunblock once more.

“Should I help them?” Noah asked as Krall tilted his head in confusion.

Noah was no saint. His time within the gang, and his display of power against Jake was evidence of that. But he had a reason to do so. He couldn't be seen as weak, and others had to think twice before thinking they can act in a way that threatened him. Like Jake's murderous arrow, or Declan attempting to steal his skill. If he rolled over and allowed them to take it, it would only spiral further. He had to nip it in the bud.

However, there were still innocents within his group. Or so he believed, at least. it still didn’t sit well with him if he just let a bunch of innocents die from exposure.

But for now, he had to focus on himself.

Noah returned to the water source and with a quick check to see if it was safe, he filled up his bottle while Krall drank his share. He had also brought all his equipment with him within the hand-made bag of loincloths.

Taking large gulps of the water, he refilled it once more. He glanced around, but there was a lack of monsters. Or so he thought.

In the distance, he heard the clanging of weapons, and a strange but familiar croaky shouting.

It was the frog-like grung’s. Or whatever the plural was for them.

Noah moved forward and used [Shrouded Presence] to reduce the noise of Krall’s stomping footsteps.

They skulked behind a large bush, just behind where the fighting was taking place. He stood on the hump on Krall’s lower back and peered over the thick foliage.

His guess was right; they were grungs, and they were currently battling against a dinosaur looking monster. It resembled a velociraptor from Earth, but taller than a kobold, and it had vivid green feathers to blend in better with the jungle.

Maybe the dinosaur had realised that the kobolds had stopped moving in this area and came over to try its luck? Whatever the reason was–the monster seemed strong. Hopefully it was one of the level fifteen he had to defeat.

He just had to pick the opportune moment to strike.

Despite the wounds slashed into its scales, it resisted the sticky poison from the grung’s weapons and pounced on one of them, striking it to the ground. Its razor-sharp teeth pulled out a chunk of its slimy flesh while its long middle talon-like claw pierced into its beating heart like a powerful automatic stake.

A flanking grung used its three-pronged trident and lunged at the dino. The tip entered the raptors flesh, only for its long tail to swat the frog-man against a nearby tree. The dinosaur bolted toward it and first ripped the flesh from its arm to lower its defence, then snapped its maw against the grung’s throat.

The powerful raptor’s nostrils twitched. The monster’s slitted, predatory eyes gazed into Noah’s soul.

It smelled his presence.