Noah and Krall continued through the jungle in search of a defendable area against the kobolds and whatever else lurked within. He had his spear and shield at the ready for any attacker as the intense heat beat against his shoulders.

The humidity was so thick he could almost see it, and sweat trickled down the side of his face as he looked around for any sign of danger.

His eyes watered from the stinging sun, and Noah wiped them on his sleeve. He stopped and looked towards a small valley that sloped into some dense foliage.

Will this do? Noah scratched his head with his spear shaft.

The valley had steep walls and pieces of rock jutted outward, and the slope down into the valley was steep. Even if he was cornered within the valley and cut off on both sides, the jutting rock made it so he could climb up the walls. He didn’t claim to be an expert rock climber, but with such big footholds, climbing it would be a breeze.

Noah took a few steps forward until he reached the edge of the trees, and stopped to look out over the valley below. The dense foliage, slender valley, and steep slopes made it perfect for an ambush if the creatures decided to walk through it.

His hands twitched. He could see several kobolds running along the edges of the forest and climbing up the sides of the valley's slope straight toward him. Straining his eyes, they seemed to be wielding spears just like the one he had, while others carried crude clubs fashioned from thick branches of the jungle.

Are they coming because of the noise from the fight? Noah gazed into the distance before shaking his head. It was too far to hear the sounds and the thick jungle foliage made it impossible to pinpoint them.

Noah grunted. It meant that they had a scout that was watching them.

Although he had bested three kobolds all at once with the help of Krall, and even defeated a higher levelled one. He didn’t have the confidence to continue that streak, one mistake and he was dead.

He had a lot of martial arts experience so the basics were drilled into his head. Keep the distance, find the range, and counter attack. Unlike before when he was ambushed, now it was different. He was given a choice. Face them or run away?

One choice would be safe, the other would give him the opportunity to grow stronger. He had already made the decision before. He would become the hunter but only if he had the absolute advantage.

Noah turned back and scanned the ground for anything that he could use. He had to make use of the advantage that he had–high ground.

All he saw was an old log that sat on its own near the centre of the clearing. It appeared to be the only other large object in the entire area aside from some broken branches and dead leaves scattered across the floor.

Noah walked over to the log and crouched down beside it. He placed his hand on the rough bark and felt the uneven surface underneath. Since they were coming to him, he would send them a welcoming gift. Noah leapt over the log and got Krall to help him. Both human and kobold pushed against the solid log together in unison. His arms bulged from the added stats of his Pathstones. Gritting his teeth, he stomped his feet into the ground for a foothold, and pushed again. The log teetered back and forward as he willed more strength into his arms. His arms burned from the intense exertion, until the heat turned numb. The log finally rolled forward.

He shook off the numbing sensation and continued to push the log towards the Valley's mouth.

The sound of the lizard's hissing appeared from underneath as the log teetered at the edge, then momentum carried it over. It hurtled down and crushed bushes and other plants with ease. Even rocks were unable to bear the might of the crashing tree as they smashed into fragments.

Noah peered down as the log raged toward the small monsters. The kobolds eyes widened. The monsters in the middle attempted to dodge but it was futile, the log was already tearing straight for them. Not waiting, he bolted down along with Krall, and followed the logs' crazy descent. Noah would make full use of the chaos sewed by the tumbling tree.

Four of the kobolds weren't able to dodge out of the way as the log made contact against their bodies. It was like a mountain had crashed against them as the sound of cracking, followed by intense wheezing and then abrupt silence as their bodies descended further down with the log.

Noah slid down the steep valley mouth with his spear and shield at the ready. He rapidly approached the kobold on the left, while the other two had jumped to the right side.

The kobold he aimed for had already pointed its spear at him. Noah couldn't dodge, instead he reached out his arm that held the shield, and sloped it against the spear tip. The blade glided off the iron-like palm tree shield and Noah felt his own spear make contact with flesh.

Noah gnashed his teeth. He couldn't stop his forward momentum. His body crashed into the kobold and sent it hurtling down the valley as blood spurted from the wound gouged into its throat.

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He stabbed his spear into the ground, but couldn’t stop. The spear scraped across the rocky hill until the shaft snagged itself in between two rocks. Noah’s shoulder jolted as the spear warped, but it managed to flex back as Noah stabilised himself.

The kobolds shook away the panic from the thundering log and brandished their weapons; a spear and club. They snarled, showing their razor-sharp teeth that could easily strip away at his flesh.

Noah glanced around at his surroundings. They gazed at the spear with caution then dashed forward. The kobolds were on level ground with him, so Noah scrambled up a few more feet for high ground just as a spear clanged against his shield.

Krall went up further, then he dropped down directly facing the other kobold. It turned and snarled at Krall. His presence meant that it could no longer attack Noah.

Using the fact that his block skill had negated most of the impact, he dashed forward and pierced the kobolds arm with the spear. Blood seeped and Noah managed to get another stab in before they took a step back. The kobolds arms suddenly bulged, then it thrust the spear forward with incredible momentum. Noah’s eyes widened at the sudden skill, but blocked the attack with his shield. The intense force blasted his shield to the side. His shoulder recoiled and the spears tip disappeared into his shoulder.

Despite the shelled-blade penetrating his shoulder–there was no pain–only an anger that boiled up within him as it drove him forward. He grabbed hold of the spear shaft and yanked it out from his shoulder. It seems like whatever skill it had used, was now over. He wanted to stab the beast with his spear, but because of the steep hill, and the close proximity of the kobold, he couldn't use it effectively. So he stepped forward, and slammed his skull at the kobolds face.

It hissed a scream and stumbled back. Noah used the space created from the headbut to stab the scaled creature’s chest. It clanged up against bone, so he quickly wiggled the shaft until the blade slid past the ribs and into its internal organs.

The other kobold suddenly ignored Krall and charged straight for Noah. He blocked the monster's attack and snapped his leg to its chest, sending it hurtling down the hill.

Noah returned to the wounded kobold that had used the Skill, and stabbed its throat. It clung onto the shaft of the spear, but in the next moment, all resistance was washed away with a death rattle.

Krall screeched, spittle flung out his mouth as he rammed his shoulder into his wounded opponent, crashing it to the floor. While on the floor, he brandished his dagger, raised it, then repeatedly stabbed the monster until there was no more resistance.

Gazing down at the last living kobold, it looked back at him with its beady eyes. It was scared. Noah held no remorse. It was him, or them.

Noah approached the last kobold with caution. Each step he took slid him further down the hill. The monster flinched its shoulders and bolted in the opposite direction, down into the thick foliage of the valley.

Finally, he reached the bottom of the hill, and chased after it. Thankfully, it seemed he was faster than the monster as he was catching up to it. His feet thudded against the soil underneath and soon the back of the kobold entered his sight.

It bobbed and weaved dexterously through the palm trees, as if it knew the jungle like the back of its scaly hand. Each time Noah gained on the creature it would change directions, causing it to create more distance in between them.

However, it simply couldn’t shake the System empowered Noah. There was a gap in the tree’s and Noah willed extra strength into his legs, increasing his speed.

He clenched the spear tight within his grasp, pulled his arm back like a bowstring, and fired the spear towards the target. From his inexperience, he missed his original target, but it was enough. A hiss left the creature's mouth as the spear sliced its leg and impaled against the jungle’s floor. The shaft of the spear trembled. The kobold stumbled to the floor.

Noah heaved out a breath. Changing to his dagger, he finished it off by slitting its throat. He glanced around as silence pervaded his surroundings, followed by the incessant chirping of tropical birds. Noah yanked his spear and returned it to his grasp. Next he grabbed hold of the monster’s leg and dragged it back to the entrance of the valley.

Two of the scaled creatures were impaled under the log, they were long dead. Another two were flung from the descending battering ram to the side. They still clung to life. With a couple stabs of his spear, their death rattle was rung as the notification of his kill appeared within his mind–along with the level up he desperately needed.

Noah slumped his shoulders as the adrenaline crashed out of his system. Adrenaline was a crazy thing. It allowed his body to ignore pain, increase the strength his body could output and even created a bravery he didn’t know that he was capable of producing.

He got to work gathering all of the bodies in a pile. He then scavenged their bodies for any loot that they had. He was disappointed to discover that they didn’t have a single health potion on their body. Only the weapons that they had brought into battle. Three spears and two clubs.

Good replacements, I guess. It was always better to er on the side of caution. If his main weapon broke, then he'd be in shit water if he didn't have another back-up on hand.

With the weapons in one pile and the corpses in the other. He pondered on what he should do with the bodies. From the fight before he knew the kobolds were capable of enhanced smell. It was only due time before the stench of their blood wafted through the dense foliage.

Noah then approached the kobold that had a spear skill. He hoped for a skill, and his wish was granted.

Its body sizzled, it was like music to Noah’s ears. A stone emerged from its body. It had the image of a spear and multiple lines were behind the tip. It looked as if someone was thrusting the spear forward.

Just as he was about to touch it, he spotted a smaller kobold at the corner of his eye. It was clearly focused on speed. Its legs were longer than average and it sported sharper claws.

Found the damned scout, let’s play dumb. Noah tightened the grip around his spear and formulated a plan of attack.

He needed the scaled bastard dead. But first, let's see what Skill it had. Noah reached forward and the familiar heat surged into his palm.