All three kobolds charged at once, their weapons held high. They attacked simultaneously, with one aiming for Leo's head, another stabbing at his stomach, and the third jabbing at his groin. Leo parried the first blow and sidestepped the second. But the third one grazed his thigh. Though it left only a small scratch.

He retaliated, swinging his blade at the closest kobold. It tried to parry the strike, but Leo easily knocked aside its feeble weapon. His blade sank deep into its chest. It dropped its spear and clutched desperately at the wound. Its mouth gaped open, letting out a pained wheeze. Blood bubbled from between its teeth and dribbled down its chin.

Level 5 Kobold Scout Killed.

0 XP Gained.

25 AP Gained.

The remaining kobolds howled in rage, charging at him blindly. One of them leaped at Leo with an overhead swing, aiming at his neck. But Leo countered with a slash aimed directly at its face. His blade hit the kobold's spear shaft dead center, splitting it in half. Before the creature could react, Leo twisted his wrist and rammed his weapon straight into its throat. Blood spurted out of its mouth as it collapsed lifelessly to the ground.

Level 4 Kobold Scout killed.

0 XP Gained.

20 AP Gained.

He turned his attention to the final kobold still standing in front of him. It backed away slowly, raising its weapon defensively. Leo advanced toward it, stepping over the corpses of its fallen comrades. It kept backing up until it bumped against a tree, where it pressed itself against the trunk, shaking in fear.

Leo hesitated momentarily.

"Maybe I'm acting too ruthless?" He asked himself.

The idea that he may be turning into some sort of a killing machine suddenly crossed his mind. However, before he could ponder further, the creature saw his hesitation and seized the opportunity to jump on him, taking advantage of his distraction.

Leo reacted instantly, driving his glaive into its heart. It squealed as it fell to the ground, twitching as blood sprayed all over Leo's boots.

Level 7 Kobold Scout killed.

0 XP Gained.

35 AP Gained.

"Or maybe not." Leo shrugged at his thoughts and withdrew the glaive from the dying monster. The last kobold corpse quickly faded away, leaving behind a weapon and blood-drenched torn-up clothes. He tore off a piece of cloth that was relatively clean and used it to wipe his boots and the glaive.

As for the weapons belonging to the rest of the kobolds, Leo took the old kobold's cape and tied them together. Any spear is a throwing spear, if you are strong enough.

With that done, Leo leaned did a quick sweep on the ground for all the items that were worth his attention.

First was the black gemstone necklace. The stones themselves closely resembled obsidian if you don't count the dim mysterious glow emanating from the inside. They were connected by a thin leather string, allowing one to easily wear them around one's neck.

Kobold's Necklace

Grade: Red

A tribal relic made by Kobold tribes. Due to its natural magical properties, the stone provides a minor boost to its wearer.

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Increases MND and END by 1.

Unfortunately, the string was too short to let Leo wear the necklace around his neck, so he had to improvise. He tied the necklace around his left arm, hoping it would serve as a kind of a lucky charm. After confirming a stat increase, he turned his attention to the rest of the items.

Next was an obsidian dagger that old Kobold had on his waist. He pulled it out and checked it thoroughly. It looked like an ordinary dagger but seemed to be well made, though it lacked any decorations or ornaments.

Obsidian Dagger

Grade: Red

An extremely rare crafting material forged from volcanic glass. It is incredibly sharp and durable but lacks proper balance and stability.

Prevents blood clotting to a degree.

Then there was the Red-Grade Loot Crystal that dropped from the first kobold. Leo carefully examined the item. The red-colored crystal looked like a simple hexagonal prism. It was slightly larger than a coin but smaller than a fist.

Red-Grade Loot Crystal

Contains an item of a respective grade.

To use the crystal, simply crush it.

With his curiosity piqued, Leo followed the instructions and crushed the crystal in his hand. He expected a blinding light or something in this vein, but the crystal simply crumbled into fine dust, releasing a thick red fog that immediately began to coalesce into an item. The object slowly formed in the palm of Leo's hand. It was a small dart.

Immobilizing Dart

Grade: Red

Uses: 1

Immobilizes target for one second.

"That's pretty cool. This could be a lifesaver." Leo mused and stored the item away for later use.

Now that he had gathered everything valuable, there was no point in lingering here longer. Besides, he did not want to risk being spotted by yet another creature. Who knows what else lives in this forest?

Leo stood up and took off in a direction that led back toward the Sanctuary. Despite having taken a breather after that fight with the giant skink, he still felt pretty sore. So, he figured out that it would be best to get back as soon as possible and rest up for a bit. He definitely needed that rest.

With that thought in mind, Leo moved forward, retracing his steps back to the Sanctuary.

As he walked, he kept glancing around nervously. He couldn't help but feel a little paranoid. Although there was no sign of any other creatures so far, Leo did not trust his luck that much. In fact, he fully expected to run into more trouble on his way back. He had wandered quite far away from the safety of the Sanctuary, but in his opinion, it was worth it.

He quickly checked the challenge timer. According to it, he was out here for almost three hours.

"Alright, it's time to wrap things up," Leo murmured to himself and sped up. He wanted to get back as soon as he could. Thankfully, Sanctuary's tower was visible from most of the places in the dungeon. Which was very handy. Even if he got lost, Leo would always know roughly which direction to follow.

As he moved through the forest, he could hear kobold parties yelling at each other in the distance. At one point, he even caught glimpses of some of them, but they did not appear to notice him.

If that was just another isolated team, Leo would be confident to face them head on, even after all of the today's battles. Unfortunately, he heard at kobolds from at least three different directions. They were casting a wide net, and he was right in the middle of it.

"There's no way I can take that many kobolds at once." Leo frowned, deciding to hide before they caught up to him. While ordinary kobold spears were pretty much like scratching sticks to him, Scout Leaders were equipped with quite dangerous weapons. As long as he could take out a leader quickly, he would be confident, but three groups at once was a bit too much for his curent self.

Unfortunately for Leo, the commotion earlier did attract a lot of attention from kobolds. A group of kobolds was waiting right at the edge of the forest. Leo estimated their numbers at around thirty kobolds, which was a far larger number compared to other groups he had seen in the dungeon. This one seemed organized and coordinated, even including masked kobolds wearing crude leather armor and carrying more robust weapons.

Moreover, he could see a couple more scouting parties in the distance, not to mention the ones he could hear. He suspected that the whole forest was crawling with kobolds right now, looking for him.

"Fuck." Leo cursed silently. His back was practically against the wall. It was great that they didn't dare to go to the Sanctuary, but they were between him and the Sanctuary. Even worse, their numbers were so great that Leo doubted he could get past them unnoticed.

There were several options for him now, but most of them ended up with him being surrounded by the entire horde and ripped apart by countless kobold spears. He did not like those scenarios. The best thing to do would be to stay put and wait them out, but unfortunately, he could not guarantee that they will leave as they are, nor could he remain hidden from them for long. They would catch wind of him eventually and he had no desire to spend days hiding in a bush.

His situation was getting worse by the moment. He was already low on health and energy. If he failed to evade them, he was almost guaranteed to die.

But when he finally thought it was all, he heard an already familiar ear-piercing shriek.

"You've got to be kidding me."