Chapter 14 - Kobolds, >Hard and Level 50 (Patreon)

Nova walked through the familiar hallways and found the lone Kobold.

He wanted to try if he could sneak up on it this time, since his experience increased, but to no success.

He was found out shortly after approaching the Kobold, it even looked like he was worse at stealth than before!

The Kobold did not use the sling this time. It immediately charged at Nova with its spear.

Nova was more proficient in battle, so he was able to either dodge the spear or parry it with his sword.

The difference now was that he didn't try to parry the tip, but the wooden part of the spear. That way, the decrease in durability was not as great.

Nova nodded gently, he was faring better than he expected. Maybe the fact that he battled Goblins and Hobgoblins so many times, improved his battle sense.

He carefully navigated around the spear until he was within reach of the Kobold.

Nova was evenly matched with it, which didn't allow him to strike too many openings, but one opening was enough for him.

He took the experience of dismembering Goblins and used it on Kobold.

They had slightly thicker skin, so Nova was unable to sewer his arm immediately, but he was still able to cripple it.

Nova was not satisfied with this. Fortunately, the monster was not ambidextrous like he was, otherwise he would be in big trouble.

Fortunately, his opponent was somewhat slow and with a long weapon, so it had to use both hands to handle it correctly.

He was satisfied with his work, but the Kobold suddenly screamed.

Nova narrowed his eyes and broke the Kobold's neck with his wooden sword.

The kobold plopped on the ground lifelessly.

[No loot.]

The system prompt surprised him, but he didn't question it much. It was obvious that since he could loot the wine barrels, he would be able to loot this thing too.

He heard many footsteps, but since Nova was not stupid, he rushed into the first part of this Tutorial and let himself be eaten by a trap.

Crunch

...

Nova walked back to the second part of this Tutorial to resume his training and exploring.

The respawning was slightly worse since there was some lingering pain, but nothing that he could not get over with.

It was impossible to sneak up on the Kobolds, so Nova gave up on that idea.

Whenever he saw a Kobold, he would immediately battle him in order to gain experience with them.

Nova found out several things.

1. Kobolds would change weapons depending on distance or if there is a cover.

2. Kobolds have a superior sense of smell or hearing, since most of them on guard duty had closed eyes.

3. Once Kobolds can't use their weapons, they would call for reinforcement.

4. Once their HP drops below a certain threshold, they would call for reinforcement.

5. Crushing their necks so that they can't make a sound will prompt them to make a crazy ruckus, which will attract even more Kobolds than their standard reinforcements call.

6. Kobolds can't stand alcohol and smelly things. (Don't ask about how he knows the latter one.)

Nova was quite proud, since this observation took him only 20 tries. He was quite confident that this amount of information was enough to clear this place and be able to explore it freely, but there was a problem with his damage potential.

'I can't one-shot them, at best it's two-shot, but if I fail it attracts too much attention...' Nova clicked his tongue. He needed some kind of Skill or better weapon to one-shot them.

'Maybe I should try higher difficulty?' Nova narrowed his eyes. It should be possible to clear the trap part of the Tutorial without much difficulty, as long as it's not the Hell difficulty.

Nova nodded to himself and let himself be swallowed once again.

Crunch

...

>Hard

This was the first solvable roadblock that Nova experienced.

'This place truly changes with each respawn...' Nova clicked his tongue. He was left shocked after he realised that this place would change each time he died.

He could not clear this brainlessly as he did with the previous difficulties, but the rewards were not bad either.

'I get 3 Death Coins with each death, so the clear bonus would be naturally bigger.' Nova nodded at this simple deduction and tried to clear the traps again.

The traps were worse than before since they could be stacked on top of each other, but even more than before. It was not as bad as >Hell, but it was still bad enough that he was stuck without being able to move forward.

'I'm missing movement Skills...' Nova frowned. Now he wished that he would pick that movement-type Skill Tree, but alas... it was not fated to happen since he picked the most versatile things.

'I can always stop at the >Normal Tutorial and grind towards Level 50...' Nova narrowed his eyes. He wanted to max out these Classes before moving forward, but the same thing became his bottleneck since he didn't have a 'normal' Class.

He realised that true Class was much harder to Level up, both [Martial Artist] and [Intimidator] were a good example of this.

The [Intimidator] was stuck at Level 9 unable to progress further, it felt like he was lacking something, but Nova did not know what it was.

It was possible he lacked combat experience, so it would probably be wiser to change difficulty and fight plenty of Kobolds.

Crunch

...

>Normal

"What a slaughter fest..." Nova rubbed his chin. He already wiped the third reinforcements of this place, but for some reason, only one Kobold came each time.

'Did I find some kind of unimportant place that doesn't require too many reinforcements?' Nova narrowed his eyes. This was possible since in some sections it would attract more Kobolds and in others less, but this one was completely abnormal, as there were always at least 2 Kobolds.

'Maybe something deeper inside this pathway is the cause?' Nova tilted his head. Was it possible that he found something strange in this place? Maybe something that would allow him to get stronger?

Nova shook his head and went deeper inside. He wanted to know what secrets it hid from him.

...

The place was more covered in moss than before, so much so that Nova questioned if this was even a dungeon and not a jungle.

At a later point, he had to strain his arms with cutting vines, since this place was overrun with flora.

Nova had a bad feeling about this, but he kept going.

Resting several times along the way to replenish Stamina, he finally managed to reach strangely ornamented doors.

There were foreign symbols carved into it and Nova was unable to understand it.

He pushed the doors open, revealing a jungle-like room, but it was empty with no enemies-

Well, that was a slight lie. There was a 'projection' of an enemy, but since it was not coloured or anything. Nova had a hard time understanding what he was seeing.

'A woman, around 30s to mid-30s, inside a huge ass flower...' Nova tilted his head. This was such a surreal image that he could not understand why a naked woman would be inside a flower.

It was shaking its boobs at him, but since it was just a projection, it held very little alluring value.

Nova walked around to see if there was any loot, but he did not find anything.

Tilting his head, he looked towards the flower woman.

'Maybe I have to defeat her?' It was a plausible assumption.

Nova drew his sword, but that woman shrunk back and wrapped the flower back into a pulp form.

He tried to hit it a few times, but it felt as hard as steel, while as bouncy as a rubber. His attacks dealt no damage to it.

'I have no idea what kind of enemy this is...' Nova sighed. He shook his head before leaving this place, but still made a memo inside his mind to come back later in higher difficulties, or after he gathered more knowledge.

...

Nova headed to a different side-path, so that he could explore more. This one had rows upon rows of barrels, so he kept looting them, but then-!

[Your inventory is full, you can no longer store [100-years-old Royal #### Wine]!]

The maximum amount he was able to have inside his inventory was 99, which was a shame. He wanted to stockpile enough wine that it would last him for his whole life!

'No, maybe it would be possible.' Nova smirked. 'If I made a barrel and transferred those bottles into it~!' He chuckled happily, but there was a problem...

'I didn't pick that crafting Skill!' Nova groaned inside his mind. It seemed like he would have to purchase the barrels or find them while they were intact!

Nova sighed. He should clear the >Normal Tutorial for now before thinking about this.

'I also have to defeat the final Boss 100 times.' Nova rubbed his chin. That way, he would be able to maximize profits.

He nodded gently. His first goal was to reach Level 50 since that was the halfway point!

...

Nova killed the last Kobold. He was now able to battle 3 Kobolds at once, only thanks to the fact that Kobolds could be ranged if he ran away from them.

Using this behaviour, he was able to keep one in melee range, while the other two in ranged.

Then he just needed to use that one in melee as a shield, in which case, he neutralised the ranged Kobolds. Giving him enough room to finish the melee one and then use its body as a shield to get closer to the other two.

The other two would then panic, allowing Nova to kill them swiftly and with that, he got bountiful loot.

[Wooden Sword Embryo (Q-21): 179/179 ((5x21)x(1+.3+.41))]

[Rarity: Starting Gear Lv.20/20]

[Traits: [Growth], [Soulbound], [Persisting], [Embryo]]

[Effects: -]

[Bonus Stats:

Aura Circulation: 41%

Training Speed: 41%

Handling: 41%

Durability: 41%

Awareness: 21/100]

[Growth: +20% All 'Effects', +20% All Bonus Stats, +20 Quality]

[Soulbound: Nova]

[[Wooden Sword Embryo] is pondering upon which path it should walk...]

[[Wooden Sword Embryo] needs time to decide. (Condition: Reach Starting Gear Lv.25)]

'I'm already shuddering upon imagining what it will become, and not in a good way.' Nova's body shook, imagining his perverted sword moaning during each swing...

'But the handling and everything is incredible!' Nova's eyes shone. He was more familiar with the sword now that it had high handling. It would not be impossible to do some kind of fancy tricks in battles!

[Disciple Clothing ??? (Q-33): 594/594 (((5+5+5)x33)x(1+.2))]

[Rarity: Starting Gear Lv.10/10]

[Effects: [Growth], [Soulbound], [Persisting], [???], [Slight Mind Increase], [Slight Insight Increase], [Slight Willpower Increase], [Small EXP Increase], [Small Proficiency Increase], [Small Familiarity Increase], [Small SubClass Gain Increase]]

[Growth: +10% All Effects, +10% All Bonus Stats, +10 Quality]

[Soulbound: Nova]

'Oh god... please don't!' Nova sincerely pleaded towards God not to do this to him, but...

[Disciple Clothing ?? (Q-33): 594/594 (((5+5+5)x33)x(1+.2))]

'Fuck!' Nova cried once again, since not only would he get a perverted sword, but clothing too! What was the worst thing about this was the fact that the effects were too good to throw away!

[Commoner has reached Level 50, please choose one Skill: [Teaching], [Baby Sitting], [Inspection], [Overseer], [Emotion Management]]

[Mortal has reached Level 50, please choose one Skill: [Child Abandonment], [Crafting], [Hard-Working], [Kind Heart], [Endless Guilt]]

[Trainee has reached Level 50, please choose one Skill: [Women Repellent], [Body Training], [Sword Training], [Bow Training], [Shield Training]]

'That's a ton of Skills!' Nova's mind was already working overtime to understand them.

[Teaching (✦)]

[Passive: You can teach others more proficiently. (Condition: At least 2 Students)]

'Useless since I'm solo.' Nova sighed.

[Baby Sitting (✦)]

[Passive (Unique) - Not on my watch!: No baby will die under your care! (Condition: Watching over at least 10 babies)]

[Additionally Effects: [Child Raising]]

"... Skip." Nova didn't even want to look at it.

[Inspection (✦)]

[Passive (Unique) - Keen Eyes: You can see things others can't see! (Condition: Healthy Eyes)]

[Active (Unique) - Impossible to Scam!: You can detect defects in items and possibly determine if they are harmful or not! (Condition: Healthy Eyes)]

'This one is really cool.' He was inclined to take this one.

[Overseer (✦)]

[Passive: You can manage and command people during work better. Morale decreases slowly. (Condition: At least 10 Workers)]

'What am I? Some kind of slave master?' Nova snorted disdainfully.

[Emotion Management (✦)]

[Passive: You can manage your Emotions Better! (Condition: In right mind)]

[Passive (Unique) - Poker Face: Others will have a harder time gauging your emotions! (Condition: In right mind)]

'Useful, but we will see.' Nova narrowed his eyes.

[Child Abandonment (✦)]

[Passive: You will get a bonus stat for each abandoned child! (Condition: Loving Harem)]

[Active (Unique) - Calm Down!: You can calm down your angry partner after abandoning a child. (Condition: Heartbroken Harem)]

"..." Nova looked away, ignoring it completely.

[Crafting (✦)]

[Passive: Allows you to craft items that are registered by the system.]

'A trap. If it's not registered in the system, then you won't be able to craft it.' Nova shook his head.

[Hard-Working (✦)]

[Passive (Unique) - Work Smarter, Not Harder!: You can greatly shorten your work if you use your head! (Condition: Working)]

[Passive (Unique) - Enemy Upon Us!: You work quicker under pressure. (Condition: Working)]

'Better Workaholic.' Nova nodded.

[Kind Heart (-)]

[Passive: You are less susceptible to Demonic Temptation! (Condition: Not wronged anyone)]

"Now you just want to rub me the wrong way, huh?" Nova glared at it.

[Endless Guilt (✦)]

[Passive: You have done so many shitty things that it no longer affects you... (Condition: Piece of Shit)]

"Motherf-" Nova cursed the one who made these Skills.

[Women Repellent (-)]

[Passive (Unique) - I'm Old Virgin: Not many will approach you... (Condition: Virgin)]

"............................" Nova swore that whoever made this thing would get shafted by a bull!

[Body Training (✦)]

[Passive: Training your body will give you bigger benefits. (Condition: Full Stamina)]

[Active: Training with Body Trainer. (Condition: Healthy Body, Full Stamina)]

'Not bad.' Nova nodded.

[Sword Training (✦)]

[Passive: Training with a sword gives you a bigger benefit. (Condition: Sword Equipped)]

[Active: Sword training from Sword Adept. (Condition: Aura Sprout)]

'Not bad either.' He would definitely need this one.

[Bow Training (✦)]

[Passive: Train your aim to become a great sniper! (Condition: Bow Equipped)]

[Active: Training with Sniper. (Condition: Healthy Eyes, Steady Hands)]

'Can't use bows...' Nova shook his head.

[Shield Training (✦)]

[Passive: Train your Shield Skills to become the greatest Shield! (Condition: Bow Equipped)]

[Active: Training with Walking Fortress! (Condition: Healthy Body, Hulking Body)]

'Can't use shields either.' Nova almost punched the system.

"Alright, let's go for..." Nova was slowly deciding what to pick...