Chapter 59: Challenge Level
The old Kobold died too quickly.
At that moment, everyone hadn't even reacted to what had happened before it self-destructed and died.
But upon a second thought, they figured it was most likely Gauss's doing.
Not understanding the situation and attributing the cause to the team's spellcaster was most likely the correct answer.
“Crisis averted,” Gauss let out a sigh of relief.
It was a hidden crisis resolved without danger in the end.
His gaze turned to the remaining Kobolds.
At this moment, the other Kobolds were trembling all over from the old one's sudden death; one even dropped to its knees, facing the direction of the dragon stone statue, kowtowing madly.
As if the old Kobold's death was the result of the dragon's wrath.
“Without overwhelming numbers and without a powerful leader, these Kobolds really are just a rabble. It’s just that getting in here was such a hassle—it took a good bit of work.” Gauss couldn’t help but sigh at the sight.
According to information from Meiva, this Kobold lair was already considered relatively crude. Some long-established Kobold lairs were not unlike underground labyrinths.
Faced with those more complex nests, some rookie adventurers wouldn’t even dare to enter, abandoning the quest on the spot for fear of getting lost and dying by accident.
Even using certain items to collapse the entrance or tunnels wouldn’t reach the deeper parts of the lair.
One could say that by the time the group reached the lair hall, over fifty percent of the mission progress had already been completed.
Gauss pulled back from his thoughts. Facing the Kobolds who had lost their will to fight, their legs trembling and ready to flee, he didn’t feel much sympathy.
Although this was an abandoned mine, geographically it still belonged to the Kingdom of Karos. For monsters, stepping foot on this land already meant further encroachment on human living space.
If left unchecked, the number of monsters would only continue to increase, gradually consuming territory that originally belonged to humans.
This was also why the Adventurer’s Guild regularly issued monster eradication missions, even in uninhabited areas. In truth, the funding for those commissions ultimately came from the Kingdom of Karos.
Likewise, if humans set foot into the Emerald Forest, they were very likely to be attacked by other monsters.
Therefore, there was a saying that non-professionals were not allowed to enter the Emerald Forest.
“Kill!”
Gauss’s sword was swift.
In the blink of an eye, it pierced through a Kobold’s throat.
After boosting his agility, his control over the rapier seemed even more precise.
In the past, he’d usually have to aim a bit.
“Pssh!”
“Pfft!”
“Killed Kobold *1”
“Total Monster Kills: 55”
The remaining Kobolds fell one after another under his blade.
After clearing out the adult Kobolds present, the group turned their eyes to the young Kobold whelps, each only knee-high with large heads.
Gauss paused slightly with the sword in his hand, but a moment later, he swung it rapidly.
“Swish!”
“Swish!”
Several sword slashes tore through the air.
One by one, the Kobold whelps fell into eternal slumber amidst their yelps.
Putting away his rapier, Gauss saw no update for increased monster kill count.
He looked at the panel.
Sure enough, the total kill count still stayed at 55.
Whelps didn’t seem to count.
Was it because they were too small and lacked combat capability?
Gauss shook his head.
Still, even if they didn’t add to the kill count, based on the principle of “weeding out evil to the root,” he had to harden his heart and act.
Who knew if the whelps of these lizard-like small monsters survived, they might evolve into the next Kobold tribe.
Not long after the group swiftly eliminated the Kobolds in the hall, hurried and short footsteps echoed from the entrance passage.
Clearly, the commotion in the hall had reached the excavation area, and the miner Kobolds were returning to defend.
Unfortunately, Gauss and the others were still too fast.
When the first Kobold came running out from the passage swinging a stone pickaxe and saw the corpses of its kin scattered across the ground, its steps immediately froze.
As if seeing something utterly shocking, its pupils shrank, and it stood dumbfounded on the spot.
The Kobolds that ran out after it were the same.
Who would have thought that while they were just next door mining, their home was stolen in a blink.
“Wah! Wah! Wah!”
After a brief moment of shock, the Kobolds flew into a frenzy.
Even though their species wasn’t particularly aggressive by nature, they couldn’t suppress their fury upon seeing this scene.
“Pa! Pa!”
The Kobolds’ lizard tails repeatedly slapped the ground, as if to relieve their inner anxiety, or as a collective act to boost morale.
Unlike the weak, old, and sick ones left in the hall earlier, this group of adult Kobolds clearly had a much stronger desire to fight.
But that desire was all they had.
A few minutes later.
Gauss looked at the now-wiped-out Kobolds while wiping the blood from his sword blade with a cloth.
Thanks to the Mage Armor cast on his body, he had come out of the fight unscathed; even occasional hits were deflected by the magical shield.
Feeling the still-resilient Mage Armor, he genuinely felt a strong sense of security.
“Total Monster Kills: 59”
Kobolds relying solely on courage couldn’t defeat stronger humans.
The idea that rage and hot blood could spontaneously trigger a surge in combat power was highly unlikely in reality.
“Whew—”
“Kinda tired.”
The others sat on the ground to rest for a bit.
Aside from the old Kobold’s flame breath, the fight didn’t have any other thrilling moments; what really wore them out was crouching and crawling through the tunnels.
Now that the fight was over, they finally breathed a sigh of relief.
Gauss sat for a moment, scanning the hall with his eyes—next came the loot collection.
Kobolds were known to collect “treasures.”
Of course, among the possessions of low-level Kobolds, it was rare to find anything truly valuable.
Most were just junk picked up from who knows where.
Gauss ignored the pile of Kobold junk; Meiva would search through it for anything possibly valuable.
He walked over to the rocky platform where the old Kobold had stood.
He cast Mage Hand and pulled the Kobold’s corpse down from the platform.
“Thud!”
The Kobold’s body hit the ground heavily.
Gauss was very curious about this fire-breathing Kobold.
He picked up the grotesque lizard head nearby and placed it next to the body, silently examining it for a while.
Unfortunately, its neck had been blasted to pieces, but from the broken, scaly skin fragments, he could tell that the coloration around its neck was noticeably darker than that of its kin.
“This old Kobold’s body should be worth something.” Levin had come over at some point.
“Is this a monster with an official challenge rating?” Gauss asked casually, seeing that Levin seemed to know something.
The so-called challenge rating of a monster was similar to the class rank humans had—it represented power far beyond the reach of ordinary people.