Ch. 3 Dirty tricks

Coming up with a plan was not going to be easy. Being a kobold means he was going to be weak. Usually, a level 1 player can take on four or five kobolds easily, so to fight three players and one of them is a cleric means it's impossible. Wracking his brain, Kaz thought to himself what would be the best route to take.

Finally, an idea came to mind. "Traps!" He thought to himself. I am a kobold, and they were known for their trap making skills. In Forged Fantasy, traps could be especially dangerous to a group of adventurers, and this group seems to be lacking a rogue to check for them. He knew the layout of the tunnel and knew there were smaller holes that only little creatures could get through. If he could cut them off before they exited the tunnel, he could take them out quickly. Rushing back down the tunnel he had walked, he went to the opposite path down the fork and ended up in a room full of random boxes. Opening up some, he found food and other items that were not important to him.

Searching even further, he finally found what he was looking for. Bear traps at the bottom of one of the boxes in a pristine condition called out to him. He grabbed one and inspected it. "This will come in handy."

A message popped up in front of him.

TRAP MAKING Lv 1 skill acquired

"Interesting, so I can develop skills by interacting with the world around me." That information did not seem to come in too much handy right at this minute, but it was valuable. Grabbing a few traps, he found they were cumbersome for someone his size. He looked around the room for anything else he could whip into a trap quickly and found some thin rope. Perhaps he could do something with this, but what? He did not have a backpack to carry all this, so he decided to leave the rope behind.

Rushing through the smaller tunnels, he ducked in and out of openings to see how far he was from them. Once he was a reasonable distance ahead, he started laying down the traps and covering them with dirt to hide them better. He loaded his crossbow and hid in the smaller tunnels in anticipation.

STEALTH Lv 1 skill Acquired

Kaz's heart jumped for a moment. He hoped that the message was quiet enough not the have been heard. Time passed slowly for what seemed like agonizing minutes until finally, he could see some light begin to come his way. He raised his crossbow and hid around the side of the opening.

CRUNCH!

"Argh!" Screamed the fighter as his foot landed right in the trap. "I hate these freaking traps!" The cleric rushed forward to assist the fighter and let out a scream as well. "Ahhhhhh," The wizard stood her ground and looked around, not moving from where she was. It was the perfect opportunity, he thought to himself. Quickly ducking out of the opening, he pointed his crossbow at the mage and took a deep breath. "This has to work, or I'm dead!" He released the bolt as it whizzed across the tunnel. The wizard was caught off guard as it pierced into her shoulder. "Dammit!" Kaz hissed as he dove back into the small tunnel and started running.

"I needed that to land a fatal blow to make this easier. Now they know I am here and will probably come after me." Running down the tunnel, he paused when he felt he was far enough away to avoid being hit by a bolt. He could hear them cursing down the tunnels. Thinking to himself, he had to come up with something else now. Kobolds were great with traps but not so much with a fair fight. He needed to play dirty if he was going to make it out alive. The three adventurers broke free of the bear traps and proceeded to chase after the lone kobold.

Making his way back into the large opening full of his fallen allies, he began searching the bodies for anything useful. Finding daggers and more bolts, he kept searching. He noticed a few kobolds had on goggles and flasks on their bandoliers. He picked up a vial and examined it. The amber liquid moved around in it but did nothing else. "If I remember correctly, these are known as the fire of the alchemist, a common tool used by kobold alchemists against intruders."

He had struck a gold mine. These were perfect. Carefully he removed the bandoliers and attached them to himself. He noticed another vial half empty in the fallen kobolds' hand. It was a much darker red color. "A healing potion, perhaps?" He grabbed it and corked it placing it in one of the empty pockets of the bandolier.

He was as prepared as he was going to be. It did or die time, and he sure as hell wasn't going to die again. He made his way back into the smaller tunnels and looped around back to where he was. He saw the amber glow of the torch go by him in the larger tunnel and knew he had managed to get behind them. He could make out more cursing and some apologizing. The cleric had run out of healing spells, so the damage he dealt with was still there. It looked like luck was on his side after all.

He poked his head out to see how far away they were and gauged they were about 20 feet or so. He took a fire flask and threw it as hard as he could at the fighter. It smashed right into his back and caught his cloak on fire. He saw the fighter squirm a bit before freeing himself from his cloak and turning around to face the enemy. But by the time he did, there was no one there.