Chapter Nineteen: The Outpost

Drake had to quickly sweep away the notifications mentally as they filled his vision. It was an amazing haul and he hadn't even looked at his stat gains or the items he picked up yet.

The Kobolds had been a treasure trove of experience and equipment for him, he thought; the river coming into his vision. Drake checked the surroundings for any signs of monsters and when he found none he looked over at his now itching shoulder. Surprised that it was slowly but visibly healing and replacing small fibers of muscle that had been blown off earlier.

After some traveling he finally arrived at the river bed, looking at the pristine flowing water. Drake sighed in relief. He touched his shoulder again to see its healing progress. When he saw that it had stopped bleeding and a scar was forming, he jumped into the river and began scrubbing himself down.

He drank some water to refresh himself, and then moved to the shoreline to dry off in the sun.

Drake sat on a nearby rock and pulled up his status ready to distribute his free stats now that he had gotten an idea of what he was lacking.

[Drake Wallen]

[Race: Human]

Tutorial Alias [Shot]

[Base Class: Mage x Warrior] [Unique] Level 5

[Vitality] 162

[Strength] 120

[Dexterity] 100

[Intelligence] 266

[Wisdom] 165

[Endurance] 100

[Free Points] 127

[Skills] Basic Mana Bolt [Level NA] Basic Heavy Strike [Level NA]

[Titles] First Blood, Two versus One, One vs Many, Monkey Slayer, Living on the Edge, Close Call, Dead Man Walking, Dual Class, Punching Up, Improbability, Dog Hater.

Drake scoffed at his pooled Free Points, as it was over the amount of some of his stats.

He looked at the new title that had appeared with a displeased look. "I'm not a dog hater! Those things were just dog-like!" Drake shouted into the air.

[Dog Hater]

[Slay 10 harmless dog-like Kobolds. +5% Damage to Kobolds]

Drake sighed, completely worn out and didn't want to complain anymore to waste time.

Drake looked back over his stats as he distributed his Free Points. He knew what stats he wanted to improve now after the fight. He wasn't strong enough in magic to pierce the Kobold's shields without a staff to amplify his damage. And he was only barely nimble enough to fight his way through those close combat fights. So he decided to increase his Intelligence and Dexterity by a margin. Then evened out his Strength and Wisdom to keep his melee damage and mana regeneration up.

[Drake Wallen]

[Race: Human]

Tutorial Alias [Shot]

[Base Class: Mage x Warrior] [Unique] Level 5

[Vitality] 162

[Strength] 150

[Dexterity] 150

[Intelligence] 300

[Wisdom] 178

[Endurance] 100

[Free Points] 0

[Skills] Basic Mana Bolt [Level NA] Basic Heavy Strike [Level NA]

[Titles] First Blood, Two versus One, One vs Many, Monkey Slayer, Living on the Edge, Close Call, Dead Man Walking, Dual Class, Punching Up, Improbability, Dog Hater.

"Nice, this is looking pretty good. Now I better look over the stones and equipment to see if there's anything I can use before I go back there." He thought aloud. "That was the largest pack yet, and I don't think that was just a coincidence. I want to go back and try to figure out what was going on there...."

Drake opened up his inventory and checked the various items and stones he managed to pick up this time.

[Skill Stone: Ranger] [Uncommon]

[Unlocks a random Skill from the Ranger tree.]

[Requirement: Have at least one or more open Skill Slots and a Ranger Main Tree or Sub-tree Branch Unlocked.]

Drake had gotten only two of these, so he suspected they came from the crossbowmen. The word Ranger kinda screamed Ranger type class, and would explain how they may have been able to gain insight to where he had been from so far away.

Drake had also gotten a few more Strength Skill Stones, which also made sense. But his crown jewel for the fight was certainly the last stone he had picked up.

[Skill Stone: Mage] [Uncommon]

[Unlocks a random skill from the Mage tree.]

[Requirement: Open Skill Slot. Have a Mage Based Main Class-tree unlocked]

The rest of the loot wasn't too notable, he had picked up a few more pairs of leather pants and chests, and a cloak. And some shields that he had tried on but quickly put back into his inventory, as they had to be held so he wasn't able to cast magic while holding both it and his sword.

But there was an honorable mention because of what the description said.

[Sturdy Pickaxe] [Common]

1 to 12 Physical Damage

1 to 4 Magical Damage

Attack Speed: Slow

Cast Speed: Slow

A sturdy looking pickaxe that is used to mine out various ores, jewels, and material.

Drake pondered for a moment on the subtle hint of confirmation the description gave. If there was a Mine somewhere that would make sense that he had killed a 'Miner' Kobold. And Drake wondered what had happened to all the various minerals that would be there now that mana was involved.

Drake's eyes turned to dollar signs as he thought of the possibilities of getting to an undiscovered mine.

While Drake waited for his clothes to dry he practiced casting his mana Bolts for half an hour firing them into the river. What he was trying to do was shorten his cast like he had seen the Kobold Mage do but every time he tried to omit a word from the cast. It wouldn't activate, but he was able to feel his mana flow towards his hand so he wasn't sure what the roadblock was.

He finally stopped after several attempts of failure, pulling out the Mage Skill Stone for a moment to roll it around in his hand. Maybe the Skills he would get from this would be the answer. If so he may be stuck just having to wait.

After a few more minutes he was adequately dried and placed the stone back into his inventory and ran back in the direction he had come from.

When he arrived at the scene of his last fight, he slowed to a crawl, as he saw a lone Miner Kobold.

Drake waited a moment to see if it was a part of a group. And after a minute, the Kobold wasn't joined by any others. It had gone from body to body apparently looking for dropped gear or stones as when it didn't find anything it turned away and headed back somewhere.

Perfect. Now take me to your leader, small dog type thing. Drake thought.

He began to follow the Miner Kobold from a moderate distance, moving at a brisk pace through the forest. The Kobold moved with purpose to what Drake hoped would be a mountain of treasure for him to take, in both loot and experience.

After what felt like forever, the blueish gray peaks of a mountain came into view between the tree leaves. Drake smiled as he kept pace with the monster making sure to be far enough away that it hopefully wouldn't notice him. Eventually the treeline broke and Drake halted to a stop at the end of it.

The Kobold ran past the treeline and made a run for what looked like an old wooden outpost. Drake was amazed at what he was looking at, his eyes following the direction of the Kobold. A small fortress built of wood was covering the side of the mountain base. There were small guard towers filled with Ranger and Mage Kobolds.

The Miner Kobold ran to a large Gate where there were a pair of Kobold Warriors. Drake watched as they seemed to converse, the Miner Kobold pointing back into the forest.

Had it noticed him and led him here on purpose? Drake wondered. Better safe than sorry. I've got a few tricks up my sleeve if I know they're coming.

Drake began taking out the extra pairs of leather, iron armor and weapons he had laying around. And quickly began placing them around him. He then began to rub dirt all over his person, and finally took out the last item.

[Battered Cloak NG] [Common]

[Offers no physical or magical protection, just a normal cloak that may help obscure your face and physical build.]

Drake put on the cloak that he had rubbed dirt on it as well, hoping to mask his smell, and quickly got into a tree to scope out the Gate.

The Miner Kobold and the Warriors were no longer there, and the gate was closed. But soon the gate reopened and revealed a large group of 20 Kobolds streaming out in front of the gate. They began lining up in wait for something.

Drake's body began to shiver as a Kobold with Black Spots Marking its gray body walked out of the gate. It had been twice the size of the other Kobolds, and was wearing metal armor that was obviously better than the crude iron the Apes had worn. It had a colonial conquistador-esk hat on its head, and held spiked metal gauntlets in both its hands.

There was an aura of power being exuded from the monster that Drake could feel from here. He looked on as the Bigger Kobold began barking and pointing at the others, then suddenly looked into the forest meeting Drake's gaze.

Drake again shuttered. Not sure if the monster had actually looked at him, but held the monster's gaze. After a few seconds the Kobold's mouth creased back and showed its large white fangs and maw. It had seen him. It pointed again to the treeline this time, and the Kobolds formed a straight line with the shield users in front with the rangers, and mages behind them. The Large Kobold bringing up the rear.

Drake smiled nervously, "Come and get me then, ya mutt."