Volume 1 Chapter 7 (1/2)
Maestro of Battles
The Lair of Litvart was at the entrance of Grave Mountains, a three hours trip on horseback fro on occasionally diverted off course, and even chewed on grass leisurely He had to cajole it to stay on course
In front of the lair, a soldier ould look after the horses aiting for theood care of the horses”
“Yes, sir”
The punitive force led by Sir Midvale left their horses to the soldier, and entered the lair Weed was finally relieved of the colt
“Ready for battle!”
“Set in battle formation!”
The punitive force shi+elded themselves with steel bucklers and armed themselves with spears and swords Compared to them, Weed’s equipment was pathetic An iron sword and a bow
Sir Midvale in chain mail approached
“Is that all you have, Weed-nim?”
“Yes, sir”
“You are poorly arht on the front line Stay behind and support the troops”
“Yes, sir”
The troops held the bucklers forward and marched on the lair Weed followed the a little headway, they spotted five kobolds that were ca Surprised by the sudden appearance of the troops, the kobolds sprang to their feet
“Grakht!”
“Eneet-like ht, armed with coarse wooden shi+elds and bronze swords
“Kill, kill!”
“Drive evil human away! They wreck shelter! Rise, brave kobold warriors!”
When the kobolds rushed out, the soldiers got tense New recruits, fresh out of boot caed in a battle before Weed looked toward Sir Midvale, but the knight watched his men with indifferent eyes as if any casualty was acceptable
‘Isn’t a knight supposed to care if his soldiers die or not? Perhaps he wants theht
The soldiers quickly forainst the wave of kobolds A couple of kobolds flung stones with slingshots, but the projectiles barely troubled the troops Outnuained supremacy over the kobolds with few casualties Every tiround
“Buren, Becker, gather the spoils”
The two soldiers whose na the metal pieces They were copper or poorly s tools
One of the reasons why the kingdom operated such a punitive force, other than to train new recruits and restore security to the outskirts was to collect war booty, a creative injection to the budget
“I need to move in at some point…” Weed said to himself
On the next battle, he took out the Bow of Theo Grande and aimed at a kobold’s neck
‘Hold your breath, steady your hands and aiet’
ility and handicraft skill guided his arrows precisely to the targeted kobolds
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You have leveled up
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When Weed slew three kobolds, a level-up her than twenty gave enormous EXPs to Weed as only at level thirteen
Every kobold shot by his arrow immediately fell because he picked those ere nearly drained of life
Cleverly, Weed sniped at easy ga their lives in the front line
It was a selfish and secure tactic An arsonist torching a house isjewelry and china fro was very wicked, taking full advantage of brothers-in-arood man could not create such exploitation
On the other hand, Weed was concerned that this tactic could backfire once the soldiers began to notice it and criticize hiine how duped they would feel if a kobold short of a final strike dropped dead because of an arrow from out of nowhere
Weed only shot kobolds ere running away in a desperate attempt to survive, or when a soldier was helplessly surrounded by two or three kobolds
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You have leveled up
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Each tileefully While the other soldiers were fighting hard in the battles, all he needed to do was to shoot arrows blindly from a safe place What else was easier than that?
His level was skyrocketing as fast as the stock price of Google Weed’s scheht before the quest paid off
On the way deeper into the lair, they found a wide, open place Sir Midvale and hiskobolds as they were detected, and then returned to the place
“Take a rest and prepare lunch,” Sir Midvale ordered
“Yes, sir” Buren and Becker rustled to take out large pots and light a fire
As the youngest in the party, they were made to do chores Weed walked to them and picked up a knife
“I’ll help you,”
Weed said, s sheepishly
“Oh, no need,”
Becker said
“Well, I like to cook I am still an amateur, but wouldn’t it be nice if I serve you brave warriors who are devoting your swords and shi+elds for Rosenheim?”
“It is very kind of you, Weed-ni the soldiers A man who volunteers to do hly welco, Becker and Buren’s attitude toward Weed changed They couldn’t help but like he who picks up the knife and slices beef
Of course, he had his own agenda, and it had nothing to do with universal benevolence or whatever I skill
Weed sliced and threw beef in the pot, added vegetables and flavors to redients that were needed to serve 32plenty of food was the short cut to i skill as fast as possible
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Level Up: Cooking Skill
[2]
Enhances the taste of meals
Increases speed of recovery of stamina when served
Increase life when served (+5 LIFE)
Level Up: Handicraft Skill [7]
Enhances your craft skills in every field
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Twoskill rose while the Handicraft skill that had needed a few experience points for a level up ascended to seven Two birds with one stone, indeed
Weed tasted a spoonful of the stew—the privilege of being a chef
“Excellent”
Corocery store was an insult It wasn’t as good as the pork barbecue that he had eaten the other day, but satisfying for his first atteh handicraft skill that co skill
“Everyone! Lunch is ready! Please help yourself”
The soldiers who felt hungry because of the relentless battles were served a bowl of stew each, which they ate greedily
“Oh, it’s delicious”
“I can’t believe a ood outdoors”
“Somehow, I think he’s a better cook than ave the thumbs up to Weed Their reaction told hi for them
He filled empty boith beef stew continuously when asked, and in doing so, his stomach, too
The soldiers emptied the pot, and when the lunch break was over, Sir Midvale came over to Weed He asked cordially,
“Weed-ni ood cooking Though, it was more likely that as a revered noble, he was too accusto less
“Yes, sir I will take care of meals”
And so, Weed was named the official chef for the punitive force
He found no reason to decline Sir Midvale’s request, as he could upgrade the cooking skill by preparing thirty-two servings of stew three times a day Further
“Weapons and ared or destroyed if you have them”
“Really?”
“Can you really repair ed, low in durability…”
“Just shohat you’ve got Repair!”
Weed used the repair skill to repair weapons and gear that soht to hied equipment back in town If they were left with low durability, they could suddenly break in the middle of a battle
“Thank you, Weed-nirade his handicraft and repair skills, and earned trust from soldiers as a bonus
Sir Midvale, who had been skeptical of his friend’s reco on the mission, was now more than satisfied with his role
“You’re the man, Weed-nim!”
“Not at all, sir”
Weed blended in with the rest of the troops
Who knohat inconveniences they would have to suffer without hie froe-nicked weapons fixed, and the meals would have revolted their stoical items would have needed identification scrolls, which cost several gold coins for each Instead, Weed could identify theht on the spot with his identification skill
For the soldiers, it would be torture to go back to the tasteless gruel that Buren and Becker used to claim was beef stew, especially after they enjoyed Weed’s version
“We’re not cooks in the first place!” Buren and Becker cried in unison
In this way, the soldiers and Weed forinable relationshi+p
Swish
Whenever an arro frorey
The kobolds are considered relatively weaker monsters They kno to use tools, but the class of their tools is crude, as though made by children They basically rely on numbers in battle
“Kiyoyo!” A platoon of nine kobolds charged at once
‘Co on his face, Weed greeted the kobolds with silent cheers He shot arrows arbitrarily, collecting easy EXPs Defense was taken care of by the soldiers, anyway All he needed to do was shoot as many arrows as possible
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You have leveled up
You have leveled up
New Skill: You have learned Archery
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This was level-up madness
Weed had also learned archery, a skill that was commonly exclusive to the archer class It was hardly surprising, considering that he had done nothing but shoot arrows as he never swung a sword, even once, in the battles
Nevertheless, the soldiers were not jealous of him in the least After the battles, Weed was the busiest one there He cooked ear and tended the wounded
Sir Midvale had a few healing potions for eencies, but the soldiers in the punitive force could not afford such costly auze on wounds with his handicraft skill
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Skill: You learned Bandage Skill
Enables you to stop bleeding
Increases life of the wounded when tended
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The maximum number of skills that a user can learn when his class is undecided is ten
Weed’s bandage skill, affected by the high handicraft skill, had i for thirty patients every day, the skill upgraded fiercely
The troops roa kobolds, for a week
Users were occasionally spotted watching Weed with envious eyes as he was privileged to join a NPC punitive force and huntkobolds upgraded his level to twenty-six The repair skill hit level three, and the cooking skill, now level four, earned him a special option to increase 50 HP for those ere served with his meals until the satisfaction factor went down
Still, he had a headache
“Quest Information Window”
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Search and Destroy Operation in the Lair of the Litvart [II]
There are a hundredthe Lair of Litvart Kill each and every one of them at least once, and prove yourself worthy of the honorable class The coht path for your destiny
Difficulty Level: Unknown
Quest Requirement: None
Nu the quest that Counselor Rodriguez had, the number of h Weed had already knocked down hundreds of kobolds
After a week of war up on the kobolds, the troops headed to the third floor of the lair—the goblins’ territory
While hunting kobolds had been originally intended to give the new recruits firsthand corave threat to their life
The level of the kobolds was in the twenties The kobold rascals are level twenty-three, and the relatively stronger kobold warriors twenty-eight, but untitled kobolds were at level twenty
On the other hand, the goblins are level fifty or above Their weapons and gear surpass what kobolds are equipped with in attack power and defense The cooblins is five to six times that of the kobolds
“Watch out now When you find yourself in danger, retreat immediately”
“Yes, Commander!”
The solders could not hide their exciteed fro kobolds, but their confidence ebbed at the thought of facing an unknown eneenerally twice theirs The only relief was that goblins gathered in lesser numbers than kobolds
“Whew”
Weed let out an exasperated breath His stooblins at that moment, they would surely suffer inevitable casualties
‘One third? Or perhaps et annihilated’
Had Weed been in charge of the troops, he would have taken tiher before he led theoblins, not to oblins efficiently
But the coed to Sir Midvale Weed was left with two options Either he followed them as before, only to sit back and watch theive up the quest and hunt h to deal with the goblins The second option, which would penalize him tremendously, was out of the question
In fact, the reason Weed was so concerned about the welfare of the soldiers was more of a practical need that he didn’t want to see them die in vain when he worked so hard to build a friendshi+p with the Get ready!—” Even before Sir Midvale finished his words, a few goblins dashed out of a cave
“Kigggg!”
“Huoblins The total number of soldiers outnuoblins to take the initiative and to seek another chance afterward—undoubtedly, a goblin yielded a treet one
However, the soldiers were frozen They stoodAnd fighting spirit radiated froht of an enemy as level fifty Their swords dropped doard, the bucklers treue
The goblins were not easy to defeat even if the soldiers stood up to fight fearlessly, and now they were already frozen before the battle began This would lead to a calalance at Sir Midvale, as standing beside hiht wasn’t in the mood to motivate his men
‘The weak deserve to die’
The code of chivalry developed in Rosenhei his bow on his back and held the iron sword
‘I have faith in friendshi+p I’ve worked so hard to build,’ he said to hiinable to the other soldiers who remembered what he had done in the previous battles Weed shouted a war cry and charged toward the goblins!
“Yatz!”
ers</e a sense of futility in hiap between his level and the goblins’ with his inflated stats, but the shorter reach of his sas critical The sasn’t effective on the goblins that were ar any defensive gear If they hit oblins blocked Weed’s sword, and almost at the same tie the reflexes and quick wits to save his life
He had no intention of fighting the goblins seriously, so his subsequent attacks were half-hearted
“Die, human!”
“Your sword sucks!”
With five spears, the goblins attacked at rando as Weed didn’t get close within the reach of his sword, he was free of the risk of being skewered by their spears
Still, he pretended to be in peril, dodging the spears by inches To the eyes of the soldiers, the scene looked like a hopeless struggle of the weak
Even though it had been long since Weed’s level transcended theirs, their view of his role was fixed on a handyand first aid That Weed was fighting the goblins! The eyes of the soldiers began to flicker with confidence
After a couple es, Weed retreated a few steps and roared in a thunder-like voice,
“Look at theoblins are weaker than they appear! Look at us! We outnumber them! You are not alone; we have each other! Our co our backs!”
“Hoo-hah!” The soldiers regained their morale at once
“It’s a shame on us if we hide behind Weed’s back like ed directly at the goblins
Weed quickly sensed a forthco melee and pulled himself fro spears If we fight within the reach of spears, it will only cause us e Use your shi+elds Hold yours bucklers up, ap in between, and prevent the their spears freely”
“Aye!”
“I will follow your coave timely advice in a cordial manner
Since friendshi+p between them hit maximum, his command was directly taken on board by the soldiers
They pushed back the goblins by force Two thirds of therabbed the swords
As the first two lines charged behind the bucklers, the spears that were thrust by the goblins bounced off, astonishi+ng the brainless ene their swords
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Charisma has risen by 3 points (+3 CHR)
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For Weed, who had been resting idly, had his charisma increased by three points The charisma stat acts over NPC troops, and makes it easier to tame pets or hire mercenaries
As the soldiers ere ot into action, his leadershi+p was recognized
her level, could not defeat the troops, who outnumbered theoblin after another into a gray flash
These Roion tactics would have been ineffective when it comes to a battle between armies of equal number of soldiers, but an ar frooblins, which were ar spears
Occasional arrows shot by Weed after he sheltered behind the troops distracted the goblins further