After Math

After a few hours, the Ice had stopped and around 100 kobolds were killed. Not only that but the entire first section was completely frozen over. And while the frost had stopped spreading it was being maintained so any kobold who went inside of the first section would quickly start taking damage and would eventually be hit with several status effects such as frostbite and a slow-down effect which combined are devastating especially for weak draconic monsters like kobolds.

Meanwhile, several wyverns working with Lyanard and Innis to melt the ice. However, no progress was being made as once some ice melted more would eventually take its place. This created a sort of battle attrition in which the adventurers were trying to freeze the dragons out of the dungeon and even keep them from the entrance if they were to surge. While the dragons were fighting off the frost as a means to burn away the mana of their opposition to make their seemingly inevitable rampage easier.

"C'mon guys, they can't have infinite mana, but we have infinite air, you just need to keep breathing. Remember to switch out the second you need to inhale again," stated Smaug as he commanded his dragons to make the most of every second. "We aren't making much ground but even if they have a level 100 mage they'll run out of mana eventually. C'MON KEEP FIGHTING!"

At this point, the sun was setting, and an all too familiar message alerted Smaug of his nightly DP gain. However, a secondary message appeared.

[The final day of the surge is upon you, unfortunately, your forces aren't quite ready to surge just yet so instead, you will be compensated with one temporary buff that will help you overcome the obstacle holding you back the most at this moment so you can regain control over your dominion.]

[Temporary buff: Ice mage bane

Effect:

You and your monsters have gained a 10% resistance to ice magic

You and all your monster's ability to undo the effects of ice has increased by 5% and by a further 15% if you use dragons breath

When using any form of fire attack you and your monsters apply the field effect of "warmed ground" which increases the mana requirement to use ice-type AOE attacks in the affected area.

Duration: 1 day]

Just then Smaug felt as if a warmth- no a lack of cold built up inside of him. He felt he could be comfortable on a snowy day in shorts and if he were to, ice would melt away with the slightest amount of heat. Then he noticed his wyverns speed up in their advance eventually they had made noticeable progress and it seemed as if ice-type mana was bouncing off of the ground.

Meanwhile outside the Ice Queen and a few other ice mages were noticeably put off by the situation. This then prompted Giony to start asking questions.

"What is it? Is something the matter?"

"Yeah, my Icy field spell is being pushed back, I can handle a sudden increase in pushback I expected the dungeon to pull something out of seemingly nowhere, but this is different not only is it pushing us back but I- no we can't seem to gain any solid land back. Our mana is being repelled, but I've noticed I can get some ground if I increase my output but I don't know if I can maintain that until the surge period is over."

"I see, well how far do you think they will make it if this keeps up?"

"Well assuming this goes until the surge ends then I'd say we should be fine we'd still have enough ground to kill anything before it escapes."

"Good, thank you for doing this who knows how much damage this could have done if this dungeon surged? It was full of kobolds, but now we know it at least has lesser wyverns and lesser dragonlings. Potentially worse that simply hasn't shown itself yet."

"I understand, draconic creatures may not be as *well populated* as goblins and ogres but dragons tend to destroy if they don't like something. Even worse if they have a very strong dragon to lead them, acting as thugs and faithful warriors for everyone above them. A real issue if you leave them be without precaution."

"Yes, that is why I brought you here. The sheer number of kobolds gathered in what seems to be the first part of a sectional dungeon was crazy. There was easily over 200 Kobolds in there. I couldn't begin to imagine how many were throughout the dungeon. We had to back out because their raw numbers already killed a few adventurers so we quickly resorted to bombardment from out here the very first day."

Back inside the dungeon, resting within section two a group of kobolds was doing various things to pass the time, while the fury caused by the surge was prevalent it didn't inhibit their natural personality, it simply meant they weren't thinking entirely straight and were quick to anger. Kobolds were fighting, conversing, and even (with some restlessness) taking a nap. Various mages were showing off their natural magical superiority to the amazed kobolds.

Sca'Bla was among this group but unlike the others, he was actively training. His regiment consisted of 100 swings, jogging in place for one minute, then a quick break. A few other extra motivated kobolds had also decided to join him, and at this point, the group was doing more than just training they were also sparing and practicing with each other. Different Kobolds were born with different weapons so Sca'Bla had the genius idea of having two match types, duels, and match-ups. Duels were between two kobolds of the same weapon type so they could learn from their opponent's technique while matchups were against kobolds of the same level so they could get experience fighting challenging opponents.

While this was happening something happened, one level 5 dagger-wielding kobold directly challenged Sca'Bla. Of course, he accepted and the battle was thrilling tons of kobolds surrounded them. Despite the rank difference between the two monsters the dagger wielder managed to hold his own for quite some time it got to the point where small signs of fatigue appeared on Sca'Bla, however, the dagger wielded wasn't much better.

"GRRYYYAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!!"

The dagger wielder screamed, the blood-red glow in its eyes shined brighter than ever while golden light surrounded the Kobold. Then as if it had been fully rested and hopped up on performance-enhancing drugs, the kobold dashed forward with blinding speed, enough so that Sca'Bla barely was able to block the next attack. But then another attack came right after the first, then another, and another. The kobold was going through something it had never felt before, it was as if something was guiding it. The primal instincts of the kobold drove every attack after attack in a never-ending combo that could only be blocked or parried. Then one of the greatest feats ever seen by these kobolds happened, something that surely would be remembered by everyone there until the day they died. The daggers of the kobold glowed a faint blue hue. The attacking kobold then sped up its attacks to more ferocious and more damaging, a few injuries appeared on Sca'Bla while trying to defend and before long the victor had been decided.

As that happened the crowd exploded into cheers of excitement as mages blasted fire into the air, and everyone else was doing whatever they could to show their admiration of the kobold who managed to beat their leader despite their natural strength difference. It was seemingly a 1 - 9 match favoring Sca'Bla, and the dagger wielder won.

Then in the crowd, a distinct slow clap could be heard, and out came Smaug, their lord. Every Kobold kneeled with respect as Smaug approached.

"At ease everyone you are right to celebrate, our little champion here managed something GREAT! He managed to promote himself and level up, this has caused him o naturally fulfill the conditions to evolve. Now tell me what you want from these options…"

A few seconds before, Smaug while monitoring the ice-melting situation received a notification

[Your kobold has managed to level up via sparring, this has given it the push it needs to evolve, the kobold has also been promoted to a dagger wielder which affects its potential evolution paths locking some, but allowing for the specialization in evolution lines that use daggers.]

[your choices are as follows:

-Kobold assassin: rank F

- A class with a little bit of shadow magic to use stealth abilities with bonuses to sneak attacks. This evolution path will moderately increase your kobolds' strength.

- Kobold wind blade: rank F

- Not as physically strong as other choices, however, this class has access to some wind magic to be used to increase its speed and apply the wind element to attacks for small damage boosts.

- Kobold blade dancer: rank F

- One of the most dexterous kobold evolution paths allows for a dance-like fighting style that can often keep opponents on the back foot.

- Kobold rogue: rank F

- One of the fastest kobold evolution paths and while they aren't as stealthy as assassins they often use their agility to move silently through out-of-sight areas, unlike the assassin which works well in crowded areas.]

Back in the present time, Smaug had read out all of the choices to the kobold and for a while, it thought and thought. Eventually, it made a choice. It knew the rouge was out of the question as its abilities weren't suited for the dungeon, while blade and blade dancer seemed to fit with its fighting style during that sparring session, that was only training and not every enemy will stand there, and take that many hits, especially if they have a defensive build they wouldn't let it stay up close and personal with themselves for that long, especially if they were outclassed in a 1v1 duel setting. That left the assassin, the perfect choice. In the confined space of the dungeon being able to move around undetected was a great boon as the dungeon itself was extremely cramped and had the benefits of a rogue plus a potential future in even more shadow magic. It had seen the mages and was a little jealous of them, but this way even if it was through their blades, they may also become at least part caster.

While holding up one finger the kobold grunted "Grah Grash ein"

"I don't know how, but I got it you want to become an assassin am I right?"

With a rapid nodding of its head, Smaug pressed the air and a golden light enveloped the Kobold. After a few seconds, a slightly taller kobold appeared. Its rusty daggers were replaced with pristine slightly curved iron daggers. Around its body was a slight dark mist. While it now wore a cloak held together by a leather buckle.

[congratulations your kobold has evolved into a [kobold assassin]!]

[congradulations on the first monster to naturally evolve, your [kobold assassin] has been granted a name]

"Oh? It seems you've earned a name. How about… Desmina?"

[you have named a kobold, but due to the circumstances of the name, evolution has been delayed, however in return Desmina will receive both receive extra stat increases per level and her next evolution will happen sooner than normal, please understand this achievement was nerfed in such a way since a double evolution would be very broken.]