52 Kobold Slayer

After the ambush, we continued on our way to the kobold nest. I used my survival skills to find traces of the kobolds. We found the ruins quickly enough. It looked like some old, abandoned fort from the dark ages.

"How do we want to do this?" I asked my party members.

We should just go in through the front. You take the lead since you can find traps." Alex said to me. "Eri, what can you do?"

"I can support you with magic from the back," Eri responded to Alex.

"Sounds like a plan. Hopefully, we don't meet any more demons." I spoke.

We walked up to the large building. It looked to be about three floors high with a large wooden double door. I cautiously opened the door, surprised it didn't fall off its hinges. We slowly crept inside the entrance and found it to be a gathering hall. There were large tables with plates and mugs strewn about everywhere.

In the distance, next to the stairs, I saw one of the small lizardmen wearing mismatched oversized armor, leaning on a spear. He appeared to be sleeping. I drew my bow and nocked an arrow. I lowered my crouch stance so my knee was on the ground to help stabilize my upper body. I then activated my [Snipe] skill and saw a pulsing circular targeting reticle in my vision.

I slowed my breathing and tried to steady my heartbeat, which slowed the pulsing circle, allowing me to get a more accurate shot. Once the ring was just a dot in front of me, I took aim at the creature's head as it was the least armored. I then loosed the arrow watching it fly and strike its target true. The kobold's body didn't make a sound as it hit the stair wall behind him and slowly slid down. The only sound it made was the armor gently hitting the ground.

"Damn, sis. You're deadly with a bow too. You could build up your character as an assassin type." Alex whispered to me. Eri nodded her head in approval. We look around the first floor and find a few rooms, such as a kitchen and a few storage rooms. The two storage rooms had two kobolds each, but they were passed out drunk, as evidenced by the empty mead barrels nearby.

Alex, Eri, and I quickly dispatched the enemies with our daggers. With the first floor empty, we then went to the second floor. Going up the stairs, I noticed a tripwire trap. Following the wire, I saw it was connected to a large spiky wooden pillar on the ceiling. Once the trap is triggered, the post is most likely released, swinging down and impaling its unfortunate victim.

There was no need to disarm it, so I notified Alex and Eri of the trap so they would just step over the wire. We made it to the second floor with no incidents. Taking a quick glance around the room, It was obvious that this was a barracks floor. There were about twelve kobolds, but only four of them were awake.

I turned back to Alex and Eri. "How should we do this?" I asked both of them.

"I have a sleeping spell I can cast on them. We could try and take them out without alerting the others." Eri responded. Alex and I agreed with her plan. Eri stepped forward a bit, pulled out a pinch of sand, and moved her hands in a pattern before blowing the sand toward the kobolds.

All of them except for one fell asleep. The remaining kobold looked around at its sleeping companions in confusion. I quickly use my psionics to kill the creature and slowly lower its body onto the floor. We then spent the next ten minutes killing the other kobolds.

"I didn't think I'd find stealth gameplay so fun." Alex quietly said.

"I did this once before but to this effect. This is kind of fun. Reminds me of those old spy movies." I replied.

We searched the second floor but found nothing worth looting, save for a few gold coins. We then decided to make our way to the third floor. At the top of the stairs, we came across a closed door. I could make out some faint noises inside. I pressed my ear to the door and listened in. I could hear some festivities inside the room. Looks like we can't sneak our way through this one.

"Sounds like there is a party going on in there. I propose we kick open the door and start blasting." Alex said. It was as good an idea as any, so I looked at Eri to see if she had any thoughts.

"Sounds good to me. I will hang out in the back and support you two with spells." Eri said.

"So, here's our plan then. Alex will kick open the door and rush them. I will start picking off the more agile ones with my bow while Eri supports us." I spoke. Everyone nodded their heads. We stood there, poised for attack waiting on Alex.

Alex's muscular leg kicked out before her as she blasted the feeble door off its hinges. The door sailed through the air a good distance before clipping an unlucky kobold in the face. The joyous atmosphere stopped as the remaining kobolds looked at us.

In the center was a kobold who was a bit bigger than the rest. He had a much better quality of armor. It looked like a mix of chain mail and some plate. He also had a wicked curved sword and a large shield. He drew both of them ready for combat. The other kobolds were still stunned by the door-smashing event.

Alex rushed to the nearest kobold and swung her large axe down at the creature, cleaving him in two and leaving a pile of organs and viscera in its wake. I quickly nocked an arrow and shot a kobold at the rear in the throat, dropping him to the ground. Eri waved her hands, did a quick incantation, and fired several small darts that seemed to track her enemy as another kobold took all four of them to the chest.

The larger kobold let out a loud roar which seemed to bring the other kobolds out of their stupor. He rushed towards Alex and swung at her with a flurry of swings. Alex tried to block most of them, but a few hits landed on her.

One of the kobolds tried to rush me. I loosed an arrow at the kobold, hitting it in the leg and slowing its speed. Suddenly another kobold appeared to my left and nearly hit me, but I was able to deflect the blow with my bow.

Eri said another chant and waved her hands in another pattern. She fired four flaming rays of light from her hand, hitting three kobolds and burning a hole through each. I saw another kobold try to sneak up on Alex. In a half panic, I used my psionics and folded the creature in half… backward. The sound made me a bit queasy.

With Alex free of distractions, she could fight the kobold leader. She was able to overpower him and get a good hit in with her axe. We stood for a moment, trying to catch our breath as we looked around at all the dead kobolds around us.

"That was a good workout. I am curious why you didn't use your psionics all that much." Alex asked me.

"I just wanted to use my bow and practice with it. Besides, I could have ended the whole thing instantly, which would have been boring for everyone." I replied back.

"Well, we should get back and turn our mission in. It was fun hanging out with you. I want to work on my rebirth before the second event starts. I need to get ahead of the power curve." Alex said as she was rummaging through the corpses on the floor.

"I need to get my rebirth underway too. I wonder what kind of abilities I will get." I replied.

Once we determined that the kobolds didn't have much in the way of loot, we decided to leave and return to the city before nightfall.