PvP

Between the kobold and James, there was a gap of 25 feet. It was common sense to think that the kobold would charge at him to bridge the gap, right?

But James didn't think that.

"Common sense can be defied when skills and spells are in play. I cannot afford to underestimate any player in the Land of Trials."

He wasn't being overly cautious or paranoid, although it might come across as such.

The kobold proved his suspicions true when it swung its sword in his direction while standing 25 feet away from him. An arc, green in color, five feet long, and as thick as a kitchen knife, burst out of the kobold's sword when it was swung.

Whoosh!

The wind blade barreled through the air, closing in on James with ridiculous speed.

James quickly rolled to the side.

The wind blade struck the wall behind where he had just been standing and gouged a deep cut into it that was reminiscent of a large blade slicing through butter.

After James was done rolling on the ground, he stood up and caught sight of the damage done to the wall by the kobold's skill from his peripheral vision and felt a chill run down his spine. If he wasn't as vigilant as he was, if he had reacted even a split second slower when dodging the kobold's skill, he would have shared the wall's fate. He would have been chopped apart into two. 

He quickly composed himself and looked towards the kobold with narrowed eyes and thought, 'It's going all out from the very start. It probably doesn't have the stamina to fight a drawn-out battle.'

Despite knowing this, James didn't think of intentionally prolonging his battle with the kobold. He wanted to end it as soon as possible because the kobold had a skill that could kill him if he slipped up even once. 

'He dodged the strongest skill in my arsenal? Is it a fluke?' 

The kobold refused to believe what it had seen.

After all, back in its home world, countless humans have fallen to this exact same move. They were defenseless against the power of its sword. 

It didn't know that there was a difference between the humans it had killed in the past and James. The ones it had killed when it raided human villages were poor and weak farmers, little children, newborns, and so on, while James was a player who was several times stronger and faster than them. 

It wasn't going to be easy to kill him.

Maybe it didn't recognize that, maybe it was driven mad by its hunger, but it prepared to use its strongest move again. But before it could swing its sword, James cast Disarm.

The target of the spell was naturally the kobold.

The kobold's skill was canceled as its sword slipped out of its hand and fell to the ground.

Seeing this, James thought, 'My conclusion was correct. The kobold can't use its potent skill unless it's equipped with a sword.'

The kobold tried to pick up its sword, but James tossed his dagger towards it with such speed that it was left with only two choices: either it could pick up its sword and get stabbed by the dagger, or it could abandon what it was doing and jump backwards to dodge it.

Getting injured in the Land of Trials reduces the chance of survival.

9 out of 10 times, injuries that cause severe bleeding lead to death.

The kobold wasn't a fool looking to die. It made a rational choice and gave up on picking up its sword, jumping backwards to dodge the dagger thrown towards it.

Thud!

With a dull thud, it landed 6 feet away from its previous position, exactly where James wanted it to be, as he had thrown his other dagger in that direction a moment ago after casting the Lucky Strike spell on himself.

The dagger toss was quick and the aim was a little off, but mid-movement, the trajectory of the dagger's flight changed despite the absence of wind in the room because of the effect of the Lucky Strike Spell.

The dagger was now aiming straight for the kobold's vitals instead of its right shoulder.

The kobold didn't see it coming until it was too late. As it saw its death approach, its eyes thinned to the size of needles.

Puchi*

The dagger stabbed into one side of its neck and came out of the others. Blood sprayed out of the two recently made gaping holes in its neck, splashing on the floor and the wall of the white room close to it, dying them red. 

The kobold was still not dead, however.

The kobold's eyes widened to the size of saucers in pain and, in its desperation, it clutched its neck. However, it couldn't stop the blood from flowing out of its neck, nor could it inhale the oxygen it so desperately needed as its windpipes had been chopped apart by James's reinforced dagger throw. 

It could do nothing as its strength left its body. 

James vigilantly watched the kobold's useless struggle to survive from afar, as if he feared the kobold might make a last-ditch effort to take him down with it if he got too close.

After a couple of seconds, the kobold crumpled to the floor. It lay there motionless, blood pooling beneath it.

A palm-sized silver orb emerged from the still body and hovered above it. It was the strengthening orb.

The emergence of the strengthening orb was a clear sign that it had died, and James received notifications that further confirmed it.

[You have passed the PvP Trial. You have received +75 Trial points]

[You have passed the Trial by slaying your opponent. You have received an additional 50 trial points]

James trial points shot up to 200!