The earthen and concrete creature thrashed violently. It crushed one bulky Kobold's skull and tore another apart with raw strength. David observed everything, his stomach churning—not from disgust, but frustration.
The humanoid creature was probably much more than just concrete. It seed infused with Mana—probably a lot of it—but David couldn't tell for sure. It easily killed the bulky Kobolds, threw their corpses aside, and moved to its next victim.
"Kobold Warriors. Both were Peak Iron ranks," lach's voice rang out from behind.
So, the rumors were true. Kobolds had access to the Class System. David's heartbeat accelerated. He wasn't shocked, but the turn of events promised excitent. Regardless, he had assud the Kobold's System functioned differently. There were still ordinary Kobolds, so reaching Iron VI and possibly even higher ranks. Maybe they had different requirents to acquire a Class.
That would explain their appearance. If the requirents were different, Kobolds might as well receive different benefits when choosing a Class.
lach walked up to David with a calm smile. David noticed the elf's drenched robe and disheveled hair but stayed silent. The elf stared at the earthen creature, and David didn't miss the look of pride in his eyes.
"Do you like my Elental? That's my best spell. By far! It's even stronger than it should have been, thanks to the combination with [Elental Mastery]," lach explained, unable to hide his excitent.
But David could only shake his head. "I don't like your Elental. I hate it."
He didn't have to look twice at lach to tell the elf was drained. Hopefully, lach had so serum or potion with him. If not, the rest of the Nest raid would be a nuisance. But that wasn't what annoyed David the most.
He grunted, "Your Elental stole my prey!"
Despite saying that, David cast [Oasis of Harmony] on the Earthen Elental, manifesting a black dove hovering above the creature's head. Half a dozen Kobolds in the proximity turned their heads, snarling as they charged and stabbed at the Elental. They slashed it dozens of tis within seconds, trying to cut it down, but the Earthen Elental didn't collapse.
David moved quickly, slipping into the blind spots of a few Kobolds before attacking. He stabbed and slashed his targets, killing them as the Elental continued its march. The other Kobolds must have missed his interference because they pursued the creature, creating a perfect target. David struck without rcy, eliminating the remaining Kobolds circling the Elental.
His eyes landed on lach, who followed the Elental safely. That's when David noticed the small glass vial shimring blue in the elf's hand.
Good—lach had potions.
David's head spun around to check on Torb, who seed to be faring well. The dwarf's mace was drenched in blood and brain matter, its victim lying motionless. But David's lips curled into a faint smirk. Torb could do better.
He conjured a black dove above Torb's head and watched as the Kobolds' attacks grew more vicious. Torb cursed loudly, but David had a hard ti listening to the dwarf's rambling as he focused on stabbing, beheading, and cutting down their enemies.
A flashing notification pulled his attention. However, it wasn't enough to distract him as his sense of danger perked up. David instinctively cast [Blood Aegis], and a shield manifested behind him. He would have spun around to check why his danger sense was going wild, but his blades were still stuck in the throat and chest of a thrashing Kobold.
The cracking noise behind him caught his attention nonetheless. Sothing strong enough to damage [Blood Aegis]? David twisted his blade, and the Kobold collapsed. He ripped his weapons free and turned quickly, ready to cast another [Blood Aegis].
A towering Kobold, nearly as large as a man, entered his view. It wielded a Zweihänder that shimred crimson like [Blood Aegis].
David's eyes narrowed. There was more to this enemy. He sensed a disruption in his Skill Rune's application. The Kobold… drained his [Blood Aegis]' energy.
What the hell?!
A strange sensation blossod in David's heart as he saw the crimson glint in the Kobold's eyes, the sa glint as the Blood used to conjure [Blood Aegis]. Was that fury? Anger? Possessiveness? David didn't know. He didn't care.
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All that occupied his mind was the thought of soone daring enough to steal from him.
His energy. His Essence!
"You did not just do that," David growled in a low voice.
The Kobold snarled, baring its fangs in a way that mocked him.
You're so fucking dead!
David hurled the Obsidian Blade at the Kobold, but it moved faster than expected and lifted its Zweihänder to block the attack easily. The Obsidian Blade didn't even hit the ground as David recalled it back into his mind space. His shortsword whipped forward, but so did the Kobold's tail. Even though he saw the tail whip early enough, he didn't have a path of retreat.
The tail collided with his shortsword and broke it upon impact. A sharp clatter rang out, but David just smiled at that. The Kobold's tail didn't lose montum from the impact and struck Deryadus' Arm. The impact could have shattered a few bones, but the Relic remained unscathed. His plan succeeded; he pressed his flat hand against the Kobold's cold scales. That didn't harm the creature but left a beautiful crimson mark behind.
[Equivalent Exchange]!
Since the first step was done, David conjured the Obsidian Blade again. Ancient words rolled from his lips, his heart thrashing against his rib cage. The blade twirled in his hand, and he stabbed himself in the chest.
A wave of pain spread from his chest, but the Words of Power didn't stop. They continued as the Obsidian Blade began draining his blood and didn't falter when he twisted the blade. David gritted his teeth, the chant unwavering.
He pulled the Obsidian Blade out and cast [Restore], his eyes trained on the Kobold. He didn't like that he had to go this far, but the Kobold had to suffer for stealing his Blood. Nobody was allowed to leave unscathed after such a stunt!
The all-too-familiar headache crashed into him as he realized he was pushing himself too hard, but his smile widened. The Kobold scread as a bloody hole tore open in its chest. It thrashed wildly and raised its Zweihänder to cleave downward.
Little did the creature know what awaited it, David thought, baring his teeth.
He stared deep into its eyes, the Words of Power finally ceasing. His Source—a reservoir of inner strength—stirred as the last word escaped his lips. It was uncomfortable, like the letters carved into his Source had been set on fire, but David embraced the discomfort. The hole in the Kobold's chest suddenly burst wide open.
He watched in pure satisfaction as streams of blood surged from the monster. The Zweihänder slipped from its grasp and clattered to the ground—a blissful sound that rang in David's ears.
He stepped forward, feeling the wound in his chest closing, and rocketed forward as soon as the Kobold looked back at him. There was no sign of mockery or cockiness left in its eyes. All David saw was fear and pain as he leaped through the spray of blood. He ramd the Obsidian Blade into the Kobold's wounds, twisted it once, and retreated with a cruel smile.
The kill notification didn't pop up instantaneously, but the Kobold's legs caved in. A heavy thump echoed as it hit the ground, but David didn't pay any more attention to it. His soulbound weapon drained its blood—it was only a matter of seconds before the creature was dead.
But instead of giving it the satisfaction of watching it die, David turned to pluck one of the Kobold Warrior's weapons from the ground and strode back toward the remaining Kobolds.
The thieving Kobold was fated to die alone, ignored by its nesis, drained of its blood.
That's all the thief deserves!
David thought, a sense of satisfaction blossoming.
Unfortunately, the satisfaction died quickly. The Kobolds circling Torb fell too fast. The dwarf didn't even leave him any snacks.
As the last Kobold collapsed, David exhaled sharply, his attention snapping to the flashing notification.
[You have defeated Aether Kobold Swordsman (Bronze II).]
"What a weird na. You'd be better off calling that thing a thieving bitch, System." David turned to the others, grumbling. "But what is an Aether Kobold?"
lach's Earthen Elental was still roaming the street, but the elf had joined them. "An Aether Kobold?" he repeated, his eyes drifting to the largest Kobold's corpse, a deep frown plastered on his face. "Doesn't look like an Aether Kobold. Did it have a Class?"
"It says Aether Kobold Swordsman. He was already at the Bronze II rank," David replied.
"The System has to be joking," lach cursed. "They can pick Classes and still evolve like monsters?"
David frowned. That didn't bode well. The na Aether Kobold already suggested it wasn't just an average monster evolution. But that alone wouldn't have been a problem—probably.
The combination of evolving and having a Class that could advance as well was the real issue.
David's eyes narrowed. Evolving monsters with Classes? That could change everything.
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