Ch. 13 - Kobolds

"Could it be a goblin cave?"

Tang Qi instinctively asked.

Generally speaking, the most common and weakest monster tribes in the wilderness were the yellow-green-skinned creatures, though some people also called them 'goblins.'

In certain works, they were often described as a sleazy species that went around abducting females of other races to reproduce.

But in reality, they had distinct males and females.

Goblins with higher intelligence even had a unique set of tribal rules and ecology, along with their own exclusive faith.

If you ran into an organized goblin tribe, even a professional adventuring party could easily capsize in the gutter.

"Goblin caves are rarely dug this spacious."

Stonecrusher shook his head, standing on tiptoe and raising his hand to compare his own height, judging based on experience.

"Honestly, this actually looks more like the work of us dwarves—

When we mine, we usually don't make the entrance very tall, but we make it very spacious."

"Why?"

"That's naturally because this is one of the rare opportunities to make those tall folks bow to us!"

Stonecrusher laughed with some pride, then turned to look at Black Snake.

"Go in?"

"You take the front. Jackal, you guard the poet's sides with me."

Black Snake gave the order with almost no hesitation.

He had no intention of calling for reinforcements either.

They still didn't know the situation inside the cave; too many people would easily alert the enemy.

What's more, given Starberry Town's pitiful martial reserves, the only use in bringing them into the cave would be to make the show of force look more intimidating.

Stonecrusher handed the torch to Tang Qi so the firelight could illuminate the team's surroundings.

But as they ventured deeper, everyone soon discovered this seemed like a drop in the bucket.

The entrance led straight into the mountain. The deeper they went, the more spacious the passage became.

Until finally, Tang Qi had to stand on tiptoe and hold the torch even higher to illuminate a larger area—

"Wait, put out the fire."

Even having lost one eye, the blood of dwarves still carried the ability to see in darkness.

He saw far more than what the firelight revealed.

Tang Qi's internal alarm bells rang loudly, cold sweat seeping from his forehead, his tension mounting.

He silently extinguished the torch, and everything instantly became pitch black.

But they didn't need to worry about being unable to see.

Even before their eyes could adjust to the darkness, everyone had already caught sight of a glimmer of firelight in the distance.

"There are people. Keep the noise down."

Stonecrusher reminded them softly, though his plate armor inevitably made scraping sounds as he moved forward.

But the distance seemed even noisier, and no one noticed their direction.

They drew closer and closer, and Tang Qi's field of vision broadened.

Then he discovered that ahead was actually an open space.

It was like a naturally formed stone cave, with a massive stone pillar serving as a load-bearing support.

Not far from the pillar, a campfire flickered with bright light, though its glow couldn't reach the ceiling.

They could only vaguely make out the outlines of several hanging stalactites. Their tips were cone-shaped, formed by minerals deposited over long ages.

The cave was truly damp, to the point where water droplets from the stalactites continuously dripped into puddles below, constantly splashing up "ding-dong" echoes...

And around the firelight, gathered the masters of this open space—

Several short-statured monsters with reddish-brown scales covering their skin, heads similar to lizards, and tails thin and long like rats, standing upright.

Sitting on bone chairs assembled from the bones of some unknown scrawny creatures.

Staring eagerly at the meat skewer in its hand—small meat grubs skewered on sharpened bone sticks, roasted golden-brown—it then began gesturing excitedly:

"Rua!"

"What is that?"

Compared to the former adventurers Black Snake and Stonecrusher, Jackal was practically a green recruit.

Tang Qi then realized that he and the other two mercenaries might not be cut from the same cloth.

"Kobolds."

A type of cave-dwelling, subterranean, group-living humanoid creature.

Though individually weak, they were naturally cunning.

They never fought unprepared battles, habitually bullied with numbers, and almost never acted alone.

Tang Qi searched through memories related to kobolds and concluded:

"When you want to condemn this world for its blood-supremacist views, you'd better think about them. After all, they really do have dragon blood flowing through their veins."

"Really?"

Black Snake and Stonecrusher turned their heads simultaneously, looking skeptical.

Tang Qi blinked.

Though through his predecessor's memories, he could understand that this world's history had faded, to the point where even records of these creatures were fragmented.

He hadn't expected it had reached the point of 'knowing the what but not the why.'

But he could hardly say that as a tabletop gaming enthusiast, he had a fantasy reference library in his head.

He couldn't even confirm whether his reference library could apply to this world.

He could only hedge:

"Poets' textbooks always record some strange knowledge."

"Looks like schooling isn't completely useless."

Stonecrusher took this as some unique saying of wandering bards, then turned to Black Snake.

"Attack?"

Black Snake's order was simple and clear:

"Ambush."

...

They killed them all.

Tang Qi couldn't tell what level of adventurers Black Snake and Stonecrusher had been in the past.

But alcoholism hadn't made them forget their former skills.

Even though they discovered the intruders' presence at the first moment, rang the warning bell, and promptly prepared their defense, they still couldn’t withstand the attack.

Their crude bone hammers and wooden shields could hardly withstand Black Snake's blade.

Tang Qi only saw the black curved knife seemingly lurking in shadows—within a few breaths, flesh and blood fell neatly to the ground—

Like a skilled chef at the cutting board, the cuts were perfectly smooth.

The blade remained spotless.

On the other side, Stonecrusher lived up to his name.

But in the instant when crimson flesh and gray-white brain matter 'exploded' in the firelight like crushed tofu, Tang Qi thought he should perhaps be renamed "Skullcrusher."

As for Jackal... he seemed human.

It was truly a pity he hadn't been knocked out by the kobolds.

Tang Qi, harboring ill feelings toward him, was unwilling to offer much commentary.

Jackal's perception was no different, staring at Tang Qi—the only one with zero contribution on the field—he couldn't help but mock:

"What's wrong, cowering behind the pillar trembling in fear?

What use are you anyway?"

This was why bards couldn't integrate into adventuring teams and could only perform in taverns—

Would they appreciate him cowering in a corner singing war songs for encouragement during battle?

Or that after death in battle, someone would sing dirges to collect their corpses?

Tang Qi wasn't willing to show weakness verbally, but just as he was about to speak, he heard the dwarf roar, the echo reverberating throughout the entire cave:

"There's more!"

Tang Qi, furthest from the campfire, noticed Stonecrusher's gaze fall on midair.

He quickly threw the torch forcefully toward the sky, and only then could the others glimpse, by the firelight's reflection, a brownish-red figure on the right side, running toward higher ground—

This stone cave was too spacious, to the point where darkness concealed the high slopes close to the walls on both sides.

And after hearing the warning bell, a kobold that had been lurking in the shadowy corner, already holding a slender small knife, had reached the top of the slope and was about to cut the tightly bound rope above—

Its destination was clearly the massive boulder hanging from the ceiling, also hidden in shadow!

No one knew how that boulder, spanning thirty feet in diameter, had been hoisted up there.

They only knew its landing point was precisely where the mercenaries stood by the campfire!

Black Snake and Stonecrusher reacted promptly, almost simultaneously hurling the weapons in their hands to obstruct the kobold's steps.

The curved knife swept past the humble creature's neck, the hammer crushed its ribcage.

They succeeded.

But there wouldn't be just one end to a rope capable of hoisting a massive boulder!

"There's another one on the left!"

Jackal reacted slowest. Seeing a kobold on the left slope about to make the same move, he nearly screamed.

"Fuck!"

His legs went weak with fright, and he wanted to flee outside the trap's range at any cost.

But they had no power left to escape!

"Pfft—"

The kobold's short knife deviated when it was mere inches from the rope.

Along with its master, it fell from the high slope, landing half-dead below.

Everyone's expressions varied as they approached, only to see a crossbow bolt embedded straight in the kobold's skull.

They couldn't help but turn back to look at Tang Qi, who was reloading his crossbow.

The latter, seeing Jackal's legs trembling uncontrollably, couldn't help but mock:

"What's wrong, standing there trembling in fear?"

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