(Robe Kobold. Lvl 12)

  Lighting crackled from the Robe Kobold's finger, pointing forward toward Alquin.

  ‘Al Shield up!’ Rue screamed straight to the party minds.

  the spell lurched forward. Zaps of blue flicker in the night. Alquin caught the spell with his shield, and it broke apart, a searing red mark on his arm.

  At the sudden crackling sound, the Kobolds notice them. The Bone Warrior howled, in an instant thirteen of them charged at them.

  Rita dashed forward, meeting countless swords swung and spears jabs, she sidestepped all of them and parried some with incredible grace. When one sword locked in a clash, the other deflected, and she kept resetting with her footwork. Thanks to her, the Kobold's initial charge has been stopped.

  Getting out of his daze, Rue joined the battle, closing his distance toward the nearest Kobold Bone Warrior that was currently fighting Rita. Before he could even reach them, three spears thrust straight at Rue's face. He crouched, avoiding two of them, the last one skidded on his skeletal shoulder guard. He slashed at the Kobold, who promptly stepped back and rearranged their distance to use their spear properly.

  Rue briefly glanced at Rino and Alquin, who were each fighting more than two Kobolds. If not for Rita holding the bulk of them, they would already be overwhelmed. Then he glanced toward the Robe Kobold, another crackling of lightning thrummed in its finger; the staff also had some electricity running through it. The mage lifted its finger this time toward Rita. But before the spell could come out – the air snapped with a blue mana arrow landing straight into the Robe Kobold’s shoulder. It cried out, flailing its hand up, and the lightning shot up toward the sky.

  Rue cursed, that will alert nearby Kobolds, or maybe the Paxwell team if they’re lucky. Anyway, he needed to focus on the fight in front of him, against three.. No Four Kobold. Rue blinked as One Bone warrior joined the four Kobolds against him.

  ‘Rue, Rino! I will switch target…’

  ‘No, Emily! Focus on the Robe Kobold first, and kill it first. Rino and I are fighting together, and we will take care of each other. You understand me, girl?’ Alquin voiced out

  ‘But…’

  ‘He’s right. The Robe Kobold is more dangerous. If Rita goes down, then we all die.’ Rue said.

  ‘All right.. I got it.’ She answered.

  The Bone Warrior in front of him pushed aside the four Kobolds, disrupting their formation. It growled at Rue and swung its Long Bone down at him.

  Rue silently grateful toward it, he side-stepped the attack. Scoring a slash to its ribs, but he put too much power into the strike, his balance was off as the momentum from his strike carried him forward.

  A Kobold took advantage and jabbed its spear at Rue's face. He was barely able to move his left shoulder to catch the spear with his skeletal shield. The Bone Warrior then turned and swung again at him. This time, Rue tried to skid sideways. His shoulder shield caught the brunt of the Bone Warrior's attack, and it cracked, sending splinters stabbing inside his shoulder.

  Two Spears follow with a stab; Rue manages to batter them, albeit weakly. He stepped back, considering to use Fireball, which might net him one kill, and his Magic Vein has gotten better as he's been using Ice Sword to freeze his actual vein, and it has been working, though not by much. It still sits around seventy percent. If he has to use magic, it will be Time of Obsidian Ice and his Sword of Frost, which doesn’t strain him much.

  Lighting crackled above him, his insides lurched as Rue realised the Robe Kobold tried to shoot at Emily.

  ‘Emily? Are you okay?’ Alquin, noticing this, asked first.

  She answered with Mana Arrow, bursting into where the Robe Kobold at. But this time it missed.

  ‘I’m fine, it also miss’

  Rue let go of his Bone Sword; he should’ve done this earlier. He summoned the Ice Sword, holding it in both hands. The Bone Warrior would’ve been slowed already if he had used his spell sword from the get-go. But, with this sword, it means he cannot get into sword clashes because his sword would break, but he is willing to sacrifice a defensive option for a more offensive one now.

  Rue rushed toward the Bone Warrior, who shrugged the spear-wielding Kobold like they’re his inferior. But, from Rue's perspective, the Bone Warrior is much weaker than the four behind him.

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  It swung, solely focused on power. Rue took a step back, letting the attack go by. He quickly jabbed forward while keeping his leg apart and scored a shallow stab to its abdomen. Another swing came, he ducked under it and slashed at the Kobold’s arm, again another swallow cut. But the effect is apparent, blue ice crept around the wound, slowly slithering inside the Kobold’s like a poison.

  It dropped to one knee, noticing something was wrong, looking down at its vein that started to turn blue, the Kobold's eyes locked in with Rue, a myriad of emotions went inside it, but mostly the fear was palpable. It screamed then at once, four Kobolds charged in with spears trained.

  Cursing softly, Rue let go of his Sword of Frost. He picked up his Long Bone, blocking one spear thrust and another. One spear managed to skid past his defence, but luckily clinked back as it connected with Rue’s steel sword that was still sheathed by his hip.

  Rue kept backing away, as every time he wanted to counter, a spear would force him back. He did not know any way to break this formation of theirs except with magic. He had hoped that if he kept backing away, Emily might be able to shoot an arrow at one of them, but he looked up and saw the sky flashing with blue light zipping back and forth. Both her and the Robe Kobold were casting powerful spells. One of them would strain their Magic Vein soon, or run out of mana and faint because of Mind Down.

  Deciding to bring this to a close so he could help his party. Rue lifted his Long Bone up like he was about to swing it down, then he shifted his feet and threw it spinning to the rightmost Kobold. It flailed around trying to block, but it’s not going to hit anyway, as Rue never practiced sword throwing. What he did after was pouncing on the brief opening, Rue whipped out his sword he got from Benedict, he rushed right using the Kobold body to block the other movement, and it worked, the third Kobold bumped the fourth one, making its friend stumble forward.

  Not wasting the chance, Rue stepped in, thrusting his sword straight, piercing the Kobold's throat.

  (You Have Slain Kobold. Lvl 7)

  He wrenched his sword off, and blood jumped down to the ground.

  The other three, to their credit, snap into attention and bring their spear to Rue. But, Rue was not about to let them get distance anymore, he charged in, spear brush against his side – he gritted the pain and cleaved the Kobold down.

  (You Have Slain Kobold. Lvl 7)

  (Level Up. General 8 → 9)

  Not over yet.

  He cannot stop, or else they would just get distance and jab him like a pi?ata.

  Not giving them a breath, he jabbed his sword into a Kobold's shoulder, missing its throat as it dodged at the last minute. Rue cursed softly. To pierce the Kobold skin, he had to have considerable power, and taking his time to aim was not ideal. His hand went to the Kobold's hip, dragging a dagger, and he slit its throat, then threw the body down to face the last one.

  (You Have Slain Kobold. Lvl 7)

  A spear went straight to his hip. Rue screamed as the pain deepened, the creature pushed deep, making Rue fall on his butt.

  Battling through the Pain. Rue summoned his Sword of Frost, then struck it horizontally, breaking off the spear which sent another jolt of pain to him. The Kobold’s arm caught in his strike, one of its palms separated, and a stump of blue and red crept in.

  The Kobold screamed, holding its stump, and it fell to the ground rolling in pain. Rue stabbed his sword straight to its head when the creature rolled close. It stopped flailing in a gruesome manner.

  (You Have Slain Kobold. Lvl 6)

  (Level Up. Frost Apprentice 9 → 10)

  ‘You alive there?’ Emily asked absentmindedly. Rue could see she loose another Mana arrow as it streaked across his vision.

  He put his Ice Sword by his hip, letting the cold seep in, and he could feel the wound slightly get better as the pain became a manageable level.

  ‘My hip pierced. Now hoping for my passive to heal it’

  ‘I don’t know if you can do that, Rue. ’ Another Mana arrow flew forth, and lightning met the spell, making it explode mid-air. ‘The other on their back leg, Rita having the worst of it. And my mana pool and Magic vein…’

  ‘Not exactly have much choice, Em.’ Wait… actually, there’s another solution. ‘Well, if I use the Time of Obsidian Ice..’

  ‘There might be no other choice,’ she grunted. ‘They cannot even reply to me because they have been focusing on the battle.’

  ‘You’ve been calling?’

  ‘Yes, and you too. I guess that one of the weaknesses of this telepathic skill’

  It does make sense as he has to focus to converse and hear others talking inside of him.

  “Okay” Rue huff, glancing at his HP. He didn't need to worry about it dropping to zero soon. Grasping the wooden shaft, the pain jumped inside him, and he gritted his teeth.

  Maybe he really needed to use the time of Ice.

  ‘I've been telling you guys about a third party’

  ‘Third party?’

  ‘Yes, they're behind the Kobolds. I think the Kobolds were targeting them’

  Another quest taker? Emily must've been switching trees to be able to spot them. But, why are they not charging then? Are they murderers like the group Benedict and Emily encountered?

  Rue asked Emily what she thinks, and a reply came five seconds later after an exchange of Mana arrow and Lightning.

  ‘Maybe.’ She answered ‘Or they could be just cowards’

  The last outcome is much preferable, but still, it pissed him off more, staying hidden. When others fight? What would happen to Eve and Yom if he and Paxwell did that? ‘What can we do to force them to attack? You think?’

  ‘If let's say a monster suddenly appeared behind them? No, that will take too long. If we lessen the Kobolds enough, then maybe. But..’

  ‘We still had to bet they're good people,’ Rue finished for her. Under conditions like these, would he trust a stranger?

  Rue guessed he had been, even Alquin's reckless plan that got them to this situation, he went along with it. Maybe he could take the bet.

  But, still, the only reliable way to do it is to strain his Magic Vein. He has been wondering what his Ice healing would do if he were under the time of Ice. Now it's time to find out.

  ‘I will do it’ Rue said.

  ‘I will make sure to drag you to Eve later then’

  If his skills synergize, she doesn't have to.

  Rue cast Time of Obsidian Ice, and he wrenched the spear out of him. Pain flickered, but instantly it went as black ice overtook his body. If only the pain he received during this skill would also be gone.

  With his obsidian-clad body, his senses felt paused, as unnatural cold encased him.

  And his HP and Mana. It's climbing up.