Chapter 167: Darkwood Longbow

Red checked his progress in his skill. He heard a notification during his fight, but ignored it. Now he found out that his Sword Mastery went up by one level. That was quicker than he thought. Now that he thought about it, he never checked the Sword Mastery skill description. He assumed it was similar to Bow Mastery, but it was for a sword.

[Sword Mastery: A fundamental mastery obtained through battles. Increased proficiency in swords. As mastery grows, improve sword handling and control. Allows you to execute sword skills with better efficiency and deal more damage.]

He grabbed the sword and stood up. It certainly felt better than when he held the sword for the first time. It was more natural, less awkward. He did a few swings, nodding his head a few times while at it. He could feel the effect.

"RED! COME DOWN!"

His name was called as he was about to swing his sword a few more times. He recognized the voice, the Chief’s voice. He used the rough leather that he used to carry the cores to cover his sword and came down.

The battle was over, with bodies strewn all over the ground. Most of the bodies were torn apart. The Chief and the three Goblin Champions stood in the middle of it.

The Chief suffered some wounds, a cut and a stab. Not that mattered, and those new wounds could be considered light compared to the one on his shoulder.

"Have you taken your loot?" The Chief asked.

Red was afraid that the Chief would go back on his word. That was why he prioritized picking up his prey. There was this slight fear that might happen. Yet the Chief seemed not to be that kind of character.

"I have taken mine."

That was when the Chief started the instruction. The hobgoblin was allowed to get the loot from the Elite Kobold Fighter while the goblins got the loot from the normal kobolds. The Chief and the three Goblin Champions didn’t take anything from this battle.

Red watched everything from above. The Chief supervised everything directly, ensuring the hobgoblins didn’t take what the goblins shared, as it was most likely happening without his watch.

Talking about the loot, more than thirty goblins and nine hobgoblins died. They became part of the loot, increasing the number of cores. That is a small loss considering how many they killed. On top of that, there was a gain after the battle.

Not long after the distribution, they got twenty-one new hobgoblins. That was right, twenty-one goblins underwent evolution. That was not pleasant to watch because they were undergoing an agonizing process. That reminded him of the first time he experienced the curse put by the Shaman.

Those twenty-one goblins writhed in pain on the ground, screaming incoherently. He could see the bone grow along with their flesh and skin. It felt like the bone was about to pierce out of the flesh, getting molded and enlarged.

Interestingly, some of them grew hair, and some of them didn’t. That was the most interesting part in this watch alone. He would guess which one would grow hair.

Watching one of them grow hair, he subconsciously touched his head. Red blinked his eyes a few times, not expecting what he touched. He was surprised when he felt the thin, short hair. The last time he checked, it was clean and slick.

’I can grow hair too, huh?’

He rubbed his head, thinking he might be wrong. No, it was real. There was indeed hair, but short, very, very short.

"What are you doing? Go scout the area!" What if we are under attack?"

Red was sitting at the edge of the branch, swinging his feet while rubbing his head. He looked toward the voice. It was the Fool who spoke to him, not the Chief. That was why he didn’t immediately respond or answer the call.

He stood up, looking down at the idle Goblin Champion. There was some truth in the Fool’s words, so he had nothing against it. "I will do it right away!"

He didn’t wait for the Fool to say anything before leaving. It was more a patrol than scouting the area. There was no need to scout the area anymore because he knew where the kobold village might be. He just needed the Chief’s order, and he would scout toward the direction where the kobolds came from. That was where the kobold village most likely was.

After a half-hour patrol, Red returned. The looting was over, so was the evolution. Losing nine hobgoblins, yet they got newly evolved hobgoblins. They were no way stronger than the other hobgoblins, but they were certainly stronger than the goblin.

It was fast to get twenty-one hobgoblins in one day. That made him wonder why his village lacked the hobgoblin. Even before the attack from the Dire Wolf King, they didn’t have many of them.

But then it made sense with how overbearing the hobgoblins were. If there was a big battle like this, they would hog all the cores for themselves. If the goblins wanted to evolve into hobgoblins, they must do it on their own. Through hunting or any other means.

He returned to the village, and the atmosphere was quite jubilant. Of course, no one would remember or feel sad for more than thirty goblins and nine hobgoblins that died. He believed no one even remembered their names, if they had any.

That battle was the end of the day for the goblins’ force. The Chief decided to get more rest because his wound had opened after the battle. He wanted more rest to recover.

That would be the start of the most boring days he would have. He would leave the village to patrol, to ensure they would not be raided by the kobolds. The Chief even emphasized that he was not allowed to scout the area. He was needed to patrol the jungle.

There was no attack until the sun came down, and he still had to patrol even at night.

The following day was the same; all he did was patrol. He wanted to work on the new bow that he got from the Elite Kobold Archer, but the repair alone took a lot of his mana. For the first time, a repair took over four hundred mana.

Red didn’t want to overdo it, not wanting to use too much mana. He didn’t know when more kobolds would come to attack them again. That constant fear stopped him from using Mana Tempering and Mana Refining on the bow.

Those two processes would increase the bow quality and also the durability. But he guessed it might take a lot of his mana. So he would wait for his mana to return to full before attempting the Mana Refining and Mana Tempering.

The bow was not the only one that needed his care; the arrows as well. The Elite Kobold used different arrows. They were longer and slightly bigger. The arrowhead seemed to be made from the black iron that was used for the Elite Kobold Fighter’s armor and sword.

Repairing, Refining, Tempering, and Sharpening those arrows would exhaust his mana. He must be careful about it. That was why, when he was recovering his mana. He would spend his time patrolling the area.

The patrol bore no fruit. He didn’t find a single beast alive, not a single kobold. He thought the kobold would send a team or two of Kobold Scouts, but there was none.

The Chief promised him that he would still get the loot from his kill as long as he frequently patrolled the area. That was why he did it without a complaint despite how boring it was. The Chief was ready to keep the condition for him to work harder.

By the end of the day, Red finished preparing his new bow and five arrows. That was the limit for him, the safe limit.

Darkwood Longbow

Condition: Excellent

Quality: Rare+

Attribute: Range I, Attack I

There was a + sign that he didn’t know what it meant, and the attribute was better than his old bow. This would be his new bow as he retired his old white bow. He looked at the name, then he looked at the bow in his hand. It was indeed made of dark wood. He wondered if they used that giant tree’s wood.

The string was made from different materials than the Great Longbow. This one was firmer and tougher. It was a little bit harder to pull, but not much of a challenge for Red. He just needed to put in a little more effort. That might slow his shooting speed since it took him a little bit longer for a full draw. Otherwise, the bow was perfect in his hand. He was satisfied with his new equipment.

Red stayed up a little longer for his patrol, but he didn’t go too far from the village. After ensuring the village was safe, he returned and slept.