Chapter 22
“Master. There are three monsters 500 meters ahead, to your right.”
“Got it.”
Following Eve’s instructions, I moved quietly, careful not to make any noise. As I got closer to the designated point, I peered through the foliage to assess the situation.
“Three kobolds. Let’s take them out all at once.”
“Sounds good.”
The enemy was an F-ranked monster. They were about the strength of a rookie warrior in a one-on-one fight. With three of them, it would be better to approach as a party, but…
I drew my dagger and said, “Let’s go!”
I sprang out to surprise the kobolds.
“Woof!?”
One kobold noticed and let out a loud cry, causing the other two to turn towards us at once. However, the kobold that shouted seemed to be a moment too slow in raising its guard, exposing itself.
“Take this!”
I swung my dagger with force. The kobold was wearing leather armor, which normally would only result in shallow scratches from a dagger. But…
—Thud—
A heavy sound, like something falling to the ground, echoed.
“Wa-wawaw!? Wahhhh!?”
The two remaining kobolds shrieked in a panic, completely frantic.
Looking down at the ground, I saw the body of the first kobold, its upper and lower halves separated.
“Alright! Next!”
I glared at the remaining kobolds, and despite their fear, they approached me. Their swings were shaky, making their movements hard to predict.
However, compared to my fight with the goblins before, their movements seemed almost in slow motion, making everything clear and easy to follow.
I dodged the first kobold’s sword swipe by pulling my body sideways, then slid my foot to redirect it. For the second kobold, I bent my body at an angle to avoid its horizontal slash.
After executing these movements in a split second, the kobolds were left confused, looking around as if they had lost sight of me.
I swiftly struck down the first kobold with a clean overhead strike and then knocked the second one away by targeting its neck.
“As expected of you, Master. That was a brilliant display.”
The battle was over, and I heard Eve’s praise. Of course, it was nice to hear, but…
“This is the effect of Temple… No, The World’s power, huh?”
I was amazed by that strength.
I recalled how this fight began.
When I woke up this morning, I felt that the Temple’s blessing had worn off. To receive today’s blessing, I had offered a prayer, and the blessing granted was a Power Increase of 100%.
Wanting to test the blessing, I decided to walk around the field today. I fought a few goblins alone, but it was nothing compared to the struggle I’d had before.
The goblins’ attacks were light, and their speed was like that of a turtle.
I couldn’t understand how I had ever struggled with them before.
“That’s because you leveled up, Master.”
The memory of my time in the dungeon was still fresh in my mind. I had taken down monsters with Fire, and apparently, that had resulted in a significant level up. My physical abilities and magical power had been greatly enhanced.
Thanks to that, I could now easily defeat enemies like goblins and kobolds—foes that would have been tough for a beginner.
I gathered the kobolds in one spot, set them on fire, and when they had burned down, I used water to put them out and cast Clean. Three magic cores rolled out from the ashes, which I picked up.
I also collected the kobolds’ swords.
“Eve. Collect these.”
“Yes, Master.”
The swords disappeared like magic from my hands. Eve stored them away in The World.
“Good work, Master.”
I acknowledged her words of praise and began searching for the next enemies to fight.