Chapter 174: New Plan

Red picked a comfortable spot on the highest branch, ensuring no one would bother him. His loot was laid in front of him, on top of his crude leather. The loot was split into two piles: one pile was Might Cores, and another pile was Magic Cores.

All of them were mediocre-quality cores, not just inferior-quality. Each core was worth at least 1.2 stat. He only needed six to eight cores to reach the threshold for each stat with these cores. That was why this might be his biggest harvest yet.

He counted the cores: 226 cores in total, with 103 Might Cores and 123 Magic Cores. With those cores, he might get four to five levels. Everything still depended on his absorption luck, after all.

Red checked his Status to see how far he was from the next level. He remembered that he had just reached level 20 before the battle with the loot from the Kobold Scout. All his stats were still far from the next level.

He did a mental calculation that he might get at least four levels with these cores.

"It’s not possible to get five levels..." He muttered, then he started with the Might Cores.

[You have reached level 21!]

It took him 25 Might Cores and 25 Magic Cores to reach level 21. There was a moment when he just needed 0.2 to reach the threshold. But he didn’t have the inferior-quality core. He regretted not taking the loot from the normal kobold.

[You have reached level 22!]

[You have reached level 23!]

[You have reached level 24!]

"Hmm..." Red hummed, realizing this was not his biggest harvest. He remembered how he reached level 16 from level 11 in his previous big harvest. It was five levels in total, but again. He was already close to level 12 back then, so he reached level 12 with a few inferior cores.

Based on the total levels he got, it was about the same harvest. He still had twenty-nine mediocre-quality cores left after getting four levels, five Might Cores, and twenty-four Magic Cores. Those twenty-four Magic Cores would help him reach threshold in all his Magic Stats, since it took him twenty-four to twenty-five cores to do so.

Red absorbed the remaining Magic Cores, and he was right that his Magic Stats reached the threshold.

"Maybe this is indeed my biggest harvest yet..." He muttered with his Status open.

Name: ???

Level: 24

Health: 2650 Stamina: 2137 (+100) Mana: 3247

[Tier 1 Might]

Strength: 305 (+39.4, +65) Endurance: 260 (+39.2, +20) Vitality: 265 (+39.8,+25) Dexterity: 410 (+40,+170)

[Tier 1 Magic]

Intelligence: 365 (+59.2) Wisdom: 355 (+58.8) Arcane Perception: 365 (+60) Mind: 365 (+59.6)

Skills:

Tier 1 Skill: Mana Sense - Level 19 (+1), Levelheaded - Level 22, Appraisal - Level 19, Bleeding - Level 2, Fireball - Level 7, Bow Mastery - Level 8 (+1), Burst Leap - Level 1, Sword Mastery - Level 2

Tier 3: Mana Smelting - Level 6, Mana Refining - Level 4, Mana Sharpening - Level 3, Mana Repair - Level 3

Tier 4: Mana Forging - Level 1, Mana Tempering - Level 3, Mana Authority - Level 7, Rune Weaving - Level 1, Rune Engraving - Level 1, Rune Restoration - Level 1

Tier 5 Skill: Infernal Berserk - Level 1

Positive Attribute:

Mystic Chef Blessing: +65 Strength, +20 Endurance, +25 Vitality, +170 Dexterity, +100 Stamina

Minor Health Regeneration I

Minor Stamina Regeneration I

Red was beyond satisfied with his progress. This indeed might be the biggest harvest yet. His Magic Stat reached the threshold, and all he needed was the Might Stat for his next level. There were still five Might Cores left, but that was far from enough. He took out his sword and kept the remaining five cores in his Storage Pouch.

He then checked his skills as he remembered hearing the notification during the battle. He didn’t pay attention to it during the fight. His Mana Sense and Bow Mastery gained one level each.

The big gain was his mana. With over three thousand mana, he could try making a new weapon or maybe start with his own arrow first. But that was for later when the war was over. The war was still far from being over, and he might get more levels by then.

Red stood up, stretched out his arms, and slipped the crude leather on his waist. This leather was handy for carrying his cores. Then he looked toward the village. The goblins and the hobgoblins were cleaning up the battlefield. They were getting their loot under the Chief’s supervision.

He returned to the village and saw that a lot of goblins were on the ground, undergoing evolution. A lot, as if all the goblins finally evolved into hobgoblins, all surviving goblins. That would increase their force’s power, and the Chief wouldn’t go back with their newly evolved hobgoblins.

He went to the Chief. "Do you want me to do another scouting?"

The Chief turned toward him, seizing him up and down. The Chief might wonder when Red would evolve, but said or asked nothing about it.

"There’s no need. The noise and the smell of blood might attract the King of Jungles. It would be too dangerous outside there right now. Just stay inside for now!"

Red confirmed that the Chief truly regarded him as a high-value asset. The Chief might put him above the two Goblin Champions. He nodded and went back to his house.

The battle didn’t really exhaust him. His Stamina was still high, yet it seemed the battle took a toll on him mentally. For the first time, he easily fell asleep.

The following morning, he was called by the Chief. He informed Red that their army was now all hobgoblins. They had 109 hobgoblins in total, as they lost many goblins last night. That might be the reason why the surviving goblins could evolve. It was because they had fewer goblins. It could be said that he took half of the loot, yet the remaining loot could still evolve all the goblins.

"Do you want me to find the next kobold village, Chief?"

Red could no longer listen to the report. Once the Chief stopped for a moment, he immediately asked. He would rather be outside there, moving around, than listening to the meaningless report.

He thought the Goblin Champions and the Chief would send him out right away, but the Chief had a different plan already. "No. You don’t need to find their village. I think they have found us, and they will keep sending more kobolds to subdue us. We just need to wait here and fortify the village."

Red carefully thought about what the Chief said, and it made sense. He recalled how their original goal was to attract the kobolds’ attention to alleviate the pressure on the other side. They hadn’t moved that deep into the kobolds’ territory yet, but the kobolds had sent two armies toward them. This might be better than going deeper into the kobold’s territory.

"That’s where we need your mind, Red. I want you to think of a way to fortify our village. Making the village impenetrable!"

That was harder than going out there to find the village. But again, he agreed with the Chief’s plan to fortify the village. That was the problem: how were they going to fortify the village?

"Then I will look around to see what I can do..."

Red bowed his head and left the hall. He went to where the battle took place last night. More debris was added to cover the hole in their wall.

Last night’s battle was in their favor because of him and the fact that their enemy lacked a leadership figure. They just stormed into the village, relying on numbers. The night didn’t help them as well, as it hid the Chief and the three Goblin Champions.

He was still the biggest contributor in last night’s battle. Without him distracting and killing the Elite Kobold Archers, they might suffer more.

"So I need to think of a way so the fight will be in our favor without relying on me?"

Red tried to think of a battle without him. The village would be swarmed and breached. The goblin might still win, but they would lose most of their army.

He truly could not think of a way to fortify the village overnight that could turn every battle in their favor regardless of the number of their enemy.

He spent the entire morning looking at the wall and the open clearing. He imagined how the archers killed the goblins and the hobgoblins from a distance without him killing those archers.

Even the Chief and the three Goblin Champions would not be able to reach the Elite Kobold Archers with the Elite Kobold Fighters separated from them. They could try, but they might suffer heavy injury from attempting it, or they might die before they could reach the archers.

The moment the Chief showed up, he would be the main target of the archers. He remembered how their arrow could pierce through the thick branch. If one of those arrows hit the Chief in the head, the Chief would die.

"We need to reduce their frontline, thinning them out so it would be easier for the Chief to reach the archers..." Red muttered as he saw a vision; an idea hit him.

"I think I have a good idea..."