There was no time to lose! After getting V’s warning I quickly gathered Mordred and had both me and V ride his shoulders, barely giving him time to process what was going on.

  “No time to explain Mordred! We need to return to the goblin settlement now!!!”

  Mordred quickly understood and began to rush through the forest. With no sign of slowing down he slammed through the one tree after another, using his hands to shield both of us from the debris. I decided not to ask V for details on why we were rushing back to the settlement. They seemed to be panicking with too much occupying their mind at the moment. Whatever it was I’ll have to make sure to handle it quickly and carefully.

  The moment seemed to move by in a flash with the goblin settlement coming into view. What we saw was shocking to say the least. All the housing that they had built had been destroyed and burned down! There were goblins littered at the ground, many had bruises and cuts on their bodies. Luckily, they all seemed to still be alive. As soon as we saw this, V immediately jumped down to help, with tears forming in their eyes.

  “I-I don’t know what to do! Mr. Vlad what should I do?!!”

  V started to plead, wanting to help I rushed in to help them. No sooner did we move in than I noticed a few figures at the edge of the settlement. Taking a look at them I was shocked at what I saw, it was a species I haven’t seen in a long time…

  Humans…

  Living breathing humans…

  I should feel ecstatic, maybe even nostalgic to find a species that I used to be. But there was nothing…. no familiarity… no joy… there was only one emotion I was feeling at that moment…...

  Rage.

  Pure unadulterated anger!! How dare they make my young henchman cry!! My claw started to move on its own to unsheathe my weapon, not the trusty [Silver Short Sword] I had been using up till now but instead my [Copper Short Sword]. The sword has never been to a battle before, I never had a reason to before as the [Silver Short Sword] was more than enough when it came to facing other fellow monsters. But first, there was something to take care of first.

  “V I need you to do something, think you can find some plants with healing properties? Gather as much as you can. Mordred, I need you to carry all the injured safely out of here.”

  As I gave the order, Mordred quickly understood and immediately moved to carry it out while it took a bit for V to stop themselves from crying. I tossed them a leather bag made from the skin of our latest hunt, so they would be able to carry more. They managed to calm down enough and proceeded to go back to the woods to complete their tasks.

  Once they were out of sight I began to hide in the shadows, I had found it strange they didn’t immediately come in, but I could only assume they probably kept their distance after seeing Mordred appear. I was quickly proven right when I overheard their conversation.

  “Man, thank the goddess that crazy beast is gone! Who would have thought we would find a Minotaur out here!!”

  “I know right?! And what was it doing carrying all those goblins off for. We’re the ones who fought them, we didn’t even have a chance to finish them off!”

  “Who knows maybe it plans to eat them later or something. Too bad but at least we don’t have to worry about facing that monster. But I could have sworn I saw a kobold as nearby as well.”

  “Must have run off then, I don’t blame it. Kobolds are so weak it’s ridiculous!”

  There were four humans, one of which was just laughing off after their comments about kobolds. I could only grit my teeth in frustrations, trying my best not to reveal myself yet. From what I can gather they seemed to be the typical adventure party. If I didn’t believe this was a fantasy world like in those stories, then seeing something as cliché as this certainly does.

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  The group consisted of a young female dressed in a green robe while holding some ordinary looking stick in hand which I will assume was a conduit for some kind of magic if it exists in this world, another was a skinny male dressed in a hunter looking gear with a bow in stow, an older gruff looking man garbed in heavy metal armor and wielding a large sword at his back. And finally, the one who was laughing from his own comment was a young man with a distinctly long sword at his side.

  I continued to keep my distance as I circled around the group. They seemed to be investigating the area, probably to find any potential loot. They seemed rather distracted too, fools…. What a na?ve move to make, you would think at least the heavy armored human would know better. The humans began to scatter to gather their loot. Not wanting to miss this opportunity I began my work and eyed my first target, the human female with the cane.

  As soon as her companions weren’t looking, I used [Material Forge] to hollow out the ground beneath her and gathered the excess [Soil] into my [Dimensional Box]. The weakened foundation caused the woman to fall inside the hole as I quickly seal it back up.

  The sudden fall caused her to yell, quickly alerting her companions. But they were too late and lost track of where she was. With everyone on the defensive I doubted I would be able to use the same trick again. But I didn’t mind, I believe I utilized the element of surprise well enough to my advantage, taking out what I will assume as their magic caster. This should cripple their formation and lower their firepower.

  Sensing the danger, the rest of the humans drew out their weapons and prepared for a fight. Without waiting for a moment, I then proceeded to handle the archer. While he had his bow drawn and the bowstring pulled, ready to fire the arrow, I forged an [Iron Needle] the size of my palm and took aim. From the moment I threw my weapon I began to have it reshape into a thin blade while keeping the momentum. The blade quickly connected to its target, the archer’s bowstring as it slices through causing the weapon to become unusable before crumbling into a small pile of minerals.

  “Ah what the inferno?! My bowstring’s been cut how?!!” the inexperienced archer panics. His body shook with nerves as it was clear it was his only means to fight. Not knowing what to do he began to run away. The young man called out for him in anger as the distance grows.

  “Hey where are you going?!”

  “Forget this, I can’t fight without a bow you two are on your own!!”

  “You coward!!”

  As the archer disappears from sight it is only left that last two humans. There was a look of frustration on their faces as they grip tightly on their weapons. “Whoever you are you better show yourself!!”

  Feeling the echoes of their challenge, I couldn’t help but comply with their request. I leave my hiding spot and reveal myself to them. Unlike before my pose was simple and direct, body straight and with my gaze fully focused on him. Once I come into view of the humans, their expression soon changed to one of confusion and disbelief.

  The one with the long sword was the first to ask a question, his grip on his weapon beginning to relax. “A kobold…. are you serious??”

  “So what? A monster’s a monster!!” Shaking off his initial confusion the human in heavy armor began to rush at me swinging his large sword.

  It was laughably easy for me to dodge though, his movements looked slow and predictable to me. No sooner after I dodge I begin to twist and spin my body, brandishing my [Copper Short Sword] and used the momentum to slash at his armor, focusing specifically on the exposed joints as I recall them usually being a weak point in most fantasy stories. It proved to be effective as it managed to pierce through his skin as the sudden pain forced the man to momentarily to drop his weapon. I took advantage of that slip-up and used my [Material Forge] to instantly force the sword to disintegrate into dust.

  “ARGG!! My sword!!” The man screams as he clenches his fists in anger and readies to pummel me to dust, just like his sword. Choosing to ignore him I then go after the young man as he grips his long sword tighter, probably worried about losing his own weapon after what I did. Putting his might into his swing at me, my small stature proved to be a boon as I avoided the hit and used my own sword to parry back. The other man not happy in being ignored by a kobold continued to go after me with his fist in anger, but as I still have the other man’s sword locked, I parried its movement and forced him to aim his blade at his ally, slicing cuts at his fingers. The sudden change in motion caused the young man to lose his footing which I took the opportunity to jump at his back, humiliating him.

  “What is with this kobold, shouldn’t it be weak!!??”

  After landing on my feet I paused for a second feeling, annoyed by that statement but not exactly denying it either. With a flourish of his body and sword, I took my stand blade nearing the neck of the young man.

  “My name is Vladimir, the kobold who will conquer this world!!”