The arrows flew as fast as I could fire them. The kill notifications proved me right. Or so the naive me believed. I killed nine Kobolds.

  > For killing level 17 kobold, you gained 296 Experience Points.

  …

  > You gained 1 level. You are now level 12.

  ...

  > For killing level 15 kobold, you gained 172 Experience Points.

  Damn. Leveling up was good but the sudden and drastic drop in Experience awards sucked the joy out of it.

  The kobolds figured out where the arrows came from pretty quickly. They screamed, pointed, and then did something I totally should be expecting but wasn't.

  They threw stuff at me. Rocks, rusted daggers, and a couple even deployed slings. The rest of the kobolds ran up the trail. More than thirty yapping lizard dudes ran to reach and murder me. Some of them ran on all fours. Let me tell you one thing about kobolds. They could be fast when they wanted.

  I couldn't shoot my bow. I had to run away before the first kobolds, the fastest among them getting really close to me. I had always been fast and agile even before inheriting Scout's Oath and gaining nearly twenty levels worth of Attribute points. I had over a hundred points in Dexterity and boots that improved my movement speed by fifty percent.

  I believed I should be running laps around these kobolds but they were gaining ground.

  With some head start, I turned on my hips and aimed at the faster pursuer. An arrow to the heart sent the kobold tumbling over the rocks on the path and down the hillside.

  > For killing level 21 kobold runner, you gained 642 Experience points.

  > You gained 1 level. You are now level 13.

  So that was why the thing was so fast. Now that I knew why they were different, I could easily distinguish the runner variants among the other normal kobolds. All of them monsters.

  The kill notification revealed a lot about the creature you just killed. Monsters were mentioned by their species, while people 's death notifications never did. If someone killed me, they would get a message saying they killed a "Soul Scout", not a "Human" or a "Human Soul Scout." Runners were mutations upon the basic kobold template.

  One by one, I killed the remaining five Runners, in descending order of levels. They pushed me closer to level fourteen but not quite yet. I hid behind a big boulder and dropped the second bundle of arrows on the ground. I cut the twine keeping the arrows together and spread them so it would be easy to pick them up.

  The kobold horde came rushing up the hilltop. I shot at them, aiming at the heads. The kill notifications ramped up again. Twenty seconds later, I was out of arrows. The remainder of my ammunition was in my pack, on another hill.

  At least I reached level sixteen.

  The kobold horde was not deterred. I had killed more than half of the sixty that came out of the tunnel but I heard more grunts than what thirty kobolds could make. They stopped to pick up and toss rocks my way here and there, which made them move at less than top speed. The terrain was affecting them more than it did to me.

  I didn't fancy my chances with that horde of kid-sized lizard-dragon murder machines without my primary weapon. Going into melee was suicide. I would get surrounded and cut down without fail.

  My next magical item had to be an endless quiver.

  I ran at full speed away from the kobolds. When I had more than fifteen minutes head start, I went into a valley to break line of sight and climbed on a dead tree. There, I wrapped my cloak around myself and remained still, looking through the gap.

  *

  *

  The kobolds lost my trail and spread out to search for me. Since I led the horde away from my pack, I didn't fear them finding it. I could see four searching around the tree and another six passed at the edges of the valley only to vanish behind a boulder. I didn't understand their language of hiss and yaps but they were annoyed and frustrated.

  Ten minutes of searching and they were about to move out of the valley. I moved my cloak carefully and drew two throwing daggers. I threw the daggers at the two front-most kobolds and then jumped on the other two. The landing was rough on my legs and knees but it was devastating for the kobolds. Drawing my new short sword, I cut the four down before they could make much of a fuss and raise an alarm. Retrieving my daggers, I climbed the other side and left the valley behind.

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  I went around, killing what kobolds I could find in the outskirts, trying to reach the mine entrance through another direction. Evading the kobolds I couldn't kill was easy. They had sensory organs designed to work in mines. Broad daylight was too bright for them. No small amount of Attribute points would fix this glaring flaw either. The Attributes worked as a percentage of the baseline body. A dragon with zero points of Strength would still wrestle a human champion with a thousand points of Strength like the Champion was a toddler.

  Crawling over the hill, I reached a vantage point to look at the depression below. More kobolds had arrived and they were dragging the dead ones back inside, with my arrows in them.

  It was too much to fight. Those forty-eight arrows were lost. Resigned, I went around, retrieved my pack, and moved out of there. That kobold mine needed immediate purge. The population inside could be over a thousand. I went back to town.

  *

  *

  The deputy Guild Master didn't like my report a single bit. He still accepted the intelligence but refused to issue the quest. A kobold nest that big, required action by the Lord's army.

  "Alice is back in town but she told me to remain as acting Guild Master," the deputy told me. "She requested your presence at the Lord's castle as soon as you returned. She also said to take your new pet with you."

  I raised an eyebrow and then nodded. "I guess I'll go straight there, then."

  "That would be for the best. Dismissed."

  I left the office feeling the cold treatment. It seems some of my fellow Guild employees had some bottled resentment for the way Alice treated me. Strange. I knew these people for years. Was it that I climbed the ladder too fast? Regardless, I couldn't waste much time on them. I had a job to do.

  I bought two barrels of arrows at Fizzlewhisper's, taking two bundles to replace the ones I used. The barrels would be delivered to my doorstep tomorrow morning at the latest.

  The walk to the castle was eventless. I took the fast lane for foot traffic and ran. At the gates, I presented my badge, asked about Alice's whereabouts, and was escorted by a servant to the east wing of the castle, near the soldier's barracks and training grounds. After ingress through a side door, climbing two flights of stairs and navigating the corridors, we reached a meeting room.

  "Wait here," the servant said.

  I complied without a peep.

  "Announcing George the Scout, officer of the Adventurer's Guild!" The servant shouted.

  "Enter!" A strong bass voice boomed.

  The servant opened the door. I entered. My eyes took the scene. A lot of important-looking people stood around a table where a map of the city and surrounding areas was carved on the wood. I could see it was up to date with my own knowledge of the region. It even included Alice's refurbished forest. Certainly, magic was involved in both learning about these changes and updating the table-map.

  I saw Alice in her battle-robes. She wore a skull cap made of a shiny metal resembling silver at a first glance. This meant shit was serious. Then my eyes met the Lord's. I saw him a few times in either a parade or at a distance during some important proclamation.

  "George, welcome," the Lord said. "Feel at ease and thank you for coming as soon as possible."

  I bowed forty-five degrees. "The honor is mine, my Lord. How may I help?" It paid to be polite here. Not that I was rude to anyone without a good reason.

  "We need your insights, George," he replied. "Because we suspect a Mana Wave is about to hit our region."

  I froze. A Mana Wave was a phenomenon where a large quantity of Mana would move into a region and cause all sorts of magical trouble. From increasing the quality and frequency of monster spawns, to the spontaneous creation of Dungeons, to even plucking the city from the ground and turning it upside down. It happened more than once in known history. And we knew the history of this world since its founding, tens of thousands of years ago. The Ring Goddess and her Star Knights predated even that.

  "I have seen exotic monsters appear, and now I just returned from a scouting trip. I—" I froze because I didn't think it was my place to report it.

  "Say it, young man!" The Lord urged. "Unless you lie to us, which I don't believe one with a pedigree such as yours would, anything may help."

  A glance at Alice earned me an encouraging nod. "I found a mine to the south that is occupied by kobolds. I killed over sixty of them in the morning, levels ten to late twenties, in broad daylight outside the mine. I witnessed more than fifty others dragging the corpses back into the mine. I estimate that the mine is infested with at least a thousand individuals, according to literature and known purges."

  The military officers steeled their faces.

  "I believe you. Commander, you know what to do. I want that mine purged within the week. There might be an evolved kobold directing the warren. I want its head."

  "It will be done, sire!" The Commander snapped a perfect salute.

  Alice was beaming with pride.

  "See that the Guild and its Scout are compensated for their efforts," the Lord added. "Moving on. George, I want you to help track down and hunt the Wolfertinger male. Do you believe you can do it?"

  I took in a big breath and held it. The Lord and everyone here already knew about the Wolfertingers? I tensed my back, thinking of the little guy sleeping in my backpack. I recalled the deputy's words. I should bring my pet.

  "I know its last known location and the rough direction it flew off. But I can't track flying creatures."

  "You know more about the species' behavior than anyone alive," the Lord retorted. "I know you are young but your accolades speak for themselves. Thrice you found threats to this city that could escalate into danger. You won't go alone. My son and a small detachment of army soldiers and rangers will go with you. We will even send two mages."

  I understood what it meant. The Lord wanted to give his son the opportunity to earn glory for himself, and maybe wet his lips on the sweet wine of combat. I looked at Alice. She nodded slowly. It meant I should take the job but be cautious. So cautious I would be.

  "Do you intend to use the pup in any capacity? I doubt the male will answer a pup's calls. Its vocalizations are no different from a wolf's."

  The Lord grinned. "I would offer to buy the specimen right now if that wasn't an offense. I hope you understand that I respect you, George the Guild Scout. Not only because of your father but for the man I see in front of me and the possibilities you represent. No, we won't ask you to expose the Wolfertinger pup to danger. If I were in your place, I would do the same thing you are trying. A bond with such a creature would be a great boon to your growth. Many would dream of having a Legendary companion. I wish you the best. If you want to leave the pup behind for its safety, we can arrange a cage in our kennels."

  The Lord's words touched me. It wouldn't do to become emotional in that room, though. "Thank you, my Lord. I will join this expedition to help track the creature."

  He acknowledged it with a nod and a faint smile.

  "I expect great deeds, George. Thank you for your service."