Chapter 126: Walkin’ on Sunshine
Shye carefully scurried across the now chaotic room, walking towards the most optimal position to strike before retrieving two pieces of the unusually noisy stones he looted from the first room.
He didn't expect that the weird stones would have a purpose so he felt that it was a wise decision to hold on to the stones.
It seems the creator of the tomb was willing to give a chance to worthy adventurers to retrieve his treasures and get out alive, else, with the creator's strength, he could've just captured an absurdly strong creature and made it guard the treasure room.
Or, the creator could've at least captured a healthy kobold general.
'Hmm…Who would've expected that the owner of this tomb was quite a nice guy…' Shye thought to himself.
Upon arriving at the most optimal position, which happened to be near the metal bars blocking his exit to the lively outside world, Shye started to execute his plan.
Since his victory was around 90% assured, he wanted to make use of the kobold's strength to escape two days earlier as he stomped on the metal bars, making it produce a resounding clanging sound before immediately using [Dash Lv.3] to escape the area.
*FWOOSH* *CLANG*
Dirt, broken stones, and…broken metal bars, flew everywhere as the glaive of the huge kobold accurately struck the metallic rods, completely destroying the only barrier separating Shye from his sister, his girlfriend, his friends, and his mentors.
Upon realizing that his plan worked, Shye almost wanted to cry in elation. He could even choose to escape right now, leaving the wounded kobold general behind.
Unfortunately, men are greedy, perhaps Shye, even more so because he lived on the streets with his little sister for four years.
In his mind, the kobold general would be helpless once he destroyed both of its ears, thus, in the end, he chose to take this calculated risk.
'How could I be a great adventurer if I don't even dare to take on a wounded and blind kobold general?!' Shye repeatedly thought to himself, trying to justify his greedy decision when no one was even around to care.
Fortunately for him, although fate wanted to teach him a lesson about greed, that day was not today as his plan of throwing the weird noisy stones to the walls beside him to attract the kobold general worked brilliantly.
*RING* *RING*
The stone weirdly stuck to the wall producing ringing sounds as the kobold immediately pounced on the new sound, thinking that it was Shye trying to activate some skills.
*BANG*
As expected, a decent chunk of the wall was destroyed as the kobold general's glaive dug deep into the walls, dirt and debris flying everywhere.
Naturally, Shye wouldn't let this chance go to waste.
He activated [Power Slash Lv.4] as he jumped and slashed at the kobold's ears, one sword, one ear, destroying both in one fell swoop, leaving the kobold general helpless and without any means to resist his onslaught of attacks coming from different tricky angles, each attack catching the massive kobold off guard as it gradually grew weaker due to the accumulated injuries.
After thirty minutes of brutal onslaught, the blind kobold general finally succumbed to its injuries as its massive body fell to the ground in a reverberating thud.
'The bastard is finally dead!' Shye rejoiced as he panted in exhaustion, not expecting the sheer labor of repeatedly hacking and slashing at the creature to be this tiresome.
Still, in the end, he managed to slay the kobold general.
Although the creature was blind, no one can deny the courage, wits, determination to survive, and combat prowess he displayed in the battle against the nightmarish creature.
Well, there was no one around to deny it anyway since he was alone at the dastardly place.
[Congratulations, your Strength attribute has increased from 95 >> 97!]
[Congratulations, your Agility attribute has increased from 95 >> 98!]
[Congratulations, your Dexterity attribute has increased from 96 >> 98!]
[Congratulations, your Stamina attribute has increased from 61 >> 64!]
[Congratulations on completing the quest: Hunt: Kobold General! You've earned 3500 points as a reward!]
Right after he slew the kobold general, euphonious notifications rang one after another akin to a heavenly melody exclusively playing inside his mind.
Fortunately, the ten attribute points invested in intelligence worked wonders as he made sure to accept a regular hunting quest involving a kobold general, giving him a hefty reward of 3500 points.
If he failed to do so before he killed the kobold general, then that would be 3500 points down the drain, hence, Shye was on cloud nine.
Not only did he get free attribute improvements due to the tough battle, but he could also leave the gloomy tomb anytime he wanted.
Naturally, he wouldn't let the kobold general's corpse go unbutchered.
He already stayed inside the goddamn place for who knows how long, staying for another hour or two doesn't bother him one bit as he masterfully harvested the important body parts and the drops of the massive kobold.
And then, finally, after making sure that there was nothing else he needed to do inside the labyrinth, Shye proceeded towards the staircases inside the unusually wide coffin.
Glancing one last time at the cold and dark entrance of the third room before enthusiastically stepping out of the labyrinth, excitement written all over his face.
After a few minutes of ascending the staircase, Shye started to hear the rustling of leaves and the chirping of birds. Rays of sunlight warmly caressed his slightly cold body as fresh air entered and exited his lungs through his nostrils.
Shye slowly closed his eyes and slightly smiled as he savored the long-forgotten sensation of being outdoors, relishing each moment.
'I never realized that freedom was so sweet…It seems that you would never truly appreciate freedom until you lose it' Shye muttered to himself.
He then looked at the staircases once more before shuddering in fear, the staircases were…gone.
Fortunately, he managed to get out of the mysterious tomb before the exit somehow closed or he would have really cried himself to death if he got trapped for a long duration again.
Shye decided to stop thinking about such negative thoughts and instead, he chose to enjoy nature once again before having another epiphany a few moments later.
'One would never truly value a moment until–Wait…What the hell am I doing? Acting all sage-like when people are waiting for me to return?!'
Shye inwardly reprimanded himself before excitedly sprinting off towards the direction of the exit.
Finally, having spent over a year and a few months within the somber tomb, it was time for him to return home.