Hunter Academy: Revenge of the Weakest novel Chapter 38

Chapter 38 Chapter 10.3 - First Dungeon

As the sun slowly made its descent toward the horizon, I continued my relentless hunt, my gun and daggers becoming extensions of my body. With each encounter, I grew more skilled and efficient, taking down the kobolds with deadly precision.

The forest echoed with the sound of gunshots and the cries of defeated monsters. My [Keen Eye] skill allowed me to perceive their movements and weaknesses with clarity, giving me the upper hand in every battle. Even though guns were not supposed to be enough to kill the monsters, with my mana enchantment, every bullet passed through their defenses.

BANG! BANG! BANG!

More and more kobolds fell before me, their bodies piling up around me, and at some point, I could no longer see any more kobolds, which meant one simple thing.

'The first stage is about to be cleared.'

Most of the time, there were no stages or anything like levels in most of the dungeons, like games. However, the stage meant the sections of the dungeon where the monsters of the same strength resided.

Like, for instance, the place where I hunted kobolds was named the first stage or first district. Then the second stage would be where the monsters of a higher strength resided.

That was basically it. And me seeing no more kobolds here meant the dungeon would now enter the reproduction routine and would start spawning more kobolds.

In the game, the reason for this phenomenon was not detailly explained until the later stages of the game, but it doesn't matter what the reason is for now.

Anyway, every stage or district does have its own boss-type monsters. Of course, Kobolds also did have its own.

Chief Kobold.

A Peak Rank-2 monster and the strongest monster inside this forest.

'Dealing one on one with that monster shouldn't be too hard. But, the problem is their numbers.'

No matter how dumb monsters are, when the danger appears, they will have one simple response. They will group and defend themselves with numbers.

This is the way of the weak, basically, and every living being in nature knows that.

As the night approached, the forest grew darker, but I had been fighting with kobolds non-stop and was pretty much tired. Considering my low constitution, even using a gun while kiting the monsters was hard for me.

'I need to set up a camp.'

With the moon high above in the dark sky, I descended from the tree and found a suitable spot to set up camp. I gathered some dry leaves and branches to create a small campfire, providing both warmth and a source of light to keep the monsters at bay.

Taking out my tent from the spatial bracelet, I quickly set it up nearby the campfire. And I didn't forget to burn the incense that would erase the smell of meat and smoke.

Then, I ate the conservative food I had brought with me. Sadly, even though this was a forest, there was no monster that could be eaten after getting cooked for now.

Kobold meat tasted really bad, and it didn't offer any advantages to hunters making it blacklisted from being eaten most of the time.

Inside the tent, I laid out a blanket and made myself as comfortable as possible. My body ached from the constant battles, and I knew I needed to rest if I wanted to face Chief Kobold later on.

I settled down inside the tent and gulped a recovery increase potion. Different from stamina potions, recovery increase potions worked as supplements and made the natural recovery faster without not much external interference.

It was a lot better for future conditions and was suggested to use over the stamina potions because of lesser side effects in the long run.

Then, I closed my eyes, focusing on my mana to speed up the recovery process. Slowly, the fatigue started to ebb away as I let the mana flow through my body, soothing my tired muscles and rejuvenating my energy.

Though, I didn't forget to maintain my gun. After all, at the end of the day, a gun was a mechanical device that could be dysfunctional at any crucial moment, just like a sword that hadn't been sharpened for a while.

*******

As the minutes turned into hours, I felt myself gradually regaining strength. I knew that midnight was the best time to strike Chief Kobold's settlement. The monsters would be at their weakest during that hour, and I could catch them off guard. Also, both of my traits are always suited to work at nighttime.

[Lunar Enigma] was related to the moon, and [Shadowborne] was related to shadows. Even though some may say that in the daytime, there were actually more shadows, it was also easier to spot them at the same time. Thus, utilizing shadows at night time was actually a lot easier.

I had also slept for a while, so my head was also feeling refreshed.

When midnight approached, I emerged from the tent, feeling revitalized and ready for the next battle. The campfire still burned brightly, providing me with enough light to navigate through the forest.

Silently, I made my way toward Kobolds' settlement. My [Keen Eye] skill was still active, allowing me to detect any movement in the darkness. The forest was eerily quiet, and the monsters seemed to sense the impending danger.

Before I set up camp, I first scouted the entire area, and at that time, I found out about the whereabouts of Chief Kobold or Kobold Settlement.

They had formed quite a good settlement in the midst of the trees. They even built some huts, though they were only primal.

The important thing was that they were showing the signs of civilization. They even had some patrols.

Therefore, the most optimal approach would be tiring them to death, ambushing them, or constantly poisoning them.

But, sadly, I was not that prepared. I had no way of knowing I would encounter such monsters. Thus, I didn't buy any poisons. However, I took a mental note to buy it for a later time.

'However, I can't use my gun. The monsters will be alerted if I do so.' With that thought, I decided it was time to use my bow.

After all, the bow was silent, and it actually supplied more firepower if utilized correctly. Its only downside was the firing speed….For now.

Activating my [Keen Eye], I started scouting the monsters and labeling their locations.

Their numbers were not that high.

'Twenty Kobolds and One Kobold Chief. Two of them are protecting the chief's hut, ten of them are mating, and the remaining eight are patrolling.'

I remembered that the kobolds would mate when the moon was full, and seeing this scene confirmed. It seemed, luck was on my side.