In a flash of motion, Ssskaal leaped to the tree where his spear was embedded, wrenched it free, and landed in a low, defensive crouch, the obsidian tip glinting menacingly.
"Lord, be careful! He's fast!" Elias warned, positioning himself between Ryan and the women.
Ssskaal didn't charge blindly. He circled them, his spear held expertly in a two-handed grip, probing for weaknesses. He would dart in with a lightning-fast jab, forcing them to backpedal, then retreat before they could counter. His skill was leagues beyond the frenzied goblins.
Ryan, however, was no longer the same person who had fumbled his way through his first fight that morning.
The adrenaline from the Chieftain battle, combined with the tangible boost from reaching Lord Level 2, had sharpened his senses and filled his limbs with a newfound strength.
His stats had visibly increased on his panel—his Strength was now a 9, and his Agility a 10.
It wasn't a massive leap, but it was enough to make a difference.
He felt it now. The world seemed to move just a little bit slower. Ssskaal's jabs, which would have been a terrifying blur before, were now telegraphed, predictable.
"Elias, you and the others form a defensive line. Don't engage. Just protect yourselves," Ryan commanded, stepping forward to meet the Kobold head-on.
"But my Lord, he is too skilled!" Elias protested.
"And I am stronger," Ryan said, a cold confidence in his voice that surprised even himself.
He met Ssskaal's next jab not with a clumsy block, but with a swift parry. He knocked the obsidian spear aside with the shaft of the Blood Hunter, the impact jarring the Kobold's grip.
Before Ssskaal could recover, Ryan lunged, not with a simple thrust, but with a powerful, sweeping arc of his own spear.
Ssskaal was forced to leap back, his beady eyes wide with shock.
He had expected a slow, clumsy warm-blood. He had not expected this speed, this strength.
The humming, blood-red spear in Ryan's hands seemed to have a life of its own, and it was utterly terrifying.
The dance reversed. Now it was Ryan on the offensive. He pressed his advantage, his attacks a relentless barrage.
The Blood Hunter was a Level 2 weapon, and the raw power it contained was more than a match for the Kobold's skill.
Every time their spears met, Ssskaal was driven back, his arms trembling from the force of the impacts.
Ryan saw his opening. After a particularly heavy parry that sent the obsidian spear flying wide, he spun and slammed the butt of the Blood Hunter into the Kobold's chest.
The blow landed with a sickening crunch, and Ssskaal was thrown backwards, landing in a heap on the damp ground, the wind knocked out of him.
Ryan was on him in an instant, the crimson tip of the Blood Hunter pressed against the creature's scaly throat. Victory was his.
He looked down, ready to deliver the final blow. But he stopped. He saw not the mindless rage of a goblin, but a pair of intelligent black eyes, wide with a mixture of terror and defiance. He saw the rapid rise and fall of the creature's chest as it gasped for air. He heard the slight, pathetic whimper it tried to suppress.
This creature could talk. It could reason. It could set traps and feel fear. It was a monster, yes, but it was not a beast. Killing it now, as it lay helpless on the ground, felt… wrong.
It felt less like a battle for survival and more like an execution.
"My Lord, finish it!" Elias urged.
Ryan hesitated. He looked at the Kobold, then at his own spear.
His SSS-Rank talent was about evolution, about building and improving.
Was his reign as a Lord going to be built on a foundation of ruthless slaughter?
He thought of Kaiser, so quick to dismiss others as "cannon fodder." He didn't want to become that.
With a deep sigh, he pulled his spear back.
"Get out of here," Ryan said, his voice low but firm.
"Don't let me see you in my territory again."
The Kobold stared, its mind unable to comprehend the mercy it was being shown.
It scrambled to its feet, snatched its spear from the ground, gave Ryan one last, unreadable look, and then vanished into the swampy undergrowth.
Elias, Mara, and Elara looked at Ryan with confusion, but they didn't question his decision.
"That was… a strange one," Mara said, breaking the silence.
"Let's just hope he learned his lesson," Ryan replied, though a knot of unease tightened in his stomach. He shook it off. They still needed food. "Come on. Let's see what else this forest has to offer."
They moved away from the swamp, venturing deeper into the woods.
The mood was tense at first, but the forest soon opened up into a beautiful, sun-dappled glade.
And there, drinking from a small stream, was their prize: a magnificent deer with a full rack of antlers.
It was a perfect target, but it was nearly a hundred meters away. A difficult, if not impossible, throw for a normal person. But Ryan felt the power of his Level 2 stats coursing through him.
"Stay here," he whispered.
He took a moment, judging the distance, the wind. Then, in one smooth, powerful motion, he hurled the spear.
The deer's head snapped up a second too late. The spear struck it perfectly in the side, a fatal, instant kill.
Ryan stared, his arm still outstretched, completely stunned by his own power. "Did… did you see that?"
Elias let out a low whistle. "A throw worthy of a king, my Lord."
Elara and Mara were speechless, their eyes wide with awe. They retrieved the deer, a massive bounty that would feed their entire settlement for days, along with the two rabbits they had caught earlier. The journey back to the cabin was triumphant.
The unease from the Kobold encounter was forgotten, replaced by the joyful anticipation of a real feast.
As they broke through the treeline, the sight of their log cabin and the growing palisade wall was a welcome one.
The five woodcutters saw them and let out a cheer, dropping their axes and running over to help with the heavy deer.
But as Ryan looked past the camp, towards the swampy edge of the forest they had just left, his blood ran cold.
".....!"
Standing there, just at the border of the trees, was Ssskaal. He was not alone. Behind him, emerging from the shadows of the swamp, was a sea of mottled green and brown scales. There were dozens of them. Small ones with crude daggers, large ones with heavy stone clubs, and several that looked just as skilled and well-armed as Ssskaal himself.
The Kobold pointed a clawed finger directly at Ryan, his toothy grin no longer cunning, but filled with a cold, reptilian promise of revenge.
He had not returned with a lesson learned. He had returned with his entire village.