Leaving the Forge, Kenji popped a food pill and headed toward the city gate with anticipation and tightness in his heart.

  “Looking for any person with an E-Rank Defensive Gift.”

  “Archer! Looking for an Archer.”

  “How is spoils distributed?”

  “It will be distributed equally amongst all members.”

  “Great, I wanna join.”

  “Welcome aboard.”

  Arriving at the recruitment square where loose hunters gather to form parties, Kenji found it was bustling with activity.

  Looking around, Kenji found a decent party still short on members.

  “Look man, we are trying to make a living here, not babysit.” Just as Kenji was about to go and introduce himself, the party leader shut him down.

  Kenji looked so weak, and from a single glare he could tell Kenji had never gone hunting before.

  After getting rejected, Kenji wasn't disheartened. He tried a few more parties, but he got the same response. Seeing his weak build, no one was willing to take him with them.

  “This…again.” For the first time in weeks, Kenji was again reminded of his petite body.

  With no other choice, Kenji left the city alone.

  Walking out of the city gate, Kenji felt a surge of excitement and anticipation. Although he had walked out of those doors countless times, this was the first time he was going out to hunt instead of collecting carcasses.

  Leaving the city gates behind, Kenji headed straight toward the Kobold caves.

  Having done his research, Kenji knew that the easiest monsters to kill were the Kobolds. The only reason people don't go after them is because of their low value, as a Kobold carcass only sells for 50 copper coins.

  Half an hour later, Kenji arrived before a Kobold cave.

  This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author's consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.

  “This is it.” Tightly gripping the old saber in his right hand, Kenji entered the cave.

  Unlike the Fire Lizard's cave, which was pitch black, the Kobold cave was filled with night crystals, making the whole cave light up.

  Heading deeper into the cave, Kenji spotted a 4-foot-tall thin creature.

  “A…kobold.” Seeing the Kobold, Kenji immediately hid.

  Thump Thump

  As the footsteps grew closer, Kenji's heart tightened, and he wanted to turn back and run away.

  Although Kenji had dealt with many monsters, those were just cold carcasses.

  Coming face to face with a monster whose blood was still pumping through its veins, Kenji's legs gave out.

  “I need to do this!” Forcing himself, Kenji left the hiding place and came face to face with the Kobold.

  “Grak-ta! Grak-ta.”

  Seeing the human, Kobold's eyes turned red and it charged at Kenji. Unlike how Kenji had planned it in his mind, the crazed look of the Kobold really scared him, and he started running out of the cave.

  With the blessing of his Ki, Kenji soon left the Kobold in the dust, and in no time he was almost at the entrance of the cave.

  “Graaa… Grakk!!”

  Just as Kenji was about to make it out of the cave, he came across four Kobolds carrying some kind of fox-like monster.

  The four Kobolds who had just returned from hunting were at a loss seeing a human coming out of their home. However, they soon dropped everything and started attacking the boy. ??

  “Help!!” Kenji cried out as the four Kobolds drew near. In a desperate attempt to save himself, Kenji ran in the opposite direction and headed back into the cave.

  A few minutes later, Kenji bumped into the very first Kobold he had seen. Colliding with it, Kenji lost his balance and fell onto the poor monster.

  “This… how?”

  By the time Kenji came back to his senses, the Kobold was already dead due to a dagger piercing its abdomen.

  Looking at the dead Kobold on the ground, Kenji’s eyes were blank. He had a hard time figuring out how a level 2 monster like a Kobold could be so fragile.

  “Maybe…”

  In a few seconds, countless thoughts went through Kenji's mind, and a confident look appeared on his face.

  [Devour]

  Using his innate ability, [Devour], Kenji collected Ki from the dead Kobold. Soon, his body seemed to become a vortex and sucked all the residual Ki from the Kobold carcass.

  [Ki: 364 → 365]

  In the span of a single breath, Kenji’s Ki reserves increased by a whole unit.

  Absorbing the Ki present in the air to increase Ki reserves is one method. The other is using the innate ability [Devour] to collect residual Ki from the bodies of dead monsters.

  “No wonder hunters level up so quickly.” Through Ki breathing, Kenji had to spend half an hour to increase his reserves by one unit. However, using the innate ability [Devour], he was able to do so in seconds.

  Suddenly growing some nerve after killing the Kobold, Kenji hid to ambush the four Kobolds chasing him.

  Slap-Slap-Slap-Slap

  A few minutes later, the sounds of Kobolds were heard, and Kenji gripped the dagger tightly, ready to attack at any moment.

  Meanwhile, the four Kobolds were confused. Even after coming so deep into their lair, they couldn't find the human. To catch up with him, they increased their speed.

  This action, however, caused them to miss Kenji, who was hiding in the corner behind the night crystals.

  “Now…” Seeing the Kobolds in front without any clue, Kenji attacked decisively.

  Caught off guard by the sudden attack, one of the Kobolds fell prey to Kenji's dagger.

  “Grak-ta!!!” Finally finding the human they were chasing, the remaining three Kobolds attacked Kenji, ignoring their companion on the ground.

  Pulling the dagger out of the Kobold's back, Kenji retreated. Using his Ki, he was able to put quite a distance between himself and the remaining three Kobolds.

  “You will… do.” Targeting the Kobold on the left, Kenji ran toward it at full speed, his dagger ready to strike at any moment.

  The Kobold wasn’t scared of the human charging at him. Instead, it swung its arm to hit him.

  Kenji, who had no battle experience, never saw the attack coming, and soon he was rolling on the ground.

  “Grakkkk Taaaaa.” Seeing that the human was down, all three Kobolds hurried over and started stomping Kenji to death.

  Although Kenji rolled on the ground for a few meters, he wasn't hurt much, as the Ki coursing through his body protected him.

  Under the constant pain of the Kobolds’ rough feet hitting him, Kenji grabbed the foot of one Kobold and pulled, causing it to lose balance and fall.

  However, the other Kobolds ignored it and started hitting Kenji even more aggressively.

  __________

  Author’s Note:

  Read advance chapters on Patreon:

  patreon.com/BurningSunlvl99