Construction Mage - Chapter 11: Kobold Hunting

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A week quickly passed after Clay had selected his two life professions and created a makeshift toilet seat. He had quickly set the latter aside after learning he had no recipes for them, but the former had turned out surprisingly well. 

The reason he gave up on finding recipes so easily was because of his determination to only stay in the areas where he was certainly safe, so for now, that meant the first layer. His chances of coming across any skill books or recipes were much lower there until he was confident in challenging the boss room of the first layer.

As for the toilet seat, while he had to use some small logs to stabilize its position over the bucket, it wasn’t that bad overall. It was way better than squatting, at the very least. However, the happiness of this success with the toilet seat was overshadowed by the letdown that the life profession classes gave him.

Making money is never so easy, is it?

Clay sighed as he was reminded of how his hopes of his profession classes making him tons of money were shut down so quickly. Still, he was able to earn a steady income of around four to five hundred Lyons a day for venturing into the dungeon for half the day. He would’ve been much further along if he worked longer hours, but that was the beauty of working for himself. The hours were set on his terms. That meant he would rest when he wanted to, which turned out to be a lot more often than he had thought.

Dungeon delving was a serious business that was taxing both physically and mentally. After doing it for two consecutive days, the soreness of his body made him dial down his pace a notch.

Still, he managed to bring his savings up to twenty-seven silver coins and was approaching what he would need to afford a proper weapon.

At the same time, he was also hesitant to buy mundane equipment as he had come to learn the benefits of Delver-crafted gear. The stats bonuses were no joke, not to mention some of the more exotic effects. It would be wasteful to buy something that he would replace before long.

A short while later, he snapped out of his musing, as there were other things more worthy of his attention at the moment.

After an entire week of venturing into the first layer, Clay had finally leveled up once more after killing countless Feral Kobolds. 

In a stroke of luck, he had even found the white pagoda that marked his exit within the first half hour of the day as well. It was why he was currently staring at his status screen, inadvertently reminded of his useless professions.

Name: Clayton Stratton

Age: 30

Class: Earth Mage [Apprentice] - Level 2

Profession: Staffmaker, Alchemist

Resources:

Health - 100%

Stamina - 101/112 [1.6/min]

Mana - 76/100 [2.4/min]

Stats [Mage]:

Stat Points: 5

Strength: 15 +

Endurance: 16 +

Agility: 10 +

Dexterity: 9 +

Intelligence: 10 +

Wisdom: 12 +

Skills:

Spell Manipulation(I): 1

Earth Blast(I): 1

Meditate(I): 1

His skills and levels were much harder to level up than he had initially thought, so the level-up was very much welcomed.

Hmm, I guess there’s a limit to my gains when sticking to the outskirts of the first layer. Maybe I should consider heading a little further in to hunt higher-level kobolds? It shouldn’t be that bad, especially with this level up. 

What stats should I increase to make this idea more viable?

Intelligence and dexterity were immediately crossed out. Mana pool wasn’t something that aided him at the moment, as his Earth Blast only cost five mana. His dexterity was quite low and would likely require more investment to have a significant impact. He could choose to revisit it when he learned the Earthen Wall spell later, where there was a need to fine-tune the size of his spells when he started constructing his residence. For now, he didn’t believe a slight increase or decrease in the size of an Earth Blast would help that much.

Endurance and Wisdom were what he chose last time, considering he simply wanted more staying power as a lone Delver. However, he now wanted to venture a little deeper into the first layer, and he gained the Meditate skill, so recovery was no longer an urgent concern. As a result, he was divided between the two more combat-focused stats of Agility and Strength. Which one was more suitable for his current needs?

It’s either hit harder, cast faster, or a mix of both. Getting the best of both worlds is attractive, but I think that may be a trap. Being able to just cast a little faster and a little stronger likely won’t change much. The key is being able to get past that threshold that lets me reduce the amount of spells to defeat my foes by one or get another cast off.

Hmm, I want to say hitting harder is the better option. If I can get it to the point of one-shotting a Feral Kobold, I’d be golden, but if I go deeper, there are likely to be stronger monsters that are tougher. A full party consists of five people. It’s likely monsters will come in greater numbers the further in I go, too. As a solo, I may not even get a chance to cast a single spell if there are too many of them. 

That will mean fewer opportunities to train my spells, descending into a negative loop where I use them less, which in turn, means it will stay at a low level. By then, there would be no reason to pick a mage class.

So I guess that means my choice is clear, then.

Clay breathed in and added all his free points into agility. Once he was done, he impatiently rushed out of the white pagoda and began casting his spell to assess the difference.

“Spirits, hear my call,

By Lestionora’s name, rise from your thrall.

Awaken from slumber, heed my plea,

Shape to my will, come forth as I decree—Earth Blast!”

He could feel the time it took to draw on his mana had quickened, and he chanted the spell faster as well. Counting the seconds from start to finish, he found the cast time had reduced from five seconds to somewhere between three and four seconds.

The correlation of each agility point to cast time didn’t seem straightforward. He didn’t even know if it was linear in the first place, so he quickly ignored it and began seeking out a kobold to test his abilities on.

Around three and a half seconds. I should be able to cast twice before they close the distance, albeit cutting it a little close after firing off the second spell.

It didn’t take long for one of the ever-spawning monsters to appear. He began casting as soon as he saw the oversized rat, pointing his palm toward it.

The critter sprinted from tree to tree as always, but by now, Clay had become used to it. Its size meant he wasn’t as fast as the regular version of the pest, and a larger target, too.

A hardened ball of earth soon shot out at the rat, nailing it on its right side, eliciting a cry. It staggered back for a split second before breaking out into a dash again, but with a limp this time. It bought Clay more time to cast another one.

Tracking the slippery critter as it ran, his second spell was soon complete as it almost reached the tree closest to him. Just before it got behind cover, the second Earth Blast connected with its left torso. It rolled over and weakly tried to get up, but seemed to struggle.

Clay was prepared to rush in to finish it off with his shovel, but after another second, he realized it was too injured to move. Taking a few steps back, he chose to dedicate a third spell to the Feral Kobold. He hoped finishing off the monster with the spell would aid in leveling the spell.

A nasty noise of bone cracking sounded out as the third spell landed squarely on its head. 

[Ding—Level 1 Feral Kobold slain.]

Seeing the message, Clay breathed out a sigh of relief. He was worried about what to do if his spell proved too weak to finish it off after a third hit. Everyone had warned him how tough it was for mages in their early levels, requiring others to support him, so he had been quite pessimistic.

With the confidence in his spell renewed, Clay ventured further down the trail toward the colossal tree. Having leveled up, combined with knowing where the exit was, Clay felt braver than ever.

He was determined to test his mettle against a more evolved species of kobolds, where the chances of dropping something useful were much greater. He even fantasized about finding a treasure chest and finding the Earthen Wall skill book within.

Either way, even if his adventure didn’t net him anything valuable, he believed it would prove to be a useful experience. An entire week of confronting nothing but Feral Kobolds had gotten him desiring something fresh.

Kobold after kobold, Clay ventured the deepest he’s ever been. The withering trees grew denser, lowering his visibility, and the smell in the air was different.

No, this smell is from a campfire! Either a party is taking a break nearby, or it’s one of the camps where the higher-tier Kobolds are found!

Sniffing the air, he proceeded toward the smell of smoke. It didn’t take long for him to start hearing the squeaking noises that were a pitch or two lower than what he heard from the Feral Kobolds. Then he saw the shadows or something huddled around a small campfire.

Two small humanoid silhouettes, the size of children, were swaying left and right as if they were dancing. As he got closer, their figure became clearer. They were still rats like the Feral Kobolds, but they weren’t completely covered in fur. Skin was visible from their face to their waistline. Pale-skinned rats stood upright and had white whiskers. Their head shape was more akin to a horse, with a straight profile, and their teeth exposed.

The two kobolds were even wearing clothes, or to be precise, rags that covered a sliver of their torso and lower bodies. The most eye-catching of all was the rusty hatchet they held. It was a threat Clay considered to be much more dangerous than just a bite. Weapons shouldn’t be underestimated.

He eventually drew the closest he could while confident of not being spotted and paused.

Now then, how should I deal with two opponents?

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