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“Don’t do that–!” Vandread yelled.

“Huh–”

He was perplexed by what the man was warning him about, but he realized it the moment the light gave off from the flame; unintelligible growls and murmurs echoed from all around.

It was out of the corner of his eye that he saw it; something like that was so otherworldly and unknown to him that it made him freeze as he failed to register what it was: a stone, like the endless amount in the ravine, sticking in the mud walls, shifted into the form of an unsightly creature.

As the stone morphed, the creature’s complexion was the same as the gray, rigid stone for a moment before becoming a dull, bleached red; its skin was covered with boils and scabs, layered with stringy hair that seemed to cover it from head-to-toe.

It had an animal-like face with a snout and buck teeth, along with beady black eyes, but a humanoid body of a similar size to a human child.

Is this a kobold?! He realized.

In its hand, it wielded a small weapon made out of sharpened stone, which it plunged towards the surprised young man.

CLING.

Before the sneak attack could land, the unrefined weapon was deflected by a dagger wielded by Vandread, who knocked the shapeshifting creature back.

“Focus!” Vandread yelled to him.

He snapped back from the odd encounter, “–Right!”_.

Though as Vandread lunged from the stallion’s back in an attempt to stab into the kobold, the creature vanished, sinking into the stone as ugly chuckles echoed off of the clammy walls.

“…Annoying vermin,” Vandread mumbled.

“That was a kobold…?” He asked.

Vandread sighed, getting back on the horse’s back and only using one hand to hold onto the reins while wielding a blade, “Yes, and you brought it right to us.”

“I did?”

“Fire attracts them,” Vandread said, “We’ll move in the dark.”

He was hesitant to travel in the shadows with such tricky, grotesque creatures lurking in the ravines. Their very presence made him continuously check over his shoulder as he clutched his staff tightly in his hands.

“They already know we’re here, right? Is it a good idea to take away our sight?” He asked.

“I see your point, but that’s not the problem. They knew we were here from the get-go,” Vandread answered, keeping watch, “But fire attracts them like moths to a flame; they’ll grow confident and violent just like that one did.”

“I get it, then,” he sighed.

Even so, it wasn’t something he liked; beyond the continuous sounds of the stallion’s hooves befalling the ground, he listened in closely to the subtle, but existing sounds that resounded within the dark ravine.

The sound of light footsteps were heard, but as he looked behind him, he saw nothing but mud and stones that filled the ravine, alongside darkness.

“…Will they attack again?” He asked, glancing around.

“Hm,” Vandread thought about it before answering, “Probably.”

“Probably…?!” He replied in a shocked whisper.

“Don’t worry. They can be sneaky, but they’re not hard to handle,” Vandread assured him.

It was definitely more tense than he ever felt around goblins. In spite of the magical abilities he had cultivated through his studies, in a narrow ravine like the way he was in, he was much more limited than normal. Unleashing true firepower was out of the question in an enclosed space.

In light of that, he decided to make a surprising choice: he sheathed his staff and instead drew his gifted sword: “Silver Wing.”

“Good choice,” Vandread said, knowing what he did without looking, “Any fights here will be close-quarters; it’s best to rely on steel for this one.”

There was still a long road ahead through the ravine; it stretched on, though its end couldn’t be seen through the shadows.

Tip-tap. Tip-tap. Tip-tap.

It was a combination of light, rapid footsteps that swiftly appeared in earshot and the slight rumbling of stones that alerted him.

Multiple footsteps!–They’re attacking again! He thought.

“Get ready,” Vandread said, “I’ll watch our north; you cover our south.”

There was no time for planning or hesitation as he immediately turned around to find one of the small-in-stature, hairy creatures rushing towards him with an abhorrent pickaxe reared back.

He was ready this time; standing on the stallion’s back, he faced the incoming kobold as it leapt towards him.

It was an unsightly creature when seen up close; clammy, unwashed skin and tangled hair with a thin tail sticking out from behind it.

“Reeegh–!” The kobold squealed.

As it swung its pickaxe towards him, it was surprisingly swift, but instead of blocking it with his blade, he somehow chose to stop it with his hand. It was a choice that seemed stupid once actually thinking about it, but for some reason it was what his instincts told him to do.

“Huh?”

He was just as surprised as the kobold at the result of his actions; the pickaxe was completely halted as he caught the arm of the creature. It was completely stopped and unable to budge in the slightest while in his grip.

It was a source of strength that felt unnatural and new, catching him by surprise as he felt it frighteningly easy to completely overpower the small creature. While it wasn’t some grand feat to restrain a kobold, for one of his stature and usual physical capabilities, it was a surprise.

While he was caught off-guard by this development, the buck-toothed, ravine-dwelling creature squealed out again before attempting to lunge at him with its mouth open.

“–!”

In retaliation, he swept his blade towards its size to stop it, and that he did.

SQUELCH.

Though he intended to cut it, the effect was unintended as he completely bisected the creature; slicing it in half from its belly, its innards spilled out onto the muddy floor before he dropped it out of disgust.

“Agh…!” He fell back down on the stallion’s back.

Vandread had already swiftly taken out the two kobolds that had attacked him, “You got it? Good work.”

“Yeah…” He said, catching his breath in surprise.

As he looked down at his hand that wielded his sword, he questioned what he just experienced, quickly realizing the source of his newfound strength.

“Draconic Constitution.”

It must be that new skill I acquired, he thought.

Only then did he realize how throughout his entire body, it felt as if it was fundamentally different; as if he wore made out of brittle wood before, now he was made out of stalwart steel. As he patted around his own body briefly, it did seem as if he gained some muscle mass, though it was condensed and toned, but didn’t quite explain the increase in physical might.

I’d like to test this out a bit more. This is what I was missing; I knew how to wield a sword, but my physical finesse wasn’t up to par before. But, that’s different now, he thought.

It didn’t seem as though it would be long before he’d have the chance to test his new abilities out since the rumbling of stone around the ravine sounded off again, causing the stallion to grow frightened.

“More are coming,” Vandread warned calmly, reining the horse in.

Sneakily, the creatures shifted along the walls, though they weren’t invisible as they snickered and growled. It took longer than he expected, but his eyes were beginning to adjust to the darkness, though it was still difficult to make out the kobolds as they blended with the mud and stone.

“I’ve got my hands full here,” Vandread said, pulling on the reins as the stallion was frantic in the presence of the ravine dwellers, “–You’ve got to handle this.”

“Yeah, I’ve got this,” he nodded.

There were definitely more than before; at least half a dozen from what he could make out, though it was nearly impossible to tell if he was simply watching the same shadows dance across his vision.

Against the devious kobolds, fighting in their hometurf, the temptation came to rely on magic, but he resisted, forcing himself to test his capabilities physically.

Popping out from the wall to his side, a kobold spewed unintelligible speech before tossing a cluster of pebbles towards him with harsh velocity.

“Gh!” He winced.

Though he instinctively flinched, as the violently thrown rocks hit his skin, he realized it didn’t hurt. None of the projectiles managed to break his skin or scratch it, only bouncing off of him.

“Huh?”

It seemed even the kobold was surprised by this, though that shock quickly turned into fear as it attempted to retreat into the stone, but he reached forward, extending his hand the furthest he could as he stood on the edge of the stallion.

“–You’re not going anywhere!”

Just before its entire body vanished into the solid wall, he managed to grab onto its tail, yanking it out without any mercy. The stench of a kobold was strong, even if it wasn’t directly in front of him; their odor was similar to that of a wet dog, only mixed in with rotten eggs and meat.