Chapter 3: First Follower

Thorian slowly opened his eyes and cranked his neck. A throbbing pain pulsated through his face and his whole body. The last thing he could remember before losing consciousness was the big kobold pummeling him with his fists.

As he looked around, he found that the cave was empty. He took a look outside to see that the sun had already.

So that is why. They have gone out to hunt.

Thorian knew that the white kobolds liked to hunt at night. Due to their skills, they needed to be a nocturnal species that slept by day and hunted at the night.

While he was still waking up from his forced slumber, a terrible smell assaulted his snout. He sniffed under his armpit turning his head with a grimace.

“I do need to clean myself.”

Looking down, he found that black sticky goo was still around him. If this was any normal day, a maid would have cleaned it already. Alas, this day was far from normal.

Thorian stood up and walked toward the entrance of the cave. However, just as he took a few steps, he found a dark silhouette in the corner.

“Who is there?”

No response. Thorian raised an eyebrow before clicking his tongue and walking toward the mysterious figure.

As his eyes adjusted to the darkness, he could see a midnight-black kobloid sitting in the corner. The monster was just looking down at the ground not saying a word.

“A night kobloid? Interesting…” Thorian muttered under his breath, before continuing to walk toward the mysterious creature. “Why are you staying here alone? Why did you not go with the rest of the pack?”

The night kobloid looked at Thorian with a careful expression before looking back down at the ground, “Smelly poo, talk weird.”

“You say I talk weird? That is quite presumptuous from you,” Thorian then clenched his fist. “And you dare call me Smelly Poo? That is laughable.”

Thorian frowned at the night kobloid before taking a deep breath and looking away. What am I doing getting angry at a bunch of kobolds? Truly humiliating.

Thorian shook his head and changed the topic, “So, why did you stay here? You should be with the rest of the pack hunting for food.”

The night kobloid stayed silent while looking at the ground. Seeing that the monster was not in the mood to talk, Thorian sighed and started walking toward the entrance of the cave.

“Me different. Me weak.”

Thorian stopped and looked at the night kobloid with a raised eyebrow, “What? A night kobloid is weak? What kind of unfunny joke are you saying?”

The black kobloid looked at Thorian with an open mouth before saying, “Smelly Poo, words many.”

“Night kobloid, words too few more like,” Thorian immediately snarked back. He then took a deep breath before shaking his head. “If you want to become strong, follow me.”

Without saying any more words, Thorian left the cave. Even though the forest was dark with only the moon illuminating it, his eyes quickly adjusted.

I guess there are some benefits to being reborn as a monster. Proper night vision is something you only get at the second stage of cultivation.

Thorian walked amongst the trees and shrubberies before noticing some shuffling behind him. He looked back only to see that the night kobloid had followed him.

“You made a great choice,” he grinned.

“Me follow you, me strong?” the night kobloid asked with a hopeful gaze.

“If you follow my orders, you will reach a strength that your brain could not dream of,” Thorian confidently replied. “Now, let’s go hunt.”

The kobloid nodded and the two continued walking. Thorian made sure to lay as low as possible and walk on all four. That way, he could easily sneak up on any unsuspecting prey without it being able to see him from a distance away.

“Shh, stop,” Thorian’s ears perked up and he raised his hand to stop the night kobloid. He peeked slightly from above a bush to find two small foxes playing around. Without saying a word, he signaled for the night kobloid to go in with his hand.

The two then rushed at the foxes with incredible speed. By the time their prey could notice them, Thorian’s claws already slashed at one of the foxes before he bit its throat. His fangs dug deep into the fox’s flesh, and the blood trickled down his throat. It was sweet.

I am not a beast!

Thorian threw the fox’s corpse to the side before spitting out its blood. He looked to the side to find the night kobloid ravaging the other fox’s innards with his mouth.

“Stop!” Thorian ordered and the night kobloid looked at him in confusion.

“You need to stay hungry so that you can hunt even more,” Thorian’s voice was low. “Only then can you become strong.”

Those last words had worked very well on the kobloid. He looked at the prey he had caught with sad eyes before standing up and nodding at Thorian.

“Good, now let’s continue our hunt,” Thorian smiled proudly. He then sniffed his body before grimacing, “We need to find a lake too.”

As the two continued walking through the forest, Thorian opened his system panel to check his level.

Level: 1/15 (exp: 5/10)

So even normal beasts can give experience. Good, we can make some progress tonight.

After a few minutes of walking around, the two found a doe eating some grass in a small clearing. Thorian knew she was quite speedy, but kobolds were not slow either.

With a few hand signals, Thorian laid out his plan to his night kobloid follower. As the latter slowly crawled around the clearing, Thorian focused back on the doe. She was still eating grass with a dumb expression on her face.

Good. Stay like that.

Thorian waited until the kobloid was in position before pouncing at his prey with all his force. Hearing the shuffling in the bushes, the doe’s ears perked and it looked up immediately. By the time it saw Thorian, he was already halfway toward it.

With a surreal speed, she galloped out of Thorian’s charge. The night kobold swiftly pounced at his prey from the opposite side, only for the doe to jump over his body. By the time Thorian could turn to look, it already crossed the shrubbery and ran into the dark forest.

Thorian gritted his teeth before taking a deep breath, “What a speedy little thing.” He then looked down at his own body and smirked, “I guess I am still not used to this weak body. We need to level up fast.”

On the other hand, the night kobloid was looking down with furrowed eyebrows and droopy ears. Seeing his follower in such a pitiful sight, Thorian clicked his tongue.

“Don’t feel down from such a thing, failure is just part of the process. The next one will not escape us.”

The two then continued their search for new prey. While the past failure ate away at the night kobloid’s enthusiasm, he still followed him without saying a word. Meanwhile, Thorian’s focus did not waver and his head was clear. Letting past failures cloud his judgment was a mistake that he learned not to make ages ago.

After fifteen minutes of walking, Thorian’s eyes picked up something to his right. There were trees, tall grass, shrubbery, and a fallen ant-infested log. As he focused on the shrubbery next to the fallen log, he could see traces of a brown color. It was a sleeping doe.

Once again, Thorian signaled for his follower to walk around and cut the doe’s escape path. Slowly, without making a sound, the kobloid walked to the other side.

On the other hand, Thorian inched as possible toward his future prey, before the two were ready to hunt. Seeing that the kobloid reached his position, Thorian charged at the sleeping doe with all his strength. Just as he was about to reach it, his prey’s ears perked up and it stood up with great alertness. It immediately escaped before its eyes could even process what was happening.

Just as it galloped out of Thorian’s rush, the night kobloid pounced at its legs. His fangs dug deep into its thigh, giving Thorian enough time to catch up. Rather than biting it as he did with the fox, he choose instead to slash its neck with his claws.

Level up!

Hearing the beautiful ding in his ears, Thorian knew that the doe was dead. A refreshing wave of energy coursed through his body, melting both pain and fatigue away. The numbing in his face had cleared, his muscles strengthened, and his tendons became more explosive.

Thorian grinned at the feeling of his progress before looking at the night kobloid, “Did you level up too?”

“Yes,” the kobloid nodded in enthusiasm. “Me strong.”

“Don’t rejoice yet,” Thorian chuckled. “You will still grow much stronger tonight.”

He then looked at his body. Even though he felt great internally, his physical exterior was not a pretty sight. Other than the black goo that was sticking to his fur and hide, he was now covered in blood.

“Do you know where a lake might be?”

“Yes,” the kobloid answered. “Me know lake.”

Thorian smiled at the good news, “Good, you’ll need to show me the way.”

With their destination now set, Thorian followed the night kobloid as he guided him toward the lake. They fought and hunted rabbits, foxes, and other small animals on their way. By the time they reached the lake, they had both leveled up to level 3.

Thorian immediately took a plunge inside the lake. The refreshing feeling of water cleaning the filth inside his fur could not be compared to anything. It was as if he was reborn once again.

After cleaning himself for a bit, Thorian’s mind finally cleared out. Having to endure the suffocating and disgusting smell that was stuck to him made it hard to think of anything else. Now that he was cleansed, he could finally check out his system panel.

Display Panel

Ding

Race: White Kobloid

Lifespan: 40 years

Level: 3/15 (exp: 5/30)

Cultivation realm: Qi Gathering First Stage (7.9%)

Stats:

Strength: 12 (15)

Agility: 13 (16)

Constitution: 8

Mana: 3

Qi: 1

Skills:

Minor Moon Boost (Passive)