Morning came and everyone was preparing for the upcoming battle. The town’s residents were either huddling themselves for safety or keeping their guards up at the border, watching out for their invaders as well as making sure my minions weren’t up to anything.

  Meanwhile me and Mordred were up and had everything we needed for what’s to come. I looked up my Minotaur henchman as I hopped on his shoulder. “Now don’t forget Mordred”

  “I gotcha boss, you want to make sure we don’t hurt them too much right? I can already tell from the look in your eyes you want to make them all follow you just like before. ~”

  I lightly chuckled unsheathing my sword. Letting it rest behind my back as I widened my eyes and smiled in excitement. “That’s right, it’ll definitely be a challenge though. Trying to recruit a whole kingdom’s own soldiers definitely won’t be easy. ~”

  “I’m sure you’ll find a way boss, and I’ll help anyway I can! ~” He pumped his chest in confirmation.

  As we made our stand, I could hear the sound of marching coming towards our direction, it seemed they finally had come. A large group of humans came into view, fitted in full body armor made from iron, many wielding swords and some with bows. There was one in particular that had caught my attention, adorned with a cape colored in purple surrounded with an outer ring of red with an emblem designed with I could describe as a cat baring its fangs. He must have been the one leading the charge.

  I counted around thirty soldiers in all, not a bad size and should prove enough for us to handle. Once they came to the border, they noticed us as the one I’m assuming as the leader started to speak.

  “Two monsters standing in our way? Get them out of my sight, we need to confront the town at once!” At the sound of his command several archers took aim at us, most of which focused on Mordred, probably assuming him the bigger threat.

  Not wanting to escalate the problem needlessly I decided to talk to them. “Gentlemen! There’s no need for any violence. I’m sure we can come to a solution we can be satisfied with. ~”

  “Hah, what a weak little kobold going off talking like we are equals. Someone, shoot it down already.”

  As an arrow flew in my direction, Mordred looked ready to protect me, but I waved him to the side. They were underestimating me, and I needed to prove my dominance over them. With my blade aimed I quickly had it extended as it slices through the arrow, splitting it apart.

  That managed to get their attention, surprising them as I continued to speak. “As I was saying, I much rather we avoid needless bloodshed.” Though I could already guess their answer~

  “Enough of this! Everyone, let’s get rid of this pest and be on our way!”

  They all started to charge at us, planning to rush at us all at once. Not feeling deterred, I merely waved at Mordred as I stepped to the side. “As I said before, try not to kill them.”

  “Of course, boss!!” He pulls out one of his [Tomahawk] that I had gifted him as he pulls it back, his gaze focused on the charging battalion.

  “Wait did he call the little one bo-”

  With one smooth throw, the [Tomahawk] began to spin as Mordred activated the same skill he used on Damian, which after checking I found was named [Storm Cleaver]. As it continues to spin, a raging wind begins to form as it heads towards the group. But just as it started to reach them, it suddenly changed directions going around them instead. The poor humans ended up being picked up on the edges of the storm, lifting them all up in the hair as they desperately tried to cling to somewhere solid.

  “Not bad Mordred, but let’s help them out, shall we?” I aimed my claw towards them as the ground below them began to spring and stretch out towards them. Catching them just as they were beginning to fall.

  All the while Mordred managed to catch the [Tomahawk] mid spin as he tucked it away.

  The leader of the group started to voice his frustration as he struggled to remove himself from the bindings as do the others. “Damn it! What the Inferno is going on here?!”

  I confronted the leader as I cracked a smile and spoke. “I did try to warn you but hey do try to struggle some more, I could use the entertainment Veehahahahaha ~”

  “Why you little!!” the leader continued to struggle with the others over their ground-based bindings. It didn’t take long before as his and some of the other soldiers’ bindings began to crack, encouraging them to struggle harder until finally they broke completely, freeing him and about ten of his soldiers.

  Once they were released and some of them dropped to the ground, as their body expressions began to show signs of frustration and confusion. Even through their helmets I can actually feel their glare over me. The leader himself seemed focused on hunting me down. “Everyone…. tear that lizard apart!!”

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  Without hesitation, the remaining soldiers began to all charge at me like a stampede. I prepared my Falchion sword, ready for an onslaught while Mordred himself charged at them. Choosing to let me handle the stronger opponent as he pulled out his main axe. “You all get to face me!!!”

  The sound of his voice causes them to tremor but didn’t stop them as they all begin to surround him. Mordred himself not the least bit worried over his odds, in fact he was rather excited.

  “Bring it on! You’ll make a great present for the boss! ~”

  Meanwhile, I was faced with the tougher looking leader. He had in his hand a rather fancy-looking sword, adorned with a few jewels at the hilt with the metal on the blade I could recognize as possibly steel. It was emitting a strong aura, stronger than any weapon that I had seen. As he continued to glare at me, I decided to take the pause to inspect both his weapon and the [Attributes] of my opponent.

  As I suspected, I couldn’t see his [Skills] or [Abilities], but his stats were definitely something of interest, despite being weaker compared to Damian and Mordred. The fact I was seeing a plus symbol again next to one of them seems to indicate that there were more stages for growing my [Attributes] and when I had improved upon them, I was either skipping a few steps or that after rank D it was going to get harder for me to improve on top of my [Kobold Adaptability] slowing it down. It reminded me how much harder I’ll need to be to train to improve my own power for my conquest.

  As for my opponent’s weapon, a [Magic steel Sword] huh? I was curious if it was possible for me to create such a type of weapon with my skill, but I still wasn’t sure if magic could be something that could count as something [Material Forge] could be used on. No time to experiment though, it seemed the leader was getting impatient and began the first attack.

  Considering my small stature, he started with a downward slash. But taking advantage of my slightly higher [Dexterity] as well as his predictable movement, I dodged to the side. Compared to my two fights with my capable henchmen this was easy.

  I decided to focus mostly on using my sword for this fight after acquiring my new [Sword Mastery] ability I intended to progress on it as much as possible!

  Seeing an opportunity, I jumped as fast as I could as I stabbed at his unarmed hand. It wasn’t enough though as the armor managed to protect him, but it did cause him to stagger back a bit. Considering this is my first time dealing with an armored opponent, it seemed I would have to put more effort and push my [Strength] if I’m going to have a chance to do some real damage to him. I could just simply use my skill to make it easier, but I was committed to focusing on my sword instead.

  Surprised to see himself pushed back by a little kobold like me seemed to infuriate him more as he started to start to swing his sword more wildly. Hah, seems someone has a short temper, I could use that to my advantage.

  I blocked his upcoming, using a conjured [Rock Wall] to defend myself and bouncing off his blade. Taking advantage of his momentum, I jumped towards him. Using the hilt of my sword towards his stomach. The impact was muffled with his armor, but it was enough to stagger him further, making him lose his footing.

  He begins to fall, his grip on his sword loosening which I hastened the process by cutting at an exposed part of his armor in his hand. He seemed to notice this as he tightened his grip and countered back forcing our blades to connect before I put some distance between us as he stopped his fall using his sword as leverage. Seems he wasn’t done quite yet. ~

  He looked out of breath, probably from his own reckless attack before but at least he seemed to have calmed down enough.

  “...You’re a lot feistier than I thought for a kobold. But don’t think you’ve won yet.”

  “Heh, I like that attitude of yours. I definitely want to make you and your soldiers my minions after this~” I confidently said, determined to win this fight.

  He composed himself as he aims his blade towards me, with a determined look on his face. “As if I would serve a monster like you. But let’s see if you can keep that confidence of yours after my second troop advances while we keep you busy.”

  Upon hearing that statement, I fell silent for a second only to crack a smile as I began to laugh “Veehahahahaha! Well, I’m sure they’re in for a surprise when they find my other minions and henchman~”

  The man stopped, feeling confused over my statement “Wait… others??”