Chapter 156: Reaching The Climax (1)

[Mana Sense has reached level 18!]

A notification rang, signifying that another of his skills had gone up a level. It was Mana Sense, and it was not a surprise. That was the skill he thought about, the important skill that helped him manipulate his mana at his will.

How was he supposed to move and control the mana if he could not sense it? He also needed to quantify the mana every time he increased the mana to empower Fireball. He was relying on Mana Sense. The same was true when he coated his spear and arrow with mana. That also relied on Mana Sense.

That made him wonder why Mana Sense was only a Tier 1 Skill when Mana Authority was a Tier 4 Skill. Mana Sense and Mana Authority were equally important. Especially when one wanted to manipulate mana like him.

He finished coating the arrow and quickly found the target. A group of three Elite Kobold Fighters was surrounded by the hobgoblins and goblins.

He shot the first arrow. The arrow made less noise, even with mana, compared to the spear, and was a bit slower compared to his spear. But it remained unnoticed, given how little it was.

Just as the arrow was about to hit the target, that Elite Kobold Fighter ducked. To be more exact, the Elite Kobold Fighter was hacking a goblin in two, and he lowered his body because of how small a goblin was. That caused his arrow to miss, an accidental dodge.

However, Lady Luck was on his side because the arrow hit the Elite Kobold Fighter next to his original target. The arrow embedded into the Elite Kobold Fighter’s ear. Blood spurted out from the gap in the helmet as the kobold screamed in a hiss. Then it fell to the side and never got back on its feet again.

It was unknown if the Elite Kobold Fighter was dead or not. There was a case where the Elite Kobold Fighter was still alive with an arrow in the head, after all.

"Those hobs and gobs should be able to finish it off even if it’s still alive."

Another arrow was ready in his bow; mana moved through his hand and reached the arrow. He coated the arrow with mana, focusing the control around the arrowhead. Ensuring the mana would stay in the arrowhead instead of dispersing when he shot the arrow.

He attempted to attach the mana to the arrow, making them glued, but it was to no avail. He could have felt that it could work rather than merely coating his spear or arrow. But this was not the time for an experiment. He just focused the mana to coat the arrow, then he released his shot.

He picked a different group as a target this time. A group of four Elite Kobold Fighters. He learned his lesson from his first shot, targeting the kobold that just launched a swing at one of the hobgoblins.

There was no mishap this time. The arrow went straight to the head of the targeted Elite Kobold Fighter. It let out a hissing cry, wobbling for a moment before falling to the side.

Red furrowed his brow and muttered, "Did I miss?"

It seemed the arrow was going down slightly, and it didn’t hit the forehead area. As if answering his question, the Elite Kobold Fighter got back on its feet again. It was swaying left and right, disoriented, bumping into the other kobolds while trying to stabilize its footing.

That was when Red saw where the arrow stuck. The arrow stuck around the cheek, piercing through the back of its head. A quarter of the arrow was visible on the back of its head. That was indeed a miss.

The kobold would die instantly if he struck the area above its eye. Just like the previous four Elite Kobold Fighters. He found himself having a higher accuracy throwing his spear than shooting his arrow.

"I guess it’s the distance and the movement..." He murmured as another arrow was ready in his bow. His mana moved from the tip of his finger, channeling the mana into the arrow.

For some reason, another weird idea appeared in his head. He focused on coating the arrowhead with the mana. That increased the piercing force of his arrow, making it easier to break the black armor. But what if he also focused the mana on the back part, the nocking part? Would it make the arrow faster?

The idea was there, but he didn’t implement it. That merely stayed as an idea that he would try later on. He finished coating another arrow. He targeted the same group, but this time, he changed to a different Elite Kobold Fighter.

The arrow hurtled through the air, and this time he didn’t miss. The arrow embedded into the kobold’s forehead, straight to the forehead. Then the Elite Kobold Fighter fell weakly to the side.

Just like a hunter, Red kept picking off his prey one by one. The kobolds were too focused on the enemies in front of them that none of them noticed his presence. That changed when his tenth arrow took down another Elite Kobold Fighter. Out of ten Elite Kobold Fighters struck by his arrow, three of them survived, and he killed seven of them.

Even the three surviving Elite Kobold Fighters were weakened in the fight. The Hobgoblins managed to finish it before. But then, he started to get the kobolds’ attention. More accurately, he spotted four Elite Kobold Fighters kept looking toward him.

There were still twenty-nine Elite Kobold Fighters. Their number had been reduced to half, and the battle was in their favor because they still had three Goblin Champions standing. Each of them required at least four to five Elite Kobold Fighters to contain.

Red was ready with his eleventh arrow. He realized that he just needed to kill five to seven Elite Kobold Fighters; then they would win this battle. Two Elite Kobold Fighters recognized the situation and used Burst Leap to leave the battlefield. They leaped toward Red’s direction.

Red kept his calm even though he saw two individuals that were bigger than him in the air, coming for him. The two Elite Kobold Fighters landed on the ground, around twelve trees away from him. Both landed with a loud thud; the ground shook slightly from their weight.

He released the arrow at that moment, right after they landed. The two Elite Kobold Fighters flinched when they saw a fast incoming arrow. Both subconsciously took two steps back, raising their sword to block the arrow. However, the arrow was not aimed at them. It went past them and killed one of their friends behind them.