***Alger The Doubledge***

Gasping for air, Alger tried to catch his breath. One floor after another, he had paved his path to the top of the building. A part of him had already started to regret rejecting his subordinates’ offer when they volunteered to help him break through the many doors and walls.

When the kobolds arrived at what seemed to be the last floor, they found that its door was already gone. While others became more cautious because of the power that was required to destroy the reinforced door so completely, he only sighed in relief. . . He wasn't sure that he still had enough strength to make another entrance, after all.

"I-if I may?" One of the kobolds, the scout named Lerok, approached The Doubledge, obviously hesitating.

"What?" Alger barked. "Did you lose the little scourge's scent?"

"Honestly, none of us could catch its trail since the floor where the former leader died," the kobold confessed.

"What?!" This time Alger raised his sword in the kobold's direction. "Why didn't you tell me before?! Do you mean to say that it was meaningless to ascend so far?!"

He eyed the other subordinates with unhidden anger. No one dared to meet his glare, but Lerok, who had revealed the news, knew that if he didn't explain properly, his head would be the first to fly.

"W-we followed the scent of the blood we had sensed." The scout couldn't stop shaking, afraid that his words would provoke the short-tempered leader.

Fortunately for the other kobolds, Alger was too tired to continue his enraged act.

"Blood, huh." He lowered his sword. "Don't tell me that you are still convinced that there is a monkey somewhere in here?"

Each of his subordinates nodded in confirmation. Knowing that his sense of scent was really weak compared to the others of his kind, The Doubledge decided to believe them for the time being.

"Maybe I was too rash in jumping to conclusions," he said without a hint of apology in his voice. "After all, it doesn't necessarily mean that this is a scent of the sentient Race of this planet, which would be impossible. There are probably other, non-sentient monkeys out there that stink similarly."

Nodding to himself while feeling very smart, Alger decided to find out the truth and to kill whatever the thing was. Then the Chief would acknowledge his power and maybe even allow him to join the Elite Guard.

"Okay, let's continue our search!" He declared with a broad smile that showed off his yellowish fangs.

Unfortunately, the last floor of the building ended up being empty.

"It definitely was here until recently," Lerok reported. "It's strange that we missed it, but it couldn’t have gone too far."

"There are six of you plus me, seven in total," Alger said smugly as if he was the only one who knew how to count. "If we all split and search each floor separately, it shouldn't take us long to find this shameless trespasser and the vile cat."

"A-are you sure?" One of the weaker kobolds asked. "W-wasn't the former leader slain by it?"

Alger glanced at this subordinate in contempt. "Even you could have killed The Feeble if you two fought."

He then added. "But you are right. If I lose any of you, it won't look good for me as a leader. So, how about this? You split into three groups of two, each responsible for a floor. I will monitor the stairs. If any of you discover the intruder, then shout for me, don't try to kill it on your own, got it?"

The Doubledge didn't want anyone to steal the achievement of avenging their fallen "leader", so it was the best plan he could think of.

"Well then. . ." He pointed at the knife-wielding kobold who had complained about the danger before. "The wimp can go with Lerok to search the previous floor. The scout should be able to cover your back with his boomerang."

The scout kobold was one of the rare ranged fighters among their Tribe. While weak in close combat, he was more than helpful in a support role.

After he sent the other four kobolds to search the two floors below, Alger went to the stairs between the twenty-eight and twenty-ninth floor. Left alone, the kobold leader scrutinized his beloved Beheader. The stone sword had multiple cracks after being used to break through reinforced glass and other obstacles over and over again.

Alger hugged the sword and whispered, "Just wait for a couple of days, buddy, and you will be as good as new."

As a monster, he was linked to his weapon through Essence. In a way, it was a part of his body. So, as long as he had enough Essence to spare, he could restore the sword to its normal state.

After spending ten minutes or so in the company of his weapon, Alger suddenly heard a very loud bang followed by a scream from the twenty-ninth floor.

Instantly recovering from his daze, the kobold rushed to the source of the noise, grinning. He still hadn't recovered all of his stamina, so he wasn't as fast as usual, but that didn't worry him—he was a true warrior, after all. How could a cowardly sneaky monkey be a threat?

***Lex Lurker***

It was rather cramped in the toilet cubicle with me, the invisible cat, and the bag filled to the brim with firearm ammunition. I sat down on the bowl with a bored expression, even though my heart couldn't stop beating.

If there are one or two of them, I should manage with the two pistols alone. Three should be doable if I use the shotgun. If there are more than four. . . I probably should break through them and escape.

"Get ready," Ciesta whispered. "I can sense two presences entering this floor. They should be here before long."

Got it, I replied internally.

Body: 7 (-2)

Nerve: 13 (-2)

Mind: 13

Spirit: 21

Fate: 10

Free Attribute Points: 0

With the four more points in my Nerve, which I had invested a couple of minutes ago, I felt almost as much control over my body as I had had before the coma. Also, most of my tiredness was gone, and I could barely sense my injuries.

About five minutes later, I could already hear the doggies checking nearby rooms while barking to each other in their peculiar language.

I gripped the Colt in my right hand and the machete in my left.

I should have exchanged my cold weapon for a new one. I hope this machete doesn't break the next time I use it just because of this tiny crack. Then again, Murphy's law is a bitch.

No one replied to my inner monologue this time, which was both refreshing and a little bit sad. Talking out loud wasn't a wise choice with enemies so close, after all.

After thinking for a moment, I placed the bag on the toilet cistern and then stepped onto the seat with both of my feet. This way, they shouldn't notice anything strange under the door.

If there was just one kobold, I'd attack it as soon as it entered, but with two of them, I needed to consider the effectiveness of my ambush. There were two possible ways the doggies would act—either they open all the cabins or just give a passing glance to the place. Considering how fast they progressed through the floor, the latter was almost guaranteed to be the case. Then, I would have the chance to surprise them from behind or even to wait until they split.

As I tried to use my experience with meditation to slow down my breathing and to avoid making too much noise, the kobold opened the door with a click.

"Woof-oof bow-uou, bark-bark, woof," one of the newcomers said in his high-pitched doggy voice.

"Bowoof," the other one answered with a more guttural timbre.

From their intonations, I guessed that they were unhappy about something.

Probably the chlorine odor makes them uncomfortable. Good for me. It means they are unlikely to find me by scent alone.

Their steps sounded soft, proving that the savages either didn't wear any footwear or that it wasn't made of anything hard.

One of them stayed at the entrance while the other moved further into the room. I tried to breathe as slowly and quietly as I could.

I barely held myself back from making a noise when, suddenly, the sound of running water could be heard less than a dozen of feet away from me.

"Ghe-hehe!" The kobold made laugh-like sounds as he apparently played with water. . . I could even hear splashes.

"Woof-woof, waffy-waf!" His friend waiting at the door scolded the playful doggie.

With a whimpering sound, the kobold followed his teammate's order or whatever it was and turned the water off.

He walked through the restroom slowly, even though he didn't bother to open the cubicle doors.

I completely stopped breathing and even prepared the pistol when the monster stopped just outside of my hiding place. He sniffed the air with his nose. I could sense sweat forming on my forehead, even though I knew that were I noticed, it wouldn't change things that much.

Unconsciously it reminded me of my last fight. How exciting it had been when the adrenaline filled my blood. It was an experience that was so far outside of my past life that I couldn't help but think that I wanted to experience this again. It was strange, as just after the battle, I hadn't had the time to contemplate my own feelings about the situation. But now, when I was possibly just seconds away from another life-risking confrontation. . .

Was it similar to what Dad experienced with his hobbies? Sorry, Mom, but it seems that I'm his son, after all. . .

My father was a topic I tried not to think too deeply about. And right now wasn't the time nor the place for such thoughts.

After what felt like dozens of minutes but, in fact, couldn’t have been even ten seconds, the kobold moved away without noticing me. After exchanging a couple of more phrases in their barking tongue, the doggies left the women's bathroom. I doubted that they had any moral qualms about entering the sacred ground of women, but who was I to blame them?

Wait a minute, what if they were actually female? It's not like I can easily discern kobolds' sex, and I didn't even see those two up close. So maybe I'm the only one who's immoral here. . .

"Your mind is truly full of strange ideas," Ciesta commented quietly. "All kobolds are male."

Hey, they can notice us, you know?! Also, how are they born then? Wait, let's talk about it later. I need to check if they are alone and then attack them.

Colt in my right hand—check. Machete in my left hand—check. Spare pistol and magazine in my coat's pocket—check. With the feeling of being a fully prepared hunter, I almost noiselessly left the cubicle and sneaked to the exit.

My ear as close to the door as possible, I tried to determine how far away the two were. I could hear them being noisy in a nearby room. From what I could remember, it was the men's restroom.

Okay, commence Operation Hot Dog - Part One!

I squeezed myself through the half-open door without being too loud. Just like before, it seemed that one of the kobolds waited at the entrance, and the other checked inside. I wondered if it was some sort of hierarchy thing or if one of them just was more curious. The second option seemed more plausible, considering his delight at discovering the tap water.

The entrance to the men's restroom was wide open. The kobold stood in the doorway, short spear in hand, his vulnerable back turned to me as if begging to be stabbed.

With my enhanced Nerve and Stalking, I made my way closer to the unsuspecting monster. I aimed the Colt at him when only five feet separated us. Just when my finger was about to press the trigger, my eyes met with the eyes of the kobold that was inspecting inside the room. For a moment, he looked at me in shock. I was surprised, too, as being noticed, even if someone looked directly at me, wasn't something that had happened often in my life. Perhaps it became easier for others to find me when I intended to take their life?

Everything happened in mere moments. I shot the gun from close range repeatedly, frowning at how loud it was and at the stinging pain from my not fully healed bites. One round, two rounds, five rounds, ten rounds. . . The whole magazine was gone in less than ten seconds—each bullet had hit either the kobold's head, back, or neck. The terrified scream of his comrade made the scene even more tragic.

The bronze-colored EF-bar had depleted after the eighth shot, and so the last two bullets entered the monster's midsection, decreasing his Health by half. He immediately fell down on the floor, probably stunned from the headshots that, even though they had been blocked by his barrier, still packed quite a punch. His now yellow Health-Bar slowly but surely decreased.

"Arf-arf-arf!" The other kobold, who was still in peak condition, loudly barked, his eyes filled with malice towards me. This one looked like a big grey poodle, but that didn't mean that he should be underestimated.

When I leaped to finish off the already dying kobold with my machete—I still remembered that unless I got in the last hit, I would lose out on the Experience—the poodle doggie raised an ivory-colored boomerang that he held in his hands, ready to throw it at me. Just as I plunged my overgrown cutlery in the first poor monster's nape, the projectile flew at me with astonishing speed. I barely escaped serious injury or worse by tilting my head to the left—I would have regretted not getting the Evasion Skill if I had any time to gather my thoughts.

Boomerangs were famous for returning to their owner, so evading one just once was only half of the job. I almost instinctively ducked my head, which saved my cranium from being smashed.

A message congratulating me on my successful kill appeared, but I dismissed it instantly. In a way, I was lucky that it hadn't distracted me just a moment before. Maybe it would have cost me my life.

The poodle reclaimed his weapon skillfully and got ready for another round. I didn't allow that, though. I hastily replaced my spent Colt with the spare from my chest pocket—doctor coats sure were convenient.

I raised the firearm at my opponent, and he prepared to swing his weapon in my direction as well. At around fifteen feet, both of us had an equally high chance to hit the other accurately.

Unfortunately for him, technology was on my side. I pulled the trigger before he could complete his swing. The stream of bullets impacted his Essence Field, making him lose his balance. By a stroke of luck, one of the shots seemed to hit his left eye, which damaged it even in spite of the invisible barrier. This was probably why, even though three shots had missed, the kobold's EF was completely depleted alongside some of his Health.

Without waiting for my opponent to recover, I took my trusty machete and rushed to him as fast as my legs and slippers would allow. I was lucky that my footwear's soles had small grooves. Otherwise, it would be hard for me to move as fast as I did without slipping on the smooth floor.

I swung the blade at the kobold, who had just recovered from his startled state. Getting shot at wasn't an experience anyone could just shrug off. This was especially the case for someone who had never encountered anything like firearms.

In spite of his confusion, the monster managed to block my attack with his boomerang, but the difference in our stature and weight—the poodle was more than a head smaller and a few dozen pounds lighter—made him unable to shove me away. After a short struggle, I pushed him to the ground and pushed the tip of my blade into his chest, feeling disgusted as blood splashed up on me. The Kobold’s Health-Bar changed from green to yellow and then from yellow to red, sealing his fate.

I didn't wait until he completely lost what remained of his life. Instead, I pulled the weapon out of the wound and hurried back to the exit—the noise from our battle was very likely to attract at least some of the other kobolds, which meant that I needed to get away before they showed up. I briefly considered if I should take the boomerang, as it still seemed to be a while before it started to disintegrate, but decided against it as I had zero experience with this type of weapon.

As soon as I left the bathroom, I heard the sound of someone running while gasping heavily. I took the magazine I had prepared beforehand from my pocket and started to reload the spare Colt in my right hand while walking towards the women's bathroom, where I had left my other equipment.

Just after I got my gun ready for another round and was about to open the door, I could see a shadow appearing in the corner of my eye. I raised my head to see my next adversary.

From the corner of the corridor, the familiar kobold with the claymore sped towards me with bloodshot eyes. His face was that of a Boston Terrier, which made him look rather funny, but I didn't feel like laughing.

He moved quicker than any other kobold I had seen so far, and I hadn't forgotten how powerful he had appeared when breaking through the doors and the walls with his weapon of choice. I was sure that he was the number one threat among the group of seven, and the fact that he had noticed me already just made everything more complicated. I would have a way better chance to finish him off from an ambush, after all.

I decided to see if he could survive the barrage from my pistol and if he did—as intuition hinted to me—then it would be time for my trump card.

I felt an adrenaline rush like never before as I prepared myself for what was about to come. It was scary but also exciting. I didn't want to die, but I truly felt alive at the same time.

Are you watching me, Dad? I thought as I raised the gun with my shaking hand. Perhaps, I'm about to become just like you.

My first ever hunt was about to enter its most critical stage.