Chapter 91: Kreka the Evolved

Chapter 91: Kreka the Evolved

Within the town, on the outskirts to the mountains.

Kreka dodged a sharp blade strike from a green man with little budding horns. The green humanoid reached far past his height.

Kreka barely managed to reach the man's chest in height, but he was not feared. He had to reach the skies above, past the water prison that surrounded them. All for the great warrior that freed them from their shackles.

He would pay back the great warrior twofold, no, threefold, no, tenfold! He and his men would reach the heavens, and follow the great warrior and rule the world!

The blade scratched up against his scaled cheek. He snarled at the near miss.

The great warrior would not have been hit by that. I needs to be faster, stronger, more flexible.

Kreka growled a hiss. He knelt down to the ground and snapped his leg forward while grabbing a hand full of fine dirt.

The green humanoid stepped back, out of range of the kick, but it was never Kreka’s intention to injure.

Kreka dashed forward, hand full of dirt in one and his spiked club in the other. He was about to swing his mace, but pulled it back at the last second. He threw the handful of dirt just as the humanoid flinched from the attack. The dirt buffeted its face.

The green humanoid didn’t dare wipe its face, and instead dodged to the side. But a wide swing of Kreka’s mace collided against its skull.

The pointed tips of the mace stuck into the side of the hardened brain cage.

Kreka wasted no time and thrusted his sharp, clawed nails into the humanoid's throat. He clenched his hand tight around the bone within.

The green man attempted to break free, but Kreka’s grasp only tightened as the blood seeped into his scales. A red hue emitted from the cracks in between his scales and his hand tightened like a high-powered vice.

A crack transmitted into Kreka’s palm and the green humanoid powerlessly fell to the ground.

Kreka took a deep breath and glanced behind him. His brothers had finished their fights, and only one had died. They had won.nove(l)bi(n.)com

Kreka raised his mace high up into the air, as high as a kobold could reach, anyway.

The other kobolds screamed and shouted, their throats turned raw. But they continued anyway.

“For the great warrior,” Kreka howled. “For the Lady, we will take over the world and help her rise. We will bleed, and we will die, but we will ascend!”

The kobolds war cry erupted into a boom as it resounded through the entire forest.

Kreka scratched his head as a foreign voice entered his head. It had happened when he approached the body of Warlord Dreigno. Some miniscule black thing, not even the size of a human fingernail had leapt at him. It didn’t hurt, and with life down in this place, everything was usually out to hurt him.

So he didn’t mind it. Until a strange voice began talking to him. At first he was concerned, but as he fought, he got stronger. Faster than the others, it even gave him something called a class?

He wasn’t sure, the other kobolds didn’t know either.

Kreka gazed at the screen within his mind.

You have defeated a Hobgoblin - level 56

You have levelled up!

Kobold level 46 -> Kobold level 47

You have reached the next evolutionary stage as a - Kobold.

You are evolving...

Kreka could feel an intense jolt through his body. Like something had pervaded inside and begun kindling a fire.

“You know him?” Calum said.

He cradled the wound that was still recovering on his chest. His eyes were intense, and they held venom within.

Leena scrunched her brows. “Watch your gaze.”

Calum took a breath and nodded.

“As Astrid’s battle-maid, it is my duty to research all about the various risks around the world. Risks that may bite in the future,” Leena said. “The pirate kings are one of the main risks, although they tend to focus more on our cargo boats, rather than attacking us during an expedition.”

“The pirate kings...” Nick said. “Prince is one of them?”

“No,” Leena continued. “He’s the son of one. There were rumours going around that he was preparing to challenge one of the kings for their position.”

“But why?” Nick asked. “Is it important?”

“Very,” Leena said. “The main reasons the pirate kings live for so long uncontested, is because of the resources they gain once they become a king.”

"Also becoming a king means they control a section of the sea," Astrid added. "The reason they aren't hunted down by my father, or nobles, is because they are also protectors of the sea where they are stationed. Killing them means we will suffer attacks from all over."

“And any resources that it brings.” Josh added.

“With resources, comes strength.” Leena nodded. “Strengthening pills, life saving potions, top tier equipment, and with it, they only continue to grow stronger. I assume you’ve all heard of the Great Pirate Queen, Noah?”

“Noah,” Nick said as his eyes bulged.

Astrid smirked. Who hadn’t heard of the Pirate Queen?

When she was younger, she always ran about the manor role playing as her. Although she was fearsome and the strongest of the pirates, she was fair in her rulings of the seas. Her tales of adventure were often the talk of Rebirth. They spread far and wide. Some were more grand than others.

If her father was the spearhead of Rebirth, then the pirate queen was the anchor of the oceans.

The pirate kings often held a peace treaty with the the forces of Rebirth. They were only limited to plundering stray, unregulated cargo boats. But with Prince attacking them, and even killing, it was shattered and the consequences were to follow.

“Who hasn’t?” Nick said. “I heard the woman even fought against the Leviathan at one point.”

“Then she’d be dead, no matter how strong she is,” Gloria added.

“Well, let’s not get into the details,” Nick continued. “The fact is, she is terrifyingly strong. There is a reason all of the pirate kings have been kept in check for so long.”

“He’s right.” Tony held his hand on Calum’s back, supporting the majority of his weight. “Without Noah, then the pirate kings would freely pillage even our own cargo ships. It would be total chaos.”

“It would be war,” Astrid said.

She was well aware of what would happen. Because it wouldn’t be the first time it had happened during history. Not only that, it usually happened once every fifty years. Or when the pirate overlord perished in battle.

Whenever that happened, the entire world would turn into a battlefield. The pirate kings would all wage war with each other to decide who would ascend the salty, watery throne.

“That’s what this world is all about,” Mina lamented. “Isn’t it?”

“It’s always been that way,” Leena said. “It is the way we have lived for hundreds of years, and it's only going to get worse with the mysteries of the veiled gateways.”

The group continued through the forest. Their chatter would remain in bursts, but it didn’t last very long as no one was in the mood for idle talk.

As they passed by the bubble’s wall, and into the frigid cold ocean. Astrid’s thoughts already turned to home. Her mother, father, brothers, and cousins were all waiting for her.

Yet, Ruitera wasn’t willing to spare her a moment's rest.

Through the dense water, the glowing of red barrelled towards them like a high powered, underwater speed boat. She readied herself for an attack.