Chapter Twenty-Eight: Challenging the Giant Elephant

Deep within the tangled, treacherous jungle, a creature bearing a striking resemblance to a velociraptor was locked in a ferocious struggle with two kobold warriors, its guttural roars echoing through the undergrowth. Though the beast was less than half the size of a true raptor, the kobold warriors, armed with bone spears, fought valiantly, undaunted by the monstrous adversary before them.

With a sharp twang, an arrow laced with poison flew from Jia Zhengjin’s taut bow, striking the massive beast a short distance away. Fortune favored him this time—the target was large and difficult to miss.

Tina, grasping her ebony staff, raised it and uttered an incantation. A small fireball shot forth, striking the raptor squarely on the head.

With a thunderous crash, the raptor, its movements sluggish from the venom, collapsed helplessly to the ground. The two kobold warriors wasted no time, rushing forward to jab at the beast with a flurry of spear thrusts.

[Message] Bonk has slain the Hala Dragon. You have gained 35 experience points!

“Yes! We’re getting better at this,” Jia Zhengjin exclaimed, hurrying over to loot the remains. From the dragon’s corpse, he retrieved a crude beast-horned helmet.

Though its quality was poor, the helmet still offered two points of defense. Without hesitation, he turned and handed it to Tina. “Here—it's not much to look at, but it'll add a bit of protection. Higher defense means a better chance of survival in battle!”

Tina allowed Jia Zhengjin to place the ugly beast-horned helmet on her head, a look of contentment spreading across her face.

“For such a huge dragon, only ten pieces of raw meat?” Jia Zhengjin lamented, looking at the remains after he’d finished gathering. “I’d have to kill a hundred of these just to get enough meat for one werewolf! And that’s not even counting what spoils in storage—I'd need to hunt even more... Looks like I’ll have to try my hand at bigger prey. Otherwise, I’ll be stuck scraping together scraps forever—it’s exhausting!”

The forest teemed with large creatures, but Jia Zhengjin usually avoided them. Even the docile herbivores were so massive that approaching them would likely end with him being trampled flat.

However, with the kobold warriors at his side, his confidence had swelled. Their prowess had left a deep impression on him—they did nearly all the heavy lifting during hunts, while he and Tina provided cover and finished off the wounded.

Finding large beasts was not difficult. Downstream, a vast natural lake served as the watering hole and foraging ground for the region’s otherworldly fauna—a veritable restaurant for the denizens of the forest.

In this “restaurant” of the otherworldly beasts, it was easy to spot gigantic creatures coming to drink from the clear waters and graze on lush vegetation.

“Kneel down!” Reaching a small hill near the lake, Jia Zhengjin signaled for Tina and the kobolds to hide themselves well. From this vantage point, he scanned the area below, searching for a suitable target.

Countless colossal long-necked beasts waded through the lake, the water so deep that it reached only halfway up their bodies. Their serpentine necks held their heads aloft, as if surveying all the forest below.

Around the lake, all manner of giants gathered: massive triceratops-like creatures he’d seen before, strange animals resembling beavers with huge flat tails, and wild cattle as large as dinosaurs. The lakeside was alive with bizarre, peaceful creatures, frolicking and drinking in harmony.

“That one!” Jia Zhengjin’s eyes fixed on a solitary elephant.

To call it an elephant was not quite accurate—for this creature was three or four times larger than any elephant found on Earth. Its very presence was terrifying. Even stranger, it had two long trunks, one on each side of its face, both dexterously uprooting saplings to feed into its mouth.

“You two, go! Attack at range with your spears—kite it!” Jia Zhengjin ordered the kobold warriors.

With a howl, the kobolds brandished their bone spears and charged down the hill toward the lone, monstrous elephant.

“Tina, let’s wait here and watch,” Jia Zhengjin said, grabbing Tina as she tried to follow. He pressed her down beside him. “Don’t be reckless!”

Tina could only interpret his intentions through his expressions and gestures, but she understood well enough. Cleverly, she crouched beside him, hiding atop the distant hill.

Flok reached the elephant first, raising his bone spear and hurling it at the beast’s eye.

With a thud, the spear failed to strike its mark, intercepted by one of the elephant’s long trunks. The creature bellowed in pain, rearing up on its hind legs in a furious display.

Bonk hurled his spear as well, but again, the elephant’s agile trunks batted the weapon aside.

Seeing that their thrown spears could not pierce the eyes and that the wounded trunk seemed little affected, Flok and Bonk sprang at the beast, raking its legs with claws and fangs.

True to their master’s command, the kobold warriors attacked with unwavering courage, showing no fear in the face of such a formidable foe. Unlike the lowliest kobolds who would have scattered at the mere sight of this beast, these warriors held their ground.

Of course, courage alone was not enough to guarantee victory. Despite their ferocity, the kobolds were swiftly ensnared by the elephant’s twin trunks and smashed violently to the earth.

With a sickening crunch, the kobolds hit the ground and tried to rise, fearless to the last. But two colossal legs came crashing down, grinding them into the earth.

[Message] Your hired kobold warrior Flok has fallen! Consumed raw meat will not be refunded.

[Message] Your hired kobold warrior Bonk has fallen! Consumed raw meat will not be refunded.

Tina gasped in shock, clasping her hands over her mouth.

Jia Zhengjin, however, studied the beast’s movements intently. The distance assured their safety for now. After a moment’s observation, he nodded at last. “Tina, let’s withdraw for now.”

Flok and Bonk had not died in vain; at the very least, Jia Zhengjin had learned something.

First, while kobold warriors were indeed formidable, they remained kobolds nonetheless. They followed his orders, but lacked the intelligence to fully execute complex strategies. He had told them to use their spears for ranged attacks, and they obeyed—once. After their weapons were spent, they switched to close combat. The problem was, they carried stone spears Jia Zhengjin had given them in advance, but they made no attempt to use those for further ranged attacks. Clearly, they did not understand how to execute proper kiting tactics.

Second, when the elephant-like beast crushed the kobolds, it had clearly stepped on the poisoned stone spears. Yet the venom had little effect—its movements merely slowed a fraction.

The poison worked, but barely.

Most importantly, Jia Zhengjin had glimpsed its vital stats: 978 out of 1000 health points—lower even than a kobold chieftain!

It could be killed, but a new strategy would be needed.