Level Up The Colony
Chapter 46: Gray is... Family

Chapter 46: Gray is... Family

Then it clicked.

He pressed upward, and suddenly, the wall shifted.

As he continued pushing, the mounted torch rotated clockwise with each movement.

The sheer weight of the mechanism was staggering, it wasn’t just thick; it had to be at least a foot deep.

He gritted his teeth and pushed until it reached shoulder level, just as the smoke started to thin.

With precise timing, he rolled beneath the opening, slipping through just as the passage sealed behind him.

Inside, his eyes locked onto a kobold, unlike the others.

This one had patches of red fur and was clad in rough but heavy-looking armor.

It wasn’t just another underling, this was the boss.

The room was massive, littered with bones and the scars of past battles.

Unlike the previous dungeon chambers, the ceiling was unusually high.

Before Timothy could analyze it further, the system confirmed it:

[High Kobold]

As if on cue, the creature stirred.

Its eyes landed on Timothy, and it slowly pushed itself up, stretching as though it had just woken from a deep slumber.

Timothy allowed it to prepare.

He estimated the miners would take around twenty minutes, plenty of time to finish this fight.

With calm precision, he set his porter bag aside.

Their gazes met.

Then, without warning, the High Kobold lunged, aiming a claw at Timothy’s stomach, a bite at his head, and another claw at his throat, all in a single sequence.

Timothy merely stepped back.

Once.

Twice.

Then sidestepped.

A sharp kick to the creature’s chest sent it stumbling backward.

"I don’t have time for this," Timothy muttered, pulling out his machete.

The kobold took one look at the blade and let out a shrieking roar.

Its body started to expand, doubling, then tripling in size until it towered over Timothy.

Now the high ceilings made sense.

Timothy remained still, studying the creature’s grotesque grin.

"Interesting," he mused.

"If Gray could get an ability like this, it’d be useful."

Without hesitation, he charged.

The overgrown kobold swung wildly, but Timothy wove through its attacks with ease.

’Size doesn’t improve speed,’ he noted, blocking a swipe with his machete.

’And no increase in strength, either.’

He immediately countered, delivering a crushing kick to the kobold’s leg, forcing it onto one knee.

Without giving it a chance to recover, he dashed around its massive frame, targeting its joints with precise, brutal strikes.

Each slash weakened its stance, bringing the towering beast crashing to the ground.

Then, just as it was about to fall face-first, the kobold shrank back to its normal size and turned to flee.

Unfortunately for it, its legs were already useless.

Throughout the battle, Timothy barely exerted himself, casually strolling toward the kobold that was desperately crawling away.

"I’m guessing Gray doesn’t need all your parts intact, huh?" he mused, gripping his machete with a calm but deliberate ease.

From the kobold’s perspective, it saw something far worse than death, an opponent who embodied pure, unrelenting fear.

It didn’t even attempt to resist.

Timothy dispatched the dungeon’s supposed boss in less than five minutes, methodically severing its limbs.

He wasn’t entirely sure why he needed to do this, other than the system’s oddly limited inventory capacity.

Keeping the head and limbs, he then moved on to the chest.

The thick fur was no match for his razor-sharp machete, which sliced through with ease.

Unlike his first time dissecting a creature, he felt nothing.

Beneath the still-intact heart, he spotted a small mana crystal.

Without hesitation, he carefully separated the heart and placed it into his inventory.

He considered the rest of the kobold’s innards but decided against taking them, opting instead for the chest and back hide.

His actions were deliberate, almost surgical, and despite it being his first time butchering in this manner, he remained careful not to stain himself with blood.

Everyone knew dogs had the worst stench.

He decided against taking the armor the kobold wore; it was practically useless to him.

Once finished, he retrieved a water bottle from his porter bag and washed his hands.

The machete, as always, remained pristine.

He discarded the used water in the corner of the room and briefly wondered what would happen to this place once he left.

His best guess? It would cease to exist.

And even if it remained, there would be no proof linking him to the events inside.

He had spent enough time here.

Expecting the kobolds outside to be in chaos, he made his way to the door.

It had a simple but sturdy mechanism, a lever, gears, and heavy chains.

He silently acknowledged his own strength as he operated it and stepped out, checking his system notifications.

[You have killed the boss of the Dungeon.]

[You have retrieved the heart and Core of the High Kobold.]

[You will receive rewards after exiting the dungeon.]

Timothy scanned the messages with an indifferent expression.

"No level up?" he thought before dismissing them.

Slipping into the backlines unnoticed amidst the ongoing battle, he observed the chaos.

The hunters were on the defensive, caught off guard by the sudden aggression of the remaining kobolds.

Protecting the miners, who were mere humans, took priority, forcing them into a hasty retreat.

In the end, they pushed everyone out and closed the dungeon.

Or so Timothy thought until someone confronted him.

A young man roughly his age stormed up to him, visibly frustrated.

"Hey, where were you when the battle started?" he demanded.

"Uh... I went to ease myself," Timothy replied, genuinely surprised by the immediate scrutiny.

He hadn’t expected anyone to notice his absence, let alone call him out for it.

"I almost died out there because you chose the perfect time to take a piss!" the guy snapped, stepping closer.

Timothy tilted his head slightly.

"And how exactly is that my fault?"

A murmur spread through the gathered crowd.

An E-rank challenging a D-rank? It’s not unheard of, but it’s still rare.

The raid supervisor watched in silence, as did the church members, their expressions unreadable.

"What did you just say?" the guy asked, voice laced with disbelief.

"I said, it’s not my fault the kobolds acted up and forced everyone out. It was just bad timing. Next time, maybe don’t rely on a porter to keep you alive." With that, Timothy turned and walked past him, heading toward the supervisor.

His words struck true, despite the bitterness of the situation.

They had lost out on a fair amount of money, but ultimately, they had still recovered plenty.

Thankfully it seemed the boss passage disappeared or something since no one said anything about it.

After receiving his payment for the day, Timothy hailed a cab home.

He knew what was coming even before he checked, his application was flooded with bad reviews.

The entire team had rated him poorly.

"They were probably all from the same squad," he guessed.

He skimmed through his inbox, finding nothing of note, until a new message popped up.

Miebaka: "Where are you?"

Timothy: "Home. Anything?"

By the time he arrived home, someone was waiting for him at his door.

A woman, her dark hair tied into bangs, stood casually yet inconspicuously.

She wore a simple shirt and trousers, a face cap shielding part of her face.

Despite her efforts to blend in, her average but well-proportioned figure made it clear she was a woman.

He walked up to her, stopping a few feet away, silently observing.

She seemed lost in thought until she finally noticed him.

The moment their eyes met, she stiffened.

"Were you the one who came yesterday?" he asked.

She nodded before speaking.

"Why didn’t you call?"

"I was too stressed to remember. My bad," Timothy admitted, unlocking his door and stepping inside.

She hesitated for a moment before entering.

Unlike before, she quietly took a seat on the sofa instead of wandering around.

Timothy acted nonchalantly, fetching a bottle of water only to discreetly retrieve his blessed thermos flask, taking a sip before slipping it back into his inventory.

"So, Miriam," he said casually,

"what can I offer you?"

Miriam was about to speak when Gray suddenly appeared out of nowhere, dashing straight toward Timothy.

She blinked in surprise.

Seeing such a massive ant was shocking enough, but the way it eagerly rubbed against Timothy, almost like an overgrown puppy, left her even more stunned.

Gray, however, was too preoccupied to care.

It nudged Timothy repeatedly before casually climbing onto him.

Timothy could tell its keen senses had picked up the lingering scent of monster blood on him.

He sighed, already understanding what Gray wanted.

"Alright, alright," he muttered, excusing himself as he searched for a suitable dish.

Finding one, he carefully placed all the kobold parts onto a shallow saucer and set it down for Gray.

There was no reason to keep any leftovers, he had no use for them.

What he hadn’t considered, though, was that the dungeon rewards were tied solely to the heart and core of the boss kobold.

The system chimed in immediately.

[Dungeon Rewards applied to Silverback Termite (Gray)]

Timothy paused.

"That can happen too, huh?" he mused before summoning the other recruits.

From the sofa, Miriam finally spoke, her voice tinged with curiosity.

"Is that... your pet?"

She seemed hesitant to move, as if standing up would be an inconvenience.

Timothy glanced at her before shaking his head.

"No," he said simply.

"Gray is more than a pet, he’s family."

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