Rise Of The Hoarder

“Oh? What’s this?” I muttered from where I was in the woods.

The group of Hobgoblins had not been entirely killed and Daniel’s team was handling the last batch.

“Judging by their numbers, I’ll say it won’t take very long before they’re all dead…” I whispered.

Still, it was a surprise that they weren’t done with the Subjugation. I could have sworn that I spent way more time than I planned on my end.

‘It has been over two hours since the Subjugation started, and they’re not done yet? Why? Did I overestimate their abilities?’

No, that couldn’t have been the case. I observed as the fighters faced off against the Demons. Their movements at this moment were different from when they first started.

‘Ah, I see… they must have had to take breaks due to exhaustion, skill cooldowns as well.’

After all, no one had unlimited vitality. Even Daniel’s movements were now slow, and his <Energy Blade> Skill had vanished. That would make the fight considerably harder.

I decided to pass time by looking at my Status Information, seeing how much I had grown.

Seeing the golden screen before me and reading the details within gave me joy.

“I’m Level 135 now. After killing about ten thousand, and capturing over a thousand… wow.”

Judging from my growth speed, it would get even more difficult to obtain EXP in the future. Even after all the effort, I didn’t obtain more than 30 Levels.

‘I suppose there’s a limit to how much EXP mobs give you…’ I sighed._.

However, my disappointment vanished as soon as I checked my Skills Window.

* Slot 1 – <Claw Attack>

* Slot 2 – <Spike Attack>

* Slot 3 – <Venomous Spikes>

* Slot 4 – <Steal>

* Slot 5 – <Recall>

* Slot 6 – <Summon>

* Slot 7 – <Roar>

* Slot 8 – <Rule>

* Slot 9 – <Spike Skin>

* Slot 10 – <Aura>

* Slot 11 – <Mine Alone>

* Slot 12 – <Nimble>

* Slot 13 – <Empty>

* Slot 14 – <Empty>

* Slot 15 – <Empty>

Not only had I gotten two additional gifts, but I also obtained three extra Skill Slots. It wasn’t a bad deal. The System also said it had improved the Job-Related Skills.

‘I should check that out…’

Upon seeing my [Job:Thief] on the Status Window, I tapped on it for more information.

To my expectations, the system displayed details concerning my Job.

[JOB INFORMATION]

– Primary Job: Thief (Rank 3)

– Secondary Job: None

[Job Proficiency: 14.89%]

[You Now Possess 5 Job-Related Skills]

~ Skill 1: <Steal>

– (Active)

Ability to randomly obtain anything equipped from an opponent. It could be a ‘Skill’, ‘Weapon’, ‘Attire’, etc. Things obtained are subject to the Levels of the user and target.

Additional Effect: Cooldown limitation has been reduced, and you can now use this Skill on a target three times concurrently.

~ Skill 2: <Summon>

– (Active)

Can call upon any item of possession stored within [Subspace].

Additional Effect: SubSkill: <Automatic Summon> can be used. You can choose to automatically summon items to suit your needs at a given time.

~ Skill 3: <Recall>

(Active/Passive)

Ability to call back possessed item to the storage upon the user’s discretion or after an elapsed period of time.

Additional Effect: You transport an item under your possession in any location and wield it instantly.

(Current Time-Lapse Allocated: Please Select)

~ Skill 4: <Mine Alone>

(Passive)

Any Object Gotten By You Is Automatically Registered As Your Property. You Can Track It, Retrieve It At your Convenience, And Directly Affect It.

Skill 5: <Nimble>

(Active)

You Gain Additional [Vitality] And [Agility] When This Skill Is Active. Additional (+1,000) Stat Point Is Temporarily Added For The Duration Of The Skill.

[End Of Information]

My jaw nearly dropped upon seeing the goodies I had just received. This was too good to be true. To think I had achieved such a high level of Proficiency in that single battle. Not just that, but I also got variants of the already-existing skills.

If I had to pick, they were all useful, but the SubSkill <Automatic Summon> Was going to be very useful in combat.

The more I Ranked-Up in my Job, the more Skills and power-ups were in store for me. This was quite exciting!

At this point, Daniel had just finished killing the last Demons, so the Subjugation was successful. I could hear the strained breathing of everyone from my distance, seeing as their sweat dropped from their bodies.

“Haa… Haa… Well done everyone! The Subjugation is now… complete!” Daniel declared.

Everyone cheered, collapsing to the ground to rest. Daniel and the others were sure to have leveled up a good deal from this fight. But, the fact that they were this tired after facing a little over a hundred Demons seemed like a joke to me at this point.

Still, I once again decided to play the role designated to me and came out of the woods, appearing before everyone.

“W-well done, everyone!” I beamed innocently.

The exhausted fighters didn’t even answer me, since they were focused on regaining their strength. However, there was a particular member of the Subjugation Squad that paid attention to me.

“So, now you show up, Jeremy. I hope you enjoyed the show. Did you like seeing us work out butt off to protect you?” Melissa said, glaring at me scornfully.

I glanced a little in her direction. She appeared exhausted since she had to maintain her barrier Gift for so long, but to think the girl still had enough energy to pick on me.

Daniel was too tired to even notice what she was doing, so there was no one to silence her. However, as usual, my move was to ignore her nagging.

‘Let’s just get this over with…’ I sighed.

Moving around the area where the battle took place, my eyes took in the fight of the nearly evaporated Demon blood, as well as the Cores that floated atop them.

“Bingo!” I smiled a little, bending to pick them.

That’s right! My duty within the Subjugation Squad was to pick the drops gotten from the Demons while the others rested. It was quite the useful role for everyone since they would be too exhausted to bother picking so many Cores.

This wasn’t the main reason I was allowed into the group, but it was still a convenient role that allowed everyone else to stay out of my case.

Well, everyone except-