Rise Of The Hoarder

Now done with the first batch, my eyes frolicked as I lifted my gaze to the second gate that seemed to call unto me.

In the past, I wouldn’t even dare to consider answering the nudgings within me, risking my life unnecessarily. However, it was different now. Even when I faced so many monsters that would have sent three <Danger> signals, I didn’t see a single one pop out.

“I guess I’ve become a little stronger…”

Walking swiftly toward the gate, I arrived within what seemed like a moment’s breath.

I currently had <Muscularity>, <Iron Skin>, <Aura>, <Nimble>, <Coordination>, and <Glare> active. Even though they weren’t going to enter Cooldown anytime soon, it felt like a waste to leave them burning up without any target to use them on.

Now standing before the gate, it looked bigger than one from before, for some reason. It definitely appeared tougher— more difficult to pass through. Behind this barrier was the next wave.

I didn’t need a single moment to think. Grasping my fingers and turning my right hand into a fist, I casually punched my way through the gate.

>BOOOOOMMMM!!!<_.

As expected, the wooden gate crashed so easily that I wondered if there was any point in it being erected in front of me. Using <Muscularity> and <Aura> was overkill. While I hadn’t tested my physical strength on a Demon yet, it was certain that I had more physical prowess than any monster I had ever met.

The moment my loud destruction of the gate reverberated through the new compound, the Demons within jerked to life. It seemed these Hobgoblins had been waiting impatiently for me to invade since there was no way they couldn’t hear the deaths and destruction I had wrought in the first compound.

I stepped into the second compound. There were no ranged attacks, to my surprise. The growls of Demons filled the air as I looked around me.

‘This is my first time in here…’ My thoughts trailed.

The second compound was definitely larger than the first. Nearly twice as big, with an air of unease and terror that made the first one seem like a walk in the park. This certainly wasn’t going to be easy.

Darting my eyes at the Demons that all watched me with pure hatred and bloodlust, the system warning popped immediately.

[System Information]

<Danger!>

[.]

It seemed like a joke, having only one warning present when I meant business. However, considering the fact that the system deemed it fit to allocate such a level to them, it meant they were going to be more of a pain than the previous batch.

Maybe it was because of my increased level and heightened perception, but I could count a multitude of over ten thousand demons… and those were only the ones I was able to pick up.

They consisted of Hobgoblins labeled as; (Advanced Warrior), (Advanced Tanker), (Advanced Archer).

However, something seemed off to me. I felt like there was more to this crowd of Hobgoblins. I wanted to spring into action, but my intuition told me to remain still for a little while longer.

Just as I did so, I saw a peculiar sight spring into the air. My eyes widened in shock and amazement, considering this would be the first I saw anything like this. I had seen flying arrows, gattling claws, and several other Skills. However, this was different.

Flying at me with remarkable speed and pinpoint accuracy were hundreds of fast-approaching balls of flames.

That’s right! Fireballs were rushing at me.

They were faster than arrows, and from what I could sense from them, they were going to pack quite the punch. A bombardment of a couple hundred of those would render even a large army into nothing but crusty remains.

A bunch of Hobgoblins employing such ability only meant one thing. They had Hobgoblin casters among them!

I had read about those special types of Hobgoblins before, but I hadn’t encountered any so far, so I thought they didn’t exist in this reality.

“Come to think of it… did I see any Hobgoblin Caster back in the Sacred Hall?”

It was difficult to remember considering I had seen all kinds of monsters. There was no point in keeping count of a subspecies of lesser Demons.

‘These fireballs, though… they’re so many.’ My mind rang.

If I had chosen to come here unprepared, it could have been disastrous.

However…

“[Subspace]…”

Instantly, as far as my eyes could see, I registered the incoming balls of destruction as objects I wanted to be transferred into my personal storage. In a moment, my desire was fulfilled, and not a single fireball remained in the air.

“GARUIIIIIKKKKKK?!!??!!” I heard instant shrieks of confusion marked with frustration.

A smile formed on my face as I realized what I did could be considered cheating. The strategy these Hobgoblins were most likely trying to employ would be to cause me to sustain damage using the long-range fireballs. Once I had done that, even if I didn’t die, they would then rush at me with claw attacks and overwhelm me with melee.

‘Sigh, if only they saw my previous fight back there…’

Still, it was impressive they were able to do this much. Casters, Warriors, Archers, Tankers… all against little ol’ me.

I had a trick, rather, plenty of tricks up my sleeve, though. There was no way I intended on going down so easily. To fully experiment on my new abilities, I couldn’t just dispose of them by sending their fireballs back at them, now could I?

The Hobgoblins didn’t intend on giving me any time to think as they roared in fury, rushing at me. If fireballs didn’t work, they must have just figured it would be best to crush me the old-fashioned way.

‘No matter the intelligence they seem to have, in the end, they’re still mere creatures, uh?’ I reasoned.

In that case, I just needed to use these guinea pigs as much as I wanted. With no strategy to follow, they were nothing but a bunch of mindless monsters.

‘First, let’s take away their vision.’

“<Summon>”