Rise Of The Hoarder

The total amount of power a person can wield isn’t restricted to merely Levels and individual Stats.

There are several other means people obtain far greater power. One would be the nature of one’s Gifts, another would be the Skill in one’s possession. In rare cases where both Skills and Gifts have a synergy, the abilities of an individual skyrocket.

However, even with these, there is another integral factor that can transform a weaker being into a more powerful one… Gear!

If playing games taught me anything, it would be the fact that gear is one of the most important things to consider.

Gamers who were dedicated to the cause go as far as spending actual money on games in order to obtain very good pieces of equipment.

Their importance can not be overemphasized!

Not only players, but even monsters rely on gear. Drops and items stem from this concept, and it should already be established that individual strength can only take you so far. In a game, true power lies in one’s possession!

A weaker being can stand a chance against someone with far superior Stats if he has the right equipment. Of course, there are concepts such as Limitations and Special Requirements when it comes to equipping gear and using them properly.

But, what happens when a character who has far surpassed the requirements gains the chance to use the gear that belongs to a more superior foe?_.

That changes everything!

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“Now, then, I’ll ask you again… Who says you can kill me?!”

As soon as I made my confident statement, the Hobgoblin King barked out in fury—its hands pointing at me indignantly.

“Kill Him!!!”

The Chiefs didn’t understand English, or at least they didn’t appear to, but the intentions of their leader registered in their green heads and they instantly moved to action.

Of course, I wasn’t going to let them get away with this.

Without equipment, they all had to rely on only their Skills, and in the short while that their minds told them to retaliate, there was only one thing Demons would resort to… brute force.

>WHOOOSHHH!!!<

The green hands of several Hobs lunged at me from all angles, hoping to squash me like the bug I appeared to be.

“Nice try… but…”

Instantly, I used <Summon> to bring out the stuff I had been saving for so long.

>BAM!<

The loud sound of impact resounded across the area as the strikes of each Hobgoblin Chief were stopped mere moments from reaching me.

“GURUIIIK?!” They all made puzzled expressions, but before any could completely grasp the situation, I pushed myself into the air.

‘I used those invisible barriers of yours against you, pfft!’

Spinning as I twisted in midair, I summoned some of the study trees I had taken in earlier as footholds to easily maneuver through the heights I had gotten to.

>WHOOOOOSHHH<

Using my superior Agility, I rushed to each Hobgoblin Chief and tapped them one after the other.

The Chiefs vanished the moment we made physical contact, and in no time, I would take in all of them.

‘Three down, one to go!’

As I lunged at the final one, the Hobgoblin King was already readying its lance to strike me down. My senses had grown accustomed to picking up the monster’s bloodlust, so this didn’t surprise me anymore.

‘It’s not so smart when flustered, now is it?’

I had the option of taking in its spear, but a better plan popped up nearly instantly.

My eyes focused on my target, and in a flash, the deed was done!

>CRASH!!!<

The Hobgoblin King fell hard on the ground, sending tremors surging through the area as its green, naked body sat on the hard ground.

‘Tap!’ I touched the last Hobgoblin Chief who was too distracted by the fall of its king.

In no time, I had managed to completely cut off all the allies the Hobgoblin Boss had.

Now, it was just me and it!

“Guruuuu! You bastard!” The beast growled, banging its enormous hand on the ground.

That sent my body slightly jumping in the air as a result of the tremor it caused.

“My plan… perfect! You strong. Me stronger! I with Chiefs. We beat you together! Plan was perfect!” It growled at me with hate in its eyes.

I had to admit, now that I listened to the monster speak, it wasn’t such a bad plan.

To be honest, it had me during the first half of our match. That was only because I underestimated it and chose a method of fighting that gave me too many openings.

“Your plan wasn’t perfect… not in the slightest,” I replied, staring keenly at the beast who looked like it would eat me alive over and over again.

To be fair, I nearly messed things up this time. Why did I choose the direct approach instead of playing it the way I usually did? if I had just caused the Mana Cores to appear perhaps in the mouths of every Hobgoblin Champion and exploded them, I could have easily bypassed whatever barrier the monsters put up.

If I had charged straight at the Hobgoblin King and Chiefs and taken them into [Subspace], thereafter dealing with the minions using my bombardments, I would have had very minimal issues.

There were better ways I could have handled things for sure!

But why did I choose the more difficult and complicated approach?

“You know, I’ve realized something while facing you and your minions, greenie.” My smile broadened even further the moment the monster narrowed its brows in rage when it heard its new nickname.

“When fighting your first Chief, I ensured I faced it fair and square. I wanted to test the limits of my capabilities and also see how I would fare against you and the others using it as a reference.”

It was a nice battle experience, and I truly learned a lot from it. However…

“I made the mistake of trying something similar just now. Turns out that was wrong. While it’s good to gain as much combat experience as possible, it’s just not my style, you know?”