Rise Of The Hoarder

[SYSTEM INFORMATION]r

Name: Charlesr

Race: Humanr

Sex: Maler

Level: 15r

Alignment: Lawful Neutralr

[End Of Information]r

[SYSTEM INFORMATION]r

Name: Tashar

Race: Humanr

Sex: Femaler

Level: 21r

Alignment: Neutralr

[End Of Information]r

Looking at these sets of information, it was easy to deduce that neither the Camp Leader nor his Assistant had the capability to damage me from the start.r

Their Stats was weaker, and their Skill slots, level of mastery, as well as everything else were on the lower end.r

Yet, Charles had been able to see right through me and view my Status Window, and the woman, Tasha had damaged me.r

The whole thing sounded ridiculous, however, there was a reasonable explanation.r

"Gifts, uh?" I mumbled.r

'The guy, Charles, must have a truth seeing Gift, while the assistant must have a physical augmenting Gift… that's the only explanation.' Upon analyzing these assumptions of mine, it was only a matter of proving them to be facts.r

With Tasha down, and Charles shrinking in fear before me, I had total control of the situation.r

'All I have to do is break them even further…'

******************************

[Moments Later]r

My arm was already healed from its injury, so I didn't feel any sting there anymore.r

While Gifteds are more tenacious than regular humans, they don't possess any healing abilities, unless they leveled up.r

The reason I could heal was as a result of my activities yesterday.r

It's a good thing I had already foreseen an outbreak of violence after Lily told me about Charles' ability to discern the truth from anyone, so I was able to make countermeasures. I wasn't aware of the powers of his assistant, but she had to be somewhat useful. r

Knowing my cover would be blown, preparations had to be made. To speed up my research, just in case things went awry, I tested out my <Steal> Skill on many of the people I encountered.r

Even Theodore, who had escorted me to this place was prey to it.r

What I realized was that due to the high difference in Level between me and my target, I could actually choose what to plunder.r

Of course, I tested this out several times before sleeping, and any time I chose a target, options appeared before me.r

[System Notification]r

<Steal>r

~Please Select Your Preferred Choice~r

-tSkillsr

-tItemsr

-tStatsr

-tMiscellaneousr

-Randomr

[.]r

"Stats too?!" I had exclaimed.r

To be honest it was more than I bargained for.r

Realizing my options were more spread out than I initially thought, I felt overjoyed by the fact that I had taken great pains to level up beyond these chumps.r

Of course, I didn't want to rouse any attention by stealing anything major or take any risks by being random, so I chose to start small.r

While everyone slept, I started by stealing Stats.r

Starting small, I took a little bit of stat from Lily. It wasn't like she was smart enough to notice the difference between one or two figures going missing from her Stats. Plus, Strength wasn't her strong point anyway.r

I needed it more than she did.r

[System Alert]r

<Steal>r

-tYou have gained +2 'Strength' from the target.r

[.]r

"Yesss!!!" I had hissed excitedly.r

Realizing this would be very useful, I decided to further my experiment.r

Unfortunately, nothing good comes without a price, and a Skill as good as <Steal> was bound to have limitationsr

[System Alert]r

<Steal Error>r

~You can only use the Skill <Steal> on the same person after 24 hours of your first usage~r

[Skill Can Be Leveled Up]r

[.]r

That was when I realized the downside to the skill. It was fortunate I had already tested it out, if not, it would have gotten pretty dicey for me to find out later on.r

After being done with Lily, I extracted additional Stats from everyone else, gaining extra Agility and Vitality. I left their intelligence intact though.r

'They shouldn't get any dumber than they already are.'r

After my experiment last night, I went to bed, and then this morning Theo visited. Since he was being a dick, I decided to take a huge chunk of his Stats, though considering his level, they had to be pretty weak.r

[System Alert]r

<Steal>r

-tYou have gained +7 'Strength' from the target.r

[.]r

My maximum stealing ratio was capped at my current level, which made it impossible for me to steal more than a quarter of my opponent's total Stats at a time.r

Believe me, I tried to exceed it.r

And so, not long after… we entered Charles' office. The story from there onward is pretty straightforward.r

Charles used his Truth seeing Gift, whatever it was, to see my Stats, probably more, and judged me to be suspicious. He ordered the woman to restrain me, despite our difference in level since he was confident about her combat prowess.r

What he wasn't expecting, though… was the effective use of my Subspace Gift, and the ease I used to turn the tides of the battle.r

I used the chance to use <Steal> to take as much HP from the Camp Leader, thereby restoring my health and returning me to my normal state.r

The effects on him, however, caused him to feel sick and frail. His body shook as he trembled in fear.r

'I bet he's not feeling too good…' I grinned, moving closer to him.r

Now, with Tasha bleeding out, and him being powerless to stop me…. It would be very easy to crack the weak man.r

"Are you ready to talk now?" I smiled, giving him a devilish look.r

Charles could do nothing but powerlessly tremble before me. His eyes kept darting to the bleeding woman behind me.r

'He must care about her a great deal.' I thought to myself.r

She had to make for a good bargaining chip.r

"Relax. She's not dead. But, if she's not attended to soon enough… she'll die." I stated, pulling a chair I found in his office and sat on it, resting my back.r

The moment I said this, the man's eyes lit up with emotion, and he glared at me with gritted teeth.r

'Looks like I was right… she means something to him.'r