Rise Of The Hoarder

“Raaaahhhh!!!”

Excited roars of war echoed through the atmosphere as the Gifteds charged at their foes. Each wielding their respective abilities acutely, they proceeded to the 20 Demons that also lunged at them with equal vigor.

The [Quake] Gift of one of the Subjugation Team members was used to shake the ground, causing the dashing Demons to lose balance. This gave them an opening, allowing the close-ranged fighters to swarm the Hobgoblins.

Since they were fewer in number, compared to the Gifteds, their execution proceeded easily.

Splashes of blood dyed the air as the severed body parts of the Hobgoblins were sent flying. The earth became a puddle of evaporating blood as the Demons fell one after the other to their deaths.

‘Yes! Looks like everything is proceeding as planned. Were easily dispatching these Hobs since they’re not many in number. As long as we keep this up… we can win!’ Daniel beamed, charging at the enemies himself.

“<Energy Blade>” He declared, suddenly summoning a sharp blue blade made of pure energy.

Daniel smiled as his Skill manifested, gripping his weapon with determined strength to cut down all his foes.

“Let’s go!”

Using his other skills, Daniel buffed himself and increased his overall speed and power, gliding through the dying Demons to kill those who still posed a problem to lesser-skilled Gifteds.

>SWISH!< His sword fluidly moved through the air, easily cutting apart the Demons that met the blade.

Slight crackles of blue energy burst out with each swing, slicing through everything in its path. Of course, Daniel had to be careful since his weapon was only the product of a Skill, and he couldn’t use it forever.

‘I have to end things quickly!’

With that in mind, he proceeded to kill even more Demons. Compared to the other Gifteds who ganged up on Demons, Daniel was in a league of his own.

In less than thirty minutes, the first Demon wave had been extinguished.

“Good work, everyone!” Daniel smiled, huffing a little.

His smile and encouragement cheered everyone up. They were all a little tired due to the amount of energy they exerted, but the Gifteds knew they were just getting started.

Looking at the pink barrier Melissa made, everyone saw the rest of the Hobgoblins shoot the Gifteds a dirty and bloodthirsty look.

Should they be released from their confinement, it would be an all-out war. Still, it had to be done. While the people wanted to take a breather, they were all aware of the schedule. This was no time to be slacking off.

Daniel nodded at Melissa, who remained behind everyone and simply spectated while the fight ensued from a distance.

Melissa nodded back, focusing on creating an opening in her force field.

The Gifteds all took their formation once again, with Daniel spearheading the team. A slight grin of confidence formed on his face as he watched the hole forming within Melissa’s pink dome.

“We still have over 80 to go!”

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

[A Few Moments Ago]

I remained in the woods even after the other Gifteds charged to do battle. Melissa trapped the Hobs in her barrier, causing the members we had lying in wait for an ambush to come out and support Daniel’s group.

Of course, since I was deemed to be absolutely useless in battle, I remained behind, only watching as the fight would unfold.

‘Perfect! No one will miss me while I’m gone!’ My mind rang.

Estimating the total time they would take in dispatching the monsters and regrouping, I would say I had a total of two hours to conclude my business… and that was me being generous.

To be certain of my deduction, I decided to stick around for a little while to observe the battle.

I saw how Melissa skillfully allowed some Demons to escape from her barrier before closing it back up. To be honest, it was an impressive feat.

‘She can cover herself and her allies in her barrier, making it a useful defensive Gift. But, she can also use it this way, by only covering the enemies within it. A scary ability, indeed.’

I had already learned of the nature of her Gift from Charles and was amazed that despite her low level, Melissa’s Gift’s Rank was C. That was impressive!

‘She must have used it a great deal!’ I mused.

Still, she couldn’t simultaneously use her Gift to protect herself as well as trap her enemies, which meant she most likely used it for the latter rather than the former.

However, since this strategy was the only way to win, even someone as selfish as Melissa had to remain guardless in a heated battle between Gifteds and Demons.

I saw that she was staying behind everyone else to be safe, as expected of a coward like her.

‘Welp, she’s useless in a fight, anyway.’

My eyes darted toward the impressive fighters among the bunch. Tasha was holding her own against the Hobs due to her Gift, but I could tell she was holding back.

‘Her Gift is so OP that she could take care of more Demons than this.’ I reasoned.

However, knowing who her husband was, I deduced that Charles had told her not to stand out too much, since no one really knew of her Gift.

Plus, since it was not a fire situation, there was no need for her to go all out.

The main attraction in the entire fight, though, was Daniel. As I suspected, he didn’t hold the title of Ace for nothing!

Compared to the sluggish, barely coordinated move of everyone else, he was in an entirely different league. For one, Daniel could solo a Hobgoblin, allowing him to ease the burden of others and turn the tide of the battle they fought easily.

His buff skills were also nice, but I was more attracted to his <Energy Blade> Skill.

So far, I had not heard of any energy-based Demons appearing, so naturally, I became curious as to how he came to obtain that skill.

‘Maybe I should have asked Charles when looking through Daniel’s information at the time…’