12 New Adversaries

Kei finally left the cave. His goal was to get as far as possible into the forest. To prevent any trouble, he kept echolocation activated.

(The weaker monsters are easy to fight now…)

Along the way, he killed any snakes that appeared on his radar. This allowed Kei to strengthen venom and poison resistance. He decided to come back to pick up the corpses when he'd return later on to the village. This journey continued for a couple of hours.

(Looks like there's trouble.)

On his radar, Kei noticed a couple of dots. It could be dangerous to get too close. Therefore, he decided to hide behind a bush once the enemies were spotted. There were four of them. The monsters were pink. They were also abnormally large. As they spoke, slobber spewed from their mouths. Three of them were carrying bats while one of them was dragging along a dwarf-sized girl.

Orc 1: [Shlau balabel Schlau]

*spit flies everywhere*

Orc 2: [Blaubel bauble shlabel]

(What in the world are they saying?)

Completely confused as to what was going on, Kei became curious. Hoping to be able to understand their language, he activated "Greed". However, his target was only one of the orcs. This was the orc that hadn't joined in on the conversation. The reason for this choice was that if he stole abilities from any other orcs, their ability to communicate with each other would also be gone. Therefore, he wouldn't be able to gain key information that he might need in the future. Since Kei wanted all of their abilities, this was a hard decision to make. Nevertheless, it was well thought out.

{Greed has been activated.}

{Your opponent is within range. "Greed" has successfully stolen the following skills: "Orc Language" and "Smash".}

{Orc Language (beginner): Upon activation, this skill allows the user to be able to communicate with orcs. After initial activation, this ability becomes passive.}

{Smash (intermediate): Upon activating this ability, the user can make use of bats or hammers to demolish their opponent. The damage of the user's attacks will also significantly increase. The more this ability is used and strengthened, the more damage it will deal. This skill has no time limit. }

Kei was delighted that he gained a new fighting ability. That being said, he wasn't sure if it would be that useful in the future. Leaving those thoughts for another time, he activated "Orc Language" and focused in on the conversation.

Orc 1: [These dwarves need to just die already. I can't wait when we go to war.]

Orc 2: [Who cares about that? Now, we can just keep kidnapping all these dwarf chicks. I'm itching to get in bed with her.]

Orc 3: [What are you talking about? We'll do this bitch at that same time!]

Orc 1, 2, and 3: [Hahahaha!]

*spit flies again everywhere*

Kei was disgusted.

(What's up with monsters and doing it with random girls? I'd get it if she was hot… but that girl looks hideous! On top of that, she's like a third of their size. How would it even….. Never mind. It seems like I've gained valuable information.)

A lot of new information had been revealed. First off, Kei learned that dwarves existed in this world. Furthermore, a war would soon potentially start between the orcs and the dwarves. Since they weren't too far from the goblin village, Kei had to take this into consideration. He wanted to eventually rule this new world. This situation could be a step towards that goal. However, he had to slow down and think logically. He only reincarnated two days ago. He was still very weak. Against an army, he could barely make a dent. Once he gained more strength and learned the rules of this world, he would revisit the situation. For now, he would steal the abilities of the other orcs.

(What's coming!?)

Kei sensed a red dot entering onto his mind map. It came from behind and seemed to be heading towards him. This annoyed Kei since he was just about to steal some new abilities. But, safety was most important. He decided to get closer to the dot before that person could reached his hiding spot. It was probably just another orc. Nevertheless, he didn't want the ruckus to attract the attention of the other ones past the bushes. The dot was now very close.

(This…no way….)

In front of Kei was a humongous monster with eight legs. Its presence alone made it difficult for Kei to breathe. Acid dripped from its mouth. As it moved, the ground slightly trembled. He was in big trouble.