14 Ranks

It was already morning. While heading back towards the village, Kei took many short breaks. The encounter with the spider weakened him a lot. Along the way he also met a few snakes. He made quick work of the monsters and then carried their corpses on his shoulder. So no one would get suspicious, he'd quickly hide the stash in his shed once he got back.

(I really need to get stronger. Did I make a mistake by not killing the goblins?)

On the walk back, Kei began to think about the decisions he made upon finding the village. When he first entered it, he initially considered slaughtering all of the goblins in secret in order to gain their skills and mimic the stronger ones. In fact, he could have taken the information he needed from the goblin elder, and then stolen skills from him as well. But, he was prudent. If he tried stealing from too many people on the first day, he also believed that some could get suspicious. Attacking an enemy without being able to gauge their strength would be foolish.

(It's probably not smart to rush. If I can take advantage of them before stealing their skills, I'd benefit even more. Why eat a chicken immediately when you can get it to lay a few eggs first? Hahaha!)

Kei believed that taking advantage of the goblins to the fullest would be best. He could manipulate some goblins into thinking of him as someone great and get them to do his dirty work. Then, if they died or disobeyed, he could easily kill them and gain both their skills and be able to mimic them. An added bonus would be that letting the goblins live would give him some form of safety. Running around too far in the forest is dangerous at his current skill level.

(Am I an evil genius? No… this mentality of mine is probably the result of reading manga like Death Note in my past life. Light was good… real good. Either way, I'm going to play these people like fiddles. I could care less about "the power of friendship". What a load of bullshit. Please, this isn't Fairy Tail… this is carnage.)

His ideals were set. Kei would eventually rule this world by increasing both his strength and knowledge. He would learn from previous mistakes and use his greed as a drive to obtain every single skill there is.

(I want to ultimately rule over everything. It'd also be cool to have the strongest subordinate and be hundreds of times stronger than them. Heck, I even want my own harem… no annoying girls though. If I meet one who pisses me off I'll just kill her. Oh… and then when I use mimicry, I wonder what would happen if I transformed into a girl's body? Hehehe! I'll look into that.)

Kei felt like his thoughts were going way off track. The village was also not too far ahead.

(Enough kinky thoughts. I could care less about being a virgin for now. Nevertheless, I feel like the fight I had with the spider really showed me how important it is to enjoy life. I could die anytime. Anyways, time to do work.)

Once in the village, he checked the surroundings for any goblins. The coast was clear. Kei slipped into his shed and began to hide the snakes under the grass that he used for a pillow. He was a little hungry so he took a big bite of one of the carcasses and then hid it back. Afterwards, he headed towards the elder's shed. Kei would ask about ranks and enemies. If possible, he'd also probe the elder for more information on the village.

(There he is.)

Goblin Elder: [Kawai! It's nice to see you again.]

(I really need to change my name…)

Upon meeting with the elder, he was lead towards a dimly lit cave. This way, there wouldn't be too much outside noise and they would have a better atmosphere to allow for a lengthy conversation. Since it was morning again, many goblins were already heading out to hunt.

(This was in the village!?)

The entrance to the cave was quite small so Kei didn't notice it on the first day. He once again regretted not being wise enough to tour the village at least once.

(Too late for that. I won't make the same mistake again next time.)

The elder and Kei sat down on the floor in a small dark room. He began to ask questions.

(Finally… information.)

The elder informed Kei that he only knew about monsters within the forest. Also, among the stronger monsters was one called "Giant Tarantula".

(Hmm… I wonder where I saw that… *sarcasm*)

Moreover, humans, elves, dwarves, and beast people lived in this world. There were even ninjas and summoners. Some tales also spoke of demon kings and legendary vampires called "Noblesse". The elder couldn't confirm if they were true. Unfortunately, he also didn't know where these beings lived because all of his previous knowledge was based off of speculation from his previous seniors.

(So much for reliability… I'll have to find out more on my own when I get stronger. Also, humans? I could care less about race. I know how evil people can be from my own experiences. When the time comes, I'll also make them submit to me.)

The old goblin also mentioned certain dangerous beings that lived within the forest. These existences were strong and also had their own village as well.

(It was probably those orcs. I wonder what happened to them.)

Kei eventually tried to discreetly ask about the cave they were in. The elder told him that it was the most essential part of the village. The rest of the village consisted only of individual sheds.

(Interesting…)

In the cave resided newborns and younger goblins. A goblin's average life span was around 20 years. However, goblins grew very quickly. This meant that the cave was only a temporary spot until they were able to move and speak on their own. Once they grew, they would have to fend for themselves.

(I'll probably drop by there to find some naïve subordinates.)

Human women also resided deep within the cave. They were necessary because their fertility rate was much better than female goblins. Human females were also more attractive. However, only hobgoblins had the right to produce offspring with them.

(I wonder how I can become a hobgoblin. I'll ask that next. On top of that, female captives? I'll push them for information and then kill them when the time's right. I'm not miserable enough for sex that I'll lower my standards to assault them. Ending their lives isn't much better but at least their misery ends there. On the positive side, I'll be able to mimic into them. Hehehe! Does that make me a pervert? Whatever.)

Kei began to ask about the ranking system.

(Time for the good stuff.)

Apparently, every 100 levels you can increase your rank by one. By increasing your rank you attain a title. Each title provides monsters with certain powers and skills. It also increases a person's innate strength. Depending on what race you are, the title you receive is also different. For goblins, the titles of the first two ranks are hobgoblin and ogre. However, once you pass the third rank, your title is chosen solely based off of your hobbies and desires. The elder told Kei that he had never seen someone reach beyond the second rank before. Furthermore, titles only apply to monsters and not humans. It is very rare for a human to have a title.

(That's a lot of information to stomach. It seems like levels actually have some importance. I'm also curious about my special case. What titles will I earn since I'm not really a goblin? Can I steal titles from other people?)

As if answering Kei's uncertainty, the game voice popped up in his head.

{"Ranking System" has now been learned.}

{As rank increases, titles will be applied to each form obtained with mimicry. However, the strength of those titles will only apply to those specific forms. Titles obtained above third rank will apply to all forms.}

{In order for "Ranking System" to be applied, Kei Daichi must accept the following rules:

You can no longer use morphing infinitely with mimicry. You will be limited to morphing with only three mimicry traits at a time. If you reach the highest rank within the system, this rule will no longer apply.

Mimicking forms are grouped in the same way as skills: beginner, intermediate, experienced, professional, legendary, and godly. For forms above experienced, your basal strength must be equal to or stronger than them to mimic their forms.

You can no longer steal skills with "Greed" above experienced level (regardless of your other skills) unless you eat or kill the target. If you reach the highest rank within the system, this rule will no longer apply.

It will now be possible to steal titles. However, each specific title cannot be used until a hidden requirement is unlocked. If you reach the highest rank within the system, this restriction will be lifted and all stolen titles can be used for all forms.}

{Will you accept? YES/NO.}

This was once again an overload of information for Kei. For any skill above experienced, he would actually have to eat the corpse or kill the person to gain their skills (along with mimicry). Morphing couldn't be used infinitely with mimicry anymore either. On top that, he would no longer be able to transform into forms above experienced level unless he was at least as strong as them.

(Are these restrictions worth it in order to get titles? I know that they'll be gone once I reach the highest rank, but how long will that take? This is a tough decision.)

Weighing the pros and cons, Kei decided to accept. Having better innate strength will make it much easier to fight against enemies. Although it would be slightly harder to gain skills above experienced level, this was a necessary sacrifice to become stronger. Either way, once he reaches the highest rank he could go back and steal more skills. This would be the fastest way to reach his goal.

(Time to bounce.)

He thanked the old goblin and headed back to his shed to process everything that happened so far. On his way out of the cave-and with a mischievous grin on his face, he activated "Greed". His target was the elder.

{Greed has been activated.}

{Your opponent is within range. "Greed" has successfully stolen the following skill: "Observe".}

{Observe (intermediate): This active skill forms a dialogue box upon activation. It allows the user to see the target's skills, rank, and name. Upon increasing one's rank, this skill will reveal more information on the target and the dialogue box will also better organize itself for the user's comfort.}

While walking, he could barely contain his laughter.

(This just keeps getting better and better!)