New Skills

I woke up in my hut, its interior still basic but better than when I first arrived. The walls were made of roughly hewn wood, and the floor was covered with leaves and straw to keep out the cold. A small fire pit in the corner provided warmth, though the smoke sometimes filled the room. My bed was a simple pile of furs, uncomfortable and lumpy. 

I stretched and got up, feeling the stiffness in my back. "I'll make it better later," I muttered to myself, "but today I have more important stuff to do."

I walked out of the hut and looked around the village. The goblins were already awake and moving about their daily tasks. I headed straight for Rigur's hut.

"Rigur," I called out as I reached his hut. He stepped outside, looking alert but a bit intimidated. "We're going hunting. Just you and me today."

"Y-Yes, boss," he replied, not questioning my decision.

Today I planned to hunt some bigger monsters. Taking all the goblins would be bothersome. I would just take Rigur so I could use him as bait if I found myself in a dire situation.

Before we left, I gathered the goblins. Right now, I was sitting on a throne that was just a wooden log. In front of me were close to 100 goblins.

{It's 110, 50 females and 60 males}

Oh, okay.

I looked at the gathered goblins and began my speech. "Listen up! I am the new ruler of this village, and all of you have to follow me. Under my command, I will protect everyone."

The goblins started to cheer.

"Alright! I have some rules for you. Three, to be exact. The bare minimum I want all of you to follow."

The goblins quieted down.

"First, my command is the ultimate order. No one can go against it. 

Second, do not fight against any fellow monster under my command. I look down on none of you; all of you are equal to me. 

And lastly, fight against anyone who lays a hand on a fellow monster under me. Crush that enemy together, whether it's a human or a demon lord."

The goblins looked at me with deep thought and nodded as if they understood everything.

"Yes, boss!" they responded in unison.

Then I gave them orders for today, which were mostly about village construction. I made the previous village chief in charge of the job.

The goblins obeyed my orders. I also used my Greed skill on them, which let me control their minds. They would have followed me anyway, but Wicked One suggested it. 

It said that with Greed, I could transfer my memories related to construction and other skills from my previous world. This was pretty convenient and saved me from teaching them everything from scratch.

After that, Rigur and I set off into the forest. The trees were tall and dense, their leaves creating a thick canopy overhead. The forest was quiet except for the occasional rustle of leaves and distant animal sounds. The air was cool and damp, and the ground was covered with fallen leaves and twigs.

The best place to hunt monsters would be the sealed cave. However, as strong as I am now, I might be dead meat as soon as I set foot there.So, first, I decided to try out my skills and get a bit stronger before I go there.

We didn't need to walk long. Rigur has been living here since he was born, so he knew the ins and outs of this place. It was important to know where the stronger monsters resided so we didn't go there by mistake.

Right now, we were near the territory of a Knight Spider. Soon, we saw a large monster that showed crab and arachnid-like features. The spider's body was protected by an exoskeleton harder than steel that defended almost everything except its joints.

Normally, they would attack anyone hostile in their territory. But since our magicules were so low, it didn't see us as threats and was sleeping peacefully.

"What do we do, boss?" Rigur whispered.

I signaled him with my hand to stay back as I kept getting closer to the spider.

{Notice. Using sub skill [Desire] to control the target}

Desire worked in two ways:

The first method was using their own desires to overcome the desires of their subject, leading the two to agree on a goal and therefore, turn them into their ally. The drawback of this method was that it could only be activated in conversation-length interactions.

The second method worked much faster, allowing the user to simply use their Unique skill 'Greed' to forcefully dominate the target. It didn't take as much time, as the user could directly inject all the 'desire' required and completely destroy the target's will, turning it into a walking puppet. But this technique was too dangerous. Depending on the extent of the target's desire, it might take different lengths of time.

For this spider, the first method wasn't possible, but the second method was more fitting. If this succeeded, it would be great. Then I could capture every monster in Jura.

{Failed. The target doesn't have a proper mind to control}

"Well, that's bad," I muttered.

I was slowly getting closer to touch it so that I could use Greed Flare to suck out all its soul and energy. But suddenly the spider got up from its sleep. Maybe from its monster instincts, it sensed some danger from me.

But before it could do anything, I used Death Wish. As soon as I activated it, the giant spider rushing at me dropped dead.

"What the!" Even I was surprised. I didn't even have to lift a finger, and the monster was down.

{Notice. It's suggested to use Greed Flare on the target} Wicked One's voice came to my head.

"Oh, I almost forgot." I went up to it and touched its exoskeleton, which was pretty hard.

{Notice. Would you like to use the skill Greed Flare? Yes/No}

"Yes."

As soon as I said that, a huge rush of energy entered my body through my hand. I felt my bones and skin getting tougher. After the energy flow finished, all the power synthesized with my body. To test it out, I gave a punch at the spider's exoskeleton. My hand went right through it.

"Damn," I muttered, still amazed by the power I had just gained.

My eyes fell on Rigur, who was peeking at me from behind a bush. "Hey, Rigur! Call some goblins from the village to take this back. Today we're having a big feast."

Rigur nodded quickly. "Yes, boss!" He dashed off towards the village, leaving me alone with the massive spider's corpse.

I could have taken the whole spider back to the village myself, but I had other plans. After killing the spider, I decided to head to the cave. My Death Wish skill was too strong; I could just instantly kill anything dangerous. Talking about senses...

"Hey, Wicked One, try to sense the magicules around the air."

{Understood.}

Soon, I could feel something moving. I sensed magicules hanging in the air, riding air currents, moving around—all sorts of sensations.

{Confirmed. Extra skill [Magic Sense] successfully acquired. Use the extra skill Magic Sense? Yes/No.}

"Yes."

The moment I used Magic Sense, my brain was flooded with new information. Waves of light and sound, every tiny particle around—I processed it all, turning it into something I could understand.

Goblin eyesight doesn't even give you a full 180-degree view. Now, I could "see" a full 360 degrees around me. It was weird.

{Synchronizing extra skill Magic Sense with unique skill Wicked One… Successful. All information will now be managed by [Wicked One]}

Suddenly, my vision became super clear. The brain-searing sensation from before was gone. I could see everything so clearly. It was like a veil had been lifted from my eyes. I could see the flow of magicules in the air, the detailed texture of the leaves on the trees, and even the small insects crawling on the ground. Everything was vivid and sharp, with no blind spots.

It was overwhelming at first, but [Wicked One] managed all the information, making it easy for me to understand and react.

I headed towards the sealed cave. I didn't have to search for it since my Magic Sense was picking up signals from a huge magic source a mile away.

_______

Right now, I was standing before a huge, ominous-looking metal door. It was rusty on the outside and locked, but the dense magicules seeping out of it were even more ominous.

"Should I go back?" I muttered, thoughts of retreat filling my mind. 

After thinking for a while, I resolved, "Well, no point in backing out now."

I placed my hand on the massive door. Back in my world, I could never have imagined moving something like this. Taking a deep breath, I pushed with all  my might.

The door slowly began to creak open. I finally went inside. There was no light, but with my Magic Sense, I could see everything as clear as day.

"Damn," I muttered. The cave was enormous, much bigger than I had expected.

I carefully began to walk inside, alert for any monsters. Wicked One was picking up signals with Magic Sense.

As I walked, I saw glowing stones protruding from the rocks.

{Magic ore is the raw form of magisteel} Wicked One informed me.

"I should make the goblins collect them," I thought. But for now, my focus was on the ceiling, where huge bats were hanging.

{Notice. Would you like to use your skill [Death Desire]? Yes / No.}

"Yes."

Now that I was using Magic Sense, I could see dark, ominous smoke-like things start to flow out of me and envelop the bats on the ceiling. Immediately, all the giant creatures started to drop one by one.

'Thats what i am talking about' 

I quickly went to each of the fallen bats and used Greed Flare to drain all the magicules from them. While I wished I had the ability to steal skills, the permanent boost from absorbing magicules wasn't too bad. Still, getting some new skills would have been great.

As I was draining the bats, Wicked One's message appeared.

"Notice. Using the sub-skill *Separate* with Greed Flare, there is a possibility to extract skills."

"Do it," I said, placing my hand on another giant bat.

"Report. Using *Separate* to extract skills from the target's skill."

"Notice. Found two intrinsic skills..."

"Extracting the skills using Greed Flare..."

"Failed."

"Attempting again..."

"Failed."

"Attempting again..."

"Failed."

"Attempting again..."

...

"Successful."

<<Acquired extra skill *Ultra Sonic Wave*>>

<<Acquired extra skill *Drain*>>

"Nice," I muttered, satisfied with the outcome.

"What do the two skills do?",I asked Wicked One

{Ultra Sound Waves are used to bewilder the enemy or cause them to faint. The skill can also pinpoint one's location.}

{Skill Drain allows the user to temporarily use 70% of the target's skills by sucking their blood.}

"So it's similar to what we just did, but a slightly degraded version," I noted.

{Affirmative.}

{Notice. It is suggested to synthesize [Drain] with the skill [Greed Flare] to increase the efficiency of stealing skills.}

"Do it," I instructed.

While Wicked One worked on synthesizing the skills, I decided to try out [Ultrasonic Wave]. 

This skill allowed me to create very high-pitched sounds with my vocal cords, which would normally be impossible. It also let me sense things through echolocation, giving me a new way to navigate and detect my surroundings.

As I finished testing out the skill, Wicked One completed the synthesis.With my new abilities in hand, I continued deeper into the cave. The interior had several tunnel-like pathways, twisting and turning enough to easily get someone lost, even with good senses.

With Wicked One's help, locating the massive source of magicules at the center of the cave was straightforward. As I moved deeper, I encountered several formidable monsters:

- A giant centipede.

- A massive lizard covered in thick scales, which Wicked One identified as an Armosuras.

- A large, creepy spider.

- A big snake.

Despite their size and strength, these creatures dropped dead as soon as they saw me, thanks to my powerful skill, [Death Wish]. They didn't have a chance to react; they were gone before they even knew what hit them.

Even though I barely broke a sweat taking them down, these monsters were quite strong and had some decent skills. I doubted that even the entire goblin village could have defeated them.

As I stood amidst the carcasses of the fallen monsters, I reviewed the skills I'd acquired.

First, there was [Paralyzing Breath] from the centipede. The skill allowed me to release a breath of gas that paralyzes any monsters within a ten-meter range. And I didn't need to use my mouth to release it; I could extend my hand and emit a purple smoke. 

Next, [Scale Armor] from the Armosuras gave me two options. I could cover my body with thick, lizard-like scales, which, while effective, made me look rather ugly. The second option was more practical: it hardened my skin to the strength of steel. 

From the creepy spider, I acquired [Sticky Thread] and [Steel Thread]. The [Sticky Thread] created extremely sticky threads that could immobilize anything they touched. The threads were robust and sturdy, making them perfect for trapping. [Steel Thread], on the other hand, allowed me to produce thin, nearly invisible threads that were incredibly sharp. These threads could slice through anything before the target even knew they were there.

The snake gave me [Poison Breath] and [Sense Heat Source]. [Poison Breath] was a powerful attack that released corrosive poison over a seven-meter area in front of me. This poison would damage both flesh and equipment, making it a devastating offensive tool. [Sense Heat Source] allowed me to detect living creatures by sensing their infrared rays. This ability was now merged with my [Magic Sense], enhancing my overall perception.

I could feel a significant boost in my magicules after absorbing the energy from these monsters.

With a renewed sense of purpose, I continued deeper into the cave. Even with all the obstacles in my path, I didn't lose sight of my goal. I pressed on toward the center of the cave, feeling the magicules in the air grow thicker with each step. The concentration of magicules was so intense that it was almost palpable.

"This thick this far away," I thought to myself, "I can only imagine what kind of monstrosity awaits me at the source. And this is just in its sealed state. I don't even want to think about what it'll be like once it's free."

As I walked, the cave's pathways widened, the walls giving way to a vast, empty space. My heart raced with anticipation. There, in the distance, I saw it—a dragon.

Though I had anticipated it, seeing a real dragon up close was still a shock. The dragon's scales gleamed a dark shade of black, tougher than steel but supple and flexible. Its shape resembled a Western-style dragon, with scales that shone like obsidian. Each of its six fingers was tipped with claws that could easily tear through anything, and its two pairs of wings—one larger than the other—were sharp and sword-like, ready to slice through the air.

Upon closer inspection, the scales radiated a dark purplish light, adding to the dragon's intimidating presence. Despite the beast's menacing appearance, there was something oddly majestic and beautiful about its vast, powerful form.

I stood there, momentarily frozen. It wasn't fear that held me in place, but something else—a deep-seated greed for the power that this dragon represented. Its sheer presence, even in its sealed state, ignited a hunger within me. I wanted that power for myself.

Suddenly, I felt something inside me shift, reacting to my intense emotions. Soon, an announcement echoed in my mind, pulling me out of my daze:

<<Unique skill [Greed] has evolved into ultimate [Lord of Greed, Mammon]>>

Stones?