Chapter 7: Dirt’s plea - a help from the savior

Azeth was led back to his hut, where he now rested. With his stomach satisfied after devouring boar meat, Azeth felt content. The pleasure didn't come from the taste but from the discovery he had just made!

[You have acquired the innate ability: Devour]

[Devour Lv.1: Can absorb the abilities/skills of any target below the required level.]

[The host may use the abilities/skills whenever needed.]

Grinning, Azeth inquired, 'So, is it limited to dead monsters, or can I use it on living beings too?'

[It is possible to use it on living targets.]

He couldn't ask for more. Perhaps eating the cooked boar meat for the first time triggered the ability, or maybe it was something he was meant to gain over time—directly linked to his body.

Regardless, he couldn't help but smile like a fool at the moment. He was undeniably growing stronger, and with this skill, he could acquire a plethora of abilities!

'Ah, do tell me, if I use devour, will the abilities of the live person be completely stolen, or are they just copied?' It was crucial for Azeth to know this.

Let's say, in a battle against some goblin, if Azeth used this ability, would the goblin permanently lose the skill, resulting in a negative perception of Azeth? Knowing this beforehand could certainly prevent such consequences.

[The skill/ability would be completely stolen.]

‘Makes sense, that’s what devour means,’ Azeth nodded, accepting the fact. He lay down on the soft, leafy bed on the floor. The hut lacked a door, with only leafy curtains covering the entrance.

Azeth always kept himself sharp. In this unknown territory, especially with the previous sense of killing intent, he knew better than anyone to stay alert. As he reminded himself to be watchful, he already sensed a presence approaching.

‘Someone is outside,’ he opened his closed eyes while sitting in a cross-legged meditation position.

The individual's shadow became visible, and soon, his voice followed, “Lord Savior, I-”

“Is that you, Dirt?” Azeth asked, interrupting Dirt before he could say more.

“Eh? Y-yes!” Dirt was taken aback. ‘He knows me? How?’ His eyeballs shook vigorously in confusion.

“Yes, you can enter. What brings you here?” Azeth asked, granting Dirt the permission he sought.

Tap Tap Tap

Lifting the curtain slightly, Dirt revealed himself and walked forward. A puzzled expression was evident as he stared at Azeth.

“Haha, don’t be surprised. I met Zobo who told me about you a lot. You even went with the elders in search of me, right?”, Azeth predicting what Dirt thought, revealed it.

He wasn’t lying though. Dirt was somewhat like an elder brother to Zobo. While Azeth tried to avoid Zobo, he couldn’t neglect the one sentence that Zobo kept saying.

“Lord savior, brother Dirt wanted to see you. Did you meet him?”

“Lord savior, brother Dirt is over there. He-”

“Lord savior, brother Dirt…”

“Lord sav-”

Food and his brother Dirt, that’s all was in Zobo’s mind.

"Oh, that kid? Haha… Indeed, he is like a brother to me." Dirt scratched his head as he approached Azeth, and the atmosphere lightened a bit. Halting in front of Azeth, Dirt then knelt and sat on both his knees folded.

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"Lord Savior, I want your help." Dirt’s gazes landed on Azeth’s feet when he requested help.

"Hmm? Help? What help?" Azeth was trying to guess Dirt’s intention, but requesting help came as a surprise.

"Yes, actually-" Dirt explained the current scenario, which Azeth had no idea about! Apparently, the Goblins had been divided into various factions - there were 25 of them in total. The current village was under the rule of Lake, who, with various innovative ideas and some adventure, built it and used a discovered artifact to form a barrier.

Due to this, in the last entire year, only 1 goblin had died, and less than 5 were injured - it was that safe. Eyeing this, some other major goblin factions decided to take over the place by hook or by crook.

Initially, they sent messengers, wanting to share the barrier and the village. However, Lake refused because he had neither the power nor the strength to entertain any new goblin’s presence. After all, the artifact’s location could end up being revealed and pose a potential danger.

He cared for no one other than the ones who were under his care.

Also, the goblins didn’t choose specifically but were initially divided evenly among various lords about a year or two ago!

Unfortunately, Dirt’s one and only sister has been trapped in a different tribe. Even after taking the permission of Lake to have just his sister come to the village, Dirt failed to bring her, as she was not allowed to leave the other tribe. Luckily, Dirt was able to put forward a bet that if he were to win against one of their warriors in the upcoming ‘Clash of Tribes,’ then he would be able to take his sister away.

Needless to say, this was only agreed 3 months ago, and the tribal war is no more than 15 days away. Despite having trained under Lake, Dirt has failed to have any lucky encounter and increase his strength significantly.

Finding no other choice, he decided to ask the savior from the oracle, who happened to be Azeth, for help!

‘Ah? Interesting…’, Azeth lowered his head a bit, touching his chin with his fingertips.

‘I initially thought, what could be the reason for those killing intents and gazes, but now that I think about it, could it be? Could it be that some of them have already infiltrated the place or were somehow bribed?’

Azeth was not completely sure, but he couldn’t throw away the possibility of infiltration. After all, it was quite common in the Reiz Empire.

‘Entering the barrier is not that easy. From personal experience, I can easily deny the fact that they are not outsiders… the only thing that comes to my mind is that either they were bribed or are spies of different tribes who had joined Lake’s tribe from the start… probably when the divisions were made.’

Having made some speculations, Azeth thought deeply about the current situation, the tribe wars and whatever Dirt had said about.

‘The tribe wars will be perfect to check other goblins and their strength.’, he concluded.

He still had many more things to think about, but Dirt didn’t let him do that as he, with a wavy voice, asked, “Lord savior, can you please help? Please?”

As the words interrupted his thinking, Azeth had no choice but to reply Dirt’s call.

“You have been training under Lake, so, has there been no improvement at all?”, Azeth asked.

“Of course there is Lord savior… but I don’t think it is enough…”, Dirt’s eyes went from excited state to a saddened state as he said this.

Intrigued, Azeth decided to take a look at Dirt’s stats.

[Profile]

Name: Dirt

Race: Goblin

Rank: F

Level: 23

Age: 3 years

Attributes:

HP (Hit Points): 230

MP (Magic Points): 115

Strength: 115

Dexterity: 100

Speed: 60

Constitution: 115

Stat Points: 80

Abilities [Does not consume MP]:

1. Quick Recovery Lv.10: Recovers from minor injuries more swiftly.

2. Sneaky Footsteps Lv.5: Can move quietly to avoid detection.

3. Basic Perception Lv.3: Basic ability to sense nearby disturbances.

Skills [Consumes MP]:

1. Swift Dash Lv.2 [6 MP per minute]: Temporarily boosts Speed for quick escapes.

2. Basic Strike Lv.1 [10 MP per cast]: A single blow is charged with double the strength stat.

3. Shadow Control Lv.3 [5 MP per cast]: Able to control shadows.

Equipment:

1. Worn Dagger [Rank F]: A basic, slightly rusted dagger; Dexterity +5.

2. Tattered Cloth Armor [Rank F]: Provides minimal protection; Constitution +5.

"I see. A goblin this strong, Lake sure has done a wonderful job."

Having confirmed the stats, Azeth asked, “Did you perhaps learn shadow control from Lake?”

Dirt was surprised yet again as he heard this, his eyes enlarging as if they would pop out, and his jaws nearly dropping to the floor.

“H-how did you know?”, he stuttered but didn’t fail to ask, for he was baffled.

“...”, however, to remain mysterious, Azeth didn’t reply.

‘Tell me system, can I use Dirt’s stat points to increase his own stats? Can I manipulate it without having him killed?’, Azeth asked, thinking about the possibility.

[It can be done, but you can only cause an increment and cannot bring the used stat back to normal. Note: You can only increase stat points equivalent to your level per day.]

‘Wait, I’m level 2, so I can only use 2 stat points to increase other stats for Dirt, in a day?’

[Affirmative.]

Well, he was already happy with the news, and the conditions, they weren’t all that harsh. Having now a way to fulfill Dirt’s wish, Azeth stood up and looked down at Dirt, continuing the mysterious act while also showcasing as a savior and helper.

Slowly moving his left arm forward he said, “I can make you stronger.”

It was as if he was giving a helping hand. Dirt grabbed it, and with a further lowered head and tears in his eyes, said, “Thank you, Lord Savior.”