Getting down to the village, I hovered quietly above it, like a drifting thought that refused to settle. From that vantage point, I took in everything below, letting my gaze wander across the layout. Honestly, it looked almost exactly like what my imagination had prepared me for before I arrived. Crude. Simple. Barely holding itself together.
The village sat in a clearing, carved out from a dense ring of tall, aged trees. Their branches creaked and whispered with every passing breeze, producing a constant murmur that felt almost alive. It wasn't exactly comforting. More like the forest itself was watching.
Encircling the village was a fence, if it could even be called that. It was built from uneven, worn-out logs shoved together with little care for durability. The wood looked old enough to crumble if someone stared at it too hard. Still, it formed a rough perimeter, marking the boundary between whatever passed as safety here and the wilderness beyond.
Inside, the structures were… huts. Or at least, something resembling huts.
They looked like someone had taken the concept of stacking firewood and decided to scale it up into living spaces. Logs leaned against each other in awkward arrangements, barely forming walls, while the roofs sagged like they were seconds away from surrendering to gravity. One strong gust of wind would be enough to send the whole place collapsing like a house of cards.
Calling it poor construction felt generous. That would imply effort, intention, some degree of skill.
No, this was closer to a child's messy attempt at building something out of sticks. Random. Fragile. Temporary.
Still, I didn't really care.
Their living conditions had nothing to do with me. I wasn't here to critique architecture or offer humanitarian aid. I was here for something far more important.
Experience.
With that thought, I descended without invitation, slipping into their midst like the ghostly whisper that I was. Before making any move, I paused just long enough to confirm something crucial.
No one reacted. No eyes turned toward me. No signs of awareness. No hint that my presence registered at all.
Good. That confirmed it.
Kaiden truly was the anomaly. The potato in the field of cassava.
The only one among them capable of seeing or interacting with me. The oddity in a sea of oblivious creatures. Whatever made him different, it wasn't something shared by the rest of his kind.
That worked perfectly in my favor.
Now that I had absolute confirmation they couldn't perceive me, I got to work.
What followed could only be described as an all-you-can-eat... point of correction. An all-you-can possess buffet is what it was.
I dove straight into the nearest goblin without hesitation.
A small, frail-looking male. Exactly what I expected.
[Notice! You have possessed a nameless Goblin F-]
The moment the notification appeared, I was already out of his body, moving on without pause.
[+76 experience point]
I frowned. That was… odd. Shouldn't it be +100?
The discrepancy lingered in my thoughts for a brief second, like an itch I couldn't scratch. But I quickly dismissed it. There would be time to figure that out later.
Right now, there were far too many targets waiting. And I wasn't about to waste this opportunity.
So I continued. Dive in. Pull out. Dive in. Pull out. Faster than they could react to.
Over and over again, I moved through them like a phantom tide, leaving nothing but system notifications in my wake.
[You have successfully possessed a nameless Goblin F-]
[+88 experience point]
[You have successfully possessed a nameless Goblin F+]
[+109 experience point]
[You have successfully possessed…]
[Experience threshold reached! You have leveled up!]
[You have successfully possessed…]
[+— experience point]
[You have leveled up! You have leveled up!]
The notifications stacked rapidly, almost overlapping each other as my level climbed at a pace that felt borderline absurd.
There was no shortage of goblins.
If I had to estimate, I'd already possessed over twenty of them.
In return I have managed to push my level by three gained.
A whopping three. By my standards, that was massive.
And the shocking thing is, I wasn't even done yet. Still many more waiting to be drifted into.
Once I noticed the open area had been mostly cleared of targets, I shifted my attention to the huts. If there were any goblins left, they would be inside.
Without hesitation, I began my next phase.
Invasion into their homes.
One hut after another, I slipped inside, located the occupant, possessed them, and moved on. The process was smooth. Efficient. Almost mechanical.
[+80 experience point]
"Good… good. Keep it coming," I muttered, unable to hide the excitement bubbling inside me.
The goblins themselves remained completely unaware. My movements were too fast, too seamless. To them, nothing had happened.
Which made it all the better. Still,I can't help but to wonder.
If I could gain this much from a goblin villag, what then if I move on to a human settlement?
Serious food for thought question, and the thought alone was enough to make something stir within me.
Humans gathered in far larger numbers. Their density alone would turn something like this into an absolute feast.
A harvest. No… more like a festival.
A monthly harvest season where I reaped experience instead of crops.
The idea was tempting. Dangerous, probably. But nonetheless tempting.
Lost in that train of thought, I entered another hut. And immediately paused.
Why? Inside were two goblins. A male and a female.
Both seemed to be severely occupied. And I don't mean that in a workaholic busy kind of occupied.
The male was on top, moving rhythmically, his body tense with effort. The female beneath him responded in kind, her reactions loud and unrestrained.
That was uhm... Something. I guess.
"He sure is an energetic fella," I commented to myself, observing for a brief moment.
A very, focused energetic fella so to speak.
What now? Should I leave? Probably give them privacy to do the do.
Respect the moment if you will.
Yeah. That sounds about the appropriate thing to... Heck no. Absolutely no not.
I wasn't here to play the role of a polite observer. I had a goal, and I wasn't about to let something like this interrupt it.
They could continue whatever they were doing. On the other hand, I too would continue what I was doing.
Still, I had to be very careful about this. Timing mattered here.
If I moved too slowly, I might disrupt their… rhythm. And as little as I cared about their situation, I had no interest in dealing with unnecessary complications.
Which meant one thing. Speed.
A more faster, more accurate driven speed than what I was earlier displaying.
With a quiet exhale, I drifted closer, positioning myself just behind the male goblin.
"Here goes."
The moment I reached out, I activated the skill.
In. Out.
Not even a fraction of a second had passed.
[+109 experience point]
That was… impressive. By far it remained the highest experience I had gotten from any Goblin.
I glanced at him again, mildly intrigued.
"Figures,"
The amount of energy he was displaying wasn't normal for an average man. And I suspect it is the same for the average goblin. It made sense that his experience yield reflected that much more than the others.
Strength came in different forms, apparently.
"…Ahem."
I cleared my throat, more for myself than anything else.
Focus. Next target. The female.
Now, this one required even more precision.
I had zero interest in experiencing whatever sensations she was currently immersed in. So the plan was simple.
In and out. Fast. Very fast. If possible, it has to be my fastest speed.
That said, I do wonder what my actual fastest speed is as a Ghost. Way faster than a Human, that I know for sure.
Probably on the level of a Cheetah?! Couldn't be sure until a test is carried out.
Still, I know I am very fast. That much I can boast of.
Back on track, the situation itself was bizarre enough already. No need to make it worse.
With that, I moved.
Possessed. Depossessed. Clean. Efficient.
[+69 experience point! Experience threshold reached!]
[You have leveled up!]
"Nice."
I couldn't help it. I threw a small fist bump into the air, satisfaction bubbling over.
Another level. This place really was a goldmine.
But that was enough.
I had no intention of lingering here any longer than necessary.
"My eyes have suffered enough," I exclaimed, already turning toward the exit.
Time to leave.
But just as I was about to slip out, the entrance suddenly shifted. And surprisingly enough, in rushed a familiar figure.
Kaiden. The Hobo Goblin.
A bad feeling crept in immediately, coiling in the pit of my nonexistent stomach like a warning bell ringing just a little too late.
In other layman's term, shit's about to go down. I suspect.