The Ability Steal System

Killing The D+ rank One Eyed Frost Ape

While he was planning his escape, the ape abruptly turned and looked directly at him with its one eye. The moment he locked eyes with the ape, he lost control of his body. At the same moment, all the monsters charged at him. Felix felt his heart skip a beat; it appeared like he had made a serious mistake.

Additionally, his camouflage ability was disabled, making him obviously visible to the creatures on the approach.

It was the one-eyed Frost Ape that frightened him. It was adept in soul attacks as it was at physical ones; the ability it just used on him was "Soul Chains," and he was aware that it could kill him instantly, but the cruel monster desired for him to be ripped apart by the raging monsters.

"System, is there a way out? I can't move my body." Felix questioned the system in a panicked voice.

[There is a way, but you can't access it right now.]

"So I’m doomed" Felix said in grief, and for the first time since he first entered this realm, he displayed genuine terror, which seemed to please the ape in its own twisted way.

Observing the approaching monsters, he sensed the imminence of death; he sensed that this particular death was far more severe than the one he had experienced in a past life, a memory he couldn't quite recall for some strange reason.

The first monster was about to attack him when, suddenly, a massive flame shot out of the trees, blasting the creature and instantly turning it to ashes. This was followed by a series of assaults that targeted the forefront convoy and dispatched them.

"Ding"

[System has detected a D rank Offensive ability "Fire Manipulation"]

[Would you like to steal it? It costs 3,200 points.]

"Yes! "After Felix gave the affirmative to the system, he was a bit dazed, and his eyes darted to the side where a large group of Espers materialized. A red-haired D+ Rank Esper led the group, and Connor and his friends, who were relieved to see him safe, were also visible.

He heard several other system notifications, but he was too happy about escaping the claws of death to be concerned about pilfering any skills.

‘Noo, my XP!’ Felix screamed in his head as he stared at the creatures the Calvary of Espers was destroying; his heart bled witnessing the enormous quantity of XP being wasted.

"You measly humans shall pay for killing my kind." The One-Eyed Frost Ape shouted in rage, its body glowing with a bluish aura that gathered around its figure, then condensed, eventually becoming an enormous ice armor. After the ape armed itself, it lunged in the direction of the D+ rank.Esper.

"Hmm, it seems like you have forgotten your place." The D+ Rank Esper chuckled while showcasing his skills. Flames accumulated on his body to create a flame armor. At this point, he looked like the embodiment of fire. With a smirk, he shot in the direction of the ape.

As the two opposing forces collided, they unleashed a massive shockwave that resulted in several deaths of the monsters who were nearby.

Felix, who had recovered and regained control over his body, sensed the ferocity of the conflict and looked at the two behemoths. His eyes glowed as his thoughts saw him gaining this kind of strength.

No, his ambitions were greater; he wouldn't settle for anything less than the best.

Once he reached a secure area, he switched to camouflage mode and smiled as he pulled out his bow once more, nocking many arrows and dispatching a number of beasts in one shot.

The chaos also simplified the situation, as no one had the time to search for an archer amidst the chaos.

After killing one monster after another, he soon came to understand that his leveling speed had decreased, so he chose to use despicable methods; he soon began stealing other people's kills.

When a monster was weakened and about to be eliminated, he would quickly move and take it out. The Espers saw this, but they were too focused on not dying to be concerned.

Felix, in the meantime, was also keeping an eye on the ongoing conflict between the two opposing factions' leaders.

Although it appeared that they were matched equally, if one looked closely, they would notice that the D+ rank Esper was gaining the upper hand.

After observing the battle between the two powerhouses for some time, he eventually made the decision to transition to real combat, realizing that he was beginning to infuriate the Espers by stealing their kills.

He placed his bow in his storage ring, took out the poison dagger, then charged into battle.

Over the course of the fight, he kept on obtaining new battle experience and began becoming well-known as a result of his attacks.

He would aim at a F+ rank beast, striking its critical areas with lightning speed, then withdraw after exchanging a few strikes with it.

He would then wait until the poison started to take effect, at which point he would kill it with a vicious attack.

Monster upon monster, Felix and the other Espers took them out till eventually the monster horde dwindled in number until nearly entirely subdued by the people, and then all of a sudden Felix's body let out a horrifying pressure that suppressed F Rank monsters and Espers.

"Ding"

[You've reached level 20, and all stats have increased by 1. You have also gained an additional stat point with 800 system points.]

[You’ve reached the E rank; all stats increased by 10; you have gained 10,000 system points, the rank of all abilities has been increased by one.]

"He really made a breakthrough in the middle of the fight, but his aura is so strong," Remarked an elderly E rank Esper with surprise.

After several years of being an E rank Esper, he still felt a little pressured by Felix, who had recently attained the rank of E rank Esper.

"So, this is how it feels to be an E Rank Esper." Felix felt that he was unstoppable and could eliminate an F rank Esper with a single punch, but in the face of the two D rank heavyweights, he felt small and feeble. Still though, the increase in the ranks of his abilities was simply unexpected.

"Haha, this place is simply a treasure trove," Felix stated while grinning and using his camouflage ability. He then moved towards the lifeless body of an E rank Esper.

He started off moving slowly before picking up speed when he realized that no one was observing him. With haste, he crouched next to the corpse and removed the storage ring from the deceased person's finger.

After successfully stealing the first ring without getting caught, he bravely continued to steal more rings until his storage ring was nearly full, at which point he decided to change his strategy. He walked through the chaotic battlefield, collecting the remains of monsters. As soon as one ring was full, he would take out another and keep adding more corpses until he filled them all. He was lucky that no one noticed some bodies were missing due to the abundance of corpses.

"It's time to soak up some blood," Felix declared as he found a secure location and proceeded to remove the corpse of an E rank monster. He gathered all the bodies for a variety of purposes: one was to sell for money, two was to take out their beast cores since he couldn't do that here, three was to use his blood-sucking dagger to absorb the beast's blood, four was to use their blood himself, and he had many other reasons, but at present, he was going to absorb the blood of the beasts with his blood-sucking dagger.

As he prepared to take in the monster's blood, he felt a massive blast of icy air hit him out of nowhere, which led him to experience a freezing sensation in his organs. He recoiled instinctively and moved to a secure location out of the chilly air before turning to the continuous struggle between the two titans. He was astounded to see that the One-Eyed Frost Ape now had the advantage.

"How did this happen?" Felix questioned, startled, but instantly recognized the answer in front of him: the One-Eyed Frost Ape was getting his energy from the leftover creatures who gave off their lives as a sacrifice for a boost in power. The power of the One-Eyed Frost Ape had grown to such an extent that it heavily suppressed the D+ rank Esper.

"This is terrible; if it keeps up, the captain will die, and it'll be our turn next. We must act now." An E+ rank Esper stated, observing the One-Eyed Frost ape's increased power.

"What should we do? We cannot compete with the One-Eyed Frost Ape," Answered a different man.

"If we engage it one-on-one, it’ll be a straight loss, but when we team up, we can defeat it," Felix remarked, appearing from the trees with a calm expression.

"Who are you to try to tell us what to do?" An E+ rank Esper, inquired.

"He’s the man who was brave enough to stall the beast horde,” Connor grinned and said before Felix could say anything. Connor's words made everyone who was still alive, stare at him including a man who was close to death, who gave him one last look before he perished.

"I know that I don't have the right to command you, but now the only option is to fight or die trying, just think of your families at home because if we don't fight, the One Eyed Frost Ape will kill the captain, kill us then attack the slums and maybe kill everyone there, including your families, so are you just going to stand here and let your family be wiped out, or are you going to fight for your lives and the lives of your family, because let me tell you, I don't have any family but I am willing to fight for yours, so will you join me or not?" Felix’s fearless voice echoed out, sounding in the ears of the Espers who became touched by his speech. He didn't have any family but was willing to fight for theirs, even the E+ rank Esper who questioned Felix became embarrassed.

"I'll fight with you," A courageous man declared and stepped forward. A little later, there was a second voice, and another man also stepped forward, then one Esper after another, until they were all gazing at Felix like he was their leader; meanwhile, Felix showed a courageous smile as he chuckled quietly to himself. In his previous life, he had led many operations in which the odds were against them, but he had managed to boost the morale of his team, so giving an inspirational speech was easy.

"Okay, so do you have a plan?" The E+ rank Esper, who had previously questioned Felix asked.

"I do. The One-Eyed Frost Ape's heart, as you all know, is its weakest part. However, its weakness lies in its thick skin, rendering it impenetrable to any weapon with a rank lower than D+. However, if we can harm its chest sufficiently to produce a big enough hole, I can kill it." Felix grinned as he described his strategy.

"And how are you going to pull that off?" An E Rank Esper inquired.

"Well, all you need to know is that I’m an archer," Felix replied with an enigmatic grin as his silhouette vanished.

"How did he do that? I can no longer feel his presence." The strongest E+ rank Esper said with shock.

BOOM

A thunderous explosion was heard, and they all turned to see the D+ rank Esper's badly ruffled figure who had one hand missing.

"Damn, we wasted too much time, attack," The most powerful E+ rank uttered before rushing towards the One-Eyed Frost Ape with the others. He summoned a wind blade and hurled it forward.

"A bunch of ants." With contempt, the One-Eyed Frost Ape remarked as the wind blade touched it, giving it a scratch.

It gave them a menacing smile and waved a hand in their direction; this action formed a massive ice ball that soared towards them.

"Every Esper possessing defensive powers step forward and activate them." An E+ rank leader yelled at them as he retreated. On command, every Esper with a defensive skill moved to the front and triggered them.

When the ice ball got closer to the Espers, several layers of defense abilities appeared—earth walls, ice walls, wind shields, and many others. What transpired next demonstrated the superiority of teamwork.

The ice ball reached the defensive wall made up of hundreds of Espers, and even though it was a D+ rank attack, it was nullified before it could cause any damage.

"All offensive capabilities ought to be engaged and directed toward the chest," the E+ rank leader uttered after they successfully blocked the ice ball. He smiled and joined the rest in attacking; the victorious move had considerably raised the group's confidence.

Even though the One Eyed Frost Ape was a D+ rank in the end, it was unable to stop at least 100 Espers' strikes, which included that of the injured D+ rank, F, F+, E, and E+ ranks without receiving injuries.

To the best of their abilities, the Espers applied their skills, and some of them were even able to advance their skill levels as a result of this, further unleashing their full force on the One-Eyed Frost Ape.

The D+ rank Esper had understood their intentions prior to observing how they went for its chest, so after he realized they had dealt enough damage to its chest area, he joined his hands, and then a sliver of fire emerged, quickly expanding to the size of a basketball. Afterwards, he channeled all of his body's leftover mana into the basketball, making it grow hotter and brighter in the process.

He pointed and fired at the chest of the ape, who had just finished fending off the attacks of the remaining Espers.

The speed of the fireball startled the One-Eyed Frost Ape, and it could only watch in horror as it struck its chest, unable to stop it in that short period of time. The attack was the combined power of all the mana remaining in the D+ Rank Esper.

The fireball instantly struck the One-Eyed Frost Ape square in the chest, sending it flying backward and colliding with a tree.

Just as the Espers were about to savor this moment, a dreadful chilly burst of energy shot out from the body of the ape, its eyes glowed blue as the ice gradually spread over its chest, trying to cover its lethal injury.

"Oh no, the One-Eyed Frost Ape had awakened its bloodline even more; we are definitely dead this time." The Esper of E+ rank expressed his desperation and terror upon witnessing the hole closing.

In the midst of dread, a glimmer of hope appeared in the form of a lightning-covered arrow, with a dagger which radiated a dark light bound firmly to its head, which shot straight into the One-Eyed Frost Ape's chest via the nearly closed-off opening, and reached its heart, immediately ending the epic battle.

"Ding"

[You have killed a D+ ranked One-Eyed Frost Ape with the bloodline of an Ancient Frost Ape and gained 10,000xp and 5000 system points]

Huh, so you’re telling me that the guy who was about to die, used his last breath to look at Felix?

What?