Rick and Alfred didn't stop and kept moving until they were hidden besides the fence of the goblin village.

"I'll go in and try to find what's wrong. Stay here and make sure that no goblins sneak in or out." Rick said as he grasped his sword and rushed into the village.

What met his gaze was an empty village with strange things scattered about. Signs of fighting couldn't be seen, nor were there any bodies or blood.

Venturing deeper into the village, Rick soon came upon a deserted empty area with a body of a hobgoblin laying on the ground beheaded.

Walking over carefully, Rick prodded the body with his sword, then he sighed and sheathed his weapon.

"Alfred, come here." Hearing Rick's call, Alfred entered the village, looking around for signs of battle as well.

Soon he came upon Rick and the corpse of the hobgoblin. After searching the rest of the village, no goblins could be found.

"Seems like we were too late. I don't know why the village is empty, but it probably has to do with this guy." Rick kicked the hobgoblin's arm lightly.

"Isn't that a hobgoblin? Shouldn't it be at the peak of Bronze rank? That calibre of monster can't be killed by the denizens of this forest."

"What do you know? Bronze rank is but the first of many ranks. There are Bronze, Silver, Gold, Platinum, Hero, and Lord. There are even ranks above that, I don't know what they are though."

Bronze ranked practitioners could use Bronze colored energy to enhance their attacks, however it wouldn't manifest outside the body until the ranker hits Silver rank. 

Silver Rank gave a dull silver energy that could be projected outside the body to attack from afar. 

Gold rankers could use energy to augment their body to supernatural levels. They were capable of liquifying their energy, greatly enhancing the amount of energy they could hold.

Platinum rankers were extremely strong, capable of using their energy to sense the worldly energy, greatly increasing their attack power and range. Their energy gave off a silvery glow.

As for Hero rankers, they could take on armies by themselves. Capable of waging a war single handedly, they were considered experts. Using their energy, they could fly in the sky for a limited time.

Lord rankers could destroy entire cities, and with the amount of energy they possessed, they were beyond mortals and becoming something else entirely.

Of course, Lord rankers were as rare as Phoenix feathers and dragon scales. Because they could use the energy of the world as their own, they were considered Demi-Gods.

Because Rick hailed from a reputable family, he had more knowledge than most about the rankings. Beyond Lord class rankers were monsters who could level mountains with a single attack.

With so many races besides humans, the Long lived races normally had more high ranked experts due to their long lifespans. Rankers could increase their lifespan by ranking up as well, with Lord ranked experts being able to live for a thousand years easily.

Sorry for the info dump. T.T