Chapter 7

Sure enough.

When Soren stealthily went out for a round and then pretended to pass by and return, there were already two fully armed guards standing at the door.

There must be something valuable inside!

Since there was no way here, Soren could only look for the next target. There were many opportunities to pick locks in the dock area, enough to raise his thief level to over 3. Once his profession level reached level 3, ordinary locks would no longer be able to improve his thieving skills. He would have to find a way to sneak into the higher-level locks inside Amber City.

However, having the ability of a level 3 thief was already enough. According to the normal situation, there would be a hidden treasure cave near every city.

Inside, besides traps and monsters, there would be a treasure chest.

That was the only extraordinary item players could obtain in the early stages, and its value was absolutely astonishing!

In most cases.

Such a treasure cave would require a team of adventurers around level 5 to take it down, but the advantage of being a thief was here. If the skills were high enough, a level 3 thief could also infiltrate alone. The cave was a special geographical environment, where the thief's stealth ability had a hidden +5 bonus, and the dark cave made it easier to sneak around.

All skill points were allocated to stealth.

Soren increased his stealth skill to 68 points in one breath. Theft was currently not very useful, and 35 skill points were enough for him to steal from some slow-reacting targets. This was easy for a former legendary thief, and Soren could easily judge which fat merchants wouldn't notice him stealing. As for lockpicking, he already had 45 points, which was more than enough to handle ordinary locks. He might need to improve it later when he entered Amber City.

The lowest skill was trap disarming, which could only handle some simple alarm devices. It probably wouldn't be enough to deal with the traps in the treasure cave!

The next time he upgraded his thief level, Soren would need to raise his trap disarming skill to 30 points.

...

"Based on this."

"Once the thief profession reaches level 3, an additional profession feat can be obtained."

Soren's figure wandered through the crowd, and when he came out, he already had several silver ducats in his hand. His extraordinary human agility of 20 points was enough to let him steal what he wanted before others could react. Not to mention, he also had two very good personal feats.

"Agile Left Hand [Personal Feat]: Through long-term training, the thief has an incredibly agile left hand, permanently increasing their agility by 1 point, and providing an additional 3 points of bonus when performing theft, lockpicking, and trap disarming."

(It is said that a certain paper exercise can also train hand agility, alternating hands can increase agility by 2 points, but a constitution saving throw must be made, or else constitution will decrease by 3 points.)

"Photographic Memory [Personal Feat]: Long-term training gives you a photographic memory, allowing you to easily remember targets you have seen, permanently increasing your intelligence by 1 point, and providing an additional 3 points of bonus in memory checks."

(If you can remember the names of over a hundred actresses, your intelligence will permanently increase by 3 points, but your charisma will decrease by 5 points, and there is a chance to gain a lecherous aura.)

(Please ignore the content in parentheses. —— Buddha!)

The former was a rare personal feat.

The latter was a special feat that could be cultivated but was not easy to obtain.

Many spellcasters had spent a lot of effort to train themselves to gain the photographic memory personal feat.

A day passed quickly.

Soren picked over a dozen locks in the dock area and stole some valuables.

In the past, someone would have come to collect the tribute, and the gang had a couple of level 5 warriors. Soren was no match for them. A qualified warrior had over 15 points in strength, and very good weapon proficiency, as well as corresponding combat skills. Level 5 and above warriors had special combat talents, and their strength could reach over 18 points. The former Soren, without professional combat training, was not their match.

Without the gang's exploitation, all these things belonged to him!

It was a relatively substantial income.

Soren stole a total of twelve silver ducats, enough for him and Vivian to live for over a month, and he also accumulated over 200 profession experience points.

A thief needed 500 experience points to reach level 3!

At the current rate, it would take him at most one day to level up his thief level.

Level 10 Commoner / Level 5 Thief.

This would put him in the range of second-tier professions, and at that time, Soren would be able to master a special ability called 'Shadow Assassination'.

Among second-tier professionals.

Thieves specializing in stealth and mastering 'Shadow Assassination' were the most dangerous!

They had the ability to kill others in one hit.

In the slums.

When Soren returned to his low, shabby house, he immediately heard voices inside.

He pushed open the door and walked in, seeing a pretty young priestess sitting on a stool. When she saw Soren, her expression immediately turned cold, and she gave a light hum as a greeting. Then she smiled at Vivian and said, "Since he's back."

"I'll leave then."

"Be careful on your own, and if anything happens, you can go to the Dawn Temple to find me."

Vivian nodded obediently and thanked her, "Thank you, Sister Anyali."

This young girl was an apprentice priestess at the Dawn Temple, who worshipped the god of dawn light, Kalsoros, a deity who quickly fell during the chaotic years. Kalsoros was a subordinate god of the Lord of Light and was one of the first to be attacked by the abyssal demons. Over half of the deities in the Lord of Light's pantheon fell during the chaotic years!

The young girl would soon lose some of her divine abilities.

Her name was Anyali, and she had taken a liking to Vivian after meeting her by chance. She helped Soren because of her.

Unfortunately, her divine skill level was too low to heal Soren's injuries.

As a priestess of the dawn light, Anyali actually disliked Soren, the thief, so she mostly didn't have a good expression when she saw him.

Perhaps in her view, it was because of thieves and bandits like him that the security in Amber City was so poor.

"What happened?"

After the young priestess left, Soren squatted down and gently stroked Vivian's little head, asking, "Why did she come over?"

Vivian glanced at him and whispered, "Today, someone was lurking around suspiciously."

"Seemed like Cole's men."

"Fortunately, Sister Anyali came and scared them away."

"She also healed the bruise on my back!"

Vivian lifted her little hand and lifted her shirt, revealing that the black and purple bruise on her back had already disappeared, making the mild healing potion Soren had bought through special channels useless. There were no blacksmiths or potion shops in the slums, and to buy these, one had to go through black market merchants, from whom many weapons also came.

"Cole?"

A hint of killing intent flashed in Soren's eyes. He hadn't expected the other party to be so bold, daring to send people over just after he refused.

Does he really think I'm easy to handle?

"Tomorrow I'll take you to the city and find a place to stay."

Soren handed a candy he had stolen to Vivian and said softly, "There are guards patrolling in the city, and the security is much better here."

"You'll be safer there."

Vivian nodded lightly, reached out her little hand to take the candy, unwrapped it, and put it in her mouth, immediately smiling happily, "Brother!"

"So sweet and delicious!"

"You should have one too."

The little hand put a piece of candy into Soren's mouth. She was always so easily satisfied; even cheap, low-quality candy from the slums could make her happy.

Soren's face showed a smile as he also ate a piece.

It was bitter and sweet.

This was the low-quality maltose that many nobles in the city would disdain.

There was only this in the slums.

Vivian stood up from the bench, patted the dust off Soren's clothes, and said softly, "Sister Anyali is a good person."

"No one was willing to help us when you were unconscious."

"Only she was willing to help."

Soren smiled and gently pinched her little nose, whispering, "I know."

"She is a good person."

"We will repay her when we have the chance."

Although the young priestess disliked him, he couldn't deny that he owed her a favor.

Soren was a person who clearly distinguished between kindness and enmity.

The sky was dark.

The two of them started to prepare dinner. Soren brought back some smoked meat and some oil and salt seasonings.

The bodies at the Firehouse Tavern had been discovered.

The looks of the others nearby were filled with a hint of awe, and they would involuntarily swallow their saliva when they smelled the meat.

Vivian ate a lot.

Her little belly was full, and when she saw Soren's teasing gaze, her little face turned slightly red, and she waved her little fist in embarrassment.

She hadn't eaten meat for a long time.

Today was very satisfying!

Soren just lovingly stroked her little head, and the two of them chatted casually. As the sky gradually darkened, they climbed into bed.

Night fell.

Soren, who had been lying with his eyes closed, opened them and carefully pulled his arm out from under Vivian's embrace.

He tiptoed out of bed, put on his clothes, and put a dagger in his waist.

There was a problem.

It was better to solve it early!

Soren glanced at the sleeping Vivian on the bed and carefully closed the door and left.

Night was the time for killing.

Soren didn't have the energy to worry about these trivial matters and didn't want these people to threaten Vivian's safety.

Since they dared to target Vivian!

Then they all go to hell.

In the dark shadows, Soren's face was expressionless as he sneaked into the shadows, and his figure gradually became blurred, with a cold killing intent in his eyes.

The Cross Alley was still bustling.

This was the most prosperous place in the slums, though only relatively so compared to other dilapidated areas.

Cole had become the new leader.

He had gathered a group of ruffians and scoundrels from the slums and seized this piece of the slums' wealth.

There were dozens of prostitutes here, some of whom were quite attractive, and occasionally people from the dock area would come to play. Therefore, controlling this area meant controlling an important source of income in the slums. Because they had just fought with another group of ruffians a few days ago, many people in the Cross Alley were armed, and there were fewer customers. The prostitutes stood idly by, and occasionally one of Cole's men would pull someone into a nearby shabby house.

In the darkness.

A figure appeared silently, moving along the shadows of the walls toward them.

The slaughter had just begun!

...