"How dare you, you wild monkey!" Kiesh yelled at the top of his lungs, trying to scare away the wild beast who had stolen his food. But screaming was not the only thing he did; the moment this humanoid figure swiped his food, Kiesh immediately summoned his vines.

The green vines, like vipers, zigzagged in the air, rushing at the blurry afterimage, only to collide with the shadow on the ground. The monkey was quicker than Kiesh thought. It escaped the vine's clutches and disappeared into the dense tree branches of the tree.

Kiesh ran toward it, trying to close the distance, but it was as quick as the wind.

"Come here, you thief! Give me my food back!"

"Alas," the monkey ignored Kiesh's angry roar and escaped into the forest, holding the meat stick in its hand.

Would Kiesh allow his food to be swept away in front of his eyes?

Would this damn red monkey be the one to enjoy his savory dishes?

Would Kiesh allow the fruit of his hard labor to be enjoyed by others, especially a damn Thief Monkey?

"NO!"

After following its trail for an entire hour, Kiesh came to realize that this adversary was quicker than he thought so it escaped from his clutches.

Even knowing that Kiesh tried to find its trail only to gain nothing.

"Ah..! Do you think I will let you live after you ruined my happiness.... start counting your day."

When Kiesh was running after the Thief of his happiness he had gotten a general view of its physique a 5-foot-tall humanoid figure with red hair on the entire body bipedal resembling a gorilla but thinner than it.

The name? Quick Thief Monkey.

According to Maya spell, the Quick Thief Monkey is a type of beast that lives in packs scattered across the entire Vatika forest.

This species survives by stealing from other beasts.

The gift of insane speed from the ability known as dash helped them in their act of thievery.

Dash is a specific ability inherited from their ancestors passed by descendants to descendants it gave them a light body agile limbs and enhanced perception.

It's tied to their special bloodline granting them the speed of a realm above their cultivation. For example, if a Thief Monkey is in the foundation establishment stage he will have the speed of a Peak Refinement stage cultivator.

So, someone of the same cultivation stage or below as the Thief Monkey should forget ever gaining their stuff.

Well, it's not like it's impossible to gain the stuff back if someone has the misfortune of being a victim of their thievery; they have two choices.

One option is to run after it and catch it. Upon doing this, the thieving monkey will immediately hand over the stolen thing. This method is available only to those who can close the distance to within 6 meters and intimidate it with power. But these quick thieves are smart; they never touch a bag of a person who is stronger than them, so it leads to the second choice.

The second choice is trading. Yes, simply means the victim should empty their pockets to gain their stuff back.

In other words, if you want your stuff back, you must offer something in return.

Moreover, it's impossible for low-level cultivators like Kiesh to catch up to its speed.

Thus, the only way for Kiesh to retrieve his  food is by negotiation.

"Hell nah, I am not going to negotiate with you. Just wait; I will find you and make you pay for what you did!" Saying that, Kiesh activated the map function to search for any nearby present missions.

Currently, catching the Thief Monkey was one of his goals, but not the only one. His main goal was to gain these magical rewards and techniques. And about the quick monkey the next time it came to steal from Kiesh, that would be its last thievery of life.

With that, Kiesh walked toward a specific location where a mission was situated.

[ Missions:- Plucking the rainbows blossomed flower ] 

<Rank 2 star>

 <Description:- Rainbow blossomed flower having characteristics of catalyzing elemental affinity to be awakened in cultivator body, thus it is one of the important ingredients to make affinity awakening potion. I need it as quickly as possible and as much as you can gather>

[Location: Planet Oasis, Surfing Metroid, and Space Node Vatika]

<Rewards:- Recipes of affinity awakening potion>

Soon, he reached a place full of bushes and flowers amidst that. Multicolored clusters of petals from different flowers stood out, inviting Kiesh to claim them for himself. 

One specific flower stood out with 7 large petals, each carrying its own color, emitting their specific flickering candlelight. Spreading it in the surroundings illuminated the other petals, giving them a luster of their own.

But Kiesh was not the only one who was scaling for this herb. Hidden under the flower field was a big, black, fluffy animal with two specific demonic horns, walking toward the herb. 

Both jumped out at the same time, wanting to grab the specific herb. Kiesh brought out his axe from inventory, summoning vines after vines to entrap the wild rabbit.

 A powerful downward swing was all it took to take care of it. After that, Kiesh stored the corpse in his inventory and walked forward to pluck the flower. 

Kiesh's hand moved forward, trying to grasp the reward of his labor. 

As his palm was about to coil around the flower's stem to detach it from the ground, suddenly, a horde of flickering multicolored particles emerged from it, trying to blind Kiesh. 

Thankfully, he had already summoned his vines, covering his eyes and the axe which decapitated the flower.

Although Kiesh escaped from becoming blind, his face now looked like a joker, colored with rainbow hues.

The flower from his hand disappeared as it was sent as a gift for the receiver, and a pop-up greeted him.

[Mission complete]

[Reward issuing]

[Recipes for affinity awakening Potion gained]