The first person I see upon entering the Slums, is a Thief.

I quickly duck into an alley and wrap the black cloth around my face, hiding. Going into cover, and stealthily observe things. I moved as soon as I saw him, so I don’t think anyone noticed me.

Thief - Lv18

He acted like a homeless man.

But, something about his behaviour is unusual. Spending a short time watching him, I can see that he keeps glancing in one direction. He’s doing nothing other than sitting by the side of the road with a wooden bowl on the ground in front of him, but sometimes he seems to stretch--his gazes sharply somewhere.

If I were to guess, it seems like he is looking at the building near the brothel, the on the Thieves came from.

It’s almost like he is scouting the place.

Maybe the rumours about a battle between the factions is true, my guess would be that this man belongs to the faction who was exiled.

Although it seems to be some kind of covert scouting op, he doesn’t look very skillful.

Or, will nobody take notice of the strange moves of a homeless guy?

Then again, it takes quite a while of careful study to notice the anomalous behaviour--so maybe only I notice, and I am incorrect in thinking him unskilled.

Staying hidden, I continue watching him.

While testing my Non-Elemental Magic, I found two that are very useful for me. The first being Alarm, which can either be set to be silent to everyone except the caster--or loud enough to ring through a small village; the second is Camouflage, which makes it harder to find the caster…as long as they stay still.

Non-Elemental Magic is very much like most of the schools of Magic from D&D, with Elemental and Divine Spells removed. I did play D&D in my time, which is actually surprisingly useful in this situation.

A stakeout is more of a test of my bladder than I expected.

Just before I had to empty my bladder, the Thief started moving. He got up and came over in this direction--before passing by the alley I am hiding in. He seems to be going towards the exit of the slums.

Another person approaches him.

Just as they passed each other, the Thief knocked the other person off their feet; the Thief didn’t react, just casually walking away.

It seems that person was someone the Thief knew, he probably slipped a message to the man--but I have to choose whether to watch this man, or follow the Thief, and maybe find the location of their base.

Before I lose sight of the Thief, I make up my mind and follow him.

It’s surprisingly difficult to follow someone, while also paying attention to my surroundings, including behind me.

The Thief, while walking, also keeps glancing back--I make sure to keep my position differing, and keeping people between me and the Thief; my Appraisal Skill made it easier to track him.

His movements are slightly unusual, he seems to be as unused to this as I am…which is probably why he hasn’t caught me. I may need to learn some Rogue Class, or at least, some Stealth Skills. It would be great if following the Thief like this means I get a new class.

The Thief goes across almost the entirety of Vale, leaving through the South Gate. Outside the City Walls, there is a field; further outside that, there is a forest.

Unfortunately, the plants growing in the field aren’t high enough, so I can’t stealthily follow him.

After watching until he disappeared into the forest, I stopped tailing him.

I return through the gate, after emptying my bladder, and leave through the East Gate. I will enter the forest from this side and work my way over, hopefully finding the hideout before they find me.

It was easy to get into the forest, and I pay a lot of attention walking slowly, carefully, not making any noise. Especially since after the rain, mud covers the ground.

I looked around until evening, but couldn’t find the Thieves’ hideout, unfortunately. I use Warp to return to the Adventurer’s Guild--then go to a stall to buy a quick and easy dinner; before warping back into the forest.

Tomorrow is the date agreed on with the Slave Trader--I could have gotten Roxanne sooner…but I was trying to get rid of the threat of the Thieves before then, and I knew she wouldn’t be suffering or anything, so I didn’t need to hurry.

This is my last chance to remove the threat before I buy Roxanne.

Just as I was debating to give in or not, when I noticed a dim glimmer in the corner of my vision.

Oh?

I found him.

The same man as yesterday, the level 18 Thief.

The source of light is moving slowly; is he about to leave, or return to his hideout?

The sun has already set, the area is pitch-black--but my oddly enhanced vision allows me to see my surroundings. Thanks to the darkness, it will be difficult for the Thief to notice me, especially since he is using a lantern.

I Warp behind the Thief, a dark wall forming on the tree in front of me, and behind the Thief, I quickly step through. Making sure I stay outside the range of his lantern, and stay silent.

Before long, he arrived at a small cliff, in the cliff is a cave; a door is set in the entrance of the cave, and shut firmly.

The man knocks on the door--and the door opens, another man shows their face.

Thief - Lv24

It seems that I have found the hideout.

The level 24 Thief says something and the door is opened, the level 18 Thief quickly entering. After letting the level 18 in, the level 24 carefully examines the surroundings, looking left and right.

This is beyond coincidence--finding the Thieves’ hideout, just before I was about to give up…is someone or something watching me?

Attacking this cave is bound to get me a big catch.

When the door shuts, the surrounding darken again, there are no signs of light and nobody showed up when I used Appraisal.

I quickly unsheathe Excalibur, wrap the cloth around my face--being careful to make sure that it doesn’t hinder my vision. I make sure I have my Classes set, and get ready.

Mage - Lv5

Effects: +10 Intelligence, +30% Mana Regeneration, +20% Elemental Damage

Skills: Mid-Grade Elemental Magic (Fire, Water, Earth, Air, Ice, Lightning), Mid-Grade Non-Elemental Magic.

***

Hero - Lv20

***

Warrior - Lv8

Effects: +10 Strength, +10 Endurance

Skills: Accelerated Slash, Multi-Slash (x5), Cleave

***

Knight - Lv5

Effects: +10 Strength, +10 Endurance

Skills: Enhance Armour, Shield Bash, Fortress, Rush

***

These Classes were the Advanced Version of Wizard, Soldier, and Swordsman.

Accelerated Slash: Dash forwards at incredible speed and slash a single target.

Cleave: Causes extra damage against armoured opponents.

Enhance Armour: All Armour increases Physical Defence and Resistances. Leather Armour is as tough as Chain Armour; Chain Armour --> Mail Armour; Mail Armour --> Plate Armour.

Fortress: Physical Defense Greatly Increased while user stays completely still.

When my Classes reached level 30, they upgraded to an advanced version. They are lower level, but are much stronger. My combat ability has greatly increased.

Even when I fought the Thieves attacking the village, I was only level 1 and using Excalibur. Thinking about it now--I am curious how I managed to survive.

I take a deep breath.

When I think about killing people, it scares me. But I know that I have to do it, so as to make sure that there are less threats to me--and Roxanne, once I buy her--we can live a more peaceful life.

Well, I have already killed twenty Thieves in Somalia--so a few more won’t cause me too much more mental damage…I hope.

Confirming that no one is nearby, this time, I Warp inside the cave.

When the Thief entered, I saw enough of the inside of the cave to open a Warp on wall of the cave.

I can Warp to any place I have seen--as expected of a Bonus Skill.

When I step out of the black wall, I can’t see--even with my enhanced sight. It’s pitch-black, without even the slightest light from the stars.

When listening carefully, I can hear the quiet breathing of sleeping people.

I use Appraisal on the surroundings.

There are four Thieves.

Lv18 -- Lv24 -- Lv29 -- Lv35

Oh?

One of them reached level 35 without getting an Advanced Class, I wonder why. Anyway, around these levels I should be able to fight sufficiently, and get a good bounty.

They don’t seem to have any guards on watch. I now know their locations--I can see the floating semi-transparent windows, directly above the enemies heads.

Aligning Excalibur, I slice straight through his neck, killing him; silently.

It doesn’t take long--I kill all four, without waking a single one.

I feel sick…