Chapter 6: Dock District
A simple yet warm breakfast. When Soren was preparing to go out, Vivian immediately stood up silently, using her small hands to tidy his sleeves, then standing on a stool to tiptoe and adjust his collar. There weren’t many words exchanged, for they already had a tacit understanding; Soren gently touched her little head and then walked towards the low shed outside.
“Brother… Brother!…”
After Soren’s figure left, Vivian gently shrank back, tightly locking the door.
In the past, when her brother had something to do, he would leave like this, but she felt no fear; Hess was still by her side. Even if bad people broke in, there was an old dog to protect her. The slums had experienced many home burglaries, and now Hess was gone forever. She was all alone in the room, inevitably feeling a bit scared.
After all.
She was just an eight-year-old little girl.
All along, she had little sense of security, afraid of the dark, afraid of loneliness, afraid of being alone.
But she couldn’t tell Soren.
Because Soren also had very important things to do; he needed to get money back, as there wasn’t much food left at home.
She didn’t want to be a burden to her brother. Even if there were very few things she could do now, the little girl still felt she shouldn’t make Soren worry.
“Vivian.”
The little girl tightly gripped the broom in her hands and whispered, “You need to learn to be stronger!”
“You need to learn to take care of yourself.”
“Brother has already woken up, and no one dares to disturb.”
“They all fear brother!”
Dock District.
This is the most densely populated area in Amber City, where the entire city’s economy is supported by the Agate River.
Most of the men in the slums work here as laborers. Ships continuously transport goods from various places along the Agate River, requiring a large labor force for handling. This is also where gang conflicts are most intense, with more than a dozen gangs making a living here, whether through stealing possessions, skimming goods, or extorting protection fees; this place always offers many ways for gangs to make money.
“Is that Soren?!”
A tall, skinny man glanced at Soren walking in the distance, immediately whispering a command to someone beside him. He then approached directly and said, “Soren.”
“The boss wants to see you!”
Soren looked up at the man in front of him and remembered who he was, a guy named Garris. He was a decent warrior.
He had once followed others as an adventurer for a while, but unexpectedly, shortly after leaving Amber City, he encountered a group of goblins and werewolves. Werewolves are dangerous creatures that move in packs and often ambush adventurers at night. The entire adventuring party suffered heavy casualties, and he managed to escape, but one of his arms was severely injured. He then joined a local gang and abandoned the idea of becoming a powerful adventurer seeking amazing wealth and fame.
If calculated by profession template, he should be a level 10 civilian/level 3 warrior.
Weaker than the guards of Agate City!
“Boss?”
Soren stared at him, shaking his head. “The boss is dead.”
“Killed by that wizard.”
A task that should never have been taken not only ended Soren but also took most of the core members of the gang.
Are wizards really that easy to mess with?
Wizards that are qualified to act alone in this world are all above tier one. Converting to profession templates means at least level 10 scholar/level 5 wizard.
Not to mention a mere gang; even a regular army might not be able to defeat him.
Soren was well aware of the terrifying nature of wizards above tier one. If they weren’t so weak themselves, they would be the most powerful profession.
The chaotic and turbulent times in this world are about to begin. Not to mention mere high-level professionists; even legendary domains could be wiped out like chickens and dogs.
He was not interested in wasting time on a local, insignificant gang.
“Soren.”
Garris silently glanced at him and slowly said, “Cole has become the new boss.”
“Whether to meet him is your own decision.”
“Cole is not an easy person to deal with.”
Soren was an excellent thief; no gang would easily give up such a resource.
It was one thing when he was unconscious, as no one would care about a dying person, but now that he was awake, they would naturally try to pull him in.
Soren detected the faint threat in his words, and his eyes narrowed slightly, revealing a hint of killing intent!
He was a thief.
Thieves are also assassins in the shadows, more dangerous than anyone else.
“I will decide for myself.”
Ignoring Garris beside him, Soren walked towards the Dock District.
He still had serious business to attend to!
In the past, Soren seemed somewhat cowardly in the gang due to considering Vivian; each time he stole something, a large portion would be exploited, leaving just enough for the two of them to make ends meet. The main reason was that the original Soren had not received formal combat training. Even with an agility score exceeding 18, his combat power could not compare to a warrior who had undergone formal training. But the current Soren was different; the man before him wouldn’t last three moves in his hands!
……………….
This unremarkable warehouse stored many goods and was common in the Dock District.
A shadow quietly approached.
Soren carefully avoided the guards outside; those were just strong ordinary people. Once inside, he quickly found a locked box.
Inside it were valuable goods.
He took out a hooked iron wire from his pocket; this was currently his only rudimentary lock-picking tool.
Soren cautiously inserted it and then skillfully turned it.
Ding!
Click!
After a moment, the lock on the box was quickly pried open.
A row of data floated up:
“Lockpicking successful!”
“Your thieving skills have improved; you gain 15 profession experience.”
When Soren saw the data before him, he immediately relaxed a little.
It seemed the way to gain profession experience was still preserved.
Thieves in the early stages are not a powerful combat profession, lacking the robust physique of warriors and the special abilities of paladins. Wilderness adventuring and killing are very dangerous for thieves, as low-level goblins and gremlins appear in swarms, many possessing keen senses that can easily detect the stealth of low-level thieves. Therefore, in the initial stages, the only way for a thief to increase their strength level is through lock-picking and disarming traps.
This is the safest method!
Before the profession level reaches level 5, thieves can gain experience through lockpicking; even before reaching level 10, disarming traps still yields a good amount of profession experience.
As for later, only some special magical locks and high-level traps are useful!
Ordinary locks and traps can no longer improve thieving skills.
Creak!
Soren gently opened the box, which contained some tea bricks. He didn’t touch those goods but continued searching for other boxes.
Picking the same lock twice wouldn’t yield profession experience; to gain experience, he must meet the conditions to improve thieving skills. There are many locked boxes in the docks, enough to raise his thieving level.
After unlocking two or three boxes in a row.
Soren’s footsteps suddenly stopped in front of a door; he carefully observed the ground and then took a deep breath.
Snap!
He gently leaped, landing on an oak barrel, then reached out to grab an inconspicuous thread, lifting it up to secure it around a nail, and then quickly cut the other end with his dagger, swiftly dismantling an alarm device. This was a rudimentary trap; if the thread was accidentally broken, a bell would ring at the other end of the trap.
Many thieves had suffered because of that and were caught and crippled!
The world of “Gods’ War” is brutal.
The thieves who were crippled received no help and could not afford the expensive treatment fees, ultimately becoming disabled and forced to d*e and start over.
Rising from a low-level profession to legendary domain is extremely difficult!
Many people have fallen time and time again.
This requires not only strength but also a significant amount of luck!
Soren quietly waited, carefully observing the ground, searching for any potential traps that might still exist.
In a warehouse like this.
If there was an alarm trap, it was unlikely there would be only one; there would definitely be another trap.
There might be something valuable inside.
Sure enough!
Soren quickly discovered an anomaly beneath the floorboards. He carefully pried it open with his dagger, his fingers steady and not allowing the slightest tremor.
There was another more dangerous trap underneath!
If triggered, flying knives would sh**t out from both sides, very likely killing a person on the spot!
Snap.
Soren jammed the trigger with his dagger, then twisted it to the side, and with a whoosh, two flying knives shot out above his head, nailing into the nearby wall.
A row of data floated up:
“Trap disarmed successfully.”
“Your thieving skills have improved; you gain 50 profession experience.”
“Trap disarmed successfully.”
“Your thieving skills have improved; you gain 120 profession experience.”
Whew.
Soren let out a sigh of relief, relaxing a bit, murmuring, “It seems disarming traps gives more experience!”
“But this thing is also very dangerous.”
After continuously disarming two traps and adding the profession experience gained from lockpicking at the beginning, Soren finally accumulated 200 experience points and decisively chose to level up his thieving profession.
“Thief profession upgraded to level 2.”
“Gain 23*0.5) skill points; hit points increased by 9 points*0.5).”
“Gain 1 free attribute point.”
Relative to the skill points gained at each profession level, acquiring a free attribute point is much more difficult.
You must level up two profession levels to gain 1 free attribute point.
This means the next time he can gain a free attribute point, he must wait until Soren upgrades his thieving profession to level 4.
This single free attribute point is quite precious!
Soren glanced at his attribute template, unhesitatingly allocating the free attribute point to agility, as 20 attribute points mark a threshold; anything below twenty falls within the range of ordinary humans, while exceeding twenty denotes entry into the realm of extraordinary humans.
Footsteps sounded outside the warehouse.
Soren agilely leaped up, gripping the roof beam, and then quietly slipped away.
Just a slight increase in agility.
Was enough to enable him to perform many high-difficulty moves he once couldn’t complete; both his body’s reflexes and sensitivity had surpassed the range of normal people.
A man quickly entered.
He glanced at the warehouse and immediately changed his expression, shouting loudly; soon, a group of armed guards rushed in from outside.
It seems he can’t come to this warehouse anymore.
Since they’ve discovered a thief had entered, they will definitely strengthen their defenses in the future!
