Chapter 4 Everything Will Be Okay
2014-11-28
Author: Floating Tower (诸生浮屠)
When Soren returned to the Slums with Vivian, he spent three Copper to buy a long loaf of hard black bread, the kind that could be used as a weapon against foolish thieves breaking in, with a damage of 1d3. The lower-class citizens ground unhulled rye into flour directly, and their rough techniques would sometimes let them encounter wood chips and other strange things; once it cooled, it became as hard as a club. The only way to swallow it was to slice it with a small knife and soak it in water first.
Many who entered this world once were driven to desperation by such food!
Many players started out by joining the Evil Faction.
So did Soren.
That’s why he became a Thief!
Perhaps now that he had come to a more real world, or maybe because he had a little Girl by his side, Soren showed far more composure and patience than he did back then. He carefully cut the black bread, soaked it in hot water, and then offered it to Vivian in front of him. He took a bite himself, enduring the woodchip-like texture, and silently swallowed it down.
It wasn’t that he couldn’t earn Money.
But he knew all too well what kind of fate he would face if he got caught! After all, this wasn’t a game.
And he was no longer a player. In this strange yet familiar world, he had to take responsibility for his actions and, more importantly, for the little Vivian beside him. Amber City had many powerful Professionists; all the guards protecting the city had at least a level 10 Militia/level 3 Warrior profession template. Unless he strengthened his stealing skill to over 75 points, he could still be discovered.
Being caught stealing meant being thrown into prison, and he could even have one of his arms broken.
If the target of the theft was a Noble!
Although there was no salt, and it could even be said to just have a terribly difficult taste, Vivian still ate it happily, for she was a little girl who was easily satisfied.
And she was really hungry!
As long as her Brother was beside her, everything would be okay.
The pressure of the past half month had left the little girl utterly exhausted. Now she just wanted to follow her Brother and quietly be an inconspicuous little girl.
“Tomorrow I’ll buy you something delicious!”
Soren gently stroked Vivian’s little head, leaned down, and gave her a kiss on the forehead, saying seriously, “Everything will be okay!”
“Mm.” Vivian nodded lightly.
If there was anyone in this world who could earn her unconditional trust, it would definitely be her Brother.
Because since she was three years old, it had been this young man who sheltered her from the wind and rain!
Silently supporting her until now.
Vivian still remembered when she was very small, her Brother always got hurt, and she could do nothing but cry uselessly. With a bruised face, her Brother always comforted her and said everything would be okay.
Later, they no longer had to wander the streets and finally had a small home in the chaotic Slums!
Everything would be okay.
The little girl who just turned eight was still very naïve about many things, but she knew that as long as her Brother was there, he would always protect her.
This is wonderful!
Soren looked at Vivian, who was sound asleep on the bed, a faint smile appearing at the corners of his mouth.
She was really exhausted.
For a little girl who had just turned eight, enduring half a month in such a chaotic Slum was truly a hard thing.
She probably hadn’t had a good night’s sleep in a long time?
Soren opened the hidden compartment under the wooden board and took out a shimmering dagger, a cold smile appearing on his lips.
Those who dared to covet Vivian should be sent to hell!
………………
Night quietly fell.
The Slums were engulfed in darkness, with only a few scattered places still lit.
That was the Hearth Tavern, one of the few small pleasures in the Slums where one could buy a large cup of watered-down low-quality beer for a Copper. Although it had a diluted taste, it was still a rare treat for many lower-class citizens. Next to it was a row of low shanties; for just five more Copper, one could go into one of those cheap places for some fun. One couldn’t expect them to be too good-looking; at best, they resembled women in shape, with breasts and bottoms.
Outside the Hearth Tavern were dark alleys.
At night, not many dared to walk through there, for it was an area where marginalized individuals roamed.
The entire Slum was filled with such dim alleys; at night, apart from a few, most people rarely went out!
The inside of the Hearth Tavern was noisy.
There were dockworkers making a living, grim-faced gang members, and all sorts of characters.
What they discussed most was the recent clash between two gangs. There were also some laughing, saying that someone actually dared to have their eyes on Vivian. Now that Soren was awake, someone would be in trouble.
After finishing his words, the scarred thin man looked meaningfully at a corner of the tavern.
There sat two men.
They were Barras and Kanopo, who wanted to sell Vivian to Sorsia. One of them walked with a limp, having been bitten by a fierce old dog when they tried to act forcefully earlier.
“Let’s go.”
Barras darkly glanced at the others in the tavern and said, “Let’s head back first.”
“There’s always a way to deal with Soren.”
Kanopo finished the last of the low-quality beer in his cup. He was a stingy person and wouldn’t waste a drop.
The two had already received a deposit from Sorsia a few days earlier; if they couldn’t deliver Vivian, someone would soon come looking for them.
Now they had already reached a point of no return.
Moreover, Soren valued this sister more than his life; anyone daring to lay hands on her would definitely face his wrath.
A cold wind blew in.
The people in the tavern cursed a few words, glancing back to see that Barras and Kanopo had already left.
The moon in the sky was hazy.
Once the two men stepped out of the tavern, they couldn’t help but shiver, perhaps from having drunk too much. Barras quickly found an alley to duck into, preparing to relieve himself against the wall.
This was the Slums.
Not to mention urinating, even defecating was something people did in the corners of alleys.
As Barras undid his belt, he vaguely heard a creaking sound coming from the shanty next to the tavern, and couldn’t help but curse under his breath in a dialect from the northern regions.
Perhaps it was the thought of Soren waking up that made his expression turn sour!
Suddenly.
He felt the hair on his body stand on end and vaguely saw a shadow flickering in the dark corner of the alley.
Without time to retract, he reached for his lower back.
There was a dagger there!
But it was already too late.
Soren’s figure suddenly appeared out of thin air, emerging from the shrouded shadows, not knowing how long he had been waiting there.
A shimmering dagger plunged into his heart!
Then a hand covered Barras’s mouth, muffling his dying scream.
Thud!
Soren expressionlessly withdrew the dagger and wiped the blood on it against the corpse.
A line of data appeared before his eyes:
“Shadow Concealment Successful!”
“Backstab Activated!”
“Successfully executed Backstab *2, dealing 12 points of damage to the target!”
“Target Dead!”
“Extracting target soul energy, gaining 30 points of Killing Experience.”…
………………
Although he was just a level 1 Thief, in the case of executing a Backstab, he could still deal double assassination damage.
An ordinary lower-class citizen only has about five health points.
With Soren’s impressive 15 constitution, even after advancing to a level 1 Thief, he only had 12 health points. For a mere hoodlum from the Slums, it was more than enough for him to achieve a one-hit kill!
Unless he faced other Professionists, Soren could easily assassinate his targets.
The noise in the alley awakened Kanopo, causing him to tremble all over, and he yelled into the alley, “Barras?”
No response whatsoever.
After hesitating for a moment, he carefully edged closer to see what Barras was doing.
If anything seemed off, he would immediately turn and run!
A figure bent its legs against the wall, then propelled itself out of the alley, allowing Soren, with his agility of nineteen points, to leap directly onto the rooftop of the first floor without any external assistance. His figure burst forth like a cheetah, instantly gripping Kanopo’s neck, forcing his shouts back down, the momentum sending him sprawling to the ground. In that moment, a flash of cold light cut through the air, and the dagger sliced open Kanopo’s throat before plunging into his heart from the front.
Soren held him down until the body ceased to convulse before standing up!
Covered in blood.
He frowned as he looked at himself and then searched the corpses for their coin pouches before retracting his dagger.
The two hoodlums didn’t have much money, totaling only five Silver and twenty Copper. On Barras’s body, he found a pack of low-quality **, likely intended for dealing with Hess.
“Their strength was roughly equivalent to level 1 Adventurers.”
Soren glanced at his palm, then his figure gradually melted into the shadows and left in the direction he came from.
This was the stealth ability of a Thief.
Using the power of shadows to conceal himself, Soren had allocated all his skill points to Stealth before coming here. With a Stealth of 45 points, he could become hazy and completely silent within the shadows, enough to deceive the vast majority of ordinary people. If he could enhance his Stealth to 100 points, he could even hide within the darkness without leaving any visible signs. Once his Stealth reached 150 points, he could achieve effects similar to an Invisibility Spell, making him undetectable even if standing directly in front of you.
Once Stealth reached 200 points, even without shadows, a Thief could completely erase all traces of their presence!
The Hearth Tavern was still noisy.
It wasn’t until a drunk staggered out that people noticed the two corpses lying in the alley, now cold as ice.
No one cared, nor did anyone press charges.
This was a chaotic Slum where deaths had happened many times before.
Tomorrow, someone would come to collect their bodies!
………………
