079. Establishnt - 25
Twenty minutes later, I was once again at the edge of the Town Maell. This ti, I trusted the darkness of the night to cover , so I rushed forward with relative recklessness.
Though, when I arrived, I had to stop a mont and examine the town carefully to make sure I had arrived at the right location. The changes the town had experienced were impressive.
The first difference was the outer defensive line away from the town. An elatriss away from the outer walls, there were twenty-four large towers, each filled with archers and ballistas to hunt the approaching beasts, with a squad of mounted soldiers to respond against the larger beasts, each decked in gleaming armor carrying the mark of House Maell.
That alone showed the effort that the Noble House was putting into the developnt of the town a great contrast to the noble liege of our unlucky town, who had outsourced the protection of the town for so great benefits.
Admittedly, the effort was understandable, as I could see the number of monster attacks was significantly higher than the last ti I had visited. I knew that the monster attacks would get stronger the more the dungeon was in operation, sothing about the way dungeon operated; but the jump in intensity still surprised .
The impact of it could already be seen in the town itself as well.
The outer wooden walls were already completed, and moreover, I could see several spots where they were building a stone layer behind it, reinforcing it to et an intense attack.
Impressive commitnt.
Too bad the tall walls made it even easier for to sneak in. I just needed to find a gap between the patrols, relatively careless due to the security the combined towers and the walls provided, and climbed up, bypassing the gates completely.
The outer town changed greatly as well. Most of the buildings were already complete, looking strong despite their rough exterior. I could see many stores that sold weapons, food, and highly processed health recovery items, along with many inns and other establishnts.
Including gambling dens.
Due to my professional curiosity, I wanted to visit one of them but. I didn't have too much ti to waste. I had a different destination in mind.
The victim of my latest scam, to see if I could pull another trick.
I might not be a full-ti confidence trickster, but I had dabbled with sufficiently in my youth, not to ntion, being a godfather ant I had been in regular contact with all kinds of criminals including the tricksters.
Sotis as an ally, sotis as a target.
The latter did not end well for them.
During my exposure, I learned that the biggest thing that separated the amateurs from the professionals was their tenacity. The amateurs were like mosquitos, flying around, content with stealing a drop of blood from their target.
The professionals had a different perspective. Once they picked a target, they pulled trick after trick, relying on the fact that each trick left them more unbalanced as they tried to recover from the earlier blow until all of their blood was trained.
Of course, to do that, they designed elaborate plans and sches, the kind that took weeks and months to properly pull. I lacked that kind of ti
But luckily, I had other ways to cheat.
I slipped into a back street to change, covering myself with a dark cloak before I climbed to a roof, and moved across them, avoiding the crowd. Amusingly, at a distance, I could see several other figures that were using the sa thod to move from one roof to another.
However, the movent of one of them caught my attention. A young man, dashing desperately to avoid a few people that followed him, but they were gaining ground. A glance made it clear that they lacked Speed, and the young man they were chasing was more at ho on the roofs.
He probably left the rest behind if it wasn't for the large box he was carrying, slowing him down.
However, I watched their chase with great attention for a different reason. It was harder to notice a young man than I expected. It was a subtle difference, one that almost dimd his presence, for lack of a better word.
If it wasn't for my Resilience, I would have thought it was so kind of suggestion from Charisma, forcing to avoid him, but it was not. I watched curiously as I followed them from a distance.
Then, I watched as the young man used a smoke bomb, just as he had arrived above a crowded intersection. The smoke was thick enough to block even my sight.
"What's going on, stop!" guards imdiately shouted, while the crowd dispersed.
"Curious," I murmured as I moved a bit closer, only to see that young man mixed into the rest of the crowd, mixing with the panicking crowd, who clearly didn't want to get mixed in a dangerous situation. As the young man mixed into the crowd, his presence turned even weaker, and less worthy of attention.
Whatever ability he was using, he just started to work far more intensely.
A fascinating little ability, I followed curiously. The guards blocked the movent of the crowd, who inevitably stopped, but when the young man slipped into a side street, no one bothered to stop him as if they didn't notice him at all.
From a great distance, I followed him, taking note of his abilities as he got rid of all that was chasing him. "Not bad, but he has a lot of things to learn," I noted. He was clearly doing his best to avoid any potential tail, and to the point of mixing into the crowd several tis, but other than double-backing a couple of tis, he didn't try any other technique, heavily relying on his supernatural ability.
He clearly had a lot to learn.
Still, I followed him until he arrived at his ho, which was a small tent built in a concealed spot between two roofs, impossible to be noticed from outside.
"Not a bad show," I said as I stepped forward, and he tensed.
"Who are you?" he said as he pulled a dagger, but his hand, trembling in exhaustion, showed that using his presence-reducing ability already pushed him to the limit, with no chance to retaliate.
I extended a tendril of Charisma connection to him, using it to calm him down. I didn't want him to bolt away like a frightened rabbit imdiately. Naturally, he still looked at with fear. I also didn't want to calm down completely.
A little fear helped him to make so poor decisions.
Though, as I felt the connection to be established, I realized another interesting thing. He was lower-leveled than I expected. It was hard to be accurate, but the higher the level, the harder for it to use Charisma on people.
He was certainly below level twenty.
"Just a curious old man," I said as I sat down, acting like I had nothing to fear. Though, considering what I had watched him do, I certainly did not. "Tell , what's your class?"
I expected him to tense, but the pure panic in his gaze was not what I expected. "T-thief," he stamred, obviously lying. If it wasn't for the calming effect, I expected him to run away in panic.
Even with it, it was a close call.
"Interesting," I said as I stepped forward, showing off my Speed not full limits, but enough to be impressive to cover the twenty feet distance between us, grab the box from his side, and sat back, all before he could even react.
I saw the despair in his eyes as he looked at . "What do you want?" he said.
Curious, I opened the box, only to find so decent food, a few denicas of silver, and so clothes. Hardly the great riches I expected, even with his low level. Clearly, he was in distress.
"I have a question and an offer," I said as the temptation hit .
"And what if I reject," he said, tensing as I reached for my belt. He watched carefully as I pulled a small pouch and threw it toward him, and it landed right in front of him. Helpless, he leaned forward and opened it, only to realize it was filled with more silver than he had in his small box. It was about half a Derum, which was worth several tis the small box he had in hand, stolen after so great effort.
"Nothing much, you'll just have to forfeit so easy paynt."
"What's there to stop you from taking it back once I answer your question," he answered. A good question, but the fact that he had asked in the first place rather than acting greedy surprised . Even if he had a calm mind, I expected a street kid to be more greedy at the possibility of a sudden payout.
"Nothing," I answered simply as closed the box and put it on the ground gently. Interestingly, he also didn't miss the implied respect in that move. Definitely not a street kid, I decided. "Say the word and I will leave."
That confused him even more. He was clearly expecting a more forceful approach. "May I hear the question first?" he said.
"What's the ability that you have used to reduce your presence that much," I said. It was clearly not sothing that was common, as it was the first ti I saw sothing similar despite everything that happened.
As I asked that question, I felt him tense, so I used Charisma to increase his trust in a bit. Not a huge amount, as I was sure that such a thing would be noticed, but subtle enough to solve his dilemma.
"It's just an ability that empowers my Concealnt stat further," he soon said. "I was lucky to pick up a stone that turned out to be an ability stone."
The first part of his answer was true, while the second part was a complete fabrication.
"Acceptable answer," I answered, and I felt most of his tenseness disappear. He was clearly determined to hide the truth about the source of his ability and his class, and 'successfully' misleading about them reduced his tenseness.
I had a feeling about how he would react if I probed him about his identity, but then I decided against it.
His answer about his ability already gave what I wanted. I didn't even know that there was a stat like Concealnt. "What about the second part?" he said, this ti calr.
"I just want you to go around, listen, and give a summary of what's going on in the town," I said, giving him an easier task than I had first planned.
The reward I got was good enough.
"How it will work?" he said.
"I'm going to pay you an advance, and you'll go around, listening around to discover so interesting tidbits. You just have to give a report whenever I visit," I said.
"What about the paynt," he asked.
"A Derum of silver for every satisfactory report you deliver," I said.
He paused a mont, trying to decide. "What if I want sothing else?" he said.
"Depends on what you want," I said.
For a mont, he paused, examining my expression, as if he was trying to make sure I could be trusted. "I want you to help level up," he finally declared. His intensity was surprising compared to the question he asked.
"Doable, but you need to make sure the reports are satisfactory," I said, even as I stood up, leaving another pouch filled with a Derum of silver behind.
"What counts as satisfactory?" he said even as I started walking away.
"You're a smart boy, figure it out," I said with a chuckle, leaving one last test for him before I disappeared.
As I moved away, I closed my eyes, trying to replicate the feeling of fading away.
Even I focused on the sensation, I used the sa trick, linking the existence of such a stat to my sense of Power. I started thinking about so of my mories, concealed in an abandoned building, avoiding attention, with a rifle in hand, waiting for the perfect opportunity to deliver death
[Stat Potential Awakened: Concealnt
Accept / Reject]
Almost trivial for an old man who dabbled with wetwork
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