Dock District

A simple yet warm breakfast. When Soren prepared to head out, Vivian immediately rose silently, used her little hands to straighten his sleeves, then stood on the stool and stretched onto her tiptoes to fix his collar. There was no need for many words; they had long understood each other. Soren gently patted her little head before walking out of the low-roofed shack.

"B-Brother...!"

After Soren disappeared from view, Vivian shrank back slightly and tightly locked the door.

Whenever her brother had gone out on business before, she had never been afraid, because Heath had been beside her. Even if bad people broke in, an old dog would still protect her. Burglaries had happened many times in the Slums. Now that Heath had left forever, she was all alone in the room, and she could not help feeling a little scared.

After all.

She was only an eight-year-old girl.

She had never felt safe. She was afraid of the dark, afraid of loneliness, afraid of being alone.

But she could not tell Soren.

Because Soren had important things to do as well. He needed to bring back money; there was not much food left at home.

She did not want to become her brother's burden. Even if there was little she could do now, the little girl still felt that she should not make Soren worry.

"Vivian."

The little girl gripped the broom tightly and said softly, "You need to learn to be stronger!"

"You need to learn to take care of yourself."

"Brother has woken up. No one will dare come and bother us again."

"They're all afraid of Brother!"

Dock District.

This was the most densely populated area of Amber City. The entire city's economy was supported by the Agate River.

Most of the men in the Slums worked here as laborers. The countless ships on the Agate River transported goods from all over, and a great deal of manpower was needed to unload them. This was also where gang conflicts were most concentrated. More than a dozen gangs, large and small, made their living here. Whether by stealing valuables, skimming goods, or extorting protection money, gangs could always find ways to make money here.

"Is that Soren?!"

A tall, skinny man glanced at Soren approaching in the distance, immediately whispered an order to the people beside him, then walked over and said, "Soren."

"The boss wants to see you!"

Soren raised his head and looked at the man before recalling who he was—a fellow named Garis. He was a fairly capable Warrior.

He had once worked as an Adventurer for a time, but not long after leaving Amber City, he had encountered a group of Goblins and Gnolls. Gnolls were dangerous creatures. They traveled in packs and often ambushed Adventurers at night. Almost the entire Adventurer party had been wiped out. He had been lucky enough to escape, but one of his arms had suffered severe injuries. Later, he joined a local gang and never again dreamed of becoming a powerful Adventurer and winning astonishing wealth and fame.

If calculated according to class templates, he should have been a Level 10 Commoner/Level 3 Warrior.

A little weaker than the guards of Agate City!

"The boss?"

Soren watched him and shook his head. "The boss is dead."

"Killed by that Wizard."

It had been a mission they never should have accepted. It had not only gotten Soren killed, but also most of the gang's core members.

Were Wizards really so easy to provoke?

Any Wizard in this world qualified to act alone was at least Tier 1. In terms of class templates, they were at minimum a Level 10 Scholar/Level 5 Wizard.

Let alone a mere gang—even a squad of the Regular Army might not have been able to defeat one.

Soren understood the terror of Tier 1 Wizards better than anyone. If they were not so physically frail, they would have been the most powerful class by far.

The world's frenzied age of chaos was about to begin. Let alone high-level class holders, even those in the Legendary Domain could be wiped out like chickens and dogs.

He had no interest in wasting time on some insignificant local gang.

"Soren."

Garis looked at him silently and said slowly, "Cole has become the new boss."

"Whether you go see him is up to you."

"Cole isn't an easy man to talk to."

Soren was an excellent thief. No gang would easily give up such a source of income.

It had been different when he lay unconscious, since no one cared about someone who was about to die. But now that he had awakened, they naturally had to find a way to pull him in.

Soren heard the faint threat in his words. His eyes narrowed slightly, and a trace of killing intent appeared!

He was a Rogue.

Rogues were also Assassins lurking in the shadows. They were more dangerous than anyone.

"I'll decide for myself."

Soren ignored Garis and headed toward the Dock District.

He had more important business to handle!

The former Soren had seemed somewhat cowardly within the gang because of Vivian. A large portion of everything he stole was always taken from him, leaving barely enough for the two of them to survive. The main reason was that the original Soren had never received formal combat training. Even with more than 18 points of Dexterity, his combat ability had been far inferior to that of a properly trained Warrior. But the current Soren was different. The man before him absolutely would not last three moves against him!

This inconspicuous warehouse contained a great deal of cargo and was a common sight in the Dock District.

A shadow silently drew near.

Soren carefully avoided the guards outside. They were merely strong ordinary men, and after entering, he quickly found a crate.

It was a locked crate containing relatively valuable goods.

He took out a hooked iron wire from his pocket. At the moment, this was the only crude Lockpicking tool he had.

Soren carefully inserted it, and his fingers began moving nimbly.

Ding!

Crack!

After spending a little time on it, the lock on the crate was quickly picked open.

A row of information appeared:

"Lockpicking successful!"

"Your Rogue skill has improved. You have gained 15 Class Experience."

When Soren saw the information appear before him, he immediately relaxed slightly.

It seemed that the way of gaining Class Experience had remained.

Rogues were not powerful combat classes in the early stages. They did not possess the sturdy physique of Warriors, nor could they wield special abilities like Paladins. Adventuring and Slaughter in the wilderness were dangerous for Rogues. Whether low-level Kobolds or Goblins, they appeared in groups, and many had keen senses of smell that could easily detect low-level Rogues using Stealth. Therefore, in the beginning, the only ways for Rogues to raise their class level were Lockpicking and Disarm Trap.

This was the safest method!

Before their class level reached Level 5, Rogues could gain experience through Lockpicking. Before their class level reached Level 10, Disarm Trap could still provide considerable Class Experience.

After that, only special magical locks and high-level traps were useful!

Ordinary locks and traps could no longer improve Rogue skills.

Creak!

Soren gently opened the crate. It contained tea bricks. He did not touch the goods and instead continued searching for crates.

Picking the same lock twice could not grant Class Experience. To gain experience, he had to meet the conditions for improving his Rogue skills. There were many locked crates like this at the docks, enough to raise his Rogue level by one.

After picking open two or three crates in succession.

Soren suddenly stopped before a doorway. He carefully examined the ground, then took a deep breath.

Tap!

He leaped lightly and landed on an oak barrel. Then he reached out and pinched an inconspicuous thread between his fingers, lifted it and secured it around a nail, cut the other end with his Dagger, and swiftly dismantled an alarm device. It was a crude trap. If someone carelessly snapped the thread, an alarm bell at the other end of the trap would ring.

Quite a few Rogues had suffered because of this in the past. Once caught, they had been beaten into cripples!

The world of War of Gods was cruel.

No one treated those Rogues who had been crippled, and they could not afford the expensive treatment fees. In the end, they became permanently disabled and had no choice but to die and start over.

Rising from a low-level class holder to the Legendary Domain was extraordinarily difficult!

Many people fell again and again.

It was not merely a matter of strength; luck was also a very important factor!

Soren waited quietly, carefully observing the ground and searching for any traps that might still be present.

In a warehouse like this.

If an alarm trap had been installed, there could not possibly be only one. There had to be another trap.

There might be something valuable inside.

Sure enough!

Soren quickly discovered something unusual beneath the floorboards. He carefully pried them up with his Dagger, steadily supporting them with his fingers, not daring to tremble in the slightest.

There was an even more dangerous trap underneath!

If triggered, Throwing Daggers would shoot out from both sides, very likely killing someone on the spot!

Crack.

Soren jammed the trigger with his Dagger, then twisted the mechanism to one side. With a whoosh, two Throwing Daggers shot over his head and embedded themselves in the wall beside him.

"Disarm Trap successful."

"Your Rogue skill has improved. You have gained 50 Class Experience."

"Disarm Trap successful."

"Your Rogue skill has improved. You have gained 120 Class Experience."

Soren let out a breath and relaxed a little, muttering, "As expected, dismantling traps gives more experience!"

"But these things are dangerous too."

After dismantling two traps in a row, along with the Class Experience gained from Lockpicking earlier, Soren had finally gathered 200 experience points. Without hesitation, he chose to raise his Rogue level.

"Rogue class increased to Level 2."

"Gained 23 * 0.5 Skill Points. Hit Points increased by 9 * 0.5."

"Gained 1 Free Attribute Point."

Compared to Skill Points, which could be gained with every class level, Free Attribute Points were much harder to obtain.

He had to raise his class level twice to gain 1 Free Attribute Point.

In other words, he would have to wait until he raised his Rogue class to Level 4 before gaining another Free Attribute Point.

This one Free Attribute Point was exceptionally valuable!

Soren looked at his attribute template and decisively allocated the Free Attribute Point to Dexterity. Twenty points was a threshold. Below twenty points still lay within the range of ordinary people; above twenty points meant entering the ranks of superhuman beings.

A series of footsteps came from outside the warehouse.

Soren leaped nimbly, grabbed a roof beam with one arm, and quietly slipped out.

The increase of just one point of Dexterity.

Was enough to let him perform many difficult movements he had once been unable to accomplish. Whether his body's reflexes or agility, both had already surpassed the limits of ordinary people.

A man soon entered.

He glanced around the warehouse, then his expression changed slightly as he shouted loudly. Before long, a group of armed guards rushed in from outside.

It seemed this warehouse could not be visited again in the future.

Since they had discovered that a thief had entered, they would definitely strengthen their security afterward!