Dock District

A simple yet warm breakfast.

As Soren prepared to head out, Vivian silently rose at once, using her little hands to straighten his sleeves. Then she stood on a stool and went up on tiptoe to fix his collar. There was no need for many words; they had long since developed an understanding. Soren gently rubbed her Little Head, then walked out of the low shack.

"Bro... Brother!..."

After Soren disappeared from view, Vivian curled up slightly and locked the door tightly.

Brother used to go out like this whenever he had things to do, but she had never been afraid because Hiss had been beside her. Even if bad people broke in, there had been an Old Dog to protect her. There had been many home robberies in the Slums, but now Hiss was gone forever, and she was all alone in the room. She could not help feeling a little afraid.

When all was said and done,

she was only an eight-year-old girl.

She had never had much sense of security. 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 too. He needed to bring home money, and there was not much food left in the house.

She did not want to become Brother's burden.

Even though 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 bother us again."

"They're all afraid of Brother!"

Dock District.

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

Most of the men in the Slums worked as laborers here. Countless ships on the Agate River transported goods from all over, requiring huge numbers of workers to unload them. It was also where gang conflicts were most intense. More than a dozen gangs, large and small, made their living here. Whether through theft, skimming cargo, or extorting protection money, gangs could always find ways to make money here.

"Is that Soren?!"

A tall, thin man glanced at Soren approaching from the distance. He immediately gave a quiet instruction to the people beside him, then walked forward and said, "Soren."

"The boss wants to see you!"

Soren looked up at the man before him and, after a moment's thought, remembered who he was. A fellow named Garris.

He was a fairly capable fighter.

He had once worked as an adventurer with others for a time, but not long after leaving Amber City, they encountered a group of goblins and Gnolls. Gnolls were dangerous creatures. They traveled in packs and often ambushed adventurers at night. Most of the adventuring party died. He had luckily escaped, but one arm was left badly injured. Later, he joined a local gang and gave up on becoming a powerful adventurer and winning astonishing wealth and fame.

Going by Class Templates, he should have been a Level 10 Commoner/Level 3 Fighter.

A little weaker than Agate City's guards!

"The boss?"

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

"That wizard killed him."

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

Were wizards really so easy to mess with?

Any wizard qualified to act alone in this world was at least First Rank. In terms of Class Templates, they were at minimum Level 10 Scholars/Level 5 Wizards.

Forget a mere gang. Even a squad of regular soldiers might not be able to defeat one.

Soren knew better than anyone how terrifying wizards above First Rank were. If not for their own frailty, they would practically be the strongest class.

This world's era of mad upheaval was about to begin. Forget high-level Professionals—even those in the legendary realm might be wiped out like chickens and dogs.

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

"Soren."

Garris 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 one thing when he was unconscious, since no one cared about someone on the verge of death. But now that he had awakened, they naturally had to find a way to pull him back in.

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

He was a Rogue.

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

"I'll decide for myself."

Soren ignored Garris and headed toward the Dock District.

He had serious business to attend to!

Because of Vivian, the old Soren had seemed somewhat cowardly within the gang. A large portion of everything he stole was taken from him each time, 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 an Agility score above 18, his fighting ability was far inferior to that of trained fighters. But the current Soren was different. The man before him absolutely would not last three moves against him!

This inconspicuous warehouse was filled with goods 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 people. Once inside, he quickly found a chest.

It was a locked chest containing relatively valuable goods.

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

Soren carefully inserted it, then his fingers began to turn nimbly.

Ding!

Click!

After spending a little time on it, he quickly pried open the lock on the chest.

A row of data appeared:

"Lockpicking successful!"

"Your Rogue skill has improved. You gained 15 Professional Experience."

When Soren saw the data appear before him, he immediately relaxed a little.

It seemed the way to gain Professional Experience had remained.

Rogues were not powerful combat classes in the early stages. They lacked the robust physique of fighters and could not wield Special Abilities like paladins. Adventuring and killing in the wilderness were dangerous for Rogues. Whether low-level kobolds or goblins, they appeared in groups, and many possessed keen senses of smell, making it easy for them to detect a sneaking Low-level Rogue. So in the beginning, the only ways for Rogues to raise their strength were Lockpicking and disarming traps.

This was the safest method!

Before their Professional Level reached Level 5, Rogues could gain experience through Lockpicking. Before their Professional Level reached Level 10, disarming traps could still yield substantial Professional Experience.

After that, only certain special magical locks and advanced traps were useful!

Ordinary locks and traps could no longer improve Rogue skills.

Creak!

Soren gently opened the chest. It contained Tea Bricks. He did not touch the goods and instead continued looking for chests.

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

After picking two or three chests 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, lifting it and securing it around a nail. He cut the other end with his dagger, then swiftly dismantled an Alarm Device. It was a crude trap. If someone carelessly snapped the thread, an alarm bell at the other end would ring.

Quite a few Rogues had suffered because of this and been caught, then beaten into cripples!

The world of "War of the Gods" was cruel.

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

It was exceptionally difficult to rise from a low-level Professional to the legendary realm!

Many people fell time and time again.

It required more than strength. Luck was also a very important factor!

Soren waited quietly, carefully observing the ground for any other possible traps.

A warehouse like this

could not have only one trap if it was fitted with alarm traps. There had to be another one.

There might be something valuable inside.

Sure enough!

Soren quickly noticed something unusual beneath the floorboards. He carefully pried them up with his dagger, steadying a small section with his fingers and not daring to tremble in the slightest.

There was an even more dangerous trap beneath it!

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

Click.

Soren jammed the trigger with his dagger, then twisted the mechanism at the side. With a sharp whoosh, two throwing knives flew over his head and embedded themselves in the wall beside him.

A row of data appeared:

"Trap disarmed successfully."

"Your Rogue skill has improved. You gained 50 Professional Experience."

"Trap disarmed successfully."

"Your Rogue skill has improved. You gained 120 Professional Experience."

Phew.

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

"But these things are dangerous too."

After disarming two traps in succession, along with the Professional Experience from picking locks earlier, Soren had finally gathered 200 experience points. Without hesitation, he chose to increase his Rogue level.

"Rogue Professional Level increased to Level 2."

"You gained 23 Skill Points (Agility 19 + (Intelligence 18 - 10) * 0.5). Health increased by 9 points (Class Health 6 + (Constitution 15 - 10) * 0.5)."

"You gained 1 free Attribute Point."

Compared with Skill Points, which could be gained at every Professional Level, free Attribute Points were much harder to obtain.

He had to raise two Professional Levels to gain 1 free Attribute Point.

In other words, Soren would have to raise his Rogue class to Level 4 before he could gain another free Attribute Point.

This single free Attribute Point was exceptionally precious!

Soren looked at his attribute template and, without hesitation, assigned the free Attribute Point to Agility. Twenty points was a threshold. Attributes below twenty were still within the range of ordinary humans, while those above twenty meant entering the ranks of superhuman beings.

Footsteps sounded outside the warehouse.

Soren leaped up nimbly, grabbed a ceiling beam, and quietly slipped out.

The increase of merely one point of Agility

was enough to let him perform many difficult movements he had once been incapable of. Both his body's reflexes and his nimbleness had surpassed the limits of ordinary people.

A man soon entered.

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

It looked like he would not be able to come to this warehouse again.

Since they had discovered that a thief had entered, they would surely tighten security from now on!