No Great Wealth Without Unexpected Windfalls

Bang!

The rattan ball slammed against the damp brick wall. The resilient spherical surface was rejected by the cold and merciless Mr. Brick, and it finally bounced helplessly into the air, leaving behind that embrace that had never truly opened.

The boy planted one foot firmly on the ground, using his knee to solidly strike the rattan ball still suspended in mid-air, sending it flying once more toward that romance destined to reap no harvest.

At last, Miss Rattan Ball—treated like a game of football by Heka and that icy Mr. Brick—could no longer endure this torment, and after yet another impact, she protested this injustice with her own mutilation.

Heka watched the rattan ball finally fall apart after several impacts, and with a slight nudge of his toe, he scooped it into his arms.

This was his method for training agility. Although he had yet to gain any rewards on his status panel, it was barely qualified as a warm-up exercise.

"Time to eat."

Heka called out into the distant darkness, then tucked the rattan ball under his arm and placed it backhand atop the large wooden chest beside him.

To Tuft of Hair, Heka might have just hidden these things here, but only Heka himself knew that this large chest had previously been inside his own backpack.

After all, the wealth inside it was something he had taken three whole months to barely scrape together, and there was no way he would ever leave it lying around in the sewers.

Even though this was a relatively covert sanctuary Heka had found for himself within the sewers, that was impossible. After all, all sorts of things turning up in the sewers was far too common; even without thieves, in the event that this place flooded, that loss would be completely unacceptable.

Following Heka's call, Tuft of Hair—who had stayed here for six days, but far from withering away, instead looked exceptionally spirited—walked out from the darkness.

Heka took out two dark loaves of bread and a small string of dried fish from the adjacent chest, then handed the pot and the stand for making a fire over to Tuft of Hair, while he himself fetched a few pieces of charcoal.

Although food was plentiful, Heka had not prepared much in the way of fuel; the two of them could only manage a hot meal about once every two days.

Heka had originally worried that Tuft of Hair wouldn't be able to adapt to sewer life, but somewhat unexpectedly, the other boy adapted to it even better than he had imagined. These past few days, seemingly because he didn't have to bask in the sun or run around, his face had actually gained a bit of flesh.

The sanctuary Heka had chosen was an abandoned maintenance well. Originally, this place could only be entered via a ladder, so Heka had dismantled that ladder and then connected this place to the main tunnel below using a rope ladder.

As long as the rope ladder was pulled up, then with just a single spear, he could easily slaughter any invading enemies within the narrow tunnel.

The maintenance well connected to a space that was presumably part of the old-era sewers, so the area was reasonably spacious.

Tuft of Hair, who had been keeping track of the days, ran forward carrying the pot. Today was the day for hot food. Although back on the surface he could only manage to fill his stomach and hot meals were mostly out of reach, who didn't like food with a bit of warmth?

Tuft of Hair set the pot in his hands down beside two neatly stacked buckets of water, and then filled their only piece of cooking utensils with water so clear he didn't even dare touch it with his palm.

Tuft of Hair had sniffed it carefully; although the boss was definitely right, he simply couldn't smell that strange odor the boss mentioned.

He felt that this water was probably just like the holy water in the mouths of the priests who handed out little biscuits to them on holidays.

Aside from being easy to defend and hard to attack, the reason Heka chose this place as his secret base was that it was close to a storm drain.

Ahead, the pattering sound of water could already be heard. Rainwater carried dim light down from above; it was probably raining outside again.

Only on rainy days did Heka dare to light a fire, otherwise if the smoke drew the attention of the people on the surface, it would inevitably attract some uninvited guests.

The damp air made even the tinder kept inside the small box retain a hint of moisture. Heka knelt on the ground, repeating his attempts to strike a fire with endless patience.

Tuft of Hair sat on the stone platform beside Heka, pressing down on the items next to him with his hands while quietly and intently staring at his peer whose face was stained with grime.

When threads of orange-red sprites began to leap among the brown tinder, Heka finally let out a sigh of relief.

Starting a fire in a place as excessively damp as the sewers was truly not easy. Fortunately, he had spent a hefty sum to purchase a flint, otherwise relying solely on drilling wood to make fire, he probably wouldn't have been able to light one in this lifetime.

Making this single fire even added a point of proficiency to Sleight of Hand, showing just how difficult it was.

In a place Heka couldn't see, that flash of orange-red flame in Tuft of Hair's eyes burned slowly, eventually transforming into a trace of adoration.

Heka skillfully set up a stand composed of three pieces of wood. The orange flames had already ignited the charcoal, and red patterns spread across it, making it look as though this long-dead entity had come back to life once more.

Seeing the fire lit, Tuft of Hair immediately carried the pot filled with water and hung it on the stand, then put on the lid. After that, he squatted in front of the flame, cupping his small hands together to envelop this hard-earned warmth timidly.

Heka also sat down beside the fire, using it to banish the chill from his body.

In that money pouch, there were a total of twenty-three Huika Gold Coins and seventy-two Walin Silver Coins.

Probably because the local exchange rate didn't suit that owner, the other party hadn't exchanged all the large-denomination gold coins in his hand into local Walin currency.

This fortune was simply too massive, prompting Heka to plan on waiting until all the food was completely eaten before leaving the sewers.

In fact, if he hadn't yet cleared the crucial obstacle to leaving this place, Heka would have already run away.

Fortunately, life here wasn't a matter of getting nothing done. Heka's practice of his Theft and Slashing skills had never stopped, and along with Sleight of Hand, it had also progressed during the process of repairing the crossbow mechanism.

Heka opened his panel and checked his progress bar.

[Skills]

Theft (7180/10000)

Slashing (1987/10000)

Sleight of Hand (518/10000)

Although there was still some way to go before completion, victory seemed to be beckoning.

Heka pulled upward and discovered that his physique had indeed increased by another 0.001.

At this moment, it had reached 0.218, and along with it, his strength had also increased by 0.001, going from 0.256 to 0.257.

This was more like it. Even a Halfling shouldn't have a physique less than one-fifth that of a human, let alone the fact that he was of mixed Halfling and human descent—theoretically, his physique should be even greater than an ordinary Halfling.

Heka guessed that the reason his current body's physique was so low was primarily because he hadn't been eating well. Ever since his Theft skill broke the three-thousand mark a month ago, and his proficient thieving skills began allowing him to feed himself, Heka's physique had been slowly increasing.

Finally, the water boiled. Heka cut open the dark bread and tossed it into the pot, followed by some small dried fish and a tiny pinch of salt.

After putting the pot lid back on, Heka took out a simple dagger—which counted as a short sword to him, but roughly amounted to a dagger for an adult.

He began to wave it again and again under the firelight, waiting for the meal to cook through.

Heka concentrated his attention, called up the panel, and then waved the weapon in his hand blow by blow.

He had previously thought that simply waving it around would increase proficiency, but later Heka discovered that random slashing required hundreds of repetitions to achieve the effect of a single serious practice.

After Heka pried out some tips for slashing bit by bit through daily offerings, proficiency that originally required three hundred swings to increase by one point now only needed twenty.

Proficiency +1