Ace relaxed his nerves and put on an arrogant air. "Hmm, not bad — not bad at all. I'll report back to my family right away, and they'll likely come tomorrow to purchase all your pills. Now, I'll take my leave. Farewell."
Ace didn't wait for Billy's response and strolled out of the secret room, feigning the air of someone who'd seen such collections many times before, so Billy wouldn't grow suspicious.
Just as Ace had guessed, when Billy saw him leave after only a glance around, all his doubts about the boy's identity vanished. 'Only a family from the inner region could afford all this — if I build a good relationship with this brat's family, I might get a chance to move my business there myself!'
Billy snapped out of his daydream when he saw Ace heading for the door. He hurried after him, escorted him out personally, and bid him farewell with a broad smile on his fat face.
Ace had barely left the shop when the System's voice buzzed in his mind.
======
[Scan Complete.]
======
His eyes lit with anticipation at the notification — he'd hit a dead end, with no idea how to break past that mysterious door and its two guards.
That door alone had given him a splitting headache, so he was hoping for good news from the System.
He hurried out of the pill market before opening the notification panel, marked with an envelope symbol. All System notifications appeared here.
=====
[Notification Panel]
[Target Scan Report]
[Total Net Worth: Converted to current currency = 20,000+ Ruby Coins in pills, plus 2,084 Ruby Coins in the treasury.
Security: 1 Trash-Grade Illusion and Lock Array, 2 ordinary Mortal Warriors, 1 lowest-level treasury.
Evaluation: Impossible to steal with the Host's current skill level.]
=====
Ace was speechless. "Thanks so much for the 'motivation,' you money-grubbing scoundrel!" he cussed at the System.
'That rich bastard,' he thought, cursing Billy too, genuinely stunned by the sum. He'd never imagined the shop was worth that much.
'That fat swindler made all this off cheating countless people!'
Ace's guess was dead-on. Fatty Billy had cheated plenty of ordinary people who couldn't retaliate, but he never dared cross anyone with real status or power. In the pill market, he was known as a shrewd businessman.
'So that secret door is called an illusion array, and those two guards aren't even cultivators? Well, that's something, at least,' he thought, his expression still grim.
Ace returned home with a heavy heart. Seeing Alina still unconscious, he thought, 'I'll die in seven days even if I don't take the chance — and Alina will die in three.' His resolve hardened again. He had to succeed, no matter what.
He suddenly remembered he hadn't finished browsing the System Shop the last time — he'd only checked the Pill section in his hurry. He still had 12 TP left, so he opened the shop again, hoping to find something useful.
"System Shop," Ace murmured softly, full of anticipation.
=====
[System Shop]
[Available Skill Books]
[Available Cultivation Techniques]
[Available Weapons]
[Available Pills]
=====
The familiar black panel appeared again. "Show me Available Cultivation Techniques!"
He'd never actually seen a cultivator besides Alina, let alone a cultivation technique. If not for the memories the System had given him, he wouldn't even know what a cultivator was — he only knew ordinary people called them "deities," and some even worshipped them.
In his mind, he was about to glimpse a "divine technique," and he felt a small thrill.
====
[Available Cultivation Techniques]
[Heaven Stealer Technique {1st Volume}]
{Price: 100 Thief Points}
[Dual Shadow Swords Basic Technique]
{Price: 10 Thief Points}
====
"So expensive!" The price didn't surprise him, though — these could turn someone into a deity, after all.
Still, he grumbled, "System, why is 'Heaven Stealer' so much pricier than the other technique?"
This System really was a thief, true to its name — he was certain of it now. He also remembered a Heaven Stealer Pill sharing the same name, equally overpriced.
"[The Heaven Stealer Technique is a unique technique — only the Host can cultivate it. It's tailor-made for a thief.]"
At the System's cold reply, he muttered, "Tailor-made for a thief, huh? Well, I don't have the Thief Points for it now, and I don't want the sword technique either, since there's no way to master it in three days. What I need is a way to break past that shop's security. Open Skill Panel."
====
[Available Skills]
[Stealth: Free]
{Description: A basic skill for a thief. Once learned, no one will be able to detect your position.
Warning: Cultivators a full realm above you will still be able to detect your position.}
[Pickpocket: Free]
{Description: A thief's essential skill.
Warning: Cultivators a full realm above you will still be able to sense the skill's use.}
[Silent Steps: Free]
{Description: A basic skill for a thief. As the name suggests, you'll make no sound even while walking. Once mastered, you can even walk on water in silence.
Warning: Cultivators a full realm above you will still be able to catch you.}
[True and False Eyes (Basic): Free]
{Description: A must-have skill for a thief. A thief's greatest weapons are his eyes and sharp senses — a good thief can spot a rare treasure from miles away. If a thief can't recognize a rare treasure, how can he call himself a thief?
Warning: Never use it on anything more powerful than you.}
[Treasure-Opening Hands (Basic Art): 10 Thief Points]
{Description: Opens or disables low-level arrays with your bare hands. Essential for breaking into treasuries.
Warning: Do not attempt to open any 1st-Grade Treasures.}
====
This time, Ace said nothing, dazed by all the "FREE" tags. He rubbed his eyes to make sure he hadn't misread them — but they really were free.
"Hahaha, so you do have a conscience after all," he laughed. His face lit up with delight, and he nodded to himself like a fool.
"Give me every skill available — especially Treasure-Opening Hands. Take your 10 TP!" he said, grinning.
Reading through each description, he finally realized the System hadn't been sending him to his death after all. These solutions had been available to him the whole time — he'd just been too anxious about Alina to notice.
Once he gave the command, his 12 TP dropped to 2, and information began flooding into his brain, just as before. This time, though, there was no pain — only a strange sense of refreshment.
Five minutes later, all the knowledge of the five skills had settled into his mind, down to the finest details of stance and technique.
When Ace opened his eyes, his dark pupils had turned gold. The world looked clearer than he'd ever seen it. But the next moment, a sharp pain lanced through his eyes, and he screamed, "Ahhh!"
He collapsed to his knees, clutching his eyes with both hands. The gold faded, and his eyes returned to normal.
"[Warning: Host is not yet a cultivator. You currently have only a minimal amount of Qi, and your meridians remain closed. The System advises mastering basic Qi control with other skills before using True and False Eyes. Overdrawing your limited Qi reserves can be fatal.]"
Ace finally understood what had happened and came back to his senses.
But exhaustion and hunger hit him hard the moment he did. He had the distinct feeling that if he didn't eat something soon, this Qi depletion would kill him.
It was already evening, and he hadn't eaten lunch, so he hurried to the meat stalls and bought supplies. After cooking quickly, he devoured the food like a starving ghost.
Now Ace didn't dare try any more skills, the lingering fear from before still fresh. He'd only managed to activate them because they'd seemed, for some reason, easy to grasp.
That didn't surprise him — he figured these were basic skills anyone could pick up. So he took the System's advice and focused first on mastering Qi control, planning to study the other skills later.
"Show me the Weapons Panel." He was hoping for another freebie.
=====
[Available Weapons]
[Black Blade Sword Set (1 Short, 1 Long): 30 Thief Points]
[Two Face Mask: 80 Thief Points]
[Invisibility Bead: 50 Thief Points per bead] {5 Available: single-use item, duration 1 minute}
======
Seeing the prices, he quickly closed the panel. Too damn expensive.
An Invisibility Bead would have boosted his odds, sure — but this greedy System wanted a whopping 50 TP for just one, and it was single-use, lasting a single measly minute!
Ace gave up on weapons and refocused on his free skills. He waited until night, then went outside.
There was an open park near the slums — the only one in this remote part of the city. It wasn't well maintained, and only poor children played there, and only in the mornings.
Ace practiced the Silent Steps skill first. As the System had warned, he tried to control his limited Qi, and after a few attempts, he succeeded.
Once he got a feel for his Qi, he practiced stealth until midnight.
After hours of practice, he felt utterly drained. He dragged himself home, ate some leftovers, and fell into a deep sleep.
The next morning, Ace opened his eyes feeling different — renewed. Little Alina remained in the same state as the day before, though paler still.
'I have to do it tonight,' he decided.
The night before, he'd practiced two skills until his Qi was completely drained, then gone out to buy more meat.
He'd realized that without meat or other high-nutrition food, exhaustion alone might kill him. And he was right — since he wasn't yet a cultivator, he had only a negligible amount of Qi, like any ordinary person.
What he didn't realize was that the skills he'd learned were, at their core, exceptional even at the basic level, requiring far more Qi than an average practitioner would need. Anyone else attempting to practice Stealth this way might have died from the strain.
After eating two or three pounds of meat for breakfast, he headed to the market again and bought a bag, a dirk, a full-body black suit with a hood, and a pitch-black mask — forty silver coins' worth of supplies.
After his shopping, he practiced Silent Steps once more, since it was proving difficult to master — and it was the crucial skill he'd need for tonight's raid!