"You're weaker than me, huh?"
The offhand, faintly surprised tone fell into the thief's ears, making his rage flare even hotter while his heart wavered.
There was something wrong with this black‑haired kid.
He was clearly a magic caster, yet his physical ability was in no way inferior to the thief's.
And he had blocked his attack so easily?
Disbelief flashed in the thief's eyes.
Thud!
Aaron stamped hard on the ground and rushed the thief. This was no time for idle talk.
"Courting death!" the thief roared, shocked and furious that Aaron would take the initiative against him. He swept his left hand across his waist, and a short dagger appeared in his grip, which he immediately hurled at Aaron.
Whoosh!
The air shrieked as it cut past.
Aaron's eyes flicked, easily tracking the dagger's path. His short sword swept out and knocked the spinning blade aside.
But that also slowed his charge.
"Stealth!"
The thief growled, and in the darkness of night his body blurred, as if melting into the shadows.
Aaron tensed at once—only for his face to shift to bafflement a second later.
Because
instead of pressing the attack, the thief turned and ran.
Can't let him get away!
The thought flashed through Aaron's mind. He raised his hand toward the fleeing back. "Magic Arrow!"
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
Three magic arrows formed in midair and shot toward the thief.
The sound of projectiles rushing up behind him forced the thief to break off his escape and dive into a roll to the side.
Using that opening, Aaron closed the distance.
"Fourfold Slash of Light!"
His short sword blurred into four afterimages that stabbed at the thief.
Pshff! Pshff! Pshff! Pshff!
Four bursts of blood exploded across the man's chest, and he let out a piercing scream.
However—
because of the Silence spell, his cry never carried beyond the alley.
"You, you…"
The thief lay on the ground, soaked in blood, eyes shot through with red. "Impossible… Gazef's…"
Before he could finish,
his breath left him for good.
"EXP +380."
"Huff."
"Huff."
Aaron panted as he looked down at the corpses, finally letting out a long breath.
He stared for a moment at the blood on his clothes and the crimson droplets running down his sword.
Killing two people in one go—
that was something he had never truly pictured before. He had expected that he would have to kill at some point, but not this soon.
Disgust?
None.
Guilt?
None.
Instead, it felt… strangely natural.
"What a rotten, hateful world," he muttered under his breath.
Lifting his head,
he quickly scanned the surrounding street and confirmed there was still no one around.
These two really had picked a good spot.
He wiped the blood off his cheek with his hand, then walked over to the two bodies and stored them both in his Item Box.
He even took the bloodstained paving stones.
This space‑bag‑like Item Box had no real restrictions besides not being able to hold living things.
Once the scene was cleaned up,
Aaron left the area at a brisk pace, heading back toward the inn.
Passing through a narrow alley on the way, he stepped in, stored his blood‑soaked clothes, and changed into a clean set.
Fortunately,
he had bought plenty of cheap everyday clothes first, so he still had spares.
Inside the inn,
"Oh, the guest is back," said the innkeeper, a plump, freckled middle‑aged woman named Marich.
"Mrs. Marich."
Aaron gave her a gentle smile and a nod, then headed up the stairs to his room.
"Haah~" Marich yawned as she watched him go. "Such a polite young man."
Click.
As the door closed,
Aaron's face finally showed his exhaustion.
He only had 13 MP total, and using Magic Arrow twice in a row meant he could no longer cast anything. If that thief had gotten away, he would have had a lot of trouble down the line.
Thankfully, Fourfold Slash of Light had finished the job.
He had never had much chance to use that Martial Art before. Having finally done so, he now understood what "concentration" consumption really was.
More precisely, it drained "stamina"—like the tiredness after a 200‑meter sprint. Not crippling, but definitely there.
More importantly,
this unexpected fight had given him a much clearer sense of his own strength.
That black‑robed caster had used the 2nd‑tier spell Shield Wall, so he was clearly at least level 7, though probably not much higher.
The thief should have been around the same level.
Under normal circumstances,
Aaron was only level 5. Facing a pincer attack from both, even with surprise on his side, he should have been completely overwhelmed.
But instead…
The caster had failed to make full use of his advantages, true, yet even so, the thief's speed and strength had both felt slightly inferior to Aaron's.
There was only one explanation.
Aaron's base stats were higher than the thief's.
"Since 'Genius' doesn't raise base stats, I poured all my levels into the intermediate class 'Sword Saint.'"
"People in this world don't have that kind of convenient player ability. Most of them can only advance their basic classes; many may not even have access to intermediate classes."
His own stats flashed through his mind—53 physical attack, 53 agility—and understanding dawned.
"In that case, my base numbers are probably higher than what's normal for a level 7 human in this world."
Next—
with a thought,
a dark‑brown magic staff, a milky‑white necklace, a short staff, and a dagger faintly gleaming with purple light all appeared on the bed.
Four magic items.
Aside from these, the two men had not even been carrying a single copper coin, let alone anything that might identify them.
Whether that was a rule of Eight Fingers or just their habit when going hunting was hard to say.
If it was the former, then Eight Fingers was far scarier than the anime had made them look.
"Too bad I don't have the Identify Item spell. Otherwise I could figure out exactly what these do."
Aaron sighed to himself as he looked over the items.
The only one he could be certain about was the short staff with Silence. He could still feel mana from it, so it clearly had charges left.
There were quite a few casters who could use Identify, but if he walked in with fresh Eight Fingers loot and asked for appraisals, it would only draw their attention.
And those people were very big on revenge.
He did not have time to play with them.
"Looks like I may have to visit the Magic Caster Guild again tomorrow," he thought.
With a wave of his hand,
he put the four magic items away again and took out the three remaining scrolls.
Paper Creation, Heating, Odorless.
He tore each scroll in turn and spent skill points to learn the spells.
Fortunately, these three were all support magic and would not cause the kind of commotion Magic Arrow would.
Odorless would erase his scent, sparing him no small amount of trouble once he entered the forest.
Paper Creation needed no explanation.
Heating was a last‑minute purchase, meant to help test his earlier theory. Even if he was wrong, it would still be useful.
After all, it let adventurers heat food and water without building a fire and giving away their position.
A necessity for life in the wild.
______
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