River-Flower City, the slum area, inside a rundown hut.
A young boy was lying on the floor face down like he was dead. He was, of course, Ace.
Ace opened his heavy eyelids with some difficulty. His eyes were as hazy as his mind after he had fainted for three whole days!
After this deep slumber, he finally regained some strength. But he felt sore all over his body and felt intense pain in his abdomen. He was still injured but a lot better than before.
Ace felt intense hunger the moment he regained some sanity. However, he didn't care about it because Alina was still missing, and he had to find her, or she might die because no one but himself was clear about her condition.
Ace quickly tried to stand when his internal injury acted up, and he fell on his butt in pain. Ace groaned while gritting his teeth and was just about to give it another try when he suddenly saw a black pouch on top of a folded paper beside those two neatly arranged old blankets.
The last time, Ace hadn't seen that little pouch and paper, maybe because he was exhausted or shocked by Alina's disappearance. Now that he was clear-headed, he quickly discovered them.
'What are those?' Ace gradually approached them while crawling on his limbs, confused. Finally, he picked up the black pouch and the little paper.
The black pouch was palm-sized, just like any other money pouch. He opened the little pouch and was instantly shocked because ten Ruby Coins were inside!
'Where did so much money come from?' Ace didn't care about it much and quickly opened the little folded paper. On it was exquisite writing; it was Alina's:
"(Big Bro Ace, I'm so sorry that I had to go with my grandpa in a hurry. He came to pick me up and said he would take me to my parents. But don't worry, he gave Alina a beautiful white pill, and I'm all better now after eating it. So don't be worried and sad without Alina, okay? You have to take good care of yourself. I'll come back in the future to find Big Bro when Alina grows up. I'll always miss you. Goodbye, yours, Alina!)"
Ace read the note that Alina had left for him, and his nerves finally loosened a bit, and he sighed in relief. He spotted and felt some rough spots on the paper.
'Was she crying while writing?'
Unknowingly, two streams of tears also flowed down Ace's face as he thought, 'So she left to reunite with her parents. Well, that's also good. This also means that her grandpa knows about the awakening of her bloodline, and he also has that special pill. Maybe he was also a Hunter.'
Ace was intelligent. With so few clues, he now had some idea of what had happened.
'But why didn't she say goodbye to me personally? It's not like I would've stopped her from going.' This puzzled Ace greatly. 'Well, as long as she's alright, that's what matters most.'
Although he was relieved, there was a hint of loneliness and sadness in his eyes.
Now Ace was calm as he stared at the black pouch with Ruby Coins.
'Well, she left me quite some money. If it were before, I would've lived my entire life comfortably with this much money. However, now, heh...' Ace chuckled softly.
After placing the money bag in his pocket, Ace was going to find something to eat when he saw there was a bumpy spot between those blankets. He curiously lifted them and saw another small piece of paper below a stone.
'Why is this hidden here? If not for this stone, I would've never noticed it.'
Ace grabbed the small piece of paper and opened it with some anticipation in his eyes. He naturally thought it was from Alina too.
However, inside was different writing from Alina's:
"(Brat, don't you dare tell anyone about Alina, or you'll die horribly. More importantly, forget about her. You will never see her again in your entire life. You two belong to entirely different worlds!)"
That was the only sentence inside the paper. The words used were quite decisive. If Ace had had his former mentality, he would've been quite heartbroken after reading it, but not now.
Ace read the sentence and laughed out loud coldly, "Hahaha, two different worlds, huh? Well, if it were before, your words would have some meaning, but now, wait for me, you old goat! I want to see your face when I meet you in your home someday." Ace declared with a stony expression on his face.
In an instant, Alina's old grandpa turned into an "old goat" in Ace's mind after reading his vicious words.
"This geezer was most likely the reason for Alina's abrupt departure. Just wait, old goat. I'll show you just who lives in different worlds." Ace snorted in anger, but there was apparent contentment in his voice.
After reading little Alina's farewell letter, he became lighthearted because now he had a new goal: to become strong so he could meet Alina one day in her own home. He would give her and that "old goat" an immense surprise.
Ace quickly went to the market and bought the most expensive meat he could find. Now he was rich, so he didn't have to spend like a poor person anymore. Besides, no one would find it strange if someone bought expensive meat. Even if someone questioned him, Ace could simply say it was for the restaurant he worked for.
Afterward, he received some superficial treatment from a local doctor and returned home.
Ace felt quite invigorated after eating five pounds of roasted meat.
"So that's how it feels to be rich," Ace murmured to himself, because he still had difficulty believing he was the same person he'd been five days ago.
"System, show me the rewards I received after completing my mission," Ace said while grinning ear to ear.
It was time to receive the rewards of his hard labor, and he was excited about it.
Ace saw a familiar black panel form in front of his eyes. This was the "Mission Panel"!
=====
[Mission Panel]
[Revenge Mission: Steal All the Treasures from Shop No. 8 in River-Flower City, Outer Region Pill Market. Let that fat shop owner know no one can ever cheat an Honorable Thief.]
[Status: Complete]
--
[Scanning Host Performance]
{1...2...3…100% Complete}
[Result: Low-Level Performance]
[Rewards will be 2X for the first 3 Honorable Missions]
[First 2X Reward will be presented now]
--
-2X Reward:
{EXP: 100}
{Soul Points (SP): 50}
{Thief Points (TP): 150}
--
[Rewards have been added to Host status.]
=====
Ace didn't bicker with the System this time because he knew he had messed up in the end and had nearly gotten caught by those two idiots.
If it had been someone else with a brain, not those two idiots, they would have suspected him and caught him for interrogation.
'Well, these rewards are also not bad.' Ace thought.
"System, what do these 2X rewards mean?" Ace asked with an amazed expression.
"[Honorable Missions are for the Host to learn the art of thievery, so this is a kind of gift from the System to encourage the Host to work hard in the future. Thereby, for the first three missions, your rewards will be doubled.]"
'So if I get a mission to rob someone rich, my rewards will be doubled. That is great as well.' Unknowingly, Ace started to think like a thief.
"System, open my Status!"
=====
[Eternal Thief System]
[Main Panel]
[Host: Ace White]
[Race: Human {No Bloodline}]
[First Heaven: Mortal Sky Heaven]
[Martial Cultivation: Mortal]
{EXP: 49/50} {51 Extra}
(EXP = Experience Points)
[Soul Cultivation: Mortal]
{SP: 19/20} {31 Extra}
[Thief Points (TP): 152]
[Skills: 5]
[Cultivation Technique: 0]
[Current Mission: 0]
=====
Ace saw his status with a smile and nodded in satisfaction when he saw 152 TP.
However, when he saw his EXP and SP, his smile froze. He asked the System hurriedly, "System, why aren't I leveling up? I even have extra points, but they didn't add up. You aren't broken, right?"
He panicked because, without the System's help, he had no hope of ever seeing Alina again!
"[EXP and SP represent the Qi capacity of the Host's body and soul. Consider your body as a vessel and Qi as water. If it has more space, it will hold more water; if it's full, it will overflow. So that's why you can't absorb more Qi if you don't have more space. The System recommends the Host buy a Cultivation Technique; it will help the Host's body build more space for Qi, and this way you will level up.]"
The System had just explained itself for the first time. Ace was also amazed by this. So he asked another question, since the System was being helpful today.
"So cultivation techniques are used to make more space inside our bodies for Qi?" he asked.
"[You can put it that way.]"
"Then what is a skill? Aren't they like techniques as well?" It was another one of Ace's biggest questions.
"[Skills are for controlling Qi. Qi is like an open river inside your body. If you create a path for it, it will also flow until it becomes empty, so you have to block the path you open. The skill is like a gate; it can control the flow of water however you wish.]"
Another long answer came from the System.
Suddenly, the fog in Ace's mind lifted.
"So when I accidentally activated True and False Eyes, it was like I made a path for the river to flow, and I couldn't control it, so my Qi became empty, right?" Ace asked merrily, as if he had solved some big problem.
"[Yes.]"
The System also agreed with his statement.
Just as he was about to ask another question, he heard the System's crisp voice in his mind again.
"[The System can only answer two of the Host's questions after the first mission is complete, so your next question will cost you Thief Points.]"
When Ace heard this, he frowned. He had so many questions he wanted to ask, but he hadn't known that he would get only two questions after a mission. He would've asked something more significant, had he known about it before.
'Thief Points are more important,' Ace thought while nodding.
At least now he knew that cultivation techniques were necessary to become strong.
So he opened his Technique panel the very next moment.
=====
[Available Cultivation Techniques]
[Heaven Stealer Technique {1st Vol}]
{Price: 100 Thief Points (TP)}
[Dual Shadow Swords Basic Technique]
{Price: 10 Thief Points (TP)}
=====
"System, what is different between these two techniques in the store? Are they not for the same thing?" Ace had to ask this because one was priced at 100 while the other was only 10.
"[2TP,]" the System's emotionless voice sounded in his mind.
"Just take it."
2 TP was nothing if he could save 90 TP.
"[Yes, those two are very different. Heaven Stealer 1st Volume can only be cultivated by the Host, and is made especially for thieves. Moreover, it has both 'Martial' and 'Soul' cultivation techniques. Dual Shadow Swords, on the other hand, is a basic form of weapon cultivation technique. It is for the Host to train with the weapon, not for the body or soul.]"
Ace was astonished by this answer.
'If it has both techniques, and only I can cultivate it, then this price is reasonable,' he mused. 'I should buy both of them, since I also don't know how to use weapons.'
Ace bit his lip and said in a mosquito-like voice, "Give me both the Heaven Stealer Technique and Dual Shadow Swords!"
He said those words with every bit of energy he had.
With just one command, his TP went from [150TP] to [40TP]. His heart was bleeding.
'My precious Thief Points!'