Chapter Twenty Six – Thieving

I stood resolutely, wearing my new gear, and thinking about what I needed to do.

I had no trouble at all wearing items that I did not meet the level requirements for. I'd used Red Thorn's Rose dagger more than once now, despite the fact that it said its required level was 20. I'd asked Miss Tutorial about this and she'd explained that all items in Tread the Sky were wearable but I wouldn't gain their benefits and boosts until I was at the requisite level. Instead, I'd be penalized by a percentage based on the difference between my level and the item I was trying to use.

Since I was only level thirteen still, even after the experience I'd gained fighting the raptor, that meant I didn't benefit from a lot of the items Akwa had given me. That also explained why the devastatingly powerful dagger I’d stolen from her had never done much damage. It’s requirement was level twenty, so I was doing seventy percent less damage with every swing. I was lucky it was even doing damage at all.

So I needed two levels to gain the full effectiveness of all of my new equipment, except the dagger, of course. There were a few items that I didn't quite meet the strength requirement for too, though the stat bonuses I got from each level would solve that problem.

I wasn’t very worried about all of that though. I’d need the levels, and equipment. All of it would definitely help me search for Bugbear, but for the moment…

...I looked so freaking cool!

I'd never really cared much about how I looked, and honestly, placing Bugbear's Tunic into my inventory after wearing it for so long was a bit bittersweet. But that tunic, memento that it was, wouldn't make me strong enough to venture into places unknown.

I felt like some sort of wraith with my midnight grey cloak helping me blend in with the night. Akwa's alternate character must be awesome. And the Good Soil boots even synergized with Rose! That was convenient.

It was a little strange actually. Maybe Akwa happened to have found the same weapons as Red Thorn at some point? I shrugged at the coincidence, putting it out of my mind.

Two levels. That was all I needed, and I was already pretty close to level fourteen. Levels were pretty hard to get in this game, but I had an advantage most people didn't. Not only could I steal things, I could steal soulbound things. I wondered if that meant I would get more experience for the steal?

The night time of the sixth cycle wasn't much more quiet than the day. Variak was a huge city and something was always happening. The rooms in the inn always had darkened windows that showed a night sky regardless of the cycle so patrons could sleep, so I'd never had a very set schedule. I'd spent as many nights wandering Variak's streets as days. Something about the night cycle felt better for this sort of work though. I was going to be a thief.

People had shiny things and I needed to find and protect my oldest friend. I felt a little bad taking things from adventurers, but honestly, it was my Kin who'd had them first. It was hard to feel bad about stealing a shiny weapon from someone when I knew that it likely appeared whenever they shoved something sharp into a monster just like me in order to get it.

I was walking down the road, looking for particularly unappealing types of adventurers. The ones with super expensive clothing that looked like it would fetch a good price or get me a lot of experience. Variak was a hub which meant players of all levels and classes could be found here. Thus far, I'd only stolen from Akwa that one time I'd needed to turn in quests when I first picked up the rogue class, and from invaders back before I'd gotten my human body. Things were different now.

I spotted my first mark near Taylor's Tailors and Weavery.

The woman I saw leaving the store looked beautiful. Veracose_Nida_003 was her name and her dress seemed to shimmer in the moonlight in a way that bespoke enchantment and value. The dress only covered part of her body, leaving her shoulders and sides bare to the world, which let me know straight off that it was powerful. Women’s clothes all seemed that way unless they were paladins, and sometimes even then. The more skin it showed, the more dangerous the user.

I wasn't crazy enough to think I could steal her clothes right off of her, but someone wearing something that valuable probably had great goodies in their adventurer's sack! She was a level eighteen Black Mage, and I hadn't met one of those yet. She was like Fire Tosser had been, one of those people who could chant and make ice or fire with words. Scary! But she couldn't do any of that in town.

I began to sneak as they left the Weaver's hut and continued on down towards the castle. I'd never been allowed in there before. The guards had always kept me out, but I'd garnered that once you got a certain distance into the Main Story Quest, you could come and go freely. This meant that I had to get to her before she made it to the castle.

I could do that.

I stepped into an alley and transformed into my Jellyfae form, then floated up over the building to gaze down on the road. Unwary passersby never seemed to think to look up, which allowed me to assess them all. I easily found Veracose walking back towards the castle about a block up the road. Rather than follow her on the street, I zipped instead across the rooftops, and down to torchlights hiding within them like I used to.

When I was a block or two ahead of the woman, I sunk back down into another alley between two of the residential houses. Much as I hated to admit it, my Jellyfae form was significantly more noticeable than just a regular person in the city. Without candle flames to hide in and with the need to get within touching distance to steal from someone, I flipped back to my human form and stepped out onto the street just as Veracose was walking by. The moment she passed, I touched her arm, opening her inventory to receive an NPC box.

"Attempting to steal from Veracose_Nida_003."

The way theft worked, after discussing it with Miss Tutorial extensively, was that when someone attempted to steal, it allowed them a ten second glance into the inventory and to look at the adventurer's equipment. Soulbound Items were usually greyed out apparently, and the odds of stealing an item that someone was wearing were incredibly low. I could also physically take the item without initiating the stealing attempt as I had done as a Jellyfae many times before, but that wouldn't net me any experience, which was actually the main goal. Getting a lot of neat stuff was just an added bonus.

I could steal money too, the entire inventory worth, which was why most adventurers didn’t carry money around on their person. Veracose_Nida_003 was one of these smarter people because she only had about four gold on her, the rest most likely deposited in her bank or stash.

Once I'd initiated contact, I had three seconds to select the items I wanted to attempt to steal. Each item had a percentage by it and I greedily picked a pouch of High Quality Crystal Nails, as my first selection. Veracose must be a builder or a carpenter. It had a thirty five percent chance to steal. My next selection was a Bolt of Electronid Silk. Easily the least valuable item in the bag, but it made the attempt safer at fifty percent. Lastly, I chose an item called a Devastation Wand. It only had a three percent chance to steal but I was absolutely certain I could sell it for enough funds to get myself everything I needed to make my own Safe Zone. Well. The Builder's part of one, anyway.

"Attempting to Steal HQ Crystal Nails...Failure."

'Jellycrap!' I thought, anxious as I followed nearby. After the first contact, I didn't need to keep touching Veracose, but I did need to stay close enough that the stealing attempt wouldn't be canceled. I made as if I'd forgotten something and turned around, wandering behind the mage. She noticed but didn't catch me, thinking I had just made a genuine mistake of some sort. Perfect.

Every adventurer had the ability to catch a thief in action. It was an ability that anyone could activate at any time and there were no consequences to using it. I'd never needed to, mostly because I'd never had anything worth stealing, that I knew of. I was kind of curious where one of those adhesive paste tubes had gone from my inventory once, but I decided now wasn't a very good time to focus on that.

"Attempting to Steal 20 Bolts of Electronid Silk...Success! Accept theft, or keep trying?"

I was given the option to quit now or keep trying to steal the Devastation Wand. The chances were low but once at least one item had been successfully stolen the only way I could be caught was if the victim used the Catch ability. At that point, I would apparently be thrown in jail and fined, but my experience wouldn't be penalized. This was a big punishment for adventurers logging into the game from their world, because they were here to have fun. Being locked in jail was time not spent killing monsters, gaining experience, or even crafting items. It was... nothing.

I'd spent the formative years of my life doing nothing though. I was familiar with it and I was dedicated. I needed those two levels. I could get them without hurting monsters too, so I decided to stick around for the next minute it would take to attempt the theft.

"Attempting to Steal Devastation Wand...Success!"

Congratulations! You have earned 600 experience points for stealing 20 Electronid Silk Bolts.

Congratulations! You have earned 1390 experience points for stealing a Devastation Wand.

You have gained a level!

You are now level 14!

The trumpet that blared in my ears last time did the same thing and I turned around a third time, walking away with a sway in my step. Level fourteen! I was on my way!

It looked like I still gained experience for stealing soulbound items, but they didn't seem any more profitable than stealing regular ones. Thirteen hundred and ninety experience was a lot, but I didn't think that number would've been any different if it hadn't been a weapon she was wielding and had bound to herself. I decided that I'd rather not gain a reputation for stealing things that were precious to people since there wasn't much more profit in it anyway.

I remembered when I thought Bugbear’s tunic must’ve been the most valuable item in the world because of how much it meant to me. Now I knew better, but I still would be far more hurt if one of these stolen items were taken from me than I would if Bugbear’s tunic were suddenly gone without a trace. So for me, soulbound items were mostly off limits.

That didn't mean anyone's inventory was safe anymore though, because I went a little crazy after that.

I proceeded to steal from everyone I walked by and found that it was much easier than it probably should be. The items I wore added to the success rate of my thefts, the experience I gained compounded by stealing items that were inventoried in bulk, and the sheer number of people in Variak who didn't seem willing to use their catch ability. I'd only seen a few people use it before and it sent up a big alarm that brought the guards running. If the person who used the ability was wrong they suffered a small fee.

I took advantage of this gleefully. Wood boards, epic quality hammers, low quality saws, Twin Axes of Fiery Wrath, and a Bard's spare flute, all found a place within my bag. There was a purple dress that I wanted to wear around Tyrone for some reason that I successfully stole after three different attempts. I stole cookware, a bottle of Champagne, a silverware set, a spork, a chef's hat, a Sovereign Wisdom Crystal, about thirty potions, a Cloak of Rabbit Hunting, a Rogue's Belt of Disruption, which I immediately equipped, and more.

I used my Jellyfae form to convince people to talk to me and then stole from them as we were talking. I made new friends and robbed them blind without them ever noticing. Some I even told I had stolen from them and gave the stuff I stole back because I liked them so much.

I beamed in joy as I finished snatching a pair of cute yellow slippers from a halfling who had them in her inventory because apparently she needed to be wearing full plate armor in the middle of town. They were adorable and I couldn't wait to wear them! I’d spent most of my time as a human going barefoot, so having shoes was pretty exciting!

As I stole, my experience counter racked up the fourteen thousand or so necessary points needed to allow me to use my Good Soil Boots, my Eigan Daigan amulet and my Leeches Breeches. I found myself having more fun than I could ever remember having in my entire life.

Then I got caught.