Twenty minutes later, I was once again at the edge of the Town Maell. This time, I trusted the darkness of the night to cover me, so I rushed forward with relative recklessness.

Though, when I arrived, I had to stop a moment and examine the town carefully to make sure I had arrived at the right location. The changes the town had experienced were … impressive.

The first difference was the outer defensive line away from the town. An elatriss away from the outer walls, there were twenty-four large towers, each filled with archers and ballistas to hunt the approaching beasts, with a squad of mounted soldiers to respond against the larger beasts, each decked in gleaming armor carrying the mark of House Maell.

That alone showed the effort that the Noble House was putting into the development of the town … a great contrast to the noble liege of our unlucky town, who had outsourced the protection of the town for some great benefits.

Admittedly, the effort was understandable, as I could see the number of monster attacks was significantly higher than the last time I had visited. I knew that the monster attacks would get stronger the more the dungeon was in operation, something about the way dungeon operated; but the jump in intensity still surprised me.

The impact of it could already be seen in the town itself as well.

The outer wooden walls were already completed, and moreover, I could see several spots where they were building a stone layer behind it, reinforcing it to meet an intense attack.

Impressive commitment.

Too bad the tall walls made it even easier for me to sneak in. I just needed to find a gap between the patrols, relatively careless due to the security the combined towers and the walls provided, and climbed up, bypassing the gates completely.

The outer town changed greatly as well. Most of the buildings were already complete, looking strong despite their rough exterior. I could see many stores that sold weapons, food, and highly processed health recovery items, along with many inns and other establishments.

Including gambling dens.

Due to my professional curiosity, I wanted to visit one of them … but. I didn't have too much time to waste. I had a different destination in mind.

The victim of my latest scam, to see if I could pull another trick.

I might not be a full-time confidence trickster, but I had dabbled with sufficiently in my youth, not to mention, being a godfather meant I had been in regular contact with all kinds of criminals including the tricksters.

Sometimes as an ally, sometimes as a target.

The latter did not end well for them.

During my exposure, I learned that the biggest thing that separated the amateurs from the professionals was their tenacity. The amateurs were like mosquitos, flying around, content with stealing a drop of blood from their target.

The professionals had a different perspective. Once they picked a target, they pulled trick after trick, relying on the fact that each trick left them more unbalanced as they tried to recover from the earlier blow … until all of their blood was trained.

Of course, to do that, they designed elaborate plans and schemes, the kind that took weeks and months to properly pull. I lacked that kind of time…

But luckily, I had other ways to cheat.

I slipped into a back street to change, covering myself with a dark cloak before I climbed to a roof, and moved across them, avoiding the crowd. Amusingly, at a distance, I could see several other figures that were using the same method to move from one roof to another.

However, the movement of one of them caught my attention. A young man, dashing desperately to avoid a few people that followed him, but they were gaining ground. A glance made it clear that they lacked Speed, and the young man they were chasing was more at home on the roofs.

He probably left the rest behind if it wasn't for the large box he was carrying, slowing him down.

However, I watched their chase with great attention for a different reason. It was harder to notice a young man than I expected. It was a subtle difference, one that almost … dimmed his presence, for lack of a better word.

If it wasn't for my Resilience, I would have thought it was some kind of suggestion from Charisma, forcing me to avoid him, but it was not. I watched curiously as I followed them from a distance.

Then, I watched as the young man used a smoke bomb, just as he had arrived above a crowded intersection. The smoke was thick enough to block even my sight.

Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

"What's going on, stop!" guards immediately shouted, while the crowd dispersed.

"Curious," I murmured as I moved a bit closer, only to see that young man mixed into the rest of the crowd, mixing with the panicking crowd, who clearly didn't want to get mixed in a dangerous situation. As the young man mixed into the crowd, his presence turned even weaker, and less worthy of attention.

Whatever ability he was using, he just started to work far more intensely.

A fascinating little ability, I followed curiously. The guards blocked the movement of the crowd, who inevitably stopped, but when the young man slipped into a side street, no one bothered to stop him … as if they didn't notice him at all.

From a great distance, I followed him, taking note of his abilities as he got rid of all that was chasing him. "Not bad, but he has a lot of things to learn," I noted. He was clearly doing his best to avoid any potential tail, and to the point of mixing into the crowd several times, but other than double-backing a couple of times, he didn't try any other technique, heavily relying on his supernatural ability.

He clearly had a lot to learn.

Still, I followed him until he arrived at his home, which was a small tent built in a concealed spot between two roofs, impossible to be noticed from outside.

"Not a bad show," I said as I stepped forward, and he tensed.

"Who are you?" he said as he pulled a dagger, but his hand, trembling in exhaustion, showed that using his presence-reducing ability already pushed him to the limit, with no chance to retaliate.

I extended a tendril of Charisma connection to him, using it to calm him down. I didn't want him to bolt away like a frightened rabbit immediately. Naturally, he still looked at me with fear. I also didn't want to calm down completely.

A little fear helped him to make some poor decisions.

Though, as I felt the connection to be established, I realized another interesting thing. He was lower-leveled than I expected. It was hard to be accurate, but the higher the level, the harder for it to use Charisma on people.

He was certainly below level twenty.

"Just a curious old man," I said as I sat down, acting like I had nothing to fear. Though, considering what I had watched him do, I certainly did not. "Tell me, what's your class?"

I expected him to tense, but the pure panic in his gaze was not what I expected. "T-thief," he stammered, obviously lying. If it wasn't for the calming effect, I expected him to run away in panic.

Even with it, it was a close call.

"Interesting," I said as I stepped forward, showing off my Speed — not full limits, but enough to be impressive — to cover the twenty feet distance between us, grab the box from his side, and sat back, all before he could even react.

I saw the despair in his eyes as he looked at me. "What do you want?" he said.

Curious, I opened the box, only to find some decent food, a few denicas of silver, and some clothes. Hardly the great riches I expected, even with his low level. Clearly, he was in distress.

"I have a question and an offer," I said as the temptation hit me.

"And what if I reject," he said, tensing as I reached for my belt. He watched me carefully as I pulled a small pouch and threw it toward him, and it landed right in front of him. Helpless, he leaned forward and opened it, only to realize it was filled with more silver than he had in his small box. It was about half a Derum, which was worth several times the small box he had in hand, stolen after some great effort.

"Nothing much, you'll just have to forfeit some easy payment."

"What's there to stop you from taking it back once I answer your question," he answered. A good question, but the fact that he had asked in the first place rather than acting greedy surprised me. Even if he had a calm mind, I expected a street kid to be more greedy at the possibility of a sudden payout.

"Nothing," I answered simply as closed the box and put it on the ground gently. Interestingly, he also didn't miss the implied respect in that move. Definitely not a street kid, I decided. "Say the word and I will leave."

That confused him even more. He was clearly expecting a more forceful approach. "May I hear the question first?" he said.

"What's the ability that you have used to reduce your presence that much," I said. It was clearly not something that was common, as it was the first time I saw something similar despite everything that happened.

As I asked that question, I felt him tense, so I used Charisma to increase his trust in me a bit. Not a huge amount, as I was sure that such a thing would be noticed, but subtle enough to solve his dilemma.

"It's just an ability that empowers my Concealment stat further," he soon said. "I was lucky to pick up a stone that turned out to be an ability stone."

The first part of his answer was true, while the second part was a complete fabrication.

"Acceptable answer," I answered, and I felt most of his tenseness disappear. He was clearly determined to hide the truth about the source of his ability and his class, and 'successfully' misleading me about them reduced his tenseness.

I had a feeling about how he would react if I probed him about his identity, but then I decided against it.

His answer about his ability already gave me what I wanted. I didn't even know that there was a stat like Concealment. "What about the second part?" he said, this time calmer.

"I just want you to go around, listen, and give me a summary of what's going on in the town," I said, giving him an easier task than I had first planned.

The reward I got was good enough.

"How it will work?" he said.

"I'm going to pay you an advance, and you'll go around, listening around to discover some interesting tidbits. You just have to give me a report whenever I visit," I said.

"What about the payment," he asked.

"A Derum of silver for every satisfactory report you deliver," I said.

He paused a moment, trying to decide. "What if I want something else?" he said.

"Depends on what you want," I said.

For a moment, he paused, examining my expression, as if he was trying to make sure I could be trusted. "I want you to help me level up," he finally declared. His intensity was surprising compared to the question he asked.

"Doable, but you need to make sure the reports are satisfactory," I said, even as I stood up, leaving another pouch filled with a Derum of silver behind.

"What counts as satisfactory?" he said even as I started walking away.

"You're a smart boy, figure it out," I said with a chuckle, leaving one last test for him before I disappeared.

As I moved away, I closed my eyes, trying to replicate the feeling of fading away.

Even I focused on the sensation, I used the same trick, linking the existence of such a stat to my sense of Power. I started thinking about some of my memories, concealed in an abandoned building, avoiding attention, with a rifle in hand, waiting for the perfect opportunity to deliver death…

[Stat Potential Awakened: Concealment

Accept / Reject]

Almost trivial for an old man who dabbled with wetwork…