Chapter 238 Attempted robbery, system task

?After the system finally became accessible to Adam, thoughts of his development going uphill crossed his mind. However, considering his current situation… damn, what happened to all the conveniences?

“Profile check,” he thought and sighed.

Ding!

[Name: Adam

Race: Devil

Power Rating: G-

Talent: Absent

Current Level: Not improving]

Looking at this desolate display, he felt like crying. Just a month ago, he had strength that could at least hold its ground, but now he was an ant that could be crushed with one hand. And this in a world where he had no allies around him, and he found himself in a place about which he knew nothing.

Staring at his power rating, he couldn’t help but shake his head. Even in the Lower Realm, he was somewhat powerful upon his first appearance, but now he was just an ordinary mortal. This led to negative thoughts and plunged him into depression.

“Worst of all, I don’t know how to improve. The methodology is there, but it’s expensive, and besides, it’s unclear whether they can suit me. After all, in this world, the body is different.”

His physical body in this world was sturdier than in the past, and he could absorb magical energy even more efficiently, giving him a bonus. However, he could only accumulate a limited amount of magical energy.

“Although my new race is decent, the space in my reservoir is limited, so it’s like I’m drinking water and then spitting it out…” .𝘤𝘰𝑚

The magic reservoir is the place where usable magical energy accumulates for mages, and its size usually depends directly on talent and level of mastery. But the problem was that at the moment, he had neither talent nor any level of mastery. So all he had was a reservoir the size of a cup.

“Ha-a-ah…”

His face filled with irritation and sadness, but there was nothing to be done at this moment. What happened had happened, and all he could do now was accumulate money to buy the methodology.

And so, closing his eyes, he immersed himself again in meditation, feeling no desire to sleep.

It was dark outside, even though his eyes were wide open. The clock showed four in the morning, while the village was engulfed in deep silence. Even the street lamps were turned off. No one was wandering at this time.

Rustling. Rustling.

Suddenly, Adam opened his eyes as he heard a rustle in the shop. He frowned and stood up, looking alert. Putting on his coat to avoid freezing, he opened the door and scowled.

“Who’s this bastard?” he thought irritably.

In front of the counter stood someone of short stature, apparently attempting to break into the cash register, but failing. Adam didn’t sense that his opponent was strong, so he was calm, but vigilance never hurt. And suddenly…

Ding!

[Task Received: Stop the thief]

[Description: An audacious thief decided to live off someone else’s labor and conceived something malicious. Stop him and report to the guards!]

[Reward: Random improvement methodology]

“This…”

Adam’s eyes brightly lit up at the offered reward. It was as if the system heard his concerns and gave him a chance to obtain a methodology that would help him become stronger.

With such a reward ahead, he had no more doubts.

“I need to approach him as discreetly as possible,” thought Adam and began to move in the shadows, avoiding the moonlight.

Fortunately, the thief was busy trying to break into the cash register, standing with his back to Adam.

With slow steps, masking his breath, Adam approached behind the thief, aiming for the base of his skull. And so, swinging with all his might, Adam struck the base of the skull!

Crash!

“Aaah!”

Emitting a loud, plaintive sound, the thief collapsed from the intense pain.

“That’s it,” thought Adam, smiling, expecting to receive the reward. But…

Even after a few seconds, the reward was not issued, and the task was still active! A bad feeling came over the man, and he suddenly leaned.

Ding!

A metallic sound of the air being pierced echoed. Glancing over his shoulder, Adam saw a short figure in a hood covering his face.

“So, he wasn’t alone,” thought Adam and jumped back.

He frowned a bit, feeling a slight fatigue. After all, the mortal body was not as strong as one might think, so after such active movements, he was already getting tired.

To his great regret, his opponent was still active and was already running towards him, assuming a stance with the hilt of the sword held in both hands, and the tip of the sword pressed to the hilt.

“Darn!”

Adam frowned and couldn’t help but look back. Behind him was expensive clothing! If the owner saw this, he would be furious!

“I can’t lose my job on the first day! I need money to survive in this world!” thought Adam, gritting his teeth, and clenching his fists.

Although it was challenging to resist the sword, especially in a position where the blade was directed at him, there was always a chance to knock the opponent off balance!

Without wasting time, Adam ran towards the opponent, and the distance between them was very short. Swinging his leg, Adam kicked the thief’s legs, hearing a crunch followed by a quiet cry. Unable to maintain the correct stance, the opponent accidentally swung the sword, and the tip accidentally touched Adam’s shoulder, leaving a small cut, and tearing through his clothes.

“Tch…”

Despite the strong and excruciating pain he felt, Adam didn’t get distracted. He clenched the hand of his opponent, which held the sword hilt. There was a crunch, followed by a horrifying scream.

“Aaaah! My hand!”

The opponent fell to the floor, and all that was left for Adam was to snatch the sword and then pin the thief to the ground! After a few minutes, the boutique once again fell into silence. Adam breathed heavily, and his forehead was covered with cold sweat.

Two unconscious thieves lay on the floor. He looked around for anyone else but found no one besides these two. This also confirmed the notification from the system.

Ding!

[Task completed!]

[Received: Random improvement methodology]

[Path of EndlessElements: The Higher World is the closest realm to God’s Kingdom. It is much older, and at some point, gods walked the earth here, spreading their faith. In those times, there existed a devil whose name shook even the mightiest beings. He held in his hand the infinite elements and the loud cries of the laws of the world seemed to shout his name.]

“Darn, finally!” Adam sighed and grimaced in irritation as he sat on the unconscious thief’s body.

Ignoring his injury, Adam took out his ID card, which had a function to call the guards. He sent a small burst of magical energy there, and a red emblem appeared on the ID card.

“It should work,” he thought, sighing and ignoring his wounds, waiting for the guards.

*** Ten minutes passed since he sent the message, and a group of five guards appeared at the entrance of the boutique, entering and looking surprised.

“Hello. We came in response to the call of a resident named Adam,” he asked loudly, not finding anyone inside.

“Yes, I’m here,” suddenly a deep and beautiful voice sounded from behind the counter.

Turning his head towards the counter, the guard saw a handsome young man of tall stature, with shiny black hair flowing down his back, and eyes, like darkness, continuously staring at them.

A bloody trail was visible on his shoulder, while his face looked tired.

“About half an hour ago, these two broke in here and started trying to break into the cash register. Fortunately, I noticed the noise in time and neutralized them,” said Adam, cracking his neck.

“E… yes, you did a good job. Can we see the thieves?” the guard asked puzzled, with obvious skepticism.

After all, Adam looked fragile and defenseless, so doubts arose about whether he had the strength to resist anyone. However, he fell silent when Adam pulled out the two tied-up thieves from behind the counter, dragging them like sacks.

“Here they are. Unfortunately, by the time you came here, these two had already woken up, and I had nothing left to do but beat them and tie them up so they wouldn’t budge,” said Adam, kicking the thieves toward the guards.

Like bowling balls, they slid across the ceramic floor and stopped right at the guards’ feet, who were left speechless.

“Why is this guy behaving so cynically?” they thought but decided to remain silent.

The guard examined the two thieves, and they clicked their tongues irritably.

“Darn, it’s those darn gnomes again. Why can’t these cursed creatures calm down?” one of the guards grumbled irritably.

“Hm? Again?” Adam spoke up, finishing bandaging his shoulder. He approached the guards, who had already handcuffed the two trespassers.

“Yes, again. Recently, gnomes started migrating massively, and by the Emperor’s order, we took them in, but they are too audacious…” the guard explained.

According to his account, recent events in the Gnome kingdom led to the mass migration of its residents. It was related either to a civil war or something else, but the result was the same. Gnomes were causing trouble!

Although, of course, it didn’t apply to all of them. It’s just that the majority were extremely audacious, demanding better conditions. After being ignored, they turned to robbery. That’s why the village prison was now filled with gnomes.

After five minutes, the guards bid farewell, taking the criminals with them. Adam had nothing else to do but return to his bedroom. Before that, he closed all the doors and began to restore the protective mechanisms that were damaged due to the theft.

***

Tiredly sighing, Adam sat on his bed. After he finished everything, two hours had passed, and morning was approaching. However, he couldn’t sleep and decided to spend this time learning more about the improvement methodology.

Closing his eyes, he sighed and began to focus his breathing, then uttered the name of the improvement methodology. After that, his mind entered a strange state, and words flowed from his mouth whose origins he didn’t know.

To be continued…

𝘳𝘦.𝒸𝑜𝘮