A brave man may not live, but he cannot die

Chapter 140 Climbing

The rain drizzled through the ruins of the alley, and it looked like it would continue all day.

The summers he witnessed were always filled with endless rain, day and night, and Quinn's memories of this world gradually became tinged with the scent of rain. If he could return to Earth and one day encounter the same continuous drizzle, perhaps he would vaguely recall the taste of this other world.

"Rain is a great help; a heavy enough rain can wash away all traces of you, but even a light rain can cause a lot of trouble for the searchers."

The boss leaned against the wall, yet his clothes remained dry. As if by magic, the rain streamed straight through his body, but the bottle in his hand crackled and popped under the rain. He didn't seem to care, and continued drinking the rain-soaked liquor.

His teaching of Quinn was never based on any fixed rules; he always spoke whatever came to mind, and was very spontaneous.

"But in the occult, there is no difference between rainy and sunny days. If you encounter a skilled diviner, they can pinpoint your location instantly using the rain. While thieves are naturally adept at stealth, you can't be careless; you must still take precautions to clean up the mess."

Quinn squatted on the ground, holding a small cloth bag in his hand, and kept sprinkling powder out of it as he listened.

The powder he flung out appeared dense at first glance, but once dispersed, it became crystal clear specks like a sky full of stars, and could automatically scatter far away even without wind.

Sprinkle a handful or two, and the entire alley will be filled with glistening, translucent specks.

This is the pollen of a flower called Saint Mary's Flower, which can be found in any corner of the four continents of Taumuran. Resembling rapeseed flowers, Saint Mary's Flowers have different colors in different regions.

What few people know is that the Saint Mary flower's ability to spread throughout the world is thanks to its pollen. This powder, which dissipates into the air, is a favorite food of certain spirit creatures. It emits a "scent" that humans cannot smell but is extremely strong to the spirit world, and it is carried by spirit creatures that it is able to reproduce worldwide.

The pollen of the St. Mary flower is the best way to conceal one's tracks. With a casual scattering, any mysterious trace will be covered by the strong "scent" of the pollen, and the spirit creatures that follow will also destroy any clues that point to Quinn.

Not all St. Mary flowers produce pollen; male flowers make up less than one in a thousand in a St. Mary flower field, making them extremely rare and commanding exorbitant prices. However, at the Academy, this pollen is used as a cleaning agent to ensure that arcane experiments do not attract dangerous attention, and there are no limits on the number that can be claimed.

Pollen alone is not enough to cover up all the mysterious traces. If you encounter a fortune teller of Amamiya Nene's level or a mid-to-high-ranking secret agent, you will still be targeted. This would require a more complicated ritual to clean up the mess. However, it is enough to deal with the gang's pursuit.

Chaldale is holding an umbrella for Quinn.

Her small parasol was a size larger than it had been when the two of them first "dated" more than two months ago, as if it had been specially pieced together to accommodate two people.

Quinn's umbrella is broken, hehe.
The horrifying scene of Anlexis being devoured had startled her, but the girl had been a fan of hero stories and detective novels since childhood, and having experienced the goblin incident, she was much braver than the average rich girl, and after recovering, she wasn't so afraid.

For the past two months, Quinn has taken her out for a walk every week, doing things that are more exciting than games.

The "honey trap" scam is a classic example of how one trick can make you rich.

This gave Xia Dai'er a novel experience unlike anything she had ever had before. Although it was quite different from the dating she had imagined, for a girl who loved adventure stories and the occult, fighting for justice for the common people and defeating evil supernatural beings was far more romantic.

I'm so happy!

The skeletons on the ground are a bit scary, but they're an indispensable part of superhero novels.

For some reason, after that date, her brother and mother seemed to tacitly approve of her relationship with Quinn. Although getting drunk at the bar was a bit embarrassing, they didn't say much about it.

The only thing that frustrated the girl was that Quinn's attitude towards her was somewhat ambiguous.

It's not that it's bad.

But she always felt that this wasn't the kind of feeling she had for someone she liked; rather, it felt more like the feeling she had for a close friend or a younger sister.

She was happy that Quinn was taking her into these private matters. She had also heard about the taboos related to superhumans from Katrin. The fact that Quinn had her plan and even participate in these things showed that Quinn trusted her a lot.

But she was not content to stop there.

But she didn't know what to do. Sometimes she was already very proactive, like when she mentioned "boyfriend" before, but Quinn didn't respond at all. She couldn't just boldly confess her feelings, could she?
It is not impossible.

But what if I get rejected?
Ultimately, she was a well-mannered young lady with no dating experience, so she could only stare sullenly at Quinn, wishing she could hit him on the head with her umbrella.

If you like me, then do something about it. Hmph, that's hilarious. You're such a faker. Actually, I don't even want to be with you.
Quinn was also preoccupied.

[Soul Dust +512, currently 3981 Soul Dust remaining.]

The soul fragments provided by a Sequence 8 transcendent are almost a hundred times that of an ordinary person, and more than double that of a Sequence 9. He hadn't used lethal force in every weekly training session over the past two months, only killing villains like Anlexis who deserved to die. Yet, his soul fragments still increased terrifyingly, and he had already accumulated one-third of the amount needed to advance to Sequence 7.

Not only humans, but also monsters and even ghosts can provide soul fragments after they are destroyed.

However, the quantity was not as much as that of the extraordinary beings. Quinn roughly summarized the pattern: the amount of soul fragments seemed to be related to the nature of mystery. The more extraordinary the being, the more soul fragments they could provide.

Not all Sequence 8 characters can give more than 500 points. A little over a month ago, Quinn went to wipe out a human trafficker who was a Sequence 8 Archer. He was far less capable than Anlexi, and the soul fragments he extracted after his death were only a little over 400.

He couldn't help but wonder, what else could "soul fragments" do besides the cost of divination?

The Demon King once said that Soul Shards were the currency of this world, but he had never read any books related to "Soul Shards" even in Grindelwald's library. However, given their close connection to supernatural power, it was probably not a simple matter.

Not only soul fragments, but the fusion of the rogue's traits also increased slightly after killing Anlexis.

Two months have passed since the academy provided him with promotion materials and he took the Thief Potion. He has also made a preliminary understanding of the method of fusing Thief traits.

Compared to the "stealing" of a thief, the "stealing" of a thief requires something far more dangerous.

Stealing is unconscious and can be done anytime, anywhere, but theft requires planning, preparation, and execution.

The act of luring Anlexis to kill him can also be considered "theft." His life and the combat experience that Quinn needed were the stolen items. The honey trap was a premeditated plan to separate him from the White Bandits who had many helpers and lure him into a dangerous and isolated environment.

In addition, stealing Starflowers and selling them to Golden Wind can also bring Quinn profits. However, the progress of digesting the Thief trait is far slower than that of the Thief, after all, Level 0 Containment Items are not readily available, and after two months, the progress is only about one-tenth.

If I could leave this damned world, I wonder if my extraordinary abilities would follow me back to Earth.

"There are only so many superhumans in this city, and you've killed almost all of them who could be killed."

The boss paused, thought for a moment, and then said, "There are some rats hiding in the sewers, but it's all old news, let's ignore them. Did you get enough points after submitting this clue?"

"You mean promotion within the Adventurers' Guild?"

The boss shook the bottle, as if nodding.

"That's enough. Gold-level adventurers just need to accumulate enough points."

The so-called "Gold" and "Silver" levels are the ranking system for adventurer guilds.

The Adventurers' Guild was an organization of extraordinary individuals founded by the first hero, Link, 1400 years ago. At that time, Temurian was fraught with dangers, including numerous monsters, dungeons, and secret realms, requiring the organization of extraordinary individuals to hunt down or explore them. This guild was thus created to issue quests and select members. Link divided adventurers into six ranks:
Bronze, Silver, Gold, Platinum, Diamond, and the highest Master rank.

This ranking system, which looks like it was copied from League of Legends, doesn't represent the strength of the sequence, but rather a classification of an adventurer's ability to complete tasks.

As time went by, the prestige of these ranks decreased. The vast majority of those in the Bronze and Silver ranks were ordinary people who took on short-term jobs and used the Adventurers' Guild as a human resources intermediary.

However, once you reach the Gold rank, adventurers at this level are basically all extraordinary individuals, and their numbers become extremely small. Those particularly dangerous missions and those involving extraordinary secrets are only assigned to adventurers at the Gold rank and above, which can be considered the watershed between human resource agencies and extraordinary organizations.

"Get the upgrade done before next week, then I'll take you to get some quests."

"Okay." Quinn knew his boss was about to leave. "Have you finished the wine I brought you last week?"

The boss glanced at him.

"How did you manage to get your hands on the ancient sacrificial offerings from within the academy?"

Quinn chuckled.

"I worked hard, and that's why my boss rewarded me."

Actually, it was compensation from the college.

He had originally planned to choose an arcane artifact for self-defense, but then he thought that he might face pursuit from the academy in the future, and equipment obtained from the academy might not be very useful. Since he didn't need to do any arcane research, after thinking it over, he made a request for "wine".

As long as it tastes good, I'll give it to the boss as a token of my appreciation.

This is a very simple matter of social etiquette. Although the boss taught him because of Ankuya, he wasn't so clueless about social interactions. Although they weren't exactly master and apprentice, there was still a bond of mentorship between them, so offering some wine was the least he could do.

Hermes was quite puzzled by this request, but in the end he got him a whole case of liquid sealed in mud jars, saying it was unearthed from a temple ruin and was wine offered to an unknown god in ancient times.

Whether or not it's safe to drink is unknown.

The boss maintained his indifferent attitude.

"The taste is alright. Make me some more when you have the chance."

After saying that, his figure disappeared at the alley entrance.

Quinn didn't even blink, his curiosity about the old man's strength growing stronger.

It wasn't just that Anlexico couldn't see how he moved.

Quinn couldn't see clearly either.

Just like the magic trick of making someone disappear instantly, it vanished in a flash.

After becoming a superhuman, there were only two people whose presence he could not detect at all.

One is Lin, and the other is the boss.

Quinn was at least certain that this was not a teleportation using spatial magic. The fluctuations caused by spatial magic were exceptionally clear in the Demon King's Eye, but he saw nothing there.

But it doesn't seem like it's because the speed is too fast.

He could move with Xia Dai'er, and if it was a physical translation, the load brought by the high speed was something that an ordinary person like Xia Dai'er could not withstand.

Even when the black cloud of the curse was about to roll out of the alley and rush into the outside world, the boss, who was drinking and watching the show, rudely spat out a mouthful of wine. After the black cloud was stained with the wine, it was as if it had hit a wall and could no longer leak out even a little bit.

The stronger Quinn became, the more wary he became of the old man, which was somewhat unbelievable.

After thinking for a long time without figuring it out, Quinn stopped investigating and prepared to go to Ankuya's house.

The woodcutter's street remained quiet; the louder the sounds of the battle, the less the merchants dared to come out.

"Quinn." Chaldale gently nudged him, asking expectantly but softly, "Where do we go next?"

Quinn hesitated for a moment. He didn't want to take Xia Dai'er to Ankuya's house, since it wouldn't be convenient to discuss the matter later. However, it wouldn't be appropriate for the two of them to separate like this. The White Bandits definitely had informants in Lumberjack Street, and they probably already knew the news and were on their way.

Xia Dai'er really didn't bring any bodyguards with her when she went out. The White Bandits were notorious for their reckless behavior. After thinking it over, he bent down slightly.

"Come up, I'll carry you."

Xia Dai'er's eyes flickered, and she asked somewhat shyly, "Why, why?"

"Let's go upstairs so no one sees us. Come with me, I'll take you home later."

Just have Ankuya cast a hypnotic spell; there's no need to worry about being overheard.

"Ok!"

A moment later, Quinn felt something heavy pressing down on him.

The pleasant scent of sandalwood mingled with the girl's natural fragrance, filling the air.

For no apparent reason, he remembered a Taiwanese advertising slogan, "QQ Noodles are so delicious, like Meow Tea."
"You need to hold on tighter."

"Just don't move around."

Quinn cradled her soft legs, feeling their silky smoothness, and thought to himself how she was only sixteen when she kicked up the high wall.

The figure carrying the girl shot into the sky like an arrow, bouncing back and forth between two walls using only the force of his toes, using the momentum to leap to the highest point. The uneven rooftops of Lumberjack Street and Westville City unfolded like a painting before his eyes. Quinn ran, carrying a person on his back yet as agile as an ape, and without making a sound.

This is another skill of thieves—climbing.

Quinn can now climb any object with a wall-like structure using only his feet, even without using his hands, achieving a wall-climbing effect.

He could feel that Xia Dai'er's heart was beating a little fast.

(End of this chapter)