5 Stealing From The Thief.

In the shopping center, I bought the cheapest clothes I could find. A black t-shirt, grey pants and a pair of boxers. I also bought a pair of socks and shoes.

After I left the clothing shop, I remembered to buy a notebook and a pen.

Then I decided to go to the technology shop.

Well, not to buy anything.

When I entered the shop, I looked around and went into the NEARWatches section. I turned ON one of the NEARWatches that was on display. I searched the map app and opened it.

I quickly looked for the places I wanted to go to and wrote all the information I needed in the notebook.

Before I left the shop, I checked the time. It was 14:23.

I decided to buy some food and a backpack to store everything.

I spent 64N, and now I had only 50N left.

...

"Now that I'm ready, It's finally time," I said to myself as I walked out of the shopping center.

My next destination was "The Forest of Fallen." It was located in the south of the Central Part.

Because I could use mana now, I decided to obtain an Active Skill.

There was a skill that if I were to take it, I wouldn't influence the plot too much.

In the novel, it wasn't described how exactly it works. The author just mentioned that it allowed you to be connected with the darkness.

The reason is, none of the characters used it. It's either because the author forgot about it or just added it on a whim.

Anyway, I chose it also because it was an S rank skill, and the way to get it wasn't too hard if you knew how to do it.

'Hmm, the closest train station should be this way.' I thought to myself.

I was in the Union City, which was quite a distance away from The Forest of Fallen, around 1800km. So I had to go there by train.

I reached the train station after 20 minutes of walk. I bought the ticket and got on the train. The ticket cost me 16N.

As I was on the train, I decided to write everything I could remember about the novel in the notebook.

It was your typical weak to a strong story.

The main character - Williams Nate, was a reincarnate that came from the same world as me.

He took over someone's body with the same name on the day before the academy started.

He was like your typical main character - a chosen one that will save the world. He had strength, power, a harem full of beautiful female leads, and plot armor.

When the third wave started, humans somehow discovered that the ones responsible for the apocalypse were constellations.

Unfortunately, before the final arc started, the novel went on hiatus. Because of that, I couldn't finish the story.

I also wrote down all the important events that would happen in the future. I noted down all the characters I could remember and their abilities, behaviors, pretty much everything I knew about them.

...

"The next station, Agawa."

When I heard the announcement, I closed the notebook, stood up from my seat, and got off the train. The forest was only a few kilometers from the station.

After 40 minutes of walk, I reached my destination - the entrance to The Forest of Fallen. The forest itself looked ordinary, just like any other you could find in my previous life. However, it had one secret.

There once existed a legendary thief that could steal anything without getting caught. His name was Azkaf. Even the strongest S rank heroes weren't able to capture him. Throughout his life, he gathered many incredible treasures, weapons, skill stones, etc.

But one day, he completely disappeared from the world together with everything he stole. Many assumed that he died and hid his legacy somewhere. Many also tried to find it, but with no results.

This place, this forest, was where Azkaf's grave and all his treasures are.

Right after I entered the forest, I thought to myself:

'I hope I remembered it correctly.' And then said:

"If I like it, it might as well be mine." He was a thief so...

A few seconds later, a small white light appeared in the air. Then it started to move around the forest. I tried not to lose it and followed after it.

Twenty minutes later, the white light stopped moving and disappeared. Right then, I saw a hole forming on the ground that slowly revealed stairs.

'No wonder no one was able to find it when it was hidden this well.' I thought as I walked down the stairs.

The stairs lead me to a spacious room. It was well lit, and in the middle, you could see a throne on which-

"I guess that must be Azkaf or rather his skeleton," I said as I saw a skeleton in a sitting position on the throne, with a black coat on.

There were many different treasures in the room: mana stones, jewelry, artifacts, and weapons.

However, what I came here for, was on the left middle finger of the skeleton - a storage ring. It was possible to obtain it as a drop from the dungeon. It allowed you to store everything except for the living beings in a different space. The size of the storage depended on the ring's rank.

I took the ring and put it on my middle right finger. I closed my eyes and focused on circulating my mana into it. It felt weird. I felt like I could sense everything inside the ring and grab it. It was as if a list of the items inside formed in my mind.

Inside the ring, I found only two items. The skill stone that I was looking for and an A+ rank sword that the main character will use in the future.

Judging from its size, it's at least an A rank storage ring.

'Hmm, should I also take the storage ring and leave the sword in this room?' I wondered to myself as I realized how convenient this ring would be.

I took out the sword and placed it next to the throne. After that, I took out the skill stone and stored all the mana stones in the room inside the ring.

"Finally," I said in an excited tone as I held the skill stone in my hands. I poured some of my mana into it.

A small window popped up in front of my eyes.

―――――――――「 Alert 」―――――――――

Do you want to learn:

<One with the Darkness (Active)[S]> ?

―――――――――――――――――――――――

"Yes"

Right after, I replied, I could feel the information flow into my brain. It was as If I always knew how to use the skill but didn't know what it does at the same time.

"Status"

――――――――「 Status 」――――――――

Name : Michael Bertz

「 Stats 」

Rating : [1.0]

Vitality : [0.15]

Mana : [2.0]

Strength : [0.6]

Agility : [0.6]

Intelligence : [1.65]

Luck : [2.8]

「 Skills 」

――――――――――――――――――――――

I clicked on the skill to check its description.

――――――――――――――――――――――

Lvl. 1 - You can become the shadow.

Lvl. 2 - ?

Lvl. 10 (MAX) - ?

――――――――――――――――――――――

'Hmm... Become the shadow? What does that mean? Can I like literally turn into a shadow?' I thought to myself as I wondered how the skill works.

'Let's try using it.'

I gathered mana and tried using it. Then I could feel my body turn into a black cloud and get sucked into the throne's shadow.

'Huh. No Way!' I exclaimed in shock in my head.

It felt weird. It was as if I was swimming in the water, but I could move more freely and in addition at a pretty high speed.

After 2 seconds, I turned back into my human form.

"Haa, haaa," I sighed out while lying on the floor.

I felt really exhausted. Activating this skill for around 2 seconds emptied more than a half of my mana pool.

I decided to eat the food I bought at the shopping center and rest for a while.

...

After 30 minutes of resting on the floor, I decided to check out the treasures in the room, mainly weapons and artifacts.

'Should I also use a sword?' I thought as I was trying out the weapons.

In the end, I decided to take a G+ rank wakizashi, a weapon that looked like a shorter version of katana.

―――――――――――――――――――――――

Sharpness [G+]

A sword forged by an amateur smith. Infusing

it with mana will make it sharper.

―――――――――――――――――――――――

It's not that I didn't want to use other weapons. It's just that with my strength, it was one of a few weapons that I could lift and use comfortably.

I also took a G rank necklace.

―――――――――――――――――――――――

Indigo [G]

A necklace created by an amateur jeweler.

+ 5% to mana regeneration speed.

―――――――――――――――――――――――

After I equipped the necklace, I put the sword into the storage ring and left Azkaf's tomb.

When I got outside, it was already dark. Somehow, being in the darkness made me feel relaxed. Behind me, the hole in the ground closed and hid the stairs again.

It took me 1 hour to get out of the forest...

Yes, I did forget the path and got lost...

When I reached the train station, the clock was showing 20:43. I bought a ticket for another 16N and got on the train.

I sat near the window, rested my chin on my hand and looked outside.

'What should I do tomorrow, I wonder.' As I was lost in thoughts, I heard a female voice next to me saying:

"Excuse me, is this seat taken?"

"No, it's not," I replied.

As I was slowly turning my head around to see who it was-

"Huh?" Before my eyes was an incredibly gorgeous red-haired girl.

She had beautiful crystal-like blue eyes. She wore a casual white blouse with navy blue jeans.

She looked the same age as me and was a bit shorter than Sarah.

'Wait, a red-haired girl, a really beautiful one at that. There is no way right?' I thought to myself.

She sat in the seat next to mine. After noticing my gaze, she looked me in the eyes and smiled.

"Hello"

"Hi," I replied.

A few seconds later, to stop the awkward silence, she asked:

"Are you also going to the Union City?"

"Huh? Ah, yes," I answered surprised, by the sudden question.

"Could it be that you are also going to go to the number one academy?"

"Well, that will depend on whether I will be able to pass the entrance exams or not."

'Don't tell me...' I thought as I waited for her answer.

"Really? What a coincidence, me too!" She said while sounding a bit excited.

'Maybe it's just someone else that also plans to go to the same academy and is red-haired.' I prayed in my mind.

Then she continued:

"Oh, by the way, I'm Olivia Heart, it's nice to meet you."

"I'm Michael, it's nice to meet you too," I replied.

'What are the odds??? The academy hasn't even started yet, and I already met one of the heroines.'

'There goes my, try not to involve yourself with the story...'

Olivia Heart was one of the heroines that will later fall in love with the main character and join his harem.

She was an extroverted person. She was friendly and easy to talk to. She also came from an average family. Both of her parents were C rank heroes.

Olivia used a bow as her main weapon. She was very talented. With her skill, she was able to create powerful mana arrows. She could make them explode on impact, change direction mid-air, etc.

'Haa, this is going to be a long ride, I guess.' I thought as I wondered how I was going to deal with her.

Next chapter