Fruits, the Root of Many a Conflict

Suppose I preach to you that stealing from your neighbour's fruit tree is a foul act. Wherein the amount of effort they put in to allow their tree to bear juicy fruits paired with their tender love and care, is something you simply should not trample on.

Now, what if your neighbour lived in a neighbourhood of goblins and is in fact, a goblin? And, what if you imagine yourself an Adventurer, exploring mysterious corridors and booby-trapped rooms?

Would you take the tantalizing fruit just hanging an arm's length away from you?

The answer should be a large and fiery yell of "Yes!"

At least, if you were this specific group of Adventurers... If it was Irene, she would have killed first, looted later. But not them, no. They had killed one or two of those little green men on their way and assumed that the monsters were of no threat to them at all.

And so, without a care for the world, they plucked the fruit off of the tree, wanting to have a little snack.

Haha.

Now, they were wounded and running for their lives. They could not properly swing their blades in the thin corridors they had found themselves in. Those who were familiar with ranged combat could not participate else they injured their allies.

But the little green men were having a field day with them, picking them off one by one and dragging them into the darkness.

"Damn it! Elle just got snatched away!" An Adventurer yelled out as the screams of a young lady echoed throughout the corridor.

"Thorei has disappeared! I can't hear him!" Another one screamed.

"What happened to our torches?! Where are those green bastards hiding?!" One cried out as he blindly swung his sword.

"Just keep running and find an area with light so we can regroup!" One was able to keep her calm despite the chaos.

"Shit! Should we try giving back the fruits we took?" An Adventurer who was holding a rather hefty bag full of sweet-smelling apricots asked.

"And let all our party member's sacrifices be in vain? No! We took it, and it's ours now! Just listen to Qasi and run!"

And so the Adventurer party of eleven ran. They rushed forward single-mindedly, afraid to lose their companions in the twists and turns. Their wounds were accumulating, and some weapons were likely poisoned, giving a few of them cloudy heads.

"I see light!" After what they felt was forever, someone yelled out.

Hope was rekindled, and their fury was set ablaze.

"Let's see what those green bastards can do now that we can actually see them! Let's fight here! Protect the light, and draw blood!" An Adventurer roared, "Rraaaaaaah!"

Blood was indeed drawn. The odds were suddenly evened, it seemed. The Adventurers, despite being poisoned and injured still fought back with great ferocity. They were cornered with no choice but to fight back.

And that was what they did.

The corridor was finally wide enough for their swings and blasts. Goblin bodies flew in the air, looking like ragdolls being thrown around. Ugly heads were sent flying like cannonballs, and blood rained with every explosive attack.

But whenever they killed a goblin, more came to replace the dead. Goblin Shamans even appeared among the crowd, but these Adventurers were too berserk to care about strategy. All they focused on was on slaying whatever green colour lay in their path.

A wave of stronger-than-average goblins came flying in, seeking hand-to-hand combat. They piled onto a single Adventurer without caring for their deaths, clinging to his limbs and blinding his eyes.

"Aaah!" The Adventurer screamed when he felt daggers inside his eyeballs, but he could do nothing else as he fell to the ground. His body disappeared into the horde.

"Damn it! Lofty is gone!"

"Just focus on killing! Use everything you have left!"

"Libra, save me!"

The battle continued as more blood was shed. The Adventurer party thinned until only four were left. But those four kept fighting despite the wounds that accumulated on their bodies. They were now backed up to the very base of the torch they used to see. All around them were rabid goblins seeking the deaths of the thieves who dared steal their goods.

If only they were at Rank 3, like Irene... But they were all humans fated to linger around the realm of Rank 1. They could not bombard whatever problem they came across with the sheer force of their greed.

"Alright, you little green fuckers!" The Adventurer carrying the apricots finally had enough, "Here! Take your precious fruits! Get the hell out of my sight!"

The bag of sweet-smelling goodies was flung into the air. The goblins all froze when they smelled the fruits inside it, and the Adventurers used this moment to their advantage.

"They're distracted! Let's go!"

As fast as they could, they broke the encirclement that had formed around them and rushed past the goblins who were clamouring for the bag that still flew through the air. They ran and ran, and ran. Until their legs were about to give up, they ran.

But they were still poisoned.

When the poison fully ran its course, they could no longer move their feet forward. They fell to the cold and uncaring stone-brick floor. Their ends, unknown as they teetered on the edge of eternal rest.

As for the goblins, they cheered when the bag of apricots returned to them. They no longer pursued the thieves, because plucked fruits meant a feast! They did not want to miss it!

And so, they headed home. The Goblin Shamans were the ones tasked with guarding the bag as they marched.

But when they made it back... they finally realised that the bag they carried, the bag that should've been filled with delicious, nutritious, and prized fruits... was only filled with stones.

All that remained were the juices of an apricot that had been unlucky in the battle. The rest were gone. Nada. Replaced by a few circular rocks stained by the scent of mouthwatering bliss.

.

.

.

In the deeper levels of the Labyrinth, Athelei was tossing a few circular rocks in his hand.

'Having two Information Network [Name]s is a thief's dream.' He thought to himself with a wide grin. 'I can buy and sell with myself whenever and wherever I please.'

This was the loophole he also used to store items in the Information Network. The Nightwalker body could go as far from the physical body as desired, but as an entity itself, Athelei could only spread his Nightwalker fog throughout a limited distance.

But, even though the range of his fog control was now at a radius of five-and-a-half kilometres, whenever he was summoned by Irene, he could always leave a wisp of fog back near his physical body.

This meant that he bypassed that limited range of control using the special mechanics caused by having a mark on two living entities.

And as such, whenever he sold something on the Information Network using the [Name] "Seeker," he could instantly purchase the item using the [Name] "Morning" and have the item appear all the way in Atlantis.

As for what currency he used to make sure no one else could buy them? His own fog body.

People who only had a single name on the Information Network could not do the same thing. After all, an item only disappears once the purchase is completed. There was no storage system on the Information Network. The Tier I Skill, Shop, only materialised and dematerialised items. It did not store them.

Now, this little storage hack was used for thievery. It was incredibly simple, in fact.

Athelei sold a few appropriately sized stones to Atlantis, and then when he approached the apricots being carried by the goblins, he sold those too. But instead of the price being composed of only his fog body, he also included the stones.

Thus, he now had a few magical fruits, sitting beside him as his physical body slept.

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Topaz-Essence Apricots

- Highly beneficial for the attribute, [Dexterity].

- Contains genes of the Crystalline. When consumed for the purpose of [Evolution], grants respective traits.

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On top of that, Athelei was finally shown a pleasant notification,

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- Shop has levelled up!

Tier I Skill: Shop (Level 1/10) -> (Level 2/10)

Phase Change duration: -0% -> -10% (Now: 0.9s)

Item Discount: +0% -> +1%

=o=o=o=o=

You have used your [Invisible] Cosmic Interface in a unique circumstance. Sneaky has reacted.

- Skill progression updated.

- Unlocked skill branch: Nonexistent User

- Detected three (3) unlocked skill branches...

- Sneaky has levelled up!

Tier I Skill: Sneaky (Level 1/10) -> (Level 2/10)

[Active Effect] Duration: +0% -> +100% (Now: 20s)

[Active Effect] Cooldown: -0% -> -10% (Now: 13.5mins)

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