A Tamed Monster

With nothing being there I immediately connect this to the skill stealer so I check to see if I can sense his presence.

'His skill is either teleportation or some kind of invisibility.' I quickly decide to prepare for a fight as I check the surroundings for any kind of human presence. I can feel a faint presence but it was running away so I run in the direction that it was running to.

I continued to follow him but he was faster than me so I eventually lost him into the forest. I was trying my best to keep up with him but in the end, I had still lost him.

"Damn, I lost him." I hit a nearby tree in anger. The tree shook from the impact of the hit and an odd-looking bird fell on the floor.

While looking at the bird I notice that the bird has a weird look in its eyes as it rushes off into the sky in a hurry. The bird looked suspicious as it was flying so I shot a fireball at it and got a system notification from it.

[Killed Tamed Monster... Received no experience.]

'So it was one of his tamed monsters. Who knows how long this guy has been watching the area.' With the skill stealer running for some reason I check the surroundings once more while Presence Detection was still active just in case he was hiding somewhere invisible.

[The Skill "Presence Detection" has reached level 2.]

Even with the range of detection increased with the level up of Presence Detection I still couldn't find any signs of the skill stealer so I gave up and headed back to the Capital of Light.

Upon reaching the capital I see Finn at the entrance gate walking back and forth like he was waiting for something. Upon seeing me approach he brightened up and said, "Let's head back to the guild, we have some information."

"Alright, after you." I say as I follow closely behind him.

On the way to the guild, there were no people on the streets. The streets were completely barren like it was a ghost town. Even though it was usually busy at around 6 pm with what was happening I guess the Lord had told everyone to stay inside? While thinking that we had continued on the road until we reached the guild.

After entering the guild Finn led me to a back room where I can see a small number of people gathered discussing something. As Finn and I enter the room the Guild Master sighs and says, "Now that we are all here let's start the meeting."

"There is a man nearby who is hunting anyone who enters the Forest. He has the ability to steal people's skills and has amassed quite a lot of them. So far we know that together with stealing skills he has the monster tamer skill, some kind of teleportation or invisibility, an appraisal type of skill, stealth, fire magic, and a large number of weapon skills. He's been attacking anyone and everyone on sight but he continues to stay in the area. We found where he's been staying so I think that we should send a small group to take him out." While explaining the situation the guild master continuously looked over the group to see if anyone wanted to go.

"Any volunteers?" The guild master asked while looking over the group.

None of the people gathered here wanted to risk the chance of losing their skills. With none of them volunteering the guild master ended the meeting and those that didn't want to stay had left. Since no one else wanted to go I thought of how the skill stealer ran from me even though he could have just stolen my skills.

'Is it the pendant?' While thinking of possible reasons as to why he ran from me I remember that the guild master said that he had an appraisal ability as well.

'So he has to see other people's status to be able to steal other skills. Then this necklace is the one counter to him. He ran because he couldn't confirm my skills.'

"I could fight him. I think he can't steal my skills." With everyone else having left the room but Finn, the guild master, and I, I had decided to tell them my suspicions.

"You ran into him? You didn't get any skills stolen?" The guild master asks curiously.

"I ran into him on the way here from the Undead Dungeon. I ran into a random person on the road but when I turned back to look at him there was nothing there. I followed after his presence but I lost him somewhere in the forest." I explained the time that I had run into him. Since I had my suspicions I thought why not try to get that Random Cheat Skill Ticket. It was basically a free delivery since I had the only thing that counters him.

"So he was on the road waiting for someone to pass by, but when he found that it was you he ran. That pendant blocks appraisal yes?" The guild master asks as he points towards the pendant that is around my neck.

"Yeah, when worn this pendant blocks any kind of appraisal." I say while holding the pendant.

"Alright, us 3 will head out to his last known location." The guild master answers as he goes behind the desk and grabs a sword from underneath.

"Eh, you believe me?" I questioned how he easily believed me. There was no proof of my claims that he can't steal my skills. Not only that but the appraisal blocking could be fake as well.

"Yeah, I have the appraisal skill as well so I checked your claim as soon as you made it. Let's head out. Since it's going to be only us we gotta be careful, let's make a plan on the way there." The guild master says as he leads both Finn and I out of the Guild.