Thieves

I was woken up in the middle of the night by the sound of a door being opened. It was not loud, but because of the new residents in my home I was sleeping incredibly lightly. I heard soft footsteps from the living room, and almost mistook them for the steps of my guests. But it dawned on me that I was hearing too many steps. I only had 2 guests, but I could clearly hear four sets of footsteps.

I could tell that the intruders were inexperienced. a well-trained assassin or thief would not have made such careless mistakes. It was time that I taught them a lesson.

I quickly entered stealth and left my bed. I quietly opened the window of my room, and went to the front where I crept through the already opened front door. I was greeted by the sight of four young teenagers routing through my belongings.

I could tell at a glance that the group was not old enough to be adventurers. They seemed to be 16 at most. To become an official adventurer, one had to be 18. You could not earn an official class until then, but that does not mean you couldn't learn skills or be born with talents.

I quickly purchased the [inspect] skill I had seen earlier. It cost me a total of 50 coins, it was rather cheap. But it only worked on those who were lower level than you, and only showed the most basic of information.

The information listed their names, but all four of them only had first names. The lack of a last name signified that they were orphans. When the normal populace had been brought to safety these kids must have been left to fend for themselves.

Their situation caused me to have pity for them, but that did not mean I would let them rob me blind. I did not even need to shadow step to get behind them, and only using my low strength combined with the sneak attack and vital strike abilities I managed to knock them out with a strike to the neck each.

Now that the threat was currently taken care of, I did a more thorough investigation of the kids. All four of them had learn the skills [Stealth] and [Steal], but as they were not adventurers the levels of the skills were limited to level 1.

I noticed that one of the boys, Nate, actually had a natural talent. It was called [Bow Affinity] and increased his learning rate for bow related skills by three times, and doubled then damage he did with bows. Combined with his Stealth skill he had decent potential to be an assassin.

Another of the boys, John, who was noticeably smaller, had a talent called [Devious Mind], which increased the damage he did from stealth. Another great talent for assassination.

The third child, James, had a talent called [Magic affinity] Which doubled the leveling rate of magic spells.

The last kid, Chuck who was the tallest of the group, had a talent called [Cunning] which increased the rate of learning all skills.

In short each of these kids was a talent. They could form a great assassination squad in the future, and had delivered themselves straight to my door. I thought for a moment, before waking up Hylia to discuss my plans.

She was grumpy at first, but when I explained the situation and my plans, she grew rather excited. I knew the goddess was listening, and could feel a subtle nod in my mind. I could not help but let out a slightly evil chuckle at my plan.

I quickly roused the others, filling them in with what had happened, and my plan. They listened attentively, and they all agreed in the end.

All four of us gathered around the four intruders, and I instructed the girls to dump the pails of cold water they had gathered on the now bound teenagers.

The kids woke up with a start, they were greeted by the sight of three pissed off girls with viscous looks on their faces. The fourth one, the one with the talent for bows, woke up with a bright green tarantula staring into its eyes.

Of course, it was all an act. If we had truly been hostile to them, they would have never woken up. All four of the boys screamed. One of them, John, actually went as far as to wet his pants.

I couldn't help but shake my head, what were the boys in this world made of two so easily soil themselves. John's actions made me seriously consider if my plan was viable, but I continued none the less.

While the girls continued to stare at the children, I took a step back and pretended to observe them.

"What makes scum like you think you're qualified to rob from me?" I looked at the teenagers with a sense of disdain. "Are you aware just who it is you're attempting to rob? Do You know who I am? Who My wife is? Who my mother is????" I stared my chosen target in the eyes. The boy happened to be the kid who had were himself.

I summoned my bone blade, Placing the edge of the vertebra against his neck. The boy looked at me as he shivered.

"I will give you all a single option. Submit or die. Become my subordinates, or say goodbye to your pitiful existences."

My words were harsh, but they were effective. I looked each of them in the eyes as I spoke, ensuring they knew I was serious.

All four of them nodded, as I knew they would. Of course, I could not take them at their word, but I Had already thought of a solution.

The four of us led the boys outside, as we headed to the now empty shrine of the war goddess. Holy energy greeted us as we entered the Shrine, followed the divine pressure showing the presence of the goddess.