Chương 182: Picking Targets

"So how are things going here?" Liora asked Cee. She had returned to the anthill, but was still avoiding Renir. It was a bit awkward when she flew right past him, and he actually noticed her. How? Her Shadow Glide should have kept her completely hidden in these dark tunnels. Initially, she felt bad for just ignoring him. Maybe he was ready to apologize and make amends.

"Honestly, it's quite annoying. Antkin are working us to the bone every day. I've made so much tidesilk and regular silk and laid so many elemental webs, my skills leveled up multiple times. Tidesilk is already at Expert level!"

"But that's a good thing," Liora pointed out.

"Yeah, but it feels like I'm constantly running empty. I've never felt empty before. Like all of my silk is gone, and it feels weird!"

"It's being stored in your body? I thought spiders just made silk on the fly."

"I think it is made on the fly, but there must be glands or something within me that contain the ingredients necessary for the silk. I can't create it out of nothing. Whatever those silk-making organs are and however they work, they are utterly and thoroughly spent!" Cee said.

"What about Smokey? Did they manage to find a job for him?" Liora asked.

"He's joining the carrier ants. They're making him go to the places with food while flying. He's gotten much better at it, although he is reluctant to go out without me. One of the scout ants has managed to bond with him enough to follow her direction, but I'm worried he might just chomp one of the ants if they push him too far…" That was a valid concern. Although Liora was surprised to hear that they were even willing to split a pet away from its owner.

These antkin really valued work efficiency more than anything else.

"What about Caspian? Has he been turned into an ant doctor?"

"Pretty much. The poor guy really hates it, though. Says it reminds him too much of the merfolk city. He says that he wants to leave this place as soon as possible, because it's so dark and gloomy," Cee said, and paused.

"I… I think he's really struggling. I agree that we shouldn't stay here for too long. While I am all for accelerated skill growth, this is too much."

"What about Renir?" Liora finally asked.

"Well…" Cee drew out.

"Let me guess. He's still holed up in that room, reading that old book."

"Yeah, pretty much," Cee admitted.

"I'm afraid that at this rate we'll be stuck here for a long time."

"No, I don't think we'll have any choice but to leave soon," Liora said.

"What do you mean?" Liora leaned in closer, opening her beak. But there were too many ants around. Most of them didn't understand the common language, but some of them did, and you could never know which ant was listening.

"I'll explain everything later. I'll have some things to settle alongside Aenir."

"Aenir? You mean Renir's brother? What's he like?" Cee asked, scuttling closer.

"Is he an old man with a long white beard?"

"No! He's actually a handsome young man with short red hair."

"No way! I want to meet him!"

"I think you'll get your chance soon enough," Liora said.

"Really?" Cee cocked her spidery head to the side.

"What are you plotting?"

"I just want to help out with a problem, and grind out a particular skill while I'm at it. I just came here to say that I'll be gone for a while."

"Aww, how long is a while?"

"I promise I'll be faster than whatever it is Renir is doing with that book." Cee nodded, then suddenly came up to Liora and pulled her into a slightly awkward hug. Spider bodies weren't exactly made for hugs.

"I want things to go back to the way they were. Us travelling together. This separation doesn't suit me." Liora wrapped her wings around Cee, engulfing her completely.

"We'll get our business done here, and then things will go back to the way they were." They nodded at each other, and then Liora turned back into her magpie form. She would be returning to the Aenir now. In reality, meeting Cee wasn't the only reason Liora was here. She was also here to map the anthill more properly. Mostly hidden by Shadow Glide, Liora flew into places where she hadn't flown before, exploring and learning the layout. The place was absolutely ginormous.

It also wasn't that she could fly everywhere freely. There was a certain area of the anthill where Liora was constantly blocked by the antkin. Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

"Did you get lost?"

"All guests must proceed back that way."

"Sorry, sorry. Antkin only!" Antkin, who didn't know the common language, just clicked their mandibles at Liora, forcing her to turn back. Shadow Glide just wasn't enough to hide her from the many ant eyes in the colony. But all this exploration came with a boon. [Your trait <Shadow Glide> has reached its maximum potential. Would you like to upgrade it for 100 glimmerstones?] Yes! About time Shadow Glide got an upgrade. Show me what you got.

[Shadow Glide (Rank 2) variants available] [Ghostwing – At [Basic] level, leaves behind faint afterimages that linger for a brief moment. Observers may mistake the illusion for the user's true position, reducing the accuracy of ranged attacks and pursuit.] This sounded very similar to Decoy Fade, and Liora wasn't interested in having two stealth skills do the same thing, even if one was more permanent. No, she definitely wanted something different.

[Nightveil – At [Basic] level, wraps the user in a thin veil of darkness while flying. Greatly conceals movement in dim environments and partially obscures the user's outline even in moderate light.] This is almost like a direct upgrade of Shadow Glide. It would undoubtedly hide me better visually, but I would lose the sound muting effect. That might be a problem, since my wingbeats aren't exactly silent.

[Predator's Silence – At [Basic] level, completely suppresses all noise created during flight, including wingbeat, speaking, skill-produced noises, and others.] Aww, can't I combine this with Nightveil? Then it would be perfect. But such a trait would be too powerful. A constantly invisible and unhearable enemy would be too much of an unfair advantage. What did Liora value more? Being hard to see or hard to hear? The answer was actually quite obvious when Liora thought about it. She was a magpie.

She often used her Mimicry to attack and disorient enemies. What would happen if her voice was constantly muted during flight? Was there even a way to disable the trait? Shadow Glide certainly wasn't something Liora could disable, so it would stand to reason that she wouldn't be able to disable Predator's Silence either. Renir would probably know the answer… Liora shook her head. She didn't need him to decide. [Would you like to upgrade your trait <Shadow Glide> to Rank 2 trait <Nightveil> for 100 glimmerstones?] Yes! [Your trait has been upgraded.] As Liora was still flying through the colony, she noticed the difference almost immediately. If previously Shadow Glide made her harder to spot, while still keeping her visible, then this trait covered her body. It actually felt strange. In the complete darkness of the anthill, she could barely see herself. It really was as if her body was covered with a thin veil of darkness.

Some places were peeking through, notably her white chest and the occasional shimmer of her iridescent wing and tail feathers. But this was only the Basic level. Liora had no doubt that at higher levels, she would become nigh invisible. As for the noise from the beat of her wings… It was barely noticeable in the anthill, where the constant steps of ants echoed through the tunnels. Unfortunately, this upgrade wasn't quite enough for Liora to sneak into the deeper parts of the colony.

The ants still noticed her eventually and turned her around. She decided that it wasn't worth the risk of angering the antkin, and returned to Aenir. The mage awaited her eagerly, asking for the layout of the ant colony.

"I'm not giving it to you!" Liora said firmly.

"What? Why not?" He narrowed his eyes.

"Because I like them. They're crazy workaholics, but they've welcomed us into their anthill despite us being complete strangers."

"They are exploiting you!" Aenir pointed out.

"Just like you're exploiting me. Just how Renir has been exploiting me this whole time. What else is new?" Liora retorted.

"I'll be the one doing the stealing anyway, so you don't even need the map." Aenir rubbed his temples and sighed.

"You're a stubborn bird, aren't you?"

"You humans are just too insistent on everything being done your way. So what about the other part of the plan? You wanted me to steal some things so I could improve my theft skill."

"Yes, but it doesn't mean you can go around stealing things for poor folk in the city. I have a list of targets," Aenir smiled. Liora narrowed her gaze.

"I bet it's just the people you don't like." Aenir shrugged.

"I can't deny that. But they are also rich, stuffy bureaucrats who are just hoping to profit off already struggling people."

"Is that so? Well, so long as I'm not stealing from some poor farmers, I don't care. Rich folk should share their wealth," Liora said.

"Exactly. So here's our first target," Aenir said and brought out the city map. He pointed out several locations to Liora, which she mentally marked in her Guild Map, each with a different color. It was a good thing that they had such a neat system going; otherwise, Liora wasn't sure she could have remembered all that. It must have been Renir who added this feature. But she quickly dismissed the thought and focused on Aenir's words.

He explained in no short terms who each of her targets was and what to steal from them. Liora zoned him out. She didn't care for their titles or jobs. They were rich, mean farts. She got it. As for the most valuable things to steal… She would just listen to her Treasure Sense. It knew far better what was the best thing to steal.

"I suggest you start with this house. It'd be even better if you do it later this evening," he said, pointing at a house which she had marked red.

"Why this one in particular?" Aenir grinned.

"There might be a party in this house later today with lots of opulent guests. They all will come to look at a particular gem that the owner of the house intends to give to a particular lady that he wishes to marry."

"Why not just give that gem to the lady then?"

"He wants to brag about it first. I think it would be appropriate that the gem would just… disappear," Aenir said, while trying to hide a mischievous grin. It felt like he wasn't telling the whole story, but Liora too felt it would be a kind of poetic justice. Although she could understand his wish to boast about a beautiful gem. But, on the other hand, Liora hadn't gotten anything shiny for so long. Sure, he had plenty of glimmerstones, but what about real treasures? She had barely anything.

It was quite honestly an outrage. By now, she should have stolen all of the best treasures in the country, yet she had nothing. Well, she had the glimmercore of the shark matriarch, along with a single gold coin. Her hoard should have been far more impressive by now. Liora had to remedy this mistake. And why not do it with style by crashing some rich guys' party?