“Unbelievable… Why is there nearly always someone who tries to hit on me when I am in disguise? Is my disguise that good-looking? Should I make it uglier? No… Why would I want to disguise myself as bad-looking?”

  Argantis quietly grumbled to himself as he walked through his territory, peeling away at the disguise he was wearing. Looking as though he was tearing away at molten flesh as his true form slowly unravelled and revealed itself.

  He was always left with a sore body and in need of a massage following his momentary transformation, as his true body was all squashed and squeezed within the shell of a pretty, young woman he was used to wearing.

  It was about the best form he could imagine to go unnoticed, coupled with a few illusory spells and an invisibility spell–He was able to go in and out without ever arousing any suspicions.

  Though Argantis had postponed this venture due to the lack of minions to do the usual patrols, but to find replacements quickly, he also had to leave his territory. Now, it was only a matter of time until more fools showed up here with dreams of attaining great power.

  He had expected an ambush whilst going or upon coming back, but nothing of the sort had happened. Argantis arrived before the hatch to his lair without a hitch. The old man looked around and formed a small smile.

  His security measures had not gone off at all. They hadn’t been disarmed either. Truly, it seemed like that unwanted guest had merely swung by and desired some easy kills.

  “I shouldn’t have been so paranoid, as expected, no one dares to stand up to me!”

  Chuckling to himself, he pulled back the layer of grass.

  Instantly, his expression darkened. The hatch was gone, the enchanted steel, which he had struggled to make, as enchanting was not a domain he was good at at all… Every ounce of steel was missing. There weren’t any traces that something or someone had destroyed it or ripped it off. It was just gone.

  Horror gripped his heart as he swallowed his saliva, leaping down the hole, only to find his magnificent collection of dyed mana crystals, which he had all carefully linked together to form one large array that allowed them to constantly replenish themselves. It was gone as well. The underground was flooded with darkness.

  “Someone stole from me…?”

  He took a step forward, and he heard what sounded like broken glass beneath his feet.

  “...”

  “...They broke them…?”

  He wanted to scream in indignation, but confusion was stronger. Just what sort of insane freak would break mana crystals? And the confusion only grew as he picked one of the shards and sensed remnants of mana within it.

  This wasn’t a fluke. Every shard he checked was the same. This meant that not only had the intruder not pocketed the crystals, which were all carefully carved and thus valuable despite their small size, but they hadn’t even bothered to at least absorb the mana within them? This was pure mana, cleansed of most imperfections by the array they were hooked on to.

  That was good stuff!

  “Must have been a philistine who doesn’t understand their value… Wait…”

  He massaged his temples. What sort of person could simultaneously engage in such barbaric behaviour and also completely bypass all security measures put in place? Argantis could tell that the many, many traps he had set in the case of intruders were all intact.

  They had been left untouched, the magic circles he had painfully set up, as once again, such a practice was not his speciality, but even the totem hexes he had hidden had not been triggered, and he was more than a little confident in their efficiency.

  He chanted an incantation, summoning a luminous ball of mana, and with its help, he bore witness to the destruction of his lair, of his home… All mana crystals, without exception, had been crushed, and all doors were missing, just like the hatch.

  In fact, his stock of resources and materials had been raided. But not everything was missing, curiously enough.

  All forms of metal, bones and the like had been cleaned, but anything besides those had been left behind. His reserves of cursed items and spirits were completely gone, though.

  “What the hell did I get robbed by? Even the damned container for negative energy is gone!”

  He was no longer mumbling to himself, simply speaking aloud. He needed to express how he was feeling. Otherwise, a vein might pop in his forehead… It was all maddeningly confusing. Anyone with interests as refined as curses, spirits, and a niche energy like negative energy would definitely know the value of the mana crystals and take them as well.

  But then, what was up with the doors and steel? How did they just take them all so cleanly?

  Argantis didn’t even spare much thought for the woman he had been spending his nights with for more than a month. He was fond of her, but not enough to care about whatever might have become of her.

  “I don’t know who you are… But you picked the wrong place to steal from!”

  A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

  ___

  What a pleasant evening this is.

  I have a beautiful view from up here. I was never too scared of heights, so this cliffside is a good spot to settle down, in my opinion.

  When Argantis returns, I don’t have the faintest clue, but I ran north for several days without stopping, without encountering any problem, and this is where I ended up after running uphill for a whole night.

  In front of me, brightly illuminated by the sun, are endless fields of wheat, and in the middle of them is a city. Smaller than the one I originate from, but still of decent size, and featuring robust, tall walls adorned with the distant figures of patrolling guards.

  To them, I surely have nothing more than a dark spot in the far distance as well. They might stare directly at me without realising that I was not a part of the landscape. The container filled with negative energy is right by my side as I peacefully sit against a tree with my legs fully extended on the ground.

  You know, Nara… I lied. I actually went outside the city before. One time only, I had never been interested in what was beyond the walls that much, but my brother wasn’t like me, so on the occasion of a birthday, he asked to go outside. Thus, as a family, we had a nice little picnic in a plain of green, under the shade of a big tree.

  We were still young at the time. I don’t think we were any older than ten… It was a nice outing.

  That’s a nice memory

  Isn’t it? I was thinking about hanging his corpse on that tree.

  …Maybe good memories are best not thought about

  It’s just me wondering a bit. I’ll probably just kill and eat him like the rest. Anyway, show me the available upgrades!

  The available upgrades are as follows:

  Physical Resilience (General) - Your body becomes more resistant to physical damage overall

  Energy Resilience (General) - Your body becomes more resistant to energy-based damage overall

  Forward Shine - Your eyes can grow brighter, casting light to peer through darkness

  Buzzsaw (L) - Your left hand is replaced by a buzzsaw

  Flame Resistance (General II) - Your body becomes more resistant to burning, heat, and melting, et cetera… Overall, all types of damage that fire can inflict will be reduced

  Five different ones to pick from? Mmh… Three of them are returners, and the energy resilience one is essentially the same thing as physical resilience, but just for energy.

  And frankly, if I assume that the more types of damage something covers, the lesser the boost is, then general energy resilience is worse than general physical resilience, as there are countless types of energies. They can take on different properties through spells as well.

  So definitely not something I want to pick when there are other options.

  Nara, what in damnation is a buzzsaw?

  You can think of it as a discus, but with a serrated edge that is meant to spin rapidly to slice into things with ease

  That sounds handy, weird that I don’t know of something so refined…

  It is normal that you don’t know about it, as far as I am aware, it does not exist

  Huh… And so, would it replace the entirety of my left hand?

  Yes

  Well, I am still attached to my opposable thumbs, so no thanks… Even if it sounds very satisfying to use.

  Well, if I am not taking the general resilience stuff, and not the buzzsaw, then the choice is left between another layer of fire resistance or an integrated lantern in my eyes…

  I tapped my chin for a second.

  I must admit, I am quite fond of adding new functionalities or items to my body. Additions are much more attractive than substitutions.

  So, without actually thinking much about it, I pick the Forward Shine upgrade, and my entire body jolts with pain for a moment, and in particular, I am reminded exactly of how it had felt when the steel skeleton had turned my eyeballs to goop.

  Mmh… I don’t know if it’s a bad or good thing, but I think I am starting to enjoy the pain.

  Doesn’t matter though. Now I can finally have some light when I am prowling around at night, although it might give away my position. Always having to move in narrow spaces and follow walls, or having to wait for moonlight, was quite annoying.

  With this, I could just will it, and I would be able to see where the hell I am going.

  I try it out whilst looking at some shadow cast by trees, and it actually reveals itself to be quite a strong shine, completely eradicating the shadows I targeted.

  Naturally, the glow was purple, and after some experimenting, I found out that I could actually control the light I produced to a great degree. I could make it stronger or weaker at will, and I could even choose to concentrate the light so it would go further but illuminate a thinner area, or do the opposite.

  The description had withheld quite a bit of information, but it seemed like this was the case for most of the upgrades of that kind. The description was very brief and only provided the main usage without elaboration.

  That’s quite neat, and it’s giving me an idea. Do you know what time it is, Nara?

  Time to enter this city and kill people?

  Yes, but how do you think we can get in? Even if beastfolks or monsterfolks are common in the area, I still doubt my looks will allow me to get in peacefully, and my features might have already been spread around by the now one-armed mage. Unless they just allow people who are completely cloaked in without question, I’ll have to break in somehow.

  I see that this city has no moats, and the walls appear shorter by a fair amount. Considering its size, the number of guards is definitely less as well, and generally, dangerous individuals do not remain in such backwater places for long, so you might actually be able to break in without much problem if you are willing to take a gamble, but I wouldn’t recommend it

  Don’t worry, I don’t intend on being so overt about it.

  My idea is simple. Back when I was using my old house as my hideout, I dug out a system of tunnels, and I was intending on using it to trap people and harvest their negative emotions.

  Now that I have a light on my person at all times, I think it could be a good idea for me to dig my way into the city and try this plan again.

  Mara, digging into the city and digging tunnels complex enough to trap people in, will surely take months to accomplish

  Don’t worry, I’ve got some spare time on my hands…