Chapter 85: Thief

Chapter 85: The Thief

Li Wei donned his invisibility cloak, took up his staff and potions, and stepped out the door.

Even the Codex of the Arcane Weave was tucked into his pocket.

All he owned in the world was on his person—exactly the kind of man bandits adored.

Before leaving the city, Li Wei had assumed finding the Shadowed Vale would be difficult.

He’d even worried about getting lost.

But to his surprise, the very first passerby he asked on the road was already heading there.

Watching the stream of travelers, Li Wei mused inwardly: the City Lord’s mansion must have spent a fortune.

Otherwise, how could they lure so many adventurers to clear the Shadowed Vale?

The vale was treacherous—dense thickets, jagged terrain, teeming with magical beasts. No place for armies.

Forcing a military push would mean heavy casualties.

So the City Lord had no choice but to open their coffers, posting bounties through the Adventurers’ Guild.

Slaying a first-rank magical beast earned between thirty and two hundred silver coins.

A second-rank beast? Three hundred to a thousand silver.

And that was just the bounty.

The beasts themselves yielded valuable magic materials, gear components—worth a small fortune.

Now, hunting them brought rewards several times greater than usual.

No wonder so many flocked here.

Li Wei followed the crowd into the Shadowed Vale. Already, adventurers gathered outside its entrance.

Some stood at the valley mouth, shouting for party members.

The moment Li Wei appeared in his mage’s robes, invitations poured in.

“Thank you, but I’ve already joined a group.”

Declining them all, he sought out the City Lord’s representative stationed at the vale.

Tasks involving clearing plants and rocks required direct coordination with the official.

“Greetings, Magus,” said a middle-aged steward, polite and composed.

Four armored soldiers stood guard beside him.

“How may I assist you today?”

“I’ve taken the clearance task,” Li Wei replied. “Which area needs clearing?”

Upon hearing this, the steward quickly asked, “What type of spells are you proficient in?”

“Fire magic.”

“In that case, we’d appreciate your help with the large boulders on the right side of the valley. Just shatter them into smaller pieces—we’ll send men later to remove the debris.”

“And please, Magus, take care not to ignite the forest. We can’t afford a wildfire,” the steward added as a warning.

Li Wei nodded. “Understood.”

Shortly after, the steward dispatched a soldier to escort Li Wei to the designated site.

Before parting, he handed Li Wei a map marking the exact area to be cleared.

The Shadowed Vale was a maze of grotesque stone formations—massive rocks jutting from cliffs, blocking sunlight, casting the valley into perpetual gloom.

Now, the City Lord sought to remove these obstructions.

Li Wei was assigned only a small section.

Once the soldier led him to the spot and left, Li Wei gazed up at the towering rock protruding from the mountainside, pondering his approach.

According to the map, he merely needed to blast these outcroppings apart.

But many were high above—misjudge one explosion, and the falling debris could crush him.

“For safety’s sake… better go up.”

“Shadow Servant, carry me.”

The Shadow Servant emerged from behind, seized Li Wei, and began scaling the cliff face.

How exactly it moved, Li Wei still didn’t understand.

It wasn’t flying—but its feet never touched the ground.

And yet, it couldn’t move freely through air; it needed something to cling to.

Nightmares were steeped in mystery.

One couldn’t help but wonder—what truly were they?

Reaching the cliff’s summit, Li Wei looked down at the boulder below. Left and right—no one in sight.

He cast Fireball.

Whoosh!

A blazing sphere shot forward.

Boom! The rock shattered, great chunks tumbling into the valley, crashing with thunderous echoes.

Dust billowed. Distant figures, seeing the commotion, scattered from the danger zone.

Yet some, curious or reckless, crept closer, eager to see what had happened.

Li Wei glanced down—the bulk of the rock was gone, but stubborn fragments clung to the cliff.

Even those remnants were massive.

“Fireball consumes too much mana. And the force is excessive. I only need to sever the rock’s base—the fall will break it naturally. No need to pulverize it completely. That’s a waste of power.”

Having reasoned this, he switched to Chain Minor Fireballs.

Though no one was around, he still instinctively held back.

Slowly, deliberately, he guided small fireballs toward the rock’s roots, chipping it away from the cliff.

*Crack… crack… crack…*

An ear-splitting screech rang out.

Several flying magical beasts came hurtling toward him.

Li Wei didn’t flinch. He glanced up at the creatures circling overhead, then continued bombarding the rock.

They swooped, shrieked, realized he ignored them—and saw their home being destroyed. Enraged, they dove.

Only when they drew near did Li Wei’s staff suddenly launch five miniature fireballs.

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

Caught completely off guard by the sudden assault, the diving magical beasts had no time to react, frantically putting on the brakes to dodge.

Thud, thud, thud!

Three of the avian beasts plumed into smoke and plummeted from the sky, while the sole survivor, trailing further behind, turned and fled in utterly pathetic disarray.

Li Wei watched the beast flee but made no move to give chase.

He could not catch it anyway.

Suspended midair, the wounded creatures struggled fiercely to regain their bearings and fly.

Yet what awaited them was an even denser barrage of minor fireballs.

Thud, thud, thud!

Ultimately, all three injured avian beasts were eradicated by the continuous minor fireball spells, their carcasses crashing to the earth below and shattering into a gory pulp.

"Those are Wind-Shriek Sparrows. Shadow Servant, go pluck the single white feather beneath their necks."

Each Wind-Shriek Sparrow possessed but a single white feather under its throat.

This served as definitive proof of the kill.

Those three Wind-Shriek Sparrows were all first-tier magical beasts, which could be exchanged for a decent amount of contribution points.

It was an absolute pity, however, that their carcasses had been blown apart and then utterly pulverized by the fall, leaving no way to harvest any truly valuable materials.

They had become something of a chicken rib—flavorless to consume, yet not entirely painful to discard.

Before long, the Shadow Servant returned bearing three long, white quills.

One had been scorched halfway through, though it would not impede the turn-in of the quest.

Li Wei resumed bombarding the rocks to complete his clearing assignment.

Finishing the clearance of this specific zone would yield five contribution points directly, which equated to five hundred silver coins.

If a few more troublemaking avian beasts came looking for a fight, he would nearly amass the seven contribution points he needed.

Standing at the crest of the valley and unleashing continuous minor fireball spells to blast the boulders was infinitely simpler than venturing into the Gloomy Valley to hunt second-tier magical beasts.

Thud, thud, thud!

Li Wei held his staff aloft, a fireball at its tip still waiting to be launched.

He tilted his head in confusion, listening intently.

After a brief moment, he looked toward the Shadow Servant and inquired.

"Strange. Did you hear any kind of sound just now?"

The Shadow Servant shook his head, pondered for a moment, and then stepped away.

When he returned, he was cradling a bird's nest in his hands, which contained several bird eggs the size of fists.

He held the nest up, looking at Li Wei.

Li Wei shook his head and gestured for him to put the eggs down.

"Not this. Are there any other eggs? Search for more."

He did not recognize what kind of bird eggs these were, but if they happened to be the magical beast eggs of the Wind-Shriek Sparrow, they ought to be worth a fair sum of coin.

The Shadow Servant turned around to scavenge more nests and hunt for eggs.

A moment later, a shadow crept close to Li Wei.

Sensing the fluctuations of shadow elements, Li Wei asked without bothering to look back, "Find anything good?"

There was no response, and as he turned his head around, a figure materialized right behind him, tightly clutching several bird eggs and preparing to slip away.

It appeared to be a thief who had come to steal the bird eggs, only to be caught red-handed by Li Wei.

(End of Chapter)