Cane knew what he needed to do.
He needed to get stronger, for one. Then, he needed to find out who was in charge of the Mech Beast. Finally, he'd need to sneak into a position where he could kill whoever it was.
So... the first course of action? Get stronger. But Cane wasn't willing to wait around, practicing his skills until they upgraded. He needed a shortcut.
Cane knew his next course of action would be considered... morally wrong. A Step Towards Evil, if you will. As he waited in an alleyway, he knew it'd be frowned upon.
But revenge was more important than some stupid morals. Not that they'd ever helped him, nor did Cane's life ever formulate moral character within him. And thus...
Someone walked past the alleyway. A child. Most likely from a moderately wealthy family, judging by the clothes.
Fwoosh!
Cane rushed forward, grabbing the child by the mouth and stopping him from screaming. Then, he knocked the kid out. Staring at the kid's unconscious face for a moment, he activated his skill - Hidden Strength.
He designated his target as the child. As with every skill, Cane noticed, there were workarounds and loopholes to exploit. And Hidden Strength was no different.
First, one could only designate a target if they were within 50 metres of the person. However... once the person left the 50 metre range, they didn't lose their status as a target.
Second, the target could still sense you with the other 4 senses, and Hidden Strength would still work. It was based off of sight only.
Cane slowly grinned, in a malicious sort of way. His thumbs reached up to the child's eyes, and he began to squeeze, ever so slowly.
"So... if Hidden Strength is based off of sight only..."
Squish! Splat!
The child's eyes were crushed within his sockets. He was now blind.
"Then all I have to do is make sure my target can't see!"
For a brief moment, guilt surged in Cane's heart. But revenge presided over rationality and morals, and soon his eyes grew firm once more.
"I'm sorry... but the eyes of a mere child could NEVER be as important as the lives of my friends."
As they say, you can't break an egg without making an omelet. Or whatever that saying was.
At least you're still alive. Be grateful. Some people don't get that kind of luxury.
Cane didn't look like a human at that moment. No, his eyes were like a beast's, ferocious and wild. A shadow seemed to be cast onto his face as he stared at the now blind child.
He dragged the kid behind his back, making his way to a hospital. As he rummaged through the child's belongings, he found a phone. A rich family, then.
He took the boy's hand, pressed a finger onto the the fingerprint scanner, and unlocked the phone. From there, he found the boy's parents in the contacts. He gave them a call.
"Your child has... faced an unfortunate accident. He's at Hospital No. 3, third sick hall. Come quickly." Then, Cane hung up before the child's parents could say anything. By now, he'd already made his way past the front office of Hospital. No. 3 as well as the first hall.
Others could only stare in fright as a man dressed in an amorphous black cloak and a white mask dragged a child with him. The child's eyes were shut tight, but blood was leaking from the eyelids.
Ad Cane walked by, the cameras seemed to flicker and teleport into his hands. That was Cane using Steal.
No one said a word until Cane entered the third hall, found an empty bed, and dropped the child into the bed. Then, he left through the window at a high speed.
By now, as an Apprentice Combatant, he'd gained another 50% physical increase. That meant he was 4.5 times stronger, faster and more durable than the average human. Coupled with Hidden Strength, and that number instantly shot up to 9 times the physique.
Meanwhile, his other skills all increased too. Just as Cane had thought, they all read as "Basic" once more.
[Basic Divine Treasure Eyes]
Eyes which can determine the value of a selected object based on how brightly it glows. One may select up to 2 objects. Objects with a value of less than 10 points will not glow. Objects with a value of more than 60,000 points will not glow. If the object is further than 30 metres away, it will not glow.
A direct 50% increase to the stats. Before, Divine Treasure Eyes had a range of 20 metres only, and a cap of 40,000 points. Furthermore, Cane gained the ability to select one more object simultaneously, most likely a result of his rank up.
Meanwhile, Steal had also levelled up.
[Steal]
Creates a clone of the object you wish to steal. You must be within 6 metres of your target to clone it. After cloning the object, you may - at any time or distance - swap the clone with the original, before dispelling the clone. You may Steal 2 objects simultaneously.
Once again, he'd gotten a 50% increase in Steal's range. Furthermore, Cane was now able to steal 2 items at once. Previously, he could only activate Steal on one thing at a time. After creating a clone of the first object, only then could he create a clone of the second.
As for Innate Luck... it'd probably gotten stronger, though Cane wasn't sure.
Cane was satisfied.
He headed off to his next location - The Black Markets.
...
Cane was convinced that the government knew about The Black Markets, but simply didn't do anything about them because it'd cost too much.
Officially, it was called the Cal Yuun District, but of course, those on the inside referred to it as The Black Markets.
The Black Markets.
They were a huge block of apartments, so tight-knit that the "roads" between them, if they could even be called roads, were sometimes only as wide as two people side by side.
There were bridges between the higher levels, connecting the apartment blocks in more ways than one could imagine. It was like a maze in there. One could get lost in an instant - rows and rows and columns upon columns of rooms, walls, bridges and doorways.
On the outside, it'd been the government's best work yet - an initiative to solve overpopulation and the housing crisis. Inside the place, a different crisis was brewing.
They had their own food, water, electricity - technology too! Only people equipped with Pathfinders could navigate the hellhole, and those without... they had to make do.
Growing up on the streets, Cane naturally knew about them too - including where they were located. Despite this, he'd never entered the place before, not due to some moral reasons. No, it was simply because he was afraid of being immediately kidnapped and trafficked.
But now? Cane wasn't afraid of any mortal. For the Outskirts, the average awakener would be at Apprentice Combatant, just like Cane. But he wasn't afraid of them.
In fact, he wasn't even afraid of full rank Combatants, simply because his physique was so monstrous that he wasn't far off from a full rank. Furthermore, Cane had undergone intensive training and real, life-and-death combat.
Simply put, Cane could safely enter and exit The Black Markets with ease if he wanted to.
So, what was Cane intending to do, entering The Black Markets? This could be summed up into two words.
Weapons and info.
For any of Cane's previous weapons to have survived required a miracle, and indeed, he did have Innate Luck. Thus, a single dagger survived - one of Chuck's explosive ones.
But Cane was feeling a lack of guns and other weapons, for that matter. A single dagger wouldn't be all that useful, after all.
Other than that, Cane also needed to know the information of the Mechs on The Market. What kind they were, who bought them, who made them, etc.
Cane took a deep breath, eyeing the looming walls of The Black Markets. After a moment of hesitation, he stepped into The Markets, eyes steady and heart firm.
...
The change was immediate and observable. The air had taken on a strange smell, the surroundings seemed suffocating - wait, did the colour of his vision change???
In short, stepping into The Black Markets was like stepping into another world, isolated from the rest of the Cities and growing within it's own ecosystem.
Cane walked down the main streets, which were still somewhat okay in width. They could've probably fit 3 cars side by side in there?
As Cane ventured into The Markets, he immediately saw stalls set up, lining the sides of the street. Since they were closer to the entrance, they were the relatively tame shops. These stalls were legally... questionable, but not outright illegal like the ones deep at the core. They also happened to be of lower quality too - the price for setting up a shop closer to the entrance was cheaper.
Ah! There! Cane's eyes lit up as he saw what he was looking for. He discreetly looked around, saw no one else, and used Steal on it. What had Cane used Steal on?
A Pathfinder.
The more points you put into one, the more locations it'd show you. Well, the locations would also get increasingly illegal, but that was neither here nor there. It's The Black Market, after all. Everything's illegal in The Markets.
As Cane had been walking the streets of The Markets, he'd naturally been using Steal on everything he could get his hands on too. Thus, he'd already gained a substantial amount of points, which he converted into digital currency and fed into the Pathfinder he'd stolen.
Let's see... where are the Weapon Shops at?