Rich and homeless

“Do you want me to help you carry that?” asked his father after three hours of constant walking.

Seth shook his head and said: “I’m fine. I’m a lot stronger than I look.”

His father couldn’t see because of the cloak covering his body, but Seth had already used the system to increase his muscle mass. He couldn’t even feel the weight of the sack of bread.

The old man nodded and continued looking forward. There were no dangerous animals, beasts, or bandits around the beaten path since the town guards would patrol from time to time, but they still needed to sleep. At the end of the day, they found a small clearing away from the beaten path and made camp.

“Do you know what to do when you reach the town?” asked his father while munching on a piece of hard bread.

Seth pondered momentarily before saying: “I’ll go around and see if anyone needs any help. I don’t really have a plan.”

“You should try to go to the marketplace. There is a place that gives odd jobs to almost anyone who can work.”

Seth nodded, already knowing about it, but he didn’t plan on doing that. It will take too long, and he had other plans.

The two chatted for a bit more before going to sleep. Seth stayed awake a bit more, working on absorbing even more energy inside his body before sleeping as well.

The journey towards the town took them three days, and on the morning of the fourth, a decently large town appeared in front of them.

Seth’s father placed one hand on his shoulder and said: “There is no more I can do for you in there, and you’ll be on your own. I’m returning now since I left your mother alone for too long. You better not get yourself into trouble, brat.”

Seth turned around and hugged his father, saying: “Don’t worry. Just take care of mom and wait for me to come back. I will not disappoint you.”

Seth could hear his father’s sniffles and continued hugging him a bit more to save the old man the embarrassment. Once he calmed down, his father told him a few more words of caution and turned back with the bread left in the sack.

After his father was out of sight, Seth took a deep breath and looked back toward the town. After moving away from the beaten path, he walked into the shadow of a tree and quickly undressed.

‘System, it’s time to rob this place clean. Turn me into a bird.’

Since his sources were not formed and stabilized, he could still change his body entirely without risk of damage. It would be a shame not to profit while he still could.

The system replied, and his body slowly changed until he turned into a small, hand-sized bird. Flapping his wings, he took flight and hovered above the city. Seth had already practiced at home when no one was looking, so he was already used to it.

<36 minutes until soul sustains damage.>

‘That’s enough.’ Thought Seth as he quickly flew inside the marketplace and surveyed the area.

Noticing a fat man selling high-quality clothes in the center of the marketplace, he made him his target and flew straight inside the carriage behind him. It took ten minutes of searching until he found what he was looking for.

Using his beak to undo the tie of a small pouch, he found three shiny gold coins and around twenty silver ones inside.

‘Jackpot.’ Thought Seth as he tried to fly away with the entire pouch, only to notice he was not strong enough to lift it completely.

‘System, turn me into a bird large enough to carry this thing.’ Seth picked up the pouch in his beak as his bird body grew and rushed outside.

The sudden bird that appeared out of nowhere startled the merchant and his guards, but Seth was already high in the air before they could react.

Making a B-Line towards where he left his clothes, he undid his transformation and chuckled, throwing the pouch with his spoils up and down.

“Easy money.”, muttered Seth as he felt a wave of red energy slowly coming from the village and surrounding his body. Smirking again, he started absorbing the energy inside his body and directing it toward where he would form his perception source.

“Even some negative perception energy to boot. Not even ten minutes in town, and I’ve already made so much progress.”

Grabbing his clothes from the ground, he dressed himself up and hid the pouch before walking towards the town gate.

There were two guards at the gate, but they didn’t even give him a second look. The poor quality clothes under his cloak and his unkept appearance made him look like a common beggar.

Seth didn’t mind it at all and made his way toward one of the best inns inside the town. He now had the capital to start, but he wouldn’t mind having more at hand.

As he was about to enter the inn, a new, even larger wave of negative perception energy hit him again. Chuckling slightly, Seth pushed the door open and stepped in.

‘I guess that merchant finally noticed I stole his money.’

One gold coin was worth 100 silvers, and one silver coin was 100 coppers. He stole in ten minutes more money than he could produce doing odd jobs for one year.

The inside of the inn was quite luxurious, and everyone inside looked like wealthy merchants. In compassion, Seth looked like a beggar.

Ignoring the looks of disgust everyone was giving him, Seth walked up to the man at the counter.

“How much for a room?”

The man appeared just as disgusted as the others and said: “Beat it, brat. We don’t welcome beggars and peasants here.”

Seth expected this and looked behind the man. Seeing the plaque with the prices, he noticed they charged one silver/day.

Throwing ten silvers on the counter, he said: “I want to stay here five days. The rest you can keep it. I also want someone to head to the market and buy something for me.”

After looking disgusted at the silvers, the man didn’t touch them and said: “Beat it, brat, before I call the guards. I wonder how you will explain where you got these coins from to them.”

Seth kept staring into the man’s eyes for a moment before grabbing his coins and turning to walk outside.

‘I guess I can’t live inside the money pile. No matter. I’ll still rob you guys clean all the same.’