Chapter 67: Tabula Rasa
It was a little after midnight when Tom finally slipped out of the hideout, a newly obtained coin pouch fastened to his belt. Behind him, the characteristic crinkling sound made by Alephs materialized crystals sounded out, as the trapdoor hed made his way through was sealed shut.
That didnt mean that Aleph couldnt or for that matter wouldnt try to shadow his footsteps. Tom wasnt naive enough to believe that what Aleph had revealed so far was the full extent of her abilities she had only ever relied upon a single card in his presence. While he doubted that her other cards would be as potent as her current one, its uncertainty was what made them a variable he couldnt guard against.
Regardless, Tom was certain that she wouldnt be able to track him easily a Proprioception Stat of 31 was enough to atleast give him that much confidence. Zenakris [The Umbra] card had been enough to leave Tom shaken when he had thought back upon its potency, but now he was fairly certain that even the Noble scion would have a hard time tailing him completely undetected, let alone successfully ambush him.
The tenebrous spread that stretched out before him stood in stark contrast to the bustling, if squalid district hed come to get used to. In the distance, his enhanced physical stat allowed him to make out raucous banter and drunken squabbles running across the districts main drag.
He would be eventually heading there, though for now Toms gaze shifted to the inky darkness shrouding the poorly lit part of the district. The shadows were a perfect aide to those who wished to engage in trade of illicit goods, settle feuds, which, were hardly an uncommon occurrence among dungeoneers and generally deal with unflattering matters one would rather not handle in broad daylight.
Of course, it was not all cynicism and gloom. Most dungeoneers were probably interested in nothing more than their alcoholic beverage of choice as they either leaned in towards a heavily embellished tale of great exploits in the Dungeon or regaled their own. This wasnt the first time Tom had gone wandering off into the night, though those trips had been reserved and generally cautious ones.
Now though? Tom wouldnt underestimate the Nameless District, but he no longer had any reason to fear them.
Rounding the bend of an alleyway, Tom leapt onto the roof of a wooden hut without letting anything but a muted tap leak out. A few details still remained blurry in his sight, but even in the darkness, Tom could see all he needed to for effortless movement.
Striding from one rooftop to the next in an unbroken pace, all Tom left behind was muted tapping sounds that were unlikely to raise the residents from their slumber. While enhanced stats allowed one to detect threats in the vicinity, that instinctive safeguard only kicked in when the threat was truly directed at their person.
If Tom was painstakingly made aware of every single aspect of his surroundings even as he tried to lull himself asleep without the ability to tune it out, his stats would have been more of a curse than a blessing.
Finally, he came to a stop. Dropping into a crouch, he pressed his right ear against the roof, letting a few seconds pass before he retracted himself, nodded and then gracefully descended down the side of the wooden hut.
Tom winced a little when the wooden door hed pushed inwards let out a creak, punctuating the silence he had been working so hard to cultivate.
Then he just shook his head and kept going.
He had heard no breathing coming from this particular hut and the rickety door was in a clear state of disrepair, so Tom wasnt entirely surprised to find that the accommodation currently housed no residents, well, unless the wooden splinters of a half shattered barstool spewed across the floor counted.
It was perfect for Toms purposes.
Shutting the door didnt give him any illusions of long-term privacy, it was only a contingency in case his decision was accompanied by loud flares of light or something equally ostentatious.
[Soul Card: The Fool.
Rank: Ephemeral [Legendary Unique]
Level: 9 (984,224/2,750,000)
Skill Upgrade Points: 6
Ability:
Shroud, Level 2
Passive Shroud:
The old him?
Back on Earth, Thomas Lowe had not been the duplicitous sort of person. He didnt enjoy misleading or tricking people. He was not a habitual liar, not one driven to cheat or swindle others.
If he was that sort of person, he wouldnt have simply accepted his lot in life and lived on for the sake of living on.
He wasnt scheming. He wasnt devious. He gained no sadistic satisfaction from treachery.
But then again
Thomas Lowe wasnt the sort of person to challenge a Dungeon Sector head on, either. He wasnt the sort of person to dare to even think about stealing from under the nose of a heavily guarded storefront, let alone actually executing his scheme and getting away with it.
No he had become those people.
He had become the brave dungeoneer, unfazed by the poisoned arms of the bladeswalker or intimidated by the rugged defense of the Abyss Demons.
He had become the bold thief, the swindler who took what he wanted when he wanted but only from those who had plenty and then so more.
He had become someone who had learned to stand up for himself,a man willing to put people in their place when they got unruly with him, tried to take what rightfully belonged to him.
He had become that and so much more.
And then he had realized why [The Fool] had chosen him.
Thomas Lowe was a blank slate.
However, that also meant that he could become.
Anyone.
The gleam that twinkled in his eye could only have been described as infectious, as his lips slowly curled up in amusement.
A part of him was staunchly against the decision he was about to make, but that only served to convince him that he was on the right path.
[Fools Gold] was an incredibly powerful ability, yes. Even more so after hed mimicked Alephs newly acquired rings. And part of him wanted to see how powerful he could become if that skill was driven to the extreme.
But at the end of the day, all Fools Gold gave him was. Weapons.
[The Fool] hadnt chosen him because he was a master swordsman.
But he could become one.
Holding on to that thought, Tom confirmed his decision.
[Congratulations, Legendary Ability {Shroud} has leveled up from Level 2 to Level 8!]
