Caitlyn had grown up in a family full of thieves. All her whole life, she was taught how to lie, deceive, and steal. The teachings even got worse the moment she received her blessing.
[ Blessing of the Shadows:
—You can be one with the shadows and remain undetected, with this ability you can sneak up to your targets and attack. The moment you interact with the others outside of the shadows, then the blessing will be dispelled and you will be revealed. ]
The moment she received that blessing, she was taught a lot of things like stealing items and other sneaky stuff....it may look like it was forced on her but in reality, she actually enjoyed it. She enjoyed deceiving others and seeing their despaired expression, oh how she wish to traumatize others with her deception.
And now....staring at the blonde man before her, she held back her urges to destroy the man's mind.
'Jenner was it? You will soon be Goner'
She licked her lips in delight as she held her impulses back. Currently, they are making plans on how to get past the army of Fire Monkeys. The Jenner guy suggested that they should wait until nightfall til the security was lax and they will then sneak inside. He said that he knew how Fire Monkeys behave, they are always so carefree and lax so they easily drop their guard.
But Caitlyn thought that he was so naive and found it cute...made her want to destroy it even further, she wish to marvel at his despair any moment now. But she has to hold back. She still needs to loot something in there, an important treasure...she needed him as a bait.
'I will spare you for now, Cutie'
"No, that will not work. Will waste our time..."
She uttered with a soft smile, trying to appear as friendly as possible and the other guy just tilted his head in confusion, completely clueless.
"What do you mean?"
He asked as Caitlyn chuckled then took out a map from her robe and unravelled it on the ground.
"I have already spent two days scouting this area and saw that their guards will not just drop that easily...."
"Woah...you are amazing, staying in this place for two days, undetected. I could never do that"
Jenner flattered Caitlyn which she took with a smile and bloated her ego, but she just cleared her throat.
"Drop the formalities....anyways, when I was scouting this area, I discovered a hidden passage inside the Temple. It is unguarded it seemed because of how dark it is and Fire Monkeys dislike the dark so yeah we can go through there as I have luminosity artifact with me"
Caitlyn started reciting the plan as she found Jenner attentively listening and also humming in wonder.
"What's the catch though?"
The Blonde lad asked which made Caitlyn smile and think that this guy is not easily fooled as she thought he was, so she will have a good time using him.
"The treasure room is guarded by the King, so I need you to distract it. Looking at the two of us, you should be the combatant one, am I right? So I need you to distract it while I loot, do not worry...we can take turns"
Saying that ridiculous condition, Caitlyn was satisfied...trying to see if this guy was an idiot, but oh boy she was wrong. Looking at the guy's expression, She squealed inwardly as she held back her impulses.
Jenner was frowning and looking at her skeptically. She wanted to tear it down right now.
"I don't want that....You are definitely just going to abandon me"
Jenner scowled at her as Caitlyn smiled inwardly and bit her lips to hold it back.
'Right, that's the reaction.....I will abandon you like the dumbass you are the moment my plan comes into play'
She chuckled at Jenner as she then raised her hand in resignation.
"Fine fine, since I am the one with a stealth ability, I will be the bait first and give you 5 minutes headstart. How's that?"
She smiled in which Jenner also nodded in agreement and shook hands with her to close to deal.
'Dumbass'
She muttered inside her mind as the two of them set off to the hidden passage underground.
Upon arriving at the hidden passage underground of the temple, Caitlyn took out a luminosity artifact in the shape of an orb as it lit up their way.
"Why would there be an underground passage here?"
Jenner asked as he was scanning through the murals painted in the walls of the passage. The murals depicted an image of humans fighting each other, 15 small humans listening to the one large human's preaching, then an image of the largest human lying on a pool of blood and then it ended there. The murals, as though it was erased...were gone from there on, the only mark were lines that looked like veins.
"I heard that this used to be a temple made during the Age of War on the Heavens and Earth, where the First Demon King was resurrected. This was a temple of a Fallen God and this passage was an escape route for the worshippers"
Answering Jenner's question, Caitlyn chuckled as she soon halted her steps and also Jenner's.
'So this is why they are not guarding this place'
The two of them thought in unison as they nodded upon seeing the Red Crystals planted on the ground. It was [ Mandrake Crystal ], like the Mandrake plant which screams loudly when plucked out from the ground, this is a crystal which screams loudly when crushed. The reason why this place was unguarded by the Monkeys was actually because they had already scattered Mandrake Crystals in this place which can prevent thieves from entering.
"Well, it doesn't work on me though, how about you?"
Caitlyn asked Jenner who just stared at the crystals as she shrugged and then dove into the shadows and glide through the other side with the shadows, she passed the cyrstals undisturbed. She looked at Jenner for a moment and she found that the guy's steps were so light that it cannot even crush the crystals. It was interesting. He also passed the Crystals with ease.
"You sure know your History"
Continuing their topic earlier, Jenner chuckled as he dusted his dust covered hand upon reaching the other side and then followed beside Caitlyn. Hearing that, Caitlyn smiled.
"I am a noble from the Fox Tribe, why would I not be knowledgeable about such?"
Since Jenner appeared to be an introverted person who does not talk much and Caitlyn was busy holding back her urges, The two of them just walked in silence until they entered the Treasure Room.
They walked into the treasure room with confidence as they were greeted by the Fire Monkey King that looked like it has been waiting for them with a smile.
"Go"
Caitlyn uttered towards Jenner with a smile as she started to cast the pieces of her plan, then without any further ado, she attacked the Fire Monkey while the other guy looted the pile of treasure in the back.
With a blazing eyes, The Fire Monkey threw a fire fist towards Caitlyn which soon emitted a torrent of flame that aimed to burn her whole being, But Caitlyn was swift...she smiled upon dodging the blow by diving into the shadows and sneaked up behind the Fire Monkey King and held him on a chokehold from behind while also shooting Jenner a glance.
"Miss Caitlyn I took this Sword!"
Shouting, Jenner showed off a katana with a wind symbol engravings on the hilt.
'Damned idiot! Why would you shout that! Just hurry up!'
She screamed inwardly, quite irritated at Jenner's shoutings as she beat up the Fire Monkey King, the fire monkey king also manage to stand his ground as it just toyed with her and threw her to the wall, causing for her to crash and feel her back hurting.
"I took this Earring with me!"
"I took this Dagger with me!"
"I took this Ring with me!"
Jenner continued to shout the names as Caitlyn start to get irritated but soon calmed herself down.
'No matter, I will just steal your loots and leave here haha, idiot'
She chuckled inwardly and continued to dodge the attacks of the Fire Monkey King upon seeing that she cannot win against it. She gave up counterattacking.
Then finally, the five minutes headstart came and Jenner shouted the last item that he stole.
"I am taking this Gemstone with me!"
Seeing that red gemstone, Caitlyn's eyes widened as she saw Jenner put the Gemstone inside his pouch where the other items were stored. That gemstone was the one that she came for in this place. The Illburg merchant troupe were the one who originally owned that gemstone but had it stolen.
It was a [ Runestone ], it was made by storing a dead Blessed's ability inside and it is used by blesseds to learn new skills when they break it, and the skill stored inside that [ Runestone ] was [ Flamethrower ], although it sounded weak, that is enough for Caitlyn who has a sneaky skill become stronger. That can make up for her lack of offense.
Then without any hesitation, she dove into the shadows as she disappeared and then swiftly stole Jenner's pouch full of items.
She reappeared at the exit as she winked at Jenner, showing off the pouch she swiped from him.
"Dumbass~ Thank you for this gift~"
She chuckled as the Monkey King then shifted his target on Jenner because Caitlyn was already far from it.
"Eh? Miss Caitlyn? What are you doing?!"
Seeing the pouch, Jenner screamed with despair filling his expression while he was fighting the Ape.
Chuckling at Jenner's suffering, Caitlyn then let out a moan as she blushed while biting her lip, she loved it when the cute guy with a smiling face crumble. She loved to see him crumble. Jenner was on the verge of crying while he was dodging the monkey.
"Ahhh~ You are so cute....."
Caitlyn moaned, marvelling Jenner's look one last time as she then turned around to leave the room. But the moment she was about to leave the room, she felt something inside the pouch....get crushed.
Then following that sound, was a Loud Cry. The cry was so loud that Caitlyn who heard it knelt down to the ground and roll as she held her head and cover her ears. Pain struck her head as if she was being hit by a large sledgehammer and she then felt blood gushing out of every hole in her head.
Blood came out from the two holes of her eyes, nose, ears and mouth. Her eyes were bloodshot as she vomitted blood until the sound ended.
Looking around the room, it seems like the Ape King was also affected by the loud cry as it laid down stunned on the ground. It did not suffer like Caitlyn did though.... It was far from her.
"Pft...Dumbass"
Then a voice, Caitlyn heard a voice. The voice came from Jenner—No, Roanoke who just sneered at her. He seems to be perfectly fine.
"Did you like my gift?"
Roanoke infused Ki to his arms as he lifted the stunned body of the Ape King and threw him towards the direction of Caitlyn which still suffered the aftereffects of that unknown scream. So the moment the Ape King regain its clarity, it will soon attack the incapacitated Caitlyn.
"Thank you for entertaining me, clown"