16 Caution

After waiting for night to settle upon the land, bringing with it a familiar chill, Linnaeus finally made his move. With his [Night Vision] and [Stealth], he was confident in being able to avoid detection, allowing him to creep to the water's edge and drink his fill before vanishing into the darkness once again.

Now that he had the cover of darkness, it was time for him to take action, just as he had been doing for the past five years.

Though he never enjoyed the act of killing, Linnaeus had become somewhat numb to it and, if it was to preserve his life, and the lives of those he cared about, he would not hesitate. The only reason he had given up his pursuit of the Vulcan woman was largely due to his hunch, even if the main reason was due to his diminishing SP reserves.

This time around, Linnaeus' reserves were completely filled and, with others less acclimated to the darkness than himself, the night was his playground. Since there were even a few lights within the forest, indicating the presence of campfires, his shadows blended into the surroundings even more than normal.

Despite the apparent foolishness of some, as creating a fire was like painting a target upon yourself, Linnaeus knew that the training in the megacity should have prepared them for such things. With this in mind, he crept slowly towards the closest encampment and, as expected, discovered a tripwire that had been set in the surroundings.

Unlike slum dwellers, who generally spent their days just trying to survive, the megacity, Heart, had a comprehensive education system for rearing potential climbers. He knew there would even be some who had powerful Titles and various other benefits from belonging to Organizations their entire life. The small child-like girl that had appeared previously was the best indicator of this, making it very clear they weren't on a level playing field from the start.

Fortunately, as there were likely benefits from completing the tests earlier, Fledglings like the girl were rare encounters. They would quickly move on to the next Floor after defeating their enemies, removing the vast majority of such individuals from the survival competition.

Because of this, Linnaeus was confident in sneaking up on others, especially if they had formed groups. Though there were no guarantees, it could be assumed that anyone seeking the company of others at this stage didn't have absolute confidence in their own power. Just as Vagrants would flock together to avoid getting picked off by Enforcers, it was guaranteed that the weak would seek solace in greater numbers.

Though he knew it would be necessary to team up with others at later Floors, as the Party System was common knowledge, Linnaeus felt he would cripple himself by trying to fit in with a group of strangers before he had a better understanding of the Tower's structure and tests. He didn't want to take orders from others, nor did he intend to put his life at risk to protect people that were just as likely to backstab him as come to his aid.

With this in mind, Linnaeus carefully circled the area, knowing there had to be an escape path where fewer, or no, traps were located. He didn't have the confidence in disarming a trap, as he didn't have the requisite Skill, so it was best to just avoid them as much as possible.

After completing his rounds, Linnaeus found three different routes towards the fire's light but, rather than make his way closer, he retreated to find a better vantage. It was still early in the evening so there was a good chance his targets were still awake. After all, they had all just entered the Tower so, if they were anything like him, it may not even be possible to sleep during the first night.

Just like casing a business or target to rob, Linnaeus spent several hours just observing the camp, waiting until the fire began to dim down before he made his move. Since the odds of anyone letting their fire burn out were slim in such situations, he could interpret the dwindling light as a sign his quarry was dozing off.

Without hurrying his pace, Linnaeus continued to inspect the area. He was looking for any signs that other traps had been set without his notice. If he had the [Trap Setting] and [Trap Disarming] Skills, he would check the traps periodically before changing their location. After all, if someone tampered with the traps before staging a surprise attack, the only person you could blame for such oversights was yourself.

Unfortunately for his opponents, they hadn't followed this logic so, after skulking at a snail's pace for nearly an hour, Linnaeus approached the campsite. There, he found three people, two of whom were huddled together with some kind of strange furs covering their body while, at the campfire, a man was dozing off with his head and shoulders slouched.

Linnaeus couldn't shake the feeling he was walking into a trap as, at a glance, this group seemed like incredibly easy prey. However, even after watching for twenty minutes, the only change was the man waking up and panicking slightly when he noticed the state of the fire. He quickly fed more tinder to feed the flames before looking around the area nervously.

Seeing that the man would periodically glance at the two presumably sleeping figures, it didn't take a brilliant mind to understand he was the weakest in the group. They had likely forced him to keep watch over the first while they rested. There was even a chance they planned to kill him after waking, as his sleep-deprivation would make him a poor ally to rely on during an emergency.

What genuinely surprised Linnaeus was the fact that the man was even tired as, if their experiences were the same, it hadn't even been twenty-four hours since his entrance into the Tower. The average slum dweller could go several days without sleep, often without anything but water to sustain them. This meant the man was either wholly unprepared for ascending the Tower or, for reasons he had not been privy to, expended a large amount of stamina during the day.

Despite his doubts, Linnaeus didn't take any action to expose himself as, without proper knowledge of the enemy, he could just be walking ignorantly into his death. Instead, he remained hidden and, after the man began to doze off again, began using his [Steal] to systematically clear the opponents' Inventories. He also wanted to see if it was possible to loot the bodysuits they had all been given as his own took up the body and leg slots of his equipment screen, meaning there was a small chance if he continued trying.

After more than an hour, the only success Linnaeus had was looting a bunch of different types of meat and a few materials that had likely been harvested from monsters. One of the targets gave him a whopping 3 experience per attempt so he had gotten a little carried away, nearly increasing his [Steal] to Level 28 in the process.

Unfortunately, despite a concerted effort, he wasn't able to loot any of the three's equipment. This meant it was either impossible or, as was more likely the case, they simply had higher Luck than him. As the success rate of stealing equipment was heavily dependent on the Luck values of both parties, the maximum success rate could be as low as 1% in some instances.

What annoyed Linnaeus the most was that he hadn't been able to loot the wires they had used to create the various traps littering the area. This meant they likely didn't keep it in their Inventory so his only option was to either try and disassemble the surrounding traps or give up on obtaining any.

Ultimately, Linnaeus decided against attempting to disarm the traps as, with the presence of the wires, he could intuit that one of the three had a Blessing related to trap making. After all, it would be impossible to acquire the materials otherwise, unless they had somehow found a monster that could provide materials to make their own wires.

Deciding to err on the side of caution, Linnaeus retreated a fair distance from the encampment before climbing a tree that gave him a slight vantage on the site. He couldn't really see well but he was still within earshot of the three people. If anything happened, such as another party attacking them, he might be able to reap benefits without exposing himself outright.

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In this manner, Linnaeus allowed himself to get a bit of shut-eye, albeit sleeping so lightly that even the occasional rustle of leaves would awaken him. Like this, he waited until just before sunrise, when visibility was the lowest, before something finally happened.

Awakening him from his light slumber, Linnaeus her to high-pitched sound of a woman screaming from the direction of the encampment. He could hear her rebuking the man after finding him asleep at his post, followed by the sound of a small explosion.

Since this was closer to his position than he'd like, Linneaus slipped down the opposite side of the tree without investigating what had happened. This ended up being the correct choice as, moments later, a battle broke out in the area after another group decided to use the chaos to launch their own ambush.

Linnaeus waited until the sounds of combat had ceased entirely before skulking his way forward once again, his [Stealth] and diminutive stature allowing him to move unobserved through the underbrush. When he reached a vantage that allowed him to see into the clearing, he saw two girls surrounded by five corpses, four males and one female. This included the man who had been forced to keep watch, even if it was hard to be certain since his entire upper body was now missing.

Unaware of the fact they were being observed, the taller of the two women, standing at 165cm and garbed in a dark-red bodysuit, kicked one of the corpses as she complained, "These bastards really have no class! Treating me like some sheep just waiting to be slaughtered! Haa!"

At the end of her outburst, the woman snapped her fingers towards one of the corpses, causing a burst of flames to erupt in the form of a small explosion. This caused the much smaller girl at her side to flinch, her two elongated ears drooping pathetically before hiding behind her explosive companion.

Though it was apparent the woman wanted to explore the other corpses, she at least pretended to calm down as she pat the smaller girl's head, saying in a soft tone, "Don't worry, Shuri, all the bad people are gone now~" This caused the girl named Shuri to nod her head in agreement, despite the fact she was clearly still afraid.

From his vantage point, Linnaeus was able to observe the two closely, identifying the brown-haired woman, with her sharp and intelligent features, as a member of the Saxon tribe. As for the petite girl with light-purple hair, adorned with two long white ears and a bushy tail poking out of her backside, she was clearly a member of the Lori tribe, known for their rabbit-like features.

Upon realizing this, Linnaeus had solidified his [Barrier Aura] as, while the Lori tribe were known for their exceptional hearing, they also had extremely sensitive noses. Fortunately, perhaps due to her fear, she didn't seem to be completely aware of her surroundings. The last thing he needed was the explosive woman deciding he was her next lackey so, without wasting any time, he began to retreat into the underbrush, vanishing into the morning twilight...

What Linnaeus didn't know was, rather than overlook him, the Lori tribe woman simply didn't want to fight. She also knew that her companion had used up a lot of her SP so, even though she had smelled Linnaeus' arrival, she kept silent while hoping he would leave them alone. However, when he did begin his retreat, she couldn't help looking in his direction and releasing a sigh, something which hadn't gone unnoticed by her companion.