Chapter 247 Stealing Opponents Skills Is Common Practice

'What's the point of spreading these rumours? To bait me into taking action?

Whoever planned this must have figured out that I was not going to move in person so they're using this tactic.

The fact that they are trying to bait me into moving personally means that this might be some sort of trap.

Did the Viscount succeed in getting help from outside?'

Right after asking himself this, Terence shot down the idea immediately.

'That's not possible.

Unless they used teleportation, it is almost impassable for the viscount's daughter to get to the neighbouring county's capital and back, with enough forces to go against me in a single day.

What's more, is that they were delayed by the squad I sent.

So, who exactly is behind this?'

Just when Terence was about to sink into his thoughts, another subordinate came in holding a communication device.

He then reported that the news of how his 'power' didn't work on Evan was spreading like wildfire.

"What?!"

Hearing that, Terence's eyes flashed with a red light.

If he wasn't taking Evan's matter seriously before, then what he just heard changed the game plan.

"Are you sure about this?"

He asked the subordinate to confirm the authenticity of this news and after a few minutes, one of the thralls that Evan had beaten and sent back to Terence was brought before him.

After confirming that the 'power' he had 'given' them didn't work on Evan, Terence frowned deeply.

'This 'kid' kid isn't simple.

Maybe it isn't even a kid at all, probably some powerful old man wearing the guise of a kid, but that's not important.

What's important is that if he can somehow negate my ability, then this makes things difficult.

If he partners with the viscount, then it's possible for him to disrupt all of my plans.

Do I really have to go out there even while knowing this kid has some trap planned for me?'

Terence thought about it for a while and realised that he had only one option in this situation. But he wasn't about to go out just like that.

After arming himself with artifacts, he called out to the being he was contracted to.

'Greed. I might need your help.'

◇ ◇ ◇

'No one's coming?'

Evan had waited for close to an hour and hand even brought out a book from his inventory to read, however, after the third group of goons showed up, no others showed up again.

'The viscount should have started spreading the rumours by now, so sooner or later, Terence would be forced to come out if he doesn't want his reputation to get damaged.

But if he wastes any more time, then I might just get his location out of one of these thralls here and attack him myself.'

With that thought, Evan went back to the novel he was reading, while mumbling something about Pride's bookworm nature rubbing off on him.

As for the crowd watching, they had naturally dispersed over time as there was no sign of Terence even after an hour.

There was no way that these people would sit back and wait for Terence like Evan was, they had things to do with their lives, after all.

However, a few people still remained for various reasons, not that Evan cared either way.

Just when the young hero's patience was about to run out, he suddenly sensed an enormous source of aura rushing in his direction.

It was as if the owner of said aura was trying to announce his presence for all of Osto to hear.

'Finally, he's here.'

Evan tossed his book back into his inventory and wore black gloves on his hands, before standing up from his seat and turning his gaze towards the giant red ball of aura shooting through the sky.

**BOOOMMM!!!

There was a loud earth-shaking explosion as the ball of aura crashed onto the ground, right in the middle of the street, cratering the ground and kicking up a huge crowd of dust and dirt.

Sighing in exasperation, Evan waved his hand and used basic wind magic to clear up the dust clouds, revealing the appearance of the partially armoured man who was down on one knee.

He slowly stood up and dusted his clothes, however, his pupils were darting around as he scanned all the onlookers for any suspicious people.

Spreading out a wave of aura, he tried to sense any hidden attackers but found none.

'Strange...wasn't this supposed to be a trap? How come there's no one here?

Did I read the situation wrong or are they just that good at hiding?'

The man, Terence, thought to himself as he finally turned towards Evan who was gazing at him strangely.

Opening his mouth, he was about to speak but Evan beat him to it.

"Dude!! You have Collapse?!"

Evan's sudden exclamation sounded strange to all who saw and heard it; however, it was not the case for Terence.

He glared at Evan and saw the golden crest within the boy's grey eyes glowing.

'An appraisal skill? Troublesome.'

A slight frown appeared on his face, but it disappeared just as quickly.

'This kid is most likely the one called 'Evan'. His appearance matches the description I was given, and there's this strange feeling I'm getting from him.'

Those were Terence's thoughts as he scanned Evan from head to toe, before turning towards the unconscious bodies of all the thralls on the floor.

Meanwhile, Evan was in a very happy mood, with all his displeasure at being made to wait for an hour completely gone.

The reason was because of the two sets of notifications floating in front of him.

|Collapse Acquired|

|Unique Skills require three skill slots. |

|Two Skill slots remaining. |

|Intimidation Acquired|

|Rare Skills require one skill slot. |

|One Skill slot remaining. |

'Never thought that I'd see 'Collapse' here of all places!'

The young hero was in a good mood after having discovered two very useful skills from Terence within a minute of meeting him, however, his jolly mood didn't last for long.