Ace was also overwhelmed. He didn't expect her to reach the same level as Rylan instantly.
"I think it has something to do with that slave mask." He made a wild guess.
"My thoughts exactly." She agreed with Ace.
They were right!
It had happened because the scariest thing about these item slave contracts is they would never let their hosts break into the 'Qi River Realm.'
The slave item on the host body would constantly suck on their host's Qi continuously, making it extremely difficult to break through to a small realm, much less a major realm.
But if somehow the Host of the item managed to break through into the 'Qi River realm,' the slave item would release all the 'Qi' that it had stolen from its Host for all those years and self-destruct on its own. And the Host of the slave item would turn into meat mush with the slave item itself!
Rylan wasted this precious item slave contract from a Kingdom on Eva so he could control her, but even he didn't know that this item had been sucking more than half of Eva's Qi in all these years.
That was also why she was still stuck at the 2nd stage of Qi Gates Realm even after being a half-devil.
Now that the contract had been lifted, all that stored Qi in that mask for years was given back to Eva, and she reached the peak stage of Qi Gates Realm in one step.
Furthermore, Eva was a half-devil, so she didn't have any bottleneck in her cultivation until she reached the Qi River Realm!
Eva thought emotionally, 'I think this is the reward I get after all those years of suffering!' Now, she was truly free.
Ace was still staring at Eva's charming face. He couldn't help but deem, 'Having a powerful girl like Eva as a team member isn't so bad.'
Ace was daydreaming when Eva's focus shifted to him again, and he quickly looked away in panic and blushed a little as if he was caught doing something wrong.
Seeing Ace's silly expression, Eva tittered and said, "You should eat first. I'm going to cultivate. Because of the sudden increase in my power, I think I awoke some new memories of my devil lineage.
"Therefore, don't disturb me, and stop peeping at me from the corner of your eye. If you want to look, look at it. It's not like I'm stopping you. After all, even I didn't see how I look now after all these years, and you are the first person to see me, but from your expression, I think my face is not that bad."
Eva giggled as she teased Ace, whose face had become redder after getting caught red-handed.
Ace forced himself to shift his attention from Eva's face to his meal. He was feeling a strange kind of sensation today that he was baffled about. 'Why did I act like an idiot? It's not like I didn't see this kind of beauty before.'
He started to eat again, and Eva sat on the corner of the cave while muttering something. She was cultivating her devil clan cultivation technique.
After finishing his meal, he felt a lot better. He suddenly remembered something and quickly transmitted in his mind eagerly, "System, I completed my 2nd mission, so where are my rewards?"
By coincidence, he gained more than 500 TP and completed his mission perfectly, so he was expecting great rewards. Especially that job mission, he was curious about it the most.
The black mission panel appeared in front of Ace's eyes.
=====
[Staring the evaluation process]
---
[Mission Panel]
--
[Honorable Thief's Dignity: Someone is trying to steal from a thief, which is unacceptable. Consequently, the Host has to show the despicable stealer who the real thief is! The Host has to empty the whole Kelby Family Treasury! The honor of a thief is in your hand, Host!]
[Status: Complete!]
--
[Scanning Host Performance]
{1.2.3…100% Complete}
--
[Result]
{Performance Rating: Average}
[Rewards will be 2X for the first 3 Missions!]
[Second 2X Reward will be given now!]
--
[2X Reward]
{EXP =5000}
{Soul Points (SP) = 2000}
{Thief Points (TP) = 850}]
[Rewards have been added to host status]
---
[Second Reward: Job mission has been issued!]
[Job Mission: Host has to do an honorable thievery at a city lord's mansion of the No.1 City in the Low-Level Lands. (Lands of cities)]
[Rewards]
{Thief Panel will be unlocked}
{Shop will be updated}
{Other rewards based on Host Performance}
[Time: 5 Years.]
[Punishment on failing: System will stop working for 50 years]
=====
Ace viewed all this information and listened to the System in excitement. Still, when he heard his performance was only rated as Average, he was dumbfounded and questioned the System angrily, "Why 'Average'!? This time, I didn't even get noticed by anyone!"
"[System will consider this first free question of the Host.]
"[System evaluates the host performance according to the Thievery Criteria set by the System. There is no doubt that the Host did an excellent job by doing his mission diligently. However, the host forgot to do the most important thing in both missions.]
"[First, the Host didn't leave his Honorable Thief Name behind! A thief's honorable name is like a second life. If the other party didn't know who robbed them, how could they spread your fame worldwide? If the Host had left his name on the scene, the System would evaluate the Host's performance a level higher.]
"[Secondly, the host didn't steal everything. The treasury door, its array, and the traps are all considered treasures inside the treasury. Consequently, the Host cannot get any higher evaluation.]
[Lastly, there are not all the mistakes the Host has made, but the System can only tell you according to your 0-level authority. If the Host wants to know more, upgrade your authority level.]"
The System gave Ace a long yet inspirational explanation.
Ace became inarticulate after hearing all this nonsense, 'She wants me to leave my name so they can spread my fame? Bullshit! It's more like they will spare no effort to hunt me down! And I even have to steal that big door and that array now? First, I have to know how the hell I'm supposed to detach them without anyone catching me first, and even this is not enough to give me a perfect rating!?'
He nearly blew his top and swore out loud. He didn't want to bicker with the System since he didn't know when it would take his precious question away, so he endured.
Ace could only calm down after seeing all those bountiful rewards.
'Where is this No.1 city? I will find out soon enough when I reach Red Mountain City. And what is a thief panel?' Ace's face turned grave when he thought about this job mission.
He wanted to ask the System but didn't want to waste his precious question. He questioned after some deliberation. "System, tell me where you come from?"
"[Host has not enough authority.]"
"Then why do you choose me?" This question was in his mind for a very long time.
"[Host has not enough authority.]"
"Then why a thief of all professions?" This was another one of the most critical questions that he always wanted to ask.
Ace somewhat knew for a fact that the System could cultivate him into anything. He could be an alchemist, crafter, or even a rune crafter, which he had heard about from the System at that time.
He can even become a powerful warrior with all these mysterious skills, especially with the Heaven Stealer Technique. But why a Thief?
He didn't expect any answer from the System about this question either, but unexpectedly, the System answered,
"[A thief is free and can do whatever he wants. No regulations of society bind him, nor does he have to follow any rules of a nation. If he is strong enough, he isn't even bound by the laws of heaven itself!]
"[So why become an alchemist or a crafter when you can just take those things made by them with a mere thought? Why become a warrior when you can steal your enemy's everything and become an even worse nightmare for them? Why fight in light when you become a Sovereign in Darkness?]
"[Remember well, Host, a Thief is FREE!]"
Ace instantly fell into a trance-like state after hearing system words. He didn't expect a thief to be described in such a way. It was like he had broken some kind of barrier, and his cultivation started to advance.
After 10 hours, Ace finally returned to his senses and felt his muscles could resonate with Qi like his skin. He could even feel his bones were also undergoing a tremendous change.
'I've entered the 3rd Gate of the Heaven's Gates realm in one night! It's because of experience points and some mysterious power in system words that I understood the Heaven Stealer Technique more deeply. A thief is Free, huh? I'll remember it!'