"Curiosity killed the cat."
A proverb, that is used to warn of the dangers of unnecessary investigation or experimentation.
It also implies that being curious can sometimes lead to danger or misfortune.
And here we have a silver-haired boy, looking curiously at the circus-like place that he deemed, was the perfect definition of suspicion.
But the questions as to 'what it was' and 'why was it in an empty alley' made him forget the fact that this was a cruel world devoid of a speck of mercy.
Felix prepared himself for whatever he was going to face at the place that looked like a circus.
He inwardly activated his skill 'Silent steps' and strode forward, sneaking up to the opening of the tent.
Holding the soft curtain-like opening, he parted it slightly as he gazed inside.
There, he saw it.
Cages that were too big for a human.
And certainly, it did not confine humans, but.....monsters.
'W-What the hell is this??'
Felix cried out in his mind as his brain failed to process the horrible scene in front of him.
Monsters like goblins, wolves, trolls, kobolds, and much more were held captive being bruised and wounded as they seemed to be on their deathbed, jailed within the cages.
They could not detect his presence as he was using his skill, but even without activating it, they would not be able to sense him as they were laid unconscious in the cage with their twitching bodies.
*Gulp*
Felix took a deep breath, calming his racing heart that felt like it was about to jump out of his chest.
Around the cages, there were chests and other wooden barrels laying on the ground. They seemed to be filled with water and food to feed the captured monsters.
'What should I do? What should I do?'
His mind raced as he bit his fingers, trying to comprehend the surreal scene that lay in front of him.
A nervous energy coursed through his veins, his palms growing damp as he clenched his fists.
'This seems too terrifying, maybe I should run from here.'
He hesitated for a moment, debating whether to approach or retreat from the horrible spectacle.
But before he could do that, he heard footsteps approaching from behind him. Someone was walking toward the opening he was at, from the alley he came from.
'Hurry! Hide!'
Without wasting any more time, he quickly entered the tent and hid behind a large chest, shrinking his body and making no sound.
"Kekeke Sir Oswell, you will not regret choosing to make a deal with us. We will certainly give you something worthy for a noble."
A sinister voice sounded, as a man of short stature entered the tent rubbing his hands together while wearing a professional smile on his face, that had a few broken teeth.
"Umm, I expect that you have already prepared what I requested."
This time, an arrogant voice could be heard as another man walked in. He was a bit on the taller side, with a large belly that could be mistaken as a pregnant woman's stomach and a handlebar-style mustache on his face.
"Yes yes, please follow me. I'll show you some of our top-grade products"
Felix stealthily peeked at them and saw that they were walking deeper into the other section of the tent.
'Are they doing business with the monsters' bodies? Is that even legal? But that man seems to be a noble from what I heard.'
He considered his options carefully. If caught, he'd face the same fate as the monsters. However, his main concern was...
'These are free skill points...!'
The silver-haired boy's ruby-red eyes gleamed greedily as he looked at the many wounded and half-dead monsters that wouldn't give any resistance.
'If I kill them, and escape from here. Wouldn't I make wholesale of skill points?'
He became breathless at the thought of earning numerous skill points that his weak body and combat skills would struggle to obtain currently.
'It's now or never. I cannot always be indecisive, there won't be any more chances like this.'
Making up his mind, Felix brought out the knife from his back.
Before leaving his room, he had hidden it under his shirt, just in case something unexpected happened and he needed it.
Felix took a deep breath and walked to the nearest cage holding the knife with both his hands.
Inside the cage, there was a kobold, a monster that is a craven reptilian humanoid with red skin and short scales on some parts of their bodies.
It was 1.45 m tall with thin horns on its head.
The kobold was laying unconscious like every other monster in the tent with its body leaning against the bars of the cage.
Felix stood behind the caged kobold and slashed his knife at its neck.
"Sqwelp"
Blood spurted out of the wound as the monster's neck looked half severed.
Finding that the stab did not kill it, he took another deep breath and swung the knife at its neck a few more times.
"Sqwelp...sqwelp...sqwelp"
[You have killed a being higher than your own rank]
[You have gained 10 skill points]
At last, Felix heard the message from the system and stopped his actions.
Looking at his red hands and the flowing blood from the neck of the monster, he hardened his heart.
'It's not over yet.'
Swiftly moving toward the other monsters, he did the same movements and slashed their necks by inserting his hands into the cage.
"Sqwelp...sqwelp..."
A wolf, goblin, kobold, troll,
[You have killed a being higher than your own rank]
[You have gained 10 skill points]
[You have killed a being higher than your own rank]
[You have gained 10 skill points]
[.....]
After killing 8 of the many monsters in the tent, he sat on the ground with an exhausted pale face from all the carnage he did.
"Haaa..., that was crazy."
He couldn't believe he had mercilessly killed the motionless monsters.
'If it was a fair fight in a forest, I would have already been dead and eaten by those monsters. So, there's no reason for me to show sympathy toward them.'
Felix clenched his hands to keep from passing out, not wanting to give himself a reason to feel guilty.
'No! I gotta do it, there's no guarantee I would not fall into dangerous situations again. Only by being stronger can I keep myself alive.'
Steeling his heart, he rose up to his feet.
He held the knife tightly and again went on a killing spree as he continued to take the lives of the miserable half-dead monsters.
[You have killed a being higher than your own rank]
[You have gained 10 skill points]
[You have killed a being higher than your own rank]
[You have gained 10 skill points]
[...]
After killing all 22 monsters in the section of the tent that he was in. He laid down near a chest resting his body from the overexhaustion.
"Haa...Haa..."
'It's done, there's no monsters remaining here.'
Glancing around at the tent with all the dead monsters, Felix made up his mind to not stay here anymore.
He quickly got up, his body limping from the fatigue.
Walking out of the opening he came from, he hurriedly moved away from the tent. Going far away as he could.
When suddenly he heard loud shouts from the tent behind.
"WHO DID THIS!!"
"FIND HIM NOW!!"
The screams reverberated through the alleys making a chill running down the spine of everyone who heard it.
Felix froze as the people in the tent seemed to have finally found out about the mess he had made.
"Shit! I got to run."
Not wasting a single second, he activated his skill and started running through the alleys without looking back.
Unfortunately, he met a dead end without a single way out after sprinting toward a narrow path.
Before he could run back and escape down another alley, he heard hurried footsteps approaching from behind.
"FUCK! They're going to catch me at this rate."
He looked around where he was and couldn't find a way to escape making him scared shitless and feel terrible about the situation.
'What do I do now??'