Chapter 201 - 116: The Up-and-Comer of the Thief Sect_4
They were even particular about dividing the examination venue.
Twelve people stood side by side, a black-clothed man glanced over them and said, "After this round, only half of you twelve will remain; the rest of you will go back where you came from."
Everyone's expression changed more or less upon hearing this.
Who would have thought that half would be eliminated in the first round? Wouldn't that mean losing the chance to showcase other skills if they lagged behind in this one?
The black-clothed man pointed to a wall in front of them and said to the man in the scholar's robe standing at the front, "Climb over that wall, then climb back again."
Li Nuo, standing at the back of the crowd, knew that wall-climbing was the first of the Six Arts of the Thief Sect and also the most fundamental skill.
Compared to stealing wallets in public, it was certainly safer to burgle a house when the owner was not at home.
And climbing over walls was the first step to entering a house; hence, it was ranked first.
The man in the scholar's robe, upon hearing this, stepped out of the line, took a short running start, and easily scaled the nearly ten-feet-high wall, landing with a "bang."
Quickly, he climbed back over the wall from the other side. As he landed, Li Nuo could feel a slight tremor in the ground from two yards away.
Li Nuo shook his head slightly; though he had climbed over the wall, his landing was too loud.
The thievery of the Thief Sect wasn't about simply getting over the wall. The goal was to make as little noise as possible when scaling someone else's wall.
Thieves generally operated at midnight, in the dead quiet of night, and making too much noise could easily alert the neighbors.
Not to mention that startling even the house's guarding dogs wouldn't be good either.
Inside the courtyard, the three Chief Protectors also frowned.
The climbing was good, but the loud sound upon landing warranted only a B grade.
The second person to scale the wall was a woman dressed like a village lady with a sallow complexion. She was petite and chose to use several indentations in the wall to climb after multiple attempts, successfully getting herself atop the wall.
When she climbed down from the wall, unlike the scholar-robed man, she didn't jump straight down but hung onto the top of the wall with both hands and slowly lowered her body to reduce the height before softly leaping down, only making a faint noise upon landing.
When she climbed back, she used the same method.
Li Nuo continued to shake his head, the landing was quieter, but it was too slow.
Wall climbing was not just the basis for entering a room but also crucial for escaping.
If the owner found her, or if dogs chased her, crawling that way would have gotten her caught hundreds of times.
Climbing walls required speed and lightness.
Following her, the remaining people also quickly scaled the wall in order.
It had to be said, the steward of the Thief Sect was somewhat capable.
Leaving aside the speed of climbing and the sound of landing, at least everyone successfully made it over the high walls.
Li Nuo was the last. With a light run-up, he used the wall to propel himself several times with his toes, and in no time he was atop the wall, leaping down without any pause.
While in mid-air, he scanned the ground.
He avoided the uneven path, picked a relatively flat spot, bent his knees upon landing, rolled forward smoothly, and the entire process was almost soundless.
Then, he climbed back using the same technique, equally silent upon landing.
The three Chief Protectors standing below the wall showed surprised expressions.
They were so close and yet heard nothing.
Just for this single act of wall climbing, even they couldn't possibly manage to be as flawless as he was.
This young man had something special.
Once the young man returned to the group, a Chief Protector couldn't help but ask, "Whose steward is this? He's quite skilled..."
Another masked Chief Protector, also showing amazement, then explained, "He isn't a steward; he's a new recruit recommended by one of my stewards. No wonder Zhao Wu recommended him; the kid really has some skills, and he's also young, a good seed..."
The other two Chief Protectors, hearing this, looked even more surprised.
A new recruit?
Is this guy really a new recruit?
If it weren't for his youthful face, just based on his skills of climbing walls silently, they would believe it if he were called a protector...
What do you think?
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