Emrin heard the creak of wood as the first of the Ravens started climbing up. He looked around frantically at what seemed to be a dusty storage unit for a hiding spot. Table, chairs, barrels and two desks. None big enough for him to hide behind. Keys turned inside the lock and Emrin ducked, rolling to a stop beside a large chest as soft orange candlelight filled the small space. There were more books than he’d expected from a criminal gang, and a giant map hanging from the top of the far wall. There was a pause, and he pulled his knees a little closer to his body, hoping to remain unseen.
“Tsk. T’was a matter of time.” Emrin recognised the voice as the woman he’d seen on the streets. She walked forward, set the candlestick down onto the table and lifted one of the splintered planks up with difficulty. “And when I say that we should move to a newer building I get laughed at.”
Emrin took a deep breath and stood behind her, pulling the dagger from his belt. There was no way of knowing how durable these bandits were, but he wasn’t planning to hesitate now. He gripped the hilt in his fist and plunged it into the woman’s throat from the side, then slashed through the larynx and away from him. Her hands made to grip her throat, but she died before she could lift them. Emrin hugged her body as it fell and softly set it down. Not wise to make any noise now.
[You have dealt 32 damage.] [You have killed a Red Raven Bandit. Gained 214 character experience.]
Emrin heaved a sigh of relief. Twilight would adjust the damage based on the accuracy of the strike and its target among other things and –even though the system didn’t consider it a critical hit– it was enough to kill. He’d have failed the quest if she’d turned around and seen him. Speaking of which, his hands– No, his entire body had turned invisible! Everything he was wearing, including the dagger, was gone as well.
“What a damn fraudulent item.” He let his mind wander into what the next quest reward was going to be as he returned back to normal. Xua Yu was really onto something crazy with this quest line he’d found. But before dreaming of rewards, he had to make it out of here.
Lifting the candlestick in front of him, Emrin saw a wide map of all of Elnoria on the far wall, the island-continent home to all of Twilight’s people and their cities. Red dots were painted on several points of the map, from Shantalar to Asohan. There were dusty tomes that looked arcane in nature and several dusty instruments that seemed foreign to him. He didn’t spend too long trying to make sense of it all. Someone was gonna come looking any minute now. He wiped the blood from the dagger on the body’s sleeves and peeked out the door, only to be faced with the same creaky steps the woman had used.
“Damn it,” he mumbled. Testingly, he touched the edge of the first plank, close to where it connected to a wooden beam. He gradually shifted his entire weight to his feet, and there was still no sound. Taking each step slowly and carefully, he scaled down the small flight of stairs, heart only calming slightly when he saw and felt the solid stone beneath him. He could hear the Ravens from this distance, talking to each other and walking about. He squatted low and dared a quick look around the corner.
The room was wide, with a high ceiling and several tables. There were at least nine of them between him and the door, making sneaking out an impossibility. Four sat around a table in the middle of the room, playing cards under torchlight. Two were asleep on a bed, while another worked through a sack of potatoes with a pout. The burlier man with the rusty dagger was leaning against a wall next to a lit fireplace, counting coins in his oversized palm. With the corner of his eye, he saw a slim man wearing a familiar feathery bycocket. That blasted bard was here too, feeding wood to the fire with his back turned. Emrin retreated back into the darkness of the corner, recreating the room in his mind’s eye. But no matter how hard he tried, there was no blind spot. No angle of attack that wouldn’t reveal him. He took a deep breath and closed his eyes. Once again, he’d have to trust in his instincts. The same wild talent that had allowed him to climb to the top of the rankings as Vin, tempered with years of experience. He hefted the dagger, getting a proper feel for its weight. It’d do.
Emrin held it by the tip and stepped out into the light. The Raven opposite to him on the table was looking at his cards intently, and the very next moment the blade sunk into his chest and pierced his heart.
One.
Emrin rushed forward while the invisibility lasted. Messages and system notifications flashed, but he ignored them. The rest of the Ravens were frozen, probably trying to understand why their comrade was bleeding from a vertical wound on his chest while slumped in his chair. Emrin jumped on the table and knocked cards about, pulling the dagger from the body and swinging it one motion, finding the next man square in the eyeball. There was a scream. Not enough force to pierce the skull. He spun and landed with a leg on each of the man’s shoulders, pulling him down to the ground with him and shoving against the hilt with a palm until he felt the skull crack open beneath him.
Two.
Chair legs creaked against the stone as the Ravens stood and pulled their weapons, all wide eyed and shocked. Chaos erupted. One swung his scimitar across the table where Emrin had left two dusty boot marks, finding nothing but air.
“There you idiots!” The burly Raven screamed as he rushed forward. “On the body!”
Emrin turned just in time to lean back and dodge a slash coming from the right. A horrible strike, but even a touch would be lethal. He grabbed the man’s collar and pulled him down, impaling his head on the blade. A brief glance at the notifications was all he needed.
Three.
The rest of the Ravens knocked the table aside as they rushed in his direction, weapons swinging blindly. Emrin saw an opening, ducked and passed between them, slashing across the burly Raven’s hip as he went.
“Fucker!” The man stumbled back with a shrill scream.
Now safely behind them, Emrin stabbed the back of a Raven six or seven times before he finally went down, making the floor slippery with blood.
Four.
Emrin took a few moments to assess the situation. Five seconds might not seem a lot, but on the battlefield they lasted an eternity. Watching the rest of them huddle together around their leader as the body collapsed in front of them gave him a high he had never felt before. The rush of a hunter cornering prey. He could finally understand all those Darkblessed rogues he’d faced.
The short, clawed Raven he’d seen on the streets raised its weapon as it stepped forward, and Emrin could see dark green skin under its hood. They even used monsters, huh? Emrin easily dodged out of the blade’s way and grabbed it by the nape, ready to plunge the dagger into its neck. Then the fucking thing tried to bite his arm. His first instinct was to tank it and land the killing blow, but then he remembered. One hit point left. He pulled back his hand moments before the creature’s long sharp teeth bore into it.
Less than a second of stealth left. Emrin went down on one knee, dodging a horizontal strike and pulling on the creature’s hood in the same motion. The goblin slipped on the blood and Emrin slammed the dagger through its neck, adding black to red.
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Five.
“Don’t just stand there you idiots! Go!” The burly Raven pushed three Ravens forward as he righted himself. Emrin backed off and found himself against the corner, so he jumped and grabbed hold of the torch bracket on the wall, pulling his legs up after him. The Ravens slashed horizontally beneath him, trying to keep whatever ghost they thought was killing them at bay. Emrin dropped down and slashed the neck of one cleanly, making the man twist and collapse with his face against the stone, dead.
Six.
That was enough to make the other two drop their weapons and raise their hands in prayer instead. Emrin found it almost audacious that they thought faith a better shield than metal after what he’d seen them do. If it truly was a ghost or spectre, perhaps it’d have spared them. But Emrin had had enough of Gods. With their necks bare and ready for punishment, he slashed through them and added to the small pile of bodies.
Seven and eight.
Emrin turned with a smug smile, only to see the wide table flying in his direction. In that split second, his mind raced for ways to dodge, but there were none. Then he remembered the dings he’d heard throughout the fight. Time seemed to slow as he willed the level up prompt forward and focused his thoughts on Constitution. The wood found his cheek right as he confirmed the stat allocation.
[You have taken 7 damage.]
The table broke into two and sent him stumbling against the wall. Emrin blinked and tried to get rid of the dizziness. The burly man, now the last Raven standing, rushed him. Emrin dodged to the side and stabbed, finding the man’s chest. The strike drew blood, but it felt like trying to cut thick leather. He tried to move away, but a giant palm grabbed his hand and squeezed, forcing him to drop the dagger.
“Got you now,” the Raven hissed.
Emrin felt his entire body being hauled up and slammed into a wall with unnatural strength. He coughed and winced as the numbed pain filled his body.
[You have taken 9 damage.]
A boot came down from above and Emrin rolled away, back finding the wall next to the fireplace. Health back to the single digits, and only one second left on stealth. He dodged one quick slash of the Raven’s dagger. Bastard was following the blood trail.
The Raven rushed forward and Emrin turned the sack of potatoes over and emptied it around him. Boot met vegetable and the giant of a man lost balance, dropping backward. Emrin panicked as he saw the first parts of his arm start to reappear. He’d fail at this rate.
“I’ll end you!” The Raven growled and pushed against the ground with both hands to stand.
Emrin used the chance to rush forward, grabbing his dagger that had just become visible again. He forced the potato sack over the man’s head and stabbed the dagger through it. The Raven screamed in pain and fumbled with the fabric, only for Emrin to cut diagonally through his good eye the moment it showed. Then, as the Raven bent over and palmed his eyes, Emrin kicked him into the fireplace. The screams quickly died down and the smell of charred flesh filled the space.
“Nine… For some silver fucking coins.” Emrin stood there for a few moments, panting. The adrenaline made his hands tremble and shake as the knot that had formed in his chest slowly came undone. How he’d missed this feeling. He cracked his neck and glanced to the side. With the space finally peaceful and quiet, he saw the feather of a bycocket peeking out from under one bed. Would you look at that?
With swift movements, he pulled the bard out of his hiding spot. The man trembled and raised his hands over his head. “P-Please… I didn’t kill anyone! I was only with them for the money!”
Emrin glanced at the most recent notification.
[Tsoya’s Hidden Technique (Complete)]
He’d almost forgotten about the woman he killed upstairs. That made ten. “You lucky bastard.” The bard flinched and sobbed as Emrin pressed the dagger against his throat. “What’s your name?”
“V-V-V-Veelander. Veelander Piers.”
“Well, mister Veelander.” Emrin pulled the dagger away and stood, form turning visible through some grey wisps of smoke. “You owe me money.”
“Y-You!” Veelander sat up and pushed himself away slightly. “You’re the one from the bank! How?”
“Oh, so you remember me?” Emrin pulled a chair and sat, leaning forward on its back. “Then you’d better get me my– Did you really piss yourself? Seriously?”
“H-Hey man! You should have seen it from my point of view! People started dying all of a sudden, and being thrown about. I thought it was a ghost.” Veelander glanced up, staring at Emrin’s bloodied face. “Though I’m not sure knowing a man did all this gives me any comfort.”
Emrin chuckled a little. For some odd reason he took a liking to this guy. Or was it pity? Either way… “This man is gonna do a lot more if you don’t give him his money back. Why don’t we start with what you and the Ravens have gathered?”
Veelander gulped. “I–I’ll go get it right now.” He stood hurriedly, but Emrin gripped him by the collar.
“I’ve found you once, and I can find you again,” he said. “No running now, or next time I will kill you.”
Veelander simply nodded, face turning all ashen white. “Yes Sir.”
“Call me Emrin.” He let go and the bard scurried off. If only he knew that Emrin would die to a slap in his current state. Thankfully, the Raven’s blood on him covered his own. He fished through his inventory and took out some bandages.
Thank the Gods for letting him have generous patrons this time around.
Name : Emrin Sua Class: Rogue Level: 4 (28.9% Experience points to next level)
Status:
Normal
Strength: 14
Physical Power multiplier: 1.4
Dexterity: 27
Movement Speed: 6.7 ft/s
Constitution: 33
Hit Points: 2/26
Magicka: 13
Magic Power multiplier : 1.3
Willpower: 0
Enemy Debuff Duration: 100%
Consecration: 0
Buff Duration: 100%
Luck: 0
Magic Find: 8%
[Backstab.] Class Passive
Level 1 (38.4% Experience points to next level)
You have learned how to catch foes by surprise and cut deep into their vital areas. As a rogue, you have -20% Maximum hit points but deal an additional 10% damage when striking foes from behind.