I end the poor guy quickly with a precise slash to the throat. Looking for a place to shove the guy, I conveniently find an empty trash can, perfect for short term storage of a dead body.

‘Holy shit! I forgot how many raw stats my class gives me! This is great!’

Deciding that investing my AP now would probably be a good idea considering the upcoming fight, I put two points in strength and willpower, four in dexterity, and three in agility.

‘I’ll have to put more in willpower later, for now though I need short term gains that can help me immediately.’

I once again continue my search for soldiers that I can pick off. Already I’ve been able to take out nine tier 3 or lower soldiers.

While it may not sound like a lot, it took a lot of hard work and careful planning to take out nine and still not get caught.

Just as I’m about to begin trailing a soldier, immediately a loud siren blares out, indicating my time to retreat.

Running through the complex though reveals swarms of soldiers already in action looking for suspects.

‘Holy shit that’s a lot! How the hell did they mobilize so many so quickly?’ I ask myself.

Deciding that the time for questions is over, I begin my rapid escape. I weaving my way through the scattered trees and bushes on the outer edge of the property, just in case a higher level soldier with some perception skill sees me.

As I reach the wall, I attempt to jump over it swiftly, only to faceplant into some sort of invisible barrier, much to my dismay.

I try again, this time sticking my hands out in front of me, and I come to the same result.

‘We’re trapped in here…’ I think to myself while sporting a solemn face.

Almost immediately after this realization my mind begin to panic, running at a hundred miles a minute to explain how this could of happened.

‘How the hell did they have this set up so quick? Were this many soldiers really just coincidentally nearby? How could they have known…’

Instantly I come to a conclusion. A conclusion I would much rather have not come to, but a very real possibility that I just can’t for the life of me get out of my head.

‘Someone betrayed us. It has to be. How the hell else, did they set up something like this? They allowed us in and gave us a false sense of security by allowing us to take out a few of their guys. Meanwhile they use our own underground entrance to trap hundreds of soldiers in here with us. How the hell else would hundreds of soldiers just appear out of what seems to be thin air.’

“Damnit! Damnit! Damnit!” I exclaim as quietly as I can.

Now with my conclusion drawn, there’s only one, more scary question that I’m almost terrified to approach.

‘Who did it? Was it Gael? Maybe but I just can’t picture the gentle smile with someone who would do something so evil, but I guess that’s how they get you…’

‘What about Garut? He was always a bit of unknown, never talking, or showing any real emotion.’

‘Delorie? Hoggle? Both are possibilities for sure, as I haven’t exactly been around either for very long. If anything Hoggle’s personality most lines up with who you’d think would do something like this…’

‘Ugh! Why the hell did this have to happen! Why the hell can’t things just go right! FUCK!’ I think while almost pulling out my hair.

Deciding that panicking is probably the worst way to deal with the situation, I look down at the sword in my hand and use it to center myself and calm down.

‘Okay relax, breath. Think about what can be done, not what has happened.’ I tell myself.

After a few more seconds, I feel as calm as before and begin to reassess the situation, this time with a clearer head.

‘Alright, what do I know for sure. I’m trapped in here with a few hundred soldiers, my invisibility is going to wear off in about half an hour, and the reinforcements should arrive in about one hour.’

I look around and take stock of my immediate surroundings.

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‘I don’t think they know exactly where we are, and by their frantic searching, they have no clue where any of us are. Good thing we split up.’

I begin moving once again around the edge of the building, making sure there are no holes in the barrier. Once that’s done, I quickly decide on a course of action.

‘Alright, well nothing left to do but to try my best to whittle them down before the reinforcements arrive. Hopefully Uncle Moren and the rest of the crew have some way to meet up before then. Actually, maybe I don’t want that, considering the possible traitor.’

So with that I resume my hunt, this time quicker and less careful then before. After all they already know we’re here and killing people, no point in hiding it. Though I am still careful to pick my engagements wisely, and only attacking isolated targets.

My first target is two younger men, once again only slightly older than myself. They both seem to be searching the compound nervously, while one of them holds on to the familiar portable alarm.

‘That one’s first.’ I tell myself, while sneaking up behind the young man.

I use my upgraded dexterity to the fullest, landing a precise thrust towards the man’s temple, ending him instantly.

The second I make my move, the other soldier looks over in shock and immediately turns around and attempts to open his mouth to scream. I don’t let him, obviously, and pierce the back of his neck, severing his spine and filling his throat with steel.

I quickly move on, leaving the bodies there.

I almost immediately find my next victim. This one is a middle aged man who seems to be right on the edge of tier 4, if not already tier 4. Up to this point, I’ve only killed one other tier 4, and while that one went smoothly, I’m not one-hundred percent sure of a clean kill.

Tier 4’s have not only gone through the tier 3 status upgrade, but they also have a subclass, so who knows what tricks they have to save themselves.

I decide to go for it, against my better judgment.

‘Each soldier I take out now is one less we’ll have to deal with later. Plus if I fail initially, as long as I don’t get hit, I should be able to escape thanks to the invisibility.’

Once again bringing the full weight of my dexterity and my Sword of Silence trait to bear, I once again manage to land another clean thrust to the temple.

‘Hmm, my first uncommon mastery, I was wondering when I’d get one.’

Just like classes, the higher rarity a mastery has isn’t necessarily an indicator of strength. Usually, it just indicates a higher degree of specialization.

So for example, a general mechanic would have more common skills to deal with the wide variety of machines that he deals with, but a magitech mechanic would need more uncommon and sometimes rare skills in his line of work.

There are a number of uncommon skills I was planning on working towards once I got out of the Empire, but I didn’t think I’d get one so quickly, never mind such a useful one.

Usually to get higher rarity skills you need more in depth knowledge or better intrinsic intuition about the mastery.

“Maybe I’m a natural born assassin.” I say quietly to myself somewhat solemnly at that thought.

Deciding that I don’t have time to ponder such things, I quickly just decide to dump all of my recent stats into willpower and dexterity, with six going into the latter.

I quickly look at my status before moving on.

Name

Rowan Attain

Level

12

Class

Legacy: Skill-less Swordsman

Race

Human/Janin

Attributes

Strength – 20 (+2)

Agility – 37 (+2)(+5)

Dexterity(+) – 59 (+2)(+3)(+5)

Endurance – 11 (+2)

Perception – 30 (+2)

Intelligence – 22 (+2)

Willpower – 50 (+2)

Masteries

Common

Swords – 21

Temperance – 17

Stealth – 13

Sprinting – 9

Exercise – 7

Thievery – 3

Deception – 4

Killing – 7

Blending In – 1

Misdirection – 7

Monster Hunting – 10

Spirit Control – 5

Item Understanding – 3

Uncommon

Assassination - 1

Skills

Feats

Early Killer - Very slight increased progression towards your Killing Mastery.

Swords Prodigy - Slight increased progression towards your Swords Mastery. +1 to all Stats.

Temperance Prodigy - Slight increased progression towards your Temperance Mastery. +1 to all Stats.

Early Enlightenment - One trait can be chosen related to your core.

Reversal – One trait can be chosen related to your recent ambush.

Punching Up – +1 to all stats.

Starter’s Blade – +3 AP, +3 to dexterity.

Smart Spender – Save all of your SP until level 10. +1 to all stats.

Novice Spirit Controller – Very slight increased progression towards your Spirit Control mastery. Any cultivation abilities are slightly enhanced. +5 willpower and +5 intelligence.

Connected Mind – You may upgrade your race or add a new attribute to your status. +5 intelligence and + 5 perception.

Core

Sword – Your sword resonates with omnipresence.

Traits

Indomitable Swordsman - Receive a slight boost to perception when in a tough situation. Scales based on willpower.

Meager Swordsman - Increased progression towards your Swords Mastery while living humbly.

Sword of Silence - Harder for enemies to detect your sword coming. Very slight increased progression towards Stealth.

Dedication to the Sword – +2 to all stats when holding a sword, -2 to all stats when not. Increased progression towards Swords Mastery, decreased progression towards all other weapon and combat masteries.

Willful Gains – Permanently gain 5% of your willpower in any stat. Affect continues to scale with willpower. (+3 Dexterity)

Skill-less – All SP gained up to this point and onwards will be transferred into 2 AP each. Unable to acquire skills through any means. Bonus (2 * Tier) AP gained per level.

Sword of Will – Gain 10% of your willpower two other stats. Can be changed once a year. (+5 Dexterity/Agility)

State of Concentration - When you achieve perfect concentration under stressful circumstances, increase your agility and perception by 1.5 times. Duration is based on willpower.

Items

Solace’s Soul Shard (Two uses left)