Why do people like working for mages?

"Whether we're Rogues or Shadow Dancers, we're never meant for direct combat. If we were that strong, we'd be Warriors or Paladins," Natton said.

Sanders nodded in agreement.

Natton continued, "You and I were born in the Age of Magic's Decline. Only my master truly witnessed the terror of Archmages... There's a spell called [Fossil to Mud]. An Archmage can turn a large plaza into a swamp in an instant. Imagine what happens when you have no footing left, forcing you to jump into trees or use your limited daily [Shadow Walk] to approach your enemy."

Sanders shivered, not daring to reply.

Just imagine facing a legendary Archmage with a magic range of over a thousand meters, specializing in lightning magic. You have only two tricks up your sleeve, while they have over a hundred ways to toy with you.

Sanders suddenly felt a chill run down his spine.

"Master, since the other party killed that White Dragon, why didn't they take the White Dragon's treasure themselves?"

The young Shadow Dancer naturally didn't know that the imposter Archmage, who seemed capable of anything, couldn't even leave the valley.

The old Shadow Dancer sighed, "You'll know when we get there."

As members of the Thief class, they naturally had their unique skills in tracking and detection. After crossing two mountains and climbing for a whole day, the master and disciple finally found the White Dragon's lair, located on a towering snow peak.

Just by getting close, Sanders instinctively pulled his mask tighter.

It stank!

Although White Dragon had a habit of freezing its food before eating it, it would defecate wherever it pleased. Even with the cold and wind carrying away much of the smell, the dragon's cave was still filled with a pungent stench and the smell of blood.

Sanders saw the skeletons of many beasts, humans, and humanoid creatures. The shocking bite marks on the bones indicated they were eaten raw.

The most important point was: the White Dragon's lair had guards.

Powerful dragons sometimes indulged in creating half-dragon offspring or those with diluted dragon bloodlines. These impure dragon descendants, in turn, enjoyed serving the dragons, considering it the highest honor.

Before the master and disciple's eyes stood a group of nearly 20 white-scaled lizardmen.

This garrison had no idea their master was already dead.

Without a word, Sanders crept closer to the massive cave entrance and first used [Backstab] to slit the throats of two lone lizardmen. Then, he leaped from the cave edge, about six meters high, and, headfirst with his feet in the air, severed the throats of two more lizardmen as he plunged down.

Normally, the elite lizardman leader, who would have reacted by now, would lead the lizardmen in an effective counterattack. But suddenly, the lizardman leader, about three meters tall, was shocked to find the shadow in front of him moving.

"Screech!"

After a strange sound, the lizardman leader felt a sharp pain in his lower abdomen, and his strong body rapidly lost its strength.

Before he could react, as the assailant twisted and slashed at another subordinate, his abdomen was hit by a powerful kick.

Honestly, this 'mere ton' of impact wasn't enough to kill the lizardman leader, but it was enough to disrupt his balance, sending him plummeting into a mountain ravine at least a hundred meters deep.

A stream of cold blood splashed out, landing on Natton's face. The smell of blood stimulated the old Shadow Dancer. He brandished the two short weapons in his hands, moving as if dancing, his actions incredibly fluid as he weaved among the remaining lizardmen with his disciple.

When the dance of death concluded, all that was left was to clean up the battlefield.

The White Dragon's collected spoils were a mess, many still stained with blood, even dried, foul-smelling flesh and bone fragments.

Beast hides, a noble's battle banner, shiny but worthless broken glass shards – they had everything.

The master and disciple only retrieved the Chaos Gold Coin and a batch of seemingly valuable equipment. Clearly, a long time ago, a reasonably strong adventurer party had attempted to slay the White Dragon, but they had failed. The passage of time was so great that the master and disciple couldn't even find anything to identify them.

It was indeed a dragon's hoard; there were quite a few valuable items.

Some items dated back to before the Age of Magic's Decline.

Normally, they might have been tempted by greed.

This time, they had no such thoughts.

"Sanders, never try to deceive a legendary mage. Among [Divination] spells, there are [Greater Scrying], [Greater Prying Eye], and similar spells. Even if that esteemed individual didn't come personally, once this treasury lost its owner, nothing within it could escape their notice."

"Understood, Master."

Although [Strength] wasn't a primary attribute for Shadow Dancers, they were still melee combatants and possessed sufficient strength. The two weary individuals worked for two days, hauling five large chests of items back to the valley and placing them before Lein.

Lein sensed the reverence of the two Shadow Dancers and saw the fervent adoration in his good disciple's eyes. He sighed inwardly, thinking, "I'm painting a bigger picture than I intended." Fortunately, he had cultivated a persona of a [Neutral] mage. As the saying goes, if I have no morals, others can't morally blackmail me. Otherwise, if I were in the Lawful Good alignment, I'd have to confront every evil faction, which would be truly troublesome.

With a mind full of thoughts, Lein outwardly appeared incredibly calm. "Very well. I can forget your transgressions against me."

The master and disciple on the other side breathed a long sigh of relief.

Old Natton was more worldly: "Does the Archmage have any other commands? If it is within our capabilities, we are willing to assist."

This was actually a polite gesture. Lein thought for a moment, and indeed, he did.

"Can you forge?"

Old Natton nodded, "I am still an intermediate blacksmith."

"Go to the blacksmith shop over there and craft some things for me. Once it's done, I'll give you both portions of White Dragon hide."

Old Natton was stunned for a moment, then his face lit up with undisguised joy. "Thank you, Your Excellency. Your generosity illuminates this entire valley."

Sanders also bowed.

Honestly, anyone who could become a legendary Shadow Dancer wouldn't be poor.

Old Natton himself might not care about White Dragon hide, but he had a whole host of disciples and grand-disciples! As long as he didn't retire or die, he couldn't pass on his equipment to his disciples.

Although Sanders was a master-level expert, dragon hide armor was still rare and hard to come by.

White Dragon was a disgrace to chromatic dragons, that was true. In reality, not only were White Dragons difficult to kill, but they might also attract a whole family of White Dragon relatives, capable of overwhelming an entire kingdom in minutes.

With Lein, the Archmage, acting as a shield, this White Dragon hide was completely clean and hassle-free good stuff.

What was doing some odd jobs compared to that?

Getting their hands on good things was the key.

The two Shadow Dancers happily trotted off to help Lein craft the second version of the [Tesla Tower].