First Contact with the Intelligence Chief

The reason Liam disclosed Garona's whereabouts to Jorach without reservation was that Garona was a benefactor to Duke Jorach; Liam did not consider leaking her location to the Duke a mistake. Furthermore, although he had suspected it previously, since Jorach trusted Shaw, Liam naturally would not defy the wishes of the man who was about to become his teacher.

Matthias Shaw... Liam knew that although the man looked young, he was actually thirty years old. He had just taken over SI:7 from his grandmother, becoming the spymaster of the newly established Stormwind City. This guy who had just taken the reins of SI:7 still appeared somewhat green, completely lacking the poker-faced, seasoned veteran persona he would possess in the future.

As for the grudge between him and Garona... peers are rivals, and furthermore, Garona had assassinated the old King within the very Stormwind City that his grandmother was tasked with overseeing. Although the fault lay in the old King's trust in Garona, SI:7 had to bear significant responsibility for failing to provide adequate protection within their jurisdiction.

Parsonia Shaw, Matthias's grandmother, had always harbored deep resentment over this. The fact that she retired early and went home to live out her days immediately after assisting Varian Wrynn in rebuilding the Kingdom of Stormwind was not unrelated to the old King's assassination.

The reason Matthias Shaw left and headed north while the construction of Stormwind City was still in full swing was twofold: first, to meet the last group of refugees from the Kingdom of Stormwind heading south, and second, to place the little girl by his side—the daughter of his childhood friend Edwin VanCleef—at Ravenholdt Manor.

At this time, dark undercurrents were already surging in Stormwind City. Not only was Edwin caught up in them, but even he himself could not remain uninvolved. That was why Matthias Shaw had brought seven-year-old Vanessa over at his old friend's request, asking the organization to take her in.

Duke Jorach had explicitly refused before Liam and the others entered, which had given Matthias Shaw a headache for a time. However, Liam seemed to have delivered a grand gift, allowing the spymaster to find an excellent point of entry.

"Since it falls under the jurisdiction of Stormwind City, this matter becomes rather difficult to handle..."

Shaw rubbed his chin, which still lacked much of a beard, muttering in a low voice while casting glances at Duke Jorach.

As fellow rogues, how could Duke Jorach not know what Shaw was thinking? This was an attempt to initiate a naked "transaction." Only if he accepted Vanessa would Shaw agree to look after Garona; otherwise, Shaw would certainly not bother with that troublesome affair.

Duke Jorach truly wanted to refuse outright, but having learned the whereabouts of his benefactor, he naturally could not stand idly by and was forced to swallow his pride and accept.

"I haven't personally taken on apprentices in many years. How about this: the three of you will be registered under my tutelage. Farad will first teach you the basic techniques. If you can successfully pass the evaluation, I will personally teach you more advanced assassin skills then."

Duke Jorach played a game of retreat to advance; although he agreed to teach them, he did not commit to teaching them personally. Shaw achieved his goal and naturally had no objections. Liam had objections, but he was selectively ignored by the two "big shots." As for Wilton, he had already been stunned by the small display of skill Duke Jorach had shown earlier, leaving him with no heart to be picky.

As for the little girl, Vanessa VanCleef, she had no human rights at the moment and could only obey the leaders' decisions.

Overall, the first meeting with Matthias Shaw left Liam feeling quite dissatisfied. In the man's eyes, this "little brat" clearly lacked the capital to engage in a dialogue as an equal. Even though he had used the intelligence Liam brought to successfully squeeze little Vanessa into Ravenholdt Manor, Shaw had never thought to thank Liam in the slightest.

Well, to put it bluntly, this was the point that made Liam the most dissatisfied. He had finally met a "big shot" who would one day be one of the two giants of the Alliance alongside his father, Genn Greymane, yet he hadn't managed to squeeze any benefits out of him. This made Liam feel quite ashamed, as if he were failing his title as a "Great Prophet" and blackening the name of transmigrators.

However, aside from fully integrating SI:7, the current Shaw truly had no desires or demands. Even if Liam were to spill all the rotten business happening in Stormwind City, he believed it would be of no use to him, and in Liam's view, he really couldn't handle it anyway.

Looking at the many incidents that occurred in Stormwind City later, none of which were prevented in advance by SI:7—they were basically always doing cleanup work—one could see that Shaw's control over SI:7 was still completely insufficient.

This situation would not truly improve until more than a decade later, by which time Liam estimated he would no longer need to cling to the thighs of SI:7 big shots; it would likely be the other way around.

With a sense of regret, Liam and the others completed a simple initiation ceremony under the auspices of Duke Jorach and the observation of Matthias Shaw. On this day, two boys and a little girl officially became members of Ravenholdt Manor and began their learning careers.

Matthias Shaw left quietly the next day, his specific destination unknown.

Liam, Wilton, and Vanessa learned a series of rules within the manor under Farad's guidance and then officially began their lives as rogue apprentices.

Apprentice and trainee—these two stages are the most important phases that any professional must pass through. They directly determine whether a person has the talent to continue developing in this profession until they officially advance into a professional. Many of the soldiers and guards Liam had seen before were mostly stuck in these two stages, never able to break through a single step in their entire lives.

If one is fortunate enough to become an official professional, then completing the promotion from low-rank to mid-rank and then to high-rank is not difficult. Even if a low-rank rogue lacks outstanding talent, by accumulating experience over the years, most can reach the level of a high-rank rogue. This is why there are basically no low-rank or mid-rank druids walking about; most of them simply sleep, and when they wake up, they have inexplicably advanced.

However, for the average person, it ends here. It is very difficult for anyone to take another step forward, grasp the true meaning of their profession, and step across the threshold into the hero rank, let alone those epic, legendary, or even demigod-level heroes. These people are all famous, existing only one in a billion.

Liam was quite expectant about this, but their "temporary" teacher Farad did not know that his unreliable "temporary" apprentice actually had such grand ideals.

Farad, the black dragon hiding in Ravenholdt Manor, looked no different in Liam's eyes than an ordinary, somewhat serious and rigid middle-aged man. Farad spared no effort in educating the group, but due to differences in natural talent, the gap in their progress inevitably began to widen...