"The First Battle"

"Fine, we know that area like the back of our hands, and the infiltration mission is perfect for you. As for this... I'll find a way to handle it myself."

Liam left the more difficult task for himself, which moved Wilton, who, unwilling to brush aside Liam's kindness, nodded in agreement. The two stepped out of the cave passage, their figures flickering and vanishing on the spot. Merging into the shadows, they headed north and south respectively to complete their missions.

"Duke, isn't such a mission too difficult for him?"

On the second-floor balcony, Duke Jorach had been watching the entire process of his two disciples leaving Ravenholdt Manor. Behind him stood Farad, who had just assigned the tasks to the pair.

"No, the difficulty of these two tasks is actually equivalent. The reason I wrote the completion criteria vaguely is that I wanted to see just how much hidden potential this kid has."

"Oh? Even you can't tell?" Farad was quite curious.

"Indeed. Every time I teach him something, the kid comes up with new tricks. I am truly curious to see to what extent he can take this profession that has been passed down for thousands of years."

"Are you referring to those little tricks he plays with his flintlock? They are indeed fast. If he didn't use shadow energy, even I couldn't achieve that kind of draw speed. And to this day, I still can't figure out how he manages to reload while fighting."

"Yes, quite magical, isn't it?" Duke Jorach smiled without elaborating. He knew a bit more, but he didn't want to discuss this issue with Farad at this moment.

Having studied at Ravenholdt Manor for these years, Liam had basically mastered all rogue techniques. Perhaps he truly possessed some hidden talent in this regard; aside from those secret techniques he couldn't practice due to his status, other moves were easy for him to learn, posing no difficulty at all.

Consequently, Liam naturally recalled those techniques from his other memory that did not yet exist. Originally, creating one's own techniques was something that could only be done after reaching the Hero rank, once one had a deep understanding of the professional path.

The rogue profession utilizes a special energy called "Shadow," which, although sharing the same name as the shadow mana of warlocks and priests, is not the same thing. In Liam's view, it would be more appropriate to call the rogue's power "Umbral Force."

The biggest difference between rogues and other professions is that only true rogues can comprehend and utilize "Umbral Force," unlike other professions that start by sensing the source of power. Thus, even now, Liam and Wilton had only barely touched the surface of this power.

This has led to a strange situation in the rogue profession: it is extremely easy to enter, but extremely difficult to become a true master.

This situation has resulted in the dilemma where, despite the rogue profession having a widespread legacy, no new techniques have emerged for a long time.

However, Liam was very different from others; he possessed a memory in his mind that seemed like a fantasy to everyone else. By utilizing his "storage space," he could easily perform many techniques that would otherwise seem inconceivable. Even if these "skills" did not form a system and could not be taught to others, they were a tremendous advantage for Liam himself.

This time, heading to the Alterac Ruins, he also wanted to test what level his strength had reached.

The Alterac Kingdom was destroyed by the flames of war many years ago, and its already small capital had long since become a pile of ruins. Now, it had been occupied by its former masters, the current Syndicate rogue organization, becoming the largest stronghold for this notorious group.

Since it was already in ruins, it was naturally drafty, and by the time Liam arrived, it was past midnight, so he infiltrated it with ease.

"Good thing they only bother to repair the castle; the city walls are still a mess, otherwise getting in would have taken some effort."

Knowing that sentries were surely lurking in the shadows somewhere, Liam carefully maintained his stealth state, climbed over a low wall, and crept along the shadows behind the ruined city walls.

With the help of the night and the shadows, the stealth he was currently using had reached a level invisible to the naked eye. As long as he was careful, there was no possibility of being discovered, which is why most rogues operate at night. If it were broad daylight without terrain cover, Liam estimated that only a master like old man Jorach could completely hide his figure.

Carefully approaching a small house with candlelight, Liam guessed that this was likely where the Syndicate night watchmen rested, and he planned to eavesdrop for some information before making his next move.

"Is there any ale left from what we got last time?" A voice from inside the room reached Liam's ears, clearly speaking to a companion.

"Long gone. Those unruly newcomers wouldn't remember to save any for you." Another complaining voice replied.

"I don't know when the next field assignment will be. This godforsaken place is absolutely terrible."

"Heh, you weren't saying that a few years ago when you were hugging wenches and throwing gold coins around in the tavern."

"Don't talk to me about before. The servants and girls we dragged back were all taken to the castle. We brothers run around all day without even a place to have some fun." The guy asking for ale was full of resentment.

"Heh heh, you don't get it. Last time we went out, I specifically took a trip to my old farm and let them see what Grandpa is capable of..."

What followed was a string of foul language and the wanton, lecherous laughter of the two thugs.

Damn it, scum! Liam cursed inwardly.

Over the past few years, such incidents had occurred frequently. The Kingdom of Lordaeron's indifference toward the occupied territories, coupled with the intentional indulgence of the chief officer, Aedelas Blackmoore, meant these evil deeds were all treated as cold cases and left unresolved.

Liam and Wilton had slaughtered a few of these scumbags who crossed their paths, but the Syndicate continued to grow stronger, showing no signs of restraint, and had even encroached upon the vicinity of Ravenholdt Manor several times.

Ravenholdt did not participate in such conflicts, but Jorach never went soft on those who dared to offend the Assassin League, and these years of training had mostly focused on hunting the Syndicate.

However, although these guys lacked strength—at most reaching the apprentice level—there were simply too many of them, scattered everywhere, and their leaders were extremely secretive. Thus, every time they were wiped out, they would disappear for a while, only to resurface once the heat died down.

Liam detested this deeply, but hindered by the fact that he hadn't finished his apprenticeship, he couldn't go too far, so he could only kill a few during his training sessions, considering it a service to the people.

It seemed now that Liam had endured long enough; this time, he would absolutely not show mercy to these scum.