I'm a Cheat, and I'm Proud of It

There was all the beef they could eat and all the booze they could drink.

Rowan and Ellen were the only ones who didn't drink at the celebration. Everyone else was tipsy.

When everyone urged him to drink, Rowan made the excuse that he wasn't an adult yet. He was still an innocent teenager, and alcohol would affect his intellectual development.

As a Stealth User, Ellen had always avoided alcohol. Stealth Users focused on killing their enemies with a single strike, which required exceptionally sharp reflexes. Alcohol dulled those reflexes, so Ellen didn't drink, and no one tried to persuade him otherwise.

Rowan wasn't drinking, and having their leader sitting beside them the whole time dampened everyone else's enthusiasm.

So he got up and went to the shore outside the Ironworks, gazing out over the calm sea and admiring the clear moonlight.

Rowan stretched, about to offer a few reflections, when Ellen's voice rang out.

"Young Master Rowan, there's something I must tell you."

"Were you following me this whole time?" Rowan froze for a moment, clearly startled by Ellen. A Stealth User through and through-even his footsteps were silent.

Ellen pressed the leather bracer on his right wrist and nodded, then took a tiny cloth pouch from the pack at his waist.

"What is it?" Rowan found a large gray-green rock to sit on, then patted the stone beside him, inviting Ellen to sit as well.

Ellen removed the two daggers hanging at his waist so he wouldn't accidentally hurt himself when he sat down.

Once seated, he carefully opened the pouch.

A small amount of dust glowing with purple fluorescence remained inside the gray pouch. In the darkness, it gave off an eerie aura.

"What's this?"

"Shadow Dust, Young Master Rowan. You might not believe it, but I collected this from your body." Ellen pulled the drawstring shut and handed the pouch to Rowan.

Shadow Dust? Rowan raised an eyebrow. He looked at Ellen with only a vague understanding, a sense of foreboding rising in his heart.

"What does that tell us?"

"A high-ranking Stealth User was behind you at some point. And there was more than one!" As he spoke, Ellen took another cloth pouch from the pack at his waist.

Rowan wrinkled his nose, unable to stop a chill from running down his spine.

"When did you find out?"

"After the naval battle, when you first returned to Morris Town," Ellen replied.

"So when I was aboard the warship, they might have been beside me the entire time?" Rowan sucked in a cold breath, a sheen of sweat forming on his forehead.

Seeing Young Master Rowan's tense expression, Ellen softened his tone. "The Stealth Users who appeared near you must have higher class levels than Leonard. Since they didn't attack you, Young Master Rowan, that means the Stealth Users hiding in the shadows aren't enemies."

Rowan relaxed a little. He agreed with Ellen's reasoning. If high-ranking Stealth Users could lurk beside him without making a sound, they could just as easily slit his throat in an instant.

This bizarre experience served as another wake-up call. Rowan decided he had to seek the system's help tonight and get started on the path to becoming a mage as soon as possible.

Still, who had sent those high-ranking Stealth Users?

I'm not some government official. Watching me won't get them any important information. If they weren't here to assassinate me, could they have been here to protect me?

Rowan first thought of Jaina, but quickly dismissed the idea. Jaina had teleported to the battlefield on the day of the naval battle, so it definitely wasn't her.

Apart from her, the only possibilities were Rowan's parents.

Could it really have been Father? But why would he send two high-ranking Stealth Users?

Rowan's head was full of questions.

"By the way, how did you find this Shadow Dust?"

"Young Master, although I'm a level-three Stealth User, that's only my secondary profession. My main profession is alchemist. Making Shadow Dust is my specialty."

It was already late at night when he returned from the Ironworks.

After making Rowan's bed, Jenny had waited for him to return.

When Rowan still didn't come back, Jenny fell asleep slumped over the table.

"Jenny, go to bed." Rowan patted her shoulder and spoke softly beside her ear.

Jenny rose groggily and rubbed her eyes, pouting as she said, "I want to sleep with you, Young Master. We always used to sleep together."

"Ahem. Jenny, were you dreaming?" Rowan hurriedly suppressed his rising excitement and cleared his throat.

Jenny stared blankly at Rowan's handsome face, then pinched her own fair cheek. It hurt!

Oh no, what did I just say?

Jenny's fair little face flushed bright red. She lowered her head and clutched the hem of her clothes, asking shyly, "Young Master, do... do you still need to wash up?"

"I've already washed. Go to bed." Rowan didn't take Jenny's words to heart. He couldn't help being so handsome, after all.

It's perfectly normal for my personal maid to have a secret crush on me, Rowan thought shamelessly.

Jenny nodded and bowed to Rowan.

"Good night, then, Young Master," Jenny said softly, crossing her hands over her ample chest.

It's only been a few days. How did they get bigger again? And Jaina's are even bigger. Sure enough, in another world, the heroine never has the biggest breasts.

Rowan turned off the magic crystal lamp, lay down on his bed, and closed his eyes to enter the system interface.

"My host finally remembered me. I've heard plenty of my system friends say that after they attached themselves to hosts and entered another world, they treated their hosts like their own sons, doing analyses and helping them level up. This is the first time I've ever seen a host like you, who ignores the system for days on end."

Rowan gave a dry chuckle. "You're pretty funny."

"Oh, I'm nothing special. If I don't show up and remind everyone I exist, they'll forget this is a system novel," the system continued to grumble.

"You think this is some novel?" Rowan said irritably. "All right, all right, stop messing around. I've run into a serious problem."

"Please explain, host."

Azeroth was, after all, a high-magic world. Simply building up his forces was only a stopgap measure. In Azeroth, where legendary powerhouses emerged one after another, unless Rowan became a powerful professional himself, even the strongest army couldn't save him from assassination by high-ranking professionals.

In a clash between high-level professionals, Rowan might die to some unidentified AoE before he could even fight back.

"I want to become a powerful spellcaster."

"Who is Spellcaster?" The system wasn't very good at its job and failed to catch on right away.

Rowan paused, then continued, "It's not someone's name. I mean a powerful mage who can control arcane, frost, and fire magic."

"Oh, oh, I understand. Host, just exchange Emotion Points for Intelligence points and keep raising your Intelligence."

Just raise my Intelligence? Don't I need to study vast amounts of magical knowledge, then memorize spell models and special inscriptions before I can learn magic?

"Is it really that simple?"

"Trust me. As long as you have enough Emotion Points, you won't just be able to control arcane magic-you'll be able to wield all six forms of energy in Azeroth," the system replied confidently, every word brimming with the attitude: I'm a cheat, and I'm proud of it.