Starting with the goblin extermination

Chapter 107 Daytime Shadows

Arlando 3563, Hercatos Mountains.

The jagged rock walls on both sides cut the sunlight into fragments, casting long, narrow shadows across the ground.

Elsa leaped out of the shadows in an instant, then pressed forward with a series of rapid thrusts. Black light exploded continuously beneath her feet. The explosive power provided by [Shadow Step] made her like an extremely fast black panther, each turn and leap accompanied by the sound of tearing through the air.

But Charlotte from [Black Mirror] had already spotted her location and didn't even budge an inch.

The dark-haired woman with a thin scar at the corner of her eye effortlessly deflected Elsa's every powerful thrust with a casual wave of her unsharpened short sword. She was incredibly fast, and several times the rough blade nearly struck Elsa's chest.

Elsa gritted her teeth, and black light burst forth from beneath her feet once more. Her figure shot out a sharp afterimage as she attempted to slip into Charlotte's right-side defensive blind spot.

Charlotte suddenly bent down, her short sword not returning to its original position, but stopping at the very end of Elsa's charge before Elsa could close in. If Elsa didn't forcefully stop her attack, her throat would be pierced.

Elsa let out a muffled groan in mid-air, forcibly twisting her waist and abdomen, but the sudden shift in her center of gravity still caused her to fall heavily onto the ground full of gravel.

Charlotte lowered the tip of her sword to the ground, inwardly surprised by the student's rapid progress, but her face revealed an undisguised mockery.

"You've died again, this is the sixth time," she said bluntly.

"I pushed my speed to the limit." Elsa got up from the ground, rubbing her thigh. She wasn't wearing the leather armor called [Kiss of the Night], so she didn't get the bonus while stealthing, but she was still a little disappointed that Charlotte had found her location so easily. "If this were real combat, you wouldn't be able to react in time."

"But you're lying on the ground now."

"Because you were on guard against me and anticipated my location," Elsa said helplessly. She had also realized the problem. "I thought that as long as I was fast enough, no one could stop this attack."

"No adventurer who lives past thirty will be unsuspecting of wanderers."

Charlotte answered coldly, seemingly impatient with the student's stubbornness.

"What was the first thing I taught you?"

"Conceal your presence and wait for the right opportunity to strike."

"But what did you just do? You were attacking recklessly, relying entirely on the speed provided by your combat technique!" Charlotte frowned, taking a step forward. "What do you take this combat technique for? Some commonplace [Swiftness]?"

"It must be because I'm not fast enough..." Elsa said stubbornly, her head down.

Pick up your dagger.

Then, Charlotte growled at her and took a step forward, her face contorted with murderous intent.

Elsa hesitated for a moment, gripped her dagger tightly, and assumed a fighting stance, unsure whether this was another reprimand or a real attack.

Charlotte moved; she initiated the charge.

Elsa was on high alert, her eyes fixed on Charlotte's footsteps. Just as Charlotte stepped into the massive shadow cast by a boulder, Elsa revealed a sly smile. She had calculated the distance perfectly, and suddenly activated Shadow Step, deciding to break through the instructor's attack with maximum speed.

However, when Elsa's dagger pierced the shadow, it missed.

Charlotte seems to have vanished into thin air.

Without any sound or the faint glow of any combat technique, Elsa sensed that the shadows ahead were completely empty.

Elsa was terrified. Her [True Sight] combat skill was instinctively activated, and she forcibly stopped her forward momentum, trying to locate the enemy. However, before she could regain her balance, her knee was struck hard in the back. Before Elsa even realized what had happened, she had already fallen backward to the ground.

The cold, short sword pressed silently against her throat.

Charlotte stood behind her as if she had grown out of this very ground.

"Hmm, what else do you have to say?" Charlotte looked down at her.

"You didn't use the speed boost from Shadowstep!" Elsa gasped, her eyes filled with shock.

"I don't need it." Charlotte sheathed her short sword and reached out to pull the stubborn girl up. She looked into Elsa's big eyes, which yearned to become stronger, and nodded in her heart.

Charlotte was still amazed by Elsa's talent. The way she wielded the dagger was clearly the result of expert instruction, and she had a deep understanding of combat techniques. Considering her age, it was no exaggeration to say that she was one of the most talented wanderers Charlotte knew.

Especially her affinity for shadows. Although Charlotte pointed out very harshly that Elsa's Shadowstep was terrible at stealth, in reality, if they were to actually fight, her performance would absolutely crush most of the bronze-level adventurers in the guild.

Perhaps it was because of her exceptional talent and speed that she relied too heavily on speed in actual combat, neglecting the refinement of her stealth skills, which prevented her from mastering this advanced combat technique for a long time. Just thinking about the terrifying power Elsa would possess after completing this final piece of the puzzle made Charlotte's scalp tingle.

[The Shadow Mourner, Eliel]? Or [The Faceless One, Erebus]? Several names of gods flashed through her mind.

Charlotte's lips curled into a smile as she pondered Elsa's background. It was the first time the young half-elf had ever seen her instructor smile, and the thin scar at the corner of her eye trembled slightly.

"You have a good grasp of Shadowstep speed; it's fast and the timing is good, but the problem remains."

Charlotte walked into the shadows, her whole body sinking into them once again.

"First, conceal your form, then wait for the right moment to strike. Remember, imagine yourself being compressed into the shadow like a spring, completely merging into it. When you have become a part of the shadow itself, then unleash your unparalleled speed."

"This is the true Shadowstep."

Elsa blinked her aquamarine eyes, trying to understand what Charlotte was saying, then she slowly backed away, hiding herself in the shadow of a stone pillar.

Charlotte nodded, and drew her short sword again.

"One more time."

This time, Elsa closed her eyes, inhaled slowly, and dispelled her urge to attack. She felt her muscles contract, her heartbeat slow, until she felt the cold temperature of the surrounding rocks merge with her.

Gradually, the sound of the wind drowned out her breathing.

Elsa disappeared.

Charlotte's ears twitched slightly, and the corners of her mouth turned up. In that instant, a cold glint shot out from the shadows like the flick of a viper's tongue.

clang!

Charlotte parried with her sword.

Elsa's dagger landed squarely in front of the instructor, just a foot from his nose. Though blocked by the short sword, Elsa finally managed to get closer.

Calm your mind, remain purely hidden, and then unleash a sudden burst of power.

"Barely passable." Charlotte sheathed her short sword, her tone still stern, but her eyes held a hint of approval.

She sensed an unusual aura emanating from Elsa, an aura of one of their own.

She got the job.

Late at night, in the sewers of the western district of Riverwood.

Charlotte was lurking in the shadows above the sewer in an eerie posture, waiting silently.

Patience is one of the most important survival qualities for a member of the Black Grail organization.

The Black Grail is undoubtedly a colossal entity that controls the entire continent's underworld. The Bloody Hyena is merely one of countless wild dogs under their control, regularly offered tribute.

As a member of the Black Grail organization, Charlotte naturally possessed a clandestine way to infiltrate this secret stronghold of the Bloodhounds. But...

She didn't rush in, but waited quietly for her prey to appear.

The long period of infiltration should have been extremely tedious and boring. However, Charlotte's long-term rigorous training had long since enabled her to relieve boredom by recalling the past in her mind, while constantly paying attention to the slightest movement in front of her, never missing a single subtle sound.

She couldn't help but recall the half-elf girl who had displayed exceptional talent that morning. With Elsa's potential, if she were given a little more guidance, perhaps she could be forcibly absorbed into the Black Grail organization.

But then she smiled helplessly. Recruited into an organization? Strictly speaking, her official position was still that of a respected instructor in the Adventurers' Guild. For which organization was she actually working so hard for?

She didn't have to worry about her dual identity for long.

A slow, heavy footstep sound came from afar. In this secret passage that should only be known to the core members of the Blood Hyena, two tall men walked out.

Charlotte tensed up instantly.

Because of the two people below, besides the level two professional on the right, the other person was someone she couldn't see through at all.

This often means that the opponent's strength exceeds that of Charlotte, a level four professional.

Fortunately, she was a member of the Black Grail, a resident of the shadows, and she was not discovered.

"Lord Aralon, this way..." The man on the right pointed the way to another person with a somewhat obsequious manner, but the man called Aralon remained silent and didn't even glance at him. Charlotte could sense the arrogance in the man's bones.

Finally, after Alaron held up a miniature hyena badge, the two of them entered the water-like wall and disappeared from Charlotte's sight.

She confirmed the organization's suspicions; it seems that the minor skirmishes between the Black Grail and the Temple of Soma will be temporarily slowed down.

The fact that a base has been seized and secretly controlled by another organization of unknown origin is something that the old guys in the Black Grail cannot tolerate.

Her mission continues.