Chapter 111 - 110: Shadow Escape

Chapter 111: Chapter 110: Shadow Escape

The young Warrior named Novel seemed to have made up his mind. His trembling legs finally moved, and he stepped out from behind the tree.

However, the Scout Hunter seemed to have been waiting for this very moment.

It feinted a swipe, forcing Golden Beard back, then twisted its body and shot forward like a black streak, pouncing on the newly revealed Novel!

Novel was completely terrified, forgetting to even raise the spear in his hands.

Just then, an arrow pierced the air!

SWOOSH—!

It was Laila’s arrow.

But the Scout Hunter’s reaction was astonishingly fast. The instant the arrow left the bowstring, it kicked off the ground and changed direction again.

Even more bizarrely, its body began to blur in mid-air, as if it were melting into the shadows, about to vanish completely.

"It’s getting away!"

However, at that very moment—

PSHH!

An Earth Spike shot out from its landing spot.

The Earth Spike pierced the Scout Hunter’s abdomen, pinning it in mid-air.

Blood gushed out. Its cunning, beastly eyes filled with disbelief. It struggled a few times, then fell silent.

"Nice one!" Belte was about to cheer, but he saw the remaining three members of the other squad approaching them angrily instead of showing any gratitude.

"You despicable bastards!" the leader, Golden Beard, roared, pointing his axe at Laila. "How dare you steal our prey!"

Belte took a quick step forward, shielding Laila behind him, and held his Broadsword horizontally. "Put that broken axe of yours down, or I don’t mind ’fixing’ it for you."

Hulk also stepped forward immediately, his voice calm and steady. "Friend, you couldn’t handle this Scout Hunter. If we hadn’t intervened, your team member would be a corpse right now."

One of the Warriors with a Shield sneered, "Cut the crap! We’ve been fighting this beast for almost half an hour and were just about to get it! And you lot? You hide in the shadows, take a cheap shot, and swoop in for the prize! According to Adventurer rules, we found this Scout Hunter first, so its pelt belongs to us!"

"Dragon-shit my ass!" Belte took another step forward, getting almost face-to-face with the man. "From what I saw, you guys didn’t even touch a single hair on it, and now you want the pelt?"

"You’re asking for it!"

"Captain, let’s get ’em!"

The Warrior with the Shield at the front had been yelling for a while, only to realize his captain hadn’t said a word.

He turned around, confused, and saw his captain staring intently at someone in the opposing party—it was Hulk.

Golden Beard took a deep breath, suppressing his anger. "So it’s... Captain Hulk. Last time outside the guild, you were the one who ’invited’ that Mage away. It forced us to find a rookie to fill the spot... Er, anyway, you can have the Scout Hunter."

After speaking, he immediately signaled for his team to retreat.

After walking a few steps, he seemed to feel he’d lost too much face. With a HCKK, he gathered a wad of spit, turning to hawk it onto the ground.

But the moment he turned his head, he saw the Female Ranger’s bow aimed right at his.

With a GULP, he swallowed it back down, then forced a smile. "...Oh, right! Wish... wish you a successful hunt! See you around!"

He then led his team members away, jogging into the depths of the dense forest.

Belte gave a scornful gesture in the direction they disappeared. "Pah! What a bunch of clowns!"

"Alright, Belte." Hulk sheathed his Longsword. "Don’t cause trouble. Let’s deal with the Scout Hunter. We need to get going."

...

Hulk, Laila, and Belte were gathered around the Scout Hunter’s corpse, figuring out how to skin the valuable pelt in one piece.

Hesia’s attention, however, was drawn to the extraction prompt in his mind from killing the Black Panther.

[Shadow Escape]: Allows you to sense and merge with ambient shadows. Significantly reduces your presence in low-light environments and makes your movements quieter.

[Silent Hunter]: When attacking from a target’s blind spot or from the shadows, drastically eliminates the sound and presence generated by your attack.

The two options each had their own merits.

[Silent Hunter] was undoubtedly more offensive, proving incredibly effective when delivering a fatal blow.

But after a moment’s thought, Hesia realized that without a prerequisite ability like [Shadow Escape] to approach a target silently, the effects of [Silent Hunter] would be difficult to fully utilize.

[You have selected the trait—Shadow Escape]

Hesia mentally calculated the uses for this new trait.

His currently equipped traits were [Earth Affinity], [Thick Hide], [Wild Charge], and [Primordial Feast].

’As a Caster, I mostly need to stay in a safe position to deal damage. Stealth and assassination aren’t my first choice.’

[Shadow Escape] could allow him to merge into the darkness at critical moments to dodge fatal attacks.

But in a true life-or-death situation, he had more faith in the speed of [Wild Charge].

After all, any form of Stealth could be rendered useless in the face of powerful Detection Spells.

’It’s better to be faster than everyone else than to bet on not being discovered.’

However, this ability... it seems perfect for Bruce.

His small size and agility, combined with [Shadow Escape], would undoubtedly make him a perfect scout, or even a surprise assassin.

’Besides, the trait can be retrieved and reassigned at any time.’

Hesia walked over and gently patted the head of the dog who was watching the proceedings.

Bruce squinted his eyes comfortably, his tail wagging happily on instinct.

But the next second, he suddenly felt a strange impulse, an urge to retreat into the shade of a large, nearby tree.

He tilted his head in confusion, looking at Hesia.

Hesia didn’t speak, simply gesturing with his eyes for Bruce to go towards the patch of shade.

Bruce’s doggy eyes lit up instantly. He immediately understood that Hesia had granted him another amazing new ability!

He was so excited he almost barked out loud, eagerly diving into the dimly lit shade.

Just as the trait’s description suggested, the moment Bruce entered the shade, his form seemed to be swallowed by the darkness.

Due to his small size, the Stealth effect seemed even harder to detect than the Scout Hunter’s had been in mid-air.

Hesia focused his gaze and could only barely make out a blurry, indistinct shadow where Bruce had disappeared, one that looked like it could dissipate at any moment.

If he hadn’t seen Bruce enter the shade with his own eyes, he never would have believed there was a dog hidden there.

’Hm?’

Hesia suddenly sensed something was wrong.

’The outline in that patch of shade doesn’t seem to be Bruce’s shape, does it?’

’It looks more like... the shadow cast by a pile of dead branches and leaves?’

’Where did Bruce go?’

"AHH—!"

Belte, who had been intently watching Laila skin the beast, suddenly felt something furry by his feet.

"Another one?!

Belte was so scared he leaped into the air.

He spun around in a panic, only to see Bruce sitting behind him, tilting his head and wagging his tail innocently.

"B-Bruce?!... Dammit, I must be seeing ghosts."