Chapter 19: Information

The next instant, he loosens his sword grip a little and twisted his hand at a weird angle. He then aimed the Ring Sword at Ian and threw it casually.

Like a slithering snake, the Ring Sword flew towards the target while arching in a weird angle and directly stabbed onto Ian's shoulder!

A groaning sound leaked out of Ian's mouth as he staggered and directly crashed onto the wooden trunk.

Meanwhile, a change occurred in the interface, causing Charles to pause in surprise.

...

[Trickster's Hand skill reached its peak level!]

[Host's Snatch skill looks similar to the Trickster's Hand skill!]

[Merging is possible due to skills similarity!]

[Would you like to merge these two skills and create a unique skill?]

[Cost for merging the two skills: 200 Exp.]

...

'Exp again.' He clicked his tongue in annoyance and soon arrived in front of the groaning Ian Adams.

'I aimed for his heart.' He furrowed his brows and soon shook his head.

'I need to train my skills later.' While thinking, Charles went beside the wounded Ian Adams and pulled the Ring Sword out of his shoulder.

Meanwhile, Ian stood up with staggering footsteps and turned around with a piercing glare.

But he didn't lose his calm, though: Instead, he held his book...

Widening his yellow eyes, Ian looked at his hand and soon got perplexed as he noticed his empty hand.

'Where is the Starfall Codex?' He drew a heavy gasp and soon froze.

'Could it be...?' He stared back at the humanoid figure and took a step back in the dense darkness.

In the meantime, Charles curled his lips upward and asked while holding an eerie black book in his hand.

''Are you looking for this?''

''H-How?'' Ian became stunned for a while and soon widened his eyes as he remembered Thief's [Snatch] skill!

'No! I have to think of a method. If he captures me, the possibility of me exposes Lord Black's identity is very high. That Telepathist can read memories.' Although the enemy had stolen his trump card, he wasn't swallowed by the despair. Instead, he took out a Black gem from his void pouch and was about to move it towards his mouth.

'I will turn into a Distorted Shadow and kill him-' While Ian was planning, Charles smirked at him and slashed his sword at his neck.

Upon noticing the upcoming sword, Ian retracted his hand and backed away with no other choice, and tried to evade the sharp sword tip. Still, his movement became slower due to fatigue, causing the sword tip to made a small cut on his neck.

'Shit!' He drew a deep breath while covering his neck with one hand and stared warily at the blue-haired kid.

Ian then let out an angry grunt and started moving backward.

Simultaneously, he put the Black Gem in his pocket and searched for his sword. He also realized that his target wouldn't give him enough time to swallow the [Phantom Stringer] Class Gem and made a swift decision.

'I need to find my sword first. After that, I will swallow this [Phantom Stringer] Class Gem.' He grew more resolute as he thought of his main mission.

On the other hand, Charles didn't hold back his strength and attacked Ian with all his might. His every attack turned into a fatal one as he started slashing his sword.

Covering in wounds and blood, Ian desperately avoided his sword attacks and finally found his sword, which laid a few meters away from him.

A hideous grin appeared on Ian's face as he saw his sword and ran towards it.

Meanwhile, Charles noticed his plan and snorted coldly.

'Too late for that.'

Unlike the last him, he aimed his sword at Ian's back and threw it swiftly.

In a second, the Ring Sword made a whooshing sound and penetrated deep into Ian's right chest area, causing him to fall again.

Before Ian could stand up, Charles appeared right behind him and pulled his sword out from his chest. After that, he severed his limbs' tendons and crippled Ian shortly.

Ian also tried multiple times to swallow the Black Gem in those few seconds, but his every attempt failed.

Charles then snatched the Black Gem from Ian's hand and started dragging him towards the east.

Two minutes later, Charles found an open space and started tying Ian's hands and legs using green vines.

''What are you trying to do?!'' Ian got agitated by Charles's action and asked in wary eyes.

Not responding to Ian's question, Charles took out Ian's void pouch and started checking the contents inside.

'Two silver coins, One Arcane Card, five packs of dry bread, and one leather water pouch. He didn't have a single document. This guy is careful.' Charles clicked his tongue in annoyance and then shifted his gaze towards Ian.

He then made a playful smile and asked,

''Who is your master, Ian Adams?''

When he heard his cold yet playful tone, Ian's face stiffened up.

'How did he know my name?' He got alarmed inside. Although he heard of some unique skills that could expose one's secret, he didn't expect his target to possess one of the mysterious skills.

'He is a dangerous one. I must find a way and kill myself before that Telepathist arrives,' He muttered inwardly and stayed silent.

In the meantime, Charles squatted down and asked coldly,

''Is your master is also after the Holem's Crown?''

Upon hearing Charles's words, Ian's eyes widened in surprise, and he asked in a stutter,

''H-How did you know about A-035?''

'A-035? Is this some code name? Interesting, let's see if I can get more information from this fool.' He smirked inwardly and spoke casually,

''What so odd about it? I have long known about that Series Artifact.''

Ian went silent upon hearing those words from Charles.

'Is his sudden rise in strength is also related to A-035? Is it already controlling him in the shadows? But why didn't Lord Black sensed its presence around him?' He looked suspiciously at Charles and probed,

''Why are you speaking so confidently? Aren't you afraid of the Holem's Crown?''

'Afraid? Is it a dangerous artifact?' Charles smiled mysteriously to avoid being suspicious and began to ponder inside. Surprisingly, his facial muscles acted on their own and concealed his real facial expressions.

'Hmm, Holem's Crown seems like a dangerous, intelligent artifact. But, what about Ian's master? Is he also a dangerous one? Like Rank 3 or Rank 4 mystic? I need to get more information from this loose lip.' He muttered to himself and added calmly.

"Don't be so surprised. I also know about your master Black's schemes."

"W-What?!" Ian stared at Charles with a horrified face and soon blurted out,

"How did you find out about Lord Anderson's schemes?"

'Wow, he is a dumb idiot.' Charles stared at Ian Adams in amazement for a moment and soon fabricated a lie.

"Don't think I don't have any spies in your organization."

Without waiting for the shocking fool to reply, Charles tapped his forehead twice and asked,

"Now that I think about it, did Anderson reveal our identities and location to our Nightwind family?"

"No. Lord Anderson didn't know about your real identity before the kidnapping incident. We just followed Legend Eddie's prophecy and waited for A-035 to show up in Riverdale City for the past 20 years. Not only us, but there are also many organizations watching the city from the shadows. But we found a clue that A-035 would act when its successor's life is in danger. That's the reason we made a small plan and cornered you." Ian completely believed that Charles knew more information and spilled everything.

'Legend Eddie? Prophecy? Am I the successor of Holem's Crown? Is that the reason that Holem's Crown came to my room and asked me to search for its location? Moreover, a Prophecy, is it? Things are getting more and more interesting.' Charles curled his lips upward and soon moved his sword.

"I wonder why your master assigned this mission to an idiot like you," Charles muttered loudly and slashed his sword at Ian's neck, cleaving it into two.

A second later, Ian's eyes went wide, and soon his whole body began to twitch uncontrollably.

[Target Eliminated! Due to Target's Special Identity, 984 Battle Exp Rewarded!]

'984 Battle Exp.' He licked his red lips and nodded with a pleasant smile on his face.

'My real reward is this mysterious book.' Charles held the black book in his right hand and looked at it closely.

Charles saw a strange black scythe symbol on the book cover and became curious about the mysterious book's origin.

He then thought for a moment and opened it carefully to read the content hidden inside.

A heartbeat later, he furrowed his brows as he saw the mysterious words written in that book and soon widened his eyes.

'Don't these characters look similar to the characters in Fire Wings spell model?' A look of astonishment appeared on his face.

'Looks like I need to search more information about the Mages' pathways.' He nodded his head in enlightenment and then stored the book into the new void pouch. The space inside the void pouch was around 3 cubic meters, which would be more than enough for him to store his belongings.

After that, he picked Ian's another Rank 3 sword and stored it in the void pouch.

'Hmm, it's time for me to hide Ian's body somewhere and go back.' He nodded thoughtfully and started to act. He first dragged Ian's body to an open area and started erasing his trails. He knew that the blood scent would attract the nearby wolves and acted fastly. Once he erased his trails, he carefully followed the route and went in Pine Town's direction.

While moving, he also added another 30 skill points to the [Clown] skill. Earlier, he noticed that this [Clown] skill activated on its own and helped him to control his facial muscles, giving him a big surprise.

[Clown skill has reached its peak level!]

[Requirement has been met for Trickster class advancement!]

[You can Rank up by consuming Disguiser class gem or by spending Experience points!]

[Experience points required for ranking up the Trickster Class: 2,000 Exp!]

Charles halted his footsteps in surprise and soon clicked his tongue.

'Disguiser class? 2,000 Exp? It looks like it will take some time for me to rank up.' He mumbled inwardly.

'I did gain good things by following the shadow.' He smiled and then continued to walk in the dark forest.

Before he walked out of the dense woods, Charles heard multiple howls from behind and curled his lips upward.

'Those wolves will eat Ian's body and leave no trace behind. If someone did come back to search for him, they would only find his bones.' He smirked inwardly and entered the Pine Town. Unlike before, the chaos in Pine town had already quieted down. Charles first went to the area where the shadow killers gathered the citizens earlier and searched for the Observer's Dagger. But to his worst luck or good luck, the dagger was nowhere to be seen.

'Hmm, it seems someone took the dagger. It's a good thing, anyway.' He muttered inwardly and then searched for a spare bag. Due to the chaos, he soon found a leather bag near a merchant's dead body and took it. After that, he placed his new void pouch inside the leather bag and concealed it. For now, he doesn't want others to know about him possessing a void pouch.

After re-checking everything, he took a few turns and went in Town Chief's mansion direction. In the darkness, he walked past many wounded citizens and soon found the main street.

'Once I return to Riverdale City, I have to build some spell models and start searching for clues about the strange magic language.' While crossing the town square, he started thinking about his future.

'Another worry in my mind is the Holem's Crown... A dangerous intellectual artifact, is it? From the earlier information from Ian, these shadowy forces seem to be acting based on some foolish Prophecy. Who is Legend Eddie? Moreover, am I a successor of Holem's Crown?' Charles got puzzled inside.

'Why did it choose me? Something feels off here... Did that intelligent artifact know about my transmigration?' An uneasy feeling appeared in his mind.

'I have to ask Eve. Maybe she can help me find more clues about this intelligent artifact. Hmm, Ian also showed a disbelieving expression when he learned that I know more about Holem's Crown. From his expression, I can vaguely guess that controlling a Series artifact is an impossible task... Should I ask for help from Bishop Reynolds? That sly devotee is not a normal guy. He also seems to be chasing after that artifact...' He thought for a moment while arriving in front of the mansion entrance and shook his head.

'Forget it... It's not a good idea for now. He hasn't gained much trust from me, and he looks more like an opportunist. But I can tell him some information about Russell. Observer, is it? That dagger...' A cold glint appeared in Charles's deep-blue eyes as he made different plans in his mind and turned his attention towards the mansion.