The orks were distracted and I was in prime position to pick off their lookout. I would need to act fast before the scout returned. My target was looking into the trees lazily swivelling his head back and forth. His axes hung low in his hands. I only needed to drop down and rip open his throat. Should I really do it? They had done nothing wrong, besides maybe being a bit racist. Okay, that was kind of bad. But killing one ork now would not fix it. I spent two more moments feeling out my thoughts and could not find any reason to stop me. Just as having no connection to these orks gave me no reason to kill them, it also gave me no reason to keep them alive. And with the bear dead, I had no available target.

I prepared [Sneak] to silence my drop once more. This time I also wanted it to remove all sounds from the ork. Any struggle, screaming, gurgling blood or the thump of his fallen body would alert the others. When I felt the Skill ready, I dropped. Talons first I ripped into his neck. Hearing no sound of ripping flesh was weird, to say the least. The ork however was not immediately dead. He took half a step forward to prevent falling over and then swung his right axe at me. While he was not dead, he was too slow to react. As the back of his weapon neared his shoulder where I landed, I was already off half a metre to the side. Blood sprayed out of his wound and he somehow managed to crack his own shoulder. Only, I was no longer touching him. A pained gurgling scream echoed through the woods.

Panicked, I looked around. The boss was turning around and in the motion of pointing his spear at me. The ork skinning the boar was pulling back her arm as if to throw the skinning knife at me and the one preparing the fire was about to get up and run over. Luckily, the side of the wand that held the orb was pointed right at their group. It was a bit hard to aim since I could not move my eyes without moving my head but I decided it was enough to just loose a shot in their general direction. As the lightning orb flew out, I was already on my way to get above the trees. I heard the crack of an explosion at the same time a knife shot past beneath my wing. That was a close call. But it was not over yet. I wanted to be careful about drawing attention. I still had a good amount of energy left as well. There was a good chance to take out more of them. And the less there were, the easier I could hunt them down.

~ding~ [Assassin] reached level 39. 1 Attribute Point awarded.

There it was. The first kill down. It was a bit annoying to get only one level but I had been spotted, if not really by my target, then by his companions. No matter, once they were all down, I should have a few more levels. The point went into Wisdom and I started circling slowly. The orks were hard to make out beneath the trees but I saw them group up closely and heard their boss shout angrily. They were intent to hunt me down. At least none of them had gotten an [Identify] off on me. It would be easy to catch them off guard with strategy.

I wanted to take out one more before the scout returned. The orks however made the first move. They retreated into the cave. They probably thought it would be safer there than in the open where I could swoop down anytime I wanted and then leave just as easily. The cave however was advantageous for me in a completely different way. [Owl’s Shadow] would make it extremely easy for me to completely disable their primary senses and make it even easier to hunt them down. So I dropped into the trees. It would not do to run into an ambush right at the entrance. Only once they were a bit deeper in could I make use of my shadows.

It was a good idea. As soon as I landed I spotted the two female orks scan the entrance. Their boss was shouting something deeper in, maybe asking the scout to return. They spotted me very soon but they had no ranged weapons. I however had one. For good measure, I shot two orbs of lightning quickly after each other. As I returned my sight onto the cave, two crackling explosions sounded out. The orks had retreated further back and were out of sight. There was a small bend not far in where my attacks had impacted the wall.

I took off silently and flew into the cave. I made sure to land before the bend. Then I started to fill the area with shadows. My full range was just enough to reach the ceiling while standing on the ground. The walls were easier to reach. I had enough freedom to move almost right up to one side and still cover the entirety of the area in darkness. As my shadows closed off the cave, all light ceased to be. I slowly crept forward. It would be easy to keep these shadows up as long as I made sure to move carefully and lose none of them.

It was a good thing I could see a bit through my Skill because as I came upon the corner two axes started to swing through the air. They were just striking at random hoping to hit something. There was however a large gap to one side. I snuck past the randomly attacking orks and considered for a moment. It would be easy to kill one of them right here, but the other might force me to retreat. I was not confident to kill that quickly after what happened with the lookout. These were definitely no cave baboons.

But leaving them be and going past them would easily clue them in on me having passed. My shadows followed my position after all. I decided to go for a different mode of attack. I had after all my wand. And the explosions would make the others think I was still laying siege. I aimed carefully. This time I held the wand with a foot while bracing against a wall. It made it a whole lot easier to get a clean shot. First was the ork closer to me. She was swinging wildly but it was not nearly as random as it seemed at first. Especially her head moved very little and very predictably. And none of them wore any headwear. I hoped one shot would be enough. I practice moving the wand to my second target quickly a few times before finally pulling the trigger.

A sizzling radiant orb shot out of the wand straight at my target’s head. A moment later a second orb shot at her companion as well. The lightning cut through my darkness. I felt myself losing mana quickly as my Skill tried to repair the shadows. I willed it to keep the burned-out parts empty for now. Orb one impacted before the orks had realized what was happening. A crackling boom sounded out and with a few spasms, the ork collapsed. The other ork let herself drop forward. Instead of being struck dead on in the back of her head only a few strikes of lightning shot into her body. This was still enough to knock her out. Or paralyze her movements. It did not matter much to me. I stepped up and finished off the unmoving ork with a talon.

~ding~ [Assassin] reached level 40. 1 Attribute Point awarded.

Again, just one? This time I even killed two orks! Maybe I was just getting so strong I was starting to gain reduced experience. Another point for Wisdom. One more and I would have my magic Attributes at 25 both. I was hoping I would get a little more from the boss though. He had killed a level 38 bear with ease. He should be at least even to my combined level. Probably a decent bit higher. Was it really such a good idea to hunt him down?

Of course, it was! All those juicy levels! I was a little exhausted but I felt good enough to uses two [Eldritch Shift] and still be able to escape. That was hopefully enough to kill two orks. I drew in my shadows a little and spread them out again. There was a bit of space near the ceiling now. I did not want to exert even more energy. Carefully I started to make my way deeper in. There was another bend coming up, this time to the right. I heard the leader speak to his scout. They were planning an ambush. Or rather, a trap. The scout however had not yet gotten to do his job. That much was obvious from their conversation.

I slowly pushed forward. As my shadows started to go around the bend, the conversation stopped. I made out slow steps carefully edging away from me. Only one pair of feet though. As I rounded the corner, the boss stood there. His weapon in hand and pointed at the ominous darkness creeping up on him. Behind, the scout was slowly gaining distance. His hands fumbled with his backpack that he had taken off only to then drop it and take out two knives from his belt.

“Boss,” he said, “What the fuck is that?”

He only received an angry grumble in reply.

“Didn’t you say the girls are watching the entrance? Did it get past them? Are they alive, or…?”

“Shut.” The order came out through grit teeth.

The scout wisely listened as I kept slowly approaching. My target was the boss. If I killed him it would be easy to finish off his underling with how scared he was. I decided to take the initiative with [Eldritch Shift]. As my shadows started to surround the ork, he took half a step back before stopping himself with a shake of his head. Once more the darkness spread around him. This time his answer was a few quick swivelling motions with his swordstaff. I had to be careful. His weapon could reach me if he used the full range. But I was almost ready to strike.

Two steps later, my [Owl’s Shadow] had spread half a wing wide behind my target. This was it. The world lost all substance for a moment. Life and beast mana covered in cloth, metal and armour marked my goal. I put my talon right where his throat was ready to rip backwards and as I returned to reality a fountain of blood announced my presence. There was only one problem. My target did not panic, nor did he die instantly. I felt a hand grab my foot and swing me back. Just before I was smacked into the ground, or maybe the wall, I managed to reactivate [Eldritch Shift]. This time, I moved back to where I was before my attack.

As I stood there, panting and heart racing, my target fell to his knees and then flopped forwards. He was dead. My notification confirmed it.

~ding~ [Assassin] reached level 41. 1 Attribute Point awarded.

It was a good thing my wand did not hinder my teleportation. Otherwise, this would not have worked. I was however completely exhausted. And there was still one more ork alive. I quickly put another point into Wisdom. As long as my shadows were still up, I could take a moment to prepare for the last strike. And I took a very simple approach. I took my wand back into my talons and aimed. Then I pulled in my shadows at the exact moment I shot the orb. The scout stood there stunned from the sight of his dead boss and the bright ball of energy shooting towards him before his face exploded and he fell backwards. I had not gotten a notification yet, so I went up to him carefully. He was still breathing, although knocked out. I decided to do one last thing, before ending his life.

[Identify]

Species: Ork (adult)

Age: 20

Name: Arog

Gender: male

This would maybe eventually get me another level. I was not sure if [Identify] needed a Breakthrough as well, but I could at least try to level it. As I ended his life, another notification came up.

~ding~ [Assassin] reached level 43. 2 Attribute Points awarded.

Well, this was interesting. Two levels for this weakling? Was he somehow high levelled and just a coward? Or did I get bonus experience for eliminating all witnesses? Either way, I would not complain. More levels were always welcome. Now it was time to increase Intelligence again. Getting Wisdom up had barely improved the number of times I could use [Eldritch Shift]. I wanted to see if Intelligence helped more. Looking at my status I even saw I had gained another level in the Skill. I was getting seriously strong, and I loved it.

Species: Great Eagle Owl (fledgeling)

Age: 0

Name: Fio

Gender: female

Status: sapient, mana enriched (medium)

Level: 13

Class: [Assassin lvl 43], -

Strength: 15

Constitution: 12

Dexterity: 21

Perception: 22

Intelligence: 27

Wisdom: 25

AP: 0

Skills:

Racial:

Utility: [Owl Senses lvl 5], [Preening lvl 3], [Owl Stomach lvl 3], [Soundless Flight lvl 4]

Offensive: [Solid Grip lvl 4], [Intimidating Screech lvl 4], [Owl’s Shadow lvl 5], [Aerial Combat lvl 4],

General:

[Maths lvl 4], [Identify lvl 4],

Assassin:

[Sneak lvl 5], [Surprise Attack lvl 4], [Mingling lvl 3], [Eldritch Shift lvl 3]

Next, it was finally time to break through [Surprise Attack]. And I had a good idea of how to get new targets.