Shadow Rogue

The kobolds were a sort of humanoid creature; as their name suggested, they had a human body with a dog head, just similar to the goddess of legend Nu Wa who had a human head and body of a snake. However, the kobolds were considered to be very low on the totem pole, like mangy dogs, and looked extremely disgusting and wild, and most humans did not like them. Furthermore, they mainly depended on robbery to survive. As such, most humans, especially trade caravans, especially hated them!

Kobold: Level 10 HP: 800

Attack: 100 Defence: 35

The kobolds were just an ordinary group of monsters, although of course being one of the groups living near the city, they were definitely stronger than those weak monsters in the novice village, having an attack of a hundred. They had a rather decent attack, but their defence was rather lacking, so the worst thing about dealing with them was that you’d never be dealing with one, but rather always in groups. However, to Rui, these kobolds were simply small fry, although they always came in groups of at least three to five, he did not feel any stress.

Charge! Rui savagely planted his dagger right into the foremost kobold’s throat!

TL: That’s right! CSG Styling it up my man.

“Gouge!”

Ting! Gouge Completion Rate 83%! Critical strike, Hit a weak point, dealt 687 damage to kobold!

Currently, Rui’s highest attack was almost over 200, and with a single gouge which activated critical strike and hit a weak point, it almost finished off the kobold in just that one blow.

“Kick!”

Ting! Kick Completion Rate 73%! Critical strike, dealt 287 damage to kobold!

With a brutal flying kick, Rui sent the dying kobold flying to the side, while at the same time the Dim Blue Dagger in his right hand plunged deep into the chest of another incoming kobold.

“Eviscerate!”

Ting! Eviscerate Completion Rate 79%! Critical strike, Hit a weak point, dealt 637 damage to kobold!

As he jerked the dagger in the kobold’s chest upwards, it seemed to strike bone, stripping the very flesh from the bones.

With a wave of his left hand, his spare dagger wiped across the throat of another kobold!

Taking the hits from the last two kobolds, Rui moved swiftly in a quick spin to their backs, and both daggers savagely plunged into the back of the two kobolds’ necks.

“Backstab!”

Ting! Backstab Completion Rate 87%! Critical strike, Hit a weak point, dealt 706 damage to kobold!

Although the dual wield mastery allowed Rui to simultaneously attack two kobolds, but the backstab would only activate for the primary hand, and could only have a single effect. As such, the poor kobold who received the attack from the Dim Blue Dagger had a tragedy befall it, not only was the majority of its HP wiped out, but it also entered a stunned state.

In just a matter of seconds, all five of the kobolds were critically injured, and Rui had taken two hits due to him trying out his new skills, although their attack power had barely been able to scratch him.

As his hands blurred, Rui swiftly finished off the five kobolds, each giving him around 500 experience, which was relatively decent. As he kept the copper coins that dropped, Rui continued his progress deeper into the kobolds’ territory.

As he continued along, Rui met several groups of kobolds, and he did not rush to search for the kobold chieftain, instead making use of the kobolds to practice his new skills. Being a master of daggers originally, after some practice, he was already extremely proficient in using these skills, and his completion rate of using them was gradually getting higher. Although he still couldn’t achieve a 100% rate all the time, but it was at least around 95% or so normally.

Rui was now level 14, and he needed 250,000 exp to reach the next level. Killing a level 10 kobold was just too easy. Although he wanted to just hurry up and kill off the kobold chieftain and grab his weapon, but that would waste too much time. Furthermore, he was rather concerned about what the rogue teacher mentioned twice.

You, are a rogue!

What maketh a rogue? Although it wasn’t exactly the same as an assassin who snuck around in shadows awaiting to give their target a final blow, but it was at least similar in nature! Although rogues weren’t assassins, they were still creatures of the night, meant to be stealthy and doing sneak attacks.

What was the impression a rogue gave to others?

Cunning and contemptible, without the righteousness of a knight; cowardly, without the courage of a warrior; lowly, without the pride and arrogance of a mage; sly, without the elegance of an archer; shameless, without the purity of a priest; lonely, unlike a summoner who had many companions.

Rogues were the epitome of cunning and despicableness; he was lonely, often walking alone in the darkness. Using poison, sneak attacks, saps, stealing, they were also considered the profession with the most tricks up their sleeves. However, these dirty tricks were also what caused them to be reviled; if you put it nicely, they were rogues, in ugly terms, they were just little thieves. Although rogues were strong, but most people did not like them. As such, to play a good rogue, if you did not have an exceptional awareness, skill and experience, it would be impossible. As such, under normal circumstances, very few people would chose to be a rogue. Most men would want to be a knight, warrior, or mage, while most females would choose between priests or mages, or perhaps even archers. Summoners were also relatively lesser in demand, but they were still considered better than rogues! This scenario was just too true, and without needing any further illustrations, as Rui could witness the phenomenon for himself with his own eyes in the novice village.

TL: I’m not sure what the author is smoking =p My old WoW guild used to have too many rogues heh

So, what did the rogue teacher’s words mean?

You, are a rogue?

The quest was to steal the weapon!

Could it be… something like that?

Rui started as his eyes brightened.

Rogues weren’t meant to risk their lives and use all their strength in fighting; they were supposed to be cunning and sneaky, using any means at hand no matter how despicable, until they toyed with their enemies till their death.

The rogue teacher’s quest had specifically mentioned stealing the kobold chieftain’s weapon, and not to kill it. Perhaps, to test a rogue was not to test how strong his was, but how he was able to achieve the most with the least effort.

Thinking about the rogue teacher’s hint again, Rui couldn’t help but suck in a breath of cold air. If he had gone about the usual method of retrieving the weapon, killing the kobold chieftain to get its weapon, it would definitely be considered completing the quest. However, as a rogue, it would definitely be a very low assessment. Since that was so, I shall steal it then. I’ve just learnt stealth, with my experience in sneaking around, this should be pretty good.

No longer tangling with the groups of kobolds; although the creatures were in groups of three to five, but they were rather slow and easy to evade.

As he went deeper, Rui managed to look for cover along the way, making his way slowly towards the chieftain. It had to be said that although the map of the city areas was rather expensive, but it was definitely worth it. Basically, the entire Datajia City and its surrounding areas were detailed out on the map, and it was extremely convenient and prevented him from getting lost.

Perhaps it was designed this way on purpose, but the kobold territory was extremely easy for rogues to navigate, with many shadowy areas. Even without making use of the stealth skill, it was easy to make use all the various cover in moving along. Perhaps this was the true test of a rogue!