Among the clan soldiers, there were only two system-users; the rest, about twenty men, were regular troops. Both system-users were level 18 – apparently the clan didn't waste high-level warriors on such petty errands. As I drew closer, one of the system-users was questioning the young man.
"So you're saying this woman threw dark spheres and killed your father and brother? And the other one she's staying with is also a witch? I find it hard to believe that two female mages decided to live in your village."
"No, sir officer, the second one lived here for a long time – she bewitched one of our villagers and lived with him until he died. This one, the one throwing dark spheres, arrived today. She said she wanted to eat and spend the night. We didn't refuse – she's a pretty girl, who knew she'd turn out to be a magic-using bitch and start cutting up our whole village? I tell you, sir officer, they're from the nomads – cursed enemies."
"Pretty, you say? And the one who lived here? Why didn't you report that you had a pretty woman living here? You were usually on top of such things – you turned over that other beauty a year ago without delay. But this one you kept hidden for years?"
"No, sir officer, she's not a normal woman – ugh. She looks like a beauty, but down below she's got a cock like a horse."
"That's not for you to decide. The clan allows you to live on its lands, and you're obligated to report such women. And you bastards hid her. Don't tell me you had your eyes on her yourself? I can see it in your eyes – you wanted her for yourself?"
"Never, sir officer! How could we do such a thing when we live by your clan's grace?"
"Enough talk – show me the way to these women."
I needed to act fast. If I wanted to slip away, I could do it alone, but I couldn't hide Lisa with me. So either I retreat immediately, or I start taking them out before they reached the house. One of the system-users stood slightly apart, looking bored. I began creeping up behind him. The soldiers started drawing their weapons – no formation to speak of, just a rabble. It took twenty seconds for me to get behind the guy and drive a dagger into the base of his neck. Step into Shadow, then a strike at the soldier to his right. While everyone turned toward the noise, I'd already dropped two more and fired a Dark Arrow at the second system-user. He dodged, and the arrow hit the villager standing next to the elder's son.
Credit where it's due – the clan troops were well-trained. They raised their shields and charged at me, trying to flank and surround me. But I quickly stepped into shadow and vanished. The clansmen formed a defensive circle around the system-user, who started screaming hysterically and ordered the gates closed. As if I were the one trapped – really, they should have been running.
I ran back to Lisa's house. I handed her my things and asked if there was a place she could hide. Turns out there was – she and her late husband had built a secret hiding spot. They must have been fleeing someone too, to end up in this backwater. Behind the house was a well; a meter down, there was a hidden door in the wall, leading to a crawl space where she lowered herself with my gear. As she descended, I heard the enemy approaching. Once she was inside and had restored the earthen cover over the door, I immediately melted into the shadows and headed back toward the clansmen.
Now I had nothing holding me back, and I decided to have some fun with the Osm clan soldiers. The regular troops wouldn't be a problem – though even among them there were often experienced warriors, none were in this bunch. But the system-user worried me – his reaction to my actions was too fast. I'd only killed the first one through pure surprise.
I decided to take my time and let them tire themselves out. The soldiers kicked down the door and entered the house with torches. I didn't follow them inside – that would be walking into a trap. I watched from a distance. After searching the house and finding no one, the soldiers split into three groups and started combing the village. Almost all carried torches, peering into every shadow. Three stood at the gate, backs to it – approaching from behind was nearly impossible.
I unslung my sword and went into close combat. The first fell to a stealth strike to the neck; the second got a Dark Arrow simultaneous with a sword slash – but he caught the spell on his shield and charged me, while the first ran in a flanking arc. I met the charging rhino with a kick to his shield – my physical stats weren't equal to his, and he fell onto his back. I fired another Dark Arrow at the second one; he blocked with his shield, and that split second was enough for me to Step into Shadow and vanish. I didn't retreat, though – I crept toward the gate. They ran to the gate and quickly turned, leaving it behind them as they approached. Sound logic – except I was already pressed against the gate and drove both dagger and sword into their necks from behind.
I lifted the gate bar – it was heavy for ordinary people, but for a system-user, not exactly a feather, but I lifted it and set it aside, then threw the gates wide open. I slipped back and hid. Soon one group returned to the gate and started shouting for the others. Within three minutes, the whole circus was assembled at the gate. Thinking we'd fled the village, they cursed loudly but decided not to pursue at night. They'd stay overnight and send word to the clan in the morning. The system-user, of course, stayed in the elder's house; the rest scattered to various homes.
I followed the system-user. Once inside, I lost visual – letting anyone leave the village was too risky, so I decided to wait a couple hours until he fell asleep. First, I'd deal with the small fry. The village wasn't large, and remembering who went into which house wasn't hard. Four had entered the second house on the left from the gate – but they weren't sleeping. These idiots were raping the wife and underage daughter of the house owner, while he lay beaten in the corner. Rushing in like Rambo wasn't in my plans. I assumed the same was happening in every other house and decided to wait an hour until everyone settled down.
I didn't waste the hour – I circled the elder's house, mapping its windows by the light inside and tracking scents. Seventy minutes later, after the system-user had fucked every female in the house plus the elder's son (that was a twist), he went to sleep. I began creeping in through an open window in one of the rooms, where a fifteen-year-old girl was crying inside. Whoever she was – didn't matter. I crept toward the system-user's room. He was sleeping on a lavish bed, apparently belonging to the now-dead village elder. Killing him was effortless, and I slaughtered the elder's eldest son like a pig right after. A quick loot netted me 2 gold and 15 silver coins.
By morning, I'd killed all the remaining soldiers – routine, uninteresting. No flashy sword clashes. What did you expect? I'm a scout and saboteur – I've been one my whole life, well, two lives. I've never had moral qualms about killing sleeping men; those I killed at night never shot at our infantry during the day. And my qualms about killing itself faded in my past life. I'm probably not a very good person – but honestly, I don't give a damn. The good die young.
With the enemy eliminated, the question of punishing the villagers remained. I went back to the well and signaled Lisa – four taps with the bucket against the wall, then two. I helped her up with our things and we headed to the gate. I asked her to wait for me there. Then I ran from house to house, setting them ablaze – they were all wooden. I'd been undecided about punishing the whole village for how they treated Lisa, but after learning they'd been turning beautiful women over to the clan, all doubt vanished. Few would die in the fires, but being left homeless wasn't fun either. When the houses started blazing from all sides, I returned to Lisa, and we took to the road. We walked the first hour in silence.
I was thinking where to go next – it seemed the Osm Clan had some deal with the steppe nomads to sabotage the emperor and strengthen their position in the region. Some important officials or tax collectors had probably been killed under this cover. Incidentally, after killing the second system-user, I reached level 10.
You have reached Level 10.
Class change or evolution available. Choose one of the following options:
Shadow Warrior
Shadow Mage
Ascetic
Night Paladin
Master Thief
Dark Swordsman
This was a tough choice. Shadow Mage fit me perfectly and offered too many benefits – but one downside: it completely blocked the ki system. I could keep what I'd already gained, but I couldn't develop ki further. The Ascetic did the opposite, locking magic progression. I didn't want to develop one-sidedly. I know a specialist in one field always beats a generalist, but something inside protested. Night Paladin required serving some local goddess of night – I'd had enough serving for several lifetimes. Master Thief would let me practically live in shadows and push Stealth to unreachable levels, but combat would take a back seat. Dark Swordsman was demanding on fencing technique and pushed it to the forefront – I liked the class, but it was ideal for some real-RPG fantasy hero. Only this time, we didn't have a male isekai protagonist – it was me, and I was no heroine. Instead of dueling the main villain on a high mountain for seven days and nights, I'd rather poison him or stab him in his sleep. At worst, snipe him from range. I had no epicness or heroism – plenty of medals and orders in my past life, but not a single one for heroism.
That left only one option: Shadow Warrior.
Shadow Warrior: your battles are fought mainly under cover of night or in dark locations; your safest fortress is the shadow that hides you from all. Striking from shadow is your style.
Class skills:
Strike from Shadow (transformed from Backstab): any attack from stealth deals 15x damage if using a dagger, knife, or stiletto; 5x damage with other weapons.
Step into Shadow: you can enter stealth mode right before enemies' eyes if there's a sufficiently large shadow nearby.
Shadow Leap: you can move from one shadow to another within 10 meters (depends on Shadow Ki level); consumes ki energy.
Essentially, that was it – no super-useful skills, no accelerated stat growth. A maximally neutral class with minimal penalties and restrictions. It suited me fine. The Ascetic class, for comparison, allowed absorbing ki from the environment 300% faster, but the restrictions were prohibitive. All my old night buffs remained – and I was happy with that. Minimal class dependency, maximum self-reliance.
Another important detail: Shadow Warrior also allowed masking my class from others – so to everyone, I'd have the most boring class possible: "Warrior," without even the "Lustful" prefix, making me blend into the gray mass.
While I was pondering my build, my companion kept glancing at me – clearly wanting to ask something but hesitating. "Darling, tell me honestly – what did you want to talk about?"
"I wanted to know where you're headed."
"I'm heading toward Djer – by the way, you can't come with me. That rotten Osm Clan has an unhealthy interest in beautiful women, especially system-users."
"I know – there were rumors they sell women to the nomads, but no proof. Actually, I wanted to part ways with you, if you don't mind. You've done a lot for me and opened my eyes, but…"
"It's fine – just go your own way."
At the nearest fork, she turned toward some town, and I took the main road. Well, "took" – I walked a hundred meters, then slipped into the bushes and followed Lisa. Have you ever had an overwhelming urge to facepalm, so strong you had to physically restrain your hand with the other? That was me right then, when I heard her walking alone down the road, muttering her sorrows and plans aloud like a villain from a third-rate Hollywood action flick.
"Stupid, stupid me. I left my clan for that bastard, and he couldn't find anything better than to die at the hands of country bumpkins. Why did I throw everything away – my clan, my parents, my academy education? But never mind – before I feared my family's wrath, but now that I've found the bitch who escaped from Turiy, the clan will forgive my stupidity. I'll live my wonderful life, Grandfather will smooth things over, and I'll continue my studies at the academy and become a magister, just as I always dreamed."
She would have gone on much longer if not for the blow to the back of her head. I knocked her out and immediately bound her – hands securely, even her fingers, gagged, blindfolded – then slung her over my shoulder like a sack of potatoes and strode into the forest. I needed a quiet spot for a thorough interrogation.
I was over the moon – the perfect interrogation subject. She wouldn't know the clan's current state, but I knew nothing about this damn clan at all. And they were my enemies, by the way. After two hours of walking deeper into the woods, away from the river, my captive came to and started squirming. A couple hard smacks to her rear end shut her up. I said nothing so she wouldn't recognize her kidnapper as me. Uncertainty always inspires fear – it lets you marinate the prisoner and break her spirit before the interrogation even begins.
By evening, I spotted an old, dilapidated house in the distance – obviously abandoned for years. Perfect. I headed toward it at a brisk pace.