The Charge skill for warriors allows them to instantly close the gap and slam into enemies, dealing damage on impact.
This sword-and-shield warrior had already decided exactly what kind of “lesson” he’d teach this insolent brat once he got close. Unfortunately for him, that plan fell apart before it even began.
“Huh? What the—?”
To his shock, his Charge was abruptly cut off mid-animation. Then he noticed the debuff icon above his head.
Shadow Silence Sphere.
“…No way.”
Panic bubbled in his gut.
Interrupting Charge was common enough; many Shadow Mages could pull it off. But most either cast the silence too early—which only disabled the skill without canceling the momentum—or too late, allowing the warrior to still close the gap.
This girl? She perfectly timed it right as he activated the skill—completely nullifying it.
Was that really something a child could do?
But he wasn’t a Stormwind Guild elite for nothing. Swallowing his frustration, he decided to brute-force his way over without relying on Charge.
Too bad I wasn’t about to give him that chance.
Torment activated—dot damage and a heavy slow.
Leaving the slowed warrior behind, I turned toward my real target: DarkNail, the Shadow Mage.
DarkNail had actually been preparing to cast Silence Sphere himself when the warrior charged, but the moment he saw the skill animation from my side, he froze.
“Wait a second… You’re a Shadow Mage?!”
He knew for a fact I’d been using Lockpick and Stealth—skills exclusive to Rogues.
That’s because I always disable character name displays. He had no idea that I’d already switched to a new class and identity.
“Why not? And let me show you what a real Shadow Mage looks like.”
With a short chant, I flung Shadow Word straight at him.
Panicking, he tried to dodge, but I was already too fast.
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The hit wiped out a third of his HP in a single cast.
He chugged a low-grade healing potion, then began chanting for Silence Sphere again.
Too slow.
Before he could finish, two more shadow skills struck him in succession.
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His HP dipped back to critical levels. In a panic, he used an instant-heal potion to barely stay alive.
Now fully rattled, DarkNail turned to retreat, running toward the warrior for protection. The sword-and-shield fighter had just broken free of my slowing curse and rushed to his aid.
But I’d already anticipated their plan.
Another Dark Bind hit the warrior, locking him in place. At the same time, I triggered the Shadow Imprint I’d planted behind DarkNail.
The explosion shredded half his HP.
Shadow Word followed up immediately, finishing him off as he collapsed with a look of disbelief on his face.
Their elite Shadow Mage—played to death.
The warrior, just freed from the combined effects of Torment and some unknown slow, watched it all in horror. But as soon as his Charge came off cooldown, he launched himself at me again.
“This time, there’s no way you’ll dodge it!”
He’d calculated that my Silence Sphere wouldn’t be off cooldown yet.
“High spell damage means nothing when you’re face-to-face with me!” he growled.
Right before impact, he raised his shield, aiming to combo the Charge impact with Shield Bash for a stun. It was a technique he’d refined to near perfection—barely anyone could react in time.
But right then, he saw something terrifying:
I was smiling.
A sweet, cute little smile on a loli’s face.
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Suddenly stunned, he couldn’t move.
Wait, what!?
No—he wasn’t paralyzed by fear or distraction.
He noticed a new debuff icon on himself: Stun.
What the hell?
Shadow Mages didn’t have a stun skill!
And then he saw the glowing purple circle at his feet.
Realization struck—a trap.
With a desperate burst of willpower, he yanked himself out of the area right before the circle detonated, narrowly escaping. He raised his sword again and charged.
No matter what… they had to at least land one hit on me, right?
But the next moment, a wave-like pulse spread from beneath me.
Repulsion Halo.
It knocked him exactly into the area I’d marked with Shadow Imprint earlier.
BOOM.
That was the end of that.
Three against one. And they got reverse-swept.
I dusted off my robe and chuckled.
“Soul Counterspell is really useful,” I muttered, watching the skill go on a short cooldown.
Dark Bind and Soul Counterspell were both rare skills I’d looted from chests. The former was similar to Torment but also reduced damage output. The latter could block any incoming skill or attack within a short window, reflect the exact same effect back on the caster, and apply my spell power as bonus damage.
It even synced its cooldown with the blocked skill.
No wonder it was considered an S-tier survival tool for Shadow Mages.
“Oooh, gear drop~?”
I picked up the items left on the ground—one leather chestpiece and a pair of gloves.
A quick appraisal showed the gloves were part of the Dusk Pilgrimage Set.
Oof.
Set gear was way more valuable than random pieces. Lose even one part, and you’d miss out on powerful set bonuses.
DarkNail was gonna cry when he realized what he lost.
I giggled. “Talk about stealing chickens and losing the rice.”
Just a little detour, nothing more.
With most of the nearby chests already looted and two Shadow Mage skill books now in my possession, I did a quick inventory check and headed off toward the Forest Ruins.