```
...
"Shadowstrike" is a cunning assassination method that allows for a short movement with the help of an enemy's shadow before instantaneously inflicting massive damage from behind the target.
Matthew immediately crafted a straw doll and had Soldier demonstrate it.
The result was quite shocking.
"If you're hit by Soldier's Shadowstrike, you can forget about the softies, even melee units around Tier 3, wearing medium armor and below, would shed a layer!"
What's more treacherous,
Shadowstrike is just the opening move in a series of combos that Rogues can unleash once they get up close.
Take Soldier, the Blade Dancer, for example.
Right after Shadowstrike, he can immediately follow up with the Burial Dance, an incredibly damaging finishing move.
Low-level adventurers would struggle to defend against this sudden and relentless barrage of attacks.
"Of course, when facing a Rogue, the first rule is to keep them from getting close."
Matthew didn't believe that Garcia's Armor would hold up for long if he got entangled with an elite Rogue. In his opinion, magic armor is your last line of defense, and when you're forced to rely on it, your life is not far from others' grasp.
Of course, that didn't mean the last line of defense was unimportant.
...
Another blue keyword was "Poison Crafting."
An ability covering a range of steps including poison identification, extraction, poison bottle preparation, and weapon application.
Due to limited energy,
Matthew knew very little about herbology and toxicology.
Now that Soldier had been enhanced with such an ability, it also served as compensation for his own shortcomings in this area.
"In the future, I can have Soldier collect poisons, create poison bottles, make some extra – they can be used by him, and my crossbow bolts will be more lethal."
...
If Shadowstrike and Poison Crafting were still within Matthew's grasp of comprehension,
the next two white keywords were somewhat baffling.
"What the heck is 'Farming Techniques'?"
Was Soldier once a farmer in his past life?
"Raising young?"
Did he rear piglets or other small animals in his past life, or was Soldier actually a woman?
Or perhaps he was a man with rich experience in nurturing human children?
Matthew looked at Soldier with a puzzled gaze.
The latter still responded with a clueless face.
After a while,
while Matthew's gaze was away,
he found a corner of the bed to quietly sit down.
Matthew felt somewhat helpless.
"I didn't expect that grey keyword that just popped up to take effect so soon!"
"Slacking Off (Grey): Your skeleton has learned to slack off when not in combat."
...
Thank goodness it's limited to non-combat situations!
If he slacked off in battle,
Matthew would have had to reconsider whether to give him any more strengthening chances.
His gaze moved past the grey keyword.
The good news was,
the last two keywords were purple.
The bad news,
those keywords didn't seem all that serious.
...
"Shadow Dance Steps (Purple): Your skeleton can pleasure and charm targets by rapidly and vigorously gyrating its hips.
At the same time, part of its dance moves can traverse the shadow realm, allowing it to quickly close in on the target.
...
Bondage Master (Purple): Your skeleton is adept in the use of rope skills (including binding), even during combat.
Requirement: Before you begin, please prepare at least one sturdy magic rope for him."
...
"So what exactly is being taught in the Sword Dancer profession?"
Matthew fell into deep confusion.
He looked at Soldier again.
The latter hesitated for a moment,
then got up and gyrated his hips toward Matthew.
The air vibrated slightly.
Matthew's eyelids twitched.
In that instant,
his brain felt almost dizzy!
"Stop!"
He quickly grabbed Soldier's eagerly moving hips.
"I get it, Shadow Dance Steps are indeed sharp, this must have tapped into the power of some Ritual spell."
Matthew rubbed his temples, trying to clear his head.
If this kept up,
he might start to find even this skeleton attractively chiseled.
This was the effect of the charm.
His will wasn't low, and being Soldier's master, he was still affected.
If it were someone else...
A hint of anticipation suddenly arose in Matthew's heart!
He took a closer look at Soldier.
He found that the skeleton before him was nowhere near the same as when he first selected it.
Its bones were robust and well-rounded, with a heavy internal deposit of silver specks – cleaner than other skeletons to the point of being spotless!
Its entire body was composed of nothing but pearly white bones with silver edges.
"Have you bathed yourself?"
Matthew asked thoughtfully.
Soldier hesitated for a moment.
After a full ten seconds,
he nodded uncertainly.
Matthew looked resigned.
Soldier had many positives, plenty of potential, but his Intelligence was a little too low.
This was a common issue with the undead.
Even Phily, the bone dragon, had only 4 points of Intelligence – Intelligence didn't entirely represent IQ, but a low Intelligence usually didn't bode well for smarts.
Soldier was currently mentally equivalent to a 5-year-old child.
With Matthew's command, he was manageable.
On his own, he was almost guaranteed to cause trouble!
"By this account, Peggy is truly extraordinary, worthy of the risk I took when I found her in the Land of Gold."
A trace of nostalgia appeared in Matthew's eyes.
However, very soon,
his memories were interrupted.
"Sword, sword, I... I, sword!"
```
Interrupted thoughts came from Soldier's soul fire through the undying contract.
Matthew nodded thoughtfully.
"You want a good knife? A short one?"
Ten seconds later.
"Two... two knives."
Soldier replied.
"I understand. I'll craft two suitable short knives for you as soon as possible."
"Thank you... Master."
This time, the response only took three seconds.
...
"Your soldier's (skeleton) loyalty indicators towards you have increased to 99 due to your promise!"
...
"It's still more loyal to raise your own!"
Matthew exclaimed.
...
After having a simple dinner inside his small cabin, it was already a dim night outside.
Matthew stepped out the door.
Not far away, the oak forest was twinkling with faint white light.
During the day, the hidden oak tree fairies swarmed out.
Except for Princess Lulu, almost all the fairies were dancing around Ella the owl.
Meanwhile, Ella stood atop the canopy of an Oak Tree.
Her eyes closed, she murmured incantations.
The subtle divine spell ripples spread like ripples.
Matthew walked through the forest.
Once again, the feeling of being watched by numerous well-meaning eyes came over him.
She was conducting an "enlightenment" for the oak forest.
As a Nature Soul blessed by the Goddess of Moon, Ella's proficiency in the Nature Domain far exceeded Lulu's.
Through the "enlightenment" ritual,
she could infuse the oak forest with more Intelligence and vitality.
The Oak Trees, in turn, became healthier,
and during their long growth.
If someone consistently performed enlightenment on them, there would be a greater chance that tree spirits—what people commonly call tree guardians—would emerge from their midst.
If lucky, even one or two Tree Shepherds might be born.
This was greatly beneficial for the development of the forest.
But for the enlightener herself, it also meant a huge expenditure of energy.
Perhaps because she had been given the cold shoulder at Matthew's,
Ella, fearing he wouldn't agree to her removing pests tonight, preemptively fulfilled the promise Matthew had previously requested of her.
...
"Notification: Your nature ally Ella has completed an enlightenment ritual for your oak forest.
Your 'domain: Oak Tree' has achieved a slight increase!"
...
Is there such a benefit?
Matthew was pleasantly surprised.
Could enlightenment not only benefit the Oak Trees, but also strengthen his domain power?
"Seems like I'll need to find a way to have Ella come over more often after the three-year term is up."
Matthew thought.
The only uncertain factor was actually Lulu.
Also being a spirit of nature, Lulu had clearly come to regard the oak forest as her home.
She might tolerate Ella coming here to enlighten for a short time due to Matthew's will,
but if it went on for too long,
she definitely wouldn't be able to stand it.
Because it would be like stealing her job.
"Lulu will probably have similar Abilities in the future, right?"
He mused.
The white light in the forest had already receded.
The oak tree fairies had disappeared without a trace.
Only Ella was left, dragging her exhausted body to Matthew's front.
"Hey Matthew, I didn't do too bad, right?"
Ella asked with her head drooping.
Matthew nodded.
He could feel the joy of the Oak Trees.
Ella clearly hadn't been slacking off.
Matthew's demeanor naturally became more cordial:
"Well done, Ella. You did very well."
Ella said happily,
"So, can we go remove the pests now?"
But Matthew still shook his head.
In Ella's puzzled gaze, he asked,
"Do you know how to sprout seeds?"
Ella seemed to guess something and nodded vigorously, "I do, I do, Matthew, it's a basic skill for a Nature Soul! I got it; you're saying you plant trees, and I watch you carrying seedlings around every day, so, did you run out of saplings?"
Matthew said approvingly,
"You're smart. Indeed, I'm running short on saplings, but I have a small greenhouse where I'm cultivating some oak seeds, yet if they germinate normally, it'll be too slow. So, I'd like you to help with the sprouting—no need to mature them all, just a small part will do. We can do it in batches, and it will depend on how much energy you have."
"After all, you've just completed an enlightenment, and you must have expended a lot."
Ella said eagerly,
"Take me to it, I'll mature them all tonight, no need for batches!"
Matthew hesitated,
"Is that alright? Your body..."
Ella was brimming with confidence,
"Don't underestimate the perseverance of a spirit of nature, Matthew!"
"It's just a small greenhouse, I can handle it!"
...
Twenty minutes later.
In Matthew's house in Rolling Stone Town.
Inside the greenhouse on the eastern side,
Peggy watched with interest as Ella's face showed shock.
"This, this is what you call a 'small' greenhouse?"
Miss Owl Ella spoke tremulously.
She stared at the seemingly endless mini greenhouses before her,
almost fainting from the shock.
"The previous owner of this house left behind a space-folding ritual field here, but my mana is insufficient, only able to activate a small part of it, currently just shy of 15 acres of space."
Matthew said with a pleasant face,
"Do you need me to give you a detailed introduction to the working environment that lies ahead?"
...