Ethan drew the *Fanged Fish Dagger*, pointing its tip at his enemy, and said fiercely, "Archangel, I don't want trouble. Pay me 60 gold coins, and we can pretend this never happened."
"Hah, kid, you really don't get the situation, do you?" Archangel sneered, picking at his ear with a disdainful look.
In a scenario like this, Ethan had the nerve to demand compensation? Was he crazy? With so many people surrounding him, did he really think he stood a chance?
"Alright, remember what you just said," Ethan responded coldly, giving Archangel one last glare before activating *Shadow Hide*. In the blink of an eye, he vanished from sight.
It was still the dark hour before dawn, and the entire area was blanketed in shadows. This was Ethan's home ground.
"Damn, he's gone invisible!" Archangel cursed, immediately realizing something was wrong. He hadn't expected the enemy to have an invisibility skill. Was Ethan a rogue? But he didn't look like one.
"Where's the priest? Cast *Light Burst*! We can't let him escape!" Archangel shouted. After all the effort they had put into tracking Ethan, they couldn't afford to let him slip away now.
"I got it, boss!" A priest stepped forward. He was one of the core members of Archangel's elite squad, specializing in support and crowd control. Waving his staff, he summoned an orb of light that floated into the sky.
"Careful!" Archangel suddenly yelled in panic.
"Huh? What's up?" The priest turned his head to look at Archangel, only to have his neck cleanly severed in the next second.
**Ding! You have killed player 'White Manager' and gained 1 point of Sin.**
At the same time, Ethan reappeared next to the corpse, picking up the priest's staff with a smirk. He shot a cold glance at Archangel.
"That's one."
Ethan sneered and swiftly retreated into the shadows, vanishing again.
"Damn it!" Archangel cursed, his face twisting with anger. They had just lost a key support player before the fight had even started. It was an infuriating loss.
"Everyone, stay sharp! Don't give him any openings! Ranged attackers, fall back!" Archangel barked orders at his men. These were all elite players from *Third Heaven*, each one carefully trained. Archangel couldn't afford any more unnecessary losses.
Suddenly, a second scream echoed through the group. Archangel whipped around just in time to see a mage clutching his throat as blood sprayed from his wound.
"That's two," Ethan's voice rang out ominously as his shadowy figure dashed by, quickly vanishing once again.
"Damn it! I told you all to be careful! What the hell is going on?" Archangel was livid. Two of his men had been killed already, and they hadn't even landed a hit on Ethan.
"Boss, what do we do now?"
"What do you think? Priests, cast *Light Burst*! Hunters, summon your pets! Warlocks, call forth your demons! Any skill that can detect stealth, use it now!" Archangel roared, completely enraged. If this continued, they'd lose all control before Ethan even struck again.
Under his orders, the group activated a flurry of detection skills, flooding the area with light, expanding the radius to over thirty yards. Hunters and warlocks summoned their pets and demons, all capable of sensing hidden enemies.
"Finally, they're wising up," Ethan murmured from the safety of the shadows, observing their reactions calmly.
So far, he had used stealth and *Shadow Strike* to eliminate two of Archangel's key players. But that was when they had been unprepared. Now, with all their detection skills active and the approaching dawn, his advantage was rapidly fading.
Scratching his head in frustration, Ethan realized that the current situation wasn't ideal. He had only taken down two enemies, which felt like a waste of opportunity.
"Not enough skills yet, I don't have enough tools to work with," he muttered.
Then, a thought struck him. He opened his player status and glanced at his level.
**Class: Magician (Level 3, 99% XP)**
"I'm just 1% away from hitting Level 4. Once I level up, I can allocate two more points and learn *Create Fire Out of Nothing*," Ethan thought, a plan forming in his mind. He quickly opened his friends list and sent a message to Simon.
"Simon, is No.1 Clone still with you?"
"Yeah, we're together recruiting for a dungeon run. By the way, dude, your clone is insane! How did you even make something like that?" Simon replied.
"It's a long story. Listen, I need No.1 Clone to grind monsters and get to Level 4 as quickly as possible."
"What's going on, Ethan? Why the sudden rush?"
"I've run into some trouble, but it's nothing major. Just pass the message to No.1 Clone, alright?"
"Got it."
…
In the snowy highlands of *The Northlands*, Simon ended the call and turned to No.1 Clone, who was busy chatting with another player. Since *Icewind Brigade* had just been formed, they were in the middle of recruiting new members. So far, they had brought in three additional players.
Feeling Simon's gaze, No.1 Clone turned toward him. "What's up? Ethan called?"
"Yeah, he said you need to level up fast to hit Level 4," Simon explained.
"Level 4, huh?" No.1 Clone raised an eyebrow, knowing full well that once he hit Level 4, he'd be able to learn the powerful *Create Fire Out of Nothing* spell, further expanding his magical arsenal.
"Looks like Ethan's hit a bit of a snag," No.1 Clone murmured.
"So, what now? Are we still going to do the dungeon?" Simon asked.
"No, we'll skip the dungeon for now. I remember there's a cave bear boss near *Cross Town*. We'll go kill that first," No.1 Clone said.
"Alright, sounds good to me."
Without wasting time, they gathered their small group of recruits and headed toward the outskirts of *Cross Town*.
…
Back near *Frostleaf Town*, Ethan continued to hide in the shadows, staying patient.
Meanwhile, Archangel grew increasingly anxious. They were exposed, while Ethan lurked unseen. Time was ticking, and in the early stages of the game, every minute was precious.
After a brief moment of thought, Archangel made a decision. He opened the guild chat and began issuing orders.
"Black Armor, have you learned *Holy Shield* yet?"
"Yeah, I've got it."
*Black Armor* was a paladin, and *Holy Shield* was his signature skill. It gave a teammate a three-second invincibility shield.
"Vet, do you have *Blood Track*?" Archangel asked next.
"I do," replied Vet, one of the group's hunters. *Blood Track* was a powerful tracking skill, marking an enemy with a blood trail that made them impossible to hide.
With *Blood Track*, no amount of stealth would help Ethan evade detection. Similar abilities included *War Chains* and *Demonic Shackles*, all of which countered stealthy opponents.
"Good. Here's the plan. We're going to fake a retreat, and I'll lag behind the group. Dustwalker will likely go for me. Black Armor, be ready to cast *Holy Shield* on me. Vet, once he's exposed, hit him with *Blood Track*. Understood?"
"Understood, boss! We've got your back," the team responded.
"Alright then."
Archangel nodded, then turned off the guild chat. Raising his voice, he commanded, "Everyone, fall back to *Frostleaf Town*. Today's operation is canceled."
"Yes, sir!" the group responded in unison.