Du-dum du-dum du-dum du-dum!

The thundering sound of hooves striking the earth interrupted the night's tranquility as three horses tore through the dense forest at breakneck speed. Drixlia led the pack, easily maneuvering through the trees. Larsial and Shadow urged their mounts to follow the same paths it took, neither of them confident in their horses' ability to run through the forest on their own at such high speeds.

Kashi's eyes narrowed as they began to near the area he previously encountered the Vine Blight. Ferulic's Practice Bow appeared in his left hand while a quiver of arrows formed on his right which he then slung over his shoulder. The daeben took out an arrow and nocked it, gaze focused on a dead tree just a few meters ahead.

Just before they reached the tree, Kashi pulled Drixlia to a halt. He quickly dismounted and instructed Shadow and Larsial to do the same. "We'll go on foot from here. It'll be disastrous if a Vine Blight trips the horses while they're sprinting."

"What about the horses?" Shadow asked.

"Shadow's right. We can't leave them out here on their own." Larsial reined her mount over.

"Don't worry about that." Kashi placated them. He placed his right hand on Drixlia then watched as a curtain of light spread around it. Moments later, the light vanished along with Drixlia. "I'll keep them in my dimension for now." To Kashi's surprise, the Shadow and Larsial's mounts approached him of their own volition, uncharacteristically whinnying like little mares. Kashi was not sure, but he had a feeling it had something to do with the aura that leaked out when he placed Drixlia in his dimension.

Kashi made a mental note to do an experiment on this later. But for the moment, he placed both horses in his dimension. Kashi's brows wrinkled as the horses disappeared. The mana drain had been a little more than he had expected. It seemed he could not just go around placing living beings indiscriminately into his world. He made another mental note to find a more cost-effective method.

"Alright, let's do this," Kashi said then charged ahead at full speed with Shadow and Larsial following. The trio blurred through the forest, their pathing zig-zag, seemingly chaotic and through tree branches rather than the ground. The assassins behind Kashi understood the brilliance behind the movement. Their pathing was aimed at highly reducing the chances of a successful ambush by a scouting enemy. If the enemy could not accurately tell where they would be at a certain point in time, it would be difficult to set an ambush.

Usually, this would force enemies to face them in a frontal. Even then, it would not be a concentrated force, but a split up faction hoping to tie them down long enough for the others to catch up.

Their efforts soon proved to be the right one as less than ten minutes later, Kashi suddenly shouted. "Descend!"

The trio dropped to the ground as dozens of half-a-meter needles zipped past their locations. A grin spread on Kashi's face as he glared at five Needle Blights. He nocked an arrow, preparing to face them, but Shadow and Larsial suddenly dashed past.

"Leave this to us."

Kashi thought about it, then relaxed his stance. He had yet to truly see Shadow in action against non-boss like characters. He was intrigued to see how the assassin fought. He also glanced at Larsial's back. This would also be a good time to judge her attitude. He decided to keep an eye out for any more reinforcements while spectating the fight.

Shadow did not know what Kashi was thinking about. The soft-spoken assassin only had a single thing in his mind at that moment. Kill everything!

Whish! Whish!

Shadow's cold eyes constricted as dozens of needles were launched toward them. Kashi watched, wondering how the pair of assassins would deal with this. Shadow drew a pair of short, black daggers from his waist and charged head on to meet the needles. To his side, Larsial's runes lit up as she stomped hard against the earth.

Larsial leaped over the needles in one clean swoop, daggers drawn as she reached the apex of her jump. The Needle Blights raised their arms. They had been hoping she would do just that. She could not evade mid-air and was thus an easy target. Her subsequent demise should have been the foregone conclusion, but Shadow chose that moment to erupt!

Clang! Clang! Clang!

Kashi's eyes nearly bulged out of their sockets as Shadow's feet erupted in a strange rhythm, his body seemingly fleeting through the needles. The assassin's arms blurred as they deflected the needles back at the Needle Blights.

The Needle Blights were forced to stop their attack on Larsial as Shadow's retaliation struck true. The Needle Blights staggered as the needles tore through them and roared in rage at being struck by their own attack. They turned to skewer Shadow, but to their surprise, he seemed to have disappeared.

A sense of danger struck their senses and the lead Needle Blight looked down to see the white-haired reaper sliding across the earth. By the time he noticed Shadow, the assassin was already in the process of sliding beneath his legs. Shadow had used the famous knight skill [Charge], one of the few skills that allowed a person to quickly cover a short distance without relying on feet movement. [Charge] sent its user sliding across a short distance. It was quite a handy skill because its cooldown was only two seconds, hence it could almost be spammed non-stop. Usually, Knights used it to get close to enemies and bash them with their shields. In Shadow's case, immediately he activated the skill, he ducked, bringing himself closer to the ground.

The quick movement was a very effective way of dodging enemy sightlines. This was one example of the uniqueness of L.N.E which allowed players to learn any skill regardless of class. Battles would always hold a greater hint of unpredictability as no one would know what skills a player or Resident would use next regardless of their primary class.

Needle Blight-1 certainly did not appreciate Shadow's little stunt. It punched at Shadow, but its fist only hit the earth as Shadow had already slid all the way to its back. The assassin kicked off the earth and unleashed a rapid assault on the Needle Blight's exposed back. Needle Blight-1 was staggered by the rapid attacks and was unable to extricate itself. Luckily, it was not alone.

The closest Needle Blight, Needle Blight-2 rushed forward and swung at Shadow's back with its sharp claws. In response, Shadow sheathed the right blade and completed his chain of attacks on the lead Needle Blight-1 with a powerful palm strike that launched the Needle Blight into the sky while the blade in his left hand blocked Needle Blight-2's strike.

Shadow had learned from Kashi not to focus solely on Dexterity and Agility like most Assassins. He made sure to put invest some points in strength for moments like this.

"Nice!"

The Needle Blights only now recalled there was one more opponent they'd left in the air. Larsial happily accepted the gift Shadow had sent her. A faint spider silhouette appeared formed behind Larsial as she brandished her blades at the incoming Needle Blight-1. With a snarky grunt, the spider's legs repeatedly struck the suspended Needle Blight. The miserable Needle Blight-1 could not mount any modicum of resistance as it was mauled by the angry spider. [Falling Spider] had a three-second duration, during which both the attacker and the victim would be suspended mid-air.

While Larsial punished the airborne Blight, Shadow glared at the second Needle Blight through the gaps in its claws. The assassin's arm dipped under the blow, but he had no intention of engaging in a battle of strength. The micro-second he bought with the initial block was more than enough.

In response to the blow, Shadow made a very un-assassin-like move. He once again unleashed [Charge], ramming his elbow into Needle Blight-2's chest. Unfortunately, he lacked strength and only managed to push it two steps back. Also, the claws slid off his blade and tore down his back.

Shadow paid no heed to the wound. He drove his free fist into the Needle Blight's abdomen, forcing it to take another step back. A sinister red aura coated the dagger in Shadow's left hand as he swung upward, tearing a large gash in the Needle Blight's abdomen. [Wild Strike] was an unblockable skill, but Shadow used it for its secondary effect which had a 100% chance of staggering an opponent if it hit (except if the opponent has stagger immunities). Depending on a number of factors, that stagger could last for a micro-second to as long as three seconds.

Shadow was not interested in finding out how long this skill would last. He circled around to the Needle Blight's back and unleashed a violent torrent of attacks at the staggered back within a second. In the next, he once again slapped the Needle Blight's back. This time, however, he used [Iron Palm] which unleashed a strike with double his normal strength. This skill, unlike [Charge], had a cooldown time of 30 seconds and had a penalty of reducing its user's strength by 5% after it was used for 20 seconds. Shadow had only used it because, like [Wild Strike], it had a 50% chance of staggering an opponent. However, it had a hidden effect which had a 90% chance of doubling the stagger time of an opponent that was already staggered.

Shadow seemed to be blessed by Lady Luck as Needle Blight-2 could only stare dumbly as it was forced roughly six steps back.

"I could kiss you right now!"

Shadow ignored Larsial's shout as he waited for the remaining three Needle Blights. This time, he had lost the element of surprise as all three charged at him at the same time.

Meanwhile, above, Larsial's three-second assault had come to an end. Her twin daggers drew a deadly curve in the air as they struck down at Needle Blight-1. [Ox Horn] was a dual-handed skill that knocked down opponents. When airborne, it had a hidden effect of shooting its target to the ground with the force of a bullet, releasing a shockwave that stunned enemies in a five-meter radius for a brief second.

As it so happened, Needle Blight-1 happened to crash into the unsuspecting, staggered Needle-Blight-2. This was no accident, but something Larsial and Shadow had carefully arranged. It was hard to believe this was the first time these two were cooperating.

The crash had the intended effect. Shadow's cold gaze flashed as a shockwave blew past him and struck the incoming Needle Blights, effectively stunning them. Shadow's gaze suddenly hardened as he looked past the Blights into the depth of the forest.

Behind him, Larsial dropped to the earth and drove her blades through the heads of the fallen Blights. Her eyes widened in shock as a sigil of a red skull appeared on their chests and exploded, instantly decimating both monsters. She recognized this skill all too well. Shadow had used it on her during the war. [Mark of Doom], but, this time, Shadow had used it in tandem with [Marked Despair].

[Marked Despair] was a branch of [Mark of Doom] that formed a mini-mana bomb on the target. Every successful strike on the opponent afterward would increase the final potency of the bomb. The skill lasted for eight seconds before it would automatically self-detonate if the user chose not to detonate early.

Shadow had successfully trained the skill to Lv.2 Expert which allowed him to place two marks, both of which had 30-second cooldowns. The assassin had sneakily marked both Needle Blights during his assault. The subsequent flurry of attacks on both monsters charged up the marks which he finally denoted after Larsial's final strike.

That was two monsters down, but Shadow had not followed up with an attack on the stunned Needle Blights. This was because he had sensed a massive threat approaching from within the forest.

Boom!

As if in confirmation of Shadow's fears, a host of arrows shattered the remaining Needle Blights to pieces. A moment later, Kashi showed up at Shadow's right, hard gaze fixed on the darkness ahead. The daeben gripped Ferulic's Practice Bow in his hand, indicating how seriously he took the approaching threat. Larsial walked up to Kashi's right and brandished her daggers.

Any warrior worth their blade could sense the incoming monster. This would not be an easy fight.

Clop, clop, clop!

Despite the tense atmosphere, a smile spread on Kashi's face as the tell-tale sound of hooves against earth drifted into his ears. Only one race would dare race through the forest on hooves.

"Get ready!" Kashi prompted and the trio got into battle positions.

Rustle...

Whoosh!

Kashi's eyes glowed as a heavily injured, massive centaur wielding a massive spear burst out of the trees into the little clearing. The right side of his head was shaved bald, while long silver hair draped down the left side in a style the real world would have tagged as rebellious emo-lord. However, there was nothing emo about the muscular, tattoed body riddled with injuries from a recently difficult battle.

The centaur's brown fur had darkened to a dirty red from dried blood, but the spirit in his dark eyes had not dimmed in the slightest. However, a wave of crushing disappointment dimmed the centaur's gaze as soon as he saw Kashi's team. He'd heard the sound of fighting and hoped it was one of his comrades. Unfortunately, it was a party of Outlanders and only three of them at that.

The centaur's charging speed took him past the trio, but he immediately circled around and stood by their side. He had inadvertently brought it along as he ran. If he continued running, this trio would be forced to face it in his place. He was not a man without honor. He would not have another fight his battle. A deep, authoritative voice boomed out, "You three, get out of here! It's too dangerous!"

Kashi cast a grateful glance at the centaur warrior. Just this action alone had proven this man's integrity more than any words could. The daeben laughed and stepped in front of the centaur, shielding him. "Do not worry, and leave this to us while you treat yourself. We came here in search of danger."

The centaur coldly harrumphed. In the past months, he had met too many overconfident adventurers who did not know how to spell 'Fear' until it was too late. "Do not overestimate yourself," the centaur admonished. "It isn't something you can fight!?"

"It?" Kashi repeated with a chuckle. "I guess we're playing the pronoun game. Rather than waste time telling us to run, why don't you tell us what it is?"

The centaur's gaze hardened, but he brandished his spear nonetheless. "It is-"

Crash! Boom!

Kashi looked at the creature that burst into the clearing with a wry smile. "Well now, you really need to work on your persuasion skills centaur-san..."

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A/N: Two Chapters in a Row, back-to-back. Kinda surprised me too. Couldn't really focus on anything until I completed this particular chapter. Not the first time this has happened either. Anyway, got a little Shadow and Larsial assassin action. Also gave me a chance to explore a fight with lots of skills flying around. Due to always focusing on Kashi, I haven't really had a chance to explore how other characters utilize their skills. Hope to remedy that in future chapters... This was good practice.

Picture of the Day

Imagine if Shadow took the samurai path. I imagine he woulda ended up looking something like this. Still cold, deadly and badass...