The Sword and The Shadow

Leguna was gladly surprised. Wayerliss coming over to pass on his secret move wasn’t exactly what he had in mind. While Wave Blade wasn’t that powerful, it could be used without sound or presence and excelled at surprize attacks. Great destructive power and huge spectacle weren’t useful to assassins. A qualified assassin only needed the right amount of power. The key was how they could best apply that power to the perfect spot. For instance, a person waving around a hammer weighing 150 kilograms without hitting the enemy a single time was just wasting his energy. But if someone could thrust a 150-gram knife accurately into the enemy’s heart, he would’ve accomplished a lot with only a small amount of force. Such was the philosophy behind Wayerliss’s Wave Blade. The skill wasn’t taxing on impetus at all. Each blade unleashed consumed less than half the impetus and energy a Voidbreak Slash did.

But in terms of the threat, how could the unwieldy Voidbreak Slash compare to Wayerliss’s traceless Wave Blade? An energy-savvy fighting style also suited Leguna best. While his speed, explosiveness, and dexterity were top-notch, his stamina was a weakness. A man like Kurdak had thrice his stamina. Even Vera could compare to him, making Wave Blade an exceptionally suitable skill. In fact, it was a really useful skill for any assassin. Since those with lots of stamina would usually develop as warriors that could clash head-on with the enemy without worry or restraint, no assassin was willing to be that wasteful.

“Please teach me!” beckoned Leguna. If he could master Wayerliss’s skill, it would be a great boost. He would be much safer in the upcoming trip to Chino.

Wayerliss nodded.

“I’ve already demonstrated it once. Now, I’ll slow my movements down. Watch closely and be careful not to be injured accidentally.”

“Okay,” affirmed Leguna.

Wayerliss took a few steps back and disappeared into the shadows.

Stealth, huh? thought Leguna. Wave Blade was soundless and formless. He had guessed it probably had something to do with entering stealth, and reality proved to match his expectation.

He held onto Lighteater as he looked around. Wayerliss’s blades made no sound as they approached, so he had to remain alert. Wayerliss attacked not long after. Wave Blade was executed, he could see the space ripple slightly. It was pitch black, but Leguna still saw it. He sidestepped and dodged it before he drew a throwing knife from his thigh pocket and readied himself again. Wayerliss’s Wave Blade came again. Leguna ducked lightning-fast before flinging the knife as he crouched.

Clang! Wayerliss’s figure gradually reappeared, the knife clipped between his index and middle fingers.

“Not bad,” he nodded, satisfied.

“I only guessed it was a close-combat skill, so I threw the knife to test it,” responded Leguna, slightly bowed.

“You were right. It’s meant to be used in close quarters.”

“But, how did you attack while you were hidden?”

Assassins could use their acute control over their impetus to blend their forms with the surrounding environment. Unlike the shroud spell used by magi, which turned their bodies and clothes transparent and invisible to the naked eye, assassins used their impetus to mimic the surrounding environment like adaptive camouflage, making them look seemingly transparent. That was why dark environments were best. It needed extremely fine control over impetus however, assassins couldn’t make any large movements when they were hidden like that, so they couldn’t launch any attacks. Any large movement would break their mimicry. So, Leguna still didn’t understand how Wayerliss managed to launch an attack without revealing himself.

“Tell me your thoughts first,” smiled the elf.

{What do you think?}

{I noticed something, but I want to hear your thoughts first.}

{Just a guess, so I’m not too certain.} Leguna hesitated. He was faced with two saint-ranked experts and it’d be incredibly embarrassing if he stated his hypothesis with too much certainty.

{Go ahead. It’s no big deal if you get it wrong. This is the skill he made himself after all. It’s not realistic to expect you to figure it out from only looking.}

Leguna thought a bit and addressed Wayerliss and Gahrona at the same time.

“I think it has something to do with impetus control. Teacher, while your wave blades aren’t that powerful, they are soundless and formless. There’s no way that can be done without expert impetus control, and it might be the key behind launching an attack in stealth.”

“{Well said,}” both responded.

“It’s already quite a feat to notice this. Give it a try. Try to launch an attack with your impetus when you’re hidden and do your best to stay hidden.”

Leguna nodded. His enhanced stealth allowed him to blend into the darkness easily. With nothing but the moon in the night sky, even Wayerliss had trouble making out his disciple’s form. A few seconds later, Leguna appeared not far away. The moment he gathered impetus in his longsword, he was revealed. Leguna was stunned before he realized he had helplessly failed.

“Not bad. You did great for your first try. You will master this quickly. Try one more time,” said Wayerliss as he approached with a smile. He whispered something to Leguna.

The youth’s eyes lit up before he hid himself again. A few seconds later, Leguna swung his sword and something odd happened. His body blurred a few seconds after it showed. He almost disappeared again, but couldn’t maintain the illusion.

“I failed…”

“Magnificent! A huge success!” Wayerliss nodded. “You did it with my advice, but I’m still amazed. I did far worse when I tried it for the first time.”

“You praise me too much, Teacher.”

{I knew it,} Gahrona exclaimed, {Wave blade’s secrets are crude, but it’s not something the average person can pull off. Re-entering stealth, that is. If not for your enhanced stealth, it’d take you a few years or a decade to master it.}

Hiding oneself so quickly after appearing was the secret Wayerliss whispered. It was the key to executing Wave Blade. Wayerliss had tried to envision a method which would allow him to attack enemies non-stop whilst staying hidden. It would require immense amounts of control and mastery. However, he trained hard for two years only to realize that no matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t achieve a state of maintaining stealth while attacking. He pondered for another half a year before it occurred to him that he could just rapidly hid himself again. While it wasn’t possible to stay hidden after the first attack, why couldn’t he just hide again after attacking? So, he went experimented some more. It soon showed that hiding again was far easier than staying hidden whilst attack. At first, he couldn’t hide again, but, with years of practice, he managed to do so after a few seconds. After many more years, he managed to hide himself again less than a second after attacking. He honed his speed to the maximum slowly and stopped appearing at all. He hid again far too quickly! While he did break stealth when he executed Wave Blade, nobody could see him in that instant.

Wayerliss gave more pointers before he brought out a small booklet and a bottle of potion.

“I’m sure you’ve more or less absorbed what I wrote in that notebook. This contains some of my deeper insights. Take it and analyze it well. I’m sure you’ll learn a lot. It also includes some detailed explanations on Wave Blade. As for this potion, consider it a reward. I know Kurdak’s werewolf blood will cause quite a bit of trouble down the line, so I had the alchemists synthesize this. Though it won’t completely solve his bloodline problem, I can assure you he won’t turn into a werewolf for two years.”

Leguna took the book and potion before thanking his teacher sincerely.

“Not only does it contain my insights, it also record some of the rumors I heard on the continent as well as my views. It’s also is related to the next matter I want to brief you on.”