Atticus blitzed through the village with intense speed, the darkness masking his every move.
'I wasted too much time killing the hunters; I should survey the village once more to make sure there's no one outside,' he thought, increasing his speed and circling the village.
During the few minutes he spent at the hunters' hall, he hoped no one had ventured outside. It was clear to him by now that the inhabitants were complacent and relaxed. His experience with the scouts had made that clear.
A completely quiet environment would surely raise suspicion. It took Atticus only a few seconds to circle the village, carefully avoiding the mansion in the center.
Seeing no one in sight, he sped towards his next destination—the east side of the village.
The eastern part of the village housed the main fighting force of the Obsidian Order, the group with the most significant numbers, excluding the recruits.
Upon reaching the location, Atticus immediately noted that it was divided into two sections.
On the outer parts, there was a large and expansive training ground surrounded by small buildings that Atticus assumed were likely residential quarters.
In contrast, the inner section featured a much larger, more luxurious, and imposing building. Atticus immediately noticed an odd division between these sections.
Firstly, a large wall separated the two parts, along with a grand gate that no one in the outer section dared to approach.
Atticus found this strange arrangement puzzling at first, but his confusion didn't last long. After observing the people in the outer section for a few minutes, he understood the situation.
The people in the outer section were weaker, while those in the inner section were stronger. It was as simple as that. The strong made the rules—a concept Atticus knew all too well.
Having come to this conclusion, Atticus determined his next course of action.
'The inner section first,' he decided.
The people in the outer section he had observed were all below the master-rank, with the highest being at the expert+ rank.
This indicated that the people in the inner section were likely more powerful.
He could easily and silently kill those in the outer section, but it would be a problem if anyone from the inner section got wind of his actions. He had no intention of facing a grandmaster+ directly.
After settling on his plan, Atticus sneaked past the hundreds of men and women training and sparring on the training grounds.
Unlike the hunters and scouts, these individuals had no laid-back demeanor. Their auras were sharp, and they were ready for battle at any moment.
Atticus soon reached the wall separating the two sections and scaled it effortlessly. The wall was a bit far from the large building, and Atticus had to cross a plain, flat field to reach it. There were no covers, but fortunately, he had the darkness on his side.
Atticus noted five different doors, each in different directions of the building. However, they were all sealed shut, with no one coming in or out.
'Opening a door without knowing what's on the other side is dangerous, even if I'm invisible. Plus I don't have time to waste,' Atticus thought. He knew that opening a door might alert everyone inside to his presence.
'I won't have the element of surprise because I don't know the situation inside, plus the battle would get loud. I can't risk creating an air barrier this large, especially when the people in the outer section are still there.'
'Should I go for the outer section first, then?' he pondered.
Since the building in the inner section was completely enclosed with no one in sight, it made sense to use this opportunity to take care of the outer section first.
However, Atticus shook his head. If the building was enclosed, it might be just as effective to handle the inner section first—they were practically in a secluded space.
'Let's check from above,' he decided, turning his gaze upwards and ascending to the roof.
'It won't work,' he realized.
Unlike what he had expected, the roof was like a large, open, see-through glass. It allowed him to see inside, but getting through it would be difficult—breaking glass would create far too much noise.
But fortunately, Atticus had gotten a glimpse of the interior and noticed that in the large area where everyone was training, there were no visible doors.
This meant the doors were likely at the far end, out of easy view. But opening a door was still risky, so Atticus found an alternative.
Reaching the ground, Atticus approached the wall beside the door and placed his palm on it. During his lessons in the elemental sanctums, Atticus had learned how to manipulate minerals beyond just earth.
The building wasn't made from earth, but it was constructed from a sturdy material that he could fortunately manipulate.
The wall swirled and rippled, allowing Atticus to step through it as though it were water. Once inside, Atticus turned and made a small hole in the wall, observing that the door led to a long hallway illuminated by bright lights.
After ensuring the hallway was clear, Atticus emerged from the wall and silently began making his way through it. The hallway wasn't very wide, but it had doors on each side.
Considering the lack of other buildings, Atticus believed these were the rooms of the people in the inner section. There were five doors to the building, and from what Atticus had seen, it seemed as though the rooms extended across multiple stories.
'The light element is best in this situation,' he thought.
The hallway was brightly lit, and he believed illusions would serve him better in this environment.
'This will take some time. What would be the best move?' Atticus pondered.
This situation wasn't as straightforward as it had been with the hunters. The hunters had all been gathered together in one place, but this was different and could get chaotic if he wasn't careful.
'I should target the rooms first,' Atticus decided.
He believed this was the best course of action. He would kill the men in their rooms first before moving to the main hall. It wouldn't make sense for someone to randomly leave their room to use the bathroom or something else and find him battling.
Atticus immediately got to work. The first three rooms he entered were empty, but in the fourth room, he encountered yet another strange scene—a member of the Obsidian Order, a literal terrorist group, was praying.
Atticus killed him without hesitation.
He continued moving and suddenly came across two men stepping out of their rooms, one in front of him and one behind.
Atticus paused, standing still.
The two men saw each other and the one behind immediately grinned.
"Ah, you still haven't had enough of the beating I gave you last time, huh!" the man behind Atticus taunted as he began approaching the other man, who turned crimson with embarrassment.
"Shut the hell up! It was a fluke," the second man retorted.
"Yeah, yeah," the first man chuckled, but as he passed by Atticus, his laughter strained—an action that Atticus immediately noticed.
'He noticed me,' Atticus thought.
"We'll see if it was a fluke," the man continued after a brief pause, but Atticus was already on high alert, his suit morphing into a sword.
Atticus's eyes narrowed as he sensed the man suddenly channeling mana into his spatial ring. There was no room for hesitation—Atticus's figure blurred, and the heads of both men were instantly separated from their bodies.
Just as Atticus was about to relax, the unthinkable happened. A round, iron ball suddenly materialized inches away from the first man's lifeless hand, rolling across the ground.
Seeing that it was simply a ball, Atticus relaxed—a decision he would soon regret.
Artifacts in Eldoralth were far too numerous, and many had simply given up naming them. They came in different shapes and sizes, making it nearly impossible to determine their function.
Atticus already knew this, but this event would ingrain the lesson deep within him.
It all happened so fast and without warning.
A bright light radiated from the iron ball, and a voice with an intensity that made the walls tremble erupted outward:
"INTRUDER!!"