Chapter 14: First Mission

Upon hearing the brown-haired man's words, Charles narrowed his eyes for a moment and then greeted him with a polite smile,

"Please to me you, Mr. Russell."

Meanwhile, Russell curled his lips upward and nodded his head.

"Bishop Reynolds told me about you. I also learned about your past achievements through some investigation." Russell paused for a moment and then continued with a chuckle,

"Your actions are bold and ruthless, kid. These types of characters are what we needed in the Withering Shadows. Before we discuss further, take a seat." Russell pointed his finger at the wooden chair placed in front of the table and took out many documents from the cupboard.

Meanwhile, Charles sat on the wooden chair and patiently waited for Russell to continue.

"Charles Nightwind. We had already learned more about your background and even knew about your inheritance gift. We agreed to take you as a member of Withering Shadows is part of that reason. But before that, I will send you on a mission with some members, and then I will decide about your position by calculating your combat capabilities. If you succeed in the first mission, you can come here to sign these documents and become an official member of Withering Shadows. But if you end up failing in the first mission, then you will have to wait for one year."

"If you succeeded in the first mission, we will also send a warning letter to your family and will inform them about your position in Life Church. As for how they respond to Church's warning, it's not within our hands. You know the rules; we are not allowed to intervene in others' family business. We will back you up and intervene if the action leads to a life and death situation. I think Bishop Reynolds had already told you about the rules and regulations of Withering Shadows, right?"

Charles nodded his head as he listened to Russell's words and asked,

"What is my first mission?"

Russell grinned widely and then gave a black color document file to him. Charles opened the file carefully and skimmed through it.

"Helping the ACES team to hunt a Rank 2 Distorted Shadow, is it?" He peered into Russell's black eyes and asked calmly.

"Yes." Russell nodded his head and smiled. His mysterious smile made Charles's face turn puzzlement.

"Tell me more about ACES team members." Charles narrowed his eyes for a second and asked,

"You will see them in a few minutes. Team Aces had four members, but it became three a few days ago. We lost one elite member during a fight against the Demonic Cult members and we are in dire need of replacement. You will be the replacement for now. If you achieve some merits during the next mission, Team leader Emilia Wilson might accept you as her new team member." Russell said while turning his face solemn.

'Emilia Wilson? That old lady is the team leader?' Charles got startled a little and then nodded.

"You can go to the reception hall and wait for the Aces Team's arrival. You guys will be heading out of Riverdale City before noon." Russell said while waving his hand and then started reading other documents.

Charles let out a sigh and walked out of Russell's office room.

He then moved towards the right corner and sat on the empty wooden chair.

A few hours later, two guests entered the reception hall and politely greeted Emilia Wilson. One was a 30-year-old bald man, while the other was a 50-year-old muscular man. The bald man wore normal half-sleeved linen shirts, linen pants, and normal footwears and looked like an average guy. He had black eyes, a round face, and a hawk nose. On the other hand, the old-muscular man wore a neat black surcoat, black pants, and leather shoes and looked more like an expert killer. He had blonde hair, oceanic eyes, an oval face, and pale skin.

In the meantime, Charles cast [Inspect] skill on those two new faces and checked their skills.

Bald headed guy's name was Andrew Harris, while the muscular guy's name was Luke Clark. Andrew was a Rank-2 Elite Man and had combat-related skills. Luke, on the other hand, was a Rank-2 Bowman!

He had some exception skills like, [Keep Sense], [True Mark], [Tracking], and [Sniping]!

'He also has a troublesome unique skill called [Devil's Heart].' He furrowed his brows.

Meanwhile, the trio chatted among themselves for a few minutes and then turned their attentions towards Charles. The bald man and the muscular man showed annoyance expressions on their faces, while Emilia showed an uninterested expression.

As they were about to continue their discussion, Russell opened his office door and walked in. He then glanced at the trio first, then towards Charles, and let out a disappointing sigh.

"Charles, come here." He waved his hand towards Charles and went near the trio.

Upon hearing Russell's words, Charles stood up from his seat and followed after him.

"Good day, Branch Head!" After noticing Russell's arrival, the trio turned their faces serious and greeted him politely.

"Hmm," Russell nodded his head and then spoke,

"I have a job for your team."

"Sir. Russell, we won't allow this powerless kid to join our team." Emilia looked at Charles with a frown and said decisively.

"I know he is a powerless kid. That's why I'm asking you guys to show him what a real battle looks like." Russell patted on Charles's shoulder and said with a smile.

"What is his class?" The bald man, Andrew, asked while narrowing his black eyes.

"He is an apprentice fire mage. From his earlier battle records, we concluded that he also seems to have consumed thief Class-Gem. His battle skill looks fine in the report."

"Is he a Dual-Class holder? Nurturing him is a waste of time, Sir. Russell. It will take years even for a peerless genius to rank up from Apprentice Mage to a Fire Weaver. But he doesn't look like a genius; he might take decades to Rank Up." The muscular guy said with a disappointing tone.

Upon hearing Luke's words, Russell shook his head and said,

"He has a unique inheritance gift."

"Oh? Care to explain more about it?" The muscular guy, Luke, gave Charles a skeptical look and asked.

"It's classified. Only Bishop Reynolds and I knew about his skill, and we don't have the authority to share it with others. But if the real owner agrees, I might tell you." Russell spoke while giving Charles a meaningful look.

'Oh? You want me to tell my secret to gain their trust?' Charles easily saw through Russell's naive plan and snorted inwardly.

"If you guys are willing to share information about your trump cards, I will be more willing to tell you about mine." He said coldly.

"Don't be mad, kid." Emilia gave Luke a piercing look and then turned her gaze towards Russell.

"Is he worth nurturing?" Her voice was steady.

Russell nodded his head and added,

"Bishop Reynolds thinks highly of him."

Upon hearing those words, Emilia's grey eyes widened in surprise. A second later, she nodded her head and probed more about their mission.

"What are we after?"

"Yesterday, we got a piece of information about a sighting of a Distorted Shadow in Greylake Forest. A few wild hunters spotted that creature in the Greylake Forest two days ago, and the Town Chief asked the Riverdale City Lord's help. They also told in the report that many strange events like kidnappings, murders, and sacrifices are happening around Pine Town during the past few weeks. Your job is to go and subjugate the Distort Shadow and investigate those unusual events in Pine Town."

Emilia's face hardened when she heard Russell's explanation.

"It's the fifth Distorted Shadow in this month. Moreover, the fourth Distorted Shadow... It managed to calm its emotion during the battle and acted like a regular human. If anything goes wrong during the battle, we might lose." She said while glancing at Charles.

"I won't cause any problem during your mission." Charles got annoyed by their distrust and said coldly.

'His tone... He spoke like a fearless guy.' Russell frowned a little and then shook his head.

"We don't have time to wait for Ironfort Cathedral's help. If we wait too long, the whole town might get annihilated by the Rank 2 Distorted Shadow."

The trio understood the seriousness in a second and nodded their heads.

After that, Russell invited Charles to his room and gave him a Rank 2 iron dagger. Although it looked like a normal one, Charles knew it was a precious weapon. He didn't take the dagger, though; instead, he looked at Russell skeptically and asked with a frown.

"Why are you giving this to me?"

"You are sharp, kid. If what I heard from the report is true, then you are not a normal mystic. But without a proper weapon, you may die during the battle. I can't afford to lose a member who has a precious inheritance skill. If you survived this mission and became an official member, this dagger will be yours permanently." Russell said calmly.

'No… Russell isn't telling the whole truth. Something feels off…' Charles thought for a moment and cast [Inspect] skill on the dagger.

[Ghost Dagger (?)]

Quality: Uncommon

Effect: Extra Sharpness, Freezing Edges.

Requirement: 11 Wisdom

'It's not some random weapon. It must be worth around 20 gold coins. Moreover, that question mark…' Doubt appeared in his mind. He pondered for a moment and then chose to accept it.

'I will use this until I get a better one.' He nodded his head and took the dagger from Russell.

He then walked out of Russell's office room and followed after the temporary team members.

"We should get a few bags of rations. It might take one or two days to return." Emilia said while turning her gaze towards Charles and added,

"You should also follow us and get some rations from the storage room, kid."

Saying so, she turned around and went to the locked room on their right side.

After gathering a few boxes of rations from the storage, Charles and the trio walked out of the single-storied building and entered the luxurious horse-drawn carriage parked at the entrance.

A black-suited coachman greeted the mystics politely and then whipped the black horse.

A second later, the black horse let out a loud neigh and went towards the main street of Riverdale City.

After a few minutes, the luxurious carriage moved towards the large city gate and went out of Riverdale City.

Charles peeked through the golden curtain and noticed mangrove-like trees and weird shrubs appeared on both sides of the dirt road.

'Hmm, our Wind Villa is on the opposite side.' He mused in thoughts and then closed the curtain.

The carriage made creaking noises from time to time and soon went west. Some farmlands and farmhouses appeared in their visions, but the carriage didn't stop and went towards the west.

After five hours of travel, the luxurious carriage arrived at the entrance gate of a well-fortified town called Pine Town.

A single blonde-haired gatekeeper stood at the entrance while holding a golden spear and blocked the carriage. The blonde-haired gatekeeper wore iron armor, leather shoes, black leather gloves, and black leather pants.

"State your purpose!" He gave a cold look at the coachman and ordered.

Upon noticing the outsiders' arrival, many soldiers looked down from the 4-meter tall walls and gave curious looks.

Meanwhile, the coachman opened a sealed scroll and showed it to the gatekeeper.

"We are from Riverdale City, my friend. Mystics are here to investigate abnormal incidents." The coachman added,

In the meantime, the gatekeeper gave a glance at the opened scroll and then nodded his head.

"Open the Gate." He gave the scroll back to the coachman and said.

No, it sounded more like an order.

Along with a loud screech, a four-meter tall Iron Gate opened and revealed the town's interior.

Charles peeked at the town's interior through the curtain gap and narrowed his eyes.

'Brick and mud houses are built in order. Hmm, from the information about Pine Town, the total population should be around 8,000.' He glanced at those passerby citizens and noticed that there was no happiness on their faces.

'The town looks gloomier. There are fear and anxiety in the peoples' faces.' Charles thought inwardly.

The luxurious carriage made a few turns and soon arrived in front of a three-storied mansion villa.

A brown-haired soldier opened the compound gate and asked the coachman to follow after him. The carriage went in and moved towards the three-storied building.

Once the carriage stopped in front of the mansion building, Charles, the baldy Andrew, the muscular man Luke, and Emilia walked out of the carriage and looked around in curiosity.

"Welcome, my dear guests." A booming voice filled with dominance echoed from inside. A second later, a blonde-haired male walked out of the mansion and greeted them with a smile.

"You must be the Pine Town's Chief, Darwin." Emilia took a step forward and greeted the blonde-haired male with a slight bow. Darwin wore a standard gem-embedded silk cloth and looked around 35-years-old. He had amber eyes, a round face, and a slightly obese body.

"Yes, My Lady." Darwin nodded his head and invited them in. Nodding their heads in response, the Aces team members took a step forward and walked into the reception hall.

Once they went inside the reception hall, Emilia halted her footsteps and looked at the three unfamiliar faces in puzzlement. All three of them were seated in luxurious sofas and seemed to be chattering.

But she felt a sense of familiarity upon seeing them.