William Carter glanced at the level rankings. Currently, the highest level on the Evil Alliance leaderboard was level two. Someone had already leveled up this quickly—so fast.

After walking in the desert for a few minutes, William Carter finally saw his first monster. It was an ugly sandworm, its entire body covered in gray skin, with many white spikes growing from it, and two long, sharp beaks at its mouth, as sharp as scissors.

“This is it.” This was a level one monster near the town, perfect for his current self.

Stealth!

This was William Carter’s first attempt at stealth.

“Bend your body slightly, lighten your steps…” William Carter followed the requirements for stealth to the letter, but for some reason, he always felt a bit awkward.

“I’ll get used to it.” William Carter thought, slowly approaching the sandworm. William Carter moved extremely lightly and slowly, his steps painstakingly difficult. He wanted to circle behind the sandworm, but having just entered stealth mode, William Carter couldn’t adapt to the sudden drop in speed and the slow movement. Carelessly, he kicked up some sand underfoot.

“Crap.” Seeing the sandworm turn around, William Carter knew he had failed his stealth attempt.

The sandworm spotted William Carter, its abdomen wriggled, and it spat a mouthful of green venom at him. The dark green venom splattered onto William Carter, turning all his skin green, and 3-point poison damage numbers popped up above his head.

Chapter 6: Agile Rogue

The sandworm’s venom is a deadly toxin, inflicting a certain amount of damage per second to those poisoned.

Stealth failed!

It’s just a level one monster—am I really going to die before I even get started? William Carter gritted his teeth, charged forward, and swung his dagger, fighting the sandworm head-on. After a fierce battle, William Carter finally killed the sandworm when he had only 27 HP left.

William Carter wiped the venom from his face and looked at the sandworm he had dismembered with his dagger, smiling wryly. His first monster kill was truly a mess. He hadn’t even managed to use a single skill during the fight, which left William Carter a bit frustrated.

Melee classes fight mainly with physical actions, using skills as a supplement in a free-form style. Every skill has certain requirements for use; before using them, you have to thoroughly study and understand them.

William Carter picked up the loot dropped by the sandworm: eleven copper coins. One hundred copper coins equal one silver coin, and one hundred silver coins equal one gold coin. Although it wasn’t much, it was still his first earnings in the game.

The poison effect on him hadn’t worn off yet, and 3-point poison damage continued to appear above his head. Helpless, William Carter could only sit down and wait for the poison to wear off, then slowly wait for his HP to recover.

His first monster kill was undoubtedly a failure. As a rogue, killing monsters of the same level should be very easy: stealth up behind the monster, use Sap or Ambush to stun it, then attack with various skills. It should only take a few seconds to kill a sandworm.

But William Carter had failed his first stealth attempt.

After his HP recovered, William Carter stood up and continued searching for the next monster. Soon, he found another sandworm and tried stealth again, creeping toward it.

This time, William Carter was a bit smarter. After entering stealth, his movement speed was slightly slower than usual, so William Carter had to adapt to this pace. If your steps are erratic while in stealth, it’s easy to reveal yourself to monsters or enemies. Knowing the reason for his previous failure, William Carter was careful not to make the same mistake again.

Maybe his stealth still wasn’t good enough, because as he approached the sandworm, William Carter was discovered before he could use his Ambush skill. Seeing the sandworm turn toward him, ready to attack, William Carter lunged forward and engaged in close combat, once again killing the sandworm in a messy fight.

After killing a sandworm, he had to rest for a while before he could continue grinding. This kind of monster-killing efficiency was very low, and his level would fall far behind ordinary players.

I don’t believe this—am I really unable to master even basic stealth? That stubborn streak in William Carter’s heart flared up again.

Stealth is an extremely important skill for rogues. If you can’t master stealth, you’re basically useless as a rogue. A highly skilled rogue must master the rhythm of movement while stealthed and turn it into a habit. Otherwise, you’ll be full of flaws when sneaking, and whether it’s PK or monster hunting, you’ll easily lose the initiative.

Helpless, Henry Carter began searching everywhere for sandworms to practice his stealth skill, trying to get a feel for moving while stealthed.

The vast majority of players who first play the rogue class also find it hard to master the rhythm of movement while stealthed. Most of them choose to level up first, since even without stealth or ambush skills, a rogue can still kill monsters of the same level. Once their level is higher and they get used to the rhythm of stealth over time, they can master it. There’s no need to go to such lengths to perfect stealth right away.

But William Carter was just that stubborn. He knew how important the stealth skill was, and to avoid falling behind others, he was determined to master it as soon as possible.