Assassin at Range: The Sniper’s Lethal Power

Tristan's answer was flawless.

He hadn't chosen Davi City as his main city in his previous life, so he wasn't very familiar with the situation here. He only remembered some key information about main NPCs like Edith. He didn't have as much detail about people like Instructor Horreo. However, he vaguely recalled that Horreo knew Edith's true identity.

But this was Davi City, with guards nearby, so they couldn't discuss things too deeply. It was best to leave it at that.

Horreo understood this, and didn't press the previous topic. Looking at the deed in Tristan's hand, he said, "This shop is on Violet Street, a prime location. It seems Edith is quite pleased with you."

Tristan gave a self-satisfied smile and thought for a moment before replying, "When I open the business, I hope you can grace me with your presence."

ExoGenesis wasn't just about combat; it was about social interactions. To establish a foothold in Davi City, one had to maintain good relations with all factions.

Horreo, as the captain of the city lord's personal guard, had a lot of influence. If he was willing to attend, many potential problems would vanish.

Horreo pondered for a moment and said, "No problem."

On Edith's behalf, Horreo was certain he would go. Furthermore, Horreo was curious about this outsider who had taken down Gold Hook Jack. He had a feeling that Davi City's current power structure might shift with this person's appearance.

Thinking of this, Horreo's mind moved, and he said, "I've received word that there's a goblin band causing trouble outside the city. They've been disturbing the trade routes. Could you help me deal with them?"

"Ding, quest triggered — Goblins causing trouble."

Quest Description: Goblins have been spotted east of Davi City, severely impacting merchant convoy security. Please go and eliminate them.

Quest Requirements: Destroy the goblin nest.

Quest Rewards: 5000 experience points, 50 silver coins, Horreo's favor +10.

Tristan hadn't expected this to trigger a quest. Since he was already planning to level up, it didn't matter what he was hunting, goblins were just as good. Plus, he'd gain favor with Horreo. Why not? He immediately responded, "It's my duty to help."

Horreo smiled with satisfaction and took out a seal from his pocket. "Once this matter is dealt with, come find me with this token. It'll grant you access to the administrative district."

"Ding, you have received Horreo's Token."

Tristan's heart lifted. He hadn't expected to get a pass so soon.

The administrative district was a good place, full of hidden quests with substantial rewards. Most importantly, this token would open the gates to the upper echelons of Davi City. Since Tristan's first stop was Davi City, he would be here for a while, and this token would be crucial.

Tristan took the token and walked out of the city. He wasn't in a hurry to register the shop. Even with the deed in hand, the city's commercial supervisor would probably try to take advantage of him. But if Horreo guided him, it would be different. There would be no extra fees, and the efficiency would be remarkably high.

…

Outside the city, Tristan first opened his skill panel, preparing to evolve Shadow Stealth.

"This evolution costs 8 evolution points. Do you wish to evolve Shadow Stealth?"

Tristan raised an eyebrow in surprise. Instead of the usual 4 points, the cost had doubled, jumping straight to 8.

As a reborn player, Tristan could guess the reason.

Across the entire ExoGenesis continent, there was a saying: three was a threshold, six was a peak. The tiers—Common, Black Iron Grade, and Bronze Grade—were essentially the same and considered the bottom of the barrel. But moving from Bronze Grade to Silver Grade was a huge gap. It was difficult to progress, and many creatures could never break past Bronze Grade in their lifetimes. The same applied to skills.

Fortunately, Tristan had enough evolution points, so it wasn't much of a problem.

"Yes!"

"Ding, Shadow Stealth has evolved! Quality improved: Bronze Grade → Silver Grade!"

Shadow Stealth LV4 (Silver Grade): Enter Stealth state. Breaking Stealth Strike deals an additional (Attack Power*160% + 1600) damage. Consumes 20 mana. Cooldown: 14 seconds.

The cooldown had been reduced to just 14 seconds!

This meant that Tristan's attack frequency would increase again, allowing for greater total damage output.

After evolving Shadow Stealth, Tristan faced two options.

He had earned ten skill points from completing the Crimson Tomb quest earlier, but hadn't spent them yet. Now, he had to decide how to distribute those points.

If he put them all into Rain of Corruption, he could max it out to level 4, significantly increasing its damage. On the other hand, Tristan also wanted to continue upgrading Shadow Stealth. But ten points wouldn't be enough to raise it two levels.

If he only raised it by one level, the remaining five points could only upgrade Rain of Corruption by two levels, leaving two points unused.

After thinking for a moment, Tristan decided to first upgrade Shadow Stealth, then level up Rain of Corruption twice.

The remaining points could wait for later—after all, his foundation was built on Shadow Stealth, and any resources invested in it would be worth it. As for Rain of Corruption, it was already at Gold Grade, and its base attributes were high enough that upgrading it by two levels would be sufficient.

Having made his decision, Tristan immediately took action.

"Ding, Shadow Stealth level has increased: LV4 → LV5!"

Shadow Stealth LV5 (Silver Grade): Enter Stealth state. Breaking Stealth Strike deals an additional (Attack Power*160% + 2000) damage. Consumes 20 mana. Cooldown: 14 seconds.

"Ding, Rain of Corruption level has increased: LV1 → LV2!"

"Ding, Rain of Corruption level has increased: LV2 → LV3!"

Rain of Corruption LV3 (Gold Grade): Active skill, summons Dark Corruption in the target area, firing up to 15 arrows to attack enemies, each causing (Attack Power*50% + 300) damage. Consumes 50 mana. Cooldown: 30 seconds.

…

Another round of upgrades complete.

"I wonder if the goblins in the nest can withstand this," Tristan thought to himself.

He walked along the road for a while and began to smell the faint stench in the air, accompanied by low, growling sounds.

Goblins!

Suddenly, small figures leapt out from the bushes, brandishing shabby weapons, their faces twisted in snarls as they surrounded him from different directions.

Goblin Bandit

Level: 11

Health: 3200

Attack: 220

Defense: 165

Skills: Blunt Strike

Goblins were monsters Tristan was extremely familiar with. In his previous life, he had killed countless numbers of them. Their characteristic was that they were bullies who feared the strong.

Tristan was going to use this characteristic to find the goblin nest and complete the quest in one fell swoop.

With a flick of his hand, Shadow Dagger flew out.

To lure the goblins out, Tristan wasn't in Stealth.

But even without the bonus damage from Breaking Stealth Strike, the dagger still dealt over 6,000 damage in a single hit.

This was the power of a sharpshooter!

Such high damage completely wiped out the goblin's health bar.

The next moment, Toxic Blood Plague erupted, spreading to the nearby goblins and draining about 2,000 health from each of them.

The surrounding goblins, most of them around level 10 with health between 3,000 to 4,000, couldn't survive the five-second duration of Toxic Blood Plague!

Thud! Thud!

The sound of goblins collapsing echoed, signaling the failure of their ambush.

The few remaining goblins were terrified and began screeching as they fled.

This was one of the goblins' classic strategies: retreat to lure the enemy.

If they couldn't win, they would run. If the enemy didn't pursue, they'd get away with their lives. If the enemy chased, they'd lead them to the nest and ambush them with the entire group.

Either way, they couldn't lose.

This tactic had caught many ExoGenesis natives off guard. Even knights and priests had fallen victim to it.

But the real question was: who was the prey?