“Arcane magic only has a few moves. Put on a Flamechaser Set, practice your technique more, and your strength will come up.”
"You said there are over twenty of them, how do you plan to deal with them？" Tang Yao asked. No matter how strong Nie Yan was, he was just one person.
"This is the difference between a rogue and other classes—rogues don't have to fight head-on！"
What a rogue is best at is ambushing.
Hearing Nie Yan's words, Tang Yao vaguely understood. Nie Yan planned to launch a surprise ambush, then pick them off one by one. But this was still quite difficult; if he got caught even once, he'd basically be dead. Was Nie Yan being too overconfident？
The various low hills of Rein Hills were covered with dense woods and jagged rocks, while streams with scattered stones ran at the foot of the mountains. The terrain was complex—no wonder Tang Yao had been able to hide here for so long without being caught.
A few figures were faintly visible on the opposite hilltop, and Nie Yan headed over there.
Tang Yao was hiding in a cave at the top of the opposite hill.
These guys really were relentless. Tang Yao's group had gotten into a conflict with them, and they were willing to waste so much time just to wipe Tang Yao and his team out completely—wasn't that too ruthless? The reason they dared to be so merciless was that they knew Tang Yao's group were just casual players with no guild backing. Even if killed, there was no one to appeal to. Now they'd knock Tang Yao down a level to control their progress, making sure it wouldn't be more troublesome later when Tang Yao and his team leveled up.
Nie Yan moved swiftly through the dense forest, now only a hundred yards from the cave where Tang Yao was hiding.
"I'm not far from you now. Don't come out yet," Nie Yan messaged Tang Yao.
"Be careful—they're not weak," Tang Yao knew what Nie Yan was planning and couldn't help feeling a bit worried.
"Don't worry, with how pathetic they are, I can toy with them however I like." Nie Yan said. A full backpack of health potions, a full set of Bronze equipment, plus all his skills, and an Intermediate Combat Bandage that's practically overpowered for the current level—taking out one or two is absolutely no problem.
Tang Yao felt that Nie Yan had changed so much he hardly recognized him. The old cowardly Nie Yan would never have dared say something like that.
Nie Yan had become more confident than before, and he gave off a solid sense of trustworthiness.
While Nie Yan was talking to Tang Yao, a rustling sound came from the distant woods.
"They're coming." Nie Yan raised an eyebrow and hid behind a tree.
A five-man squad passed through the forest.
Nie Yan checked their class setup: Elemental Mage, Holy Word Mage, Berserker, Shield Warrior, Holy Word Knight—two ranged, three melee, a pretty standard formation. Their gear wasn't great; at the current level, not many players could equip Bronze or Silver equipment.
The woods were full of crisscrossing branches, making it very inconvenient for the five of them to move. They had to lower their heads and weave through gaps in the forest. The Berserker swung his sword, slicing off a branch blocking their path.
"Boss Diancang is dead." The Shield Warrior glanced at the party chat and said.
"How is that possible? With Boss Diancang's skill, not many people could beat him." The Holy Word Knight said in surprise. Diancang's strength was widely recognized among them. A full set of Flame Chaser gear—his magic damage ranked at least in the top ten of the entire guild, and his technique was no slouch either.
"And Boss Diancang had a red name, so his whole set of equipment..." The Elemental Mage looked up at his teammates, saw their grim faces, and didn't dare continue asking.
"All dropped." The Shield Warrior sighed. Today was really too much of a loss.
"Who did it？"
"They must have a lot of people, right?" the Elementalist thought naturally; the other side must have relied on numbers to take down Diancang. "Which team or guild did this? Let's wipe them out！"
"There was only one thief on the other side," the Shield Warrior said; even he found it hard to believe after hearing the news.
"But wasn't Boss Diancang's team three people？"
"Yes, there were three of them, but all three were taken down by just one thief."
What the hell is going on！
"What level is the thief？"
"Level three."
A level three thief took down Diancang and his three-man team? This world has gone crazy; everyone found it utterly unbelievable.
"You can't be serious？"
"This news was personally confirmed by Boss Diancang."
So it had to be true; after all, being wiped out three-on-one wasn't exactly a glorious thing for Diancang. If it hadn't really happened, he wouldn't be spreading it around.
"What's that thief's name？" the Elementalist asked. The level gap between players wasn't big yet; being able to beat two people was already impressive, but beating three was nothing short of godlike.
"His name is Nie Yan. The Radiant Sacred Flame guild has issued a kill-on-sight order—anyone who kills Nie Yan once gets a reward of five silver coins. Everyone, be extra careful if you run into this guy. Boss Diancang said that guy has tons of skills; teams of three or fewer shouldn't mess with him," the Shield Warrior said. The bounty was tempting, but they'd have to live long enough to claim it. If Boss Diancang couldn't beat him, what hope did they have?
"Five silver coins, that's a lot of money!" the Elementalist and the others exclaimed; five silver coins were enough to buy them several pieces of Bronze Equipment.
While they were talking, Nie Yan had silently crept up close to them.
"A Radiant Sacred Flame guild kill order？ Interesting. Let's see how you plan to hunt me down," Nie Yan said with a contemptuous smirk as he trailed behind them, confirming the positions of all five.
The closest to him was the Holy Word Priest, about three yards away, followed by the Elemental Mage at five yards, and at the front were the Berserker, Shield Warrior, and Paladin, clearing the path ahead.
Occasionally, one or two level-three Angled Deer would appear nearby, but they were quickly cut down by the five-man team—three powerful melee fighters plus two high-damage casters meant their grinding speed was pretty fast.
Nie Yan waited for the right opportunity, leisurely trailing behind them.
The Holy Word Priest seemed to sense something and glanced back.
Nie Yan quickly ducked behind a tree. He hadn't activated Stealth; relying purely on his own awareness, he evaded the Holy Word Priest's line of sight as the tree's shadow concealed his body. The Thief's innate hiding talent automatically took effect.
Everything was calm. The Holy Word Priest didn't find anything. Strange, was it my imagination？
“There's a monster up ahead, hurry up.” The Elemental Mage turned to the Holy Word Priest lagging behind.
“Oh, got it.” The Holy Word Priest replied, quickening his pace to catch up.
Hearing their exchange, Nie Yan had an idea—opportunity had arrived. He entered Stealth and slightly picked up his pace.
“Found an Angled Deer Leader, everyone be careful.” The Shield Warrior shouted, raising his round wooden shield in front of him as he advanced slowly.
“Aren’t we looking for that Arcane guy？”
“Who knows where that kid ran off to. Since we’re already here, let’s take down this Angled Deer Leader first！”
The five of them should have more than enough to handle one Angled Deer Leader.
A massive Angled Deer appeared ahead, the size of a buffalo, covered in white spots, with a pair of huge antlers on its head like clustered coral, hanging all the way down to its knees.
As the Angled Deer Leader moved, the muscles in its front legs trembled constantly, bursting with explosive power.
It saw the shield warrior approaching, lowered its antlers, let out a warning low grunt, and slowly walked over.
Stag Leader： Leader monster, HP 200/200.
"Are you ready？" the shield warrior shouted nervously, his round log shield only inches away from the Stag Leader's antlers; he could feel the powerful aura emanating from the Stag Leader's robust body.
"I'm ready."
"We have to take down this Stag Leader before Waste Slag and Summer Wither get here！" said the shield warrior. If the five of them killed the Stag Leader, they'd split the loot equally; if those other teammates showed up, they wouldn't get much.
The Berserker and Holy Knight flanked around from both sides, while the Holy Mage and Elemental Mage also took their positions.