Rebirth of the Thief Who Roamed the World

“My heavens! Are my eyes deceiving me? This is a Darkwing Dragon Egg!” Collinson cried out. “Nirvana Flame, sir, would you allow me to take a look?”

Nie Yan didn’t expect Collinson to be so shocked. He handed over the Darkwing Dragon Egg.

Collinson carefully accepted the egg into his embrace. As a Beast Tamer, he naturally understood how precious it was. Great General Breakspear had braved numerous dangers in order to obtain it. Even for Collinson, a man who spend all his life researching beasts, this was his first time seeing one!

Collinson gently stroked the vein patterns on the shell. He was completely engrossed in examining the Darkwing Dragon Egg, his face flickering between excitement and regret.

After a while, Collinson turned to Nie Yan with an apologetic expression. “I’m sorry, but I can’t hatch this egg. It was taken from its nest too early. That why it looks translucent.”

Nie Yan’s heart sank. Could it be that the Darkwing Dragon Egg couldn’t be hatched? But that didn’t make any sense. There should be a way to hatch the egg, or else Great General Breakspear wouldn’t have gifted it to him as a quest reward. He probably had to meet some special requirements.

As Nie Yan was deep in thought, Collinson continued, “I can’t hatch it, but this Darkwing Dragon Egg is still very much alive. You just need to find a few items that will perhaps give the creature inside enough strength to break free of the shell.”

“What items do I need to find?”

“You need at least 20 Magic Crystals, 30 Radiant Crystals, and 2 Life Crystals, and 1 Power Crystal.”

Nie Yan took a deep breath. Obtaining these items was as difficult as scaling the heavens. The Magic Crystals and Radiant Crystals were relatively easy to obtain. They could still be found in the marketplace. However, the Life Crystals and Power Crystal were extremely rare. Ordinary players wouldn’t even know where to start looking for them. However, it was still manageable for him. He knew where these things were located. In fact, he could go and fetch them in as little as 10 days.

The Darkwing Dragon was a powerful flying mount. It would be an enormous boon to Nie Yan if he could hatch it.

Collinson handed back the Darkwing Dragon Egg, and Nie Yan put it away in his bag.

“Can you help me appraise this pet then?” Nie Yan said. He paid the 2,000 gold fee, then gave the other egg to Collinson.

Collinson propped up the egg with his left hand, then began carefully inspecting it. As he gently caressed the shell, he suddenly felt something, and his his hand lit up with a warm light.

Nie Yan anxiously stared at Collinson who appeared to be carrying out some sort of mysterious ritual. The outcome of this appraisal was extremely important to him. If it was an ordinary pet, it would only be worth several thousand gold or possibly tens of thousands. If it was appraised as a flying mount, it would become a priceless treasure. Flying mounts were simply too rare right now. Even a single one could greatly impact the growth of Asskickers United.

After a while, Collinson opened his eyes. “This is a flying mount, the darkness attribute Netherthunder Eagle.”

Nie Yan felt a weight lifted off his shoulders. This was a flying mount! As for what sort of rank the Netherthunder Eagle was, he couldn’t say for sure. However, even the lowest rank flying mounts were exceptionally precious.

“Nirvana Flame, sir, are you sure you want to hatch this Netherthunder Eagle? Every person is permitted only one flying mount. If you hatch this egg, you can’t give it to anyone else. Furthermore, before it dies, you can’t own another flying mount,” Collinson said.

Only now did Nie Yan recall there was such a rule. Flying mounts would only recognize one master.

Nie Yan pondered for a bit. He planned on giving this Netherthunder Eagle to one of his close friends. In a few days, he would hatch the Darkwing Dragon anyway. This sort of thing naturally had to be given to the most reliable and trustworthy person. Tang Yao and Xie Yao popped into his mind. These two were the closest to him. He thought a bit more. This Netherthunder Eagle was of the darkness attribute while a Holy Mage like Xie Yao was of the light attribute. This clash would cause both pet and owner to suffer stat penalties. On the other hand, Tang Yao didn’t face such a problem. As an Arcane Mage, many of his spells were of the darkness attribute. Giving him the Netherthunder Eagle would result in both him and it receiving a stat boost.

Who the Netherthunder Eagle belonged to wasn’t important. As long it was put to the greatest use, it was fine.

In the future, it would be mandatory for all flying mount owners to participate in guild wars. It was tantamount to them being bound to Asskickers United.

The Netherthunder Eagle was undoubtedly a strategic resource. It couldn’t be squandered.

「Tang Yao, where are you right now?」

「I’m levelling at the Den of Monsters.」

「Den of Monsters?」Nie Yan was taken aback. He recalled this was a Level 90 map.「Are you with a party?」

「Nope, just me.」

「I’m impressed. You can even solo grind in a Level 90 map!」Nie Yan chuckled. Equipment alone didn’t necessarily qualify a player to train in high level maps. Skill mattered too. With Tang Yao’s defense, even a slight graze from the monsters there could kill him. Mages were a ranged class. As long as their positioning was good, they could hunt monsters above their level. Furthermore, Tang Yao also had a Rank 3 Arcane Fairy. It was even close to reaching Rank 4.

「I’ve collected quite a bit of loot. All of it is in the guild treasury!」Tang Yao bragged.

「Come to the pet shop near Calore’s central square. I’ve got a nice surprise for you.」

「Huh, the pet shop?」Tang Yao was surprised.「I’ve already got a pet. It’s a Level 75 Spectral Wolf. It’s pretty good. You can just give the pet to someone else.」

「It’s not a normal pet. It’s a flying mount!」Nie Yan laughed.

「What? You’ve obtained another flying mount?」He recalled Nie Yan had previously obtained a Darkwing Dragon Egg. Nie Yan would only give him a flying mount if he got a second one.

「Not yet, just an egg like the other. It’s a Netherthunder Eagle. I’m gifting it to you. I still need to figure out a way to hatch the Darkwing Dragon,」Nie Yan replied. Even though the Netherthunder Eagle was strong, it couldn’t be compared to the Darkwing Dragon.

「I’ll be right there!」Tang Yao exclaimed. Knowing that Nie Yan was gifting him a flying mount, how could he dare to dally? He quickly packed up his stuff and found a secluded corner to activate a Return Scroll.

A player could have one pet, one land mount, and one flying mount at the same time. These three didn’t conflict. Among them, flying mounts were the rarest and most powerful.

After a while, Tang Yao ran into the pet shop.

“Where’s the flying mount? Let me see!” Tang Yao said full of enthusiasm.

Seeing Tang Yao’s excited expression, Nie Yan faintly smiled. He handed over the Netherthunder Eagle Egg to him. “Give the egg for Beast Tamer Collinson to hatch, and it’s yours.”

“Where did you find this flying mount? I did so many quests, and I couldn’t even find a single one,” Tang Yao said. He truly understood the pain of finding a flying mount.

“I got it from a Sub Legendary Chest in the upper layer of Golden City,” Nie Yan laughed.

“What about your Darkwing Dragon? Can you hatch it?” Tang Yao asked.

“I need 20 Magic Crystals, 30 Radiant Crystals, 2 Life Crystals, and 1 Power Crystal to hatch it.”

“Power Crystal?” Tang Yao knitted his brows. “I think I’ve seen that before. Give a holler in the guild chat. See if anybody has it.”

Nie Yan was taken aback. Power Crystals only dropped in Level 90 maps and higher. Only a very select few maps even had a 1 in 50,000 chance of dropping it. He recalled a certain chest found in a Level 100 map that contained a Power Crystal. That’s why he wanted to go there himself. However, he only wanted to give it a shot.

Nie Yan let everyone in the guild chat know he needed Magic Crystals, Radiant Crystals, Life Crystals, and a Power Crystal.

Besides this, Nie Yan called to mind that the Union of Assassins would also be of use. He posted a mission asking for these items. The reward was quite generous. These items would still be useful in the future anyway. The more, the better.

「Boss, that Power Crystal you’re looking for, Bladelight and them got one while running a dungeon. It’s stored in the treasury,」a player said.

It was already in the guild treasury?

Nie Yan went to check the treasury.

“There’s even a few Magic Crystals and Radiant Crystals!”

Since the treasury already had some of the items Nie Yan was looking for, that made matters much simpler!

“Collinson, please help me hatch this egg.” Tang Yao exchanged words with Collinson, then paid the 20,000 gold fee. The Netherthunder Eagle Egg in his hands lit up with a dazzling black radiance. It was hatching!