The Great Thief

Most of the Night Watchmen were here, besides the others who were scouting around the town. Around 145 people had gathered; the only defense left were town soldiers who barely had any combat skills.

”If we can’t find it and slay it within five hours, we must retreat and defend,” Althea said.

”I understand. I’ll do my best,” Lu Li responded as he scanned Sarah Ladimore, who stood behind Althea. His voice was soft but determined as he spoke, ”I’ll do my best to kill him.”

The girl slightly shook, but the determination in her gaze did not.

The townsmen watched as the Night Watchmen orderly marched out. Most of the members of these troops were around level 35. Some of them were level 38, and only the commander, Althea, was level 40.

However, there were no specific set rules for them with regards to level and death. Sometimes, they could be killed with one shot, while other times, they would be able to battle for a long time with many injuries and still survive.

It all depended on the location and the storyline. The storyline today included protecting a home, revenge, saving a father and an army looking for a fallen Paladin.

As for Lu Li, he had received a quest from the Assassin League. The fallen Paladin had most likely done something to trigger the nerves of the Assassin League.

They walked in the dark forest, with only the sound of bugs ringing in their ears. These insects had already adapted to the pollution; they were even able to devour corpses.

”He only just passed by not long ago,” a scout said as he broke off a branch from a tree and carefully investigated the level of moisture of it.

”How can you be sure that he was the one who broke the twig, and not some sort of animal?” Lu Li was curious about the abilities of these scouts.

Scouts were also a branch of the Thief class, but he had never heard of this ability.

The scout took a breath in and said, ”It has the smell of corpses and dread.”

”This is an isolated area; only Mor’Ladim would pass by here,” Althea added.

”I see.” Lu Li had to accept the reason and asked: ”Mor’Ladim has already killed so many people. Why haven’t you gotten rid of him yet?”

Lu Li didn’t think so highly of himself that he expected the whole storyline to be paused for him.

Dawn had its own running system, so even if players didn’t participate, the events that were meant to unfold would still occur. Some people would receive quests and wait around for a long time until they attempted to complete them. It wasn’t a rare event to find that the quest had already disappeared.

”Mor’Ladim isn’t our biggest threat. We have on desire for revenge; we just want to protect our town. The main quest today actually wasn’t Mor’Ladim,” Althea said calmly.

Was it the meeting at the inn that had caused this commander to change her mind?

Lu Li thought this was quite unrealistic; he had no clue what he had done. Or rather, he had no clue why the rational commander had changed her target.

”If you have any needs, perhaps I can help,” Lu Li probed.

There were quests in Dawn of a big scale that revolved around defense, with the most common ones being against monsters or opposing faction players. Players who were called upon could participate in the defense, and would receive a great amount of reputation and experience in return.

”You?” Althea asked uncertainly, ”Are you willing to join the Night Watchmen?”

Was this the key to joining the small faction?

They had a famous and passionate vow – ”The night is coming. I’ll stand to watch from this point on until death sets me apart…” Lu Li had the urge to join at the thought of this vow, but unfortunately, he was already a part of the Assassin League.

Players could only join one small faction. If they abandoned the faction, they would have to complete a high-difficulty quest for forgiveness, or else they would be hunted down.

Lu Li could not bring himself to imagine his name on the wanted list of Ravenholdt Manor. If that happened, he wasn’t sure if he would have the courage to continue playing.

”I’m sorry; I’ve already vowed to dedicate everything to the Hunter’s Guild,” Lu Li apologized with a smile. ”I was referring to my friends; they have nothing to do all day (Square Root 3: Damn you), but if possible, I think they will be able to help protect the town.”

The Twillight Forest was a great place; monsters were mostly level 35 and above, and there were a few higher-level maps around the area. With the rewards from the quests, this was a place that players could stay for quite some time.

Not to mention, the Night Watchmen would soon become the Night Watch Army, which was a major force.

”Are they strong?” Althea’s eyes lit up.

The defense of this town was too weak. All the nobles in Stormwind City had already given up on the defense here. The armies had already left and only the soldiers from this town stayed. They were called the desertion soldiers, but they stood their ground as they grew from battle to become great Night Watchmen.

”Slightly worse than I am,” Lu Li laughed.

Most importantly, players were able to level up and loot equips. On the other hand, NPCs leveled up slowly. Unless the system was updated or the map was upgraded, they would remain at the level that the system had given them.

”Alright, we welcome them to join. I have about a hundred spots left for the Night Watchmen,” Althea agreed.

Lu Li estimated that this was probably the most number of players that the Night Watchmen would recruit. Small factions were known as small factions for this very reason.

The Night Watchmen was a fairly decent small faction. Their enemies were the Scourge army, and they would give their players quests in this direction every now and then. The rewards were quite decent.

”It’s around here; he only just passed by.”

The scout stayed low on the ground and ran his fingers along the marks on the grass, then ran back and reported to his commander.

”Alert!” Althea shouted.

At the same time, a shadow jumped out from the bushes.

Lu Li couldn’t find too many descriptions for this monster. He maintained the form of a human, wore Paladin armor and held onto the long sword of a Paladin. However, his entire head had become a skull and a scary light glistened in each socket.

Without a second word, Mor’Ladim sliced his sword towards one of the Night Watchmen.

That Night Watchmen was an experienced soldier, and blocked the strike with his own Paladin sword.

Unfortunately, the difference between their strength was too great. The Night Watchmen was sent flying as a ‘-1685’ appeared above his head. There was a chance that there were other effects from Mor’Ladim’s attack; the Night Watchmen could barely get up.

On the other hand, Mor’Ladim only received around 200 points of damage.