The Great Thief

Floral Paralysis changed his expression after he blocked Lu Li’s attack.

He felt like Lu Li had been acting strange today and he finally realized what was wrong.

Lu Li wasn’t in his best form; he had been played!

As a Thief, he was usually very calm, but it was hard for him to maintain his calmness at this point. After he realized that he had been played, this became the source of his rage and his attacks suddenly became more aggressive.

This kind of aggression wasn’t a skill or a special effect; it was purely his mentality that allowed him to perform beyond his usual standards.

Lu Li instantly felt the pressure, but he maintained his composure. With a close eye for detail, he figured out that this aggression wasn’t something worth fearing. When a Thief lost their cool, they would often begin to make many mistakes.

Finally, Lu Li found his chance and used Shadow Strike.

This was a skill that he had been practicing on purpose ever since he had entered the game. He even gave up some time for other skills to perfect this one. Because of his reincarnation, he knew that 100% completion wasn’t the peak for this skill.

When a skill’s completion level reached above 100%, there was a certain chance of upgrading the skill.

This included buffed Shadow Strike, buffed Backstab, buffed Slit Throat...

Of course, it was possible to buff these basic skills with skill books too. However, these buff-type skill books only dropped at around level 50. Level 50 bosses weren’t only far away from them in terms of progression; none of them were easy targets either.

System: Shadow Strike completion level 90%, dealing 150% skill damage, target stunned for 1 second!

Completion level of 90%!

Not only did the spell do 1.5 times damage, but it also stunned the target for a second.

For two Thieves that were constantly dodging and blocking, this was quite incredible.

”I’ve warned you, my completion levels are very high.” After Lu Li stunned his target, he was relieved. He had never found a chance before, but now, he finally dealt a critical strike.

The critical strike was because of the one second stun.

The one second stun wasn’t much; it wasn’t enough to kill his opponent. However, under this one second stun, Floral Paralysis became a living target.

If Lu Li’s Shadow Strike didn’t stun his target, he would’ve immediately used The Book of Ur to end the battle.

Since they were at the critical point of the fight where both of them only had a few hundred health points, there was no guarantee that the other player didn’t have any aces hidden up their sleeves. If Lu Li lost because of an unexpected surprise, he wouldn’t be impressed.

It was normal to keep an ace, but if he lost a match because he was hiding one, this would be a silly move.

Ambush: Instant Cast, 30 second cooldown. Ambush target from behind, dealing 280% Weapon

damage, awards 2 combo points. Current proficiency: 5/5.

Lu Li never used this skill because he wanted to use it at the most critical moment. The 280% Weapon damage would destroy any class. Since he was hitting a still target, his completion level reached 92%. Not only did this increase his damage, but it also applied a 1.5 second paralysis effect.

Floral Paralysis gave up.

He only had around 300 HP left. With the extra 1.5 second paralysis, he would have lost even if Lu Li just kept auto attacking.

After the death of Floral Paralysis, their match ended.

The other players on the other mini maps were teleported into the big map alongside the substitutes.

The results were similar to what Lu Li had expected. Moonlight, Fat Monkey and Lu Li won the one-on-one matches. March Rain and Sakura Memories lost, and with Mu Qiu as the substitute, they now had four players on their side.

Azure Guard was in a disadvantaged position.

They only had two players left from the battle and even with the entrance of the substitute, they only had three players on their team.

They were already outnumbered, not to mention they were newbies. None of the players from Ruling Sword was an easy target and Mu Qiu was a competitor who could heal.

However, the newbies from Azure Guard didn’t forfeit.

They played the match seriously, as if they were really fighting for victory.

Lu Li had to admit that these big guilds really had their special way of training. From these newbies alone, he could see the professional player qualities that were instilled within them throughout their training.

It wasn’t wrong to say that Ruling Sword wasn’t as professional as the other guilds.

They didn’t have an actual coach to back up their training, and they haven’t developed a systematic training regime for their new competitors either.

Lu Li could only envy as he fought.

He didn’t look down on these newbies either. None of the players held back; they played as if this was a regular match and did what they were supposed to do.

After a few years time, when the old competitors retired or were disqualified from professional gaming, these newbies would become the new main force. Their loss against Lu Li would also become a part of their journey and growth.

Once upon a time, they had fought Ruling Sword in the Magic Cup and lost with glory.

”Thanks for the win, bro.”

Lu Li waved after he came out from the competition. The two sides of the competitors shared the same tunnel, so if they were to communicate, this was usually the location for it to happen.

Everyone was well-trained and no one fought just because they had lost the match.

Lu Li felt like he had to say something. After all, they had worked together before. It was only right to maintain some sort of sportsmanship after victory.

Floral Paralysis smiled bitterly as he shook his head; he really wanted to punch Lu Li in the face.

His reputation had really dropped after this battle. For quite some time, he would be used as a textbook example – a bad one, that is.

In the future, Thief players would teach their Thief newbies to not learn from Floral Paralysis. He had played a restricted match with Lu Li and had given up his chance of victory.

”We’ll beat you next time,” one of the newbies from Azure Guard said, unable to hold back.

Lu Li laughed and didn’t mind. Even if this newbie became a regular member in the future of Azure Guard, he was confident that he would still maintain his superiority.

”Don’t worry about it, they’re new.” Floral Paralysis patted the newbies shoulder to stop him from saying anything else.

He didn’t have anything against Lu Li. Even if he had lost the match, it wasn’t a big deal either. The competitors were actually quite friendly with each other. Although they were opponents, they didn’t do anything dirty. There was no guarantee that they wouldn’t work with each other in the future.

Not to mention, competitors often had some sort of issues with their bosses, so a lot of the times, they teamed up for their own benefits.

”Your newbies are fairly good. Impressive.” Lu Li was truly impressed by these newbies from Azure Guard; he silently decided that Ruling Sword would be the same someday in this regard.

A person’s thoughts were often linked with their position. At the start, Lu Li was only playing for money, but now, he was no longer the same. With a chance to develop further, he wanted Ruling Sword to become even better, an old guild with a tradition that lasted for a century.

Generations and generations, their glory and story would be passed down – this didn’t sound so bad after all.