The Great Thief

In a sense, ’Love and Family’ was a Paladin’s rite of passage from selfishness to fairness, from cynicism to compassion. Paladins would learn what it meant to be truly faithful and know about the light’s glory.

The players of other professions could only experience this touching quest through words, and would never truly understand this old Paladin’s experience.

Lu Li was a Thief.

Thieves walked in the shadows, and to most Paladins, this made them the most repugnant profession.

As such, Lu Li didn’t expect to receive a quest from old Fordring at all.

He had just come heal to have his wounds healed and to pay tribute to a celebrity. If he managed to strike up a good conversation, he planned to ask for a few of Fordring’s bandages.

He didn’t expect for old Fordring to actually ask him to kill some Carrion Grubs.

Carrion Grubs were not unusual; they were everywhere in the Plaguelands. They were large, bumpy bugs, with a thick layer of skin that was laced with poison.

However, no matter how severe the poison was, it was only a level 40 monster and Lu Li could easily kill it.

The reason why he was surprised was because the start of the ”Love and Family” series of quests always required the player to kill Carrion Grubs, which represented a punishment for Paladins.

Of course, Lu Li didn’t stupidly refuse, nor did he have any reason to.

He felt that his injury had gotten much better and planned to start the quest.

”Rest assured, I will bring back the Coagulated Mucus that you want.”

Although ”Love and Family” wasn’t as tedious as the Staven series, it wasn’t any easier.

Lu Li also hoped that he would be able to change the outcome of the story. Although he knew that there was a very small possibility of this happening, there was an important branch to the narrative that was otherwise doomed.

Carrion Grubs, by definition, lived by eating rotting bodies.

They buried themselves in shallow soil and sprayed a large mouthful of mucus on their prey as they passed by. This mucus was poisonous and would not only cause the attacker to corrode and bleed, but also had a strong decelerating effect.

At this time, the attacking Carrion Grub would make a buzzing noise to call its companions. Usually, seven or eight Grubs would appear…

Lu Li didn’t dare to test that out, so he took the initiative to attack first.

He found a Plaguelands Dog nearby and after killing it, cut open its abdomen. Hot blood began to pool around its carcass as Lu Li hid by a slope from a distance.

After waiting for 15 minutes or so, Lu Li saw two Carrion Grubs wriggling around.

He moved forwards and attacked the one closest to him, decisively Stunning it. Its companion completely ignored him and continued moving towards the corpse of the Plaguelands dog.

In fact, if one knew about the Carrion Grubs’ habits, killing them was quite simple.

During this time, two more Grubs emerged. They didn’t care about their companion that was being attacked.

Just like that, Lu Li took down more than a dozen Carrion Grubs with ease by using a Plaguelands dog as bait. He then gathered the Coagulated Mucus that old Fordring was looking for from their corpses and returned to old Fordring.

”I knew I was right; you are a powerful warrior,” old Fordring commented as his eyes scanned over Lu Li’s leather armor for scratches, but saw none.

”Thank you for your praise,” Lu Li said humbly, but then asked with some confusion, ”Uncle Paladin, don’t you hate Thieves?”

”I hate thieves?” Old Fordring was puzzled.

Lu Li hesitated before explaining himself, ”Don’t you know that most Paladins hate Thieves? I have never received a quest from a Paladin before.”

”Haha, true glory isn’t defined by race and profession, but is to be judged by a person’s behaviors,” old Fordring laughed with eyes full of wisdom, then continued, ”You have a lot of Glory in defeating evil (First Clears) and have won the respect of many races (Blessings). This shows that you are a noble person.”

However, this made no sense, as Lu Li knew more than anyone else that old Fordring usually rejected other professions from taking his quests.

It wasn’t that old Fordring would treat other professions badly – in fact, he would continue to heal any player that came by here. Even so, the ’Love and Family’ quest could only be given to Paladins.

Lu Li had never heard of any exceptions to this rule.

Next, there were two similar quests which posed no problem for him. He returned unscathed and brought old Fordring the quest items as quickly as possible.

”Your strength is a little surprising. Will you let me tell you a story?” old Fordring sighed.

”Of course. I will listen as best I can,” Lu Li said as he sat down. Although he already knew the story that was going to be told, the secondhand version was obviously going to be different from Fordring’s.

The beginning, of course, was the story of him being exiled for saving the Orcs.

”Do you regret it?” Lu Li couldn’t help but ask.

He admired old Fordring very much, but if Lu Li was in his position, he wouldn’t have made the same decisions.

To him, his younger sister was the most important thing. For Lu Xin, he would break the law, renounce morality and naturally ignore the imaginary Paladin beliefs.

Old Fordring was eventually not only deprived of all his territories, properties and powers, but was also expelled from the Paladin group. He was also exiled and deprived of his right to live with his family. His son was told at an early age that his father was dead.

Perhaps old Fordring was a great Paladin, but from his family’s point of view, he was cold-blooded.

Old Fordring heard Lu Li’s question and smiled as he shook his head.

”Regret? I understand what you mean, but young man, I don’t regret it.”

”But your son…” Lu Li knew that little Fordring would have joined the Scarlet Crusade by this time, a group of radical Paladins.

”Even if he isn’t proud of me, he isn’t ashamed of me. I recently returned to me hometown to see him. He has become a Paladin,” old Fordring said with a smile, but it quickly faded.

Lu Li followed up and asked, ”What happened afterwards?”