The Great Thief

After the spoils were distributed, everyone left and went on to do their own thing.

Such was the life of gamers; they only come together when called by the guild. The rest of the time, they usually travelled alone or in small groups and trained to make themselves more powerful.

By travelling alone, they had the drops to themselves and were also paid by the guild, meaning that most of these players were pretty well off.

They could also train in large groups where guilds members willingly partied-up to take up an entire map by kicking out outsiders.

However, Ruling Swords rarely did this because the land of Azeroth was vast and open. There was no need to fight over normal monsters unless there was a map full of weak monsters that offered good EXP or if a guild was hunting a particular monster for a rare drop.

Lu Li decided not to train today and chose to spend his time with his little sister instead.

This was the first time that Lu Xin had logged on since her first surgery. Lu Li only allowed her to play after consulting with the doctors.

According to Lu Xin’s doctor, she needed to be happy in order to recover quickly from her surgery. Keeping her cooped up at home all day would negatively impact both her mental and physical health.

However, she was unable to go outside yet and Lu Li was too worried to let her wander around anyway, so gaming was the perfect solution.

Today was the Christmas Fishing Event and she wanted to come on to spectate.

Fishing was one of the most fun professions in the game. Levelling up your Fishing allowed you to fish in higher-level areas to catch rarer species and other creatures.

The fish caught were mostly used as ingredients in cooking or sold to other players for special missions. There was also a low chance of receiving rare items such as equipment, materials, treasure maps, pets and mounts.

During fishing events, countless players would gather around the shores of Stranglethorn and fish all day.

Fishing in-game was not completely the same as real life, but the skill was still somewhat transferable.

Since Lu Li had grown up in poverty, he never had the luxury of going fishing.

However, in his past life, he did invest some time into Fishing and knew about a very useful book called the Weather-Beaten Journal.

This book taught the player how to find fish.

There were usually less fish in clear bodies of water, hence the Chinese idiom ‘No fish in clear water’. As such, the veteran fishermen would search for murky water, or use other techniques they had learned over the years to find schools of fish. The casual fishmen didn’t have the same experience and would likely never be truly efficient in this profession.

The Weather-Beaten Journal would solve this problem.

Lu Li was behind in his Fishing level, so he couldn’t compete against those who practiced everyday without this book.

Although there were several ways to obtain it, Lu Li never managed to get his hands on one in his past life.

His best chance right now was to find the one located in Southshore.

Besides Darnassus, this was probably the place that Lu Li had visited the most. There were countless mysteries hidden away in this timeless town.

Two people were walking towards him he entered – one was Kel’Thuzad and the other was Helcular. Kel’Thuzad was trying to convince his pupil to learn Nethermancy. The real Kel’Thuzad had already become the second in command of the Scourge.

Lu Li decided to go visit Tyran Fordring, who he had failed to save in another quest.

When he arrived at the house, there were people inside discussing the Scourge. When he entered, Lu Li saw all the big names of the background lore of Dawn, including Scarlet Commander Mograine, High General Abbendis, Isillien and Tirion Fordring. Arcanist Doan of Scarlet Monastery was also present; he was the one that Lu Li had killed to receive his Ravenholdt Badge.

Lu Li did not interrupt these people and went straight to the second floor instead.

Tyran was only around 5 years old at this time. His father never had enough time to spend time with him and forged this hammer for him to play with, hoping that one day he too would follow the Holy Path.

“Hello Tyran,” Lu Li said as he knelt down to be at eye level with him.

“Who are you? I’ve never seen you before.”

The little boy was holding his hammer, on guard of the person he was talking to.

“Your father is a great man. Remember to always trust him and not let evil devour the Holy Light in your heart,” Lu Li said sincerely.

“Of course my father is a great man, but why would I listen to you? You’re just a Thief. I hate Thieves because you’re so sneaky and cunning,” Tyran sneered in contempt.

“Child, true honor is not defined by race or class, but by one’s character. Goodbye.”

Lu Li patted the child on his head, stood up and left with a sense of sadness.

Before he reached the dock, he heard two fishermen talking nearby.

Nat Pagle: “Hal…”

Hal McAllister: “What’s up, Nat?”

Nat Pagle: “I had the same dream last night….”

Hal McAllister: “Which one?”

Nat Pagle: “The one where thousands of people looked down and mocked our dream from the sky. It was like we were puppets controlled by them. We were dancing and crying and fighting for their amusement. Sometimes, I think they’re watching us, even when we’re awake like right now…”

Hal McAllister: “Shut up and fish, Nat.”

It was a very weird conversation between the two fishermen. Lu Li wanted to hear the dream about Tyran, so he stayed and kept listening.

Nat Pagle: “Hal…”

Hal McAllister: “Yea, Nat?”

Nat Pagle: “I had that dream last night again….”

Hal McAllister: “Which one?”

Nat Pagle: “That one where I’m in Durnholde and Orc orc that Blackmoore keeps as his personal slave breaks out. He ends up destroying the whole keep, Orcs we’re keeping in the camps, and rising to power as the king of Orcs… Warchief or somethin’.Crazy, isn’t it?

Hal McAllister: “Impossible!”

This wasn’t the answer that Lu Li wanted, but his heart skipped a beat. This was a prophecy about Warchief Thrall escaping from Durnholde and becoming the king of Orcs.

Back then, no one had listened to Nag Pagle’s dreams.

Nat Pagle: “Hal…”

Hal McAllister: “Yea, Nat?”

Nat Pagle: “I had that dream last night again….”

Hal McAllister: “Which one?”