The Great Thief

After parting ways with Water Fairy, it was time for Lu Li to enter the arena.

Today’s match was against Stellar Union. On the rankings, Stellar Union was ranked at number 10. They used to be one of the guilds that was able to fight for the top position with Glory Capital. However, their previous leader was too focused on the major events and did not care about the little battles that occurred. After this, Stellar Union then began on a downhill slide.

As for the Stellar Union right now, they only had one professional player in their ranks, who was Twilight. However, although they lacked actual professional players, they were not lacking in players who were qualified to fight in competitions like this.

To be a normal competitor, player just had to get signed by an agency. However, to ascend from being a normal competitor to a professional, they had to gain the approval of the audience. Players like March Rain and Lu Li were recognised as professionals because their mechanics and skills in the arena were widely approved.

“Stellar Union used to be such a strong competitor. It was unfortunate that they lost a key player and was only left with Twilight to carry their squads. However, their overall skill as a team is not to be underestimated,” Cat Dad said.

After Kitty Likes Meat had joined Ruling Sword, her father decided to join too. He then became the main coach for the Ruling Sword teams.

Usually, he trained March Rain and Sakura Memories inthe general knowledge that competitors should have. He would also teach them how to use the System to train. When there were matches that involved Ruling Sword teams, he would direct their entrance to prevent a sabotage of any kind.

However, his impact in Ruling Sword was most obvious during Group Battles.

Cat Dad knew the strategies that the opponent guild would take once he realised who their opponents were. He would then be able to instantly devise counter-strategies against them.

This was something that Lu Li was unable to do, despite being reborn again.

Vincent the Warrior and Kitty Likes Meat emerged onto the stage.

“I knew that they were going to deploy him first. You guys were too rigid when deciding who to deploy for the matches. However, this has worked in your favour, since they had thought that it was either going to be Lu Li or Moonlight. They were hoping to use the Warrior to fight Lu Li,” Cat Dad proudly said.

“Why don’t we keep going with this tactic? We can then flip the tables during a big competition like Glory Capital,” Fat Monkey suggested in bewilderment.

“A small tactic like this isn’t going to trick anyone. Only overall strength matters,” Cat Dad answered, then swiped at Fat Monkey’s head with his hand.

Vincent was a decent player, but his strength could not be compared with the top Warriors.

It was unfortunate that Vincent was facing a Warlock. It was worse for Warriors to meet Warlocks in battle than a Mage.

After Kitty Likes Meat was done with him, she was still left with 50% HP.

Her next opponent was the Thief called Bull Balls. A matchup between a Thief and Warlock depended on their mechanics and luck. However, Bull Balls was well-known for his ability to drag out battles while Kitty Likes Meat was a young player who was extremely keen on offense. Unfortunately, Kitty Likes Meat was defeated by Bull Balls.

“Alright, that’s enough. Lu Li, it’s time.” Cat Dad said as he nodded his head.

Lu Li then emerged from the arena. This fight had become a battle between Thieves.

There were only a few Thieves that had a chance at defeating Lu Li and Bull Balls was not one of them. Lu Li entered enhanced Stealth immediately as the battle began. Bull Balls had no chance at even striking Lu Li before collapsing.

He had not even lost a sliver of HP.

Twilight had a grim expression on his face as he watched the battle.

Everyone had thought that this was purely because of Lu Li’s enormous strength. The gap between these two Thieves were ever more apparent when explaining how Lu Li had positioned himself and used his techniques.

Instead, Twilight had thought that he had underestimated Lu Li. The improvements that Lu Li had made in such a short period of time had exceeded his expectations. He had originally thought that Bull Balls would be able to at least take a third of Lu Li’s HP. After all, his equipment was comparable to a professional player’s.

Stellar Union were wealthy and prestigious – after all, they did have tens of elite teams. How could they not train up even a single elite Thief?

It was unquestionable – Lu Li had gained new equipment.

Lu Li’s next opponent was a Hunter called Purple Heart of the Sea. He was a newly trained player and had brought a prestigious pet that had the ability to ‘Split’. This caused some trouble for Lu Li, who lost a third of his HP bar. However, he still managed to defeat him in the end.

Lu Li’s next opponent was a Paladin called ‘Cut Me 72 Times’.

Many organisations had begun training Paladins to counter Thieves and Mages. This was because Paladins with good equipment dealt comparable burst damage to a Warrior, while having extremely powerful regenerative skills.

Lu Li consumed Pamela’s Sweet Tea, which recovered around 30% of his max HP, enough to completely replenish his health bar.

The ones who disliked Lu Li proceeded to boo him, as they thought that he was being a bully.

Lu Li hated facing off against tank-type classes; his combo skills were not able to make a large dent their HP bars. After using his crowd-control skills, he began to shift his approach to being passive in the fight. After all, his equipment was only leather, while his opponent had plate armour.

Cut Me 72 Times had chosen the pathway of a tough thank that slowly shaved off their opponent’s HP. He had managed to balance his offense and defence, while having a few strong recovery skills.

As such, Lu Li found it more difficult this time around.

“How does one fight in a situation like this?” Fat Monkey asked Cat Dad.

Cat Dad mulled over the question with a hand on his chin, then responded, “Actually, these types of players are the easiest to fight against. Their mana is nearly always lacking. Also, never be afraid to go head to head with players like these, since they don’t deal a lot of damage anyway.”

“But Lu Li has already lost half of his HP!” Fat Monkey could not understand what Cat Dad was saying.

Truthfully, Lu Li was losing. His health had already been shaved off by 50%, while his opponent was gaining HP after every strike. The Paladin still had near to 80% HP.

“Do you know what grave mistake this Knight has made?” Cat Dad asked, in full lecturer mode.

“Uncle, stop trying to give hope. I think that Lu Li’s going to lose soon.”

Fat Monkey had an impatient nature which had preferred to confront the enemy one on one. If he lost, then he lost and if he won, then he won. Strategy was not one of his strong points.

“He has no mana left. Why do you think that he’s only using normal attacks?” Cat Dad asked as he pointed towards the stage.

Cut Me 72 Times was in a bad position. He had realised that he should not have thought about winning quickly.

Cat Dad was right. If he had fought with a mindset of slowly grinding Lu Li’s HP down by confronting him head on, then he would have been a serious threat. However, he had sought the glory of defeating Lu Li in front of such a crowd and had healed himself after every strike.

As a result, he had burned through too much mana.

The Paladin class greatly depended on mana. Now that he had none left, he was like a toothless tiger. Under Lu Li’s brutal and relentless barrage of attacks, he could not last any more than a few seconds.

Lu Li’s first set of combos could not down him, but the second rotation told a different story.

The Paladin had lost purely because of his insufficient mana regeneration. Even after his defeat, he still did not have enough mana for one recovery skill.