The Great Thief

Lu Li realised that he didn’t have the advantage in Stealth and Detection. This was because his opponent had Detected him earlier.

He would soon understand why that was.

He was a Dark Elf, while his opponent was a Human. One of the Human’s specialities was that they had great innate Detection skills. It was easier for them to uncover a Stealthed target. Furthermore, Floral Paralysis also had a special piece of headgear, which had likely been created by an Engineer – Quad Deathblow X44 Goggles.

Lu Li didn’t have the blueprint for that item yet, and he didn’t know where Azure Guard found it from either.

However, this wasn’t shocking. After all, it wouldn’t be fair if he threw a tantrum over this, since he had received three Legendary items and two Enhanced skill books.

He was impressed, but Floral Paralysis was even more impressed.

Lu Li was on the stage for a longer time, so he had ample preparation. He was geared up and ready to fight, with increased Detection and Stealth that he had sacrificed other Attributes for.

In the end, it still took him a while to find Lu Li, and Lu Li nearly even made the first move.

What items did Lu Li have?

Actually, Lu Li didn’t even focus on increasing his Stealth. His Supreme Ring had a unique effect – Blessing of the King of the Jungle – which increased Stealth effects by 35%.

35% from one item alone was enough to offset multiple items.

Enhanced Stealth: Instant use. Allows the Thief to hide until the effect disappears. The effects of Stealth are enhanced. If used in a dark area, Stealth is further enhanced. Unique effect: Transformation: Bat. Able to be cast at any time. After using this skill, the caster will transform into a bat. Cooldown: 2 minutes.

His Stealth had already been Enhanced, and in addition to the 35% bonus from his ring, it was nigh impossible to find him.

After being controlled, Lu Li immediately ran.

However, he was running out of methods to escape.

As such, he only had one chance.

The moment they were both separated, he immediately pounced onto where he thought Floral Paralysis would move to.

They both collided, revealing themselves.

“Spectacular!” Dark Wind cried out as he nearly jumped out of his analyst chair. “This is probably the most exciting lunge of the season! He pounced and found Floral Paralysis!”

“Actually, he didn’t have any more escaping abilities, so he was going to lose if they went back into Stealth. Therefore, he decided to risk it, foregoing his advantage, but managing to pull himself out of certain loss.”

The other analyst was a little slow on his analysis of the situation, but he realised why Lu Li did what he did.

People in audience and even some professional players themselves only understood Lu Li actions after listening to the analysis.

“This type of movement is only effective in a very specific situation. I do not recommend anyone to copy this. After all, Lu Li’s actions are full of risks and dangers. A large movement like this, while in Stealth, would surely reveal the user if he or she had missed. Lu Li’s actions were a make or break!” Dark Wind added.

Everyone was analysing the skill that it had taken for Lu Li to make that judgment.

On the other side, Lu Li had already used Gouge on Floral Paralysis and managed to gain the upper hand once again.

Gouge was a stun-move. However, Floral Paralysis had just entered the arena, so he quickly dispelled it. He wasn’t going to let Lu Li use a flurry of combos on him.

After escaping, Floral Paralysis discovered something that dumbfounded him.

Why was he bleeding?

Lu Li regrettably pursued Floral Paralysis. Why was this a regret? This was because he was forced to use one of his hidden cards.

He had learnt Enhanced Gouge!

Gouge: 0.5 second cast time. Gouges the target’s eyes, paralysing them for 3 seconds. This effect is only usable when the target is in front of you. Any form of damage will dispel the effect. Level 5/5.

Enhanced Gouge: Instant cast. Gouges the target’s eyes, paralysing them for 3 seconds. This effect is only usable when the target is in front of you. Any form of damage will dispel the effect. Unique effect: After the effect disappears, the target will Bleed for 5 seconds. The Bleed damage is affected by the user’s main weapon’s attack.

Level 5 Gouge still required 0.5 seconds to cast the skill, but Enhanced Gouge was instant.

As such, Floral Paralysis couldn’t counter it, no matter his reaction. The Paralysing time was still the same, and the requirement for the activation of the effect was also the same. The only difference was that there was a unique effect attached to Lu Li’s Enhanced version.

The effect that Water Fairy’s Gouge had was that the Paralyse effect would not be dispelled even if the target received damage. Lu Li’s was that the target would Bleed for five seconds after waking up.

Neither one was better than the other. If the target immediately used an escape skill to dispel the stun and run away, Lu Li’s effect would be more useful. Furthermore, in a Thief versus Thief battle, the Bleed effect would neutralise Stealth, so the target would need to dispel the Bleed effect straight away.

However, if the target wasn’t planning on running away and decided to tank the hit, then Water Fairy’s effect would be more powerful.

Lu Li caught up to Floral Paralysis and immediately unleashed flurries of combos. It was a completely relentless battle.

He didn’t have much HP anymore, so he was risking it all.

Furthermore, everyone knew that this was his second opponent. Magic Cry had already been defeated. If he could take down Floral Paralysis as well, then that would icing on the cake. However, if he lost, then the more HP that he could shave off the better it was.

Floral Paralysis also knew this, but he couldn’t extend the fight any longer.

If he decided to drag it out, then he would lose.

Both Thieves took out their weapons and clashed face-to-face. Their skill completions were both extremely high. In the beginning of the game, Lu Li had an advantage in this, but this was no longer the case.

In the end, it was Floral Paralysis who won.

However, his win had cost him too much. His skills and HP were all nearly used up.

When he faced off against Fat Monkey, he just wanted to drag out the battle and recover his cooldowns.

Unfortunately, Fat Monkey didn’t give him a chance and immediately killed him. A Thief without even one of their skills would be hard-pressed to win against a Mage.

He should have just confronted Fat Monkey head-on. That way, he could at least take off some of Fat Monkey’s HP.

After Fat Monkey defeated Floral Paralysis, he faced off against the third competitor from Azure Guard and promptly defeated him too. The results were three to one.

In the team battles, Azure Guard tried their best to turn the tables around. They were using a new strategy and set up.

Ruling Sword’s strategy was a defensive one. They had March Rain and Innocent Child as healers, and Moonlight, Mu Qiu and Lu Li as the DPS. Not a single one of them was an easy target. No matter how Azure Guard tweaked their set up, they couldn’t defeat them.