The Great Thief

At this point, the joy of obtaining an exquisite item had completely faded.

The Felstriker was extremely valuable, but it would eventually become obsolete. However, the Master of Alchemy was different.

Lu Li was beginning to regret giving so much attention to Forging the item. In fact, he should have just sent someone here. After the System update, he should have immediately made his way over. He could have even sent other players here a few days in advance. Cold Chill was definitely worth the manpower and resources.

Unfortunately, it was too late. Lu Li was hesitating on whether he should just send a direct message to her.

But at this time, he spotted a dejected female Night Elf. She was quite good looking, but it wasn’t clear what profession she was.

This was because all players were given cloth clothing at the start. The cloth clothing provided no Attributes and couldn’t be dropped. She also didn’t have any weapons on hand.

After glancing at Lu Li, she searched the area around her, then made a disappointed expression. Then, she began to cast a Fireball. It seemed like she had dropped her weapon and had revived, but was unable to find it. Newbies respawned quite quickly, but it was also quite normal for them to be unable to recover their dropped weapons.

The Fireball hit a little Grell’s body. Although Lu Li couldn’t see what the actual damage figure was, he could tell that it was quite weak.

Lu Li smiled at the sight of this player as his disappointment was slowly swept away.

The Grell’s level was quite low and this one looked even smaller than usual. Under normal circumstances, any player of the same level should have been able to easily kill it.

Unfortunately, this player didn’t have a weapon, and it wasn’t easy to kill a Grell with just the Fireball.

She also didn’t have any other skills, so she could only walk around and take damage from the monster as she waited for the cooldown to reset.

The Grell was on half HP, but the player was quite bloodied. Her face was white and she knew what was going to happen next.

She didn’t know what was wrong with her. Everyone else seemed to be able to play the game, but she was struggling. After playing for a few days, she still hadn’t made it out of the Novice Village. The money that she had brought in at the beginning had already been spent, and she was beginning to question everything.

Previously, she had forgotten about her Mana. As a result, she couldn’t cast her skill and she was killed by the Grell.

What was even more tragic was that she dropped the only weapon she had left.

Now, she couldn’t even defend herself.

Was she going to have to go back to fighting wild boar cubs?

Those level 1 monsters now wouldn’t give her any EXP as a level 3 player. However, given her unluckiness, she probably wouldn’t find a weapon anyway…

However, the death that she was expecting didn’t happen. Tracing the source of the sudden sound, she saw a person standing with a rifle. There was smoke trailing from the muzzle; it seemed like he had saved her.

“Thanks for saving me,” the female Mage said gratefully.

“Why can’t you defeat even a single Grell?” Lu Li asked her.

The female Mage was stunned and mumbled, “I dropped my weapon and I didn’t come back quickly enough so I can’t find it…”

“What level are you?” Lu Li asked.

“Level 3”

“Level 3 isn’t that low. Getting from level 0 to 3 should give you 15 Attribute points. What did you add them to?”

“Five points to Stamina, five points to Agility and five points to Intelligence.”

It seemed like she didn’t understand what the Attribute points were for. The System would always remind her when she leveled up, telling her that they could improve some of her strength.

“I see…” Lu Li held his head in his hands. Fortunately, his helmet was more like a mask – otherwise, it would be difficult for him to conceal his contempt.

“Thank you for saving me; I’ll go and harvest some herbs now. I heard that I can earn some money that way.”

The female Mage was unexpectedly sensitive. She could hear Lu Li’s disdain from his voice, and she knew that something was wrong. However, her stubborn nature prevented her from asking.

“The herbs in the Novice Village aren’t worth much and there are too many people doing the same thing here. You won’t be able to get much,” Lu Li said.

“Oh.”

Another wave of disappointment washed over the female Mage, and the thought of giving up became even stronger.

“Alright, are you willing to become my apprentice? The system has just been added today and it just so happens that I haven’t had to time to find any other apprentices. I can teach you how to play, and send you a bunch of newbie equipment. I can also find someone to level with you.”

“Huh, why would you want me as your apprentice?” Despite her excitement, the female Mage was still cautious. She often encountered men in reality with malicious intentions.

“If you become my apprentice and complete quests or get upgrades, I gain certain rewards and reputation. You have to listen to what I tell you to do, so I can get what I need. How about it?” Lu Li tried not to show how eager he was.

Even if he wanted to take this female Mage as an apprentice, he would scare her away if he was too eager.

The female Mage thought about it for a moment before deciding it was a ‘fair trade’. She finally nodded and agreed, but what she didn’t know was people didn’t usually take on random apprentices, and even fewer players would take on a newbie like her.

Lu Li pointed out how to send a request through the system and soon, he was prompted with “Player Cold Chill has applied to become your apprentice. Do you agree?”

Surely enough, this was Cold Chill and Lu Li had no reason to refuse. After confirming the request, the future alchemist was now his own apprentice. This would be his first and only apprentice.

“Now, you are my apprentice. Let me tell you something about Mages…” Lu Li was a now a teacher. Although he was excited, he had no intention of misleading her and quickly took on the role of a mentor.

Cold Chill was listening intently to what Lu Li was saying. Lu Li’s simple explanation gave her an understanding of her profession and what mistakes she made after entering the game.

“Now, cast your skill at the Grells,” Lu Li said after a while, pointing at the Grells that Cold Chill couldn’t defeat previously.

“But teacher, I can’t beat it,” Cold Chill protested, clearly dumbfounded.

“Relax, I’m here, so it won’t kill you.”

Lu Li was speechless. He was an expert at the top of the Level Ranking; how could he not protect this rookie?

Cold Chill was slightly embarrassed, but she obediently cast her skills at the Grells.

“Before the battle begins, you can actually take a few steps back so there is more distance between you and the monster. This way, you can increase the time it takes for the monster to reach it. This is a simple concept you can apply right away.”

It was such a simple strategy that it was surprising that this apprentice didn’t know it. It was hard to imagine that this rookie would go on to become Dawn’s greatest alchemist.