The Great Thief

“That felt great. Up for another round?”

Unforgettable Maple had never experienced such a high from winning Survival and Escape, especially with a kill count like this. Lu Li’s team had taken out almost fifty players in their second round.

“Actually, we have to get back to our Instance Dungeon. We’ll play again next time,” Lu Li said as he shook his head.

Playing Survival and Escape was only be a hobby, or something to entertain Water Fairy. Since it wasn’t a game that could earn much money, Lu Li decided it wasn’t worth his time. The only efficient method of earning cash by playing this game was to sell ‘ensured chicken dinners’. Victory during low-ranking games was easy, and mid-ranking players weren’t hard to beat either, but high-ranking games would be difficult. One game was enough to mentally exhaust him, and profit wasn’t appealing enough either. He would be lucky to earn a few thousand dollars per round.

Lu Li did not feel the need to excuse himself to Innocent Child; they both knew that they had their own things to do.

By the time Lu LI returned to his team in Dawn, they were already facing the crucial point of their battle. Sky Moon was commanding four teams, in which very few were members of Ruling Sword. The majority of players were the elites of Drizzle Court and Peerless City. Using Sky Moon’s point-of-view, Lu Li could see that the Boss only had 4% of its HP left. It wasn’t much of a breakthrough since he had already had the Boss at 1% HP quite a few times, while the teams under Sky Moon’s command had only had it at 2% at best.

Observing the battle, Lu Li decided there wasn’t much hope. First of all, they were using up too many of their potions. It would have been fine if the cooldown time was short, but most of them took a while, which meant they should only be using them towards the end of the battle. The other thing was the positions of the players. Being unable to see the big picture might have been one of Sky Moon’s weaknesses, but Lu Li didn’t deny that he had talent as commander. Give him three to five weeks and he might actually beat Vaelastrasz. However, after a while, the team was annihilated at 2% as Lu Li predicted.

As they progressed in the Instance Dungeons, the level of the Bosses increased. One-percent HP was still a considerable amount. Without enough manpower, potions, and a solid plan, it would be impossible to beat.

“Alright, take a break everyone. Go have lunch and be back in an hour.”

Lu Li thought a break might be necessary if he was to finish before his Dragon Slayer’s Roar ended. If they failed, they would have to wait for another three to five weeks before they could challenge the little Red Dragon again.

Lu Li had finished his preparations by the time everyone came back online. First was the potions; he had nearly cleared out all the high-quality healing items from storage. Taking everything he could get his hands on, the potions that he had could heal more than a few hundred thousand HP. The other thing was to discuss team formation with the other commanders. Their next battle wouldn’t just be sending in a team from one of the four clubs, but to pick out the elite damage dealers from the four teams. Since there was a time limit on Instance Dungeon battles, their damage output would have to keep up with the timer if they wanted to win. The five strongest Thieves they had chosen were always in the top three in damage output during Instance Dungeons. The next was Berserkers, who were chosen based on damage output as well. The last ones were Main Tanks and Healers. Wandering was not part of the newly formed team. As a Defensive Paladin, his support skills were of no use against Vaelastrasz. Only a Warrior’s Heroic Strike and Piercing were able to accumulate Aggro quickly and effectively. It seemed that the newly formed team had just given the floor to the Warriors.

The new team consisted of a generous number of Berserkers and Thieves to maintain a high quality damage output, along with some Warriors to accumulate aggro and tank in the battle. The number of Mages and Warlocks were kept as low as possible. A few Paladins and Priests acted as healers, with Shamans and Druids kept to a minimum. Sakura Memories was one of the few Shamans that was elected due to her high damage output.

The players that were elected to the new team were naturally patting themselves on their backs, while those who were left out did not do anything but felt sorry for themselves. If it was only because their skillsets and class weren’t suitable for the battle, then that would have been fine. However, some of them were left out because they lacked in damage output, were inefficient in healing, or made too many mistakes too frequently. Lu Li was very honest with his teammates this time; the statistics from past battles said it all. Even Remnant Dreams and Hachi Chan were chosen because of their competence.

Remnant Dreams had quite a few physical skills, and her pet also had the Dragon Slayer’s Roar, meaning her damage output would always be ranked in the top three. Being one of the members of the First Clear team for so long meant that she had also improved greatly in dodging attacks as well. Hachi Chan was even more impressive. Most people were lucky to have one or two Epic equips, but she had every single armor slot equipped with Epic items. She had her Silence skill strengthened, and could even use Resurrection twice consecutively. Compared to the Feign Death with Remnant Dream had, Hachi Chan’s Bear Form was no less impressive. Not only was her HP robust when she transformed into a little white bear, but she could take one hit from the Boss at point-blank range without being killed, which was nearly impossible for most players. Lu Li believed that there was no one more suitable than Hachi Chan to standby as a healer.

“Although we’ve handpicked this team, it doesn’t necessarily mean that we’ll be getting the First Clear. I will give this team three chances and see which players pass the test. Those I deem incompetent will be swapped out without hesitation, so give it your all,” Lu Li stated.

Newly formed teams like this still needed practice battles to improve their teamwork. Though Lu Li said the first three battles would only be a test run to figure out which players were best for the battle, it was actually his last three chances to pass this Instance Dungeon. If he were to say that they could use the Instance Dungeon to work on their teamwork, there wouldn’t be any tension between his teammates. However, if he said that it was a test, everyone would want to give it their best shot. With this motivating speech, Lu Li hoped to defeat the Boss by the second or third try.

“Too late, friends! Nefarians’ corruption has taken hold… I cannot… control myself.”

Though it was originally a dialogue rich with sorrow and regret, the players who had heard it over a hundred times felt nothing but anticipation to finally get their hands on the pesky dragon.

“Everyone to their positions. Notify me when three layers of Piercing have been applied,” Lu Li said as he commenced the battle. The first Main Tank was World’s Best Friend, with Azure Sea Breeze behind him to gain Aggro during crucial moments. After countless battles and trials, Lu Li found the aggro accumulated by three layers of Piercing was very consistent.

“I’m ready!” World’s Best Friend yelled.

“Do as much damage as you can. Be mindful of your position. Don’t use skills that cause you to move too much,” Lu Li instructed.

Having his teammates move as little as possible made it easier to keep an eye on the Boss’ Cleave. One hit from the Cleave to close-combat players meant instant death. Melee players who left their positions also risked exposing players at the back to being hit by the Cleave. Since Thieves and Berserkers were the keys to defeating this Boss, one casualty was enough of a reason to quit and start all over again.

Since everyone in this team had been handpicked and were deemed elites, no one wanted to be swapped out. This included both Lu Li and Water Fairy, who were solely focused on maximising their damage output. Water Fairy was the first to lead, followed by Lu Li. The remaining three rankings for damage output included Sky Moon, and two other Thieves. Sky Moon had drunk a special potion prior to the battle. It was a secret recipe from Cold Chill. Upon taking the potion, his health would be locked at 20%. He would be unable to increase his health, but it also meant that he wouldn’t lose any more than 10% HP per attack. This was incredibly useful to Sky Moon as it complemented his weapon’s effects brilliantly, making his damage output unrivalled by other Thieves apart from Lu Li and Water Fairy.

As for Lu Li, the reason he could deal such high damage was because he had strengthened his Shadowstrike. Similarly, Water Fairy also relied heavily on her strengthened skills. Since other Thieves did not prioritise strengthening their skills like these two, they were unable to match them in damage output.

“Nefarian’s hate has made me stronger than ever before! You should have fled while you could, mortals! The fury of Blackrock courses through my veins!”

The second stage had finally started. Lu Li knew he had to hold himself back a little in terms of damage output by this point. He needed to focus on commanding, and naturally, his ranking had dropped out of the top five.

“Hachi Chan, resurrect Sky Moon. Is there anyone else in that area that can be resurrected?” Lu Li asked as he inhaled deeply, fighting the urge to criticise the few players who had instantly died as the second stage started. He knew that he couldn’t lose his temper now, as if he did, it would destroy the entire team’s morale.

“My bad,” World’s Best Friend apologised quietly.

Lu Li didn’t bother reacting to his apology; it wasn’t the time to be shifting the blame anyway.

“Just focus on the battle. Hachi Chan, go resurrect another one. I’ll do one as well.”

“I beg you, mortals – Flee! Flee before I lose all sense of control! The black fire rages within my heart! I must – release it!”

The Ignition had now commenced. The first to be Ignited was Lonesome Flower, who immediately fled to a safe area and waited to be killed. However, as long as he was still alive, he didn’t stop attacking. Being the number one damage dealing Mage of his guild, he continued to dominate the scoreboards even until his death.

“Secondary Tank, be careful of the bombing area. Third Tank, be mindful of dodging the attacks, and use Heroic Strike. Good. Warriors, use Piercing for the third time – that’s right. Everyone, keep attacking.”

Lu Li was becoming nervous. They had already commenced stage three and were able to maintain most of their manpower. Could this be it? Could they finally beat the dragon? It wasn’t impossible. Lu Li had observed that his teammates didn’t perform well under stress. This was only the third stage, so it was still too soon to be optimistic. The only thing Lu Li could do that remotely resembled encouragement was to remind them to not waste potions.

7%!

A small slip up almost caused Lu Li to have a heart attack. Thankfully, Azure Sea Breeze reacted just in time. He was always grasping any opportunity to prove that he had rightfully earned his reputation as Dawn’s number one Main Tank.

5%!

“Flame! Death! Destruction! Cower, mortals, before the wrath of Lord… No – I must fight this! Alexstrasza, help me! I must fight it!”

Alexstrasza was the guardian of all life in the world of Azeroth. She was chosen by the titans to be empowered with a portion of Pantheon’s power and was appointed queen of all dragons.

It was said that the Vaelastrasz was one of Alexstrasza’s spouses, and was her strongest warrior. Though he had been corrupted, his conscience still remained and used Essence of the Red on Lu Li’s team every now and then. Lu Li decided that the only chance to defeat the Boss was to do it while the Essence of the Red was still in effect.

“Boss, we might actually win this time round!” one player exclaimed. The others caught a glimpse of the team’s status and agreed; their eyes filled with hope. Surely, the countless times they had challenged this Instance Dungeon would finally pay off.

“Steady, everyone. Hey, you, why are you still attacking? You’ve got to run!” Lu Li shouted at the Ignited player. The player who was caught off guard immediately discerned what was happening and ran off to the designated safe zone to die.

“No one get distracted. We might be doing well so far but don’t let it get to your heads. If we win this round, everyone’s guild points will be increased threefold,” Lu Li promised. Since guild points were a luxury as inflation could put pressure onto the guild, Lu Li decided it was worth it. He didn’t mind giving away some guild points if it meant they could finally defeat the little Red Dragon

2%!

They had finally reached the crucial point of the battle. Lu Li adjusted his team’s formation, taking into account which players were indispensable and which ones weren’t. Suffering heavy casualties was inevitable by this point. The only thing that reassured Lu Li was the quality and unchanging number of healers in his team. He still hasn’t used the Darkmoon Card nor the Soulgems. Those items already had the power of three extra healers.

1%!

Close, so close!

“Thank you, everyone. I am… finally free!”

Hearing the dialogue that entailed the Boss’ death, Lu Li was taken back. Was it over?

He couldn’t believe it. The battle was not as hard-fought as he anticipated – if anything, there were still many potions left to spare. Was Vaelastrasz who had exhausted his teammates for two days defeated just like this? There was the huge amount of money spent on potions, and the training done by the elites of the three guild clubs which were handpicked amongst thousands of other players. The Boss was originally designed to be an obstacle that wasn’t expected to be defeated for another three weeks, and they had defeated him on the third day!