The Great Thief

Translator: Halcyon Translations  Editor: Halcyon Translations

Even if no one interfered with the battle against Glave, they could still fail in defeating him, despite Lu Li bringing along four elite squads from Ruling Sword. Needless to say, Glave was a level 60 Hero-grade Boss. Even if Glave wasn’t Hero-grade, he would still be much stronger than the Wild Bosses.

Lu Li was able to kill three level 60 Bosses in the Blasted Lands because he had a talisman that lowered their strength. The elite squads from Ruling Sword had an average level of around 57. However,to defeat Glave, they needed a much stronger item. As a result, Lu Li’s confidence to complete this quest wavered.

“Do you know who the commander for the Alliance would be?” Garona asked .

“Not sure,” Lu Li answered as he shook his head.

“Shandris Feathermoon. For you Dark Elves, she would seem like a young lady. However, she is someone that is held in high regard by Tyrande,” Garona said.

“Oh, I see.”

Lu Li was extremely surprised. Originally, he thought that Glave would be an undefeatable monster. However, the commander on the Alliance’s side was equally just as powerful.

Although many people suspected that Shandris Feathermoon was the daughter of Tyrande and Malfurion, Shandris was actually an orphan. When she was young, she wandered aimlessly in the forest and was nearly devoured by a dire wolf. However, Tyrande Whisperwind came to her rescue and whisked her away just before that happened.

Little Shandris saw the immense power of Tyrande (it wasn’t that great of a display, as it was just a wolf), so she decided to stick with Tyrande Whisperwind.

Shandris didn’t want to leave Tyrande’s side, so Tyrande decided to place her within the Elune Sister Society. Little did she know, or did anyone know, that this little girl would eventually become one of the strongest beings in Azeroth.

From Lu Li’s knowledge of the game’s history at that moment, Shandris should still be in her learning stages, which would mean that this battle was her putting it into practice.

“Would she fight?” Lu Li was doubtful.

The Battle of Hillsbrad was planned to let players do their thing. Although the legendary NPCs were joining the fray, it did not mean that they would steal the players’ thunder.

“I taught her for a while. You don’t need to look at me like that. Shandris may not be a Thief, but she just needs to know how a Thief fights. So, she has already promised to send reinforcements. You just need to meet her at the Feathermoon Stronghold, since she usually trains there,” Garona ssaid.

“Alright teacher. I will try my best to complete this quest,” Lu Li promised.

“Your two daggers are already exceptional, so I won’t give you another one. I’ll give you a poison for aggro. Wipe this onto your dagger. It may end up helping you when you find yourself in a tight situation,” Garona said, as she took out a bag of items.

Lu Li nearly puked out blood as he realised his incredible stupidity. Why did he not equip his worthless daggers when Garona appeared?

He could have received a strong dagger from Garona, but he received this bag of poison instead.

“Thank you, teacher.”

Despite his heartbreak, he still took the poison from Garona’s hand. Just like how she appeared, she disappeared just as quickly. Lu Li suspected that Garona knew some form of teleportation.

Revenge Poison: Due to the long hours exposed under the moon, this poison is extremely powerful. Duration: 6 hours. Job Requirement: Thief. Number of uses: 2/2. Countdown: 29 minutes and 58 seconds.

After half an hour, the Battle of Hillsbrad would begin, which meant that it would come into effect then. It was good that the duration of the effects lasted for 6 hours. Otherwise, he would have to consider the right timing when using the poison. However, there was another problem, which was the number of uses.

If he hadn’t needed to use it within 30 minutes, then Lu Li would be able to save it for later.

Furthermore, only Thieves could use this poison. Therefore, meeting with Shandris Feathermoon was not Lu Li’s priority. Lu Li planned to use this poison as much as he could within the time limit.

However, Lu Li didn’t worry about it too much.

When Water Fairy appeared within his field of vision, it unknowingly brought a smile to his face.

“The battle is about to begin. Why’d you call me over?” she asked.

“Help me out later,” Lu Li said.

“Do what?”

“Help me kill the Horde’s commander.”

Lu Li was waiting for Water Fairy’s reaction. Just as he expected, Water Fairy was shocked. Her originally large eyes grew even bigger. With a shocked tone she asked, “Are you that crazy for exquisite items? How could you even think about fighting the commander? We’ve already set our targets on normal NPCs.”

Based on how the game held their events, the NPCs in this event most likely would not be too high in levels.

The highest player level was 59, which would round up to 60. Normal NPCs would be around level 60, which would mean that the strongest of them would be level 65. The strongest, of course, would be the commanders from both sides.

However, the change that one level brought was mind boggling. A normal level 65 Boss would be able to easily wipe a group of level 56 to 57 players. There was no way for them to fight. This was why Drizzle Court, among other guilds, chose to target normal NPCs.

Normal NPCs were also Boss-level monsters, although weaker than the Officers and the Commanders.

If Lu Li helped her out with the Officers, then both guilds would fight together, which would give them a considerable chance at defeating them.

But the Commander…

“When have I ever done unreasonable things?” Lu Li asked .

“Alright. What’s your plan?”

Water Fairy changed her mind. What Lu Li said was trued; he had always been reasonable and reliable. Even if the obstacle seemed insurmountable, he would always miraculously get past it. After all, she could say that she had witnessed Lu Li tackle a level 60 Boss.

Her first thought was that Lu Li had acquired another item like the talisman again.

“Well, just listen to me later on. Organise some elite squads – the best of the best. As for the rest, leave it to Wandering to plan.”

Lu Li thought about it. There weren’t many benefits of him bringing along too many people.

“No worries. It’s better if the responsibility goes to Wandering anyway,” Water Fairy said.

Wandering’s style did not pay too much attention to the minute details; he liked to face the Boss head on. Although this wouldn’t fare well in an Instance Dungeon, it was a good style to have for large numbers of players. Those who had worked with him before were convinced that his style worked. Ruling Sword had many people that Drizzle Court wanted for themselves and Wandering was one of them.

“Come with me. I’ll take you to meet someone, since we have time now.”

Lu Li looked at the time and saw that they had around half an hour. He thought that Shandris Feathermoon would be preparing for battle at Hillsbrad.

In the land of Azeroth, many Alliance cities and towns were close to the Horde cities and towns. For example, Ashenvale’s Astranaar and Splintertree, Arathi Highlands’ Refuge Pointe and Hammerfall, Dustwallow Marsh’s Theramore and Brackenwall, among many others.

Some players preferred to attack the enemies’ camps directly. There was something about a frontal attack like that that excited many male players. Perhaps female players’ blood also boiled when doing something like that. This couldn’t be explained using science.

These players would attack the less-guarded places. As soon as news of a battle erupted, many players would rush over and join the fray. Both camps would then send reinforcements continually.

Players liked disruptions and conflicts as they had a sense of bloodlust. Not even death could stop their advancements.

No one remembered the very first clash. No one knew where, why, what or how it happened. However, these continued to happen. Players would glue their eyes on the battle news for the next one.

But why was this next battle set at Hillsbrad, in between Southshore and Tarren Mill?

In Dawn, the number of Horde players were incomparable to the number of Allied players, as Horde players were much uglier. Most players grouped together and didn’t explore the world. However, the Horde players’ starting point was at Tirisfal Glades, in Hillsbrad. It was here where many Allied players met with real enemies.

Hillsbrad was also close to the activity area of level 50 and above players from both territories of the West and East Plaguelands.

This was where stronger players would gather and do quests . When stronger players entered this area, the level of the area rose. Normally, weaker players would come in here and meet their enemies, then battle. Eventually, stronger players would join the fray, through the calls for reinforcement in guild or world channels.

From a tactical standpoint, both towns were extremely close to each other.

Both towns did not have powerful NPCs or defense mechanisms to stop things before they escalated. Furthermore, the terrain of the area was also quite exciting for battle. All of these fulfilled the requirements of a large-scale battle, which resulted in the creation of the Battle of Hillsbrad.

The company also considered all of this, then decided to use this place as a huge PVP war.

Lu Li had a thought flash into his mind. Perhaps the motivation behind this event was to balance out the levels of players. After all, the higher levelled players would lose more EXP when they die, which would mean that that newbies would catch up in levels faster.

System: The Battle of Hillsbrad is about to begin. Players, please head to the designated areas.

System: Hillsbrad’s level has been raised. Participating players will gain 5 Glory points per successful kill. Assisted kills award 2 points. Successful kills of high-grade officers will award 10 or more points. Completed quests will also give many points as rewards.

In Dawn, PVP against the enemy camp would award a fair amount of Fame. However, if a kill was made against someone that was 5 or more levels below, then there were hardly any points that would be awarded.

Besides the points, there was also the difference between kills and assisted kills. One was completed solo, whereas the other was completed in a group.

The rewards were fairly worthwhile and one kill would award 5 points. Even incompetent players would be able to collect some points.