Chapter 24 – Rock Spider Cave (1/2)

Chapter 24 – Rock Spider Cave

Nie Yan hung up the call. Gradually his body became more and more transparent until he completely blended in with the dense green thickets that surrounded him. He carefully observed the players who were constantly passing by.

Several of these players ran straight past Nie Yan, yet not a single one noticed his presence.

“I couldn’t find him. Where the hell could he have gone?”

“Forget about it. He’s probably already escaped by now,” the Berserker named Lei Zi suggested. A slight fear still lingered in his mind, urging him to leave. After all, ever since Nie Yan had appeared they were always the ones being attacked, never the ones attacking. By now the number of dead on their side totalled five people, yet they weren’t even able to touch a single hair on their opponent’s body. He was an extremely dangerous individual, and it definitely wasn’t worth the risk to continue chasing him down like this. What if they were unable to catch him and were killed instead?

“What about that Arcane Mage, Yao Zi?”

“We chased him into the Rock Spider Cavern. When that Thief Nie Yan appeared we were called over to help catch him, so we couldn’t chase that Arcane Mage any longer. But don’t worry, I aggroed a bunch of Rock Spiders and lured them near the passage, so I reckon he won’t be getting out anytime soon.”

“Hang on, I think we should continue searching for that Thief. His Stealth should be coming to an end soon, and he’s definitely still in this area!” the Fighter said, unwilling to give up the search. How could he just allow Nie Yan to escape?

Nie Yan locked his gaze on the Berserker who only had forty-five percent health remaining. As the Berserker had just been in combat, he didn’t have the time to sit down and recover his health. In addition, the system still considered him to be in a state of combat, which meant that his natural health recovery would be slowed considerably. Though his nearby guildmates gave him a sense of relief, he still kept a tight grip on the Basic Health Potion he was hiding in his left hand .

Yet there was one other reason why nobody was restoring their health: the Fighter wouldn’t allow it. He was hoping that their low health would lure Nie Yan out into the open.

Even though they couldn’t see Nie Yan, his mere existence forced them to remain cautious.

The Berserker also had a Silencing Paladin at full health by his side. The two of them began walking in Nie Yan’s direction.

Steadily, they drew closer and closer to where Nie Yan was hiding, yet they still didn’t discover him. It was starting to look like the two would walk right into him.

If an enemy were to make contact with a Thief under the effects of Stealth, the skill would immediately come to an end.

Nie Yan focused his eyes on the Berserker’s throat, waited for the right moment, and then pounced. Vital Strike! The dagger slashed across the Berserker’s neck, sending blood gushing out.

−51

“He’s here!” the Berserker cried out in alarm. He quickly retreated back and drank the Basic Health Potion that he had in his hand.

However, how could Nie Yan let this Berserker get away? He lunged forward and stabbed his dagger into the Berserker’s chest, then followed up with Lacerate. His dagger ruthlessly cut into his opponent’s flesh. The Berserker’s health, which just been replenished, was once again depleted.

Now the Berserker was at low health and suffering from the bleed effect of Lacerate.

“You’re courting death!” Nie Yan’s movements were so quick that the nearby Paladin had only now reacted. He charged towards Nie Yan and slashed down with his sword, which was burning with a radiant splendor.

Nie Yan had planned on continuing to pursue the Berserker, but the Paladin coming up from behind forced him to change his plans.

Nie Yan’s max health wasn’t very high, so he didn’t dare neglect the oncoming attack. Without a further thought, he dodged to the side, avoiding the blow.

The Paladin quickly put himself between Nie Yan and the Berserker, saving his teammate’s life.

“Where is he!?”

“He’s over there!”

All of the ten or so members of the Radiant Sacred Flame guild who were in the surrounding area came rushing over. Several of them shot spells in Nie Yan’s direction.

When Nie Yan looked at his current situation, he had no choice but to forget about killing the Berserker. Instead of continuing his pursuit, he rolled to the side and dodged the incoming spells. By the time he stood up, the Berserker had already run away.

「Bang! Bang! Bang!」Nie Yan’s location was bombarded with spells. Most of them missed their target and harmlessly exploded off the surrounding trees.

However one of them managed to hit Nie Yan.

−23

With the nimbleness of a hare, Nie Yan madly dashed through the thickets and quickly put more than twenty meters between himself and the Mages behind. He would soon be out of their attack range.

At this moment, the Berserker who thought he was a safe distance away from the combat was actually not all that safe.

“Dammit, I’m bleeding!” the Berserker gloomily cursed. His Basic Health Potion was still on cooldown, so he had to resort to drinking a Basic Recovery Potion. However not even the healing from the potion could overcome the constant damage from bleeding.

−5, +3, −5, +3, −5

In the end, his struggle was futile. Five seconds after drinking the potion, the Berserker’s health fell to zero and he died.

With his death, Nie Yan had taken out yet another one of the Radiant Sacred Flame guild’s members!

However the Berserker suffered a bit of injustice in his death. Unlike the others who died in combat, he just watched as his own health bled out until he died.

The Fighter felt a slight chill run down his spine. This Thief by the name of Nie Yan (Nirvana Flame) truly was just too terrifying! They had no way of restraining him. The Fighter picked up the equipment that the Berserker dropped—a Bronze-grade piece of armour. Thankfully for them, it didn’t end up in Nie Yan’s hands.

Though Nie Yan had taken out one of his opponents he wasn’t out of danger just yet. Up ahead, a Battle Thief and a Paladin blocked his way forward.

Meanwhile, several spells were being launched at him from behind.

Seeing this, Nie Yan hurriedly applied a bandage to himself. +20, +20, +20

「Bang! Bang! Bang!」−23, −22, −20 A bombardment of spells smashed into Nie Yan, interrupting the healing from his bandages.

Nie Yan lowered his head and glanced at his health bar—seventeen health remaining. While doing this he also sucked in his stomach and made some slight maneuvers, causing two attacks to pass through empty air. The Paladin’s greatsword had just barely grazed Nie Yan’s cheek as it streaked by, and the Battle Thief’s dagger had harmlessly cut into the air where his stomach had been moments prior.

What mattered most in a direct confrontation such as this one was who had sharper eyes and quicker hands.

This was because these confrontations would finish in mere seconds.

Though in this confrontation, it was evident that Nie Yan’s skills were much higher.