Gloomy Forest, Level 90 Spiny Lizards roamed this map . They had thick armoured hides covered in sharp spikes . On top of their solid defense, they returned a portion of damage received as thorns damage . However, their health pools were on the low side relative to other Level 90 monsters .
Nie Yan clambered up a large tree . Looking into the distance, he spotted a group of Spiny Lizards passing between the thickets . He took aim with his Cavalry Crossbow and pulled the trigger . 「Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!」Five bolts whizzed through the air, passing through the gaps between the trees, and struck a Spiny Lizard in quick succession .
“Hiss!” The Spiny Lizard locked onto Nie Yan . It rushed toward him along with several dozen of its companions in tow .
Nie Yan jumped off the tree before bolting away, using his Cavalry Crossbow to aggro every group of Spiny Lizards he encountered in his path .
More and more Spiny Lizards started chasing Niie Yan .
“Eat this!” Nie Yan activated a Death Wave Scroll . Ripples of death energy spread out, sweeping over the Spiny Lizards in the vicinity .
−1,000 −1,000 −1,000 . . .
Nie Yan fled to safety . After a while, when the Death Wave Scroll came off cooldown, he used another one . Ripples of death energy spread out .
A few minutes later, as Nie Yan activated another Death Wave Scroll, the Spiny Lizards began dropping like flies as more than half the group collapsed dead on the ground .
Nie Yan circled around to the back in stealth and finished off the remaining low-health stragglers . He then collected the loot they dropped .
Levelling was dull and monotonous . Nie Yan’s levelling speed right now was already pretty fast . In the previous timeline, he would grind in one area for two to three months straight for a single level—two if he was lucky . He would only return to town to sell off his harvest once every few weeks .
In order to become an expert, getting used to solitude and loneliness was a must .
Nie Yan continued grinding the Spiny Lizards in the forest .
. . .
The Elemental City, Kavodin, was situated halfway atop a mountain . The skyscape dotted with tall buildings glowed with a seven coloured radiance, giving the place an illusory feel . The current state of the city could be best described as chaotic, with more than 20 Level 4 guilds vying for dominance . Since they were all similarly sized, a clear leader had had yet to emerge . This absence of a major unifying power allowed guilds like Alliance of Mages, Divine Protectors, and God Executioner Sword to establish a presence in this city, in the hopes of one day taking it for themselves . Asskickers United also had an office here .
Asskickers United’s player presence in Kavodin wasn’t large . However, their businesses were flourishing . They had no less than 10 shops in the city, of which five were branches of the Starry Night Potion Shop . They already controlled 70% of the market . Besides this, many artisans were flocking to their doorsteps .
A group of five emerged from Kavodin’s transfer area . They teleported again, this time southwest to a small town called Keynes . They had an Arcane Mage, a Warrior, a Thief, a Paladin, and a Priest . This was a fairly standard party composition .
“Watchful Snail told us to head southeast of here and search for a travelling scroll seller . Why do I feel like we’re being led on a wild goose chase? We don’t even know when this hidden NPC will show up . We’re just supposed to level in this area and hope we bump into them . Don’t you think it’s strange, Panda?” the Arcane Mage called Daybreak turned to the Warrior and asked .
“Maybe Watchful Snail received a tip from somewhere . Let’s just check it out first,” Fat Panda replied .
“Should we hide our guild emblems?” Daybreak asked .
“Kavodin is pretty chaotic right now . Keeping them on will probably attract trouble . It’s best if we take them off . Besides, Watchful Snail told us to keep our mission under tight wraps . ”
The party members took off their guild emblems .
These five players belonged to Asskickers United . Fat Panda was the strongest among them at Level 63 . The other four hovered around Level 60 . They could only be considered as second rate players in the guild . But among ordinary players, they were experts .
The party passed through a field . After arriving at their destination, they searched for the hidden NPC while grinding the mobs in the vicinity .
The party was determined to complete the mission Guo Huai gave them . The Thief unceasingly scouted around the map . They searched for two days straight, but the hidden NPC was still nowhere to be found .
“What do we do? I’m starting to doubt if there really is an NPC around here . . . ” Daybreak sighed .
“I don’t know,” Fat Panda said helplessly . This NPC’s existence was a mystery within a mystery . It was quite vexing searching around aimlessly like a bunch of headless flies, but what else could they do? “I asked Watchful Snail again . He confirmed the NPC is around here . Let’s just keep searching . ”
At this moment, the Thief reported back . He found the NPC!
The faces of Fat Panda, Daybreak, and the other two lit up with joy . They immediately moved to regroup with the Thief .
Announcement: Eternity is claiming this area . All other players, please clear out or suffer the consequences .
Fat Panda’s eyes widened in surprise . “This Eternity guild is pretty brazen . ” Asskickers United was the defacto number one guild in Calore, but even they weren’t so aggressive when clearing out an area . They preferred to gently coax other players to leave, almost never using tyrannical methods . The only times they resorted to force was when they were left with no other choice .
“Eternity is the biggest guild in Kavodin . They have about 50,000–60,000 players, and they’re allied with two other guilds . They seem pretty strong,” Daybreak said . Before coming here, he had skimmed Kavodin’s forum boards .
Fat Panda felt nothing but contempt for Eternity . No matter how powerful they were, could they beat Asskickers United? Of course not . However, he didn’t want to stir up unnecessary trouble for the guild . He would complete the mission Guo Huai gave them first .
“Let’s go find that NPC, then leave,” Fat Panda said . At this moment, he spotted a group of 10 players walking over in the distance . They didn’t look too friendly .
More and more players from Eternal were swarming into this area . There were roughly 2,000–3,000 players within a 1,000 meter radius . They were forcing everyone else to leave as groups of Miners started arriving .
「I’m surrounded by enemies . They’re blocking me from that NPC!」the Thief informed through voice chat .
「What’s going on?」Fat Panda frowned .
「Those dirty fucking bastards . They went to talk to the NPC first!」
Your party member Triblade has died .
After a while, Triblade revived in the graveyard .
「What happened?」Fat Panda asked . Triblade’s death was too sudden .
「It’s those assholes from Eternal . They thought the NPC was some sort of hidden quest giver, so they stopped me from approaching . Their Mages tried to gib me with their spells, but I managed to dodge . I just didn’t expect there to be five Thieves in the area as well . I ended up being surrounded and killed!」Triblade clenched his fists . PKing in the wilderness wasn’t at all uncommon . But it was still infuriating when it happened to you .
Daybreak turned to Fat Panda . “What do we do? The NPC got snatched away . ”
“Let’s leave and report this matter back to Watchful Snail,” Fat Panda said . He also felt aggrieved . He normally wouldn’t hesitate to teach those sons of bitches from Eternal a lesson . However, due to the mission, he had no choice but to bear with it .
Daybreak nodded . As they channelled their Return Scrolls, a group of Eternal players approached, leaving them no choice but to stop . They would be left vulnerable if they were interrupted while channeling their Return Scrolls . They would lose the initiative and be forced on the back foot .
The opposite side had more than 10 players . Their leader was a Level 65 Warrior in a full set of Dark Gold-grade equipment .
This was the number one Warrior in Eternal, Skyfire Wing!
Skyfire Wing could be regarded as a big shot in Kavodin . He ranked among the top three Warriors in the city .
Fat Panda, Daybreak, and the other two frowned after seeing Skyfire Wing’s equipment . The opposite side was strong . He was no pushover .
“Which guild do you belong to?” Skyfire Wing glanced at Fat Panda’s group . Their equipment was pretty good . He was certainly no stranger to PKing . This area was surrounded by players from Eternal . Fleeing was impossible . He just wanted to make sure of one thing . As long as they didn’t belong to one of the allied guilds, he would kill them .
Watching Eternal’s players gather into a mob around them, Fat Panda and Daybreak exchanged glances . It looked like they couldn’t resolve this peacefully, so the team took up defensive positions .
“They’re not wearing any guild emblems They probably don’t belong to any guild . ”
“Boss, their equipment ain’t bad,” one of the players chuckled .
“Alright, kill them,” Skyfire Wing said in an indifferent tone . He wasn’t afraid of other guilds in Kavodin, to say nothing of a bunch of guildless solo players!
「There’s too many of them! I’ll hold them off . You guys run!」Fat Panda said . He brandished his greatsword and welcomed the charging enemies head-on .
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