The Great Thief

These barren hills had no name – the article that Lu Li had read didn’t mention a name and the System didn’t provide any prompts. There were barely even any trees in the area. It was significantly different to the Elven regions.

Lu Li went back and forth many times before finally finding his goal.

A mound!

Gabriel Cresso was lying at the top of a hill and his body was covered in dust. If it weren’t for the blade sticking out of him, Lu Li might not have found him even after three years of looking.

Lu Li returned to his original form and walked towards him, politely saying, “Respected Warrior, may I ask, what can I do for you?”

“Warrior? Oh… Warrior…” Gabriel Cresso smiled weakly.

Lu Li didn’t say anything; instead, he continued to quietly and patiently wait.

There were a few key steps to successfully acquiring the quest. First, you had to find Gabriel Cresso and call him a Warrior. Then, you had to listen to his story.

“Are you willing to listen to my story? I don’t want to take it to my grave.”

Gabriel laughed, before looking up at Lu Li with his pair of grey eyes.

Lu Li knew that he was going to tell a tragic story, and although he knew what he was going to say, he nodded and allowed him to speak.

Gabriel Cresso was born into a family of blacksmiths.

He grew up in the dry, cold sand Western Wilderness. When he grew up, he married his childhood sweetheart, however, this happy time was short-lived. A war broke out and Stormwind City recruited a large number of farmers to send to the front. Gabriel Cresso was one of those who were recruited.

After many years, he managed to return from the front to his hometown.

What drove him mad wasn’t the war, but that his village had been completely lost. All the wheat that once grew was gone, and nothing of familiarity was left. His parents and wife had also perished in the war.

“I had killed countless Defias Bandits and Soldiers. Elf, do you know why?” Gabriel Cresso narrowed his eyes, as he stared at Lu Li. His fingers rubbed the sharp edge of his dagger.

“Because my family was killed by the soldiers.”

Lu Li didn’t need to respond; Gabriel Cresso had answered his own question. When he said this, tears began to gush out of his eyes.

Sometimes, he believed that what he did wasn’t wrong. All who were foreign to this land had to die.

His harsh father, his kind mother and his wife…

The year that he had left them, he remembered tugging on their shirts and crying. They had all been killed by the outsiders.

However, there were other times where he felt confused.

As an officer of the Seventh Corps of Stormwind, he had undergone the trials of blood and steel. He knew that he had no right to take the lives of these soldiers; they were pitiful Western Wilderness fools that had been cast aside by Stormwind.

They were most likely carrying out their orders, and also had wives and children back home.

“Elf, do you think I’m a bad person?” Gabriel Cresso asked, as he stared at Lu Li.

“It’s not your fault – it’s war’s fault. The fault is with those stupid nobles.”

Lu Li hesitated before he added, “If I were you, I would have done the same, because family is above all else.”

The article didn’t contain any strategy on how to answer the NPC’s questions. These were Lu Li’s own words.

In his mind, his sister was above all else, regardless of law or morality.

“No, the legion’s glory is above all else,” Gabriel Cresso interrupted.

“Please forgive my mistake.”

Lu Li didn’t really agree with him, but he didn’t want to bicker with an NPC.

“It was the soldiers who killed my loved ones. However, they also refused to leave the Western Wilderness,” Gabriel Cresso sighed and continued, “They are like me; they loved this land even though it was so desolate.”

“How sad!” Lu Li replied.

“The soldier’s duty is to protect the people of the land, not to obey the noble.”

Gabriel Cresso struggled to stand up as he hissed, “Elf, I’m tired. Can you help me finish a quest?”

“You are a respected Warrior; I am willing to listen to your orders.”

What Lu Li wanted had finally been delivered.

“Go to Sentinel Ridge and bring me 10 Soldier tags!”

System: Gabriel Cresso’s request: Kill Sentinel Ridge’s soldiers and bring back 10 military tags.

Lu Li confirmed the quest and said farewell to Gabriel Cresso, before turning into a crow and flying towards Sentinel Ridge.

Sentinel Ridge was located in the north-eastern part of the Western Wilderness. It was a military fortress that was abandoned many years ago. Now, it was only used as a post that provided the soldiers a place to catch their breath.

This garrison housed more than 600 soldiers who had tried to control the situation in the Western Wilderness. However, the members of the Defias Brotherhood were spread out all over the land, and were so powerful that holding them off was much easier said than done.

Stormwind City claimed that no extra resources could be provided and only gave them the right to collect what was on the land. As such, the soldiers in the Western Wilderness were isolated and helpless. They were surrounded by enemies and suffered mentally because of this.

In the first few years, they adhered to military protocol and provided protection for the farmers.

However, as time went by and as the situation deteriorated, the deaths of their fellow soldiers made them more and more irritable.

They eventually became a murderous group like the Defias Brotherhood and attacked the Western Wilderness’ people.

Lu Li slowly snuck behind the two sentries.

He cast Sap on one and quietly closed in on the other to cast Cheap Shot from behind.

These soldiers were higher than LV20, so Lu Li was prevented from dealing his full damage. However, his strong equipment and skills easily guaranteed that he could kill them. A few minutes later, he straightened his hand and threw one of the tags into his bag pack.

Not every solider had a tag; Lu Li had killed two of them but had only received one tag.

Although they didn’t drop any equipment, they dropped a satisfying amount of money. Each soldier dropped 2-3 coins, which was even more than the Instance Dungeon monsters.

In his second encounter, Lu Li did not immediately attack. After casting Sap on his target, he used his Pick Pocket skill.

System: You got a piece of dry bread.

Pick Pocket could yield all kinds of things, but most of these were cheap and useless.

After an hour, Lu Li stopped his attack because he had gathered enough tags. He had assassinated 32 Sentinel Ridge Soldiers. Of course, these soldiers would be refreshed in two weeks.

The fact that this was just a game helped him feel a little better.

Dawn was truly a great game. The NPCs didn’t feel any different from ordinary people, each with their own unique personalities. Sometimes, it felt like their expressions could reveal their madness, confusion, sadness or relief…

Sometimes, he felt like he was in the same predicament as Gabriel Cresso, confused about his own position.

If he wasn’t so mentally fortuitous, he really didn’t know if he could have completed the quest.