The Great Thief

Without Stealth and escape skills, they were no different to two Warriors. Even a fight between Warriors would be more interesting.

However, the audience still gave them a round of applause; the male and female analysts were excited to share the sportsmanship with the audience.

”It’s always a classic battle when the top players make their own rules for a competition!” the male analyst exclaimed.

”Think about it – the last time this happened was back in last year when Unforgettable Maple battled Cloudy Leaf in Shadow Realm,” the female analyst said with admiration. ”Now, we’re about to see a match between the top two Thieves. Floral Paralysis is one of the best, most well-known Thieves, while Lu Li’s is a new top gamer. What will the results be between these two top players? We’ll have to wait and see.”

The analysts that the Magic Cup hired weren’t as professional as Dark Wind. They were happy that such a classic battle would take place in a competition that they were commentating.

Perhaps, this could become the top news of the competition this season.

”Classic my ***! You got played!” In the audience, someone stood up and yelled with rage.

Stellar Union Silver Radiant and Floral Paralysis were both celebrity players from Azure Guard. Perhaps as a bystander, he was more aware of what Lu Li was plotting.

Now that he thought about how Lu Li was missing in the previous matches, he quickly came to a conclusion.

Floral Paralysis was being baited into a trap.

However, the two newbie analysts were explaining the situation as if they were about to see a classic match.

There were still some smart players amongst the crowd. Maybe some of them already had a good idea why Lu Li had done this.

This wasn’t a match between the top two players – Lu Li was hiding his disadvantage with the competition restrictions.

Unfortunately, no one outside was able to contact the players on the match ground. Stellar Union Silver Radiant could only watch as his fellow companion fell into the trap.

”The fame!” Square Root 3 saw what was happening too and was laughing happily at this.

Originally, he was worried when he saw Floral Paralysis match up against Lu Li. Lu Li hadn’t been as great these past few days compared to his best condition, but he used a few words to change the tide of the situation.

There were also plenty others who figured out what was happening.

Everyone had mixed feelings for this, but they were also impressed by Lu Li’s wisdom.

The match between Lu Li and Floral Paralysis began.

Both of them wielded daggers in their hands and started attacking each other as soon as they got close.

Their skills required energy, which was similar to mana, but it was slightly different. Basically, skills could not be used limitlessly, so their battle relied heavily on auto attacks.

Lu Li’s attack speed was slightly faster since he was using a level 40, Dark Gold dagger – the famous Shard of the Defiler.

However, Floral Paralysis wasn’t weak either. He was particularly good at his blocking skills, and many attacks from Lu Li were blocked by his off-hand.

Once an attack was blocked, the damage would be reduced by a certain amount.

Both players lost health at a steady rate; it was hard to predict the outcome of the match.

System: Shadow Strike 65% completion level, dealt 72% skill damage.

Lu Li’s Shadow Strike didn’t do much, and was also blocked when the skill landed. It didn’t even have a higher completion level than 80%, so it didn’t apply any effects either. This was the case for most of his other skills.

He couldn’t enter Stealth either. While he restricted his opponent, he also restricted himself too.

A lot of Thief skills required the support of Stealth mode, especially control skills. Without control skills, it would be hard for them to deal high damage.

Lu Li was hesitating if he should activate The Book of Ur.

If he transformed, he would be able to deal a large sum of damage within ten seconds.

At the same time, he would lose his hidden ace too.

Most of the main teams from big guilds like Glory Capital hadn’t been sent out yet. During this season of the Magic Cup, Peerless City was his greatest opponent. He was planning to give them a big surprise when they matched up.

”Lie down!” Floral Paralysis yelled as the radiance of a special effect flashed on his dagger.

Lu Li knew something was about to happen, but his body had already lost control as he fell backwards. He remained calm and judged that this was most likely a knockdown kind of special effect.

These special effects usually weren’t so simple; it was possible that there were other follow up effects.

As he expected, when Lu Li fell down, Floral Paralysis had already dug his dagger into Lu Li’s forehead. This was his way of using Kidney Strike.

Everyone on the audience seat saw that Floral Paralysis was dealing crazy damage to Lu Li.

The two analysts were lost for words – someone had already informed them of the truth behind the match, so now they were too ashamed to say anything.

”Looks like Lu Li is currently disadvantaged,” the male analyst said, pretending to maintain his calm. ”Floral Paralysis is a professional Thief player who has been around for a long time. He has been an agile player in his previous games and has forged many classic strategies. Although Lu Li has been amazing since the start of the game, he was a new player after all...”

”Competitions are always full of surprises. Perhaps the title of the first person can’t be owned so easily.” The female analyst didn’t hold back on her words.

It was imaginable that the forums would have a discussion about Lu Li’s tactics later, so they would most likely hear some spiteful words then. Maybe this was why they were a little upset with Lu Li and didn’t hold back on their words.

Right in this moment, Lu Li bounced up from the spot. As Floral Paralysis was sent flying, Lu Li used a Backhand Backstab to stun him.

Even if they agreed not to use Gale Steps (Stealth and escape skills were banned), equipment effects that dispelled control effects weren’t included. He didn’t use it immediately, but instead waited a bit for a more unexpected result.

After he stunned his opponent with Kidney Strike, Lu Li began dealing his damage.

”Most competitors already have their badge.”

The analysts felt rather awkward as they tried to change the topic. They began to explain how to obtain the badge to the average players.

They had only learnt about this during their training period by the hosts of the competition. Based on the politics of the analysts, these things that only went around between the master players weren’t something that they were allowed to share. Or else, the master players wouldn’t welcome them.

The more these two analysts spoke, the more mistakes they made. It wasn’t hard to imagine the downfall of their professional careers.

Since they both had a badge, Floral Paralysis wasn’t entirely at a disadvantage either. He quickly dispelled his controlled status and they clashed together once again.

It was as if they were performing martial techniques with their dagger. Even if real dagger masters came, they would probably be impressed too.

Techniques, speed, timing, damage and skill completion level – these were all factors that affected the results of this fight. Lu Li’s better equipment began to show its worth.

Floral Paralysis had lost more health than Lu Li.