The Great Thief

From this rotation alone, Lu Li was able to deal more than 2,000 points of damage to the Gnomish Thief.

However, this wasn’t enough to swing the fight in his favor. The Gnomish Thief had 10,000 HP and still had upper hand, despite having a large chunk of his HP taken away.

Nevertheless, his confidence had taken a hit.

The Gnomish Thief did not know how long the cooldown on Lu Li’s Book of Ur was and was afraid that Lu Li would summon the large wolf again.

He realized that Lu Li had a strange and unique playstyle, one that he had never experienced before. The confidence that he had once possessed was completely shattered.

Being able to transform into a Worgen was something his master could never have prepared him for.

This was the difference between a newbie and a true warrior. Newbies established their knowledge and confidence through studying books and receiving instruction from others. On the other hand, Lu Li had accumulated a wealth of battle experience over the years he had been playing Dawn.

Stripping away the confidence of a Thief in training was the most brutal thing that Lu Li could have done.

When he finally realized that Lu Li couldn’t transform into a Worgen again, the fight was already out of his control. Lu Li’s dagger stopped inches away from his neck, ready to cast Cut Throat with his five combo points.

”You lost,” Lu Li said coldly as he sheathed his dagger, unafraid that his opponent would back out of the deal.

This had turned out to be a great learning experience for the young Thief.

”Yes, you’re more talented than me,” the Gnomish Thief sighed, looking down in disappointment. He was already small in stature, so this made it hard for Lu Li to see his face. However, based on the tone of his voice, it was obvious that he was sad.

”Actually, I only have more experience than you,” Lu Li admitted. ”I’ve fought against countless people, all with different and unique traits. Some were sneaky and sly adventures; others were ferocious bosses. I’ve won many but have also lost some – that’s life. I bet you haven’t even taken a single step out of Ravenholdt Manor.”

”I see…” the Gomish Thief murmured.

”May I ask whether I’ve completed the trial? Or are there any other trials?” Lu Li asked.

”I don’t know about other trials, but I have a mission. Come and inspect some things with me,” the Gnomish Thief gestured as he summoned a Crow mount.

Even his mount was extremely rare. Lu Li summoned his common Horsemen’s Reins mount and silently cursed at rich and privileged second generation.

The Gnomish Thief’s mount was called ’Reins of the Raven Lord’ and was extremely fast.

Not many players knew how to obtain it. It couldn’t be obtained from honor, dropped in dungeons or rewarded from world quests. In reality, it dropped at an extremely low chance from the Raven Lord Anzu in the Sethekk Halls for the Druid Epic Flight Form quest.

Long ago, Raven Lord Anzu was cursed and had lost his ability to fly, which was why the mount was unable to fly, despite having wings.

The mount had been given to the Gnomish Thief by his master, whereas Lu Li had obtained his by himself.

The Gnomish Thief was actually quite impressed with Lu Li; he hadn’t seen that many players that looked as cool.

”Are you one of Garona’s students?” Lu Li asked.

”Of course not; my master told me not to reveal his name. But, he’s also a Gnome, just like me. He’s very strong though; he might even be on Garona’s level,” the Gnomish Thief said proudly.

”Then, why is it you that’s in charge of my trial?” Lu Li asked.

Technically, he had to pull out some tricks in order to beat the Gnome. Otherwise, he wasn’t sure whether or not he could’ve passed the trial. Truthfully, the Gnome wasn’t that much weaker than him.

The Gnomish Thief’s face turned sour as he answered, ”Because I’m the weakest.”

Lu Li mulled over this for a second, then realized how powerful the others must have been.

”They’re here,” the Gnomish Thief announced, observing the pack of Kodos from afar.

These Kodos came in various shapes and sizes, but they all shared one trait. They were all walking very slowly and appeared to be weak and vulnerable – it was obvious that they were old and about to die.

Lu Li was able to figure out their location according to the Kodos.

”Is this the Barrenlands?”

He had been to Barrenlands, but he did not travel here last time by foot. There were scarce resources and few mobs in the area. All that the land had to offer were some scorpions that scuttled along the infertile ground. Even in Tanaris, under the blazing hot sun, there was still some semblance of civilization.

He felt as if the barrenness was draining the life out of him.

The Gnomish Thief patted the crow on the head and it began following them slowly.

”That’s right; let’s follow them. Oh yeah, have you ever seen Kodos?”

”I’ve seen them before – some in the wild, and some used as mounts by Tauren. I used to own two Kodos,” Lu Li answered, then proceeded to describe the mount.

The story of Lu Li’s pure white Kodo mount made the Gnomish Thief full of excitement. He had developed a strong urge to venture out and discover the world for himself. The world was full of opportunities to better his skills and bountiful fortunes waiting for him to discover.

”Let’s see where the Kodos are going.”

The old and dying Kodos were treading along very slowly. If it wasn’t because of his curiosity, he would have been bored out of his mind.

In the corner of the Barrenlands, there was a place called the Kodo Graveyard. This was their final destination.

The ground here was littered with nothing but white, bleached bones. There were occasionally some vultures that circled around in the sky.

The aging Kodos lined up and quietly walked towards their graveyard, then silently waited for their lives to end. Lu Li would never have thought there would be such a shocking and impactful scene in the game.

”My master used to take me here and we would watch the Kodos together,” the Gnomish Thief said.

”Thank you,” Lu Li replied.

Lu Li knew why he had brought him here to watch the Kodos after the trial. He might not have gained much from watching this, but it reminded him about his sister fighting for her life three years ago.

Lu Li felt helpless and weak in the face of death; no one else would understand what he had gone through besides himself.

This was his reason for not giving up.