The Great Thief

A dungeon at last! Apparently, lucky Paladins could obtain the portrait through other methods. As for Lu Li, it appeared that he didn’t have such luck.

Stratholme was probably level 50, based off the level of the boss.

Despite this, the levels of the monsters didn’t average out to be level 50 – they were around level 47 to level 48. Stratholme was also a dungeon well-known for its difficulty and was nothing like Zul’Farrak.

It was located on the Northwest side of Eastern Plagueland, and there were two entrances. The first entrance, known as the front door, was located in the blood zone. On the Eastern walls in the Undead zone was the other entrance, known as the back door. Those with the city keys, or a Thief with the Unlock skill would be able to open them.

For Lu Li, it was more convenient for him to take the back door. His Unlock was fully capable of opening it as well.

All sorts of monsters gathered at the outer ring of the dungeon. When Lu Li had previously practiced Stealth, he didn’t dare to get close because there were too many of them.

Even until now, when everyone was preparing to explore Stratholme, a standard team of ten was the basic requirement to pass through the area.

At the same time, they had to be cautious of players from the opposing faction. They were more frightening than monsters, but Thieves usually weren’t seen as a threat because there were Scourge Bats everywhere. It was best for Thieves to hide themselves and stay low.

Lu Li looked at the Scourge Bats that covered the entire road towards the dungeon and felt a headache brewing.

The term ’Scourge Bats’ was just a common name – there were actually many different types of them. They ranged from level 40 to level 50 and could either be Magic or Physical type. However, all of them shared one common characteristic – great Detection skills.

The design team of the Plaguelands and Stratholme had no mercy on Thieves.

Lu Li had no choice but to persevere through. He couldn’t try to take a detour either, since there would be even more bats. If he was unlucky, he might even run himself into a nest.

All that he could do was to be more cautious than ever.

He hesitated briefly and took out his Empowerment skill book, then confirmed to learn it.

System: Discovered Advanced Stealth. Would you like to learn it? Costs 1.2 million EXP, 120 gold coins and 4000 points of Faction Reputation.

When Lu Li checked his experience bar, reputation and the gold coins in his bag, he shook his head and laughed bitterly. No wonder why everyone said that only the rich could afford to learn Empowerment skills.

1.2 million EXP would almost cause him to drop a level. A player below level 40 might even be forced to drop more than one level.

A hundred and twenty gold coins was equivalent to ten thousand dollars in reality, which was more than some people could earn in a few months. However, most major guilds would usually pay for their members to learn Empowerment skills.

This encouraged players to go and collect Empowerment skills, which were a determining factor in the future of the guild.

Of course, if you weren’t part of a guild, you would have to come up with your own funds.

As for the 4000 points of reputation, this was the limiting factor to how many empowerment skills could a player learn.

There were only so many ways to obtain faction reputation. Besides completing faction quests, the only other method was to participate in influential events, such as First Clears.

Lu Li’s current faction reputation was a little more than ten thousand, so he could only afford to learn one more skill.

After he confirmed the System’s prompt, Lu Li’s experience bar heavily dropped again. This was what hurt him the most.

Empowerment Stealth: Instant cast. Hides a Thief until Stealth mode disappears. Increases effect of stealth. In shadowy environments, the Stealth effect receives further improvement. Random special effect: Bat Transformation. After the use of this special effect, the caster will turn into a bat to fly to a designated location within a certain range. Cooldown 2 minutes.

Bat Transformation! Lu Li was stunned.

He knew that Empowerment skills sometimes came with a special effect, just like equipment, but this was not certain.

He had two Empowerment skills in his previous life, but one of them had nothing.

The reason why Lu Li was left in astonishment was because his random special effect was Bat Transformation.

This would become one of Unforgettable Maple’s signature moves in the future. It was the skill that made all the little girls scream every time it was used.

What Unforgettable Maple had learned to obtain this was the Empowerment: Flash skill.

Not only were the visuals impressive, but this special effect was actually very useful too.

Unforgettable Maple’s Mage God title was heavily supported by his incredible mobility.

Being surrounded by monsters would no longer be an issue – as a bat, you can pass through obstacles. Moreover, the Bat Transformation could even Dispel Frozen and Snare effects.

Since it wasn’t an actual skill, it had no mana cost, so even a Thief like Lu Li could use it.

Either way, Lu Li was completely satisfied; the experience that he had lost was definitely worth it.

Of course, he had chosen to learn this Empowerment because he felt like his Stealth had been practiced enough. At the same time, he also needed to deal with these Scourge Bats before him.

With an Empowerment on Stealth, he had a better chance of hiding from the Detection of these bats.

The results were even greater than he had anticipated, mainly because the effects were further enhanced in shadows. The Plaguelands were perpetually shrouded in mist, so it was categorized as a shadowy environment.

Unless these bats physically bumped into Lu Li, they would not be able to Detect him.

Eventually, Lu Li approached the back door to the dungeon.

Unlock!

If someone else was here, they would be surprised by his bravery since he was entering a level 50 dungeon by himself.

Some had already entered the dungeon to explore it, hoping that the Bosses inside would be like those in Zul’Farrak.