The Great Thief

Even though Lu Li was a bit jealous of Shoni’s admiration towards Silas, he didn’t try to correct her impressions either.

By the time his gaming time reached its daily end, the little Gnome had already leveled up to level 23 and Lu Li had gained 15% Experience in total. He had also obtained enough Reputation for him to learn another Empowerment skill.

Then, Haggle appeared.

“Thank you, Mr. Elf. Shoni has received detailed and generous teachings from you.”

It seemed like Haggle had been watching from the side for a bit and had already understood what the little Gnome was capable of. She was better than he had expected.

“You flatter me; Shoni is a talented one,” Lu Li said anxiously. He was just starting to have fun – was the quest already over?

“We’ll have to trouble you more in the future for Shoni’s to learn from you. This is the reward for today. Hopefully, it’ll be enough.”

Fortunately, neither of these two Gnomes were the type to use Lu Li and toss him away after. As soon as Lu Li heard that he had to be troubled, he almost followed up with the reply, “Come as often as you like – it’s no trouble at all.”

The reward was a level 45 Gold Dagger with decent Attributes, but it was still a little far off compared to Lu Li’s Shard of the Defiler, let alone the legendary weapon in his main hand, the Widowmaker. Hence, this weapon could only be tossed into the guild storage.

Then, there was a skill book – Distract: Throws a distraction, attracting the attention of all nearby monsters for 10 seconds. Usable while Stealthed.

Haggle had been a scout for a long time in Gnomeregan, so he was very familiar with his Distract skill. This probably explained why Lu Li received this skill book as a reward. It was quite far off from the Empowerment skill book that Lu Li had imagined.

However, Lu Li knew that Empowerment skill books weren’t easy to obtain in the first place, so he wasn’t too disappointed.

He had received other things too, like Experience and Reputation. Lu Li’s Experience bar had increased to 30% on level 49. He probably had a chance to reach level 50 within a week. However, because this section of the quest had already reached its conclusion, he probably wouldn’t receive an Experience reward in the future.

“Wait, can I trouble you with one more request?” Haggle asked shyly.

“Let me know if you need anything,” Lu Li said without the slightest bit of hesitation. As long as he was given rewards, he would do anything.

It was too hard to find an NPC like Haggle who gave quests on their own. Not to mention, all the quests that he gave were of a high quality.

“I killed a Rockjaw a few days ago and obtained an underground map. It might be the gathering ground of Rockjaws, but I am too weak to go in alone. I want to find some helpers to explore the area. Would you happen to be interested?” Haggle didn’t feel like he was handing out a quest; there was no arrogance in his tone.

“Glad to be of service. May I ask, how many have you found already for the team?” Lu Li asked.

“Although I’m still unsure what dangers may lie ahead, I feel like it would be safer with greater numbers. I’ll try to find more people as soon as possible. I’ll let you know when I find them,” Haggle said.

After he heard that, Lu Li knew that this was no simple quest.

There was no way an NPC would send a pack of players to a beginner’s village to kill one or two newbie monsters. There was an unspoken rule in Dawn – a quest that required more players or higher-level players would be more challenging. Of course, the reward would also be better too.

“I have a suggestion,” Lu Li said, stopping Haggle.

“Elf, I’m aware of your capabilities. Just tell me; there’s no need to hold anything back.”

“I have some friends. Although they’re not as strong as I am, they’re no weaklings either. If you agree, I’ll have my friends help us clear this area. The Rockjaws should receive what they deserve,” Lu Li explained, stating his intentions clearly.

“The underground passage is very dangerous. If they’re too weak, I might not be able to protect you guys,” Haggle said. He didn’t want to lead Lu Li into a trap.

“That’s okay; they’re all brave adventurers. For them, death is no final destination.”

What he meant was that his comrades were players. They could revive again after they died, so there was no need to worry about it.

Haggle hesitated for a moment. It seemed like he wasn’t coded for such a situation, but he soon reached a conclusion.

“Alright, you can come again tomorrow morning to find me. Bring your friends too.”

Fortunately, Lu Li and the others didn’t have to compete tomorrow.

In the morning, Lu Li had already grouped his selected members and brought them to find Haggle.

“Are you joking with me, Elf? I cannot believe you’re such a arrogant person.”

Haggle had seen who Lu Li brought along with him. Not only did he show an expression of disappointment, but he was also enraged, as if Lu Li had fooled him.

He had already repeatedly mentioned the difficulty of this task yesterday, but Lu Li had brought a strange team with him instead.

Besides Lu Li, there were also three Thieves, two Druids and one Warlock. Including himself, that would be a total of seven players.

Did this Elf think that Rockjaws were as easy to kill as wild boars?

Haggle was a Thief who walked alongside death all day, but there was no way he would be willing to explore an unknown area with such a group of unreliable team members.

“My friend, don’t be so quick to judge,” Lu Li said, then explained himself with composure, “I’ve always thought that Gnomes were a race of knowledge.”

With a slight hint of spitefulness in his tone, this was more useful than anything else to make Haggle calm down. He began to find excuses for Lu Li’s team composition. If Lu Li wasn’t being arrogant, or if it wasn’t because Lu Li had trouble finding players, then what made him think that he would be able to explore the zone with this small amount of people?

Based on the map, Haggle knew that the end goal wasn’t the main base of the Rockjaws. It was at the very most a small tribe.

However, since it was a tribe, there would at least be one Boss and thousands upon millions of tribe members. Based on the habits of Rockjaws, they would have to destroy all of them within a day too. Or else, the constant reinforcements would eventually kill them.

“Warlock…” Haggle had seen a lot indeed. He thought for a moment before resting his gaze on Sesame Rice Ball.

“That’s right – we just need to escort him to the destination. Then, we can open a portal and thousands of reinforcements will follow. Do you still find me arrogant?” Lu Li asked with a smile.