The Great Thief

Obviously, this was something that was impossible.

Fire Lord Magmathar became a lot stronger.

As he reached out his long fiery arms, they became like fire whips, swinging towards the players. Lu Li had never seen a skill like this before and it was obvious that Magmathar had grown a lot stronger.

“I’ve seen this Boss before; he’s not that strong. Azure, go draw aggro. World’s Best Friend, go pull the side mobs,” Lu Li instructed.

In reality, the Magmathar in this Stronghold was quite weak.

However, he had very high HP and most of the other major guilds might not have enough time to take him down.

After half an hour or so, Ruling Swords finally defeated the Fire Elemental and the System announced that they had claimed their first Stronghold.

Lu Li was too lazy to come up with a name and named it ‘The Place of Ruling Sword’.

They used up countless potions, along with an absurd amount of gold, resources and other things in order to claim the Stronghold. When they finally accomplished this, Lu Li was able to let out a sigh of relief.

A lot of players gathered at the Place of Ruling Sword, including scouts and spies from other guilds. They could check out the layouts of a beginner Stronghold, but they could not gather much information regarding the dungeon fight.

Although the Stronghold was quite simple, what looked like a small city could one day develop into a bigger city than Astranaar.

Sakura Memories already gave Lu Li the authority to access the Stronghold.

He first set the option to guild members only in order to keep out the scouts and avoid more drama. Lu Li didn’t want anyone infiltrating his Stronghold before the walls were up.

“We just have to repair the walls now,” Square Root Three said.

Water Fairy arrived at around the same time; she was disappointed that she couldn’t participate in the fight. She decided to pay them a visit to get an update on what had been happening. She needed information in order to help Drizzle Court claim some Strongholds as well.

“We should just leave it. It’ll get taken down anyways,” Lu Li said as he shook his head.

“You can consider using mined ores since they’re cheaper,” Water Fairy suggested. The cost of repairing was quite large and it was something that Ruling Sword couldn’t afford.

“We don’t even need ore; we just need rocks and wood. Brother three, go get someone to collect rocks – big ones. Get Mr. Shen to help us bulk-buy some as well,” Lu Li commanded, then pointed at the broken walls and added, “Get rid of all of this. We can keep the big rocks for rebuilding and the small ones can be used for the paths.”

“The lifestyle players from my guild can help as well,” Water Fairy offered.

“That would be great. I’ll get some of my players to help you the next time you guys need help as well,” Lu Li said genuinely. Ruling Sword’s lifestyle players were a lot weaker than Drizzle Court, so collecting materials would be a lot easier with their help.

“Allow me to participate in the rebuilding too, as a practice,” Water Fairy said. She was jealous of Ruling Sword’s opportunity.

Some things could not be solved by money. The first guild that claimed a Stronghold was Ruling Sword again. This new up-and-coming guild was becoming more and more impressive.

“If you want, then you’re more than welcome,” Lu Li said.

“I’ll recruit more people as well; don’t complain if there’re too many people.”

Water Fairy left happily. If Drizzle Court participated, then not only would they gain the experience, but it would also show that Lu Li truly trusted them.

“Brother three, hold on a second,” Lu Li said.

“What’s up?”

Square Root Three was so keen to get started on rebuilding the Stronghold. He had no idea that they would be the first guild to have their own Stronghold.

“Brother Three, you should just organize other people to do it for you since you’re still a leader,” Lu Li suggested, then continued, “I have an idea, but I wasn’t sure if it was good. I might need your advice.”

“What’s up? Why can’t you just decide by yourself?” Square Root Three asked.

“I want to do something that will attract experienced lifestyle players. We’re lacking in that area.”

Lu Li knew his guild very well. There were 80,000 players in Ruling Swords, but less than 10,000 were actual strong players that played the game, 20,00 of them were lifestyle players and the rest were just casuals.

Ruling Swords wouldn’t become the strongest with only 10,000 players.

“That’s a good idea, what were you thinking of doing?” Square Root Three asked, suddenly becoming interested.

“We can allow lifestyle players to live in the Stronghold in exchange for their items. Beginner Strongholds can only house 1,000 residents. If we were to rent some of them out then even less of our players would benefit from this,” Lu Li explained.

“I understand,” Square Root Three sighed, “We just have to choose between the two.”

It was through a group effort that they managed to claim the first Stronghold and from now on, they would also have to defend it with their lives. Each player has their own needs and desires, so if they didn’t benefit from this Stronghold then they would be less motivated to participate.

If Lu Li used their efforts to go and recruit top lifestyle players, then it would probably discourage them.

There had to be a balance in everything.

After the two of them discussed for a while, they decided to drag in Wandering and Cat Dad to write up a proposal together.

There were 1,000 houses all together and half of these were saved for other purposes. 10% of the housing would be provided to Elite players based on their contribution. There were only 400 or 500 Elite players and giving them 100 was more than generous. The rest of the housing would be divided between other members.

300 of them were distributed to the lifestyle players. Due to their needs for their professions, they needed a place to work.

The last 200 houses were used to attract other lifestyle players as well as top PVP players.