The Great Thief

“Thank you so much for getting the Ancient Egg. As for your reward…” Yeh’Kinya said with gritted teeth, “I really don’t have anything else. I’ve already given you the recipe – what else do you want? Your greed will be your destruction, elf!”

 “Oh, no, Uncle Yeh’Kinya, he’s just messing with you,” Hachi Chan said, then pulled Lu Li aside and asked eagerly, “What should we do next?”

 “Alright then, just pretend I didn’t say anything,” Lu Li answered, wrinkling his nose as he was pushed aside.

 The next quest was not that important. Lu Li’s goal was to get Yeh’Kinya’s potion recipe; the subsequent rewards were quite random. It was difficult to receive anything worthwhile, especially given his current Charisma value. Only Hachi Chan held any hope of receiving valuable items when pursuing this questline.

“Now, you will be acquiring the essence of Hakkar’s incarnation. Take this Ancient Egg to the deepest part of the swamp, where there will be a corrupted temple. Use the power of the egg to irritate the spirits of the place.”

 “Why are we bothering the spirits? Why can’t we just let them rest in peace?” Hachi Chan asked in suspicion, feeling that something was not quite right. She was a simple girl, but she was actually much better at analysing quests than most.

Yeh’Kinya started by telling them that there a spirit called Hakkar coming into the world. This was an evil spirit that knew no bounds.

As someone from Azeroth, Hachi Chan was obliged to participate in this quest to save the mainland. However, as she progressed through the quest, she realized that she was growing closer and closer into contact with this god.

“Children, you don’t understand,” Yeh’Kinya boomed in a deep voice, “Hakkar’s strength is making its way int this world. His incarnations are the contact points that he has with this world. We need to eliminate these incarnations now, or find a way to take away his strength. The Ancient Egg will help you in doing this. When you use the egg at the temple, a bloodthirsty monster will come out to attack you. You can kill it to obtain Hakkar’s blood, and use this blood to extinguish the indestructible flames of the Fallen Lands. Once all the flames have been extinguished, Hakkar’s avatar will appear. Kill it and seal Hakkar’s Essence into this egg to protect this world…”

Hachi Chan seemed to have stars floating around her in her confusion, but she nodded as if this NPC was making a lot of sense.

 “This means we need to go to the temple…As far as I know, it is a very difficult dungeon. There is even a very powerful green dragon. My friend…” Lu Li said.

 “Shut up, I am not your friend!” Yeh’Kinya was angry, but he managed to control himself.

“If we die, then Azeroth is lost,” Lu Li responded with a shrug and continued to blackmail the NPC. They had already come so far that the NPC had to tolerate Lu Li, even if he was angry.

 “You can give anything,” Hachi Chan added.

 Yeh’Kinya looked at this well-behaved child and was filled with mixed emotions. Her travel companion was a shameless fool, so he was worried about her future.

He took out a scroll without thinking, and stuffed it into Hachi Chan’s hand.

 “Hold onto this, my child. When you are in danger, you can use it to escape. It can only be used three times, so it is a last resort.”

 Troll Escape Scroll (Special): After use, the user can escape from combat and appear in a random location at a nearby safe zone. Remaining number of uses: 3/5.

When Lu Li saw the effect of the item given to Hachi Chan, he nodded with satisfaction.

“You can hold it. It is better for people who do quests often. This old guy is really stingy, even though he comes from a rich family.”

 The next quest was actually in an Instance Dungeon – the Temple of Hakkar. It was the place where the blood god Hakkar was trapped, and where the Green Dragon family had sealed away his evil spirit.

This Instance Dungeon had been around for quite some time, and wasn’t considered too difficult for level 60 players.

“Help me find a team to do an Instance Dungeon within the guild,” Lu Li messaged Square Root 3 directly. Such an Instance Dungeon didn’t require him to call Azure Sea Breeze and March Rain. Any capable team would be fine.

“Let’s see…There are six teams current farming for materials. These are players from the Elite Group. They are just trying to farm some levels and equipment,” Square Root 3 quickly responded.

 “Find an Elite Group that we trust, and leave two open slots. One healer and one damage output,” Lu Li said.

 The team quickly arrived and was made up of people they had met before. There was the Paladin God of Destiny, Fire Mage Nuo Yu, and Square Root 3 himself. These were obviously people that Lu Li trusted.

“Why are you here too Three bro?” Lu Li asked, feeling flattered.

 “I need to level up too; don’t look so surprised,” Square Root 3 said, looking depressed. “I haven’t had much time to level up, and now many people have reached the level 60 cap. I don’t want to get instantly killed during something like a Stronghold attack…”

“Oh, did someone kill you?” Lu Li asked, taken aback.

“He didn’t succeed, but it did scare me,” Square Root 3 said with some residual fear, “So I decided to increase my level and weak equipment. I’m also looking for a pet that can heal me…”

 “…” Lu Li didn’t know what to say. All he could think to say was, “Did you find out who it was?”

“Even a fool wouldn’t reveal their identity if they were doing something like that. My later research was in vain too. The worst part is I can’t even work out why they specifically wanted to target me!”

Square Root 3 thought back to that moment, and was visibly distressed. If it wasn’t for Fat Monkey standing nearby, he might have died.

Lu Li felt a bit of guilt. He had assassinated Sorrowless, and he now felt a bit of sympathy after hearing Square Root 3’s experience.

 The only difference was in the success of the assassination. While thousands of players were watching, the famous Sorrowless was killed while Square Root 3 preserved his life. Despite his frustrations, he had actually done a commendable job. Lu Li praised Square Root 3 with the highest praise he could muster.

With the exception of Square Root 3, the others could all be considered experts.

This level 50 Instance Dungeon was no issue for them as they swept through it. Soon, they reached the altar described by Yeh’Kinya. The players generally called this the Fallen Altar, and this place was used by a number of different quests.

 In the middle of the altar was a pile of horrific skeletons, while a number of fires burned around it. These fires couldn’t be extinguished as they were magical fires.