The Great Thief

“Do you need my help now? Water Fairy messaged.

“No need; we have enough for now. I’ll let you know if I need help,” Lu Li replied without thinking.

“But I want to come,” Water Fairy said, then paused before adding, “I want to see how you command a Wild Boss fight, but if its inconvenient, then don’t worry about it.”

Lu Li suddenly felt like Water Fairy’s tone was a little strange. It almost seemed spoiled, like when Lu Xin would ask for something. However, Lu Li dismissed the idea, refusing to believe that Water Fairy would act in this way.

“It’s not inconvenient at all; just join the group and I’ll transport you,” Lu Li responded without hesitation.

The players of Ruling Sword then saw a new player join the team.

They had been fighting for so long already; how could someone enter the group now? If it was an elite group player, they wouldn’t have had the chance to re-join. If they missed this activity, then they would have to sit out. For the sake of security, elite players weren’t allowed to join midway. Besides, there was generally no single player that could decisively change the outcome of an event.

At first, everyone no one paid attention to the player who joined, but then they saw the ID.

Water Fairy!

Water Fairy had joined the group!

What was happening here? There were players that were confused as to why the big sister of Drizzle Court would join the team. Whispers of the couple were once again making rounds among the players.

If she arrived in circumstances like these, didn’t that mean they were a couple? Was Lu Li’s girlfriend a player at a top of the beauty rankings and a local tycoon?

The Boss really was shameless!

Sesame Rice Ball had already cancelled the summoning door, but was now channelling it again specially for Water Fairy.

“Wow, I guess I was wrong. You might actually get married sometime in this life. Most people say you are unemotional, but I guess those people are wrong. You’ve actually invited her to fight the Boss with you,” Wandering said emotionally.

“You’re thinking too much. It’s just that…” Lu Li mumbled, finding himself unable to explain his decision.

After Water Fairy came over, she noticed hundreds of players paying attention to her. Fortunately, her reputation as a cold unfeeling goddess had left a deep impact on them – otherwise, they would likely be crying out to her.

But even so, it would have been uncomfortable for a more introverted person to walk around with so many eyes staring at them.

Water Fairy was used to this kind of attention. She glanced at Lu Li, who was standing on a section of higher ground and walked towards him very calmly and gracefully.

Lu Li was planning the battle positioning. It wasn’t something that could be made up on the fly, and he had designed it very specifically.

When he realized that someone had arrived, he turned his head and glanced at them. He noticed that it was Water Fairy, so he reached out to help her up onto the platform because it was a bit difficult to get on. He knew that Water Fairy hadn’t come to help clear the monsters but to watch him command these players, so it was natural that she stood on the platform with him.

Water Fairy saw the hand reached out before her and was hesitant.

The players of Ruling Sword were all stunned. Then, they quickly straightened their expressions and turned to stare at Grol the Destroyer. Almost no one wanted to look at Lu Li and Water Fairy.

Their hearts were shouting and jumping for joy, but that wasn’t something that could be seen.

Water Fairy didn’t hesitate for long, and soon placed her hand in Lu Li’s so she could jump onto the stone platform.

Lu Li snapped back to reality and realized what he had done.

Should he have apologized? Even if he didn’t completely understand what needed to be done and was not very emotionally intelligent, he vaguely understood what was happening. If this had happened a few hundred years ago, it would have just been passed off as an innocent gesture.

“What are you doing?”

Fortunately, Water Fairy promptly let it slide.

“Planning the positioning. According to the information we have, Grol the Destroyer is a Magic wielding Warrior.”

Lu Li quickly recovered and regained his usual demeanour, not pursuing the issue any further.

“So are you making them stand four yards apart?” Water Fairy asked. She could see the lines drawn on the interface in front of Lu Li.

Later, the players would be able to see the images that Lu Li drew. Each team had a corresponding arrangement and the player just needed to find their position. If there were any changes, it would be reflected in the interface.

“Well, it should be an 8-yard gap between them, so the players can move in either direction,” Lu Li’s said as his finger swiped the screen, changing the formation.

“It seems like you have done a lot of work already. Will Grol use fire related magic?”

Water Fairy was also a team commander, so the two of them had enough common knowledge to engage in discussion.

“I have seen a few Ogre Mages, so I’ve arranged it like this just in case,” Lu Li said.

For someone who had experienced rebirth, he obviously knew that Grol would use fire magic. There were some Bosses in Dawn that could mix different aspects of different professions. After all, no Warrior player could use magic.

However, the presence of some magic was not difficult to explain, as Warrior equipment effects could still be magical.

“As a group enters a battle, the melee players will disperse,” Lu Li began to instruct. Group 1 was the strongest, so they had the most important role of attacking first. The rest would join as the main force once Lu Li activated Grol’s Talisman.

Grol the Destroyer had begun to feel anxious once the players entered the Dreadmaul Stronghold.

However, the rules of the System were constraining him. Before the players actually entered his aggro range, he couldn’t attack first, even if they threatened him. This was different from the Hero Bosses, as Grol’s position in this game was just as a Wild Boss’.

“Wait a moment. Wait for me to pull the aggro before we fight.”

Azure Sea Breeze opened with a charge, but it only dealt a bit of damage, which meant that he hadn’t taken much aggro. He was experienced enough to instantly realize that Grol might be a Boss whose aggro was difficult to manage.

The players that heard him immediately held back from attacking.

When fighting a Boss like this at a large scale, any mistakes could be costly. If someone took the aggro by dealing too much damage, they could cause mass casualties or even the entire force to be wiped. The consequences of this wouldn’t just be a simple lecture.

Some players had lost hundreds of points due to their mistakes.

Lu Li knew that maintaining Grol’s aggro was difficult, but didn’t remind Azure Sea Breeze in advance. As an old partner of his, he trusted him enough to realize what was happening.

“Melee players start dealing damage. Mages, please wait for 10 seconds. Healers, start healing the melee players. Shamans, get ready to cast Bloodlust,” Lu Li called out after looking at the aggro list.

Grol was a magical Warrior, but his ordinary attacks were still in melee.

Lu Li didn’t forget to explain his intentions to Water Fairy while commanding.

“The Boss’ melee attacks have a splitting effect, so its best if the healer just pays attention to the melee players’ HP.”

Was she really just here to watch him command this battle?

Water Fairy almost believed it herself!

Lu Li didn’t notice Water Fairy’s dazed expression and continued explaining.

“If he casts his Magic skills, then focus on the ranged players. See, Grol’s attacks have this splitting effect.” He then shouted at Azure Sea Breeze, “Breezy, pull the Boss so that you are standing against a wall!”

“What have you noticed?” Water Fairy was curious.

“No matter what kind of abilities this Boss has, it is best to get the Main Tank to stand against a wall. If you do this, you can deal with a bunch of other problems, particularly any knockbacks…” Lu Li explained openly.

There were many players who saw Lu Li turning around to talk to Water Fairy. They were too far away to hear what they were saying – otherwise, they definitely would have been angry at him.

There was such a beautiful woman next to you and you were talking to her about fighting the Boss?

It wasn’t clear if it was because Water Fairy was present, but everyone performed very well in the first phase of the Boss fight. At this stage, the Boss was mainly focused on dealing split-attacks to the melee units. It was a test of the Main Tank’s defence and the healer’s area of effect healing.

In the second phase, the battle became more strategic. Everything else prior to this could be considered child’s play.

They saw Grol’s long weapon quickly condensing a dark fireball. This was actually a magic skill, and it was given to him by Rakh’likh. When the fireball shot towards them, it exploded and ignited a number of players in the area.

“The ignite position is 8 yards, so make sure you spread out,” Lu Li said. He had already expected this.

Water Fairy unconsciously bit her lower lip and deeply admired Lu Li’s ability to plan ahead. However, she was also relieved because she and Lu Li were not enemies.

Casualties were inevitable and the players who got ignited the first time reacted too slowly. Those that were ignited were actually fine, but it was the others that got burnt who died because they found themselves in the wrong position. If someone encountered two or even three ignited players, even a healer that was desperately healing them couldn’t save them.