Nie Yan met up with Clemmy.
"Youngster, have you found some Magic Runestones?" Clemmy asked.
"Yes."
"Alrighty, hand them over to me. Since you're the first person to correctly guess all the answers, I'll give you double the rewards."
Nie Yan's mind trembled, his face lighting up with excitement. This was quite the pleasant surprise. Like this, handing over the Magic Runestones would be even more worthwhile.
As Nie Yan started turning in the quest to Clemmy over and over again, his experience bar rapidly filled up. By the 62nd set of Magic Runestones, his body lit up with a brilliant flash of light. He levelled up to Level 89. Glancing at the remaining runestones in his bag, he wasn't even 10% of the way done!
This street corner had quite a bit of foot traffic. Many passersby were shocked when the cloaked figure talking to Clemmy suddenly levelled up.
Everyone knew about Clemmy, the eccentric old man who hung out in this area all day round. However, no one until now had succeeded in triggering his quest.
"Did Clemmy give out a quest?" a player asked his companion in a doubtful tone.
"I don't know. When you talk to Clemmy, he'll ask you to give him the answers to some weird riddle. No one knows what he's talking about. Did that fellow figure it out somehow and trigger a quest?"
The players were still in heated discussion, when Nie Yan lit up with another flash of light.
The players were dumbstruck, with amusing expressions plastered all over their faces.
"W-what!? He levelled up again! Isn't that twice in a row now?"
"He must be a low-level player, right?"
"No, that's impossible." A player shook his head. "Clemmy ignores anyone under Level 60, let alone give them a quest."
What kind of quest would allow you to level up twice after Level 60?
As the players recovered from their shock, Nie Yan levelled up again, then again, and again, for a total of three more times. Everyone was staring at him like they had seen a ghost.
"Am I seeing things? D-did that really just happen?"
"Who is that guy?"
Nie Yan whose appearance was hidden by the Shadow Walker Cloak seemed quite mysterious.
Nie Yan glanced at his character window. He was already Level 93, two levels higher than he predicted. Level 100 was almost within reach. Soon, he could smoothly become a Shadow Dancer.
Would this long-cherished desire of his finally be fulfilled in this life?
Nie Yan clenched his fists after recalling how he failed to become a Shadow Dancer in the previous timeline. He would definitely succeed in this life!
Nie Yan recalled the Shadow Dancer class advancement quest was given by the elder council of the Thief Association, and that it took roughly two months to complete. However, he had another option. That was to head to the Temple of Light and become a Luminous Dancer. A Luminous Dancer was far more powerful than an ordinary Shadow Dancer. Naturally this was reflected in the difficulty of the class advancement quest.
Since Nie Yan had the opportunity to become a Luminous Dancer, he definitely wouldn't let it slip by. At the very least, he would give it his best so that even if he failed he wouldn't have any regrets.
If Nie Yan successfully advanced to a Luminous Dancer within these next two months, he would become the number one Thief in Conviction, and the first player to successfully become a Shadow Dancer!
Tackling the class advancement quest first thing after reaching Level 100 was a bit overly ambitious. Most players would only make the attempt at Level 150-160. However, given Nie Yan's excellent gear and high stats, he was confident he could do it.
After turning in all the Magic Runestones to Clemmy, Nie Yan headed to his personal storage.
Even long after Nie Yan departed, players were swarming over Clemmy, trying to find clues to trigger his quest to no avail. The five answers to Clemmy's riddle weren't something ordinary players could figure out. They required one to pour over numerous old stories to even begin solving.
As Clemmy's riddle circulated around, more and more players began researching the answers.
Guo Huai's side was still collecting Magic Runestones non-stop. Before long, Nie Yan would have enough to level up one or two more times.
Nie Yan went to his personal storage to withdraw some essentials, then set off for the Hilton Stronghold.
Bladelight and the others had already arrived at the Hilton Stronghold. They were still within the confines of the stronghold, not daring to rashly go out. They dispatched people to find out about the activities of Alliance of Mages and Divine Protectors first. Guo Huai was also helping gather intel in the background.
Besides Alliance of Mages and Divine Protectors, the Penumbra Empire, God Executioner Sword, and other guilds had also dispatched their forces to the Hilton Stronghold.
Even though the Hilton Stronghold was still in a state of ruin after the invasion of the horde of demon beasts, many buildings were being reconstructed atop the destruction. Players were also participating in the rebuilding efforts. More and more players, guilds, and organizations were buying up the land and establishing shops. Naturally, Asskickers United was no exception. There was already a branch of the Starry Night Potion Shop up and running here.
Nie Yan was speeding across the plains on his Faulkner Warhorse. At his current pace, he would arrive at the Hilton Stronghold in 30 minutes. Ordinary players would probably need to take twice as long.
This was a remote and desolate stronghold city. Currently, 0.01% of the players dared to come to this map. The demon beasts that spawned around the Hilton Stronghold weren't something ordinary players could handle.
All the top players from the large guilds had gathered in the Hilton Stronghold. They were here collecting equipment for the sake of tackling Level 100 in the future.
Five Thieves emerged on the plains outside the Hilton Stronghold. They appeared to be setting something up between the trees.
"Dark, are you sure Nivana Flame is going to be passing through here?"
"This is a path everyone has to take to reach the Hilton Stronghold. All of Asskickers United's top elites are there. I refuse to believe he won't come."
"That makes sense. The intel from over there is way too crappy. Even now, we still don't know his whereabouts."
"If Nirvana Flame were that easy to take down, Alliance Of Mages and Divine Protectors wouldn't have put up such a large bounty on his head. Those guys who hired us wouldn't be trying so hard either."
As the five Thieves chatted, they installed numerous traps in the vicinity.
"Did you bring the scrolls?"
"Of course."
"When the time comes, listen to my command."
After finishing their preparations, the five Thieves entered stealth and disappeared from sight.
Nie Yan resembled a gust of wind while galloping on his Faulkner Warhorse. In a few more minutes, he would be arriving at the Hilton Stronghold.
At this moment, a sharp whistle rang out from behind. Nie Yan's heart tightened. He glanced back just in time to see a crossbow bolt flying in his direction.
Nie Yan tried to evade, but it was already too late.
With a put sound, the bolt pierced the Faulkner Warhorse's abdomen. It let out a shrill neigh and reared up on its hind legs, sending Nie Yan flying.
Nie Yan stabilized himself midair and landed gently on the ground. The Faulkner Warhorse didn't have much health. It collapsed dead to the ground.
Before Nie Yan could catch his breath, a giant web fell over him from the sky.
Nie Yan's eyes locked onto a Thief hiding behind some trees in the distance. He looked to be around 30 years old, was robustly built and clad in ash gray leather chest armour. He was holding a large crossbow comparable in size to the Dulahan Cavalry Crossbow. The bolts it fired were super-sized.
It was precisely this crossbow that killed the Faulkner Warhorse. Fortunately, it could be ressummoned, or else this would be a huge loss. Nevertheless, its loyalty would still drop by a bit.
Nie Yan spotted another Thief roughly 30 meters away to his left. He looked a bit younger and was clad in silver leather armour. It was him who had cast the Advanced Web spell.
Just as the giant web was about to trap him, Nie Yan evaded with Gale Step.
A brilliant radiance poured down from the sky, illuminating everything within a 50-meter radius. Nie Yan's figure was immediately revealed. At the same time, five Thieves dashed toward him.
Nie Yan could've escaped with an Unknown Transfer Scroll whenever he wanted. However, he decided to stay and play with these Thieves a little.
When the five Thieves neared, Nie Yan finally got a clear look at their appearances. They belonged to the Bloodfiends.
Nie Yan was extremely familiar with the faces in front of him. In the previous timeline, he had watched videos of their battles. They were called Dark, Ardent, Shadow, Night, and Seal. These five had entered the game together. They were part of the Bloodfiends, a frightening organization whose name alone would make people tremble in fear. All of their code names were single words. These five in particular were at the very top. All of them had eventually advanced to Shadow Dancers.
With five Shadow Dancers, it was impossible for the Bloodfiends not to become famous. In the previous timeline, several large guilds had extended olive branches to them, offering sky high prices in an effort to recruit them. However, they were all rejected. Back then, they were a legendary organization.
At that time, Nie Yan was a nobody. Even if he encountered them, they wouldn't necessarily pay attention to him. In this life, however, he was the guild leader of Asskickers United, Mad Rogue Nirvana Flame, an existence countless people revered.
In regards to Bloodfiends, Nie Yan had long since prepared. He had no intention of backing down.
The five Thieves resembled cheetahs pouncing at their prey. They rapidly closed in on Nie Yan from every direction. Brimming with bloodlust, it seemed they would chase him to the ends of the world.
A one versus five not to mention against five legendary Thieves. Nie Yan didn't dare to be the slightest bit careless. He quickly pulled back. The black flames on Zennarde's Sword burned brightly, looking as though they would devour anything they touched.
Dark rushed forward with his dagger stabbing towards Nie Yan's throat.
Parry!
Nie Yan raised Zennarde's Sword to block. With a klang sound, the two weapons clashed.