Rebirth of the Thief Who Roamed The World Chapter 313-314

Chapter 313 – Empress Finas’ Fate Pearl

Adept Skill Books were different from ordinary or Advanced Skill Books. Being combat focused and possessing the special characteristics of their associated Adept Class, they tended to be far more powerful than ordinary skills while lacking the disadvantage of having long cooldowns like Advanced Skills.

Nie Yan continued rummaging through the Dark Gold Chest but found nothing else. He examined the Great Thief Skill Book.

Reverse Grip Backstab（Freedom Skill）

Description: Become invincible for 2 seconds after evading an enemy’s attack, circle behind them and retaliate with an attack. Enhances Backstab damage.

Requirements: Action (Weapon), 50 Rage

Properties: Deal an additional 100%-300% damage. Ignores armour.

Cooldown: 30 Seconds

Restrictions: Great Thief; can be learned by any faction.

The Thief class was divided into Thief, Great Thief, and Shadow Dancer. With each class advancement, they gained more flexibility in combat. Especially after reaching Shadow Dancer at which point all skills could be used at will. With a wider range of freedom, their combat power increased exponentially.

Players could start learning Freedom Skills after reaching the Adept class, and Reverse Grip Backstab was precisely one of them.

This skill was quite powerful. It provided invincibility after evading an attack and enhanced his Backstab damage. Not to mention its cooldown was only 30 seconds.

But since Reverse Grip Backstab was a Freedom Skill, Nie Yan would have to spend some time gradually mastering it.

Freedom Skill Books were far more expensive than most mounts and Advanced Skill Books, regularly selling for over 10,000 gold in the previous timeline. This was testament to their popularity among the player base. Add this to their scarcity, and it explained why you might not even find 1 in 10,000 players with a Freedom Skill.

Most Thieves wouldn’t have more than five or six Freedom Skills by the time they stepped into the ranks of a Shadow Dancer.

Nie Yan had once obtained a Freedom Skill Book after becoming a Great Thief in his past life, but his poor financial situation at the time forced him to sell it to a Shadow Dancer.

In this life, Nie Yan naturally wouldn’t repeat such a shameful act. He put the Reverse Grip Backstab Skill Book in his bag. He could learn it when he advanced to a Great Thief at Level 50.

Nie Yan continued searching around in the hopes of finding other treasures. After passing through numerous tunnels, he arrived at the entrance to a room with man-made structures. The walls were polished smooth and engraved with tadpole-like characters that he couldn’t read.

The lighting here was dark and a bit eerie.

Nie Yan hesitated for a moment before cautiously proceeding forward. As he stepped on a floor tile, a biting cold travelled up his feet. Suddenly, there was a slight tremble as some sort of mechanism activated underground.

“It’s a trap!” Nie Yan cried out in alarm, only to see sharp arrow tips emerge out of the walls around him.

These arrows densely lined the walls and emanated a murderous aura.

Nie Yan didn’t dare to move even an inch. As soon as his foot broke contact with the tile, the arrows would fire and he would be transformed into a human pin cushion!

With death staring him in the face, Nie Yan sucked in a breath of cold air.

Thankfully, his gut instinct was correct, allowing him to detect the trap in time.

However, he couldn’t stand here forever!

Nie Yan looked up ahead. The arrows lining the walls stretched out for the next 10 meters.

That’s right! I still have the Leaper Ring in my bag!

Nie Yan equipped the Leaper Ring. He determined his landing spot, then leaped high into the air like a grasshopper. The sound of arrows firing rang out behind him as he flew across the danger zone.

Nie Yan landed safely on the other side. When he turned around, countless arrows covered the ground, protruding out like stalks in a rice paddy. Seeing this scene, he felt as though he had gained a new lease on life.

Nie Yan continued exploring further, being especially wary of any traps. Although most of them were extremely well-hidden, not a single one escaped his sharp senses. Nevertheless, it was a thrilling experience. He had nearly died quite a few times!

Nie Yan eventually arrived at the entrance of a sealed off chamber after travelling through a narrow passageway. He let out a gasp when he looked up ahead. Before him was a terrifying, 10-meter black spider hanging in the center of a massive web!

This was Nie Yan’s first time seeing such a monster in both lifetimes. He quickly retreated back into the narrow passageway to avoid being attacked. He observed the spider from a safe distance. It was incomparably ugly, with eight enormous beady eyes, and its body covered in fine, steel-like hairs. Upon further observation, he discovered it didn’t move whatsoever. Its eyes were hollow and vacant.

Is it dead? Nie Yan was dazed for a moment. He cautiously crept around and discovered that the spider’s back was split open. It was just an empty shell!

Even if it wasn’t alive, it was still terrifying.

Nie Yan saw a pearl shimmering on a web-covered stone platform below the spider. It was entirely black, perfectly round, and about the size of his fist.

Nie Yan couldn’t help but be attracted to it.

What is that?

Nie Yan took out his crossbow and started randomly shooting in search for booby traps.

The arrows struck the ground, wall, and ceiling of this chamber in quick succession. Some of them even pierced through the spider’s carapace. But nothing happened.

After confirming there was no danger, Nie Yan carefully walked over to the stone platform, still cautious of any traps below his feet.

Nie Yan took a deep breath, then reached out and grabbed the pearl, whereupon he felt a cool sensation travel up his arm.

The pearl was smooth and glossy without the slightest blemish.

Nie Yan held the pearl in his palm and examined it.

Empress Finas’ Fate Pearl: Special Item

Properties: Night Vision +12, Darkness Awareness +12, Dark Magic Effect +100%.

Additional Quest Property: Weaken Empress Finas’ stats by 30%.

Note: Item effects are applied immediately upon entering the player’s bag.

Nie Yan reckoned this Empress Finas’ Fate Pearl was worth well over 10,000 gold. In the Righteous Faction, equipment that increased Night Vision was extremely rare. Its value could be well-imagined since even a piece of equipment with only Night Vision +1 sold for a bare minimum of 10 gold in the marketplace. Darkness Awareness was also extremely valuable, allowing the player to detect an opponent’s position more easily in the dark. Not to mention its effects were active while in the player’s bag. It was very difficult to appraise the value of these properties. As for the Dark Magic Effect +100%, it was also useful to him since it would increase the success rate of Undead Rite!

Nie Yan’s eyebrows jumped after seeing the Night Vision property on Empress Finas’ Fate Pearl. A thought flashed across his mind.

Night Vision Equipment!

Equipment with Night Vision +1 only cost around 50 silver in the Evil Faction, but their value skyrocketed to more than 10 gold in the Righteous Faction! Nie Yan could already imagine how much profit could be made off this difference.

With the Necklace of Deception in his possession, there wasn’t much of a challenge for him to travel to the Evil Faction and buy whatever he pleased in their marketplace. Loaded with items he could sell at a premium in the Righteous Faction, he would return and stock his own auction houses!

In the previous timeline, many players attempted to sell items from the Righteous Faction to the Evil Faction and vice-versa from players in the Evil Faction. But all of them would end up failing. The reason was simple. Righteous Faction and Evil Faction players were not allowed to communicate, trade, or have any form of contact with each other whatsoever. If a player was found to be smuggling items, they would be punished by the NPCs of their respective side.

Righteous Faction items were not allowed to be transported to the Evil Faction. Even if they were deliberately abandoned for Evil Faction players to pick up, as long as the sum value of the items exceeded 10 gold, it was treason by Calore’s law. The law enforcements would track down the perpetrator and arrest them.

However Nie Yan’s plan of selling items from the Evil Faction to the Righteous Faction was allowed. But if he attempted to do the opposite, regardless of the method, Calore’s law enforcement would immediately come looking for him as soon as he stepped foot in the city. These actions were tantamount to treason. Even the title of Grand Scholar couldn’t protect him at that time. Due to this, it was very hard for items to circulate on both sides.

One could never have too much money. Nie Yan reckoned if he went over to the Evil Faction and brought back five bag fulls of high-level equipment, he could easily make a profit of 50,000-60,000 gold.

It was possible to sell 50 gold worth of equipment from the Evil Faction for up to 1,000 gold in the Righteous Faction, especially if it was Night Vision Equipment.

If Nie Yan could transport items from the Evil Faction over to this side, he would definitely sell them across the various cities in the Viridian Empire. Besides that, he would also stock up Asskickers United’s treasury.

Naturally, this was only a plan. He didn’t know if it would actually succeed. But with so much potential for profit, it was worth giving a try.

Nie Yan put Empress Finas’ Fate Pearl in his bag. This item would probably have a use in the quest later on. He searched the room for other items but came up empty. He retraced his steps as he went to regroup with the others.

「How’s things on your side?」Nie Yan asked in voice chat.

「Sun found the Molelord,」Bladelight informed. Now, they were just waiting for Nie Yan.

Chapter 314 – Undying Soul

Nie Yan glanced at Empress Finas’ Fate Pearl in his bag, wondering when it would come in handy. Let’s deal with the Molelord first. He withdrew his gaze.

「Have you found the other journal pages?」Nie Yan asked. Those pages also contained clues to the quest.

「We’ve found three pages. Combine those with the two on you, and we’ll have the complete journal,」Bladelight replied. They only obtained these three pages after killing numerous Molemen and opening several chests.

Bladelight shared what was written on the last three journal pages.

Even though I’m well aware Empress Finas only wants my body as a tool, I’m still happy to become her vessel… I’m just a lowly Crystalline Moleman, but I’m willing to offer up both my life and this useless body for the sake of showing her my love… My dear Empress Finas, during those long winter nights, when both my soul and body have long since faded into dust, will you still recall the silly love of this lowly Crystalline Moleman…?

Although the journal pages were easy to collect, it appeared there was still a secret hidden within them that had yet to be uncovered.

「I’ll be there right away,」Nie Yan said. He travelled through numerous winding tunnels and arrived back at the fork in the path. There, he spotted Bladelight and the others who were recovering their health and mana.

“Where’s Sun and One Strike Vow?” Nie Yan asked after not seeing them.

“They’re scouting out the path ahead,” Bladelight replied. Sun and One Strike Vow had discovered the Molelord’s location before Nie Yan.

“Take out the other three journal pages for me,” Nie Yan said. He wondered what kind of transformation would occur when all five pages were brought together.

Bladelight handed over the journal pages to Nie Yan.

After completing the trade, the three journal pages fell into Nie Yan’s bag. With the five pages gathered together, they emitted a flash of brilliant light and combined into a complete journal, albeit still badly damaged like before.

Bennett’s Journal: Undying Soul, Love of a Lowly Moleman (Quest Item)

Description: It possesses boundless mysterious power. The owner of this journal will be guided by a soul. Search for traces of Empress Finas. Weakens Molelord Bennett’s stats by 30%.

Empress Finas left the Crystal Caverns for the Underworld 1,000 years ago. She completely drained the life of Molelord Bennet, leaving behind a corpse with an Undying Soul. No matter how many times he is killed, he will revive when night descends.

The journal appeared extremely old. A halo of light containing the power to pierce space revolved around it.

Nie Yan’s intuition told him that this journal wasn’t simple. It was probably connected to a larger quest chain.

“It seems like this quest requires you to go the Underworld. You should think of a way on your own. I’m afraid we can’t help you.” Smoke Stub helplessly smiled. At the current stage of the game, only Thieves could travel to the Underworld. With their stealthing abilities, they could still get around without instantly being ganged up on by players of the Evil Faction.

At present, the fight between the warring factions was still limited to the borders. Very few players dared to enter the enemy’s territory. The deeper in they were, the heavier the stat penalty. Someone had once done the calculations in the previous timeline. When a player was roaming near the capital of an enemy faction, their stats would be reduced by as much as 60%.This wasn’t a trivial matter. Under such circumstances, a Level 50 Righteous Player probably wouldn’t even be a match for a Level 40 Evil Player.

Out of everyone in the group, Nie Yan was the most suited to do this quest. Sun had made decent progress, but he was still too wet behind the ears. As for One Strike Vow, she wouldn’t be willing to stay in a gloomy Underworld city for a prolonged period of time.

“We’ll see after things settle down,” Nie Yan replied. He would definitely visit the Underworld, if not only to at least check out the situation there.

At this moment, Sun and One Strike Vow returned. Bladelight stepped slightly off to the side.

“How did things go?” Nie Yan asked.

“We found the Molelord. It’s guarded by several dozen Moleguards and 600 Crystalline Molemen,” One Strike Vow replied, then glanced at Bladelight.

Nie Yan patted Bladelight’s shoulder. “Man up, don’t keep the pretty girl waiting.”

What kind of figure was Bladelight? He was a top 3 Fighter in the previous timeline. In this life, he had also gained fame as a core elite of Asskickers United. He was normally the stoic and no-nonsense type. But just as Achilles had his heel, Bladelight turned timid as a mouse in front of One Strike Vow. This was quite a marvel.

“Let’s go take a look together,” Nie Yan said. Afterwards, they would decide their course of action.

The group set out for the Molelord. They eventually arrived at a large chamber with a 60-meter high ceiling and a diameter of 1,000 meters. It was like entering an underground world.

An enormous Crystalline Moleman appeared in everyone’s vision. It was 6 meters tall and completely red, resembling a titan from antiquity. There were also more than 30 Crystalline Moleguards in the vicinity.

It would be troublesome to lure them out one by one, especially considering their numbers and how close they were to each other.

“What do we do?”

Everyone tried to think of a strategy to deal with the Molelord. Nie Yan surveyed the surroundings. There were many stalactites hanging from the ceiling which looked like a good vantage point. But using his crossbow to whittle away at the numbers of these Crystalline Molemen simply wasn’t practical. Who knew how long it would take? Not to mention there was no way this tactic would work against the Molelord. Its health regeneration was too high, and it was resistant to piercing damage.

A thought suddenly crossed Nie Yan’s mind. If he wouldn’t do, he could just send Tang Yao! Although Tang Yao didn’t possess the damage to kill the Molelord, he could still clear away the mobs surrounding it.

After Nie Yan explained his plan to the group, Tang Yao’s eyes lit up. “I don’t know if this will work, but I’ll give it a try.”

Nie Yan handed over the Crawler Ring and Silk Spinner Ring to Tang Yao. Tang Yao was already familiar with the Crawler Ring while the Silk Spinner Ring was merely a form of insurance.

Tang Yao accepted the trade, then equipped the two rings. He activated the Crawler Ring and started climbing towards the ceiling.

Nie Yan and the others watched as Tang Yao nimbly climbed up the wall like a spider.

“Even this is possible?” Everyone was speechless.

Tang Yao secured himself between two stalactites. As for his Arcane Fairy, it was ordered to stay beside Nie Yan.

「How are you feeling?」Nie Yan asked in voice chat.

「It’s a little high up, but I think I’m good!」Tang Yao replied. He started chanting and gathering fire elemental energy at a rapid pace.

A large red cloud loomed menacingly over the heads of the Crystalline Molemen. A second later, it started pouring down fireballs.「Bang! Bang! Bang!」A blanket of damage values rose up into the air.

The Crystalline Molemen were in an uproar, but they couldn’t find the enemy.

“Awesome!” Tang Yao couldn’t help but exclaim. He cast one spell after the other, all of which were area-of-effect and rained down ruthlessly. Before long, a large section of the crowd was cleaned out. The ground was littered with corpses.

Tang Yao’s damage was terrifying. Very few monsters could withstand a shelling from one of his area-of-effect spells. The damage was equivalent to that of other peoples’ Advanced Magic!

The spells never stopped falling. After five or six of them, their destructive range far surpassed that of Advanced Magic. This unrivalled barrage of magic left everyone stupefied.

Swaths of Crystalline Molemen collapsed to the ground. Even several dozen Moleguards couldn’t hold on any longer. The Molelord also lost a bit of health but recovered it after just a few seconds.

Everyone was stunned by the sight of these Crystalline Molemen dropping like flies. They previously believed it would take at least five hours to whittle down their numbers. This was a tremendously tedious task. Who could’ve predicted Nie Yan’s strategy would cut down this time to just 30 minutes!

The Crystalline Moleguards fell in quick succession.

The ground was littered with piles of sparkling equipment. The sight was enough to make ordinary players go mad with greed.

When Tang Yao stopped casting spells, only the Molelord and a few low-health Moleguards remained standing.

Tang Yao used his single-target spells to kill the remaining Moleguards.

Like this, only the Molelord was left in the chamber, which made things much easier.

Only then did everyone recognize the usefulness of Special Items, whereupon a single thought surfaced in their collective mind. I definitely need to get my hands on a few of them in the future!

Special Items were fairly rare. But due to their bizarre natures, it was difficult to determine their true value. So, one or two would occasionally pop up in the marketplace for a low price. If you were to be so lucky as to find one, you should buy it immediately, lest you be filled with endless regret for missing the opportunity later on.

Perhaps Nie Yan was the only person who could put a Special Item to full use.

“I’ll go draw the aggro. Get ready, you guys,” Nie Yan said. He sprinted off toward the Molelord.

Bladelight and the others spread out and moved into formation.

Nie Yan took aim with the Dullahan Cavalry Crossbow and fired.

「Put! Put! Put」Five bolts flew out and struck the Molelord, whereupon it let out a earth-shattering roar, causing the entire chamber to tremble violently. It was as if it wanted to bring the whole place down. It charged toward Nie Yan with bounding strides.