Chapter 21 – Fire Chaser Set

“That would require you to have at least some skill!” Nie Yan laughed in contempt as he turned around and dashed away.

He managed to pull himself away from the Berserker almost instantaneously. The Thief was already an inherently nimble class. Yet now, with the dexterity bonus from his Bronze-grade equipment and the movement speed bonus from the scroll, Nie Yan vastly outstripped the Berserker in terms of speed.

Nie Yan had already retreated five yards back.

“Don’t let him run away, or else we won’t be able to explain ourselves to the captain!” the Berserker shouted anxiously. He was too slow. There was absolutely no way he’d be able to catch up. As he took a quick glance at Charge on his skill bar, he lamented the fact that it was still on cooldown.

“I know.” The Priest attacked once more. A beam of holy light struck Nie Yan, dealing sixteen damage.

The Berserker relentlessly pursued from behind.

However, from the start, Nie Yan never intended to escape. He was simply stalling for time so that a few skills could come off cooldown.

Just as the Priest finished casting, Nie Yan pulled back and began applying bandages to himself.

+20… +20… +20… +20—

Gradually, his health began restoring every second. On the fourth tick, the Priest struck Nie Yan with another beam of holy light, interrupting the healing.

Though by this time, Nie Yan had already been restored to full health.

At present, with the average level of the player base, Intermediate Combat Medic was an existence that defied the Heavens.

“He has a Medic skill!” the Berserker exclaimed in surprise; a hint of fear could be heard in his tone. What kind of Medic skill is this!? The Medic skills he had seen in the past could only be used when combat ended. Nonetheless, they would still only restore five health every second. Yet… Nie Yan’s skill restored twenty! He had never even encountered a Medic skill like Nie Yan’s that could be used in the middle of combat, let alone one that had such outrageous healing effects too.

It was a painstaking effort trying to get Nie Yan down to low health. His death was right before their eyes. Then all of a sudden, the situation completely reversed!

By now all of Nie Yan’s skills had come off cooldown. The corner of his lips faintly curved into a smile. Now it’s your turn! He turned around and dashed in the direction of the Berserker.

The Berserker’s complexion turned deathly white as he watched Nie Yan pounce towards him. Hurriedly, he raised his sword in an attempt to resist.

Nie Yan at full health could kill their captain even while being attacked on three sides. Now that Dian Cang was dead, how could just the two of them possibly be a match for Nie Yan!?

The dagger in Nie Yan’s hand sliced in a wide arc, then suddenly changed direction mid slash. Concussive Blow!「Thwack!」The Berserker’s greatsword crashed into Nie Yan’s chest. At the same time, the pommel of Nie Yan’s dagger hit the Berserker directly on the forehead!

The Berserker sunk into a dazed state.

Assassinate! Nie Yan plunged the dagger into the Berserker’s chest. He then followed up with Vital Strike, sending the dagger even deeper into his target. Instantly, the Berserker lost the greater portion of his health.

Seeing the Berserker about to come back to his sense, Nie Yan circled behind him and used Smothering Strike, putting him in a dazed state once more.

Due to performing a series of attacks and having been in combat so long, Nie Yan was running somewhat low on stamina. Taking a deep breath, he plunged his dagger into the Berserker’s back.

Through the sequence of explosive attacks, the Berserker’s health had gone from over a hundred and eighty to a mere sixty within just a few short seconds.

If this continues, I’m dead for sure!

The Berserker was distraught with fear as he emerged from his dazed state. He frantically fled in the other direction in an attempt to preserve his life.

If the Berserker had turned around and attacked Nie Yan, he might’ve still been able to cause some damage. However, he chose not to because he was self-centered and cowardly. Instead, he panicked as soon as he saw his health was low, desperately running for his life just because he was afraid of losing a piece of equipment upon death.

“You think you can escape?” Nie Yan pursued, effortlessly arriving behind the Berserker’s back. He raised his dagger, then successively slashed his opponent several times in the back.

−23

−21

−16

“Argh… Dammit—!” The Berserker cursed as his health fell to zero and his vision faded to black. His body collapsed and landed flat on the ground. Just a moment later, a piece of equipment dropped from his corpse.

“Heh. It’s finally your turn.” Nie Yan dashed towards the Priest after picking up the Berserker’s dropped equipment. He had taken quite a sore beating from this Priest. From the time he was fighting Dian Cang up until the Berserker just now, this Priest was constantly firing off attacks at him like a buzzing fly.

Seeing the Berserker collapsed on the ground, the Priest stared out foolishly. How did he suddenly become the only one remaining in the blink of an eye? He was just a low-level Priest who hadn’t even learned any healing skills. How could he possibly be a match for this Thief?

The Priest turned his back and broke into a mad sprint. At that moment, he had completely thrown away any thoughts of trying to fight Nie Yan. No matter what course of action he took, he would still end up dead. Therefore his first instinctual reaction was to flee for his life.

Nie Yan was already in pursuit. Mage classes like this Priest were inherently rather slow, so where could a Priest like him possibly escape to?

As Nie Yan slashed in quick succession, his dagger easily tore through the Priest’s cloth armour.

−31

−32

−32

Several damage values floated above the Priest’s head. Before he had even made a few steps, his body fell forward and collapsed on the ground.

Nie Yan walked up to the Priest’s corpse and picked up the piece of equipment that dropped.

The equipment the Priest and Berserker dropped were rather ordinary—two pieces of Level 0 equipment that were both White-grade. The best pieces of gear were still the ones that were dropped by the Elementalist: headgear, gloves, mage robes, staff, pants, and boots. Six pieces of equipment in total, and not one less.

Fire Chaser Crown: Fire Damage +5

Fire Chaser Gloves: Balance +3

Fire Chaser Robes: Fire Damage +10

Fire Chaser Pants: Willpower +2

Fire Chaser Boots: Movement Speed +2

It’s the Fire Chaser set! No wonder that Elementalist’s damage was so high! The equipment for this set came from the Level 3 instance, Black Flame Forest. Before Level 5 instances were released, this set was regarded as the best possible equipment for Mages that focused on fire magic. Of course, because it was good, the set pieces had a rather low drop rate. It would take at least four or five runs through the Black Flame Forest to collect all the pieces required to complete the entire set.

Besides the Fire Chaser set, there was also a Silver-grade Level 0 Tempered Blue Staff. It had the additional properties of Magic +3 and Elemental Damage +5.

Nie Yan reckoned that Dian Cang’s intestines were now green with regret. Even if Dian Cang continued killing Tang Yao and his party members until they dropped back to Level 0, it still wouldn’t be worth losing every single piece of equipment on his body.

Not bad… he even had a Silver-grade staff, Nie Yan thought to himself. If he were to put this staff up for auction, it would at the very least sell for three silvers.

This Bronze-grade Fire Chaser set can be equipped by both Elementalists and Arcane Mages because both of these classes have fire magic. Elementalists are able to control the fire elements, whereas Arcane Mages are able to control arcane fire. Nie Yan could gift Tang Yao this Fire Chaser set as a present. As for the Silver-grade staff, Tang Yao wasn’t able to use it. As such, Nie Yan thought about selling it and using the money for other expenses. If not, he could always exchange it for one or two pieces of equipment instead.

「Where are you right now? Tell me your coordinates.」

「231.395.285, there’s a cave in that area where Level 5 monsters spawn inside. I’m in that cave right now, hiding in a corner and afraid to come out.」

「I killed three members from the Radiant Sacred Flame guild. One of them was called Dian Cang or something.」

「You killed Dian Cang? You’re not lying to me, are you? That bastard was too damned overpowered. He took out three of my party members all by himself. With his magic damage, a single Fireball was able to take out half our health.」To Tang Yao, Nie Yan killing Dian Cang was an amazing and unimaginable outcome.

「The guy’s name was marked in bright red. He dropped every single piece of equipment from his body when he died. Here, this is his equipment. It’s the Fire Chaser set. I’ll give it to you as a gift.」

Brother, I was lucky to have you watch out for me in my past life. I’ve burdened you with much too many things. Before I even got to repay you back, I ended up reincarnating. Brother! In this life, I’ll be the one to watch out for you instead! Nie Yan inwardly thought as he shared the Fire Chaser set with Tang Yao.

Tang Yao’s mouth was agape. His face was filled with surprise as he stared at the equipment Nie Yan shared with him.

「This isn’t real, right?」Tang Yao slapped himself in the face to confirm he was seeing things clearly. 「This set… are you sure you want to gift this to me?」

Tang Yao naturally knew what this Fire Chaser set signified. It was only possible to get this set after running the Black Flame Forest four or five times. Not to mention that teams would often get wiped while running it as well. If he were to wear this set and enter an instance with another party, then it could be said that from the value of this set alone, it was certain that those members would rush to recruit him into their team.

「Do you think I’m making fun of you or something!?」Nie Yan scolded Tang Yao and laughed.

「Even if I die today, it’ll still be worth it. Although I’m only eighteen years old this year and still haven’t experienced many serious matters in life, what I’m most proud of is that I managed to find a brother like you!」Tang Yao emotionally exclaimed. He naturally understood Nie Yan’s financial situation. This Fire Chaser set… if Nie Yan were to put it up at a transaction platform for real money, the price he’d fetch would be quite considerable. Yet Nie Yan was actually preparing to send him this set as a gift. This proved that Nie Yan truly regarded him as a brother.

Nie Yan thought back to the past. What he had wanted to say the most to Tang Yao in his past life were those words as well.

「When it comes to brothers like us, there’s no need to be polite! Wait up, I’m going to kill a few more of them,」Nie Yan informed. He still had twenty-five minutes remaining where he was allowed to retaliate in self-defense.

「I never thought that a guy like you would be so gifted at playing this game. When I listened to your advice earlier in the day, everything suddenly became clear to me, and my skill significantly improved. Otherwise, I would’ve never been able to hold on up until now,」Tang Yao informed. He admired Nie Yan from the bottom of his heart. After seeing his performance today, he couldn’t help but view Nie Yan in a whole new light.

His equipment would vastly improve with this Fire Chaser set, and he would enter the ranks of experts.

In the past, Tang Yao had regarded Nie Yan as a poor and pitiful brother. One whom he would have watch out for in everything. But now, Nie Yan’s actions had caused him to look up to and admire Nie Yan. For the first time, he felt this brother of his was quite truly, a capable person.