A Legendary Thief

Now that Xiao Yu had discovered the mercenaries' trade union, he was idle at the moment, so he thought he should go inside to accept a task. He headed for the mercenaries' trade union. There were many players going in and out of the place. They were the players who had just taken a task or who had just come back from completing a task.

"I'd like to ask this gentleman. Are you here to accept a task or turn in a task?" a middle-aged NPC of the mercenaries' trade union asked Xiao Yu.

"I'm here to accept a task," answered Xiao Yu.

"Here is a list of the tasks," said the middle-aged NPC while handing the list to Xiao Yu.

Xiao Yu felt a bit dizzy as he looked at the task list. There were too many tasks listed on it, so he had no way to look through them all.

"Could you please tell me if there are any tasks suitable for level-7 thieves?" he asked the middle-aged NPC who was looking at him. His question caused the other players nearby to roll their eyes.

"This guy is already at level 7!"

"Cool!"

A few players were discussing in a low voice close by. There were a few hundred players in the entire Evil Federation at level 8 and tens of thousands of players at level 7. However, there were only five or six among the players in Tabarka who were at level 7. As such, these players couldn't help but feel astounded when they met a player at level 7.

The middle-aged NPC said while pointing at the task list, "These tasks are suitable for thieves. This task has the highest reward, which is given by Thief Teacher Ode. There is a chance to obtain an epic skill after completing the task."

Taking a look at the task, Xiao Yu found it was none other than the same task he had just completed. However, the task given by Thief Teacher Ode at the trade union for the mercenaries was a little different from the one Xiao Yu took on earlier. Thief Teacher Ode had only given one stage of the task here.

"The other tasks have lesser rewards, but they are relatively easy. This task is for desert hunters, and your goal is to kill desert hunters. They are level-5 bosses, and the reward is 20 gold coins, a level-5 blue-level leg guard for thieves or a level-5 blue-level leg guard for soldiers, from which you can only choose one item. It's recommended to have a three-person team for the task," said the middle-aged NPC while pointing at the list.

"Level-5 boss?" Xiao Yu muttered. He thought he might have a chance if the task was for three people. The excellent rewards piqued his interest. Twenty gold coins were equivalent to the winnings he would earn in several days. The extra blue-level leg guard was incredibly appealing to him.

Touching the two vials of medicine in his bag, Xiao Yu thought to himself that he could simply escape using his hiding skill if he found he couldn't beat his opponents. After this thought, Xiao Yu made up his mind and said, "I'll take this task."

"Good." The middle-aged NPC began to register him and then handed a paper card to Xiao Yu, saying, "This is the recording card for your task. Please keep it safe. This is a special task that other players can also take. If you meet other players carrying out this task at the same time, the reward will be divided according to the contributions."

This was the task of killing desert hunters. If Xiao Yu accomplished the task with someone else, he would gain 50% of the rewards if he knocked out 50% of the desert hunter's health. Of course, heath was not the only criterion for a reward. The game programmers would also allocate the rewards based on the performance of the players.

Xiao Yu took the recording card from the middle-aged NPC and put it away.

"I wish you good luck, and may the ancestors be with you."

After taking the task, Xiao Yu headed outside the trade union.

"Hi, we meet again."

A seemingly familiar voice rang out beside Xiao Yu. He took a look at the incoming person and found it was Ji Huo who had approached him some time ago.

"How are you!" said Xiao Yu, nodding his head a bit.

Xiao Yu stole a glance at the items worn by Ji Huo. He had three green-level equipment items. It seemed that he had done well for himself.

"Are you at level 7 now?" Ji Huo asked Xiao Yu. The speed at which Xiao Yu had leveled up surprised Ji Huo. His experience bar for level 7 was merely at 9% after he teamed up with two other highly-skilled players. He didn't expect Xiao Yu to have also reached level 7.

"Yes," replied Xiao Yu. This was a fact that Ji Huo had just learned from the other players.

"Those two are my teammates. One is Feng Li, a level-7 spirit soldier; the other is Xue Rong, a level-7 healing black wizard. We're on our way to complete a task. Are you interested in it?" Ji Huo asked. Since Xiao Yu had leveled up so fast all on his own, he must be doing well using his skills. It was hard to find a skillful player in this small town where the "hens don't even want to lay eggs." As such, Ji Huo earnestly invited Xiao Yu to join their team to adventure together.

They were all at level 7, so Xiao Yu couldn't help but steal a glance at Ji Huo's two teammates. Feng Li was about 23 or 24 years old and wore thick leather armor. The person named Xue Rong was about 21 or 22 and looked kind of pretty.

"No, thanks. I've just accepted a task, and I'm on my way to carry it out," answered Xiao Yu. He was not used to being in close contact with others, and he was especially unsure of teaming up with others. It would cause a lot more trouble down the road if he picked the wrong teammates. In addition, the items found by the team would be allocated according to certain rules, which could easily lead to quarrels. All these reasons prevented Xiao Yu from having any desire to team up with other players. Teaming up with somebody once or twice might be acceptable, but forming a permanent team was out of the question. Realizing that Xiao Yu was not interested in teaming up with others, Ji Huo said with a smile, "You go ahead and do your stuff. But let's add each other as friends. If you ever need any help, you can call us."

It was inappropriate to slap a smiling face, and so Xiao Yu had no reason to refuse Ji Huo's sincere invitation. He ultimately added him as a friend.

"We'll meet again."

After bidding farewell to Ji Huo, Xiao Yu walked out of the mercenaries' trade union.

"Ji Huo, was he the person who declined you when you invited him to join your team the first time?" asked Feng Li after coming next to him.

"Yeah," replied Ji Huo. While looking at the disappearing figure of Xiao Yu at the gate of the mercenaries' trade union, Ji Huo grew curious about him.

Feng Li was baffled, wondering how Ji Huo, who was a very proud person, would keep inviting this person to join his team. The behavior was not consistent with his style at all.

"Are you curious? So am I. I have this intuition that this person is very powerful. As a lone thief, he has leveled up at a pace no slower than us, but we're a team. And his equipment is even better than ours, which proves his actual strength. If we could invite him to join us, that would be fortunate for us. Unfortunately, he doesn't seem interested in teaming up with anybody," remarked Ji Huo regretfully.