Blade of Tyranny

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation  Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

At the Demon Goblins’ spawn point deep within the Blood Shade Plains that was lush with knee-high thickets, goblins which bodies were entirely black were holding pitchforks and wandering everywhere. Dwarf-sized creatures half as tall as a human, they had distinct stout bodies.
Meanwhile, three figures appeared at the edge of the area.
“Nie Fan, are we going to farm here? Should we have Xue Yu draw their attention?” Lin Suyue asked.
The Demon Goblins were Level 17 monsters and Xue Yu would never survive a single blow from those monsters! On the other hand, Suyue and Nie Fan would not last long either if Xue Yu did not create a diversion.
However, Nie Fan shook his head and smiled. “No need.”
“Aren’t we being a little bold coming here too?” Xue Yu was panicking inwardly as well—those monsters’ levels were simply too high.
But Nie Fan remained calm and confident. “You two don’t have to farm. You just have to collect the dropped items.”
“Collect dropped items?!” Xue Yu was stunned. He had the feeling that their trio would actually fail to kill even a single Demon Goblin with their trio’s combined might.
“Just pay attention to stay six yards away since they are a little short-sighted and that is as far as their vision goes. Everything beyond that is a blur, so they would never notice you as long as you don’t attack them.” Nie Fan told them. That was the precise reason he chose these monsters—his preparations in the two days before Blade of Tyranny started service was quite useful.
Locking in on one of the Demon Goblins, Nie Fan started to chant his spell.
[Bloodthirsty Vine!]
A vine hence crept out of the ground and coiled around the Demon Goblin. The creature bellowed, swinging its pitchfork to strike at Nie Fan’s vine even as the vine flailed at it without stopping, with damage values above a hundred popping up over its head.
It’s finished! A single Bloodthirsty Vine was enough to snuff it!
Nonetheless, Nie Fan ignored it. His eyes locking in on another Demon Goblin nearby as he chanted a curse.
Black Oil!
The thick dark grease splashed down on the Demon Goblin’s head, and it was followed up by a Mini Fireball shot. The ensuing bang and violent flames caused both Xue Yu and Lin Suyue to jump, startled.
They gaped as the Demon Goblin’s body burned with scorching fire and leap everywhere, shrieking, one stunning damage point appearing over its head after another and dropping to the dirt soon enough.
With two Demon Goblins dropped after the other, Nie Fan’s trio gained over 300 EXP per person.
It was only then that both Xue Yu and Lin Suyue were left utterly dumbfounded. A Level 12 Druid, instakilling two Level 17 Demon Goblins at once? What skills could be so overwhelming? If Druids were so over powering, shouldn’t everyone be playing Druid?
Meanwhile, Nie Fan’s Bloodthirsty Vines had gone off cooldown after a dozen seconds, and he casted it once again.
One Demon Goblin after another began to drop into the dirt.
Xue Yu watched as his EXP increased by leaps and bounds, and soon a white light shone: he was now Level 11. One Demon Goblin provided over 300 EXP, while he and Lin Suyue could only gain less than twenty EXP when they farm creatures of their same level… the speed of this leveling up was more than a dozen times that!
“Nie Fan, what are those skills of yours?” He then asked as he recovered from his shock.
“Upgraded Bloodthirsty Vines, and Novice Black Oil plus Mini Fireball. The key here is skill level: My Bloodthirsty Vines is already level five, while both Black Oil and Mini Fireball are level four. That’s the reason it’s so effective.” Nie Fan explained while continuing farming monsters.
“How is your skill level so high!?” Lin Suyue asked in shock. She had collected some data as well after joining the game—leveling up skills were time consuming, and it was very difficult to upgrade any to level five. It took weeks even if one trains nonstop, and that was why most players would not usually be able to improve a skill to level five in months, and would only reach that level for one or two skills after reaching Level 50.
Xue Yu was speechless too. “So, one level five skill and two level four skills… no wonder it’s so violent. How did you level up those skills anyway?”
“Don’t ask. Let’s just hurry up with leveling up.” Nie Fan considered it for a moment but soon decided that it would not benefit Lin Suyue or Xue Yu to know about certain things. Moreover, that skill leveling up process could no longer be replicated.
Neither of them of them pressed him since he was unwilling to say it either. That being said, this was also the first time that they had felt as if they were sitting on a rocket: leveling up no sooner after they had just leveled up, the speed at which their EXP bloated left them wondering if they were dreaming. They did not have to fight or anything else for that matter, and only had to help Nie Fan gather every dropped item.
At the same time, Nie Fan was continuously unleashing his skills and quickly using Novice Mana Potions when his mana was drained—their party did purchase 120 bottles, after all, and it was absolutely enough for the time being.
Moreover, the spawn rate of this location which Nie Fan himself picked was rapid. After killing a few Demon Goblins at one location, they only need to walk a few faces to find another whole bunch, leaving a trail of corpses behind them.

1

“That’s fast!” Xue Yu could not help exclaiming in awe.
After twenty minutes, Nie Fan was already Level 15, while both Xue Yu and Lin Suyue were fifteen. As the EXP gain began to reduce from farming here, they quickly headed to another spot to continue leveling.

1

Nie Fan had quickly picked the Level 20 Fire Goblins, since leveling up was quickest when the monsters were three levels above the players. And just like the Demon Goblins, the Fire Goblins could not withstand Nie Fan’s horrific assault.
Another hour later, Nie Fan was now Level 17, while Xue Yu and Lin Suyue were Level 16. It was hard for the latter two to imagine dashing into the leading front so quickly, but they also knew that this miracle was all thanks to Nie Fan.
Xue Yu, now fully confident in Nie Fan clapped him on his shoulder. “Nie Fan, we’ll do whatever you tell us in this game from now on. Just say the word and we’ll get it done!” At this rate, the day might come that even they could squeeze into the ranks of leading gamers, which was a beautiful dream Xue Yu had—neither he nor Lin Suyue came from rich families, and becoming a professional gamer meant fat salaries.

2

“You two are my best friends. We live in hardship together, and would also get rich together. I believe that we could make it as long as we do our best.” Nie Fan said somberly. They were indeed friends he trusted most who helped him in hard times, and he was not an ingrate.
“It’s time to log out,” he soon added, having decided to do his best to fix their playtime from eight pm to six am, and use his reserved time if there was anything unexpected. “Go offline and rest well, we’ll meet again at eight tomorrow night.”
“Okay, got it.” Xue Yue replied.
“See you tomorrow, Nie Fan.” Lin Suyue waved.
“See you tomorrow.”
The trio logged out, one after another.
***
Plucking off his headgear, Nie Fan got out of bed and opened his curtains. The gentle morning sun streamed in from outside, relaxing the mood.
After washing up, Nie Fan went to the kitchen to make breakfast—there was cold rice left from last night, he could cook it as porridge today.
“Morning. You left the game?” Lin Xinyan greeted Nie Fan as she came downstairs, smiling when she saw the steaming porridge on the table, her faint dimples showing. “Nie Fan, mind if I freeload?”
“This is your house. Wouldn’t you chase me out if I refused?” He joked in return. “There’s still a lot anyway, eat as much as you like.”
“Great! It’s been so long since I ate at home.” Lin Xinyan cheered, poured herself a bowl of porridge and sat down. “Dad’s always been away recently so I have to go to restaurants every day,” she added as she ate, “I’m starting to get sick of that.”
Nie Fan looked at her. She was wearing her school uniform: a white shirt and a knee-length skirt, simple but presenting her as a youthful beauty.
“I have something I need your help with.” Nie Fan said after some thought. Since she was here, he could have her help him apply for leave.
What is it?” She asked suspiciously.
“The studio requested that we gather at Moxxi at ten tonight. It would take me a long time to run from Tajit to Moxxi, so could you apply leave for me?”
“Why don’t you level up with us, Nie Fan?” Lin Xinyan felt puzzled at the mention of the game—she was convinced that it would be much faster if Nie Fan leveled up with her group.
She probably would never imagine that he was now Level 17.
“I’ve already promised my two friends I’ll train with them; I definitely can’t leave them just because of another group. Moreover, your party doesn’t exactly welcome me, do they?” Nie Fan smiled faintly.

1

“Alright. I’ll give Zhao Yang a call—he’s the vice chairman of Tempest Wings; his ID is Infernal Left Hand. He is in charge of fringe gamers but quite friendly and easy to talk to. I’ll help you apply for leave.” Lin Xinyan dialed a number as she explained.

1

“So… he manages all fringe gamers?”
“That’s right.”
“Then is he the one who gives fringe gamers daily quests?” Nie Fan asked carefully.
“Yep. What is it? Is something wrong?”
“Nothing.” Nie Fan shook his head.
At the same time, Lin Xinyan dialed Zhao Yang’s number, hung up after a few words before smiling dazzling at him. “Done. I did say he’s easy to talk to.”
“Thanks.”
A beautiful girl makes everything easier, Nie Fan could not help but think, before suddenly realizing another serious issue: staying in that beautiful girl’s house would quickly make him a public enemy. He certainly could tell from how that person called Xu Hong was acting, and he felt truly wronged for having to bear that. That being said, he couldn’t afford living by himself at the moment.
“You’re welcome. By the way, my dad called me last night, and he said you should come with me to classes. Our school allows outside students to audit anyway, so you could join us.”
“Audit?” Nie Fan blanked out for a moment.
“Yeah. That’s what my father said… do you want to him tell you personally?” Lin Xinyan smiled slyly, whipping out her phone again and dialing another number.
“I was thinking about getting a daytime job. Never mind about school.” Nie Fan quickly refused.
Nonetheless, Lin Yan was already handing him her phone and pointing at the screen.
“Long time no see, Xiao Fan.” A middle-aged man appeared on Lin Xinyan’s phone screen: it was her father, Lin Weihong. He has a broad face, bushy eyebrows, large eyes and some stubble beneath his chin. Nie Fan heard that he had been very handsome in his younger years, and those outlines could still be clearly seen even now.
“Hello, Uncle Lin.” Nie Fan quickly greeted him. He respected the man very much since it was Lin Weihong who kept helping his family behind the scenes in hard times so that they would not suffer too miserably. When Nie Fan and his mother had been tormented by debt, even their own relatives had shunned and distanced themselves as far as possible, but Lin Weihong aided them when they needed it the most. As such, Nie Fan thought of Lin Weihong as highly as his father.
“Xinyan had probably spoken to you about this before about how she had been harassed at school recently. I’m thinking about having you take care of her, so think of as a request from your Uncle Lin.” Lin Weihong smiled. In truth, he had to make a great effort to convince Lin Xinyan when he arranged for Nie Fan to come to Yinhai—he naturally did not expect that she was so accepting of him so quickly, and his old mind was at ease that they could be in the same room.
“That’s…” Nie Fan certainly could not refuse since Lin Weihong had already spoken, not to mention that he owed the head of the Lin family.
“Be rest assured, Uncle Lin, I will take care of her.” He said nonetheless, although those weirds felt weird the moment it left his tongue.

2

“Then I’m leaving Xinyan to you. There are still matters in my company I must see to, and we will have a good talk when things are handled here.” Lin Weihong smiled breezily.