Chapter 44 – Dusk, the Arcane Mage
“Who are we going to find then?” Yao Yao asked. She believed even if her classmate was part of the Radiant Sacred Flame guild, it wasn’t as if he and Nie Yan were ever in direct conflict. Therefore, it didn’t necessarily mean their tensions couldn’t be eased. Perhaps in the future, she could even introduce them to one another and have them get to know each other. However, she chose to put this idea off until another time.
After giving it some thought, Bai Kaisui (Plain Bottled Water) interjected with his own suggestion. “I know a person. They’re an Arcane Mage from Holy Empire. His name is Dusk (Huang Hun) and his magic damage is fifty-two. Though… I don’t know if he’d be interested in running this dungeon with us. He and his team have already cleared Blackflame Forest and are preparing for the Agmota Muddy Swamplands, so I don’t know if he’d be willing to come back to Treant Forest again. I’ll give him a call anyway.”
…
A brief moment later, Yu Lan asked, “Bai Kaisui, how did it go? Is he willing?”
“He agreed!” Bai Kaisui replied in excitement. This truly was unexpected. They had only met several times in the past when they partied up to grind mobs. Dusk had given Bai Kaisui quite a bit of face by agreeing to come.
“Great! We now have exactly twenty players. We’ll set out the moment he arrives,” Nie Yan said, nodding his head. Surprisingly, it was someone from Holy Empire. A great opportunity was presenting itself to him.
“Ah! Brother Bai Kaisui does indeed possess a lot of face. He’s even able to invite someone from Holy Empire!” Chen Bo praised. He shot a glance at Nie Yan and Tang Yao. If this dungeon run were to go without a hitch, he couldn’t say for sure they wouldn’t be frequent additions to their team activities. He had to find some way of driving these two uninvited guests out of the team and maybe even rope in a few others to help him.
“How can that be? He’s the one who’s giving me face.” Bai Kaisui was practically glowing with joy. He also felt quite proud of his accomplishment.
“That kind of person is a true expert. His team is already preparing to run the Agmota Muddy Swamplands! He’s definitely cleared Treant Forest, so I think it’s best if we make that person the team captain instead.” Chen Bo shot a glance at Nie Yan and Tang Yao.
This bastard Chen Bo infuriated Tang Yao by no small measure. If it weren’t for Nie Yan who held him back, he would have lashed out long ago.
“True, if he’s cleared Treant Forest before, it wouldn’t be a bad idea to let him be team captain,” Nie Yan replied in a dull tone.
“Oh, so you realized your own incompetence? If you had realized it earlier, then there wouldn’t have been a need for you to foolishly show off!” Since Chen Bo was given an inch, he attempted to take a mile. He was a person with no sense of propriety.
“Chen Bo…” Yu Lan knitted her brows and called out in a displeased tone. She was rather annoyed with his behavior.
Met with Yu Lan’s reaction, Chen Bo muttered a few words to himself but no longer said anything more.
…
After a short while, the surrounding area flashed with a brilliant light and a figure emerged from the Tellak town transport point. It was an Arcane Mage who wore a black-coloured mage robe. The man had the appearance of a person in their late twenties. His black mage robes were inscribed with various strange magical runes and he exuded a mysterious and dignified aura. Nie Yan gave him a quick glance. He could tell this person was wearing the Arcane Mage’s Dark Winter set. Presently, it was a top-notch equipment set for Arcane Mages. This set and Tang Yao’s Fire Chaser set were both on the same level. However, the Fire Chaser set suited Elementalists more while the Dark Winter set suited Arcane Mages. Therefore, for an Arcane Mage, the Dark Winter set was much more preferable than the Fire Chaser set.
“Hey, Brother Dusk. Long time no see!” Bai Kaisui walked forward to welcome him.
“Long time no see.” Dusk also walked up and exchanged greetings with Bai Kaisui. He gave the crowd a quick glance and said, “Hello everyone.” These words were spoken with a slight arrogance. He was a member of Holy Empire’s elite team. His elite team and Yu Lan’s small team were on a completely different level. He decided to come because Bai Kaisui’s personality was decent and he had a slight friendship with him. Moreover, he had some free time because his team was making preparations for the Agmota Muddy Swamplands. If it weren’t for these two factors, he wouldn’t have even bothered paying this small team any attention.
“This is our team captain, Yu Lan.” Bai Kaisui introduced Yu Lan to his friend.
Dusk nodded at Yu Lan and smiled. “I didn’t expect your team captain was actually such a beauty. Pleased to meet your acquaintance,” Dusk greeted Yu Lan. This was their first meeting, and he didn’t reveal the slightest bit of impoliteness when met with a beauty such as Yu Lan. He appeared refined and courteous without lacking the slightest bit of elegance.
Yu Lan replied with the slight nod of her head. “Pleased to meet you.” This Dusk did indeed possess the bearing of an expert.
Chen Bo shuffled to Bai Kaisui’s side. He hoped Bai Kaisui would lend him a helping hand in introducing him to the expert. However, when Dusk noticed Nie Yan standing at the back of the crowd, his eyes widened in surprise and he walked over to greet Nie Yan.
“I never thought Brother Nie Yan would be in a place like this!” Dusk exclaimed in a pleasantly surprised tone.
“You are?” Nie Yan mumbled as if trying to recall who this person was. He remembered now. Back at Link town, there was such a person standing by Sleepy Fox’s side.
“You don’t recognize me, but I recognize you! Previously when our guild leader invited you to run the Agmota Muddy Swamplands, I was standing right behind him. Brother Nie Yan truly is skilled. You managed to trip Swift Slash (Lima Hengdao) and cause him to fall at the most crucial moment!” Dusk was in high spirits as he mentioned Nie Yan’s accomplishments.
When the surrounding crowd heard Dusk’s words, they cast their curious gazes towards Nie Yan and wondered just what kind of background he had. He even knew Holy Empire’s guild leader! As for Swift Slash, they seemed to recall he was the Dark Massacre’s guild leader. Every person Nie Yan had come in contact with had a terrifying amount of influence.
“You know Brother Nie Yan?” Bai Kaisui asked with an astonished expression.
“Not only do I know him, Brother Nie Yan is even currently a celebrity among our Holy Empire guild members. When our guild leader invited him to run the Agmota Muddy Swamplands together, Brother Nie Yan imposed the harsh demand of getting the first pick on all Thief equipment. Not a single person in our guild would have dared to speak in such a way to our guild leader, but surprisingly our guild leader agreed to Brother Nie Yan’s conditions!” Dusk replied. He was a straightforward person and he didn’t attempt to conceal any of the admiration he held for Nie Yan.
The crowd looked at each other in shock. Who was Sleepy Fox? He was the guild leader of Holy Empire—a legendary player among the player base! Nie Yan even set conditions when the guild leader of Holy Empire invited him to run the Agmota Muddy Swamplands together? Didn’t this clearly signify Sleepy Fox was the one currying favour with Nie Yan?
As the guild leader of Holy Empire, how could Sleepy Fox’s judgement possibly be lacking?
Going by that logic, wouldn’t this mean Nie Yan was a god-like figure who didn’t heed the most elite teams even if they begged him to come? If that was the case, Nie Yan’s conditions for running Treant Forest with their own team were actually rather light.
Dusk was a member of Holy Empire. It was unlikely his words were a lie.
“Yao Yao, it seems you actually invited an esteemed expert to help us,” Yu Lan teased in a joking manner.
Yao Yao’s eyebrow curved into crescents. Her face was brimming with joy from the pride she felt.
Chen Bo didn’t anticipate Nie Yan to have such a powerful background. He finally became aware that he and Nie Yan weren’t on the same standing. As if he were a shrivelled eggplant, he stood foolishly to the side, seething in anger when a malicious thought came to mind. He definitely had to make Nie Yan pay a heavy price for crossing his path.
When the crowd gazed at Nie Yan, their eyes flashed with a peculiar glint. Each and every one of them was trying to guess what sort of background he had.
Tang Yao was the happiest among all of them. He elbowed Nie Yan in the side and whispered, “Not bad! You really did conceal yourself well. When did you meet the guild leader of Holy Empire?”
“Yesterday,” Nie Yan calmly replied. The respect he gained wasn’t given by others. Rather, it was acquired by himself. Truthfully speaking, if he didn’t have any skill, it wouldn’t have mattered how much face Sleepy Fox gave him—it would all be useless. His present goal was still to clear the Treant Forest. He put other matters aside for now.
He was attempting a difficulty even the most elite of teams didn’t dare to rashly attempt—Specialist!
“Since everyone’s here, let’s set off,” Nie Yan ordered. He then began walking in the direction of the town exit.
“Brother Nie Yan, why are you still running Treant Forest?” Dusk curiously asked. He reasonably believed Nie Yan had absolutely no reason to waste his time on this sort of low-level dungeon with his level of skill.
“I want the Treant King’s Featherfall Jewel. Also, this dungeon drops some of the better Thief equipment. Perhaps one or two of them will drop during this run,” Nie Yan replied. In any case, everyone would eventually find out what he was planning when they arrived at the dungeon, so it wasn’t necessary for him to hide anything. Besides, his impression of Dusk was rather decent.