Chapter 19 Igrines the Slave

Faint footsteps echoed from the direction of the treasure vault entrance. Igrines the Slave had entered!

Nie Yan anxiously worked on opening the treasure chest, the progress bar inching forward bit by bit. He glanced at it, nearly 60% complete—not bad, pretty fast.

Igrines the Slave tirelessly searched for Nie Yan's trail in the various stone chambers. Its six arms incessantly swung its weapons, hacking at the walls or piles of coins. The horrifying sounds reverberated from the corridor, sending chills down one's spine.

*Hurry, hurry!* Nie Yan thought impatiently. If Igrines the Slave arrived, he would miss this sub-legendary treasure chest.

70%... 72%... 75%...

Igrines the Slave grew closer to Nie Yan's chamber along the corridor, only a dozen yards or so from the entrance. Then, with a soft *click*, Nie Yan opened the sub-legendary treasure chest!

Success!

Nie Yan quickly reached into the chest, rummaging around for a moment, and pulled out a silver-gray cloak—the Abak's Shroud of Destruction he'd been searching for!

Nie Yan didn't have time to examine its stats. He stuffed the cloak into his bag, then reached back into the chest, pulling out a massive black egg, as large as a washbasin, jet-black, without a single blemish, and crystal clear.

Upon discovering it was a giant egg, Nie Yan's heart pounded wildly. It was a pet egg!

Typically, pets hatched from eggs had a high chance of being flying mounts. He wondered what would hatch from this giant egg.

Nie Yan placed the pet egg in his bag, searching the treasure chest once more, but found nothing else.

At that moment, Igrines the Slave arrived at the chamber entrance. Spotting Nie Yan, it furiously swung its scythe, slashing at him.

Having obtained what he wanted, Nie Yan naturally ran. He pulled out a random teleport scroll from his bag and crushed it without hesitation. A flash of light appeared.

Igrines the Slave's scythe struck the spot where Nie Yan had been standing, but Nie Yan had vanished without a trace.

Nie Yan teleported to a jungle in the wilderness. Hiding in a corner, he took out a return scroll. After chanting a brief incantation, he returned to Calore, finally safe.

Nie Yan checked his spoils, pulling out the Abak's Shroud of Destruction. Nie Yan had already seen this cloak's appearance on Shadow Dancer. The silver-gray cloak emitted a dim, enigmatic light, and felt weightless in his hands. Nie Yan examined the cloak's stats.

Abak's Shroud of Destruction: Requirements: 1500 Strength, 1200 Agility, Level 180 (Cannot be used).

Item Description: Only the holder of the Shadow Dancer of the Order Chapter can equip Abak's Tyrant pieces. A full set is required to wear it. Abak reveres strength; sufficient strength is required to maintain tyranny. Death to rebels!

Item Stats: Defense +522, Evasion +20, Stealth +300, Strength +700, Agility +320, All Stats +100. When attacked, has a 50% chance to absorb 20% of the damage, and a 20% chance to absorb 50% of the damage. Set Component 1/8.

This item is bound to the player holding the first volume of the Order Chapter, cannot be traded, cannot be dropped.

The Abak's Shroud of Destruction was clearly very powerful. These components could form a powerful level 180 legendary set. If he could collect the whole thing, it would be absolutely unique.

Although he couldn't wear it yet, it gave Nie Yan a wonderful anticipation. If he leveled to 180 and equipped the set, it would be amazing.

Back then, when Nie Yan had reached level 180, he was just a Great Thief, without the Shadow Dancer class. The equipment he had was a set of level 160 Dark Gold gear that he had painstakingly acquired. Nie Yan spent a full three months constantly running dungeons with guilds to get that set. Any of his friends who got a sub-legendary piece of equipment, or even a legendary fragment, would be envied to death. Back then, sub-legendary equipment was called god-tier gear by players, not to mention legendary equipment. As for legendary sets, they only existed in legends.

Nie Yan had already collected three pieces of the Abak set, namely the Abak's Sealed Hand, the Abak's Bloody Dagger, and the Abak's Shroud of Destruction he just obtained. He had collected three out of eight pieces. He might be able to collect the entire set before he reached level 180.

Leveling to 180, wearing a full Abak legendary set, and riding a Darkwing Dragon flying mount—that was Nie Yan's goal. If he could achieve that, he would be the undisputed number one player in the game.

Nie Yan went to the Starry Night Pharmacy and found a laboratory. He took out the giant egg he had just obtained, examining it carefully to see if he could figure out what kind of creature it was, but to no avail. Helpless, he could only put the pet egg away. It seemed he would have to find a pet appraiser to take a look.

Wearing his Shadow Walker, Nie Yan headed towards the central plaza of Calore. The pet appraiser was located on the edge of the plaza.

The central plaza of Calore was bustling with activity. Many players were shouting for groups, and teams of players who had successfully grouped up left the plaza one after another.

Nie Yan walked along, the shouts ceaseless. Suddenly, a familiar voice reached Nie Yan's ears.

"Looking for group for Dark Swamp, requirements: level 60-65 arcane mage, 1200+ magic damage."

Nie Yan looked towards the source of the voice. Several familiar figures came into view: Zhai Hao and his friends, about fifteen or sixteen people in total. Nie Yan scanned them. Beside Zhai Hao were a few acquaintances, five or six beauties, some of whom were in Nie Yan's class. There were also three others named Mo Tao, Mo An, and Mo Yan. Seeing these three, Nie Yan's heart sank.

In his past life, Nie Yan had grouped with Mo Tao, Mo An, and Mo Yan. He had met them through Zhai Hao. Mo Tao, Mo An, and Mo Yan were three siblings who were somewhat mean-spirited. At the time, Nie Yan, Zhai Hao, Li Rui, and the others were lower level and had worse gear than Mo Tao, Mo An, and Mo Yan. They would often get cursed at when running dungeons. Their language was also foul, often calling them trash. Eventually, Zhai Hao, Li Rui, and Nie Yan couldn't take it anymore and left the group to form their own. Later, they heard that Mo Tao, Mo An, and Mo Yan had joined Holy Empire and become members of Holy Empire. Nie Yan, Zhai Hao, and the others no longer had any contact with them. It was said that they had become managers of a fortress in Holy Empire, earning very generous income each month, something that Nie Yan, Zhai Hao, and the others could only dream of. They looked down on associating with Nie Yan, Zhai Hao, and the others. When they occasionally met, they would give them a look of disdain.

Nie Yan didn't want to see Mo Tao, Mo An, and Mo Yan, but since Zhai Hao and Li Rui were there, he still had to go say hello. He hadn't been to school in many days. Zhai Hao knew that he and Nie Yan were from different worlds and didn't bother him. If things continued this way, if Nie Yan didn't take the initiative to contact them, Zhai Hao, Li Rui, and these good brothers from his past life would gradually drift away from him and eventually become strangers.

Nie Yan wasn't an ungrateful person. He couldn't forget these old brothers just because he was successful in this life.

"If we want to go to Dark Swamp, we'll need to get some antidote potions. Who's paying for them?" Zhai Hao asked, looking at the others. Although they had gathered a group, there were still many problems to overcome if they wanted to go to Dark Swamp.

"Of course, you guys will pay. Mo An and I are level 65, and Mo Yan is level 64. With our gear, we could already be doing Underworld Mines in the City of Gold. We're accompanying you guys to Dark Swamp to give Zhai Hao face." Mo Tao spoke with an impatient tone.

"It's been half an hour, and we still haven't formed a team. What the hell." Mo An checked the time.

Mo Tao and Mo An were the same age as Zhai Hao and the others and were cousins. They were both from the top class at Hua University High School, a class for the best students. People from that class usually had a bit of arrogance. What had been bothering them recently was that Zhai Hao and Li Rui's class had suddenly produced a Nie Yan, who had stolen their thunder.

As for Mo Yan, she was probably sixteen or seventeen years old, passable in looks with fair skin, but a bit short. Like Mo Tao and Mo An, she was also a mage.

"If it weren't for Sister Yingyu here, we would have left already," Mo Yan said in a spoiled tone.

Zhai Hao thought for a moment, then gritted his teeth and said, "I'll pay for it."

"We're paying for the antidote potions, but all the mage gear goes to them? What's in it for us?" Li Rui said in a disgruntled tone to Zhai Hao.

"Regardless of whether there's anything in it for us, we can't run the Dark Swamp dungeon without someone to lead us. Where else are we going to find high magic damage mages without them?" Zhai Hao whispered to Li Rui. He was also a bit helpless. They needed someone to familiarize them with Dark Swamp so they could form their own team. Out of desperation, they had to invite these deities.

Although they knew Nie Yan, they couldn't go around flashing Nie Yan's name. Zhai Hao and Li Rui had never told anyone that they knew Nie Yan, so very few people knew about it.

"The antidote potions shouldn't be paid for by Zhai Hao alone. Let's help chip in," a tall, charming beauty said from the side.

"Yingyu is joking. How could we let you girls chip in?" Zhai Hao quickly declined.

Hearing Jiang Yingyu say that, Mo Tao and Mo An looked slightly embarrassed.

"Don't you know Mad Rogue Nirvana? If you get him to come, wouldn't all our problems be solved?" Mo Tao changed the subject.

"Yeah, why not use such a big backer?" Mo An said with a sneer. He had heard Li Rui say that he and Zhai Hao knew Mad Rogue Nirvana, but he didn't believe it at all. *If you know Mad Rogue Nirvana, then I know Archangel Uriel.* It was simply a joke.