Chapter 1 Nie Yan's Confidence

Nie Yan had absolute confidence in taking down the Scale Frog. As his level increased, his speed had risen significantly, allowing him to completely disregard the Scale Frog Lord. With only a one-level difference, his attacks could inflict significant damage.

Nie Yan went into Stealth and crept towards the Scale Frog Lord, stopping about ten yards away.

The Scale Frog Lord hadn't detected Nie Yan yet. Nie Yan cast an Identify on it.

Scale Frog Lord: Level 30 Lord, HP 50000/50000.

With Nie Yan's current attack power, it would probably take about twenty minutes to whittle down the Scale Frog Lord, not too long. Tang Yao had spent ten hours to take down the Scale Frog Lord back then. On one hand, it was due to his low level and limited attack power. On the other hand, mages had a much lower attack frequency than a Thief like Nie Yan. Furthermore, Nie Yan's current Bleed and Poison damage were very potent. He had a Bleeding Splitter Blade and a Scarlet Poison Ring, dealing over fifty points of Bleed and Poison damage per second with normal attacks. Adding skills like Eviscerate could even reach seventy or eighty. The Bleed damage alone could wear down the Scale Frog Lord. Bleed damage ignored defense, unlike normal attacks. It was especially effective against high-defense, low-health creatures.

"Be careful," Yao Yao said worriedly, concerned for Nie Yan's safety.

"Don't worry." Nie Yan smiled slightly, sneaking behind the Scale Frog Lord. The Scale Frog Lord sensed something and was about to turn around when Nie Yan suddenly burst into speed, rushing up and delivering a Gouge to the back of the Scale Frog Lord's head.

The Scale Frog Lord staggered, pausing for a second or two.

Nie Yan's dagger pierced the Scale Frog Lord's back. An Eviscerate tore open the Scale Frog Lord's back, and blood gushed out.

-151, -32, -12, -20, -32...

A series of damage numbers floated above the Scale Frog Lord's head. The first was the attack damage, followed by attack Bleed, Poison damage, and Eviscerate Bleed. The damage numbers were frighteningly high, even more terrifying than the damage of mages with high magic damage sets. Especially against high-defense creatures like the Scale Frog Lord, Bleed damage was extremely impressive.

Nie Yan's current damage output allowed him to disregard any creature of the same level. Challenging creatures above his level was not a problem either.

The Scale Frog Lord turned its head furiously, charging towards Nie Yan like a giant tank.

Nie Yan anticipated the Scale Frog Lord's attack direction. With a flash, he circled behind the Scale Frog Lord and delivered a Backstab, his dagger easily piercing the Scale Frog Lord's tough armor.

His dagger constantly stabbed at the Scale Frog Lord, always keeping himself behind the Scale Frog Lord no matter how it turned. Damage numbers floated above the Scale Frog Lord's head one after another.

Nie Yan's movements were fluid and fast, moving with incredible speed. Every time the Scale Frog Lord made a slight movement, he could predict its attack direction in advance, dodging the Scale Frog Lord's attacks by the narrowest of margins.

His nimble movements were not much different from a real Shadow Dancer Thief.

This was Shadow Dance, disregarding all magic professions. If warriors didn't have knockback skills like Concussion Blow, they would only meet their end against a Shadow Dancer Thief.

The flashing daggers were dazzling, and blood splattered everywhere.

The Scale Frog Lord's health dropped bit by bit. Nie Yan's attacks were too fierce. Although the Scale Frog Lord had a recovery speed of nearly 20 points per second, it was useless under the effects of Bleed and Poison damage.

Sun stared intently at Nie Yan's movements, his eyes gleaming with a wolf-like light. This was the skill he had been pursuing all along! This precise prediction and dodging was simply magnificent! A flash of understanding appeared in his mind. This was the true Thief!

The master leads the way, the cultivation is up to the individual. Nie Yan had already shown Sun what Shadow Dance was. The next step was up to his own comprehension.

With Nie Yan's damage output, he could take down the Scale Frog Lord without any support from his teammates.

Yao Yao waved her staff, casting Holy Strike and Holy Light on the Scale Frog Lord. Her level was significantly lower than the Scale Frog Lord's, so her attack damage was only about fifteen or sixteen points, but it was at least somewhat useful. With Nie Yan's high attack damage, she didn't have to worry about the Scale Frog Lord's aggro being transferred.

Yu Lan, Sun, and Bai Kaishui also took out their crossbows and started shooting at the Scale Frog Lord. Although their attack damage was only two or three points, it was better than nothing.

For nearly ten minutes, the Scale Frog Lord hadn't managed to attack Nie Yan. It opened its mouth and spat out a scarlet poison that spread rapidly into the air.

At the moment the Scale Frog Lord spat out the poison, Nie Yan quickly retreated, timing it perfectly. The poison didn't hit him.

The Scale Frog Lord was enveloped in a red poisonous mist, with Bleed and Poison damage numbers still floating above its head.

Although the Scale Frog Lord's recovery speed had increased somewhat, it still couldn't withstand Nie Yan's terrifying Bleed damage.

Nie Yan moved more than ten yards away from the Scale Frog Lord, swapping his dagger for the Bloodthirsty Crossbow. Arrows shot out one after another.

*Pfft, pfft, pfft.* All the arrows hit the Scale Frog Lord, but the damage was extremely limited, only about five or six points per arrow.

The Scale Frog Lord's health was only about 23% left. The progress was faster than Nie Yan had imagined.

The red poisonous mist quickly spread, becoming thinner but covering a wider area, encompassing a region of about fifty yards in radius.

The Bleed damage disappeared. If the Scale Frog Lord continued to recover health, all their previous efforts might be in vain.

Nie Yan held a bottle of Novice Antidote and tested the Scale Frog Lord's poison. After touching the poison, his health was deducted by 5 points per second. It seemed that after the poisonous mist spread out, the damage had been reduced. However, five points per second was still extremely alarming. He would lose three hundred points in a minute. If he didn't use health potions, Nie Yan would be dead in two minutes. Nie Yan drank a bottle of Novice Antidote. The effects of the Novice Antidote only lasted for about thirty seconds, but the cooldown time was five minutes, so its detoxification effect on this type of continuous poison effect was extremely limited.

Fortunately, he hadn't called Brilliant Knife Light and the others over. Otherwise, with the Scale Frog Lord's attacks plus the poison damage, it was questionable whether they could withstand it. Brilliant Knife Light's level wasn't high enough yet. He would probably have to reach about level thirty to withstand the Scale Frog Lord.

The Scale Frog Lord opened its mouth and spat a stream of poison at Nie Yan.

Nie Yan rolled to dodge the Scale Frog Lord's attack, braving the poisonous mist and pouncing on the Scale Frog Lord.

The Scale Frog Lord lunged at Nie Yan fiercely. Nie Yan dodged the Scale Frog Lord's attack with a sideways movement, moving like the wind and quickly circling behind the Scale Frog Lord, then delivering a Backstab and an Eviscerate.

The Scale Frog Lord's pounce missed again. Its slightly obese body was clearly unable to be as agile as Nie Yan.

Nie Yan instantly unleashed his maximum damage output. Two minutes later, the Scale Frog Lord's health was only about 5% left, and it went berserk, its speed increasing dramatically.

The Scale Frog Lord's speed surpassed Nie Yan's. Nie Yan clearly felt much more strained and couldn't move as easily as before.

The Scale Frog Lord crashed into him horizontally. Nie Yan had no way to avoid it, so he activated Hasty Retreat and quickly backed away.

The Scale Frog Lord fiercely pursued Nie Yan. Nie Yan darted through the forest. Although it looked dangerous, Nie Yan was able to maintain the distance between himself and the Scale Frog Lord each time, preventing it from attacking him.

Yao Yao and the others also intensified their damage output. Their small damage numbers seemed relatively impressive at this point, after all, the Scale Frog Lord's health was less than 5% left.

Nie Yan's Bleed was also continuously taking effect.

It was about to die!

The Scale Frog Lord jumped, pouncing on Nie Yan from above. Just as it was about to pounce on Nie Yan, Nie Yan used Shadow Waltz, suddenly disappearing and quickly dodging.

With a *boom*, the Scale Frog Lord landed on the ground. At this moment, Nie Yan flashed to the Scale Frog Lord's back and delivered an Assassinate and an Eviscerate. The Scale Frog Lord was struck again, and its health rapidly decreased, 4%, 3%...

When the Scale Frog Lord turned around to attack Nie Yan, Nie Yan had already moved five or six yards away. He wanted to wear down the Scale Frog Lord with Bleed damage!

The Scale Frog Lord angrily chased after Nie Yan. At this time, its health was less than 1% left.

Yao Yao's attacking magic and the others' arrows landed on the Scale Frog Lord.

The Scale Frog Lord was getting closer and closer to Nie Yan's back. Just as it was about to catch up with Nie Yan, -12, the last bit of health was also drained by Bleed, and its fat body lost its support. With a *boom*, it crashed heavily to the ground.

"It's dead," Sun said excitedly.

Their role in the entire battle was very small. It was almost entirely Nie Yan who was fighting. A level 29 player single-handedly fighting a level 30 Lord was unbelievable, yet Nie Yan had indeed done it.

Nie Yan checked his experience points, which had increased by about 12%. Although it was still a lot, it was clearly not as rewarding as when he had challenged creatures many levels above him.

"Let's see what dropped," Bai Kaishui said in the team chat.

What exactly would a Lord-level creature drop?

Nie Yan bent down and picked up the items that had fallen on the ground. There was a skill book, two gems, and a dark red badge. This dark red metal badge had an antique design, with a demonic beast totem carved on it. It looked extremely strange, exuding a demonic and bloody aura.

Nie Yan's eyebrows twitched. Was it the Maniac Badge?

In his previous life, Nie Yan had seen pictures and stats of the Maniac Badge online, so he had a bit of an impression.

When he picked up the dark red metal badge, Nie Yan heard a crisp system notification sound. He opened the system prompt to take a look.

System: Do you want to bind the Maniac Badge?

There were two options below, one was Bind, and the other was Destroy.

This Maniac Badge could only be used by him, so Nie Yan naturally chose to bind it.

Fa Biao De Wo Niu