Chapter 21: The Fire-Extinguisher Set

“That requires some skill too!” Nie Yan sneered, dashing towards the exit.

Nie Yan quickly pulled some distance away from the Berserker. With his agility boosted by full Bronze equipment and the natural speed advantage of a Rogue class, he was significantly faster than the Berserker.

The distance between them had reached five yards.

“Don’t let him escape or we won’t be able to explain!” the Berserker shouted anxiously. He couldn’t catch up due to his slow speed and noticed his Charge ability was still on cooldown.

“I know,” the Cleric Saintly cast another Holy Light, dealing 16 damage to Nie Yan.

The Berserker continued chasing Nie Yan from behind.

Nie Yan had no intention of fleeing—he was merely stalling for time while his abilities cooled down.

Right after Saintly’s attack, Nie Yan started applying bandages to himself while running.

+20, +20, +20—Nie Yan’s health steadily increased, rising four times before Saintly interrupted with another Holy Light, halting Nie Yan’s bandage application.

However, after finishing the bandages, Nie Yan’s health was fully restored.

Intermediate Combat Bandages were an incredible asset at this level.

“He has a bandage skill!” the Berserker exclaimed in shock. What kind of bandage skill was this? He had only seen bandage skills used after battles ended, restoring just 5 HP per second. Nie Yan’s in-combat bandage skill was something he had never seen before—and its healing effect was surprisingly strong.

They had painstakingly reduced most of Nie Yan’s health, nearly defeating him, when the situation suddenly turned around.

All abilities cooled down! Nie Yan smiled slightly; now it was their turn. He turned back and charged at the Berserker.

Seeing Nie Yan rushing toward him, the Berserker turned pale and quickly raised his sword to defend.

Nie Yan, at full health, had defeated Diancang, their team leader, all by himself while being attacked by three of them. Now that Diancang was gone, how could the two of them possibly stand against Nie Yan?

The dagger in Nie Yan’s hand curved through the air before suddenly changing direction. With a thud, the Berserker’s greatsword struck Nie Yan. Stunned! Nie Yan’s dagger simultaneously hit the Berserker’s forehead.

The Berserker entered a stunned state.

Nie Yan executed a backstab into the Berserker’s chest, followed by a critical strike that drained most of the Berserker’s health.

As the Berserker was about to recover, Nie Yan swiftly moved behind him and used a bash ability, stunning him again.

After completing this series of moves, Nie Yan felt physically drained from the prolonged battle. He took a breath while plunging his right-hand dagger into the Berserker’s back.

The Berserker’s health, originally over 180, was reduced to just over 60 after the brutal assault.

At this rate, he was definitely going to die!

After regaining consciousness, the Berserker was devastated and immediately fled in panic.

If the Berserker had turned around to attack Nie Yan, he might have inflicted some damage. However, he was too selfish. Once he saw his health drop dangerously low, he panicked, fearing he might die and drop his equipment, so he ran for his life.

“You think you can escape?” Nie Yan chased after the Berserker, swinging his dagger repeatedly into his back: -23, -21, -16.

“Damn it!” the Berserker cursed as his health dropped to zero. His vision darkened, and he collapsed to the ground, dropping an item.

“Your turn now,” Nie Yan picked up the dropped item and charged toward the Cleric Saintly. During his fight with Diancang and the Berserker, Saintly had continuously attacked him, causing significant damage.

Seeing the Berserker fall, Saintly was stunned—how had it come down to just himself? As a low-level Cleric who hadn’t even learned Light Wounds Healing yet, how could he possibly stand against Nie Yan?

Saintly immediately fled, having no intention of fighting Nie Yan. Whether he fought or not, he would die anyway, so his instinctive reaction was to run.

Nie Yan pursued Saintly. With his speed, where could a squishy spellcaster like Saintly possibly escape to?

Nie Yan’s daggers flew one after another, effortlessly slicing through Saintly’s cloth armor.

-31, -32, -32—damage numbers floated above Saintly’s head as he barely managed a few steps before collapsing lifelessly.

Nie Yan approached Saintly’s body and picked up the dropped item.

The equipment dropped by Saintly and the Berserker wasn’t impressive—both were common white items of level zero. The best loot still came from the Elemental Mage Diancang: a complete set of six items—headgear, gloves, robe, staff, legguards, and boots, none missing.

The Firestarter Series: +5 Fire Damage Firestarter Headgear, +3 Balance Firestarter Gloves, +10 Fire Damage Firestarter Robe, +2 Will Firestarter Legguards, +2 Speed Firestarter Boots.

It was the Firestarter set. No wonder Diancang’s spell damage was so high. This set was obtained from the Level 3 dungeon Black Flame Forest. Before Level 5 dungeons were available, this Firestarter set was considered top-tier gear for fire-based spellcasters at this stage, with each item having a very low drop rate. It would take at least four or five dungeon runs in Black Flame Forest to complete the entire Firestarter set.

Additionally, there was a Level 0 Silver Staff: the Quenching Blue Staff, +3 Magic, +5 Elemental Damage.

Diancang must have regretted his decision deeply—killing Yao and the others and resetting them to Level 0 wasn’t worth the value of this set of equipment.

“Tsk, tsk, not bad. There’s even a Silver item,” Nie Yan thought. This Silver item alone would fetch at least three silver coins on the market.

The Bronze Firestarter set could be used by both Elemental Mages and Arcane Mages since both classes had fire magic. Elemental Mages wielded elemental fire, while Arcane Mages wielded arcane fire. Nie Yan decided to give the Firestarter set to Yao, while the Quenching Blue Staff, which Yao couldn’t use, could be sold for some extra cash or traded for one or two other items.

“Where are you now? Tell me the coordinates.”

“231, 395, 285. There’s a cave here, and I’m hiding inside. It’s a Level 5 spawn area, and I’m hiding in a corner, too scared to come out,” Yao replied with a bitter expression. It had been the worst day of his life.

“I killed three members from the Light of Holy Flame guild, including someone named Diancang.”

“You killed Diancang? You’re not kidding, right? That guy was freaking insane. He soloed three of our teammates, and his spell damage was so high that a single fireball could take half our health,” in Yao’s eyes, Nie Yan defeating Diancang was unbelievable.

“This guy was a notorious red name, and I stripped him of all his gear. Here’s his equipment—the Firestarter set is yours.”

Brother, in my previous life, I owed you so much for always watching out for me. Before I could repay you, I reincarnated. In this life, it’s my turn to watch over you! Nie Yan thought inwardly, sharing the Firestarter set’s stats with Yao.

Yao opened his mouth wide, staring in disbelief at the gear stats Nie Yan shared.

“Is this real?” Yao slapped himself to confirm he wasn’t dreaming. “You’re really giving me this set?”

Yao naturally understood what a complete Firestarter set meant in the early game. It would take four or five dungeon runs in Black Flame Forest with a team to complete a set, often with wipeouts along the way. Thus, the value of a complete Firestarter set was immense. If he wore this set, teams would eagerly welcome him into their groups for dungeon runs.

“You think I’d joke around with you like this?” Nie Yan chuckled.

“Even if I die today, it’s worth it. I’m eighteen now, and I haven’t done many proper things in my life. But the best thing I’ve done is finding a brother like you,” Yao said emotionally. He naturally knew Nie Yan’s background; this Firestarter set was worth a small fortune on the trading platform. Nie Yan was willing to give it to him, proving how much he valued their brotherhood.

Nie Yan thought back to his previous life, recalling how he had wanted to say the same words to Yao.

“We’re family, so no need for formalities. I’ll take down a few more of them!” Nie Yan said. He still had about twenty-five to twenty-six minutes of self-defense time remaining.

“I didn’t expect you to have such a talent for gaming. Listening to your advice earlier today really opened my eyes, and I’ve improved a lot. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have lasted this long,” Yao said, genuinely admiring Nie Yan. Nie Yan’s performance today had truly impressed him.

With the Firestarter set, he would finally upgrade his gear and step into the ranks of skilled players.

Previously, Yao had regarded Nie Yan as a less fortunate friend whom he always protected. But now, Nie Yan’s actions made him look up to him. For the first time, Yao felt Nie Yan was a truly capable person.