“It’s nothing. I just spoke to them in Dragon Tongue, and they mistook me for a dragon. Black elves were the slaves of dragons during the ancient dark ages, and even now, they still regard themselves as the servants of dragons, hence their respectfulness. I got a side quest from them, and we just need to return to the city to complete it,” Nie Yan said.
“Dragon Tongue? Where did you learn it?” Yaoyao asked. Nie Yan was full of secrets and often surprised people.
“Yeah, I’ve heard dragon creatures are extremely rare,” Tang Yao said in puzzlement. Nie Yan was getting more impressive by the day, even knowing Dragon Tongue.
However, Hui Ming’s eyes lit up. He thought of something—could Nie Yan learning Dragon Tongue be related to the dragon creature in Link Village previously?
Nie Yan also realized he had slipped up and glanced at Hui Ming, who seemed to have figured something out from his expression.
“I accidentally entered a valley one day and saw a book. It turned out to be a chronicle recording historical events. I somehow learned Dragon Tongue, Ancient Common Tongue, and Korsat Giant Language from it. Later, I was chased by a dragon creature but managed to escape,” Nie Yan said casually.
Actually, Nie Yan said this mainly for Hui Ming’s benefit. He would never reveal the Chapter of Courage.
Hui Ming nodded in understanding. Since it involved Nie Yan’s secrets, he didn’t want to ask too many details.
“These languages aren’t that hard to learn. When you level up, go to the library and pay one gold coin to learn Ancient Common Tongue, or three gold coins at the Giant Library to learn Korsat Giant Language.”
“How do you know that?” Hui Ming and others asked in surprise.
“When you go to the library, browse through the books. You’ll get a better understanding of the whole Atlantean continent. There are also books related to various professions. Read them all, and you’ll surely become an expert.”
“Who goes to the library? The libraries have so many books. Pull out any random one, and it’s millions of words long. To finish reading all the books about professions and world history would take at least a month. Who has the time for that?”
“Yeah, who would read those thick books?”
In his previous life, Nie Yan had faced many setbacks as a rogue and became obsessed with reading. He had to admit, the history and stories of the Atlantean continent were quite interesting and story-rich. He spent over a month there, reading everything from the historical origins of rogues to biographies of legendary rogues and their skills, memorizing every word. After leaving the library, he had a clear understanding of the rogue class. Combined with years of practice, Nie Yan’s ranking among rogues reached the top fifty, making him somewhat famous.
“I’ve only read a bit. Those biographies are actually pretty good,” Nie Yan smiled.
Nie Yan actually had the leisure to read books in the library. They had struggled since the game launched to reach their current levels, only to be effortlessly overtaken by Nie Yan. They felt somewhat unbalanced.
The team members sighed but didn’t dwell further on these issues.
“I wonder how much reward we’ll get after completing this quest,” Bai Kaishui said. They cared most about the reward.
“What was that flute just now?”
“The Flute of Enpat, it’s a quest item. We have to return it to the NPC before leaving the instance.” Nie Yan shared the item’s attributes, and everyone gasped. This quest item had amazing stats. If such equipment were available outside, it would drive all players crazy.
With the Chapter of Courage, Nie Yan wasn’t particularly attached to the Flute of Enpat anymore.
“What a pity. Why do we have to return it to the NPC?”
The team members grumbled.
Nie Yan opened the trade interface and traded the Flute of Enpat to Bai Kaishui. This item had to be given to the team’s main MT to be effective.
“Wow, over 700 HP. Even if we encounter the Treant King now, what’s there to fear?” Bai Kaishui’s confidence soared after seeing his stats.
“Don’t underestimate the Treant King in Expert Mode. That guy is tough. Don’t laugh later when you can’t. Right now, the priests don’t have resurrection skills. I know a place where Light Wound Healing drops. If two priests learn Light Wound Healing, it would make things much easier,” Nie Yan cooled Bai Kaishui’s enthusiasm.
“You’re kidding, right? Is the Expert Mode Treant King really that hard?”
Having never seen an Expert Mode Treant King, Bai Kaishui was somewhat subdued after hearing Nie Yan’s words.
Since entering the Expert Mode instance, the team’s gains had exceeded everyone’s expectations. Even without counting the loot Nie Yan took, the bronze equipment and skill books they obtained were far beyond what they had imagined. If Nie Yan could keep leading the team, that would be great. However, the team members merely thought about it, knowing Nie Yan wasn’t their permanent teammate. They recalled Nie Yan’s earlier words that this would be their last cooperation and that Nie Yan would no longer group with them in the future. They all felt a bit resentful, blaming Chen Bo for offending Nie Yan. When Nie Yan initially expelled Chen Bo, they had felt somewhat unfair since Chen Bo was their teammate, and Nie Yan seemed too domineering. However, now their feelings had subtly shifted.
With the Flute of Enpat, Bai Kaishui became a true tank. With priests healing behind him, he could tank five treants simultaneously, truly fearless and invincible. Clearing mobs along the way became much easier.
Their loot continued to grow. Along the way, they obtained a Light Wound Healing scroll and two silver items. One was a rogue’s handguards with +3 Strength and +2 Perception, which went to Nie Yan. The other was a small shield for shield warriors with +15% Defense Rate and +5 Constitution. At that moment, all the team members’ eyes widened. They had never seen a small shield of such high quality before.
Unlike tower shields and other types, small shields had slightly lower defense but were lightweight and had minimal impact on the movement of shield warriors. High-defense small shields were expensive and in high demand.
“Damn, the small shields we dropped in Black Flame Forest weren’t as good as this one,” Hui Ming stared in disbelief. “What a drop rate! We’ve been getting one piece of equipment after another along the way. Those bronze items were okay, but now we actually got such a high-quality silver small shield. If you’re willing to sell, our guild leader will definitely pay more than ten silver coins for it.”
Everyone understood what it meant for a shield warrior to have a good small shield. Being able to withstand the boss’s attacks meant the entire team could survive. Therefore, high-defense equipment for shield warriors was always priced exorbitantly in the market, with auction prices repeatedly setting new records, yet still being the target of every team’s pursuit.
“We won’t sell this shield!” Yulan took a deep breath. Having this shield meant they could attempt higher-level instances even without Nie Yan. She wouldn’t sell it for ten silver coins, not even twenty or more.
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