Chapter 129: The Lone Wolf’s Leather Armor

Nie Yan followed the group of nobles into the grand hall and found the magistrate, Karun. The hall suddenly became lively and noisy.

“Respected Magistrate, we have caught a fraud.”

“It turns out Master Ke Xi was a fraud.”

An overweight noble, excitedly grabbed Ke Xi’s long beard and pulled it off, revealing a clean-shaven, fair-skinned face. It was clearly a young man in his twenties with a sly, beady-eyed expression—definitely not an old man!

“No, he isn’t Master Ke Xi. I’ve seen him before—he’s that thief!” The noble paused, suddenly realizing, “So he’s not the real Master Ke Xi—he’s an impostor!”

“That makes sense! Master Ke Xi is a kind-hearted and respected figure. The equipment he crafts sells for astronomical prices at auctions, including legendary items. How could he ever do something so despicable!”

They finally understood—it was an imposter!

“Damn impostor!” The nobles surrounded the fake Ke Xi and began beating him while he cried out for mercy.

Magistrate Karun was also enraged, pointing at the fake Ke Xi below and shouting, “Despicable impostor! Because of you, the reputation of Hildilock has been severely tarnished, and you have sullied Master Ke Xi’s good name. Your crime is unforgivable. Guards, throw them into the dungeon!”

Two fully armed guards stepped forward, grabbed the fake Ke Xi and three other middle-aged men, and dragged them away.

“Respected Magistrate, it was this young gentleman who uncovered the fraud,” an elderly noble pointed toward Nie Yan.

The nobles all nodded in agreement.

Magistrate Karun approached Nie Yan and said, “Young man, thank you for exposing the fake Ke Xi and restoring Hildy Locke’s reputation. We will severely punish those four frauds. On behalf of all the citizens of Hildy Locke, I thank you. Your wisdom is truly admirable. Here is a small token of our appreciation.”

System: You have completed the quest—The Fraudulent Master’s Deception. You gained 38,297 experience points.

System: Respect value in Hildiloc +13.

System: Gained an additional 20 points of intelligence bonus.

System: You obtained the Rogue’s Leather Armor.

Nie Yan checked the rewards—they were quite good. His experience increased to 23% of level 10. His respect value in Hildiloc had reached 20 points. With 20 points of respect, he could enjoy many discounts within the city. Slightly annoying was that the additional 20 points were added to intelligence rather than another stat. For a rogue, intelligence was somewhat useless, though it did provide some boosts to skills like lockpicking and allowed activation of certain unique scrolls.

As for the Rogue’s Leather Armor, he checked its stats:

Rogue’s Leather Armor (Epic): Requires Level 10.

Stats: Defense 51-57, +9 Tenacity, +15 Perception, +13 Agility.

Weight: 5 pounds.

Class Restriction: Rogue, usable by all factions.

It was an epic-level armor for level 10, an outstanding reward for the current stage. Unless it was an expert-level dungeon, most regular dungeons rarely dropped epic gear. Combined with the True Sight ability, Nie Yan was quite satisfied.

Putting on the Rogue’s Leather Armor, it was a light blue with sleek, streamlined design, giving off a nimble and agile vibe.

He moved around a bit in it—it felt pretty good.

“Thank you for your generosity, respected Magistrate,” Nie Yan smiled and thanked him.

It seemed there was nothing more for Nie Yan to do here. After thanking Magistrate Karun, he exited the grand hall. His mood was light and cheerful—he had handled the mission well.

He seemed to have rediscovered the feeling he had in his previous life when completing quests. Back then, it was precisely this kind of motivation that helped him gradually catch up to the top players.

Nie Yan walked through the bustling streets of Hildiloc and returned to the teleportation circle at the central plaza.

Another gold coin spent on teleportation made Nie Yan’s heart ache slightly. In the early stages, it was best to minimize cross-city teleportations. However, this trip to Hilde Locke had been quite fruitful.

Back in Carol City, the Lion King Kado and the Ogre Devourer would probably have respawned already. However, at his current level, fighting them was no longer worth the minimal experience gained and the time wasted. The loot from those monsters no longer interested him either.

Nie Yan recalled the pickpocket skill from the Shadow of Sogard. There was apparently an early quest related to the pickpocket skill, but he only vaguely remembered it. It also required cooperation with Tang Yao, who was still leveling up—something to deal with later.

Nie Yan decided to go leveling first. The best level 10 monster area was the Blackgold Mine. He could farm Ghoul Leaders there for decent experience and loot. The gems and ores dropped there could fetch a good price, and there were some good rogue equipment drops too.

Nie Yan’s current gear was still too low. Level 10 gear wasn’t even visible on the market yet. If elite players did drop level 10 gear, they usually traded it instead of selling it, since they needed it themselves. It would be good to check out the area anyway—he knew roughly where the leader, sub-elite, and elite monsters were.

Thinking about it, Nie Yan went to buy some Flash Powder, as well as Sheep Transformation Scrolls and Webbing Scrolls. These were effective against monsters under level 10.

Leaving the city gates, Nie Yan headed toward the Blackgold Mine, using a Speed Boost Scroll and activating Shadowstep to dash forward. Shadowstep provided an additional 30 speed, making him move like the wind, swiftly passing through the forest trails.

Currently, not many dared to farm monsters at the Blackgold Mine, but there were definitely some. Many elite players had already reached over level 10, with the highest being level 13. The gear improvements from the Sos Valley had allowed many players to dare to farm level 10 monsters.

After running for over ten minutes, he exited the forest and saw an endless expanse of black-stoned rubble ahead. In about half a month, teams would bring their guild miners here to farm monsters and mine ores. Mining here was quite profitable—beginner miners could earn two silver coins a day. But right now, the area was nearly deserted.

Nie Yan swiftly ran and jumped through the rubble, stopping on a large rock to think.

It should be east, but he had forgotten the exact path. However, in his previous life, he had farmed here for a long time, so he still had a vague memory. After a while, he spotted wandering Ghoul Miners.

Ghoul Miner: Level 10, HP 560/560.

Nie Yan wasn’t interested in wasting time with these Ghoul Miners and avoided them. After searching for five or six minutes, he finally spotted a large Ghoul with black armored plating on its back and sharper claws and teeth.

Nie Yan cast Detect on the Ghoul.

Ghoul Overseer: Level 10 Leader, HP 1600/1600.

This was the one he was looking for! Nie Yan entered stealth mode and approached the Ghoul Overseer from behind. The Ghoul Overseer didn’t sense his approach at all. With gear like the Chapter of Freedom and Shadow of Sogard enhancing his stealth capabilities, Nie Yan’s hiding and stealth abilities were extremely high. Even monsters above level 15 might not detect him if he approached stealthily.

Nie Yan crept up behind the Ghoul Overseer and suddenly attacked, stabbing his sharp Blood Pact Dagger into the Ghoul’s head.

Sunder Strike!

Taking advantage of the brief stun, Nie Yan launched a critical strike and a backstab.

-93, -110, -107…

Nie Yan’s damage was impressive. After being attacked, the Ghoul Overseer turned around furiously and lunged at Nie Yan, its claws glowing red.

This was the Vampire’s Bloodlust, which significantly increased damage and had a vampiric effect.

Nie Yan knew how terrifying Vampire attacks were. If hit, he would lose at least half his health. At this level, only warriors with good gear might survive such an attack.

Nie Yan sidestepped and stunned the Ghoul Overseer. During the brief stun, he launched another Backstab and Expose Weakness, dealing over 200 damage.

The Ghoul Overseer’s skin turned an eerie red, emitting a faint red mist.

This was the Ghoul Overseer’s Plague. Anyone staying near it would lose at least 20 HP per second. Without a priest’s dispel or healing, even warriors with high HP would eventually die to the poison.

This was why even elite players needed teamwork to defeat leader-level creatures. Soloing same-level leaders usually required some extremely overpowered builds.

Nie Yan activated Quick Retreat and quickly disengaged. He pulled out a Webbing Scroll and cast it, trapping the Ghoul Overseer in webs and immobilizing it.

Nie Yan quickly ran away, took out his crossbow, and started shooting the Ghoul Overseer.

-21, -23, -21…

Damage numbers floated above the Ghoul Overseer’s head.

The Ghoul Overseer struggled and eventually broke free, chasing after Nie Yan. As it got closer, Nie Yan threw a Flash Powder, which exploded with blinding light.

The Ghoul Overseer’s eyes were blinded by the intense light, screaming in pain and clawing wildly at nearby rocks, leaving deep scratches.

Nie Yan retreated another ten yards and continued shooting. The Ghoul Overseer’s HP continued to drop. It staggered and finally collapsed to the ground.

“Done,” Nie Yan smiled. Although the Ghoul Overseer gave over 2000 experience points, it was nothing to him. He picked up the loot—a silver-grade warrior item, unfortunately not suitable for rogues. Nie Yan stood up and headed toward his next target.