"Stop talking about hiring me," George shook his head.
"Even if you hired every player in Ceylon City, are you sure you want to hire me just for Wraithroot herbs?"
Dorothy nodded and shook her head. "I need the Wraithroot, but I want to team up with you forever!"
"Didn't alchemists have their own quests?" George asked.
"Yes!" Dorothy said. "But we're all support classes. We have to team up with others. The rewards from quests are also small. And skills can be learned when you level up without doing quests. It's better to follow you and kill monsters."
"Doing quests is slower, but at least it's safe. If you follow me, aren't you worried about dying?" George asked.
Dorothy shook her head hard. "I'm willing to die!"
"Good. You're my teammate now!" George opened his hand, picked up the legendary gem Star Crystal, sent a party invite. Dorothy happily accepted.
"One more person is needed. Do you know someone reliable?" George asked.
"No!" Dorothy shook her head. "I've always played alone. I don't have any friends in real life to play with."
"Then let's go to the tavern and try again!" George said. "Just find someone."
Before he even finished speaking, he saw a man being chased by a peacekeeper NPC. The man ran like the wind, rushed to George's side, patted George's back, smiled, and kept running.
[Ding, reminder to the host: Star Crystal was stolen!]
"Shit!" George was really shocked. He turned around and chased after the guy, pulling out his Frost Moon Blade and slashing.
The runner dodged constantly, and still looked back and said, "Bro, don't waste your time. Your item is mine now. Man...!"
The man made one mistake. His body was hit by a large Moon Shadow from George's Frost Moon Blade.
George kept slashing. Frostbite hit the guy.
"Bro, I give up! I give up!" The guy stopped running and fighting. He just pulled out everything from his bag and threw it to George. "Let me go, okay? I just unlocked a hidden class. It's really hard. If I log out, I'll never get it again. Keep me alive, and I'll be there whenever you need me!"
George grabbed the guy by the neck and asked, "Hidden class? What class?"
He had already chosen Peacekeeper, which was already hard enough. Were there other hidden classes?
The guy laughed. "Thief, bro. You're the first one to catch me since I logged on..."
"Thief?" George asked. "What skills does a thief have? Ranged or melee?"
"Neither," the guy said, smiling awkwardly. "Thieves don't fight bosses. Their quest is to steal from other players. The more valuable the stolen item, the more reward the thief gets. The faster they level up. But in return, thieves are only fast and have stealing skills. They have no real combat skills."
"Bad, the peacekeeper is catching up! Bro, let me go, we can meet again at the port!"
George still held the guy and said to the peacekeeper who had finally caught up: "I caught this guy. You guys go do your thing."
The peacekeeper smiled and said hello to George, then left.
"Bro, who the hell are you? NPCs listen to you! We work so well together! I'll steal stuff in the city, and when peacekeepers come, you deal with them. Who dares touch me, you let peacekeepers take them down. It's invincible. A whole new partner mode..."
"Shut up!" George said. "I still need one more teammate. Want to join?"
"Join? Of course I join! A million times join!" The thief nodded hard.
George sent a party invite. The player with the thief class, Buck, accepted.
"George." George let go of Buck, picked up the stuff Buck had thrown, which included his own Star Crystal.
"Boss George, where should we steal next?" Buck asked excitedly.
"Steal?" George said. "What's the point of stealing from city players? We're going into a Dungeon!"
"Ah?" Buck instantly looked sad. "Boss, leader, can I quit the team?"
"No, too late!" George said. "Work hard, you'll get way more than stealing."
"But I don't have any combat skills at all..." Buck cried. "Boss, on the behalf of my hidden class, please let me go."
"Don't need you to fight. Just steal stuff." George held his Frost Moon Blade and said: "Say one more word…."
"Whatever you say, boss. I'm willing to go into the Dungeon!" Buck quickly said.
"Thief Buck," George walked to Dorothy and said: "Alchemist, Dorothy."
"Ah?" Buck was speechless again. "Boss, are we just three people going into the Dungeon?"
"You got a problem?"
"No, no!" Buck quickly shook his head. After a while, he said: "Boss, can we find someone better to fight with? At least get a Healer!"
"No need. Just us three!" George said.
He could handle the fight.
Healer... that spot was for Louise!
Who could heal like Louise?
Thinking about Louise's healing, George couldn't help licking his lips and speeding up.
...
Ceylon City was located on Cologne Island, the only big city on the island.
One side of Cologne Island was tall mountains that blocked the warm air.
The other side was a wide plain. There were farmers working the land, and a northern forest that had adapted to the cold. Behind the northern forest was an area with tree spirits that could survive even colder weather.
The Dwarves they were looking for were said to live underground. But actually, they lived inside the mountains of Cologne Island.
On the way to the mountains, many new players were fighting with low-level monsters in the woods.
"Tell me about your skills," George said.
"Boss, that's my..."
George glanced at him, and Buck gave a nervous smile.
"I'm only level 16 now, and I've only learned one skill. It's called Steal. Every time I steal, there's a 3% chance to steal the most valuable item from a player or NPC. A 30% chance to succeed. But if I steal, the player has a 20% chance to notice. If I steal the most valuable item, the player has a 70% chance to notice."
He rubbed his hands together and said, "Boss, you have to protect me. I heard that when I hit level 30, I can learn a new skill. Then I can steal other players' skills. Then I can really help you, right?"
"Interesting!" George said, nodding with a smile. No wonder it was a hidden class!
...
The three of them passed through the beginner forest map and arrived at a cliff wall.
There were five players standing at the entrance of the rock wall.
And all five of them were level 23!
George had never seen that before.
Both sides immediately got ready for a fight.
"George?" The female player in charge looked at the three of them, and asked hesitantly.
"Do you know me?" George asked.
The woman stopped her four teammates, smiled, and walked forward, reaching out her hand.
"Azure League, rangers, Elena."
George didn't shake her hand. He just nodded.
"Now we know each other. If you don't have anything else, can you move aside?"
"You were on TV not long ago for killing a bunch of players," Elena said, pulling her hand back.
"How about joining us, Azure League?"
"No interest. You should know, I'm a peacekeeper..."
"Peacekeeper Office?" Elena laughed. "It's just this little Ceylon City and this little Cologne Island. The resources are too small. Players are low level. They haven't organized yet. But outside the island, the Peacekeeper Office has already been taken down by players. I'll tell you straight, we Azure League have taken down the most Peacekeeper Offices."
"How about it? Think about joining us. You can join now, or wait for us to take down the Peacekeeper Office and let you surrender?"
"No interest. Move aside!" George said coldly.
Elena kept smiling and stepped aside. "George, you made the wrong choice."
George and the two others walked to the entrance. He pulled out a cloth bag and opened it. The Star Crystal shone with light.
With the five of them watching with disdain and hostility, the door slowly opened with a loud rumble.
The scene changed. George and his two friends were now inside the dark mountain.
"Guests, please come in!" A bearded dwarf appeared next to them, smiling.
"You're here to get weapons made, right? I'll tell you straight, when it comes to making weapons, if we Dwarves say second, no one dares to say first..."
The dwarf talked non-stop, but his eyes kept staring at the Star Crystal in George's hand.
They walked across a stone bridge. Then the bridge suddenly broke.
"Attack!" The dwarf leading them shouted.
Right after that, a big net made of branches appeared under the broken bridge.
There were nets above and below!