"Sure, but there are conditions."
Xiao Hua knew that NPCs in Second World were often negotiable, but Lady Hassan was surprisingly agreeable on this matter.
"If you choose the experience reward now, and if you fail the mission, the experience will be deducted double. Think carefully," Lady Hassan warned.
The experience reward for the main quest was certainly not low, but whether the mission could succeed depended not only on strength but also on luck, considering he needed to snatch the boss from others.
"Lady Hassan, I have a question. If others reduce Ogarla's health to less than ten percent, and I use the Praise of Holy Light to eliminate Ogarla, according to the quest description, does this count as completing the mission? But in reality, Ogarla isn't really killed by me, is it?" Xiao Hua voiced his concern.
If others dealt 90% of the damage, and Xiao Hua finished off the last 10%, technically speaking, Ogarla wouldn't be considered killed by Xiao Hua based on damage output.
"This is not a problem. Our Assassin Guild does not intend to claim all the glory; we merely wish to increase our contribution to the elimination of Ogarla. As long as Ogarla is ultimately destroyed by the Praise of Holy Light, our goal is achieved, and your mission will be considered completed."
"In that case, please give me the experience reward now!" Xiao Hua decided without hesitation. With the stakes being a pair of sub-artifact shoes, he was determined to succeed or perish trying. First, he needed to level up to 40!
"Since you insist, we'll do it your way. After all, we won't suffer any losses," Lady Hassan nodded and waved her hand.
System Notification: Your level has increased to 38!
System Notification: Your level has increased to 39!
System Notification: Your level has increased to 40!
System Notification: Your level has increased to 41!
In an instant, Xiao Hua's level jumped four times! The experience reward for the main quest was indeed extraordinarily high. It might have only raised a level 50 player by one level, but due to Xiao Hua's lower level, it resulted in a four-level jump!
Xiao Hua had hoped to reach around level 40, but seeing his level higher than expected, he felt elated!
There was nothing else Lady Hassan needed to say. Xiao Hua bid farewell to her and rushed back to Black Mist City!
After waiting for so long, he could finally wear the lovely equipment stored in his warehouse!
Upon returning to Black Mist City, Xiao Hua didn't bother with the quest anymore and headed straight for the warehouse NPC!
The Phantom Ring and Queen's Blade were the two pieces of equipment he wanted to wear!
He removed the junk blue-quality ring he had on, switched the Scorching Thorn to his left hand, and then, with slightly trembling hands, equipped the Queen's Blade and Phantom Ring!
Within a day, he had equipped one dark gold weapon and two sub-artifacts, along with his existing rare and unique equipment. After adding the free attribute points from leveling up, Xiao Hua felt his stats were now incredibly impressive!
Name: NoStealWives
Class: Rogue (Agility-based)
Level: 41
Race: None
Title: Bookworm
Health: 78
HP: 2713/2713
MP: 550/550
Physical Attack: 681 - 765
Magic Attack: 93 - 93
Physical Defense: 615
Magic Defense: 420
Constitution: 266
Strength: 255
Agility: 525
Wisdom: 93
Spirit: 110
Insight: 12
Luck: 2
Reputation: 225
PK Value: 43
Xiao Hua was still in a weakened state, where actual stats were halved. Although he wanted to test the power on some monsters, his current stats were worse than before the change due to the weakened state, so he suppressed his excitement and decided to turn in the quest to Lina first.
Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings.
Arriving at the underground arena, he found that Tu Kuang had left, and no one blocked him as he appeared atop the stone steps.
"Lina Miss, here is Lady Hassan's evaluation letter," Xiao Hua found Lina and handed over the letter.
"Mm, okay, I have a general idea of the situation, but let me see Lady Hassan's specific evaluation." All the arenas were empty, and there were no matches going on. Bored, Lina was delighted to have something to do. If this rogue could pass Lady Hassan's test, perhaps another person who could bring exciting matches had emerged!
"Wow, your evaluation is really high." Although Lina had received news that the Assassin Guild wanted her to give Xiao Hua a rare item, she didn't expect the evaluation to be even higher than she imagined.
"Based on this evaluation, not only will you receive the Assassin Badge, but its attributes will differ slightly from the standard badge. Here is another item, entrusted by Lady Hassan. Keep it safe," Lina handed Xiao Hua two items.
System Notification: You received the item "Assassin Badge (Elite)"!
Assassin Badge (Elite): A badge granted to those recognized by the Assassin Guild. However, to activate its effects, certain conditions must be met, deterring many people!
Elite Attributes: HP +200, MP +100
General Functions (requires PK value above 50 to use): Concealment, Search
Concealment: Temporarily hides your PK value for 120 minutes and conceals you from city guards. Cooldown: 7 days! (Time spent flying does not count.)
Search: When accepting bounty missions from the Assassin Guild, use this function to locate the target. Cooldown: 8 hours.
System Notification: You received the item "Ten-Day Exemption Card"!
Ten-Day Exemption Card: Using this grants a brief exemption effect, hiding your PK value for ten days. After ten days, your PK value will revert to the original value at the time of use. However, if you accumulate more than five PK points within ten days, the exemption effect will cease. Use carefully!
The elite-level Assassin Badge, from the attributes, Xiao Hua guessed that the elite badge had a bit more HP and MP than the regular one. While this extra HP was negligible for players with high health, for an anemic rogue like him, it was very useful, as Tu Kuang had mentioned—it could help him withstand one more hit!
As for the Ten-Day Exemption Card, it was a key item for this main quest, so Xiao Hua kept it carefully.
"Now that you have the Assassin Badge, there are some things you must know. First, Assassins with the badge are forbidden from killing each other. If one kills another, regardless of who initiated, the killer gains five PK points!
This is a restriction for Assassins with the badge. Of course, besides restrictions, there are benefits. With the Assassin Badge, you can accept bounty missions in the city and purchase unique set equipment from me," Lina continued.
"Set equipment?" Xiao Hua learned that blacklisted players could buy sets from Lina!
"Yes, there are various sets. Want to take a look? Most people cannot view them!" Lina winked excitedly.
"Yes!" Xiao Hua nodded, and a list of items appeared before him.
"The attributes of this equipment... really nice!" At a glance, Xiao Hua was surprised by the attributes of a few random pieces.
Before him were sets ranging from level 30 to 60. Comparing the attributes with his memory, he found that the single attributes were comparable to purple quality. Wearing a full set would surpass a regular set of purple equipment. It was no wonder the blacklisted players who accepted bounty missions were stronger than average players when wearing such sets, combining their PK skills!
The sets listed required levels and PK values. Equipment would lose its effect if the PK value dropped below 20—a truly extreme setup!
While the attributes were excellent, they paled compared to his dark gold and sub-artifact items. Still, he had several blue-quality items. After seeing the attributes of these sets, Xiao Hua wanted to buy a few pieces. However, the currency required for purchasing the sets was a challenge. Besides gold, victory points were needed, and it would take seven to eight days to accumulate enough points for one piece.
If there were no limits on daily matches, Xiao Hua might have tried, as winning a few matches with his current top-tier equipment wouldn't be too difficult.
With the main quest in mind, Xiao Hua had no spare time and needed to focus on reducing his PK value.
Just as he was about to say goodbye to Lina and head out to grind monsters, Lina added, "Oh, almost forgot. With the Assassin Badge, you can accept special missions from me."
Special missions? Intrigued, Xiao Hua checked the available missions from Lina.
A list of missions appeared before him, primarily increasing match counts. Further down, there were missions to increase victory points, and at the bottom, he found missions to reduce PK values!
There were few missions to reduce PK values; Xiao Hua found only three. If he guessed correctly, these were the special missions Lina mentioned.
Each mission reduced five PK points. Even with his new equipment, Xiao Hua estimated he could only reduce five PK points per day. Therefore, he chose to accept the missions, confident that he could complete them with his current gear!
Missions could only be accepted one at a time. Xiao Hua chose a mission with a location closer to Black Mist City and left the underground arena.