Thieves held many advantages over Elementalists. They were known as the kings of the wilderness as well as experts of the battlefield. They could stealth at a moment's notice, hide in plain sight, and travel to every corner of the battlefield unobstructed. Even the speed at which they ran far outshined any other class. Although an Elementalist had a fair chance against an equal-level Thief in battle, they were terrible at pursuit. If a Thief wished to flee, a slower class like the Elementalist would generally be helpless to stop them.
Seeing his own forces drop like flies, Nightbreak Trickster was boiling with anger.
What's so damn great about a Thief!?
Nightbreak Trickster rarely ever took action. But this wasn't to say he was weak. He simply understood that a guild leader who was only valiant and good at fighting wasn't enough. Even if they were a god of war, they still wouldn't be immune to defeat. Every class had its counters, it just happened his was a Thief.
Although Nightbreak Trickster was skilled, he knew he wasn't invincible.
A guild leader who emerged victorious in every battle was undoubtedly an immense morale boost to the members of his guild, just like Nie Yan. Even now, he had yet to suffer a single defeat. This was why the fighting spirit of Asskickers United was so unprecedently high!
But in reality, Nie Yan was walking on a very thin tightrope!
There were many capable people in the world!
When someone killed Nie Yan, breaking the undefeated streak of the Mad Rogue and shattering his legend, his zealous followers would be brought back to reality, and their morale would plummet.
In this aspect, Nightbreak Trickster felt he was wiser and acted with more prudence. What a guild leader needed to do wasn't to be an unstoppable battle god but rather maintain their dignity and mystique.
He would normally never personally step into action, unless he was guaranteed to succeed. But after seeing so many of the brothers that he hand-picked himself being slaughtered, he could no longer hold himself back!
Even a saint felt anger!
"Mages and Paladins, buff me!" Nightbreak Trickster shouted, while buffing himself. He waved his staff as magical energy frantically converged on him, his robes fluttering violently.
Every last Priest and Paladin in Radiant Sacred Flame began casting their buffs on Nightbreak Trickster.
His stats rose explosively!
Indomitable Will! Paladin's Might! Haste! Power Transfer! Holy Blessing! ...
In an instant, Nightbreak Trickster received over 20 buffs. It didn't matter whether or not they had minimal impact on him. Intelligence, Strength, Dexterity, etc, they were all greatly enhanced. Although only six of these buffs raised his Intelligence, Magic Power, or other Mage related stats, his combat power was still greatly bolstered.
He was radiating a faint white aura. This was the visual effect of so many buffs stacked on top of him.
Nightbreak Trickster waved his staff, causing halos of magical energy to descend and revolve around him.
Magic Ignition!
The mana cost of all Elemental Spells were doubled in addition to consuming 2 mana every 3 seconds. The duration of this magic was 3 minutes while the cooldown was 5 days.
Nightbreak Trickster felt a scorching energy smoldering in his abdomen as his mana began to slowly drain. His stats increased by roughly 30%.
Elemental Spell Effect +300%. Intelligence +100%. Cast Speed +100%.[1]
Advanced buffing magic. This type of spell was harder to come by than ordinary Elemental Hall Magic. It was hard to say which was superior.
Magic Ignition was similar to some of the skills found in Nie Yan's Glimpse of Darkness.
This sort of state was difficult to maintain since the player would burn through their mana much quicker on top of bleeding mana every three seconds. Even a Mage with a mana pool of over 2,000 points would be hard-pressed to sustain this sort of expenditure for long.
Speed of the Windwalker!
Speed of the Windwalker was a common Elementalist spell which increased the player's movement speed by 30%, giving them somewhat of a leg up when fleeing or kiting. But even with this boost, an inherently slow class like the Mage still couldn't outrun a Thief's pursuit or Warrior's Charge!
But right now, Speed of the Windwalker was transformed into an entirely different beast. With Magic Ignition in effect, its movement speed bonus was quadrupled to 120%, rivalling the speed of some of the better mounts!
Nightbreak Trickster's movement speed rose dramatically. This spell really was worthy of its name.
After buffing himself, Nightbreak Trickster went in pursuit of Nie Yan. He was only a few steps from the Golden Dragon, but he acted bold and daring, disregarding its existence completely.
With its aggro solely focused on Nie Yan, Nightbreak Trickster had no need to worry about the Golden Dragon suddenly switching targets
Icicle Shower!
Nightbreak Trickster determined Nie Yan's rough location by going off the Golden Dragon's line of sight. With a wave of his staff, he unleashed a shower of icicles from the sky.
These icicles resembled tiny needles, and were densely packed, covering an area of 30 by 30 meters. As they rained down on the ground, a curtain of 2s and 3s rose up into the sky from the heads of the hundreds of players caught in the storm.
This Icicle Shower wasn't meant to deal heavy damage.
An icy fog slowly expanded outward, causing tiny ice particles to cling onto each and every player. Everyone was affected without exception, including Nie Yan who was stealthed.
Icicle Shower slowed the movement speed of all affected players by 20%. But when Nightbreak Trickster cast the spell in his buffed state, the slow was increased up to 80%!
Nie Yan noticed the Icicle Shower coming down on him early on. But he knew that no matter how fast he was, he couldn't evade it. He quickly drank an Ice Resistance Potion. After the spell fell, the temperature of the surrounding area plummeted and a dense icy fog permeated the air. Even with the support of his resistances, his movement speed still fell by 60%. What a potent effect!
Nie Yan was alarmed. This was the most formidable Icicle Shower he had ever witnessed! He looked over his shoulder, only to see Nightbreak Trickster waving his staff with many rings of magical energy revolving around him. It took only a single glance for Nie Yan to understand what was going on.
It was Magic Ignition!
In the previous timeline, despite seeing its power reduced with every successive patch, this perverse spell still remained one of the most powerful at an Elementalist's disposal!
At the later stages of the game, around 1% of all Elementalists had this spell in their arsenal. As for the present, those who knew Magic Ignition could probably be counted on one hand!
Before the first set of nerfs, Magic Ignition was an extremely terrifying spell.
Nie Yan's eyes flashed with killing intent. Magic Ignition still had one fatal drawback. After it wore off, the player would enter a weakened state for one minute where all their stats were reduced by 80%.
Even so, while Magic Ignition was active, Nie Yan didn't dare to face Nightbreak Trickster head-on.
Truthfully, he would become immune to all of Nightbreak Trickster's attacks if he just activated Adjudicator of God. However, this skill was a last resort. He wouldn't easily reveal it or any of his other trump cards.
Absolute Zero Ice Spikes!
Nightbreak Trickster waved his staff, after which ice spikes erupted from the ground at a terrifying speed.
Anyone hit by these ice spikes would be frozen in place. They were truly terrifying!
When cast without the buff of Magic Ignition, this spell wasn't all that powerful. The enemy would be given ample time to dodge as there was a delay before they erupted from the ground. But with Magic Ignition active, this delay was practically taken out of the equation.
Nie Yan rolled out of the way while ice spikes broke through the ground beneath him. They were over a meter long, and were sparkling and clear.
Even though these ice spikes missed, more came shooting out of the ground.
Absolute Zero Ice Spikes synergized well with Magic Ignition as it had a short cooldown, low mana cost, fast attack speed, and a powerful crowd control effect. Any target struck would be immobilized!
The last time Nightbreak Trickster activated Magic Ignition, he had killed an extremely tanky Fighter by freezing him in place using these very same ice spikes. This was what was so terrifying about Magic Ignition. Even low-level spells which were otherwise harmless would become lethal after being enhanced by its effects!
Due to the increased casting speed, there was very little delay between attacks, leaving Nie Yan dodging frantically. There were multiple close calls where he had nearly been hit. In the previous timeline, he had died a total of five times to Elementalists with Magic Ignition. However, this was the first time he experienced someone utilizing the spell with such ferocity.
While Magic Ignition was active, low-level spells such as Ice Spikes, Small Fireballs, and Magic Missiles could be cast with little to no downtime.
Nightbreak Trickster's performance made it abundantly clear that he understood how to take full advantage of Magic Ignition.
Nie Yan rolled out of the way to dodge another set of ice spikes, only to notice the ground beneath him trembling faintly just as he regained his footing. More ice spikes erupted from the ground. He quickly sidestepped, but was still a step too late as one of the ice spikes brushed his leg, transferring a cold energy through his body.
"He's over there! Kill him!"
At this moment, the Mages of Radiant Sacred Flame disregarded their safety and rained down a shower of magic on Nie Yan.
Nie Yan's eyes quickly searched around until he spotted a nearby tree. Extending out his arm, he shot out a web line at a branch and jumped.
After swinging five or so meters, he landed on top of the branch.
Everyone was shocked. None of them expected Nie Yan to have such a skill!
Just what was this, a web line?
At this moment, the Golden Dragon breathed out a mouthful of flames.「Boom!」Gravel and sparks flew out in all directions as the scorching heat wave roiled.
Nightbreak Trickster was surprised such an intense barrage of attacks still couldn't lock Nie Yan down. Magic Ignition was rapidly expending all his mana. He took out an Intermediate Mana Potion from his bag and drank it, immediately recovering a good chunk.
It appeared killing Nie Yan with these sorts of tricks wouldn't work.
The magical power around Nightbreak Trickster began surging as his robes fluttered violently. The staff raised in his hands radiated a dazzling light, it was as though a deity was descending upon this world.
Nightbreak Trickster and Nie Yan locked gazes, fighting spirit burning intensely in their eyes.
At this instant, Nie Yan who was sitting atop the tree branch revealed a sinister smile. He pointed his thumb downwards, then aimed his dagger at his neck and made a cutthroat gesture.
The dagger in Nie Yan's hand shimmered with a sharp light, while his killing intent chilled the air around him.
Just like the time he killed the guild leader of Unhindered Hei Zhou, when Nie Yan revealed that ice cold smile, resembling the face of a smiling devil, the temperature on the battlefield seemed to plummet several degrees.
[1] Don't confuse Cast Speed with Cast Time. It's basically the Mage counterpart to Attack Speed, increasing the animation speed of a spell.