A Legendary Thief - Chapter 8
Chapter 8: The Essence of Reversed Backstabbing
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Xiao Yu picked up the dropped bronze coins on the ground and found white-level cotton armor next to them, after which he put the armor on. Although the cotton armor looked a bit old, his defense had still improved a little. It was higher now than when he was wearing the novice armor he started out with. He decided that he would use it for the time being.
After checking his winnings, Xiao Yu found that he had won 31 silver coins so far and two pieces of white-level equipment. This equipment wouldn’t be accepted by the auction house if it was brought to them; it couldn’t be placed on the auction table at all. However, it could be sold to those non-player characters for some money.
Xiao Yu continued killing sand beetles, practicing his skill of reversed backstabbing based on the feeling he had felt earlier.
System: the success rate of reversed backstabbing is 76%, causing 87% skill damage.
The value of 76% was pretty good. However, Xiao Yu believed he could do better. Thinking of the process of his fight, he attempted to find out his weakness when he used the skill earlier.
Xiao Yu kept on practicing the reversed stabbing skill as if he were possessed by a devil, completely losing a sense of time.
System: the success rate of reversed backstabbing is 78%, causing 90% skill damage.
His performance had improved as he gradually became more proficient with the reversed backstabbing skill, and his success rate attested to this. However, Xiao Yu didn’t start slacking off because of the improvement. He kept on practicing and tried to find the best way to use the reversed backstabbing skill before mastering it.
Slashing did not count as skill damage, but the reversed backstabbing skill was special and could earn a damage bonus. Xiao Yu earned more than 10 damage points when he slashed, but he could earn more than 20 points if used reversed backstabbing. He could also go behind the enemy at the same time when using the skill, making it quite a valuable skill.
A sand beetle dashed toward Xiao Yu. He dodged to the side and evaded the beetle’s frontal attack. As the sand beetle paused for a brief moment, Xiao Yu felt a quiver in his heart, as something in him, at last, seemed to click. It was at this moment that he used the reversed backstabbing skill.
He leaped slightly and landed beside the sand beetle before smoothly rotating the dagger in his right hand while thrusting it back. The dagger pierced the back of the sand beetle after breaking through its hard shell.
Xiao Yu found that things had indeed finally clicked, and a beam of pride showing in his eyes. It seemed that Xiao Yu had finally understood something.
System: the success rate of reversed backstabbing is 89%, causing 100% skill damage.
Xiao Yu was surprised to see this alert; a mere 89% success rate could cause 100% skill damage? What if the success rate was 100%? Could it cause higher skill damage?
Such possibilities sent a wave of excitement through him. If he could complete such a high-quality reversed backstab every time, his speed of leveling up would increase.
Xiao Yu finished off the sand beetle with a few more attacks and picked up the dropped bronze coins off the ground. After taking a short break, he resumed searching for the next sand beetle as he thought on what clicked for him while using the backstabbing skill.
He went behind a sand beetle carefully by using stealth travel and knocked it unconscious with a sneak attack. Then he used slashes to reduce the sand beetle’s health somewhat. By the time the sand beetle turned around to attack him, Xiao Yu had retreated a little to dodge its charge and leaped to the side of the sand beetle the moment the sand beetle felt exhausted. He rotated his body beautifully and squarely thrust the dagger into the back of the sand beetle with the reversed backstabbing skill, right where he wanted.
After he had completed this reversed backstabbing skill, Xiao Yu found that he had finally used it better than he had ever done before. He discovered that he could pierce his dagger into the back of the sand beetle much more easily now.
System: the success rate of reversed backstabbing is 93%, causing 150% skill damage.
Seeing the value of 150%, Xiao Yu couldn’t help but feel shocked. He didn’t expect the success rate for the reversed backstabbing skill to be so high.
“Man! This skill is really useful,” he exclaimed to himself. This skill could help him dodge the attack of his opponents while simultaneously causing significant skill damage.
What puzzled Xiao Yu was that he had always rotated his body when he used the reversed backstabbing skill. Wasn’t that a redundant move? Couldn’t he successfully use the reversed backstabbing skill so long as he dodged the enemy’s attack and jump to the side? Was it possible that the rotation he did was unnecessary?
He remembered some instructions when Thief Teacher Ode taught him the skills. The fighting skills used by thieves were tested and inherited over a thousand years, and they were the most straightforward and effective fighting skills.
What was the role of rotating the body then?
Xiao Yu tried to rotate his body on the ground. He turned around and did a reversed backstabbing skill. He did this more easily since no monsters were around. The rotating helped him gain more strength for the stab, the dagger in his right hand emitting a swooshing sound as it caused friction in the air.
It suddenly occurred to him that the rotation of his body seemed to be able to increase the power of the reversed backstabbing skill. He tried it over and over again and found that his right hand generated a great amount of power during the rotation. This was due to the momentum and centrifugal force. If he could use it properly, he would be able to concentrate the strength of his entire body onto the dagger in his right hand, producing a powerful lethal blow.
The seemingly useless rotation could actually help his hand gain more power! Xiao Yu could comprehend the reversed backstab better after he figured this out. In the meantime, he could tell that he still hadn’t done it perfectly last time.
He had gradually comprehended the essence of this skill. The skill had two steps: One was to dodge the attack of the opponent, and the second was to stab the back of the opponent in reverse by making use of the rotating force. Xiao Yu believed that he could already do a good job dodging the attack of the opponent, but it was rather difficult to strike the rear of the enemy by making use of the rotating force after he dodged. It required well-coordinated movements; high-quality completion of this skill depended on the more powerful force of the rotation.
The reason his success rate for reversed backstabbing was still not high enough was that he didn’t make full use of the rotating force yet.
