Silent Acacia stared at Bleary Mirage, not knowing what to say. He was indeed boasting somewhat but usually no one called out his bluffs as he was still a respected pro pyer.

  Thus, he hastily ged the topic.

  “Oh, by the way. After our st meeting I checked the ranking list and really didn’t find you.

  Could this actually be the first time you are pying a game?”

  “What ranking list?”

  “You don’t even know this?!”

  Silent Acacia blinked, uo prehend how someone couldn’t know about the ranking list.

  At this moment an amused female voiterjected.

  “The ranking list is created by ‘games weekly’ taking into at all pro gamers in the federation. Known for their rality their opinions are highly respected.”

  Liam turned his head, smiling at the two women who had approached them.

  “Hey, Cye, Silver Bde.”

  “Hi.”

  “Hey.”

  “Silent Acacia, these are Cye and Silver Bde.”

  The young thief suddenly turned shy as he greeted the two women. Cye found it amusing but as she studied Acacia’s face, she suddenly recalled something.

  “You! You’re the guy trying to steal our rabbit!”

  “Eh, no… sorry… you must be mistaken.”

  “What now? Are you apologizing or denying?”

  “I don’t know.”

  Silver Bde chuckled lightly.

  “It’s alright. That’s all part of the game.”

  “Hmpf. Whatever. What did you talk about just now?”

  “About some fights we had today.”

  “What? Not fair! We only did b quests today. How e you fought?”

  Silver Bde shook her head at Cye.

  “I don’t think our quests were b. And didn’t we gain a lot? We are already level 4.”

  At this point Acacia’s eyes opened wide, fetting his shyness.

  “You are level 4? Damn, you are probably among the fastest pyers.”

  “Well, we didn’t do much else apart from leveling for two days.”

  “It’s because someone is in a hurry.”, added Cye with a look at Silver Bde.

  However, no one caught the hint and Cye addressed Liam again.

  “Bleary Mirage, you said we would py together ter. What are you pns now?”

  “I have something in mind, but before that I wao earn some money. If you want to, you e with me. It’s more or less on the way.”

  Cye’s eyes lit up as she turowards Silver Bde.

  “What do you say?”

  “You decide. I’m fiher way.”

  “Great. Then we’ll go with you, expert.”

  “Ok. But I have to warn you, it won’t be exg. I’m only gathering some herbs.”

  “Herbs? What herbs?”

  “Fiery Tacaria.”

  The three pyers around Liam all looked thoughtful. Silent Acacia was the first to shake his head.

  “Never heard of it.”

  “It egate fire damage to a certaient. It will be important in the first dungeon.”

  Instantly Cye rolled her eyes at Liam.

  “You are preparing for the first dungeon and say it’s ing?!”

  “It really isn’t…”

  “Hmm we’ll see.”

  The versation quickly died down as Liam got ready to leave. But before they could say goodbye, Silent Acacia spoke up carefully.

  “Mirage. You spoke about a good fight, correct? Could I maybe… e with you?”

  Liam almost expected this question. He looked at Cye and Silver Bde. But the two women followed Liam’s lead, thus they naturally let him make the decision.

  “Sure. You e. We might even need some more reinforts.”

  “More? Just what are you pnning?”

  “Haha, I won’t spoil the surprise.”

  Even Liam looked forward to it, knowing that a challenging boss fight awaited them.

  Cye tried to get more out of her friend, but Liam’s lips stayed sealed.

  The others could only give up as they followed him.

  Liam still had some menial tasks to do. He talked to a few merts, selling his miseous items.

  Afterwards he talked to the bcksmith Rech, buying a sickle. The others followed his example, knowing that it was never bad to have these kinds of tools.

  Finally doh his preparations he left the town again. The group went deeper into the outer forest, crossing the bridge in Rabbit Creek. Soon they entered a new zone.

  [Discovered Flower Clearing. Reward: 10EXP]

  Silver Bde smiled happily upon seeing the colorful se before them.

  Within a small clearing, thousands of beautiful flrew. A sweet smell spread in the surroundings, attrag all kinds of peaceful animals during normal times.

  But right now, only se bees with sharp stingers could be seen.

  At the side stood a young woman with a basket in her hand, her face distressed.

  Liam invited everyoo a party, signaling them to follow him as he approached the NPC.

  “Lady, we help you?”

  “Oh, brave adventurers. It’s good that you’re here. I wao gather some flowers, but this pce has been occupied by the Giant Bees.

  Please, could you chase them away?”

  “Of course.”

  Liam didn’t waste much time on this quest. It was just something to do by the way, asking him to kill ten Giant Bees.

  With their party of four it was easy. But it had a nice side effect as the other bees left after handing in the quest.

  They would only return in about 30 minutes.

  tly this was also the time when the young womauro gather flain.

  Now, with nothing to annoy him Liam could peacefully gather his herbs. He used his satchel to cut off stalks of red herbs one by one.

  With the help of his friends, Liam was quickly amassing a huge number of herbs.

  However, it was somewhat tedious as the process had a certain ce of failing, destroying the herb.

  Only after gathering enough to receive the [Gathering] auxiliary skill did this situation improve slightly.

  At the same time the group had to repeat the quest every thirty minutes.

  Thus, after a few hours of gardening, Cye suddenly put her satchel away.

  “That’s it! I ’t see these flowers anymore. Please, Bleary Mirage, we go now? I want to do somethiing!”

  Liam chuckled a bit as he ted the herbs in his iory. Herbs could be stacked up to a hundred and Liam now had more than five stacks.

  “I guess that’s enough for now. Thanks for the help, guys.”

  “Don’t thank us. Make up for it with a good fight.”

  “What Cye says!”, added even Silent Acacia.

  Only Silver Bde was somewhat relut, clearly enjoying the colorful sight.

  heless, the group quickly moved on. Liam led them back along the way, taking a path out of the forest and towards the isnd’s beach.

  “Ok guys, what we’re about to do won’t be easy. If you have some trustworthy friends, you should call them. We are g in damage.”

  “We need so many people?”

  Cye grinned as she imagihe se of a rge party fighting together. She was thrilled, quickly calling her ‘secret’ friend Mel.

  Unfortunately, no one else out of her friend group was online right now. The girls weren’t leading such leisurely lives, having to work during the day.

  The others searched their friend lists as well, sending out invitations.

  Soon the foliage parted before the group, revealing a tranquil se. A rge vilge, almost rivaling Prento appeared before them. It was located along a beautiful sandy beach.

  Waves surged, spshing sparkling water. Small boats drifted outside the vilge, busily catg fish.

  [Discovered Lomen Vilge. Reward: 20EXP]

  “Oh, is this the vilge where ht is? Why didn’t we find anything earlier?”

  Liam looked at Cye in surprise:

  “Have you been here before?”

  “Of course. We got some quests here.”

  “Oh. Did you talk to the vilge elder?”

  “I don’t think so.”, ented Silver Bde.

  Liam turo Silent Acacia:

  “Have you been here as well?”

  “No. Although I have traveled most of the fo…”

  “Ok, ok. Got it.”

  Liam hastily interrupted the young thief before he could begin to boast again.

  The veteran led his group along the path made from wooden pnks, reag an inspicuous hut close to the water.

  The fresh o air pyed around their faces as they looked into the distance, spotting a few dots of nd.

  “Mirage, are those the other isnds? Do I o go there for my quest?”

  “Not quite. The isnds we see from here are only small, mostly occupied by a single group. The one where your quest is located is further away. We ’t reach it yet.”

  “Oh, ok.”

  Clearing Silver Bde’s doubts, Liam approached the wooden hut. He knocked once before entering.

  Immediately the smell of medie reached the group. There wasn’t much furniture i, a tiny kit, a table, and two beds were all cramped in a single room.

  An old human man could be seen lying on one of the beds, his eyes covered by a piece of fabric.

  The man’s skin ale, and he was clearly extremely weak.

  o him stood a young woman with u bck hair, a sad look on her face, using a wet towel to the old man’s face.

  “Grandpa, don’t worry. You will get better soon. I’m here for you.”