Final Fend attacked as if to prove Liam's words, his chainsword drawing a wide arc with fierce flames trailing behind it.
[-105!]x8
[-211!]x8
"Haha, good job! With us two here those rats will die in no time!"
Braag laughed heartily, praising Final Fend. But suddenly his eyes widened as he saw damage numbers appear above the warrior's head.
[-20!]x8
[-42!]x8
"What's this? I didn't see anyone attacking!"
"Those rats reflect damaged against close-ranged fighters.", explained Liam calmly.
"But how is Final Fend close-ranged? He's using a chainsword…"
"Still counts according to the game."
Braag wanted to lament the unfairness, but Final Fend cut him off, asking with a confused face:
"What should we do then? Wait for the ranged fighters to finish the fight?"
"Why?", chuckled Liam. "Are you afraid of this bit of damage?"
Upon hearing this question Final Fend coughed awkwardly, aware that his question was stupid.
"Furthermore, there is no need to worry. We have a bard with us after all.
Edelweiss, do you have a healing skill?"
"Oh, yes… sorry."
Melodious Edelweiss was somewhat overwhelmed, having difficulties finding her place in the group. But Liam's words gave her a direction.
She began gracefully caressing the sites of her lute, filling the cave with her soothing voice.
"Phamolh elao vanai…"
The others were confused by her singing and even Melodious Edelweiss herself didn't understand every word. Only Liam could decipher the langue of the godspawn, the race Edelweiss belonged to, listening to her calling upon the gods for help.
The voice resonated with the surroundings, which were suddenly filled with a green shimmering magic, which slowly recovered everyone's HP.
[+226!]
Everyone felt the soothing melody caress their hearts, spending them life. As long as Melodious Edelweiss kept singing her [Song of Healing], her allies recovered HP every second, but her mana cost also increased per second.
Final Fend, who played in a band in his free time was immediately impressed by the bard's beautiful voice:
"Edelweiss, you truly have talent. What a great singing voice!"
Melodious Edelweiss didn't answer, but no one thought much about it as the bard couldn't interrupt her song. Only Fortune, who stood at the back of the group, glanced towards the young woman, noticing her red ears and strange expression.
The mage found it amusing but didn't tease their new member about it. She continued casting her skills, focusing on the fight and watching Bleary Mirage dive into the rats.
Liam's swords moved fiercely, his normal attacks followed by a [Double Slash]. With precise movements he managed to hit three enemies at the same time.
Pained cries echoed through the tunnel as Liam alone dealt close to 2000 points of damage. But he also suffered from retaliation, losing six hundred HP.
The others were apprehensive about the rats' skill of reflecting damage. If Liam somehow would've hit all of them at once, half of his HP would be gone.
But the person in question didn't care. He frowned faintly, glancing towards the ceiling. He felt as if something was moving in the shadows. But soon he shook his head, focusing back on the fight.
Above the party, holding onto the tunnel a person was frozen in place, their body perfectly silent.
Could that guy have seen me? Impossible!
Black Rat apprehensively observed the party but ultimately concluded that he should be safe. The skilled thief focused back on his purpose.
I was lucky to find someone drawing the mobs' attention. Now let's scout ahead and find the treasure. Then wait for them to distract the rats while I do the looting! Hehe, perfect.
Liam felt the faint sensation of being observed vanishing and stared thoughtfully into the tunnel, a light smile on his lips. Suddenly another explosion erupted. Liam felt the pieces of rocks hitting his body, throwing Braag an annoyed look.
Although the dwarf's attacks usually didn't injure his team mates, they were still unpleasant.
Braag smiled apologetically but didn't know what else to do. In his opinion Liam just had to get used to it.
Thus, the fight continued in an extremely unpleasant way for the veteran as well as Watchful Eye. Luckily the rats didn't hold on much longer. When Fortune threw her [Arcane Sphere], the last enemies died.
Braag immediately volunteered for looting duty. Although the dwarf didn't have the 'Advanced Forerunner' title, which gave two points of luck, Liam told him to go ahead. The loot of those common mobs couldn't enter the party's eyes anymore.
However, Liam was still interested in their bodies as he explained something to his friends:
"We should begin harvesting materials from mobs. Especially some like these spiked rats with their interesting passive."
"Are these materials worth something?", asked Silver Blade.
"Not too much, but they are useful for the guild. Once we recruit some blacksmiths, they can craft weapons and armors."
"Ok, so what do we do?"
"Well, it would be great if we knew someone with the [Skinning] skill."
Liam spoke deliberately, turning his head towards Final Fend. The young man wore an oblivious expression.
"Why are you staring at me?"
"Didn't I just mention the [Skinning] skill?"
"Yes…"
Final Fend's face changed as if he suddenly recalled something.
"Right, I feel like I read something when I chose my race."
"I hope you did. Avianer start with the skinning skill after all."
"Yes, here it is. Under auxiliary skills. Haha alright, let me show you my prowess!"
Final Fend laughed, enjoying the attention as he approached the first rat. With a thought [Skinning] activated. A small knife magically appeared in his hand as lines were projected onto the rat's body.
It wasn't difficult to understand what to do. Final Fend put on his knife and began to cut carefully. But he was immediately met with obstacles. The different parts required different strength.
Sometimes Final Fend got stuck, damaging the skin unnecessarily and sometimes he cut further than necessary, cutting pieces apart.
In the end his gaze towards the final product was quite awkward as he evaluated it.
[Low-quality Spiked earth-eating rat skin
Category: Common, material
Effect: Can be processed by blacksmiths, gives armor the ability to reflect damage.
With material of such quality, don't expect too much.]
Final Fend's thoughts moved. He quickly adjusted his expression, putting the skin away without showing it to anyone. However, naturally his friends weren't stupid.
"Don't worry, no one is perfect on their first try. Low-quality materials are ideal training material for blacksmiths."
"I… I will hand it to Cyclone…", admitted Final Fend.
"No need. You can place it directly in the guild treasury. Sun's Knight should take care of the contribution points."
"From now on everyone should place the things they don't need in the treasury.", reminded Liam with a glance at Braag.
The dwarf nodded. He didn't show any resistance and stored the loot he just received. A handy feature provided by the game allowed him to register the loot in the name of the entire party.
Everyone received an inconspicuous note about the contribution points earned. Liam noticed the dozens of points, disagreeing with the amount. However, the system had just been set up and naturally wasn't as refined as those in his past life.
It remained to be seen if Sun's Knight could do the necessary fine tuning.
After the rats had all been taken care of, the party soon continued. They ran into more fights, slowly filling the treasury. The movement was soon noticed by the other guild members.
Through Cyclone's earlier recruiting efforts, the guild already had 120 members. And more arrived slowly as Cyclone and Balm worked through the vast number of requests.
However, a rank one guild could only accommodate 350 members. Thus, it was important to filter out as many talents as possible in this first wave.
Next, they had to foster a sense of belonging, making these talented players the iron core of the guild. In order to do so the party members were ready to invest. Even if someone faced difficulties in real life, they might try to offer reasonable help.
All this work was mostly for Cyclone and Balm to care for, leaving the young women quite stressed. Thus, the others were motivated to do their parts, advancing through the mines with strong determination.
The rats faced their biggest nightmare, regretting ever opening a tunnel to the mines.
Liam and his friends advanced like bulldozers. Even the occasional elite couldn't slow them down. However, after killing one of them, they stared at the small side tunnel in surprise.
"How come this chest is opened?!", asked Radiant Shield.
"Someone must've been here before us."
"How is this possible, the tunnel isn't that big."
"It seems a skilled thief is at work."
Even Liam was surprised. He remembered the earlier sensation, realizing that it was indeed a thief.
"Ok guys, let's not get caught up here. Those treasure chests shouldn't be our focus."
"Ok. You are right. Still, I'm impressed."
The party agreed with Liam and continued deeper into the tunnels. Soon, they arrived within a larger cave, noticing a figure standing in the shadows.