Therim Riverbell seemed to be in deep contemplation, prompting Liam to give him a hint:
"The demon's last word. 'Crow'. What could it have meant?"
"Crow… seven…", murmured Therim. "There is an infamous group of bandits called Seven Crows. They have been wreaking havoc around the capital, always escaping capture, leading the guards by their noses.
But why would bandits cause such destruction? What could they be after?"
"Someone must have paid them."
"Seems reasonable. But after meeting a demon in the forest they might not be alive to tell us more."
"Don't forget that the demon seemingly escaped the forest. He might not have been the bandits' match."
"Bandits stronger than a demon? Strange. And why allow the demon to live until now?"
"It would've served as a great scapegoat."
"Well, we only have guesswork now. Our priority should be to find the Seven Crows."
"But with them being so elusive, can we find them?"
Therim pondered Liam's question for a moment before a flash of wisdom came to his eyes.
"Usually, those bandits are full of tricks. But if even the demon was corrupted by the void, those bandits were surely afflicted as well. If they want to keep their lives they need to find a healer.
In our surroundings there is only one healer who can save them and would be willing to keep it a secret. It's that annoying wood elf, Teunaoh!
Adventurer, we must move swiftly! Seek out Teunaoh. If you find the Seven Crows there, gather answers. If not, we can consider the bandits deceased."
"Yes, sir."
"Good. Don't worry adventurer. The kingdom won't be stingy in remuneration."
"I never doubted this."
"Mhm."
Therim nodded with a demeanor befitting of someone guarding a kingdom. He was just about to dismiss Liam when something came to his mind:
"Right, adventurer. We shouldn't underestimate the Seven Crows. I advise you not to go alone."
"Thank you for the warning."
Liam nodded politely and left the room. He glanced at his ring in satisfaction. Therim's warning was a consequence of the NPC's appreciation, mostly facilitated by Liam's high charisma stat.
He didn't ignore Therim's words, messaging his friends on the way out. Most of them were quite busy.
Cyclone and Balm were still taking care of recruitments. Silver Blade and Fortune were questing together, having discovered the joy of exploring Crunaboul.
The rest were either building relationships with various NPCs or fighting in the PvP arena. Most of them agreed to meet up with Liam, though.
However, looking at their current combination of classes caused Liam to frown. Without Cyclone and Fortune, they were severely lacking in magic damage.
Thus, he asked Cyclone to recommend some promising mages. If they proved reliable these mages could be directly considered for their upcoming dungeon teams.
Liam entered an inconspicuous tavern waiting for his friends. They gradually arrived one by one, joking around until Cyclone sent a message that the chosen mages should have arrived.
The friends looked up and found two young human men enter the tavern wearing flashy mage robes. Their faces appeared surprisingly immature, but Cyclone reassured her friends that the two mages were both 18.
Although their faces didn't resemble their age, they couldn't hide another fact. The two mages were brothers without a sliver of doubt. Although one could change one's appearance in the game, who would want to look exactly like someone else if they weren't brothers?
When Liam waved them over, the two mages affirmed this guess during their introduction:
"Hi, I'm Overbearing Zen and this is my brother Dominating Zen. Our classes are Magus of Harmonizing Flame and Magus of Harmonizing Ice respectively.
Thank you for inviting us, you won't regret it!"
Overbearing Zen spoke with a strong voice, seemingly quite confident. His young face showed a faint smile unlike someone getting to know the strongest players in the game.
His brother was the same, greeting the party with a nod.
Liam didn't dislike their confident demeanor but expected their skills to match their tone.
"Well then, welcome to the group. I guess you know our names."
"Sure."
Suddenly chaos broke out in the global chat, catching everyone's attention.
A wave of disbelief ran through the players as the information spread that Nest of Flames conquered the dungeon. No one doubted that Phoenix Feather's team would eventually be successful, but no one expected them to take second place.
Many players went offline to contact their friends of the chaos faction, confirming that Wave of Bones hadn't succeeded yet.
Even Phoenix Feather herself was surprised but didn't let anyone notice. She graciously thanked everyone congratulating them and announced their desire to officially found their guild as soon as possible.
Unfortunately, Phoenix Feather wouldn't recruit random players as her guild already existed from past games.
Dominating Zen read the chat, frowning slightly:
"This guild of second-rate mages took second place? Is the dungeon that easy?"
A heavy cough rang out. The young mage turned his head towards Radiant Shield and noticed everyone staring at him in annoyance.
"It's not a good look to badmouth others, but you are even insulting your own teammates…", reminded Quickstep with a displeased voice.
"Oh… sorry."
Dominating Zen's apology sounded quite awkward, prompting his brother to quickly deliver an explanation:
"My brother didn't mean it like that. It's just that Phoenix Feather tried to scam us before, so we are obviously not on good terms with their guild."
"Oh, what happened?"
"We coincidentally fought a boss together with her and her sister and they pocketed the best loot, claiming that they contributed more to the fight."
"Ok, so it's at least not a life and death grudge.", commented Silent Acacia.
"What? Naturally this is about life and death!", exclaimed Dominating Zen. "Next time we meet them we will see who deals more damage!"
"Well, save it for the arena."
"Good idea!"
"Your conflicts can be solved at a later date. Let us focus on our quest. Time is tight, after all."
"Sure."
Liam agreed with Radiant Shield, explaining the progress of his quest so far. When everyone was up to date, they didn't waste more time and left the inn.
A horse-drawn cart brought the party to a smaller town from where they entered a forest made up from towering trees.
They hadn't gone far when a group of animals came out of the foliage blocking their way. Looking at them, Liam could only raise his brows.
[Red-backed tall boar
Rank: Common
Level: 23
HP: 7300/7300]
The group of five boars didn't grant the party much time to talk about tactics, rushing at them with violent eyes. Final Fend and Radiant Shield immediately took the lead to defend.
Final Fend's chainsword swept across two enemies, drawing their attention.
[-218!]x2
The other three boars were attracted by Radiant Shield's [A paladin's challenge]. Swinging their massive tusks, they crashed into the tank, causing his body to tremble.
[Stance -14]x2
[Stance -16]
The tank's shield served him well, blocking any damage from reaching him. The two fighters bravely secured the aggro, allowing others to start attacking.
Immediately a sound came from Melodious Edelweiss, boosting the party's damage. The two newly joined mages made use of it, firing even before Silent Acacia.
[-325!]
[-301!]
The brothers proofed their great tacit understanding, attacking the same target without discussing it beforehand.
They weren't done yet, however. Domineering Zen waved his grand staff, gathering a large amount of mana. He aimed it at the boar, accompanied by a loud shout:
"Ice spikes!"
A coldness spread as sharp spikes made from sturdy ice broke out of the ground. Taking the form of a large circle it was tricky to aim them in a way which avoided hurting one's allies or to avoid trapping the enemy in the center without damaging them.
But Dominating Zen was obviously well practiced. Three of the large spikes erupted below the boars, shattering upon impact and dealing massive magical damage accompanied by some ice damage.
[-241!]x3
[-38!]x3
The next instant his brother waved his own staff gathering a suppressive amount of mana.
Pointing his weapon at the enemies the tip of his staff erupted with a red spark. Simultaneously a fiery explosion erupted in midair above the boars, shaking the surroundings.
"Flaming Explosion!"
[-372!]
[-248!]x2
[-46!]x3
Flames spread searing the monster's skin, dealing additional fire damage. At the same time a small symbol appeared above the boars' heads indicating that their defense was reduced.
Liam's eyes lit up as he finally remembered some details about the brothers' classes. The harmonizing mages had passives which triggered effects based on the last element which affected the enemy.
The brothers showed great synergy, allowing them to make much use of their classes. However, if they were paired with players mastering various different elements, they would prove even more versatile.
Liam's friends didn't know about these peculiarities. Silent Acacia was surprised to see the sign appearing above the boars' heads when his first arrow landed.
[-551!]
A moment later the melee attackers appeared next to the boars. Sharp weapons stabbed at the monsters. Bleary Mirage, Quickstep, and Bloody Edge focused on the same animal, pushing its HP below one third.