When Liam and his friends entered the guild hall they were welcomed by a few members, mostly non-combatants, organizing a small feast.
The guild hall featured a spacious, festive main room containing many long tables which could fit up to 200 people.
Enjoying the tasty food and drinks cooked by Serena and another chef player Liam and his friends quickly shook off their exhaustion, their mood reaching a peak.
After celebrating for a while Cyclone found Fonor, planning additional constructions. The party had received the blueprints for a smithy and an alchemy workshop a while ago. Additionally, Kelsnim dropped the blueprint for a basic training area.
Except for facilitating friendly matches between guild members this training area had a positive effect on skill training. But from Liam's calculations it wasn't too obvious, training in real life still being the superior method.
Naturally he encouraged Cyclone to build the training area, nevertheless. All these additions to the guild hall would strengthen the guild and allow them to attract more talent in the future.
Although Dream Avenue didn't seem to struggle with their recruitment of promising players, this might change in the future. As guilds would rank up their member limits increased, naturally causing a fierce struggle for players.
Thus, it was always important to be prepared. Unfortunately, the guild was lacking materials after constructing the guild hall.
Sun's Knight immediately created tasks which were received with much fervour. Those who couldn't find a team for dungeon raiding feared that they wouldn't be able to contribute to the guild, eagerly accepting as many tasks as possible.
Only Liam and his friends happily enjoyed some free time. After clearing the dungeon, they had reached level 27and 28, putting them at the top of the ranking list, taking a lot of pressure off their shoulders.
The next guild war was in two weeks and the next dungeon started with level 30. No one felt like power levelling, rather happy to explore Crunaboul on their own.
Liam went back to the smithy together with Serena for a while before the young girl dragged him into the kitchen.
The siblings spent an enjoyable afternoon until the game threw them out. Back in the real world Liam relaxed some more and went to bed early.
The next day he appeared back in Duabalis. After some contemplation Liam figured there was still some time before it would be necessary to prepare for the next dungeon. In the meantime, he could continue to pursue his paused quest.
Donning his shadow cloak Liam left the city, heading for Brobrity. Soon he found himself back in Therim Riverbell's study.
The powerful mage stood in front of the window, the sun falling on his long black hair, giving him an otherworldly aura.
He had his hands placed before his body, their palms turned upwards, a magic circle forming in the air above his hands.
Despite its small size the circle was incredibly complicated created from hundreds, maybe thousands, of tiny runes.
Liam didn't dare to make a sound watching Therim's frowning face with its narrowed, focused eyes. An additional rune formed in Therim's palm, rising incredibly slowly as the mage was looking for the perfect spot to add it.
A vague force engulfed the room, causing the air to distort. It grew increasingly fierce the closer the rune got to the circle. Both magical constructs began swaying like two magnets opposing each other.
Eventually Therim let out a sigh. He carefully dissipated the rune before clenching his hands, causing the magic circle to explode in a few harmless sparks.
Therim raised his eyes towards Liam, pretending to be unaffected, hiding the drop of sweat running down his neck below his robe.
"Adventurer, you are back. What do you have to report?"
"Yes, sir. I met the Seven Crows and received some information from them. Here."
Liam spoke with an even voice making it impossible to discern if he was aware that he barely escaped death just now. He took out a note from his inventory, handing the quest item to Therim.
"It seems our conjectures were correct. Well done. We are getting closer."
Therim stroked his chin, pondering over the note, his eyes speaking of wisdom. He walked towards one of his bookshelves, taking out an inconspicuous scroll. With a wave of his hand the paper floated through the air towards Liam as Therim continued explaining:
"Let us try this. A potent tracking spell. If it works, we might finally find the mastermind. Just hide at the place mentioned on the note and use this scroll if a suspicious person shows up.
And no need to be reserved. I have many such scrolls."
"Yes, sir. I will surely find the perpetrator."
Therim nodded, even smiling a little upon noticing the determination in Liam's voice.
Realizing that the conversation was over Liam left the study, checking his updated quest.
[
[Step one: Bring the strange creature you found to Therim Riverbell!]
[Step two: Question the villagers for clues!]
[Step three: Confront someone matching the clues you found!]
[Step four: Bring Odo the hunter to Therim Riverbell for protection!
OR
Step four: Defeat Benareg.]
[Step five: Return to Therim to discuss your findings.]
[Step six: Find Teunaoh and defeat the Seven Crows.]
[Step seven: Report your findings to Therim Riverbell.]
[Step eight: Use the tracking spell on the possible client.]
Liam wasn't annoyed at the seemingly never-ending quest. On the contrary he was looking forward to accomplishing even more steps. The longer the quest the more generous the rewards would be.
He left the tower in high spirits walking through the city wearing his shadow cloak. Right now, Brobrity was extremely crowded. Yesterday someone found out that the world boss had respawned, sparking immense excitement.
Clearing dungeons on hard mode was something only the top teams could vie for, but the world boss was a real free-for-all, attracting an incredible number of players to try their luck.
Obviously, most of them would return empty handed. But as more and more players made it past level ten Crunaboul's secrets were slowly uncovered. It wouldn't take long until everyone would learn about other world bosses.
Leaving the city on a cart Liam smiled wryly. Sometimes he too wished he could discover Crunaboul for the first time. This was also the reason why he enjoyed his current quest so much. Simply because he didn't know what to expect.
Before Liam's thoughts could drift further, a voice caught his attention. It came from a young man sitting on the opposite side.
"Hey man, where did you get that cloak from? Seems quite useful!"
Liam turned his head, looking into the young man's eyes, surprised by their gaze. Those blue eyes looked so unblemished radiating a certain clarity befitting of someone who had seen through human nature, extremely strange on the face of a young man.
Liam couldn't help but check the man's name.
Cloudless? Doesn't ring a bell.
In a good mood Liam wasn't stingy, explaining how to acquire a shadow cloak, earning him the other's thanks.
Subsequently the two men had a joyous conversation until the cart stopped at Liam's target. The veteran got off, following the leaving cart with his eyes. He didn't add cloudless as friend simply keeping his name in mind. His instincts told him that the young man wouldn't remain unknown.
However, this was none of his concern. Liam turned around, strolling into the peaceful Seven Woods Town. The people here appeared surprisingly relaxed despite being part of the Southern Light Kingdom. Obviously, the struggle against infernals didn't reach this town.
Liam walked at a leisurely pace, glancing at some shops, until he reached the town centre. Water sprayed from a large fountain, making the air slightly humid, wetting the cobblestone floor.
Enjoying the peaceful atmosphere Liam sat on a small wall surrounding the fountain, observing the busy town centre.
Minutes passed and no suspicious person appeared.
Suddenly the scroll Liam received from Therim appeared in his hand by itself. Inexperienced players might be confused by the situation, but Liam knew that his target must have appeared.
He carefully scanned his surroundings, frowning faintly. He only saw ordinary townspeople. Unfortunately, C wasn't considerate enough to paint a large, blinking arrow above the target's head, forcing players to figure it out by themselves.
So who among you is it?
Liam's eyes resembled an eagle's, scrutinizing everyone for even the smallest sign. He turned his head from left to right, stopping abruptly. Something felt off in that direction. But it wasn't only a single person but multiple.
What is it...?
Suddenly his eyes lit up. He grined at a man among the crowd, realizing why everyone gave him a strange feeling. It was because they seemingly ignored this man, as if Liam was the only one able to see him.
Liam wasn't overly surprised knowing that many mages could achieve such an effect. If Liam were an NPC, he wouldn't have been able to see the man.
But players usually didn't play by the same rules. And if someone were to dig deeper, they would discover that the scroll in Liam's hands interfered with the spell's effect.