Liam stared at the land lease in his hands, his eyes betraying disbelief.
C, did you confuse me with Cyclone?
Naturally C didn't deign to answer the question, which did nothing to lessen Liam's shock.
Land leases were such a rarity he never expected that one could drop here. And this from a boss a few levels below him, a fact which negatively affected the loot.
Slowly calming down Liam grinned as he posted the land lease in the guild core member's chat without comment.
Nothing happened for a second before the chat suddenly exploded.
[Cyclone: A land lease!]
[Silver Blade: How did you find that?]
[Final Fend: Nice, let's build a stage!]
[Braag: Stage?? Sometimes I wonder what's going on in your head. We will naturally build a shop.]
[Quickstep: Why not both?]
[Mirage Fan #1: Restaurant? Anyone?]
[Cyclone: I still can't believe it. You're the best, expert! And I thought you just wanted to do some leisurely questing.]
[Bleary Mirage: I did... I never expected a land lease to drop.]
[Cyclone: Sure, sure.]
Liam rolled his eyes despite no one being able to see it.
[Bleary Mirage: I will keep the lease for now until we figure out what to do with it.]
[Balm: Do you have any suggestions, Mirage?]
[Silver Blade: Our choice also depends on the location of the land. We shouldn't decide hastily.]
[Bleary Mirage: The location can be seen from its name BBY0014. BBY corresponds to Brobrity while 0014 should be a smaller plot not quite in the centre but still in a good location.]
[Cyclone: How can you be so sure?]
[Bleary Mirage: The best plots usually have single digits. Double digits means it's basically second row. Most likely not big enough for more than one building.]
[Bleary Mirage: In my opinion this place is suitable for a shop. And Brobrity is a great place to earn some money since players preparing to clash with the chaos faction will always come here.]
[Cyclone: Good! Then it's decided! Let's build a shop!]
[Balm: Aren't you forgetting something?]
[Cyclone: ???]
[Silent Acacia: Blueprint!]
[Cyclone: Oh...]
For a moment the chat fell silent as everyone mulled over the problem before a new message appeared.
[Sun's Knight: I think this is a good time to invest. I will ask around. Surly some guildless players must have blueprints that they are willing to sell.]
[Radiant Shield: A great idea. Once our shop becomes famous, coin will come rolling in.]
[Sun's Knight: Sure, but we need stuff to sell as well.]
[Balm: Time for our profession players to shine. As soon the construction of our alchemy workshop is finished, I will brew potions day and night!]
[Mirage Fan #1: I have a lot of food left!]
[Bleary Mirage: I have a few weapons but those aren't too outstanding. I guess it's time to contribute my health potion recipe.]
"Sir...?"
A fearful voice caught Liam's attention. He looked at the driver of the cart, realizing that the man was eager to return home.
Naturally Liam wouldn't reject him, travelling back to Brobrity while continuing to chat with his friends. He put his basic health potion recipe in the guild treasury, urging Balm to redeem it.
Cyclone considered paying him, but Liam declined since he owned shares of the guild anyway. As long as Balm didn't pocket the profit herself but gave it to the guild, everyone would stand to earn a lot of money.
Naturally the alchemist herself would be granted contribution points for her work which could be converted to gold in the guild. To facilitate such exchange the guild permanently needs a certain stock of gold.
Since the gold exchange capped the amount exchangeable per player guilds had to find other sources. They either bought gold from the player base or created their own gold farming teams.
Even Dream Avenue planned to create such teams due to Sun's Knight's suggestion despite knowing that the wages and consoles would eat up a lot of money, which had to be provided by sponsors. At least for now.
Just thinking casually, one would realize that guilds worked within a complex economic network. Cyclone and Balm felt their heads spinning from all the numbers, glad that they had Sun's Knight to assist and explain.
Liam wasn't able to help much with these things. He never cared much about it as he had staff taking care of his finances. On top of that he never had his own guild.
Thus, he let Sun's Knight explain these intricacies to the two guild leaders while he focused back on the quest as his cart finally stopped in Brobrity.
The driver didn't say a single word, leaving the cart and escaping to the distance, startling all who watched the scene.
Some players looked sceptically at Liam who was wearing his shadow cloak, coming up with all kinds of speculations.
Liam sighed. The shadow cloak was to reduce the attention on him yet sometimes it achieved the exact opposite. Not waiting for anyone to address him Liam hastily disappeared into the crowd.
A couple of minutes later he was back in Therim's study, relaying his findings.
"The mage escaped? What a pity.", said Therim after Liam had explained everything. The kingdom's guardian folded his hands, putting on a pondering look.
A few moments later his eyes focused again as he spoke with a sigh:
"The mage you faced was not simple. He somehow cut off my tracking spell. Now we only have your description of the man who calls himself Dust. Although it won't be difficult to find out his identity, we have already startled the snake.
The true mastermind will surely discard this pawn, leaving us with nothing. So much effort wasted.
Well, I can't blame you, adventurer. Don't worry. You will get your reward. Once there are new developments, I will send someone to inform you."
Therim didn't show that much emotion. For the powerful mage all these things were only minor issues. As a guardian he only got involved because of the appearance of the void.
He was just about to wave his hand, dismissing Liam when the latter's words froze him in place:
"I recognized the black-robed mage."
"What? Are you sure?", asked Therim, his brows raised in surprise.
"Yes. He goes by the name of Autumn."
Silence fell on the study. It was as if Therim needed to confirm the information with C. He only continued to speak after a few seconds:
"If this is indeed the case, the situation changes. It seems this matter involves an old friend. I will come with you to confront him. Tell me when you are ready."
Liam grinned as his quest changed greatly. A quest which should have been over continued because of his words. It was this kind of adaptability, allowing people to be part of the story, which attracted them to Fate of Crunaboul.
However, Liam realized that he changed quite a lot, probably skipping several steps. Now a skull was floating next to the quest in his journal, indicating that it was way beyond his current abilities.
This meant that he wouldn't be able to receive the rewards now. Instead, his future rewards would be much richer. It was hard to say if this was good or bad, probably up to personal opinion.
For Liam though it was certainly a positive development. He would never run out of things to do knowing hundreds of quests he could start anytime. He naturally didn't lack these few rewards.
He would rather look forward to completing this unknown quest in the future. Thus, he bade Therim goodbye for now, leaving the quest unfinished.
With leisure time at hand Liam returned to the guild headquarters, observing the ongoing construction, conversing with the present guild members.
Liam allowed himself to relax for some time, spending an entire day with Serena, working on his blacksmithing, doing smaller quests, and levelling occasionally, reaching level 29. His party advanced as well, taking the top of the rankings except for Phoenix Feather who desperately clung to rank one.
Meanwhile announcements came from time to time praising the teams achieving a first clear. One of them was Final Fend's team, which sent another shock through the gaming world.
Suddenly Dream Avenue had proven that there was more to the guild than just the main team, raising people's evaluation of the guild by several levels.
A couple of days passed swiftly like this. Liam's real life was entering a stable period as well. He and his friends were examining various buildings in the city, planning for their gaming house.
The few gaming spaces in the city already belonged to the respective clubs, none of them available for purchase. But with Colville Constructions backing Liam and his friends, they could revamp any building as soon as they found something to their liking.
After a few days of searching and discussion they eventually decided on a risky pick, choosing a high-rise building at the edge of the upper district.
Although the building wasn't cheap, the guild had their own plans, envisioning a real life headquarter with places for trophies, merch shops, etc.