The two shook hands as Adam sat down. Sofia smiled and said "You had quite the adventures for the first week of the game."
Adam shrugged and said "I like the game, and I have been lucky."
Sofia chuckled "Luck? If you want to say so… But I'm curious, now that your brother is saved, will you continue playing?"
Adam's face changed a little as he asked "Is there a condition to my brother's surgery?"
Sofia shook her head though, much to Adam's surprise, and said "Nothing of the sort!"
Adam was still doubtful, so he said "No offense, but I don't think you helped me just out of the goodness of your heart."
Sofia replied "I never said such things. Everyone has interests, just that they may be different from people to people. If I had one thing to ask of you, then it would be to continue playing."
Adam nodded and said "I intend to… But I have a question, why did you make this game?" Sofia shrugged and said "I want people to play together."
Adam frowned and said "You know what I mean. The cultivation guide."
Sophie said "As I said, we all have different interests and goals. I want to make humanity stronger, and that's why I brought you here."
Adam asked "You brought me here? I came here out of my own volition." But Sophie made a mysterious smile and said "In a way, maybe… But I've held you long enough, you should go see your brother, we will see meet again later."
Adam had felt something was off with Sofia for the whole conversation, but he couldn't put his finger on what. She gave off a strange feeling, and at the same time she didn't have any cultivation, she was a simple mortal, despite having made such a game…
Once in the hospital, Adam headed directly for his brother's room, it wasn't his first time here. But he found out that the closer he got to the room, the weirder he felt.
It wasn't exactly a wrong feeling, it was just that… His brother had always been in a bad health, because of his illness, and it had been Adam's goal and dream to save him.
And now, it was about to happen, it had been as simple as playing a game… Adam reached his brother's room door, it was opened and his family was inside. He was in his hospital bed, his skin pale, but he had smile when he saw Adam.
Adam smiled back and entered the room, all weights gone. He sat between his parents, and Matt teased him "Who would have thought my ever so serious brother would start playing video games, and be so good at it! Tell me, did you play in secret?"
Adam smiled and said "I'm just good at everything I do, and dominate a game like that isn't hard." Matt laughed and then said with a longing look "I wish I could b playing too…"
Adam replied "You are only 16, if you want to play then you will have to wait for two years. But don't worry, this game will most certainly last for more than two years."
Matt nodded, but the longing in his eyes didn't disappear. The family of three then stayed for a few hours with him, and they wanted to eat lunch with him but were told he couldn't eat because of the incoming surgery.
So they left a little before lunch, and went to eat at a fast food before returning home. Once home, Adam didn't take long to go back in game.
He appeared in Ember, in one of the hotels. As he appeared, he sent a quick look to his status.
Name: Valiant Heart
Level: 28
Title: Monster Slayer
Race: Northman
Class: Aqua Sovereign
Rank: Bronze
HP: 26100/26100
Aura: 27950/27950
Strength (+30 per level): 1435 (3525)
Agility (+10 per level): 920 (2580)
Endurance (+10 per level): 820 (2280)
Will: 1058 (2795)
Free AP: 0
Skills: -Mighty Strike (E, Perfectly Mastered)
-Charge (E, Level 10/10)
-Wind Blade (D, Level 10/10)
-Parry (D, Level 10/10)
-Lunar Smite (C, Level 10/10)
-Crushing Blow (C, Level 9/10)
-Icy Stomp (C, Level 9/10)
-Whirlwind Slash (C, Level 4/10)
-Totemic Rage (B, Level 1/10)
-Barbarous Roar (B, Level 10/10)
-Misty Escape (B, Level 1/10)
In the last few days, he had been able to level up twice, but that was through pure grinding. He would go the adventurer's guild every morning to pick up quests and complete them through the day. He had literally killed thousands of monsters in a few days, but he wasn't able to level up much because of his class.
However, the other players didn't have his limit, and so they had already caught up with him in levels. The average player was now between Level 26 and 30.
Adam knew that as time went on, the gap between them would be bigger and bigger, but he would always remain stronger than them.
Another reason why Adam had been grinding and not really searching for quests, was because he was busy. With the last battle, a lot of people had applied to join his guild, both players and NPCs.
The players were to be expected, but the NPCs had also heard of the news. It turned out that the ones Adam had accepted in his guild and who fought with him in Sunflower Valley had spread the word about the fight.
Moreover, some experts had also taken crystal recordings of the fight, and spread them around. Adam wasn't sure of their intention, but it mostly benefited him so he didn't really dig into that.
In total, they had accepted 3000 members. A thousand of them are players, and the rest are NPCs. Of the 1000 players, all of them were B Class, and 1900 of the NPCs were also B Class, with only 100 A Class.
This may not like seem a lot, but it was actually very good. For players, B Class was a good standard and could be considered veterans of the video game world, most of the A Class or above were either part of guilds or fighting dojos.
As for the NPCs, this was even more incredible, but it was also thanks to the fame he got as a Sovereign. The B Class ones could all be considered good adventurers with a good future, but the A Class ones were the really good ones.
A B Class adventurer would generally go on to become peak Silver, and some would successfully reach the Gold Rank. However, A Class Adventurers would almost always reach Gold Rank, and had a shot at becoming Hero Rank.
All humanoids were split between Iron, Bronze, Silver, Gold, Hero and Legend Ranks. The first three ranks could be described as common, they made up the majority of the population and they weren't very powerful.
However, all the important people in the world were Gold Rank at least. Governor of a city? Gold Rank. Leader of a small cult? Gold Rank.
And so, the same could be said for adventurers. Most of the time, adventurers would chase after monsters for their prime, and once they became old they would retire. However, that was only for the common adventurers.
If an adventurer managed to become at least Gold Rank, then they could find themselves a job in the guild, maybe manage one of the guilds in a smaller region, or something like that. A B Class who only managed to reach Silver Rank would have no choice but to just retire in comparison.
That's why, A Ranks were treasured, because they could reach the ranks of true power. Also, they were rare, since one needed to be talented for fighting to get an A Class. If said talents are nurtured y super powers like the Racial Powers or even the kingdoms, then it isn't too difficult, but for an independent adventurer to reach A Rank was just too complicated.
Those 100 A Ranks Adam got for his guilds were even more precious than those trained in the Racial Powers. For someone to get an A Class on their own without any master to help them, their talent was even higher than those who received guidance, and so he expected a few of them to reach Hero Rank in the future. Well, that's if they didn't die.