[-58!]
A huge chunk of HP was gone as Liam's second attack forced the thief out of stealth.
A young man was revealed, probably not even eighteen years old. His eyes were narrowed, brown hair peeking out of his hood.
He let out a dissatisfied grunt, coming to a stop some distance away.
The two players mustered each other, with respect in their eyes.
[Silent Acacia]
Finally, the young thief broke the silence.
"I admit defeat. You're really good! Why have I never heard about you?"
Liam smiled confidently.
"Why? I never heard about you either."
"Nice joke."
"What joke? Should I know you?"
The young thief had a skeptical expression.
"Are you for real?
I wouldn't say that I'm famous throughout the federation, but among gamers I'm confident that everyone knows me!
Didn't you watch the championship in Rent's Revolution last year?"
Liam had to dig quite deep into his memory until he found the name 'Rent's revolution'. It was the last big VR game before Fate of Crunaboul came out.
Liam shook his head:
"Sorry. I had other stuff to do at the time."
"Wait, are meaning to tell me you didn't even play RR?"
"No."
"I don't believe it. How can you be so good? Your movements looked so practiced!"
"Well, I feel like many martial artists are able to show their skills in this game."
Silent Acacia furrowed his brows. If Liam's words were true, a lot of strong opponents would appear in Fate of Crunaboul. Excitement welled in the young thied's heart. Only by overcoming obstacles could he grow.
Liam noticed the change in his opponent's expression, nodding inwardly. He could already foretell that Silent Acacia would make it far with his mindset.
At this moment a friend request appeared before Liam, which he accepted calmly.
The young thief turned around, about to leave.
"Let's keep in touch."
"Sure."
Liam watched until the man vanished into the foliage. He realized that some impressive players already roamed the world.
Not bad, but still can't touch me.
With a confident grin the five times champion returned to the town.
He messaged Silver Blade and Cyclone, agreeing to meet on the town square.
Players still appeared regularly from a platform. By now information had already spread outside about the various races.
Nephilim ranked rather high purely based on their appearance. But Liam knew that this might change soon.
Ignoring the newcomers, Liam scanned the crowd for his companions. A lot of players were gathered here, crowding around a beautiful pavilion with mysterious blue shimmering runes on the ground.
This was the teleportation point connecting the novice village with other towns and cities.
But the players weren't here for this reason, rather for the person standing within the pavilion.
She was an angelic young woman with long white hair. The white half of her wings shone brightly, radiating holy dignity, while the black half of her wings hung listlessly, evoking a desire to take care of her.
The nephilim had concerned eyes, her white robe swaying as she moved her hands to direct the mana in the air.
Her graceful figure made most male players' and even some female players' hearts melt, their eyes unable to let go.
"I think I've fallen in love."
"Please marry me, goddess!"
"Think you are worthy?"
"Right, I only want to serve you, goddess! Use me however you like."
Liam shook his head, knowing that this beautiful nephilim mage, going by the name Her Holiness Lewriova, would continue to ignore the players for a while longer.
Only after the first player reached level ten would the mighty mage be done with repairing the teleportation platform, allowing players to reach other towns and cities.
"Tzz. Didn't expect our mighty expert to be captivated by beauty."
Suddenly a snarky comment let Liam snap back to reality. He turned his head, looking at Silver Blade and Cyclone with a strange expression.
"I didn't…"
"Don't deny it. I caught you staring.
Don't worry. There is nothing wrong with liking beauty. But maybe don't get enamored with an NPC."
Liam smiled wryly. He saw the mirth in Cyclone's eyes, knowing that she wouldn't accept any explanation.
Turning to Silver Blade for help he noticed the apparent embarrassment on her face.
"Great…"
Cyclone chuckled, counting this as a win in her book.
"Ok then. If you are done with goggling the NPC, we can split the loot."
"Sure, sure. Go ahead."
Cyclone led Silver Blade and Bleary Mirage to the side, rubbing her hands in glee.
"Hehe, expert, my lucky hands strike again! You won't believe what we got."
"I'm all ears."
"First, we received the missing fur for Silver Blade's quest from a few other rabbits my bestest friend looted in the meantime."
"Oh great, you can hand in your quest.", commented Liam with a nod at Silver Blade.
"Yes. Then I can pay you back for the help along the way."
"What pay back? This is called teamwork."
"Yes, Silver Blade. Don't talk like we won't see each other again. We still need to cling to the expert's leg!"
All three youngsters laughed as a friendship began blooming.
Next, Cyclone excitedly revealed the items dropped by the elite rabbit.
It was a green-magic sword, level three boots, some coins, a lore book, and a strange green crystal without information.
The group quickly came to a decision, handing the sword to Liam and the boots to Silver Blade. Cyclone would hold onto the rest.
Despite the unreliability of lore books, Liam didn't advise his friends to sell it.
Liam handed his old sword to Silver Blade as well, while inspecting his new one. It was rather broad, without a sharp tip. But in the game the appearance didn't matter, only the numbers.
[Rabbit tooth
Category: magic
Level requirement: 2
Attack Damage: 8-9
Attack Speed: 0,7
Effect: Every attack has a 2% chance to reduce armor for 2 seconds.
A sword made from the large front teeth of a Huge Red-eyed Rabbit.]
Cyclone played with the mysterious crystal in her hand, turning it left and right.
Despite not getting a new item herself, she was still satisfied with the loot.
"Expert, what do you think is this?"
Liam looked closely at the crystal enveloped by a green sheen. Although he had a few guesses in his mind, even he couldn't be sure.
There were just too many similar objects in the game, most only revealing their real form under certain conditions.
"I don't know."
Cyclone looked at Liam skeptically, prompting him to laugh.
"What? Do you think I recognize every item in the game?"
"Yes!"
Liam almost choked from the conviction in Cyclone's voice.
"Well, I don't. But I can tell you what to do with it."
"Go on."
"You need to bring it to an NPC to identify. Every city has at least one."
"Soo this novice village doesn't have such an NPC is what you're saying?"
"Coincidentally it does, but she is quite busy."
Liam grinned as his eyes hinted at the angelic mage repairing the teleporter.
Cyclone rolled her eyes.
"Great. So, we can't do anything?"
"Nope. Let's wait for someone to reach level ten. Only then will the teleporter be fixed."
Silver Blade looked at her best friend.
"We can try it later, Cyclone. Maybe we're lucky."
"Thanks."
Although Silver Blade had an impressive charisma stat, Liam didn't hold much hope.
At this point in time all the nephilim novice villages had high-leveled NPCs repairing the teleporters. But they didn't play a role yet, ignoring all players without fault.
Still, Liam didn't discourage his friends as they arrived at Zeygnar's stall.
Silver Blade initiated a conversation, watching Liam sneak behind the house.
"Zeygnar, I'm back with your fur."
"Ahh! Brave adventurer, thank you so much!"
Zeygnar had dreamy eyes as he caressed the soft fur handed over by Silver Blade. A few seconds later he coughed.
"You have done a good deed, brave adventurer. Those rabbits not only make for a good carpet, but they also harass us merchants.
With your help our travels will be safer in the future."
Cyclone opened her eyes wide as she asked form the side:
"But aren't they spawning all the time? Their numbers don't diminish, right?"
The NPC was confused, proving the limitations of the game.
"Spawning? Ohh, you mean because these rabbits breed like… well, rabbits. You are right. It is difficult to get rid of them completely.
But back to you, adventurer. Please, accept this reward for your work."
A notification appeared before Silver Blade, telling her to choose between three rewards.
After a quick contemplation she decided on a tall red shield.
[Quest: Rabbit fur for Zeygnar; Completed!]
[Receive 30 EXP]
[Reward: Rech's flame shield.]
["What a fine carpet."]
[EXP: 75/500]
Cyclone immediately perked up when she noticed the new equipment in her friend's hand.
"Silver Blade, let me see."
"Here."
Silver Blade sent the shield's information through a message.
[Rech's flame shield
Category: magic
Level requirement: 1
Physical Defense: 3
Magical Defense: 4
Attack speed malus: 0,1
Bonus defense against fire damage: 3
This shield was made by Rech with magma from a volcano.]