Silent Acacia stared at Bleary Mirage, not knowing what to say. He was indeed boasting somewhat but usually no one called out his bluffs as he was still a respected pro player.
Thus, he hastily changed the topic.
"Oh, by the way. After our last meeting I checked the ranking list and really didn't find you.
Could this actually be the first time you are playing a game?"
"What ranking list?"
"You don't even know this?!"
Silent Acacia blinked, unable to comprehend how someone couldn't know about the ranking list.
At this moment an amused female voice interjected.
"The ranking list is created by 'games weekly' taking into account all pro gamers in the federation. Known for their neutrality their opinions are highly respected."
Liam turned his head, smiling at the two women who had approached them.
"Hey, Cyclone, Silver Blade."
"Hi."
"Hey."
"Silent Acacia, these are Cyclone and Silver Blade."
The young thief suddenly turned shy as he greeted the two women. Cyclone found it amusing but as she studied Acacia's face, she suddenly recalled something.
"You! You're the guy trying to steal our rabbit!"
"Eh, no… sorry… you must be mistaken."
"What now? Are you apologizing or denying?"
"I don't know."
Silver Blade chuckled lightly.
"It's alright. That's all part of the game."
"Hmpf. Whatever. What did you talk about just now?"
"About some fights we had today."
"What? Not fair! We only did boring quests today. How come you fought?"
Silver Blade shook her head at Cyclone.
"I don't think our quests were boring. And didn't we gain a lot? We are already level 4."
At this point Acacia's eyes opened wide, forgetting his shyness.
"You are level 4? Damn, you are probably among the fastest players."
"Well, we didn't do much else apart from leveling for two days."
"It's because someone is in a hurry.", added Cyclone with a look at Silver Blade.
However, no one caught the hint and Cyclone addressed Liam again.
"Bleary Mirage, you said we would play together later. What are you plans now?"
"I have something in mind, but before that I wanted to earn some money. If you want to, you can come with me. It's more or less on the way."
Cyclone's eyes lit up as she turned towards Silver Blade.
"What do you say?"
"You can decide. I'm fine either way."
"Great. Then we'll go with you, expert."
"Ok. But I have to warn you, it won't be exciting. I'm only gathering some herbs."
"Herbs? What herbs?"
"Fiery Tacaria."
The three players around Liam all looked thoughtful. Silent Acacia was the first to shake his head.
"Never heard of it."
"It can negate fire damage to a certain extent. It will be important in the first dungeon."
Instantly Cyclone rolled her eyes at Liam.
"You are preparing for the first dungeon and say it's not exciting?!"
"It really isn't…"
"Hmm we'll see."
The conversation quickly died down as Liam got ready to leave. But before they could say goodbye, Silent Acacia spoke up carefully.
"Mirage. You spoke about a good fight, correct? Could I maybe… come with you?"
Liam almost expected this question. He looked at Cyclone and Silver Blade. But the two women followed Liam's lead, thus they naturally let him make the decision.
"Sure. You can come. We might even need some more reinforcements."
"More? Just what are you planning?"
"Haha, I won't spoil the surprise."
Even Liam looked forward to it, knowing that a challenging boss fight awaited them.
Cyclone tried to get more out of her friend, but Liam's lips stayed sealed.
The others could only give up as they followed him.
Liam still had some menial tasks to do. He talked to a few merchants, selling his miscellaneous items.
Afterwards he talked to the blacksmith Rech, buying a satchel. The others followed his example, knowing that it was never bad to have these kinds of tools.
Finally done with his preparations he left the town again. The group went deeper into the outer forest, crossing the bridge in Rabbit Creek. Soon they entered a new zone.
[Discovered Flower Clearing. Reward: 10EXP]
Silver Blade smiled happily upon seeing the colorful scene before them.
Within a small clearing, thousands of beautiful flowers grew. A sweet smell spread in the surroundings, attracting all kinds of peaceful animals during normal times.
But right now, only some large bees with sharp stingers could be seen.
At the side stood a young woman with a basket in her hand, her face distressed.
Liam invited everyone into a party, signaling them to follow him as he approached the NPC.
"Lady, can we help you?"
"Oh, brave adventurers. It's good that you're here. I wanted to gather some flowers, but this place has been occupied by the Giant Bees.
Please, could you chase them away?"
"Of course."
Liam didn't waste much time on this quest. It was just something to do by the way, asking him to kill ten Giant Bees.
With their party of four it was easy. But it had a nice side effect as the other bees left after handing in the quest.
They would only return in about 30 minutes.
Coincidently this was also the time when the young woman returned to gather flowers again.
Now, with nothing to annoy him Liam could peacefully gather his herbs. He used his satchel to cut off stalks of red herbs one by one.
With the help of his friends, Liam was quickly amassing a huge number of herbs.
However, it was somewhat tedious as the process had a certain chance of failing, destroying the herb.
Only after gathering enough to receive the [Gathering] auxiliary skill did this situation improve slightly.
At the same time the group had to repeat the quest every thirty minutes.
Thus, after a few hours of gardening, Cyclone suddenly put her satchel away.
"That's it! I can't see these flowers anymore. Please, Bleary Mirage, can we go now? I want to do something exciting!"
Liam chuckled a bit as he counted the herbs in his inventory. Herbs could be stacked up to a hundred and Liam now had more than five stacks.
"I guess that's enough for now. Thanks for the help, guys."
"Don't thank us. Make up for it with a good fight."
"What Cyclone says!", added even Silent Acacia.
Only Silver Blade was somewhat reluctant, clearly enjoying the colorful sight.
Nevertheless, the group quickly moved on. Liam led them back along the way, taking a path out of the forest and towards the island's beach.
"Ok guys, what we're about to do won't be easy. If you have some trustworthy friends, you should call them. We are lacking in damage."
"We need so many people?"
Cyclone grinned as she imagined the scene of a large party fighting together. She was thrilled, quickly calling her 'secret' friend Mel.
Unfortunately, no one else out of her friend group was online right now. The girls weren't leading such leisurely lives, having to work during the day.
The others searched their friend lists as well, sending out invitations.
Soon the foliage parted before the group, revealing a tranquil scene. A large village, almost rivaling Prento appeared before them. It was located along a beautiful sandy beach.
Waves surged, splashing sparkling water. Small boats drifted outside the village, busily catching fish.
[Discovered Lomen Village. Reward: 20EXP]
"Oh, is this the village where our fight is? Why didn't we find anything earlier?"
Liam looked at Cyclone in surprise:
"Have you been here before?"
"Of course. We got some quests here."
"Oh. Did you talk to the village elder?"
"I don't think so.", commented Silver Blade.
Liam turned to Silent Acacia:
"Have you been here as well?"
"No. Although I have traveled most of the fo…"
"Ok, ok. Got it."
Liam hastily interrupted the young thief before he could begin to boast again.
The veteran led his group along the path made from wooden planks, reaching an inconspicuous hut close to the water.
The fresh ocean air played around their faces as they looked into the distance, spotting a few dots of land.
"Mirage, are those the other islands? Do I need to go there for my quest?"
"Not quite. The islands we can see from here are only small, mostly occupied by a single group. The one where your quest is located is further away. We can't reach it yet."
"Oh, ok."
Clearing Silver Blade's doubts, Liam approached the wooden hut. He knocked once before entering.
Immediately the smell of medicine reached the group. There wasn't much furniture in the hut, a tiny kitchen, a table, and two beds were all cramped in a single room.
An old human man could be seen lying on one of the beds, his eyes covered by a piece of fabric.
The man's skin was pale, and he was clearly extremely weak.
Next to him stood a young woman with unkempt black hair, a sad look on her face, using a wet towel to clean the old man's face.
"Grandpa, don't worry. You will get better soon. I'm here for you."