Cyclone felt the pressure while listening to the others discussing the establishment of a guild. Realization slowly settled in. A lot of effort and work would come her way.
However, she also felt the anticipation. With the help of her party this dream of hers didn't sound so unrealistic anymore.
The blond woman subconsciously glanced at Liam. She was confident that as long as the expert stayed, all hurdles originating from that game could be overcome.
Balm on the other hand felt her legs weaken at this moment. She looked towards Cyclone for reassurance. Seeing the apparent calm on her friend's face, Balm also felt her spirits lifted.
The party discussed some more before they came to a conclusion. They would slowly prepare for now, talk to Sun's Knight, and invite some friends to join while waiting for the guild system to open.
Liam expected the system to be established together with the gold exchange, but he had no confirmation yet.
"Ok. We talked long enough. Now it's time to work."
Silent Acacia ended the discussion when there wasn't much left to say. The others agreed, turning their heads towards Liam one by one.
"What do you want to do now?"
"Well, you are the one who made a bet. Don't you think we should level up and tackle the dungeon?"
"Alright."
Liam already expected this request. Thus, he made some plans yesterday.
In his old life many different strategies for power leveling emerged. He only had to pick one which was suitable for the current party.
"Let's go guys. Our next goal will be reaching level 15."
"Nice. Let's leave everyone in the dust!"
Cyclone smiled, feeling some relief. A glance at the ranking list showed Star Gazer's team right behind their party.
On top of that a few more names appeared one by one on the ranking list.
Some players who already carried a reputation from other games gradually showed their prowess.
People like Mountain Lord, a famous tank known for his PvP skills or Phoenix Feather, a female mage known as a leveling fanatic, finally entered the public eye.
However, Liam remained unperturbed, confident that no one would be able to catch up if he didn't allow them to.
He entered a teleporter, once more arriving in Striking Wood Town, close to the area where the party fought the snake boss.
A solemn atmosphere hung in the air. The villagers appeared rather cautious, glancing at the armored soldiers for a hint of security.
Liam approached the town's wall built form thick wooden pegs. Close to the gate was an empty area. The clashing of weapons could be heard accompanied by strained shouts. A few soldiers were training under the watch of a stern-faced female captain.
Signaling the party to stop Liam waited patiently for a few seconds until the captain acknowledged them.
"Adventurer. Are you here for honor or coin?"
Other than Liam the others were somewhat puzzled by this greeting. Although they had seen the quest boards placed in cities and towns, they didn't have time to read those yet.
The quest boards were meant to guide players to common quests if they were unable to find some themselves. But why would anyone among the party members read those boards if they had their seemingly all-knowing expert?
Thus, no one knew that this guard captain handed out common quests. Naturally, it was not difficult to figure out. Guards and other officials often sought the assistance of adventurers.
No one was surprised when the captain handed out a quest after a few sentences.
"Those dastardly orcs have been coming closer to the border! They let their wargs roam freely. Those bloodthirsty dogs even cross the Great Spirit River, entering the empire and attacking the locals.
It's time to thin out their numbers. But those beasts aren't stupid. They won't attack if they aren't assured of victory.
You will need this. Bait them with the meat we prepared. They won't be able to resist."
"You can count on us."
The female captain nodded with a neutral expression as she handed over twenty pieces of meat to Liam.
"If you need more meat, come to me."
Liam grinned slyly as he put the bait away, glancing at the quest notification.
[Quest: Thin out the wargs]
[Lure wargs with the prepared bait and kill them.]
[Wargs killed: 0/20]
[Optional: Kill more wargs for extra rewards.]
Next, Liam led his party out of the town while explaining the plan. Making sure that everyone understood, he signaled them to begin.
Bloody Edge solemnly took a few pieces of meat from Liam before separating from the party. He scurred across the grassy field, soon disappearing behind a hill.
Soon, the thief reached an area torn by battles. The dark soil had a bloody scent to it. Many destroyed weapons and armors were half buried into the ground. Bloody Edge noticed that a lot of them didn't seem fitting for a human body.
Suddenly he noticed a sound nearby. Remembering Liam's instructions he quickly went into stealth, keeping his body close to the ground and his steps light.
A man walked out behind some broken wooden structure, wearing a patched leather armor with dirt all over his skin.
He cautiously approached one of the broken weapons, constantly looking left and right, fearing that the army might be close by.
Not noticing anything the man hastily pulled out the weapon before escaping.
Watching his back, Bloody Edge hesitated briefly before using [Inspect].
[Lucky Scavenger
Rank: Common
Level: 22
HP: 3200/3200]
Level 22…
Bloody Edge drew a sharp breath, vaguely seeing the scavenger gathering with a small group in the distance.
He recalled all the tricks for stealth he had read up on, advancing with utmost caution.
He took wide detours, avoiding all the scavenger groups until a village came into his view. It was situated on a narrow creek. Its once clear water now murky and bloody.
The village was also past its peak. Its wooden wall was heavily damaged. Even the attempts in patching it up weren't able to restore it.
Many of the houses laid in ruins while the rest of them were now inhabited by groups of scavengers.
Bloody Edge advanced slowly, avoiding the men and women in ragged clothes lingering outside, bemoaning the hardships of their lives.
He circled the village finding a hole in the wall just as Liam told him.
Bloody Edge was once more amazed by the extent and detail of Bleary Mirage's knowledge.
Naturally, all of the party members felt it was strange, but they collectively chose not to question their expert.
Thus, Bloody Edge shook of the thought as he robbed through the hole in the wall, entering the village.
Keeping his body in the shadows he scurried between broken houses. When he got as close as possible to the gate, Bloody Edge stopped, piling up ten pieces of meat in a hidden location before disappearing in a secret basement nearby.
While the thief was working, the rest of the party didn't stay idle either.
They followed Liam towards the south, once more entering Wouliph Forest. But this time they didn't come for the deserter camp but approached the far-reaching sound of rushing water.
It didn't take long for them to arrive at the coast of a truly broad river. Its water was somewhat greenish, flowing at high speeds.
This was the Great Spirit River, originating from the eastern mountains and drawing a natural boarder between the Striving Basilisk Empire and the Red Steppe, which most orc tribes called their home.
The Red Steppe was technically still part of the central plains. A long time ago before a group of humans, called Tarraner, arrived form the western ocean, orcs spread from the Red Steppe wandering through the central plains, taking everything they needed.
When the Tarraner suddenly arrived and demanded a piece of the pie, it led to fierce wars. The orcs, having profited from the fertile land for a long time, managed to gain the upper hand.
However, this was when the usually reclusive wood elves, having suffered from the orcs' plundering for a long time, suddenly came out of the deep forests and assisted the Tarraner.
On top of that even the aloof high elves sent a few powerful mages since the arrogant orcs dared to raid their villages in the past.
Faced with this alliance the orcs had no choice but return to their ancestral lands in the Red Steppe, confining their movement to this small and dry land.
Afterwards most of the central plain had been taken over by humans, allowing them to strive.
This was the ancient history. Since then, relationships had changed more than once. The former unity among humans couldn't be taken for granted anymore. Each of the different kingdoms and empires had their own ideas, some of them reconciling with orcs and some fighting fiercely.
The Striving Basilisk Empire which was closest to the Red Steppe mostly showed an ambiguous attitude, focused on defending. But with some orc tribes daring to raid its territory new conflicts arose. Now it was on the players to influence the fate of the two races.