Ant nest

Liam sat in a car with an absentminded expression. No one could guess what he was thinking.

The driver looked into his back mirror, letting out a sigh. He could emphasize with the downtrodden young man. With a swipe of his hand the music turned out playing a song about rejected love.

Liam snapped out of his thoughts, glancing awkwardly at the car's screen. But his attention was quickly diverted when a voice appeared in his head.

[Player Liam, receive your next challenge.]

[Find out who is influencing the investigation unit.]

[Rewards will be based on degree of completion.]

Liam's body shook hearing C's voice.

C? You are saying someone has done this on purpose?! Why? And if you know, why not tell me?!

[Player Liam, this is your challenge.]

At least give me a hint.

[…]

Useless.

[…]

Liam scoffed. He contemplated the new challenge. If he only had a guess at first, he was now certain that someone had blocked the investigation.

The only person I know with the means to do so might be the Colville family.

Well, it depends on how corruptible the army is…

Liam thought about the issue for a while. The Colville family was his most obvious suspect, but he didn't want to come to premature conclusions.

So how should I deal with this?

The more Liam pondered, the more his frown deepened. A feeling of lack of security settled in his mind.

Arriving in this advanced world with a strong civilization and feared army Liam thought it was a safe place at first. Even the beasts outside never managed to breach the city.

But after a few encounters this feeling slowly diminished.

He glanced at the almost invisible, silent man next to him. It was the bodyguard provided by Silva. At least this gave him some reassurance.

But it's not enough. If I want to complete C's challenges, I need power and influence.

How could I hope to get my parent's things back, as well as my championship ring?

So far Liam didn't put much focus on these challenges. He was preoccupied with providing a good life for his sister and getting started in the game.

But now that his life was on track, he could care for other things as well.

The thought brought up a certain feeling in his chest. A faint smile played around his lips. He almost looked forward to it.

***

A new morning broke over Crunaboul. The bright sun illuminated the small Red'or island. Groups of ants went out to hunt.

A few seconds later several figures suddenly appeared out of thin air.

*yawn*

"Morning.", greeted Balm.

"Morning. What's up? Didn't get enough sleep?"

The party logged in one by one, greeting each other while Silver Blade conversed with Balm.

"I stayed up late together with Cy. We did some planning and research."

"So, you watched interviews from your idols?"

"No!", denied Balm, but her embarrassed expression betrayed her.

"At least not exclusively. We looked into how others structured their guilds and tried to come up with a good system."

"That's easy, just do whatever Prime says.", commented Final Fend.

"Prime? That name rings a bell. I might have read about him in gamer's weekly."

"Her! And you should definitely know her if you want to have a successful guild. She is world famous for her organizational talent."

"I will take a look."

Silver Blade stayed quiet. She was still in the process of catching up with game topics. She didn't know much about the famous players yet, especially if they were far away form Falva Star.

But suddenly she thought about something. Not able to curb her curiosity she wrote Balm a message.

[Silver Blade: By the way, how come Cyclone stayed with you until late? Did she come clean to her mother?]

Balm looked somewhat awkward when this topic came up. Cyclone had only recently confessed to Balm that she kept everything related to games a secret, even Balm and other friends.

Only when Balm and Silver Blade met each other did Cyclone decided to open up to both of them.

[Balm: No. She pretended to study with friends from college.]

[Silver Blade: College? She hasn't been since the game came out, right? She won't be able to keep this up.]

[Balm: Yes, I told her too. She said she wanted to confess soon. With Fate of Crunaboul becoming increasingly important Cyclone thinks her mother wouldn't show so much resistance if she could show her that our guild has potential. That's why she's working so hard right now.]

Reading this, Silver Blade could only let out a sigh. At this moment she noticed that the others had gradually fallen silent.

Bloody Edge averted his eyes from the hill not far away, addressing Silver Blade:

"Did we complete our preparations? My blade lusts for excitement."

Silver Blade nodded calmly, showing no embarrassment.

"Of course. Let's take a look around. We should finish our quest soon."

With those words Silver Blade began moving, followed by the rest of the party. They stayed at the foot of the hill, circling it cautiously. Their ears were constantly scanning the surroundings for the terrifying buzzing.

But the party was lucky this time. They didn't bump into anything they couldn't handle. Soon, they found a small crate stuck in a ditch. Obvious drag marks led away from its location.

"This should be part of Zeygnar's wares.", concluded Silver Blade.

"Sure. We're back on track!"

"Come on, let's finish the quest."

Everyone's spirits perked up. Silver Blade kept the small crate in her inventory before following the drag marks towards the hill.

Soon, they arrived before a large boulder surrounded by some shrubbery.

Final Fend looked ahead with a frown.

"What now?"

"This boulder looks quite conspicuous. It should be some hidden entrance.", suggested Fortune.

"I agree. But how do we open it?"

The party pondered for a while, looking to the right and left of the boulder.

"Is there any hidden mechanism?"

"I don't find anything."

Watchful Eye approached the boulder, throwing his weight against it. But the large object didn't budge.

"Come on, let's help him. Maybe this is the solution.", said Silver Blade.

Since no one had a better idea, they lined up next to Watchful Eye.

3, 2, 1…

Concentrating all their strength the party members tried to move the stubborn obstacle. But it was to no avail.

"Damn. If this continuous I'm gonna get some good old explosives! Stupid rock!", exclaimed Final Fend in annoyance.

Braag looked at him, pointing at his launcher:

"Well, I have a lot of bombs here."

Suddenly Silver Blade hit her own forehead.

"That's it, Braag. Sorry guys, I almost forgot."

"What?"

"Mirage mentioned a while ago that everything in the game can be destroyed if one is stubborn enough. Furthermore, some hidden secrets are marked with obstacles with only a single HP."

Silver Blade quickly used [Inspect]. And indeed, it turned out that he bolder only had one point of HP.

Annoyed, the young woman swung her sword. With a light clang the boulder instantly turned to dust.

"Well… good no one saw us.", said Braag awkwardly.

"Whatever. We found the entrance. Let's not waste any more time."

"Yeah."

Looking at the drag marks on the ground which continued into the tunnel before them, the party carefully entered.

The air was rather dry. Clear excavation marks could be seen on the walls of the tunnel, which was big enough for two people to walk side by side. Fancy purple and blue crystals illuminated the place, emitting a magical feeling.

A notification popped up before everyone's eyes.

[Discovered forgotten ant nest. Reward: 250EXP]

[EXP: 560/7500]

"So, this is indeed the ant nest…", whispered Balm apprehensively.

"Good! Let those stupid flying ants come again! This time we won't run away!", joked Final Fend.

"Sh!"

Silver Blade suddenly hissed harshly. A noise reached her ears. It was the sound of quick, small footsteps.

"Get ready to fight!"

Everyone's face turned serious. Silver Blade and Final Fend stood at the front, readying their weapons.

A few seconds later a black body could vaguely be seen turning a corner not far away.

The ant appeared oblivious, performing its usual patrol duty. But suddenly it froze. Spotting the players not far away, it immediately clicked its mandibles.

The next moment it dashed at the group. More ants appeared, following behind it.

Quickly the party was faced with six enemies approaching them and two more staying behind.

"Use whatever you want, they can't pass by us anyways!", advised Silver Blade her own ranged fighters.

"Got it!"

"Our first fight in the mysterious ant nest. What awaits us here? Will the sound attract more enemies? Dear views, find out now!"

Fortune didn't forget to comment while casting her spells.

"Hey, don't jinx it!"

"Ok ok, boss.", joked Fortune.

She shut her mouth while staring closely at the approaching enemies. When they came in range, she finally flourished her staff. A normal attack hit the ant in the lead.

[-693!]