A new quest

"I just took in your junior brother today. Although he is a hunter, his foundation is solid. You have to work hard, Liam. Don't let Keiran overtake you."

"Yes, master."

After introducing the new junior, Baker told him to continue his training while taking Liam to the side.

The master tested Liam, making sure that his sudden breakthrough hadn't messed up his foundation. Next, the old man explained some light exercises which were beneficial for the mana pathways aka meridians.

Obviously Master Baker had already thought it through after discussing the casting of skills with Silva and Liam. Now that the news became official, he began to alter the training.

Although the master wasn't doing so voluntarily, he preferred to prepare his disciples, helping them avoid injuries.

Liam felt the old man's conflicting emotions. He didn't know how to console him, apart from training diligently and not giving up on martial arts.

After a while Master Baker appeared gratified, going on to instruct Liam and Keiran until the game was about to go online.

The two disciples excused themselves and found quiet spots to log in.

Liam quickly found himself back in Crunaboul. He returned to Duabalis, meeting his friends at their guild headquarters.

The place was gradually becoming lively. Many guild members met here to form parties.

The guild members were eager to go on quests and earn contribution points. But some discovered new information in the guild menu, sparking excitement among them.

Liam and his friends had decided to publish strategies to clear various dungeons for their core and tier 1 members. They hoped to discover some talents and form more teams dedicated to hunting dungeons, increasing the guild's income.

In Crunaboul there were multiple dungeons with the same level requirements. Being the fastest to clear one of them earned the most prestigious achievement, but this didn't make the other first clears worthless. Liam just didn't feel like hunting them.

Thus, it would be great if the guild could gather more talented teams to farm achievements and server announcements for their sponsors.

Speaking of sponsors, the discussions also bore fruit. For now, the guild managed to secure five partners including Colville Constructions, St. Fabre, a clothing company belonging to Wayne Delaney, and Dourand Electronics, which was owned by Fortune's father.

With this income the guild could secure their member's wages and also buy some gold in case they needed to stock up on building materials.

But naturally they couldn't rely solely on sponsorships. Sun's Knight was already working on a plan to make their brand known. However, he couldn't do all of this alone. Therefore, the plans were progressing slowly until the friends found time to discuss them further.

Right now, they would rather discuss more imminent projects. Everyone agreed to Liam's suggestion of slaying a world boss this afternoon when Cyclone and Balm were done with recruiting.

Until then everyone dispersed to go after various quests, earning the goodwill of NPCs, preparing to recruit them later.

Liam on the other hand felt somewhat conflicted.

He could seek out some blacksmiths or alchemists, which could be easily recruited right now.

But there was a simple problem. Their quests were just too boring. Thus, he decided to delegate those tasks to some eager tier 2 members while tackling something more worthwhile right now.

Liam smiled as he donned his shadow cloak and headed for Brobrity, the capital of the Southern Light Kingdom. When Liam reappeared, the city was still covered in the same heavy atmosphere.

A lot of players could be seen, many of them preparing to go the border and fight the infernals.

Fortunately, the city was less crowded than during the hunt for the world boss.

However, Liam knew this would soon change as world bosses respawn after 7 days. The commotion then might be even bigger, as the number of players going past level ten was soon about to surpass one million.

At that time their guild might send some players to try their luck. Silent Acacia had once suggested monopolizing the world boss, but his idea was quickly disregarded when they learned that a rank 1 guild had a limit of 350 members.

Liam was quite glad that this was the case. He found the idea of fighting the same, under leveled world boss multiple times to be incredibly boring. He would rather challenge things he didn't know already like the upcoming quest.

As his thoughts reached this point, Liam smiled, looking at the large tower before him while taking off his shadow cloak. He had arrived in the most prosperous district of Brobrity, the majestic palace not far from him.

The imposing tower before him was constructed from sturdy, light-brown timber, decorated with wood coming from the Black Blood Forest. On closer inspection one could find fine golden runes inscribed in its wall, which had an oppressive effect on infernals and other chaotic creatures.

This was the home of the powerful guardian of the Southern Light Kingdom, Therim Riverbell.

When Liam passed through the opulent gate, he could almost taste the vast mana filling the air. The tower's inside appeared luxurious but comfortable. A large portrait depicting Therim took up a lot of space on the wall, its golden frame sparkling in the sun.

To the right a few mages working for Therim were sitting on armchairs, engrossed in their books. They didn't care for Liam as he went up the stairs.

The young man passed a few floors, coming close to the top before entering a large room making up the entire floor.

Golden sunshine fell through tall windows, showing the dust in the air. Almost the entire room was filled with shelves carrying books and magical trinkets.

In the center stood a heavy ebony desk decorated with golden highlights, showing the prestige of the kingdom. Therim sat behind it, his face, framed by long black hair, buried into a thick tome.

Liam approached the mage, waiting quietly. It was still important to show courtesy to such high-ranking NPCs. Especially if one wanted them to join one's guild later.

Luckily Therim didn't let Liam wait for too long. After a minute he closed his tome with a bang, raising his head.

"Adventurer."

Therim didn't show him much favoritism. If it was 'Favored Son of Crunaboul', the person who killed the word boss, Therim would most likely welcome him warmly.

Liam didn't care too much, speaking respectfully:

"Great mage, I came to you because I discovered something after the fight against the Void-Corrupted Hawk."

"Oh? You have successfully stirred my interest!"

"Here, please take a look."

With those words Liam retrieved a strange, black thing from his inventory. It ended in a sharp tip, its flexibility reminiscent of a tentacle. As soon as it appeared, void energy began to spread in the room.

Therim's eyes immediately shot open.

"Void dweller!"

With a rough shout he waved his hand. Golden runes appeared in the air, settling on the object and sealing it.

Liam acted surprised:

"You recognize this, great mage?"

"Yes. It is the leg of a void dweller."

Looking at Liam's eyes the mage judged that he didn't understand and offered an explanation:

"The void is the world outside of Crunaboul. We call its inhabitants void dwellers. They are beings driven by the intent to destroy, invading our beautiful world from time to time and wreaking havoc.

It is the duty of every being in Crunaboul to defend our home. However, these treacherous devils… hmpf!"

"Are those void dwellers strong?"

"It depends. The bigger danger comes from the void energy they carry with them, which can cause great harm.

I was confused at how the forest could suddenly suffer under the void's corruption…"

Hearing this, Liam inwardly rolled his eyes. If he was confused, then why didn't Therim investigate by himself instead of leaving after the fight. However, there was no use in questioning the logic of NPCs.

"… but now I understand. This leg is the source of corruption. But this begs the question how such a leg got into the forest. I don't believe this could be a coincidence."

Listening to Therim, Liam's thoughts moved. A conjecture came to his mind.

He remembered in his old life that the Southern Light Kingdom offered a unique quest early on which asked the player to stop the plans of a certain noble.

He was considering the possibility that someone accepted this quest but failed it, leading to the plan succeeding.

He was surprised that this led to the emergence of a world boss. Maybe these were also consequences of [Hell] difficulty. Nevertheless, Liam was interested to see how the quest played out now.

He put his focus back on Therim as the mage continued speaking:

"Adventurer, this is a serious matter. Since this involves the void, we have to investigate thoroughly. Are you willing to take on this task?"

"Of course, great mage!"

"I appreciate it. For now, we should gather information. Try asking around within the villages surrounding the forest. Maybe you can find a clue."

Liam nodded respectfully as his quest updated. Therim opened his tome, showing that he said what he wanted to say.