Liam looked contend at his friends. Finally, all of them managed to perform flash step at least once.

“Help!”

A desperate shout could be heard, causing Liam to smile at Braag.

“Two flash steps in a row! You’re a prodigy!”

“Stop joking and save me!”

Liam laughed as he drew his swords and went into battle. Together with his friends the four rock golems fell quickly.

The party stayed for a while, training some more before setting off. Following Liam, they soon arrived in Svebrial, where they rented a small arena at the edge of the city.

This arena was specifically provided for players to train. One could choose between all kinds of options, like invulnerability or stat boosts.

The party made full use of it, honing their skills against each other. Especially the mages training flash step made solid progress.

While Liam and his friends were training, others weren’t idle. They found their own means to level up quickly.

Star Gazer and his followers occupied a vast plain somewhere within a human kingdom. They were divided into ten groups, each of them serving one member of the main dungeon team.

A few players gathered a couple of red-skinned horses, attacking them until they were close to death. At this moment, Star Gazer finished his cast. A shockwave suddenly spread through the air, striking all the horses.

With one attack multiple enemies died, giving all their EXP to Star Gazer.

The handsome man let his sharp gaze wander around, observing the progress of his men.

“Pen, how are we doing?”

Star Gazer’s meticulous right-hand man instantly appeared next to him. The orc with a body full of building muscles spoke in a refined voice:

“Boss, the main team will soon reach level twenty. Only Falling Diamant needs some help. He is a healer after all.”

“Good. How is the ranking list doing?”

“We are catching up. Hotpot has slowed down over the last two days. This Bleary Mirage has not even reached level twenty yet.”

A hint of excitement could be heard from Spiked Pen. But Star Gazer couldn’t help but frown.

“Is something wrong, boss?”

“Of course. Why would Hotpot stagnate? They must have done something else…”

“Silver Blade and a few others have been seen doing quests in Duabalis Harbor.”

“What else?”

“Well, we don’t have information on anyone else.”

Star Gazer mulled over it for a moment before shaking his head.

“Keep an eye on them. Otherwise, lets focus on the dungeon!”

An image of Liam’s confident face as they made their bet flashed in Star Gazer’s mind. He couldn’t help but grin dangerously.

The second dungeon Kelsnim’s invasion. You think you are ahead of us? But you don’t know that we have a lot of information about this dungeon! I have to thank your parents for this… Liam Varsmith.

At this moment Liam left the arena alone. For some reason he was in a bad mood. Nevertheless, it would soon be time for the raid.

But before this he had to reach level 20. Otherwise, the dungeon wouldn’t grant him entrance.

This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

Thus, the young man left the city searching for some monsters. He spent a day solo farming, occasionally chatting with his friends and finally reached level 20.

When it was time to log off Liam was rather relaxed. He chatted for a while with Master Baker.

Liam felt he was close to his first breakthrough in martial arts, the Flesh Strengthening Stage. By now he, Silva, and Felix also had a talk about mana pathways with the master.

The old man was not happy to hear about their experience as it bore the risk of damaging one’s foundation. Master Baker would have loved to stop them but with the game’s importance it was impossible.

Eventually the old master was forced to give in. He promised to adjust the training to minimize the damage. Since then, he had been in a bad mood, feeling more and more how Fate of Crunaboul threatened to make martial arts obsolete.

The disciples couldn’t bear it, attempting to cheer up the master by training hard, but the effect was only minimal.

When Liam left the dojo, he could only let out a sigh, feeling complicated seeing the master like this.

On the way home he tried to divert his thoughts, scrolling through some news.

“Star Gazer reaching level 20: Is the race for the next dungeon about to begin?”

“Everything you need to know about the top guilds.”

“Callida and Earthquake: Don’t underestimate us!”

“Miss I never miss: Clearing the dungeon for a low price.”

“Hotpot: Can they keep their reputation as the first party?”

Liam read through the many articles with a grin. Thinking of the dungeon he was already imagining what to do with the 1.000.000 credits he would receive from Star Gazer in a few days.

After scrolling for a while another headline suddenly caught his attention. It was in the section about universe-wide news:

“Colville Holding acquires license to Peach Blossom Martial Arts: An attempt to get into the beauty business?”

Liam’s eyes lit up. He quickly sent his congratulations to Silva. Since the family listened to her advice, it would probably increase her status again.

At this point Star Gazer would already find it difficult to catch up. Silva’s real competitors would be the children of other branches, located on planets far away.

Liam inexplicably felt happy for his friend while getting off the car. Suddenly a weird feeling welled up in his chest. He abruptly turned his head but didn’t spot anything but the usual traffic.

“Liam, you’re finally home!”

An excited voice came from within Merida’s clinic. Liam smiled, turning his head towards Serena.

Some distance away a large black car was slowly coming out of a side street, leaving quietly.

“Serena! Did you have fun today?”

“No…”

Liam chatted with his sister while walking up the stairs. His face fell when he heard her answer.

“Why? Did something happen? Is the discovery group not fun?”

“No no, that’s alright. But I was so anxious today! Brother, those other teams are all catching up! Why didn’t you enter the dungeon today? You can’t fall behind.”

Taken aback, Liam stared at his sister’s worried expression, a warm feeling spreading in his chest. Eventually he let out a light chuckle.

“There is no need to worry. No one will stand a chance against us.”

“How can you be so sure?”

“Do you think we were just idle these days? We made necessary preparations. In my opinion the gap between us and others increased instead of decreasing!”

“But those news articles…”

“Come on. Who would know better? The news or your brother?”

“Well…”

Serena glanced at her brother, her expression slowly turning playful as her worry lessened. When Liam saw her like this he broke out into laughter.

“You little… Just wait till I get you!”

“No, no! Ahh!”

A joyful scene could be seen throughout the stairway as Liam chased his sister, threatening to teach her a lesson. A few seconds later he suddenly caught her and picked her up, throwing her onto the couch in Merida’s apartment.

At this point, Serena waved her hands, offering in a feigned pleading voice:

“Liam, stop, please stop. I will buy my freedom, alright?”

“Buy? What do you have to offer?”

“I, I will give you a lot of food!”

“Do you think you can sell Merida’s food to me? Nice trick…”

“No, in the game! I cooked for the others today and became a basic cook!”

“What? Really?! Wow…”

Liam was genuinely impressed as Serena’s process was quite fast. He sat down next to her, casually discussing her experiences in the game.

Not far away in the kitchen Merida looked at the two youngsters with complicated emotions. Her eyes involuntarily wandered towards the picture of her daughter on a shelf close by.

The older woman let out a sigh before focusing back on cooking.

Liam had a relaxed evening. The next day Serena was up early, wishing him good luck before he left the house.

The young man was in a good mood as he drove to the dojo. But suddenly his usually silent bodyguard’s stern voice could be heard.

“We are being followed.”

Immediately the atmosphere int the car turned tense. Liam looked at the back mirror, spotting a black car weaving through the traffic.

The driver’s body tensed as he glanced at his passengers:

“Ehm, sirs… this… I, I’m not made for this! C… could you please get off my car?”

Liam looked at the frightened man. He was just about to nod when his bodyguard interrupted him:

“No! Driver, listen closely and follow my instructions.”

Turning to Liam he added some more:

“Our company has emergency plans in place for cases like this. We only need to reach headquarters. The safety of our clients is our highest priority!”

“Are we even certain that we’re in danger?”

“Not necessarily. But we can’t take any risks.”

“Alright.”

Liam let out a sigh, a hint of worry in his eyes. A moment later the car left the main street under the bodyguard’s instructions.