While Liam was caught in his musings the Graceful Swan finally reached Foggy Waves City. The delegation left the boat. One could see the happiness on everyone's faces after finally being back in friendly territory.
"You survived!"
Suddenly a joyous shout came from one of the sailors. Following the man's line of sight everyone realized that the two ships which left together with the Graceful Swan made it back safely.
Scholar Feng secretly let out a breath of relief. His mission could already be counted as a failure. If the other two ships hadn't returned it wouldn't be wrong to speak of a total catastrophe.
While the sailors celebrated Liam looked around and found his friends standing not far away. As he walked up, he could already hear Fortune snicker:
"Maybe the rain wasn't that bad. Look, Mirage appears quite relaxed."
"Yeah, he even took off his armor."
Liam approached the group with a bright smile, but his eyes contained a playful sinisterness, sending a shiver down everyone's backs.
"I am glad my sacrifice was worthwhile. At least you guys weren't affected too much by the rain."
"Haha yes. We are very thankful. Really!"
Quickstep laughed awkwardly as Liam gave her a bad feeling. Melodious Edelweiss even shivered lightly. She carefully tried to apologize:
"Mirage, we didn't want to abandon you... just... ehm..."
Liam smiled gently. He didn't respond as Scholar Feng approached the group at that moment.
"Adventurers. Thank you for your help this time. Although I didn't achieve my goal, this is not your fault. In fact, you did what I hired you for. I already expected that negotiating with the cultists might not be easy. Here, take this reward. You earned it."
[
[Evaluation: B]
[Receive 5000EXP]
[Receive 3 Gold]
[Receive Order of the seas]
[The scholar's mission was a failure and the relationship with the cultists has deteriorated. What might the consequences be?]
Liam was not surprised by the low evaluation. Although they kept the scholar mostly unharmed, they wasted too much time. The reward of EXP was still alright pushing him extremely close to a level up. Additionally, the Order of the sea was not a bad item giving the group easier access to the dynasty's ships.
After handing over the rewards Scholar Feng appeared somewhat listless. He sighed deeply, murmuring:
"I am quite exhausted. Perhaps I should take some time off from only accepting the most difficult missions. There are still many others worth allying with."
Instantly Liam's eyes lit up. He never expected to hear this sentence right now. He knew that the scholar still had a follow-up quest. The cultists and the dynasty would have some smaller clashes now and Feng would be sent to end them. Only after that would the scholar be exhausted enough to say this sentence.
This was because this sentence was a sign to the players. It was their opportunity to invite the scholar into the guild. According to Liam's plan he would've finished the follow-up quest at a later date in order to invite the scholar. But now the opportunity presented itself to skip an entire quest!
Liam was shocked. This couldn't be only explained by his championship ring anymore. Multiple effects might be overlapping like the increased recruitment rate granted by the rank two guild token.
Not daring to miss the opportunity Liam quickly responded to the scholar:
"If you want to search for allies for the dynasty, why don't you join our guild? I can guarantee we would be the dynasty's closest partners!"
The others were surprised by Liam's sudden suggestion. They looked at Scholar Feng eager to see his reaction. The refined man pondered for a moment before nodding slowly. After all, from his perspective this was an easy way to get an adventurer guild to favour the dynasty.
At that moment the NPC officially joined the guild. Cyclone, still in the guild hall, immediately noticed the change.
[Cyclone: Haha, great news!]
[Demolish me: Guild leader, what makes you so happy?]
[Varge: Curious!]
[Glorious Hotpot: Did Hotpot achieve a new record?]
[Heinous Goblin: Heh! Me joining is indeed great news for you all! Thank you, guild leader, for the acknowledgement!]
The guild chat was instantly chaotic. Many new names appeared, proving that Cyclone and Balm hadn't been slacking off. Even Varge, the berserker who made a name for himself at the start of the tournament, had already agreed to join.
The lively scene gave everyone a feeling of accomplishment, but it was not conductive for communication. Fortunately, certain members could highlight their messages, so Balm did exactly that.
[Balm: Thanks to Mirage and his team the guild has recruited another powerful NPC. Please welcome Scholar Feng!]
Dream Avenue members celebrated happily. Although they didn't know the scholar, the fact that the guild leaders specifically announced it showed that the NPC wasn't weak.
Meanwhile Cyclone posted the scholar's information in another chat only for the core members to see.
[Feng Xing
Profession: Scholar
Potential: SS
Territory bonus: Has a low chance of 2% per day to randomly win strong NPCs to join the territory.
Guild war bonus: Allows for the spending of points to win the assistance of neutral forces during the guild war. If the format allows this anyways, the price will be drastically reduced.
Upgrade quest: Create official alliances with at least five other guilds!]
Apart from the guild war bonus the rest was still somewhat confusing for the players. Liam patiently explained that after the guild captured a territory others could attack it by using a territory war order.
This would result in a large war where one guild attacked and the other defended. From that point on guilds could form official alliances, advancing and retreating together.
Immediately Cyclone and Balm felt the pressure. They were already working hard but such a mechanism only increased their worries. It forced them to somehow find guilds willing to ally with them.
Realizing the situation the two were in, their friends advised them to find a talent from within the guild who would handle the forming of an alliance.
Cyclone and Balm agreed readily. They experienced firsthand how much Sun's Knight did for them and the guild. Without him they wouldn't find any time to enjoy the game. Luckily Sun's Knight was happier taking care of the management than fighting monsters.
However, all of this wasn't as bad as it sounded. As a rank two guild they could only ally with two other guilds. Everything advanced step by step, which made it easier for the guild leaders to adjust.
After Liam's explanation the chat fell silent as everyone processed the information. Lenn looked at the rest of his teammates, wondering if they were still reading the guild chat. Even Melodious Edelweiss had been invited to become a core member. Thus, only Lenn didn't know what the others were chatting about.
"Hey, shouldn't we move on?"
The dwarf's question brought everyone back to realitiy. Liam nodded calmly.
"You're right. Let's grab the key."
"Don't you want to finally tell us where it is?", inquired Fortune.
"Sure. The key is in the treasury of Flood Dragon Manor."
"Flood Dragon Manor? Didn't we pass by them with the ship?"
"Yes. They are a faction not far from the dynasty. And coincidentally their leader is a descendant of Emperor Xia."
"Ahh. And Emperor Xia imprisoned the troll shaman, correct? Makes sense that they would have a key then."
"Huh, thinking about it, isn't it rather strange that the cultists have two keys?"
Braag had a thoughtful expression glancing at Liam. But the expert only grinned.
"If you're curious, you can figure out the story behind that by yourself."
Braag rolled his eyes. Not able to get more out of Liam the group asked him to lead the way. Together they approached the ships again, which wasn't surprising in a region dominated by islands.
Liam brought the group towards the left where a merchant vessel was tied to the pier. Everyone looked between the ship and Liam, highly sceptical. The merchant ship looked extremely aged with many patches which had certainly seen more than just one repair. The sails even had some holes. All in all, the ship looked anything but trustworthy.
"You want us to board this thing? Really?", asked Fortune.
"Of course. That's the ship going to Flood Dragon Manor. It is even written on those crates."
"Sure but..."
"No buts. We have already wasted enough time. Let's go!"
Liam prevented the others from thinking further as he approached the merchant vessel. A beastkin with patches of grey fur, a short tail, and sharp teeth stood in front of the plank leading up to the ship, eyeing the approaching adventurers calmly.
"Hello. Are you heading to Flood Dragon Manor? Is your ship accepting passengers?"
"Sure. 1 silver per person."
Hearing the low price everyone was sceptical. Only Braag's eyes lit up. This was even less than some teleportation fees! An absolute steal!
Liam showed no reaction as he gestured his group to go ahead. Everyone hesitated until Braag eagerly took the lead. With a reluctant expression he paid the silver coin and boarded the ship.
"What are you still standing around for?"