---Viktor's POV---
"Stop!"
I pressed one hand against Gaeman's cheek, pushing him back.
"I'm just made of bones. I can't handle your hugs. Since you've chosen a direction for your transformation, show some manliness. Stop clinging and hugging all the time."
I glanced at the process recorded on the sub-server, reviewing how he had encountered Child. I couldn't help but click my tongue in amazement... Of course, it was my imaginary tongue, I only had bones.
Taking a casual stroll on the streets and managing to rescue a stray sea siren... Players always had such ridiculous luck.
He pouted and reluctantly withdrew his hands.
"I've still got 20 years before I come of age. It's not like I'll transform anytime soon... You have no idea, just to hide my identity, I can only eat half a palm-sized piece of bread per meal, two meals a day. I can't even fish in the river. I've been starving every single day..."
He simply treated me as a trash can, venting all the hardships he had endured along the way. I browsed through the information stored on the sub-server, occasionally nodding absentmindedly.
Only after he finished complaining did I finally look up.
"So, can you tell me who you are now?"
Gaeman's eyes widened slightly. "You don't know?"
Despite this surprise, I had already noticed how he could understand English after I'd prepared a heap of delicious and filling food upon realizing he was starving.
"Being able to understand English is proof enough."
Normally, only Watchers or those close to them would know the language. Gaeman, who could comprehend it without any abnormalities, must be one of Claire's trusted aides. I shelved any meaningless probing for the time being.
He sat upright and introduced himself earnestly.
"I am Gaeman Madison. My grandfather is Kerman Madison!"
"Ah, so you're Carlisle's grandnephew."
No wonder they forced him to learn English. The boy's childhood must've been tough.
"What happened at the resurrection ritual? Where is Claire now? Did the sirens in Nary Town show up because of you?"
Gaeman's expression became a bit complicated. He shook his head. "I wasn't qualified to attend the ritual and don't know where Grandma is. The sirens of the White Dove Ensemble are indeed looking for me. They're also hunting down other sirens who escaped to nearby areas."
As he began recounting the events from a month ago, I listened carefully. Their operation to sabotage the the resurrection ritual had initially progressed very smoothly. Before the ritual began, the Deep Sea Cult couldn't even gather enough sacrifices. But halfway through, something unexpected happened, and the ritual was partially successful.
It was said that nearly everyone who participated in the ritual died. Claire was gravely injured, escaping with only two others.
After that... To help the wounded Claire flee the Sea of Mist, they split into several teams with their loyal followers acting as bait to draw attention away from her group. Gaeman's team traveled upstream along the Duskwind River, not only to divert pursuers but also to find me in the Great Oak Forest.
"But!" At this point, Gaeman's expression turned indignant. "After we finally got rid of the cult's pursuers, our whereabouts were discovered by the White Dove Ensemble. I don't know what deal they struck with the cult, but they started chasing us too."
"Helena and the others lost contact trying to protect me and get me out..."
He choked on a sob.
"Once I left Nary Town, the sirens tracked me by scent, and I had to hide in town for over half a month..."
I murmured softly, "So that's why your voice..."
"I was poisoned along the way. It'll take at least two months to recover."
Ah... They hadn't avoided being captured entirely, they'd been caught but managed to escape en route back.
I sighed and gently patted his back. Most of a siren's magical talent was tied to their voice. With his voice damaged, an underage siren trying to survive in a town as an undocumented fugitive was no easy feat.
The town was full of dangers, and there were pursuers outside. The despair he must have experienced over the past month was unimaginable.
"It seems the resurrection ritual is shrouded in mystery..." I gazed into the void, murmuring to myself. "We'll only know the full story once we find Claire or investigate the Sea of Mist personally."
Gaeman raised his swollen eyes.
"Actually, Helena had a one-time-use magical device that could contact Grandma. We originally planned to bring it to you, but now Helena is missing..." As he spoke, he clenched his fists tighter. I could see the guilt eating at him.
He had delayed too long in Nary Town. The White Dove Ensemble's main force might have already returned, leaving those who covered his escape in grave danger...
"Not necessarily."
My words interrupted Gaeman's downward spiral of self-recrimination. I manipulated the virtual panel and flipped to the next log entry. While he was speaking, I had already reviewed the part where players encountered the sirens.
"If you're the only remaining young siren outside, it's likely they'll wait until they catch you before heading back with everyone. They control the waterways. You wouldn't have gotten far anyway. A 100% completed deal always carries more weight in negotiations than a 90% one."
Gaeman froze for a moment. "Really?"
I nodded. "Not long ago, I received word that Edgar stayed behind in Nary Town to save someone. At first, I thought he was trying to rescue Claire. But now it makes sense that he might be saving ordinary sirens instead."
I wasn't merely comforting him.
"By the way, how many of you are there?"
"Including me, 20!"
"Tw—" I paused, my gaze lifting from the panel.
"You're just a decoy squad, and there are 20 of you? No, 20 sirens?"
After Gaeman confirmed again, I silently closed my mouth. It was clear that compared to me, Claire had developed her forces quite well over the years.
With that many sirens, it was impossible that no rumors had leaked. Nary Town was likely united in reaching an agreement with the White Dove Ensemble. This wasn't just a single faction.
To rescue everyone, we'd have to stage a massive operation in Nary Town, perhaps even seize control of the entire town.
"Hmm... This is going to be incredibly difficult," I muttered gravely.
Our current fighting force relied entirely on players, about 250 people. Of those, 100 were still in beta and hadn't logged in yet. Meanwhile, Nary Town's population exceeded 5,000, with youths comprising 30-40%. Even excluding those in farming, trade, or daily work, the militia alone would number no fewer than 500.
It was even worse if our efforts to save the sirens attract too much attention, turning the entire town against them and creating massive resistance.
The distance between Honeyvale Town and Nary Town was too great, making reinforcements nearly impossible… And if news of me being in the Great Oak Forest somehow got out…
Countless thoughts flashed through my mind. Finally, he leaned down and asked, "How many sirens from the White Dove Ensemble have you seen?"
No matter how many problems there were, they could be solved one by one.
After all, allies recruited by the Watchers were precious, every loss was irreplaceable. They couldn't be abandoned lightly.
If worst came to worst, I could just hand out all 1,000 avatar slots at once. Once this was all over, I needed to figure out how to resolve the players' system overload issues.
---Third POV---
"Fireball!"
"Now! Its back is exposed, do it!"
A screeching, teeth-gritting sound of slicing echoed. In the middle of the clearing in the woods, a red-brown fox, about the size of a baby elephant, fell with a heavy thud.
Its blood splashed onto the ground, emitting faint sizzling sounds of scorching. Figures quickly dashed toward the fallen "fox," landing follow-up blows with precision.
Finally, a new message popped up on their game panels for killing the server's first Level 1 magical creature.
Confirming that the creature had stopped breathing, they dropped to their knees in tears of joy.
"We finally did it! We won!"
The first player to speak was quickly followed by others who collapsed onto the ground like strips of jerky drying in the sun.
"Finally done with this mess."
"God, I'm so exhausted!"
"Three deaths in four days! Do you know what it feels like to watch yourself get roasted alive?"
"Even just a Level 1 magical creature is this insane... almost got wiped out again."
They weren't exaggerating. Every player present bore severe burns, some so bad their clothes were completely charred to ash!
The creature they had chosen to fight, the Level 1 magical beast known as the Fire Fox, lived up to its name. Its fur naturally emitted blazing flames. Unlike the players' playful little fire spells, the Fire Fox's flames were extraordinarily hot and had a contagious, relentless nature. A tiny ember could quickly spread across the group, forcing them to stay apart.
If not for today's help from a player with access to the new map exploration privileges, breaking the 10-person team limit, they might have faced yet another round of deaths.
Hedgehog weakly high-fived Garble. "Thanks, man. That creature was a nightmare to deal with."
Only after assembling a serious team and attempting to complete the magical creature achievement did they realize... Even 10 novice mages who had completed their class advancements were no match for a single, restricted-area Level 1 magical creature.
The power gap was like a chasm.
Of course, part of the issue was that they had hit their weekly bomb quota and couldn't use tech-based cheats. Looking at the pitiful rewards for slaying the Level 1 creature, Hedgehog felt like crying again.
"Four days of effort, and we earned just 100 points. At this rate, how long will it take to grind enough experience to reach Level 20?"
"Relax," Child patted him on the shoulder. "Gold and XP will come eventually."
Although he looked even worse than Hedgehog, with his lower half nearly roasted, beyond the recovery ability of a holy light healer, and likely requiring self-sacrifice later, his optimism remained unshaken.
"Only after suffering through killing magical creatures in the starter village will we appreciate how much easier XP farming is on the new map. Our good days are just ahead!"
Hedgehog remained unsure despite hearing countless times how lucrative the new map's experience gains were. "Sure, humanoid mobs give good rewards, but finding opposing factions to fight is a challenge, isn't it?"
They couldn't stir up trouble or slaughter innocents, it'd take a toll on his 55 sanity points.
Child raised an eyebrow. "Aren't we, the Anti-Gods faction, already the most hated?"
"Be careful out there. Don't overdo it," Garble chimed in, genuinely concerned.
He seriously believed that if players opposed the whole world, the game would outright shut down when they couldn't handle the backlash.
Hedgehog and Child gave synchronized "OK" gestures and chimed, "Don't worry, we've got this!"
Garble could only shake his head helplessly. Looking toward Honeyvale Town, he felt a strange pull and murmured, "The magical creature achievement is done; now, there's only the Blackrock Toad Dungeon left..."
---
"Blackrock Toad Dungeon forming! Need 7 more, Level 5+ fire mages! Healers welcome!"
"What the heck? I've only had half a month to enjoy being a wind mage, and now we're dethroned?"
"You've got it easy. Water mages were already just above fire mages in the hierarchy, and now fire mages got a dungeon patch..."
"Queue up, queue up! Stop crowding; go grind levels the normal way!"
After a week of strategizing, players had already mastered the process of clearing the Blackrock Toad Hatchery.
No longer needing reminders from the townsfolk handing out silk cocoon armor, they efficiently found the best, fastest dungeon-clearing methods. Players jumped into the mine, clearing the magical eggs while simultaneously digging deeper into the veins.
The mine's capacity had expanded from 10 players to 30, drastically improving efficiency. As a result, their progress outpaced Viktor's expectations by a day.
It seemed that by tonight, the number of Blackrock Toad eggs would be reduced to single digits.
A group of rookies holding torches and shields crept through the dark tunnels.
Suddenly, a clump of mud shot out from the ground, aiming for a torch but getting blocked by a shield with a dull thunk.
The rest of the group quickly gathered.
"Quick! A straggler!"
"Kill it! Kill it!"
"Watch out! Don't tear your armor!"
Previously, there had been an incident where a player's silk cocoon armor tore, allowing a magical egg to burrow into their body. The player turned into a dried husk, dramatically boosting the monster's strength.
Since then, this warning had become the go-to mantra for cautious players.
Clanging sounds echoed through the mines well into the afternoon. The tunnels grew colder and more foreboding until a massive explosion rocked the area, followed by a blaze of fire shooting into the sky.
Far away at the Lord's Residence, Viktor instinctively looked up, restraining an intense urge to head out.
He shook his head and brought up the visuals of the iron mine.
"How many times do I have to say it? No bombs in the mines! Do you love self-sacrifice that much?"
In the feed, the Blackrock Toad Hatchery was undoubtedly destroyed.
The nearby detection arrays he had set up, capable of sensing underground life, all showed complete blackouts.
The system had already started calculating rewards for the 50 players who had earned new map exploration privileges.
He was about to switch the visuals when he noticed the latest batch of players pulling something from the clearing smoke in the mines.
The ghostly blue flames in his eyes flickered.
"That's..."
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60 advance chapters!
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