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Chapter 405 - l can help your village

"Heh." Liam chuckled and continued following the village chief. He knew that his plan was working and he was not done yet.

In no time at all, the festivities began and the grand feast was well underway, with everybody celebrating in full swing.

The fine aroma of the meat filled the air, boisterous laughs of the villagers rang loudly and a group of beautiful women gathered around to dance and put on a show.

Liam silently chewed the food in his mouth watching everything with a faint amusement in his eyes.

He waited a while, giving the village chief enough time to settle down and just as he was about to take the first bite, Liam hit the nail on the head.

"Is the village struggling to support itself?" He smiled.

The village chief looked startled at first but then his expression turned solemn. "Yes, my Lord. we are indeed struggling for the past few years."

"Our village and a few neighboring villages were attacked by the elves a few years ago and we lost too many men at that time."

"Ever since then our village is suffering. We want to request aid to the kingdom but…" The middle-aged man sighed softly.

He was prudent enough to know that it was not wise to complain about the King or rather the nobles who are being oblivious to their suffering.

They had tried sending messengers and some of their people over to the Kingdom in the past but that also did not result in any success as the path in between was too perilous.

Liam could see that the chief was still being guarded so he served a few more drinks to the guy and after downing the fifth drink he was much more talkative.

Liam chuckled and continued to patiently listen to the man and his ramblings and after a few minutes, he finally made his move.

"Hmmm… Your conditions are indeed extremely unfavorable. As a Duke of our Kingdom, it pains me to see our people suffering like this. I wish I could do something to aid you." He sighed.

His words struck like a hammer and the village chief instantly felt sober. Was he rambling on all this time to a Duke?

"My Lord, please forgive me." He dropped the juicy leg piece in his hand and quickly stood up, his entire body shaking from head to toe.

"Hmmm… that's alright." Liam looked as if he was genuinely aggrieved. "It is not a crime to ask for resources for your people."

He was not sure if this was going to work but in his previous lifetime, some guilds had managed to do this so he also wanted to give it a try.

The game worked that way. Every event needed to be looked at as an opportunity to grow stronger. Every small bit counted to this. Even this desolate village couldn't be overlooked.

"I might have a solution to your problem, chief." Liam waved his hand, signaling the guy to sit back down.

"Our guild residence is not too far away from this village. We could potentially establish a trade route from the village to the guild."

"A sort of secure route that could be used by the villagers and merchants for trading services and goods."

"You can also work in the guild residence, setting up more acres of herb farms and teach more of your people other trade skills so that we can have a smooth cooperation."

"Hmmm? What do you think about this?" Liam cautiously put forward his proposal.

If he could somehow secure this deal, then it was almost as good as acquiring this village as their personal working force.

Liam looked at the chief's face and the guy as well seemed to be pleasantly surprised. He was shocked but in a good way.

"My Lord, I… we would all be extremely grateful." Happy tears started streaming out of the man's eyes. It looked like his plan was successful.

However, before Liam could relax, suddenly the chief's expression started changing again. His eyes widened as if he remembered something and then he started appearing hesitant."I… I… my Lord. Please forgive me. That… I am afraid there is something that I haven't told you yet."

Right on cue! Liam smiled and spoke slowly, "Is this about that beggar?"

"Ah. Yes. Yes." The chief nodded in a daze.

"Tell me everything. No matter what, I will help you deal with it."

The village chief once again nodded and then started explaining, "My Lord, that beggar is… Lord Raizen from the Jeheriya village."

"Ever since that village was destroyed by demon beasts, the Lord has been resting in our village. However, his condition is not good."

"It was terrible tragedy, my Lord. Sir Raizen lost all of his family in that fight. The entire village was massacred and he was the only survivor."

"I haven't seen them personally, but I heard that he doted a lot on his two daughters and his wife but he lost all of them in a single day."

"So ever since then, he had been in the same miserable state."

After hearing the village chief's story, Liam now understood what had happened.

This was why they hadn't been able to find any of the nearby villages. It turns out that they had been destroyed.

But unfortunately, knowing this was not really that helpful. In fact, he had a grave expression on his face because this was now going to be that much more difficult.

He chewed on his food and sipped his drink, silently contemplating all of his options. Sucking up to the guy was indeed going to be very challenging but it shouldn't be impossible.

After all, the quest was completed in his previous timeline. So he should also technically be able to figure it out.

Liam took a couple more minutes to seem like he was really putting a lot of thought into this and then turned to the village chief.

"Don't worry about Lord Raizen. I am sure the man just needs some time to grieve. We won't bother him."

"Let's give him some time, space and enough food to heal. We can work around him to establish the trade routes and secure more resources for the village."

"Ah, yes my Lord. I can definitely take care of that. Thank you, my Lord. Thank you."

Liam nodded and then stood up to walk out of the building. Now that his task was accomplished he no longer planned to waste his time on the celebrations.

Instead, he started tapping on the system interface to set up new guild quests.

These quests all pertained to the village and were simple quests such as clearing the path, helping the local village residents and so on.

Liam leisurely strolled around the village while setting everything up. Of course, he was also searching for that beggar whom he was not really planning on leaving alone.

After doing a couple of rounds, he finally found the man sitting near the pond this time. He once again paid no attention to Liam but Liam observed everything about him.

Though the guy still seemed indifferent on the surface, his attitude had definitely changed.

Liam wandered around the village for some more time and then spent the rest of the night clearing the beasts on the outskirts of the village.

Since this was not taxing, he could both relax and earn more brownie points at the same time.

But unfortunately, things did not go as peacefully as he wanted.

Several times through the night, Liam felt the searing headache. Pain clouded his brain and his senses as the soul clinging to him kept acting up again and again.

That too the damned ghost chose the worst time to act.

At first, Liam chalked it to coincidence but soon there was a pattern. Every time he was in the middle of fighting or tackling more than he could handle, the ghost would start acting up.

"Gorak, do you now want to live anymore?" He even tried calming it down again, but the ghost did not listen to him always.

Only the words 'DIE DIE DIE' kept constantly looping in his mind.

The night passed by just like this and when dawn arrived, the villagers once again looked extremely relieved as they now had a lot more food for consumption.

When he first arrived here, the villagers were all tired, gloomy, and worn out with a murky aura hanging over their heads. But now, the entire place was full of laughter and joy.

Liam nodded and once again strolled the streets to find the beggar. "Is that guy invisible or what, why is it always so hard to find him?" He mused in slight annoyance.

Nevertheless, he kept going. He needed to persuade the damned beggar and he needed to do it soon.

With that recipe in hand, he would be able to strengthen all of his attributes significantly and he might even be able to exorcise Gorak's ghost fully out of him.

With that guy constantly screaming in his head, Liam was on the verge of going crazy.

He walked around a couple more streets and finally, he found the man. The beggar was sitting near a playground of sorts and watching the young children play in a daze.

"Hmmm?" Liam waited for a while but it was of no use. Seeing that he was once again being ignored, he could only leave.

But suddenly, just as he was about to walk away, the sky above him darkened.

The sun had risen just now and it was broad daylight outside so what could possibly cause this darkness?

Gudang! Liam instantly knew what this was! This was his second group of stalkers! The black albatross around his neck!

"Level 55? Damned ravens."

Liam cursed and quickly looked around for the best way to deal with them.

"Should I just run away?" He was just now helping everyone rebuild the village so he didn't want things to get destroyed because of the fight.

Moreover, all the birds were Level 55 this time. Things were definitely going to get tricky.

Just as he was thinking about how to deal with the ravens, suddenly another thought popped into his brain.

He looked at the group of children sitting near the beggar and then started running towards them.

Chapter 406 - Hero is here

"Ahhhhhhh!"

"Scary birds!!!"

"Red eyes are attacking us!! Ahhhh! Ahhhhhh!"

"Save me! Save me!"

The group of children started shouting and screaming in fear.

A dozen black ravens descended upon them out of nowhere and each and every single of the ravens was extremely strong and emitted a sinister aura.

The children instantly became extremely scared. They did not even have the strength to run away and simply stood there in shock and fear.

Tears and snot dripped from their faces. They were just young tender children and they were standing like innocent sheep waiting to be devoured.

Everything also happened too fast and no one was able to react.

In fact, all the villagers only noticed the ravens when the children started screaming and it was already too late.

"Where did these monsters come from? What is happening?"

The small village that was in a celebratory mood just now completely turned upside down. It was as if a giant scythe was hanging over their heads.

This was it! Their village was doomed!

Ahhhh! Ahhhhh! Ahhhh! Everyone started screaming loudly.

Most of the villagers were too terrified to even take a step forward and could only watch helplessly.

They were not strong enough. They wouldn't be able to do anything.

They did not even completely process what they were seeing. They saw the ravens and the childrens standing there defenselessly.

Just as their brain made the connection and they started to scream, the ravens already descended.

"Oh no!!!! Ahhhhh!"

The men and women screamed. They already knew that it was too late and they shrieked in horror. Their heart ached for the small children. The entire village looked petrified.

However, at this most unfortunate time, before any raven could reach the group of children, suddenly a man appeared out of nowhere.

A hero!

A hero stood tall in front of the children!

He had a purple sword in his hand and there was a small white fox on his shoulder.

His black eyes glowed with infinite determination and he seemed as if he would rather die first than let anything happen to the children.

Or at least it appeared to be so.

This hero was of course none other than the newly arrived stranger, Lord Duke.

All the villagers gasped in shock. Even the beggar looked at the scene with a strange glint in his eyes.

And right in front of everyone's eyes, the Duke's figure blurred as he single-handedly fought against and parried the dozen birds.

"DON'T WORRY! DON'T BE AFRAID! I WILL TAKE CARE OF THESE MONSTERS!" Liam shouted. "Someone come here and bring the children away. Staying here is too dangerous for them."

Even as he said that he heroically led the cackle of birds who were all violently screeching and clawing at him, away from the children.

He slashed down at them relentlessly and the fox next to him spewed out fire like there was no tomorrow.

Everyone was completely awestruck. This was the first time they were witnessing an expert fight personally. It was simply too inspiring! It made their blood boil!

SLASH! SLASH! SLASH! SLASH!

BOOM! BOOM!

The purple sword flashed here and there, small and big fireballs appeared now and then, a burst of gale tore apart from the middle.

Everything looked utterly chaotic but one thing was for sure, the hero had the upper hand.

Everyone awed and oohed, moved their body left when Liam moved left, moved their body right when Liam moved right, completely engrossed in the battle.

Even the beggar stared at the sight unblinkingly though it was for a different reason.

The fight itself did not last long. After the initial shock, Liam dominated the birds completely and overpowered them from the start to the end.

It was as if he had plenty of experience in fighting these kinds of monstrous ravens. He predicted their every move and was prepared for their every attack.

He cleanly blocked them and countered perfectly. Every single attack of his drew blood.

While Liam continued fighting with the ravens, another figure also finally moved. The beggar who was squatting on the floor was now standing next to Liam.

He was not wearing any armor or guards. He did not possess any weapons. He just silently appeared next to Liam and started fighting with the ravens.

He fought them with his bare hands.

And unlike Liam who was struggling against the dozen ravens because of the huge difference in their levels and attributes, this man was different.

He only needed a single attack to finish a bird and two seconds later, the fight ended just like that. In fact, it could no longer be called a fight. It was just a massacre.

All the ravens laid on the ground, their face punched in and their beaks squashed.

The dozen terrifying pitch-black ravens might as well be crows that were scattered on the ground after a stormy night.

All the villagers gulped in disbelief as they stared at the dead birds. No one moved a muscle. They were too shocked.

Complete dead silence ensued after the massacre, which Liam finally broke. "Your fighting skills are amazing, Lord Raizen."

Not paying any more attention to the beggar, Liam shamelessly walked over to the children and squatted in front of them. "Are you alright? Don't be scared. The birds are now dead, see?"

"Ah…"

"Thank you, Lord"

"Thank you, uncle"

The children started shouting and clapping. The villagers also then started rejoicing, some of them thanking the beggar and some of them thanking Liam.

However, Liam quickly stepped aside.

"Please, thank Lord Raizen. It is only because of him that the ravens were quickly taken care of." He shook his head and did not take any praise.

He pointed all the villagers to the beggar. Everyone thanked him with tears in their eyes, while Liam patiently waited on the side with a warm smile on his face.

He even squatted down to check on the children again.

"I am not sure why the ravens attacked, I will go check the borders." He loudly informed the villagers. He then did not linger and walked over to the outskirts of the village.

No one was able to see his face from the back but at this moment Liam had a big grin on his face. He knew that his quest was already as good as completed.

"Thank you fuckers." He looked at the sky and mumbled.

And as far as the ravens were concerned, Liam already figured out why they hounded him non-stop.

He had almost forgotten it but after seeing the damn birds circle around him relentlessly even if he was brain dead he would remember this.

These ravens belonged to the very first dungeon, the beginner's dungeon. He had even obtained a quest from that dungeon that he had long forgotten.

And now these birds were probably trying to remind him about the quest. Perhaps some sort of punishment for leaving the quest unattempted for so long?

By now Liam had seen so many different types of events and quests in 'Evolution Online' that this was no longer surprising to him.

But what was surprising was the fact that a beginner's dungeon offered such a quest. It was also rather rare for a quest to have such peculiar negative effects.

Usually, only the quest failed notification popped up. However, for this specific quest, ravens were attacking him repeatedly! How strange!

Liam was originally planning on leaving this quest on the back burner because he had other important things to do but now he couldn't help it. He had to re-evaluate things.

Perhaps after reaching level 50 and forming a core, he could see this quest through and check where it leads?

"Hmmm… before that I definitely need to get rid of this damned guy from my head. Get the recipe, find the herbs and make the potion."

He let out a deep breath feeling the tiredness seeping in.

Liam did not know why but ever since he received the notification about the vengeful ghost, he had also been hearing the dull wailing of several souls from before.

He first heard them when the dark elf crashed the black pearl and he had not heard them again that is until recently.

Now, no matter how he tried he couldn't unhear them. They were like a dull background noise constantly gnawing at him.

If Gorak's presence was a headache that throbbed from time to time violently and painfully, these souls were like the constant ear ringing noise that was always present though only mildly annoying.

They did not hurt as much but something told Liam that they were not so simple. Everything together was draining him and his mental energy rapidly, leaving him tired more often than not.

He could already feel these effects slowly starting to worsen. He needed to get to 50 soon and he needed the recipe for the body cleansing potion even sooner!

"Damn it, I hope that worked. That old fart better hand me over what I need." He rubbed his temples in tiredness.

And before he could close his mouth, the same figure appeared in front of him.

"Lord Duke is it?" The beggar coldly snorted.

Chapter 407 - RUN! RUN! RUN!

"Yes, that would be me." Liam tried his best to keep a straight face and remain calm.

Inwardly he was quite nervous or rather the man standing beside him forcefully brought about such an effect.

He had the aura of someone who had killed too many people. Just his mere presence made all the hair on Liam's back stand up.

He knew that he had to be very careful now. Based on his next actions, he would either die or succeed in his quest.

"Thank you for helping me back there. Though I gave those villagers my word, my strength was…" Liam looked at the ground solemnly.

"Hmmm…" The beggar's eyebrows shot up. He looked surprised. He did not expect this level of introspection from a young person.

"You are fine. Knowing that you are not strong enough is half the progress." The middle-aged man awkwardly cleared his throat.

Though he was not that old, the tiredness in his eyes and the way he behaved seemed to belong to someone who had already lost all will to live.

"Thank you, senior." Liam nodded. He was about to say something when the beggar abruptly interrupted him.

"You can also stop beating around the bush. You are just wasting your time here."

"Sir?"

"Heh." The beggar laughed. "No need to act in front of me, young man. I know why you are here."

The man circled around Liam, eyeing him from top to bottom. "A strength superior to your level, a body purer than it should be, aren't you here for the recipe? Hmmm?"

"Yes, sir." Liam did not bother hiding it any longer. "Demons are invading our land. I need to become stronger. I need to make my guildmates stronger, our Kingdom stronger."

"We need this strength to have a fighting chance."

Did it work? Liam's heart thumped, deafening his ears. The small pause turned into a long one and then into an awkward silence.

However, Liam knew better than to press on further. He was already on thin ice so anything he said now would only work against him.

So he continued remaining silent. He stared ahead at the distance without bothering to explain anything else.

The beggar looked at him and a subtle hint of amusement flickered in his eyes. He then chuckled and tossed something onto Liam's lap.

"I am giving you what you want, but everything else is in your hands. This recipe… even I don't know how to make this potion."

You can do whatever you want with it." The beggar grumbled as he walked back to the village and once again sat inconspicuously in a corner.

At the end other, Liam's eyes shone with excitement. His entire body was drenched in sweat and his heart was about to leap out of his chest.

It looked like he had been right in assuming what this quest required. He needed to earn some points of fame with the village or this old beggar.

The other guy who obtained this recipe in his previous life probably finished this only after doing several series of long-winded quests but thanks to the murderous ravens, he was able to achieve it in a single day.

Liam picked up the recipe scroll, learned it immediately, and then urged Luna. "Let's go. Now."

Kyuuuuu!

The white fox nodded. Seeing that her Master was in a hurry, she kicked her heels, lifted up into the air, and flew away at top speed.

The duo quickly disappeared from the village. All the villagers looked at this scene in confusion, but the beggar who observed him from the distance only nodded in approval.

To the villagers, it looked like he received some urgent news and to the beggar, it looked like Liam was overly eager to become stronger and make the Kingdom stronger.

However, only one person knew the truth and that was Liam.

He was in fact running away!

Though it would have probably served him better to stay there for some more time and cement some rough patches over, it would be a grave mistake to do so.

He needed to get out of there ASAP!

If the ravens returned before he left, then all of his shamelessness would be displayed out in the wide open for everyone to see.

The old man would definitely kill him or even cripple him for being heartless enough to use small children in his scheme.

The excuse that nothing would have happened to them either way wouldn't probably work on him. So Liam did not look back and continued fleeing.

Only after reaching a safe distance, he let out a small sigh of relief.

But he still did not have complete peace of mind. "DIE DIE DIE DIE" Gorak's ghost taunted him with the usual chanting that echoed in his brain.

"SHUT UP!" Liam annoyedly cursed and flipped open his system interface. He opened the recipe list and his gaze soon landed on the newest addition.

"Greater Body Cleansing Potion."

"Huuuu… I finally got it." Liam collapsed on Luna's back breathing in and out as he tried to understand the recipe and the process.

He had some of the ingredients but the others… he needed to search for them.

There was also the matter of the ravens. Even Liam did not know when the next attack was going to be. He needed to deal with them soon or things could go haywire.

He thought about it for a second when another loud roar erupted in his head. "DIE! DIE! DIE!" It was Gorak's soul again, trying to wreak havoc on his mind.

"This guy is annoying me even in his death. Fuck!"

Liam clutched his head which was throbbing in pain. The birds can wait. He needed to exorcise this damned ghost first. Among the two evils, this idiot's undead soul was the greater evil.

"Wait till I finish this potion. I will deal with you first." Liam fought back.

Compared to the first time, he was already able to deal with this mental attack a lot better, but it still hurt like hell.

Just as he was struggling with the ghost, a message from Mia suddenly flashed in front of him. "I have more information on the soul healing potion."

Chapter 408 - King Dante

"So soon?" Liam bolted to sit up straight and stare at the message.

Since Rey's life was on the line, he knew that the two sisters would definitely try their best but he did not expect that their best would be so impressive.

Liam paused for a moment, thought about his current situation, and then typed his reply. "I am on my way right now to Yleka city, if you are close by we can meet there."

"Ok, I will see you there." Mia quickly agreed.

Soon, Luna and Liam arrived at the city gates.

As the duo dived down to land, Liam hopped off his ride, and the huge fox effortlessly transformed into a harmless kitten like creature.

The two of them then hurriedly walked into the city almost as if they were running away from something which they were.

They did not wander anywhere and directly headed over to a local tavern and to a private booth on the upper floor of the tavern.

"Hey, I am here." Liam pushed open the door to find Mia sitting inside alone. The moment he saw her he knew that something was wrong.

The woman looked as beautiful as ever, calm, composed, and aloof.

In fact, she looked even more pure and angelic than her usual self which could only mean that she had also used the body cleansing solution.

But despite all of this, Liam could clearly see a hint of sadness in Mia's eyes. He had come here expecting good news or well at least some news, so what happened?

"What happened?" He asked calmly, sitting down in front of her, opposite to the side of the table she was on. "Did those two not spill out everything?"

Liam had the chance to listen to their conversation for a little while back at the graveyard so he already had some idea about their natures and characters.

The two were basically spineless cowards. It really shouldn't have taken a lot to break them? So what could have gone wrong?

"No, that's not it." Mia shook her head. "They actually… Alex only needed ten minutes with them and they told her everything."

"They folded in ten minutes?" Liam spat out the drink in his mouth in shock. That was way too fast! Just what did Alex do to them?

"Yes." Mia nodded. "We already have the information from them. We also know that it is one hundred percent true."

"How is that?"

"Alex had them sign the slave contracts." Mia took a sip from her drink and answered as a matter of fact.

Hearing this Liam once again spat out the drink in his mouth. "Slave contracts?" He asked again to confirm.

"Ummm. Yes." Mia nodded. There was faint blush in her cheeks as she did so because she herself realized the hypocrisy in her words.

The two of them had villanized Liam when he did the deed but now they were doing the same thing.

"He He." Liam grinned in amusement, unable to pass up the chance to tease the ice princess. Mia's cheeks became even redder, but she quickly cleared her throat and recovered.

"Like… Like I said, we got all the information but the thing is… it didn't lead anywhere. They don't know much about the soul healing potion."

"Hmmm…" Liam nodded. He expected as much. "What else did they tell?"

"The two are actually from one of the top guilds in the neighboring Kingdom, Sledge Hammer. They are officially not part of the guild."

"They were only recruited recently to spy on us. Paid them in cash irl for doing so." Mia explained.Sledge Hammer… hmmm…" Liam silently listened. He was indeed familiar with that name. It was one of the top guilds in his previous life time also.

Were they already popular enough for the top guilds to pay attention to?

"Go on." He nodded.

Mia shook her head. "That's it. That is literally all the information that we have."

"These two responded to the spies for hire notice and got recruited both for money and for the promise of soul healing potion."

"Of course, the guild only revealed the second reward for the more talented players."

"Eh? Are you sure they did not know anything else?"

"Yes, apparently the guild higher ups are very keen on keeping everything hush hush, under the wraps. Only very few people know about these soul healing potions."

Liam listened silently but he clearly did not look convinced. "Something doesn't add up. Did those two tell you anything about what the guild wants to find out from us?"

"Because if they are just two random spies why would they know the information about the soul healing potion. Just a monetary reward should be enough?"

"I think we are missing something."

Mia as well had the same doubt so she agreed with him.

"Is Alex with them right now? Can you ask them what they wanted to know from our guild?"

Mia nodded and opened her system interface to quickly send in the message.

And as soon as she did, within seconds, a reply popped up.

"They wanted to know about the details of the expert players in the guild, about you, about the spatial rift mission strategy, and about fire resistance potion."

"Ok." Liam mumbled but the next second, he suddenly realized a possibility. "About fire resistance potion?"

"Wait, can you ask who exactly recruited him?"

"Ok." Mia nodded and quickly sent another message. A second later, the reply for this one also chimed in. "Someone named Dante recruited him."

"Dante?" Liam's eyes widened in shock. This couldn't be a coincidence!

He was already extremely familiar with this name. In fact, everyone would be really soon.

This was Dante Russo, the Italian guy who would become the top alchemist in the entire world, also known as King Dante.

And he already had the recipe for the soul healing potion?

Now, everything made sense. Perhaps it was because of this potion that he managed to climb to the top of the ladder!