Liam and his friends continued their casual conversation. Soon, Fortune returned with a guilty expression. The others reassured her, telling her not to take it to heart.
Meanwhile Silver Blade studied everyone's faces, finding quite a few signs of fatigue. She proposed logging off for the day.
The friends discussed for a moment but eventually rejected her. There were still about two hours left until the game ended. They didn't want to waste so much time.
Coming to this conclusion the friends soon ended their break. Their eyes focused on the gate towards the next room.
But before they were allowed to pass, they had to deal with the two menacing crossbow-wielding golems guarding the gate.
"Tz. Not even a hammer guy. This will be e... mhph!"
Cyclone was about to make a confident declaration when Balm got a strange feeling. The healer quickly covered Cyclone's mouth with her hands, saying in a fearful voice:
"Don't jinx it!"
Cyclone tried to speak, pulling on Balm's hands and eventually managing to move them:
"Mhhph... whmo... I don't jinx anything. I'm only raising morale!"
Cyclone looked at Balm's fierce eyes and decided to give in:
"Ok, ok. I won't say anything. Satisfied?"
"Thanks!"
"Are you done?", asked Silver Blade.
The tank was ready to go but had to wait for her two friends to finish their antics. Finally, they both nodded, and Silver Blade and Radiant Shield rushed towards the enemies.
Once more the party had to battle against the crossbow-wielding golems. Despite the familiarity they struggled quite a bit. After a full day in the dungeon, they found it hard to focus.
Especially when the golems shot their bolts at high speeds, they hit their targets almost every single time. The bolts which missed because the party anticipated them in advance were but an exception. Even more so than during the first time the party faced this type of golem.
Eventually the party won the fight but not without casualties. Silent Acacia was unfortunately sent back to the dungeon entrance as the two enemies targeted the hunter and his pet on one occasion. Forced to split his concentration Silent Acacia managed to save Zorn but not himself.
After the golems fell Liam and his friends stared at the large gate adorned with images of dwarf creating mighty weapons. But they didn't push it open.
The friends tacitly agreed that they would continue the dungeon tomorrow. A relaxing atmosphere spread helping their tense minds to calm down. The friends spent the rest of the time conversing.
The topic was mostly about the central star system. Silent Acacia and Quickstep began talking about the gaming scene there. The young hunter had a reminiscent expression as if he was some eighty-year-old retiree as he spoke:
"Back then I thought I was the best. After school I played tournaments and won them all. My parents were very supportive and helped me transfer to a school focused on gaming."
"I'm jealous...", sighed Cyclone, causing others to smile wryly.
"Are such schools common?", asked Liam curiously.
"In the central system and surrounding planets, they are not rare. I'm not sure about elsewhere.", answered Silent Acacia.
"Specialized schools for sports, music, arts, etc. are pretty common I'd say. But they are not cheap. My parents had to work hard to finance my tuition.", added Quickstep.
"I guess you went to the same school as Acacia?", asked Silver Blade.
"Yes. That's where we met. When Silent Acacia joined, I was immediately impressed by his talent."
"And I was amazed by Quickstep's work ethic even as a young girl. Later I understood that this attitude comes from her wish of not letting down her parents, which made me only admire her more."
Silent Acacia and Quickstep went silent for a moment, looking deeply at each other. After a second Radiant Shield already felt it difficult to endure, coughing faintly.
Silent Acacia threw him an annoyed glance but continued talking:
"After turning sixteen Quickstep was first scouted by TCTT and joined them."
"I first had my apprehensions as TCTT doesn't have the best reputation. But the school recommended them, so I decided to join."
Silver Blade frowned, nodding thoughtfully:
"Are there some shady dealings going on?"
Quickstep sighed:
"Yes. After things started going downhill, I did some research and figured out that Traunim Cars & Transportation not only owns TCTT but is also a big sponsor for the school..."
"It's almost like their private training facility.", said Silent Acacia with a disgusted expression.
"Despicable."
"Shameless!"
"Corruption."
Reading on Acacia's and Quickstep's faces how much they were regretting their decision in hindsight, the others were angry on their friends' behalf.
"Well, they never forced us to join the team, but you naturally have a certain trust towards the teachers who took care of you for years.", explained Quickstep.
Cyclone sighed with a complicated expression:
"I also liked following the news about you guys despite the difficulty of doing so on Falva Star. I admired you so much. Especially when Silent Acacia joined later, and it became apparent that you are a couple I wished I was in your place."
"After joining TCTT I also thought I would succeed in life from then on. In the same team with my girlfriend and other talented players, I thought nothing could stop us.
But unfortunately... the pressure..."
Silent Acacia clearly found it difficult to talk about. The friends reassured him, telling him that there was no need to continue.
The story was quite well known after all. Doing a brief research, one would find out the gist of it. After joining, Silent Acacia found it difficult to cope with the pressure and his performance worsened.
Quickstep began to argue with the team management which also affected her game. The management called her ungrateful, arguing that this was a violation of the contract and withheld payments.
Eventually Silent Acacia and Quickstep were kicked off the team. This was where the story ended for most people.
Only their friends back home and now on Falva Star knew that there was more to it. The pressure Silent Acacia struggled with was not only external but also caused by the unreasonable team management.
Quickstep considered legal steps for the withheld payment but so far, she held back since it was too difficult and costly to sue a behemoth like TCTT.
Afterwards the couple decided to go on an extended vacation far from the central star system to relax for a bit. But who could have thought that during this time Fate of Crunaboul would launch?
At first, they were somewhat panicked thinking that there was no way to make a comeback in the gaming scene. But luckily, they met Liam and the rest of the team, which allowed Silent Acacia and Quickstep to see hope.
As the mood was a bit down, Cyclone changed the topic from the past to the future, dreaming about how their party would definitely be famous throughout the federation.
The friends chimed in for a few minutes until the game went offline. When Liam returned to the real world, he could only sigh.
He had always known that he was privileged but he never realized just how smooth his past life was. Born into an extremely rich family and blessed with talent he never had to struggle. Every team he joined would do their utmost to cater to his needs. Who would dare to offend him?
But in this life, it was different. There was still the looming threat of Brayan Colville and his father who might come up with new sinister tactics to block his progress. He would like to deal with them but there was no good opportunity.
The best tactic would be to kill Star Gazer in the game until all his revives are used up. But when would he get a chance to do so?
Liam shook his head getting rid of those thoughts. Instead of revenge he preferred keeping his lead in the game. This was his foundation. As long as he remained at the top, he would one day become unshakable.
The veteran kept this mindset as he logged into the game the next day. His friends appeared one by one, all looking well rested.
"Ready guys?", asked Cyclone while swiping her eyes around.
"Of course."
"Let's go."
"Rarf!"
Silent Acacia turned towards Fellfell, patting the dog on the head. It looked at him with urgency in its eyes barking at the gate.
"You want to find those farmhands, hm? Good boy. Do we still need to go deeper into the dungeon?"
"Rarf!"
"Ok. Be careful. You better hide well before the next fight."
"Rarf!"
Everyone grinned at the cute doggo. Finally, the tanks took the lead and pushed open the door. A familiar sight came into view.
The next room was an extremely large smithy. At the centre stood a tall, circular furnace. It had multiple openings which could be used to heat up metal. Boiling lava could vaguely be seen, used to fuel the furnace.
The rest of the room was sparsely filled with multiple workstations containing various tools and anvils.