A few hours later…
"Sis Yue, what do you think my brother is making inside?" Mei Mei curiously asked.
Shen Yue shook her head, making her long black curls dance in the wind. "I have no idea."
The two of them had been observing the cave for a while.
They knew that Liam was inside because Derek was standing guard outside and they had also seen him going in or rather running in.
But the thing was… after that he hadn't stepped out for hours together. Occasionally, there were loud blast noises and smoke coming out of the cave.
Sometimes even Luna bolted out from inside looking pitch black in color and coughing up ash and dust but Liam was completely holed up. There was not even a peep from him.
"Grinding in the same spot… it's not boring but I wish I could fight something stronger." Mei Mei mumbled and then turned around nevertheless to continue doing the same.
Shen Yue as well went back to the grind. And just like that… another few hours passed.
However, all of a sudden, a huge explosion resounded loudly in the forest, thick smoke and debris blasting out of the cave.
The blast rocked the whole place. Several cracks appeared in the cave, and the whole place looked like it was about to collapse.
Everyone became shocked and quickly rushed back to see what happened. The cave as well started crumbling, Liam and Luna rushing out at the last minute.
"Ahhh. Boss, are you okay?"
"Brother, what happened?"
Mei Mei and the others looked at Liam worriedly because the man in front of them right now looked completely different than his usual self.
He was gaunt, lifeless, drooping and might as well be a sack of skin and bones. Even a heavy wind might blow him right off.
Just what the hell happened inside the cave?
Naturally, Liam understood everyone's shock. However, he would not explain his actions.
The recipe was definitely time consuming and difficult, perhaps even impossible for him to fully comprehend, but it somehow needed to be done.
This time there was simply no other way around it. Without this, their foundation would remain forever shaky. They would also never amount to anything.
In 'Evolution Online' or even in the new world, the higher one grew, they also simultaneously trapped themselves and reduced their potential.
After a certain point, there would be no more potential left and they would not be able to grow any further.
And without this elixir, that bottleneck would arrive that much sooner. Liam was not ready to accept this. He did not want to waste this glorious second chance he received.
If he did, there wouldn't be a greater fool than him!
No matter what happened, he was going to make this damned recipe work.
Liam was too tired to talk and flopped onto Luna's back. "You guys continue. I need some rest."
He hadn't given up just yet. He was going to go back to banging his head on the wall right after he got some rest, but the problem was… he was no longer sure if he would be able to do it.
This was not a simple matter of controlling or manipulating mana. He also had all the herbs that he needed.
However, he was no closer to figuring out what this recipe needed or what mistake he was making.
Perhaps it was missing something. That was why the beggar said that he was never able to make it.
And just like him, would he also not be able to make it? Liam couldn't help but become anxious.
If it was hard work that it needed, he was ready and willing to commit, but sometimes there was such a thing as genius. Something above and beyond hard work.
Maybe he would never be able to do it?
"No, I should not think like that," Liam muttered under his breath and covered his eyes. He decided to rest for a bit, so while the others continued to grind monsters, he took a small nap.
"Ummm… Liam, are you awake?" After some time, Shen Yue walked over to him.
"Hey." Liam yawned.
"Umm… I made something for you." Shen Yue extended her slender hand forward to reveal two nicely roasted meatballs.
She blushed slightly and explained. "These will help with your-"
Unfortunately, before she could finish her sentence, a white paw beat her to it and grabbed the two meatballs.
Munch. Munch. Munch. Luna happily grinned, savoring the taste of the good food. The white fox did not show the slightest hint of remorse for behaving so shamelessly.
Shen Yue was speechless. "Ah… never mind." She bitterly smiled and decided to head back, not knowing what else to do.
Those two were the only items she prepared. They had extremely high recovery properties, so she wanted to give them to Liam, but now it was gone.
Liam as well was lost for words. He shook his head helplessly and chuckled.
"Thank you for the meatballs, but you didn't have to. I already ate a few berries. They are as good as anything else."
"Right." Shen Yue nodded. She also knew that, but it wouldn't be good just to eat berries all the time.
Anyone would want to eat something tastier once in a while, which was why she had made it for him but this fox!
"I will make some again." She turned around to leave. However, Liam quickly pulled her back.
"Forget about that. Let's spar for a bit." Now that he had somewhat recovered and he didn't want to go back to alchemy so soon, he decided to practice the illusionary sword technique a little bit.
He chose Shen Yue particularly to do this because if she also managed to learn something from him, then it would greatly benefit her.
Illusionary Sword was a technique that would go extremely well with her class Enchantress.
"Take out your daggers." Liam as well unsheathed his self-made purple sword. A few people noticed this, and the group started gathering around.
The big boss was going to spar, so they did not want to miss this!
"Sis Yue! You got this!" Mei Mei cheered for her.
Shen Yue, on the other hand, was trembling from top to bottom. She was not at all ready for this!
All she wanted to do was give some snacks to the guy, and now he was going to fight with her?
Oh god! He is going to see how much I suck! Shen Yue rubbed her sweaty palms on her robes.
"What? Shouldn't an enchantress be bolder?" Liam did not give her any chance to compose herself and started making the first move.
He unsheathed his sword and dashed forward, not holding back in the slightest.
Shen Yue blinked in a daze, and by the time she snapped out of her trance, she was already pushed back, and a heavy wound appeared on her waist, blood trickling from the wound.
With just one hit, she was already down half her health and was also under the bleed effect, which meant that she was going to lose her health faster.
And she knew that Liam was not going all out. In fact, he was far from going all out.
"So weak… Tsk. Tsk." Liam smirked, speaking out loud the thoughts in her mind. "Are you just planning to be a weak little girl forever?" He continued taunting her.
Though he was making fun of her, no one standing around them dared to laugh even a little because they had all personally witnessed Shen Yue's strength.
She might be weak when fighting against Liam, but that did not mean that she was weak against all of them.
Even Mei Mei did not say anything. Her brother probably had a reason for doing this, but she only wished that he wouldn't go too far.
Unfortunately, it looked like Liam planned to do exactly that…
"Get up and shake your hips. Maybe then you can charm your way out of this battle? Heh. All women know is only that, right? Either use their body or their tears?"
He did not stop talking and dashed forward again, once again striking the woman at the same spot where she was wounded before.
It was a vicious attack. Shen Yue looked completely stunned. She did not know why Liam was being so cruel to her, but she did not have time to think about that right now.
Everything he said was true. She was very weak. She weakly made an attempt to block his attack, only to get slammed onto the ground several feet away.
There was a puddle of black rain on that spot, and Shen Yue was completely drenched in the filthy puddle water from top to bottom.
"For an enchantress, you look a bit ugly. Heh." Liam chuckled.
"Maybe Mia or Alex would have done better than you with your class. I mean… both of them look much better than you."
His words sounded loud and clear as he dashed forward to attack the girl once again.
He still looked calm as if he was simply going about his business, but everyone else had a grave expression.
Liam had gone too far! They all knew it! Mei Mei silently lit a candle for her brother. He was going to pay for this. They could all see it from the look on her face.
Shen Yue's face considerably darkened. Something about her changed like a switch flipped, and she moved to dodge this attack.
"That's more like it. Now, let's go." Liam grinned.
