"What!" Alex instantly went into rage mode. She couldn't believe what she was hearing. "What do you mean ignore the shops and garrison? Do you know how much I worked for that?"
"Do you know how much time I spent on cleansing your stupid lands so that we can finish that kingdom quest and get our stupid guild residence lease and those shop spots?"
"And now you are asking me to ignore it? Hey!"
Liam raised his hand to stop her first. "Calm down. Calm down and listen to me."
"Hmph."
"I asked you to do that before when the teleportation portals were not open yet, but now they are open. There are a lot more important things to do."
"Oh?" Now the hot redhead became curious and she silently listened.
"The teleportation portals are not the important factor here, the most important thing is the Empire," Liam explained. "Generally, it is not too easy to enter the Empire. They will not let people from other kingdoms waltz in just like that. However…"
"Huh?"
"Our guild is S ranked. Others don't know this yet but S-Rank guild members with enough guild reputation points have a free pass to the Empire. That means everyone at the Core level and High-Council Level should be able to walk in and out freely."
Alex nodded, "Ok. I got it. So we will go to the four Empires before other players and try to get some quests, special items, and maybe more shop slots. We also have a lot of gold coins. So if there is an auction house there, maybe we can find some good items."
Seeing the girl hurriedly list out one goal after another, Liam sighed. Too bad, he had to once again say 'No' to her.
"Nope. You will be doing none of that."
"Ah…"
Liam sighed. His expression turned serious as he continued, "Listen carefully, we are now in the late stages of the game. There are probably 20 or weeks left in this game. Though we would have double this time inside the game, it is still never enough."
"Are you sure?" Alex felt a little panic rising.
"Unfortunately, yes." Liam did not want to sugarcoat it. This was the hard truth, and as for the future after that… "Anyways," he continued, "we need to use these last few weeks as best as we can."
"Items, gold coins, potions, bombs, and so on, all these are useless. When the game ends there will be a hard reset. We will not be able to take any of these things with us. So you should focus now only on yourself and your skills."
"Start with using the body cleansing elixir in the guild vault. Ask everyone who touched Level 50 to use it, but don't form the mana core immediately."
Liam knew that none of them knew how to form a mana core, but still, it had to be said.
"First, head to the Empire, any of the four Empires, and talk to the instructors in the class hall. These guys are different than the NPCs in the kingdoms. The class hall NPCs in the Empires are the real deal."
"If you visit them after taking the body cleansing elixir, all of you will be able to get some personal, one on one training. This will make sure that you guys form the best mana core possible."
If it was just mana core, Liam would have taken the time to teach everyone himself, but there was also the other important thing.
"They will also teach you mana rotation and other class-specific tricks. This is important. Many of you still can't instantly cast skills without the system's help. In these 20 weeks, you have to learn how to do this. This is it. There is no more time left."
Alex seriously nodded, gripping her shirt. Liam was correct. Unlike Mia, she was not in that position just yet. She remained silent for a moment and then confidently declared.
"Ok, I will get it done."
Liam smiled. He raised his hand and patted the redhead on her shoulder. "I know you will. Good luck. If you want to test out your newly acquired skills, I would recommend the 'Underground Arena'. All empires have this. Best place to train and improve your skills."
"I also heard a rumor that if you have enough points in the arena, you can claim a treasure from the Emperor, and there is a chance to get a soul weapon. Something like my black dragon sword."
Liam then filled her in on a few more details and prepared to leave when he suddenly remembered that he had almost forgotten something important. "The nether realm should soon close. So if you guys want to do one last raid, this is a good time."
"Huh? You don't know?" Alex furrowed her brows.
"Know what?"
"The nether realm is already closed. The divine temple personally led its elite group to the last space tear and completely drove away the demons and closed the tear as well. This was Mia's special quest."
"What? When did this happen?" Liam was shocked. Now it was his turn to be confused. He probably did not get the announcement since he was in the elf kingdom and was cut off.
Technically, this shouldn't happen for at least two or three more weeks, but this was already accomplished!
More importantly, the divine temple won again!
He had handed out body-cleansing elixirs left and right, leaked the battle strategy, and completely wrecked havoc, and yet the divine temple still managed to regain the upper hand.
This was proof of how powerful they were. To Liam, this particularly mattered as they were his biggest weakness.
"Ok." He sighed. "So Mia is still not back? Her contact is still off?"
"Yes." Alex answered, looking a little worried.
But Liam was not as worried. This was a completely different situation when compared to Derek's. "She is probably in a special place for divine affinity players just like I am in the elf Kingdom." He consoled her.
"Ok, then I will log back into the game. You won't be able to contact me either. So good luck. Be patient." Liam waved his hand as he walked back to his room.
"I know. I know." Alex grumbled in response as she also went back to her room where her game capsule was there. Since Liam had stuffed so much information in her head, she had already gone into serious mode and started planning out her day.
Liam also had a lot of things on his mind as he got back into the game. He also needed to decide what to do next. The last thing that happened was the old elf suddenly put the brakes on his training and kicked him out of the time-space barrier.
His exact words were… "Get lost and don't come back here again."
Liam had no problem complying with this directive because he, too, was tired of dealing with the elves. The only problem was that he still needed some of his questions answered.
The last time he logged out, he had logged out right outside the old elf's residence, so when he logged back in, he found himself at the same spot.
The place was just as deserted as it used to be, with no one walking around. A couple of seconds later, a fox ran toward him from the big gate, grinning ear to ear.
"Masta! I am here!" The cute fox shook her three tails as she instantly pounced on top of him without wasting any time.
Liam chuckled and patted her. However, his gaze was already fixated on the gate because after this fox, probably…
Bingo!
Just like he expected, a big hulking elf was also walking toward him, shortly after the fox ran out. He knew that the guy would at least come to say goodbye to Luna.
"Master." Liam bowed, and surprisingly, the old elf did not scold him for that. However, he did scold him for a different reason.
"You log out and slack off every single chance you get! How irresponsible!"
Liam bitterly smiled. Yes, yes, it is my bad that my mental strength is not as good as yours. He inwardly scowled but didn't dare to say it out loud. He had other better things to ask.
"What are you doing here? Did I not ask you to leave?"
"Yes, yes, I am leaving now, Master. I just wanted to ask you one thing before leaving." Liam politely bowed.
"Hmmm?"
"Could you please tell me what this is?" He stepped forward to hand over a dungeon crystal to the old elf.
To his surprise, the guy immediately looked shocked. "Why do you have this?" He asked, his eyes visibly bulging.
"I found it?"
"Hmmm…" The elf gave a stern glance to Liam and stared at the dungeon crystal in his hand for a couple of seconds.
He then unexpectedly looked up at Liam once again and tossed the crystal right at his face. "This is useless. Throw it."
The heck?! Liam was utterly speechless. However, he silently picked up the dungeon crystal and put it back into his inventory. Now he took out the other crystal, the one that he had obtained from the PVP tower.
