Re: Evolution Online

After leaving the magic shop, Liam, Rey, and Deming arrived at the new base hitching a ride with the big white fox, who hummed happily as she was no longer away from Liam.

She blurred through the evening sky, only taking a few minutes to reach the destination. 

And when they arrived, the entire place was alive for obvious reasons.

"Bro, it looks like everyone received the notification about the war." Rey smiled bitterly.

"Ughh. I will try to do some damage control on our end." Lan Deming scratched his head, feeling a little embarrassed. 

Their side had far more civilians than the others, and also, everything was quite new to them, so they were in complete and utter disarray, scared about the impending war.

Many did not even understand what this meant and the ramifications of something like this. They had seen the notification about the war and naturally jumped to the only conclusion.

Though the world had visibly changed from all angles, it was still difficult for many people to digest something like this.

Liam did not blame them. He also did not bother preparing any inspiring and rousing speeches to motivate the masses. From the beginning, that had never been his aim.

These people were far too weak, and it was far too soon for them for something like this to happen.

Before Rey or Deming could talk to anyone, Liam walked right into the centre of the crowded street where everyone had assembled as if they were preparing for a procession.

He looked at the group and calmly spoke to them. "This is not your fight. No one has to participate. Ignore the notification and carry on with your daily activities."

Silence~

Everyone blankly stared at each other's faces as they were once again shocked and confused. However, as Liam's words started to sink into them finally, they were more relieved than confused.

So they did not have to participate in the war?

Liam did not say anything else and silently walked into the house that he had picked. The crowd as well dispersed.

However, not everyone was happy with his decision.

Rey, Deming, Alex, Shen Yue, Mei Mei and the whole group of main Crimson Abyss guild members walked into the same house, quickly following Liam.

"Guild leader, we cannot agree with this decision. We know that you do not require our help, but we would still like to participate." Shin Soo spoke first.

"Liam, you cannot stop me from joining." Alex placed her hands on her hips and declared.

"Brother, see, I also reached Level 20. I won't be useless. I will also stand and fight with you." Mei Mei gripped the sides of the pant she was wearing.

Shen Yue stood silently, but she was also clearly unwilling to let Liam take this challenge by himself. A few more people spoke and expressed their disagreement. Even Lan Deming and Lan Fen were in this group.

However, Liam remained oddly silent. After listening to the forty or so displeased with his decision, he only smiled. 

A couple of seconds of awkward silence ensued, after which he stood up from the couch with a chuckle.

"There is a reason behind every single one of my decisions. If we all get dragged into the war, who will stand guard by the base?"

Ah! Everyone nodded in realization. They had become too hot-headed because of this sudden declaration of the challenge, so they hadn't yet thought about everything calmly.

And now that Liam mentioned it, they could see the reasoning behind his decision. Unlike them, he had acted after thinking clearly.

However, just as this thought ran across their minds, Liam once again opened his mouth and added. "Also, you guys do know that you are too weak to be of any help to me, right?"

"With what confidence are you offering me this support?" He started laughing.

Everyone became a little embarrassed as they awkwardly looked away. No one had any rebuttals for this statement, but thankfully, Liam did not dwell on it.

He once again laughed and continued, "While it is true that you are not strong enough yet, you have all done a good job of reaching Level 20 without the help of any crutches."

"How did it feel? Did you get a good understanding of mana?"

Everyone nodded silently.

"Mana energy is the same here as it was back in the tutorial world, but it was easier to sense there because of the skills and the system's help. Here it's just a bit difficult."

Just a bit? Many people bit their lips at this remark as they continued to listen.

Liam smiled. "I know it's difficult, but once you succeed in sensing mana and using it as a part of yourself, it is permanently yours. No one can take it from you anymore."

"This is not the tutorial. This is the real world. Try to learn as much as you can and improve as fast as you can. Don't worry about small things like this war."

"And that brings us to the next topic. Since many of you are already at Level 20, today you will be getting your weapons of choice and armour."

Liam then started taking out several items from his spatial artifact one after the other, piling all of them up on the ground. 

These were the top guild vault weapons that Shen Yue had gathered, and the little rabbit had snuck in at the last moment. So there were many high-grade weapons, including epic-grade ones.

Of course, in this list, there were also a pair of daggers and an emerald crown. These two outshone the rest of the equipment and were clearly in a league of their own.

And everyone as well knew exactly what they were. 

Legendary items!

Items that were incomparably powerful!

Several gasps echoed in the hall as Mei Mei immediately rushed forward and claimed her beloved crown. 

When Liam mentioned earlier that he had it, she did not dare believe it, but now the familiar sparkling item was right in front of her eyes!

"That's mine!"

***

Bonus Chapter~

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