The moment Liam completed the pattern, it instantly lit up in a magical golden colour like the first light of the morning. Then it slowly seeped into the armor and disappeared. Only the gemstones remained, gaining an additional sparkling lustre.
"Is it done?", asked Serena carefully.
"It's done."
"Let me see! How strong is it?"
"Wait a moment. I need to confirm it with C."
As he spoke, a notification appeared in front of Liam's eyes, asking him if he wanted to hand the product in for evaluation.
Liam accepted without hesitation. The notification quickly changed.
[Produced: Chest of the dark draconian
Quality: 5,0 Stars
For more information refer to the item's description
Reward: 1520 EXP; 340 EXP for profession blacksmith]
Liam felt immensely fulfilled as the armor received a five-star quality rating. All the items he produced so far were only to quickly increase his profession EXP. Thus, he never put his heart into it.
Only this time did he go all out, reaching the coveted five-star rating. But the notifications didn't stop there.
[Accomplished achievement: Five-star craftsman]
[Received title: Product of desire]
[Effect: When crafting an item of 4- or 4,5-star quality you have a 2% chance to elevate the item by one level.]
[You have proven your skills by creating a five-star product. Now even if you fall short, your experience can help you make up for certain flaws.]
[Congratulations! You profession blacksmith increases from beginner to intermediate!]
[Please consult your status for more information.]
Liam smiled brightly as he finally achieved his aim. Seeing him like this Serena thought that he was happy about the item's quality, asking curiously:
"Liam? How is it? Did it reach five stars?"
"What? Oh, yes it did!"
"Great! Did you get the Five-star craftsman achievement?"
Liam eyed his sister with some surprise:
"You know about Five-star craftsman?"
"Hey, are you looking down on me? Of course, I know the achievement! I got it easily!"
Liam chuckled as Serena stuck out her chest proudly. He could see that this really meant something to his sister, so he didn't hold back with praising her:
"Wow, I guess you beat me then. You are about to become a star chef! Amazing!"
Serena grinned from ear to ear, feeling greatly motivated to advance her professions. She not only wanted to reach the highest rank as a chef, but in every profession possible.
Luckily Liam didn't know her thoughts, or he would be concerned that reality might crush his sister's dreams. Reaching the top in a single profession is often more difficult than reaching the top as a fighter. And reaching the top in multiple professions might as well be impossible.
However, since Serena didn't know this, she didn't think more about it and directed her attention back to the armor crafted by her brother. Curiosity in her eyes, she asked Liam to share the item's description with her.
[Chest of the dark draconian
Category: Rare
Level requirement: 40
Physical Defence: +21
Magical Defence: +33
Intelligence: +7
Effect 1: Whenever you deal fire damage, deal an additional 15% as dark damage.
Effect 2: Gain an additional 15 points of magical restistance while in the air.
Skill: Dark Breath
Restrictions: Bound upon wearing
A chest plate forged from the scale of Mehphre, the dark draconian. Holds a hint of dragon might and the dark magic originating from one of Taragal's experiments. Its excellent quality brings out the full potential of this armor.]
Serena studied the information for a bit before glancing at Liam and stating with a nod:
"So powerful!"
Liam smiled noticing the hint of uncertainty in his sister's tone. He didn't expose her, though. He agreed while explaining:
"It's indeed powerful. Especially the magical defence is almost at the level of Silver Blade's armor. Yet it also has some effects to support damage dealers.
Only the second effect is quite awkward and more suitable for higher levels when everyone has flying mounts."
"Makes sense. So, what are you going to do with it? Do you want to wear it?"
"No. I'll put it in the guild treasury. But I already have someone in mind who should be interested."
"Who? No, wait! I want to figure it out myself!"
Serena wrinkled her forehead, tapping her chin with her finger. For a few seconds Liam watched his sister, curious if she would figure it out.
Suddenly her eyes lit up.
"I got it! It's Final Fend!"
Liam was surprised. As someone not interested in fights Serena could still make the connection, showing her intelligence.
"Ding, ding! We have a winner!"
"Yay! What is my price?"
"A price? Well, chose something yourself."
"Great! Then I want you to assist me in cooking now!"
Liam smile froze. He had already accepted that he had no talent in cooking. However, in order to make his sister happy he naturally couldn't say no.
Subsequently the siblings packed up and went towards the kitchen. Just as they arrived outside, they noticed that the other profession players had stopped watching the tournament, now preparing to make use of the double EXP.
Entering the kitchen, two others had already arrived. Hearing that Liam was here to spend time with Serena, they found it quite touching.
For the next few hours Liam joined the cooks in the kitchen, spending an enjoyable time.
Afterwards he and Serena decided to go back to watch the tournament as the first fights between players had begun.
They spent the rest of the day in the arena and even Serena was infected by the exciting atmosphere, joyfully watching the fights even if she had no desire to participate herself.
After a while the game went offline as usual and kicked all the players out.
Instantly a wave of news drowned out all forms of media. Business magazines analysed the game's advertisement effect. Tech magazines discussed the unbelievable achievement of integrating all the federation servers.
But the most excited were gaming journalists, who had so much to talk about they didn't even know where to start. All kinds of potential talents and dark horses were unearthed on the first day, their names entering the public eye for the first time.
Additionally, journalists had an unprecedented method to get information from all over the federation. Top players gladly gave interviews to everyone even remotely looking like a journalist, spreading their fame everywhere.
Even some of Dream Avenue's members couldn't escape. The most ostentatious of them all was Final Fend, who actively searched for journalists to bask in the attention. With every interview he gave, his words became more boastful until Silver Blade dragged him away to random arenas.
But just as Silver Blade thought she had prevented further damage, the journalists found the two Zen brothers. Those two kept to their typical arrogant manners, showing disdain for the entire competition.
Naturally their ostentatious words fuelled the journalists' fervour, drawing increasing attention.
Eventually a journalist found Cyclone and confronted her with the two brothers' statements. Cyclone didn't think much and easily agreed. Thus, her words now spread through the federation:
"Cyclone: Of course we will win!"
When her friends read the news, they were all shocked.
[Silver Blade: Couldn't you have been more diplomatic?]
[Cyclone: What's there to fear? We have our expert!]
Liam could only sigh as he read the messages. He sat next to Serena, who happily read through every piece of news she could find.
Especially her new favourite news site Red Branch, which continued to praise Dream Avenue, declaring them as local heroes.
Serena was certain that Red Branch had a discerning eye, being the only one to correctly estimate the guild's potential.
Liam, however, was sure that the news station noticed an influx of readers after Serena posted their article and was now simple catering to their new audience.
But Liam didn't argue and simply listened to Serena's excited voice together with Merida. Thus, the trio spent their evening together until it was time to go to bed.
Liam couldn't help but smile as he heard Serena giggling to herself in bed. Obviously, this was a great day for the young girl. She could spend a lot of time with her brother and her friends in the guild while following the exciting tournament.
Realizing this, Liam didn't regret exempting Serena from her private lessons for the duration of the tournament. Instead, her joy also increased his own appreciation for the tournament.
Darkness fell on Falva Star and was soon replaced by a warm morning glow. All kinds of animals woke up in the vast forests and colourful flowers bloomed everywhere on the planet.
But no one had time to appreciate the sights as the only topic remained the tournament.
After a while the game started, and countless players flocked towards Crunaboul.
Dream Avenue met in the arena where their qualification battle was set to begin in about an hour. One could see various emotions on everyone's faces. However, since it was only the qualification battle, the guild remained largely confident, even eager to show off their skills.