The fervour around Dream Avenue ebbed down after a while. Liam and his friends used the chance to follow Cyclone and Balm to another arena.
"Ahh, you're here!", greeted Cyclone, a hint of guilt in her voice. Balm stood next to her, smiling wryly.
While alone, the two friends had talked to each other, coming to the conclusion that running away was not a wise move. As guild leaders they had their responsibilities and dealing with fans and press was part of it.
Seeing them like this, the others didn't blame them. Only Fortune offered a suggestion:
"Maybe you should go through a media training. That's something which helped me a lot."
"Right, we had those too.", agreed Silent Acacia.
But Liam sounded sceptical as he said:
"You could do that, but I'm not a big fan of it. It kind of makes all your answers sound like from the same mould. I think you don't need to hide your personalities."
Hearing this, Fortune raised her brows, looking at Liam with a judging expression.
"Talk about hiding your personality. Isn't this completely what you have been doing just now?"
"That's different, I'm not interested in standing in the limelight. I'm only acting in the name of the guild."
"Are you hinting that I'm not acting in the guild's interest?"
"That's not what I said at all…"
Cyclone looked between Liam and Fortune. Although she realized they were only bickering without any real tension, she still felt strange. The young woman waved her hands in front of them, changing the topic:
"Ok, guys. I will think about it. Let's focus on the tournament now. Whose match is next?"
For a moment the friends looked at each other in silence.
"We have a match with Dream Avenue in a few hours. Nothing else should be before that, I guess. In the solo and team contest we are all in tier 1.", reasoned Silver Blade.
"Oh…"
Cyclone didn't know what to say. Her diversion from the topic seemed not to have worked out. Everyone glanced at each other. Suddenly they spontaneously broke out in laughter.
The strange mood was wiped away. The friends watched the tournament together until the next match of Dream Avenue began.
This time their opponent was supposedly stronger, having been ranked in tier 2 from the beginning. The arena was packed. While even more of Dream Avenue's fans came this time, the opponent boasted similar numbers, which created an extremely boisterous atmosphere.
Even the caster for the match was a somewhat famous retired pro gamer, causing even more excitement.
When the match begun the two guilds didn't show any sophisticated strategies. They ran at each other and bashed their opponents' heads in.
The audience jumped up from their seats. The battle was thrilling, exactly what everyone hoped to see. The caster was infected by the atmosphere, feeling his blood boil. He wished he could go down there and participate himself.
For a while it was difficult to determine a favourite but eventually Dream Avenue gained the edge. The guilds were on a similar level except for Liam and his friends, who soon managed to overpower their counterparts.
When Dream Avenue's opponent began to receive an increasingly dangerous number of casualties, the match shifted clearly in Dream Avenue's favour.
Eventually they firmly secured the victory, but it was far from decisive. They only had 48 members remaining. These matches can be quite volatile and if their opponent had prepared some trump card skill, they might've been able to clinch victory.
This fight was sort of a wake-up call for Dream Avenue. They realized that it wasn't without reason that C judged them to be a tier 2 guild.
After the match everyone stayed to take care of the fans. Most, however, left as soon as possible. They went out to train, hoping for some last-minute level up or lucky item drop.
"Everyone is working hard…", said Cyclone, quite gratified. Balm nodded, her expression firm.
"Guys. We mustn't slack off as well!"
"What do you want to do?"
"Mirage, do you think we can reach level 41 today?"
Liam pondered for a moment before nodding slowly.
"I'd say yes. After dealing with the world boss, we are not far off. With some effort we should be able to reach level 41."
"Then what are we waiting for?", asked Cyclone with balled fists.
Since no one had a reason to reject, the group soon left under Liam's lead, spending a whole day levelling. Silent Acacia and Quickstep each had to leave for a while as their own matches took place.
Their opponents were not weak, but the couple managed to emerge victorious. Both smiled brightly as the friends celebrated them upon their return.
Finally, towards the end of the day the party indeed managed to reach level 41, rewarding themselves for their efforts.
When the friends logged off, they were somewhat fatigued, but the action was not over for the day.
Cyclone asked her friends to help her with moving. Although she didn't need furniture, she had to pack all her clothes and other personal items. Naturally everyone agreed.
Thus, the entire group once again appeared in Cynthia's home. Her father, Constantin, and her mother were present as well. They behaved somewhat distant however, wearing conflicted expressions.
Cynthia's parents only gave some small reminders like when she almost forgot one of her favourite blankets which she had left in the living room.
Overall, the mood was not great, and the friends would rather hurry up.
But Cynthia just had so much stuff! As the minutes ticked by Cynthia didn't even dare to ask her friends if they could help her with getting the stuff from her secret home as well.
But on second thought Cynthia decided to keep the house a secret. It should remain her own little sanctuary although it was uncertain if she would need it again.
Eventually the friends were finally done packing. Everyone carried at least one large suitcase. This time there was no chance the entire group would fit into the elevator.
Thus, the awkward situation ensued where half of the friends went down, while the others could only remain in the hallway. Cynthia stood at the front, looked at her parents who remained a few steps away.
Holly seemed to struggle to keep her composure. She never imagined that her daughter would move out so suddenly and under these conditions.
Meanwhile, Constantin wore an unreadable face. He was still angry at Cynthai for lying to them.
"Take care. And… you can always come back if you need something."
Cynthai shook. It had been a while since she last heard such caring words from her mother. She tried not to show her emotions, answering in a mosquito's voice:
"I will."
Just then a crisp ring sounded as the elevator returned. Cynthia quickly turned around and pushed her friends in.
The door closed again.
Instantly Cynthia's façade broke. She let out a bitter weep. Seeing her like this, her friends also felt their throats sour. Silva and Mel stepped forward to hug her tightly.
Meanwhile, the others tried to cheer her up with words or patted her back.
When the elevator stopped and opened, the other half of the friend group found such a touching scene. They let out sighs. Everyone did their best to help Cynthia for a while.
"Thanks guys. I'm glad to have you!"
"We are glad to have you."
"Right!"
"Don't worry, just think of how much fun we will have after moving into the gaming house."
"Exactly!"
Their bond strengthened considerably as the friends hyped each other up, drawing beautiful pictures of the future.
Soon, they decided that it was time to leave. They entered their hover cars and drove towards the gaming house. They stopped in a vast parking garage.
Serena got off together with Liam. She held a single bag, pressing it tightly against her chest, muttering:
"So spooky…"
"I think so, too."
Liam had to agree as he looked around the dimly lit, nearly empty parking garage. There were no other cars here and only a few corners were lit. Shadowy silhouettes could be made out in some spots. Liam had to squint his eyes to recognize them as materials for the construction work.
"Guys, let's not stay here.", said Cyclone, her body shivering.
"I agree."
"The door is over there."
No one felt comfortable here, quickly heading for the door. Even Liam's security and Silva's driver decided to follow, not willing to stay in the spooky garage.
The group once again had to take multiple elevators, finally arriving on the fifth floor. Knowing that Cynthai would move in today, Miss Ellford had made sure that the floor was presentable.
A cozy light illuminated the hallway, pushing away everyone's uneasiness.
The friends felt relieved, entering Cynthia's flat. The young woman turned towards a console next to the door, using it to turn on all the lights, revealing a spacious flat, its style somewhat old-fashioned but comfortable.
Subsequently the friends helped Cynthia to unpack some of the more important stuff before talking for a bit and afterwards going home.
But at the last second Cynthai asked all the girls to stay overnight, as she wasn't comfortable with staying in the completely empty building alone.
Pestered by his sister Liam even allowed Serena to stay, and the girls did a spontaneous sleepover, laughing until late into the night.