After a bumpy start the flight finally stabilized. The party's hearts calmed as they discussed the spectacular fight in low voices.
Only two of them didn't participate. Radiant Shield held onto the saddle for dear life, refusing to open his eyes, while Cyclone stared indignantly at the NPCs.
If Seytor and Repha would've been stronger, Mehphre wouldn't have escaped, and Cyclone would have been able to loot the boss.
But now...
Liam guessed her thoughts as he asked her a question:
"Thinking about Mehphre?"
"Hmpf. That cowardly half-dragon! Ran away with my... our loot!", scoffed Cyclone.
"Well, if we want the loot, we have to get it ourselves."
Cyclone's eyes slowly lit up:
"Do you have a way, expert?"
"Yes. Mehphre doesn't only appear during this quest, but also as a world boss. We can gather the guild and slay him."
"Good! Let us punish that half-dragon. I will gather everyone!"
Liam was startled, quickly waving his hands.
"Wait, wait. We can't fight yet. Let's wait until the average level reaches about 43."
"Oh..."
Cyclone's body slumped unhappily somehow feeling even more indignant, causing Liam to smile guiltily.
But as the party enjoyed the flight Cyclone's mood also improved slowly, participating in the conversations. The friends began talking about their gaming house, envisioning all kinds of facilities. From a pool to a pool table, to table tennis, to a tennis court...
Eventually it was Silver Blade who had to reign them in, explaining what was realistic and what wasn't.
Luckily the friends were only fantasizing. Everyone understood that their foundation lay in the game. Even after moving to a gaming house, they wouldn't have much time for other activities. Even the little free time they had would be used for training.
Soon the discussion stopped as Little Blue landed in Lenaon City where the other dreagles were already waiting for them. Under Seytor's lead the entire group gathered in the Black Hand's hideout.
The dwarf jumped on a counter, overlooking the crowd. He announced with a boisterous laugh:
"Brothers and Sisters! Once again, we, the Black Hand, brought freedom to the oppressed! Taragal's tyranny is broken, the innocent citizens liberated! Even if he escapes the adjutant that b*stard won't be able to settle anywhere!
Freedom triumphs! For Freedom!"
"Freedom triumphs! For Freedom!"
Chaotic cheers broke out among the Black Hand members. They raised their glasses high, hugging each other, some spontaneously beginning to dance and sing. It was obvious that they considered freeing Taragal's islands as a grand accomplishment.
Even the party members were influenced, smiling faintly as Seytor approached them.
"Adventurers! We couldn't have done this without you! Let me thank you in the name of the Black Hand. You have truly earned your rewards!"
Finally, a long awaited message appeared before everyone.
[
[Evaluation: A]
[Receive 3100EXP]
[Receive Token of the Black Hand]
[Receive 1200 Relationship with 'Black Hand']
[Receive -500 Relationship with 'Ancient Contract']
[Choose one out of three items]
[A big win for the Black Hand. Hopefully the innocent citizens can recover from the horror they lived through. For freedom!]
[Congratulations! Your relationship with the Black Hand has passed 1000 points. Their view of you has changed to 'friendly'!]
The rewards were incredibly generous, compensating for the missed loot through Mehphre's escape, overwhelming the party.
Gaining so much EXP some of the members directly reached level 30 while others came close depending on how many enemies they fought on the island.
Additionally, they all gained some useful items- Although those were only of uncommon quality, they were close to the top among them, generally an upgrade to what the party used currently.
Yet what made the friends most curious was the change in relationship. Met with questioning gazes Liam wasn't stingy to explain the benefits.
He began with explaining the different relationship statuses. Hatred-hostile-unfriendly-neutral-friendly-ally-revered, these dictated how a faction interacted with you.
By helping the Black Hand, the party reached a friendly relationship but antagonized the Ancient Contract, which was a faction among nephilim backing Taragal.
Factions belonging to the overall Order faction generally were neutral or friendly to all Order players. Only if there were small grievances between races might they cause small troubles to the players, which was why Liam earlier accepted a quest, which allowed him to move more freely through the elven territory.
However, such likes and dislikes were only minor issues and didn't represent a real change in relationship. Those came with more tangible consequences.
Now that the party was viewed as friendly by the Black Hand, they were offered exclusive quests and could trade with the faction's merchants.
Seytor also immediately offered them an invitation:
"Adventurers, in the name of the Black Hand I have to say we would gladly work together with you in the future. Come, let me show you something."
Although the dwarf's voice was loud it was barely enough to reach everyone's ears. Only when he turned around did everyone stop thinking about the rewards and follow him.
They pushed a way through the crowd, approaching an inconspicuous door. When the door closed behind their backs the noise still wasn't fully canceled, but at least they could hold a normal conversation now.
Liam and his friends found themselves in a hallway leading to multiple rooms. Seytor showed them around, introducing everything to them. Most of the rooms looked like small shops or only some stockpiles manned by one or two people who were willing to trade with the party.
The party members were curious to look around, but Seytor didn't stop. His target was a room at the back. It was more spacious, accommodating several people. They were writing from time to time, recording information gathered by the organization's spies.
The walls were filled with plans of all kinds as were the tables.
Seytor stopped before a wall at the rear, addressing the party:
"Adventurers, this is the room where we forge our plans. Our members outside collect information, sending it here. Everything you see on this wall are places where someone's freedom is oppressed."
Seytor sighed, sounding genuinely sad. Radiant Shield scanned the wall, feeling a heavy weight on his shoulder. His heart screamed at him to free all these poor people.
Meanwhile Seytor continued:
"We at the Black Hand don't have strict responsibilities. But if you feel like it, we would appreciate it if you cleared some of the tasks here. Of course you won't need to work without rewards."
After saying his fill the dwarf nodded and returned to celebrate with the others.
The party was left behind, reading through the many papers, each one able to trigger a quest. They varied in complexity but with a friendly relationship the party had only limited access.
After reading for a few moments Silver Blade turned to Liam:
"Is this what we did the quest for?"
"Correct. Look for a quest called 'Kidnapped farmhands'."
"Kidnapped farmhands? Here, it should be this one.", said Silent Acacia, taking a piece of paper off the wall.
Immediate a message asked him if he wanted to accept the quest.
Liam threw a glance at the piece of paper and nodded, prompting Silent Acacia to accept and share the quest.
[Quest: Kidnapped farmhands
Step one: Meet your informant in Deep Bell City.]
"Expert, did you make a mistake? It's not even a story quest."
"No. The quest itself is not that important. But it will give us something we need to navigate the next dungeon. You will see."
"Ok..."
The others felt quite curious as well but since Liam didn't explain further, they could only wait.
Having accomplished everything they needed, the party subsequently left. Radiant Shield couldn't help himself and accepted a few more quests before following behind his friends.
No one cared much as they returned through the corridor. After pushing their way through the celebrating crowd, they finally left the Black Hand's layout, greedily taking in the fresh air.
Once outside Cyclone and Balm urged everyone to head for the dungeon but Liam still wanted to prepare something.
Guaranteeing that the item he was about to get would make the dungeon easier the two guild leaders could only accept it.
Thus, the party split up again. Those not yet level 30 went to farm EXP while the others did some quests for NPC they might invite to the guild later.
The other guild members didn't remain idle either. Dream Avenue was getting more and more lively. After their alchemist workshop and smithy were completed the non-core members put in some work and managed to invite an intermediate alchemist as well as blacksmith.
These NPCs not only provided some smaller benefits for guild- and territory wars, they also offered recipes to learn while simultaneously putting out some products.
Thus, it wasn't only players focused on professions but also some curious warriors who would occasionally spend some time crafting items, which were mostly sold in the guild's shop.
Balm was glad to see this as she returned to the alchemy workshop to refine her craft.