Re: Evolution Online-Novel

"So he really left?" Alex frowned a little as she couldn't help but feel like a piece of baggage unloaded. 

However, her gaze then shifted to Mei Mei and Shen Yue, whom she knew for a fact mattered a lot more to Liam than she would ever mean. He had also left them behind just like he had left her. 

What was he thinking?

Wait, that didn't make her feel any better. She didn't want to get lumped in with the little sister of the girlfriend! She was neither of those! She was a strong paladin, for god's sake!

Just the thought of being left behind as if she was a weakling burned her soul. 

She clenched her fists and felt her blood boiling with her fiery temper flaring up, but before she could reach her boiling point, suddenly, something was shoved into her mouth.

Mhm?

She looked up at Rey in anger who was holding something sparkling in his hand, something like a gemstone. He was also munching something, with a drop of juice threatening to leak from the corner of his lips.

"Don't overthink like usual and eat this, sis. It's good stuff." He grinned like an oaf as he wiped his mouth and licked the same finger so as not to let anything get wasted.

Alex wanted to punch his face, but since her mouth was stuffed, she first ate whatever was in her mouth. In a second, a rich flavorful juice filled her mouth, dissolving and disappearing rapidly into her stomach.

Hmmm? The redhead's eyes then widened in shock as she stared at an unbelievable notification that popped out of nowhere.

<Ding. You have gained +3 Strength>

"What the heck?"

"Yup. It is the effect of these fruits. Here, try some more. Sis Shen Yue is handing them out." Rey grinned.

Alex quickly stood up and walked over to Shen Yue. "What is this? Where did you find this?"

"Ah… Alex, I didn't find it. Liam asked me to distribute this to everyone. He must have found it somewhere." She hurriedly explained.

Alex nodded and silently sat back down as she ate the rest of the fruits that were allocated to her in silent contemplation.

With the fifteen fruits she consumed, she was able to increase her strength by 15 points, agility by 15 points and lastly vitality by another 15 points.

At her current level, this much stat gain was nothing short of gaining another unbeatable advantage over the enemy. It was a permanent buff that was always going to make her stronger than someone of the same level.

And more importantly, about eight of them had actually managed to get this upgrade!

Without a doubt, these eight members were going to become elites, the pillars of their group. Their strength would always be a notch higher than the others, irrespective of how much they tried to catch up.

It was a little unfair just to share this good fortune only among 8 team members, but sometimes, strong elites were more necessary for the survival of a group and to shock and awe the enemy rather than the strength being distributed among a lot of individuals, thereby showing not that much of a result.

"So… this is why he left…" Alex silently mumbled to herself. With this additional stat boost and the weapons Liam had distributed, it would definitely not be an easy task to take any of them down.

However, she was not satisfied with just that much. Liam had his own fight, but she also had her own fight. 

"Rey, we need to reach Level 50 quickly." She pulled the guy who was chatting happily with Lan Deming and randomly shouted at him out of nowhere.

"Huh? Huh? Level 50?" Rey was confused. Where did this come from? But seeing his sister's face, he knew that she was not joking around. "Ughh. Ok. We will do it." He grinned.

"I mean, in 2 weeks, do you understand?" Alex again repeated.

"2 weeks, ah? That's a bit…" Rey scratched his head.

"I mean it, Rey. I am not joking. From tomorrow, we will start attempting the Level 50 upgraded dungeons as well. With our new stats and gear, I think it should be possible to take down at least the first couple of mobs."

"We should not be bringing him down. We should somehow push ourselves to get to his level." 

Shen Yue, who was standing nearby, chimed in at that remark. "Alex, I also think we should do that." Her fingers subconsciously ran through her pair of legendary daggers. 

The legendary item had a level to unlock, and she needed a lot of poisonous materials for the same. 

Thankfully, her progress from in-game was still retained, so perhaps after running this dungeon, she would be able to unlock the next level of the daggers, which would be a significant boost.

Lan Deming and Lan Fen also immediately expressed their interest in doing the same. 

Everyone in the group at the moment treated them as if they were a big deal and people born with golden spoons because of their natural affinity with mana.

However, the brother and sister duo was well aware of what they lacked. Their advantage was only temporary. For instance, these fruits being distributed today were proof of exactly that.

Sooner or later, their natural advantage was not going to mean much. At that time, they would only fall behind and get left out.

Both of them did not want this to happen. The future was very uncertain. Especially when they had a group like this, they wanted to continue being a part of it and not get left behind in the dust.

Though they were not as competitive as Alex, they still wanted to stand next to Liam and fight alongside him one day instead of always being protected by him.

Thus, a group quickly formed to attempt the first run of the Level 50 upgraded dungeon. 

Mei Mei, Shen Yue, Alex, Lan Fen, Kang Minah prepared themselves from the women's side. 

From the boy's group, Rey, Lan Deming, Shin Soo, Chung Hee, Kim Hyun and the two mages Hector and Vlad, whom Liam personally trained sometimes back inside the game, giving them basics about handling mana, joined the group.

Though the two mages were originally more talented than Shin Soo, Chung Hee and Kim Hyun, the three Koreans had overtaken the two mages by sheer hard work and persistence.

Also, right now, the mages were struggling more than melee players to adapt to mana and casting their skills without the help of the system. 

Once they got a hang of things, it was inevitable that this order would once again be challenged with people moving up and down their ranks.

Shin Soo, Kang Minah, Chung Hee and Kim Hyun were painfully aware of this fact, but the four were determined to keep their positions no matter what changed in the future!

It was a lucky chance for them to encounter Liam so randomly within the game, but only a fool would let go of this golden thigh.

From then until now, they have held onto Liam for their life with everything they had, and they would continue to do so in the future as well.

He was a God, and they didn't find it shameful or demeaning to accept and declare that they were his ardent followers who would go to the ends of hell for him and would never leave him no matter what, out of gratitude and partly for their own survival.

Because, unlike the gods in their religious scripture, this god was actually right in front of them and helped them and their families during their needs.

With everyone determined in their own way with their own thoughts and principles, the group left the cleanup of the battle aftermath to the civilians of the guild and immediately sprinted to the dungeon at full speed to try things out with their new and updated stats and gear.