Where Trust Begins
Lua looked over the objects spread out on the blanket while Liora was fully focused on carefully sorting each type.
There were about eight large mana stones next to a pile of medium mana stones. They had also gathered a huge amount of bison meat—so much that it would be difficult to store it all in one place. Nearby, around twenty-five electric bison horns were stacked together, each one giving a faint tingling sensation when touched. The uncommon-quality bison hide was quite abundant as well.
Next to these materials, Lua identified two cooking recipes, a talisman recipe, a recipe for the Mana Engineer profession, and roughly fifty shiny crystals of different colors that Liora had picked up in the crystalline zone.
At one end of the blanket rested several pieces of equipment: a dagger that occasionally released small electric sparks, a blue dress with a soft glow, and a sword forged from polished horns.
Lua crouched down and began to study the recipes, as well as the weapons and the dress, with focused attention.
Weapons and Equipment Found
[Electric Dagger]
Common
Type: Light Dagger
Damage: +4
Speed: +2
Durability: 120/120
Engraved Rune: Paralysis (small chance to paralyze on hit)
Description:
A dagger that emits a constant hum and releases jolts of electricity upon contact.
[Hornblade Sword]
Common
Type: Medium Sword
Damage: +5
Durability: 120/120
Special Ability: Electric Body – Increases the wielder's speed by 10% for 15 minutes (cooldown: 30 minutes)
Description:
Forged from electric bison horns, its edge still retains part of their wild energy.
[Glittering Dress]
Common
Type: Light Armor (Torso)
Defense: +5
Durability: 120/120
Special Ability: Flash – Once per day, automatically transports you to a safe place if your health drops to a critical level.
Description:
A soft blue dress that seems to shimmer with tiny sparks of light.
Recipes Found
[Recipe: Daylight Night Lantern]
Type: Mana Engineer (Novice)
Difficulty: Low
Required Materials:
• Shiny Crystal x1
• Mana Fragment x1
• Mana Cables x2
Result:
• Daylight Night Lantern x1
Description:
A portable lantern that illuminates a 20-meter radius and nullifies the physical enhancements of beasts blessed by night. At night, creatures grant 200% more loot and experience. Duration: 30 minutes.
[Novice Cooking Recipe: Bison Stew]
Type: Cooking
Difficulty: Low
Required Materials:
• Bison Meat (1 kg)
• Potatoes x2
• Onion x1
• Aromatic Herbs x1 (optional – adds +1 defense)
• Mineral Salt x1 (optional – adds +10% health recovery)
Result:
• Bison Stew x1
Description:
A nutritious stew that increases defense by +10 for 3 hours. Optional ingredients enhance its effects.
[Novice Cooking Recipe: Bison Steak]
Type: Cooking
Difficulty: Low
Required Materials:
• Bison Meat (0.5 kg)
• Mineral Salt x1
• Aromatic Herbs x1
Result:
• Bison Steak x1
Description:
A juicy steak that increases defense by +4 for 3 hours and grants 10% resistance to electricity.
[Novice Talisman Recipe: Paralysis]
Type: Talisman Crafting
Difficulty: Medium
Required Materials:
• Electric Creature Blood x1
• Low-Quality Leather or Paper x1
• Paralysis Runes (drawn by the creator)
Result:
• Paralysis Talisman x1
Description:
A talisman that emits an electric shock capable of paralyzing an enemy for 5 seconds.
"This is for you," Lua said calmly as she picked up the blue dress and held it out to Liora.
"For me?" Liora asked, her voice trembling in a thin whisper, while her huge, tear-bright eyes lit up as if the dress were a priceless treasure. She had never owned anything so beautiful. She lowered her gaze to her own body, where she wore nothing but a piece of white cloth so worn it was little more than a rag with poorly cut holes for her head and arms.
With trembling hands, she took the dress, hugging it so carefully it seemed she was afraid it would fall apart if she held it too tight.
"Come, let's put it on you," Lua said, allowing a small smile to soften her usually impassive expression.
At that moment, Loli, who was stirring a stew in the pot, dropped her wooden spoon onto the ground with a loud clack as she saw Lua's serene, warm smile. The sight completely disarmed her, and she had to press a hand against her chest as if trying to hold in the tenderness flooding through her.
All their gazes—Liora's, Lua's, and Ganfall's—turned to her in surprise.
Loli only managed a clumsy smile, her face turning completely red. "I—I'll… go wash it," she stammered before hurrying away to the water barrel, her shoulders hunched in embarrassment.
Meanwhile, Lua gently took Liora's hand and led her to a quiet corner to help her change clothes.
When they returned, Liora walked with hesitant steps, her head lowered shyly. The blue dress was a little big on her, but it made her look even more delicate and small. It had soft ruffles and seams that glowed faintly, like tiny threads of light running across the fabric. Lua sat behind her, inviting her to sit by the fire that burned in the middle of the village square, and began to comb her golden hair with patient hands, separating it into two neat pigtails.
For a moment, as she gathered the fine strands between her fingers, Lua remembered her own mother's hands doing the same. A dull ache bloomed in her chest so deep she had to blink quickly not to show it.
Liora, unaware, smiled with a joy so pure it seemed to light up the dull world around her. She held the new fabric between her small hands as if she still couldn't believe it was real.
At that moment, the silence was shattered by a sudden commotion: the other players arrived, carrying between them the enormous carcass of a giant ant, its stiff legs and cracked carapace making it awkward to transport. The weight forced them to shuffle forward, muttering half-choked curses.
"Loli! You never came back… some damned weird monkeys nearly ate us," Sig snapped with a note of exasperation as she let the ant fall to the ground with a heavy thud.
"Actually, if it hadn't been for your greed, we could have grabbed the loot and gotten out," Edward muttered under his breath. But the moment Sig shot him a furious glare, he fell silent.
"I'm sorry… but you got here just in time. Dinner's ready," Loli said with a guilty little smile as she wiped her hands on her apron.
For a second, they all stared at her. No one could muster the heart to be angry. Finally, they shuffled over to sit by the fire, exhausted, each of them gradually turning their eyes to the little girl.
Liora looked different—so tiny and fragile that for an instant everyone thought she must be another player using a child-like avatar. But then they noticed her small white wings fluttering softly on her back, and the way she shrank a little under so many stares.
"Hey there, cutie. Do your parents know you're playing on a computer?" Sig asked cautiously, trying to sound friendly, though her tone came out awkwardly protective.
Liora lifted her gaze, her voice calm but with a barely noticeable tremor.
"I don't have parents."
Silence fell like a wall.
"Then… is there an adult taking care of you?" Sig pressed, swallowing as she felt her question growing more and more pointless.
"Grandma… Grandma was taken away by the blue men," Liora said, and this time her small voice cracked as her eyes began to well up with tears.
Their gazes met immediately, all of them wearing serious expressions that none of them tried to hide. The blue men. They all knew exactly who she meant. The Catchers. Or as many preferred to call them: the traitors to humankind. Those bastards who captured anyone who couldn't pay the tribute—children, the elderly, anyone—for a few privileges.
Lua slowly raised her head, and her eyes, usually so calm, glimmered with a scarlet light that made a shiver run down Sig's spine.
"Ahem… So who are you with now?" Sig asked, her voice unsteady.
"I'm alone," Liora murmured. The little girl hugged the dress tighter with her small hands. "Grandma said there was a hidden underground base… I found it. It had machines, beds… and lots of nutrient capsules," she explained, her gaze drifting toward the fire as her voice grew softer and softer.
"Are you talking about a technological base?" Ganfall interjected, suddenly sounding interested, breaking the heavy silence.
"I don't know what that is… but there were lots of strange machines. A room full of them," Liora replied, with a slight tremor.
"I see… then you're lucky. All of those bases were destroyed years ago. They were the first resistance against the elves… that's why the cities where they were located were… bombed," Ganfall said, his voice heavy with a solemnity that pressed down on all of them. "No one should be alive in those places."
"Yeah… I lived there with Grandma for many years. There was no one else… just skinny, hungry dogs," Liora said, shivering a little as a tear rolled down her cheek.
"I… I'm sorry. I didn't know," Sig blurted immediately, her voice cracking with guilt.
"But… if you're in one of those bases now, you should be safe. There must be plenty of mana flasks and capsules," Ganfall added, trying to ease the atmosphere.
"Yeah… there were…" Liora said, lifting her little hands to start counting on her fingers, one by one. "Fifteen big shiny flasks," she added, with a small smile that looked like a ray of light in the middle of everything. "And lots of capsules."
"Fifteen…?" Ganfall repeated, his brow furrowing.
Sig leaned over to Bert and whispered, "Each high-quality flask lasts about a month, right? So she has enough for fifteen months…" Her eyes darkened a little.
Lua heard the calculation, and her expression tightened, her brow creasing.
"Don't worry, Boss. Now that she can enter Drunai, she can make more mana flasks using beast cores… just like the other players said. But… she really would have been in trouble if we hadn't found her by chance. She's incredibly lucky. Out of all the people in the world… I just happened to run into her," Sia said, her whisper easing the tension a little.
And she was right. Now, in Drunai, Liora could gather mana stones, secure food… and maybe—just maybe—Lua would find a way to help her. Even if it meant rallying an entire group of players to rescue her. Even if it was in another world.
"Tell me, little one… do you know where your city is?" Sig asked again in a tone almost cautious. Deep down, she was thinking that maybe Liora was like so many of the orphaned kids they had rescued in the Student City.
"Continent B… City K," Liora answered quietly while Loli brought her a steaming bowl of stew. The girl took it carefully, staring at it as if it were a feast she'd never even dared to imagine.
"That… that's another country. Very, very far from here," Sig explained seriously, lowering her eyes a little as she realized how far away any help really was.
"It's… at least almost two months away by cart. And it'd be a dangerous trip from start to finish," Joe added in a grave voice, crossing his arms. "Even the transport company doesn't go that far," he said, watching her with a worried expression.
"Little one… Liora, right?" Ganfall asked, leaning closer with a kind smile that softened his usually stern face. "Is the place where you're hiding completely closed? No one can get in where you are?"
"Ah… the door opened," Liora remembered softly. Her eyes moved in that searching way small children have when they're trying to dig up a memory. "I think it's still open."
Ganfall straightened, his expression turning serious again. "You should close it well. If you ever get sick or hurt, take a mana flask. Always keep one close to you, okay? The nutrient capsules will take care of your meals, and you'll grow strong even if you can't eat solid food. If a player ends up near your location, we'll look into whether they can help you. From my perspective… you're much safer there than anywhere else. And thanks to the game, you can talk to us and taste delicious food. You'll just need to worry about paying tribute… once you turn seven," he explained carefully, using a clear, slow tone so the girl could understand every word.
Liora nodded very seriously, but her small fingers tightened around the bowl as if she couldn't bear to let it go.
"You can finish eating before you go close the door, all right?" Loli said with a gentle smile, trying to ease some of the tension that had settled over them.
"Ah, and it would be good if you can bring a computer close to a bed. Keep plenty of nutrition capsules nearby and all the mana flasks within reach. Don't worry… with just one flask you could stay here more than a month. And you can stay as long as you want. From here you can also get more mana flasks. We'll explain how later, but remember to sleep inside the game. That way… that way you won't be alone," Sig added quickly, afraid she'd forget something important.
"Okay," Liora said, lifting her little face. Her golden eyes shone with a flicker of gratitude that none of them would soon forget. She kept eating, fully absorbed, like someone treasuring every bite.
They all let out a slow breath at almost the same time. Watching her—so small, so alone in a place that was probably dark and cold—they understood that this little girl had more courage than many grown-ups would ever know. And that sending her off with a stranger would be far more dangerous than leaving her where she was. Because at least in that base… she was safe.
Lua watched each of the players in silence. And as she saw them gathered around the fire and the quiet, she felt that maybe… maybe these were people worth keeping close. Maybe she could trust them.