The next two days were a bit chaotic as the two groups gradually merged, and everyone tried to get acquainted with each other.
The first thing that they did was get everyone registered as a member of the guild. For several people, this was also the first time they saw the ‘shop’ and the beautiful fairies.
They immediately became excited and mesmerized and entered the magic shop. However, everything was quick to disappear as soon as they saw the price tag on each item and skill.
It only took them a few seconds to understand the reality. This shop existed purely to taunt them!
After the introduction to the magic shop, the whole settlement then started picking up their stuff and moving to the new base that Lan Ganjie and the others had set up.
Even though the hotels were closer to the shop, the dungeon was more important for their growth right now. As a result, everyone relocated to the new area and settled in the streets surrounding the main camp.
It was a bit awkward to expand suddenly, but no one was picky enough to demand luxuries or comforts, so it wasn’t too hard to settle down.
As per Liam’s orders, Lan Ganjie also immediately started to work on the administrative side. The number of people had suddenly increased, but the rules of the camp were still the same.
Everyone had to work. There were no free lunches for anyone.
Lan Ganjie requested Alex’s permission to change up a few things, but mostly he stuck to the hierarchy. The strong always had the first pick, whether it was beast meat, clothes, or other essential materials.
He agreed with this principle since this was the only way to motivate everyone to keep trying harder and harder every single day. If a false sense of security seeps into the camp, then it could become extremely disastrous.
The second thing that remained constant was the guild combat groups.
There weren’t any changes to the groups that ran dungeons together because Liam had already instructed them not to dilute the first string groups with newbies.
There was no point in giving free experience points and carries to others. If they wanted strength, they had to risk their lives and work for it.
However, he did make the exception for Lan Deming and Lan Fen, as these two were special cases.
These two were naturally blessed with high mana affinity despite not consuming body-cleansing elixirs like some of the guild’s core members.
Their progress was phenomenal, just falling short of Alex’s and a few other talented fighters who stood out. They were also not in the same league as the granny and some of her students. Otherwise, the brother and sister pair were solid in their skill set.
More importantly, they were also developing at a frightening pace when compared to the others.
Watching the two of them fight shoulder-to-shoulder with the rest of the group during the dungeon runs, Alex had an unsettling feeling well up inside.
She quietly walked over to the side and leaned on a tree tiredly.
“What happened, sis?” Rey walked over to her.
“Nothing.” Alex shook her head with a tired smile.
“Hmmm?” Rey did not think that it was nothing.
There was definitely something bothering her. He observed her line of sight and saw that she was gazing absent-mindedly at the two new additions.
Rey immediately gasped. “Don’t tell me. Have you already given up on big brother Liam? You are interested in the new guy?”
Alex’s face twitched, but Rey did not pick up his cue and continued on.
“This is… I didn’t expect this from you, sis. You have to be more loyal. You cannot look at other guys like this. If you are not sincere, then you can never win over big brother. Do you understand?”
Alex’s face further darkened.
The vein on her forehead throbbed as she listened to her brother go on and on, once again singing praises of Liam and, of course, along the way shattering her own self-respect into a million pieces.
Finally, even Rey couldn’t overlook it. “Aha ha ha ha. I am just joking.” He quickly took a few paces back and then ran away.
Alex huffed and picked up the huge axe that she had found in one of the toolsheds. She then walked away to start practising her moves.
At this point, they had permanently settled in front of the dungeon, running continuously without taking a break and maximizing their time inside.
“Talented? I will show them what is talented.” She gritted her teeth and continued to swing her weapon, each time also propelling a wave of divine aura outward.
Slowly, she was becoming more and more adept at handling mana and, more specifically, divine energy on her own. Now that they did not have help from the tutorial skill system, this was a herculean task.
Rey watched her from a distance with a small smile on his face. His usual playfulness was not there as he watched his sister lovingly.
He did not have to guess or ask why Alex had been so upset. Even he was prickled by the same thing. The two new people were very similar to Mia.
Just like Mia, they were also able to grasp everything quickly and improve at an astonishing pace. Of course, Mia was still a step ahead, as she was a born genius.
However, the two also did not fall too far behind.
Watching them made his heart ache for the missing ice-cold angel. If Mia was here…
Rey as well revealed a tired smile and shook his head. There was no point in thinking about that now.
She was still alive and well. So instead of wasting time worrying about her, they had to become stronger, strong enough to bring her back.
In a second, he wiped off the sincere expression on his face and replaced it with his usual sunshine smile.
“Who is ready for the next run? WHO! WHO! WHO!” He started howling like a wolf out of nowhere, which earned a few chuckles from the nearby team members.
“Can you please stop acting like an idiot?” Alex facepalmed. Only her brother could be a total idiot, even in an apocalyptic setting. The guy did not have a single responsible bone in his body.
She also glared at the two new additions and quickly turned her focus back to her training, not willing to fall behind anyone.
Born genius or not, she was determined to become better and stronger than anyone. Especially that guy.
Liam’s arrogant face flashed across her mind as she started swinging the axe with even more gusto, almost as if she was doing target practice, imagining his face right in front of her.
