The first thing Kael did after logging back in was equip his new level 25 gear.

  He’d made a serious haul in Blackheart Grotto: skill scrolls for Moving Shot and Mirror Image, which required 4 and 5 Skill Points respectively; a Land of the Behemoth Hidden Realm scroll; and a Blademaster Class Advancement scroll.

  He’d also picked up four legendary items, two of which he could use immediately:

  [Foxhide Tunic]: Level 25 (Legendary)

  Physical Defense +1200

  Magic Defense +1000

  Strength +200

  Agility +200

  .....

  [Fox Amulet]: Level 25 (Legendary)

  Constitution +300

  Agility +200

  Dodge +15%

  With the new gear, Kael’s damage output shot up by over 1400, pushing his basic attacks past the ten-thousand mark.

  On top of all that, he still had an unopened Faelan's Chest. Kael planned to wait until after the auction to open it. The chest had a chance to drop an Ascendant weapon—the Lunar Edge Blade.

  If a server-wide broadcast announced the discovery of a new Ascendant weapon right now, it would completely divert attention from the Sunfire Bell. For the next few days, preparing for the Sunfire Bell auction was the absolute priority.

  Just then, Lila, Lunara, Hazel, and the others started logging in.

  Hazel grabbed Kael’s arm. "Mr.Dawnbreaker, think we can hit level 30 today?"

  The others looked at Kael, their excitement obvious. They’d gone from level 18 to 24 yesterday; another six levels to hit 30 seemed totally doable.

  Kael raised his hand and gave Hazel a light flick on the forehead.

  Thump.

  "Ow! What was that for?"

  "Go on, take a look at your XP bar," Kael said.

  The girls quickly checked their status. The XP required to get from level 24 to 25 was a staggering 140 million.

  "You're higher level now, so you get diminishing returns from these mobs," Kael explained. "We're pulling about thirty million XP an hour. Being conservative, it'll take at least four hours just to hit level 25."

  "Aww, seriously?" the group groaned in disappointment.

  "What do you mean, 'aww'?!" Lila snapped, glaring at them. "Most players are still grinding to hit level 20. We're about to hit 25. What more do you want?"

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  The other girls immediately switched to cheerful, teasing smiles.

  "Don't be mad, Lila, we were just kidding."

  "Yeah, Dawnbreaker's a beast. He could probably figure out a way to get us to 30 if he wanted to."

  "I think Lila's just worried about Dawnbreaker working too hard."

  "Hee hee..."

  Lila’s cheeks flushed at their teasing. She snuck a glance at Kael, but he didn't seem to have heard a thing, his focus clearly elsewhere. She sighed internally.

  Ignoring the girls' banter, Kael was already mapping out his next steps.

  A Hidden Realm? Nope. Same problem as the Faelan Chest. If an Ascendant item drops, it'll kill the hype for the auction. A new grinding spot? There aren't any brain-dead easy spots like the Big-Eared Macaques at this level. Guess we'll just stick with what works.

  Kael turned to Hazel. "Same plan as yesterday. You pull the boss, and we'll keep grinding."

  "You got it!"

  With yesterday's experience, Hazel and the healers' coordination was flawless. Kael waited five minutes before leading his clone toward the cave entrance. A shriek from the alpha macaque summoned another thirty monkeys, and the slaughter began anew.

  The grind continued until noon.

  "I only need 30 million more XP to hit 25!" Hazel shouted.

  Rena, next to her, chimed in, "Yeah, me too! Almost there!"

  "Keep it up!"

  Just as they were about to celebrate hitting their next milestone, a system notification popped up. Strangely, it was a direct announcement from the Lord of Crescent City.

  [Lord of Crescent City]: Champions of Crescent, the outlaws of the Blackwind Brotherhood, are preparing an assault on Starting Village #9999! All heroes are called upon to resist these bandits!

  It was immediately followed by an even stranger message.

  [Korbin the Blade, Chieftain of the Blackwind Brotherhood]: Join our uprising and help us topple this corrupt regime! Anyone siding with outsiders has no right to lead. Stand with the Blackwind Brotherhood—or be left behind!

  World chat instantly exploded.

  "WTF? The NPCs are fighting each other?"

  "Makes sense. Crescent City sent troops to attack the Brotherhood last time, so this is just payback."

  "Is this a new expansion?"

  "How many players can join this time?"

  "Last time it was 10,000 Crescent City players vs. 100 for the Brotherhood. Don't tell me it's reversed now?"

  "Haha, this is gonna be good."

  "How do I get to the Blackwind camp? I'm from a different town."

  "Why does Crescent City get all the cool events? This is so unfair, I'm protesting!"

  "Ironclad Citadel protests!"

  "Oasis of Zafira protests!"

  ...

  Unless a player had a special item or quest, they couldn't teleport to other main cities until level 30. So once again, only players from Crescent City could participate, and everyone else was salty about it. But aside from spamming world chat, there was nothing they could do.

  Seeing the system message, Lila, who had been playing a board game with Velora, shot to her feet. She asked Kael in the party chat, "Should we stop grinding and go sign up for the event?"

  "It's fine," Kael replied. "They'll have spots for us. Just focus on getting to 25 first."

  "Oh, okay."

  The ten of them went back to grinding. By a little after 1 PM, everyone had leveled up. Kael hit level 26, with 80 million XP to go until 27, while the rest of the party reached level 25.

  With Kael covering them, Hazel and the others managed to drop the boss's aggro and make their way down the mountain. On the way back, they all crowded around Kael.

  "Sir Dawnbreaker, how do we sign up for this Blackwind Brotherhood event? Will there be enough slots?"

  Kael smiled. "You can sign up with an NPC in Thunder Plaza at the Blackwind Brotherhood's camp anytime before 6 PM. Both sides are taking 50,000 players. The Brotherhood has reserved 10,000 of their slots for me to approve."

  "Fifty thousand players on both sides?!" the members of Crimson Bloom exclaimed.

  The memory of the last battle, where they were outnumbered a hundred to one, was still fresh. This time, with even numbers, they wouldn't get swarmed from all sides.

  "We have about five hours," Kael said. "Use the time to upgrade your gear to level 20 or 25 pieces. This is a night battle, so it's probably going to be more complicated."

  "Got it!"

  They soon arrived back in Stonehaven.

  "Alright everyone, let's log off and get some food," Lila commanded.

  "Yes, Guild Leader!"

  The members of Crimson Bloom logged out one by one, all of them buzzing with anticipation.

  Kael, however, was frowning as he read a private message from Korbin the Blade.

  Is The Warchief arriving sooner than I thought?