The discussion in the guild chat went on. Many proclaimed that they would set off immediately. But then a conspicuous message appeared.
[Cyclone: I'm glad that everyone is so united. Thank you! But please continue with your tasks for now. We just killed a boss and are free to assist Final Fend.]
[Oblique Cactus: The guild leader has spoken!]
[Glorious Hotpot: Hotpot is coming? Haha, those people are as good as finished.]
[Demolish Me: Guild leader, don't you need any help?]
[Balm: Thank you very much, but we are alright. Mirage has already come up with a plan.]
The guild members continued to discuss animatedly but Cyclone and Balm stopped answering. They dashed towards the nearest town together with their friends, preparing to teleport towards the northern desert.
Meanwhile Final Fend and his team communicated with Bleary Mirage, who told them of his plan.
Friendly Dagger's face fell as he learned that he would be made a bait again. He switched all his equipment to low-quality goods, sighed, and sneaked out of the town in stealth.
Meanwhile, the rest of the group were forced to wait. About a quarter of an hour later Friendly Dagger stood within a camp to the north of the Five Pillars Tribe.
The camp was almost empty. A heavy wind blew through the simple white tents. It originated from an enormous, roaring sandstorm covering a large area not far away. This was one of the many magical anomalies of the Northern Desert.
Just getting close one could feel a pressuring danger as the concentration of mana increased sharply in its vicinity.
Suddenly Friendly Dagger heard a few ruffling footsteps in the sandy ground and turned around. He spotted a group of ten people coming towards him while a few impatient basilisks were waiting outside the camp.
Bloody Edge stepped forward and gave his fellow thief a hug while his friends greeted Friendly Dagger calmly.
They didn't discuss anything irrelevant and directly went over the plan again.
"Are you confident?"
Faced with Liam's stern eyes, Friendly Dagger took a deep breath and nodded solemnly.
"I guess I'm getting use to the role of bait."
"I thank you in the name of the entire guild.", said Balm patting the thief's shoulders.
Friendly Dagger shook his head with a smile.
"No need to be so solemn. I'm a tier 1 member as well! I will naturally give it my all for the guild."
The thief's words brought him the goodwill of everyone present. Liam summarized the plan for a last time as he handed an item to Friendly Dagger. It was a small, black icicle. As soon as it appeared it pushed away the desert's heat, causing the temperature to drop ominously.
Friendly Dagger inhaled sharply as he immediately took the item into his inventory and left the camp.
The friends watched as his back disappeared in the distance, wishing him good luck.
"Ok guys, we have our own job. Let's hurry up so we won't be caught unprepared.", reminded Liam.
"Yes!"
Cyclone answered firmly. She wasn't her usual lively self. This was the first time that her beloved guild had been attacked like this. She and Balm were both quite angry, eager to make the audacious attackers pay a heavy price.
It would be best if after this everyone knew not to mess with Dream Avenue. Therefore, they also asked Fortune to record everything meticulously and make a separate video about it.
With such a mindset Cyclone didn't even stop to marvel at the surging sandstorm and directly approached the single person standing in the camp.
It was a woman dressed in dirty brown leather clothes. All kinds of trinkets hung from her armor. It was the typical appearance of a treasure seeker in the Northern Desert.
Cyclone approached the woman looking at her distressed face.
"Hey, sorry. You look quite down, do you need help?"
The woman appeared startled, wiping the tears from her face and turning towards Cyclone. She looked her up and down once before answering in a raspy voice:
"Thank you but… I, I'm fine."
Cyclone was taken aback. The woman looked everything but fine. She glanced at Liam as she talked in the party chat.
[Cyclone: Expert, did we find the wrong person?]
[Bleary Mirage: No, we're right.]
[Cyclone: Then why…]
[Bleary Mirage: Charisma.]
[Cyclone: Oh, come on, that's just bullsh*t! This woman is clearly in distress, but my charisma stat isn't high enough to help her?!]
[Bleary Mirage: Well, as adventurer you learn not to trust others easily.]
Regarding Liam's explanation Cyclone rolled her eyes and turned around, looking at Silver Blade:
"You go ahead."
The female tank nodded and approached the saddened woman. As she got closer the NPC turned towards her, looking as if she had seen her savior.
"Adventurer! Please, you need to help me!"
Cyclone stared angrily at the woman, but she completely ignored it, conversing with Silver Blade.
"Of course. What should I do?", answered Silver Blade calmly.
"Thank you, thank you! Please, my husband and I heard that a treasure has appeared in the sandstorm zone. We planned to search for it together.
We never entered such a dangerous area before, thus we made thorough preparations. However, this morning I discovered that my husband sneaked off. He must have entered the sandstorm zone alone, wanting to shield be from the danger.
I was torn between going and not going. But as I checked our equipment again, I noticed something terrifying. We bought small trinkets called 'sand shield' which are specially designed to weaken the power of the sandstorm.
But that damned merchant tricked us! The magical stones powering the sand shield are not even half filled.
If my husband doesn't notice, he will be in immense danger. Please, adventurers, enter the sandstorm and find my husband. I don't care about the treasure. Just bring my husband back!"
The poor woman sobbed as she stopped talking looking hopefully at Silver Blade.
[Do you wish to accept the quest 'Save the treasure hunter in the sandstorm'?]
Silver Blade had no reason to refuse. As she nodded the woman thanked a thousand times. She took out the rest of the sand shields and pressed them in Silver Blade's hands.
The tank said her goodbyes and returned to the party distributing the sand shields amongst everyone. This item was exactly the reason why they needed to accept this quest.
Fortune quickly equipped the item letting out a sigh of relief:
"Great! Fortunately, this thing helps against normal sand as well. It's so annoying!"
"I agree."
"Good idea."
Everyone's eyes lit up. No one enjoyed the hot and sandy desert. But just as they wanted to equip the items for some comfort, Liam stopped them.
"Guys, the sand shields have a duration. Let's not waste it."
"But…"
Fortune wanted to argue that they surely wouldn't need the full five hours but with a glance from Liam she reluctantly put the item away again.
Afterwards the party left the camp and mounted their basilisks, waiting for a message from Final Fend.
Elsewhere Friendly Dagger had made his way through the desert, approaching the Five Pillars Tribe. He kept his distance, moving in stealth to scout the situation.
Since the tribe had no walls, people could come and go from almost all directions. However, once one left the tribe there was nothing to hide for quite a while. Only the seemingly endless desert awaited.
Friendly Dagger noticed how small groups of players surrounded the tribe. He gritted his teeth guessing that they must belong to the opposing guilds.
Just you wait!
Strolling around, the thief observed closely, carefully selecting a suitable target. Eventually he noticed two players who were separated from their allies.
Now or never!
Friendly Dagger hyped himself up as he rushed towards his prey. He appeared behind one of the players unnoticed.
"How long do we have to wait here? Is this even worth it?"
"You know how much everyone values set equipment. The boss is even coming personally!"
"I hope the boss finds a quick solution. I can't stand the heat."
"I'm sure… watch out!"
One of the players pointed behind his colleague's back, opening his eyes in shock.
Friendly Dagger appeared like a ghost, flashing sinister, dark red daggers which totally didn't fit his name. He beautifully finished a rotation of all his skills.
The chosen prey had just summoned his weapons when his HP dropped to zero and he fell powerlessly.
"You finally dare to appear?!"
The second player shouted at Friendly Dagger. He immediately informed his comrades before pulling out his sword. But Friendly Dagger didn't dare get tied down in a fight. Instead, he quickly ran away.
"Think you can get away?"
"Get him!"
"I want his daggers if they drop!"
Friendly Dagger's heart raced as he laboriously dashed through the sand. Glancing over his shoulder he saw more than ten people in hot pursuit. If they managed to catch him there was no way to make it out alive.
But looking even further back he could also see that the encirclement of the tribe had grown thin.
It worked! Idiots!