"Don, are you interested in joining our war team? If you’re willing to come, we can put the money aside. I can see you’re not motivated by cash. I’ll promote you and give you a position where you can make the most of your abilities."

"Brother Finch, I don’t have any grand ambitions. I just want to play the game simply, stack stats, collect gear, tease newbies. That’s my biggest hobby."

"Hahaha!" Elias Finch laughed heartily. "Then forget it. How about this, consider it a favor I owe you. I’ll pay you back sooner or later. What do you say?"

"Brother Finch, don’t say that. I’m the one who owes you. I couldn’t have finished this quest today even if I’d risked my life, not without you and the brothers."

"You’re a funny guy. I like you."

After the laughter died down, Don picked up the silver-grade Bewitching Leggings from the ground and gave Elias Finch a calm smile. "Brother Finch, Sister Snow Fox, Brother Lane, until we meet again."

He pulled a return scroll from his pocket, took two steps back, and tore it to pieces.

Lily grabbed the last gold coin and hurried after him. "Don, you didn’t even wait for me!" Then she tore her own scroll.

Elias Finch shook his head helplessly and turned to the Debtborn beside him. "No wonder the old folks always say, a daughter is like a tree that can’t be kept at home once she’s grown."

The Debtborn nodded. "Agreed."

A flash of silver light later, Don’s body slowly coalesced in Vellari Village. Thinking back on everything that had happened today, he still felt a little uneasy. Honestly, he hadn’t wanted to get to know Elias Finch and his War Fire team so soon. He had never particularly liked this kind of powerful war team, and the fact that a trash guild like the Gon Alliance was one of their sub-alliances only strengthened his resolve never to join them, even at the cost of his life.

On top of that, he had a vague feeling that Elias Finch was no ordinary person, and the Debtborn beside him was no ordinary person either. If Finch hadn’t stepped in today, Don was fairly sure the Gon Alliance players would have killed him.

In short, he had escaped with his life.

Just then, someone tapped his shoulder from behind, startling him. He turned and saw Lily already standing there, looking smug.

She glared at him, visibly annoyed. "So annoying! You didn’t even wait for me before running back by yourself."

"I thought you were going to level up with them."

"Please. Do you think I wanted to level with them? Of course I’d rather level with my own people."

"So... they’re not your people?"

Lily said irritably, "You big idiot! Couldn’t you tell I was acting the whole time?"

Don gave a sly smile and quickly pulled her aside. "Oh? You were acting too?"

The moment he said it, that mischievous face of hers broke into a wide grin. "Hehe, Don, you’re so mean! That righteous look you had earlier made me want to punch you!"

He told her frankly, "Lily, I really want to be part of Extraordinary Studio. So I won’t join the war team. Besides, I don’t really like that guild anyway."

"I understand. And I won’t join either."

"By the way. I have a question. Is it okay if I ask?"

A smile played on her lips. "You want to ask me what my relationship with Elias Finch is, right? Hehe. You couldn’t possibly be suspecting—"

"Alright, stop right there. Never mind. I didn’t ask."

"Actually, my dad and his dad were childhood friends. It’s that simple. He became my sworn brother because of that. But I don’t like him. He’s too arrogant, and he always likes to pat people on the back like he’s above everyone. We used to argue all the time as kids."

"Ah, I see."

"What else do you want to know?"

"That’s already satisfied my gossip-loving nature. I don’t want to know anything else."

"Hmph. Well, since I told you, you have to pay me something in return."

Don was speechless. He pulled the leather boots and the Bewitching Leggings out of his backpack. "Here. Take both."

"I only want the leather boots. You nearly lost your life getting those leggings. I can’t accept them."

"I didn’t realize you had such a conscience."

"Of course I do. I’m the kindest, most innocent little fairy in the entire world."

"Oh, little fairy, keep fantasizing. I’m going to find a dark corner to unseal the gear."

Lily, as expected, stuck with him the whole way and followed him around to the back of the general store.

Don pulled an Unsealing Stone from his pocket and pressed it onto the surface of the leggings. The stone slowly fused into the gear. Then he took out a second one and pressed it on top. The Unsealing Stone emitted a brilliant multicolored light and disappeared into the leggings once again.

Lily said smugly, "See? This is definitely the result of teaming up with me. My luck is through the roof."

"Keep bragging. Maybe both attributes turned out to be +durability."

"No way! Impossible! It’s definitely top-tier stats!"

Don stopped teasing her and laid the leggings flat. Instantly, the armor shone brightly, revealing its true attributes after the double unsealing.

[Bewitching Leggings, Silver Grade]

[Leather Armor ]

[Level Req: 20]

[PDEF: 125 ]

[MDEF: 125]

[+15 STR ]

[+20 AGI]

[+15 CON]

[Unsealed: HP +350 | HP +350]

Don swallowed hard. He had never expected overlapping attributes to appear after both seals were lifted, and for that overlapping attribute to be Source of Life. A thief with high HP and high burst damage was the epitome of durability, whether for grinding, PvP, or boss fights.

Lily stared at the leggings and pouted. "Wow. What incredible leggings."

Even though Don was already head-over-heels in love with them, he still pretended to be casual. "How about you take them, Lily?"

"Tch. Don’t even try. I don’t want them. Besides, mine are only Level 10 bronze. Barely functional. If you really feel bad for me, just forget about the two thousand you lent me."

Don nodded quickly. These leggings were worth well over twelve thousand dollars, let alone two thousand. There were only a handful of silver-grade equipment pieces that had dropped in the American region so far.

He immediately waved a hand. "Lily, if you don’t mind, you can have the leggings I’m wearing right now."

Lily made a disgusted face. "Gross. Does that mean I’d be wearing the same pants as you?"

Don’s face went dark. "If you don’t want them, I’ll sell them later. They’re Level 15 bronze with two hundred HP added. I figured you, princess, probably wouldn’t care for them."

"Who said I didn’t? Of course I want them!"

"Alright. Turn around and close your eyes. I’m switching. Don’t peek."

"Ugh! Like anyone even wants to!" Lily punched him through gritted teeth.

Don happily equipped the new leggings and eagerly checked his stats.

[Bane, Human, Apprentice Thief]

[Level 20]

[HP: 2,900 ]

[ATK: 1,856–1,941]

[PDEF: 354 ]

[MDEF: 279]

[Crit Rate: 1%]

[Reputation: 1,000]

[Luck: 0]

Since they were still in a team, Lily could see his stats too. The little beauty opened her eyes and immediately started whining. "Waaah! We’re both Level 20, but I only have 1,400-plus HP. So unfair!"

"Here, take these. Should boost your HP to around 1,700." He handed over his Sheepskin Leggings. Although they had been a quest reward, they didn’t carry any bind-on-pickup markings.

Lily took them and made him turn around before putting them on. Honestly, this was just a matter of mental fastidiousness, the possibility of wardrobe malfunctions in Realms Online was basically zero. Characters defaulted to gray cloth underwear in their base state. At best, you could see the outline of a figure. As for what was inside the outline, you had to rely on imagination.

Wearing the new leggings, Lily’s HP barely crept past 1,700. There was nothing for it, her gear was actually decent, nearly a full set of bronze, but the crossbowman’s Constitution growth was too low, only tier five, compared to a thief’s tier seven. That meant for every point of Constitution added, a thief gained ten more HP than a crossbowman.

Still, Lily looked quite dashing in the new outfit. She already had a great figure, and the tight leather armor only emphasized her curves more noticeably making her look even more alluring. Don felt a little uneasy, after all, he wasn’t a saint.