One group of fleeing players had mistakenly run into a Level 41 spotted panther.
Though they would have welcomed this panther any day when compared to the monstrous golems that were crushing them mercilessly, right at this moment, they were not too delighted.
They were currently running for their lives, so the timing was a bit uncomfortable…
"Everyone, I will hold this back. You guys escape first." One guy in the group loudly shouted. He was wearing plate armors from head to toe and was using a shield.
It looked like he was the main tank of the group.
However, weirdly, after hearing his selfless gesture, the leader of the group did not look pleased with it at all. Instead, he chastised the player.
"Are you going to be incompetent as usual or are you going to at least do it this time?"
Even in the hurry in which he was running away, the party leader made time to give him this scolding and then ran away.
Liam chuckled in amusement.
He saw the player's shield shudder a little at this remark, and yet the person continued to staunchly stand his ground and hold back the panther.
This person was clearly no match for the panther.
There was a significant difference in their abilities and one's attributes far outweighed the other's but the player's movements were very skillful.
As he moved in haste, he did not make a single mistake and dodged the beast's attacks, despite its speed being tremendously higher than his own speed.
One would only be able to do this when they can foresee the attack pattern of the beast and move accordingly.
However, this was easier said than done. The beast could always change its decision at the last minute and change the attack pattern as well.
So prediction did not always work and it was an extremely tricky thing to accomplish.
Even more so during a time when you are left to defend alone, with all your other teammates running away, leaving you to take the fall and die.
But the tank was extremely skillful. He was a melee player through and through as he got down with the beast and tangled with it in a bloody messy painful brawl.
Liam stood back and watched this expert player without disturbing him.
Only when his health had dropped to the last few points and he was at the death's door, Liam finally intervened.
"Move aside." He shouted as he sent a massive fireball towards the beast, followed by hacking and slashing at it violently, all the attacks aimed accurately for its vital points.
It took less than a minute for the panther to let out its last breath as it lay lifeless on the ground.
[Ding. You have gained 1000 experience points]
Liam had obtained the majority of the experience points as he had gotten the last kill shot.
He also stepped in to shamelessly take the loot which was a few slabs of panther meat and a couple of silver coins.
The other party, the tank, watched this in a daze as he had never seen combat techniques this clean and accurate.
Of course, his eyes twitched when he realized that it was the enemy whom he was admiring. The panther hadn't killed him but this guy was going to kill him for sure.
As he thought this and smiled bitterly, suddenly he froze. Something did not add up. If this person wanted to kill him, why did he warn him to move aside?
He could have first let the panther kill him and then easily killed the beast, thereby reaping in more benefits. This way he wouldn't even have had to share the experience points.
While he continued to stare at Liam in confusion, the latter smiled and squatted in front of him. "Do you have any health potion with you?"
"Huh? Health potion?"
Liam tossed him a bottle of potion. "Drink this. You can still die from bleeding effects."
"Ahh… Thank you?" The tank scratched his head in confusion. The enemy was helping him?
Nevertheless, he took the health potion and downed it hurriedly as his health was continuing to drip.
Wiping his mouth, he returned the cleaned out bottle back to Liam, not even wasting that which brought a smile to Liam's face.
"May I have your player ID, please? I don't have any money at the moment, but I will pay you back as soon as I can. Ah. My name is Derek by the way."
"Derek huh. Alright." Liam smiled.
If anyone else had asked him the same thing, he would have laughed in his face, but he knew about this guy, so he directly answered him back.
"I am Liam Chang. You can send me a friend request. And don't worry about the money, you can return it when you can."
"Oh, thank you." Derek hadn't expected this at all. This person was so easy and nice to talk to, then why did his team leader directly attack?
Couldn't they have first invited him to their guild in a friendly manner?
He quickly realized that he now had that chance. They might have dropped the ball but this person was unusually friendly to him, so why not try?
"So Liam... I think we got off to a bad start here. We really did not mean-"
"I am going to stop you right there." Liam interrupted him.
"I don't have any intention of joining any guild. So there is no point in this discussion."
"I am of course willing to set up a mutually beneficial business deal. Do you have the authority to talk to me about it?" Liam smiled.
There was a subtle teasing smirk hidden in that smile.
And just like he expected, Derek only shook his head. "Sorry, I don't have the authority. I will discuss this with my team leader and let you know immediately.
"Oh, is that so?" Liam's grin widened. "I would have assumed that a skilled tank like you would at least have this much authority. Guess not, huh?"
Derek's face changed on hearing Liam's words.. It was as if he was putting a knife in his scarred wound and twisting.