Chapter 60

Lemira logged into the game and immediately received a friend request. She glanced at the name and was startled. Just a few days ago, she had declined Alaric's invitation to join his team. She hadn't expected the proud and haughty Alaric to personally seek her out.

Lemira didn't accept the request. Instead, she teamed up with Onion to tackle an instance dungeon. After completing the dungeon with three other players, one sent her a friend request. She accepted, given their decent gameplay.

A message popped up: "Hey, I'm Alaric, the leader of SkyBlaze. I noticed your skills during our dungeon run. How about joining our team? We can negotiate terms."

Lemira frowned. "Why can't he just let it go?" She was surprised Alaric had used an alternate account.

Onion looked over. "What's up?"

"It's Alaric—he's using an alt to invite me to his team, and he has no idea who I am." She was using an alternate account, too.

Onion glanced at the screen. "If they don't find a strong backup player, they're going to lose the first round of the finals."

"That's why Alaric is getting desperate. He's too proud to poach well-known players, so he has to scout talented rookies to train." Lemira knew Alaric's personality well. After all, the Reapers of the Everhart family in Nyric were formidable. If their captain, Matthew Everhart, hadn't skipped the finals last time, she wasn't sure she could have won.

"The Reapers are tough. Their captain is said to be the King's protégé—very strong."

"Well, he hasn't even mastered the twelve-hit combo."

Lemira swept him an astonished glance. "The twelve-hit combo isn't something just anyone can learn."

"Aren't you a master of it?"

"That's because…" Lemira caught herself, nearly revealing something about her past life.

Onion narrowed his eyes. "Because what?"

Lemira paused. "Because I greatly admire King. I really adore him, so I managed to pull off the twelve-hit combo by sheer luck!"

Onion cast her a glance. Clearly, Lemira wasn't telling the whole truth. Did she teach herself? Or did someone teach her?

Lemira ignored Alaric and continued dungeon crawling with Onion.

Meanwhile, Alaric, having received no reply, rubbed his temples in frustration, his jaw shadowed with stubble. The training results lately had been disappointing; he hadn't found a strong gunner. Watching a video of Lemira in a revival match, her execution of the twelve-hit combo and her leaping silhouette were unforgettable. He felt a surge of pride—she was his sister. After countless failed attempts at mastering the combo himself, he had to admit Lemira possessed talent. But that slap had completely soured their relationship.

Alaric called Lucian. After a long silence, he said, "Lucian, how's Lemira been doing lately?"

"The same as always—not listening to anyone. She ranked tenth in her exams this time, a significant improvement."

"Top ten, huh? That's quite fast progress." Alaric remembered when Lemira ranked one hundredth, and he had prejudged her, thinking she cheated. Looking back, he realized he had been too harsh. Lemira had always been academically bright since childhood. It seemed things started to change after Evelina joined the Langston family.

Lucian, looking at an emerald necklace in a box, sighed. "Alaric, did we neglect her too much before?"

"Lucian, you feel that way too?"

The brothers fell silent.

"Lucian, do you think she might forgive me if I apologize to Lemira?" Alaric had braced himself for this moment. He genuinely wanted to reconcile with her. He regretted slapping her; it wasn't intentional.