The little Nymph’s expression grew bashful as she lowered her head.

"I had a lot of fun living with the children I created. But as long as they are all fine then I’m happy. If you don’t mind, then I would like to stay with you guys. I think it will be fun..."

"We would..."

"We would be happy to have you," Amelia quickly said as she lifted the tiny Nymph once again.

This time Lily no longer seemed startled by her actions and embraced the overzealous Amelia.

It was quick, but it seems as if she was warming up to her.

"Thank you... big sis."

Amelia’s face brightened as she heard those words, causing her arms to tighten around the small Nymph. I could’ve sworn I heard her spine snap.

Just a few minutes later, I stood over Lily with my hand raised above her head while Amelia sat on the bed with a pouting expression as she watched us.

"What are you doing?"

"I’m going to use the biomass that I have to evolve her," I explained.

Her brow furrowed.

"Biomass?"

Amelia tilted her head as if thinking of something before retorting, "I’ve never heard of it."

"Why would you?"

"Hmph. I’ll have you know that my father taught my sister and I a lot of abstract concepts when we were young."

I was now slightly intrigued.

"Abstract concepts as in..."

"Magic, as well as a few other things." Her expression suddenly turned downcast. I never really asked her about her family since I knew it would bring up bad memories, but still, at that moment, she pushed herself and spoke anyway.

"My father was very strict with my sister and I. He was always cold and trained us in the harshest way imaginable. If it wasn’t for my sister, then I don’t know how I would’ve survived. Well, there was another idiotic boy who also helped, but he disappeared on me without any warning, so I’m subtracting points for that."

An idiotic boy, huh? I have a feeling I know who that is.

"The point is, he taught us a lot of things like combat and information about magic, and also how to survive in the wild, even though we live in an urban city. He would even tell us stories about fictional worlds with different races’ politics. He even forced us to play those video games that people used to play before the collapse. At the time, he told us that the current generation isn’t capable enough, so he’ll train the next generation that succeeds them which was me and my sister."

That does sound strange. Back in those days, things were a lot worse than they are now, so it wouldn’t make sense for him to teach them about magic since the game world wouldn’t have been made available yet.

It was only made available roughly a year ago yet Amelia and her sister was trained since they were little girls.

I feel there is something more...

"Master?"

At this point, I was standing over Lily for quite a while, and she was starting to get impatient so I decided to proceed with the evolution.

[100 biomass has been spent to evolve your forest Nymph]

[Strength 4->9]

[Speed 7->12]

[Defense 3->8]

-New Skill Acquired-

[Lv. 1 Photosynthesis: Gain 1 biomass for every 10 minutes in the sun]

Immediately, as the evolution was made, her body began to grow as her limbs and torso stretched until she was roughly 3 feet, the size of a 3-year-old.

She still had a cute round face and luscious green hair that flowed down to her feet. Even her flower petal dress grew to accommodate her size.

Amelia gasped at the sight of her.

"Somehow she’s even more CUUTE!"

Lily herself looked over her appearance with astonishment.

"Say, Lily, have you ever eaten cake before?" I inquired.

"Cake? No, I haven’t."

"Me neither."

Luxury items and certain pastries were only reserved for the wealthy since the ingredients to make them were scarce. Even the people who knew how to make these pastries were scarce.

The only time I ever tasted something sweet was when I ate a fruit. Even meat was incredibly scarce unless it came from a tin, which was one of the only food we could eat in this part of the city.

Since it’s basically Lily’s birthday, cake would be fitting for a celebration.

"Let’s order some."

Amelia, Lily, and I spent the rest of the night celebrating with cake. We talked laughed and played games until we eventually passed out on the bed.

...

Leaning on the glass of an office building, I looked over the intricate city that sprawled before me. After a few minutes, the sound of footsteps could be heard approaching me from behind.

"Wow, you’re well dressed today. What’s the occasion?"

Hearing the amused voice behind me, I turned around to see a young man wearing a neat and tidy business suit. It was my broker, Alfred.

"Nothing much. I just have somewhere to be after this." I answered casually.

"A hot date?"

"Something like that."

Alfred chuckled in response.

"Tell madam Amelia I said hi. Well then, come on in," he said, gesturing for me to enter his office.

It seemed strange that he wasn’t inside his office when I arrived, but I didn’t question him.

I followed him inside his office and sat jn front of his desk.

We conducted our usual business as I offloaded all the items I brought back from Vesperia.

"Hmm! These reddish-brown cores look like they belonged to a D-ranked beast, but I’ve never seen these types before," Alfred had a look of amazement as he examined the cores. "I’ll have to get these in for testing before they are sold, just to verify their origin."

"They are from D-ranked vampyric worms."

"Oh... There are over a hundred of them. Did you kill them all by yourself?"

"Now that this is all taken care of, I should go," I said, purposefully ignoring his question.

"Wait a minute. Take a look at this."

Alfred spun his computer screen around toward me. On his screen were dozens of articles.

’The Fastest Rising Newbie!’

’From the Weakest Player to the rank of 296th players’

’ApexHunter101, who is he and why hasn’t he revealed himself?’

These were just a few of the ridiculously named articles on his screen.

"They are all about me."

"Yes. Though the views on these articles aren’t that high yet, their very existence proves that people are taking notice. At the rate you’re going, it’s just a matter of time before you explode in popularity. The moment that happens, you won’t be able to hide anymore, and powerful people will set their sights on the man behind the gamertag."

I understood Alfred’s point. It was his way of warning me.

"Understood. Thank you for your help," I said as I extended my hand forward.

Alfred smiled and shook my hand.

"It’s a pleasure doing business with you. Be safe and keep up the good work."

After leaving his office, I made my way through the busy streets of the city until I reached the city center.

It was there that I saw a beautiful girl with long golden hair, waiting on the busy streets.

She wore a light brown leather jacket. Underneath it was a white crop top that left a section of her stomach exposed.

Her leather jacket was stylishly matched with a skirt of the same color and texture, which stopped a few inches above her thigh.

She looked around anxiously as if waiting for someone until our eyes finally met, to which, the most beautiful smile in the world bloomed on her already gorgeous face.