The remaining 3.5k Biomass that Lohan had stored was used for combat-focused evolutions, with 1.8k Bio used to evolve the Weaver Mother and the rest spent on other, less expensive evolutions.
[Weaver Mother Lv 2 → Lv 4]
[Vacuum Detonation Lv 2 → Lv 4]
[Obsidian Exoskeleton Lv 7 → Lv 9]
With these three evolutions, Lohan felt much more confident about the battles he would face.
With the Exoskeleton, he could better protect Lisa from enemy attacks, while with the other two evolutions, he would have much greater control over the battlefield, able to affect opponents with even greater intensity without even needing to actively attack.
He knew that in the near future, he would detach himself from Lisa and adopt a more proactive combat style while leaving only a Clone to protect her, since staying right by her side would become very inefficient once his strength reached a certain limit.
Not only could actively protecting her limit his own combat, but being tied to her would also limit hers; she, too, was constantly leveling up and would benefit far more from a proactive ally by her side than from a passive ally constantly glued to her.
But for now, while they were still small, low-level creatures, this combat style was working out just fine.
"Halon, I received a message that the first Player in our guild has reached Level 11," Lisa said excitedly.
Hearing this, Lohan was surprised and a little apprehensive.
"Really? Are we going to meet this Player now?" he asked, not quite sure how to feel.
On one hand, Lohan was excited at the prospect of meeting the other guild members Lisa had recruited, knowing that with more people in the group, especially with Level 11 Players joining them, the amount of experience they gained per day would also be greatly increased.
On the other hand, he was a little apprehensive, not quite sure how he would handle interacting with these people, or how he would handle it if there were difficult personalities in the group. Although on paper they were his subordinates just as they were Lisa’s, since he was the Vice President, he knew that in reality, it wasn’t quite like that.
These people were there for Lisa, both for her charisma and identity, as well as for the resources she provided.
He had come later and perhaps wasn’t even known to those people yet...
’How could I handle people like that?’ he asked himself, feeling a bit unsure.
But Lisa gave an answer that sounded like music to his ears.
"Not yet. Only one person in the group has reached Level 11, so that person decided to stay in Novice Village, even without gaining experience, to help the other players level up quickly. From what she told me, it’s likely that everyone will reach Level 11 in that Novice Village by dawn today, so we’ll only meet up with them tomorrow," she explained.
Hearing that, Lohan let out a mental sigh and felt more relieved.
"Well, I’m glad they’re coming so fast. Is there any information I should know about this group coming tomorrow?" he asked, trying to sound as relaxed as possible about it.
’It’ll be better for me to understand these people first, so when I meet them I’ll know better how to act...’
Hearing his question, now it was Lisa’s turn to worry.
’Damn, when they arrive, my real-world identity will also become clear to Halon, right?! What will he do when he finds out I go to school with him? When he finds out I’m part of the Vance family? Will he also distance himself from me out of fear?’
Thinking about that, Lisa fell silent for a few seconds, formulating thoughts on how to explain this to Lohan without exposing herself, while mentally noting that she should have a serious conversation with Alice and the Players she’d hired about keeping her identity a secret.
Lisa took a deep breath, trying to push the tension out of her thoughts and adopt the confident demeanor she always showed Halon.
"The person leading this group is Alice, my best friend in the real world," Lisa explained, her inner voice sounding calm and direct.
But for Lohan, this hit like an even bigger bombshell than being told she was just an employee. ’Damn, not only am I going to have to deal with the first group of people she hired, but I’m also finally going to meet her best friend? Why do I feel like a guy going to meet his girlfriend’s family?!’
Lisa didn’t notice his concern and continued. "Her family is part of a circle very close to mine, operating in a sector that is, in practice, subordinate to my family’s business. Because of this connection, they spared no effort in Elysium and hired a group of veterans and scouts to form a pre-guild in her Starting Village, ensuring that Alice had full support to move forward without bottlenecks while developing an initial base for me, since I couldn’t access these people while being here in the Open World."
Lohan heard that and understood the situation a little better. "I see. "So we’ll be receiving a group of professionals led by someone you trust," Lohan remarked, shifting slightly to the side behind her as he leaned forward to face the fox still walking toward Thalendor.
This eased his concern somewhat, considering that dealing with professionals accustomed to following orders would be far better than dealing with a bunch of undisciplined, spoiled youths.
But learning that Lisa’s family was powerful enough in the real world to have a "subordinate family" was shocking information to him.
So Lohan decided to ask what was worrying him so much. "And how will the relationship work between these people and me in the Guild hierarchy? After all, considering that Alice is your best friend, she must know that I’m someone from the Lower Zone, right?"
That answer would be a major determining factor in building Lohan’s trust in Lisa and the guild.
If he faced discrimination in the guild because of his real-world identity, Lohan wouldn’t mind jumping ship before setting sail and having nothing more to do with them.
Even if he really liked the relationship he’d built with Lisa, he wouldn’t put up with being mistreated just for the sake of a pretty, fun, and rich fox.
Lisa noticed the serious tone in Halon’s question and even detected a hint of coldness in his voice, which made her heart skip a beat with worry for a second before she answered as quickly as possible.