As soon as Liam pocketed the flame crystal, the temperature inside the glacier cave instantly crashed and dipped.
All three parties including the goblin beasts, the four humans, and also the fifth human felt this change.
However, the former two were too busy to care about this at the moment and the latter only saw it as a sign of his time to leave.
Only the goblin beast boss angrily roared as it realized that someone had stolen its precious treasure.
It started attacking the group of four with even more vigor and frenzy and before long four corpses fell down and once again the party was wiped.
The goblin beast boss then impatiently turned around to search for the flame fragment. But why would Liam linger around?
He and the flame fragment were both long gone.
He used all of his mana to push his physical limits to the extreme and then ran out of there as fast as he could.
Liam dashed out all the way out of the glacier cave and ran down the mountains.
He also scooped up Luna who was nearby and ran continuously, only stopping near the small village.
As there was a light blizzard everyone seemed to be inside their yurt. Even Liam could feel the biting cold seeping through to his body core.
He did not bother knocking on the different yurts to find the old chief. Instead, he smiled and took out the frozen flame from his inventory space.
Instantly, the small fox's face lit up, greedily licking her lips.
Before she could even make a noise, one of the yurts burst open and the village chief ran over, panting and heaving, his big eyes bulging in surprise.
He looked at the flame crystal the same way Luna was looking at the crystal.
Liam chuckled inwardly and handed the item over to the chief, who took it from him as if his life depended on it. He was trembling and shaking from top to bottom.
And of course, the blizzard and everything else suddenly did not matter.
Partially because their treasure had been returned to them, but also because the effect of the flame was once again visible.
It provided a warmth that instilled a kind of unique comfort and ease.
The old man looked at the flame fragment longingly and then started crying. "Thank you, my Lord. Thank you from the bottom of my heart."
"You have saved my people and done us all a great kindness and favor, something that we cannot repay in this lifetime."
The old man muttered whilst sobbing in between.
Hearing this, Liam's face twitched.
Was he really not going to give it to him? This greedy bastard! What a time waste!
But Liam wasn't all that worried. The chief was barely Level 25 and all the villagers were also only Level 18.
If they were any stronger then they could have taken care of their problem by themselves. Most probably the stronger members of their tribe were killed by the goblin beasts.
Liam patiently listened to the old man's rant and sobbing. He also mentally prepared himself to deal with him as he did not have too much time to waste.
The group of four could return here at any time now. So he needed to act fast.
Just as he was about to snatch the flame crystal back from the trembling hands of the chief, the other members of the village started coming out and gathering around.
However, unlike the chief they all did not look too pleased to see that the flame fragment was restored.
In fact, they looked extremely angry and agitated.
Before the chief could say anything, an old woman stepped forward and shouted.
"We don't want that accursed item here. My son died because he was trying to protect that."
"My husband was killed because he tried to fight with those monsters and bring this back."
"This is not our blessing. This is our curse. We don't want it."
The several villagers who had gathered started to make a huge commotion, crying and shouting in frustration.
At first, the chief looked shocked and surprised, but slowly he as well sighed in tiredness. Perhaps it was time to move on.
He shook his head helplessly and looked at Liam. "My Lord. We are all extremely indebted to you. This kindness you have shown us, please allow me to repay you."
"Please take this crystal."
"Knowing that our ancestral treasure is with someone kind and noble like you and not those filthy bloodthirsty beasts, we will all be able to rest easy tonight."
To Liam's surprise, the old man extended his trembling hands and returned the flame crystal back to him.
Liam did not know whether to laugh or cry. Thankfully, he had been a bit patient so there was time for all of this to play out.
Otherwise, he would have massacred everyone here and taken the crystal by force.
But now there was no need for it, so he happily accepted the crystal and then waved goodbye to the group of people.
He was short on time so he did not accept their hospitality feast and invitation to stay back to talk to them.
From what he could see, they were also starting to gather their things and move out of the cold mountains.
The flame crystal was already saved from the goblin beasts so there was no longer any need for these people to stay in these adverse conditions.
Liam silently wished the villagers good luck and then rushed over to the coordinates where Talon was waiting for him.
Only when he and Luna got onto the bird's back and they rose up in the sky, did he let out a breath of relief. Somehow this mission was accomplished.
He had a feeling that every single mission after this was only going to be more and more troublesome.
Meanwhile… a few party wipes and couple more deaths later… four people stared at the big empty glacier cave.
"Where the fuck is that flame?"