After traveling for a few hours, the group cut through the forests and arrived at another hilly terrain.
This was the mountainous region in the north, but this time Liam did not go as far as he went the last time.
While the mecha gnome territory was located further up north, this dungeon was situated at the foot of the terrain itself.
"The dungeon should be somewhere around here." Liam stopped and looked around. The others as well took a note of the surroundings.
They had tackled several Level 35 to Level 40 beasts on their way here, so everyone was on high alert.
"Should we split up and search?" Mia asked.
"No need. Let's keep moving." Liam shook his head. "We should be arriving soon."
'If I remember correctly, the ruins of the Rock Temple should be here somewhere.'
He jumped around and soon arrived at a peculiar rock, behind which the dungeon portal was inconspicuously located.
"There we go."
Everyone gulped and prepared to enter the dungeon, but weirdly Liam hadn't stepped in?
"What? Why are you guys looking at me? I can't always be baby sitting the bunch of you. Ha Ha."
"I have some work to do. So good luck."
"Huh?" Everyone looked at him and then at the dungeon portal. They were supposed to clear a level 40 dungeon by themselves?
"Brother, what are you saying?!" Mei Mei scratched her head.
"Mmm… work hard. Our guild's progress is now in your hands."
He patted the girl and then looked at the person next to her, who just happened to be Shin Soo.
"I am trusting you guys." Liam winked.
"Boss!" Shin Soo felt as if heart stopped. This was too much pressure. He started sweating buckets. Most of the group was dumbfounded.
Only Derek had the usual blank expression and simply prepared to obey the order and do what was expected of him.
Mia calmly gazed at the dungeon portal and Alex had an expression as if someone had just given her a challenge.
She clenched her fist, determined to accomplish this task, no matter what.
Liam took a look at everyone and nodded contently.
"Oh and try not to die." He further added as he jumped off the bunch of rocks, down to the ground.
Leaving behind the rest of the group stunned silly, he then casually retraced his steps and wandered back into the forest.
Next to him, Luna was happily jumping around.
He had brought everyone here but he never promised that he would run the dungeon with them.
Liam might not have put together an all-star team like the other group with the four big shots but he had also brought together some decently skillful players.
Also Derek's and Mia's skills were at par with the top experts.
So if he spoonfed everything at every step of the way, then that would be the worst thing he was doing for them. It would not be productive.
Besides, he also had certain things that he wanted to do before entering the spatial rift.
Liam wandered back into the forests and came all the way to the mountain bear territory that they had recently crossed.
These bears had thick black hide with sharp spikes on them and were Level 25 beasts.
"Shall we start?" Liam grinned. He unsheathed his sword and the first bear was swiftly brought down.
Before its body touched the ground, he already located the small soul bead.
He quickly molded mana around the bead and then summoned the dozen mana hammers that he was used to.
However, when he tried manipulating the hammers to forge the soul bead, an intense repulsive force welcomed him.
The hammers felt heavier than usual and no matter how much he tried he was not able to bring them down and hit the bead into shape.
Liam frowned as he felt the weight of the manipulation on his mind and body. Nevertheless, he grit his teeth and persevered.
Luna worriedly looked at her Master. She also wanted to help.
She rounded up a few more bears, roasting them all one after the other, silently piling more corpses near Liam.
A few more minutes passed by in this manner when Liam finally was able to get the grasp of things at least to a certain extent.
He was now able to withstand the pressure and he hammered the soul bead slowly and steadily.
He continued this process for an entire hour before he finally received the notification that he was expecting.
[Ding. Soul forging successful]
A big spectral spiked bear appeared in front of Liam, its eyes arrogantly looking around.
Kyuuuu! Luna cheered loudly.
Liam wiped the sweat of his forehead and turned to look at her. Seeing the mess piled up around him, his face twitched.
But he was far too tired to spank the naughty fox and just grabbed some roasted meat to appease his hunger.
Forging in this manner was even more exhausting than forging metals or even fighting.
But unfortunately, he was short on time so he couldn't afford to rest as much as he wanted.
"Next." Liam spotted another bear and started his work all over again. Another hour passed and one more spectral bear appeared.
It looked like he had really grasped the essence of the skill and was now able to forge the souls of higher beasts.
The two bears standing in front of him were truly magnificent. They seemed to hold the same vigor and strength of a live mountain bear.
"Just how strong are these?" Liam pondered. Before, he was only forging chickens and rabbits, so he was not able to test.
But now he had some wolves and bears, it was a good time to test their ability and growth potential.
"It should take them at least a few more hours to finish the dungeon. I can create some more soul-forged bears and then go for a hunt."
Liam cracked his neck and grinned as he located the next mountain bear.