Marco and his newly full party enter the extremely busy cafeteria and quickly get in line excited for the day of hunting they have ahead of them. They decided last night that they would take a Silver Rank job first, so they can iron out any issues they may have in the field before facing anything truly dangerous to them.


    The line passes quickly and Marco receives a steaming plate of scrambled, crispy home fries, and breakfast sausage links along with a slice of buttered toast. Marco nearly cries in happiness at the heaping bile of breakfast goodness.


    They quickly find a table with four seats free surrounded by hundreds of others enjoying their breakfast. Marco digs into the food, having to hold in moan at the greasy and sweet bite of breakfast sausage. Fluffy scrambled eggs finished with butter and crispy potatoes seasoned with garlic, onion, and paprika are both delicious bites, Marco uses his toast to wipe up the small crumbs of scrambled egg and last crispy bits of home fry.


    They all finish their breakfast, walking their plates to the hole in the wall leading to the kitchen designed for the dirty dishes, and they head out of dining room and ascend the stairs to the room the satellite Guildhall on the wall.


    The find the Silver job board and quickly the available jobs appear.


    *Ping* Silver Jobs Available:


    1. Brute Spotted (0/1) (0/53)


    2. Swarm Cleared (0/127)


    “Only two available? I guess the wall is a higher level area than Silver.” Marco thinks to himself, the team agreeing on the first option as they are lacking in AOE damage.


    The team quickly descends back to the ground floor, headed toward the opposite portcullis that they entered through. Every member of the party is dressed in their full armor before they exit the safety of the wall, Marco and Lucia in black cloth and leather, Ben is in his white cloth with armored padding around the important bits, and Shen in normal clothes with his armor half-formed over his chest and legs.


    Marco leads the party according to the directions provided by one of the clerks at the satellite Guildhall, another Gatekeeper waits on the Lichdom’s side of the wall, the [Earth] Mage quickly raises the portcullis and the team exits into the gray world of the Deadwoods.


    The gray ground stretches for miles, speckled with black anemic trees trying to grow in the rotten environments of the Deadwoods, the party crunches across dry grass in search of the Brute, a fairly high level undead that has monstrous strength but doesn’t generally use tactics. The clerk at the Guildhall said that the last reporting of the monster put it about forty-five minutes away from the wall.


    They quickly pickup speed, blurring through the Deadwoods at a good pace. The party reaches the area where the Brute was last reported to be and assumes combat positions, slowing their buffs and making sure they are able to react at a moment’s notice.


    Marco scans the surrounding woods, not immediately seeing any undead through the shriveled-up trees. A large shape looms in the far distance, several hundred feet away from the group stands a fifteen-foot tall hunched over monster.


    “Spotted at twelve o’clock,” Marco says in a quiet whisper. “Prepare for combat! Fifteen feet tall and bulky.”


    “I will grab its attention with a [Focused Beam] and then we go for the alpha strike.” Ben says, right hand glowing lightly with stored Mana. “Three, two, and one.”


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    A [Focused Beam] flashes across the distance barely reaching the Brute but still gains its attention, the giant monster starting to charge. The lumbering Brute picks up speed, rushing toward the party, nearly a blur when they all unleash their spells.


    [Salt Strike] [Quake] [Focused Beam] [Fireball]


    “Interesting they she cast [Fireball], I thought she would have gone for a [Cloud of Darkness] and started stabbing.” Marco thinks while repeatedly casting [Salt Bolt] and sending them fling toward the monsters.


    The monstrous undead manages to bellow with rotten vocal cords, dozens of Fodders and Zombies racing through the woods at the team.


    “Incoming! Brace for a swarm.” Shen calls, pulling the stone around him into a [Rampart] using the small wall to block the incoming undead. Marco fires off three [Salt Strikes] in front of the small wall, the huge crystals ready to shred the charging creatures.


    [Field of Wisps] is cast by Ben on the left side of the battlefield while Lucia summons her [Cloud of Darkness] around the boss and disappears into the fray. The Brute is looking haggard, chunks of flesh ripped off by the onslaught of spells.


    Roars sound from the patch of darkness, the Brute somehow in pain under the ministrations of Lucia. Small bursts of [Fire] escape the cloud of black, usually right before or after a roar of pain echos through the woods,


    With the [Rampart] and [Salt Strike] crystals keeping all of the party members safe, Ben and Shan transition to full offensive. Shen starts to enlarge his [Hammer of Granite], massive hammer strikes crushing multiple undead at a time.


    *Ping* Minions Slain (23/53)


    Marco starts to build up a stock of [Salt Bolts] readying himself for a barrage to take care of the rest of the minions. Lucia is at home in her [Cloud of Darkness], dual wielding her dual karambits with practiced ease tearing off strips of huge undead Brute and leaving trails of burning blood in their wave- putrid smoke joining the deep darkness in the air around her.


    Shen is making his return as whack-a-mole world champion and driving Fodder and Zombies into the ground with tremendous force. Ben is doing an excellent impression of a laser, [Light] obliterating heads or burning out chests, Marco is holding his own using [Salt Shot] to blast through monsters before slinging the projectile back around and into the [Cloud of Darkness] making sure to shout and let Lucia know to expect the shot.


    A System notification lets them know that the Brute has fallen.


    *Ping* Brute Slain (1/1)


    *Ping* Minions Slain (50/53)


    The last minion falls not long after, Lucia cutting through a neck with a [Dark Slash], Marco sending a [Salt Shot] through the head of a Zombie and Ben kills the last with a [Focused Beam].


    “That seemed to go well,” Marco says, “Nothing really challenging about the fight other than numbers.”


    “I agree! A full team plus we outranked the monster.” Ben says.


    “Yeah, a single Brute wasn’t very difficult especially after that alpha strike.” Lucia comments, twirling her knives between her fingers.


    “No issues on my end either, nothing got close to breaking through [Earthen Armor] and they fell to my hammer easily.” Shen says.


    Marco and team gather what they can the surrounding area, finding a tiny anemic patch of Stinging Nettles which he picks very carefully and shoves into his [Inventory]. Stinging nettles are exactly what he thought he’d find out here in the Inner Deadwoods, a hearty little plant that fights back so much that you cannot eat it raw.


    “So, let us head back and we will see if there are any Gold Rank jobs that are interesting.” Ben says, starting to head back toward the wall.


    The trip back is uneventful, a couple of roaming patrols of Scouts that are dispatched before they make it within throwing distance to the group.


    They finally see the wall in the distance and slow their pace, getting their first solid look at this side of the structure. Gray stone dilapidated with age wrapped in vines and ivy that twist and turn into something like runes. He expands his Mana a little bit and is nearly blown off of his feet by the sheer amount of Mana present in the vine and ivy patterns.


    He stands transfixed by the intricate swirls and loops of the Mana, not always following the vine or ivy pattern beneath, “I wonder what spell or techniques allow them to weave the Mana like that.” Marco thinks to himself, snapping himself out of his stupor and continuing the short trip to the portcullis.


    “Halt! State your name and business with the wall.” Gatekeeper Renee says, a halberd flowing into her hand from the stone below her.


    “Marco, Shen, Lucia, and Ben reporting back from a Silver Adventurer job beyond the wall.” Marco rattles off.


    “Very well, I saw you all leave this morning but it is procedure.” The Gatekeeper says, raising the portcullis and waving them through.