《The Nettle Tea Chronicles》 Chapter 1 : Mag Mell ~Prologue~ Marissa Marissa stared at her computer screen, absolutely giddy. Sure, new games came out all the time, but it didn¡¯t matter how many times she had sat right here in her chair staring at the still grayed out ¡®play¡¯ button; it was always magical. As long as things went well, at least. She was under no illusions; she was counting down to a huge Massively Multiplayer Online game release, and those were notoriously buggy at launch. Not to mention the litany of connection issues and other shenanigans that she would no doubt encounter over the next few days. Didn¡¯t matter. She was still hyped up. ¡°Four minutes. Just four minutes.¡± Marissa snickered at the equally excited muttering that came over their voice chat. ¡°Relax, Kieran. The chances of us actually even getting to play tonight is, like, astronomically small.¡± ¡°Fine, Rissa. Go to bed then. It¡¯s not like you¡¯ll get to play tonight.¡± Kieran shot back. ¡°Besides, it¡¯s almost 9 over there, isn¡¯t it? Just about your bedtime.¡± He teased. Marissa did glance at the clock on the bottom of her screen as she responded, just out of habit. ¡°I¡¯ve got Julie and Sarah coming in tomorrow morning, and even the afternoon shift is fully covered.¡± She said snidely. ¡°I don¡¯t need to go in tomorrow.¡± Kieran whistled. ¡°Wow. The great Marissa letting her workers do their jobs. Never thought I¡¯d see the day.¡± ¡°Shut up. You act like I never take a day off.¡± ¡°Uh huh. And tell me, how much extra did you bake and prep today before you left for the night?¡± Marissa looked up and away toward the corner of her study - not that Kieran could see her over the voice chat. But no doubt, her silence was telling. She did, indeed, do a whole bunch of extra work before leaving for the day not only because she wasn¡¯t working Friday this week, but because the bakery was hers. It didn¡¯t feel right to her to just not do any of the baking for a whole long weekend. ¡°That¡¯s what I thought.¡± Kieran said with a laugh. ¡°And what about y-¡± ¡°Canceled class.¡± Kieran interrupted her. ¡°Besides, half the kids aren¡¯t even gonna show up tomorrow.¡± There was a slight pause. ¡°Five of them have already emailed me saying they¡¯re sick. Little liars, the lot of ¡®em.¡± Marissa laughed as he paused again. ¡°Oh, well, maybe not Bree. She¡¯s probably actually sick. Poor girl never misses class.¡± He said, sounding actually regretful. ¡°Damn. I skipped a bunch of classes in college. Especially my required liberal learning ones. Still got mostly A¡¯s though.¡± Marissa said. ¡°You and everyone else.¡± Kieran confirmed. ¡°I majored in Teaching, and still skipped. Can¡¯t believe I got stuck teaching some of the freshman writing seminars. That¡¯s prime skipping material right there!¡± ¡°No kidding. I think I attended less than half of the classes for mine. As long as you turned in the papers, literally no one cared.¡± ¡°And that is still the case. Two weeks ago, only three kids actually - Game¡¯s up.¡± Kieran interrupted himself and Marissa immediately woke up. She had to click away from the game¡¯s launcher once to get the page to refresh, but there it was. The inviting, bright green button. They both went silent as they each watched the opening credits roll by. Marissa fought the urge to smash the enter key, space bar, escape, tab, and whatever else she thought might skip through the credits. She would absolutely do that next time, but this was the first time she opened the game. It felt wrong to do it now. The expected names came by; the publisher, the game engine, then DanuSoft, the developers. They were a new team, but weren¡¯t exactly small. Evidently, they had started as a small team, wanting to put together as perfect an MMO as they could manage and were using AI to do so. The first few news stories about the game had been very wary of it for the use of AI, but over time they seemed to win the public over. The developers had time and time again said that while they were using AI liberally, they refused to use it to replace parts of the work that they felt really required a human touch; art, writing, and the like were all handled entirely by the human team. The AI was only used to help alleviate the work that no one really wanted to do; the most common examples given in interviews were things like in-between frames on animation and some random content generation, that they had assured players would make sense when they actually played the game. It was enough to at least get potential players on their side, rather than rallying against them for using AI to develop art or other assets. Even Marissa could see how quickly its use could go wrong, though. As it was, people had been clamoring to see the finished product for some time. There hadn¡¯t even really been a beta test or anything of the sort, which was practically unheard of these days. They simply launched with a three-day head start for anyone who pre-ordered, ahead of its scheduled release date of Tuesday, November 28th. The head start period, of course, started at midnight on Saturday morning for the East Coast of the US, which meant 9 p.m. for Marissa on the West Coast. When the title screen flashed up, Marissa was pulled out of her thoughts. There it was, in big, bold letters on her screen: Mag Mell. The screen showed an image of beautifully rolling hills of gorgeous green grass, with an occasional tree or other natural scenery to break up the hills. The camera panned around the view, as if showcasing the landscape. And then the expected menu displayed below the title. [Log In], [New Character], [Settings], [Credits], and [Exit Game] were listed before her, with [Log In] grayed out. Of course, before anything else, Marissa immediately clicked into her settings. The game was too loud in her headphones, so she needed to turn it down. She checked the graphics settings to make sure everything was set as high as was reasonable for her two year old PC. She checked the language settings, just in case. Made sure the camera controls weren¡¯t inverted, because that was gross. Then she clicked through two dozen other, far less important, settings just to make sure everything was to her liking. And finally, she made her way back to the menu and hit [New Character].The author''s tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. First she had to select a server, but they had discussed this already. They would be playing on T¨ªr na n¨®g; she found it in the list, selected it, and moved right along. As the screen changed, the expected menus, sliders, and headings all popped up, neatly arrayed around a bland 3d character model that was just begging to be customized. Marissa wanted a female character, so selecting that was easy enough. But the available races weren¡¯t exactly the classic fantasy races that she was used to. ¡°What race are you thinking?¡± Kieran asked. The sudden voice after a long silence made Marissa jump, and she laughed. ¡°I actually forgot you were still here.¡± ¡°As usual.¡± Kieran muttered. ¡°Did you see anything that caught your attention?¡± ¡°Not yet¡­¡± She said, as she shifted through her options. Human was clear enough. Then Elf, but they looked more along the lines of just a more fancy human; no long, pointy ears or anything like that. Then she moved to Sylph, which she was familiar with, and Undine. Air and water spirits, respectively, she knew from their common usage in other games. In this case, the Sylph looked slight and dainty, which matched her assumption of ¡®air spirit¡¯ pretty well. The Undine looked like it had more normal human proportions, but had a slightly blue tint to their skin. The default model had long, flowing hair that seemed to be floating as if in water. It was a really neat effect, and the image seemed pretty much in line with her thought of ¡®water spirit¡¯. After that she had expected a fire or earth spirit, but what appeared was a Corvus; it looked like a humanoid crow, in a sense. It didn¡¯t seem to have obvious wings, but there was a cloak of feathers draped around its body. And its head was feathered with a beak. Next up was Fae. The default here was similarly human-sized, as it seemed like every option was, but looked by far the most alien to her. Not including the literal bird heads, anyway. Their faces were sharper than normal, and their eyes were bright, shocking colors. They also had the expected wings, though they were layered and flat against their back, giving the appearance of a cloak, just like the Corvus. And finally was the Cait-Sidhe. They were a humanoid cat race, because of course there were cat people. The Cait-Sidhe didn¡¯t appear to be fully fur covered, but their hands and feet were certainly covered in a luscious black pelt that traveled up the forearm and foreleg a bit. Their faces were far more human leaning than not, lacking any sort of fur, but they did have cat ears and a tail. Most prominently displayed was a bright white patch of fur on their upper chest, which was visible through a small break in their clothing. ¡°I think I might go Fae¡­?¡± Marissa said, still unsure. She was flipping between the various options, trying to make up her mind. ¡°I definitely am.¡± Kieran said, a smile audible in his voice. ¡°Since this game is leaning into the whole Celtic vibe, I¡¯m just rolling with it. Also, I was planning to play the great weapon focused DPS class anyway, and I get a kick out of a short faerie with a big sword.¡± Marissa chuckled. ¡°Yeah, that sounds like you.¡± Once again, she stopped on Fae and stared at it for a moment. ¡°I was going to go with the Arrow class, myself. And if Fae can actually fly at some point, I think having the ability to do so on a ranged DPS would be good.¡± ¡°Makes sense.¡± Kieran said. ¡°But you don¡¯t want to be a Corvus? They look neat.¡± ¡°Sorry Kieran.¡± Marissa said, her voice flat as she selected Fae. ¡°I know you like being the only person in our group that plays a certain race, but Corvus is not my style.¡± ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s fair.¡± He said, then they both lapsed back into silence as they went through the various options - and there were a lot of them. The Fae seemed to even have more options available than the other races. While their default height was human sized, the minimum on the slider was roughly equivalent to 2 ? feet tall. Marissa didn¡¯t think Kieran would opt for that small, but she wasn¡¯t sure. The face options also varied wildly. The default alien-like face could be swapped out for something more monstrous with a large maw and long, sharp teeth - but also for some incredibly cute or beautiful faces as well. Even the wings offered some pretty well varied options, including the ability to choose no wings at all. When Marissa clicked the option to remove them, she received a pop up message that told her she would receive buffs to other stats in compensation for the removed wings - and that told her that keeping them would have some kind of mechanical benefit. Eventually. Probably. The idea of a flying archer was too good to pass up, though, so she kept the wings. Marissa and Kieran both spent a while working on their characters. There was a little chatter here and there, but most of the time was spent getting everything just right. Swapping eyebrows around to make sure the default expression looked good, or opting for a different, less severe mouth. The worst part was ten minutes into the whole ordeal, Marissa realized there was an option to directly alter the mesh and sculpt the face. At that point she knew she was doomed to spend at least an hour in the character creator, though it didn¡¯t exactly surprise her. And an hour and some change later, she was looking at her finished character. It was a serious, somewhat studious looking Fae woman. Marissa had opted for one of the more adult, beautiful looking faces, and made her expression look serene but serious. Her body was well proportioned, and looked on the more fit side. She had opted for a long braided hairstyle, that sat neatly over the character¡¯s right shoulder and draped over her front. Slightly darker makeup options gave her character a more dangerous look with some eyeliner and shadow, as well as a complimentary lip color. When she was satisfied with the general look, Marissa moved into the class selection. Classes in Mag Mell were called [Paths], with each Path further broken down into two [Dedications]. The game also fully utilized the classic MMO Holy Trinity: Tanks for soaking damage and threat, Healers for keeping a party alive, and DPS - or Damage Per Second - which was responsible for actually making sure enemies died as quickly as possible. Marissa, in most games she played, opted for archers. She didn¡¯t have a strong reason beyond just liking the general vibe of archetypal hunters and rangers. In Mag Mell, this led her to choosing the [Arrow] Path. Arrow was a ranged DPS Path, that was further broken down into [Seeker], which was focused mostly on using their bow and arrows, and [Keeper], which was more focused on utilizing nature based magic in addition to their bow. For now, Marissa couldn¡¯t actually pick a [Dedication] yet as you apparently unlocked them at a later level, so she was just left with [Arrow] as a [Path] for now. The selection did, however, alter her character¡¯s starting gear. The character she had created was now wearing leather armor with a hood, mostly utilizing dark browns and greens; very woodsy colors. Before choosing a name and finishing her creation, Marissa went back and altered the character''s hair and makeup colors slightly, just to better match the ranger aesthetic. With that finished, all she had to do was come up with a name. Marissa had always been just the worst at naming things. The struggle was nothing new for her. She would often steal names from various media franchises she liked, or would alter something to fit appropriately. In this case, she leaned back in her chair to think about it. She grabbed the mug of tea that was always on her desk to sip at. She always had an electric mug warmer at the ready, too, because she didn¡¯t always finish her tea before it was cold. She stared down at the tea in her cup before metaphorically throwing her hands up in surrender. ¡°I give up. Your name is Hibiscus Jade.¡± She said, as she typed it in. She was drinking hibiscus green tea. And Jade just sounded better than Green. ¡°Hibiscus Jade, hm?¡± Kieran said over the voice chat. ¡°Good to know, so I can find you whenever we finally get in.¡± ¡°What do you mean ¡®finally get in¡¯?" Marissa asked as she clicked on the [Confirm] button to finish character creation. And then she was greeted with a screen that every video game player absolutely dreads. [In Queue] [Position in Queue : 152,984] Marissa let out a heavy sigh as her head thumped onto her desk. The impact knocked her glasses askew, and as much as she wanted to fix them, her prevailing desire was to lay there, defeated. ¡°I guess you just hit Confirm?¡± ¡°Yup.¡± ¡°What¡¯s your spot?¡± ¡°152,983.¡± ¡°I¡¯m at 151,258.¡± Marissa just thumped her head against her desk again. ¡°How long have you been looking at the queue screen?¡± She asked. ¡°And how much has it moved?¡± ¡°Uh, about five minutes. And it moved like 30 spots.¡± Marissa shifted her head to the side so she could vaguely see her monitor out of the corner of her eye. The queue number hadn¡¯t really changed. ¡°Fuck this. I¡¯m going to bed.¡± She declared, before sitting back upright so she could clean up her desk for the night. Kieran laughed. ¡°I¡¯m probably right behind you. There¡¯s no way this queue goes down in a reasonable amount of time, and I¡¯m tired as is. I¡¯ll catch you tomorrow?¡± ¡°I¡¯ll be here as soon as I wake up, yeah.¡± Marissa said. ¡°Gonna leave the game on overnight. If we get lucky, maybe we¡¯ll wake up to either a short queue or just already be in the game.¡± ¡°Gonna take some really good luck for that. No doubt they have AFK timers to kick people out if they stand still for too long.¡± ¡°Then we hope that we wake up before the queue runs down, yeah?¡± Marissa said, knowing that her hopes would surely be dashed when she woke up in the morning. ¡°Cheers to that.¡± Kieran said, then audibly held back a yawn. Marissa couldn¡¯t fight back her body¡¯s responding yawn either. ¡°And that¡¯s my cue.¡± ¡°Ugh, don¡¯t say that word -¡± ¡°Good night.¡± ¡°Night.¡± Chapter 2 : Starter Zone ~Prologue~ Marissa Marissa didn¡¯t sleep well. Even after doing her best to wind down after deciding to call it a night, her excitement level was too high to simply sleep. Instead, she spent far too much time staring at the ceiling, then rolling over to stare at her bedroom door, which led to the hallway, and then to the tiny second bedroom in her apartment and her PC. When she did finally sleep, it still only came in bursts. She regularly woke up several times throughout the night, only to angrily growl at herself when she looked at her fifteen year old digital alarm clock. She wasn¡¯t sure how many times she had woken up when she finally decided to give it up and leave her bed. The short bursts of sleep seemed to be just enough to satisfy her body - and she had made it to 5 a.m., which was two hours past her normal alarm. She went to her computer before anything else and hit the power button on the monitor to check where things stood. She felt the full body, defeated sigh and release of tension when it was the log-in screen - not the queue - that greeted her. Marissa leaned over her desk chair to click her way back into the queue. She smiled briefly, seeing Hibiscus Jade staring back at her blankly at the character select, then hit [Log In]. [In Queue] [Position in Queue : 10,684] ¡°Lovely.¡± Marissa muttered to herself as she stood straight up again. She rubbed at her lower back and yawned. A ten thousand queue would hopefully not be too long, and she needed to brush her teeth and make some tea. It was still too early for an actual breakfast, but maybe one of the croissants she had in her kitchen wouldn¡¯t go amiss. With one more longing glance at the screen, Marissa stretched out her aching back and walked away to go through her slightly altered morning routine.
[In Queue] [Position in Queue : 17] Marissa sat back in her chair, her hands behind her head with a slight smile on her face. She kept glancing at the screen, excited. In the end, not only did she have more than enough time to brush her teeth, have two cups of breakfast tea, and shower, she even went for a jog. Before the shower, just to be clear. Going for a run was not a normal part of Marissa¡¯s routine, but she figured with how antsy she was, maybe the run would do her some good. She wasn¡¯t sure it did, but the cold San Francisco air certainly woke her up. And more importantly, it wasted a good chunk of time in a ¡®productive¡¯ way. And she got to wear the activewear that she received as a gift last year from¡­someone. She honestly couldn¡¯t remember who it came from. But all of that ceased to matter to her when her position in the queue dropped to the single digits. She sat up and scooted in toward her PC, ready to go. She had the regular chat program up on her second screen, alongside a designated internet window ready to search whatever she needed. Not that she¡¯d use it. Probably. Marissa wasn¡¯t about to spoil herself on anything important. Besides, she had paid pretty close attention to most of the marketing for the game. She knew, roughly, what to expect. And then she was in. She hissed out a ¡°Yesss¡­¡± to no one in particular as she watched the loading screen pass. A cinematic started, which she skipped. Mag Mell was an MMO, and she knew from experience that story was not likely to be one of its strengths. Maybe she would regret it later, but right now she wanted to play. To be fair, she had already seen the intro cinematic in the form of a trailer. She didn¡¯t plan on following the story too closely, but from what she understood, the set-up was that the player characters were various warriors, bards, heroes, and the like working together with the Tuatha D¨¦ Danann to fight back against the Fomorians. Kieran had talked to her at length about how the game was working with Celtic mythology, seemingly mostly Irish and Welsh, to establish its setting. He was always more of a loremonger than she was, so Marissa was sure that he would be able to enlighten her on stuff she skipped. Kieran would also be sure to let her know if the story was actually worth her time later. She could always jump back into it later with lore videos online or by rewatching cutscenes. For now, Marissa was focused on gameplay and developing her gamesense. When she was dropped into the world, her first move was to look over her UI, test some buttons out, and see how the game felt. Most things were as expected. Mag Mell featured an action-based battle system. She moved around with the expected WASD keys. She had a targeting reticle that was controlled with the mouse, as expected. Then there were several empty hotbars that showed various keybinds attached that would no doubt fill out as she leveled and gained new skills. She couldn¡¯t wait to fill them. Right now, at level 1, she had two actions; left click was her basic attack, which fired arrows toward wherever she was aiming. They seemed to have fall-off, which meant finite range. That was expected. She was equipped with a [Short Bow], and that seemed to dictate her basic attacks. Her attacks had a [Might] value, which seemed to be their base damage before anything else was applied - so mostly useful to compare attacks against each other. Her basic attacks had a [Might] of 100, 100, 100, then 250. So, she noted to herself, it would always be beneficial to finish her combo whenever she could. Her right click, [Full Draw], was a charged shot. When she held it down, a bar appeared below her targeting reticle, and filled over time. It took about a second and a half for it to fill, then it did so a second time, then a third, then a fourth. The color changed each time, from green, to yellow, to red, to white and flashing. She could run around while charging, and when she let go, she fired a single arrow at her target with a neat animation. The arrow had a larger effect on it, signifying the higher damage, and Hibiscus spun as if the attack had kickback. The skill also had a cooldown of six seconds - and that dictated her rotation for now. She also had access to a dodge roll with three charges, a sprint button that operated outside of combat, a button that allowed her to sit to recover HP and MP, and some other assorted skills, emotes, and things that didn¡¯t appear to have much use at the moment.If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. She hit the [C] key to bring up Hibiscus¡¯ character page to look at her stats and see exactly what stats existed in Mag Mell.
Hibiscus Jade Level : 1
[Path] : [Arrow] [Dedication] : [--]
HP 100/100 MP 100/100
[Strength] 15 [Intelligence] 8
[Accuracy] 7 [Speed] 5
[Defense] 8 [Resistance] 12
[Slash] 8 [Arcane] 12
[Pierce] 8 [Holy] 12
[Blunt] 8 [Nature] 12
[Parry] 0 [Dark] 12
With a big smile on her face, Marissa got things rolling. She walked up to the NPC with the bright yellow celtic-designed triquetra over his head and hit the [F] key when prompted to interact with him. The camera zoomed in for a brief, animated exchange between the NPC and Hibiscus, but Marissa quickly mashed her way through the text with the [F] key to get back to the action. When the chat was finished, she had a quest pinned on the right side of her screen, as expected. [Trial by Combat] [Kill 10 Fomorians] [0/10] Marissa could see on the minimap that the quest zone was just over the hill ahead of her - and there were heaps of other players heading up the hill. She couldn¡¯t see them before, but evidently accepting the first quest had put her in the actual live map with other players. When she followed the river of people up and over the hill, she got her first taste of one of the things that seemed to make the game special. The area that laid before her was a pretty standard starting zone. She had spawned in a base camp with a bunch of military-esque NPCs, took her first quest from a commander, and been sent on her merry way. Classic. The area itself was nothing too special. A widespread grassy plain was laid out, but pockmarked by battle. Impact craters, wooden battlements, crates, dead bodies, and the like were all scattered about the area. Several of the wooden structures that littered the field were on fire. All expected, classic standards for this sort of area. The enemies though - that¡¯s what surprised her. Traditionally, especially in starter areas like this one, players were expected to fight and kill a bunch of the same enemy, or ¡®mob¡¯. Usually, this amounted to some kind of critter like rats or occasionally a story-related enemy like a cultist or something. So seeing ¡®Kill 10 Fomorians¡¯ wasn¡¯t a shock. She just expected copy-and-pasted monsters of some kind that she¡¯d need to take out. Instead, the enemies were anything but copy-and-pasted. Sure, they all were labeled only as ¡®Fomorian¡¯ and had the expected red health bar floating over their heads, but the models were all unique. Or, at least, if they weren¡¯t truly unique, they were certainly procedurally generated. Each enemy was monstrous, but not in the same way. They were mostly humanoid-esque, but the more monstrous features were very highly varied. Some had fur. Others, feathers. Body proportions were all over the place, with some enemies having one side of their body being overly large, while others had unusually short limbs. They did, however, unanimously look like monsters. And beyond that, their idle animations in the area were far more involved than Marissa was used to. They were setting fires, killing NPCs, tearing up the landscape, and just generally causing chaos. The scene wasn¡¯t altogether something new or unexpected, but the depth involved here for an area that she would probably never visit again was still eye-opening. Marissa supposed that it was possible that the developers had poured extra love and care into the opening hours of the game to try to really hook players. Other games had done that, and then gone off the rails or at least significantly down in quality as the game progressed. But if Mag Mell could keep up this seeming level of quality throughout the entire game, Marissa would be suitably impressed. And probably hooked for the foreseeable future. As long as the endgame content was good, anyway. ¡°Alright, let¡¯s go!¡± Marissa said aloud as she ran down the hill and onto the battlefield. She charged her right click attack, [Full Draw], as she approached her first target. [Full Draw¡¯s] [Might] was 100 at the first stage of charge, and increased from there to 200, then 300, and finally 600. Fully charging the shot was far and away the best option. If anything, she felt like it was more likely that the skill was designed to punish you for poorly timing it and needing to let the attack fly early. When she entered her attack range - denoted by her targeting reticle turning red while over her intended target - she let the arrow fly. The enemy Fomorian, who had been rummaging through the burning remains of a wagon, spun to face her and drew a greatsword. As it charged her, she peppered the thing with her basic attack arrows while her charged attack was on cooldown. The basic attack had a combo and rhythm to it, with the fourth shot in each chain being weightier and dealing more damage. The animations were crisp and satisfying, too, which was nice. But by the time her first combo was completed, the enemy performed a leaping attack at her, crossing the remaining distance instantly. It didn¡¯t do a ton of damage, but the basic attack that followed did around 25% of her total HP at once. Immediately after that, the Fomorian wound up for a clearly much bigger swing. The ground in front of the enemy mob glowed red - a classic signal to get out of the damaging area of the attack. She did so, backing out of the area while continuing her basic attack string. Movement while attacking was slower than normal, but still fast enough to avoid the massive cleaving swing of the greatsword. Marissa clicked [Full Draw] again, as soon as it was off cooldown. She quickly realized that while she could move as normal outside combat while charging, in combat was another story; her movement speed was halved. As she tried to kite away from the enemy, it closed the gap while she was charging and hit her again for another quarter of her total HP, leaving her hovering around half. Before the thing could hit her again, she let her second charged shot fly and ended the fight. All things considered, it wasn¡¯t really a difficult fight. As long as she avoided the clearly marked AoE attack - which probably would kill her - the fight was in her favor as long as she kept up her damage. The downside was that the damage was high enough that for the moment, she definitely couldn¡¯t chain pull the enemies. A second one of those encounters in a row without any healing would kill her. So, she returned to the ¡®safe¡¯ area of the path through the area where there were no enemies, and hit the [Rest] skill. Hibiscus sat down in a relaxed pose, and Marissa watched her HP tick back up, 5% at a time. With her starting HP at an even 100, it was thankfully easy math. She was back to full in a matter of seconds, so the actual downtime really wasn¡¯t that bad, all things considered. Before she slipped back into combat, Marissa stretched her arms up over her head. This was going to be a long day. Chapter 3 : Onward and Upward ~Prologue~ Marissa Four hours later, Marissa was well and truly on her way through the beginning of the game. Or at least she certainly felt like she was making progress. She had hit level 5, and gained two new skills to add to her rotation. The first was [Rain of Arrows], an AoE attack with a [Might] of 150, that pelted enemies in a targeted area with a quick burst of damage with a fairly short cooldown. Second was [Venom Fang], an attack that launched an arrow that was poison tipped, and dealt damage over time. Marissa was still trying to get a handle on how Mag Mell broke down their skill designs, and [Venom Fang] being listed with a [Might] of 600 and a [Duration] of 30 seconds, seemed to imply that the 600 [Might] was the total damage dealt over the 30 second [Duration]. Both skills fit nicely into her meager damage rotation for now, although they still didn¡¯t confer anything too interesting. Open with a fully charged [Full Draw], apply [Venom Fang], then basic attacks until [Full Draw] was off cooldown again. [Rain of Arrows] wasn¡¯t particularly useful damage wise unless she had at least two targets - and for the moment, she didn¡¯t have the damage to manage pulling more than one mob at a time. At least not without risking a death. Marissa didn¡¯t worry too much about it, though. Pulling multiple packs of mobs together was mostly just a time-saving strategy to deal with large numbers while using AoE skills capable of hitting multiple targets at once. And part of the deal was having enough AoE damage to wipe out the pack quickly enough before they collectively did enough damage to kill you instead. Low levels basically never allowed that much AoE damage by design. So, for now, she was fine. It also helped that the [Rest] skill had rather significant regen on it, so the downtime between pulling enemies was unusually short, all things considered. Marissa also felt like the way they had made even normal mobs a potential threat was a good design choice, though she wasn¡¯t sure how she would feel about it by the end of the game. Though she also fully recognized that she was maybe still too early to get a good read on it in full. She pulled up her character sheet again with [C] while she was auto-running toward the zone¡¯s quest hub.
Hibiscus Jade Level : 5
[Path] : [Arrow] [Dedication] : [--]
HP 500/500 MP 500/500
[Strength] 15 [Intelligence] 8
[Accuracy] 7 [Speed] 5.5
[Defense] 9 [Resistance] 11
[Slash] 9 [Arcane] 11
[Pierce] 9 [Holy] 11
[Blunt] 10 [Nature] 11
[Parry] 0 [Dark] 13
In her short time leveling, she had realized exactly how stats worked in Mag Mell, and it was a little different from most games she had played. Rather than standard numbers, her stats were essentially percentage boosts applied to the related action or formula. So, for example, her [Strength] was currently a 15% boost to physical damage. Her [Defense] was a 9% reduction on incoming damage, and so on. [Speed] appeared to affect both her cooldown timers as well as how quickly she moved through her basic attacks. There also appeared to be some more hidden calculations that weren¡¯t immediately obvious. Her [Level] appeared to matter, as she did more damage to things below her level and vice-versa. Her equipment pieces all had some kind of effect on her stats as well, as swapping to some of her gear had reduced her [Resistances] and boosted others. As Marissa parked Hibiscus in the level 5 quest hub - which was a pretty standard military-like outpost - she leaned back and stretched. Deciding her back still felt tight, she decided to instead get up out of her desk chair and really stretch out. The stretch felt good after she¡¯d been sitting there for so long at this point. She glanced over at the chat program that she used with her friends to see how everyone was getting along. Kieran was online, and playing Mag Mell. He had been for a bit now, and she expected to see an in-game Friend Request from him any time now.Find this and other great novels on the author''s preferred platform. Support original creators! A few other friends she knew were also already playing the game, though they hadn¡¯t been as vocal about being excited for it as she and Kieran had been. Jasmine, Marissa¡¯s college roommate, was online and playing. Which meant she must have been keeping an eye on the game, since she must have taken off work for the day. She lived in New York City and worked as a Social Media Manager for a marketing company that worked with a huge list of clients. There was no way she wouldn¡¯t be at work on a random November Friday, even if she was three hours ahead of Marissa. Jasmine¡¯s husband, Ashton, was also apparently playing. His online status was a bit more unreliable as he was a freelance writer, regularly contributing to news outlets, while mostly working from home. She fully expected a message from Jasmine asking for a character name later, so they could add each other as Friends. There were a few other people that Marissa knew that were playing, too, but no one that she expected to be hearing from today. Unfortunately, after moving from the East Coast to the West Coast, her social circles had suffered and never really recovered. Even though she had been in San Francisco for basically ten years at this point, she basically spent her time either at work or at home. She was more than happy with her life, all things considered, but she had to admit to herself that she didn¡¯t have many close friends. As she finished stretching and sat back down, she told herself that it was fine. She only needed a few close friends anyway. And it wasn¡¯t like she didn¡¯t have friends that she could grab a drink with afterwork or anything. She just didn¡¯t consider them ¡®close¡¯. Marissa resituated herself and got comfy in her chair again before poking Hibiscus forward. When she reached for her mug to take a nice, calming gulp of tea she found her mug empty. She groaned, and thumped her forehead on her desk. ¡°Right. Empty.¡± She muttered, and stood to go refill the delightful chamomile tea.
¡°So? How goes the leveling?¡± Kieran asked later that afternoon, over their voice chat. ¡°Good? I feel like I haven¡¯t actually put a real dent in the game yet though.¡± Marissa said, while working her way through a small pack of mobs, one at a time. ¡°I¡¯m level 14 now, and I have a fair number of skills. It¡¯s definitely enough to keep combat fun, at least.¡± ¡°Same here.¡± Kieran said. ¡°The melee skills are satisfying, too. And looking at a little fae woman throwing around a sword as big as she is will never get old.¡± ¡°So you¡¯re doing more than just swinging your basic attack around, then?¡± ¡°Yeah. The skills I learned all flow pretty well into one another like a long combo. Basically I just open with one, cycle through until everything is on cooldown, basic attack a few times, then repeat. But one of my skills has a knockdown effect, and another has a stun, so I¡¯ve been using those for their secondary effects against some of the more dangerous mobs.¡± ¡°Makes sense.¡± Marissa said, nodding to herself. She had also picked up a few more skills with varied uses. [Pin] had a root component with 50 [Might], and [Triple Nock] gave her a second AoE attack with 50 [Might], but no cooldown, so it was spammable. [Slithershot] had a leap backward built into it to create space, and [Heartstopper] did a chunk of bonus damage to enemies below 25% HP. All in all, Hibiscus was beginning to get the tools to kite effectively and truly be a good ranged DPS. No flying with her wings yet, though. ¡°Do you think it¡¯s worth it to team up for leveling?¡± Marissa asked. ¡°Seen anything about experience sharing works?¡± ¡°I haven¡¯t looked into it, no.¡± Kieran said. ¡°We could try it, but I¡¯m not sure it¡¯s worth it. Knowing the two of us, I¡¯m sure we¡¯re both efficiently chugging through quests on our own. We might step on each other¡¯s toes if we party up.¡± Marissa snorted. She knew what he said sounded sarcastic, but he was being sincere - and he was right. They were both regular MMO players, and when you were questing in a game it was almost like entering a fugue state. You¡¯d just mindlessly hit everything on the quest list - naturally in the most convenient order - and clean up your journal all at once. Trying to coordinate while doing that often did go poorly, and sometimes even made the questing take longer. Even the party members shared credit for everything. ¡°Solo grind it is!¡± Marissa declared. ¡°At least we get to chat now. I have to pay too much attention to just watch videos on my second screen while playing, so just rushing quests while skipping cutscenes was starting to get a little tedious.¡± ¡°Sorry?¡± Kieran laughed. ¡°Nat went to work today, so I¡¯ve got Aoife and Kaitlyn at home. I didn¡¯t want to be too loud and wake them up early.¡± ¡°That¡¯s fair.¡± Marissa said. ¡°How are they doing?¡± ¡°Good.¡± Kieran said brightly. ¡°I took a break before to make them lunch. Fi is watching TV about¡­8 feet behind me. Kat is in her playpen playing with some toys, but totally half asleep. Aren¡¯t you?¡± He said, presumably turning to ask his daughter the question. ¡°You¡¯re lucky that your study is big enough to basically be a second family room.¡± Marissa said, clearly jealous as she looked around the tiny second bedroom that functioned as her computer room. ¡°Yeah, we lucked out that the Minneapolis suburbs aren¡¯t too expensive. And we knew that we wanted a big bonus room.¡± Kieran said. ¡°Natalie has always liked to be in the same room with me when I¡¯m gaming, even if she isn¡¯t a big gamer herself. I appreciate it, too. Keeps us feeling close.¡± ¡°Couldn¡¯t be me!¡± Marissa said jokingly with half a laugh. ¡°My lovelife is a disaster. And my house is tiny.¡± ¡°You live in San Francisco.¡± Kieran said flatly. ¡°Of course your house is tiny. And probably costs as much as mine does.¡± ¡°No shit.¡± ¡°As for your lovelife¡­Well, I¡¯m sure that¡¯ll come around in time.¡± Kieran said. ¡°Can only hope.¡± ¡°Maybe you¡¯ll meet your match at your bakery. Someone will just come in randomly one day, your eyes will meet across the room, and you¡¯ll just know-¡± ¡°Ding. Hit 15.¡± Marissa said, cutting him off. ¡°Fucking finally.¡± She paused, remembering the kids nearby. ¡°You¡¯re on headphones, right?¡± ¡°Yup, you¡¯re safe.¡± ¡°Oh, good. Just FYI, there¡¯s a quest lull around 14 and I had to grind for 15. Seems like this is where the tutorial zone ends.¡± ¡°Lovely. I guess I¡¯ll make sure to grab a few extra kills here and there to see if I can¡¯t bridge the gap.¡± ¡°Good luck.¡± Marissa said, as she returned Hibiscus to the most recent quest hub, which was a more permanent military installation in the area. It had walls. And, as expected, the commander in the place had a new quest marker over their head. ¡°Sweet. There¡¯s a quest at Forward Camp Boheh from Commander Frigg at level 15. Looks like it¡¯s the way forward when you hit 15.¡± She quickly glanced over the quest¡¯s text, looking for anything that stood out. Conveniently, the game highlighted important or key words, and [Falias] was practically glowing green. ¡°Looks like I¡¯m headed to one of the capital cities. ¡®Falias¡¯.¡± Marissa said, as she followed her map toward the next quest destination. ¡°Neat. I wonder if you¡¯ll get your Dedication and stuff there, too?¡± ¡°It feels likely? Getting to a major city in an MMO is usually where it opens up, right?¡± Marissa chuckled. ¡°I still don¡¯t know which way I¡¯m gonna go.¡± ¡°For Arrows, it was Seeker and Keeper, right?¡± ¡°Mhm. One focuses on weapon mastery and the other on magic, apparently. Based on their descriptions. I¡¯m curious what kind of magic we¡¯re talking here, though.¡± ¡°Surely it¡¯s nature-y.¡± Kieran said. ¡°Oh, I¡¯m sure.¡± Marissa agreed. ¡°But I meant more like¡­gameplay wise. Are we talking offensive spells? Magic instead of a bow? Or maybe it¡¯s more like magical traps like traditional ¡®Hunter¡¯ types? There¡¯s plenty of ways they could go.¡± ¡°Any tip offs in your current skills?¡± ¡°Not really?¡± Marissa said, considering. ¡°I have a DoT that¡¯s poison flavored. That¡¯s about it.¡± ¡°Guess you¡¯ll have to wait and see, then.¡± ¡°Yup.¡± Marissa agreed automatically as she was walking up to her transport to the city. ¡°Oh. Now that¡¯s interesting.¡± ¡°What?¡± Kieran asked. ¡°The automatic travel thing? It looks like it¡¯s a carriage pulled by two Dullahan. They look badass.¡± She said, looking over her hired wheels. The carriage was uniquely designed, looking somewhat gothic to go along with the headless horsemen drawing it. They wore armor and carried a side sword, and looked pretty dangerous. Certainly more imposing than any of the Fomorians that she had been fighting up until now. Marissa wasn¡¯t sure what kind of significance Dullahan carried in Celtic myth, but for now she wasn¡¯t really concerned with it. ¡°Falias here I come!¡± Chapter 4 : Falias ~Prologue~ Marissa Once Marissa had boarded the carriage and the two Dullahan started moving, she took a minute to just appreciate the landscape as it passed by. And then the carriage picked up speed. ¡°You know,¡± Kieran said, ¡°a carriage helmed by a Dullahan is supposed to be a bad omen? It traditionally means your death is approaching.¡± Marissa laughed as the carriage quickly approached the edge of the starter area - which was an island. ¡°You don¡¯t say?¡± ¡°Mhm. I don¡¯t remember which story it came from, but it¡¯s a thing.¡± ¡°Okay, but what about a carriage drawn by Dullahan? Not helmed by?¡± ¡°Not sure.¡± Kieran laughed. ¡°Maybe it¡¯s a joke? Haha, you¡¯re video game players, you¡¯re all gonna die. Probably a lot, too. Haha.¡± Marissa joked flatly. And then she watched on the screen as a rather sinister, dark, and shadowy portal opened up before the carriage and then drove straight into it. ¡°Well, alright then.¡± ¡°¡®Well, alright then,¡¯ what?¡± Kieran asked. ¡°Just rode through a dark portal to get off the starter island. Looks like the automatic travel paths aren¡¯t always actually full travel times.¡± ¡°Hey, that could be good if you pick to travel somewhere that would actually take a long time. No reason to sit in a carriage for half an hour.¡± ¡°True.¡± She agreed, spinning her mouse around to view the new landscape. The Dullahan carriage had reappeared in a forested area on a path. Marissa could see the break in the trees ahead that they were headed toward, but the forest around her was far more interesting at the moment. The game¡¯s graphics were good. Not astoundingly so, but they were very aesthetic, and stylized just enough that the art style would probably age really well. But what continued to blow her away were the seemingly random little details. As she blasted through the forest path on the carriage, she passed critters and animals doing animal things in the woods. Deer were grazing, some rabbits were chasing one another, more than once she saw a fox dart back into the darkness. Birds flew between the branches overhead, and the whole thing was represented in the suddenly lively soundscape the game provided. It wasn¡¯t something new - not really. Games had done flora and fauna like this before, but something about it felt different, though she couldn¡¯t really pinpoint what it was. When she noticed two deer that were standing side by side watching the carriage go by, it finally clicked. Their stances were different. They had slightly different colors and patterns on their fur. They were both clearly female, but they looked different. The models were all different in subtle ways. That was new. The animations weren¡¯t simply canned loops, and the models were varied enough that nothing looked like it was copy and pasted. As she marveled at the variation in critters that she would probably never interact with, the carriage finally passed the edge of the trees. As Marissa recentered her camera forward, the carriage zoomed up and crested a hill, giving her a clear view of what she assumed had to be the city of [Falias]. It was impressive - no doubt about that. The city was large, surrounded by a huge wall of stone. Embattlements were clearly prepared for any sort of attack, despite the huge swath of gorgeous green fields being clearly empty of danger. The thing that stuck out the most by far, however, was a massive stone pillar in the center of the city. It didn¡¯t look crafted or shaped much by hand, but rather had the look of a natural, massive pillar that had been eroded over time. From a distance at least, it looked rounded and smooth, but also very imperfect. The stone had dips and divots throughout, which is what gave it the natural appearance. ¡°Falias has a massive stone pillar in the middle of it. The whole city looks like it was built around it. Any thoughts, O great lore master?¡± Marissa asked. ¡°Wow, really?¡± Kieran asked, sounding excited. ¡°Lia F¨¢il. It was one of the four legendary treasures brought to Ireland by the Tuatha D¨¦ Danann, specifically the one brought from Falias. So I would assume, anyway.¡± ¡°I understood about half of that. Neat.¡± Marissa joked as the carriage approached the city quickly and turned into a stable looking area just inside the wall. Hibiscus climbed from the carriage, and Marissa regained control. The soundscape of the city, even on the outskirts, was pretty impressive. All kinds of sounds were layered in, from chatter to wagon wheels on cobblestone, to random thumps and bumps that were who knows what.Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings. As Marissa started to move forward through the city, she opened her map of the area, dreading what she would find. She expected there to be a multitude of symbols and quest markers and other crap marking points of interest all over the map. Instead, the opposite was somewhat true, and that scared her a little. ¡°Uh, Kieran?¡± ¡°Yeah?¡± ¡°Mind minor spoilers?¡± ¡°Nope. Shoot.¡± ¡°The city map scares me.¡± ¡°And why¡¯s that?¡± ¡°It¡¯s fucking. Huge.¡± Marissa said. ¡°And more empty than I would¡¯ve expected.¡± She added, as she zoomed out and panned across the map. When she finally found the Artisan¡¯s Quarter and [Lugh¡¯s Courtyard], the map was dotted with various merchants and services as she had expected. Her questline also wanted her to head that way. ¡°Oh. Oh shit.¡± ¡°What now?¡± ¡°Kieran, I think they tried to make the city like¡­a realistic size? All of the expected shops and trainers and things seem to be concentrated in one or two places, while most of the city is basically unmarked.¡± ¡°Interesting.¡± Kieran said, clearly thinking about it. ¡°I don¡¯t know how I feel about that. If the map is actually just mostly dead space, then that¡¯s probably just bad design choices or overreaching devs. But if there¡¯s like¡­hidden shops or quests that could be squirreled away in NPCs just living in the city? That could be cool.¡± ¡°There better be some kind of fast travel system here.¡± Marissa said, already tired of holding the key to make Hibiscus jog up the street toward the Artisan¡¯s Quarter. ¡°If I have to spend twenty minutes to get from the city gate to the places I need to get to every time, I¡¯m gonna be pissed.¡± ¡°That¡¯s valid.¡± Kieran said. ¡°Surely they¡¯ll have something in place. They probably just want you to experience walking through the city at least once?¡± ¡°If they¡¯re smart, yeah. But my 32 years of life have certainly not taught me to trust in people to be smart.¡± ¡°...Fair point.¡± As Marissa slowly made her way through the city, she did begin to actually appreciate it. It felt like walking through a well designed single player game, and not an MMO. The NPCs were clearly going about their own business - or at least it felt like they were - and once again, the variation in animations and models shocked Marissa. She easily counted at least 14 different walk cycles, but even then when she thought she found a duplicate there was actually a slight difference in the gait. And she even saw NPC parents walking hand in hand with their kids, and those animations differed too. When Marissa turned a corner, finally getting near to her destination, she heard crying come through the chat. ¡°Kat¡¯s awake. I¡¯ll be back later.¡± ¡°Yup, go get your girl. See ya.¡± The chat went silent as Kieran went to go comfort his youngest, and Marissa decided to give her ears a break and take off her headset. She transferred the audio output to her speakers instead, and sat back in her chair to relax as she moved around the city. By the time she made it to the Artisan¡¯s Quarter, she had gotten a little angry at how much she kinda enjoyed walking around the city. It was almost meditative, between the luscious soundscape and the interesting and varied animations and NPCs, there was enough happening that it didn¡¯t feel boring. Not that she would want it to be a normal thing, but once in a while maybe it wouldn¡¯t be so bad. She was met at the entrance to the Artisan¡¯s Quarter by an NPC that stopped her as part of the quest she already had, to explain what was available here. ¡°Welcome, Hibiscus! The Artisan¡¯s Quarter of Falias is glad to have you. I believe that you were sent here at the request of one Commander Frigg, yes? For new equipment? Well, let me show you where you need to go.¡± ¡°On the main thoroughfare here, you can find all of the shops you could ever need. Outside of food, of course, which has its own street. But there are armorers, weaponsmiths, jewelers, leatherworkers¡­whatever equipment you could need, you¡¯ll find it here. And when it comes time to add enchantments or upgrades? That¡¯s here too!¡± ¡°Now, the other important thing you need to know is about [Lugh¡¯s Courtyard]. It¡¯s technically located in the Royal¡¯s Quarter, being run by Lugh and all, but the entrance is right at the end of Main Street here! The Courtyard is where you¡¯ll find everyone you could ever need when it comes to learning and bettering your Path.¡± ¡°When you go in through the main gate, you¡¯ll see the road branch into three paths, each leading to a different building. Each one houses a different group of [The Trinity] - [Defenders], [Benefactors], and [Warriors].¡± Marissa noted that those must be the in-game terms for tanks, healers, and DPS. ¡°As a [Warrior], you¡¯ll want the right most building; it¡¯s the largest, so you won¡¯t miss it. Since you look like an [Arrow] to me, you¡¯ll want to find [Deadeye Cillian]. He¡¯ll get you to the right places.¡± ¡°Oh, and I¡¯d advise you to go to [Lugh¡¯s Courtyard] before you look for new gear. If you pick up some new skills at the Courtyard, it might change the gear you need. Just fair warning.¡± When Marissa clicked through the last text box and ended the floating camera - which had been showing off the places in question very nicely. She leaned back in her chair with a big grin on her face. ¡°Sounds like it¡¯s time for the Dedication pick. Level 15 is pretty early, which is nice.¡± She had read in the marketing materials for Mag Mell that the game¡¯s level cap was 90. A weird number to pick for sure, but that meant that she would have her Dedication for the vast majority of the game, which was great. Before she continued, Marissa Alt-Tabbed out to send a quick message to Kieran, since they were chatting about it before. {Rissa} : Looks like you get your Dedication at 15, once you get to the city. He replied quicker than she expected, so she responded again before going back to the game. {Kieran} : Nice. Whatcha picking? {Rissa} : Not sure yet. {Rissa} : Aren¡¯t you supposed to be busy with your girls? {Kieran} : I am. But I don¡¯t need my hands to cuddle and watch TV. {Kieran} : Kat settled pretty quickly once I got her in my lap. And now we¡¯re watching one of Aoife¡¯s shows with her. {Rissa} : Very nice. {Kieran} : eeidnwhufmw {Kieran} : sjwbbuvwk {Kieran} : Kat says Hi. {Rissa} : Cute. {Rissa} : qwertyui {Rissa} : I hope she understands. With a smile on her face, Marissa returned to the game and strolled toward the entrance to [Lugh¡¯s Courtyard], her mood thoroughly refreshed and her desire to play still undaunted by the hours she already logged. Chapter 5 : Dedication ~Prologue~ Marissa When Marissa got to [Lugh¡¯s Courtyard], she made a beeline for the building all the way to the right, as she was told. The [Warrior¡¯s Rest], as the sign before it clearly displayed, was not only eye-catching, but also easily one of the largest buildings that she had seen in the city so far. It was more akin to a massive open air market with stalls and tents that was covered with a pavilion. Judging by the abundance of icons on her minimap, it seemed that this was the place to find all of the various [Path] and [Dedication] trainers. She was sure yet why exactly there was an [Arrow] trainer in addition to the [Seeker] and [Keeper] trainers, but she was more than happy to find out. Following her current quest, which was just called [Dedication], led her to [Deadeye Cillian], the [Arrow] trainer. She found the NPC standing outside a pretty impressive display of plants. It looked as though he was the proprietor of a plant nursery, and with no players currently engaged with him, it looked like his idle animations had him working with the plants. When she approached to talk to Cillian and hit the interact button, a prompt came up with a few ¡®dialogue¡¯ choices. The first was just [Hello.], and the second was [I was sent to find you by Commander Frigg] - which was her quest option. The grayed out options were what intrigued Marissa the most though. [Train [Arrow] Skills] was the expected option, though it wasn¡¯t selectable for her right now. [Enhance [Arrow] Skills] and [Alter [Arrow] Skills], however, were far more intriguing. Marissa desperately wanted to know how those two options functioned. And finally, [Adopt the [Path] of the [Arrow].] was also grayed out. But displayed next to that were two requirements; [Minimum Level : 30], and [Trinity : Warrior]. Marissa grinned. It may have some requirements, but any ability to swap classes without having to make a new character was great. She couldn¡¯t tell if there was a limit to how many Paths you could pick up on one character, but it did seem to be limited to only picking up other Paths in your Trinity role. So Hibiscus would presumably be locked to Warrior Paths, but that was fine. Any ability to swap to play a new class for a while would be absolutely huge at endgame to stop players from getting too exhausted by always playing the same class. That was good. Marissa clicked through her quest options, just skimming the quest text. She hadn¡¯t paid much mind to the story so far, so she felt like it wasn¡¯t worth it to start now. ¡°Yup¡­Mhm¡­just give me - Thank you.¡± She muttered to no one as Cillian finally gave her directions to the two Dedication trainers. [Grove Keeper Reit] and [Perfection Seeker Una] were both nearby and were highlighted on her map. First things first, though - before leaving, Marissa clicked on Cillian again to check out the Enhance and Alter Skills options. Enhancing skills seemed to do exactly what it sounded like. She didn¡¯t have any of the currency to enhance any of her skills yet, but they appeared to be strict numerical enhancements. Each skill could be enhanced 5 times, apparently, before topping out. And she couldn¡¯t see any limiting factor on this page that would prevent someone from enhancing all of their skills to the max eventually. The page also displayed a bunch of [Arrow] skills she hadn¡¯t learned yet, along with their required levels. Evidently, she would continue to learn [Arrow] skills all the way through to level 90, so that explained why the [Arrow] trainer was separate from the two [Dedication] trainers, if she would need to come back here regularly. The Alter Skills menu was far, far more interesting. She had expected something more along the lines of what she had seen in other MMOs, where you could slot in extra effects or slightly alter skills a little bit to better serve your desired playstyle. But what she saw instead felt almost excessive. This page only displayed the skills she already had, so Marissa clicked on [Venom Fang], the first ¡®real¡¯ skill she had received. And the following screen displayed a myriad of selection boxes and sliders. The [Confirm] button was grayed out because she didn¡¯t have any of the currency to Alter skills yet, either, but the page itself still got her excitement going. Altogether, the screen was basically an alchemical concoction of what made up [Venom Fang] as a skill. There was a checkbox filled next to [Damage Over Time], with sliders denoting the [Duration] of the DoT as well as the [Might], and even the cooldown. Moving one of the sliders moved the others as well, presumably to keep the skill¡¯s output balanced. Marissa could alter the damage to be higher, which extended the [Duration] of the DoT and made its cooldown longer. The opposite was also true. But what intrigued her more was the other options. She could turn the [Damage Over Time] selection off, turning the skill into a simple damage skill, giving it a much shorter cooldown but also less damage. But she could also add in a [Slow] component, a [Dazed] component, [Vulnerability], [Weakness], [Confusion], and more. Whatever she chose to add also altered the slider portions of the skill as well. She could even add multiple, but that quickly spiraled out of control. She laughed when a version with [Slow], [Vulnerability], and [Confusion], plus a higher [Damage Over Time] gave the skill a nearly 10 minute cooldown. It was fascinating to look at, and even more so for the implications of being able to do something like that. And the possibilities of what this system could do at high levels with a multitude of abilities available could turn into. Of course, balance would be a concern, and no doubt there would be some kind of meta eventually, but the possibilities were insane. She laughed in spite of it all. PvE would be crazy enough, but whatever PvP was allowed would be a nightmare. Eventually, Marissa clicked out of the menu and went to go decide on her Dedication. [Grove Keeper Reit], to begin with, was also within Cillian¡¯s little nursery. Reit, however, had a few other players around him already and wasn¡¯t doing any sort of idle animation other than conversing with the players.Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon. When Marissa spoke with him she clicked through the dialogue until the game showed her a pop up video of what some high level [Keeper] gameplay looked like. It seemed like the [Dedication] would be a mix of archery with more classical druidic style magic. The example casted some kind of spell that trapped the target in vines before peppering them with arrows, several of which glowed with different colors. One of the arrows popped on contact to surround the target in more vines, right as the first effect ended. The enemy started moving toward the example [Seeker], but appeared unable to attack. Then the example summoned a bear spirit to attack and distract the target while they called down a lightning bolt, then ended the fight with a final arrow shot that exploded in a huge briar of thorns on contact. When the short video ended, another pop up appeared. [Dedicate yourself to the Path of the Keeper?] [Yes] [No] [Note : Dedication can be swapped while in any [Haven].] Marissa grinned again. [Haven] was the term for any safe zone in the game, which meant she could presumably swap between [Keeper] and [Seeker] basically at will. Knowing that, she simply clicked [Yes] to move on. The [Path] symbol that had been adorning her status read out on the bottom of the screen changed from the [Arrow] symbol to the more embellished [Keeper] symbol. The basic design was unchanged, but a nature theme overtook the whole thing, making the relatively simple arrowhead shape appear covered in vines and leaves. And Marissa¡¯s grin widened further when her quest had her still walk over to talk to [Perfection Seeker Una], even after picking [Keeper] for now. She quickly clicked through the dialogue with Una to see the same pop up again, this time just referring to [Seeker]. She clicked [Yes] once more, and her status bars changed again. The [Arrow] symbol lost the nature theme, and instead depicted three smaller [Arrow] symbols in a pyramid, with all three surrounded by a larger, slightly more ornate, arrowhead design. This time, with the quest now leading her back toward the [Artisan¡¯s Quarter], she took a moment to look over the new skills that [Seeker] had added to her bars. The most eye-catching thing was that her right-click ability had changed. She noticed it with [Keeper] too, and that one had been a different icon from the [Seeker] option she had now. When she hovered over it, the skill was labeled as a [Dedication Signature Skill], so it seemed likely to her that right click skills were meant to be the backbone to each [Dedication]¡¯s playstyle. Or at least central to it. For [Seeker], the skill was named [Master¡¯s Shot]. It was still essentially a charged shot in the same vein as [Full Draw], but it had an additional effect. While charging [Master¡¯s Shot], glowing weakpoints would apparently appear on enemies, and if she aimed and hit them it would do a chunk of bonus damage - changing the max 600 [Might] to 800 [Might] Marissa wasn¡¯t usually a first- or third-person shooter kind of gal, but she dabbled. Her aim wasn¡¯t perfect but it was more than good enough to to hit glowing weakpoints on AI enemies, for sure. She wasn¡¯t sure about using [Seeker] if they ever got into PvP though. The two other skills that were added to her bars were also strong additions to her current rotation. [Critical Eye] was a buff with a 10 second duration and a 60 second cooldown that boosted her critical hit chance. It also boosted the bonus damage from [Master¡¯s Shot] by 400%. So it clearly was designed to be used in tandem with it, because that damage boost would make [Master¡¯s Shot] her highest damage attack by far at essentially 4000 [Might] if she landed the shot precisely. Second was [Snipe]. The skill said it was channeled and it was canceled by movement. But without testing it, what it seemed to indicate was that Hibiscus would take a knee and take steady aim, adding both range and 25% damage to her attacks as long as she didn¡¯t move. Marissa liked that. The [Seeker] abilities all rewarded skill and enemy knowledge - knowing when to use [Snipe] to get the most out of it, and being able to reliably hit the [Master¡¯s Shot] weakspots would be key to getting the most out of the class. Marissa was back into the [Artisan¡¯s Quarter] in fairly short order, following the quest markers around to grab her free equipment. Along the way, she noticed that there was now a small [Swap] button by her [Dedication] icon that allowed her to swap between [Seeker] and [Keeper] with just a click. She decided to stick with [Seeker] for now, as constantly swapping while also trying to learn how to play a ¡®new¡¯ class could get her mixed up. It would be better to focus on learning [Seeker] for now, and then start to splice in [Keeper] when she started to get bored. Thankfully, when she got to the armor shop, she learned a few more useful things. Both of her [Dedications] shared gear types, which was great, but that wouldn¡¯t always be the case. The example the armor vendor gave was the [Mage] Path, wherein [Invoker] was a cloth wearing magic slinger, while its other [Dedication], [Rune], was a medium armor wearing melee combatant. For now, being able to use the same gear on both [Dedications] gave her a convenient boost. And your character¡¯s level was [Path] based, not [Dedication] based, so they would even both level up together. That could be something of a double-edged sword. While she was confident in using the learning tools available to her when deciding to swap classes later, she was just as positive that she would see people at the endgame swapping [Dedications] and having no idea how to play their character. It was common enough in other similar games. Once she was finished in the armor shop, she moved onto the blacksmith. While the armorer wasn¡¯t particularly interesting because basic armors didn¡¯t have anything other than stat boosts included, weapons were far more interesting. Weapons were broken down by [Archetype], into [Family], and then into [Type], and sometimes [Class]. For example, Hibiscus¡¯ current weapon was a [Ranged], [Bow], [Shortbow]. It seemed that the [Archetypes] were broken down into a few big categories - [Melee], [Ranged], [Magical], and [Other]. Beyond that, there were enough breakdowns that Marissa decided to just focus on what was available to her through the quest. [Seeker] and [Keeper] both only used weapons that were under the [Ranged] section. That gave her [Family] options of [Bow] and [Crossbow], which then broke down further into [Short Bow], [Long Bow], [War Bow], [Hand Crossbow], [Crossbow], and [Arbalest]. All things considered, she had enough options, and each seemed to play pretty differently as each weapon [Type] had a completely different basic attack. The [Short Bow] had a quicker basic attack that allowed Hibiscus to move while shooting, while the [Arbalest], for example, looked like a huge crossbow that would severely limit movement in trade for higher damage. Marissa couldn¡¯t help but smile; once again - even with only six options and her handful of skills - she could see how different choices could give her wildly different builds. For now, she settled with a classic - the [Long Bow]. It¡¯s basic attack string was slower than the [Short Bow], but she was able to move slowly while shooting it, unlike with the larger [War Bow]. It was a good balance and felt like the natural place to start. With her equipment upgraded and a new quest in her journal - which asked her to go meet with a [General Finn] - Marissa hit the [Sprint] button and pushed Hibiscus back out into the city. Chapter 6 : Nine Months Later ~Chapter 6~ Marissa Marissa might have been laying on her bed, fully stretched out, but she was absolutely buzzing with excitement. Mag Mell had been live for nine months, and the developers had just had their first major update stream. The endgame content so far - which had consisted predominantly of overworld bosses, several dungeons, PvP, and events - was fun but it had been slowing down. And the developers had been playing their plans close to the chest, not wanting to ¡®spoil¡¯ the new content too far ahead of time. Evidently, that approach hadn¡¯t been working very well for them. The game was popular, but the lack of a clear gameplan being known to the public, despite so many frequent updates, seemed to cause stagnating player counts, which DanuSoft didn¡¯t seem to like very much. The whole situation led to DanuSoft holding a big stream event, in which they went over all kinds of things, including their upcoming plans and a rather detailed roadmap of things to come. And even better, they showed very brief sneak peeks of what they were working on, and what they showed looked near completion. All in all, Marissa left the stream feeling very positive of everything they had in the pipeline. New dungeons, bosses, and all kinds of other stuff to do were coming in the next few months. DanuSoft had been true to their original word so far with new updates every month, and it looked like they had no plans on slowing down. If anything, they appeared to be speeding up. But what had Marissa practically vibrating with excitement was the very last announcement of the stream, and as was tradition, the biggest hitter was always saved for last. Raids. Mag Mell was finally getting true blue raids. They did give some basics on how they were being put together, and roughly what to expect out of them without spoiling anything. They would be built for groups of eight, made up of two tanks, two healers, and four DPS. A fairly classic MMO party set up, all things considered. But that also meant that Marissa was now on a timer and had some stuff to do. She flung herself off her bed and to her computer room. It was still only 8 p.m., so she had a little bit of time before she needed to go to bed. And Kieran should be online around now on a Friday. She quickly got her computer turned on and hopped into the voice chat while pinging Kieran with a DM. Sure enough, he was online and playing - probably watched the whole stream while just AFK¡¯ing in game. ¡°Yo.¡± He said, his voice overlapping with the chime denoting he joined. ¡°What¡¯s up?¡± ¡°You know what¡¯s up.¡± Marissa said, and Kieran just chuckled. ¡°I wasn¡¯t sure you would watch the whole thing, to be honest.¡± He said. ¡°It was starting to run up close to your bedtime. For all I knew, maybe you called it quits early for a shower.¡± ¡°You know I don¡¯t shower at night. I can¡¯t go to bed with my hair wet. But anyway - fucking raids.¡± Kieran laughed again. ¡°I know. I¡¯m literally sitting in front of Ion right now, looking over my skills to see what my options are gonna be in the future.¡± [Ion the Tyrant] was the skill trainer for [Tyrants], the [Slayer] [Dedication] focused on two handed great weapons. Marissa grinned, knowing how often in the last few months Kieran had parked Caoimhe - his character - right there while playing with all of the editable parts of her skills. ¡°Kieran, you¡¯ve spent so many hours in there already. You know every single option in there like the back of your hand, don¡¯t you?¡± ¡°...perhaps.¡± He said, shiftily. ¡°But now I need to consider how I would - or could - function in a raid. It¡¯s exciting.¡± Marissa shook her head with a smile. ¡°You do realize that before any of that, we¡¯re going to need to do something else first, right?¡± ¡°Hm?¡± ¡°They said that we can¡¯t do the raid through the Auto-Party System.¡± The [Auto-Party System], or [A-P System], was Mag Mell¡¯s version of a Raid Finder or Party Finder. Players could pick the content they wanted to do from a list, click a button, and be matched automatically with other people looking to do the same content. It was convenient, but also meant that many players could get away with playing nearly solo. While choosing not to allow grouping up for the raids through the [A-P System] would be a very contentious one, DanuSoft did, at least, have some basic logic behind the decision. Evidently, they felt that the content was too difficult for random Pick-Up Groups, or PUGs, to regularly complete without causing significantly more anger, resentment, and toxicity. Instead, they felt it best to require people to find their groups more naturally, and hopefully meet up with friends, who would be less likely to cause too much friction in the community. It was¡­fair, Marissa figured. It may not have ended in so much vitriol, but she could understand not wanting to take that chance. ¡°True. What are you thinking then? Time to find a Clan?¡± Kieran asked.The author''s narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. ¡°Or make one.¡± Marissa said, thinking it over. ¡°We¡¯d need a party of eight for this, which isn¡¯t too bad. We could probably get eight people together easily enough, right?¡± ¡°Me, You, Jazz, Ash, and maybe Evan is an easy five, assuming everyone is up for it.¡± ¡°As long as we set a good time, Jazz and Ash would be, definitely.¡± Marissa said. ¡°They¡¯ve raided in other games before, so I¡¯m sure they¡¯re just as -¡± Two rapid fire chimes sounded before Jasmine immediately shouted, ¡°You guys better not be planning stuff without us, assholes!¡± Marissa and Kieran laughed. ¡°We were considering what we wanted to do. But I promise we wouldn¡¯t have gotten far without you!¡± Marissa said. ¡°So what¡¯s the plan?¡± Ash asked, his voice much more calm than his wife¡¯s. ¡°We have a tank, a healer, and two DPS between us, so that¡¯s half the group. Or is Evan interested, too?¡± ¡°I¡¯d have to ask him.¡± Kieran said. Evan was his childhood friend after all. ¡°I imagine he¡¯ll be down, so long as schedules all line up.¡± ¡°You sure? He¡¯s been absolutely wiped out with the baby.¡± Jasmine asked. ¡°Yeah, no doubt Eli has been a handful.¡± Kieran said. ¡°So I suppose he¡¯ll be up in the air. They said that the raids are coming basically for a one year anniversary, so if we assume mid November, Eli will be four months old. There¡¯s a chance that Evan will be most of a person by then.¡± ¡°I suppose you would know best, there. Maybe we get a group of nine for an alternate?¡± Ash asked. ¡°We¡¯d basically need eleven, so we¡¯d have a fill for each Trinity role.¡± Marissa said. ¡°Though, I imagine if we just need to fill a single slot we can find randos to fill in. It¡¯s just a matter of whether Evan feels like he can commit more often than not.¡± ¡°What do we think is fair?¡± Kieran asked. ¡°I¡¯ll let him know when I ask so he can think it over.¡± ¡°Say¡­like 70 or 80% attendance?¡± Jasmine put forward. ¡°I think that¡¯s fair. Of course, emergencies and the like don¡¯t count toward that because shit happens, but if he needs like a day off because he¡¯s exhausted every other week, it may be too much. Once a month is probably fine.¡± Marissa agreed. ¡°Cool. Let me message him about it then. It doesn¡¯t look like he¡¯s online right now, but it¡¯s already after 11 in Jersey so he¡¯s probably in bed.¡± ¡°Just get him tomorrow then, and let the poor new dad sleep. No need to ping his phone.¡± Ash said. ¡°We¡¯ve got plenty of time. Besides, we¡¯ll still need to find three other people minimum anyway.¡± ¡°Right, right.¡± Kieran nodded. ¡°So¡­reconvene tomorrow to discuss?¡± ¡°Sure. I should get ready for bed anyway.¡± Marissa said. ¡°I¡¯ll be on tomorrow after work. Should be like¡­I dunno, around three or four here?¡± ¡°Okay, so let¡¯s say 8 Eastern? Gives you an extra hour if you need it. And it¡¯s Saturday so no one over on our end should be working.¡± Jasmine said. ¡°Works for me.¡± ¡°Same.¡± ¡°Same.¡± ¡°Good. Tomorrow then. Get some sleep, Rissa.¡± ¡°Will do. Have a good night, y¡¯all.¡± ¡°Night.¡± ¡°Good night!¡± ¡°Later!¡± Marissa left the call with a big grin on her face. They had three months to prepare, which was plenty of time. She was sure there was plenty of stuff to do in the meantime - not to mention all of the other content that was supposedly on the way before the raids hit. Recruiting for a new Clan was probably the way to go. Surely they could gather a party of eight easily enough. And given how prevalent it was to play without a Clan right now because the A-P System was so easy to use, finding friendly solo players that would be trying to get into a group for raids should be easy enough. Marissa¡¯s thoughts wandered the entire time she was preparing for bed. By the time her head hit the pillow, she was pretty set in what ideas she would be bringing up the next day at their little impromptu meeting. Make a Clan, recruit a team of eight, do the upcoming content together wherever possible for some team building, then tackle the raids on release. She had no illusions that they would be cutting-edge raiders or fighting for world firsts or anything like that. But just getting in there on day 1, before knowledge really got out there and guides started popping up was still a special feeling. The important thing was tackling new, difficult content together with friends and having a good time. She fell asleep in a good mood, which carried all the way through the night and into the following morning when she got up at three to get ready for her day at work. Marissa considered herself pretty lucky in life. She may not have thought so seven years ago when she was laid off from her San Francisco tech job, but apparently that led her to where she wanted to be. When she had first moved across the country to start her job in the city, she had ended up renting her small apartment from the owner of the bakery on the first floor. As luck would have it, when she was laid off, the owner was looking for some help with the bakery because the woman was getting old - and Marissa actually loved to bake. The gentle scent of fresh bread and pastries had been one of the reasons she rented the place, in fact. Now, seven years later, she was something like a co-owner of the place and she still lived above it. Shaina, the old owner, had decided she¡¯d had enough when she hit 65 years old and decided to move to Tennessee. And she left Marissa, who had been her right-hand-woman for several years at that point, 50% of the bakery¡¯s ownership as well as the position of manager. Shaina kept in touch and helped out with the bakery¡¯s financials and things, but was mostly hands off. And that suited Marissa just fine, who had put her NYU Bachelor¡¯s in Communications to good use through social media. The Flour Basket had been doing remarkably well in the last few years thanks to her hard work. And she planned to keep it that way. As usual, Marissa was downstairs and elbow deep in flour by the time Julie knocked on the back kitchen door. That was fine - the woman was still on time. ¡°Morning.¡± Julie said. The bell on the back door jingled as Marissa deftly opened the door with her elbow. The kitchen doors had crooked door handles for a reason. ¡°Morning!¡± Marissa said, her good mood still plain to see. She locked the door behind Julie as it was still only 5 a.m. ¡°I¡¯ve got most of the first batch ready to go in the oven if you want to get started there.¡± ¡°Got it.¡± Julie said as she threw on her apron and got straight to work. ¡°You¡¯re unusually chipper today. Have a good morning?¡± ¡°It¡¯s leftovers from last night.¡± Marissa said idly. When Julie snickered she sighed. ¡°Not like that. New announcements for the game I¡¯ve been playing.¡± ¡°Girl.¡± Julie said, exasperated. ¡°Really?¡± ¡°Yes, really.¡± Marissa laughed. ¡°Sorry to disappoint, but I happen to like my life the way it is.¡± Julie smiled, in that way that people do when they don¡¯t believe you but don¡¯t want to argue or call you out on it. Marissa had seen that same smile so many times from so many people. ¡°Of course, Riss.¡± ¡°Get back to work.¡± Marissa shot back, waving Julie off with mock annoyance. She wasn¡¯t really mad - she¡¯d been dealing with people like that her entire adult life. And really, it was fine. As long as she didn¡¯t talk about her favorite leisure activity and hobbies. Marissa sighed, pouring her frustrations into kneading the bread dough. Chapter 7 : Getting the Team Together Kieran Kieran¡¯s Saturday started out pretty much the same as always. He got up early-ish, before Natalie or the kids, and went through his morning routine. A perhaps longer-than-necessary stop in the bathroom, followed by a shower and other hygiene essentials. By the time he was dressed in his typical t-shirt and cargo shorts, there was other movement in the house. Aoife was up and in the living room, watching some cartoons with Kaitlyn. Kieran was dubious whether Kaitlyn understood what was happening in the slightly more complex shows that Aoife was watching these days. To be fair, that was really the difference between notable story and dialogue and the virtual lack of it for younger kids. Still, Aoife getting more interested in older kid shows was a good thing, and hopefully Kaitlyn would get started on them early as she tried to imitate her older sister. Kieran walked over toward his wife and the coffee maker to pour himself a cup. He gave Natalie a quick kiss in greeting as he did so. ¡°Morning.¡± ¡°Morning.¡± Natalie said, leaning back against the counter while watching the TV and the girls. ¡°Plans today?¡± ¡°Uh. We needed to go grocery shopping, right? I think we¡¯re safe on toiletries, though.¡± Kieran said through a left over yawn. ¡°I can make the run if you want to watch the girls. Or I can stay and you can go.¡± He said with a grin, knowing her answer. ¡°All you. I hate shopping.¡± ¡°I know. Do you need anything, though? Or any food requests?¡± ¡°More lunch foods for the girls.¡± Kieran rolled his eyes. ¡°I know Kaitlyn doesn¡¯t get lunch at Pre-K, but aren¡¯t we paying for Aoife to get lunch at school? I know they only charge us when she buys something, but she¡¯s taking lunch in more often than not these days.¡± ¡°Some of the school lunches are pretty questionable.¡± Nat said. ¡°I know they¡¯re designed to be cheap, decently nutritious, and easily palatable, but that also means that you get some of the most tasteless food imaginable.¡± Kieran shook his head sadly. ¡°I suppose that¡¯s true. I¡¯ll make sure we¡¯ve got stuff for sandwiches and the like. At least we know she¡¯ll always eat the pizza on Fridays.¡± ¡°As if any kid wouldn¡¯t. Plus they actually get it from Domino¡¯s, not just frozen stuff.¡± Kieran shuddered. ¡°Never thought I¡¯d see the day where I praise Domino¡¯s but¡­yeah, they¡¯re not bad.¡± ¡°You¡¯re just biased from the East Coast.¡± Nat said, waving him off. ¡°Well, duh.¡± Kieran laughed. ¡°Jersey has a family-owned pizzeria on every other street and they¡¯re all delicious. Of course I¡¯m biased.¡± Nat just shook her head, but the little smile on her face gave her amusement away. ¡°Putting that aside, what¡¯re we doing for food today?¡± ¡°I¡¯ll pick up something for dinner at the grocery store.¡± He paused. ¡°But now I want pizza for lunch, thanks.¡± ¡°Hey, girls.¡± Nat sang, ¡°Dad¡¯s gonna bring pizza back for lunch.¡± ¡°Yes!¡± Aoife shouted, throwing her arms up in the air. Kat followed her example, shouting out a long ¡®Yay¡¯. ¡°I guess it¡¯s pizza for lunch then.¡± Kieran chuckled. ¡°Guess so.¡± Nat grinned. ¡°So, beyond food shopping, what else do we have this weekend?¡± ¡°I¡¯ve got plans to talk through some stuff with Rissa and the gang about game plans going forward.¡± Kieran said. ¡°I know you peeked in on me freaking out last night while I was watching the stream; Mag Mell is adding raids, and we¡¯re trying to put a team together.¡± ¡°Oh, that sounds like fun.¡± Natalie said. ¡°I hope it is. She wanted me to - oh, that¡¯s right.¡± Kieran interrupted himself to drag his phone out of his pocket and start messaging Evan. ¡°She wanted me to get in touch with Evan and see if he was interested. Almost forgot.¡± ¡°Isn¡¯t he -¡± ¡°Constantly exhausted from being a new dad these days? Yes..¡± Kieran chuckled. ¡°I honestly don¡¯t know if he¡¯ll have any time, but the raids are being released around November supposedly. So, baby Eli will be four months old by then.¡± Nat laughed. ¡°I don¡¯t know if that¡¯s better or worse.¡± ¡°Isn¡¯t that the truth.¡± Kieran said flatly. ¡°Maybe worse but more reliable? The first few months are hell because you have no idea what or when to expect anything. I think by four months, the kid should have some kind of daily rhythm.¡± He snorted. ¡°Doesn¡¯t mean they¡¯ll be easy though.¡± His and his wife¡¯s eyes both drifted toward their girls. ¡°Six and four years on, and they¡¯re still a handful.¡± Nat said, but her voice carried a strong undercurrent of fondness. ¡°At least they understand the word ¡®no¡¯ now. Sometimes.¡± Kieran said, draining the last bit of coffee from his cup. As he pushed away from the kitchen counter, his phone went off. {Evan} : I¡¯m hesitantly interested. Kieran chuckled, and sent back the day¡¯s planned meeting time. {Kieran} : We¡¯re meeting tonight at 8 EST to discuss. Be there?Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation. ¡°I¡¯m gonna get rolling. Go get the food shopping done, grab lunch on the way back. Last chance - need anything else while I¡¯m out?¡± Kieran asked, slinging an arm around Nat¡¯s waist briefly as he passed by. ¡°Nope, go get it done.¡± She said, and lightly kicked him in the rear. Jokingly, he stumbled toward the mud room door that led to the garage and the car.
When Kieran logged into the chat at 7 his time, Marissa and Jasmine were already there. ¡°Oh, nice. Hey Kieran.¡± Marissa said before he could even say hello. ¡°Any word from Evan?¡± ¡°He said he¡¯s interested and should be here tonight to talk.¡± ¡°Awesome.¡± Jasmine said. ¡°Ash will be here momentarily, he¡¯s just cleaning up dinner.¡± ¡°Oh? What¡¯d you two have?¡± Kieran asked. ¡°Pizza.¡± ¡°Oof.¡± Kieran said, acting like he¡¯d been stabbed in the chest. Not that anyone could see him. Jasmine laughed. ¡°Still missing that sweet, sweet New York pizza, are ya?¡± ¡°Always.¡± Kieran said, sadly. ¡°Especially today. We had Domino¡¯s for lunch.¡± ¡°...Is that because of the kids?¡± ¡°No.¡± Kieran sighed. ¡°It¡¯s because the only good pizza place near here is like a half hour drive to get to, and Domino¡¯s scratches the pizza itch, but isn¡¯t real pizza. So I¡¯m not always disappointed in it.¡± When there was a beat of silence, he added, ¡°Yes, I have feelings about pizza, okay?¡± ¡°It¡¯s that East Coast in you.¡± Marissa laughed. ¡°I got used to New York pizza while I was in college, too. And the bagels. Damn, now I¡¯m hungry.¡± ¡°Girl, you are literally a baker. Figure out how to transplant bagels to the West Coast properly.¡± Jasmine said. ¡°Don¡¯t you think I¡¯ve tried that?¡± Marissa shouted back. ¡°I know there¡¯s the whole urban legend about it being the water or whatever, but there¡¯s definitely something that I just can¡¯t replicate over here. It¡¯s just not the same.¡± She whined. Then a ding sounded as Ash joined the chat. ¡°So we¡¯re just waiting on Evan, then?¡± ¡°Seems that way.¡± Marissa said. ¡°Do we want to get started with some of the basics?¡± Kieran asked. ¡°And just what, exactly, are those?¡± Marissa asked. ¡°I figured we¡¯d want everyone to start.¡± ¡°Well, for starters,¡± Kieran began, ¡°is everyone planning on sticking with their current character and class? We have three months - you could potentially swap if you wanted to.¡± ¡°I¡¯m sticking with Hibsicus.¡± Marissa said. ¡°I enjoy the Arrow gameplay a lot, but I can flex if we need other DPS Paths.¡± ¡°As if I¡¯d change Aleister.¡± Jazz scoffed. ¡°I plan on continuing mostly as an Ebon, but I¡¯ve been playing Ravager as an off Path on occasion and it¡¯s fun. No interest in Plate or Fencer, though.¡± ¡°I¡¯m also planning on sticking with Mellody.¡± Ash said. ¡°I¡¯m definitely most comfortable on Muse, but I could probably play any healer with a bit of heads up.¡± ¡°Are you about to tell me you¡¯re abandoning Caoimhe, Kieran?¡± Marissa joked. ¡°Is that why you brought it up?¡± ¡°Hardly. I¡¯ll be sticking with Caoimhe, of course. And Slayer is still my main class. I can also flex around in the DPS slot if need be.¡± ¡°That¡¯s what I -¡± Marissa was cut off by the ding that accompanied Evan¡¯s arrival. ¡°God, guys, sorry I¡¯m late.¡± Evan said, sounding half-dead. ¡°You¡¯re not that late.¡± Kieran said. ¡°How¡¯s it going?¡± ¡°It¡¯s¡­going. I was trying to give Sam a break for a while and was sitting in the rocking chair with Eli. I fell Asleep.¡± Evan chuckled awkwardly. ¡°Sam noticed and got me up. She¡¯s with him now.¡± The laugh sounded over-acted. Thankfully, plenty of laughter echoed in the chat. ¡°No worries.¡± ¡°Not a problem.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it.¡± ¡°Now, Evan,¡± Marissa said, taking charge, ¡°I want you to be perfectly honest with us. You¡¯re obviously exhausted from parenting these days - as is expected. Are you sure you can commit to raiding with us?¡± The chat went quiet, waiting for an answer. While everyone was very supportive of Evan and his having a kid, this wasn¡¯t about that. And Evan understood that too. Everyone in this group had had experiences with friends not showing up to things they had agreed to. And when it came to making regular, weekly plans like a raiding static, this was a serious question. Perhaps the most serious one when it came to recruiting for it. The only other really serious consideration was the general approach to the whole thing - whether everyone was expecting to take it very seriously, or if your group was more aimed to have a good time, or somewhere in between. ¡°It¡¯ll depend on the schedule, I think. And how many hours are in each block.¡± Evan said, seriously. ¡°To that end, I think the four of you should set the schedule, and I will either join - or not - accordingly. You shouldn¡¯t need to adjust to the one with a new baby in the wings.¡± There was a beat of silence that followed before Marissa took over again. ¡°That sounds fair. What do we think, then, guys? Who has scheduling issues?¡± ¡°You all know my schedule.¡± Kieran said. ¡°I¡¯m typically at work until around five, sometimes six. But I can move my later days around if we decide sooner, because most of my ¡®late nights¡¯ are office hours, not classes. They can be moved.¡± ¡°And I can be available any day after four PST.¡± Marissa chimed in. ¡°So, hilariously, I may be the one with the most open availability for our potential time slots.¡± ¡°I¡¯m working regular hours now,¡± Jasmine put in. ¡°Eight to Five, everyday. I¡¯m home by six. Worst scenario is that I need to check on something at home, but I have a work laptop for that. I¡¯m not technically on call, either, so I can miss a call if we¡¯re in the middle of something without getting worried.¡± Then all the proverbial eyes turned to Ash. ¡°Y¡¯all, I¡¯m a freelance writer. I can afford to block out a few hours for two or three days out of the weeknights.¡± ¡°Okay!¡± Kieran said. ¡°Then let¡¯s say¡­a three hour block, from eight to eleven EST? That¡¯d be seven to ten for me, and five to eight for Rissa.¡± A chorus of agreements came over chat. ¡°And¡­well, let¡¯s see. Weekly resets on dungeons and things are on Tuesdays, so let¡¯s say Tuesday and Wednesday nights? Or did we want to add Thursday as well?¡± Kieran asked. ¡°Fuck it. Let¡¯s go all in.¡± Jasmine said with a laugh. ¡°Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, three hours each night. We can always scale it back if it¡¯s too much.¡± Shouts of approval went up, then silence followed. ¡°...You¡¯re sure that an 80% attendance rate is okay?¡± Evan broke the silence, his voice hesitant. ¡°Evan, if you really want to play, it¡¯s fine. We just expect you to show up more often than not. And to let us know well beforehand if you think you can¡¯t make it - emergencies aside, of course. Communicate with us, and you¡¯re good.¡± Marissa said. Kieran was glad he didn¡¯t need to be the one trying to soothe his friend. Not that he wouldn¡¯t, of course, but hearing others say it all unprompted was reassuring that it wasn¡¯t Kieran that was causing trouble by pulling for Evan to be included. Evan took a deep breath. ¡°Then you¡¯ve got your second tank. I¡¯ll be playing with Fiona. Predominantly a Plate.¡± Cheers erupted again. ¡°Oh.¡± Jasmine said, sounding as if she suddenly realized something. ¡°Shouldn¡¯t you ask Sam if she¡¯s okay with this?¡± Chapter 8 : Pre-Req

Kieran Evan, thankfully, did check in with his wife Sam before giving the group a more firm yes. They were pretty sure that by the time November rolled around, they would be in a position to allow Evan a little break for a few hours a few nights each week. Even as it was, Eli was just over five weeks old, and Evan and Sam were already starting to adjust somewhat. Yes, they were exhausted and wiped out most days - as was expected - but they were starting to come out of the new baby haze a little bit. Insofar as they were trying to socialize here and there. Evan had been completely AWOL for the first couple weeks, but had been checking in a bit more regularly as time went on. The whole team knew that Evan was a competent video game player, and a great tank. Even after being mostly away for a few months, they trusted him to perform well once he had a more set schedule and Eli started sleeping through the night. With some luck, that would be around when the raids were released. With some bad luck, it could be three or four months beyond that. But there was hope. ¡°We¡¯ll be glad to have you, Evan.¡± Kieran said. ¡°For now, though, please go do whatever you have to do.¡± Evan chuckled, but it sounded thin. ¡°I will do that. Thank you, guys. I will be sure to be in touch, at least.¡± ¡°Boy, you have a new-ish-born baby. Go take care of yourself and your wife.¡± Jazz said, full of good humor. ¡°Worry about us when you¡¯re getting at least six hours of interrupted sleep a few nights a week.¡± ¡°Then I¡¯ll talk to you all in a year. Good night.¡± Evan said, and was gone before anyone could respond. ¡°He really does sound tired.¡± Marissa said. ¡°You can¡¯t be that surprised.¡± Kieran laughed. ¡°Remember how I was when Aoife and Kat were born?¡± ¡°No, I don¡¯t.¡± Marissa said brightly, ¡°Because I barely heard from you for weeks at a time.¡± ¡°I think you just made my point.¡± ¡°I did.¡± She said. ¡°And with both of your kids, you started to show up again online after a month or two. Going by your experiences, we should be fine as a team.¡± ¡°Yeah. I¡¯m not too worried.¡± Kieran agreed. ¡°We can always reassess closer to release if things don¡¯t seem to be looking up.¡± ¡°That just leaves us with one other thing I wanted to discuss tonight.¡± Marissa said, taking charge again. ¡°Whether we want to form a Clan around this or not.¡± Kieran had spent some time thinking about it since Marissa brought it up the previous night. There were solid reasons both for and against it. Obviously, the members of the team being all in one Clan meant some convenient bonuses. Mag Mell¡¯s Clan system offered people in a Clan the ability to give bonuses to all of its members. They weren¡¯t big ones and were mostly for convenience, but they were worth considering. Each Clan could have three of the boosts active at any one time, and those were selected from a list of almost twenty. Having such direct control over the Clan buffs with just 8 members meant that the team could always have exactly which buffs they wanted. However, Clans with more members had access to stronger versions of the bonuses. It wasn¡¯t an unfair amount, but it was enough to be worth considering as a variable. With a Clan of eight members, the team would only ever have access to the second tier of bonuses, while fifty members had access to tier three, and one hundred members meant tier four. Saying that raid team members were required to join a Clan made up of just the team probably wouldn¡¯t be a problem, but it might limit the potential recruits if they wanted to join a larger Clan instead. Or, of course, if they were already in one. The opposite end of that was exactly that. By choosing not to form the team into a Clan, they could recruit just about anyone they liked, so long as they worked with the schedule. And it would also free everyone up to join larger Clans if they liked. Of course, Kieran knew where he fell when it came to that. ¡°I¡¯ve not really joined a Clan so far because while the bonuses are nice, they¡¯re hardly game defining. If we want to solidify ourselves as a team by making a Clan, I¡¯m good with that.¡± ¡°I¡¯m with Kieran.¡± Ash said. ¡°I¡¯ve not joined a Clan because I simply haven¡¯t bothered. But if you¡¯re considering making one, then I¡¯d rather be a part of it than not.¡± ¡°All in favor of making Marissa our new queen?¡± Jazz laughed. ¡°I¡¯m in, too, of course.¡± ¡°I also vote that Marissa gets to be our fearless leader.¡± Kieran joked. ¡°She¡¯ll keep us safe, as long as there aren¡¯t any spiders.¡± ¡°Fuck off.¡± Marissa said, without any real bite. ¡°Besides, I was planning to be our leader, anyway.¡± ¡°So, Ms. Fearless Leader,¡± Jasmine said haughtily, ¡°whatcha gonna name us?¡± Kieran smirked to himself. He, like Jasmine and Ash no doubt, knew that Marissa was notoriously bad at naming things. Her rather ruinous choice paralysis made her agonize over naming things for ages, usually culminating in a choice like ¡®Hibiscus Jade¡¯ for example. ¡°Well?¡± Kieran prompted cheekily. Silence permeated the chat for a long moment before Marissa cleared her throat. ¡°I¡¯ll worry about the name when we get there.¡± She declared. ¡°Now then, with that out of the way, what do you three have planned for tonight?¡±A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. ¡°Nothing in particular.¡± Kieran said. ¡°We were planning to game tonight.¡± Ash said. ¡°It¡¯s Saturday and we both have tomorrow off, so¡­¡± ¡°Great. We only need four to create a Clan, and there¡¯s supposedly a pre-req quest involved that brings you through a special dungeon.¡± Marissa said. ¡°It scales to the team¡¯s level, so it should be good light exercise for us.¡± Kieran shrugged and started prepping Caoimhe for a quick dungeon delve. ¡°Works for me; not like I had other plans. Any idea how difficult it¡¯s supposed to be?¡± ¡°Dunno.¡± Marissa said. ¡°Jazz? Ash? Any idea?¡± ¡°None here.¡± Ash said. ¡°Nope. Never looked into it because I never expected to be running it.¡± Jazz added. ¡°I assume it¡¯s not going to be too hard, given it¡¯s got a social feature locked behind it.¡± ¡°I mean, it¡¯s not really locked behind it. You can join a Clan without doing it.¡± Marissa needled. ¡°But you¡¯re not wrong. I also don¡¯t expect it to be anything too interesting, since it¡¯s only accessible through this questline. 99% of players will never see it.¡± ¡°And yet,¡± Kieran noted, ¡°it¡¯s one of the few quests that has a fully scaling dungeon. That would imply it is something special, given most dungeons make you scale down to their level instead.¡± ¡°Fair point.¡± Marissa said, sounding more curious than anything else. ¡°I guess we¡¯ll see. I¡¯m going to drop by Falias to grab the quest.¡± ¡°Got it. Any idea where we need to go to meet you?¡± Ash asked. ¡°No clue. Just hang out and I¡¯ll let you know when I have it. In the meantime¡­¡± As Marissa trailed off, a pop up showed up on Kieran¡¯s screen. [Party Invite] [Hibiscus Jade] [Accept?] [Yes] [No] Kieran clicked the [Yes] button, and the party¡¯s status bars popped in below his own. He smiled at the familiar names. [Hibiscus Jade], of course, was currently set as a [Seeker]. No surprise there. [Aleister Damien], Jasmine¡¯s character, was currently an [Ebon] - her favorite [Path] for her character. And lastly was [Mellody Softsong], Ash¡¯s character, registered as a [Revel]. With Kieran¡¯s character, [Caoimhe Phadraig] the [Tyrant], rounding out the team. Altogether, it was a great team composition. Caoimhe and Aleister were both front line fighters, while Hibiscus and Mellody were solidly backline. They had a good balance, and being split the way they were gave them some flexibility when it came to doing mechanics correctly. It wasn¡¯t necessarily a problem that came up often, but a group with too many close range or long range characters could end up overlapping their positioning too much. Kieran had moused over Caoimhe¡¯s abilities a few times, just to remember how he had everything currently set up. He toyed with the [Alter Skills] menu so often that he often forgot how he was currently specced. Going into this dungeon, it looked like Caoimhe had a particularly fun party-focused set up. He actually couldn¡¯t remember right then what he did last, but it must¡¯ve been with his friends. ¡°Okay, got the quest. The dungeon is apparently just right outside of Falias.¡± Marissa said, finally. ¡°Oh, perfect. Which gate?¡± Jazz asked. ¡°Closest to the East Gate, looks like.¡± ¡°On my way.¡± ¡°Same.¡± Kieran echoed, moving that direction. It was really convenient that it was just right outside the city they were all waiting in. ¡°So what¡¯s the deal with the quest?¡± ¡°Apparently the whole deal is that Cu Chulainn doesn¡¯t want any Clans registered under the Tuath De banner without them proving their mettle first, so we¡¯re being sent to this place as a test.¡± ¡°That¡¯s neat, I guess?¡± Jazz said. ¡°I knew that Cu Chulainn was in charge of the Clans, broadly speaking, but I didn¡¯t think he¡¯d actually show up in any of the quests yet.¡± Kieran said. ¡°Well, he didn¡¯t actually show up yet. The Clan Registrar just mentioned him by name. Though, to be fair, Cu¡¯s name is one that even I recognized.¡± Marissa said. ¡°Makes sense. He¡¯s probably one of the most well known Irish folk heroes. Appeared in a bunch of other games and stuff.¡± Kieran said. ¡°Well, maybe he¡¯ll show up at some point. I can only assume we''ll get to see more of the major characters as we get closer to the raid¡¯s storyline.¡± Jazz offered. ¡°I hope so.¡± Kieran said. ¡°Alright, I¡¯m here.¡± As he dismissed his mount, Jazz and Ash were also coming around the corner to meet them. [Aleister Damien] really did look like a vampire. Or at least an edgy equivalent. Jasmine had designed him as a tall and thin Fae. He was remarkably pale with white hair and dark red eyes. Appropriately dark makeup gave him the air of a vampire, but it didn¡¯t do as much as the gear he wore. Mag Mell had a rather extensive cosmetic system when it came to gear. You could freely refashion any piece of gear to look like any other piece that went in the same slot that you had ever had in your inventory. And each piece had several dye channels to allow the player to alter it to their liking. Aleister¡¯s gear was fashioned to look like a fantasy, Elizabethan noble, all dyed black and red. It was striking, and the intended look was obvious. Ash¡¯s [Mellody Softsong] was almost a polar opposite. Mellody was a cute, little Cait-Sidhe. She had light brown hair with cat ears and a fluffy tail to match. Her forearms were likewise covered in light brown fur. Gear wise, Mellody wore a nice dress that had a rather simple silhouette, but looked ornate. It was a deep blue with eye-catching silver filaments running through it in very intricate designs. And slung at her hip was a brilliantly silver flute, which matched the silver in the dress. Kieran knew that Ash had opted to make Mellody the shortest possible Cait-Sidhe, to really sell the contrast between the tall and imposing Aleister and the tiny and cute Mellody. But even the shortest Cait-Sidhe was still roughly equivalent to a short human, and more than head and shoulders taller than Caoimhe. It made him chuckle every time they stood by one another. Hibiscus turned toward the massive stone that she had told us to gather by. She used an item that required a cast time - Kieran recognized the animation - and then a large hidden doorway slid down the rock to reveal a hidden staircase. Laughter came over the chat. ¡°Hidden in plain sight. Fair enough.¡± Jazz chuckled. When Caoimhe approached the new doorway, Kieran saw the light blue lines that denoted an area change. ¡°Looks like it¡¯s instanced.¡± Kieran said. ¡°Alright. We may end up right in the thick of it. We should prep out here first.¡± Marissa said, naturally taking charge. No one argued with her, though, as everyone set about checking their preparations. Kieran leaned back in his chair and stretched, before settling back in and sitting up, a bit more invested now. It was time to actually play the damn game. Chapter 9 : Light Exercise

Kieran ¡°I¡¯ll throw the campfire down, if you want to get cooking, Ash.¡± Jazz said, as a campfire with a rather impressive loadout of cooking implements appeared in front of Aleister. ¡°Got it.¡± Ash said, and Mellody scampered over to the cooking equipment and got started on prepping food for the party. Kieran watched Mellody go through various cooking animations - chopping vegetables, flipping food in a frying pan, and the like. He also popped open his character screen to take a quick gander at Caoimhe¡¯s stats.
Caoimhe Phadraig Level : 90
[Path] : [Slayer] [Dedication] : [Tyrant]
HP 10,000/10,000 MP 10,000/10,000
[Strength] 32 [Intelligence] 6
[Accuracy] 12 [Speed] 8
[Defense] 14 [Resistance] 8
[Slash] 17 [Arcane] 8
[Pierce] 13 [Holy] 8
[Blunt] 15 [Nature] 8
[Parry] 12 [Dark] 8
Kieran was pretty happy with Caoimhe¡¯s stats. The 10,000 HP and MP was the standard for every level 90 character with no exceptions. Buffs - like the food, for example - could alter it further, but the 10,000 was your base, regardless of [Path], or even [Trinity]. Altogether, Caoimhe¡¯s stats were pretty standard for a [Tyrant]. Decent to high physical defenses for a DPS, and fairly low magical defenses. [Accuracy] was the stat that governed critical hits, and a 12% chance to crit wasn¡¯t too bad, all things considered. It could be better, though. Caoimhe didn¡¯t really need any [Intelligence], as it primarily governed magical attacks, of which [Tyrant] had zero. Even the 8 she had in the stat came from a [Ring] accessory she had equipped for its secondary effect and not the [Int]; it automatically refreshed one of her [Reversals], with a 5 minute cooldown. A little extra survivability could go a long way, after all. ¡°So, what buffs do you have for us today, O Master Chef?¡± Marissa joked. ¡°Would you prefer some defensive buffs since we don¡¯t know what to expect?¡± Ash asked. ¡°Hell no.¡± Marissa laughed. ¡°I didn¡¯t think so.¡± Ash snickered. ¡°Full damage buffs coming your way, plus the always included HP and MP boosts. I don¡¯t feel like we¡¯re going to be in enough danger to warrant defense buffs.¡± Kieran was happy with that. Eating foods conferred the [Satiated] buff, which was a 3% buff to whichever stats the food affected. The only exception was the HP and MP buff was a full 10%. It kept all of the numbers nice and clean, which was nice. ¡°Sounds lovely.¡± Kieran said approvingly. ¡°Don¡¯t need more defense if things die fast enough. Besides, we should already have plenty of buffs thanks to our trusty Revel.¡± ¡°...You do know that those buffs stack, Kieran?¡± Ash asked sarcastically. ¡°Yes, Ashton, I know those buffs stack. But more damage is more damage. More defense is useless unless we would¡¯ve died without it.¡± Kieran shot back. ¡°Spoken like a true DPS.¡± Jazz said snidely. ¡°That would be apt, if I didn¡¯t know that Kieran prefers higher defenses to outlast a fight than a glass cannon type situation.¡± Marissa chuckled. ¡°Even if more damage is the correct option here.¡± ¡°Whatever. Let¡¯s just get in there.¡± Kieran said, interacting with the meal as it appeared on the table. He saw the buff symbols appear on the screen right above his status read out. Everyone else followed suit, and in fairly short order, the group was ready to enter the dungeon ¡°Alright, everyone double check your shit and let¡¯s go.¡± Marissa said, before moving right over the instance boundary. Kieran, Ash, and Jazz all followed right behind. ¡°Well. So much for it just being a cave.¡± Marissa said once they all loaded in. ¡°No kidding.¡± Kieran said, rotating his camera around. The place was a cave, but it was also clearly man-made and maintained. It looked more like a fancy mine shaft, if anything. There were struts and supports every so often down the tunnel to keep it from collapsing, but the beams were pretty ornate considering their very practical purpose. In between each set of posts were beautifully crafted wall sconces as well, lighting the way down the tunnel.If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. ¡°Well, there¡¯s only one path.¡± Jazz said flatly. ¡°Yup. Let¡¯s get to it.¡± Ash agreed, as he popped one of his abilities. [Revel] was one of the [Dedications] for [Muse], which was basically a Bard-type support Path. It had enough healing to get by in most situations, but what it lacked in healing it made up for in AoE buffs and debuffs, as well as special effects in some cases. For now, everyone in the party received the [Forward March] buff, which was movement speed and a small 500 HP shield. It was designed for exactly this purpose - to help the team move through an area quickly, but with some assurance in case of an ambush. Though in this case, the shield was pretty superfluous, given they all expected to see whatever enemies were in wait before they attacked. The movement speed buff was nice though. And sure enough, right around the first bend was a fairly large, round room. And within it waited four automatons, weapons already drawn. ¡°I guess lore-wise, this really is just the Clan overseers running a test for us. Those are the same type of training dummies you can hit in Lugh¡¯s Courtyard.¡± Kieran said. ¡°Oh yeah, you¡¯re totally right.¡± Jazz said. ¡°I assume these will fight back though.¡± ¡°I would assume so.¡± Marissa agreed. Another buff went out from Mellody, this time a strength and attack damage one called [Overture of Might], usually just called [Overture]. It was a 3% [Strength] buff that also added an extra 3% to outgoing damage on top of that. It was a very solid buff. ¡°Pulling in 5.¡± Jazz said, and sent Aleister through a quick set of pre-pull skills. The [Dedication] that Jazz played predominantly was [Ebon], branched off from [War], a tank that was flavored entirely around magic. [Ebon], in this case, was the dark magic styled version - which matched Aleister¡¯s aesthetic perfectly. First up was [Shadowskin], a simple mitigation ability that split the damage taken between the character¡¯s HP and MP. Then [Darkness Aura], which had a chance to [Blind] targets that hit Aleister. And finally was [Evil Presence], which was essentially [Ebon]¡¯s taunt skill, making their attacks generate extra [Threat] to keep the enemies targeting them. Marissa was already charging her [Master¡¯s Shot], ready for the pull as Ash had Mellody pre-casting an attack spell. When Aleister charged into the room, Kieran made sure Caoimhe was right behind. As it turned out, the group of enemies amounted to really nothing more than a trash pull. Caoimhe had been specced into a [Knockdown] and [Stun] set which was really strong against non-boss enemies. Combined with [Tyrant¡¯s] natural ability to hit multiple enemies while swinging their massive weapon, it was a deadly combination for packs of mobs. [Wild Swing], was a massive, 500 [Might] sweeping attack that pushed Caoimhe forward and knocked down the enemies that were hit. The [Knockdown] effect was similar to [Stun], but far less dangerous as it didn¡¯t stop defensive actions and reversals, only most other actions. With Caoimhe specced the way she was, it hardly mattered when most of her main attacks carried some kind of disabling effect. It made [Tyrants] an absolute terror in PvP - and that was where players usually had access to at least two defensive actions to combat it; enemies often had zero, leading to a long period of no incoming damage for Caoimhe¡¯s side leading to an easy kill. Or in this case, four kills. [Punishment] combo¡¯d into [Driver], a 400 [Might] forward thrust that propelled Caoimhe forward. It was particularly useful here, when [Wild Swing] pushed enemies away. Caoimhe immediately followed that up with [Punishment], [Tyrant¡¯s] [Dedication Skill] on her right click. The skill was designed to be a high damage 600 [Might] follow-up to other skills, with a ten second cooldown. However, the main mechanic of the skill was that it did double damage to a [Suppressed] enemy - that is, an enemy that was [Stunned], [Knocked Down], or under some other movement hindering effect. Which meant that a fair portion of [Tyrant¡¯s] gameplay revolved around making sure that [Punishment] was only ever used on a [Suppressed] enemy, and doing so as much as possible. The use of [Punishment] coincided neatly with the [Knockdown] wearing off. As the enemies went through a standing animation, Caoimhe hit them with [Damnation]. The skill was designed to be a heavy damaging hit that had a long cooldown as well as a long recovery animation and used as a finisher. However, Kieran had altered the skill to do less damage but incorporate an eight second long [Stun] effect instead. ¡°Hit ¡®em good, guys.¡± He called while laughing. As Caoimhe went through a lengthy recovery animation of pulling her massive sword from the ground, the others absolutely mauled the poor enemies. Aleister had several AoE skills designed to gather and hold groups of enemies in place while damaging them with flashy, evil-looking effects - lots of dark blue and purple inky effects, with writhing reds throughout. Keeping the enemies grouped up during the long [Stun] allowed Hibiscus to riddle the group with AoE attacks that dropped their HP incredibly fast. Evidently, Ash had taken Kieran¡¯s callout literally, as he had popped one of Mellody¡¯s better offensive skills, [Day¡¯s End Nocturne], which made a target enemy - as well as nearby enemies in a small area take extra damage for a short period of time. While typically a 30% damage boost for 10 seconds with a two minute cooldown, Ash had altered the skill significantly leaving it as a functional mini nuke. The damage boost effect had been dialed up to 300% for 5 seconds, but with a ten minute cooldown. It basically left the ability able to be used once per fight, but with a massive spike in damage. By the time Caoimhe had finished the recovery animation, she only had time to swing at the enemies with a quick [Devastation], which was a simple, 900 [Might] high damage attack before the enemies were dead. ¡°Well that was easy.¡± Marissa declared, sounding disappointed. ¡°It helps when your team is specced to work together like that.¡± Ash said. ¡°We¡¯re perfectly tailored as a group to shred groups of mobs right now.¡± ¡°He¡¯s right.¡± Jazz said, as she set Aleister to [Rest] to recover his spent MP. ¡°The downside is that we are totally not specced for a big boss fight.¡± ¡°I have a few damage skills for that inevitability.¡± Kieran said. ¡°But we¡¯re mostly going to have to rely on Marissa for the big single target damage. I hope you can land all your big skill shots, Rissa.¡± ¡°Hey. My aim has improved a ton since we started this game.¡± Marissa said defensively. Kieran chuckled, thinking back to how many crucial [Master¡¯s Shots] she had missed in the first few months of the game. Especially the ones fully buffed by [Critical Eye]. Marissa¡¯s overly dramatic sighs and whines always made it obvious when she missed one, if Kieran had somehow missed the massive silver arrow effects flying off into the sunset. ¡°That¡¯s true. You are way better than you used to be.¡± Ash agreed while Kieran got his chuckling under control. ¡°Should¡¯ve guessed getting you to play a free-aim MMO would be the way to get you to finally practice your shitty-ass aim.¡± Jazz said as an aside. ¡°So true.¡± Kieran agreed to more sounds of protest from Marissa. ¡°The number of times I¡¯ve died in a shooter because Rissa can¡¯t shoot her way out of a paper bag is too damn high.¡± ¡°Oi.¡± Marissa interjected. ¡°I¡¯d like to take this moment to point out that the two of you are also shit at shooters.¡± ¡°Still better than you.¡± Jazz said snidely. Kieran snorted. ¡°Assholes.¡± Marissa grumbled. She didn¡¯t have much in the way of retorts when they all knew Jazz was right. ¡°Finish your rest so we can get a move on.¡± ¡°Yeah, yeah. I¡¯m good, let¡¯s go.¡± Jazz said. Kieran glanced at the party¡¯s status just to be sure that everyone was in good shape before they collectively began to trot down the hall.
As they trekked their way through the cave system, the groups of enemies got progressively harder, but at no point did they reach the point where they became much of a challenge. The caves themselves barely changed as they traveled through it. The walls looked almost repeated, if not for the clearly distinct wooden struts holding up the ceiling every so often. The sconces on the walls gave off just enough light, and the group was even realizing that they could tell when they were about to be ambushed by the concentration of lighting. It all felt very purposeful. The pulls simply lasted a bit longer each time, and by what seemed to be the final group of automatons were taken down, the group consisted of eight enemies apparently of various [Paths]. But they all went down to the same [Knockdown] and [Stun] combination while a super powered Hibiscus tore them apart with a rain of arrows thanks to a myriad of buffs from Mellody. Aleister did his job admirably as well, making sure to keep the packs of enemies in place and focused on him. And when the final room¡¯s enemies were dispatched, the team gathered in the middle of the large, domed room to hit their [Rests]. The wooden struts that had decorated the cave throughout had changed design here, adding small carvings to the sides, and were spread equidistant around the circular room. ¡°This absolutely reads like a boss room to me.¡± Marissa said as everyone¡¯s characters sat down. Mellody even produced a [Campfire] for the short break, which gave everyone an extra little [Rested] buff. It was a minuscule 2% boost to all stats, but it was still a buff. Every little bit counted, especially if a boss was coming up. ¡°Yeah, but I don¡¯t know what happens now.¡± Ash said. ¡°There¡¯s only the one door, which we came through to get here. I¡¯d assume if there was a door to unlock by clearing the room, it would¡¯ve opened by now.¡± ¡°It does feel weird for this to just be a dead end without a boss fight.¡± Kieran agreed. ¡°What¡¯s the plan then? I guess we just turn around and backtrack ¡®till we find something?¡± Jazz asked. Right as everyone¡¯s HP and MP topped back up - and before anyone could respond to Jazz - a targetable NPC appeared, walking into the room, through the entrance they had come in. As the party stood up, the NPC began to address them. ¡°Nicely done, everyone. You¡¯ve certainly passed the first part of your test with flying colors - not that the automatons were designed to be that difficult. But you made it to the end in a remarkably good amount of time¡± ¡°Before we allow you to register your Clan to our official register, there is just one more person who wishes to test your mettle. Fear not. You need not win to continue with your registration, merely impress the examiner. Good luck.¡± With that, the NPC turned and walked back down the tunnel from which we all came, only to be replaced with a dangerous looking spearman. The NPC¡¯s armor was a model that Kieran didn¡¯t recall seeing before. It was light and included wrapped and tied furs in addition to some leather. Rather unimpressive looking, all things considered. But the spear he held was giving off a faint red glow, the head was a brutal looking affair, appearing serrated and dangerous. Kieran - and probably all three of his party members - knew he was looking at Cu Chulainn before the NPC¡¯s nameplate even popped up. Chapter 10 : Quick Spar Marissa Marissa stared at the screen as she took a calming sip of her tea, once again thankful for her mug warmer. The tea had been on her desk for over an hour at this point, and it was still hot. ¡°Cu Chulainn, huh?¡± She muttered, mostly to herself. The NPC in question strode further into the large cavern that the team had ended up in at the end of the small dungeon. His nameplate appeared over his head as text started to appear. ¡°As the Registrar said, you¡¯ve all done very well. But I always like to test any new Clans personally with a quick spar.¡± The smile in the voiceover was so obvious that Marissa wasn¡¯t sure if he was supposed to come off as cocky and annoying or simply enthusiastic. ¡°The first move is yours,¡± he continued, ¡°whenever you all are ready.¡± At that point, his nameplate turned orange - the color of a targetable enemy, but one that wouldn¡¯t attack without being attacked first. ¡°I guess everyone form up?¡± Marissa said, positioning herself behind Aleister. ¡°Kieran?¡± ¡°Yeah?¡± ¡°I assume you know the most about the Glaive?¡± Jazz asked. [Glaives] were the [Dedication] counterpart to [Tyrants]. Rather than a large two handed weapon, they focused on polearms. ¡°Oh, uh, right. He¡¯s got a spear, afterall.¡± Kieran said. ¡°They play pretty similarly to Tyrants, all things considered. Their Dedication Skill is a dash attack that damages everything in a straight line, so I guess we should make sure we stay spread out around him.¡± He paused for a moment to think before continuing. ¡°Otherwise, if we were to assume he¡¯ll use the unaltered Glaive skills, it¡¯ll mostly just be watching for big damage attacks. Glaive also gets more reversals than Tyrant, so watch out for parries and counters, I guess?¡± ¡°You don¡¯t sound very sure.¡± Ash said tentatively. ¡°Well, yeah.¡± Kieran chuckled. ¡°While it might be logical to assume that a spear wielder is just a Glaive, I¡¯d honestly be kinda shocked if Cu Chulainn doesn¡¯t have a bunch of original skills. Like, his spear, Gae Bulg, is famously guaranteed to be fatal when used.¡± ¡°Yep, okay, that makes sense.¡± Marissa said. ¡°I guess we¡¯ll do this live, then.¡± Mellody started with her [Overture of Might], which would be great for their combined opener damage. If Mellody kept [Overture] up, though, they all may regret the lack of a defensive song if Aleister went down too quickly. Her own preparation began with [Snipe], as Hibiscus went down on one knee and took careful aim. ¡°Okay.¡± Jazz said, and took a deep breath. ¡°Pulling in ten.¡± ¡°Watch your buff rotation, Ash.¡± Marissa said quickly, as she began charging Hibiscus¡¯ [Master¡¯s Shot]. ¡°The last thing we need is Aleister going down too quickly because we underestimated Cu¡¯s damage output.¡± ¡°Copy.¡± Ash said. ¡°Here we go!¡± As Marissa saw Aleister move forward while throwing out a ranged attack, she let her charged shot fly. She had already positioned her targeting reticle on a glowing weakpoint - Cu¡¯s head, of course - and quickly cycled into her opener while she still had Mellody¡¯s buffs. She applied [Venom Fang] to get the damage over time applied and the cooldown on it rolling. Next in line was [Critical Eye], immediately followed with a second [Master¡¯s Shot]. While it took a few seconds to fully charge, the damage buff applied from [Critical Eye] made the charging time entirely worth it. Caoimhe had opened with [Damnation], keeping Cu stunned for the first few seconds of the fight to allow Hibiscus to get her opener off with Mellody¡¯s damage buffs without needing to properly aim. But as soon as the second [Master¡¯s Shot] landed, all hell broke loose. Cu immediately charged straight through Aleister with a piercing dash attack - probably the one Kieran warned them about. Marissa wasn¡¯t familiar enough with [Glaives] to know the animations. But that thought was thrown away when Cu¡¯s follow up attack clearly targeted her. ¡°Crap.¡± Jazz said, as Aleister quickly followed behind Cu. ¡°I¡¯m at the top of his threat list, but he¡¯s ignoring me.¡± ¡°Well, shit.¡± Kieran and Marissa muttered simultaneously. Marissa hit [Slithershot] immediately - it was her only real escape option as a [Seeker], but it also cancelled [Snipe], triggering its long cooldown, a punishment for poorly timing the huge damage buff. Cu¡¯s spear sliced in a huge arc where she had been before the backward leap, in an animation similar to a [Tyrant¡¯s] [Wild Swing]. If it had landed, she had no doubt she would¡¯ve ended up knocked down and in real danger. ¡°I¡¯ve gotcha.¡± Kieran said, as Caoimhe crashed into Cu¡¯s back with her own [Wild Swing], deftly utilizing the forward movement included in the [Tyrant¡¯s] version to close the sudden gap. Marissa watched it land, but Cu remained standing. ¡°No knockdown effect.¡± Ash called, quickly swapping Mellody¡¯s songs over to the more defensive [Bulwark¡¯s Ballad]. With Cu seemingly ignoring traditional aggro mechanics, defense was suddenly much more important. ¡°He did get stunned earlier, so he¡¯s not immune to all CC.¡± Marissa called. ¡°We¡¯ll have to see what works and what doesn¡¯t. I¡¯ll try Pin next time he moves.¡±The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement. ¡°Got it.¡± Jazz said, who had Aleister back in control of the fight for now. Aleister had caught up to Cu, and launched a few attacks with high threat generation, which seemed to turn his attention back to the tank. ¡°I¡¯ve got him. Maybe try less bursty DPS?¡± Jazz said. ¡°On it.¡± ¡°Got it.¡± Hibiscus and Caoimhe both went into DPS maintenance mode, trying to deal consistent damage without any sudden spikes. Mellody kept Aleister¡¯s HP above 50%, wary of sudden damage spikes from Cu, while Aleister kept rotating through his low damage but high threat skill options. This pattern carried on for almost a minute, when Marissa finally said, ¡°Guys, we¡¯re barely hurting him.¡± It was unfortunately true. Cu¡¯s HP had barely dropped 4% in the minute and a half the fight and lasted so far. And almost 3% of that was in the opener. Mag Mell¡¯s UI was fairly light on the gamier side of things. While creatures all had HP bars visible, as well as the percentage of HP, things like actual damage numbers and such were hidden. It left Marissa unsure of how the fight was progressing, given they should¡¯ve done more damage by now. ¡°He might have some kind of shielding?¡± Ash offered. ¡°We might need to do high burst damage to overcome it.¡± ¡°And he ignores Threat when we break the shield?.¡± Marissa said, nodding to herself. ¡°Interesting mechanic.¡± ¡°So, let me get this straight,¡± Kieran said, ¡°we¡¯re going to rotate between chaotic burst phases where we have no control over Cu, and calmer phases like this. And we need to balance them to be sure we don¡¯t die.¡± ¡°Seems like it¡¯s worth a shot at least.¡± Jazz said. ¡°I¡¯ll try to up my damage too, and use less threat skills.¡± ¡°Alright. Here we go, then.¡± Ash called, ¡°In 3¡­2¡­1.¡± In an instant, the battlefield changed. Mellody swapped to damage focused songs, ready to spot heal if anyone took damage. Aleister ceased using threat generating skills, opting for the higher damage ones. He also dropped [Death¡¯s Approach] on Cu, making the target take 10% extra damage for a short time. Caoimhe immediately laid into Cu with several high damage skills, including a [Stun], though this one wasn¡¯t as long lasting as [Damnation]. However, it also had far less recovery time, allowing Caoimhe to flow into a combo of two more high damage skills before the [Stun] ended. It was also just long enough to give Hibiscus enough time to land a [Critical Eye] [Master¡¯s Shot] which was her biggest burst damage ability. As soon as the [Stun] ended, Cu¡¯s counterattack began. Even prepared for it, Caoimhe and Aleister got hit by the sudden wide sweep. It knocked them both down, leaving them potentially vulnerable. Aleister, as a tank, had several reversal abilities that would end the knockdown and retaliate all at once. He was back on his feet and throwing dark purple bolts of magic at Cu in an instant. Caoimhe, as a DPS, had fewer reversals available. Not zero, but with only two, Kieran was hesitant to waste one without knowing what was coming. Mellody was already getting Caoimhe¡¯s HP back up to full, so Marissa figured Kieran made the decision to hold the reversals for a more dangerous moment. Hibiscus had already taken a knee as Marissa hit [Snipe], seeing she wasn¡¯t the target this time, and was lashing out with her highest remaining damage skills. Cu, however, seemingly ignored the hits as he zeroed in on Caoimhe. The enemy made a small leap into the air, and crashed down on Caoimhe, who was still under [Knockdown]. There was a burst of red light when the plunging attack landed, and before Kieran could regret his decision to not reversal and escape, Caoimhe¡¯s HP was gone. A big sigh came over the chat. ¡°Shit. I should¡¯ve expected a one-shot attack. I literally said to watch for it before we pulled.¡± Kieran complained. The animation that accompanied the death was unique as well, which was unexpected. Caoimhe suddenly looked like a reverse pin cushion, with barbs and needles erupting from her body. Kieran chuckled as Aleister fought to get control over Cu¡¯s aggro again. ¡°Yeah, that animation tracks for Gae Bulg.¡± He said absently. ¡°Be ready to get back in there, Keiran. I¡¯ll get you up in a sec.¡± Ash said, doing his best to keep his wife alive. Jazz, for her part, scoffed. ¡°On the plus side, it looks like he goes into a cool-off period after he kills someone? Or rather, he functions normally based on aggro again. Still hits like a fucking truck.¡± She grumbled, while clearly doing her best to manage her mitigation skills. Mellody had to swap back to [Ballad], in addition to using other mitigation skills, to keep Aleister alive. Without the constant defensive boosts, Aleister may have gone down to an unforeseen damage spike. As it was, Mellody was already burning actual mitigation cooldowns trying to minimize the damage. Marissa was locked in on dealing as much damage as possible. They had managed to hit Cu for a full 8% more during their short-live burst window, before the party transitioned into another maintenance mode while letting cooldowns run down. Marissa was just rotating through her filler skills, waiting for their next opportunity. ¡°Thanks.¡± Kieran¡¯s grateful response to being resurrected successfully by Mellody was Marissa¡¯s cue to pay attention again. ¡°Ash! Incoming!¡± Jazz shouted, as Cu immediately responded to the resurrection spell. He used the same line AoE dash through Aleister to close the distance to Mellody fast and unaccosted. ¡°Shit!¡± Ash said, quickly hitting Mellody¡¯s one and only retreat skill, [Coda Step], which teleported her back to a spot designated earlier. It was a single-use get-out-of-jail-free-card that could only be set up once per encounter. When Mellody vanished and reappeared on the other side of the cavern, Cu turned toward Caoimhe¡¯s respawning body. A vicious looking series of thrusts targeted Caoimhe, but luckily, she was still under the [Fae¡¯s Grace] status effect, granting a brief window of invulnerability immediately after getting resurrected. But Cu¡¯s attack pattern continued even as [Fae¡¯s Grace] faded. ¡°Not this time.¡± Kieran muttered, as he hit one of Caoimhe¡¯s defensive skills. [Deflection] did exactly as it said on the tin, deflecting a single attack, allowing Caoimhe to entirely avoid one instance of damage. Marissa let out a sigh of relief as Kieran had either gotten lucky or correctly read that the incoming attack was a single hit, and not multi-hit like the previous one. Caoimhe¡¯s [Deflection] triggered and stopped the damage, as well as allowing the follow-up skill [Infliction]. It was one of Marissa¡¯s favorite animations; it just looked incredibly slick to her. Caoimhe leveled her massive sword and made a horizontal strike while sliding past her target to end up behind them with a little distance, too. It was a very convenient escape danger combo, as long as the player timed the parry correctly. Thankfully, Kieran did. Aleister used a movement skill, [Shadow Step], which put him directly behind his target. As soon as he was in melee range with Cu again, things seemed to calm down some, rotating back into the maintenance cycle. ¡°We¡¯re going to have to do another burst phase in a second here, guys.¡± Marissa said. ¡°And we need to control Cu as much as possible when we do.¡± ¡°I have a few stuns I can try to link together. I need 25 seconds.¡± Kieran said. ¡°Ok. But I¡¯m going to struggle to get control of him again afterward I think.¡± Jazz said. ¡°Several of my big mitigations still have 45 seconds or more, and all of my provokes are on cooldown.¡± ¡°I¡¯ve got you. Still have plenty of MP over here, and I¡¯ve got a few ¡®Oh shit¡¯ buttons left. I think we can manage at least one more burst phase before things get dicey.¡± Ash said. Marissa looked over the status readouts all over her screen and nodded to herself when everything looked okay. ¡°My highest damage skills will be back up in 10. Count us down to your stuns, Kieran.¡± ¡°Aye aye, Cap¡¯n.¡± Chapter 11 : Nettle Tea Marissa ¡°Go.¡± When Kieran¡¯s countdown hit 0, the team swapped strategies on a dime. Kieran opened with [Wild Swing], wanting to test whether or not [Knockdown] really worked, while Aleister and Mellody transitioned into damage phases, swapping out defensive skills for offensive ones. Marissa toggled [Snipe] back on, as it was thankfully off cooldown now, and let a filler skill go while getting ready to line up her [Critical Eye] [Master¡¯s Shot] with Caoimhe¡¯s actual stun. They knew from before that Cu¡¯s attack pattern wouldn¡¯t change until their burst damage hit some kind of threshold for damage - probably whatever amount broke his HP ¡®shield¡¯ - so they were safe long enough for Kieran to see [Wild Swing] fail again. ¡°Knockdown immunity.¡± Kieran said aloud, as if confirming it for the group. ¡°Stunning.¡± Caoimhe¡¯s [Damnation] came out next, triggering the long stun. Marissa capitalized on it immediately, letting her fully charged [Master¡¯s Shot] fly, followed by [Venom Fang] for the amplified DoT, and then [Perfect Shot], which was a 1500 [Might] skill with a very high critical hit chance. Finally [Easy Target], an 800 [Might] skill that was a guaranteed critical hit against enemies under some kind impairment rounded out her [Critical Eye] window, which would make it essentially 1200 [Might] with the 1.5x [Critical Hit] multiplier. As Cu was coming out of the stun, she hit [Pin], to see if he could be rooted. She smiled when she saw Cu turn toward her in that moment, and performed the animation for the piercing attack that he had used before to close gaps, but never left the spot he was rooted to. ¡°Roots work.¡± She said. ¡°Awesome.¡± Kieran and Jazz echoed each other. ¡°Got another stun¡­now.¡± Kieran said, as Caoimhe swung the side of her massive blade into Cu. The sound effect on the attack was a solid thud, and very satisfying even to Marissa, who didn¡¯t hit the button. Aleister was rotating through several visually impressive skills - her high damage attacks that had been held back in favor of saving MP for more mitigation. Shadows and dark spell effects struck Cu from a myriad of angles, running him through and smashing into him with clear force. Mellody had been dancing around the room applying her AoE songs to the whole team, amplifying damage and critical hit rates as expected, but also gave targeted buffs to each team member to help individually. Marissa could only see her own buffs, which were boosts to her critical hit damage and a buff that specifically boosted her [Dedication Skill] - in her case, [Master¡¯s Shot]. Honestly, that buff alone was probably a huge damage increase for her, given the 400% damage buff from [Critical Eye]. Marissa went through her other damage focused skills as quickly as possible, trying to get in as much damage as she could while they had Cu under control. She hit [Heartstopper], despite knowing she wouldn¡¯t get the bonus damage. [Silver Arrow], [Wingclipper], [Fae¡¯s Bane], and [Quick Barrage] all went out in quick succession and found their mark. They weren¡¯t all damage focused skills, but they still had a damage component that was better than her filler attacks. Marissa began to charge up another [Master¡¯s Shot] as it came off cooldown; even without the [Critical Eye] buff, it was still one of her hardest hitting skills, and was meant to be used as often as possible. Her vision was split between the charging bar near the center of her screen and her target. She saw Caoimhe use [Devastation], followed by [Apocalypse], [Tyrant¡¯s] single highest damage attack at 2600 [Might]. And that was when Cu¡¯s HP finally hit 80%. Marissa let [Master¡¯s Shot] go at the same time Cu began to laugh. It overpowered the music, and his model flashed with an alternating red and black aura effect. ¡°No way that means anything good.¡± She muttered. She saw Caoimhe smash Cu with another attack, only to hear Kieran say over the voice chat, ¡°Stun didn¡¯t work.¡± ¡°Swap to defense.¡± Jazz called out. ¡°Now.¡± With the decision simply made, everyone did as suggested. Mellody¡¯s songs were swapped over to defense boosters as quickly as possible, and she layered on extra defensive skills on Aleister. Aleister threw on a few mitigation skills as well, and repositioned in front of Caoimhe, who slid over to hide behind Aleister. Marissa hit [Slitherstep], putting more space between Hibiscus and Cu, just in case. She may have been running away far more than necessary, but she wasn¡¯t about to take any risks here if she could help it. ¡°Well done!¡± Cu shouted over his own laughter echoing through the cave. ¡°But this ends now!¡± Cu leapt into the air, nearly reaching the ceiling of the cave, as the red and black glow transferred entirely from his body to his spear. Then he came crashing back down in the same spot, slamming his spear into the ground. Thorns and barbed metal erupted from the spot, striking out in a huge circle around him. Aleister¡¯s and Caoimhe¡¯s HP was completely wiped out in an instant. Mellody had evidently seen Hibiscus high-tailing it out of the area and followed, because she was near the end of the AoE. But she hadn¡¯t made the decision as quickly, or was still trying to give out mitigation too late to escape because she was also wiped out by the attack.The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. Marissa, it seemed, had gotten lucky with their accidental positioning. If they had tanked Cu in the middle of the room, it seemed likely to her that the AoE would¡¯ve simply hit everyone. As it was, it nearly reached her but missed because they had pulled Cu a little to one side of the room, and she ran to the farthest side. She survived by pure happenstance. Followed by the foresight to run the fuck away, she supposed, but still. Mostly luck. ¡°Good god.¡± Ash breathed. ¡°How much fucking damage do you think that did?¡± Jazz howled. ¡°I had so much mit on that attack. I call bullshit.¡± Kieran laughed. ¡°It was probably an actual one-shot mechanic. Gae Bulg and all that.¡± Cu was standing where he had landed, the aura gone. His spear was leaned up on one of his shoulders, and he no longer had the nameplate of an enemy - just a friendly NPC. Marissa sighed aloud and slumped in her chair. ¡°I dunno if we would have failed if I died, but it looks like we made it.¡± She said, slowly moving back toward the center of the room where Cu stood. Dialogue began coming up while she walked, though this one wasn¡¯t voice acted like before. ¡°Well done. You four have proved to me that you¡¯re indeed talented and worthy of forming a Clan under the Tuatha D¨¦ banner. Congratulations!¡± And then, specifically for Marissa, as the party leader and the one who originally accepted the quest to create the Clan, a new window opened up. One that she absolutely dreaded. ¡°Well, shit.¡± She said. ¡°What?¡± ¡°...They want me to choose a name for the Clan.¡± ¡°Right now?¡± Jazz asked, chuckling. ¡°Yup. I¡¯m looking right at the damn entry window as we speak.¡± Marissa said, her mind utterly blank of ideas. ¡°Well, leader,¡± Kieran said, really emphasizing the word as a dig, ¡°go ahead and pick our name.¡± Marissa would have shot Kieran the most deadpan, aggravated stare she could muster if he could see it. As it was, she just ineffectually stared at the screen. ¡°Any ideas?¡± she asked, expecting nothing of use from her friends. ¡°I¡¯m as bad at naming things as you are.¡± Ash said wryly. ¡°You don¡¯t want to ask me.¡± ¡°Clan of Shadows.¡± Jazz offered. ¡°Or¡­Riders of Death?¡± ¡°Jazz¡­¡± Ash sighed. ¡°What is it with you and your edginess in video games?¡± ¡°Hey. In a game is the only place I get to be edgy. Do you have any idea how exhausting it is to be normal most of the day?¡± ¡°Yes. I do. Everyone does. That¡¯s life.¡± Ash said, clearly having had this conversation before. ¡°I don¡¯t have an issue with something edgy.¡± Kieran chuckled. ¡°Though I will admit it¡¯s not really my thing. I¡¯d probably use something lore appropriate or at least mythology coded. Like ¡®The Fair Folk¡¯, or ¡®Samhain¡¯. Maybe something actually using Gaelic?¡± ¡°Let¡¯s stick to English.¡± Ash said. ¡°I want something that people can pronounce, at least.¡± ¡°Gaelic is pronounceable.¡± Kieran returned. ¡°Kieran, your character name is c-a-o-i-m-h-e. No one would see that name and pronounce it correctly as ¡®qwhui-va¡¯. Ever.¡± Ash shot back. ¡°...Yeah, that¡¯s fair.¡± Marissa leaned back in her chair, listening to the other bickering over the potential names. She, personally, liked the idea of using something with a bit more mystical fae type flair, but also didn¡¯t want something difficult to pronounce at a glance. With a sigh, she leaned forward again, her chair pushing her upright once more so she could grab her tea. She took a sip and stared down into the slightly dark liquid, holding onto the mug with both hands. Her mug warmer had done its job, and she delighted in the warmth it provided her cold fingers. Tense game moments always left her fingers cold. ¡°What about nettle tea?¡± She asked aloud. A chorus of ¡°What?¡± was the response. ¡°Nettle Tea. For the name. It¡¯s nature-y and feels like it could be kinda Fae¡­-y.¡± ¡°Rissa, are you literally drinking nettle tea? Right now?¡± Kieran chuckled. ¡°It may or may not be in my hands as we speak.¡± She said. ¡°I¡¯m not against it.¡± Ash said. ¡°It¡¯s as bad as everything else we¡¯ve said so far, but at least it¡¯s easy to work with.¡± ¡°Isn¡¯t nettle like a really mean plant?¡± Jazz asked. ¡°Mean?¡± Marissa said, tilting her head in thought. ¡°I mean, it¡¯s often called stinging nettle because touching it gives you a rash. It¡¯s not as bad as poison ivy, but it¡¯s certainly not pleasant.¡± ¡°And you drink it as tea?¡± Jazz said, sounding mildly shocked. Marissa just laughed. ¡°Yeah, I do. It tastes good, but it¡¯s also supposed to be good for you. It helps with gut health and joint pain, supposedly.¡± Laughter followed that. ¡°Joint pain?¡± Marissa looked off to the side of her monitor. ¡°Yes, joint pain. I walk up and down a lot of stairs and my knees hurt sometimes.¡± Harder laughter followed that one. ¡°Gettin¡¯ old over there, Rissa?¡± Kieran said. ¡°You¡¯re one to talk, old man.¡± She shot back. As Kieran joked back with something else, she angrily typed the name in and hit enter. As soon as she did, the Clan name and tag popped up next to each of their names. ¡°And there we go.¡± She said, satisfied with the silence. ¡°Clan Nettle Tea.¡± ¡°Welp.¡± Kieran snorted. ¡°I guess that¡¯s that.¡± ¡°That¡¯s that.¡± Marissa repeated. ¡°It¡¯s really not that bad.¡± Jazz said. ¡°...I actually kinda like it.¡± Ash added quietly. He sounded almost ashamed. ¡°Well, that¡¯s what it is. We¡¯re now Clan Nettle Tea.¡± Marissa paused a moment before adding. ¡°For real, though, guys. It¡¯s good tea. You should try it.¡± Chapter 12 : Serendipity Kieran Kieran was warming up to the new {NTEA} Clan tag next to Caoimhe¡¯s name. He had been playing Mag Mell for more than half a year without one, so he had thought it would be weird seeing it there - and it was. But only for a short time. In just a day, he had more or less gotten used to seeing it. Marissa hadn¡¯t gotten around to making a Clan Crest yet, so he couldn¡¯t make use of all of the clothing customization options that being in a Clan allowed quite yet, but he would. It would be awesome to show up to a dungeon as a party in matching gear. Maybe take some pictures with the picture tools, too. But for now, Kieran needed to run his dailies. He skimped out on too many days this week, and with the reset on Tuesday, he only had today and Monday to finish up his weekly allowance for rewards. Which, to be fair, wouldn¡¯t take all that long in the end. But he still needed to spend the time and do them. For now, that meant using the [A-P System] to find a party and do some random dungeons. It was still early Sunday morning, so Marissa wasn¡¯t on yet. She was probably either down in the Flour Basket baking, or - if she was lucky - relaxing for the morning and catching up on some of the TV she missed throughout the week. Ashton and Jasmine regularly had brunch on Sundays with some of their New York friends, so they were probably still out with them. Or doing whatever else they did on the weekends, as they were often busy with various plans. Of their little group, those two were easily the most socially active. As for Evan¡­well, Kieran was sure the poor guy was tied up with baby Eli. Evan and Sam were a great team when it came to parenting from what Kieran had been told, but that meant they were both equally tired and exhausted pretty much all the time. Yes, they both did their best to give each other some free time where possible, but even then it mostly just amounted to a free few hours here and there to either nap, read, or watch TV. Given Kieran¡¯s own experience, that usually meant an attempt at reading or TV that ended up in a nap when you inevitably fell asleep on the couch. The first two months after Aoife was born had done a real number on Kieran¡¯s back from how many times he slept in poor positions on the couch. And it never mattered how much he tried to position well; he always ended up in a position that left his back twisted and just generally in poor shape. He took a deep breath and sighed. All in all, it all just meant he was at the whims of the [A-P System] today. Doing a random dungeon through it was one of the ways to get progress toward his dailies and weeklies, but usually he tried to at least get half a party together before queueing into it so he had some party members he knew he could rely on. Leaving it all up to chance usually went fine. But sometimes, getting that one nightmare person could ruin not just that dungeon run, but even the whole day. Kieran learned that the hard way when some random player in the game had just generally been an asshole all around for an entire dungeon, leaving Kieran in a bad mood. Just after finishing the dungeon, Nat had come in to ask what the plan was for lunch and dinner that day, and Kieran had snapped at her in frustration. He apologized immediately, realizing that of course it wasn¡¯t her fault, but the whole thing had left him feeling sour the rest of the day. Nat understood what happened and never blamed him for it, but still. Having someone randomly able to just ruin your mood for a whole day like that wasn¡¯t pleasant. When his queue for the dungeon popped up, he hit [Enter] and was mentally gearing up for a boring slog. He had at least lucked out with a slightly higher level dungeon, which meant things wouldn¡¯t be too boring. At least the bosses would have some basic mechanics. [Caoimhe Phadraig {NTEA}] : Heya. o/ Kieran said his hello in the chat. It was around a 50/50 shot at getting a reply for each person, but usually the chat in a random dungeon like this was pretty quiet. [Firo Strix] : Hi! o/ [Tiny Human {RTRO}] : Yo. Kieran smiled to himself. Two friendly responses was pretty good, and hopefully an indicator of how the dungeon would go. As the quiet tank, an Elf [Blade], dashed ahead, everyone followed on the well trodden path. Most players at this point knew most of the dungeons available like the back of their hands, and everyone in the current group was already level 90. While running toward the first trash pull, Kieran checked the other two party members who had said hello. Tiny Human was, in fact, a Fae designed to be a very short human character. They were a [Seer], a [Dedication] of [Omen], which were shielding focused healers. Firo Strix was the other DPS with Caoimhe; an [Invoker], which was one of the two [Mage] options - basically just a classic wizard with arcane magic. Notably, arcane magic in Mag Mell did not include elemental magic, which fell under the nature category. Instead, it was mostly more ¡®raw¡¯ magic flavored. But it did come with some very flashy attacks. [Caoimhe Phadraig {NTEA}] : Hey, Firo. Are you spec¡¯ed for damage? [Firo Strix] : ???Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author''s preferred platform and support their work! [Firo Strix] : Ya, why? Kieran smiled to himself. [Invokers] were almost invariably built for raw damage. They could alter their skills to have some minor support-like abilities, but Kieran couldn¡¯t remember ever playing with one that didn¡¯t go for just raw damage. And, even better for the moment, most [Invoker] skills included AoE damage in every attack. And Kieran still hadn¡¯t altered his skills back to the more common damage build that most [Tyrants] favored. Instead, he was still set up to immobilize and disable their enemies. In a dungeon like this, as long as their tank was good at keeping the enemies packed together, this combination should be absolutely explosive. [Caoimhe Phadraig {NTEA}] : I¡¯ve got a neat little present for you, I think. Be ready. [Firo Strix] : ??????? When the tank pulled the first group of enemies, Kieran held back just a moment. Firo let his opening few attacks go while the tank was still grouping the mobs. But as soon as the tank seemed to have things under control, Kieran hit [Damnation]. Caoimhe performed the massive overhead slam, sinking her massive weapon into the ground. No matter how many times Kieran saw it, it always felt so satisfying. And then he grinned when half a second later there was a [Triple Cast] [Arcane Detonation], which was one of [Invoker¡¯s] highest damage options for AoE. Following that, he saw Firo hit two self-buffs and then launch [Soul Shatter], [Invoker¡¯s] actual strongest raw attack. It dealt massive damage but required the caster to target a small ¡®soul¡¯ visible in the center mass of the target for a full second before the damage was applied. If the targeting reticle left the ¡®soul¡¯ during the charge time, the spell was lost. On a success, it also had no cooldown, allowing you to chain casts of it if you maintained perfect aim. Caoimhe¡¯s altered [Damnation] was an 8 second stun, and the pack of mobs was 6 total creatures. Firo¡¯s player, evidently, had good aim. Firo went through each target quickly, leaving the whole group around 20% of their HP in 10 seconds since the pull began. Caoimhe had hit a few simpler attacks while waiting for her stun to end while Firo went to town on the enemies. As soon as the stun ended and Firo was back to a more normal rotation, Caoimhe hit [Knockdown], a 150 [Might] skill that swept enemies off their feet, and [Punishment], bringing the pull to a close in half the time it would have taken normally. There was a moment after the pull where no one moved forward. Kieran chuckled at what he imagined was everyone typing. [Tyr Mistletainn] : A supp Tyrant? [Tiny Human {RTRO}] : What was that stun? [Firo Strix] : Holy shit! Thank you for that present. Lol Kieran laughed as he responded. [Caoimhe Phadraig {NTEA}] : Sorry, was playing with some friends yesterday and forgot to alter my skills. I¡¯m built for KDs and stuns right now. [Tyr Mistletainn] : If all the pulls go like that one, I¡¯ve got no complaints. [Tiny Human {RTRO}] : ^^^^ [Firo Strix] : Bro, if I can land another round of soul shatters like that, I will pay you in items or gold or sumthin [Caoimhe Phadraig {NTEA}] : Damnation¡¯s cd is really long because of the stun time, so it¡¯ll be every other pull at best. But I¡¯ll do what I can. [Firo Strix] : o7 The rest of the dungeon went incredibly smoothly. Kieran had expected complaints about not doing enough damage, but he lucked out that he had been partnered with an [Invoker] prepped for high damage. If it had been an [Athame] or a [Dirge] that excelled more in damage over time or single target damage, the stuns would not have been nearly as helpful. Even the bosses went down easily. The minibosses were able to be stunned and knocked down, so Caoimhe showed her worth in those fights too, stopping a few actual mechanics by stunning bosses out of them. One particularly annoying mechanic that required a ton of movement and would¡¯ve severely hampered Firo¡¯s damage was stopped with a nicely timed stun. To be fair, most tanks have access to at least one stun, but [Blades] do not - so in a slightly different party composition, that wouldn¡¯t have been his job anyway. Still, the speed at which they made it through the dungeon was great. It was nothing game changing, but it was certainly markedly fast. It felt good to cruise through a dungeon like that now and again, especially with random, uncoordinated players. Goodbyes were said in chat and Kieran was off again. His first move was to head back to Falias and [Ion the Tyrant] to alter Caoimhe¡¯s skills back to a more normal damage focused build. While on his way, though, Kieran received a whisper from Firo. [Firo Strix] > That was awesome. Do you mind if I friend you? [Firo Strix] > I still owe you payment for all those soul shatters, too. [Caoimhe Phadraig {NTEA}] > Feel free. [Friend Request] {Firo Strix} [Accept?] [Yes] [No] Kieran hit [Yes] and went to send another message before stopping and considering. Firo had been a good player. Even accounting for the stuns, he had reliably landed [Soul Shatters] back to back, which was something¡­well, maybe not remarkable, but it still put him probably in the top 15% of players skill wise. Certainly potential raid material, at least. And he had no Clan tag. [Caoimhe Phadraig {NTEA}] > Hey Firo, how do you feel about the upcoming raids? [Firo Strix] > Looking forward to them, why? [Caoimhe Phadraig {NTEA}] > Have a group for them yet? [Firo Strix] > Nah, was gonna a-p them. [Caoimhe Phadraig {NTEA}] > You can¡¯t. [Firo Strix] > ?? What? [Caoimhe Phadraig {NTEA}] > You can¡¯t A-P them. You have to find a complete party to go into them. [Firo Strix] > Well that sucks [Caoimhe Phadraig {NTEA}] > A few friends and I just started our Clan with the express purpose of putting our team together. [Caoimhe Phadraig {NTEA}] > We have DPS slots. Interested? Chapter 13 : Recruitment Marissa Marissa sighed, staring at her computer as she clicked idly around the internet. Mostly scrolling nonsense on social media that she didn¡¯t really care about. Her mind was elsewhere anyway. Kieran had found a potential raid member already through simple luck of the draw. How he had managed to get lucky like that, Marissa would never understand. She had notoriously bad luck for this sort of thing. Doing her dailies through the [A-P System] was almost middling to negative. She could count the number of actually good experiences in there that she remembered on one hand. Probably. She just knew that if she tried to go around recruiting the potentially last two people they needed through the actual game, she would be laughed off the stage, figuratively. Or more likely simply ignored. There were always people that spent hours in the main cities just shouting the same recruitment message for their Clan in any game. And she couldn¡¯t imagine them ever getting as many bites on those ads as they¡¯d want. She took in a deep breath and let it out in a rush. All of this led her to what she stared at now - the den of villainy that was the official forum. It was exceedingly rare that any game¡¯s official forums were friendly and well respected. They more often than not devolved into complaints, shitposts, and other nonsense that most players steered clear of. Mag Mell¡¯s forum was no different. But that didn¡¯t change the fact that they did have a ¡®Looking for Group¡¯ section, as well as a ¡®Clan Recruitment¡¯ section. Marissa wasn¡¯t sure what she hoped to gain from posting there, but she was going to give it a shot regardless. She kept reminding herself that, in the end, if just one good person responded to her it would make it worth it. She was mostly just worried about getting responses from people that weren¡¯t the right fit. But there was also not really any way around that. After logging into her account on the website, she navigated to the recruitment forum and clicked to start a new thread.
[Looking for Members][Clan][Raids][US] Clan Nettle Tea is looking for members to fill out a party for the upcoming raid tier. Hello fellow players! A few friends and I are looking to put a team together to tackle the new raids when they are released in November. As is, we need a healer and a DPS. We¡¯re not picky about Paths, but we currently have a Muse main on the team already, so preferably the healer will be something else. Our DPS composition is currently looking like a Slayer, an Arrow, and potentially a Mage. To that end, we would probably prefer a melee focused player to join us, but we are flexible on that front. As it stands, we are forming a Clan around the raid group. We would greatly prefer you only respond if you are Clanless or are willing to change to join us, just for convenience¡¯s sake. Also, our currently planned raid times will be Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday nights, from 8 p.m. to 11 p.m. EST. Also also, please be 18+. Just in case. Otherwise, we¡¯re friendly and don¡¯t bite! Contact me in game; Hibiscus Jade.
Marissa couldn''t help but cringe as she read her draft back to herself, but it was what it was. It was just a recruitment ad; if people judged her based on the awkward language in the post, she wasn¡¯t sure she wanted to be their friend anyway. She closed her eyes as she hit the button to post the ad, then copy and pasted it over to the ¡®Looking for Group¡¯ section as well. Maybe she would get some bites, maybe she wouldn¡¯t. Only time would tell. For now, she slid her cursor back over to her second screen to launch Mag Mell¡¯s game launcher and respond to Kieran. Hopefully the potential new guy was fun.
Twenty minutes later, Marissa was logged in and sitting at a table with Kieran - Caoimhe - and Firo. They had parked at one of the cafes in Falias that served some basic buff foods just to relax while they talked in the voice chat. ¡°As promised,¡± Kieran said happily, ¡°I¡¯ve brought Firo in for an interview. Firo, this is Hibiscus Jade, our fearless leader.¡± ¡°Uh¡­hi.¡± Firo said awkwardly. ¡°Hi there.¡± Marissa said, trying to be as friendly as possible. ¡°It¡¯s nice to meet you! Do you want to go by Firo? Or something else?¡± ¡°Firo is fine. I¡¯ve used it in enough games at this point that I respond to it pretty naturally.¡± ¡°Okay, Firo then. As I¡¯m sure you¡¯ll see if you stick around, you can call me whatever you like. Everyone has been calling me Bisky most recently, I think.¡± Marissa said, the last bit coming out a little snide.If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. ¡°Yup.¡± Kieran chuckled. ¡°We keep messing with her name because nothing seems to stick. Bisky might have lasted the longest so far, actually.¡± Marissa sighed. ¡°Well, I¡¯ve heard every conceivable nickname for Hibiscus at this point that I¡¯m not sure you could come up with something original. But I¡¯m game for whatever.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll just stick with Hibiscus for now. Maybe Bisky.¡± Firo said. He sounded friendly enough, though maybe a little awkward. That was fair; meeting new people online was always a bit of a risk. Especially when voice chat was involved, things could get awkward really fast. ¡°Well, that¡¯s fine.¡± Marissa said. ¡°So, Kieran - uh, that is, Caoimhe - gave me the lowdown on what you guys did earlier. From his description, I don¡¯t think I need to question your abilities or anything like that. Did he talk to you about availability and that sort of thing?¡± ¡°A bit.¡± Firo said. ¡°He said Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, five to eight PST. That¡¯s my time zone, by the way.¡± ¡°Yup, that¡¯s accurate. And given that you¡¯re still here, I assume that works for you?¡± Marissa asked. ¡°It does.¡± Fire said, then paused a moment before adding. ¡°I¡¯m a college student, so I¡¯m free most hours that I¡¯m not in class. Is that okay?¡± ¡°You over eighteen?¡± Marissa asked, just echoing her ad from earlier. ¡°Yeah, I¡¯m twenty.¡± He said. Marissa took a second to herself, feeling a bit old. Kieran, instead, decided to be vocal about it. ¡°Oof. Right in the ol¡¯ ticker.¡± He said, sounding pained. ¡°I thought you might have sounded a little younger than us, but I wasn¡¯t sure. It doesn¡¯t matter though, unless you think it¡¯ll be awkward gaming with a bunch of thirty-year-olds.¡± Thankfully, Firo laughed. ¡°No, I think that¡¯s fine. Personalities matter way more than age for this sort of thing.¡± ¡°Right you are, sunny.¡± Kieran said, adopting an old time-y voice. ¡°Oh lord, please, Caoimhe. Stop. You¡¯re going to embarrass all of us.¡± ¡°Oh, Bisky, how are you? I didn¡¯t see you there¡­my eyesight isn¡¯t what it used to be.¡± Marissa sighed, resting her forehead in her hand. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, Firo. But I suppose it¡¯s better that you see this now before deciding to join us. We¡¯re a bunch of weirdos so you should know what you¡¯re signing up for.¡± ¡°Honestly? I¡¯m down. A bit of weird never hurt anyone, and there¡¯s a chance I fit right in, anyway. We¡¯ll have to see.¡± Marissa shrugged, not that anyone could see it. ¡°Well, that¡¯s fine then. I¡¯ll give you the same spiel our group went over when we decided to do this.¡± ¡°Sure, go ahead.¡± ¡°The group of us that started this know where we stand. We¡¯re not going to be cutting edge raiders, racing for world firsts or anything like that. I don¡¯t think we¡¯re even really planning to go at this all super hard. The goal is to work on the raid, and have fun doing it. We may even just do other stuff some nights. Maybe.¡± She laughed. ¡°I think a fair bit of the plan is up in the air.¡± ¡°I see.¡± Firo said. He sounded thoughtful, but not dismissive. ¡°I don¡¯t think I¡¯m necessarily against this idea, at least.¡± ¡°Okay, cool.¡± Marissa said. ¡°Then the other part of it was setting expectations. While we¡¯re not trying to be cutting edge or anything, we expect the team to show up regularly, on time. If you¡¯re going to be late or absent, that¡¯s fine. Life happens. Just make sure to communicate that to us with as much warning as possible.¡± ¡°The other half of it is that while we¡¯re not going to be pushing super hard, we do want everyone to have the mindset of wanting to improve and work on the game. We don¡¯t want anyone who isn¡¯t willing to put in the effort to learn and get better as we go. But I honestly think that that particular desire is basically ingrained in most want-to-be-raiders.¡± ¡°No issues here.¡± Firo said. ¡°I have every intention of improving at the game as I play, and I¡¯m happy to put in extra work if I¡¯m not pulling my weight.¡± ¡°That more or less covers all of the concerns I have, I think.¡± Marissa said. ¡°Or at least all of the concerns we¡¯ve covered as a group so far. Caoimhe? Anything?¡± She asked, careful to use Kieran¡¯s in-game name again, just in case. ¡°I got nothin¡¯.¡± He said. ¡°I think you¡¯ve covered all of the important stuff we hammered out last time. Given that we¡¯re all pretty laid back, I honestly think we¡¯ll be pretty accepting of most things, so long as you show up, communicate, and put in effort. Ultimately, we want to have fun while clearing content together.¡± ¡°You literally just said what I said.¡± Marissa chuckled. ¡°Sure did. But I figured the main points were worth repeating.¡± Kieran said. ¡°I think I¡¯m on board. We¡¯ve still got a while until the raids actually drop; when did you want to have your team locked in by?¡± Firo asked. ¡°Well,¡± Marissa said, trying to decide, ¡°I guess no later than November 1st? We don¡¯t know the exact launch date for the raids yet, but I want to have some team building days available before the raids to make sure we all vibe with one another. So I¡¯m hoping no one drops out that close to the launch, I guess?¡± ¡°I understand.¡± Firo said. ¡°In that case, given that it¡¯s July now, I think I¡¯d like to play with you guys for a while and make my decision in¡­let¡¯s say a month? I want to make sure we all get along before I commit.¡± ¡°That seems reasonable to me.¡± Marissa said. ¡°Me too.¡± Kieran agreed. ¡°We¡¯ll have to get you introduced to Aleister and Mello. They¡¯re a married couple, and a tank-healer pair. The other tank we have is Fiona, but he¡¯s busy with a newborn baby and not around much these days. But he¡¯s slowly working on showing up more often.¡± ¡°Admittedly, you may not meet him in your first month, but we¡¯ll see. I can promise, at least, if you get along with the rest of us, you¡¯ll get along with Fiona too.¡± Marissa said. Firo chuckled. ¡°Yeah, no worries. I assume you all have adult jobs? We¡¯ll have to see when our schedules line up to play together.¡± ¡°We do.¡± Marissa said, trying not to wince at the words ¡®adult job¡¯. ¡°I¡¯m also West Coast like you, but I¡¯m usually off work by four or so. Everyone else is Central or East Coast, so we usually show up around the same time on weeknights.¡± ¡°Hibiscus and I are around more often than not. Aleister and Mello are closer to 50/50 most nights. But you¡¯ll definitely have a chance, unless you have a bunch of night classes.¡± ¡°Thankfully, no.¡± Firo laughed. ¡°I have a horrendous sleep schedule right now, so I actively made sure all of my classes for this coming semester were in the morning to force me into a normal sleeping pattern. I¡¯ll be done most days by three. Mondays go until five, but that¡¯s the only late one.¡± ¡°Damn, I miss college schedules.¡± Marissa muttered under her breath. She heard Kieran¡¯s chuckle in response. ¡°Well, if that¡¯s the case, I¡¯ll try to be here Monday night and we can get in some game time as a group.¡± Firo said. ¡°I¡¯m looking forward to it.¡± ¡°Right back at ya, kid.¡± Kieran said. Marissa rubbed her forehead again. ¡°Please don¡¯t do that¡­¡± Chapter 14 : Friend Finder Zoe Zoe was tired already and it was only her lunch break. She let out a sigh and slumped down in the cheap plastic chair she was seated in. Her back hurt, too, which was a sad complaint for a twenty-five year old to make but she was certain all of the blame for that particular issue fell at the feet of her shitty corporate overlords and their inability to get nice chairs. The particularly cheap plastic chairs that lined the break room were certainly not helping matters, either, she thought as she shifted around to try to give her back a break. She was only vaguely paying attention to her surroundings while scrolling through her phone when Cassandra walked into the break room, massaging her temples. ¡°Someone save me.¡± She muttered, moving to sit across from Zoe, where she promptly dumped her head onto the table. Her hair also got the message, dramatically spreading out over the tabletop in a massive wave of dirty blonde. Zoe clicked off her phone and placed it on the table, careful not to put it on Cassandra¡¯s hair. ¡°Rough day?¡± ¡°Zoe, it¡¯s 11:30 a.m. and I¡¯ve had three phone calls from irate customers that just would not give me a chance to talk. I swear, they just call us to shout at someone and don¡¯t actually want us to fix anything.¡± ¡°Yeah, that sounds about right.¡± Zoe said, leaning on the table idly. ¡°I¡¯m honestly surprised, too. When I first got the job here I thought for sure most of it would be like¡­troubleshooting internet or cell phone issues for people. But nope, like 80% of it is people complaining about billing.¡± ¡°As if the customer support line can miraculously make that extra twenty dollar fee go away because you called and yelled at us.¡± Cassandra muttered into the table. Zoe chuckled wryly. ¡°I don¡¯t think most people think about that. Let alone that they¡¯re just yelling at people that go through the same shit. It¡¯s not like I get some crazy good deal because I work here.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t let the bosses hear you say that.¡± Cassandra muttered again. ¡°What, like it¡¯s not the truth? They say it¡¯s some employee discount, but we just get a renamed version of the same discount we give out to people when they threaten to change providers. It¡¯s bullshit, Cass.¡± Cassandra angled her head up a little, allowing one of her eyes to peek through the veil of her hair. ¡°Not disagreeing with you there.¡± Both women sat there for a moment in silence in the otherwise empty break room before Zoe moved to pick her phone back up, still lightly fuming. ¡°By the way, did you see the link I sent you?¡± ¡°What, the one with the Clan recruitment ad?¡± Cassandra asked. ¡°Yeah. What¡¯d you think?¡± ¡°What do you mean, ¡®what do I think¡¯?¡± Cassandra chuckled. ¡°I told you I was game to give it a go. If we want to do the raids in November, we¡¯ll need a group to do them with. And then I told you if you want to find a group, I¡¯ll just tag along. I¡¯m not picky.¡± Zoe rolled her eyes. Yes, Cassandra had told her she would just tag along wherever Zoe ended up. They may not have been friends for very long, but in the two years or so that they considered each other friends, Zoe had learned that Cassandra was definitely picky. There was no way that Zoe was going to settle on a raid group without at least a preliminary yes from Cassandra. ¡°Cass, we should both be giving input on this. It¡¯ll be the first time we¡¯re raiding together in a game, not to mention the six other people we¡¯re going to be with. At least make sure you¡¯re on board with the general information in the ad.¡± ¡°Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, eight to eleven, yeah? That¡¯s fine. They said they wanted a non-Muse healer and a primarily melee DPS. That¡¯s perfect. And they said they don¡¯t bite, which is even better.¡± Cassandra said dryly. Zoe smiled at her phone, looking at the post. The little gremlin did read it. ¡°Alright, then. I¡¯ll try to contact Hibiscus tonight after work. It¡¯s only been a day since they posted the ad, so hopefully we¡¯re not too late.¡± Cassandra stared at her for a moment, and Zoe raised an eyebrow. ¡°Yes?¡± ¡°What caught your eye about that ad, anyway?¡± Cassandra asked, finally deciding to sit back up. She groaned as she repositioned in the chair. Zoe pointed at the still steeping styrofoam cup of tea she had started when she first got into the breakroom. And then immediately moved to remove the tea bag, realizing how long it had been steeping. ¡°The Nettle Tea Clan name, plus ¡®Hibiscus Jade¡¯. The leader clearly likes tea, so it stuck out a little.¡± She shrugged. ¡°It was also a little luck of the draw, and the times worked out.¡±Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author. Cassandra shrugged and got to her feet to retrieve a drink for herself. ¡°Fair enough I guess. Are we running dailies together tonight, or are you going to set aside the time to chat with Hibiscus?¡± ¡°Let¡¯s hit one or two of the dailies first, then I¡¯ll try to message them. I¡¯ve been itching to play all day, so I¡¯m gonna need to scratch that itch when I get home first.¡± Cassandra nodded. ¡°Sounds good to me.¡± She glanced at the clock as she filled a cup of water from the cooler. ¡°We¡¯ve still got like 45 minutes for lunch. Want to go grab a bite?¡± ¡°Sure.¡± Zoe said, ¡°Thinking anything specific? Or are we just going to hit up that hotdog cart outside the office again?¡± ¡°I was thinking about the sandwich place down the block. I was craving a breakfast sandwich on a bagel.¡± Cassandra said, running through a quick stretch before they went for their small walk. ¡°Works for me. I could go for a bacon, egg, and cheese.¡± Cassandra nodded toward the door. ¡°Let¡¯s go then, before we get told to end our lunch early.¡± Zoe nodded and quickly followed Cassandra out, her tea in hand. They¡¯d never actually been told to end their lunch early, but it had been threatened. More than once.
[Nyx Alaion] > Hello Hibiscus. I saw your recruitment post on the forum and was interested. I¡¯m a Shroud main, and I have a friend who mains Soul. We were hoping to join you as a package deal, if possible.
Zoe leaned back in her chair, waiting to see if she¡¯d get a response. The whisper had gone through, so Hibiscus must at least be online. What they were doing was up in the air though; if they were in a dungeon or something, they may not even notice the message. ¡°So? Anything?¡± Cass asked over their voice chat. ¡°Not yet.¡± Zoe said. ¡°But I wouldn¡¯t really expect -¡± She cut off when she heard the system chime that denoted a whisper. ¡°Oh, hang on.¡±
[Hibiscus Jade {NTEA}] > Hi Nyx! We¡¯re still looking, and your Paths line up pretty neatly with what we need. Did you have any questions for me about anything? Need clarifications on anything in the post? [Nyx Alaion] > I don¡¯t think so? Your ad was pretty cut and dry on details. [Hibiscus Jade {NTEA}] > Yeeah, sorry bout that. I wasn¡¯t sure exactly what really needed to be said in there so I left it pretty sparse. [Hibiscus Jade {NTEA}] > As a group, we have two major sticking points for us. 1, We¡¯re definitely not going to be world first raiders or anything like that. Our goal is to do content together, have fun, and clear as much as we can. [Hibiscus Jade {NTEA}] > And 2, while we aren¡¯t planning on being world firsts, we want everyone involved to take the game somewhat seriously - mostly in regards to wanting to get better and improve.
Zoe nodded to herself, and repeated the information aloud for Cass¡¯ benefit. ¡°I¡¯m more or less in agreement with them.¡± Zoe said. ¡°I¡¯ve never really ¡®raided¡¯ in a game before. And while I¡¯m really excited to do so, I don¡¯t think taking it super seriously and going for world firsts would suit me well. But I do want to get better at the game as we go.¡± ¡°No complaints here.¡± Cass agreed. ¡°I think something like a mid-core group is perfect. I don¡¯t want to raid with a group that¡¯s too blas¨¦ about the whole thing, but I¡¯m also not trying to join a full throttle group either. This sounds like a good, fun medium.¡± ¡°As long as we all get along.¡± Zoe added. ¡°As long as we all get along.¡± Cass echoed. They had learned the hard way, together, how things go when the regular group of ¡®friends¡¯ aren¡¯t really friends at all. And that sort of situation was one that they had promised each other they would avoid in the future.
[Nyx Alaion] > Both of those tenants sound like solid ones to me. I¡¯m also relaying this stuff to my friend, and she¡¯s on board as well. [Hibiscus Jade {NTEA}] > Perfect! What are you two up to right now? Are you both online? Free?
¡°They¡¯re asking if we¡¯re free.¡± Zoe said. ¡°Are we?¡± Cass prodded. ¡°We could go finish up our dailies if you want. But it¡¯s not like we really need to these days.¡± ¡°Hm.¡± Zoe grunted noncommittally. ¡°I guess we can see what¡¯s up.¡± ¡°I will say, if they want to do, like, an ¡®interview¡¯ or something, I¡¯m out.¡± Cass said firmly. ¡°Not a fan of groups that do that sort of thing.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t think it¡¯s that big a deal, but okay.¡± Zoe muttered.
[Nyx Alaion] > We¡¯re both on, and free. What¡¯s up? [Hibiscus Jade {NTEA}] > We¡¯re actually meeting up with team member #6 for the first time right now. The two of you are welcome to come join us to hang out and meet everyone if you¡¯d like. [Hibiscus Jade {NTEA}] > Or, just about everyone, anyway. One of us is a new parent and hasn¡¯t been on much. But he assures us that he¡¯s working on it and will be back in time for raiding, so no worries! [Nyx Alaion] > My congratulations and condolences to that one. Seems exhausting. [Hibiscus Jade {NTEA}] > He may be tired all the time, but he seems happy, even if he is exhausted. In any case, what do you and your friend think?
¡°It looks like most of the group is in the middle of a meet up right now. Hibiscus said they¡¯re meeting another new team member for the first time, so it might not be a bad idea to swing by if we¡¯re free.¡± Zoe said. ¡°Sure. Ask them where to meet up and we can head over that way.¡± Cass said. ¡°Give me a sec though, I want to make a good impression. Need to put on a better glamour.¡± Zoe chuckled. ¡°As long as you don¡¯t look like a patchwork mess, I¡¯m sure it¡¯s fine.¡± The [Fae Glamour] system allowed players to overlay an illusion of other appearances over their actual gear. Not only did it allow everyone to avoid looking like their outfits were stitched together from several different armor sets - which they usually were - but it also allowed people to really dive into fashion at the end game. Cass offered an awkward chuckle in response. ¡°...I was horribly mismatched, actually. But I¡¯m fine now.¡± Zoe sent Cass a party invite before sending a message back to Hibiscus to ask where to meet up. When Cass joined the party, Zoe eyed her name in the party list. ¡°I feel like you should be more embarrassed by the reference in your name than showing up in bad fashion.¡± Zoe teased. ¡°Hey! What¡¯s wrong with my name?¡± Cass exploded. Chapter 15 : Meet Up Marissa ¡°They said they¡¯ll come hang out with us for a bit.¡± Marissa said. ¡°So if they do end up joining us, we¡¯ll have almost the whole crew here tonight, then.¡± Jazz said. ¡°Guess so.¡± Marissa nodded to herself. ¡°I¡¯m kinda interested to see what they look like in-game.¡± ¡°Oh? Why¡¯s that?¡± Ash asked. ¡°Well, after meeting Firo, I realized how used to you all I am. Mello, you and Caoimhe regularly put your characters in cute outfits, and Aleister always wears, like, a brooding, Elizabethan noble¡¯s attire. It¡¯s refreshing to see someone wearing something apt for a fantasy game.¡± Marissa hadn¡¯t really thought too deeply about it the day before, but it was true. She always felt like she stood out a bit among her friends, always keeping Hibiscus dressed in what she imagined a hunter or tracker would wear. Natural colored leathers, very earthy tones. Firo, being the only Corvus in the group obviously would have stuck out given the crow¡¯s head complete with a beak and feathers, but his dress felt like it matched Hibiscus. As a [Mage], he wore long flowing robes that really fit the wizard aesthetic. The [Glamour] Firo picked even had straps and pouches with potion bottles and dried plants on it. ¡°I see,¡± Ash said, a teasing lilt to his voice. ¡°you¡¯re hoping that the other new people are as fashion challenged as you are.¡± Marissa rolled her eyes as Kieran and Jazz chuckled. ¡°Yes, that¡¯s it, exactly.¡± She said dryly. It wasn¡¯t the first time the group had made fun of her ¡®lack of fashion sense¡¯. Which wasn¡¯t even real, because outside of the game she did dress well. And even worse, Jazz knew that. Even if she often went for soft and cozy outfits, especially at home. ¡°Don¡¯t feel bad about it, Bisky.¡± Kieran said. ¡°I honestly think you dress Hibiscus really well. You may look out of place next to the three of us, but your outfits always look great.¡± ¡°Thanks.¡± ¡°I actually thought Hibiscus was the better dressed between the two of you yesterday.¡± Firo chimed in, somewhat quietly. ¡°I thought the leather hunting armor looked awesome.¡± Kieran sputtered as if he¡¯d been slapped. ¡°Firo! How could you? After all those stuns I fed you for those perfect Soul Shatters. I¡¯m hurt.¡± ¡°I like your outfit today better!¡± Firo said quickly. ¡°Still not as much as Bisky¡¯s to be fair, but you look nice.¡± ¡°You wound me!¡± Kieran whined. Caoimhe was dressed in a pretty, lavender colored dress that really just accentuated the contrast between the cute three foot tall Fae and the five foot long massive weapon she carried. ¡°I think Firo just has a bad sense of fashion, too.¡± Jazz said. ¡°That¡¯s fine. He¡¯ll learn.¡± ¡°He just doesn¡¯t appreciate my theme of cute girl versus massive weapon.¡± Kieran said. ¡°I¡¯m sending the other two people invites to the chat. Behave, y¡¯all. Please?¡± Marissa said as she sent the link over to Nyx. ¡°No way - Ow.¡± Jazz said, as presumably Ash bumped her in real life for being difficult. Marissa closed her eyes and took a deep breath as she heard the two chimes indicating new arrivals to the voice chat. ¡°Hello there.¡± ¡°Hi!¡± ¡°Hey.¡± ¡°Yo.¡± Greetings flew around the group quickly with the new arrivals. ¡°Hi Nyx. I¡¯m Hibiscus, the one you were chatting with.¡± Marissa said. ¡°Oh, hi! It¡¯s nice to meet you. Again?¡± Nyx laughed. ¡°But yes, I¡¯m Nyx, and my friend is Evie.¡± ¡°Hello.¡± Evie said cheerily. ¡°Well, it¡¯s nice to meet you both.¡± ¡°Likewise.¡± There was a small awkward moment of silence that followed before Marissa cleared her throat. ¡°I don¡¯t think you¡¯ll learn names and voices immediately, but does everyone else want to introduce themselves?¡± She prodded. ¡°Oh! Uh, hello. My name in game is Caoimhe. I¡¯m our Slayer. Nice to meet you both.¡± Kieran said brightly. ¡°Hey there. I¡¯m Aleister, usually an Ebon, and one of your two tanks.¡± Jazz said. ¡°Guess I¡¯m next,¡± Ash said, ¡°I¡¯m Mellody, the Muse. It¡¯s a pleasure to meet you.¡± ¡°Uh, I¡¯m Firo. Also a newbie to the group like you both. I¡¯m a Mage.¡±A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. ¡°And I guess I¡¯ll add that I¡¯m an Arrow, usually Seeker.¡± Marissa said, wrapping it up. ¡°Well then. My name is Nyx, I mostly play Shroud, but I switch it up fairly often. I also like Tenebrae a lot. Nice to meet you all.¡± Nyx said, sounding particularly friendly. ¡°I¡¯m last then? You can call me Evie. I usually play Soul but I also have Mystic and Hallow fully geared.¡± ¡°Very nice.¡± Kieran said. ¡°I like when people are flexible for more options.¡± ¡°That might really matter when it comes to the raids, too.¡± Ash said. ¡°We don¡¯t know how they¡¯re going to function yet, but given the game is clearly designed for players to swap Paths within their Trinity, it¡¯s possible that they¡¯ll build the encounters to want specific Paths.¡± ¡°While I hope they don¡¯t require anything specific, there¡¯s no doubt that some Paths will be better for some fights than others.¡± Kieran agreed. ¡°We¡¯re not going to force anyone to play anything they don¡¯t want to just because it¡¯s meta. Just to clarify.¡± Marissa said pointedly. ¡°You¡¯re all welcome to change Paths however and whenever you like.¡± ¡°Cool.¡± Evie said. ¡°I¡¯m pretty flexible with what I play but I¡¯d prefer it be my choice.¡± ¡°We have no plans on dictating how anyone has fun.¡± Marissa said again. ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it.¡± ¡°So¡­¡± Nyx began, ¡°You just said we can meet in Falias. Where are you? The city¡¯s massive.¡± ¡°Oh, right. Let me send you a party invite, then you can invite Evie.¡± Marissa said, and quickly sent an invitation to Nyx. She joined almost immediately, and Marissa promoted her to party lead. Nyx and Evie should be able to find the group easily enough once they were all in the same party thanks to the game¡¯s map showing where party members were. They had chosen to meet up at [Ley Park], which was a large park area within the city that was set aside for fun activities and mini-games. There were tables scattered about the park set up for chess, checkers, and other tabletop games that allowed players to play against NPCs or each other. There were also tables for simple card games and other leisure type mini-games. Altogether the whole area was like a miniature in-game casino that used its own separate currency. It was a nice place to spend some time as a break from actual content if you needed it; and Marissa had thought that it would be perfect for some easy icebreakers. A snickering laugh caught Marissa¡¯s attention when Evie joined the party. She wasn¡¯t sure what the laughter was about until she read Evie¡¯s full in-game name - Evie Lucian. She caught on immediately once she read the name to herself. ¡°Evie, I have to ask,¡± Jazz said, ¡°you picked your name on purpose, right?¡± ¡°I did.¡± Evie responded, sounding proud of herself. ¡°One hundred percent on purpose. I thought it was genius.¡± ¡°I won¡¯t lie, knowing you did it on purpose, I am impressed.¡± Marissa said. ¡°It¡¯s a fully functional name on its own. But you must know by now what our next question is gonna be.¡± ¡°Which one is your favorite?¡± Kieran asked. ¡°You must have strong opinions, right?¡± ¡°I do.¡± Evie intoned. ¡°Suffice to say it¡¯s Espeon, but I¡¯ll spare you the small rant about the others.¡± ¡°Espeon¡¯s a good choice. I¡¯d go Umbreon myself, I think. An Umbreon helped carry me through Silver, and I loved that little guy.¡± Kieran said. ¡°Jolteon.¡± Ash said. ¡°It¡¯s been my favorite since the originals. When I played through Yellow as a kid, I even dumped the Pikachu they give you in favor of my Jolteon. It and Blastoise won me that game.¡± ¡°I¡¯m with Caoimhe. Umbreon all the way. That black and blue shiny, too? Perfection.¡± Jazz chipped in. ¡°And I know Bisky¡¯s is Sylveon. She might lie and say Espeon like she usually does, but it¡¯s Sylveon.¡± Marissa narrowed her eyes at the screen. Jasmine was right, unfortunately, so she may as well just own it. ¡°Aleister is right. It¡¯s Sylveon. The pastel color scheme is great. And when you had to do all of the special affection stuff to get the Eevee to love you to evolve it? I was so attached to mine afterward that it was over for me.¡± ¡°I¡¯m partial to Flareon.¡± Firo said. ¡°It just looks too fluffy, and I had a big fluffy dog like that growing up.¡± ¡°Solid reasoning.¡± Kieran said. ¡°And Nyx?¡± ¡°Umbreon.¡± ¡°Damn, lots of Umbreon love in here!¡± Jazz said happily. ¡°And not a single mention of Glaceon or Leafeon.¡± Evie said sourly. ¡°That sounds like the beginning of the rant.¡± Ash laughed. ¡°It is.¡± Nyx chuckled. ¡°Trust me, I¡¯ve heard it before.¡± ¡°Well, you may as well go for it.¡± Kieran said. ¡°We gotta get to know each other somehow, and a heated rant is a great way to start.¡± ¡°...Seriously?¡± Evie said, sounding hesitant. It might have been the most obvious emotion Marissa had heard from the woman so far. She had sounded pretty disinterested up until then. ¡°Yeah, hit us with it.¡± Jazz said. ¡°We clearly all like Pok¨¦mon at least a little bit in here.¡± ¡°I still play them.¡± Marissa said, and she got a bunch of agreements in response. ¡°Hit it, Evie.¡± Nyx said with a chuckle. ¡°Alright¡­¡± Evie said, taking a breath. ¡°I just¡­don¡¯t understand why they keep leaving Glaceon and Leafeon out in the cold. Espeon and Umbreon were added in generation two, and they¡¯ve been treated well ever since. They¡¯re even probably the two most common picks to be favorites - don¡¯t quote me on that.¡± ¡°Then, two generations later, they introduce Glaceon and Leafeon, basically lock them behind the end game, and have treated them like third rate additions ever since. Even Sylveon is treated much better, where Glaceon and Leafeon are all but forgotten.¡± ¡°To be fair, she¡¯s right.¡± Jazz said. ¡°I like Glaceon too - Leafeon not so much - but like¡­they both feel lacking compared to all the other options.¡± ¡°True.¡± Marissa said. ¡°They get forgotten a lot, too.¡± ¡°Right?¡± Evie said. ¡°I don¡¯t understand why. It bothers me a lot, considering how many people love Eevee so much.¡± ¡°No, I totally get it.¡± Ash said, and Kieran agreed. ¡°I won¡¯t lie,¡± Firo said, ¡°When I first played Pokemon, I learned about the Eeveelutions pretty quickly. But Glaceon and Leafeon were completely left out for me for a while. I didn¡¯t know they existed, straight up, for like two or three games.¡± ¡°Oh, damn.¡± Nyx said, right as the two of them finally arrived into the area. ¡°Oh, damn.¡± She repeated, when the group finally gathered up. The immediate response was from seeing Evie and Mellody near one another. They looked like they could be sisters. They were similar heights - both short Cait-Sidhe - and their hair colors were similar shades of light brown. Given her name, Evie¡¯s hair was certainly reminiscent of the color of an Eevee, while Mellody¡¯s was a bit lighter, but they still looked very similar. They had even come up with similar facial designs, although Evie had brown eyes to Mellody¡¯s blue and purple mismatched eyes. ¡°Well, I see why Nyx¡¯s favorite was Umbreon.¡± Jazz said, and Marissa wholeheartedly agreed. Nyx was dressed head to toe in black. She dressed in fantasy-appropriate thief and assassin type attire, which matched her [Shroud] Path, but a lot of her choices in armor seemed as though they would be at home in the closet of a 2010s emo or goth teenager. Evie burst out laughing at that. ¡°Right? You should see her in real life. You¡¯d never guess what her actual taste in fashion was from what she actually wears.¡± ¡°Hey, that¡¯s not nice.¡± Nyx pouted. ¡°I can¡¯t exactly go to work in all black, people would think someone died.¡± Marissa snickered. Things were at least off to a solid start. Chapter 16 : Team Building Kieran ¡°Again.¡± Marissa said sourly. Jasmine laughed. ¡°Just accept the loss already, Bisky. He¡¯s beat you three times.¡± ¡°Hey, I don¡¯t mind winning again.¡± Kieran said. He lounged back in his chair, putting his hands behind his head despite the pose being just for himself. ¡°But we probably should let someone else play.¡± Marissa growled in frustration. Not only had she lost three times in a row at chess, but she had been solidly defeated. It was a one-sided obliteration each time. Well, obliteration in that she stood no chance. Kieran was giving up pieces often enough that it didn¡¯t necessarily look one sided if you just looked at the captured pieces on each side. ¡°Fine.¡± She said eventually. ¡°Anyone else wanna play?¡± She asked. ¡°I¡¯m good.¡± Firo chuckled. ¡°Same.¡± Nyx said. ¡°I know I¡¯m bad at chess. Don¡¯t need a thrashing to tell me that.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll play against Bisky, if she wants.¡± Evie said. ¡°Caoimhe would destroy me, though.¡± ¡°Oh, but you think you can beat me, huh?¡± Marissa grumbled. ¡°Well, I think I actually stand a chance against you, at least. Pretty sure my showing against Caoimhe would be worse than yours.¡± Evie said. Kieran, deciding to lean into being a little shit in the moment, had Caoimhe stand from the chess board¡¯s seat and do the typical super hero¡¯s pose with her arms on her hips. ¡°I¡¯d say I¡¯m gonna make you regret that,¡± Jazz said, ¡°but I¡¯m pretty sure you¡¯d kick my butt too.¡± ¡°Well, let¡¯s let Evie and Bisky play for now.¡± Kieran said. ¡°I don¡¯t mind playing Evie.¡± Marissa said, ¡°But I¡¯ll get you back later, Caoimhe. Maybe I¡¯ll beat your sorry ass in a PvP match.¡± ¡°I¡¯d love to see you try.¡± Kieran laughed. ¡°Enough of that for now, focus on your game.¡± ¡°Yeah, yeah.¡± ¡°You got this, Evie!¡± Nyx cheered as they began. Jazz quickly chimed in her support for Marissa, while Ash and Kieran remained mostly silent. Firo kept gently guiding the players away from obvious mistakes with random noises like sharp intakes of breath or long ¡®Eeeh¡¯s. He was actually doing a remarkable job at keeping the game going strong. As the game continued, Kieran wandered away from the table with Caoimhe, looking for other fun activities for the group within [Ley Park]. Admittedly, while the basic idea of getting the group to be social in a casino-like setting was admirable, it seemed like in practice it wasn¡¯t going to work very well. For the most part, the place was designed to be wandered alone. Most of the interactive games were single-player affairs, with only a handful of things offered for a group to play, and most of those were for two players only. Kieran idly hoped that DanuSoft would eventually add more multiplayer options to the area. As it was, as he walked around, it really just dawned on him how much it was designed to be an easy time sink for individuals who wanted stuff from the prize shop. To be fair, there were a lot of great [Glamour] options squirreled away in the prize shop. Kieran had gone after them pretty hard in the first few months of the game, but had most of what he wanted by now. He knew that Ash, however, had bought literally everything on offer in the prize shop. ¡°Ugh, damn it!¡± Marissa yelled, denoting the end of the game. ¡°I honestly shouldn¡¯t have won that.¡± Evie laughed. ¡°Firo¡¯s little interventions saved my queen from my own stupidity twice.¡± ¡°You say that like he didn¡¯t do the same for me.¡± Marissa grumbled. ¡°Thank you, by the way. I would¡¯ve lost much earlier without you, Firo.¡± ¡°Same here; Thanks, Firo.¡± Evie agreed. ¡°You¡¯re welcome.¡± Firo said. ¡°But I don¡¯t think the two of you are cut out for chess.¡± ¡°Oh, damn.¡± Jazz said, laughing. ¡°That might be the most inadvertent burn we¡¯ve had all night.¡± ¡°I didn¡¯t mean -¡± ¡°You did, though.¡± Kieran said, chuckling. ¡°And that¡¯s okay. Given the amount of backseat warnings you were giving, I think it¡¯s fair to say they¡¯re both pretty bad at chess.¡± ¡°Hey, I never said I was good at it.¡± Evie protested. ¡°If anything, I said the opposite.¡± ¡°Alright, alright, already! Let¡¯s just play something else.¡± Marissa said before anyone else could say more. ¡°I won¡¯t lie, I¡¯ve been wandering around the area while listening to you two play. There¡¯s not really a lot on offer here for groups.¡± Kieran said. ¡°Yeah, and having seven of us is an awkward group number.¡± Jazz said. ¡°One of these days, we¡¯ll get Fiona back.¡± Ash said, sounding more sure than Kieran thought any of them felt right then. ¡°Until then, we¡¯ll just have to make do.¡± ¡°Well, do we hunt down a rando for some large party content, or do something else?¡± Marissa asked.Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon. ¡°I wouldn¡¯t be opposed to finding a rando.¡± Evie said, ¡°But I have to admit, something you said earlier got me thinking, Hibiscus.¡± ¡°Bisky is fine.¡± Marissa said. ¡°Bisky, then.¡± Evie corrected. ¡°You said you would kick Caoimhe¡¯s butt in a PvP match. I think doing some round-robin PvP could be fun.¡± ¡°And we¡¯ll get to see what everyone is made of. At least a little bit.¡± Nyx agreed. ¡°Most of the available large party stuff right now is kinda¡­meh, anyway. Nothing difficult enough to really show your stuff.¡± ¡°True. Most of the large party content right now is pretty superfluous content designed to be fun but easy. PvP could be good though.¡± Ash said. ¡°I¡¯m in.¡± Kieran said. ¡°We¡¯ll have to find a good spot for it, though. PvP is off limits in Ley Park.¡± ¡°I know just the spot.¡± Jazz said. ¡°The rock?¡± Marissa asked. ¡°The rock.¡± Jazz declared. ¡°Alright, everyone; follow me!¡± Marissa said as Hibiscus took off down the path toward the Park¡¯s exit. The whole group followed, falling into easy and friendly chatter as they walked. Everyone called out challenges to each other, while shit-talking flew around, aimed equally at everyone. Kieran was glad that Firo, Evie, and Nyx seemed to fit neatly into place within the group. Not everyone took to friends talking smack at one another quickly or easily, especially in a new group. But it seemed that half of the group being pretty direct with one another set the tone for everyone else to slip in easily enough. And perhaps even better, their new friends seemed to give as good as they got without batting an eye. No one seemed too scared to take part, which was a very common occurrence when meeting new people online. Not that there was anything wrong with it, but Kieran had been part of an online social group where someone joined voice chat, stayed basically quiet for several hours, then left again far too often. It was nice to get people that actually talked. It took almost ten minutes of walking time to get to the eponymous ¡®rock¡¯, but that was fine. Friendly duels deserved good ambiance. ¡®The rock¡¯ was a large, flat but angled stone formation a little outside Falias. The flat top of the rock was a great size to function as an arena for one-on-one duels. ¡°Okay, so a brief bit of rules.¡± Jazz said as she took the lead of the procession up the rock. ¡°Two ways to lose duels at the rock. Hitting zero HP, as expected. But also, if you fall or get pushed off the rock, that¡¯s equally a loss.¡± It was something of an honor rule their group had set up within the first month of the game when they dueled. It was entirely possible, with the right set up of skills, for some classes - like [Seeker] - to simply kite an enemy endlessly while dealing little damage. At one point, a duel between Hibiscus and Mellody had gone on for fifteen minutes without a winner, because Hibiscus was able to stay out of Mellody¡¯s range, but couldn¡¯t do enough damage from that distance to outperform Mellody¡¯s self healing. Ever since, they used the rock as a makeshift arena boundary to keep things at least somewhat manageable, without needing to actually travel to one of the various in-game arenas. ¡°That seems fair.¡± Nyx said. ¡°Agreed. Having area boundaries helps keep things fair.¡± Evie said. ¡°We learned that the hard way a while back.¡± Ash said. ¡°So, Caoimhe and me first?¡± Marissa asked, as Hibiscus trotted to the center of the rock. ¡°I don¡¯t mind knocking you around a little bit first.¡± Kieran said as he pushed Caoimhe forward. Not that anyone could see it, but he sat up straighter in his chair and rolled his shoulders a bit, working out a little of the stiffness. ¡°Bring it on, jackass.¡± Marissa taunted, as the pop up showed up on his screen. [Duel Challenge] [Hibiscus Jade {NTEA}] [Accept?] [Yes] [No] Kieran clicked the yes button, and a stone cairn popped up between them, denoting the accepted duel. It would tumble apart to signal the start of the fight to anyone watching, while the fighters received an on screen countdown. Caoimhe and Hibiscus both drew their weapons. There was a ten second countdown to the start of the fight, which gave entrants ample time to try to buff or otherwise prepare. Caoimhe didn¡¯t really have much in the way of preparations to make. She could use [Weapon Focus], which was a channeled skill that boosted the damage of whichever attack skill was used next by 30% when fully charged. However, it took 8 seconds to fully charge, making it basically useless in most situations. Essentially, it was relegated to being a simple downtime skill designed to be used when bosses weren¡¯t targetable, just so they could do something. Hibiscus, on the other hand, had a suite of skills to use before the fight began. Kieran knew she wouldn¡¯t open the fight with [Critical Eye], as it was too risky, but she was definitely going to have a fully charged [Master¡¯s Shot] ready to go. She also probably laid a few [Trapper Snares], which would root Caoimhe if she stepped on them. The 50 [Might] wasn¡¯t so much a concern, but the root would be. Bisky would have three of those available at the start. Kieran was positive that Marissa would block off the direct approach with a trap. But where she laid the other two were up in the air. They were invisible to enemies, so Kieran would need to guess or simply pray. There was a decent chance that the fight would end immediately if Marissa reacted to the trap triggering quicker than Kieran did. With how many times they had dueled, they both knew each other¡¯s tricks forward and back. Any given duel with them was a coin flip. When the timer hit zero, Caoimhe stepped to the left, then pushed straight forward with [Driver]. The attack didn¡¯t actually reach Hibiscus, but she was still in Bisky¡¯s face in seconds, although she did also eat the charged [Master¡¯s Shot] for a solid chunk of her HP in return. Given it only dropped Caoimhe down to 7,500 HP, Kieran guessed that Marissa missed the weakpoint. Hibiscus quickly hit [Slithershot], which dealt a little bit more damage to Caoimhe, but the backstep was the important part of that. Kieran, fully expecting that reaction, hit [Wild Swing]. The forward movement included in the skill was almost enough to keep pace with Hibiscus, but with the additional reach of Caoimhe¡¯s weapon it was enough to make contact. Hibiscus was [Knocked Down], and Caoimhe immediately followed up with [Punishment], hoping to get the bonus damage on the downed target. Bisky was ready, though, and hit [Quick Recovery], one of [Seeker¡¯s] reversals that got her back on her feet while dodging an attack. It invalidated [Punishment], leaving only the 2,000 or so damage from [Wild Swing]. ¡°Dad!¡± ¡°Oof.¡± Before Kieran could make any sort of follow up attack against Hibiscus, Aoife ran into the computer room and all but tackled him from the side. The jostling made him misclick [Slide Cut], which was an attack with a sidestep built in. It landed him squarely in one of Hibiscus'' traps. Kieran knew he could probably hit [Tyrant¡¯s Pride] to escape the trap, but Aoife standing there was more important. The [Critical Eye] - [Master¡¯s Shot] combo put Caoimhe on the ground. ¡°I think I heard interference!¡± Ash called, laughing. ¡°Nah, man.¡± Marissa said haughtily. ¡°That was a special skill of mine called ¡®Summon Daughter¡¯.¡± Kieran pulled the girl into his lap and kissed her on the head. ¡°Hey there, you. What¡¯s going on?¡± He said, chuckling. Aoife repositioned herself on his lap to more fully face her father and said, ¡°Mom was yelling from your bathroom asking if you remembered to get toilet paper on your way home.¡± Kieran went quiet; he had not. Chapter 17 : Routine Blake Blake definitely thought of himself as something of a creature of routine. His days were mostly fairly well planned out in advance, and while he didn¡¯t necessarily dislike doing things spontaneously, it was rare for him to deviate from his plans. Mostly because he knew what he liked, and typically had plans that filled his time with those things. Once the new college semester had begun at Berkeley, Blake¡¯s days got even more regular. He hadn¡¯t lied to Hibiscus during that first little chat - his sleep schedule had been so messed up over the summer break that he was regularly sleeping between 8 a.m. and 2 p.m., give or take a bit on either side. But when most social circles hung out late into the night, his sleeping getting completely screwed over was almost expected. Now though, solidly into September and the new semester, things were back to what was a socially acceptable schedule. He slept overnight, woke up early to get to his classes, and did normal things in the late afternoons and evenings. He was regularly hanging out with friends and playing games and the like most nights. They had standing plans on Mondays and Fridays every week. He was part of a tabletop group that played on Sundays, and there was a fair bit of crossover between the two. But those same friends had bounced off of Mag Mell really quickly when it launched. To be fair, Blake didn¡¯t have a lot of MMO playing friends. Some had touched one MMO or another while growing up and decided they weren¡¯t worth it. And to be fair, enjoying MMOs required a certain approach. You had to invest more time before getting the full return, which was a big ask these days when there were plenty of other things to play or do that didn¡¯t require nearly as much input, effort, or investment. Given that, Blake couldn¡¯t believe his luck when meeting Caoimhe and the rest of Nettle Tea. While Blake had been hesitant at first for a multitude of reasons, not least his age in comparison to everyone else, he was coming around. His Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday nights were now solidly booked out for playing with them, and he didn¡¯t plan on changing that soon. Mag Mell was a game that had truly captured Blake¡¯s attention. And when the raids were announced, he had been excited but also somewhat disappointed. While he knew now that it wouldn¡¯t have been an option, his plan had been to just use the [A-P System] to try to fumble his way through the content. But doing that style of content with random people would never have been the same as with friends. But given Blake simply didn¡¯t have good friends in the game, he¡¯d just have to suck it up and figure out what to do. There was a good chance that he would have ended up looking at recruitment posts for the raids, and ended up taking a shot with one of the larger Clans with a few raid teams. He had joined smaller Clans in the past, usually with bad results. Joining an already established group of friends was usually more awkward than not, and Blake had had one too many bad experiences there. It left him a little gun shy when it came to joining a small group of friends like that. Better to be lost in the crowd of a bigger Clan. Stumbling into Caoimhe, and by extension, Nettle Tea was a happy accident. While he certainly did still feel like ¡®the new guy¡¯, even after a bit more than a month, he wasn¡¯t the only one. Nyx and Evie were equally new to the group, and that helped even things out a lot. Basically half the group was ¡®new¡¯. But more than that, Caoimhe, Bisky, Mello, and Aleister had all been more welcoming than he had expected. Blake wasn¡¯t sure if it was an age thing, or what, but not only had they made him, Nyx, and Evie feel welcome, but they had immediately simply acted like they belonged there. Or had always been a part of the group. With a small smile on his face, Blake shifted his backpack so it sat higher again. He was looking forward to getting back to his house; it was Tuesday, and that meant Mag Mell and some online shenanigans. They hadn¡¯t made any solid plans for tonight, but even just meeting up to go try their hand at some world bosses had been a blast. The walk from the campus wasn¡¯t too long, thankfully. And while Blake had rented a place off campus with a few friends, they were often gone during the evening doing various activities. Which meant the house was quiet and mostly empty. He waved hello to Jon, who was at home in the kitchen, just munching on a sandwich. Jon returned the wave, but had a mouthful of food so he didn¡¯t say anything other than a jumbled greeting as Blake headed toward his room. After dropping his bag next to the bed, he plopped down in his desk chair and spun to face his PC. His room may not be all that big, but it was just big enough to snugly fit his bed, his desk, his chair, and a little bit of storage. Realistically, if Blake was in his room he was either asleep or on his PC, so it was enough for him. He powered on the PC and got the game started up, and checked the Nettle Tea server. It was just after 3, so no one was on quite yet. But they would be, so he settled in to wait.
¡°Alright everybody! What¡¯s the deal tonight?¡± Bisky asked, once everyone had arrived. Caoimhe was the last one to show up, as it was evidently his turn to cook dinner for his family. Blake could even hear the whispering of one of the man¡¯s daughters coming through on his mic - it also wasn¡¯t the first time. He seemed like a good dad. ¡°We¡¯ve actively got people working on off Paths now, right?¡± Evie asked. ¡°I know I¡¯ve got my off roles geared, but what about everyone else? Maybe we can help someone track down that last bit of gear?¡±Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author. ¡°That¡¯s not a bad idea.¡± Mellody said. ¡°I need to get a few drops for my Omen; specifically my Book needs a better weapon if I ever want to play it.¡± ¡°I¡¯ve been slowly gearing up for Astral and Claw.¡± Caoimhe said. ¡°My Astral Dedications are both basically right there, but I haven¡¯t put as much effort toward Claw yet. It¡¯s fully leveled, but it¡¯s still in leveling gear.¡± ¡°It¡¯s Vine for me.¡± Bisky said. ¡°Witch is good to go, but I still need a better weapon and a couple armor pieces for Hunt.¡± ¡°I¡¯m fully kitted out.¡± Aleister said. ¡°Ravager is my only other path, but both dedications are fully geared. So, no worries on my end.¡± Firo noted to himself that meant [Zerker] and [Plague]. ¡°Same here.¡± Nyx said. ¡°I was picky with my Dedications, but with Edge and Tenebrae fully leveled, I¡¯ve got Ruin and Athame respectively fully set up.¡± ¡°I¡¯m also good to go.¡± Blake finally chipped in last. ¡°Obviously, Invoker and Rune are both fully equipped, but I actually have all of the magic-based Paths fully equipped. So, Mage, Vine, Tenebrae, and Astral - and both of their associated Dedications - are all fully kitted out.¡± Someone whistled, though Blake couldn¡¯t tell who. ¡°Damn, Firo. You put in some work.¡± Nyx said, clearly impressed. Blake scratched the back of his head awkwardly, not that anyone could see it. ¡°Not really. There¡¯s just not much else to do when you¡¯re a solo player besides leveling and gearing. So when I played, that¡¯s what I did.¡± Blake didn¡¯t feel like it was worth mentioning that as a college student he probably had quite a bit more time. Even if he did work full time during the summer. Then he added in a much more muttering tone, ¡°I actually have all of the Warrior Paths fully leveled. Just not all geared.¡± ¡°Well, shit.¡± Aleister said. ¡°We¡¯ve been playing together for a few weeks now, and it never even occurred to me to look at everyone¡¯s other Path levels.¡± ¡°I think most of us have a whole bunch of paths leveled, just going unused, to be fair.¡± Caoimhe said. ¡°I have all of the Warrior paths except Arrow leveled, for example.¡± ¡°Nope. I¡¯ve only got War and Ravager.¡± Aleister said. ¡°It¡¯s all I played, so I just never bothered. I don¡¯t think Mello does ei -¡± ¡°Sorry, sweetie.¡± Mellody said, clearly holding back a chuckle. ¡°All of my Benefactor Paths are fully leveled.¡± He quickly added, ¡°I just didn¡¯t mention the others because I didn¡¯t want to take anything from Evie. Besides, Muse is far and away my favorite.¡± There was a bit of silence after Mellody¡¯s short outburst. ¡°...Everyone has most of their stuff leveled?¡± Aleister asked, finally. She sounded almost resigned. ¡°¡®Fraid so.¡± Nyx said. ¡°I¡¯m just missing Mage and Astral.¡± ¡°Yep. I¡¯ve got everything except Slayer.¡± Bisky said. Blake thought it was funny that Caoimhe and Bisky had avoided leveling each other¡¯s mains. He knew that they weren¡¯t in any kind of relationship or anything, but it was cute. ¡°If it makes you feel better, I think Fiona only has Plate and Fencer leveled.¡± Caoimhe said. ¡°Yeah, but that was just to avoid overlapping with Aleister.¡± Mellody said in a hushed voice that clearly everyone would hear. Including his wife, who he seemed to be happy needling. ¡°Man, fuck me.¡± Aleister sighed. ¡°I guess I should work on the other classes just in case.¡± ¡°If you¡¯re ever around during the day and want to work on stuff, let me know.¡± Blake chimed in happily. ¡°I¡¯m free a lot, and happy to help kill stuff for you.¡± ¡°Thanks.¡± She muttered. ¡°I¡¯ll probably take you up on that if I do actually do any leveling.¡± ¡°No pressure.¡± Caoimhe said. ¡°Like I said, Fiona has the other tanks covered. I would be surprised if a fight required either both Ravager and War or Plate and Fencer.¡± ¡°I hear you.¡± Aleister said. ¡°Anyway, what¡¯s the plan tonight, then? We don¡¯t need to spend the time now worrying about that.¡± ¡°I¡¯m behind the idea of tracking down gear for whoever needs it.¡± Bisky said. ¡°But it also sounds like most of us are pretty well set up for most things.¡± ¡°I think it sounded like Mello needed it most?¡± Evie mentioned. ¡°I think everyone else sounded like they had at least one secondary Path fully geared up, but Mello was short a weapon for Omen?¡± ¡°We can do that. I¡¯m not opposed to tracking down a weapon for my Book.¡± Mello said. ¡°But for what it¡¯s worth, my Mystic is fully geared. So I do have one secondary Path, there¡¯s just some overlap there.¡± ¡°I think getting your Omen geared up would be good.¡± Nyx said. ¡°It¡¯s definitely the best mitigation healer, so having one available to us would probably be good. And while Evie does have a lot of Paths leveled, Omen is not one of them.¡± ¡°It is not.¡± Evie confirmed. ¡°I¡¯m not a huge fan of the flavor of Book or Seer, so I just never did it. Besides, for the most part, Hallow can cover a lot of the same stuff Omen can, just not as well.¡± ¡°And that could be a detriment when it comes to raids. Maybe.¡± Blake said, nodding to himself. ¡°It seems unlikely that the game would push specific Paths that hard, given how customizable they are, but Omen does have access to significantly more shielding skills than the other healers. Even taking altered skills into account.¡± Kieran chuckled. ¡°What you¡¯re saying is, ironically, the one Path we¡¯re not entirely prepared to run is the one Path that has the single best chance of being ¡®necessary¡¯.¡± ¡°I mean¡­no? But also yes.¡± Blake said, chuckling ruefully. ¡°All of the DPS Paths can pretty easily cover for one another. As for tanks¡­well, I suppose there is a miniscule chance that War or Ravager become very important due to their magical or hp manipulation mechanics, but that seems very unlikely.¡± ¡°But the singular healer Path with immense shielding capabilities could be important.¡± Mellody said. ¡°Possibly.¡± Blake agreed. ¡°Mind you, the other healers should be able to make up for it with their own mitigation skills, but damage reduction and extra HP aren¡¯t always the same.¡± ¡°Right!¡± Aleister declared. ¡°Then let¡¯s just go get this weapon. I wanna play, and we¡¯ve wasted twenty minutes sitting here waffling back and forth.¡± ¡°Do you know where to get the weapon you want, Mello?¡± Nyx asked. ¡°If we want to fully lean into Omen¡¯s shielding abilities when I use it, then yeah. The Shrieking Caverns.¡± Chapter 18 : The Shrieking Caverns
Party List
Hibiscus Jade (Marissa Harper) [Arrow] : [Seeker] 10,000 / 10,000 10,000 / 10,000
Fiona Woods (Evan Woods) [Plate] : [Aegis] 10,000 / 10,000 10,000 / 10,000
Aleister Demian (Jasmine Burch) [War] : [Ebon] 10,000 / 10,000 10,000 / 10,000
Mellody Softsong (Ashton Burch) [Muse] : [Revel] 10,000 / 10,000 10,000 / 10,000
Evie Lucian (Cassandra Bailey) [Soul] : [Radiance] 10,000 / 10,000 10,000 / 10,000
Caoimhe Phadraig (Kieran Moor) [Slayer] : [Tyrant] 10,000 / 10,000 10,000 / 10,000
Firo Strix (Blake Walker) [Mage] : [Invoker] 10,000 / 10,000 10,000 / 10,000
Nyx Alaion (Zoe Fox) [Shroud] : [Knife] 10,000 / 10,000 10,000 / 10,000
Ashton [The Shrieking Caverns] was a very interesting place. It felt like being in a dungeon, despite it being a full sized zone. The Caverns were a huge mess of labyrinthine tunnels that were notoriously difficult to navigate, even while using the map. Given that maps in Mag Mell were displayed as if they were drawn on paper with only shading to hint at elevation, the way that the caves criss-crossed one another constantly at varying depths underground made the map nearly useless. Nearly. It was still possible to map out a travel path if you carefully went through and followed a single path. It wasn¡¯t easy, and there were a few spots that were tricky - like a path turning back on itself rather than crossing another¡¯s path like would be expected, or spots where paths were almost entirely on top of one another. Because of its awkward map and difficulty when it came to traversal, players already more or less steered clear of the caverns to begin with, but the lack of any dungeons in the area even meant it was an unpopular place to level. This left the entire zone often eerily empty, as it was now. There were several world bosses that were in the area, but they were by and large left alone at this point in the game. Of the eight bosses that could be found in various places in the Caverns, six of them dropped materials that went into crafting specific [Glamour] gear - that is, gear that had near useless stats but were unique in designs specifically included for their appearance. Those six bosses had been farmed pretty relentlessly in the first few months of the game for those gear pieces. Ash, Jazz, Marissa, Kieran, and Evan definitely all had the full sets. Ashton couldn¡¯t say for sure if their new friends did, but given that no one asked for a quick detour, it seemed they either did or didn¡¯t care. That only left the remaining two bosses as being significant to most of the player base, and their uses were very specific. [Trinn of the Shadow] was one of the two bosses. She was a tricky Fae, and her fight revolved around fake out and illusory mechanics that were simultaneously fun and frustrating to fight. Their little group had teamed up with some random other players to farm [Trinn] pretty early on, and she dropped some very useful weapons for [Ebon] and [Plague], both of which they wanted to get for Aleister. The second boss, and the target they were after now, was [Vaivru the Cave-Wing]. He was a fairly large cave dwelling wyvern that made his nest on the far side of the Caverns. He was the most difficult fight in the zone, though not much harder than [Trinn]. His drop table, however, was much more lucrative for several classes. Lore-wise, [Vaivru] was basically a greedy dragon type. Many valiant fighters came into the Caverns to hunt him down, and none returned. To that end, [Vaivru] had a massive hoard of treasure containing all types of things, many of which were useful items. The downside was that many of the items in the drop table were consumables. Useful, yes, but many of them were not only craftable by high level crafters, but many of them were also sold by those same crafters. Which meant the items weren¡¯t really worth the hassle of the fight. But, a solid portion of [Vaivru¡¯s] drop table was dedicated to useful end game gear for several [Paths], mostly the ones that could be viewed in the lore as ¡®knightly¡¯ in some way. [Book] was one of those. It was a [Dedication] spun off from [Omen], the shielding-focused [Benefactor]. [Books] were flavored as war mages that utilized tactical formations in lieu of magic circles and the like to cast their spells. While they did have several arcane spells at their disposal, most of their abilities were party-focused buffs that could change based upon battlefield positioning.If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. It was a very strange Path that required a relatively high amount of team coordination, but the return was worth it. Its [Omen] counterpart [Seer] would perform better in most pick-up groups, but a good [Book] would outshine them in a coordinated party every time. Given that their little team often had to team up with randoms to fill out the large party size of eight members, Ash had fully geared [Seer] to be reliable in those situations. But now that they had a regular large party group that could all be in voice chat together, [Book] would be the better choice. The weapon he was after now was called [The Maneuver Codex], and was supposedly a book carried by a great strategist that had formed a party to take down [Vaivru] and obviously failed. Their failure, of course, would be a gain for Ash and Mellody, as the weapon made [Stratagem] type skills 5% stronger. [Stratagem] type skills, of course, were the ones that required specific team positioning to get the strongest buffs. But Ash had faith in their team to be able to perform up to par with it. Not that he planned to play a ton of [Book], though. [Muse] was still his one true love, he thought, looking over Mellody¡¯s character sheet while they moved through the caverns.
Mellody Softsong Level : 90
[Path] : [Muse] [Dedication] : [Revel]
HP 10,000/10,000 MP 10,000/10,000
[Strength] 2 [Intelligence] 32
[Accuracy] 6 [Speed] 4
[Defense] 10 [Resistance] 15
[Slash] 9 [Arcane] 13
[Pierce] 10 [Holy] 16
[Blunt] 8 [Nature] 16
[Parry] 2 [Dark] 18
Once the party had made it into the Caverns, things went pretty smoothly. While the route was as complicated and fiddly as ever, the party was in good spirits and made light of the cave-dive. To be fair, Ash thought it was easy when the whole party out leveled most of the mobs in the area by more than ten levels. Most of the enemies didn¡¯t even bother them all as they trekked through the winding tunnels hopefully toward their destination. Occasionally there was an elite enemy that would still attack them, but each and every single mob that tried was stunlocked into oblivion. In theory, they all knew where [Vaivru¡¯s] nest was on the map - it was a large, oval shaped room, after all - but getting there still required careful map work. ¡°Just to check,¡± Ash said as he led the troupe through the caves, ¡°No one wants to drop by any of the other bosses?¡± A chorus of various ¡®No¡¯s followed. ¡°If we want to snag the Shadestinger on the way out, I wouldn¡¯t be opposed.¡± Nyx said. ¡°I have almost the entire set from that one, but I¡¯m missing the boots. Evie got a kill without me and I just never bothered.¡± Ash chuckled; he could hear the side-eye included in that shot. ¡°Those are good boots, too.¡± Kieran said. ¡°Given your, uh, style choices Nyx, I¡¯m surprised you never went to get them.¡± Nyx laughed. ¡°I honestly forgot, and I¡¯ve made do with the Darkscale boots in their place. They¡¯re similar enough.¡± She paused before adding, ¡°Also, you can say I dress emo, or goth, or whatever. I am aware, and I won¡¯t be offended.¡± Ash snickered. They¡¯d been talking around Nyx¡¯s fashion choices for the month because they knew that some people were really touchy about how their style was referred to. Kieran especially, given how often he interacted with older teenagers and younger twenty-somethings. ¡°Ah, sorry.¡± Kieran said. ¡°I¡¯ve been burned enough by talking about other people¡¯s fashion that I just avoid it until I¡¯m told otherwise.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t blame you.¡± Nyx said. ¡°But yeah, feel free. I¡¯m not touchy about it, I just like the black gothic look.¡± ¡°No judgement.¡± Marissa said. ¡°If anything, I¡¯m inclined to agree.¡± ¡°Same here.¡± Kieran said. ¡°It¡¯s a pretty sweet look.¡± ¡°Jazz is also a fan. Or at least was.¡± Ash said, shrugging. ¡°Hey!¡± Jazz said, then leaned over to swat at him from her computer. He chuckled and fought her off weakly while trying to keep the group on the right path. ¡°Aleister? I never would¡¯ve guessed the one running around basically dressed as an aristocratic vampire would¡¯ve liked goth fashion. Who knew?¡± Evie said, the sarcasm clear. ¡°Looked good on her, too. I¡¯ve seen the pictures.¡± Ash said, which earned him an actual smack. ¡°...There¡¯re pictures?¡± Marissa sounded shocked. ¡°Aleister told me she didn¡¯t have any good pictures from high school because she didn¡¯t like having her picture taken.¡± ¡°And that¡¯s the truth.¡± Jazz said forcefully. Ash looked over at his wife, who was actively giving him a death stare. He weighed his options in his head for a moment, wondering how mad she would actually be if he continued down his path. He decided, in this particular instance, the teasing was worth it. ¡°Oh, she¡¯s got pictures, alright.¡± Ash said, watching Jazz¡¯s anger flare up again. But she had something like an evil smile on her face - he knew she¡¯d get him back for this, but she wasn¡¯t actually all that angry. ¡°Dark black hair with blue highlights, the clothing, the chains¡­the whole deal.¡± ¡°Oh my god, I need to see this.¡± Marissa said. ¡°She was dressing pretty neutral in college, so I just assumed that was normal for her.¡± ¡°Mello?¡± Kieran said, clearly trying to hold back laughter. ¡°While I appreciate you telling us this, I¡¯m vaguely fearful for your life, buddy.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll be fine.¡± Ash said, side-eyeing Jazz as she sat watching him with her eyes narrowed. She had fully spun her chair around to face him, leaving Aleister set to [Follow] on Mellody. ¡°Probably.¡± ¡°Good luck.¡± Nyx said. ¡°My condolences.¡± Firo said. ¡°Is Aleister small?¡± Evie asked, which Ash was sure made everyone do the mental equivalent of a double take. ¡°She sounds like she¡¯d be small. And Mello, you sound like you¡¯d be big. I think you¡¯ll be fine.¡± There was a moment of silence before Marissa and Kieran exploded with laughter. Ash was doing his absolute best not to laugh. Or even react. Jazz was watching him like a hawk. His lovely wife Jasmine could indeed be accurately described as a ¡®little spitfire¡¯. He struggled valiantly to say nothing, but Marissa, who was not in the same room with Jazz, confirmed for her. ¡°Yes. Yes, she¡¯s short. Like 5¡¯2¡±, max.¡± She said between heaving breaths. ¡°And Mello is just about six foot.¡± ¡°Uh¡­guys?¡± Nyx snorted, no doubt in response to Marissa¡¯s wheezing. Kieran wasn¡¯t making any sounds, but Ash had strong suspicions that he had muted himself while laughing and was planning on remaining muted until mastering himself enough to speak clearly. ¡°Guys?¡± Firo said again, a bit more urgently. ¡°Firo?¡± Ash asked, getting his eyes back on the game screen rather than eyeing Jazz warily. He immediately noticed what was probably Firo¡¯s point of concern. Ash had led the team a little off course during all of the chatter at some point. And there before the team was a massive scorpion, its body covered in chitin that was a dark navy that blended in pretty well with the dim caves. ¡°Oh. Now that¡¯s actually sorta convenient.¡± Nyx said happily. The laughter slowly died down as everyone started to focus up again, now that there was a mildly significant enemy in front of them. ¡°Well, Mello, if you were gonna get us all lost, you at least brought us down the right wrong path.¡± Jazz said snidely. ¡°I¡¯ll get you back later. For now let¡¯s murder this thing.¡± The whole team slipped into a pretty standard formation with Aleister in the front, Caoimhe and Nyx behind him, then the rear guard in the back. Realistically, [The Shadestinger] wouldn¡¯t be a challenge for them at all. It was a level 75 mob; even if it was considered a world boss, it was an on-level one for the area they were in. ¡°This poor thing doesn¡¯t know what¡¯s about to hit it.¡± Ash said mildly. Marissa bellowed an ¡°Attack!¡± and the scorpion was, for all intents and purposes, riddled with holes. Chapter 19 : Conductor
Party List
Mellody Softsong (Ashton Burch) [Muse] : [Revel] 10,000 / 10,000 10,000 / 10,000
Aleister Demian (Jasmine Burch) [War] : [Ebon] 10,000 / 10,000 10,000 / 10,000
Evie Lucian (Cassandra Bailey) [Soul] : [Radiance] 10,000 / 10,000 10,000 / 10,000
Hibiscus Jade (Marissa Harper) [Arrow] : [Seeker] 10,000 / 10,000 10,000 / 10,000
Caoimhe Phadraig (Kieran Moor) [Slayer] : [Tyrant] 10,000 / 10,000 10,000 / 10,000
Firo Strix (Blake Walker) [Mage] : [Invoker] 10,000 / 10,000 10,000 / 10,000
Nyx Alaion (Zoe Fox) [Shroud] : [Knife] 10,000 / 10,000 10,000 / 10,000
Ashton ¡°And there he is. Finally.¡± Marissa said, sighing. After the accidental and brief detour that led the group to fighting [The Shadestinger], it took another fifteen minutes of walking and getting mildly lost before they finally made it to [Vaivru¡¯s] nest. The room that [Vaivru] had claimed was oblong and egg shaped, with the entrance at the ¡®top¡¯ of the egg. The ¡®bottom¡¯ of the egg was wider and rounded, but there was also a large fortress carved into the wall. The portcullis and one defensive wall extended beyond the cave¡¯s wall, and behind that wall in the courtyard was [Vaivru¡¯s] hoard. It visibly spilled out from under the heavy iron gate of the portcullis, which was currently raised. Even from just outside the room, the whole party could see [Vaivru] rested atop his pile of loot. The wyvern was clearly more than happy to ignore people that stayed outside of his domain, as he eyed the party, but made no moves to get up from his makeshift throne. The party, for their part, went about their battle prep. As was standard for them now, Aleister dropped down the campfire and cooking station and Mellody got to work. ¡°Everyone¡¯s fought Vaivru at least once, yeah?¡± Marissa asked. As Ash went about his meal prep, Marissa went over the basic strategy for the fight with everyone. Ash had done the fight before, but this would be a bit different as they were down a tank. He opted to keep an ear on the discussion as he picked the ingredients for the meal. ¡°Okay, we know the basics.¡± Marissa began. ¡°Vai has two main attacks. The claw attack is heavy single target damage, and the tail swipe cleaves. Aleister, you need to keep him faced away from the party at all times.¡± ¡°Yeah, duh.¡± Jazz snarked back. Ash could hear the eye-rolling as Marissa continued, ¡°Beyond that there¡¯s two different rear-facing AoE¡¯s if I recall? A conal tail attack and a donkey kick line AoE.¡± ¡°There¡¯s also a stomp.¡± Ash said, idly. He picked out mostly offensive food buffs for this fight. While [Vaivru] was a level 90 world boss, at this stage of the game, their party was so well geared that they shouldn¡¯t need any defensive buffs to survive. Or at least, in the moments where it mattered, the meager meal related buffs wouldn¡¯t make a difference. Instead, the offensive ones to end the fight even just a little bit quicker would be more useful. ¡°Oh, right. The circle AoE around whichever foot does the attack. Be ready for that.¡± Marissa said. ¡°What¡¯s the plan for the tank buster?¡± Evie asked. ¡°We don¡¯t exactly have the strongest mitigation Benefactors here, and Vai has a stacking swap mechanic, doesn¡¯t he?¡± Ash chuckled at the general terribleness of the ¡®meal¡¯ he put together. Spicy foods were typically the best physical damage buffs, while sweet foods were magical damage ones. More bland foods were the simplistic but necessary HP and MP buffs. He was allowed to make a ¡®three-course meal¡¯ for the team, which amounted to three food items total that couldn¡¯t overlap on their ¡®course¡¯ designation. That meant Spicy Firebird Stew as the [Main Course], Garlic Toast for the [Side Dish], and Mixed Berry Shortcake as the [Dessert]. Not exactly a mouth-watering combination of courses.If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it. He shrugged, tuning back into the discussion. ¡°Each time Vai uses the buster, it gets a damage boost, right?¡± Ash asked. ¡°How many stacks do you think you can survive without assistance, Aleister?¡± ¡°Without any outside assistance, only my own mit?¡± Jazz was quietly in thought for a minute before answering, ¡°Probably four? I think he uses the buster every minute or so if I recall correctly, so it¡¯ll be on minute five that we¡¯ll start being in danger.¡± ¡°Got it.¡± Evie said. ¡°I don¡¯t have a lot of mitigation abilities as a Soul, but I¡¯ll save what I do have for later then.¡± ¡°We¡¯ll need to rely on the party¡¯s mit to survive the later half of the fight. Especially yours, Nyx. DP is going to be invaluable here.¡± [Debilitating Pierce], or [DP], was a [Shroud] skill that, by default, had a 30 second cooldown that reduced the target¡¯s damage by 15% for 4 seconds. It was one of the best mitigation skills in the game, and one of the reasons talented [Shrouds] were so well liked in party content. ¡°Food¡¯s ready, by the way.¡± Ash said as he interacted with the cooking station to eat. ¡°All offense this time. No reason to do anything else.¡± As everyone filtered over to grab the buffs, Marissa continued, ¡°Beyond the AoEs and the tank buster mechanic, I think the rest of the fight is pretty straightforward. Don¡¯t stand in death and try to keep up your damage.¡± Ash chuckled when he heard Jazz crack her knuckles. ¡°Let¡¯s do it.¡± She said, posting Aleister in the threshold to the room. ¡°On your count, Aleister.¡± Marissa said. Jazz began a ten second countdown, and everyone began their pre-fight routines. For Ash, this meant getting Mello¡¯s main buffs up and running, as well as a few targeted ones doled out. Within Mag Mell, every [Path] and [Dedication] had a specific [Path Skill] and [Dedication Skill] respectfully. In most cases, [Path Skills] were bound to a mouse right click by default, and were integral to how a Path played. [Dedication Skills] usually either altered the [Path Skill], or played off it in some way. In [Muse¡¯s] case, [Musick] was its [Path Skill]. They were all buffs that were applied in an AoE around the character constantly, as long as the [Musick] was played. A [Muse] had access to a fairly wide variety of [Musick], but could only play one at a time. It also required the player to regularly hit their right mouse button in time with whatever song they played; it made [Muse] a deceptively active class. Mellody¡¯s chosen [Dedication] for the moment was [Revel], whose [Dedication Skill] was [Double Time], which would boost the current [Musick] for a short time. That was a very powerful buff that Ash would absolutely be using in the opener. [Vaivru] would need to approach the party when they crossed into the room, so for the opening move, [Forward March] went up as Mello¡¯s [Musick]. The speed boost would help the team get into the fight faster, and the small 500 HP shield would be at least a little bit useful going into the start of the fight. Maybe. As everyone sped into the room and began to spread out, Ash took a second to place Mellody¡¯s [Coda Step] by the door. Hopefully that would be as good a place as any to escape to if things went poorly. [Vaivru] reacted as expected to everyone entering the room. He stood, stretched out atop his pile of loot, then swooped down to the center of the room. The boss was big, but not as large as some of the truly massive bosses. He did still dwarf the party members pretty significantly, especially Caoimhe. With the boss in range, Mellody swapped her [Musick] for [Overture of Might], which was a party-wide 3% [Strength] buff and added 3% more physical damage on top of that. It had reduced effectiveness by default on Firo as a magical damage DPS, so Mellody gave him the [Target Audience] buff. [Target Audience] was a single target skill that allowed that target to benefit from a [Musick] that wouldn¡¯t normally be able to benefit from it. In this case, allowing a magical DPS to utilize a physical damage buff. The skill was even smart enough to swap the [Strength] increase over to an [Intelligence] increase for Firo. It did mean that Mellody herself, Aleister, and Evie wouldn¡¯t gain anything from [Overture], but that was alright. During any sort of boss encounter like this that allowed a party to prepare for, the opening of the fight would be a huge burst of damage. All of the DPS would rotate through any buffs and high damage skills they had to get their cooldowns rolling; unless a skill had a secondary effect, holding it back just meant less times you could use it in the fight. It was better to use high damage skills as many times as possible during a long fight like this. That meant that standard procedure was to open with all of the damage focused abilities you had as quickly as possible, including buffs, attacks, or any other skills that boosted the party¡¯s damage in any way. For Mellody, that meant once [Overture] was out and [Target Audience] was on Firo, [Double Time] was used to boost the opener damage. [Critical Muse] was given to Hibiscus for a 10% boost to her crit rate. [Dance of the Dervish], which granted [Haste], was given to Nyx to increase [Speed]. [Hero¡¯s Inspiration], a raw 5% damage buff, was given to Caoimhe. And finally, [Dance of the Fae] was given to Firo, increasing his magic damage by 5%. Each of those buffs had a different associated cooldown, and would be paired up best with a specific party member. Going further, each of those party members had slightly different burst timings during the fight, which would require Ash to mete out the buffs at the right time for each player to get the most out of them. Playing around that sort of coordination was one of the things that had attracted him to [Muse] in the first place. It required more knowledge and timing than many of the other [Benefactor] [Paths], and he enjoyed needing to keep track of so many things in his head - all while maintaining his main [Musick] buff. Mellody also applied [Day¡¯s End Nocturne] to [Vaivru] for the opener. They all knew what to expect with this fight, and there wasn¡¯t any dangerous DPS check that they would need to meet later, so using it now would turn their opener into a functional nuke. Aleister quickly blasted the creature with a few high threat attacks to get its attention. Once he had [Vaivru] locked on, Aleister ran past the wyvern to spin him around, leaving his back toward the party; entirely standard procedure. Ash settled into his chair, comfortable. Unlike in the fight with Cu Chulainn where everyone was operating mostly under the guise of trying to stay alive, this was a much more standard boss fight. This was where Ash felt comfortable. And that¡¯s why he had always been in charge of the team¡¯s call outs. ¡°Opening raid-wide.¡± Ash called, knowing the rough blueprint for most large party fights like this. They almost universally opened with an attack from the boss that hit everyone, regardless of position. Mellody and Evie both threw out party mitigation, while Nyx waited just a few moments before hitting the boss with [Debilitating Pierce]. As if she could read [Vaivru] like a book, the boss immediately went airborne and breathed a wide swath of firebreath down on the room, scorching the entire party. It was unavoidable damage, but they had prepared for it. By the time the animation ended and the wyvern was on the ground again, everyone¡¯s HP was topped off. ¡°Caoimhe, get behind it to try to bait out the tail swipe. We want to delay the tank busters as long as possible, so if we can bait out the AoE¡¯s -¡± ¡°Yep.¡± Kieran said, and Caoimhe immediately slipped directly behind the boss, rather than the more traditional melee positions that were more like south-west or south-east on a compass, assuming the boss¡¯s facing was north. ¡°Nyx, stay where you are. You can bait out the stomp at the normal spot.¡± ¡°Yessir.¡± She said, while moving through a flurry of dual-wielded dagger attacks. When the ground flashed red in a cone behind the boss, Caoimhe slid out of the area without needing a callout. She slipped back into position, only to be followed by Nyx doing the same thing when the stomp¡¯s warning AoE appeared. It was nice to have a team that didn¡¯t get entirely lost in their rotation all the time. ¡°Buster is up next.¡± Ash called. And sure enough, [Vaivru¡¯s] mouth began to glow with fire, the signal for the tank buster. The first one wouldn¡¯t be a big deal, but they would have to keep an eye on the later ones. Aleister hit a mitigation skill - [Shade Wall] - as well as his [Dedication Skill], [Ebony Guard]. Ash swapped Mellody¡¯s song to [Bulwark¡¯s Ballad], which boosted the party¡¯s [Defense] and [Resistance] by 3%, as well as reduced incoming damage by 3% - the defensive version of [Overture]. When the buster landed and did around 5,000 damage, Ash smiled to himself. That wouldn¡¯t continue, given the stacking [Enflamed] debuff that Aleister would gain every time he took one of those hits, which would make him take 30% more damage from fire-based attacks for each stack. But for now the attack essentially barely tickled. ¡°Alright, let¡¯s bait out those attacks again.¡± Ash said, as he swapped Mellody¡¯s [Musick] back to [Overture]. He chuckled to himself; there was something poetic about the group¡¯s shot-caller being a [Muse], conducting everyone across the battlefield. Chapter 20 : RNGods
Party List
Mellody Softsong (Ashton Burch) [Muse] : [Revel] 9,495 / 11,000 5,398 / 11,000
Aleister Demian (Jasmine Burch) [War] : [Ebon] 1,284 / 11,000 4,000 / 11,000
Evie Lucian (Cassandra Bailey) [Soul] : [Radiance] 8,448 / 11,000 3,994 / 11,000
Hibiscus Jade (Marissa Harper) [Arrow] : [Seeker] 10,223 / 11,000 9,000 / 11,000
Caoimhe Phadraig (Kieran Moor) [Slayer] : [Tyrant] 10,043 / 11,000 8,000 / 11,000
Firo Strix (Blake Walker) [Mage] : [Invoker] 9,143 / 11,000 7,382 / 11,000
Nyx Alaion (Zoe Fox) [Shroud] : [Knife] 10,122 / 11,000 3,000 / 11,000
Ashton When the loot table popped up, Ashton let out a big sigh and slumped in his chair. He heard similar reactions from at least a couple others within their team. ¡°Why do the RNG gods hate me so?¡± he lamented. ¡°Dude, this is the fifth kill. What are the drop rates on your weapon?¡± Kieran asked. Five kills on the boss was far from an amount that she expected to guarantee a weapon, but it was also disheartening when there was nothing else of real use for the team in the boss¡¯s drops. ¡°He¡¯s guaranteed to drop a weapon every time, and the Codex is one of seven options. So¡­something like 15%?¡± Ash said. ¡°Sorry, guys. I knew this wouldn¡¯t be a one and done, but I was hoping we¡¯d get lucky in the first couple pulls.¡± ¡°Nah, it¡¯s fine.¡± Marissa laughed. ¡°This is exactly what we signed up for, more or less.¡± ¡°I¡¯m not gonna complain.¡± Nyx said, ¡°I got the materials I needed for my boots, so I¡¯ve already gotten ¡®paid¡¯ for this little excursion. Besides, it¡¯s not like Vaivru is really difficult.¡± ¡°Nyx is right.¡± Firo chipped in. Ashe smiled; the boy was definitely the quietest of the group so far, so it was good to hear him chip in here and there. ¡°The fight isn¡¯t difficult, and it¡¯s not exactly draining any of our useful resources. I guess aside from you using good food buffs, anyway.¡± ¡°I¡¯ve got no problem using the good foods.¡± Ash said. ¡°Gathering ingredients is fun, and I¡¯ve been stockpiling a huge mess of the current meta stuff. Besides, I would be shocked if they don¡¯t add in new meals with the raids, so I would imagine that the food we¡¯re using now will be obsolete in a few months.¡± ¡°Good point.¡± Firo said. ¡°So, I really have no complaints. Vaivru isn¡¯t a super exciting boss fight or anything, but it¡¯s enjoyable enough. It lets me practice my rotation and aim.¡± ¡°Well, the boss is back up in three minutes or so. It¡¯s too bad no one else has shown up. A second party would make things a bit easier.¡± Marissa said. And she was right. World bosses in Mag Mell would scale HP numbers based on the number of combatants, but the base mechanics of the fight wouldn¡¯t usually change much. If another group showed up, as long as there was another tank, it would take almost all the pressure off. As it was, they were managing the tank buster and [Enflamed] debuff alright. The later busters were tricky, but so far it had only been a problem once. Aleister had gone down to a poorly timed [Debilitating Pierce] that didn¡¯t catch the buster. But Evie had been so fast on the [Resurrection] that there was barely even a bump to the pull.Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation. Caoimhe had taken a few big hits in place of the tank before Aleister recovered the threat, but honestly, that was fine. The rest of the pull went off without a hitch, and the death even reset Aleister¡¯s [Enflamed] stacks. Honestly, the ease at which they finished that particular made Ash consider leaning over to Jazz and telling her to eat a buster on purpose so they could simply rez her without the stacks. But the penalty for using battle rezzes was significant enough that taking a death on purpose could go poorly if things spiraled afterwards. The way Mag Mell handled in-battle resurrections was more similar to an action game than most MMOs in his experience. Depending on the rated difficulty of the fight, the team was basically given a number of charges that were shared amongst the party. They essentially functioned as lives, in addition to the cooldown that each individual resurrection type spell had. In [Vaivru¡¯s] case, they had a total of three charges for the whole fight, which would be fair if they weren¡¯t overgeared for it. In addition, Mellody¡¯s resurrection spell was [Refrain], which had a three minute cooldown. Evie¡¯s resurrection spell as a [Soul] was actually just called [Resurrection], and had a two minute cooldown. So if two of the party members went down in quick succession, they could probably recover the fight. But if a third went down, they would be sitting out for a while. And two minutes of someone being down could easily be a death sentence for the party if there were harder mechanics or body checks. Ash wouldn¡¯t have said they lucked out with Aleister¡¯s first death - it was far more likely they would make it than not - but it was a risk they probably didn¡¯t need to take. ¡°How¡¯s the food timer?¡± Ash asked, shifting in his seat to get prepared for the next pull. ¡°I think we¡¯ve got one more kill before we need to refresh.¡± Evie said. Nyx and Marissa agreed. ¡°Alright. One more, then we refresh food. If we don¡¯t get the book to drop by the end of that round of food, I say we call it a night. Can always come back another time.¡± Kieran said. ¡°No,¡± Ash said resolutely, ¡°One more and we get the drop. Then we go home.¡± ¡°You¡¯re already home, dumbass.¡± Jazz said, just to undercut the seriousness in his tone. ¡°But yeah, last one. We get the drop here and call it a day.¡± ¡°If we get the drop on the next pull, I want a rematch with Caoimhe in chess.¡± Marissa said, and laughter followed. It completely diffused what little tension the group had. ¡°We all know what to do by now.¡± Ash said as [Vaivru¡¯s] body popped back into existence on his hoard. ¡°Let¡¯s get ¡®em.¡± Aleister was the first to charge into the room, before Ash had even called for the charge. Everyone else filtered in following the [Ebon¡¯s] lead and the battle was underway. After fighting [Vaivru] so many times already, the party¡¯s teamwork was airtight. Everyone knew their job and how to do it, even moving before Ash¡¯s call outs. He kept them going, just in case someone tunnel visioned on their rotation, but he didn¡¯t suspect anyone would. The fight proceeded cleanly. Caoimhe and Nyx were on top of baiting out the AoEs which kept [Vaivru¡¯s] tank busters delayed just a little bit. While it probably didn¡¯t make a huge difference, any safety nets they could make use of were an overall gain. At least, so long as the baiting didn¡¯t make the DPS lose uptime. Which it didn¡¯t in this fight. They just had to slide left or right to avoid the damage, but didn¡¯t need to leave their attack range. Everything went perfectly. It took seven and a half minutes of fighting to down the wyvern for a sixth time. Aleister took the final tank buster with six stacks of [Enflamed], which boosted the incoming damage by 180%. At that level of damage, it took most of the party¡¯s available mitigation tools to keep Aleister alive. And even then, his HP dropped well under 10%. Thankfully, only the very last hit point truly matters. By the time that final tank buster landed, [Vaivru] was down to under 10% itself. A final push of damage ended the fight before the eighth tank buster, which almost certainly would have caused trouble. Once the wyvern died, the large treasure pile that spilled from behind the fortress portcullis became interactable. The whole party gathered up, as they had done every time so far. ¡°Feeling lucky?¡± Marissa joked. ¡°Not particularly¡­¡± Ash said. ¡°Someone else wanna hit the loot?¡± Everyone stood around the glowing pile of gold, gear, and treasure, simply staring. ¡°Well?¡± Kieran asked. ¡°Who¡¯s feeling lucky?¡± ¡°I¡¯m gonna do it.¡± Firo said, and he took a few steps forward toward the cache. ¡°I¡¯m feelin¡¯ it.¡± ¡°Yeah! You go, Firo!¡± Jazz shouted. Nyx began to chant Firo¡¯s name, and everyone joined in pretty quickly. ¡°Alright, alright,¡± Firo laughed, ¡°That¡¯s enough you guys.¡± They didn¡¯t stop. Nyx, in fact, chanted louder. Firo stepped up to the glowing pile of loot, and clicked on it. When one member of a party interacted with a loot chest, they received a pop-up window that displayed the loot that the group had received. Everyone else had a minimized notification of new loot, but had to click on the notification to see the full window. That short gap gave Firo enough time to react before everyone else. ¡°Oh, thank god.¡± He breathed. ¡°I am lucky.¡± Ash clicked open the loot window and sure enough, the [The Maneuver Codex] was staring him in the face, alongside several consumable items that the group may be able to make use of down the line. ¡°Ha! Just before the food needed to be refreshed too. Good shit, Firo.¡± Nyx said happily. ¡°Well, with the book in hand, we can get the hell out of these damn Caverns, right?¡± Evie asked. ¡°It¡¯s so dark and depressing down here.¡± ¡°Yeah.¡± Ash said with a grin. ¡°I¡¯m all set. And now my Omen will be more than good to go for raiding if we need it.¡± ¡°Nice.¡± Marissa said, ¡°That leaves us with a few weeks worth of easy farming like this to get everyone else up to speed on whatever off-Paths they want, plus hopefully getting Fiona back in here regularly.¡± ¡°Hopefully he¡¯s feeling up to it soon.¡± Kieran said. ¡°He¡¯s still pretty close to the schedule I had when I had my girls. Another two or three weeks and he should be able to find a couple hours to himself to join us a few times a week. It¡¯s really those first two or three months that are particularly brutal.¡± ¡°Makes sense. A kid is no joke.¡± Evie said. ¡°I won¡¯t hold it against him. I don¡¯t think Nyx or Firo will either.¡± ¡°Nah.¡± Firo agreed. ¡°Nope.¡± Nyx added. ¡°If anything, I might judge him if he comes back and it sounds like he¡¯s leaving his wife to do all the heavy lifting.¡± Kieran snickered. ¡°Nah, he wouldn¡¯t do that. And we wouldn¡¯t let him, anyway.¡± ¡°Not without giving him a truckload of shit for it.¡± Marissa said. ¡°But he¡¯s not that type.¡± ¡°Good.¡± Nyx said. ¡°Now let¡¯s get out of here before that bastard of a boss respawns.¡± The team filtered out of the room and back into the corridor before Firo began setting up a [Fae Circle]. [Fae Circles] were how fast travel functioned in Mag Mell; a player had to ¡®cast¡¯ one into existence, which could then be walked through to take you to wherever its destination was. While every [Path] had the ability to cast [Fae Circles], the list of destinations available to magic-based [Paths] was much longer. Every [Path] could use a [Circle] to get to the major cities or other major hubs, but magic-based [Paths] also gained access to outposts and other smaller locations. It was one of the reasons that many people leveled at least one magic-based [Path], just for ease of travel. ¡°It¡¯s back to Falias.¡± Firo said, as the portal sprung into existence in the center of the circle of stones he had created. ¡°Unless we wanted to go somewhere else?¡± ¡°Falias works for me.¡± Ash said. ¡°I believe I owe Bisky another thrashing in chess?¡± Kieran said, teasing. ¡°Oh, that¡¯s right!¡± Jazz said, laughing. ¡°A certain someone decided she hadn¡¯t learned her lesson earlier - I forgot.¡± ¡°Hey.¡± Marissa said, sounding immediately defensive. ¡°I really think I can take him this time.¡± Nyx chuckled and said, ¡°Girl. Don¡¯t lie to yourself.¡± Chapter 21 : Better Late Than Never
Party List
Caoimhe Phadraig (Kieran Moor) [Slayer] : [Tyrant] 10,000 / 10,000 10,000 / 10,000
Aleister Demian (Jasmine Burch) [War] : [Ebon] 10,000 / 10,000 10,000 / 10,000
Fiona Woods (Evan Woods) [Plate] : [Aegis] 10,000 / 10,000 10,000 / 10,000
Evie Lucian (Cassandra Bailey) [Soul] : [Radiance] 10,000 / 10,000 10,000 / 10,000
Mellody Softsong (Ashton Burch) [Muse] : [Revel] 10,000 / 10,000 10,000 / 10,000
Hibiscus Jade (Marissa Harper) [Arrow] : [Seeker] 10,000 / 10,000 10,000 / 10,000
Firo Strix (Blake Walker) [Mage] : [Invoker] 10,000 / 10,000 10,000 / 10,000
Nyx Alaion (Zoe Fox) [Shroud] : [Knife] 10,000 / 10,000 10,000 / 10,000
Kieran Time hurtled by. Clan Nettle Tea had settled into a regular schedule that had suited them and they had really made great use of the time that they were given. Each and every week, they had spent the time each night getting everyone prepared for the coming of the raid. By the time November had rolled around, nearly everyone in the group had fully outfitted every [Path] they had any interest in playing. And some that they didn¡¯t but deemed potentially useful. There was an announcement on November 12th that the update containing the raid - among other things - would be released on December 3rd. They had missed the one year anniversary date, but that was alright. Yes, the players had broadly been psyching themselves up for the raids in November, but a delay was alright. Kieran did feel sorry for workers who had taken PTO well in advance, though. Planning a vacation around a new game or content months in advance like that was always a little risky, and it was very upsetting when it didn¡¯t work out like that. As for Clan Nettle Tea, this delay actually worked out very much in their favor. While Evan was swearing up and down that he would be available in time, things were getting dicey. He kept pushing out his return date, only occasionally popping into the server to say hello to the new friends and introduce himself. Admittedly, that was still better than nothing, Kieran figured. Thankfully, even though Evan hadn¡¯t been able to make basically any of the regularly scheduled meet-ups, he wasn¡¯t being a slouch. Evan was regularly playing the game, just at incredibly random and unreliable times. Kieran had at one point made a trip to the bathroom at 3 a.m. with his phone, and saw Evan listed as playing on their chatting app. And Evan himself had said more than once he was playing whenever he found time to keep his skills up. It just so happened that most of those play times seemed to be in the middle of night. Probably when Evan couldn¡¯t sleep and had baby duty. Which was fair; Kieran had done the same thing. Get woken up by a crying child, rock them back to sleep over a too-long period of being awake, only to eventually return to bed wide awake at 4 in the morning. Eventually, Kieran too had learned to just give up and stay awake. Natalie had loved those nights, because she was able to sleep close to her full eight hours if Kieran was on top of any crying. And Kieran didn¡¯t particularly mind them either, as long as he didn¡¯t need to be up early the next day. It was particularly great with Kaitlyn. Nat had been due with her in early January, so Kieran had opted to take a sabbatical that semester. It had actually worked out very well, as he had basically been home for basically the first eight months of Kat¡¯s life.If you come across this story on Amazon, it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. But while Evan wasn¡¯t necessarily showing up to raid nights, he was still plenty communicative. He was active in the text channel they all shared, posting jokes and memes regularly - at least when he was awake. And his prep work in what little time he did play was nothing to sneeze at. He had leveled all of his [Defenders], and had fully geared at least one [Dedication] of each. He was arguably better prepared than Jazz, who hadn¡¯t missed a single raid night. The raid party was able to see his progress through various means; the game¡¯s official app allowed you to see information about characters on your [Friend List], including [Path] levels and currently equipped gear. Kieran was pretty sure that it was the clear show of his progress and preparation that had completely curtailed any sort of complaints anyone had about him not showing up. He may have been absent, but no one doubted his drive. And then, finally, on November 28th - the last planned raid night before the raids were released - he was able to make it. ¡°You make us wait for months, and then still have the audacity to show up late?¡± Ash joked when Evan finally joined the chat. Fashionably ten minutes late. ¡°Sorry, sorry.¡± He said, genuinely sounding apologetic. ¡°Eli needed a diaper change right before it was go time, and I promised Sam I would cover everything up until it was time.¡± ¡°Exactly how long does it take you to change a diaper, Fiona?¡± Kieran asked, still using in-game names with the new friends around. ¡°It should be like five minutes max. And your wife never struck me as someone who would make you change a diaper at 6:59 with a 7:00 appointment looming.¡± Evan cleared his throat awkwardly. ¡°Caoimhe. Maybe you don¡¯t know since you had all girls. But boys have a very dangerous weapon attached to them during a diaper change. And Eli decided that he felt like painting the wall today. And my face.¡± The laughter in the chat was immediate. Even before he had finished what he was saying, everyone had started laughing, knowing exactly where the story was headed. Everyone had heard of the ways baby boy diaper changes could go wrong. Kieran fought to control his laughter to shoot back, ¡°Trust me, girls can shoot just as far, though it¡¯s probably less often.¡± ¡°Fair enough.¡± Evan said. ¡°Either way, yes, I had to stop to clean up the wall and wash my face. I wasn¡¯t about to make Sam do that.¡± ¡°That¡¯s fair.¡± Marissa said. ¡°We¡¯ve not talked much, but you do sound like a good guy, Fiona.¡± Nyx said. ¡°I can appreciate that.¡± Evie followed. ¡°And you aren¡¯t all that late.¡± ¡°And we don¡¯t actually have any real plans for tonight.¡± Firo said. ¡°Everyone is actually fully prepared for the launch next week. Or at least as ready as we¡¯re going to get, anyway.¡± ¡°Yeah. Sorry.¡± Jazz said, a little awkwardly. She had kept putting others before herself when it came to their gearing spree, so she had only fully prepped [War], [Ravager], and one of her two [Fencer] [Dedications]. Though she never seemed that interested in playing [Blade], the one remaining [Fencer] [Dedication] she hadn¡¯t geared. ¡°Nah, it¡¯s fine.¡± Marissa said. ¡°Between you and Fiona, we should have every potential Path combo covered, anyway.¡± ¡°Mhm.¡± Evan said, sounding more chipper than Kieran had really expected him to be. ¡°I¡¯ve got everything except War ready to go. Just like I¡¯m sure you¡¯re planning on leaving Plate entirely to me, Aleister.¡± ¡°Yeah.¡± She replied, still sounding a little down. ¡°Are you still maining Aegis?¡± ¡°Of course.¡± He replied. Evan had been a hard lock on [Aegis] as his main since he saw their playstyle. [Plates] were exactly as their name implied - the singular heavy tank variant. The others all wore heavier armors, but only [Plates] got to actually wear [Plate] class armor. [Plate] was then broken into [Aegis] and [Tower]. [Towers] wielded large two-handed weapons similarly to [Slayers], relying on their armor to shrug off blows, occasionally parrying with their massive weapons. [Aegis], however, were a fairly standard one-handed weapon and shield type. Except, their actual playstyle was so offensive-focused, that the Mag Mell community had joked about them being a pseudo-DPS despite their absolutely insane defensive staying power. [Aegis] was also among the highest skill-cap [Dedications] in the game. While they could theoretically do a high amount of damage, it required a highly skilled player as a huge chunk of their damage was locked behind various counter-attack skills. The player needed to read the enemy attacks and correctly time blocking attacks to then retaliate with their high damaging skills. Poorly timed blocks still reduced damage, which meant that even less skilled players could successfully tank as an [Aegis], which was good. But the difference in performance between a good and mediocre one was immediately apparent. And that sort of counter-focused play had grabbed Evan by the neck from day one and never let him go. And, to be fair to the guy, he was good at it. ¡°Honestly, I really like our standard party comp.¡± Firo said. ¡°Aegis and Ebon play off of each other extremely well. Aegis is probably the best main tank, while Ebon can make use of its off-tank freedom very well with curses and hexes.¡± ¡°Muse and Soul are basically poised with the same dichotomy.¡± Ash said, picking up the thread. ¡°Muse has a lot of buff and debuff potential, while Soul is the best healer when it comes to just raw point-and-click healing.¡± ¡°And then the DPS,¡± Marissa said, ¡°are split 50/50 between melee and ranged, with all of the main options covered. We have a heavy damage melee, a support melee, a high damage ranged magic user, and me.¡± ¡°Plus basically everyone is willing to flex.¡± Kieran added. ¡°So, really, we should never lack for anything.¡± ¡°We¡¯ve got this in the bag.¡± Evan said, chuckling. ¡°You think so?¡± Evie asked, sounding very unsure. ¡°Not saying we don¡¯t, but we have no idea what to expect out of Mag Mell¡¯s raids. They haven¡¯t said anything at all about what to expect.¡± ¡°Evie¡¯s not wrong.¡± Ash agreed. ¡°While I don¡¯t think we¡¯re too far off base expecting a fairly normal raid experience, Mag Mell has had some weird stuff included everywhere else. Maybe we should be expecting some crazy stuff involved?¡± Kieran considered that quietly for a moment; as did everyone else, judging by the silence. ¡°I think there¡¯s a very good chance that there¡¯s some unusual stuff involved.¡± Kieran said, eventually. ¡°More interestingly, perhaps, is the way that DanuSoft has been sorta¡­sneakily building their way up to this.¡± ¡°What do you mean, exactly?¡± Jazz asked. ¡°Think about it.¡± Kieran began, trying to pull things together from his own recollections. ¡°The main story quests for the base game have effectively gone nowhere. They were all leading up to an invasion led by the Fomorians, but there¡¯s been no pay off for that. In fact, all of the story that has taken place in the patches since launch have continued to build that up, with most of the story content focused on reinforcing T¨ªr na n¨®g from enemy invasion.¡± ¡°And they¡¯ve been evasive on what the update with the raid is actually going to entail.¡± Evan said thoughtfully. ¡°You think the raid is going to be full-on story content featuring the invasion?¡± Marissa asked. ¡°I¡¯m starting to.¡± Kieran said. ¡°It makes sense. And, while I¡¯m not 100% on all of my game lore, I know enough to confidently say they don¡¯t currently have any other loose story threads.¡± ¡°They could make up a totally new storyline.¡± Nyx said. ¡°It wouldn¡¯t be the first time a game¡¯s done that.¡± ¡°True, but I think Caoimhe might be right.¡± Firo added. ¡°To be fair, that idea has been bouncing around the online community for a while, and is the most commonly accepted theory.¡± Kieran chuckled. ¡°Couldn¡¯t just let me have that one?¡± ¡°Sorry.¡± Firo joined him in light laughter. ¡°I do think you¡¯re right though. But what no one can agree on is what the actual content will look like. There¡¯s two general sides, similar to our own talk - standard raids and something more unique.¡± ¡°I can¡¯t help but feel like if they were going to go the more normal route, they wouldn¡¯t be hiding all of the details so well.¡± Ash said. ¡°It¡¯s not like they hid all the other content from other patches. But all of the other content so far has been fairly standard.¡± ¡°And we¡¯ve only seen tastes of what their team can do. Presumably.¡± Marissa said. ¡°It¡¯s somewhat normal to us now, but the enemy and NPC routines are far more complex than most games. As is the model variety. We¡¯ve all just attributed it to the use of AI, helping the artists and animators along to get work done faster.¡± ¡°But the updates so far have been fairly standard stuff.¡± Firo said, beginning to sound excited. Kieran could also see where this train of thought was headed. ¡°You think they¡¯ve been putting most of their dev time into making the raids something special?¡± Kieran asked. ¡°I don¡¯t know.¡± Marissa said. ¡°But if they have¡­we may really be in for something special.¡± Chapter 22 : Patch Day
Party List
Hibiscus Jade (Marissa Harper) [Arrow] : [Seeker] 10,000 / 10,000 10,000 / 10,000
Aleister Demian (Jasmine Burch) [War] : [Ebon] 10,000 / 10,000 10,000 / 10,000
Fiona Woods (Evan Woods) [Plate] : [Aegis] 10,000 / 10,000 10,000 / 10,000
Evie Lucian (Cassandra Bailey) [Soul] : [Radiance] 10,000 / 10,000 10,000 / 10,000
Mellody Softsong (Ashton Burch) [Muse] : [Revel] 10,000 / 10,000 10,000 / 10,000
Caoimhe Phadraig (Kieran Moor) [Slayer] : [Tyrant] 10,000 / 10,000 10,000 / 10,000
Firo Strix (Blake Walker) [Mage] : [Invoker] 10,000 / 10,000 10,000 / 10,000
Nyx Alaion (Zoe Fox) [Shroud] : [Knife] 10,000 / 10,000 10,000 / 10,000
Marissa Marissa grinned to herself as she clocked out early. It was going to be a little less than a half day for her, leaving work at 7 a.m. It was finally December 3rd. Patch day. And Clan Nettle Tea had unanimously decided that everyone was going to take off today to get started on the patch as early as possible, which had led to the planned meet up time being 7 a.m. for her, and 10 a.m. for the East Coast people. Everyone other than her had complained about taking the day off but not getting to sleep in, so they had compromised on the slightly later Eastern Timezone time. She was already getting up at 3 a.m. anyway, so it didn¡¯t bother her. If anything, being able to prep for the bakery worked out well for her. Firo, being the only other West Coaster, hadn¡¯t complained either, so it seemed to work out. As soon as she was able, Marissa left the bakery to Sarah and Julie and rushed back upstairs to her apartment. She had left her PC on earlier to let the game update while she worked, so when she slipped into the room to check on everything, she was able to get the game booted up. More than that, though, everyone else was already in chat. She carefully slipped her headset on, trying not to get flour on it, and joined the chat. ¡° - seems really awesome.¡± Nyx was saying when she joined. As the game was loading up, Marissa walked to her bathroom to wash off her arms. ¡°Hey Bisky.¡± Ash said. ¡°Morning. Sorry I¡¯m late? I was working.¡± Marissa said as she got the water running. ¡°You¡¯re still covered in flour, aren¡¯t you?¡± Kieran laughed. Marissa joining chat as soon as possible before she cleaned up wasn¡¯t exactly uncommon. ¡°Yup. Game¡¯s booting up while I get cleaned up.¡± She said, her voice bouncing with the rhyme. ¡°It won¡¯t take long.¡± ¡°Never does.¡± Jazz agreed. Marissa wasn¡¯t sure if she was being sincere or sarcastic, but let it slide anyway. ¡°So, anyone log in yet? See any of the new stuff?¡± She asked. ¡°Not yet.¡± Evie said. ¡°We were waiting for you.¡± ¡°Nyx was telling us that she just saw some minor stuff on social media. Everything seems pretty positive so far?¡± Firo said, prompting Nyx. ¡°Yeah. Y¡¯all were right, it seems like they did some pretty interesting things with the update.¡± She said, ¡°I didn¡¯t want to spoil myself too much so I didn¡¯t actually like¡­look at stuff, though.¡± ¡°Well, are we all ready then?¡± Marissa said as she sat down and selected Hibiscus to log in. ¡°Let¡¯s go!¡± Evan basically sang as everyone logged in. ¡°The quest line for the raid starts in -¡± ¡°Falias,¡± Kieran said. ¡°Apparently, you can pick up the quest in Lugh¡¯s Courtyard.¡± ¡°Meet everyone there, then.¡± Evie said. ¡°I¡¯m already here.¡± Firo said. ¡°Logged out by Grand Arcanist Sioda.¡± Marissa nodded; that was the [Invoker] trainer. ¡°You don¡¯t actually get the quest from your trainer, do you?¡±Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author''s preferred platform and support their work! ¡°No, doesn¡¯t look like it.¡± Firo said. ¡°Or at least, my trainers don¡¯t have any quests available¡­¡± He trailed off, and Marissa assumed he was looking at the map to find the quest. ¡°Oh. Oh, I see.¡± He said, sounding suddenly intrigued. ¡°What? What do your crow eyes see?¡± Evan asked. There were a few snickers in response. ¡°The quest giver. It¡¯s Lugh.¡± Firo said. ¡°Oh?¡± Kieran sounded excited now too. ¡°That should be interesting.¡± ¡°You said that traditionally, Lugh in mythology is a hero, right?¡± Marissa asked as she ran through [Falias¡¯] streets to reach the [Courtyard]. ¡°Yeah. among other things. He¡¯s also Cu Chulainn¡¯s father and a great king. His spear is also one of the ¡°Four Jewels of the Tuatha D¨¦ Danann¡±, usually just referred to as ¡°Lugh¡¯s Spear¡±, but I think it was named ¡°Gae Assail¡±.¡± ¡°Huh.¡± Firo said. ¡°I¡¯d heard of Cu and his spear Gae Bolg, but never Lugh or Gae Assail.¡± ¡°Yeah. For some reason, pop culture really likes Cu.¡± Kieran said. ¡°Well, everyone pick up the quest and we can start working on it.¡± Marissa said. ¡°Can¡¯t.¡± Firo said. ¡°Can¡¯t what?¡± ¡°Work on it. It actually requires you to have a full party to start.¡± Firo answered. ¡°Oh. that¡¯s not going to go over well online.¡± Evan said. ¡°No. No it¡¯s not.¡± Jazz agreed. ¡°You don¡¯t think you¡¯re locked into doing the whole thing with the party you start the quest with, are you?¡± Evie asked, concerned. Firo laughed. ¡°No, you¡¯re not. They at least thought ahead enough to tell you that much up front.¡± Marissa finally maneuvered Hibiscus into the [Courtyard] and found her way to the center of the place, where [Lugh of the Long Arm] stood waiting. The man looked impressive. He was larger than basically everyone else in the area, the looming presence adding to his heroic, almost deific appearance. As someone far more versed in Greek and Roman myth than Celtic, Marissa immediately likened him to a Greek or Roman god in her head. [Lugh] was a big, well muscled man, but not in the body-builder way. He looked like a fit warrior. His armor was on the light side, mostly appearing to be leather, adorned with a rich forest green mantle which flowed over one shoulder like a scarf. It complimented his dark strawberry blond hair - which was mid length and curly - so well that the colors must have been picked as a set. There was a well crafted black-dyed wooden round shield strapped to his back. The center of the shield featured a bright white metal shield boss that stood out against the wood¡¯s color. At his hip was a sheathed sword in a scabbard wrapped in what looked like bloody bandages. And finally, perhaps the most notable feature, was the spear he carried in his right hand. He had the butt resting on the ground while he held it upright, the spearhead, though, was covered in some kind of wrap. Altogether, it was taller than him. The weapon would be giant for just about any player character in Mag Mell. [Cu¡¯s] [Gae Bulg] had looked vicious and dangerous, as if being cut by it would be immensely painful. [Gae Assail], in comparison, looked potentially lacking. The haft of the spear looked to be made of beautiful wood. On her screen, Marissa could see the work that went into rendering the wood¡¯s grain and color - it looked so natural and lovely that she hoped she could find a bow of similar design. The spear¡¯s head being wrapped in some kind of dull cloth dampened the overall effect. Given the wide shape, there must have been more to the design; it looked almost like there was a vase or something under the wrap as it flared out much wider than the haft. But it was far too angular to be rounded like a vase. And the more that Marissa looked at it, the more sure she was that the wrappings looked almost¡­wet. Deciding it didn¡¯t really bear worrying about right now, she interacted with him. [Lugh of the Long Hand] [In Defense of Gorias] [Quest can only be undertaken in a [Large Party]] [Accept] [Decline] The [Accept] option was grayed out, so she couldn''t take the quest, which made sense given they hadn¡¯t gotten their party started yet. When she hit [Decline] and the dialogue pop up went away, she noticed a note in the game¡¯s chat.
[Note : Quest chain does not require you to continue with the same party members to complete.]
¡°I see the message you saw, Firo. It¡¯s smart of them to put that disclaimer there, otherwise the internet would eat the devs alive.¡± Marissa said, while opening the Clan window to send out party invites to everyone. ¡°That would¡¯ve been one hell of an entertaining shitshow though.¡± Evan said, as Marissa watched everyone¡¯s names pop up in the party list. ¡°Fiona!¡± Kieran gasped, ¡°Language!¡± Chuckles followed as Evan responded, ¡°The kid¡¯s not even one yet. I have time.¡± ¡°You say that now, but you should build up that curse filter now while you have time to adjust.¡± Kieran returned. ¡°I dropped an f-bomb in front of Aoife once by accident when she was barely two, and she repeated it for the rest of the day. Nat nearly killed me. I was lucky she didn¡¯t really remember the word the day after.¡± ¡°...I¡¯ll take the advice under advisement.¡± Evan said. ¡°Also, I¡¯m nearly to the courtyard.¡± ¡°Good.¡± Evie said. ¡°You¡¯re the last one.¡± Marissa looked around, taking stock of everyone. The whole Clan was on their normal [Dedications], geared up and ready to go. Marissa had dressed Hibiscus as usual for the occasion. Darker natural colors abound with her leather armor. She looked like the archetypical elvish archer, as Marissa had intended, just with the addition of her [Fae] wings. Which, she noted to herself sourly, had not yet been used for anything. This wasn¡¯t the first time she regretted picking the admittedly beautiful dragonfly-like wings instead of the stat boosts for being wingless. Firo was also sporting a classic fantasy look, with roomy and comfortable wizard robes of a deep azure. They managed to look good against his dark crow feathers, despite the old adage about navy and black clashing. His weapon, a beautifully gnarled wooden [Staff] was slung on his back, tipped with a large fiery red ruby. Aleister was dressed as usual, looking a lot like a classic noble, though Jasmine had opted to go for an even more ornate option than usual, adding a golden filigree to his jacket that made him look even more fancy. To complete the look, he had a [Rod] type weapon currently equipped that looked a lot like an ornate cane. Marissa wasn¡¯t sure if that would be the weapon she ran through the raid with, as Aleister usually wielded a [Foci] type weapon, but she couldn¡¯t deny the aesthetic appeal of the [Rod] in this case. Evie had often swapped color palettes, bouncing between the various eponymous ¡®eeveelutions¡¯. She had gone with the basic brown and white-yellow for patch day, however, wearing a robe that looked like it was made of furs matching the expected colors. It was more body hugging than the loose robes Firo wore, showing off Evie¡¯s body shape a bit more, but not in any notable way. Her fluffy Cait-Sidhe tail was actually what drew the eye the most. Her weapon, a [Foci], hovered behind her back, a floating circle of stones revolving around a central emerald gem. The green stood out against her main color scheme, but in a good way. Nyx was dressed the same as always, in all black. The [Shroud] gear suited her sense of fashion well, allowing her to not only look like a solid fantasy rogue, but also play into a little bit of the more modern fashion. Her top was basically an altered hoodie with some leather straps over it, all dyed black. Marissa thought it looked good. And her weapons, dual wielded [Knives], allowed her to keep the more modern flair, as she had picked a set that looked almost like chef knives. Caoimhe and Mellody, as always, were dressed in completely different outfits. Kieran had chosen to dress Caoimhe for the actual time of year, and probably the local weather in Minnesota. She was wearing a cute powder blue sweater with a big gray scarf that covered the bottom half of her face. Woolen-looking black tights and fur boots covered her bottom half, and a knit winter hat completed the look. Her long white hair had been swapped into a low ponytail to control it from spilling down her back. She also had a massive [Greatsword] on her back that was larger than she was. Caoimhe had also chosen to keep her wings, and the brilliant blue and black of the butterfly-style wings were as impressive as always. The sword sat between them, its curved single-edged design looking sleek despite its size. Caoimhe often swapped between sleeker weapons like this and huge metal slabs with a handle, but Marissa thought this was the better look. Ash had decided that Mellody would go full-on pop star for patch day. She had a frilly white outfit with a poofy skirt and pink accents. She was also sporting a cute, slightly off-center flat hat between her cat ears, and tights with elaborate boots. Being a [Muse], the looks really worked for her, even thematically. And at her hip was her [Flute], Ash¡¯s favorite of the [Revel] weapon options. And finally, the last to arrive was Fiona. She was a taller Elf, and the tallest character in the party, just barely edging out Aleister. She was pretty, with long dark blonde hair that was always up in a ponytail, ready for battle. She was wearing heavy plate armor that was one of the more functional designs - Evan had always preferred the more realistic looking armors. Or at least the ones without too many fantasy adornments. It was still designed a little more for the female form than was probably necessary, mostly in the waist and hips. But Marissa was at least glad that Mag Mell didn¡¯t usually opt for using the fantasy classic ¡°boob plate¡±. Fiona¡¯s armor was undyed, shining a brilliant steel finish complete with gauntlets and grieves that matched the style, utilizing leather and metal to look a little more fantasy. On her back was a solid looking wooden banded [Round Shield] type shield. Evan had always favored [Round Shields] as they were the most counter-style focused option. The use of the wooden shield aesthetic was apparently also a conscious choice; he had said at one point that he just liked the look better. Sheathed at Fiona¡¯s side was a fairly simple looking [Longsword]. It was the balanced weapon option, and one Fiona often used, though she swapped to [Maces] fairly often as well. The [Longsword] appearance that Evan favored was a low-level one that was made of cold iron, for anti-Fae lore reasons. He felt it was fitting, especially when Kieran was playing a Fae. Once the whole team had gathered, Marissa finally approached [Lugh of the Long Arm] once again. ¡°Everyone ready?¡± She asked. And then immediately clicked on [Accept] before anyone could respond. Chapter 23 : On the Way
Party List
Hibiscus Jade (Marissa Harper) [Arrow] : [Seeker] 10,000 / 10,000 10,000 / 10,000
Aleister Demian (Jasmine Burch) [War] : [Ebon] 10,000 / 10,000 10,000 / 10,000
Fiona Woods (Evan Woods) [Plate] : [Aegis] 10,000 / 10,000 10,000 / 10,000
Evie Lucian (Cassandra Bailey) [Soul] : [Radiance] 10,000 / 10,000 10,000 / 10,000
Mellody Softsong (Ashton Burch) [Muse] : [Revel] 10,000 / 10,000 10,000 / 10,000
Caoimhe Phadraig (Kieran Moor) [Slayer] : [Tyrant] 10,000 / 10,000 10,000 / 10,000
Firo Strix (Blake Walker) [Mage] : [Invoker] 10,000 / 10,000 10,000 / 10,000
Nyx Alaion (Zoe Fox) [Shroud] : [Knife] 10,000 / 10,000 10,000 / 10,000
Marissa Once Marissa clicked [Accept], [Lugh of the Long Arm] turned toward her and the fade to black for a cutscene started. ¡°Oh, here we go.¡± Kieran said. ¡°Everyone else getting the cutscene, too?¡± Evie asked, to a resounding ¡°yup,¡± from everyone. ¡°Well met. How can I help you?¡± [Lugh] asked. [I¡¯ve seen the recruitment notices; I want to help.] [I¡¯m not sure, I saw the crowd so I came to see what¡¯s going on.] Marissa hadn¡¯t seen any recruitment notices around the city, though she had sped her way through [Falias] without looking at very much. She chose the [I¡¯m not sure¡­] option, hoping to get a little bit of background. ¡°Ah, I see. You look strong enough though¡­¡± [Lugh] replied. ¡°Very well then. We¡¯ve been preparing for a while now, and the Fomorians have finally made a move. They¡¯re attacking [Gorias] en masse, and have the city basically surrounded in a siege. We need all of our available fighters on the field as soon as possible. If you and your team here are prepared, you should set out immediately.¡± [I understand. We will prepare and set out immediately.] [I see. We¡¯re still unprepared and need more time.] When the camera turned back to her while she decided, the camera panned around to show her and the entire party. It was very unusual for cutscenes to show the whole party, usually dropping them in favor of showing only the player¡¯s character and any relevant NPCs. Seeing her party of friends was a neat little bonus, especially since they were all doing different idle animations. When Marissa clicked on the first option, [Lugh] nodded. ¡°Very well, then. Go to [Esras] - there¡¯s currently a cavalcade of ships coming and going toward the battlefield. Simply tell them you¡¯re there to assist with the defense of [Gorias] and they¡¯ll get you there.¡± [Understood.] Once she clicked that prompt, the cutscene ended and dropped her back in front of [Lugh] in the [Courtyard]. Her party was arrayed around her, some of them still in the cutscene, so she waited quietly. So did everyone else. Once the last person was out of the cutscene, Nyx was the first to speak up. ¡°So¡­to Esras?¡± ¡°Sounds like a plan.¡± Kieran said. ¡°Who wants to drop the circle?¡± ¡°I got it,¡± Firo said, as he went about opening the [Fae Circle] a little bit away from where the party stood. There were remnants of other [Circles] scattered about the area, so they were certainly not the first party to do this. ¡°Esras was that one port city in the middle of nowhere, wasn¡¯t it?¡± Evie asked. ¡°Yeah.¡± Evan said. ¡°I always wondered what it would be for. Having such a relatively nice city located in a useless location was always a little weird.¡± ¡°Using it as a staging ground for getting to other locations makes a lot of sense though.¡± Ash said. ¡°It gives it a purpose, and leaving the island that we fully explored in the base game for later adventures is a logical next step.¡± ¡°True.¡± Kieran said. ¡°And we¡¯re headed to Gorias, which is another major city in Celtic myth. If I was a betting man, I would guess that these raids will see us move to a new land, free Gorias from this Fomorian assault, and then the next major expansion will take place on that island.¡± ¡°I could see that.¡± Jazz said. ¡°The real question is how expansive this raid is going to be. Maybe they¡¯ll surprise us, and the new island we¡¯re headed to will just be new content, and not saved for the next major expansion.¡± ¡°That would be awesome.¡± Marissa said. ¡°Though I think that Caoimhe is right that we won¡¯t gain normal access to it until after the raid is canonically dealt with.¡± ¡°I wonder how they¡¯ll handle that in the future. If we ¡®canonically¡¯ repel the siege for the story to continue, how will people get to do the raid afterward?¡± Nyx wondered aloud. ¡°My guess would be something like in FFXIV, where the harder versions of the raids are essentially someone retelling the story of the battle.¡± Kieran said. ¡°It¡¯s honestly a really smart way to lampshade going back to do things that have already been done.¡±If you come across this story on Amazon, it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. ¡°Suppose we¡¯ll see what they do eventually.¡± Firo said, cutting back into the conversation. ¡°Circle¡¯s up, by the way.¡± ¡°In we go.¡±
[Esras] was absolutely crowded. The game had been live since early in the morning, so Clan Nettle Tea was technically several hours late to the party, and that was very obvious here. The port city had, indeed, turned into a staging ground for the raids. There were people all over looking to form parties for the fights, some already in later stages having cleared the first stage already. Marissa smiled as their group walked toward the docks while chatting. She wasn¡¯t paying too much attention to the conversation, but rather was looking around at how lively the little city was with all these players. Crafters had set up little deployable shops all the way up and down the main road, and were shouting in chat about selling various foods and crafted equipment. Those pieces may not have been quite as good as the loot drops that their party had, but if anyone needed to swap [Paths] or [Dedications] last minute to fit into a group, buying their way into usable gear was an option. Marissa was willing to bet that plenty of the crafters here were making plenty of gold right now. And that wasn¡¯t even counting the players who had set up little stalls to offer food buffs or buff potions to the players that didn¡¯t level their own crafters. It made Marissa thankful that Ash and Jazz had leveled their crafters to cover most of their bases when it came to food and other raid prep things like the portable camp for rested buffs and things. And even better, now that they had filled out their ranks, Nyx had covered the [Alchemist] position, bringing [Potions] and things with her. Nyx said she leveled [Alchemist] because she had gotten tired of constantly buying [Poisons] from other players, despite usually having the crafting materials on hand from gathering while playing. But in addition to the [Poisons] she crafted mostly for herself, she had started making various [Potions] for the group at large. While they weren¡¯t items that would get used until they were in a position to actually clear a fight, they could be the difference between success and failure in more difficult content. Marissa¡¯s attention was drawn elsewhere as they arrived at what was functionally the docks. She honestly hadn¡¯t remembered the location being so large the last time she was here, but couldn¡¯t say with any certainty that it had changed - other than the massive increase in the number of players around. The singular dock that was highlighted as their quest destination was absolutely overflowing with players lurking around it, making it even easier to pick out. As always, they could simply follow the crowd. ¡°There it is.¡± Marissa said. ¡°As if we needed any help finding it.¡± ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡± Jazz said enthusiastically, as Aleister walked straight through the crowd. Watching Aleister simply walk through the huge mass of people made Marissa glad that Mag Mell only had collision during combat. The game seemed to know when the entire group had made it to the area, because as soon as Fiona - who was bringing up the rear - arrived, Marissa, as the party leader, received a pop-up. [Large Party Gathered] [Commence [Scenario]?] [Begin] [Wait] ¡°I just got a prompt to begin or wait. Is everyone ready?¡± She asked. ¡°We don¡¯t really know what to expect, right? Should we do food and rest and stuff before we go in? Just in case we get immediately dropped into combat?¡± Ash asked. ¡°Solid plan.¡± Evie said. ¡°We really don¡¯t know what we¡¯re getting into.¡± Marissa nodded to herself, then clicked [Wait]. The pop-up didn¡¯t actually go away, it simply minimized itself to a small box on the bottom right of her screen. When the party actually shuffled off of the staging area though, the minimized box did vanish. Thankfully, after playing together for a couple of months, Clan Nettle Tea had their battle prep routine basically down to a science; at least when they were making general preparations, anyway. The entire party broke off from the throng of players and walked a little bit down an alleyway to a side street that was far less populated. Aleister brought out the mobile campsite and kitchen station, setting up their standard prep area. Mellody went right to work on the food, while everyone else gathered around the campfire for the rested buff. ¡°By the by, I don¡¯t know if anyone needs their gear repaired, but,¡± Evan said, as Fiona produced a portable blacksmith¡¯s station. ¡°I can repair and hone gear as necessary.¡± The portable station visually just amounted to a small anvil, magical torch for heating metals, and a small workbench with tools, but it certainly got the idea of a smithy across. This was one area that the team had been sorely lacking without Fiona around. While they had been going to NPCs that were capable of repairing gear, it cost a small amount of gold each time. Not that any of them were hurting for gold, but the minor drain on their resources still hurt when they knew it could be done for free. And more than that, only players could [Hone] and [Polish] gear. They weren¡¯t particularly important buffs, but they improved the stats on a piece of gear by a whole 1% for two hours. [Hone] and [Polish] were for weapons and worn gear respectively, but ultimately had the same function. ¡°Right. I¡¯m really glad to have you back, Fiona.¡± Jazz said, as the whole party moved to line up, still within the campfire¡¯s area of effect for the [Rested] buff, which also would last two hours. Even more conveniently, the [Honed] and [Polished] buffs didn¡¯t start to run their timers until after the party left their camp, so the buff timers would coincide with one another perfectly. ¡°All the buffs!¡± Firo cheered. ¡°It really feels like we¡¯re actually prepping for raids.¡± He chuckled. ¡°Um, did anyone want any potions or poisons?¡± Nyx asked. ¡°I can make some, but I¡¯m not sure if it¡¯s worth it to launch the boat with them.¡± ¡°They¡¯re single use items. We should save them for when we¡¯re in position to clear the fight.¡± Kieran said. Agreements echoed around the group. ¡°Oh, good. I would prefer to save them too, but you never know what people want, right?¡± Nyx said. Marissa could hear the shrug in her voice. ¡°That¡¯s fair. We should conserve limited materials like those, though. Definitely.¡± Ash said. ¡°But the food is ready.¡± ¡°Whatcha got for us today, Chef Mello?¡± Evie asked as she moved over to the table. ¡°Balanced and defensive type buffs. Fried Phoenix, Cornbread, and Applesauce.¡± Ash said, and that added up for Marissa. Typically, fried foods offered [Defense] buffs, carbs were balanced HP and MP buffs, and fruits were [Resistance], or magical defense, buffs. ¡°I figure while we¡¯re trying to pick up mechanics, surviving to see more is better than damage to win.¡± Ash said. ¡°True and correct.¡± Nyx said, lining up to eat. All told, with all the preparation buffs going into this, the whole party would have: [Rested] : +2% All Character Stats [Satiated] : +3% [Hp], [MP], [Defense], [Resistance] [Honed] : +1% Weapon Stats [Polished] : +1% Worn Gear Stats For Hibiscus specifically, Marissa called up her character sheet just to take a quick look.
Hibiscus Jade Level : 90
[Path] : [Arrow] [Dedication] : [Seeker]
HP 11,000/11,000 MP 11,000/11,000
[Strength] 31+2+1 [Intelligence] 12+2
[Accuracy] 18+2 [Speed] 10+2
[Defense] 10+5 [Resistance] 14+5
[Slash] 11+1 [Arcane] 12+1
[Pierce] 9+1 [Holy] 14+1
[Blunt] 8+1 [Nature] 16+1
[Parry] 0 [Dark] 13+1
With everything in place, that bonus was nothing to sneeze at. And once everyone had had their turn and received all of the applicable buffs, the party stowed their crafting stations and moved back toward the boat. [Large Party Gathered] [Commence [Scenario]?] [Begin] [Wait] This time, Marissa clicked [Begin]. Chapter 24 : Out of the Pan
Party List
Hibiscus Jade (Marissa Harper) [Arrow] : [Seeker] 11,000 / 11,000 11,000 / 11,000
Aleister Demian (Jasmine Burch) [War] : [Ebon] 11,000 / 11,000 11,000 / 11,000
Fiona Woods (Evan Woods) [Plate] : [Aegis] 11,000 / 11,000 11,000 / 11,000
Evie Lucian (Cassandra Bailey) [Soul] : [Radiance] 11,000 / 11,000 11,000 / 11,000
Mellody Softsong (Ashton Burch) [Muse] : [Revel] 11,000 / 11,000 11,000 / 11,000
Caoimhe Phadraig (Kieran Moor) [Slayer] : [Tyrant] 11,000 / 11,000 11,000 / 11,000
Firo Strix (Blake Walker) [Mage] : [Invoker] 11,000 / 11,000 11,000 / 11,000
Nyx Alaion (Zoe Fox) [Shroud] : [Knife] 11,000 / 11,000 11,000 / 11,000
Marissa Immediately after she had clicked [Begin], a cutscene started up. She glanced over to her other screen, seeing several of her party members mute themselves to focus, and she did the same. If this raid was where she was going to spend her time for the next however long, she may as well dial in on the story of it all. Especially if DanuSoft was really cooking up something special. The scene was set with Clan Nettle Tea toward the bow of the ship, in various spots along the ship¡¯s main deck, looking out over the water. For Marissa, Hibiscus stood toward the middle, flanked by who she could only assume was some kind of military leader. ¡°We¡¯ll arrive shortly.¡± The grizzled old Corvus said. ¡°You¡¯ll all have to be ready. The [Tuatha D¨¦] have managed to hold the city, but the port we¡¯re landing at is an active warzone. Last I heard, we hadn¡¯t lost the port entirely, but the enemy was pushing us back toward the water. There¡¯s no telling how much ground we¡¯ve lost since we last reinforced our lines.¡± The camera panned up and over toward the horizon, showing the land that was approaching. And there was a massive number of smoke pillars rising off the land. Things were no doubt burning. ¡°Look there.¡± The Corvus said, pointing at a small port on the nearest part of the landmass to the ship. ¡°That¡¯s our landing zone. It¡­doesn¡¯t look good.¡± He said warily, as another explosion of flame rocked a building near the water. ¡°You lot may be fighting your way off the ship. I hope you¡¯re prepared.¡± Hibiscus nodded silently to the Corvus, then turned back toward the port town resolutely. The Corvus snorted, then turned away from the bow and Hibiscus. ¡°Prepare yourselves. This is going to be a hot landing.¡± And then the cutscene transitioned back to the game, giving Marissa control of Hibiscus. Still on the boat. And still moving closer to the dock, and the enemy. Marissa spun her camera around quickly, trying to get her bearings. ¡°Oh, shit.¡± Firo said, the first to speak. ¡°Oh, shit is right.¡± Evan laughed. ¡°They¡¯re just giving us control from here? What do we do?¡± Jazz asked. Marissa was still busy looking around the boat. ¡°We can see where we¡¯re meant to disembark, at least.¡± She said, eyeing the break in the railings to the port side of the ship. ¡°We can form up there and be ready to jump.¡± ¡°Yup. Sure.¡± Jazz said, as she and Evan positioned in front of the break in the railing, ready to lead to the charge. ¡°Everyone be ready.¡± Firo called, ¡°I don¡¯t think we¡¯ve got long before we make landfall.¡± Marissa glanced toward the docks, and he was right. They were approaching at speed. ¡°We¡¯re going to run aground!¡± The Corvus called. A text box popped up in the middle of Marissa¡¯s screen with the message, accompanied by lines from the voice actor. ¡°Incoming magic! Look alive out there!¡± And sure enough, red circles indicating incoming AoEs appeared at everyone¡¯s feet. ¡°Move!¡± Ash called out, and everyone scattered. ¡°Wait, no! Move together!¡±If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. The second call out came just a moment too late. Everyone had moved in different directions, and the large AoE markers were targeting everyone¡¯s positions. The first group had been roughly grouped up, given how everyone had been standing together. That also meant there was plenty of safe space to move. Scattering, however, left the second volley covering far more area. There was basically no safe zone at all, and the small zone of safety that did exist was on the far side of the deck, only reachable by Mellody, Evie, and Firo - the back line - as they had started a bit back. ¡°Spread the markers, then stack. Only take one.¡± Ash said. Thankfully, this was a fairly common mechanic, and though they had completely screwed it up to start, as long as the AoEs weren¡¯t immediately lethal, they could survive. As the first group of fireballs exploded by the bow, where everyone had started, the second group of fireball¡¯s locations were locked in. Mellody, Evie, and Firo had escaped the red zones entirely, standing stacked up together in the safe area on the starboard side of the ship. Hibiscus, Caoimhe, Aleister, Fiona, and Nyx were all trapped by the large number of flashing red AoE markers. However, like Ash had said, they all knew what they had to do. With the first set of AoEs going off near where they had started, the whole group ran back toward them after they went off. They stacked up together as they moved. Because of the way the second set of markers had gone, they had to stand together in one large AoE together. As a small group, they took the damage from one AoE, which brought them all down to around 4,000 HP; if anyone got hit by two they would almost assuredly be dead. They dropped the third round of AoEs in a stack, while the back line did the same thing on the far side of the ship, leaving the center safe after the second round erupted in flames. From there, it was a standard dance that they all knew. The entire party stacked in the middle to drop off round four of the AoEs. ¡°Port!¡± Ash called, and the party all ran toward the port side of the boat to drop the next set of AoEs. Except for Firo, who ran entirely the wrong way. ¡°I don¡¯t know which way ¡®port¡¯ is!¡± He shouted, as everyone started laughing as he tried to course correct to join the group. ¡°Wait, no, just keep going the other -!¡± Marissa started saying, but the time simply wasn¡¯t there. Firo¡¯s attempt to turn and run in the same direction as everyone else left him falling a little short on the distance. [Flaming Artillery >> 7,238 DMG] [Flaming Artillery >> 6,834 DMG] [Flaming Artillery >> 7,143 DMG] [Flaming Artillery >> 7,297 DMG] [Flaming Artillery >> 6,923 DMG] [Flaming Artillery >> 7,174 DMG] [Flaming Artillery >> 6,894 DMG] [Flaming Artillery >> 6,995 DMG] ¡°Well, crap.¡± Firo said to the resounding laughter from the group as they watched their [Mage] get entirely obliterated. ¡°Go toward the bow!¡± Ash tried to shout over the commotion. ¡°True north, true north!¡± Thankfully, everyone else heard him and reacted accordingly, moving from the side of the boat toward the tip of the bow to drop the next round of AoEs there. If they had gone back toward the middle as would have been the plan, they would¡¯ve eaten the one that Firo dropped when he died. ¡°Firo, buddy. You gotta stay out of the red.¡± Evan joked. ¡°But it looked so warm and inviting.¡± Firo returned, still in good spirits. ¡°And now I¡¯m all toasty and warm. Should get some hot chocolate while I¡¯m chilling here.¡± Jazz snickered. ¡°Bro, you got completely vaporized. What was that, like over 50K damage? That¡¯s enough to kill you almost 5 times.¡± While they were joking around, Ash kept calling out directions for the party to move as a group, rotating the safe zone around. ¡°For the record,¡± Evie said, ¡°the port side of the boat is to the left if you¡¯re facing the bow. Starboard is to the right.¡± ¡°I will do my best to remember that.¡± Firo said. ¡°Easiest way I¡¯ve found is that ¡®port¡¯ and ¡®left¡¯ are both four letters.¡± Marissa chimed in. ¡°Then you just need to remember which way to face when you consider it.¡± ¡°Yeah, that should help.¡± Firo said. ¡°Starboard.¡± Ash called, and the whole party shuffled that way, but what would have been round eleven of AoEs never appeared. ¡°Brace for impact!¡± The message came up in the center of the screen as the dialogue from the Corvus captain played. ¡°Everyone get to that port side spot.¡± Ash said. ¡°Just in case.¡± Everyone ran over that way while Evie casted [Resurrection] to get Firo back to his feet. Once he was up again, there was enough time for everyone to gather up by the point that Marissa noticed earlier. Mellody put up her [Forward March] song, giving everyone a bit of movement speed and the 500 HP shield, as the ship ran into the dock, tearing up the wooden planks. The debris went flying in all directions, the splintered wood even doing a bit of chip damage to the frontliners who were standing right by the disembark point. When the ship finally stopped, the group hopped off the boat, landing on a damaged cobblestone road. ¡°Go!¡± The Corvus captain¡¯s message popped up on screen again. ¡°Push through the town. Hopefully if you break through their blockade you should have a fairly easy path to the city. Good luck!¡± Marissa then spun her camera to watch the captain and presumably the rest of his crew jump off the stern of the ship and run into the town in a different direction. They were carrying already brandished weapons as they charged off to their own battle. ¡°Now what?¡± Evie asked. ¡°We push forward, I guess?¡± Marissa questioned. She was answered by more AoEs peppering their location. Thankfully, everyone ran forward together this time, following the more or less obvious path laid before them. Whichever town they had landed in was completely engulfed in flames. It clearly hadn¡¯t been a large town - likely just a fishing town - and it was made up mostly of reinforced wooden buildings. It unfortunately meant that the whole place was nothing but kindling for who or whatever had started the fires. ¡°The fires aren¡¯t solid.¡± Evan said, as he had Fiona edge into one and then back out again. ¡°If we wanted to, I think we could deviate from the obvious path.¡± He continued, once again weaving through the flames. He ran down the side street a bit just to see before [Sprinting] back. There was a bit of damage from the fire, but not enough to be a concern outside of actual combat. ¡°Yeah. The map continues down that way, and I didn¡¯t see any signs that we couldn¡¯t go there.¡± He hurried back up to the party using his faster [Sprint] speed while everyone else just ran normally. He had to dodge a couple AoEs, as well. ¡°Actually, there weren¡¯t any AoEs that way, either.¡± He said. ¡°Interesting.¡± Nyx said. ¡°What does everyone think?¡± Ash asked the group. They were coming up on what appeared to be something like a central square, so they probably had to decide quickly. ¡°Let¡¯s just keep going straight for now.¡± Jazz said. ¡°It¡¯s our first time in here, so we may as well take the ¡®expected¡¯ route this time.¡± Marissa nodded to herself. ¡°That¡¯s fine, we¡¯re out of time anyway.¡± She said, as they spilled into the fairly large central town square. As they did so, the AoEs that had been tracking them finally stopped as they edged apart to see what was about to happen. And then maniacal laughter came over the sound of the crackling buildings as a large creature stalked out from one of the buildings. The thing was larger than any of them, though not by too much. It stood probably a little bit more than head and shoulders above Fiona, though it was hunched over. Marissa couldn¡¯t tell exactly what she was looking at, but the thing gave her classic Gnoll vibes, looking something like a mostly upright hyena. However, its body was warped and scarred almost all over. There were a few patches of fur here and there that seemed only a little singed, but the rest of it was pretty horrendously burned. There were scars and burn marks up and down its face and arms, while the rest of its body was covered in patchwork armor. But even with the armor on it, it was easy to tell the body was warped in unnatural ways. Even the way it stood was somehow off. As it stepped out from the building, one of its hands grasped a burning piece of wood for leverage but the whole thing just collapsed under the strain. The creature shook off the burning pieces of wood that fell onto its back as it fully came out into the open. The laughter that had started when it appeared had morphed into something more animalistic, and Marissa had a strong suspicion it was similar to a hyena¡¯s laugh, although she couldn¡¯t recall what they actually sounded like. Admittedly all that came to mind for her when she tried to think about it was Shenzi, Banzai, and Ed. ¡°More things to burn? Yes, yes.¡± The voice said through the strange laughter. ¡°Burn them we shall! Burn, burn, burn!¡± It screeched, and then it leapt from the building toward the party. Marissa had assumed it would land in the center of the square and prepare for the boss fight. Instead, the thing was almost certainly aiming to land on their heads. Suddenly Marissa was very glad they had decided to do their preparatory buffs before they entered the raid. ¡°Scatter!¡± Chapter 25 : Into the Fire
Party List
Hibiscus Jade (Marissa Harper) [Arrow] : [Seeker] 11,000 / 11,000 11,000 / 11,000
Aleister Demian (Jasmine Burch) [War] : [Ebon] 11,000 / 11,000 11,000 / 11,000
Fiona Woods (Evan Woods) [Plate] : [Aegis] 11,000 / 11,000 11,000 / 11,000
Evie Lucian (Cassandra Bailey) [Soul] : [Radiance] 11,000 / 11,000 11,000 / 11,000
Mellody Softsong (Ashton Burch) [Muse] : [Revel] 11,000 / 11,000 11,000 / 11,000
Caoimhe Phadraig (Kieran Moor) [Slayer] : [Tyrant] 11,000 / 11,000 11,000 / 11,000
Firo Strix (Blake Walker) [Mage] : [Invoker] 11,000 / 11,000 11,000 / 11,000
Nyx Alaion (Zoe Fox) [Shroud] : [Knife] 11,000 / 11,000 11,000 / 11,000
Marissa ¡°Scatter!¡± The entire party was already spreading out before Ash had given the call. They hadn¡¯t planned their positions specifically for this fight, but they had been playing together for long enough to have something akin to built-in spots in their formation. Unless a fight required something specific - which some did - Fiona, Caoimhe, Firo and Evie typically favored the right side of the boss, while Aleister, Nyx, Hibiscus, and Mellody favored the left. The right and left sides in this case being relative to looking at the boss¡¯s back, which most of the party did. They scattered roughly into their spots simply by instinct, which was good. They kept moving toward the center of the town square, hoping to pull the boss out into the middle so they wouldn¡¯t need to fight so close to the burning buildings. While the fire damage wasn¡¯t too high, it could easily make a difference in a tough fight. ¡°What¡¯s the plan?¡± Nyx asked, as everyone prepared to fight. The hyena, having landed squarely where the party had been standing, stood up straighter and turned to face the group. Now that it wasn¡¯t partially obscured by the burning building, Marissa could clearly see that it held a staff or torch of some kind that looked like a combination of both. It was gnarled wood, with various tribal-looking decorations and talismans hanging from it toward the top. The top of the staff was shaped to look like a brazier, and there was a strong fire burning away within it. It even swayed, sputtered, and flickered when the creature waved it about, which Marissa thought was some very nice tech. ¡°Who knows? We need to learn mechanics on the fly.¡± Evie said. ¡°Expect magic damage.¡± Ash said. ¡°Beyond that¡­yeah, we¡¯re in the dark here.¡± ¡°Good thing the bastard is bringing a torch so we can see then.¡± Jazz quipped, and the resulting dead air was deafening. ¡°Yeah¡­¡± Firo said weakly, as the nameplate [Rruk the Fire Starter] appeared above the charred hyena. ¡°Whatever. Get ¡®em!¡± Jazz shouted, clearly upset that the poor joke didn¡¯t land. But Marissa put that to the back of her mind as their opener phase began. Putting aside her need to aim, which was fairly difficult with a live enemy moving about, her [Seeker] opener was so ingrained into her fingers that performing it was second nature. Marissa hit [Snipe] and [Critical Eye], then immediately began charging and aiming her [Master¡¯s Shot]. Then to fill out her [Critical Eye] window was [Silver Arrow] and [Perfect Shot], her two other strongest single target attacks, and [Fae¡¯s Bane] and [Venom Fang], two of her DoTs. Then she hit [Quick Barrage] and [Heartstopper] to get their cooldowns rolling, and finally [Rapid Fire], a buff that significantly upgraded her basic attack speed as long as she was still in the [Snipe] stance. Then she had planned to simply mash her basic attack until she was forced to move. Thankfully, like most bosses, [Rruk] led off with a raidwide attack that hit everyone. While it was something that Mellody and Evie needed to react to, it allowed the DPS to all get through their entire opener without too much interruption.If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. After that was when things routinely went wrong. [Rruk] bashed into Fiona several times with his staff, and Evan was doing a magnificent job on defense, occasionally sneaking in a counter. This early in the fight, playing too risky wasn¡¯t a good idea, and he knew it. The boss¡¯s attacks didn¡¯t seem to be doing all that much damage on their own, but they were applying a status effect to Fiona with each hit, not that Marissa had time to mouseover it to see what it was. Thankfully, they had Evie for that. [Muse] was too APM heavy for Ash to easily check on debuffs, despite being the team¡¯s designated shotcaller. His fingers were simply too busy for it. [Soul] however, was far less intensive, including Evie¡¯s chosen [Dedication], [Radiance], which was the [Holy] type [Soul]. This put her in the perfect position to check on debuffs and status effects, or just generally gather intel when necessary. ¡°Burning.¡± Evie read aloud as she checked the effect, ¡°You are on fire, taking damage over time. Okay, that¡¯s not too bad on its own. We just have to watch how many stacks you get, Fiona.¡± ¡°¡®Kay.¡± Evan said, clearly concentrating on his defensive dance. ¡°It looks like the timer resets every time you take fire damage.¡± Evie added. ¡°That¡¯s gotta be the tank swap mechanic.¡± ¡°Ok. Let me know when the healing gets dangerous and I¡¯ll step in.¡± Jazz said. ¡°We¡¯re good for now.¡± Ash said. [Rruk] smashed his staff on the ground at Fiona¡¯s feet and flames spread out from the spot, covering a large circular area of the arena. Marissa figured it was probably a sixth of the total size or so. Fiona immediately began running out of the area, as did all of the melee. But not before they all got stacks of the [Burning] effect. ¡°That¡¯s not great.¡± Kieran muttered. ¡°The timer by default is only 30 seconds. Hopefully -¡± Kieran was cut off by [Rruk] immediately spinning his staff and casting a massive fireball, once again hitting the entire raid. And refreshing the [Burning] effect. ¡°Hopefully we have at least 30 seconds before the next raidwide.¡± Kieran finished with a sigh. ¡°You just had to say something, didn¡¯t¡¯cha?¡± Marissa said, rolling her eyes. ¡°Ok, the fire puddle isn¡¯t going away, so keep an eye out for that. Tank him close to the edge, so if he drops another, we keep as much space as possible.¡± Ash said. ¡°Chances that this is a DPS race?¡± Firo asked. ¡°We have to kill him before he covers the whole field?¡± Marissa considered that, looking at [Rruk]¡¯s HP total. ¡°Possible. He¡¯s at 91%, which could track with the timing on the AoE.¡± ¡°Push the DPS then. Don¡¯t screw up your burst windows, and call them when you start so I can help.¡± Ash said to a response chorus of ¡°Yes, sir.¡± And then [Rruk] smashed his staff down on Fiona, stunning her, and then leapt back toward the center of the town square, landing beside a stone fountain. His creepy laugh resounded again, then he snorted and shouted, ¡°Burn, burn, burn it down!¡± as he slammed the butt of his staff into the ground. The cobblestone cracked beneath it, letting the sharpened end of the wood stick into the ground and remain upright. [Rruk] left it there as he began to dance around it while chanting, ¡°Burn, burn!¡± One of Hibiscus¡¯s smaller burst windows came up right then, and not really knowing what to expect, she hit [Slithershot] to make some more space before committing. She triggered [Critical Eye] and [Snipe], then moved into [Master¡¯s Shot]. As she was charging, she watched as the fire on top of [Rruk¡¯s] staff quickly grew out of control, and split off into a huge mass of fireballs, floating around the center of the arena. ¡°That¡¯s not good.¡± Nyx said. ¡°Gotta be AoEs in our future.¡± Firo said. And then, as [Rruk] continued to dance about, red AoE circles appeared all over the square. For just a moment. And then a second set appeared and vanished. And then a third. And then a fourth. Marissa landed her [Master¡¯s Shot], then reapplied [Venom Fang] and [Fae¡¯s Bane] as refreshing them under the [Critical Eye] buff was worth it even if their timer¡¯s weren¡¯t quite running out yet. But she completely fumbled the last few seconds of the [Critical Eye] window as she tried to make note of the safe spots among the fireballs. ¡°I¡¯m getting hit.¡± She said, knowing she had a poor grasp on the pattern. ¡°Same.¡± ¡°You guys¡­¡± Ash sighed. ¡°Sorry, it was a burst phase!¡± Marissa shouted as she narrowly avoided the first volley. ¡°I have no excuse.¡± Nyx said with a wry laugh as she and Marissa each took a hit for around 4,000 damage. ¡°Oh, that¡¯s not too -¡± Marissa stopped when she saw the standard symbol for [Fire Resistance Down]. ¡° - bad.¡± She sighed as she got hit by the third AoE, this time for 12,000 damage, completely wiping her out. When the fourth went off and Nyx was left standing, she cheered. ¡°Haha! I just didn¡¯t move!¡± She laughed. ¡°Pay attention!¡± Ash called, as [Rruk] hadn¡¯t stopped his dancing despite the AoEs going out. And there were still plenty of fireballs floating in the sky. Nyx, to her credit, did seem to immediately focus as her laughter stopped. Marissa was trying to keep her camera moving as much as possible to see what was going on for the few seconds she was down. ¡°I¡¯ve got you.¡± Evie said as the [Resurrection] prompt popped up on Marissa¡¯s screen. At the same time, another round of AoEs started. This time, rather than circular ones, it was a pattern of lines scorching the ground. ¡°Bisky -¡± ¡°I know. I¡¯m staying down until it¡¯s over.¡± Marissa said. If she rezzed now, there would be a moment of her screen turning black, and she would reappear in front of whoever rezzed her. If she came up too soon, she¡¯d end up turned around and have no idea where the safe spots for the mechanic were. Thankfully, the line AoEs were much easier to read as a pattern, and everyone was able to slip in and out of the safe zones easily enough. ¡°Nice, the burning status fell off.¡± Kieran said, as Marissa hit the button to resurrect. ¡°I¡¯m still burning.¡± Nyx said. ¡°Getting hit by the AoE reset the timer.¡± ¡°Copy.¡± Ash said. ¡°We¡¯ll keep an eye on you.¡± ¡°Yup, yup.¡± Evie added. ¡°Just don¡¯t get hit again.¡± ¡°Healers adjust.¡± Nyx snickered. The snicker quickly turned into a squawk as Evie hit her with [Safety Shift]. It was one of [Soul¡¯s] best skills, but unfortunately, could also be used entirely to troll other party members. [Safety Shift] phased the target into a spiritual realm, rendering them completely invulnerable to most damage for six seconds. It also made them unable to take any actions themselves for that period of time. ¡°Evie!¡± Nyx shouted indignantly. ¡°How could you?¡± ¡°Never say those accursed words again.¡± Evie growled. ¡°Or you will regret it. Nyx.¡± Ash finished for his co-healer. ¡°Uh. Guys? Focus?¡± Evan said, trying to get everyone back on track. [Rruk] had pulled his staff from the ground and returned to trying to pummel Fiona, who was defending herself admirably. Once Hibiscus was back and fully under Marissa¡¯s control, she resumed her attacks against [Rruk]. ¡°Right, right.¡± Evie said. ¡°We¡¯re focusing.¡± Nyx was released from her [Safety Shift] prison, and resumed the fight as well. Just in time, too, as [Rruk] reared back for a full baseball bat swing with his staff - a fairly clear signal of a tank buster, if they had ever seen one. Nyx laid her [Debilitating Pierce] on it as Fiona popped [Rebuff], one of her mitigation skills, and blocked. When the attack landed, it actually didn¡¯t do all that much damage. Fiona dropped to around 7,000 HP from the hit and her HP was bounced back up to 10,000 in no time at all. And then it dropped to 3,000. ¡°Oh, shit.¡± Evan said. ¡°My burning stacks are at 36.¡± ¡°We¡¯ve got you.¡± Ash said, as he and Evie threw out a large burst of healing at Fiona, getting her back up to 9,000 HP. ¡°Pulling off you.¡± Jazz called, and used [Dark Lash] - her provoke type skill. Before [Rruk¡¯s] target swapped over to Aleister, he got one last strike in at Fiona, which she blocked successfully. It was still just over 2,000 damage. And then the 7,000 tick of [Burning] killed her. ¡°I¡¯m down.¡± Evan said. ¡°That burn was insane! 7k damage? And applying twenty stacks at once is just cruel!¡± He whined, referring to the twenty stacks that were applied by the tank buster. ¡°I¡¯ll get you up.¡± Ash said, and began the cast for [Chorale of Life], [Muse¡¯s] version of [Resurrection]. ¡°New mechanic incoming.¡± Jazz said hurriedly. Everyone focused on whatever was about to happen. [Rruk] had taken on a different stance to what he had done before, raising his staff overhead and waving it in a circle. ¡°We all burn!¡± He yelled, his voice distorted somehow, and then he laughed that same twisted hyena laugh from earlier. A storm of fire gathered and twisted in the sky above the town square, covering the entire area. Caoimhe quickly hit [Knockdown] and [Ring the Bell], a [Knockdown] and [Stun] effect respectively, but neither did anything. ¡°Can¡¯t stun him out of it.¡± Kieran said. Mellody and Evie both began casting all kinds of protective skills. Mellody even had to drop the [Chorale of Life] cast, leaving Fiona on the ground for now. ¡°Gather up!¡± Ash called, as everyone ran to the center of the arena. They layered on several HP shields, and probably a combined 60% mitigation on the party, expecting the attack to be a big raidwide. And it was that. But the damage, with all of the mitigation on the party, was incredibly pitiful. It barely scratched them. ¡°That¡¯s it?¡± Firo asked, confused. ¡°Uh. Burning.¡± Nyx said. And sure enough, the entire party had been given ten stacks each of [Burning]. And one stack of [Kindling]. [Kindling] had a three second timer on it. Which was longer than their mitigation lasted. Evie had apparently moved to check what the debuff did, because she said ¡°Oh.¡± Right as everyone in the party, currently still stacked together, literally exploded. Chapter 26 : Dust Yourself Off
Party List
Hibiscus Jade (Marissa Harper) [Arrow] : [Seeker] 11,000 / 11,000 11,000 / 11,000
Aleister Demian (Jasmine Burch) [War] : [Ebon] 11,000 / 11,000 11,000 / 11,000
Fiona Woods (Evan Woods) [Plate] : [Aegis] 11,000 / 11,000 11,000 / 11,000
Evie Lucian (Cassandra Bailey) [Soul] : [Radiance] 11,000 / 11,000 11,000 / 11,000
Mellody Softsong (Ashton Burch) [Muse] : [Revel] 11,000 / 11,000 11,000 / 11,000
Caoimhe Phadraig (Kieran Moor) [Slayer] : [Tyrant] 11,000 / 11,000 11,000 / 11,000
Firo Strix (Blake Walker) [Mage] : [Invoker] 11,000 / 11,000 11,000 / 11,000
Nyx Alaion (Zoe Fox) [Shroud] : [Knife] 11,000 / 11,000 11,000 / 11,000
Marissa The full party wipe kicked them all back to the beginning of the instance, on the boat. They spawned in a little further back on the main deck, and there was a lightly glowing blue line across the middle of the deck. Crossing it probably started the whole scenario again. As it was, it looked like they were moving in the water, but the shore wasn¡¯t getting any closer. ¡°So, we needed to be spread for that last mechanic.¡± Evie said. ¡°The kindling debuff basically said if you were burning when the timer ran out, you would explode and deal damage to you and those around you.¡± Marissa scrolled back up through the chat box, looking at the running tally of combat messages. And sure enough, it looked like everyone took several instances of a few thousand damage each. ¡°Okay, that¡¯s easy enough.¡± Ash said. ¡°And I think we over-mitigated for the attack that gave us all kindling. It barely did much damage, but applying ten stacks of burning plus kindling¡­what exactly do we do differently?¡± ¡°I did try to knock him out of the attack, but it did nothing.¡± Kieran put in. ¡°Did anyone see anything to interact with around the town square area?¡± Firo asked. ¡°The buildings on the sides of the area didn¡¯t seem like they were interactable in any meaningful way. I think we could enter them though.¡± ¡°That doesn¡¯t seem useful, yeah.¡± Marissa said. ¡°There was a fountain in the middle of the square?¡± Nyx said, sounding unsure. ¡°It wasn¡¯t running or anything, but it was there.¡± ¡°Maybe we should try smacking it? Maybe if we break it, water will come out?¡± Evan said. ¡°You expect a not working fountain to start throwing out water if we break it like a hydrant?¡± Evie asked. ¡°Did you know that most hydrants wouldn¡¯t do that? There¡¯s a valve inside that -¡± ¡°Yes, Kieran, we know.¡± Marissa said, rolling her eyes. ¡°I think hitting the fountain is worth a shot. Or maybe just trying to see if you can interact with it before we try breaking it.¡± ¡°It is the only thing that we saw that has anything at all to do with water.¡± Jazz said. ¡°And given the sheer number of stacks of burning we all had, I can only assume we need some way to remove them.¡± ¡°Especially if the buster gives you twenty of them when it hits you.¡± Evan added sourly. ¡°To put that in perspective,¡± Ash said, ¡°I think each tick of damage from it is 400 per stack, with a little variance. The DPS with one stack were taking that much after getting it applied without any mitigation.¡± ¡°At least mitigation does seem to work.¡± Evie added. ¡°Fiona, you took around 7k per tick with 36 stacks, right? So that would¡¯ve been with 50% mit on it.¡± ¡°Those numbers are ridiculous for a stacking DoT when you can get that many stacks.¡± Evan said. ¡°There¡¯s gotta be a way to remove them, or that buster is basically a death sentence for whichever tank takes it.¡± ¡°Agreed.¡± Firo said. ¡°Even if the off-tank took just the buster, that''s still an 8k DoT before mit. That¡¯s not survivable for thirty seconds.¡± ¡°Then we go back in and try the well theory?¡± Marissa asked. ¡°Unless anyone has any better ideas.¡± Evie said. ¡°None here.¡± Jazz said. ¡°I¡¯ve got one.¡± Nyx said, snidely. ¡°Maybe save Safety Shift for that kindling effect next time, Evie.¡±Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author''s preferred platform and support their work! ¡°I will. But I¡¯ll punish you again if you dare imply ¡®healers adjust¡¯ again.¡± Evie said. ¡°But that¡¯s your job.¡± Kieran said, taking on a whiny voice. ¡°You¡¯re supposed to adjust when the DPS takes damage!¡± ¡°I¡¯m just doing my job and hitting the boss!¡± Firo said, taking up a similar voice. ¡°I can¡¯t help it if I take an AoE while I¡¯m doing my job.¡± ¡°...Just to be clear.¡± Evie said, ¡°Y¡¯all better be joking. I swear to god, I¡¯ve played with DPS like that before and I wanted to kick their sorry asses into the sun. Your job is to do damage while avoiding taking damage.¡± Evie said, her voice turning into an angry hiss at the end. ¡°I won¡¯t go as far as to threaten to withhold healing when you take avoidable damage, because that¡¯s just as shitty, but if you taunt us with it? You¡¯re dead to me.¡± Evie declared. ¡°What she said.¡± Ash chipped in and snickered. ¡°For what it¡¯s worth, Safety Shift is hardly the only skill we have that can fuck with you guys. Don¡¯t make us do that.¡± ¡°Mo~m!¡± Firo called, ¡°Mom and Dad are threatening us again!¡± ¡°Listen here, you little shit.¡± Ash said, getting a solid laugh out of the group. Marissa leaned back in her chair, stretching her arms and back a bit with a sigh. ¡°Alright!¡± She gasped as she sat forward again, the lovely feeling of the stretch fading. ¡°Food buffs and everything are still up, so let¡¯s get back in there.¡± ¡°One sec.¡± Nyx said, ¡°I need to hit the bathroom real quick.¡± ¡°Oh, good idea. Me too.¡± Firo said. ¡°Right then, quick five minute break instead, then.¡± Marissa declared. ¡°I¡¯ll go make another cup of tea, too.¡± She said, picking up her empty mug and standing. ¡°What¡¯re you drinking today, Bisky?¡± Kieran asked. ¡°Anything good?¡± Marissa chuckled as she gathered the tea leaves and hit her electric kettle¡¯s on button. The water was still hot, so it shouldn¡¯t take long to boil. ¡°Nettle tea, actually.¡± She said, ¡°I thought maybe it would bring us a bit of luck.¡± ¡°Doesn¡¯t seem like it¡¯s working, sorry to say.¡± Evan laughed. ¡°Hey, we¡¯ve only wiped once.¡± Jazz said. ¡°It¡¯s not like we¡¯re doing poorly.¡± ¡°True, true.¡± Evan relented. ¡°Let¡¯s see how long this first fight takes us.¡± ¡°Raids are totally new to Mag Mell,¡± Ash said, ¡°We really have no barometer for their difficulty curve or anything like that, so who knows how long this will take.¡± ¡°Well, we do know that other groups have at least cleared the first couple fights already.¡± Firo said, evidently back from the bathroom already. ¡°There were groups in Esras recruiting for fights two and three already.¡± ¡°Oh, good point.¡± Marissa said, as her kettle clicked off, the water bubbling. She poured it into her large mug, then added her tea infuser. ¡°I wonder how many stages there are, total.¡± ¡°I¡¯m sure the data miners probably know by now.¡± Firo said. ¡°But I haven¡¯t looked into it.¡± ¡°I haven¡¯t either.¡± Kieran said. ¡°Maybe I will in a day or two, but it hardly matters right now when we¡¯re on the first fight, anyway.¡± ¡°Agreed.¡± ¡°I¡¯m back.¡± Nyx said. ¡°We all here?¡± ¡°I¡¯m walking back to my PC now.¡± Marissa said. ¡°I think Firo was the only other person who got up?¡± ¡°We haven¡¯t heard from Evie.¡± ¡°I¡¯m here.¡± She responded. ¡°Was just stretching out a bit.¡± ¡°Alright, everybody get yourselves situated and locked in. Let¡¯s beat that stupid hyena.¡± Marissa said. Cheers followed, as everyone got themselves ready to get back in there. ¡°Alright, let¡¯s get it done.¡± The group crossed over the blue line together, and moved as one over to the spot where they could jump off the ship later. ¡°Stick together this time.¡± Ash said, taking up his role as shot caller. ¡°We¡¯ll move the middle of the deck, a little past the edge of the first set of AoEs, then back here.¡± ¡°Kay.¡± After the Corvus captain said his lines, the AoEs started again, as expected. This time, knowing what to expect, the group went through the little opening section cleanly. This time, knowing where to go, they also [Sprinted] through the alleyway run, easily staying well ahead of the AoEs targeting them there as well. And then they were back, standing just outside the town square where [Rruk] was presumably waiting for them to enter the area and trigger the fight. ¡°We ready?¡± Jazz asked, as the group shifted back and forth at the entrance, avoiding the continuous AoEs. ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡± Evan said, and walked into the square. [Rruk¡¯s] laugh echoed around the space first, before the voice lines came again as well. Marissa took a deep breath, and got ready for the upcoming brawl. This time, when [Rruk] leapt at the party, they were fully prepared and ready to go. The spread out into their expected spots, and Fiona picked up [Threat] immediately. The opening section of the fight went by quickly. Everyone did their jobs admirably as things progressed through the early stages of the fight. Fiona was managing the DoT well, and this time when [Rruk] reared back in the animation to slam his staff on the ground to create the puddle of fire, everyone recognized it and moved. This time, everyone avoided the extra [Burning] stacks from the puddle, leaving Fiona as the only person with any yet. ¡°Nice, keep it up.¡± Ash said. ¡°No sweat.¡± Evan said. ¡°Lucky you. It¡¯s really hot in here with all this fire.¡± Firo said, and disgusted snickers echoed in the chat. ¡°That was bad.¡± Kieran chuckled. ¡°Caoimhe, if anyone in here doesn¡¯t get to judge bad jokes, it¡¯s you.¡± Marissa said, as the raidwide went out. ¡°Hey,¡± Kieran shot back, ¡°I¡¯m a Dad. It¡¯s literally my jurisdiction.¡± Everyone snickered with held back laughter as they prepared for the coming AoE section. When [Rruk] leapt away to slam his staff into the ground for his dance near the fountain, everyone was ready. Marissa was actively holding back her burst phase so she could pay attention to the AoE pattern. Staying alive to see more of the mechanics at this point was more important than her DPS for the moment. Hell, they still didn¡¯t even know if there was any sort of DPS race that they needed to be worried about in this fight yet. There almost certainly was, but no one really knew. The circular bomb-like AoEs began their pattern, and Marissa focused in on where the safe zones were, as did everyone else. ¡°Focus up.¡± Ash called as everyone started moving between the safe zones. ¡°Lines were next.¡± He narrated as the last circular AoEs went off. As before, [Rruk] kept his dance going and the next set of AoEs started displaying; they were once again lines, thankfully. While the circular AoEs appeared fairly random at first glance, the lines were fairly geometric, making their pattern much easier to read. And that made them much easier to deal with overall. As soon as the fourth and final line went off, Marissa had Hibiscus drop to a knee with [Snipe] and began her burst phase. It looked like Caoimhe¡¯s burst came up at the same time, as she was also really letting the boss have it as he pulled his staff from the ground. ¡°Okay, tank buster is next.¡± Ash said. ¡°I¡¯m gonna take it.¡± Jazz called. ¡°Okay, on your voke.¡± Evan agreed. Two seconds later - and before the boss did the wind up for the buster - Aleister used [Dark Lash], putting himself squarely at the top of the [Threat] list. It was another few seconds after the tanks traded spots that [Rruk] wound up for the baseball swing. Aleister put up two personal mitigations and used [Ebony Guard] to reduce the immediate damage to a pitiful 3,000, but was still hit with 20 stacks of [Burning]. ¡°Steady. We¡¯ll keep everyone alive until the kindling attack. Then we spread out around the fountain and hope it does something.¡± Ash called out. The whole Clan was on top of things this time. Aleister, still holding threat, had enough mitigation skills available to stay alive through the boss¡¯s attacks in addition to the DoT, while Fiona was able to get a bit of bonus time to let cooldowns come back up. When [Rruk] entered the stance to do the attack that gave everyone [Kindling], all of the ranged party members began to move around the fountain, spreading out to hopefully avoid any explosions. Aleister, Fiona, Nyx, and Caoimhe tried to get as much uptime as possible, knowing that they would need to back off soon. ¡°Now!¡± Ash called, as they all ran back to spread out around the fountain as well. ¡°We all burn!¡± [Rruk] screeched as Evie and Mellody added a few group defensives to survive. When the attack landed, as before, it didn''t do so much damage outright, but everyone was [Burning] and had [Kindling]. Kieran made the executive decision to smash the fountain with an attack with only 2 seconds to spare on [Kindling]. Everyone breathed a collective sigh of relief when the fountain burst with a spray of water over the immediate area. It completely cleansed the [Burning] and [Kindling] debuffs from the entire party. ¡°Oh thank god.¡± Kieran sighed. ¡°It got everyone?¡± ¡°Yup, we¡¯re in the clear.¡± Ash said. ¡°I don¡¯t think this is the clear.¡± Nyx snickered. ¡°Dude¡¯s barely at 80%.¡± As if [Rruk] could hear her, the hyena screeched again in rage. Chapter 27 : Burn, Burn, Burn
Party List
Hibiscus Jade (Marissa Harper) [Arrow] : [Seeker] 11,000 / 11,000 11,000 / 11,000
Aleister Demian (Jasmine Burch) [War] : [Ebon] 11,000 / 11,000 11,000 / 11,000
Fiona Woods (Evan Woods) [Plate] : [Aegis] 11,000 / 11,000 11,000 / 11,000
Evie Lucian (Cassandra Bailey) [Soul] : [Radiance] 11,000 / 11,000 11,000 / 11,000
Mellody Softsong (Ashton Burch) [Muse] : [Revel] 11,000 / 11,000 11,000 / 11,000
Caoimhe Phadraig (Kieran Moor) [Slayer] : [Tyrant] 11,000 / 11,000 11,000 / 11,000
Firo Strix (Blake Walker) [Mage] : [Invoker] 11,000 / 11,000 11,000 / 11,000
Nyx Alaion (Zoe Fox) [Shroud] : [Knife] 11,000 / 11,000 11,000 / 11,000
Marissa ¡°Burn! We burn together? Burn, burn!¡± [Rruk¡¯s] voice lines continued to play over the monstrous echoing hyena laughter. ¡°Y¡¯all, he¡¯s on fire.¡± Evan said. ¡°Like, he literally has the burning debuff.¡± ¡°So he does¡­¡± Firo said, tentatively. ¡°Does that mean we¡¯re looking at a battle of attrition, here? Whichever side burns to death loses?¡± ¡°I¡¯ve seen fights like that before.¡± Nyx said. ¡°Admittedly, the boss doesn¡¯t usually give themselves the bleed until well into the fight in those, but¡­¡± Marissa could practically hear the shrug that accompanied the end of the sentence. ¡°Well, the actual damage from a single stack isn¡¯t all that much. If he starts stacking it on himself early to build it up into a dangerous effect later on, that would make sense.¡± Kieran said, while going through the maintenance section of his rotation. Marissa eyed [Rruk] carefully, while going through the dead portion of her own rotation as well. The boss was going through a short phase between mechanics where he did nothing but smack the tank. That was a pretty common phase for bosses in this game, and while it was ¡®mechanical¡¯ downtime, it still required everyone to pay attention. Attacks in Mag Mell nearly always cleaved, so the tank had to be careful to face the boss away from the party. They also needed to always be aware - especially in these portions of the fight - of the boss¡¯s attack patterns to dodge attacks that were avoidable. There were actually very few attacks in this game that were strictly unavoidable when it came to the enemy actually swinging at you. Most of them just weren¡¯t worth avoiding for tank [Paths] with a block effect, like [Aegis] or [Ebon]. One tank [Path], [Fencer], was actually built around dodging as much as possible, in comparison. ¡°Next mechanic should be in a second here.¡± Ash called. ¡°Aleister, you keeping threat for now?¡± ¡°Yeah, I got him. Swap after he hits me with the buster. Want to try something.¡± Jazz said. ¡°I gotcha.¡± Evan replied. ¡°Eyes up, everyone.¡± Marissa spent the few seconds it took to fully charge her [Master¡¯s Shot] and land the hit on the weakpoint before once again widening her focus to be ready for whatever mechanic was next. When she saw [Rruk¡¯s] hands go up over his head to slam his weapon down, she quickly shouted, ¡°Get outta there,¡± but everyone was already moving. They had all recognized the tell for the slam that left the puddle of flames on the ground, and reacted well. When the attack went out and no one walked away with any stacks, there was a chorus of ¡°Nice¡± and ¡°Good job¡±. ¡°Tanks, make sure you keep him near the edge of the puddle so we don¡¯t lose too much ground.¡± Evie said. ¡°Those puddles are going to be a problem if we get too many.¡± ¡°I know.¡± Jazz responded earnestly. ¡°He¡¯s at 75% though, so I don¡¯t think it¡¯ll be an issue.¡± ¡°Why you gotta jinx us like that¡­?¡± Marissa sighed. ¡°If we die again, I blame Aleister.¡± Ash chuckled.This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. ¡°Seconded.¡± ¡°Agreed.¡± ¡°Alright, guys, focus up.¡± Evan called, as [Rruk] moved into whatever phase was next. ¡°We burn faster!¡± Marissa was really getting tired of the voice lines all being so similar. Even if they may be actually giving mechanical clues. But she supposed she shouldn¡¯t expect every boss fight to tell a real story. Some better, though. [Rruk] raised his staff up high again, and flames from the nearby buildings began to reach toward and gather above him. It looked a bit different from the storm of fire he had gathered before; more like he was simply gathering a massive fireball this time. ¡°Big raidwide?¡± Evie wondered aloud. ¡°That doesn¡¯t match the voice line, though?¡± Nyx said. ¡°I bet a lot of burning stacks are incoming. Gather by the fountain.¡± Firo said. Most of the group appeared to agree and began moving quickly over to their spots by the fountain. Marissa did as well, and counted herself lucky that she got to keep her damage uptime while moving. The perks of being a physical ranged attacker; no range issues, and no cast time. She grinned to herself, watching the other fight to keep some of their damage up. [Rruk] let everyone move away at first, then turned to face the group. With everyone arrayed around the fountain as they were, it was difficult to see exactly who he was singling out, but he clearly looking at either Mellody, Nyx, or Hibiscus. And then he threw the fireball forward with his staff. It landed squarely on Mellody - so at least they knew who the target was - and exploded outward in a wave of flames. It appeared to expand about a third of the distance of the arena, and it gave everyone it touched 5 stacks of [Burning]. ¡°Five stacks isn¡¯t too bad. We can heal through this.¡± Ash said, getting up [Aria of Healing], a healing [Musick] that gave healing over time to the party. ¡°As long as it doesn¡¯t get worse.¡± Evie said in agreement. ¡°And not long term, either. We don¡¯t have that kind of group regen indefinitely.¡± ¡°Then let¡¯s just -¡± Kieran said as he had Caoimhe swing at the fountain. She landed the hit the same way as she had earlier, but the fountain just dribbled a bit to no real effect. ¡°There¡¯s probably a cooldown on the water effect.¡± Firo sighed. ¡°Otherwise it would be too easy, right?¡± ¡°Fair.¡± Kieran muttered. ¡°Then we just need to live for now.¡± ¡°Heads up.¡± Evie called, as [Rruk] prepared a second fireball. This time looking in her direction. ¡°I think it¡¯s probably targeting me.¡± ¡°Healer one, then healer two. Makes sense.¡± Ash agreed. ¡°Spread out. I want to see what happens.¡± Evie said, as she began moving away from the currently defunct fountain. The rest of the party spread a bit further away in different directions. Evie unexpectedly chose to move toward the boss, and Fiona ran that way as well. Caoimhe split off, running a little off to the side to make some distance while Firo ran directly away from the boss. The other half of the party ran off to the left side of the field, and just generally away from Evie. When the fireball landed on her head and exploded, it expanded outward far enough to only hit Fiona in addition to herself. They both gained the same 5 stacks that everyone gained previously, but took a fair chunk more outright damage than the first time. It was survivable, but only just so with the addition of the [Burning] ticks. ¡°I thought so.¡± Evie said triumphantly, while she and Ash were scrambling to get some healing out. ¡°You thought what?¡± Nyx asked as everyone tried to close in again to resume damage. ¡°That fireball gave the boss burning stacks, too.¡± She answered. And sure enough, when Marissa looked back at the boss¡¯s status display, he now had 6 stacks of [Burning]. There was even a slight fire effect surrounding his body, which was a nice touch. ¡°Oh. Do we just win this by stacking the burn on him as much as possible, then? Hang on.¡± Jazz said, and then started dragging [Rruk] over toward the fire puddles. ¡°Good idea. See if they burn him.¡± Evan said, as the melee half of the group trailed after the boss, still trying to get damage on him. It didn¡¯t take long for Jazz to position [Rruk] in the puddles, but it didn¡¯t seem to have any effect at all. ¡°Guess that would¡¯ve been too easy.¡± She scoffed, pulling him back out of the puddles to give the party a little more room to work with. ¡°It¡¯s all good.¡± Kieran said. ¡°We¡¯re dealing good damage. With the addition of the burning effect, this is very doable.¡± ¡°Well, we still need to keep our guards up. We¡¯re not even at 50% yet.¡± Ash said as Firo entered a burst phase, made obvious by the sudden massive blasts of light purple and silver energy that exploded all over the boss. Marissa couldn¡¯t help but feel like the [Invoker] particle effects really sold the whole ¡®blaster caster¡¯ fantasy. ¡°Yessir.¡± ¡°I guess we should try to hit him as much as possible with his own attacks? And then periodically gather around the fountain to cleanse the burns, hopefully.¡± Marissa said. ¡°Sounds like a plan.¡± Ash said. ¡°Everyone use your personal mit for whatever comes next. The DoT really -¡± Ash was cut off when [Rruk] screeched, and once again wound up for the tank buster. This time though, his staff had more fire on it than before. ¡°I don¡¯t like the look of that.¡± Nyx said, unhelpfully. ¡°Get ready to rez me.¡± Jazz said flatly. ¡°I¡¯ll take this so we can see what it does.¡± ¡°Ok. Provoke is on standby.¡± Evan said, [Provoke] being the standard ¡®attack me¡¯ skill. ¡°Good luck, Allie. Godspeed.¡± He joked. ¡°You little ass.¡± Jazz said. She hated being called ¡®Allie¡¯. So of course it was saved for moments exactly like this. Ash even snickered as Aleister was blasted with the tank buster. He survived the attack itself, with 9,000 HP remaining. The twenty stacks added after the tank buster brought Aleister up to 39. When the DoT ticked, it brought him down to 300 HP. ¡°Run!¡± Jazz yelled, ¡°Get away from me!¡± And to everyone else¡¯s credit, they did. Fiona, Nyx, and Caoimhe all used movement skills to make as much distance as possible. They all saw the [Kindling] debuff on Aleister, and no one knew how big the explosion AoE was yet. Nyx even doubled down, using a second skill to get even further away. [Rruk¡¯s] Hyena laugh resounded loudly when Aleister exploded. Thankfully, the AoE wasn¡¯t as large as anyone was worried about; they had really bungled the first pull by staying so close. The damage completely deleted Aleister¡¯s HP, however, leaving him dead on the ground. ¡°Oh, hell yeah!¡± Jazz shouted. ¡°The explosion gave him a couple stacks of burning!¡± ¡®A couple¡¯ in this case was five more stacks - which was not nothing. And every bit of damage helped, as always. ¡°I¡¯ve got you.¡± Ash said, already working on casting [Chorale of Life]. ¡°Evie, focus on keeping everyone else up.¡± ¡°No problem. But no one¡¯s really taking damage.¡± She called back. For the moment, thankfully, she was right. Fiona had picked up [Threat] with [Provoke] immediately when Aleister went down, and was handling the boss well. Between Mellody¡¯s regen [Musick] and Evie¡¯s other regen spells like [Triage] and [Refresher] were covering the DoT damage just well enough to keep everyone¡¯s HP on the mend. ¡°Burn, burn, burn!¡± [Rruk¡¯s] demented voice echoed over the battle again. Marissa wasn¡¯t sure what the effect was, but she was sure that as the fight went on his voice was getting more and more altered from what it sounded like at the start. And she was also pretty sure that his model was becoming more and more covered in flames. Bigger flames, too. ¡°It¡¯s that big attack, again.¡± Firo said, pointing out the same overhead storm of fire gathering. ¡°Alright, everyone get near the fountain. Fiona, Aleister, stay a little closer to the boss just in case we can tag him with more burning stacks.¡± Ash called, as everyone began to migrate to their spots. ¡°Gotcha.¡± Evan said. Fiona still only had 3 stacks of [Burning] after taking over for Aleister¡¯s death, so she was in good shape, all things considered. When the storm finally hit everyone, it functioned the same as before. Everyone was given five more stacks of [Burning] and the [Kindling] debuff. ¡°Burn, burn, burn, you mother-¡± ¡°Fiona, language!¡± Kieran yelled, as Caoimhe hit the fountain again, cleansing everyone¡¯s [Burning] and [Kindling] debuffs. Except for Fiona¡¯s, who decided to run away to the far side of the boss, well out of the fountains range. ¡°Fiona, what are you-?¡± Fiona tapped [Final Vigil] right before the [Kindling] explosion went off. [Final Vigil] was one of [Aegis¡¯s] best defensive skills, completely negating any and all damage for three seconds. When the skill ended, it also cleansed the [Aegis] of all negative effects. The tradeoff for the incredible skill was the entirely too long 20 minute cooldown. It was guaranteed to only be used once per fight. And Evan had opted to use it offensively. When Fiona¡¯s [Kindling] explosion went off, it applied more [Burning] stacks to [Rruk], while Fiona walked out the other side of the fireball in better shape than before it exploded in her face. ¡°If I could do a magnificent hair flip right now, I would.¡± Evan laughed. Chapter 28 : Go, Fight, Win
Party List
Hibiscus Jade (Marissa Harper) [Arrow] : [Seeker] 9,348 / 11,000 8,043 / 11,000
Aleister Demian (Jasmine Burch) [War] : [Ebon] 9,923 / 11,000 4,087 / 11,000
Fiona Woods (Evan Woods) [Plate] : [Aegis] 11,000 / 11,000 9,382 / 11,000
Evie Lucian (Cassandra Bailey) [Soul] : [Radiance] 10,832 / 11,000 8,382 / 11,000
Mellody Softsong (Ashton Burch) [Muse] : [Revel] 10,298 / 11,000 6,093 / 11,000
Caoimhe Phadraig (Kieran Moor) [Slayer] : [Tyrant] 9,833 / 11,000 9,000 / 11,000
Firo Strix (Blake Walker) [Mage] : [Invoker] 9,400 / 11,000 9,984 / 11,000
Nyx Alaion (Zoe Fox) [Shroud] : [Knife] 9,932 / 11,000 5,384 / 11,000
Marissa ¡°Well, hopefully you didn¡¯t just waste your best cooldowns when you really didn¡¯t need to.¡± Kieran snarked. ¡°If it comes down to a three second invuln being the make or break deciding factor, we didn¡¯t deserve to win.¡± Evan said, proudly. ¡°And it felt badass, so there.¡± Kieran laughed in response as Evan acted like a child and blew a raspberry. ¡°Stay focused, guys.¡± Ash said. ¡°We¡¯re not exactly safe at the moment.¡± ¡°Right.¡± ¡°Yeah.¡± [Rruk] was taking solid damage now. While the party¡¯s outgoing damage was nothing to sneeze at, the ticks from the [Burning] status were starting to add up, too. Marissa smiled to herself as she watched the boss¡¯s HP fall to 34%. Maybe they really would be able to manage this fight in two pulls. [Rruk] didn¡¯t seem as happy about their progress as she was, though. The oversized Hyena roared, his voice still distorted. In fact, it was getting to a point where it sounded almost unnatural and disturbing. The voice sounded almost wet. Marissa shivered, and tried to ignore it as she focused on moving forward. She was hesitant to start her burst phase, despite [Snipe] and [Critical Eye] being available, given that it was around this point in a fight that she felt like something new should happen. But everything was going very well for the moment. ¡°Shit.¡± She muttered to herself quietly, unsure her mic would even pick it up. ¡°Mello, hit me with some crit boosters. I¡¯m going into a burst phase.¡± ¡°On it.¡± Ash responded, and suddenly [Critical Muse] and [Hero¡¯s Inspiration] were both on her status bar. ¡°We¡¯ll try to buy you as much safety as we can.¡± ¡°That¡¯s not much, mind you.¡± Nyx laughed. ¡°Just spread out and away a bit.¡± Firo snickered, as he ran away to make some space. Hibiscus took her [Snipe] stance and then just cycled through all of her high damage abilities in a row. [Critical Eye] into [Master¡¯s Shot] of course, then [Viper¡¯s Fang] and [Fae¡¯s Bane]. [Silver Arrow] was next, followed by [Perfect Shot] and [Easy Target]. Not everything fell under the [Critical Eye] effect, but Mellody¡¯s buffs did last all the way through. Marissa just started piling on everything she had that wasn¡¯t already on cooldown, just to try to squeeze out all the damage she could while in [Snipe]. [Heartstopper] went, despite not getting the bonus damage. As did [Wingclipper] and [Quick Barrage]. Then she charged up another [Master¡¯s Shot]. In the same instance she let that go, [Rruk] began a new animation they had seen yet. ¡°Something is happening.¡± Kieran said. ¡°Yeah, no shit.¡± Jazz shot back. And they were right. [Rruk¡¯s] movements were strange. They looked uncoordinated and labored. More obviously, however, the burning effect on his body seemed to be encompassing almost his entire body. ¡°I will not burn alone!¡± He shouted, and slammed his staff on the ground at Fiona¡¯s feet, dropping another puddle of flames. As the melee half of the party scrambled to get out of the way, [Rruk] laughed, the sound sickly and garbled.This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings. Unlike the previous times that he had made the puddles, he didn¡¯t immediately follow after the tank. Instead, he stood inside the puddle, staring dumbly at Fiona as if waiting for something to happen. Or, perhaps, for the melee characters to re-engage him inside the flaming AoE. There was a momentary break in the action that lasted just a fraction of a moment as the party all stared at the boss as he eyed them back. And then Hibiscus and Firo both landed attacks on him. His attention abruptly changed to focus on them, his head swinging back and forth for a moment before he reared back and screamed again. ¡°I. Will. Not. Burn. Alone!¡± [Rruk] screeched. And then he began to swing his staff in wide circles in the air, holding it by the base. It looked more concerning than anything else so far, as it clearly wasn¡¯t building up a cast or other spell like previous movements. It looked like it was just for intimidation purposes. And then the top of the staff flared with a massive plume of flame and [Rruk] jumped into the air. Marissa had to scramble backwards from her position on the far side of the fountain, as it looked like the boss was coming straight to her. Luckily, [Rruk] landed just in front of the fountain, and not next to her. Unluckily, when he fell to the ground again, he slammed his staff butt first into the ground and flames licked across the ground like wildfire, quickly covering the entire town square. ¡°Oh, that¡¯s bad.¡± Ash said, immediately moving Mellody to focus entirely on healing. ¡°Oh, that¡¯s bad. That¡¯s bad.¡± He repeated again, when he saw everyone¡¯s [Burning] count tick up. ¡°We¡¯re on a hard timer now, kids.¡± Evie said, sounding remarkably calm against Ash¡¯s stressed voice. ¡°Focus up and just do damage. Ash, get out as many damage buffs as you can right now, and I¡¯ll keep us alive until you can swap back to healing.¡± ¡°Right, on it.¡± Ash responded, and immediately began throwing out his damage buff skills onto Caoimhe, Firo, and Nyx. Marissa had just spent all her big burst abilities, so she wasn¡¯t able to help much at the minute. ¡°On the plus side,¡± She said, only able to pepper the enemy with regular arrows, ¡°he¡¯s under 25% now. And has a bunch of burning stacks.¡± ¡°Well, we¡¯re all roasting alive right now. Including him.¡± Kieran said, popping [Bloodthirsty], a defensive skill that allowed Caoimhe to heal based on how much damage she dealt. It would help keep her alive during her burst phase, at least. Nyx, likewise, used her [Quick Draught], which was essentially just a regen ability flavored as the [Shroud] drinking a potion. ¡°Push the DPS.¡± Jazz said. ¡°We¡¯ve got this.¡± [Rruk] wasn¡¯t taking the fight lying down, either. He was pounding away at Fiona, who was gaining [Burning] stacks at an alarming rate. Even with several mitigation skills active, and focusing on perfect defensive play, the fire was eating her alive. ¡°Bet Final Vigil would be real nice right about now.¡± Kieran chuckled. ¡°Shut up, you ass. I¡¯m managing fine.¡± Evan shot back as Fiona flowed through another [Perfect Block] and [Counter]. ¡°No you¡¯re not.¡± Evie said. ¡°We¡¯re holding you together with duct tape and dreams, Fiona.¡± ¡°I know, but you don¡¯t need to tell him that!¡± Evan said, as he hit 30 stacks of [Burning]. The boss was under 10% now, and Marissa honestly wasn¡¯t sure if they would make it. Even if they did, it would be cutting it close. ¡°I¡¯m running dry.¡± Ash said. ¡°In a few seconds here, I¡¯ll have nothing but my Musick and spammable spells.¡± ¡°I can hold for a bit yet. The regens are doing work right now.¡± Evie said. ¡°But uh¡­Fiona, you¡¯re gonna drop. 36 stacks is too many.¡± ¡°Yeah?¡± Evan said. ¡°Right then. I¡¯m gonna dump everything I have and play this more risky. If I¡¯m gonna die anyway¡­¡± The sudden burst of particle effects around Fiona was rather impressive. Evan must have hit several buttons that he had been saving for some reason, because there were more than a couple clashing effects happening. Fiona still battled valiantly, blocking wherever possible and using every available counterattack she had - most of which were her strongest offensive options. With whatever boosts she had used, Marissa hoped they would be enough to help get them over the hill. It wasn¡¯t very long, however, before the [Burning] status took Fiona down. The DoT was simply too much damage to out-heal, and she dropped. Marissa glanced at her own status, and the 14 stacks of burning she had were concerning. She - and the rest of the party, at that - were all taking just under half their max HP with each tick. Aleister did a great job of slipping in when Fiona went down, and picked up [Threat] cleanly. Unfortunately, Aleister was already starting with 15 stacks of [Burning], so he wouldn¡¯t last as long as Fiona had. ¡°Keep pushing!¡± Firo called. ¡°I¡¯ve got my big burst in 30 seconds. If we can make it till then -¡± [Rruk] made some sort of indecipherable noise that Marissa guessed was either a growl or howl. It was simply too distorted to tell. When he raised his staff and a firestorm gathered overhead, Marissa¡¯s stomach dropped. There was no way they survived this again. ¡°I still have Shed Shadow.¡± Jazz said. ¡°This isn¡¯t a death sentence yet.¡± [Shed Shadow] was an [Ebon] skill that removed all buffs and debuffs on the user. It would remove everything indiscriminately, which wasn¡¯t well liked by support players, so it was a skill that wasn¡¯t used often. And almost never with communication. There was little that a healer hated more than casting a bunch of regen spells on someone just to have them all removed. ¡°I have splinter up, too.¡± Firo said. [Soul Splinter] was a similar skill for [Mages] that allowed them to cleanse themselves of a single, random damaging effect. ¡°And the boss is at 8%. We can do this.¡± ¡°Okay.¡± Ash said, with a deep breath.¡±Aleister, Firo. It¡¯s up to the two of you. Everyone else gather around the boss.¡± The strategy clicked with everyone pretty quickly. It was a group sacrifice to bet everything on Aleister surviving long enough to allow Firo to blow up the boss after they both reset their [Burning] counts. ¡°Good luck.¡± Nyx said aloud, as everyone except Aleister and Firo ran to surround the boss.
[Fiona Woods {NTEA}] : o7 [Caoimhe Phadraig {NTEA}] : o7 [Hibiscus Jade {NTEA}] : o7 [Mellody Softsong {NTEA}] : o7 [Nyx Alaion {NTEA}] : o7 [Evie Lucian {NTEA}] : o7
Everyone laughed when they saw the salutes fill the chat moments before everyone exploded around [Rruk]. Aleister slammed the [Shed Shadow] button to rid himself of every buff and debuff on him, leaving him clean for the last portion of the fight. Firo followed suit with [Soul Splinter] which removed the only damaging effect on him - [Burning] - before [Kindling] triggered, which fell off on it¡¯s own when he was no longer on fire. ¡°Go!¡± ¡°You two got this!¡± ¡°I believe!¡± ¡°Trust.¡± The cheers that flooded the voice chat for a moment were just distracting enough that Firo had to ask everyone to quiet down while he concentrated. Aleister, too, went all in on damage skills, using just enough [Threat] generating abilities to keep [Rruk] focused on him. And [Rruk] was now actively burning. The additional stacks from the party¡¯s sacrifice had been enough for the DoT to be noticeable on his HP, with the percentage dropping by 0.5% noticeably each couple seconds. The combined assault from Aleister and Firo was also working, but not fast enough to counteract the [Burning] effect they were picking up from the flaming field. And then Firo hit his burst phase that he had announced earlier. It had started with the appearance of [Arcane Seal], a floating, vertical magic circle that appeared floating a bit in front of Firo. Any attacks that he launched through it would be buffed. And a whole slew of attacks went flying through it. First was something with a short [Stun] duration attached, which allowed Firo to land [Soul Shatter], then more attacks followed. [Arcane Barrage], [Arcane Detonation], [Magic Lance], and [Energy Cannon] were the ones that Marissa recognized, but there were others that she couldn¡¯t remember the names of. By the time [Arcane Seal] vanished, [Rruk] had fallen to under 1%, and cheers were erupting through the party. Firo had been reduced to throwing basic [Staff] attacks from a distance while Aleister played as safe as he could manage to stay alive. The party counted down the last few percentages of the boss¡¯s HP as the fight ended. [Rruk¡¯s] altered, distorted scream resounded and then cut off abruptly as his brightly burning body fell forward and slammed on the ground before Aleister. In a beautiful bit of animation, the gust that spread out from his body hitting the ground simply swept away the fire that had covered the ground, leaving the destroyed town square still in terrible shape, but at least no longer actively on fire. ¡°Y¡¯all, hurry up and respawn.¡± Firo said, his worry cutting through the celebration. ¡°I¡¯m still burning, and we have no healers.¡± ¡°Same.¡± Jazz said. ¡°I think I¡¯ll live though. Maybe.¡± ¡°We¡¯re on it.¡± Ash said. And thankfully, having beaten the first boss, the instance had set their respawn point to the center of the town square, next to the fountain. And now that they were no longer in combat, the free respawn brought them back at full fighting strength - which meant that Mellody and Evie had no issues keeping Aleister and Firo alive for thirty seconds of [Burning] until the DoT fell off on its own, naturally. Once the party felt like they were no longer in danger, everyone approached [Rruk¡¯s] smouldering body. It was shimmering with the effect of unclaimed loot. ¡°Who wants to do the honors?¡± Marissa asked. ¡°Firo?¡± ¡°Firo.¡± ¡°Firo.¡± ¡°I guess it¡¯s me.¡± Firo said, as he stepped up to the body and clicked on it. Chapter 29 : Scenario Cleared
Party List
Caoimhe Phadraig (Kieran Moor) [Slayer] : [Tyrant] 11,000 / 11,000 11,000 / 11,000
Aleister Demian (Jasmine Burch) [War] : [Ebon] 11,000 / 11,000 11,000 / 11,000
Fiona Woods (Evan Woods) [Plate] : [Aegis] 11,000 / 11,000 11,000 / 11,000
Evie Lucian (Cassandra Bailey) [Soul] : [Radiance] 11,000 / 11,000 11,000 / 11,000
Mellody Softsong (Ashton Burch) [Muse] : [Revel] 11,000 / 11,000 11,000 / 11,000
Hibiscus Jade (Marissa Harper) [Arrow] : [Seeker] 11,000 / 11,000 11,000 / 11,000
Firo Strix (Blake Walker) [Mage] : [Invoker] 11,000 / 11,000 11,000 / 11,000
Nyx Alaion (Zoe Fox) [Shroud] : [Knife] 11,000 / 11,000 11,000 / 11,000
Kieran When the loot window popped up for Kieran, he moused over the item¡¯s image to take a look at what they had been gifted for their trouble. [Firestarter¡¯s Staff] [Staff] [Intelligence : 17] [Accuracy : 4] [Parry : 3] [Speed : 2] [Invested Effect : All fire based skills gain a small [Damage over Time] effect.] [Flameskin Hide Gloves] [Leather] [Defense : 1] [Slash : 1] [Pierce : 1] [Blunt : 1] [Invested Effect : Gain [Quench Flames] skill.] Most high level gear that wasn¡¯t regular vendor gear had [Invested Effects]. These were special skills or effects that were granted by that piece of equipment when it was [Invested], and each character could only choose three pieces of gear to [Invest] at one time. You could change which pieces you had [Invested] freely, so long as you were not in combat. Kieran checked the [Quench Flames] skill, which apparently was a unique skill that would remove fire-related debuffs from the user with a two minute cooldown. It would make their next encounter with [Rruk] vastly easier if someone was able to cleanse themselves of the [Burning] debuff every two minutes. It may not see much use outside of very specific fights, but there was no doubt it would be useful. And its stats for gloves were passable. They weren¡¯t amazing, but in the right scenario, the [Invested Effect] would make all the difference. Most [Paths] didn¡¯t have access to real cleansing skills outside of tanks, and even the ones that tanks had usually had significant drawbacks. Relying on them was not reliable, and could often lead to dangerous but otherwise avoidable situations. Of course, they could also lead to winning the fight, too. So it was all a toss up in the end. ¡°So? Who¡¯s after what?¡± Kieran asked. ¡°Well, I imagine we should funnel the staff to Firo?¡± Jazz said. ¡°I don¡¯t mind taking it, but I don¡¯t know how much use I¡¯ll get out of it. I¡¯m not a big fan of how Vine plays, and they¡¯re the only magic class that uses a lot of fire magic.¡± Firo said. ¡°I¡¯m curious how the Invested Ability would work with Witch spells, too, given most of the fire spells have a DoT component already.¡± ¡°There¡¯s a Claw spec that is pretty fire focused, isn¡¯t there?¡± Nyx asked. ¡°It may be worth considering for Caoimhe at that point?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t think it¡¯s as good as my current Claw weapon, given this one has no Strength on it.¡± Kieran said. ¡°Unless the DoT it adds is really significant. But Claw still uses Strength for most of its attacks¡± ¡°Oh, right.¡± Nyx said. ¡°Well, I¡¯m good giving it to Firo, even if it never sees any real play. Clearly no one else can get good use out of it, so¡­¡±If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. ¡°Works for me.¡± Evie agreed, followed by the rest of the group. ¡°Then we¡¯re settled on that one.¡± Kieran said, hitting [Pass] on the [Staff]. ¡°And the gloves?¡± Evan asked. ¡°They¡¯re leather, so I assume it¡¯s going to Caoimhe, Nyx, or Bisky?¡± ¡°Probably a good assumption.¡± Jazz agreed. ¡°Who gets the most use out of a cleanse?¡± Ash asked. ¡°None of you have one by default, right?¡± ¡°Nope.¡± Marissa said. ¡°Sure don¡¯t.¡± Kieran agreed. ¡°But I¡¯m not sure we¡¯d gain anything by giving it to me. My vote would actually be to have Nyx take it.¡± ¡°Oh?¡± Nyx said, surprised. ¡°I¡¯d take it, but my current gloves slot gives me one of my most used Invested abilities.¡± ¡°I figure it¡¯s only real use will be when we have to come through here and reclear [Rruk] again. And you have the most party support abilities by leaps and bounds among us leather wearers.¡± Kieran said. ¡°I¡¯m inclined to agree with him.¡± Marissa added. ¡°Your damage is good, but you offer the party more by staying alive. Hell, just Pierce alone could make the difference.¡± Ash asked whether there were any objections, and received none, so everyone turned and passed on the gloves as well, letting Nyx take them. Once the two items were claimed, the shimmering glow from [Rruk¡¯s] body faded away. ¡°So, now what? I didn¡¯t see a clear message or anything.¡± Evan asked. ¡°Should we just push forward?¡± ¡°I think so.¡± Marissa said, walking Bisky toward the far end of the square from where we had entered. There was a way forward there that had been previously covered by a wall of flames and a burning building. Now the building had collapsed and the fire had sputtered out, leaving the area safe to walk over. ¡°I think we¡¯re just supposed to push through to the city, right?¡± Firo said, as Kieran moved his camera to try to see the city in the distance. Truthfully, it didn¡¯t look all that far from this little port town, but it did look like there were plenty of obstacles in the way. ¡°Let¡¯s get moving then.¡± Evie said. ¡°If nothing else, we should be careful. We don¡¯t know what will happen if we wipe now.¡± ¡°Surely they would put us back here, right?¡± Nyx said. ¡°Are you willing to take the chance?¡± Evie laughed. ¡°I¡¯m not.¡± ¡°Fair point.¡± The group gathered up at the egress point that Marissa had pointed out before venturing out together in a pack. This side of the town had already basically been burned to the ground. The houses had collapsed, leaving a huge mess all around, but the lack of height made the sightlines fairly open. ¡°Looks like we¡¯ve got patrols.¡± Firo pointed out. ¡°Makes sense. I bet this first instance is cleared when we leave the city.¡± Ash said. ¡°What do we think? Engage?¡± Evan asked. ¡°Tough to say. It¡¯s needless danger, but we don¡¯t know what their drops look like.¡± Ash said. ¡°Why not pull one to a safe area and wipe them out? We¡¯ll see what they drop and decide from there?¡± Jazz suggested. ¡°You would suggest jumping straight to ¡®merc them¡¯, wouldn¡¯t you, hun?¡± Ash chuckled. ¡°Tell me I¡¯m wrong.¡± Jazz challenged while snickering. ¡°Aleister is right. We should take out one of the patrols just to see what happens, at least.¡± Marissa said. There was silence as the group quickly moved through the town¡¯s ruins, Fiona leading the way while everyone else kept a lookout. And it didn¡¯t take long before they had navigated nearby a patrol. ¡°Alright.¡± Ash said. ¡°Pull them. Let¡¯s do this quick before another patrol comes -¡± ¡°For science!¡± Jazz yelled as Aleister ran out and launched a volley of dark purple energy projectiles at the group. It was a ranged AoE attack that got the entire group¡¯s attention, as planned. Half a second later, Aleister was running back to the group with a small group of gnolls on his tail. When Aleister had run about half the distance back to the group - around 3 seconds - one of the gnolls in the back stopped pursuing to swap what was in its hands. It sheathed the shortsword that it was carrying to pull out a horn. ¡°Bisky!¡± Kieran said. ¡°Reinforcements!¡± ¡°Crap, I got him.¡± Marissa sighed, having to let her [Master¡¯s Shot] fly at a closer target. She had begun charging it when Aleister pulled the group, but hadn¡¯t triggered any of her major buffs yet. The shot landed in the pursuing pack while Bisky darted further forward, lining up a quick shot on the one in the far back. Marissa launched a quick [Dazing Shot], an attack that did almost zero damage but would [Interrupt] actions. It was similar to a [Stun], which could do the same, but [Interrupt] didn¡¯t cause any effect beyond stopping the action currently underway. In Bisky¡¯s case, the ability to [Interrupt] at a range was far more important than a [Stun] or damage, so even though it dealt no appreciable damage, it was a very important skill. Once the gnoll with the horn was effectively silenced, the encounter went by quickly. The enemies didn¡¯t put up much of a fight - in fact, they went down faster than a similar sized pull in a dungeon. Once the last enemy fell, everyone stood around in the little hidden alcove we had chosen as a battlefield, a little listless. ¡°That was¡­¡± ¡°...a murder?¡± Nyx laughed. ¡°I can only assume the real danger with the patrols is the one calling for reinforcements.¡± Ash said. ¡°Especially given none of them dropped anything.¡± ¡°I think you¡¯re probably right.¡± Jazz said. ¡°No drops is a good sign that we aren¡¯t meant to bother with wiping out the patrols but should just forge ahead.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll keep my finger on the Daze button.¡± Marissa said. ¡°Everyone keep your head on a swivel, I guess? The only real danger we¡¯re in is probably the patrol noticing us before we notice them.¡± ¡°We¡¯ve got pretty clean eye lines around the rest of the town.¡± Firo said. ¡°We should be fine.¡± ¡°Agreed.¡± Evan added. ¡°Just keep your eyes out.¡± ¡°Okay, let¡¯s move.¡± The group started moving toward the town¡¯s gate; with all of the downed buildings, they could see its location pretty easily. Aleister and Fiona stayed a little to the front, just in case. The part that made Kieran chuckle, however, was watching Hibiscus basically spinning like a top in the middle of the group as Marissa kept moving her camera. As a whole, they didn¡¯t have too difficult a time avoiding most of the patrols. They did end up needing to fight one other patrol that was distinctly in their way, and didn¡¯t appear to deviate from that particular path. And then they arrived at the gate. It looked like it was undefended, although there were plenty of patrols and other enemies running around in the area between the gate and [Gorias], the city they were meant to reach. ¡°Oh.¡± Evan perked up when Fiona crossed the threshold of the gate. ¡°We¡¯re done.¡± He said. ¡°It just needs us all to cross the gate.¡± ¡°Neat.¡± Kieran said, as the whole group moved toward the town¡¯s exit with relief. And sure enough, once they had all passed through the exit, they all received the victory message across the screen. When they finished dungeons, they received a [Dungeon Cleared] message. Typically, most of these sorts of messages used typical gaming lingo, and not specific Mag Mell lingo to reward them. Knowing that, the message that ran across Kieran¡¯s screen left him curious. [Scenario Cleared] ¡°Scenario, hm?¡± He wondered aloud. ¡°I wonder if that means there were other ways for us to get through there?¡± Evie said. ¡°I think there must have been.¡± Evan said. ¡°Remember, I was able to walk through the fires on the side? We could¡¯ve taken an entirely different path through the town.¡± ¡°I wonder if there were other bosses, or if we could¡¯ve just avoided [Rruk] altogether?¡± Firo wondered aloud. ¡°I guess we can find out next week when we go to reclear?¡± Nyx asked. ¡°Unless someone wants to search it up online.¡± ¡°I¡¯m more than happy to wait. Seeing new surprises with everyone for the first time is part of the fun, right?¡± Firo said. ¡°The first reaction only happens once, yeah.¡± Marissa chuckled. ¡°I¡¯m happy to wait.¡± Once everyone loaded back into the staging area, there was a collective release of tension. ¡°And we¡¯re back.¡± ¡°Everyone talk to the dude, let¡¯s get the second quest and get in there!¡± Jazz said. ¡°Hold on, hold on.¡± Ash said. ¡°It¡¯s a little after noon; we should eat something. And we should probably just generally take a short break and stretch.¡± ¡°No objections here.¡± Firo spoke up first. ¡°I haven¡¯t eaten or drank anything yet today. I could do with a donut and some coffee or something.¡± ¡°How long are we talking for a break?¡± Marissa asked. ¡°I could use a shower.¡± ¡°How does everyone feel about, like, an hour?¡± Kieran offered. ¡°I wouldn¡¯t mind taking a while to eat lunch with my daughter.¡± ¡°Oh, is Kat home with you?¡± Evan asked. ¡°She is. We figured since I was taking the day, there was no reason to pay for daycare.¡± Kieran glanced back over his shoulder to check on the girl, who had been quietly watching one of her kids shows on the TV in the room. ¡°I bet she¡¯d like to eat lunch with her dad, wouldn¡¯t she?¡± Kat¡¯s eyes snapped over from the TV and she nodded. ¡°Can we? I¡¯m hungry.¡± Kieran smiled. ¡°Is that alright with everyone?¡± A round of agreements came back. ¡°See you all in an hour then.¡± ¡°Enjoy your foods!¡± Chapter 30 : Lunch Break Kieran Kieran let the game idle on his PC as he swung around in his chair to face Kaitlyn. The game wasn¡¯t under serious server stress like at launch, so he could safely AFK in a town without having to worry about being disconnected. Though, to be fair, even if he did get kicked, it wouldn¡¯t be a big deal without massive queues to get in. ¡°So!¡± He said, then groaned as he stood up from the desk chair. ¡°What would my lovely little girl like to eat for lunch?¡± Kaitlyn took a moment to pause the TV and then shifted to face Kieran while she thought. ¡°Mac and cheese!¡± She shouted triumphantly. ¡°Mac and cheese, hm?¡± Kieran grinned as he scooped her up to carry her into the living room. They had a nice open concept house, with the living room and kitchen in the same area, so he was able to set her down on the couch and flick on the TV while he went about getting lunch together. Kat didn¡¯t actually watch the screen though, as she spun to perch her arms on the back of the couch to watch her dad as he ventured into the pantry. Kieran didn¡¯t have any luck finding mac and cheese. Kat liked a specific brand, and probably wouldn¡¯t just accept actual pasta with melted cheese - which Kieran could totally do, if she¡¯d be happy with it. ¡°Kat, I don¡¯t think we have any mac and cheese, hun.¡± Kieran said, shuffling some of the items in the pantry around, just to be sure. But the shelves were set up in such a way that you could pretty easily see everything without having to move much. Kat¡¯s little feet pounded on the floor as she ran over. ¡°What? No mac and cheese?¡± ¡°No mac and cheese.¡± Kieran said. ¡°Anything else you want instead? I¡¯ll go buy some this weekend when I go shopping.¡± The little girl just shook her head vehemently. ¡°No! Go buy some now.¡± She argued and pouted. Kieran did consider it; it wasn¡¯t like the market was far, and he could grab some other things while they were there. And it¡¯s not like anyone in Nettle Tea would begrudge him running to the store to get a cute little girl her lunch. But he was more concerned that running out just because she asked would set a bad precedent. Not that he hadn¡¯t done it before, to be fair, but she had to hear ¡®No¡¯ sometimes too. ¡°Not today, you little bugger. We¡¯ll find something to eat here. I¡¯ll get you the mac and cheese this weekend, and we can make some for lunch then, okay?¡± ¡°No! I want it now!¡± Kat shouted and crossed her arms angrily. She even looked away and stuck up her nose. Kieran had to hold back a bit of laughter because it was so adorable. Kieran opted to step around Kat to get to the fridge. He opened it to see what else was available, and his eyes landed on some American cheese singles in one of the drawers. And that seemed like a potentially good substitution. ¡°How about we make some grilled cheese?¡± He asked, turning back toward Kat with a smile. She narrowed her eyes at him but relented. ¡°Fine.¡± She said and marched back to the couch. Kieran snickered as he grabbed a handful of slices of cheese and went about his business in the kitchen gathering the ingredients and retrieving the stovetop sandwich press. As he went about buttering bread slices and getting the first sandwich in between the two frying pan-like plates, he was in a great mood. Kat was smiling again with an old rerun of Tom and Jerry playing, of all things. And honestly, the salty and savory idea of a grilled cheese actually really sounded delicious right about now. As he flipped the first sandwich, Kieran¡¯s phone chimed, so he pulled it from his pocket. ¡°Kat, do you want the first one or the second one?¡± He asked, opening the chat app. ¡°First!¡± She called, so Kieran kept an eye on it to make sure it didn¡¯t get too dark. She would absolutely say it was burnt if there was anything too dark on it. As he flipped it again to get the first side a little bit more golden, he checked the group chat.
{Bisky} : So, what did we want to do with part 2? Take the obvious path? Or should we try going a weird way? {Mello} : I¡¯m not sure. Maybe just decide once we¡¯re in? {Fiona} : Whichever works for me. We don¡¯t really know whether the straight path is easier or harder, so it¡¯s not like we¡¯ve got a lot to work off of. {Bisky} : True. I guess we¡¯ll do it by feel then. {Aleister} : No need to over commit too early. {Fiona} : Coming from you, Miss leap-before-you-look, that¡¯s rich. {Aleister} : Shut your face, Finoa. {Fiona} : Who? {Aleister} : Fiona. F-I-O-N-A. Bitch. {Fiona} : Lol. {Nyx} : So what¡¯s everyone¡¯s lunch today? {Fiona} : Tuna sandwich {Aleister} : Bagel w/ cream cheese. {Caoimhe} : I¡¯m making Kat and I some grilled cheese.Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author. {Bisky} : No lunch for me yet. Just a muffin and more tea. {Caoimhe} : What kinda muffin? {Bisky} : Banana Nut. What other option is there? {Caoimhe} : Fair. {Ash} : Lemon poppy is good. {Nyx} : Y''all are crazy. Double choc chip is right there. {Caoimhe} : That¡¯s waaaay too sweet for my blood. {Nyx} : *sigh* Unfortunately, none of your lunches have inspired me. I still don¡¯t know what to eat.
Kieran chuckled as he slipped his phone back into his pocket and plated Kat¡¯s grilled cheese. ¡°Order up.¡± He said, as he placed the paper plate on the far side of the kitchen island, where the stools were. Kat slipped off the couch to the tune of Hungarian Rhapsody No.2 going wrong and slipped onto the stool in front of her sandwich, spinning to watch the TV. ¡°What do you want to drink?¡± Kieran asked, as he placed his own grilled cheese in the press. ¡°Chocolate milk.¡± Kat said, clearly very enthralled with Jerry dancing around inside a piano. Kieran chuckled, as he moved to pour them both a glass of the chocolate milk. By the time he slipped the glass by Kat¡¯s plate, his sandwich was done. The second one and beyond always grilled so much faster. It was barely another minute before he slipped into the seat beside her with a bag of baked potato chips, which he shook out onto both their plates. Kieran also spun in his chair to watch Tom struggle to keep up with the big finale of the cartoon episode. As the last notes of the song played and Jerry hopped out of the piano to take a bow, Kieran and Kat both laughed. ¡°How¡¯s your grilled cheese?¡± Kieran asked, as they both spun back to the counter to eat during a commercial break. ¡°S¡¯good,¡± Kat said, taking an absolutely massive bite. Kieran couldn¡¯t tell if she was trying to rush through eating or just generally taking huge bites because she could, but he had to make sure not to laugh as she struggled to chew. ¡°You should take smaller bites, Kat.¡± He said. ¡°Otherwise you could choke on it.¡± ¡°But I want to take big bites. Like you.¡± She said, once again shoveling in a huge bit of sandwich. Once she took the bite, she held her grilled cheese up near Kieran¡¯s to compare the bite size. To her credit, they were pretty big bites. ¡°See?¡± ¡°Okay, but do you know why I take such big bites?¡± She tilted her head, curiously. ¡°No?¡± ¡°Because my mouth is bigger than yours.¡± ¡°So?¡± ¡°So because my mouth is bigger, when I take little bites, they¡¯re still bigger than yours.¡± Kieran said. ¡°So do a big bite then!¡± Kat said, excited. ¡°If I do a big bite, will you promise to take smaller bites?¡± ¡°Okay¡­¡± Kat said. So, true to his word, Kieran bit off a huge mouthful of his grilled cheese, then held it up while he struggled to chew. Side by side with his daughter¡¯s sandwich, the bite looked massive. ¡°Shee?¡± He said around the huge bite. Kat laughed. ¡°That is a big bite.¡± When Kieran finally got the bite down, he said, ¡°And you promised to take small ones now, just like I normally do.¡± ¡°Yeah, okay.¡± She said, then proceeded to take normal sized bites. Kieran nodded, finishing his own sandwich. He ignored his phone alerts, recognizing the sound for the chat notifications. If they actually needed him for anything, Marissa would text him. He picked away at the potato chips a bit while Kat finished her own sandwich. Once she was done, He stood and gathered up the trash to throw everything away and just generally clean up. Kat wandered back over to the couch and settled in to watch whatever cartoon was showing now. Once Kieran was finished cleaning up, he joined his daughter on the couch. She had flipped through some of the channels, and landed on some Blue¡¯s Clues. Kieran wasn¡¯t exactly sure how he felt about the newer revival series with the weird 3D Blue. But Kat liked it, and that was enough. As Kieran went to pull out his phone, Kaitlyn shifted over and crawled into his lap. Kieran put his arm around her waist so she could comfortably nuzzle in against his shoulder, but keep her eyes on the TV. They sat like that for a while as Kieran checked on the chat. It was mostly arguing over food and trying to figure out what Nyx should have for lunch. She had eventually settled on leftover Chinese food from the previous night. Once he was up to speed, Kieran tossed his phone to the other cushion and leaned back a little. Kat shifted to get comfortable again, and then promptly dozed off. Kieran rubbed the girl¡¯s back affectionately as her breathing evened out in her nap. With thirty minutes to go before the agreed upon meeting time, Kieran figured there was no reason to shift her off his lap and risk waking Kat up, so he was content to sit there. He swapped the TV over to watch some random internet videos - his most recent obsession was uploaded segments about how things were made. It was great background TV. Unfortunately, the great background TV did its work a little too well. Kieran had opted to avoid shifting to grab his phone to read or browse the internet, so he really only had the screen before him. But the house was warm, he was full of food, and he had somehow managed to be in a very comfortable position, even with Kat on his lap. It was merely minutes before his eyes closed and his head lulled back in a nap of his own.
¡°Dad. Dad. Your phone is going off.¡± Kieran woke up to getting jostled by Kaitlyn, nudging against him from his lap. ¡°C¡¯mon, wake up.¡± ¡°I¡¯m up, I¡¯m up.¡± He yawned, and stretched out to grab his phone while Kat scrambled off his lap. He blinked to clear his eyes as he tried to see what the phone screen said. It was a call. From Marissa. He quickly picked up the phone and put it to his ear. He didn¡¯t hear any yelling immediately from the get go, so that was a good sign. He stayed quiet for a moment too, since he didn¡¯t want to say anything that might spark Marissa¡¯s anger. Instead, she just sighed. ¡°You fell asleep with Kat, didn''t you?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± He admitted sheepishly. ¡°How late am I?¡± He asked, when he realized he didn¡¯t look at the time before answering. ¡°You¡¯re fine. It¡¯s like 1:30, so fifteen minutes late.¡± ¡°Sorry. I¡¯ll be right there.¡± Kieran said, stretching out on the couch. ¡°Take your time. We¡¯ve just been having friendly duels.¡± Marissa said. ¡°I absolutely wrecked Nyx.¡± ¡°Nice.¡± Kieran said, fighting back a yawn. ¡°Alright. I¡¯ll see you in five.¡± ¡°See ya.¡± She said and hung up. Kieran slipped the phone away and threw an arm around Kat¡¯s shoulders. ¡°Wanna come back to the study and hang with dad, or stay out here?¡± ¡°I¡¯ll come with you.¡± She said. Chapter 31 : Back In It
Party List
Caoimhe Phadraig (Kieran Moor) [Slayer] : [Tyrant] 11,000 / 11,000 11,000 / 11,000
Aleister Demian (Jasmine Burch) [War] : [Ebon] 11,000 / 11,000 11,000 / 11,000
Fiona Woods (Evan Woods) [Plate] : [Aegis] 11,000 / 11,000 11,000 / 11,000
Evie Lucian (Cassandra Bailey) [Soul] : [Radiance] 11,000 / 11,000 11,000 / 11,000
Mellody Softsong (Ashton Burch) [Muse] : [Revel] 11,000 / 11,000 11,000 / 11,000
Hibiscus Jade (Marissa Harper) [Arrow] : [Seeker] 11,000 / 11,000 11,000 / 11,000
Firo Strix (Blake Walker) [Mage] : [Invoker] 11,000 / 11,000 11,000 / 11,000
Nyx Alaion (Zoe Fox) [Shroud] : [Knife] 11,000 / 11,000 11,000 / 11,000
Kieran Kieran took the extra few minutes to get Kaitlyn settled in her spot before getting back to his PC. He bundled her up in a blanket cocoon so thoroughly that he had to help her sit up a few times when she fell over with laughter. But once she was in place on the couch in the study with the TV on, he patted her blanket-covered head and moved back over to his overly expensive computer chair. Mag Mell was still up and running, with Caoimhe crouched down and drawing with her finger on the ground - one of the idle animations that the game cycled through while he was AFK. He took a few deep breaths and stretched out a bit to get the blood flowing. Falling asleep on the couch had not exactly left him feeling great. He hadn¡¯t really been tired before the nap, but now he felt groggy. When he got his headset back on and clicked into the voice chat, he was immediately met with a chorus of voices. ¡°Caoimhe¡­¡± They said, in unison, sounding like a disappointed parent. There was absolutely no way they hadn¡¯t planned that response, and Kieran rolled his eyes. ¡°Yeah, yeah.¡± He sighed. ¡°I¡¯m back. Let¡¯s hear it.¡± ¡°Old man needed a midday nap?¡± Evan joked. ¡°Next time, set an alarm?¡± Nyx prodded. Several other jokes followed, but rather than taking turns, everyone just shouted over one another. The noise all came out jumbled through the headphone speakers. And not for the first time, Kieran wished headphones could actually separate audio layers so he could actually hear them all. ¡°Did Kat enjoy the nap?¡± Marissa asked, once everyone had finished talking over each other. Kieran snorted. ¡°She did. I¡¯m sorry I¡¯m late, everyone,¡± he said. ¡°And Fiona, I don¡¯t want to hear any shit from you. I give it two weeks before you either end up late because of a nap, or end up falling asleep during a raid, right in your chair.¡± ¡°Hey! That¡¯s not nice.¡± Evan said as Kieran got settled and prepared to continue. ¡°So, what¡¯s the plan?¡± He asked. ¡°I guess we just hit up part two, right?¡± Jazz asked. ¡°Yep.¡± Marissa said. ¡°Like I said on the phone, we were just wasting time. But I think everyone is ready to go in, right?¡± There was a chorus of agreements in the chat, but as usual it was difficult to tell if everyone was there. ¡°Drop R¡¯s in chat.¡± Marissa said, and as requested everyone typed an R into the Party chat. Once all eight names popped up, they were ready to move. ¡°Alright, let¡¯s meet back up at the quest giver.¡± Ash said, and Kieran leaned back in his chair; he was already right there, so he just had to wait. In the meantime, he idly looked through his inventory and sorted it. Mag Mell gave you plenty of inventory space to work with, so having a completely full inventory wasn¡¯t a particularly common occurrence. However, with all that space, the inventory windows had a very unfortunate tendency to end up messy and unorganized. And when you were looking for that one item among two hundred slots, it just got bad. Kieran had all kinds of random garbage in his inventory that he had picked up since the last time he had emptied his pockets. Plenty of enemies dropped random loot items that were virtually useless outside of very specific crafting recipes. And Mag Mell didn¡¯t make you loot non-boss enemies manually, so all the junk just automatically ended up in his inventory. He skipped over to the nearest NPC vendor to sell all of the extra junk. It¡¯s not like her would make useful amounts of gold from selling it all - just a pittance, really - but any gold was better than none if he just discarded it all.Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings. The real trick was getting everything in order so he didn¡¯t need to check every item manually. Thankfully, the automated sort function did some of the work, grouping items of the same type together - like the insane number of dyes he always carried - so some stuff could be safely ignored. But he still had to go through consumables carefully to get rid of the low level stuff, and then the same with the crafting materials. On the plus side, by the time he had sorted through everything, the party was basically ready to go. ¡°Last call for the bathroom.¡± Kieran said out of habit as they gathered at the queueing point. ¡°I¡¯m all good, Dad.¡± Nyx snickered. Kieran shrugged and figured he¡¯d lean into it. ¡°Alright, but this is your last chance. We¡¯re not stopping in ten minutes if you suddenly need to go.¡± There were some intermittent chuckles among the party, but he could also hear Kaitlyn giggling behind him. That, at least, made him smile. ¡°Uh, actually, I¡¯m gonna hit the bathroom before we go in.¡± Firo said. ¡°You should probably use the bathroom, not hit it.¡± Evan said dryly. ¡°That would hurt.¡± Firo simply ignored him, as the sounds of him taking off his headset and getting up came over the mic. But the others, Kieran included, slow-clapped for Evan. ¡°Whoo!¡± Jazz cheered, ¡°Getting started on those dad jokes! Hell yeah!¡± Someone snorted in response and started having a coughing fit, sputtering the whole time. ¡°Who¡¯s that?¡± ¡°You okay?¡± ¡°I think it¡¯s Evie.¡± Nyx said. ¡°Girl, you alright?¡± It took another few seconds before Evie¡¯s voice came over the chat, weak and raspy, as if she still was struggling. ¡°I¡¯m okay. Water went¡­down wrong.¡± ¡°You shouldn¡¯t do that either.¡± Evan said, only to be met with utter silence. ¡°Bro.¡± Ash said, and Kieran could easily see him shaking his head with that tone. ¡°What?¡± Evan said again, right as Firo sat back down. ¡°I¡¯m back,¡± he said, then paused before adding, ¡°I don¡¯t know exactly what I missed, but Fiona; you¡¯re not funny.¡± Kieran and several of the others let out faux gasps. ¡°Oh, no he didn¡¯t,¡± Jazz joked. ¡°Didn¡¯t what? Make us laugh? I know.¡± Firo said, without missing a beat. Laughter did finally erupt then, alongside a struggling snorting sound that must have been Evie, still trying to breathe. ¡°Evie, are you alright?¡± Nyx asked, finally. ¡°Yup, I¡¯ll manage.¡± Evie responded, her voice still sounding rough and labored. ¡°Let¡¯s just get going.¡± ¡°Oh shit. One sec, I need more tea.¡± Marissa said, before going muted in the chat. Kieran just laughed. ¡°Why do we always need to take turns? Can¡¯t we just all get up and do our things at the same time?¡± ¡°Shut up, you napping old man.¡± Evan snarked.
By the time everyone was actually ready to go, it was another 20 minutes. Evan ended up having to get up to help with Eli briefly, and everyone else did their own things for a bit. But once he returned, everyone was slowly reorganized into a group and finally gathered and ready to go. When Marissa finally put the group in, Kieran was raring to go, mostly recovered from his accidental nap. ¡°Okay¡­¡± Ash breathed out as everyone loaded into the second [Scenario]. The same landscape that they had left behind after clearing the first [Scenario] spread out before them. The town gate, or what remained of it, was still smoldering behind them. The area between their group and the city in the near distance was an absolute mess. What had probably been a beautiful green prairie originally was now a pockmarked, torn up landscape. Fomorian patrols were wandering around the area, looking to defend their supply lines toward the city they were besieging. There were even a few small wagons moving supplies around to camps. From their current location, the party had a fairly obvious path to [Gorias]. It would take them through a thin part of the enemy¡¯s blockade, where they were still in the process of surrounding the whole city. ¡°Well, I can see where they want us to go.¡± Evie said wryly. ¡°Is that the plan?¡± ¡°From here, what other options do we actually see?¡± Firo asked. ¡°We know the goal is to get to the city. I think no matter what we do, we need to break through the enemy line, right?¡± ¡°It looks like they''re still in the process of surrounding the city, so there¡¯s just the slight hole in front of us left.¡± Kieran said. "I know it¡¯s obviously cool to consider how we break the scenario and do something weird, but there¡¯s nothing wrong with going down the middle.¡± Marissa said. ¡°Here, here.¡± Evie cheered. ¡°So¡­we charge straight ahead? Evan asked, as he edged Fiona forward ahead of the group. ¡°Any objections to running full steam ahead?¡± Ash asked. ¡°Nope.¡± ¡°None here.¡± ¡°Let¡¯s go!¡± ¡°Charge!¡± With zero objections heard, Fiona drew her weapons and simply ran forward. The rest of the party followed a few steps behind, with Aleister carrying up the rear. ¡°Keep your eyes peeled for patrols. I assume we''ll eventually run into the blockade, but until then we should try to avoid fighting, yeah?¡± Ash said. ¡°Agreed.¡± Firo said. ¡°I would guess that the patrols here function basically the same as the ones in part one. They¡¯ll probably call for backup or something if we don¡¯t shut them down fast enough.¡± ¡°You know,¡± Jazz said, ¡°we still don¡¯t actually know what happens when you don¡¯t stop the call. And right now would be the right time to see what it does¡­Just saying.¡± Kieran chuckled. ¡°She has a point. We avoided the patrols altogether before because we didn¡¯t want to risk wiping after having killed whatever his name was. But right now, a wipe would hardly matter.¡± ¡°Fair point. Hm.¡± Nyx said. ¡°Should we try it?¡± Evan asked, turning Fiona toward the nearest patrol - which was still a ways out. ¡°Let¡¯s put it to a vote?¡± Marissa said tentatively. ¡°I¡¯m game.¡± Nyx said. ¡°Let¡¯s try it.¡± Jazz agreed. And evidently, that was enough for Evan who shouted ¡°Charge!¡± and ran off - alone - toward the patrol. ¡°We just want to see what happens when you fail to kill the horn-blower, yeah?¡± Ash asked. ¡°Yeah?¡± ¡°He doesn¡¯t need us for that.¡± Ash said, right as Fiona entered the pull range for the enemy patrol. ¡°Huh?¡± ¡°You¡¯re right!¡± Jazz said, her voice comically bright, as she started back pedaling toward where the group had spawned in. ¡°Good luck, Fiona!¡± ¡°Good luck!¡± ¡°Wait - you guys!¡± Evan said, as he was moving back toward the party to pull the enemies back to a safe area to fight them. And then he got hit with a [Root], stopping him cold. The patrol quickly swarmed over him, surrounding the single target they had, while Fiona did her best to block and survive. When the horn sounded, everyone focused on trying to see what would happen. Kieran had expected a new group of enemies, perhaps a mini-boss type enemy, to spawn nearby and enter the fray. Or maybe ranged support for the enemy, calling in AoEs for the party to dodge. He did not expect the call to actually call in all of the nearby patrols. And saying ¡®nearby¡¯ wasn¡¯t quite right. If there was a patrol visible on Kieran¡¯s screen, they were moving toward Fiona¡¯s location. And several of them were blowing horn notes in response to the call for help. ¡°Holy shit.¡± Evan muttered, as he tried his best to not die immediately. ¡°Holy shit is right.¡± Nyx said, ¡°That¡¯s going to be a lot of enemies.¡± ¡°...but that wouldn¡¯t make the pull all that dangerous, would it?¡± Firo asked, sounding confused. ¡°We tore through the one patrol lighting fast in part one. If we gathered all of the patrols here, we could still feasibly AoE all of them down just fine, outnumbered or no.¡± ¡°That¡¯s a good point too.¡± Marissa said, as the group watched Fiona fight for her life. ¡°Are you guys really just going to stand there?¡± Evan shouted. The rest of the patrols were nearing Fiona¡¯s position, but she had managed to mostly fight her way through the first patrol on her own. ¡°Do we think that there¡¯s some kind of secondary backup triggered if we fight our way through the patrols?¡± Firo offered, ignoring Evan¡¯s pleas for assistance. ¡°Or maybe some other bonus?¡± ¡°It¡¯s possible.¡± Ash said. We don¡¯t really know all that much about how they¡¯re handling things yet. Given our suspicion that we can ¡®go off script¡¯, maybe we do get something for our trouble.¡± ¡°Hey, you idiots gonna help me or not?¡± Evan shouted again, as he did his best to get Fiona over to the party before the other patrols converged on her. ¡°We are¡­?¡± Jazz asked tentatively. ¡°Yeah, let¡¯s help.¡± ¡°Alright.¡± The group moved to meet Fiona half way, ready to intercept the huge train of enemies following her. ¡°We got incoming.¡± Ash said. ¡°Yeah, no shit.¡± Evan growled, trying to hide his laughter. Chapter 32 : Area of Effect
Party List
Caoimhe Phadraig (Kieran Moor) [Slayer] : [Tyrant] 11,000 / 11,000 11,000 / 11,000
Aleister Demian (Jasmine Burch) [War] : [Ebon] 11,000 / 11,000 11,000 / 11,000
Fiona Woods (Evan Woods) [Plate] : [Aegis] 7,934 / 11,000 7,800 / 11,000
Evie Lucian (Cassandra Bailey) [Soul] : [Radiance] 11,000 / 11,000 9,000 / 11,000
Mellody Softsong (Ashton Burch) [Muse] : [Revel] 11,000 / 11,000 8,930 / 11,000
Hibiscus Jade (Marissa Harper) [Arrow] : [Seeker] 11,000 / 11,000 11,000 / 11,000
Firo Strix (Blake Walker) [Mage] : [Invoker] 11,000 / 11,000 11,000 / 11,000
Nyx Alaion (Zoe Fox) [Shroud] : [Knife] 11,000 / 11,000 11,000 / 11,000
Kieran As the group finally moved to help Fiona out of her current situation, Kieran was running a mental checklist to make sure he was prepared to face a huge hoard of middling enemies. The skills he needed to use were entirely different from normal here. With so many enemies around, even attacks that only did a little damage in an AoE would completely outscale a high damage single target attack. ¡°Aleister, group up enemies on the left. Fiona, take the right. Facing from where we¡¯re coming.¡± Ash said calmly. ¡°On it.¡± ¡°Who are our two best AoE DPS?¡± Ash wondered aloud. ¡°Me and Bisky.¡± Firo said. Ash didn¡¯t second guess Firo¡¯s answer and immediately continued. ¡°Ok, Firo, Caoimhe you take the right side with Fiona. Nyx, Bisky, left with Aleister.¡± ¡°Bro, you could¡¯ve just said small parties.¡± Evan chuckled. ¡°So I could¡¯ve.¡± Ash laughed in response. ¡°I¡¯m going to put out as much mit on the tanks as I can, so we¡¯ll be missing damage songs. I don¡¯t think we need them here, though.¡± ¡°Okay, I¡¯ll back you up with healing.¡± Evie said. ¡°Aleister, Fiona, you¡¯re going to need to keep a real close eye on your mit with this many enemies. Be proactive about it. If we misjudge this, you just die.¡± ¡°Right.¡± Jazz and Evan responded together. ¡°Then let¡¯s just do the best we can. Good luck everyone, focus up.¡± Ash said. ¡°And keep comms clear for callouts. If you see something happening, call it out. ¡°Yes sir!¡± Firo and Kieran called together, then laughed. ¡°Focus.¡± And then the first wave of enemies was upon them. Kieran did immediately focus on the task at hand. He wasn¡¯t sure how long he had between the different enemy groups reaching their little killzone, but he knew that the quicker they could remove the threats, the better off they would be. If the enemies¡¯ numbers built up too fast, their tanks would crumble under the weight, and then the rest of the party would follow. Caoimhe was running through only her basic attacks to start, which only worked well because they cleaved. Most melee attacks in Mag Mell did, to some degree. If you swung a weapon and the animation hit an enemy¡¯s model, they took the damage, unless the skill specifically called out that it was single target - and several of [Tyrant¡¯s] skills did specify that. Caoimhe was biding time until Fiona had rounded up as many of the enemies as she could manage. Some of the ranged mobs didn¡¯t get close enough naturally, so Fiona had to gather the melee ones and then use whatever draw-in abilities she had to gather the ranged ones. Unfortunately, the AI was smart enough here to actually keep distance if they had ranged attacks and you tried to approach them. Pulling them in and [Rooting] them was the best option. As soon as Fiona had most of the enemies grouped up, Caoimhe switched to using skills. [Wild Swing] was first, and the wide sweeping attack bowled over the whole mass of enemies. Firo jumped on that with several AoE magic skills, while Caoimhe hit them with [Punishment]. Fiona hit [Vortex Blade], which was a low damage skill that drew in nearby enemies with a vortex of wind.The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement. With the enemies gathered again, Caoimhe hit [Damnation], which was her highest damage skill with an AoE component at 2000 [Might]. Unfortunately, it also had a long [Cooldown] of 2 minutes. [Mass Devastation] was an AoE variant of the single target [Devastation], which did less damage at 600 [Might] than its cousin with 1800 [Might], but would pay out huge on eight targets like they had now. In combination with Firo¡¯s magical assault, the first pack of enemies were below 15% HP, so Caoimhe transitioned into dancing through them with her sweeping [Greatsword] attacks. Thankfully, the wide sweeps of the massive weapon were solid for AoE damage. Even with Caoimhe herself being so small, the weapon was large enough to make up for her reach pretty significantly, still damaging most, if not all, of the enemies. So long as she was careful about where she was aiming. The attacks dragged her forward after all, so repositioning and being conscious of directions were important. The next group that Fiona was responsible for arrived just before the first went down. Kieran could see the effects of new mit skills go off on Fiona, but was too focused on trying to maximize his own damage to acknowledge exactly what went out. Unfortunately, Caoimhe¡¯s natural lack of big AoE damage left her AoE rotation fairly sparse, mostly relying on going through her basic attack string and then [Wild Swing] and [Knockdown] - both of which were AoE - into [Punishment]. [Wild Swing] and [Knockdown] both had 40 second [Cooldowns], so Kieran offset them to make sure he was getting as many empowered [Punishments] as possible. On the plus side, Fiona was generating a number of [Stuns] and [Roots] on her own, which was helping Caoimhe sneak in empowered [Punishments] almost every time the skill came off its 10 second [Cooldown]. And as they continued, the waves kept coming. Worse still, given that of course there were less enemy patrols nearby comparatively to those further out, the time between new arrivals got shorter as they went on. Thankfully, Firo¡¯s skills were solid AoE damage, and his damage didn¡¯t fluctuate nearly as much as Caoimhe¡¯s. It was steady, reliable, and fairly high. ¡°I don¡¯t see any more patrols incoming.¡± Kieran heard Ash say, which snapped him out of his focus a bit. ¡°Good.¡± Jazz said. ¡°I¡¯m running really low on mit.¡± ¡°Same here.¡± Evan said. ¡°If this keeps going much longer, I¡¯m toast.¡± ¡°Push the damage.¡± Ash said. ¡°We¡¯re so close.¡± And they did. Kieran was only focused on their side of the field, but it was hard not to focus on the twenty-something enemies they were dealing with at once. Fiona¡¯s tank skills kept them gathered up, and between Caoimhe and Firo, the AoE damage going out was enough to comfortably carry them through. So long as Fiona didn¡¯t suddenly crumple after hitting empty. ¡°What. The. Hell.¡± Evan sighed, when the last enemy fell. Kieran also breathed a sigh of relief, and leaned back in his chair. Mag Mell didn¡¯t always remove enemy corpses immediately in instances, and that left a pretty strong impression on him now. Their party was surrounded by slain Fomorian enemies. And unfortunately, there was not a bit of loot to be found. ¡°What now?¡± Ash asked. ¡°Surely they didn¡¯t just throw this many enemies at us for it to just stop like this?¡± ¡°Maybe it¡¯s just giving us a breather?¡± Nyx said. ¡°I don¡¯t know, but there¡¯s no notable enemies left on the field.¡± Evie said. ¡°Let¡¯s make tracks.¡± ¡°Good call. Let¡¯s move.¡± Marissa said, and the group started moving toward [Gorias¡¯] city gates in the near-distance. ¡°I¡¯m honestly shocked how easy that turned out to be.¡± Nyx said as they moved. ¡°I guess they were basically just trash pulls strung together, right?¡± Marissa offered. ¡°No reason for them to have mechanics or anything interesting?¡± ¡°Speak for yourselves.¡± Evan said. ¡°Yeah.¡± Jazz agreed. ¡°There may not have been mechanics, but if Fiona or I messed up at all, we¡¯d have wiped.¡± ¡°No kidding.¡± Evie said. ¡°That was like walking a tightrope. A small mistake would have ruined us.¡± ¡°But intense healing like that is really fun.¡± Ash said. ¡°Really, really fun.¡± Evie snorted. ¡°True. Getting to use all of your skills like that, when you don¡¯t usually need to -¡± ¡°Oh, fuck.¡± Firo said, drawing out the curse. ¡°We need to run.¡± ¡°What?¡± Kieran spun his camera around, and it didn¡¯t take long to notice exactly what Firo saw. The Fomorian army was closing in from both sides. It was hard to judge how dangerous the situation was at this distance, but it was a full battalion to each side moving toward them. ¡°That¡¯s death approaching, chief.¡± Evan laughed wryly. ¡°What do?¡± ¡°Hit sprint and hope for the best?¡± Marissa said, as if they hadn¡¯t all hit [Sprint] by instinct after seeing the danger. They still had a ways to go before making it to the city gates. ¡°I actually think we¡¯ll make it in time.¡± Ash said, forcing calm into his voice. ¡°They¡¯re still too far away to make it here before we reach the gates.¡± ¡°Think again.¡± Nyx laughed, incredulous. ¡°Never seen those before.¡± ¡°Is that a fucking cavalry charge?¡± Kieran laughed, as he watched a medium sized group break away from the mass of the army and start moving toward them much faster than the foot soldiers. ¡°Okay, there¡¯s no way we outrun that.¡± ¡°What do?¡± Evan repeated, sounding like he was on the verge of laughing. ¡°Keep running.¡± Ash said. ¡°This is basically an open field. Until we have more information, there¡¯s not exactly much we can do.¡± ¡°Just keep running, just keep running.¡± Evie muttered, which finally broke the dam, and everyone started laughing. It took almost two minutes for the enemy cavalry to approach. The party was fairly close to the city gates by then, after a boring but tense two minutes of solid running, hitting [Sprint] every time it was available. As they got closer, Kieran could see the work that went into making the cavalry look dangerous. The Fomorian riders, as always, were a wide mix of monstrous humanoid animals that looked like the product of some kind of twisted experimentation. Their bodies were irregular, with unnatural shapes and figures. The animals they rode, though, looked like mutated horses. They were definitely horse-shaped, but had patches of hair missing in various places, and their manes were also patchy. The bodies themselves looked unnaturally muscled, their haunches bulging in odd shapes. What stuck our most, though, were their heads. They looked almost skeletal, as if they were undead horses, not just twisted experiments. And every single one of them had smoldering green pits for eyes. Kieran figured the particular shade of green used may also have contributed to the necrotic, undead look. As soon as the enemy cavalry was within a reasonable distance, red AoEs appeared on the ground. The entire space around the party was red with lines. ¡°Oh, they¡¯re gonna trample us. Yay.¡± Firo said. ¡°Never thought I¡¯d be on the receiving end of a cavalry charge in a game like this.¡± Evan laughed. ¡°There¡¯s no dodging this.¡± Ash said. ¡°Get ready to intercept.¡± ¡°Everyone behind the tanks.¡± Jazz called. The cavalry had approached only from the right side, which was where the front of the city was. It was, presumably, also where the main mass of the Fomorian army was. Thankfully, with only the one cavalry unit coming to meet them, positioning was easy enough to handle. Aleister and Fiona moved to body block the party as best they could, ready to intercept the charge. The red AoE lines had a bit of overlap, so there was definitely no safe zone. And each line was a little more than one player character wide. ¡°I¡¯ve got a crazy idea.¡± Kieran said, suddenly. ¡°Oh, yeah?¡± ¡°They¡¯re charging just one man deep. Stun the ones hitting us.¡± He said. With the party organized the way they were, they would need to stun three of the enemies in the center of the charge to stop them from trampling the party. ¡°I see. Let¡¯s do it.¡± Marissa said, as the enemy charged. ¡°I got left.¡± Kieran said. ¡°Center.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll take right.¡± Caoimhe had to move in front of the tanks to reach, putting herself distinctly in danger. Kieran prayed as he hit [Ring the Bell] just as his chosen rider got close. The stun hit the monstrous horse and rider, stopping them before they had made it to the party. Caoimhe still took the hit, though, with the charge attack landing at the same time as her stun. The attack blew her back past their tanks, and she tumbled on the ground. [Resolute Charge >> 10,043] Kieran looked at the sub 1,000 HP numbers and let out a sigh of relief as Caoimhe stood up. ¡°Holy shit, that damage!¡± Evie shouted as she threw a targeted heal at Caoimhe. ¡°If we messed that up, we¡¯d be dead.¡± Marissa said. Thankfully, she and Firo had taken the other two stun responsibilities, and they had range. Together, the three of them did stop the three necessary riders in their tracks before they trampled the group. ¡°We¡¯re not exactly safe yet.¡± Nyx said warily. And she was right. After the first pass, the cavalry enemies hadn¡¯t opted to turn for a second pass, but they were now riding in circles around the party, trapping them. Even the three riders they had stunned were moving to join their fellows in the circling trot. ¡°We need to break through.¡± Jazz said. ¡°Sure, but they¡¯re layering up now.¡± Kieran said. ¡°Three circles in alternating directions. I don¡¯t think we can just charge through.¡± As soon as he finished speaking, three red AoE lines appeared. The group deftly moved out of the way as three riders charged through the center of the circle, only to rejoin the blockade on the other side. ¡°Well, we need to figure something out. And fast. Before the actual army arrives.¡± Marissa said. ¡°Right. No pressure.¡± Evan laughed. Chapter 33 : Break the Line
Party List
Caoimhe Phadraig (Kieran Moor) [Slayer] : [Tyrant] 957 / 11,000 8,000 / 11,000
Aleister Demian (Jasmine Burch) [War] : [Ebon] 11,000 / 11,000 7,800 / 11,000
Fiona Woods (Evan Woods) [Plate] : [Aegis] 11,000 / 11,000 3,040 / 11,000
Evie Lucian (Cassandra Bailey) [Soul] : [Radiance] 11,000 / 11,000 5,085 / 11,000
Mellody Softsong (Ashton Burch) [Muse] : [Revel] 11,000 / 11,000 3,040 / 11,000
Hibiscus Jade (Marissa Harper) [Arrow] : [Seeker] 11,000 / 11,000 7,088 / 11,000
Firo Strix (Blake Walker) [Mage] : [Invoker] 11,000 / 11,000 6,083 / 11,000
Nyx Alaion (Zoe Fox) [Shroud] : [Knife] 11,000 / 11,000 9,000 / 11,000
Kieran The situation Clan Nettle Tea found themselves in wasn¡¯t exactly great. They were in a time crunch, surrounded, and just generally unprepared for their current predicament. Kieran watched on his screen as the enemy cavalry circled their little band of fighters, waiting for their own turn to try to run them down by crossing the circle. A circle that was three rows of riders deep. They could simply run through that many enemies unscathed and hope for the best. Not to mention, if they left a bunch of riders behind, nothing stopped them from simply running them down again. They would need to fight their way out of here, and leave enough damage in their wake to stop the riders from chasing after them as they ran into the supposed safety of the city they were sent to fight for. As the second group of riders prepared to charge across the center of the encirclement and the AoEs marked their intended paths, the party scrambled out of the way. ¡°We have to do the same thing as before.¡± Ash said, making the snap decision. ¡°Stun them as they pass, or maybe try a knockdown. Then we have to dogpile on them with damage as quickly as possible.¡± ¡°Yup.¡± Nyx agreed, and everyone immediately moved to enact the plan. As soon as the enemy charged, the party attacked. Caoimhe hit [Wild Swing] to see whether the [Knockdown] effect would work, while Bisky and Firo lit up the two other targets with the same ranged stuns they had used previously. The party split their attention to the two stunned enemies, taking them down first, as their mounts bucked in place leaving the riders unable to act. The target that Caoimhe had hit had been knocked from their mount, and the mount ran off, charging its way through the circle of riders. The abandoned rider was on the ground and at Caoimhe¡¯s mercy as she landed a [Punishment], followed by a [Devastation]. Those hits were enough to put the enemy down. ¡°Oh, they¡¯re super squishy without the mount.¡± Kieran said. ¡°Knockdown dismounted them.¡± ¡°Good to know.¡± Evan said, a grin audible in his voice. [Tyrants] notably had the most [Knockdown] effects in their skills, as their [Dedication Skill] revolved around that sort of status. The tank [Paths] had the second most. Knowing that [Knockdowns] and not [Stuns] were probably the best move going forward, the party¡¯s arrangement changed. Caoimhe, Fiona, Aleister, and Nyx moved to cover the four cardinal directions while the healers and ranged DPS gathered in the middle, ready to attack every viable target. When the third charge¡¯s AoEs appeared, everyone moved to claim a target. ¡°Nyx, you stay in reserve.¡± Jazz called. ¡°Keep Trip and Ankle Pick in our back pocket just in case.¡± ¡°Got it. I¡¯ll act as back up then.¡± Nyx said. The third group of charging riders crossed into the middle of the circle and were dismounted easily enough. Caoimhe, Aleister, and Fiona had even waited as long as they could before acting, managing to unseat the riders pretty close to the party in the middle, making the follow-ups that much easier. In fact, once the riders were dismounted, their HP pool was so little that the party had overcommitted on attacks, with two skills ready to hit two of the riders that landed near one another simply scorched the already dead enemies and the ground around them instead.Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. ¡°Oops.¡± Firo said, chuckling. ¡°Should we be attacking the ones circling around us, you think?¡± Marissa asked. Kieran, with only Caoimhe¡¯s sword for reach, hadn¡¯t even considered that. ¡°I¡¯m sitting on a ton of free damage skills right now, but I¡¯m worried about what might happen if we attack the circle.¡± ¡°Same.¡± Firo said. ¡°If they just collapse on us because we attacked them, we definitely wipe.¡± ¡°We hold back for now, then.¡± Ash said, as round four of the charges started. They were coming a bit faster. ¡°We have some time before the army reaches us. If they get too close, we¡¯ll start lighting them up.¡± ¡°Got it.¡± The process continued for a bit uninterrupted. Three riders from among the group would charge at the party, get locked down, get dogpiled, and the process would repeat. Nyx had to cover as things sped up, as everyone else needed to carefully cycle through their [Knockdowns]. And more than once - especially as the downtime between assaults got shorter - Bisky and Firo needed to step in with [Stuns] just for safety. Kieran wasn¡¯t sure, exactly, how many rounds they had gone when he noticed that the encirclement was down to two rows deep instead of three. But they still probably needed to thin out the crowd a bit more before they could make a break for it. Unfortunately, they didn¡¯t appear to have the time, even with the assaults coming faster and faster. ¡°Even with them speeding up, I don¡¯t think they¡¯re going to thin down fast enough.¡± Ash said, eyeing the approaching army beyond the encirclement. ¡°Definitely not.¡± Evan agreed. ¡°And if they keep speeding up, we¡¯re going to run out of counters.¡± ¡°Alright. We make a break for the city gate, then.¡± Jazz said, sounding excited for more action. ¡°Be careful. Watch for the line AoEs, because that charge really hurts.¡± Kieran said. ¡°I¡¯ve never had to make a fighting retreat in an MMO outside of PvP before.¡± Nyx laughed. ¡°Really?¡± Evie asked. ¡°All those times you¡¯ve ran away with your tail tucked with a mob train chasing you to the edge of a zone?¡± ¡°That¡¯s different!¡± Nyx protested. ¡°Besides, running like a baby isn¡¯t exactly a fighting retreat.¡± ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s fair.¡± ¡°Heads up, guys. Get ready.¡± When the next set of AoEs appeared, Ash shouted, ¡°Now!¡± The whole group made a break toward what Kieran had been thinking of as North together. Fiona led the way, but Kieran hit Caoimhe¡¯s [Sprint] to get a bit out front, and used [Wild Swing]. ¡°I got this.¡± He said as Caoimhe leapt forward and bowled over several of the riders, making a decent hole for the party to dash through. The other enemies nearby did quickly move to cover the gap and attack, but Aleister and Fiona deftly interposed themselves and covered the squishier party members as they ran. Once the party was clear of the encirclement, things went immediately fell into chaos. Red line AoEs appeared, as the remaining riders spread out into a line again, leaving the party nowhere to really maneuver to. They kept running forward, but there was simply no way for them to outrun their mounted opponents. ¡°Keep running!¡± Marissa shouted. ¡°Ohh, shit.¡± Evan said as Fiona and Aleister tried to catch back up with the party. ¡°Single file! Single file!¡± Ash shouted. ¡°Everyone, stack into one line. Rissa, stun the rider for the line we¡¯re in.¡± He said hastily. ¡°Everyone else, just keep running and hope for the best!¡± Despite the stressful situation, the group reacted well. Everyone lined up, trying to wiggle around in just one of the AoE lines, so they would be safe with a single [Stun]. Theoretically, Kieran was pretty sure the plan should work. When the cavalry line charged, once the rider entered Bisky¡¯s range, her attack went out and her aim was true. Like before, the horse bucked in place, the charge ending right there. However, they were far from out of danger. The rest of the cavalry line charged past them, able to move much faster than they could on foot. And the line condensed, closing the hole left by the [Stunned] rider, as the whole group circled around for another pass. And this time, they were clearly lining up a charge from the side, crossing the party¡¯s path. There was no way to keep their forward momentum toward the city but also line up in a single AoE for safety. ¡°Any ideas?¡± Nyx asked. ¡°None that sound appealing.¡± Ash answered. Kieran muttered under his breath, not wanting to curse with Kaitlyn in the room. When the AoE lines appeared, Kieran was surprised to see that there were more behind them than in front. This actually looked surprisingly doable. ¡°Movement skills.¡± He said. ¡°Outrun the AoEs. We can make it.¡± ¡°Fine. Do it.¡± Ash said, and suddenly the tight formation the party had held for the previous pass fell apart as it was every player for themselves. Everyone [Sprinted] to squeeze out every bit of speed they had when it came to regular movement. Then everyone hit whatever skills they had available for movement. For Caoimhe, that meant using [Driver] for the burst of forward movement, followed by [Phantom Leap] and [Pivot Slash]. [Phantom Leap] was a simple skill that just made Caoimhe leap forward while utilizing invincibility frames to dodge. The dodge didn¡¯t take her far, but it was still faster than running. [Pivot Slash] was used for a similar reason, but it was meant to be a two hit attack that used the weight of Caoimhe¡¯s weapon to throw her body around to cover a decent distance. It actually took her further than [Phantom Leap] did. As soon as Caoimhe touched down from [Pivot Slash], the cavalry charge began. Caoimhe crossed out of the red death zone with a bit of time to spare, and Kieran turned the camera around to see how everyone else fared. Everyone seemed to be doing alright with two exceptions. Fiona was in the process of layering mitigation abilities to survive the attack, and would probably be fine. ¡°Y¡¯all, it¡¯s all or nothing now. Just keep running.¡± Ash said, as Mellody simply wasn¡¯t able to keep up. With only [Coda Step] for movement, she had no way to get out of the charge in time. ¡°Fiona - knockback. Don¡¯t forget the knockback.¡± Firo shouted. ¡°Oh, shit. Shit. Shit.¡± Evan cried as the charge ran over Fiona and Mellody. Mellody¡¯s HP bottomed out immediately, her defense, even with a bit of shielding, simply not enough to take the hit and remain standing. ¡°I call bullshit.¡± Evan shouted angrily as Fiona¡¯s body - still alive - went tumbling to the side as she was trampled. ¡°Dig in is on cooldown, but it didn¡¯t stop the knockback. I hate this game.¡± Kieran chuckled at the familiar mutterings as Fiona stood and continued after the party, admittedly falling a fair bit behind. But the city¡¯s gate was noticeably in reach. And the gate was opening. ¡°I¡¯m not sure if this is a good or bad sign.¡± Marissa said. ¡°Let¡¯s hope good.¡± Evie said. ¡°Because if it¡¯s bad, we¡¯re just doomed.¡± And then the sound of a war horn blared from the direction of the city. Or at least Kieran thought it was based on his headphones. But when a cavalry appeared to ride out of the city flying the banner of the [Tuatha D¨¦ Danann] that flew all over [Falias], he let out a sigh of relief. ¡°Don¡¯t stop running.¡± Ash said, ¡°You¡¯ve probably got one more charge to deal with.¡± And sure enough, a set of red lines appeared; thankfully parallel with their running from the back again, like the first time. The party was scattered after they made their dashes, but they tried to gather up to minimize [Stun] usage. They managed to get into two groups, with Bisky and Firo able to cover them respectively. ¡°Come on.¡± Firo said as the cavalry charged at them. The two [Stun] attacks went out and thankfully found their marks cleanly, allowing the party safe passage through what was hopefully the last AoE. When the enemy cavalry passed them, they quickly broke to the left, and rode off to put distance between them and the [Tuatha d¨¦] cavalry that was riding out to meet the party. ¡°Don¡¯t stop running!¡± The dialogue flashed in the center of the screen, with a commanding female voiceover playing alongside it. ¡°We¡¯ll cover your run into the city, but make haste! We have no time out here!¡± The party didn¡¯t think twice as they ran the best they could, with every movement ability they had already used. The circling of friendly riders was enough to cut some of the tension though, as everyone started snickering despite the situation. ¡°Is that it? Are we safe?¡± Jazz asked. ¡°Don¡¯t ask that yet.¡± Nyx and Evie snapped together, which only made the chuckling escalate. It wasn¡¯t until the riders pushed the party through the city¡¯s gates that Kieran finally breathed a huge sigh of relief, and laughed incredulously. ¡°We did it.¡± He breathed, and the voice chat erupted into cheers. ¡°What¡¯d you do, Dad?¡± Kat asked from right beside him. Her suddenly appearing next to his elbow made Kieran jump, the excitement spiking all at once. He did not scream. Yelp, maybe. But it wasn¡¯t a scream. Chapter 34 : Part One, Clear
Party List
Caoimhe Phadraig (Kieran Moor) [Slayer] : [Tyrant] 11,000 / 11,000 11,000 / 11,000
Aleister Demian (Jasmine Burch) [War] : [Ebon] 11,000 / 11,000 11,000 / 11,000
Fiona Woods (Evan Woods) [Plate] : [Aegis] 11,000 / 11,000 11,000 / 11,000
Evie Lucian (Cassandra Bailey) [Soul] : [Radiance] 11,000 / 11,000 11,000 / 11,000
Mellody Softsong (Ashton Burch) [Muse] : [Revel] 11,000 / 11,000 11,000 / 11,000
Hibiscus Jade (Marissa Harper) [Arrow] : [Seeker] 11,000 / 11,000 11,000 / 11,000
Firo Strix (Blake Walker) [Mage] : [Invoker] 11,000 / 11,000 11,000 / 11,000
Nyx Alaion (Zoe Fox) [Shroud] : [Knife] 11,000 / 11,000 11,000 / 11,000
Kieran Kieran resituated himself after the minor jumpscare courtesy of Kaitlyn, and pulled her into his lap. Raucous laughter carried through his headphones as the party laughed hysterically between their victory and his yelp of fright. ¡°I¡¯ll be right back.¡± He said flatly, and muted his microphone, took off the headphones, and placed them on his desk. The message [Scenario Cleared] was still displaying on his screen as he hadn¡¯t clicked it away yet. It had popped up almost the same instant that the city gates had closed behind the party. Kieran pointed to the massive metal gates on his screen. ¡°You see that big door?¡± He asked Kat. ¡°Mhm.¡± Kat nodded. ¡°Me and my friends were getting chased by the bad guys and had to run into the city before they caught us.¡± He said, then spun his camera with the mouse to show Kat the whole of Clan Nettle Tea in the midst of celebration. Firo was dancing back and forth, as if his player was mashing the A and D keys. Fiona, Aleister, Nyx, and Evie were all running in a circle chasing one another. Mellody and Hibiscus were doing two different dance emotes that simply did not sync up at all. Kieran typed in ¡°/cheer¡± and hit the Enter key to make Caoimhe put her hands up and cheer happily. Kat giggled at the scene. ¡°So you won?¡± She asked. ¡°Sorta.¡± Kieran said, resting his chin on the top of Kat¡¯s head. ¡°We won that part of the big quest, but there¡¯s still more for us to do.¡± ¡°What¡¯s the big quest?¡± ¡°We need to save this town.¡± Kieran said. "From what?¡± Kat asked, curiously. Kieran didn¡¯t exactly want to tell her about the mutated, animalistic creatures that were the Fomorians. So instead, he just said, ¡°Some bad hyenas,¡± thinking back to the mostly hyena-like [Rruk]. ¡°Oh.¡± She said seriously. ¡°Like the ones in The Lion King.¡± Kieran chuckled. ¡°Yeah, just like that.¡± They had only recently started letting Kat watch some of the classic Disney movies as she was finally getting old enough to enjoy them. She didn¡¯t really understand everything very well, but the songs and animation were big selling points for her. And she liked animals, so some of the classics were particularly well received with her; she particularly loved The Aristocats. ¡°Can I stay and watch?¡± She asked, tilting her head back to try to look at her father. She only managed to end up placing his chin on her forehead, and she giggled at the scratchy feeling of Kieran¡¯s trim beard on her face. ¡°You can if you want,¡± he said, moving to kiss her forehead where it was getting mildly scratched. ¡°I don¡¯t think it¡¯s going to be very exciting right now though.¡± ¡°No fighting?¡± ¡°No fighting.¡± He confirmed. Kat and Aoife both liked watching the action on occasion, but were always bored when he was just running around a city or town. Unless he was letting them do the running, but he wasn¡¯t sure that was safe right now. ¡°Okay.¡± Kat pouted, suddenly downcast. Kieran glanced at the clock, figuring it should almost be time for Aoife to return from school. And he was right. ¡°Aoife should be home soon. Why don¡¯t you hang out for a bit and wait for her. Then when she gets home, I¡¯ll make you two snacks?¡± Kat perked up immediately when snacks were mentioned, her eyes shining with interest. ¡°I can do that!¡± ¡°Good.¡± Kieran grinned. ¡°I want apple slices and peanut butter!¡± Kieran laughed. ¡°I can do that.¡± There were certainly worse snacks she could ask for.This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings. ¡°And I want the apple with a spiral cut!¡± She cheered. ¡°Okay, okay. Go watch your show for now, and when Aoife gets home, we¡¯ll do that.¡± He said. They had an apple corer and slicer tool in the kitchen that they used pretty regularly for such snacks. Kat really liked the way it cut the apples into a spiral, and had been requesting them pretty often. Not that Kieran would complain; apples were solid snacks. When he gathered his headphones and got them back in place, he heard everyone discussing how else that last scenario could have gone. ¡°We have to assume we bypassed a boss somehow, right? There¡¯s no way that the entire scenario was just to get to the gates safely, and if you do it carefully, there¡¯s no real threat.¡± Evan said. ¡°I would typically be inclined to agree with you, but we haven¡¯t seen enemies or adds randomly spawn in the middle of a fight here, yet. So wouldn¡¯t the boss have been somewhere on the field from the beginning?¡± Nyx said. ¡°I really have no idea.¡± Marissa said, trailing off in thought. ¡°When we first spawned into the scenario, could we see the enemies that were the closest to the city gate, you think? Maybe there was a boss up here waiting originally, but when we triggered the swarm scenario it despawned?¡± ¡°Could be.¡± Kieran said. ¡°Oh, welcome back.¡± Ash said, and several instances of ¡®WB¡¯ were typed in chat to not interrupt the conversation. ¡°I don¡¯t think we¡¯ve really seen enough overall to figure out how the scenarios really play out yet.¡± Kieran said. ¡°But I feel like Bisky probably has the right idea.¡± ¡°That there was a boss waiting for us, but something we did made it go poof?¡± Evie asked. ¡°That makes the most sense to me, at least.¡± Kieran affirmed. ¡°At the very least, I agree with Evan.¡± Ash said. ¡°I highly, highly doubt that we would have simply snuck our way into the city if we moved carefully. There must have been some kind of challenge that was removed when we triggered the different option.¡± ¡°Uh, guys?¡± Firo said, ¡°I¡¯m down to keep discussing this, but we should probably grab the loot and get out of the instance, just in case.¡± ¡°Good call.¡± Ash said. ¡°I think Fiona should open it this time.¡± After getting agreements all around, Fiona stepped up to the lead cavalry rider that had defended the party on their run into the city. The female Fae was sparkling the way an enemy would when they had loot to claim. Although it wasn¡¯t common, there had been some occasions where NPCs had acted as treasure chests like this before, when talking to them would grant the loot and end the instance. When Fiona interacted with the NPC, the loot window popped up. [Puddle Jumpers] [Cloth] [Defense : 1] [Slash : 1] [Pierce : -1] [Blunt : 0] [Invested Effect : Gain [Puddle Jump] Skill] [Banner Shield] [Kite Shield] [Defense : 15] [Resistance : 16] [Parry : 18] [Invested Effect : [Rally] type skills receive boosted effects.] ¡°Well, those feel almost targeted.¡± Evan chuckled. ¡°How so?¡± Jazz asked. ¡°Well, I died at the end because I don¡¯t have any movement skills besides Coda Step.¡± Ash said, referring to the [Puddle Jumpers], and their attached skill that granted a forward dash. ¡°And the Banner Shield would have been great for dealing with large groups of enemies when we¡¯re outnumbered.¡± Evan said. ¡°I¡¯m 200% not specced for Rally skills though since I put everything into Counter skills instead.¡± [Rally] skills were unique to the [Plate] [Path] and functioned as buffs for nearby allies very similar to the way that [Muse] functioned - except [Rally] skills were almost entirely based around survival. They would have been very useful to the party if they didn¡¯t have Mellody playing [Muse] virtually all the time. ¡°I don¡¯t think there will be any argument about giving the Puddle Jumpers to Mello. That just makes sense, given the additional safety for a healer is always good.¡± Kieran said, and indeed, no one objected to it. ¡°What about the Banner Shield?¡± Firo asked. ¡°Well, it¡¯s a Kite Shield, so it¡¯s distinctly a tank item,¡± Nyx said. Some of the DPS [Paths] could use shields, but [Kite Shields] specifically were a tank-only type. ¡°The defensive stats are really good, so it is pretty usable even on a non-Plate path.¡± ¡°True.¡± Evan said. He didn¡¯t sound too enthralled with the item to begin with. ¡°Aleister?¡± Marissa asked. ¡°I¡­could use it.¡± Jazz said, unsure. ¡°I don¡¯t currently have one-handed weapons to pair it with but it could feasibly work well on Plague if we found a good one-hander for it.¡± ¡°What do you think, Fiona?¡± Ash asked. ¡°I¡¯ll leave it up to a group vote.¡± Evan said. ¡°I don¡¯t necessarily think I¡¯d use it normally, given my normal build. However, Mello, if we¡¯re ever in a position where we need you on Omen and we want me to swap into a Rally focused build, it could be a significant booster.¡± ¡°Let¡¯s let Fiona have it.¡± Jazz said, before anyone else could speak. ¡°I have my Plague fully geared and wouldn¡¯t be able to use it without tracking down other gear. Having it in our Plate¡¯s back pocket if we ever need feels like a better decision.¡± ¡°Fair enough.¡± Ash said. ¡°No arguments there.¡± Evie agreed. And the loot rolls went on as decided, with Mellody getting the new boots, which were swapped in immediately, and Fiona putting the Banner Shield in storage for now. Once the loot was handled, the lead rider spoke again. ¡°Well met, all of you.¡± She said, dismounting from her warhorse. She hadn¡¯t had a nameplate visible until now, but when she dismounted and removed her helmet, one appeared. [Uathach, Shadow¡¯s Daughter] ¡°I am Uathach, the leader of these riders. It is a blessing to see even a few reinforcements arrive before the siege begins; I hope you bring good news.¡± After the lines of dialogue were delivered, the screen faded to black as the party was removed from the instance. Kieran leaned back in his chair, expecting the docks of [Esras] to reappear. But instead, the party reappeared basically right where they had been inside the instance, just inside the gates of [Gorias]. [Uathach] was even still standing there, with a quest marker over her head. Evidently, they had some story cutscenes to work through before the next [Scenario] was available. But more than that, it was what popped up when they all loaded in that caught everyone''s attention and caused a cheer. [In Defense of Gorias, Part One] [Clear] ¡°But also, what does that mean?¡± Nyx laughed. ¡°¡®In Defense of Gorias¡¯ was the name of the quest we all accepted to do the raid, right? I don¡¯t think it mentioned being part one?¡± ¡°It didn¡¯t. And the quest isn¡¯t cleared.¡± Ash said, directing Kieran¡¯s attention to the side of his screen where active quests were displayed. And sure enough, [In Defense of Gorias] was still listed, unchanged. Except the current objective was [Speak with Uathach]. Not really a surprise there. ¡°I guess the part one notice is just to let us know we¡¯ve made it through a complete section of the overall raid?¡± Evie said. ¡°That¡¯s my guess as well.¡± Firo said. ¡°I¡¯m expecting some story content next. Cutscenes, a bit of plot and lore, that sort of thing, before we get the next scenario.¡± ¡°That makes sense.¡± Marissa said. ¡°How¡¯s everyone doing? Do we want to keep going?¡± ¡°I think I need a break.¡± Ash said. ¡°Unlike Caoimhe, I didn¡¯t take a nap after lunch and my eyes are starting to hurt.¡± ¡°Ditto.¡± Evie said. ¡°I¡¯m all for taking a nice extended break for a few hours.¡± ¡°As the one who delayed us all earlier, I apologize.¡± Kieran said. ¡°But I¡¯m in agreement. Aoife should be home soon, and I promised snacks to Kat when her sister gets home.¡± ¡°Alright. Meet back up for normal raid time tonight?¡± Marissa asked, and dissolved the party in the meantime. ¡°Let¡¯s say an hour into it?¡± Evan offered. ¡°We¡¯ve made solid progress today, and I don¡¯t think piling in another three hours later will be that important, especially when we still have tomorrow and Thursday. Let¡¯s take it kinda easy tonight.¡± ¡°I¡¯m okay with that.¡± ¡°Sure.¡± ¡°Alright. That gives us like a five hour break.¡± Kieran said, glancing at the clock and doing some quick math. ¡°Let¡¯s try to each get the cutscenes done individually?¡± Marissa asked. ¡°So we can hop right back when we reconvene?¡± ¡°No can do, boss lady.¡± Evan chuckled. ¡°I tried clicking already. Same message as before - it needs to be triggered in a large party.¡± ¡°Welp. Guess we gather up and get through some cutscenes before we get to the next fight then.¡± Evie chuckled. ¡°Alright. See you all in a bit.¡± Jazz said, before Kieran heard the chime that sounded when someone left chat. ¡°Damn, she got outta here fast.¡± Evan noted. ¡°Peace.¡± And then he was gone too. ¡°Alright. See y¡¯all later.¡± Kieran said, and disconnected, then sat back and watched the names in the chat disappear as everyone else left. ¡°Dad!¡± Kat shouted. ¡°Aoife¡¯s not home yet.¡± ¡°That¡¯s fine,¡± Kieran said, standing up and stretching. ¡°She should be any minute now. Wanna go get started on your apples?¡± ¡°Yeah!¡± She cheered and leapt from the couch, dashing out of the study and toward the kitchen. Kieran chuckled and followed, hearing the unmistakable sound of the school bus stopping outside. ¡°Ah, perfect timing.¡± Chapter 35 : Reset and Recharge Kieran Kieran was grateful for the break, not that he felt like he needed it. In fact, he was sure that if he had no other responsibilities, he¡¯d be able to raid all day long, even if they kept failing. He didn¡¯t usually feel all that fatigued or drained after long gaming sessions, despite it seeming to be a fairly normal response. A lot of his previous gaming friends would start running on empty after three or four hours. Especially mentally. As it was, he may not have felt that sort of drain, but he did feel like he shouldn¡¯t just sit and play. He had responsibilities, not the least of which were his kids. And even with ostensibly taking the day off specifically to play a game, he felt bad not spending time with them when they were around. So once Aoife walked through the door, Kieran silently vowed that the next several hours were family time. It took a bit of doing once he got out the old counter-mounted apple corer, but he fought his way through five apples - one for Kat, two for Aoife, and two for himself. Everytime he used the corer, he made a note to himself that he should probably get a new one. Theirs was an embarrassing number of years old, and a little bit rusty. It still performed admirably, but he was willing to bet he could find a nicer one for a reasonable price online somewhere. He quickly cleaned up the little tool and put it away while considering where to look for a new one. But as usual, the issue was forgotten as soon as he placed the spirals of apple on plates with a little bit of peanut butter and called his girls over. Together, the three of them snacked on the couch and watched some old afterschool TV that Kieran pulled up. While he didn¡¯t think that everything modern was bad, a lot of it felt lacking compared to what he remembered growing up. So searching up old favorites of his and Natalie¡¯s had become a common occurrence for the family. With an episode down and empty plates, Kieran set the girls up to watch an old Nickelodeon favorite while he got dinner prep underway. Natalie would be home a little after 4, most likely, so they would have plenty of time to relax tonight and eat dinner at their own pace before he was planning on returning to the game. And she would definitely appreciate him getting dinner mostly prepared before she got home. So that¡¯s exactly what he did. He got the chicken thighs he had left in the fridge in the morning to defrost, a couple onions, and an assortment of veggies, all of which would go perfectly in a stir-fry. And the chicken was only partially defrosted, which was perfect - the still mostly frozen core would make cutting it up that much easier. It only took him a few minutes to get everything chopped and dumped into separate bowls. He didn¡¯t want to mix anything yet, as it probably wouldn¡¯t be cooked for a while, but this way he could quite literally just throw everything into their wok when it was dinner time. Once the prepped ingredients were back in the fridge, he joined the girls back on the couch again to relax until his wife got home. It was less than an hour after that when he heard the garage door open and Nat walked in. ¡°I¡¯m home.¡± She said from the mudroom while taking her shoes off. ¡°Mommy!¡± Kat squealed and jumped up to go greet Nat the way a puppy would. Aoife remained on the couch, but Kieran could see her struggling with wanting to go greet her mother too. He nearly shook his head; she was only six. Was she already hitting that phase where she thought it was lame to be excited to see her parents? He hoped not. Kieran leaned his head back over the back of the couch, getting a reasonable but upside down view of the mudroom¡¯s door and Nat standing in it. ¡°Hi.¡± He said with a goofy grin. ¡°Hi, yourself. No game?¡± She asked, scooping up Kat with a bit of effort. Then she nuzzled her nose against Kat¡¯s, both their faces scrunching up. ¡°Taking a break until around eight.¡± Kieran said. ¡°We played a good bit in the late morning and early afternoon. Was done by the time Aoife got home.¡± ¡°I see.¡± Nat said as she walked over and leaned down for an upside down kiss over the back of the couch. ¡°How¡¯d you all do?¡± ¡°Pretty good, I think.¡± Kieran said, grinning. ¡°It¡¯s hard to say with any certainty because Mag Mell seems to be approaching the raid a little strangely, but we¡¯ve cleared the first portion of it.¡± ¡°Very nice.¡± ¡°Also, dinner is prepped in the fridge for cooking. I¡¯m planning on making a stir-fry.¡± ¡°Also very nice.¡± Nat said again, her smile growing. ¡°Yes, so come sit down with us for a bit. You don¡¯t need to do anything else right now, do you?¡± Kieran asked, side-eyeing Aoife who was still sitting on the couch, trying to look calm and uninterested. ¡°Yeah, okay,¡± Nat said, carrying Kaitlyn with her back to the couch. Kieran had positioned himself in the corner that Natalie usually sat in while Aoife was sitting on the other end in Kieran¡¯s normal spot. Natalie opted to squeeze in between them, placing Kaitlyn on her lap. She positioned herself so that they would both lean toward Kieran, and they more or less plopped against him once they were settled in.If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. Kieran chuckled, shifting around so they could more comfortably lay against him. He also caught Aoife¡¯s eye and motioned her over. She looked conflicted for a moment before Nat snatched her arm and pulled her over too, leaving the four of them squished up into one corner of the couch. All things considered though, it was pretty comfy. ¡°So, whatcha watching?¡± Nat asked, laying her cheek on Kieran¡¯s chest so she could see the TV. ¡°Little Bear.¡± Aoife said, her voice muffled by Nat¡¯s sweater. ¡°Good choice.¡± She said, and the whole family settled in for a while to just snuggle up together and relax.
Two hours later, Kieran was back on the couch with the girls while Nat did the dishes, as was their tradition; he cooked, so she cleaned up. At least until the girls were old enough to clean up without the worry of making a worse mess. Aoife had dropped a dirty plate once and it shattered all over the floor, including the remnants of chicken juice and everything else from the chicken they roasted that evening. They¡¯d been hesitant to have the girls clean up since. It wasn¡¯t long before Nat was done and back on the couch again, cuddled into Kieran on one side, while the girls were snuggled under blankets on the other. Kieran was flipping through random videos online, looking for something fun; he eventually settled on a compilation of animals being silly. Mostly cats and dogs. Once the video was playing and the girls were laughing at cats leaping four feet in the air thanks to lime wedges, Kieran put the controller to the side and settled into his spot. He placed an arm around Nat comfortably, letting his hand settle on her waist while she was for all intents and purposes laying on top of him. The crown of her head was positioned nicely for him to place a kiss there, and he smiled at the calm, cozy night. ¡°So, how was your day today? I haven¡¯t asked yet.¡± He said, eyes still on the TV, but not particularly focused on it. ¡°It was alright. The office wasn¡¯t really all that busy, and I didn¡¯t get any fun stories out of it today.¡± Nat said idly. ¡°Your fun stories usually entail all kinds of nasty tooth stuff, so I¡¯m perfectly happy with you not getting any of those, thanks.¡± Kieran chuckled. ¡°What, you don¡¯t like hearing about people coming in with rotting teeth and needing to go to the hospital?¡± ¡°No, I don¡¯t.¡± Kieran deadpanned. Nat giggled. ¡°Don¡¯t you have any actually funny or silly stories?¡± ¡°Not many.¡± Nat answered, considering. ¡°Unfortunately, I get silly stories that end up with pretty gross injuries. Comes with the dentistry territory I suppose. Tooth stuff doesn¡¯t usually go over well. At best it¡¯ll be that someone did something stupid and chipped a tooth.¡± ¡°I guess that¡¯s fair.¡± Kieran said. ¡°On the other hand, you get enough silly stories for the both of us.¡± Nat said, sliding her head back to meet eyes. Kieran looked down at her and grinned. ¡°College kids do be doing dumb shit.¡± Natalie rolled her eyes at the terrible language. ¡°Did I tell you about last week when I saw a kid get locked outside of the dorms in a towel?¡± Kieran mused, thinking back. ¡°You did not.¡± ¡°I suppose it¡¯s not that surprising, but yeah. I was just walking by, but it seemed like he lost a bet or something, then his friends locked him out. They had to let him back in when the next student tried to get into the dorm building, but it seemed like he¡¯d been out there for a while.¡± ¡°Poor kid.¡± ¡°Yeah. Even worse, it was the freshman dorms. So he¡¯s got probably four years worth of time left at the school still.¡± Kieran chuckled. ¡°Dunno how many kids saw it though.¡± ¡°If he¡¯s lucky, not many.¡± Nat said. ¡°Best of luck to him though. Hopefully it doesn¡¯t follow him too much.¡± ¡°On the plus side, college kids don¡¯t seem as¡­relentless as younger ones. If that happened to a middle or high school kid?¡± Kieran shuddered. ¡°Brutal.¡± ¡°I remember one kid in my middle school slipped and fell at lunch one day. Totally normal kid, spilled their lunch one time. Got mocked for it for weeks, until someone else did something stupid. Which, admittedly, I don¡¯t remember now. I was there for the slip, though.¡± Nat said, thinking back to her school days. ¡°High school was rough, man.¡± Kieran laughed, chuckling to himself. ¡°I absolutely hated it. Middle school, too. That was even worse.¡± ¡°Oh, I hated middle school.¡± Nat said. ¡°My family moved to a new town right before sixth grade, and I was just not having a good time. I remember just being so upset all the time, but I wasn¡¯t being bullied or anything. Just super upset all the time for no real reason.¡± ¡°I get that. Middle school was not a good time for anyone.¡± Kieran said, reminiscing about his own memories and how much he hated it, too. And then he saw Aoife looking at them, completely wide-eyed. She looked horrified. Kieran tapped Nat¡¯s side where his hand was positioned, and she looked up at him, then followed his eyeline to their daughter. ¡°Oh,¡± she said, unsure what to say. Aoife just turned back to the TV quietly, apparently not wanting to engage. Nat looked up at Kieran awkwardly, and whispered, ¡°Did we just scar our daughter?¡± ¡°If that¡¯s what finally gets to her, I¡¯d be shocked.¡± He said jokingly, but looked back to the girl, concerned. ¡°But I hope not.¡± ¡°I suppose it wasn¡¯t that bad.¡± Natalie said at normal volume, hoping to do a little course correction. ¡°I didn¡¯t really know it at the time, but I made some really good friends there.¡± ¡°Me too.¡± Kieran said, trying to back her up. ¡°And I had Evan all the way through too. We played so many video games after school. Like everyday. Kinda miss that.¡± ¡°You say that like you didn¡¯t just stay home all day today to play a game.¡± Nat teased. ¡°Hey, there¡¯s gotta be some perks to being an adult, right? Sometimes I need to abuse that power a little.¡± ¡°I guess that¡¯s fair.¡± Nat said. ¡°And you still made dinner.¡± ¡°And you say that like I don¡¯t usually cook.¡± Kieran said. ¡°Hey, I would¡¯ve cooked if you didn¡¯t.¡± ¡°Well, yeah.¡± Kieran said. ¡°I¡¯d hope you wouldn¡¯t let us starve.¡± ¡°I wouldn¡¯t.¡± She asserted. ¡°But I do like it when you cook. Your food always tastes good.¡± ¡°Yeah, Dad¡¯s a much better cook.¡± Kaitlyn said, sounding uninterested in the conversation. ¡°He is.¡± Aoife chimed in, giggling at a cat falling off a bed. ¡°Mom¡¯s food is almost always something from the freezer.¡± Kieran snorted, struggling not to laugh as he watched Nat¡¯s ears go red. When she made dinner, it was usually a frozen, pre-made meal, like the girls said. Kieran wouldn¡¯t ever hold it against her - they were usually easy and tasty after spending all day at work. But apparently the girls had noticed that Kieran¡¯s dinners were more likely to be fresh than frozen. Even if it was a low effort, thrown together meal like their stir-fry that night. ¡°Fine.¡± Nat harrumphed, crossing her arms in mock anger. The motion jabbed Kieran in the stomach and knocked the air out of him. ¡°I just won¡¯t cook next time.¡± ¡°Maybe we should make Aoife cook dinner?¡± Kieran said, grinning at their eldest. She suddenly looked afraid, and very much no longer on the attack. ¡°Oh?¡± Nat said, affecting a dangerous looking grin. ¡°We could do that¡­¡± ¡°Mom, your food is good, please don¡¯t make me do it.¡± Chapter 36 : Burning Time Marissa Marissa¡¯s afternoon was going just swimmingly. Clan Nettle Tea had decided to take an extended break in the afternoon, which was fine. Honestly, she was more than happy to get a bit of an extended break. It gave her some time to really decompress and relax, and considering she had gone straight from work to gaming, she could use it. And so as soon as everyone had logged off, she took a nice hot shower. Or at least she had wanted to. But the water available to her was merely lukewarm. Which, fair, the bakery was probably pulling most of their little building¡¯s hot water for dishwashing at this time of day. Marissa sighed and convinced herself that it was fine. She took a medium-cold shower instead. It didn¡¯t exactly help her unwind the way she wanted, but she still left the shower feeling clean and refreshed. That helped. Without the hot water to help relieve some of the stress in her upper back and shoulders, though, she opted to go lay down on her bed to stretch it out. She laid her top half off the side of the bed to really get a deep stretch in her back, extending her arms over her head and pushed them as far as she could. She kept pushing until she couldn¡¯t help but let out a little squeak as she finally felt something give way in the stretch and she let the tension go. And then followed that with a huge deep breath and big sigh. She shuffled her body back onto the bed and lay there for a bit, half going over the raid so far in her head and half just zoning out. She still had more than four hours to burn before the group was supposed to gather again, but right now none of her usual stand by activities sounded interesting. She wasn¡¯t feeling like watching anything, she didn¡¯t want to play anything other than Mag Mell right now, and she was certain that the book she was in the middle of wouldn¡¯t keep her occupied right now. She needed something more involved than reading. And to her chagrin, she knew what would keep her busy for a few hours. She closed her eyes and took another breath, this time to steady herself before getting up off the bed and changing her clothes. Ten minutes later she was headed down the stairs to The Flour Basket proper, despite herself. ¡°Oh! Welcome back, Riss.¡± Julie said, her perfect customer service smile and voice in place. Marissa winced; she hated being called ¡®Riss¡¯, but saying so never seemed to stop Julie from calling her by it. ¡°Het Julie. Don¡¯t mind me; I¡¯m just going to help with the clean up and backroom stuff until close. See if we can¡¯t get everyone out of here early today, yeah?¡± Marissa said, rolling up her sleeves. ¡°Oh, sure. I¡¯ll head back to the front then. Sarah should be back here to start the last batch and clean up as soon as she¡¯s finished filling the counter window.¡± ¡°Sounds good. Good luck out there.¡± Marissa said to Julie¡¯s back as the woman walked out. Marissa sighed in relief; she didn¡¯t exactly hate Julie, but the woman was just a lot. They didn¡¯t get along particularly well, but Julie was a front-of-house machine. Marissa did appreciate her ability when it came to being a saleswoman, if nothing else. ¡°Yo.¡± Sarah said when she came to the back a few minutes later. ¡°Thought you were taking off early?¡± ¡°I did.¡± Marissa said, up to her elbows in soapy water as she washed some of the dishes. ¡°My plans got slightly derailed for a few hours, so I figured I¡¯d come help out for now.¡± Sarah put down the tub she had used to carry out the bread then turned to look at Marissa with a hand on her hip. ¡°Really? Rissa, you need to get out of here more.¡± Marissa rolled her eyes. ¡°Look, I like spending my free time at home, alright?¡± Sarah laughed. ¡°And yet, here you are at work? Why aren¡¯t you at home?¡± Marissa turned to face Sarah, her arms still dripping and chuckled. ¡°You just meant I shouldn¡¯t be at work so much, didn¡¯t you?¡± ¡°Bingo.¡± Sarah said, moving over to the next and final batch of dough for the day. ¡°Sorry.¡± Marissa said. ¡°I¡¯m so used to hearing that I need to get out more that I just assumed.¡± ¡°It¡¯s all good.¡± Sarah said as she was going about her work. ¡°Trust me, I¡¯m very happy spending my nights at home too. But you really should spend less time here. At work.¡± ¡°The downside of living above the place, I suppose.¡± Marissa muttered. ¡°Or maybe it¡¯s a manager-owner thing.¡± ¡°I can imagine they¡¯re both a part of it. But you really need to work on separating your work from everything else in your life.¡± Sarah laughed. ¡°Not that I¡¯m one to talk, I suppose, but you take it to a whole other level.¡± Marissa snorted derisively at herself. ¡°Not many people would go to work because they¡¯re a little bit bored, huh.¡± Marissa could feel Sarah roll her eyes, despite the woman¡¯s back to her. ¡°No. When I¡¯m bored at home I find an activity to do or go somewhere, I guess. Work doesn¡¯t come into it.¡± Marissa sighed, leaning over the massive sink. ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s fair.¡± ¡°So, you¡¯re going to help us leave at close today, then?¡± Sarah asked, sounding a bit more chipper as she changed the subject. ¡°Yeah, that was the plan.¡± Marissa said. ¡°Figured with all of us here we¡¯d be able to get everything done before three instead of after.¡±This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source. ¡°Incoming.¡± Sarah said, and a set of bread tins came sliding down the counter and into the sink. ¡°Works for me.¡± ¡°Let¡¯s get it done, then.¡± At this point, there was no reason for Marissa not to just do the work. Sure, maybe Sarah had a point and she shouldn¡¯t have come down to the bakery at all, and that was fair. She really did have an unhealthy attachment to her work. But now that she was fully dressed and down here already working, she may as well stick to it. As she had expected, having the three of them working on everything did make it all go quickly. The Flour Basket typically closed at 3 p.m., and then whoever was working would finish cleaning up after that. Usually they were able to leave by four. Sometimes earlier, if the afternoon was slow. Today, they were able to leave at three. Everything was cleaned up and good to go for tomorrow basically at the same time they flipped the open sign to closed. ¡°Thanks for the assist, Riss.¡± Julie said brightly as she hopped out the back door. ¡°See you on Thursday!¡± She called, and then she was gone around the corner onto the main road. Sarah took in a deep breath and let it out slowly, then chuckled. ¡°Julie is such a whirlwind.¡± ¡°No kidding. Does her job like no one else, though.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t I know it.¡± Sarah said. ¡°I don¡¯t get to work with her very often, but I love it when I do. I basically get to just stay in the back all day and bake. She does literally all of the front of house stuff.¡± ¡°That''s why I hired her.¡± Marissa laughed. ¡°She¡¯s a beast.¡± Sarah nodded. ¡°Now get your sorry ass back upstairs and do something not work related.¡± She said, turning to Marissa with mock outrage. ¡°And if I see anything in the kitchen moved when I arrive tomorrow morning, you¡¯re gonna get a good talking to.¡± Marissa snickered. ¡°Sarah, I open the place up before you arrive. Of course things will be moved.¡± Sarah merely narrowed her eyes. ¡°Then you¡¯d better prepare for a lecture about not letting work ruin your life, yeah?¡± Marissa chuckled and rolled her eyes. ¡°Fine. See you tomorrow morning then.¡± ¡°Yup, see you tomo-¡± Marissa shut the door in Sarah¡¯s face, then turned the deadbolt as loudly as she could manage. She grinned out through the relatively small window at Sarah who looked bemused. Sarah proceeded to roll her eyes, snap into a salute, then flipped up both her middle fingers at Marissa with a grin as she walked away. As Marissa turned to go back upstairs to her apartment, she stretched out her arms and back again. With the bakery closed for the day, Marissa could take that nice, hot shower she wanted earlier. She¡¯d give it some time for the hot water to build back up, because she liked the water scalding. And that gave her time to eat. Given her current plans for the rest of the day, she figured now was as good a time as any to eat dinner. She wandered through her cupboards and fridge looking for something applicable that would make a decent dinner, but came up empty. Not that there wasn¡¯t food in her house - there was plenty. But nothing stuck out as something she wanted. Worse still, she knew what she should eat, and that spoiled her mood further. Eventually, she gave up and pulled the leftovers from the fridge and popped the covered saucepan onto the stovetop to heat it up. The smell of the tomato sauce, meatballs, and sausage quickly rose and wafted through her apartment. And while it smelled great, that pot had been her last three meals. At least this one would be the last of it. She also put one of her loaves of bread in the oven to toast it to go with the sauce. She was a baker, after all. She had fantastic fresh bread at her disposal at all times, she may as well use it. Once everything was heating, she turned on her smart TV in the combined kitchen and dining area she had, and sat at the breakfast bar to watch whatever nonsense played. Once the food was ready and she started eating it, the lack of desire for it evaporated quickly enough. She was hungry, the food tasted great, and that was enough. She rinsed the dishes a bit before putting them in the crappy old dishwasher that would almost definitely not clean them. With food in her belly, Marissa finally went to relax in the shower. And now with steaming hot water at her fingertips, she could actually, truly relax. With her apartment being fairly small and her penchant for spending so much time either in her apartment or at work, there were few places as sacred to Marissa as her shower. She had splurged a bit when she moved in, and got the bathroom refurbished, complete with a new and slightly larger shower with a nice shower head and seas - actually comfortable seats - built into the fittings. Sitting under the scalding hot spray of water was one place that she really felt like she could shed some of her stress. It loosened up some of her tight back muscles, and allowed her to just exist in peace for a while. She had probably spent fifteen or twenty minutes just sitting under the water before she opted to move and get cleaned up. Yes, she had already washed once today, so she didn¡¯t feel the need to scrub herself down or anything, but if she left her hair wet without any soap it would end up feeling a little gross. So she at least used a little bit of shampoo and conditioner on her hair before stepping out of the shower. She may have sat back down to relax once more before leaving too. By the time she was out and had finished blow drying her hair - because she didn¡¯t want it to be wet while using headphones - she still had over an hour before the Clan had said they would reconvene. She stood in the hallway, still fluffing her hair with a towel, trying to decide whether she should go relax on her bed for a while or go and hang around on her PC a bit early. ¡°Fuck it.¡± She muttered, stepping into her computer room. She rolled her shoulders and heard one crack before she sat in her chair and spun to face her desk. No one was in the voice chat channel yet, so she was presumably the first one back. She clicked into it, but left her headphones off for now. There was no real reason to wear them until someone joined the chat, so she let them continue to charge. Marissa considered opening a web browser to just waste some time on social media, but decided it was better to avoid that for her mental health. Especially since her mood was currently a bit sour. Instead, she opened up Mag Mell, intent on logging in. She navigated through the main menu and character screens quickly out of practice. And when Hibiscus appeared right where they had all logged out in [Gorias], her mood immediately brightened a bit. Something about gaming always put her in a better mood. And on top of that, Nyx and Evie were already logged in, just chatting in the Clan chat about work. When she logged in, the two of them appeared in the voice chat almost immediately. ¡°Hey!¡± Nyx said. ¡°And here I thought we¡¯d be the only antsy ones.¡± ¡°And I told you that I was positive some of us would show up before our stated time.¡± Evie laughed. Marissa smiled. ¡°Yeah, putting Fiona and Caoimhe aside because they have kids, I bet we¡¯ll see everyone early.¡± ¡°Well, welcome to the early bird party.¡± Nyx chuckled. ¡°Good to be here.¡± Marissa said, leaning back in the chair almost as relaxed as she had been in the shower. Almost. Chapter 37 : In Defense of a City
Party List
Hibiscus Jade (Marissa Harper) [Arrow] : [Seeker] 11,000 / 11,000 11,000 / 11,000
Aleister Demian (Jasmine Burch) [War] : [Ebon] 11,000 / 11,000 11,000 / 11,000
Fiona Woods (Evan Woods) [Plate] : [Aegis] 11,000 / 11,000 11,000 / 11,000
Evie Lucian (Cassandra Bailey) [Soul] : [Radiance] 11,000 / 11,000 11,000 / 11,000
Mellody Softsong (Ashton Burch) [Muse] : [Revel] 11,000 / 11,000 11,000 / 11,000
Caoimhe Phadraig (Kieran Moor) [Slayer] : [Tyrant] 11,000 / 11,000 11,000 / 11,000
Firo Strix (Blake Walker) [Mage] : [Invoker] 11,000 / 11,000 11,000 / 11,000
Nyx Alaion (Zoe Fox) [Shroud] : [Dirge] 11,000 / 11,000 11,000 / 11,000
Marissa As they had suspected, everyone had arrived before their agreed upon time. Jasmine, Ashton, and Firo had all shown up an hour early, excited and raring to go. Even Kieran and Evan showed up before the appointed time, but it was by fifteen minutes and ten minutes respectively. In the end, it didn¡¯t matter all that much as everyone was just excited to play. The chatter as everyone got logged back in and situated was basically nothing but excitement and speculation on what came next. At least until Fiona reappeared, and then the talk immediately turned to chants of ¡°Go, go, go,¡± as Marissa scrambled to get party invites out to everyone before they started threatening to have her walk the plank or some nonsense. ¡°Everybody good?¡± She asked, seeing everyone¡¯s names in the party list where they should be. With one change from earlier. ¡°Nyx? You¡¯re running Dirge now?¡± ¡°Yup. I figured the DoT damage will be good for us since we already have plenty of burst DPS between the three of you. More sustained damage will be good, I think.¡± She said. ¡°How do you have your Dirge version of Debilitating Pierce set up?¡± Ash asked. ¡°It¡¯s just the default, same as Knife. I do have Nox Venom set up to be a long duration damage reduction though, which should help with prog.¡± ¡°Works for me.¡± Ash said, convinced. ¡°Do your thing, girl.¡± ¡°Always do.¡± Nyx said, and Marissa swore the way she responded would have had a little red heart at the end of it if it was a text. Or a kissy face. ¡°Any other changes before we continue? No?¡± Marissa asked, then just barreled on anyway. ¡°Okay, we¡¯re going then.¡± She interacted with [Uathach, Shadow¡¯s Daughter], and saw a familiar prompt come up when she did so. [Large Party Gathered] [Continue [In Defense of Gorias]?] [Begin] [Wait] Hitting [Begin] started a cutscene, and Marissa immediately heard the chimes associated with people deafening in the chat so they could pay attention. [Uathach] nodded in greeting when Hibiscus approached with the whole party behind her. ¡°I¡¯m glad to see reinforcements. Even if your group is small. I hope you bring at least some good news with you.¡±If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. Hibiscus went through a typical looped animation that was obviously meant to be her explaining something, even without it being voiced or having text. ¡°I see. Hopefully [Lugh] comes to join us sooner rather than later. His assistance here could easily turn the tide. Hm.¡± [Uathach] appeared to be lost in thought for a moment before she shook her head. ¡°Well, there¡¯s naught to be done about it. Your group don¡¯t have any assigned squad, yes? You will join my riders then.¡± The woman turned around and began walking away from the gate; Hibiscus followed, and the party trailed behind her. ¡°We lost a few of our number when we rode out to rescue you, so you¡¯ll fill in for them. At least you appear more than strong enough to make up the difference.¡± She sighed. ¡°You¡¯ll also be given mounts to keep up with us.¡± Hibiscus once again said something silently. [Uathach] snorted. ¡°I¡¯m not sure what you had expected to be doing at the warfront, but the lot of you have just been drafted into a warband that most could only dream of. At least for now, anyway.¡± As they continued to walk through the interior of the city, the camera panned around, showing soldiers and recruits mulling about, preparing for the coming siege. Bisky looked on, mildly concerned, as children were suited up with misfitting armor and handed bows and spears. ¡°It¡¯s not exactly a heartening sight, is it?¡± [Uathach] said, as they approached a large set of stone stairs that led up to the battlements. ¡°Unfortunately, we¡¯re going to need all the help we can get. The defenders in this city are hugely outnumbered.¡± She said as they ascended. ¡°Even with solid walls and magical barriers in place, we¡¯re doomed without solid fighters.¡± Once they arrived at the top of the stairs and stood on top of the city¡¯s walls, the camera panned out to show the gathering Fomorian army. They were still moving about, but the mass of brown and black appeared to be slowly forming into battle lines and units. ¡°My mother and Cu Chulainn are planning the defense. It¡¯s likely that we should be able to hold for a while against a siege. But it¡¯s equally likely that my unit - and by extension, you all - will be used as a strike force if and when that becomes useful.¡± [Uathach] walked to the edge of the wall, resting her hands on the bottom of an arrow window, and looked out at the hordes of enemies. ¡°This is going to be one hell of a battle.¡± She sighed, and turned black to Hibiscus with a wan smile. ¡°Welcome to hell for the next few days. Hopefully we all make it out alive, yeah?¡± She shoved off the wall and moved back toward the stairs, motioning for the party to follow. ¡°Let¡¯s get you all to the stable and set up with horses so you¡¯re ready whenever we¡¯re called in.¡± She suddenly stopped, holding up a finger. ¡°Oh, and while we¡¯re on standby, you¡¯ll be helping guard just inside the southern gate. That¡¯s the secondary one, in case you were unaware. Now, follow me.¡± As she turned to continue down the stairs, Bisky and the party followed behind, and the screen faded to black. It faded back in shortly thereafter, with the whole party standing just outside what appeared to be stables, with [Uathach] standing in front of them as well. She still had the quest marker over her head. ¡°Well then,¡± Evie chuckled as everyone slowly undeafened, ¡°this looks like it¡¯ll be fun.¡± ¡°I¡¯m really curious how this is all going to work, not gonna lie.¡± Kieran said. ¡°It¡¯s not like we don¡¯t already have mounts in the game. But we don¡¯t have any sort of mounted combat.¡± ¡°They also said we¡¯re going to be defending a gate, but we don¡¯t all have ranged attacks to do anything from the walls.¡± Nyx said. ¡°You don¡¯t think they¡¯re going to drop us outside the walls, do you?¡± ¡°I doubt it.¡± Ash said. ¡°I think that would be a little too immersion breaking. But I also suspect we won¡¯t be forced into ranged combat, either.¡± ¡°Ten bucks says the enemy breaks through almost immediately somehow and we have to defend inside the walls somehow.¡± Evan said. ¡°It¡¯s the only thing that makes sense.¡± ¡°I¡¯m not so sure. It could really go any way from here, but I want to find out.¡± Marissa said, and interacted with [Uathach] again. There was no cutscene this time, but unvoiced dialogue came up in a textbox. ¡°Pick your mounts. They¡¯re all trained warhorses, so just decide however you like.¡± And then she kicked the door open to the stables, displaying four rows of stalls with the mounts. ¡°Oh, damn.¡± Nyx laughed. ¡°And we get to pick?¡± She darted down one of the aisles, as everyone fanned out. The animals were intimidating, even through the screen. [Uathach] may have called them collectively warhorses, but they weren¡¯t all horses to Marissa¡¯s eyes. Plenty of them did look like some variation of horses. They were the expected colors, with glossy manes and the expected body shape - just huge and muscular, with thick tree trunks for legs and large, dangerous looking hooves. But there were also plenty of non-horses. Or at least non-traditional horses. Some were unnatural colors, with elemental flare. A mane made of fire, or hair that floated as if in water. One even looked vaguely ghost-like, with the edges of its model appearing partially transparent. There were a few that were distinctly less horse-like, but looked like they were designed based on the game¡¯s playable races. A few sported various feathery coats to match the Corvus, and a few looked more like massive battle cats, presumably to match the Cait-Sidhe. Marissa¡¯s attention was immediately drawn by the horses that must have been designed to match the Fae characters. They were by far the most strange and varied. Some were smattered with beautiful colors that seemed to change as if pearlescent in the light. One looked pale and almost emaciated, but somehow still strong and dangerous despite it. ¡°Aleister, I found yours.¡± Marissa joked, pointing it out to Jazz as she passed. Aleister jogged over and Jazz squealed when she saw it, picking it immediately. ¡°Oh, Bisky, you just get me.¡± Jazz laughed. And then Marissa walked into a group of three horses that matched Hibiscus¡¯ vibe perfectly. They were clearly designed to be nature themed, and Marissa wasn¡¯t sure which to pick. One of them looked like a fairly normal loam brown horse, but he had moss growing over him instead of a mane. His entire back was covered in it, and even his tail looked like it was made of mossy brush. The second one looked a bit more floral. There were vines and plants running over her entire body, with flowers here and there along the vines. Unlike the others, this one even had a built in saddle completely made of woven vines and plant material, complete with reigns made of vines. The overall effect was very gorgeous. The third appeared almost tree-like, with much of its body covered in thick bark. Marissa almost dismissed it at first for being less green than the others, but upon further inspection before making her decision, doubled back to it. There were clumps of green moss in various spots, really adding to the overall effect of a living tree. And even better, its tail and mane were made of branches and leaves. After taking a quick jog around the rest of the stable to see what else was available, she came back to the three nature focused ones. The others that stuck out to her appeared to be more Path focused designs, made to match the various magic types and some of the class fantasies. In fact, there had been a few horses that she assumed were meant to be the [Arrow] ones, but they didn¡¯t catch her fancy the way the nature ones did. In the end, Marissa settled on the third horse covered in bark. It may not have been the prettiest option, but it certainly looked like the most powerful, and it fit her aesthetic for Hibiscus perfectly. It looked simply badass. Once she had chosen and confirmed her choice, she wandered back out of the stables to talk with [Uathach] again. Everyone else except for Evan and Evie had apparently already settled on their picks as well. Evan was flopping between a few different options while Evie was trying to make up her mind between two. When they had finally confirmed their choices and returned to [Uathach], Marissa received the prompt to continue the quest. ¡°Is everyone ready?¡± She asked, her cursor hovering over the button to continue. ¡°Yup.¡± ¡°Let¡¯s go!¡± ¡°Hit it.¡± Marissa nodded at the affirmatives, and hit the button. Another cutscene began, showing the party leaving the stables, while stablehands walked out behind them with their chosen mounts in tow. [Uathach] nodded, satisfied, as she watched the mounts be walked to her unit¡¯s stables. ¡°Very well. With that taken care of, you all should be mostly squared away. For now, get what you need from the shops and quartermaster in the city before things begin. And get to your posts by the southern gate. We¡¯ll send a runner for you if our troop is deployed. Otherwise, good luck. Don¡¯t die.¡± With her piece said, [Uathach] turned to walk off, waving with her back turned. As she turned the corner, the cutscene ended, leaving the party in the middle of the city. A city that appeared to now have other players running around. ¡°Oh. I guess this is the new staging area.¡± Firo said. ¡°Take a look at your maps.¡± Nyx said. ¡°There¡¯s shops and things all around.¡± ¡°And it looks like the next quest is over by the southern gate.¡± Marissa said, opening her own map. ¡°Get your prep done, guys. And then we head for the next fight.¡± ¡°Does anyone actually need any vendor stuff?¡± Evie asked. ¡°Just a repair.¡± Kieran said. ¡°And I guess we should refresh buffs and things before we get in there again.¡± ¡°Alright, let¡¯s go find a quiet alley somewhere and set up our crafting stations and get to it.¡± Ash said. ¡°Why an alleyway?¡± Jazz asked. ¡°To get out of everyone¡¯s way?¡± Ash offered, confused at the question. ¡°I¡¯m all for it.¡± Evan said. ¡°The last time I popped up my crafting station in a city, I had requests coming in for repairs and shit constantly. It was a huge headache.¡± ¡°Fun.¡± Marissa said dryly. ¡°Yeah, let¡¯s get away from here and then prep.¡± Chapter 38 : Shattered Shields
Party List
Hibiscus Jade (Marissa Harper) [Arrow] : [Seeker] 11,000 / 11,000 11,000 / 11,000
Aleister Demian (Jasmine Burch) [War] : [Ebon] 11,000 / 11,000 11,000 / 11,000
Fiona Woods (Evan Woods) [Plate] : [Aegis] 11,000 / 11,000 11,000 / 11,000
Evie Lucian (Cassandra Bailey) [Soul] : [Radiance] 11,000 / 11,000 11,000 / 11,000
Mellody Softsong (Ashton Burch) [Muse] : [Revel] 11,000 / 11,000 11,000 / 11,000
Caoimhe Phadraig (Kieran Moor) [Slayer] : [Tyrant] 11,000 / 11,000 11,000 / 11,000
Firo Strix (Blake Walker) [Mage] : [Invoker] 11,000 / 11,000 11,000 / 11,000
Nyx Alaion (Zoe Fox) [Shroud] : [Knife] 11,000 / 11,000 11,000 / 11,000
Marissa By the time the party made it to the southern gate, they were ready to go. They had taken a short detour away from all the other players into a quiet little section of the city on the way to repair their gear and let Evan [Hone] and [Polish] everything up, given those buffs had fallen off ages ago while they were all offline. Similarly to earlier in the day, Ash cooked them up a balanced set of food buffs, giving them the same loadout they had all had when they walked into the first section of what was turning out to be a very strange raid. As they finally neared the gate, the sound of the armies outside got louder and more all-consuming. The banging of stomping, the clanging of metal weapons on shields, and just the general noisiness of an unrestrained army was deafening. Or at least it would have been if Marissa couldn¡¯t just turn down the game¡¯s volume. As they came out into the main road that led to the gate, Marissa could see a large, glowing circle nearby the gate which must have been where they would start the next section of the raid. ¡°Everyone ready?¡± Nyx asked. ¡°Anyone need a potty break?¡± Kieran asked. ¡°Last chance before we¡¯re stuck in the car for a while again.¡± ¡°I¡¯m gonna go refill my water.¡± Evie said, and the sounds of her getting up followed. ¡°Alright, everyone take five real quick. If you need something, get it now.¡± Marissa said, as she got up, too. No reason not to refresh her own drink if they had to wait. She left her headset on as she wandered into the kitchen to retrieve more hot water from her kettle and threw an extra tea bag in her mug. Today she was just using cheap chamomile tea, but that didn¡¯t mean it wasn¡¯t a lovely, calming drink. And the warm liquid was perfect for the nippy, chilly air. Even if it wasn¡¯t all that cold, it was just enough for the tea to be pleasantly warming. When she sat back down in her chair and spun back to face her PC, Marissa bashed her knee into her desk and immediately yelped with added expletives as she held onto her knee in pain. ¡°Bisky! Language!¡± Evan said, laughing, then tacked on an ¡°Are you okay?¡± ¡°Yeah, I¡¯m fine. Shit, that hurt.¡± ¡°What hurt?¡± Evie asked as she also returned, and settled in again. ¡°Bisky stubbed her toe.¡± Evan said. ¡°No, I smashed my knee into my desk when I tried to pull my chair in.¡± Marissa said, bending and unbending her knee to make sure it was okay. She didn¡¯t hit it that hard though, it just hurt. ¡°Ouch.¡± Evie said. ¡°Hopefully that¡¯s not a sign of things to come.¡± ¡°What, that we¡¯re going to all hurt ourselves?¡± Nyx asked snidely. ¡°No, that we¡¯re about to get kneecapped.¡± Evie said with a snort. ¡°Honestly?¡± Kieran said, ¡°We¡¯ve more or less waltzed through the first few fights. I expected them to be much harder. And if the siege on this city is actually finally starting for real with this one -¡± ¡°Maybe we finally get our teeth kicked in.¡± Evie finished. ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s what I¡¯m thinking.¡± ¡°Only one way to find out. Is anyone not back yet?¡± Marissa asked, to no response. ¡°Firo?¡±Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon. ¡°Present.¡± He responded. ¡°Okay, I think I¡¯ve heard everyone else¡¯s voice. Let¡¯s go.¡± Marissa said, and trotted Hibiscus down toward the starting location. Once everyone formed up into the little blue circle, Marissa received the prompt to start the next fight. [Large Party Gathered] [Commence [Scenario]?] [Begin] [Wait] When Marissa clicked on [Begin], her screen darkened into a loading screen. ¡°Here we go. Focus up, everyone.¡± Ash said. And then the shouting and clamor of the Fomorian army was the next thing she heard, before the screen brightened up again. It remained dark for a moment as the noise got louder and more distinct as the army cleaned up their shouting into a chant in some made-up language. And then an NPC shouted ¡°Here they come!¡± with the text box showing up on the black screen, before finally, the screen cleared up. Their party was standing in the spot they had started the quest from as [Tuatha D¨¦] soldiers swarmed about them, running to the walls and the gate itself. It seemed like everyone around them seemed to know what they were doing and where they were going. And no one was giving them directions. ¡°Uh¡­¡± Nyx said, making her character run in circles. ¡°What do?¡± Evie laughed nervously. ¡°To the wall for now? Let¡¯s see what¡¯s happening.¡± Evan said. ¡°Move.¡± Ash said, and they did. The party surged with the soldiers surrounding them toward the stairs up the wall. Everyone was [Sprinting] to get to where they hoped they needed to be. As soon as Hibiscus crested the top, Marissa moved her straight to one of the arrow windows in the rock so she could see. She was already charging a [Master¡¯s Shot] just in case. When she saw that she could aim at the enemies on the ground approaching the wall, she did so, letting the attack fly. ¡°Looks like we can hit them.¡± She said, looking out at the ranks upon ranks of enemies. ¡°Not that it¡¯s going to do any good. Holy shit, there¡¯s so many.¡± ¡°So what do we do?¡± Firo asked. ¡°I can throw spells from here too, but I¡¯m not sure that would make any real impact either.¡± ¡°Surely we¡¯re meant to do something here to dictate the battle somehow, right?¡± Jazz asked. ¡°Keep the ranged attacks going, I guess?¡± Ash said. ¡°Focus your fire near the gate to hinder enemies getting close to it.¡± ¡°Reinforce the gate!¡± called some guards that were holding themselves against the gate. ¡°Perfect timing.¡± Jazz snickered. ¡°Yeah, well, let¡¯s get to it.¡± Ash said. ¡°Focus on anything trying to break down the gate. As for the rest of us¡­I dunno, let¡¯s go down there?¡± Fiona simply leapt off the stairs and landed in the middle of a bunch of soldiers moving toward the giant, metal reinforced doors. She followed the mass of rushing soldiers as the others dashed down the stairs. Mellody was even kind enough to throw a heal at Fiona to cover the fall damage. ¡°Oh shit, there¡¯s a prompt at the gate.¡± Evan said. ¡°We can help to hold it.¡± ¡°Do that.¡± Ash said. ¡°I¡¯m going to stay up top, just in case.¡± Evie said. ¡°We really don¡¯t know what to expect, and they may need a healer up here.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll stay too.¡± Aleister said. ¡°Same reason, since Fiona went down already.¡± ¡°Sure, two small party split for now then. See what you can interact with.¡± Ash said. ¡°I can¡¯t touch the doors.¡± Kieran said urgently. ¡°No prompt for me.¡± ¡°Ok, look around for other interactable prompts, then. Fiona, what was the range on the prompt?¡± Ash asked, as he directed Mellody around the area looking for anything to do. In the meantime, she was alternating between her various [Musick], trying to see if there was a reaction to any of them. ¡°Uh, it wasn¡¯t very far. I had to get pretty close before the prompt came up.¡± Evan said, his voice coming through strained. ¡°You alright?¡± ¡°They¡¯re making me button mash to hold the door.¡± He said, this time the clicking in the background coming through the mic as well. ¡°I can also see the gate¡¯s HP bar. This isn¡¯t looking great, guys.¡± ¡°We¡¯re focus firing the best we can!¡± Firo called. ¡°There¡¯s a lot of enemies clustered around the door.¡± ¡°They¡¯ve got a shield wall, too.¡± Marissa growled. ¡°I haven¡¯t really been able to land a solid hit on any of them. Dammit!¡± She yelled as she saw another arrow get deflected by a shield held over an enemy¡¯s head. ¡°Aleister, you find anything you can do up here?¡± Evie asked, as she ran around the wall walk. ¡°Nothing.¡± Jazz sighed. ¡°I don¡¯t think I can do anything up here, so I¡¯m headed down.¡± ¡°Same.¡± Evie said, as she turned toward the nearest set of stairs. ¡°I can¡¯t believe they want us just waiting while the enemy tries to break in.¡± ¡°There¡¯s no way.¡± Ash said. ¡°We must be missing something.¡± One of the soldiers on the wall yelled ¡°Incoming!¡± and Marissa saw a [Take Cover] prompt come up, which she did not hesitate to hit. Hibiscus ducked under a nearby soldier¡¯s shield, as several of them held up their shields to cover from arrows. A huge cheer came from beyond the walls, but under cover, Marissa had no way to see what the cause was. She was torn between peeking and staying safe when Evan cursed. ¡°Fuck, guys, there¡¯s no way I can hold this.¡± Evan whined. ¡°Oh shit.¡± He shouted, and then all hell broke loose. The gate fractured inward as a huge blast of magic shattered the higher portion of the gate. Shouts of ¡°Hold the line!¡± and ¡°Rally to the gate!¡± sounded from the soldiers, as everyone in the area rushed to defend the breach. Even several of the archers on the wall moved to defend the broken gate. Fiona had been thrown back from the magical explosion. Marissa could see that Fiona had not only taken a solid hit with only 4,000 HP left, but was also [Stunned] and [KnockedDown] somewhere in the crowd. Soldiers were rushing to try to hold the gate, but they were crowding it so much already that the extra bodies didn¡¯t seem to have any effect as the huge booms of some kind of battering ram kept reverberating through the area. ¡°I¡¯m down for fifteen seconds.¡± Evan said. ¡°I still have no idea what to do.¡± Kieran said. ¡°I can¡¯t find anything to interact with, and there¡¯s no enemies to hit yet.¡± ¡°Same.¡± Nyx said. ¡°I¡¯ve literally been running around the edges of the walls trying to see if something catches. But so far, I just feel like an idiot running into walls.¡± ¡°I¡¯ve been buffing the NPCs, but that¡¯s it so far.¡± Ash said. ¡°There¡¯s gotta be something we can do.¡± The soldiers defending the ranged fighters on the wall dropped their shields as the rain of arrows finally stopped, and Marissa and Firo were finally able to see the battlefield again. ¡°Oh no.¡± Firo said. ¡°That¡¯s not good.¡± ¡°What?¡± Ash asked. ¡°They have a cave troll.¡± Marissa said flatly. Some laughter followed, but when a second explosion rocked the gate, blowing the upper portions of wood clear off the metal supports, the laughter stopped. Hibiscus and Firo, along with several of the NPCs on the wall, were knocked back off the wall and fell when the explosion hit, taking a fairly big hit and ending up [Stunned] like Fiona had been. ¡°We¡¯re getting overrun!¡± Some of the soldiers called, and then the gate was ripped open. Not pushed through with a battering ram as Marissa had expected, but wrenched open outward with some kind of large metal harpoon. Marissa thought the head of it looked like a grappling hook, almost. And then the Fomorian army flooded into the street. The first line of NPCs were obliterated by the first line of enemies that poured in. The Fomorians had led with large troll-like creatures that Marissa hadn¡¯t seen before, and they were able to knock away the NPC soldiers with wide sweeps of their maces. Bodies went flying as they were knocked aside. Hibiscus and Firo were all but squashed underfoot when the enemy reached them while they were both still [Stunned]. They barely even stopped. Marissa just laughed. The others joined in as the Fomorian army basically tore through their comrades like a hot knife through toilet paper. It was barely thirty seconds after the gate broke, and the party had been completely wiped out, with the instance resetting to the beginning. Once again, they all stood inside the little blue circle, while the NPCs all around them waited for them to begin the [Scenario] ¡°We must be missing something. We gotta be.¡± Kieran said eventually. ¡°You think?¡± Marissa laughed. ¡°Let¡¯s just sit here for a minute and regroup. And maybe stretch.¡± Ash said, still snickering. ¡°And stop laughing.¡± Jazz added. ¡°Y¡¯all, that was a spectacular failure.¡± Nyx said, still trying to stop her own laughter. ¡°We should at least appreciate that.¡± Marissa leaned back in her chair, looking at her blank ceiling. They had been completely and utterly destroyed and she didn¡¯t feel like they learned anything at all from that first run. But as the laughter still echoed between all her party members, she smiled. At least morale was high. Chapter 39 : Run It Back
Party List
Hibiscus Jade (Marissa Harper) [Arrow] : [Seeker] 11,000 / 11,000 11,000 / 11,000
Aleister Demian (Jasmine Burch) [War] : [Ebon] 11,000 / 11,000 11,000 / 11,000
Fiona Woods (Evan Woods) [Plate] : [Aegis] 11,000 / 11,000 11,000 / 11,000
Evie Lucian (Cassandra Bailey) [Soul] : [Radiance] 11,000 / 11,000 11,000 / 11,000
Mellody Softsong (Ashton Burch) [Muse] : [Revel] 11,000 / 11,000 11,000 / 11,000
Caoimhe Phadraig (Kieran Moor) [Slayer] : [Tyrant] 11,000 / 11,000 11,000 / 11,000
Firo Strix (Blake Walker) [Mage] : [Invoker] 11,000 / 11,000 11,000 / 11,000
Nyx Alaion (Zoe Fox) [Shroud] : [Knife] 11,000 / 11,000 11,000 / 11,000
Marissa ¡°Seriously? It¡¯s been, like, 5 minutes.¡± ¡°Yes, seriously. I¡¯ll be right back.¡± Marissa chuckled as Jazz ran off to the bathroom, despite the last break being less than ten minutes ago. ¡°Alright, so what¡¯s the plan, guys?¡± Evan asked. ¡°We clearly need to have a battle plan going into that one.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know. Other than those big troll enemies that ended up breaking through the gate, we didn¡¯t really learn anything.¡± Kieran said. ¡°I do have one idea,¡± Evan said. ¡°Aleister ran off to the bathroom, but I was posted up on one of the two big doors. I know Caoimhe didn¡¯t get a prompt to hold the door, but what if it¡¯s role dependent?¡± ¡°Oh, that¡¯s a good idea. One sec.¡± Ash said, then went quiet. ¡°So you¡¯re thinking that we need to have each role do different things?¡± Nyx asked. ¡°I can¡¯t speak to the rest of it, since no one else really found anything to do, but there was definitely room for someone to brace the other door. And it makes sense to me that if I could do it, but Caoimhe can¡¯t -¡± ¡°Aleister said she didn¡¯t go near the gate, so it¡¯s possible.¡± Ash said. ¡°It¡¯s definitely worth a try.¡± ¡°What else are we thinking?¡± ¡°Bisky, I know we were targeting the enemies with the battering ram down in front, but we may want to take out the mages in the back first.¡± Firo said. ¡°What mages?¡± Marissa asked. ¡°Oh, did you not see them? There was a group of mages lined up a few ranks deep in the enemy army. They were the ones that basically blew up the door.¡± He added. ¡°I see.¡± Marissa started fiddling with her character sheet, deciding it might be best to swap her weapon out. ¡°Man, what a pain.¡± She muttered, as she unequipped her beloved [Verdant Longbow] in favor of her back up weapon, the [Sniper¡¯s War Bow]. Conveniently for this particular situation, the [Sniper¡¯s War Bow] had a unique [Invested Effect] that boosted the weapon¡¯s attack range by an extra 25%. While she didn¡¯t love the [War Bow] basic attack string, the range bonus would be worth it here. When the weapon displayed on her back swapped over, Kieran whistled. ¡°Bringing out the big guns, huh?¡± He laughed. And he wasn¡¯t joking around, either. [Longbows] were typically almost as tall as the character using them, and they were far from small. But the [War Bow] was enormous. It looked like it was much sturdier than most bows, with the materials used to make it much thicker all the way around. And while it practically dragged on the ground by Hibiscus¡¯ feet, it also extended above her head by almost two feet. ¡°I¡¯m not sure my longbow can reach, so here we are.¡± Marissa said, making sure she had the new weapon [Invested] for the extra range. ¡°Firo, can your spells even reach?¡± ¡°I had to swap weapons, too. Thankfully, I also have a longer range option.¡± He said, spinning Firo around to show off the new staff he had equipped. Unlike the classic gnarled wooden one from earlier, this one appeared to be metal with an angled plate on the top. ¡°I should be able to reach this time.¡± This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. ¡°Back.¡± Jazz said once she sat down. ¡°Mello told me the plan for me to go to the gate with Fiona. Any other new plans?¡± ¡°Hibiscus and Firo are going to target the rear guard mages that blew open the door last time, but that¡¯s it so far.¡± Nyx said. ¡°Given we didn¡¯t really find much else to do last time, I think we¡¯re going to have to spend some time searching again.¡± Evie said. ¡°I guess we should just run it back, right?¡± Evan asked. ¡°Yeah.¡± Marissa said, stretching her arms up toward the ceiling before resituating herself in her chair to be in a more comfortable playing position. She was really embarrassed by her usual posture. ¡°Anyone not ready?¡± No one said anything as Marissa watched all the party members shift around inside the little blue circle that denoted their safe starting zone. Marissa shrugged, and just said ¡°Go.¡± Everyone surged forward, and as soon as they broke past the blue barrier, things were in motion. This time, at least, they had a semblance of a plan. Hibiscus and Firo moved quickly toward the stairs to the wall walk, while Aleister and Fiona [Sprinted] straight to the gate. ¡°You got -¡± ¡°Yeah, I got it.¡± Jazz said, interrupting Evan¡¯s question, as both of them slammed their shoulders against the huge gate to brace it against the battering rams that were sure to start. While the healers and melee DPS ran around trying to find some way to assist, Hibiscus and Firo were already working on blasting attacks into the enemy army. While Marissa was occasionally trying to throw attacks at the Fomorians closer to the gate, she kept an eye out for enemy mages and archers in the back line. ¡°There!¡± ¡°Got it.¡± She said, when Firo called out one of the enemy spellcasters popping up. They both launched attacks at them, taking the single target out almost immediately. ¡°Despite them blowing up the door last time, they don¡¯t have a lot of HP.¡± Firo said. ¡°I get the feeling that we¡¯re individually much stronger than anyone else on the field.¡± Kieran said, with Caoimhe still running around trying to find some way to contribute. ¡°Generally, anyway. Those troll things still sent us flying.¡± ¡°You know, I don¡¯t see those things out here right now.¡± Marissa said, scanning the horizon for the huge enemies. ¡°Me either.¡± Firo said. ¡°Maybe they spawned in when we did something wrong.¡± ¡°Or they were summoned?¡± Marissa said. ¡°Since we didn¡¯t focus the mages last time.¡± ¡°Could be. Fiona, Aleister, how¡¯s the door holding?¡± ¡°Fine, actually.¡± Evan laughed. ¡°Apparently having the second person here makes it much easier.¡± Marissa could still hear the button mashing in the background as he spoke, but it wasn¡¯t nearly as frantic as the previous attempt. ¡°Oh, so it was harder last time?¡± Jazz asked. ¡°Yeah. Did you really think I¡¯d fail at this?¡± Evan asked, incredulous. ¡°Dunno, maybe.¡± Jazz joked. ¡°I¡¯ve seen you fail at walking Fiona in a straight line.¡± ¡°I told you that was a misclick!¡± Evan shouted, as laughter filled the chat. Marissa had been around for the incident in question, where Fiona fell off a tree trunk that was spanning a chasm. All they had to do was walk straight, and everyone except for Fiona had made it perfectly fine. ¡°Uh huh.¡± Jazz goaded. ¡°You little -¡± ¡°I found something!¡± Kieran said, cutting off the teasing. ¡°Nyx, over here. I found a stash of throwable weapons for us to use.¡± ¡°Bro, where the hell is ¡®over here¡¯?¡± Nyx laughed. ¡°Oh, sorry. Right of the gate, under the stairs. I¡¯m jumping.¡± Kieran said. ¡°Oh, I see you. On my way.¡± Nyx said. Marissa just focused on keeping her eye out for priority targets beyond the wall. Enemy mages did pop up occasionally, their spellcasting shining like a beacon to draw her fire. Firo, too, was launching all kinds of magical bolts out onto the field, doing his best to hit any target he could reach; even with his extended range [Staff] he couldn¡¯t reach as far as Hibiscus. But together, they were managing to keep the enemy¡¯s assault pretty well contained. Aleister and Fiona were managing to hold the gate easily compared to last time, now that nothing was blasting it with magic. The gate was more than strong enough to hold against a battering ram. Right as Marissa landed a critical [Master¡¯s Shot] on one of the enemy mages, Caoimhe, Nyx, Evie, and Mellody ran up the stairs, each carrying a large barrel. ¡°Yo.¡± Marissa said, grinning, as they each took up a spot by a crenel and placed their barrels beside each of them. ¡°Yo.¡± Kieran said. ¡°We don¡¯t have the range, so let us focus on the closer mobs. You two focus on range only.¡± Ash said. ¡°Aye aye.¡± Firo said, immediately launching off a big blast of raw magic, letting it explode deep in the enemy lines. ¡°So what¡¯d you find, anyway?¡± Marissa asked, as she continued to launch potshots at the back line. ¡°Molotov cocktails.¡± Nyx purred, as she launched one over the crenel. Whatever it was that she threw shattered against one of the infantry holding up their shield for arrow cover, and fire quickly crawled over their shield and poured down and around them like liquid fire. ¡°They¡¯re labeled as Firebombs, for the record.¡± Ash said. ¡°But, yeah, that looks like a Molotov cocktail to me.¡± He laughed, as the four of them suddenly started raining fire on the enemies below. The sudden attacks started to scatter the enemies a bit, as they were targeting primarily the ones near the ram. The first group of throws took out the shield wall defending the ones actually carrying the ram, and then they targeted the ram bearers directly. ¡°Okay, now I¡¯m getting suspicious. This is going too well.¡± Firo said. ¡°Why would you say that?¡± Evie laughed. ¡°What? How is that jinxing us? I just said that it¡¯s going to get worse.¡± Firo said in defense. ¡°It¡¯s close enough, I¡¯m sure.¡± Evie said. ¡°He¡¯s right though.¡± Marissa said, one-shotting another mage that appeared. She felt like she was playing whack-a-mole. ¡°The scenario is going to just be one note if it continues like this.¡± ¡°How¡¯s that for a complication? Look to the left.¡± Ash said. ¡°What¡¯s going on out there? We can¡¯t see.¡± Evan asked. ¡°They¡¯re bringing ladders, looks like.¡± Kieran said. ¡°There¡¯s also towers in the distance, but they aren¡¯t coming toward our wall.¡± ¡°Okay, so ladders. How bad can that be?¡± Jazz chuckled. ¡°I guess we¡¯ll see in a second here. They¡¯re making tracks.¡± Marissa said, launching an arrow at one of the Fomorians carrying a ladder. She hit them, but they didn¡¯t fall. ¡°Nyx, you ready to play?¡± Kieran said, the grin clear in his voice. ¡°Oh, yeah,¡± she said, throwing another bomb. ¡°Bisky, Firo, we¡¯ll try to defend you up here so keep racking up those mage kills.¡± ¡°Will do. Don¡¯t die.¡± Marissa said. ¡°Don¡¯t forget you¡¯re tankless up there. Be careful.¡± Jazz said. ¡°Pretty sure if we walk away now, they¡¯ll knock the door down, so¡­good luck up there.¡± Evan added. ¡°Right. I¡¯ll take the front then.¡± Kieran said. ¡°My attacks swing pretty wide, so I can probably keep aggro well enough on the group.¡± ¡°Copy. Everything so far has been fodder tier, so I don¡¯t think we¡¯ll have much trouble.¡± Nyx said, throwing her last bomb before she drew her [Knives]. ¡°Famous last words.¡± Evie said. ¡°Call us if a big boy shows up. We can get one of the tanks up here if we have to.¡± ¡°I volunteer as tribute.¡± Jazz snickered. ¡°Let Fiona redeem himself down here.¡± ¡°Really?¡± Evan shot back. ¡°You¡¯re just afraid you couldn¡¯t hack it on your own.¡± ¡°So?¡± Jazz asked. Evan just snorted in response. ¡°Here they come.¡± Marissa said, as she took out one of the ladder bearers. But at least three others were pushing up their ladders against the wall. The metal bars thunked heavily against the wall as they fell into place. The force of contact with the wall knocked what were basically pitons down onto the stone of the wall, fixing the ladders in place. They looked unfortunately sturdy. As a few of the enemies were climbing up and over the wall, Marissa spun to take aim at the new arrivals. ¡°Stay focused. We¡¯ve got you.¡± Kieran said, as Caoimhe leapt forward to engage with [Wild Swing], knocking down a bunch of the attackers. The follow up [Punishment] even took out a few of them. ¡°He¡¯s right, we¡¯ll hold the line here. If the mages on the field actually get their spells off, we¡¯re in big trouble.¡± Nyx said, as she vanished and reappeared behind one of the enemies a ways down the wall. She may have isolated herself, but her focuses attacks were knocking out her individual targets in record speed while Caoimhe kept them facing toward her. Marissa turned back toward her view of the field through the crenel. ¡°There¡¯s really going to be no end to them.¡± She muttered, lining up another shot. ¡°The only way this ends is with some kind of plot development.¡± ¡°Then we just need to hold them until someone comes calling for us.¡± Ash said, as he and Evie worked on keeping Caoimhe and Nyx healthy. ¡°I hope it¡¯s soon.¡± Evan said. ¡°Because let me tell you guys - I understand someone needs to brace these doors, but I am bored.¡± ¡°I think something is happening.¡± Firo said, and Marissa immediately started frantically sweeping her camera out over the field of enemies, looking for a disturbance. And then she heard the rhythmic war chanting coming from inside the city, moving toward their position. ¡°Well, you may just be getting your wish, Fiona. Let¡¯s hope it doesn¡¯t kill us.¡± Chapter 40 : Push Back
Party List
Nyx Alaion (Zoe Fox) [Shroud] : [Dirge] 9,800 / 11,000 8,400 / 11,000
Aleister Demian (Jasmine Burch) [War] : [Ebon] 11,000 / 11,000 11,000 / 11,000
Fiona Woods (Evan Woods) [Plate] : [Aegis] 11,000 / 11,000 11,000 / 11,000
Evie Lucian (Cassandra Bailey) [Soul] : [Radiance] 11,000 / 11,000 9,005 / 11,000
Mellody Softsong (Ashton Burch) [Muse] : [Revel] 11,000 / 11,000 9,850 / 11,000
Caoimhe Phadraig (Kieran Moor) [Slayer] : [Tyrant] 6,700 / 11,000 9,900 / 11,000
Firo Strix (Blake Walker) [Mage] : [Invoker] 11,000 / 11,000 5,080 / 11,000
Hibiscus Jade (Marissa Harper) [Arrow] : [Seeker] 11,000 / 11,000 7,800 / 11,000
Zoe When Zoe heard the approaching chants, she flicked her camera toward the inner part of [Gorias] to try to get a glimpse of what was coming toward them, but she couldn¡¯t actually see anything. It didn¡¯t help that she was also in the middle of a fight with a ton of mobs that posed no challenge aside from their numbers. They went down so quickly that the combat was fairly boring, but with so many enemies, she still had to pay attention. Bisky and Firo were still on the wall over the gate, where the wall had thinner crenellations for archers and mages to launch attacks from, which thankfully didn¡¯t leave as much space for ladders to latch on due to the height of the wall. The healers were standing behind them, also in the safer zone. Caoimhe was defending that half of the party the best she could - which was very well. Her [Greatsword] attacks cleaved through multiple enemies at a time, basically creating a wall of death that the enemies couldn¡¯t pass. Nyx had used [Shadow Slip] to position herself on the far side of the wall, on the opposite side of the group of enemies from Caoimhe. She had positioned herself with a tower to her back, which hadn¡¯t yet been breached, so she was able to keep all of the danger in front of her, pressed between her and Caoimhe. The section of the wall that they currently danced on had enough space for four ladders to be set, and the enemies were pushing up faster than they could take them out. Zoe was pretty sure if she could fight her way to a ladder, there would probably be a prompt to knock it down, or she could attack the spikes holding it in place. Unfortunately, she wasn¡¯t gaining any ground despite how many enemies she was able to remove from her path. She considered using [Shadow Slip] to put herself right next to one of the ladders, but it would also leave her completely surrounded. Zoe flicked her camera out toward the city again, and still didn¡¯t see whatever back up was headed their way. She sighed. ¡°Should I try something stupid?¡± ¡°How stupid we talking here?¡± Fiona asked. ¡°Teleporting into the mass of enemies to try to knock down a ladder or two.¡± ¡°You think you can slip in and out without dying?¡± Cass asked, as she kept throwing her firebombs over the edge of the wall while intermittently healing. ¡°Not sure. My plan is to try stealth and see what happens. I might be able to fight my way out if the worst happens.¡± Zoe said, shrugging. ¡°Fuck it, we¡¯re like 3 minutes into this. If we wipe, we wipe. The intel is worth it.¡± Fiona said. ¡°Yeah, just do it.¡± Firo echoed the sentiment, and that was enough for Zoe. She picked her target out among the crowd; a Fomorian that was just climbing over the wall. As soon as she felt safe that appearing behind it with [Shadow Slip] wouldn¡¯t simply place her in the open air by the ladder, she hit the button. With a poof of shadowy wisps, Nyx vanished and reappeared just behind her target. Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel. [Shadow Slip] came with a built in 2 seconds of [Stealth], which was enough time for her to pop [Cloak], her regular [Stealth] skill. Thankfully, because she never broke her [Stealth] after teleporting, the enemies didn¡¯t seem to take note of her. They did start to fill up more of the wall, though, as she wasn¡¯t culling their numbers anymore. Nyx turned toward the ladder, and found no prompt or anything to interact with. But she did see an HP bar pop up for the [Ladder Hooks]. She blew out a strained breath, which must have audibly gone over the chat. ¡°What?¡± ¡°I can attack the ladder¡¯s hooks, presumably to remove it. But if I attack, it¡¯ll break stealth.¡± Zoe said. She was at least relieved that [Stealth] effects in Mag Mell didn¡¯t have time limits, so she wasn¡¯t under that pressure. But she still had to decide fast. ¡°Just do it.¡± Cass said, turning Evie away from her stash of firebombs. She was actually working from Zoe¡¯s barrel now, so her own must have run out. ¡°I¡¯ll cover you.¡± ¡°Be careful.¡± Mellody said, keeping up the firebombing. It seemed to be rather effective, so having someone on it was good. ¡°Caoimhe, watch out for us drawing aggro this way.¡± ¡°Gotcha.¡± Caoimhe said, still just acting as a wall of blades. Zoe took a deep breath and started to smash her attacks against the [Ladder Hooks]. The enemies surrounding her immediately turned toward her as a target just suddenly appeared for them. [Dagger Dance], [Knife Work], and [Knife¡¯s Edge] were her first buttons pressed. They were each multi-hit, single target attacks without any real added effects. Zoe was regretting her choice to swap from [Knife] to [Dirge] as she hacked away at the ladder. [Dirge] was very focused on bleeds and poisons and the like, most of which wouldn¡¯t have any effect on inanimate object enemies. By the time she had the [Ladder Hooks] almost destroyed at 20%, her own health was dropping under 5,000, even with the healing coming in from Evie. Zoe popped [Smoke Bomb], a mitigation type skill that made her harder to hit. ¡°I¡¯m not drawing them off you at all, Nyx.¡± Cass said. ¡°I think you¡¯re generating aggro by attacking the ladder.¡± ¡°Well shit.¡± Zoe said. ¡°At least this first one is down, just keep me up.¡± ¡°I¡¯m trying.¡± A final attack finally destroyed the [Ladder Hooks], and a prompt popped up for her to [Shove the Ladder] - which she did immediately. The third ladder in the row of four counting from the safe side was dislodged and flung backward from the wall. The metal crashed on some of the mobs in the army, which was a nice bonus. But even with her task done, it left Nyx standing near the edge of the wall completely surrounded and undefended, especially with [Smoke Bomb] wearing off. At worst, [Shadow Slip] would be off cooldown in ten seconds, so she could escape then if her HP held up. As she turned around to try to fight her way out in the meantime, she finally saw the source of the war chanting coming toward the wall. There was a whole unit of [Tuatha D¨¦] soldiers headed toward their position, at least. They were fully armored and looked more official than most of the soldiers around them now, who looked more like city guards or militia. ¡°Back up''s finally here.¡± She said, while striking at the nearest Fomorians. They still folded just as quickly as before, but there were enough already on the wall and still climbing up to replace the fallen. Right as Nyx fell to under 2,000 HP, Evie blasted her with one of her big cooldowns, popping her back up to 10,000 in an instant. She used that boost to fight her way to a point where she could [Shadow Slip] out to an enemy right in front of Caoimhe - who was then cut down, setting her free. Zoe let out a relieved breath. Even if it turned out that she may have put herself in real danger there for little return. ¡°Fancy seeing you here, Nyx.¡± Caoimhe said, chuckling, as they immediately went to work together. ¡°Happy to be here, boss.¡± ¡°Where¡¯s that back up?¡± Fiona called, sounding bored. ¡°I desperately want them to take over here and give us something actually fun to fight.¡± Bisky laughed at that. ¡°This turned out to be much more boring than I expected, given how badly we failed earlier.¡± ¡°We just did what we were supposed to this time.¡± Mello said. ¡°Also, they''re just about here, Fiona.¡± ¡°Thank god.¡± ¡°You¡¯re welcome.¡± Caoimhe said, sounding distinctly smug. ¡°Shut up, dad.¡± Zoe snarked with a light chuckle. There were a few scattered chuckles in chat too, which made her smile, especially when she saw Caoimhe use [Mass Devastation], for which the animation just looked fed up and annoyed, as if she was responding to being called out. And then, finally, a text box popped up as the new NPC reinforcements arrived. ¡°Fan out! Reinforce the gate!¡± The soldier in the lead called, and motioned with a hand for their troops to continue on. And they did so, moving to assist in all the areas that Clan Nettle Tea had held up until now. Several of them took up the spots by the crenels above the gate, nodding to Firo and Bisky before taking up their positions. Four soldiers took over for Nyx and Caoimhe, who looked like they were equipped as a small party - one carried a big shield, one an axe, and the other two had staves. They slipped into the spot where Caoimhe and Nyx had been fighting and waved them off. As Zoe was running Nyx down the steps, she saw Fiona and Aleister running away from the gate, so they must have been relieved as well. And then the [Tuatha D¨¦] commander that had arrived waving caught her attention, and the entire party flowed in that direction. Once she got closer, Zoe realized that the area directly in front of the commander was a lightly glowing blue circle. ¡°No way we cleared this already.¡± She muttered. ¡°It¡¯d be too short.¡± ¡°Basically a trash pull then, I guess?¡± Firo asked. ¡°Well, we didn¡¯t get the cleared message so it¡¯s still anyone¡¯s guess.¡± Mello said, as he and Evie pulled up the rear. Everyone gathered into the circle with plenty of room to spare, and as soon as Evie crossed into the circle, completing the group, the commander spoke. ¡°[Uathach] has called for you all. Her contingent is being deployed shortly as a strike force, and she wants you all to report to the field command base by the main gate.¡± The NPC pointed off to the East, the opposite from the gate they had originally entered the city from. ¡°Head there. I¡¯m told your mounts are already waiting for you.¡± A soldier from the wall screamed and suddenly a body thudded to the ground near the party while they were talking with the NPC. They were a ways from the wall, which meant the body had to be flung quite the distance to land there; the entire party swung around at once to see what was happening. There was a large, heavily armored Fomorian standing on the wall. They were covered in huge dark red plates of spiked armor, many of which were rounded in weird ways. They even appeared to have two huge spiked shields attached to the gauntlets instead of a weapon. ¡°I wonder if we knocked more of the ladders down, if we could¡¯ve skipped this?¡± Zoe wondered aloud as they watched the enemy jump and do a cannonball onto the soldiers below. To the [Tuathe d¨¦] soldiers¡¯ credit, they quickly closed ranks and returned to fighting on and around the wall. Some formed up around the new enemy, but they were being shrugged off. ¡°Alright. Let¡¯s deal with that one before you go,¡± the commander said, before charging toward the melee at the gate. ¡°That tracks.¡± Bisky laughed. ¡°Let¡¯s get in there!¡± Fiona yelled and immediately charged. The party followed behind, everyone raring to have some real combat, even though no one said it aloud. As they approached the enemy, their design became more apparent to Zoe. The metal armor plates were indeed red, but it was from dried blood. The color was dark and splotchy rather than appearing to be a dye job or painted. And notably the lack of a weapon didn¡¯t seem to hinder this thing from fighting at all. It was easily dealing with the soldiers attacking it, impaling attackers on the spiked armor pieces before shoving them off the spikes. In the final moments of the party¡¯s approach, a ring of soldiers attacked in unison, only to be easily rebuffed. The enemy had curled into a ball, the oddly shaped metal plates fitting neatly together into a round, completed - and spiked - shell. When the NPCs¡¯ attacks landed, the Fomorian quickly rolled around unfazed by the attacks, rolling straight over some of the soldiers. ¡°Oh for fuck¡¯s sake. It¡¯s a giant metal hedgehog,¡± Aleister sighed. ¡°Sure is. Good luck, melee.¡± Bisky laughed. By the time they were in range to start the fight, most of the NPC allies they had were either wounded, or being pulled away by those who could still walk unaided. As the boss uncurled itself back into its hunched but standing stance, the nameplate appeared above its head. [Spio the Bastion] Fiona laughed, a long and hearty sound. ¡°Oh, I bet this guy¡¯ll drop a really good shield.¡± Chapter 41 : The Iron Hedgehog
Party List
Nyx Alaion (Zoe Fox) [Shroud] : [Knife] 11,000 / 11,000 11,000 / 11,000
Aleister Demian (Jasmine Burch) [War] : [Ebon] 11,000 / 11,000 11,000 / 11,000
Fiona Woods (Evan Woods) [Plate] : [Aegis] 11,000 / 11,000 11,000 / 11,000
Evie Lucian (Cassandra Bailey) [Soul] : [Radiance] 11,000 / 11,000 11,000 / 11,000
Mellody Softsong (Ashton Burch) [Muse] : [Revel] 11,000 / 11,000 11,000 / 11,000
Caoimhe Phadraig (Kieran Moor) [Slayer] : [Tyrant] 11,000 / 11,000 11,000 / 11,000
Firo Strix (Blake Walker) [Mage] : [Invoker] 11,000 / 11,000 11,000 / 11,000
Hibiscus Jade (Marissa Harper) [Arrow] : [Seeker] 11,000 / 11,000 11,000 / 11,000
Zoe Zoe rolled her shoulders as the group moved in to engage the new boss. Feeling like the mild stretch wasn¡¯t quite enough, she let her head droop forward and rolled it around, too, stretching out her neck. When she recentered her head, her shoulders still felt tight, but that wasn¡¯t new. It was almost definitely from spending so much of her average day at the computer. She did her best to stretch out a bit further, but was cut short when the battle truly began. The party ran forward in formation, with the tanks in the lead. Fiona led with her shield up, running straight at [Spio the Bastion]. The boss reared back as the group closed in, and swung at Fiona. [Spio¡¯s] attacks used the spiked shields attached to its arms like punching weapons, slamming them against Fiona¡¯s shield in slow but powerful attacks. Even with Fiona blocking them, the damage was nothing to sneeze at. ¡°We¡¯re lucky those attacks are slow.¡± Mellody said. ¡°Fiona, play carefully for now. I don¡¯t want to see how much HP a missed block will cost.¡± ¡°I promise nothing.¡± Fiona responded, though for the moment wasn¡¯t risking missing blocks to aim for [Perfect Guards], which would allow Fiona¡¯s [Counter] skills. Zoe didn¡¯t know Fiona all that well yet, but she was pretty sure that playing it safe wouldn¡¯t last all that long. Zoe used [Shadow Slip] to get behind [Spio] quickly, ready to start her opener. Caoimhe also used [Driver] to close the distance and get things rolling. While swapping Nyx over to [Dirge] had been a potential misplay when they were fighting a large group of paper thin mobs, she really had a chance to shine now. [Dirge] was a single target, damage over time specialist, that included a lot of detrimental effects. It was rare that a boss was susceptible to all of the status effects she could inflict, but anything that did work was still helpful. Zoe opened with some quick basic attacks while weaving in her first group of [Poison] skills. The timing was tight to avoid interrupting her attack string, because the attacks with [Knives] were so quick. [Wolf¡¯s Bane] went up first. It was essentially a simple damage amp that added an extra 50 [Might] to every attack she used for a minute. [Nightshade] was next, which gave her attacks a stacking DoT. Every time she landed a hit, she¡¯d give the target a stack of the [Poison], which was a 10 [Might] Dot, with a max of ten stacks. [Cold Iron Drip] was third, which added a second damage amp to her attacks of 40 [Might] that doubled to 80 [Might] against Fae enemies; and the Fomorians were typically considered Fae, so it was useful here. And finally was [Fuzz Root], a [Poison] that would add another stacking effect to her attacks, this time applying a [Slow] effect that would max out at ten stacks with a 10% effect. It may not be a huge boon, but if [Spio] wasn¡¯t immune, it would make the [Perfect Block] windows a few frames longer for Fiona to really capitalize on her [Counters]. Once Nyx had her first poison cocktail active, she started rotating through her actual attack skills. [Knife Work], [Dagger Dance], and [Knife¡¯s Edge] were all used while she had the damage amp skills online, and then she started applying her DoT skills, of which there were many. [Poison Lotus], [Artery Cut], [Bloodletting], and [Deep Cut] were all decently high DoT skills that were part of her regular rotation as a [Dirge], ranging between 100 and 150 [Might]. Zoe caught herself tunnel-visioning on her opener, and snapped out of it just in time for [Spio] to make his first real attack. She apparently had missed the traditional opening raidwide, given everyone¡¯s slightly damaged state. A red zone appeared around [Spio], indicating a classic point-blank AoE, which all of the melee simply danced out of. It made Nyx lose contact with the boss for a moment, so she hit [Dagger Toss] - her only real ranged attack - to cover the down time, before slipping back into the fight. Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon. ¡°Are we comfortable yet?¡± Fiona asked, sounding almost fidgety. ¡°Not yet.¡± Mellody chuckled. ¡°No risking counters until we know how much party damage there is.¡± ¡°Fine.¡± Fiona muttered, clearly disappointed. Which Nyx didn¡¯t necessarily think was fair, because Fiona currently had plenty to do. Even with Nyx¡¯s [Slow] from [Fuzz Root], the boss¡¯ attacks were coming frequently enough that Fiona needed to be on top of things. Zoe focused back on herself for a few attacks to make sure she finished going through the rest of her main rotation. [Dirge], being so focused on DoT damage and debuffs, worked primarily on something like a priority system. The DoT damage caused by her attacks lasted longer than the cooldowns on the skills themselves, but it was a DPS loss to reapply them too early. In essence, most of her gameplay as a [Dirge] was spent watching timers tick down on her DoTs and clicking the right one at the right time to reapply it. All while managing her damage amp skill cooldowns and making sure they didn¡¯t drift from the cooldowns on her main attacking skills. It wasn¡¯t too complicated, but it felt different enough from most other [Paths] to be a good switch up to keep things fresh. Especially as a swap from [Knife], which was all about linking the right attack skills together to get the best damage combinations. [Knife] in particular had a rather interesting and complex combo system that Zoe loved. Didn¡¯t mean she didn¡¯t need a break now and again, though. ¡°That looks like a tank buster.¡± Cass called. Zoe smiled; Cass knew Zoe could use callouts like that sometimes. And indeed, [Spio] was raising both his arms above his head, preparing to bring a combined hammer-fist down on Fiona. ¡°Got it.¡± Zoe said, and hit her right mouse button, and by extension, [Debilitating Pierce]. For as dangerous as both [Knife] and [Dirge] were in the offense department, Zoe really loved how support-like they were. Their damage could keep up with most other DPS [Paths], though they certainly didn¡¯t top the charts in most parties. In return though, the suite of debuffs and hindrance skills they got was simply too much fun to play around. And when it came to group content, nothing was quite as well regarded as [DP]. Reducing your target¡¯s outgoing damage in general was great. Reducing it by 15% was one of the most potent reductions available to players in the game. Being able to do it every 30 seconds? One of the best skills in the game, period. But the best part? For something that didn¡¯t do appreciable damage at only 200 [Might], the attack animation looked so satisfying. Nyx flipped her [Knives] around to hold them back hand, and leapt up to slam the two [Knives] down into the target with a flourish. It made Zoe smile every time she did it, as she did now. Fiona held her shield up, ready to take the hit. Without having seen the tank buster animation yet, it would be very difficult to get a [Perfect Guard] timed correctly. Instead, Fiona just hit a mitigation skill and waited for the hit to land. When [Spio] slammed his spiked shields down onto Fiona¡¯s shield, there was a solid thunk and Fiona¡¯s HP dropped by 8k down to just under 2k. ¡°Ow, that hurt.¡± Fiona said, as Zoe watched the 2k jump back up to 10k with some targeted healing. ¡°We¡¯ve got you.¡± Cass said. ¡°We do, but if you miss a block on one of those, you may just straight up die.¡± Mellody said. ¡°Be careful.¡± ¡°Will do,¡± Fiona said. ¡°Also, I¡¯m bleeding.¡± ¡°I can see that,¡± Mellody said. ¡°I¡¯ll keep an eye on you.¡± ¡°Thanks. Aleister, be ready.¡± ¡°Ready for what?¡± Aleister said, but Zoe saw her hit some [Threat] generating abilities, just in case Fiona went down. Zoe was pretty sure Fiona was about to do something monumentally stupid. [Spio] kept swinging attacks while the party went about doing their own jobs, but Zoe was starting to notice the boss¡¯ rhythm - and that was as a DPS. She had no doubt that Fiona had also started adjusting to it. And sure enough, Zoe heard the distinctive clang sound that denoted a [Perfect Block], followed by one of the flashy [Counter] skills at Fiona¡¯s disposal. In addition to [Counter] access, [Perfect Blocks] also reduced the damage of the blocked attack further, which might have actually been worth the risk with the [Bleed]. ¡°I think I¡¯ve got it.¡± Fiona said. ¡°His attack string is actually predictable.¡± ¡°That¡¯s good, I guess.¡± Caoimhe said. ¡°I¡¯m starting to feel really safe out here,¡± Firo said. ¡°And that¡¯s usually a bad sign.¡± ¡°You know, I wasn¡¯t even paying attention when he did the raidwide. What was it?¡± Zoe asked. ¡°He slammed the ground a bunch like DK.¡± Bisky said, punctuating her sentence with a flashy arrow flying across Zoe¡¯s screen. ¡°Okay, so that¡¯s not that concerning, theme wise.¡± Zoe shrugged, still laying into the boss. And then [Spio] started to curl in on himself. Nyx¡¯s attacks were getting a shrill ting sound in response, as if they were bouncing off. She held back, as did everyone else, as [Spio¡¯s] armored plates fit neatly into each other like an armadillo¡¯s plates. ¡°Uh¡­¡± ¡°He¡¯s invulnerable for everyone?¡± Zoe asked. ¡°Yep. Not doing damage.¡± Bisky said. When [Spio¡¯s] armor started glowing a bit, Zoe raised an eyebrow, curious where this was going. Then he started spinning in place as if he was revving up. ¡°So now we¡¯re suddenly fighting Knuckles, is that it?¡± Kieran snorted. ¡°Stay on your toes.¡± Mellody said, ever the voice of reason. ¡°Evie, be ready with heals.¡± ¡°Of course.¡± Cass responded as everyone danced away from the boss and spread out. Without knowing exactly what was coming, but assuming that the boss was going to try to run them over, spreading seemed like the right idea. They also actively avoided the direction the boss was facing. That turned out to be the right call, when [Spio] shot forward. He had been facing toward the city and away from the gate, leaving him spinning off down the road. ¡°Hot damn.¡± Fiona said while someone whistled in appreciation. The rolling ball of armor eventually slammed into a building, taking out a wall. As the building started to creak and crumble, [Spio] spun back toward the party and shot off again, this time returning to the fighting space. However, rather than blasting forward in a straight line, tha spiked metal ball swerved left and right, crashing into as many soldiers and NPCs as it could, taking many of them down in one charge. ¡°Well good to know it can change directions.¡± Firo muttered. ¡°Yeah but how do we stop it?¡±Aleister asked. ¡°Assuming we have to? I¡¯m not sure. Should I try to just block it?¡± Fiona offered. ¡°What¡¯s the worst that can happen? I die?¡± ¡°We can keep your death as a backup plan.¡± Bisky said. ¡°We don¡¯t actually know that it¡¯ll just keep going.¡± ¡°True but - oh, shit -¡± Fiona, as well as Nyx, Caoimhe, Bisky and Evie all had to quickly dash out of the way as the boss seemed to get the party back in his sights. He launched toward them at speed, drifting a bit to each side dangerously. It looked like a motorcycle going through the wobbles about to spin out. And then the red AoE marker flashed for just a moment. Just long enough for the people standing in it to register that they were in danger before they had to [Sprint], dash, or dive to get out of harm¡¯s way. The amount of time to avoid the ball of death felt like it was designed to be just enough that if you reacted immediately and moved out of the line of fire, you would just make it. When [Spio] came flying through the area, Zoe narrowly got Nyx out of the way in time, but it seemed like the attack wasn¡¯t over. The boss, instead of running all the way past toward the gate, turned to the side at the last moment and began circling the party. It was still moving quickly, and the outer edge of their makeshift fighting arena was a constant donut of red AoE as the boss just kept circling. ¡°Guys? That donut AoE is getting smaller; we need to do something.¡± Firo said, and launched a few attacks at the spinning ball of death. ¡°Now?¡± Fiona asked, sounding like an excited puppy. ¡°Evie?¡± ¡°Yeah? Just go for it. What do we have to lose?¡± Evie responded to the unasked question from Mello. Zoe was positive that she was already queueing up a [Resurrection]. Fiona cheered and ran toward the outer ring, she applied a few mitigation abilities before raising her shield and stepping into [Spio¡¯s] path. There was just a moment where Nyx thought it worked. Fiona stood her ground and there was a clashing animation. ¡°Healing!¡± Someone yelled, although Zoe wasn¡¯t sure whether it was Fiona or Mellody. There were a few healing spells tossed out at Fiona, but her HP had dropped to zero before they had finished casting, and Fiona¡¯s body went flying. The boss, meanwhile, just continued closing in. ¡°That sorta worked?¡± Fioan said hesitantly as Evie [Reserve Casted] her [Resurrection], sending it out instantly, since she had prepared it ahead of time. ¡°No it didn¡¯t!¡± Both healers yelled back. ¡°It kinda did, though.¡± Firo said. ¡°Fiona wasn¡¯t killed immediately and there was a clash animation for it. That has to mean something.¡± ¡°Well, we better think quick or we¡¯re all going to be roadkill.¡± Zoe said helpfully. Chapter 42 : Spin Out
Party List
Nyx Alaion (Zoe Fox) [Shroud] : [Knife] 11,000 / 11,000 6,900 / 11,000
Aleister Demian (Jasmine Burch) [War] : [Ebon] 11,000 / 11,000 7,400 / 11,000
Fiona Woods (Evan Woods) [Plate] : [Aegis] 0 / 11,000 0 / 11,000
Evie Lucian (Cassandra Bailey) [Soul] : [Radiance] 11,000 / 11,000 4,900 / 11,000
Mellody Softsong (Ashton Burch) [Muse] : [Revel] 11,000 / 11,000 7,300 / 11,000
Caoimhe Phadraig (Kieran Moor) [Slayer] : [Tyrant] 11,000 / 11,000 9,400 / 11,000
Firo Strix (Blake Walker) [Mage] : [Invoker] 11,000 / 11,000 3,050 / 11,000
Hibiscus Jade (Marissa Harper) [Arrow] : [Seeker] 11,000 / 11,000 8,800 / 11,000
Zoe ¡°What do we think about having a tank stop the charge long enough for us to dash out of the circle?¡± Caoimhe asked. ¡°We could probably do that. We need to pump everything we¡¯ve got into that tank though. Shields, regens, heals - everything.¡± Mellody said. ¡°Fiona went down because we didn¡¯t think it would work so we weren¡¯t ready to heal when it did. I think we can do it right this time.¡± Evie said. ¡°Murder! I was murdered because people I thought were my friends didn¡¯t believe in me!¡± Fiona wailed. ¡°Well get your sorry ass back in there and give us something to believe in!¡± Mellody laughed, as he and Evie layered protections on Fiona. ¡°Aw, man. I wanted a shot.¡± Aleister whined. ¡°When Fiona dies, you¡¯ll be up, Aleister.¡± Evie said, still throwing buffs at Fiona. ¡°When? When not if?¡± Fiona shouted. ¡°Oh, you guys are so dead once we¡¯re out of here.¡± ¡°Like I said. Prove us wrong.¡± Mellody said again. ¡°Guys, stop bickering. We¡¯re running out of time.¡± Firo said. ¡°Let¡¯s go!¡± Fiona said, as she approached an edge of their shrinking safe zone. She balked a few times, allowing the party to get close and ready to run before finally stepping into the boss'' path, shield up. Once again, [Spio] was stopped in his tracks, spinning against Fiona¡¯s shield, the sharpened spikes on his armor smacking against the shield in a distinct rhythm. The party members wasted no time trying to escape as they funneled out behind Fiona. Mellody and Evie went first, and immediately turned back around to start healing the tank as quickly as they could. And the damage Fiona was taking was no joke. Even with shields and mitigation, holding back the boss was basically like taking a massive [Bleed], with Fiona¡¯s HP dropping by 6 or 7k every tick or so. With the healers prepared this time, they were managing alright, but if the defensive mitigation wore off before the clash ended, the sudden loss of 30 or 40% worth of damage reduction would spell certain doom for Fiona. Once the party was safely outside the circle, Evie asked, ¡°Now what? Can you move or anything?¡± Zoe watched as Fiona shuffled experimentally from side to side. ¡°A little? There¡¯s no prompt to do anything, but I¡¯m pretty sure if I stop blocking, I¡¯ll die.¡± She noted that as Fiona moved, [Spio] rotated to face the shield. ¡°Shift a little more, until your back is facing away from us.¡± Zoe said. ¡°The boss¡¯ heading shifted with you; I think you can aim it.¡± ¡°And then what? Die?¡± Fiona asked wryly, but still did as Zoe said, turning to face the boss toward the middle of what had been their circle. Zoe considered the situation for just a moment before drawing her [Knives] and hitting the boss with [Ankle Pick], her [Knockdown] skill. As Nyx did the animation of the spinning low kick to sweep the enemy¡¯s leg, several things happened in succession. First, she immediately noticed the lack of the hollow ping sound denoting a lack of damage, which meant her attack worked. Second, she took a ton of recoil damage, dropping Nyx¡¯s HP from a healthy 10, 328 to a less healthy 4,829. And third, most notably, [Spio] completely spun out of control. The [Knockdown] seemed to force him to open up and lose the neatly fitted ball shape. In the process, he bounced off of Fiona¡¯s shield and spun off to the side, sprawled out on his stomach and spinning like a cartoon. The party cheered at first, but it quickly devolved into laughter as the group saw the way the boss slid across the ground, like a deer on ice. Zoe only had a chance to say ¡°Um -¡± before the healers both noticed her HP and got her back up to full. [Spio], for all the danger that he seemed to pose moments before, slowly got back to his feet and shook out his head as if he was dizzy. But he still had plenty of his HP left, considering making him spin out like that had done little in the way of damage. But at least the party was out of obvious danger. ¡°What¡¯s the move now?¡± Firo asked. ¡°We should plan for more attacks like that.¡± This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report. ¡°Noted. Also, I think physical attacks while he¡¯s rolling like that are bad.¡± Mello said. ¡°No shit?¡± Aleister laughed. ¡°Nyx touched him and nearly died.¡± ¡°Firo and Bisky, you guys specced for knockdowns?¡± Zoe asked. ¡°That¡¯s what did it.¡± ¡°I have Tremor.¡± Firo said. ¡°It¡¯s a ground targeted AoE, so it takes a second for me to place it, but I have one.¡± ¡°All I¡¯ve got are roots. They might work, too, though.¡± Bisky said, curious. ¡°It feels like they should, at least.¡± ¡°If all else fails, we can just throw bodies at it. It was only like 6k damage, and that was unmitigated.¡± Mellody said. ¡°I vote Caoimhe gets thrown next.¡± Zoe nodded. ¡°I vote Caoimhe gets thrown next, too.¡± Caoimhe shouted proudly, and then dashed off toward the boss. ¡°Also, we¡¯ve been standing here like idiots talking strategy while the boss is targetable and vulnerable.¡± ¡°Oh. Yeah. We¡¯re on a roll tonight, guys.¡± Bisky said. ¡°That¡¯s fine, we¡¯ve been at it all day. And we made solid progress.¡± Caoimhe said, as everyone started hammering away at the boss again. ¡°Why¡¯s that sound like you¡¯re about to quit on us, old man?¡± Cass joked. ¡°Is it past your bedtime?¡± ¡°Eeh, it¡¯s getting there.¡± Caoimhe responded. ¡°But more than that, I was just thinking that if we¡¯re going to call it quits for tonight soon, we should go out with a bang, yeah?¡± Zoe eyed [Spio¡¯s] remaining HP warily. ¡°Bro, the boss is at 70%. What are you suggesting?¡± ¡°Dying in a big fiery explosion of glory, then calling it a night to come back tomorrow?¡± Fiona offered. Caoimhe clicked his tongue. ¡°No, you dolts. Winning. I was suggesting we win and leave on a high note.¡± ¡°That¡¯s a big ask with¡­69% of the fight left there, bud.¡± ¡°Nice.¡± ¡°Nice.¡± ¡°Nice.¡± Zoe fought the urge to rub her forehead at the chorus of responses, instead choosing to just let the moment pass and focus on DPS again. ¡°C¡¯mon idiots, focus up.¡± Mellody said. ¡°Thank you, Mello.¡± Zoe said flatly. ¡°But also; nice.¡± ¡°...really?¡± ¡°Just focus.¡± Bisky said finally, and it seemed like everyone finally did. They had been mostly just working away at the fight as they chatted, with the boss not doing anything particularly noteworthy. Fiona was in the zone, regularly getting [Perfect Blocks] and [Counters] during [Spio¡¯s] regular attacks, evidently having adjusted to the tells and rhythm. Zoe grinned, leisurely going through her rotation. [Dirge], being focused almost entirely on dealing its damage through DoTs, didn¡¯t have much in the way of a burst phase. Outside of using her damage amps and the few high damage attacks she had, which was a grand total of basically six skills, Zoe was able to be fairly relaxed while doing her job. Whereas [Knife] had a huge burst every minute and a half or so, where Zoe had to be on top of every single button press, and then spend a minute doing relatively little, [Dirge] required about 70% of her attention at all times. It was far less stressful, but she had a ton of timers to watch and make sure she refreshed her DoTs on time. When the boss wound up for a set of ground-pounds for raidwide damage, Zoe quickly hit [Debilitating Pierce] to keep everyone a bit healthier. So far, she hadn¡¯t seen many mechanics that had prompted her damage reduction skill, so she wanted to use it wherever felt even remotely useful at this point. After the damage went out, and while Evie and Mello were getting everyone back to full, [Spio] reared back in the animation for the tank buster. ¡°Shit, sorry. I DP¡¯d the raidwide.¡± She said quickly, instead throwing [Hemlock Drip] at the boss instead. While it wasn¡¯t nearly as good as [DP], it would reduce the target¡¯s [Strength] by 15%. On a [Strength] based attack, that reduction worked out to around a 7 or 8% reduction in damage, usually. ¡°We¡¯re good, we¡¯re good.¡± Fiona reassured, and popped a mitigation skill before [Perfect Blocking] the attack flawlessly. The [Counter] skill that Fiona followed the block with was a hefty one, too. [Countermeasure] was a skill that Zoe recognized because it was a well known one - its [Might] scaled based upon the amount of damage blocked before the attack. And it scaled very well, making it the de facto [Counter] for tank busters in most situations. ¡°Nicely done.¡± She said, and returned to her DoT-refreshing duties. Not five seconds later, an attack pinged off [Spio¡¯s] armor again, as the creature rolled up into a ball again. Everyone backed up and spread out as he started to rotate quickly in place. ¡°We discussed this briefly, what¡¯s the plan?¡± Firo said. ¡°I¡¯ve got Tremor, but I¡¯m pretty sure someone needs to hold him like before for it to work.¡± ¡°Do I just jump straight in front of him and hope for the best?¡± Fiona asked, sounding like she was about to just do that. ¡°Not yet!¡± Mellody called. ¡°We should learn the attack patterns first. And it doesn¡¯t look like he¡¯s about to do the whole fly-down-the-street thing he did before.¡± Mellody was right. The animation was a little different, with [Spio¡¯s] spinning already wobbling a little. And he was kicking up an enormous amount of dirt and mud behind him as the spikes on his armor dug into the ground - but somehow cut through it instead of propelling him forward. ¡°Shield me!¡± Caoimhe called, and Mellody answered, almost as if he had expected this. As soon as the shield and a little bit of mitigation was in place, Caoimhe launched forward with [Wild Swing]. The attack connected with a thud that was subtly different from the no damage sound while [Spio] was still revving up in place. Caoimhe took the kickback damage, dropping her below 4,000 HP. And [Spio] was launched like a pinball away from Caoimhe - straight at Nyx. Zoe muttered a curse and hit [Shadow Slip] in her panic. Just before the rolling ball of metal made contact, Nyx poofed into smoke and reappeared behind the boss, who continued to speed off into the distance. Unfortunately, that distance included several friendly NPCs that were immediately torn to shreds by the passing cannonball. ¡°Well. I¡¯m never doing that again.¡± Caoimhe said sardonically, as [Spio] rolled up the side of the outer wall briefly, only to turn and come back down, speeding toward the party with a vengeance. The attack appeared to be coming straight at the party this time, without the side-to-side wobbles from the previous attack. ¡°You better not, asshole.¡± Zoe hissed like a startled cat. ¡°Cover me.¡± Fiona said and stepped up into the middle of the path with her shield raised. ¡°No, not yet. Dodge this one.¡± Mellody said. ¡°Bisky, pin ¡®em.¡± ¡°Can do.¡± Bisky responded quickly, and immediately took aim while everyone else scattered to the sides. As they expected, the boss hurtled straight through the group without so much as a twitch in any other direction. Bisky was well positioned to take her shot, standing just to the side of the expected trajectory, making the target almost stationary to her aim. She let the [Pin] fly; the attack hit but had no noticeable effect. ¡°Nothing.¡± She confirmed, as the rolling ball whizzed by. Almost in the same instant that [Spio] hit the edge of their makeshift arena, he stopped suddenly, halting as if propped up on two or three of his spikes. It looked wholly unnatural. And then the spinning reversed, to throw him back toward the party. As he spun in place building up speed, his trajectory seemed to bounce around between the party members individually, skipping the tanks. ¡°Shit. Tanks, pick your targets to defend and ready yourselves.¡± Mellody said, and everyone shuffled around, breaking into their designated small parties - Aleister prepared to defend Bisky, Nyx, and Mellody, while Fiona covered the rest. [Spio] finally picked a target and launched forward. ¡°Oh yeah, come here you big bastard!¡± Fiona shouted, putting up two mitigations skills alongside the shield. Firo, the designated target, stood directly behind Fiona to hopefully make the catch easy while Evie and Mellody threw some shields and regens at Fiona. As before, Fiona was able to stop the boss¡¯ charge while Firo took the chance to scramble away. ¡°Okay, now Tremor - Fuck, Caoimhe, do something!¡± Mellody noticed the predicament a breath late. Firo had to spend the time getting out of the way to avoid being splattered across the ground, and couldn¡¯t cast [Tremor]. Nyx was too far away to get to the boss in time to [Ankle Pick] before Fiona was overrun, especially since her [Shadow Slip] was still on cooldown from moments before. Caoimhe was their only chance, positioned nearby to Fiona as part of the same small party. But because of the weird positions they had been in before, Caoimhe had ended up in the rear. Fiona, having been the main tank for basically the entire fight until this point, had run low on mitigations. Under normal, planned situations, the short length mitigations skills Fiona had used to take this charge should have been enough - it would have been, had someone been close enough to get the easy [Knockdown]. Caoimhe¡¯s [Wild Swing] was still on cooldown from being used in the earlier attempt to send [Spio] spinning out, when it launched him instead. That meant she needed to land [Knockdown] which was a much closer range attack. And to close that gap quickly, Caoimhe used [Driver]. In the heat of the moment while trying to figure out what the boss¡¯ mechanics were doing, Mellody hadn¡¯t healed Caoimhe after the first instance of recoil damage. Evie had, but as was fairly normal for a DPS taking damage, she had thrown a [Regen] on Caoimhe, allowing Evie more flexibility while Caoimhe¡¯s HP would tick back up. Caoimhe¡¯s HP had ticked back up by around 2,000, to just under 6,000. Zoe wasn¡¯t sure if Caoimhe didn¡¯t notice what her HP was, or if she had misjudged the distance, but [Driver] barely connected with [Spio] at the end of the gap-closer. And the recoil damage killed Caoimhe. That left no one in position to hit the boss with a [Knockdown], and Fiona without any recourse but to simply be run over. ¡°Well, shit.¡± Fiona and Caoimhe said in tandem as they went down like dominoes. [Spio] simply went off in the direction that it had been facing when Fiona died, with it¡¯s speed increased after trying to fight past Fiona. ¡°This is still recoverable. Get up.¡± Mellody said, as both healers immediately began casting their [Resurrection] spells. Like before, the boss shredded through several NPCs in its path as it hurtled toward the gate. ¡°No way.¡± Firo said, disbelief in his voice, mixed with a wry laugh. [Spio] crashed through the NPCs and into the inside of the gate - which promptly broke open, as [Spio] spun off deeper into the Fomorian army. Admittedly, he did take out a fair number of enemy mobs. ¡°You gotta be shitting me.¡± Fiona laughed incredulously. ¡°Yep. That¡¯s not recoverable.¡± Zoe laughed in turn. ¡°Wipe it up, boys.¡± Chapter 43 : One More
Party List
Nyx Alaion (Zoe Fox) [Shroud] : [Dirge] 11,000 / 11,000 11,000 / 11,000
Aleister Demian (Jasmine Burch) [War] : [Ebon] 11,000 / 11,000 11,000 / 11,000
Fiona Woods (Evan Woods) [Plate] : [Aegis] 11,000 / 11,000 11,000 / 11,000
Evie Lucian (Cassandra Bailey) [Soul] : [Radiance] 11,000 / 11,000 11,000 / 11,000
Mellody Softsong (Ashton Burch) [Muse] : [Revel] 11,000 / 11,000 11,000 / 11,000
Caoimhe Phadraig (Kieran Moor) [Slayer] : [Tyrant] 11,000 / 11,000 11,000 / 11,000
Firo Strix (Blake Walker) [Mage] : [Invoker] 11,000 / 11,000 11,000 / 11,000
Hibiscus Jade (Marissa Harper) [Arrow] : [Seeker] 11,000 / 11,000 11,000 / 11,000
Zoe After things had managed to spin entirely out of control on the last pull, the party had simply let the invading army rush through the open gate and wash over them like a wave. Without putting up any sort of struggle, the entire group found themselves once again looking at that lightly glowing blue circle at the start of the scenario. Laughter was still echoing through the group as well, given how spectacularly things had gone wrong. Zoe was struggling to get control over her laughter as she watched the screen. Not a single party member moved; she imagined everyone was like her, struggling to control themselves, unable to focus. ¡°Well, lesson learned,¡± Caoimhe wheezed, ¡°don¡¯t try to smack the boss while he¡¯s spinning up.¡± ¡°And don¡¯t launch him at the gate.¡± Fiona said, sounding mostly together. ¡°Obviously that was an accident this time, but I¡¯m willing to bet he¡¯ll actively target the gate later in that fight.¡± ¡°Agreed. I¡¯m more curious about what Nyx said earlier, though.¡± Bisky added. ¡°About whether or not knocking down more ladders would¡¯ve let us skip the fight. Or maybe we¡¯d get a different boss?¡± ¡°I guess the follow-up to that question is what now?¡± Cass asked. ¡°Because we can try to down more ladders this time and see what happens, or we can try to do the same thing again to fight the same boss. At least then we know roughly what to expect.¡± ¡°Part of me is definitely in the ¡®try the same thing over again¡¯ camp, because obviously doing what you know is safest. But also, knocking down all four ladders didn¡¯t seem that hard if we knew what to do going into it, and if we could skip an entire boss fight that way¡­?¡± Firo mused. ¡°I think we should risk it for the biscuit.¡± Aleister said. ¡°If there¡¯s any chance at all that we bypass a boss fight because we out maneuvered what is essentially an extended trash pull, then I¡¯m all in favor of taking the shot.¡± ¡°To be fair, Mag Mell does seem to be the kind of game that would take that into account.¡± Caoimhe said. ¡°I¡¯m sure that there will be something a bit more involved than just knocking down all the ladders to skip an entire fight, but I¡¯m down to try it.¡± ¡°This is probably our last run of the night, given the time,¡± Mellody said. ¡°Does anyone want to try to fight the iron hedgehog again?¡± ¡°Honestly, not really.¡± Firo said. ¡°It was kinda boring, the death spiral aside.¡± Zoe agreed. ¡°It¡¯s the last run of the night, right? Let¡¯s try something stupid.¡± Fiona said. ¡°Alright. Then we try to push for knocking down all the ladders. Knowing what we do now, are there any other strategy alterations we want to make?¡± Mellody asked. ¡°Bisky and Firo, how confident are you two that you can keep the mages contained like last time?¡± Fiona asked. ¡°Unless something changes, I''m confident, I think.¡± Bisky said, with Firo following her with a grunt of agreement. ¡°Focusing on them while the others bomb the group closer to the gate was pretty easy, honestly.¡± Fiona took a deep breath, audible over the mic. ¡°Then I think Aleister can act as a flex. Without the explosions at the gate, I don¡¯t think I¡¯ll have an issue holding it alone, and I think a tank up there with aggro abilities might help.¡± If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. ¡°I think it will too.¡± Zoe said. ¡°If a tank can keep the mobs off me while I destroy the ladders, I imagine it would actually be rather easy.¡± ¡°And that¡¯s why I¡¯m assuming there will be more to it.¡± Caoimhe said. ¡°Could still be the way to go, though, and we won¡¯t learn anything without a little experimenting.¡± ¡°Or looking it up online.¡± Firo said. ¡°Not that I think we should do that.¡± ¡°Ten bucks says at least one party has tried to jump down in front of the gate and fight off the enemies there.¡± Fiona chuckled. There was a moment of silence as apparently everyone considered that course of action. Zoe didn¡¯t think it would work well, but given how easily they had cut through the mobs that had climbed the ladders¡­ ¡°We¡¯d definitely need to have at least one tank still holding the door, and one ranged taking out the mages. Both ranged DPS should probably stay on the wall, actually.¡± Mellody murmured. ¡°That still leaves a tank and two DPS on the ground defending the front. And Nyx and I were basically able to hold the wall on our own against the ladder climbers.¡± Caoimhe said. ¡°Healing spells should be able to reach from the wall to the people down in front of it, if they stay close.¡± Cass said. ¡°If we were to leave one healer on the walls just in case, and let one go down to enter the fray, we¡¯d basically just be splitting up into two small parties.¡± ¡°We¡¯re not actually gonna do this, are we?¡± Bisky laughed. ¡°We did say we should end tonight with a bang, right? This is a whole ¡®nother level of bang.¡± Aleister said, a smile clear in her voice. ¡°I¡¯m honestly so here for this.¡± ¡°Can¡¯t deny that it sounds like fun.¡± Zoe said, grinning to herself. ¡°If we do this though, I¡¯d like to request we back out. I¡¯m not bringing Dirge into a mass melee like that; I need to swap to Knife.¡± ¡°Seconded.¡± Mellody said. ¡°If Evie is alright with it, I¡¯d like to take the on-the-ground role, and I¡¯ll run Skald. I think the survivability would be really good.¡± ¡°Agreed. Soul doesn¡¯t have any good ¡®in-the-thick-of-things¡¯ Dedications, so that spot¡¯s all yours.¡± Cass agreed immediately. Zoe nodded along, thinking about the plan. Putting aside how general stupid the idea was, the changes were probably positive ones. She knew [Knife] would be much better for handling the weaker mobs, and she had already felt that pain in the last run. [Skald] was the close-range variant of [Muse], which would offer Mellody significantly more survivability if enemies jumped on her. The main drawback was that her [Musick] skills would be much shorter range, but with a small party of melee only, it wouldn¡¯t really be a problem. ¡°Alright. Let¡¯s go make the swaps and then come back.¡± Bisky said, and then she simply disappeared. Others followed as Zoe also popped up the in game menu and clicked [Abandon]. The screen went dark as she was loaded back into the same location, but no longer in the instance. ¡°Anyone else swapping?¡± Aleister asked. Zoe quickly hit the [Dedication Swap] button on her hotbar, and it looked like Mellody did the same. While Nyx¡¯s gear was virtually identical between [Dirge] and [Knife], Mellody¡¯s [Skald] gear was very different from her [Revel] gear. Rather than the vibrant dress from earlier, Mello¡¯s [Skald] outfit was a very nice looking set of heavier armor. She wore padded greaves and gauntlets with metal reinforcements, paired with a military uniform-like scale mail hauberk. A [Heater Shield] appeared on her back, and a [Mace] on her left hip. Zoe whistled in appreciation. Mellody had never actually played [Skald] with the group before, despite having it ready to go for months. ¡°Damn, Mello. You look ready for war.¡± ¡°That was rather the point.¡± Mello laughed. ¡°I know I don¡¯t play it often, but I do love [Skald]. It¡¯s a pretty big theme swap, though.¡± ¡°Dropping instruments for banging on your shield and war shouts, yeah?¡± Firo said. ¡°Seems like it¡¯ll serve us well for this, though.¡± ¡°Just gonna reiterate to you guys that there is no way this works,¡± Fiona said, ¡°so if you have any other dumb ideas, we may as well do ¡®em all at once.¡± ¡°Fuck it.¡± Aleister said, and then she also had her gear changed in a flash. ¡°May as well do a little Ravager.¡± ¡°Zerker?¡± Zoe asked, looking at the wickedly pointed, massive axe on Aleister¡¯s back. ¡°Yup. With as many enemies as we¡¯re about to face, Zerker¡¯s health drain mechanics should keep me alive better than War would.¡± ¡°Fair point.¡± Caoimhe said, and Zoe locked her camera onto Caoimhe, expecting her to swap [Paths] too. She didn¡¯t though. ¡°Alright, we ready to get back in there?¡± A resounding ¡°Yeah!¡± followed. And so they did. Bisky queued the group up, and once everyone accepted, they were once again back in that little blue circle. Zoe rolled her shoulders as she rotated her camera to look at their battle area again. ¡°So, before we just run out ahead, what exactly is the plan?¡± She asked. ¡°I think we keep it simple, right?¡± Caoimhe chuckled. ¡°Our little group of idiots beeline up to the wall and jump off it. Fiona will run to the door, and Bisky and Firo will go up to the wall with Evie, and then we just¡­vibe?¡± ¡°We just vibe.¡± Bisky repeated. ¡°Yes. We just vibe.¡± Caoimhe replied, sounding far more confident in the not-plan. ¡°Can you guys at least help me get an extra barrel of bombs up there first?¡± Evie asked. ¡°Sure, why not?¡± Aleister said. ¡°Is everyone ready? I¡¯m itching for this brawl.¡± ¡°Yeah. This should be very interesting.¡± Zoe laughed. ¡°Alright. Let¡¯s go!¡± As everyone charged across the line, the little blue perimeter vanished and everything around them sprung into motion. Aleister and Evie made a beeline toward where the barrels of firebombs were kept, and grabbed one each to run them up the stairs to the wall. By the time they got there, Bisky and Firo were already launching attacks off the wall at their declared targets. Nyx, Caoimhe, and Mellody were simply waiting for Aleister to arrive before they leapt off the wall. Aleister didn¡¯t even say anything before dropping the barrel he had carried up for Evie and leaping over one of the crenellations and falling in front of the gate. ¡°Welp. Last one down is a rotten egg!¡± Caoimhe shouted, and followed. Zoe had Nyx follow right behind as she said, ¡°What are you, twelve?¡± ¡°As if a twelve year old these days would say that.¡± Mello chuckled as he also followed. ¡°You should call him old, instead.¡± Zoe was going to make another quip in response, but when she landed in their hot zone, she needed to focus quickly. Aleister going first had been smart, as he was already basically entirely surrounded by enemy mobs. He fought them off well, and wasn¡¯t actually getting overwhelmed by damage yet. If anything, he seemed exceedingly healthy thanks to [Zerker¡¯s] ability to heal when it dealt damage. And when its healing was based upon the number of enemies hit with its wide sweeping attacks, being dropped into a mob like this might have been about as cozy as a blanket for a [Zerker]. Despite how easy Aleister was making it look, their situation was immediately as dire as expected. Nyx and Caoimhe filtered in behind Aleister, with their backs to the city wall, and immediately tried to work on the enemies. There were plenty of weaker mobs just swarming around, and they all went down with minimal work. Mellody placed herself in the middle of their little wedge formation, keeping her [Musick] up. Whenever an enemy tried to break into their formation, Mellody was the one that pushed them back. Despite being a support, [Skald] was also an adept melee combatant. They didn¡¯t deal a ton of damage, but against mobs like this it simply didn¡¯t matter. And while they did lack damage, they didn¡¯t lack useful combat skills. [Skald] had access to lots of trips and shoves, helping them excel in the thick of combat, even while lacking DPS level damage. Once the wedge was in place, things were under control for a few moments. ¡°This isn¡¯t - ¡° ¡°No.¡± Mellody snapped, interrupting Aleister. ¡°Don¡¯t you say it.¡± ¡°I¡¯m managing the gate well enough, but if you guys could cover the area directly in front of the gate, that would be great.¡± Fiona said. ¡°We¡¯ll try to migrate that way, but it¡¯ll take some time.¡± Mellody said. ¡°I¡¯ll start moving that way.¡± Aleister said, as the group ever so slowly started inching to the right. ¡°Everything on the wall seems fine.¡± Bisky said. ¡°We¡¯ve got the mages well in hand, and I¡¯m watching for the ladder bearers.¡± ¡°Right. Those should be our first priority down here.¡± Zoe said. ¡°Once we clear the ground with the battering ram, anyway.¡± ¡°Bold of you to assume we can manage that to begin with.¡± Aleister laughed. Zoe just snickered. ¡°I dunno, I think we¡¯ve at least got a shot.¡± ¡°I¡¯m watching you guys from the wall.¡± Cass said. ¡°You¡¯re pretty close to the ram crew, and some of them are breaking off toward you.¡± ¡°I see ¡®em.¡± Caoimhe said. ¡°Nyx, they¡¯re on your side though.¡± ¡°Yup, I¡¯ll take care of them when they get close.¡± Zoe said, keeping her basic attacks going. She wasn¡¯t exactly sure how difficult the batter ram defenders were, but she was ready for them. Chapter 44 : Deathball
Party List
Nyx Alaion (Zoe Fox) [Shroud] : [Knife] 10,400 / 11,000 9,030 / 11,000
Aleister Demian (Jasmine Burch) [Ravager] : [Zerker] 10,580 / 11,000 11,000 / 11,000
Fiona Woods (Evan Woods) [Plate] : [Aegis] 11,000 / 11,000 11,000 / 11,000
Evie Lucian (Cassandra Bailey) [Soul] : [Radiance] 11,000 / 11,000 8,290 / 11,000
Mellody Softsong (Ashton Burch) [Muse] : [Skald] 10,490 / 11,000 8,060 / 11,000
Caoimhe Phadraig (Kieran Moor) [Slayer] : [Tyrant] 10,700 / 11,000 9,300 / 11,000
Firo Strix (Blake Walker) [Mage] : [Invoker] 11,000 / 11,000 8,800 / 11,000
Hibiscus Jade (Marissa Harper) [Arrow] : [Seeker] 11,000 / 11,000 10,150 / 11,000
Zoe The enemies that had been carrying the battering ram up toward the city gates had been generally well protected by some bulkier troops that were wearing heavier armor and carried large shields. These were the enemies that had been pelted with firebombs in the group¡¯s last attempt, as they were holding their shields over the ram bearers to defend them from arrows. Cass had warned Zoe that some were breaking away toward her, so when she saw them approaching, she was ready. There for three of them coming toward her, already brandishing spears in addition to their extra large shields. One of them was even dripping bits of fire, presumably from Evie throwing firebombs from the top of the wall. ¡°You got them?¡± Cass asked. ¡°I do.¡± Zoe replied. ¡°Caoimhe, can you guard my side a little bit? I need to see how dangerous these shielded ones are.¡± ¡°I¡¯m a bit busy over here, too, you know.¡± Caoimhe called back. Zoe wasn¡¯t sure she believed that, given there were swaths of enemies falling to Caoimhe''s sword swinging. Though she supposed there were still hordes of enemies to take their place every time some fell. ¡°I¡¯ll guard your side,¡± Mellody said, slipping over a little more to favor Nyx¡¯s side of their wedge formation. ¡°Do what you need to do, just do it quick.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll do my best.¡± Zoe said, as Mellody popped some kind of damage booster to help clear out the enemies that she needed to now guard their position against. Zoe, for her part, broke away a few steps toward the enemies that were approaching. She wanted to keep them away from their little group, and hoped that she could do enough damage to the three of them to keep them aggro¡¯d on her. If they were dangerous enough and broke away to attack Mellody, their plan might be over before it even really began. She took a deep breath, and readied for the fight. She debated whether this plan - which was doomed to fail from the get-go, they all knew - was worth spending a few [Poisons] on. It might be silly, because it was essentially throwing them away for no reason. But at the same time, this was their last pull of the night. Where was the fun in that if it ended early? She popped two of her [Poisons]; they were both long lasting buffs, that would hopefully help her win this immediate fight. [Frostbreath] was a [Poison] that would give all her attacks an extra [Slow] effect, which should help her manage the three-on-one fight she was stepping into. [Reaper Salve] was the second, and would add an extra 60 [Might] DoT onto each attack. It wouldn¡¯t stack on each target, but every time she landed an attack on an enemy already afflicted, it would refresh the timer, and that was useful enough. And then the enemies were upon her. This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. [Knife] was an interesting class that had a lot of options in melee. The basic fighting style revolved around building long combos while remaining as uninterrupted as possible. The longer the [Knife¡¯s] combo went on, the more damage they dealt. The biggest drawback, however, was that as the combo length grew, so did the animation lock on attacks. This meant that [Knife] was incredibly dangerous in situations where it could be left to simply hack away at a target uninterrupted. Attacks were quick at first, but as the combo wore on, attacks could escalate to dealing upwards of 3 or 4,000 [Might] worth of damage per attack - but the animations for the attacks of that strength were 3 or 4 seconds long, and the [Knife] was stuck standing there until the animation was done. Balancing that was a fun part of the class for Zoe. But it also meant that situations like the one she was in could get very dangerous very fast if she got cocky. So, to start, she opened with [Twirling Cutter], an AoE attack that hit her three targets to draw them to her. [Twirling Edge], [Twirling Dance], and [Twirling Dervish] were her AoE follow-ups, which she was willing to risk at the start of this fight. [Dervish] was as deep into the combo as she was willing to risk, as it was a 3.5 second long animation lock for a 800 [Might] AoE. The three heavies were locked on her as she wanted by the end of the combo, and had hit her with a few simple attacks, leaving her at 6,000 HP. That was fine, only because Mellody was nearby to heal her. Her gaming instinct had been right to cut the combo at [Dervish], and she had a moment of satisfaction as all three enemies wound up for a heavily telegraphed attack, complete with a ground AoE marker. If she had gone into [Twirling Death], she wouldn¡¯t have been able to avoid the three attacks. She danced back as all three enemies lunged forward and struck with a shield bash. She had no doubt that would¡¯ve been a [Stun], too, if it had landed. ¡°Heavy ones have a telegraphed shield bash. I¡¯d guess a stun.¡± She said, as she moved back in after the attack ended. ¡°Good to know.¡± Mellody affirmed. Zoe focused again as she moved to focus solely on one of the three targets. She glanced at their HP percentages; the one who had been on fire was around 50% while the other two were hovering a little under 70%. She targeted the weakest of the three, and went through a basic skill combo, without her big burst attacks. Zoe wanted to know exactly how much punishment these enemies could take, and using her full burst to bring them down seemed like a waste, when they had things surprisingly under control for the moment. Nyx¡¯s single target filler combo - [Cut], [Slice], [Dice], and [Eviscerate] - was enough to bring the burning target from 50% to under 10%. Admittedly, that included her two [Poisons] as well as an ongoing [Burn] from the firebomb, but it still led her to believe that while these enemies were certainly stronger than the enemy¡¯s rank and file mobs, they still weren¡¯t too dangerous. Two basic attacks put that first mob down and Nyx immediately moved to the next. She had to dance out of the way of two line AoEs, which turned out to be spear thrusts, but that was fine. She didn¡¯t bother avoiding the smaller attacks, opting to let Mellody heal the damage rather than break her combo by using a dodge skill or moving. This time, she used a few of her actual damage skills that came from [Shroud] and were shared with [Dirge] - [Knife Work], [Knife¡¯s Edge], and [Dagger Dance]. Each of those three attacks had a fair amount of animation lock attached, as they were all multi-hit attacks that dealt a pretty significant amount of damage. She felt comfortable risking the animation lock, though, given the enemies had just used their marked AoEs. She should have enough time to get some damage out. The three skills together brought one of the targets down to roughly 15%, which she could quickly finish with a few basic attacks, before focusing down the last one. ¡°Okay! The heavy boys aren¡¯t actually too bad. They¡¯re a little tankier than the base ones, but still soloable. And they don¡¯t hurt that bad either.¡± Zoe said, talking over some chatter she wasn¡¯t listening to. ¡°Noted. Take your spot back, please.¡± Mello said. Zoe responded with a quick ¡°Yup,¡± before sliding back into her point of their wedge formation. All things considered, they were holding quite well. Aleister¡¯s kill count may not have been very high, but his HP was looking remarkably healthy for the number of targets he had aggro¡¯d. Caoimhe¡¯s little area, by contrast, was basically a pile of dead bodies. Her massive sword cut down all the nearby mobs in two or three attacks - and with such wide swings, she was regularly cleaving through six or seven mobs at a time. It was honestly quite impressive. Mello had also held Nyx¡¯s corner well. There wasn¡¯t a pile of dead bodies, but that was to be expected. Mello had successfully kept everyone in the green and kept the enemies out of their bit of claimed land, which was plenty. Nyx took up her spot and immediately tried to pull some of the mobs off of Aleister to help spread the pressure a little. ¡°Okay. We can move over to the gate as a group now. Knowing that I can take down the heavies easily enough, I think we¡¯ll be fine if we just jump the ram bearers.¡± Zoe said. ¡°You sure? If we just dash over there and attack them, we¡¯re going to lose formation.¡± Caoimhe said. ¡°I¡¯m sure. If we can take over that area and create a spearhead in front of the gate, that would give us about as much battlefield control as we can hope for.¡± Zoe said. ¡°She¡¯s right. We¡¯re already in a suicide mission. Let¡¯s just go for it.¡± Mellody agreed. Aleister suddenly came through on the chat, laughing maniacally. She must have been on push-to-talk rather than an open mic to avoid everyone else hearing the laughter. ¡°On your count, Mello!¡± She cried. Zoe snickered; she must have been having a field day with how many enemies she was facetanking with [Zerker¡¯s] HP manipulation skills. ¡°Alright, ready?¡± Mellody asked, and then counted the group down. As soon as he said ¡®one¡¯, their entire little party simply stopped attacking in favor of moving to the right as quickly as possible. They hadn¡¯t been able to drop down from right above the gate because the wall was too high to jump over, but they weren¡¯t forced too far off from it. The issue was just the number of enemies between where they landed and the gate. Trying to gap close and run their way over to it could have been a very dangerous over extension if they hadn¡¯t been able to quickly handle the enemies crowded around the battering ram. The knowledge that they could handle them fairly easily, even if they were harder than the average mob, was enough to make the mad dash worth it. Aleister was the first to reach the area. [Zerker] had a gap closer that would allow them to dash to any wounded enemy, and it could store up to three charges of the skill. Thanks to Firo and Bisky peppering the crowd with attacks whenever there wasn¡¯t a mage to attack, there were plenty of damaged mobs among the crowd, and Aleister simply utilized all three charges to cross the distance quickly. Caoimhe and Nyx were a little more hesitant to simply gap close their way across the space and leave Mello without protection. Instead, they worked to clear the way together, using a few utility skills to keep the enemy at bay. Conveniently, by the time the three of them caught up to Aleister, he had the situation in their favor. In addition to several AoE attacks that generated [Threat] quickly, [Zerker] also had a skill called [Call the Blood], which forcefully took any wounded enemies within a radius and pulled them to the [Zerker]. Combined with the firebombs that Evie had been lobbing from the wall, and a few quick AoE attacks from Aleister, [Call the Blood] had been able to not only gather a huge mass of enemies in one place, but it also pulled the whole group away from the battering ram - which now laid on the ground. ¡°Nice round up!¡± Zoe said with a grin. ¡°You line ¡®em up -¡± Caoimhe began and launched into [Wild Swing], ¡°- I knock ¡®em down.¡± Zoe whistled in appreciation, as Caoimhe hurtled through the mass of enemies, bowling them all over and knocking a huge number of them down. The [Punishment] that followed looked immensely satisfying, as it wiped out most of the regular mobs in one go. Aleister also jumped on the downed crowd with a few AoE attacks, which finished up the regular mobs, only leaving the heavier armored ones. ¡°Take them out. I¡¯ve got the door.¡± Mello said, and their half-sized crew did the job. There were seven remaining armored enemies, all of which had been tenderized by Evie and her firebombs already. Caoimhe and Nyx together had no trouble wiping them out while Aleister handled the regular mobs that attempted to fill in the gap we created. As soon as the armored enemies were down, their little advanced force fell back into their wedge formation, surrounding the battering ram. ¡°Now what?¡± Aleister asked, as they went back to somewhat easily fighting off the regular mobs. ¡°I see the ladder bearers.¡± Firo said. ¡°They¡¯re coming from your right.¡± ¡°Right. Ladders.¡± Chapter 45 : Melee
Party List
Nyx Alaion (Zoe Fox) [Shroud] : [Knife] 8,590 / 11,000 8,030 / 11,000
Aleister Demian (Jasmine Burch) [Ravager] : [Zerker] 4,360 / 11,000 9,000 / 11,000
Fiona Woods (Evan Woods) [Plate] : [Aegis] 11,000 / 11,000 11,000 / 11,000
Evie Lucian (Cassandra Bailey) [Soul] : [Radiance] 11,000 / 11,000 9,300 / 11,000
Mellody Softsong (Ashton Burch) [Muse] : [Skald] 8,430 / 11,000 7,050 / 11,000
Caoimhe Phadraig (Kieran Moor) [Slayer] : [Tyrant] 8,400 / 11,000 9,300 / 11,000
Firo Strix (Blake Walker) [Mage] : [Invoker] 11,000 / 11,000 10,800 / 11,000
Hibiscus Jade (Marissa Harper) [Arrow] : [Seeker] 11,000 / 11,000 10,050 / 11,000
Zoe Zoe looked over in the direction that Firo called out, but couldn¡¯t actually see anything yet. The mass of enemy mobs was simply too large. She thought she might be able to see some of the crowd parting for what she figured would be the ladder troop, but couldn¡¯t be sure. ¡°Uh, Bisky? Firo? We couldn¡¯t see last time because we were up on the wall. Did the enemies carrying the ladders look distinct at all?¡± Caoimhe asked. That was a good question. ¡°They had armor, but not as much as the shield wall that was with the ram.¡± Firo said. ¡°Big ass helmets to stop headshot damage.¡± Bisky said, annoyed. ¡°You should be able to see the first group now.¡± The mass of enemies parted to allow the ladders close to the wall so they could get set up. And sure enough, it was exactly like Firo had called; they were armored, but not as much as the heavy units from earlier. But even more notable than that was that they didn¡¯t appear to carry weapons. ¡°No weapons?¡± Caoimhe asked. ¡°It doesn¡¯t look like it.¡± Mellody answered. ¡°That¡¯s¡­hm.¡± ¡°What are the chances they actually won¡¯t fight back?¡± Zoe asked, considering trying to [Shadow Slip] her way over to the first group. They were just within range. ¡°Surely they would, right?¡± Caoimhe said. ¡°I¡¯m sure something will happen if you attack them.¡± Aleister said. ¡°Which, we should.¡± ¡°Agreed. That¡¯s what we came down here for.¡± Mellody chuckled. ¡°Death ball or free for all?¡± Zoe had all of a few seconds to think about the question before they would have to make a decision. Sticking together would presumably keep their survivability chances higher, especially if Mellody was able to stay in the middle of their little group. But if they had any hope of actually getting in there and taking out ladder bearers to stop the ladders from breaching the wall, they needed to move fast. In the end, her mind just went back to what they had said going into this stupid plan. ¡°Go out with a bang, right?¡± She asked, grinning wide. ¡°Oh, hell yeah.¡± Caoimhe laughed in agreement, and they both immediately moved. Their formation completely collapsed. Caoimhe had hit [Sprint] and immediately [Driver]¡¯d through a group of enemies to try to reach the second furthest group. She got close enough to reach with the following [Wild Swing], knocking them down. Nyx had used [Shadow Slip] before she even had confirmation that they were actually going for it. She had been just within range to target the nearest group of ladder bearers, appearing amongst the small enemy group setting up to deploy the ladder. She hit the one she imagined was the leader with [Ankle Pick], hoping that knocking him down would be enough to delay, or even stop the ladder¡¯s deployment. It seemed like it was. Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation. ¡°Fuck, you guys! You can¡¯t just leave your healer like that!¡± Mellody cried. Zoe snapped her camera to face the way she had come from for just a second to see Mellody fighting for her life, completely surrounded. ¡°Where did Aleister go?¡± Caoimhe asked, unable to see what was happening from the next ladder over. ¡°She poofed on me.¡± Mellody hissed. Zoe knew that Mellody and Aleister played together in the same room, with their chairs back to back. She was willing to bet Mellody had looked back over his shoulder to angrily growl at his wife. ¡°Where did you go?¡± ¡°I thought we were getting the ladder crews?¡± Aleister said innocently. ¡°I gap closed my way to the third group.¡± ¡°....That¡¯s it. I¡¯m dead.¡± Mellody said, sounding utterly resigned. ¡°Been left to die by my own wife.¡± He let out a hollow laugh, playing it for laughs from the group. ¡°Bro, you¡¯re playing Skald right now. Hit your damn charge button and get your ass over here.¡± Aleister said flatly. ¡°Oh, right.¡± Mellody snorted. ¡°I honestly forgot that was a thing.¡± Mellody let out a sharp yell in the game, followed by a blast of light, and then simply dashed through the enemies on the way toward the rest of their team. [Accelerando] was a [Skald] skill that buffed nearby party members, including the [Skald], making them immune to [Suppress] type effects, like [Rooted] or [Knockdown]. It also included a damage mitigation and added the [Sprinting] effect to everyone hit by the effect. Mellody zoomed over to stand nearest to Caoimhe, who was positioned at the second of four ladders, while Nyx was on the first, and Aleister at the third. Nyx shook her head to focus back on her targets. Once again, she was surprised how quickly and easily the enemies went down. Yes, there were a near endless number of mobs to replace the fallen, but it didn¡¯t matter when it seemed like the normal mobs couldn¡¯t put the ladders up. ¡°All clear here.¡± Zoe said, fighting in the middle of a large group of enemies. Without their formation, she had gotten surrounded, but was able to avoid the worst of the damage when she saw AoE markers. Thankfully, she was just inside Mellody¡¯s healing range to cover the attacks she couldn¡¯t dodge. ¡°Same here.¡± Caoimhe said. ¡°Collapse on us so we can all get healed.¡± ¡°What about ladder four?¡± Aleister asked, seemingly perfectly happy to facetank a huge group of enemies on her own. ¡°I took care of them.¡± Evie laughed. ¡°They were no match for my rain of fire!¡± ¡°Nice!¡± Zoe said, moving toward Caoimhe and Mellody. Aleister was slowly moving toward them too, easily dealing with the huge number of enemies between them. Once they were back in place for their wedge formation, they fought to clean out their small area of safety. Once Nyx¡¯s area was back under control and she was mindlessly hacking away at the enemies in her way, she mentally paused for a moment. ¡°Now what?¡± There were several beats of silence over chat as it seemed like everyone considered the question. ¡°Dunno.¡± Bisky said, eventually. ¡°I won¡¯t lie, I didn¡¯t think we¡¯d get this far.¡± ¡°Guys, should I come join you out there or something?¡± Fiona asked, having been quiet for a while. ¡°I¡¯m still holding the gate, but there¡¯s been like no attackers on it.¡± ¡°I guess we did kill the battering ram team.¡± Caoimhe shrugged. ¡°Stay there, just in case.¡± Mellody said. ¡°We don¡¯t really know what¡¯s next.¡± ¡°Oh. I just heard the first bit of the war chants from the Gorias forces.¡± Bisky said. ¡°I guess that¡¯s a good sign?¡± ¡°Probably?¡± Fiona said. ¡°Not that we have any idea how to recover our idiot strike team.¡± ¡°I bet we could put up one of the ladders.¡± Zoe said. ¡°Because that¡¯s a good idea.¡± Firo said. ¡°I mean, if someone has a better one, I¡¯d love to hear it!¡± ¡°Guys? Heads up, you have incoming.¡± Bisky said, sounding concerned. ¡°Care to elaborate?¡± Caoimhe asked, as the group continued to hold their position. Marissa chuckled and called back to what she had quoted much earlier in the evening; ¡°They have a cave troll.¡± ¡°Which direction?¡± Aleister asked. ¡°Your¡­.left.¡± Firo said. ¡°There¡¯s more than one, just to be clear.¡± Zoe angled her camera in that direction. She had been handling the bottom right point of their little wedge, which put her furthest from the incoming enemies. The ones that had simply overrun them in their first attempt. ¡°What¡¯s the play?¡± Caoimhe asked. ¡°Bisky, Firo, what¡¯s the situation look like from up there? Are there still mages popping up?¡± Mellody asked. ¡°Of course there are.¡± Bisky said. ¡°I imagine you want some cover fire?¡± ¡°Whatever you can spare.¡± Mellody said. ¡°Try to pull them away from the gate? The last thing we need is for them to start bashing it down again.¡± Evie said. ¡°If you can pull them closer to the wall, I can firebomb them?¡± ¡°Good idea.¡± Zoe said. The troll things were big and armored, but they didn¡¯t seem like they would simply break down the wall itself. If they could keep them away from the gate, hopefully that would be enough. ¡°I see three,¡± Caoimhe said, ¡°How many more are there?¡± ¡°Five total. The other two broke off to head toward something in the crowd, not sure what.¡± Bisky said. ¡°Think you can handle three?¡± ¡°Dunno. We didn¡¯t exactly get to fight them last time, did we?¡± Caoimhe laughed. ¡°What do you think, gang? Should we just focus on the new guys?¡± ¡°Firo, any chance you can blast your biggest AoE down here when they get close to try to give us some breathing room?¡± Mellody asked. ¡°I mean, sure, but Caoimhe¡¯s big attacks are probably better at that than I am right now. There¡¯s so many mobs that I don¡¯t think blowing up a bunch of them will really do anything.¡± Firo sounded like he shrugged. ¡°I can do it anyway though, sure.¡± ¡°Thanks. Here we go.¡± Mellody said, as the new hulking enemies arrived. Once they closed in on the wedge formation the team was holding, Firo let a big arcane blast go. He had been focusing fire on the mages that cropped up, and so had held back his biggest AoE spell, [Ancient Explosion]. It was a high damage attack that targeted a huge area; the highest damage AoE attack in the game in fact, though not by too much. The AoE was significantly bigger than most, however. And it was ground targeted, rather than used by targeting an enemy, so Firo was able to place it wherever he liked. In this case, he had chosen to basically center it on the team. It did enough damage to wipe out basically any enemy in the vicinity that had been damaged, and leaving the rest heavily charred. ¡°Good?¡± ¡°Good.¡± Mellody responded, happy to see their battlefield had mostly been cleared for the moment. When the new enemies finally got within melee range, Zoe was able to actually identify what they actually were. ¡°They¡¯re mutated bears,¡± She said, ¡°Gross.¡± It looked like all three were wearing pretty heavy plate armor, and were more than ready to trample the four of them. Two of the bears, who were leading their little group in a reversed wedge, were holding the wicked looking maces that they had seen in their first failed attempt. The third bear behind them was carrying a massive axe. With the size of the bears already being much larger than most players, the axe was monstrous in proportion. ¡°That axe is like three of me!¡± Caoimhe laughed. ¡°Are we ready?¡± ¡°As we¡¯ll ever be.¡± Zoe shrugged. ¡°Nothing to it but to do it.¡± ¡°Here we go then.¡± Aleister said, and launched at the bears with a wide swing of her own large axe. Her initial cleave caught the two in the lead and jumpstarted her [Threat]. The damage she had dealt amounted to about 1% on each of them. ¡°Okay, they''re big boys.¡± Aleister said, as she established aggro on the two mace wielders, before launching a few ranged [Threat] generating skills at the axe wielder in the back. ¡°Ready, Nyx?¡± Caoimhe asked, a smile audible in his voice. ¡°Always.¡± Zoe said, chuckling. And then they leapt in. Caoimhe jumped the left one while Nyx took the right, and they both immediately launched into their burst phases. Nyx had held back for the vast majority of this fight so far because they simply didn¡¯t need the damage. Now they did. She layered on all of her damage buffs and used two more [Poisons] just for good measure. Then she fired off her disconnected damage skills, hoping to get at least a basic read on these new bear enemies before launching into her longer, more dangerous combos. By the time she had used [Knife Work] and [Dagger Dance], her bear was winding up for a big attack. She slipped to the side and around the enemy¡¯s back before hitting [Knife¡¯s Edge]. The bear¡¯s attack swung in a huge cone in front of it, and even clipped a few of the regular mobs. It sent them flying with a huge knockback, and they almost all landed on the ground already dead. ¡°That looks painful.¡± Zoe said. ¡°Yeah, don¡¯t get hit by that.¡± Aleister said. Unfortunately, with enemies this size, there wasn¡¯t much that Aleister could realistically do with positioning them. They had been at least lined up and facing the same way, but they were too large to actually stack their attacks¡¯ AoEs well for safety. The massive AoE attacks they had were absolutely going to be a problem for Nyx and her long periods of wanting to stand still. ¡°We¡¯ll just need to do what we can,¡± Caoimhe said, ¡°no pressure.¡± Zoe considered that and shrugged to herself. What was the worst that could happen? They knew they were playing with fire with this strategy; all she could do was buckle down and do her best. Chapter 46 : Out with a Bang
Party List
Nyx Alaion (Zoe Fox) [Shroud] : [Knife] 10,800 / 11,000 7,900 / 11,000
Aleister Demian (Jasmine Burch) [Ravager] : [Zerker] 9,400 / 11,000 10,500 / 11,000
Fiona Woods (Evan Woods) [Plate] : [Aegis] 11,000 / 11,000 11,000 / 11,000
Evie Lucian (Cassandra Bailey) [Soul] : [Radiance] 11,000 / 11,000 8,930 / 11,000
Mellody Softsong (Ashton Burch) [Muse] : [Skald] 10,340 / 11,000 9,150 / 11,000
Caoimhe Phadraig (Kieran Moor) [Slayer] : [Tyrant] 10,080 / 11,000 9,300 / 11,000
Firo Strix (Blake Walker) [Mage] : [Invoker] 11,000 / 11,000 5,200 / 11,000
Hibiscus Jade (Marissa Harper) [Arrow] : [Seeker] 11,000 / 11,000 9,740 / 11,000
Zoe Zoe wasn¡¯t sure how they were managing to make the progress they were. She supposed that it had mostly to do with Aleister¡¯s swap to [Zerker], as the self-healing that the [Path] offered was simply too powerful in the face of huge masses of weak enemies. She just also had to assume that, at this point, their luck was going to run dry soon. Maybe the developers had set things up that it was possible - with good planning - to make some progress in this [Scenario] while making what we¡¯re almost definitely poor decisions. Except that didn¡¯t really quite track with how quickly they had gotten overrun in their first attempt, when they were trying to figure out what to do, but ended up more confused and lost than anything else. As it was, she was staring down the big bear-like enemies now, and that felt like the game¡¯s attempt to ramp things up a bit. She knew that they were coming. Or at least had inklings that they would, given that they had seen them before. Of course, she had to assume that more danger was on its way if they dealt with them. And, even worse, they still hadn¡¯t seen heads or tails of [Spio] either. And who knew what was going on with that guy in particular. ¡°Nyx, focus!¡± Caoimhe¡¯s shout pulled her out of her wandering thoughts, and helped her focus on the task at hand again. ¡°I¡¯m good, sorry.¡± Zoe said, although she wasn¡¯t exactly sure that she had been performing badly or anything. ¡°Did I miss something?¡± She asked, still trying to hack away at the bear enemies. ¡°I asked if you have ankle pick up?¡± Caoimhe said, apparently for a second time. ¡°Oh, yeah. Which one?¡± She asked. ¡°Can you get mine?¡± ¡°On it.¡± Nyx slid over to the enemy that Caoimhe had been focusing on. Thankfully, with Aleister keeping [Threat] well managed, she had more or less free reign to move about. When she hit [Ankle Pick] and knocked down the target, Caoimhe quickly followed it up with [Punishment], and a slew of other damage skills. Zoe figured since she had already moved this way, she may as well follow suit, and began cycling through her big single-target combo. The enemy went down a few skills into her combo, so she slipped back over to her side. Caoimhe followed with [Wild Swing], and they started tearing apart the other mace-wielding bear. ¡°I don¡¯t like this.¡± Mellody said suddenly. ¡°Me either.¡± Zoe said, assuming he meant how well things were going. ¡°Don¡¯t like what?¡± Aleister asked. ¡°This is way too easy.¡± Caoimhe said, evidently thinking the same thing. ¡°These enemies, once they got through the gate, completely trashed us and the NPCs. Why are they so easy right now?¡± ¡°My first thought is some kind of morale mechanic, or they got a buff when we lost the gate.¡± Zoe said. ¡°Could be.¡± Mellody said, sounding unconvinced. ¡°Either way. I can¡¯t help but feel like something is about to go wrong. And where the hell is the boss?¡± ¡°That hedgehog asshole not being here is a concern, yeah.¡± Zoe said. ¡°They don¡¯t typically just spawn enemies on top of us, so I have to assume he would be nearby.¡± ¡°Maybe he gets sent this way only if they take control of the wall?¡± ¡°I guess?¡± Zoe said, simply unsure what the cause could be. When the second bear went down, leaving them with just the one they assumed to be the leader with the huge axe, they all shifted focus to him. ¡°I got him handled. You guys just do what you do.¡± Aleister said, adding a quick mitigation to his buffs, and continuing to hold aggro. Caoimhe immediately swapped focus, and clicked through a few of her damage focused skills. Zoe was hesitant to simply go all in on her long combos, unsure whether it was safe to do so. She couldn¡¯t help but feel like things had to get harder somehow. She actively spun her camera around, trying to see if new enemies were approaching, or if she could see any sort of clue to what might be coming next. ¡°C¡¯mon Nyx, focus.¡± Caoimhe said. ¡°I can tell you¡¯re nervous, but we still have an enemy right here to kill.¡± ¡°Yeah, yeah. Sorry.¡± Zoe said, and shook her head to focus. She started her main single target combo as Aleister kept the regular mobs from interfering. It allowed her to actually go through all of her main hits, even the ones that lasted dangerously long. The seventh hit in her combo in particular - [Death¡¯s Dance] - was a five second long animation lock that did enough damage to warrant it. As Nyx and Caoimhe hacked away at the bear troupe¡¯s leader, Zoe did her best to keep her eye out for whatever was next. Which mostly amounted to her flicking her camera this way and that between attacks, giving her very little information. ¡°Our reinforcements are here.¡± Fiona said. ¡°The knights took over at the gate, so I¡¯m free. Where am I needed?¡± ¡°Don¡¯t know.¡± Mellody said. ¡°Up on the wall for now?¡± Cass asked. ¡°We don¡¯t know where the hedgehog bastard is.¡± ¡°Okay, on my way up.¡± Fiona said. It was just a few seconds more before the final bear went down. ¡°We¡¯re clear down here.¡± Aleister said, as their small team transitioned back to a wedge formation. ¡°Incoming, right.¡± Bisky shouted. ¡°Spio¡¯s back!¡± When Zoe spun her camera in that direction, she could immediately pick out the spot where the crowd of enemies was parting to let something through, and it was moving fast. ¡°Aleister, get in front of it.¡± Mellody bit out quickly. ¡°Caoimhe, Nyx, get ready.¡± ¡°Mello, there¡¯s no way we take him on with just four.¡± Caoimhe said. ¡°No shit. We have two choices,¡± Mellody said quickly. ¡°Everyone gets down here and we face him together, or someone needs to find a way for us to get back inside.¡± ¡°Preference? I can look around for something if you want.¡± Firo said. Mello said nothing for a moment then growled. ¡°I don¡¯t know. Firo and Bisky, you guys can take potshots from the wall. Evie, you can heal from there, too, right?¡± ¡°You¡¯re just in range. Don¡¯t move too far away.¡± Cass confirmed. ¡°Great. Fuck it. Fiona, get down here. We do this half split.¡± Mellody said, running through a quick rotation of [Musick] to apply some pieces of buffs that would last after swapping songs. Fiona was on the ground with the group before anything else was even said, moving to join up with everyone. She slipped in the front of the formation beside Aleister, joining the fight against the massive army of weak mobs seamlessly. If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. ¡°Let me main tank.¡± Aleister said. ¡°I have tons of HP batteries out here, just make sure you don¡¯t completely wipe out the mobs.¡± ¡°Sounds risky, but sure.¡± Fiona said, and stepped a little back to let Aleister have the center spot. ¡°Do we have any sort of engagement plan?¡± Zoe asked, quickly rotating through some of her untouched [Poisons]. She wanted to have some miniscule buffs for this massacre waiting to happen. ¡°None.¡± Mellody said. ¡°Don¡¯t die?¡± Caoimhe offered. ¡°Helpful as always.¡± Bisky said. There was a beat of silence before she added, ¡°Spio¡¯s not alone.¡± ¡°What?¡± Aleister asked flatly. ¡°Dunno. Someone is following him with a banner.¡± ¡°A standard bearer.¡± Firo said. ¡°I¡¯d be willing to bet that guy gives AoE buffs.¡± ¡°I bet that¡¯s how we got completely overrun in the first run.¡± Fiona said. ¡°Do you see any others?¡± ¡°...nope.¡± Bisky said, scanning the massive army. ¡°I only see the one. But he¡¯s also staying beyond my range, waving that flag around.¡± ¡°If Bisky can¡¯t hit him, neither can I.¡± Firo added. ¡°I can see magic effects going out.¡± ¡°Yup.¡± Bisky agreed. ¡°Definitely a buffer.¡± ¡°Great.¡± Zoe breathed. ¡°What¡¯s the call team? An enemy buffer is not good for us.¡± ¡°Tanks, pick. Suicide charge into the enemy lines, or make a last stand?¡± Mellody asked. ¡°Damn, you make them both sound badass.¡± Fiona said with appreciation. ¡°We¡¯re pretty dedicated to this being a wasted run altogether, right?¡± Cass asked, and Zoe could hear the grin on her face, not liking where this was headed. ¡°Yes?¡± Caoimhe sounded confused. ¡°Great.¡± And then Evie was on the ground with them, although a little ways back. ¡°Firo? Bisky? C¡¯mon, I need some guards.¡± ¡°You - what?¡± Bisky must have been blinking incredulously. ¡°This was a screwed run anyway. There are reinforcements here, complete with archers, and I imagine their AI is good enough to target the enemy mages. We didn¡¯t lose the wall this time, and we stopped all the ladders from going up.¡± Cass snorted. ¡°As far as I¡¯m concerned, this run couldn¡¯t have gone better. But if we want to kill the boss right here, I''m not sure we have a better option.¡± ¡°I see.¡± Firo said, as he pieced what she meant together and hopped off the wall. ¡°You guys are crazy.¡± Bisky said, but still followed. And the full party reunited on the field as the enemy standard bearer kept what must have been a channeled buff on the enemies, though the affected area was a few ranks away from the team. ¡°So what you¡¯re saying is-¡± ¡°Fuck it, we ball.¡± Cass laughed. ¡°We wanted to go out in a big ol¡¯ blaze of glory. This is the perfect stage for it, isn¡¯t it?¡± A few of the group chuckled, and Zoe wasn¡¯t sure but she heard someone clapping. ¡°So we¡¯re just charging in, yeah?¡± Aleister asked, sounding reinvigorated. Zoe felt it too; she repositioned in her chair, ready to go. ¡°On three?¡± Bisky asked. ¡°Sure.¡± Aleister said, ¡°Ready? One, three,¡± and took off running. While melee classes were the best at it, basically every playable [Path] in the game could attack and move, and the whole group did it now. Led by Aleister, and to a lesser extent, Fiona, they recklessly charged at the enemy ranks. Both of the tanks utilized their repositioning skills to move stubborn enemies out of the way, assisted by Caoimhe and her wide sweeping push backs and trips. The group cruised right through the first few lines, but were slowled when they reached the first row of enemies that were being buffed by the standard bearer. They were all receiving a decent amount of healing over time, in addition to either significant defensive buffs or just strictly more HP. Either way, their survivability had gone way up. That didn¡¯t stop the group in their tracks, though, only slowing them down. The buffs didn¡¯t stop the enemies from being pushed or pulled around, so the group used that to their advantage, trying to clear out as much of their makeshift path as they could. On the plus side, the big, swinging flag could be easily seen above the crowd of enemies, so they knew exactly which way to run, even while surrounded. Evie and Mellody were doing a more than admirable job of keeping everyone healthy. Aleister was living fine off of self sustain, but the rest of the group were taking lots of small hits - but those added up. Still, when the party managed to finally see their goal, everyone was above 7,000 HP, which wasn¡¯t all that bad a situation, given how badly outnumbered and out maneuvered they were. When they finally broke out of the ranks of the enemy army, it felt like they had broken free of a forest into a small clearing. The enemy mobs had created some space, generally speaking, but some still flitted about on the edges, darting in and out. On the far side of the small gap was [Spio], standing hunched over as before, giant spiked shield gauntlets at the ready. He was flanked by the two bear type Fomorians that had broken away earlier, who were now both wielding absolutely massive tower shields. And behind them all was basically a little humanoid rat. It stood much shorter than the other enemies, even smaller than the weaker army mobs. But there it was, holding the extremely tall flag pole, with the Fomorian army logo displayed proudly. It was surrounded in a magical aura, reminiscent of Mellody¡¯s when she casted widespread buffs. ¡°So uh¡­now what?¡± Firo asked. ¡°Do we just brawl?¡± ¡°If anyone sees a chance to gut the little rat, do it.¡± Aleister said. ¡°Aleister and I can probably hold off [Spio] while you all focus elsewhere, long as we have healing assistance.¡± Fiona said. ¡°May as well do as much damage as we can, and attacking the hedgehog probably won¡¯t help us all that much.¡± ¡°Sure. Keep him busy, and we¡¯ll do what we can.¡± Caoimhe said. ¡°Nyx, I¡¯ll-¡± Caoimhe didn¡¯t get to finish the thought as [Spio] screeched loudly, and started to do the Sonic-style charge up for his rolling attack. The party immediately broke apart. Fiona and Aleister charged forward, straight toward the boss to get his attention. Bisky and Firo both broke to the left to get a better angle on the bears, and perhaps the rat enemy, but were harried from the sidelines by the enemy mobs. They didn¡¯t do a lot of damage, so were basically just a hazard. A moving, somewhat unpredictable hazard, but just a hazard nonetheless. Mellody was locked in somewhere in the middle, trying to keep Evie safe with the defensive skills that [Skald] had access to, and was doing so quite well. Caoimhe and Nyx dashed off to the right, to try to circumvent the boss and get to the rat and its two bodyguards. Things went according to plan at first. Fiona and Aleister were able to keep [Spio] contained with help from the healers. Firo and Bisky did their best to deal damage and hamper enemies wherever possible. They were trying to take out some of the regular mobs that were darting into their fighting area, but the banner¡¯s buff made them more difficult to remove quickly. Caoimhe and Nyx made it pretty close to their target, but the bears with the tower shields stepped in their way, making a pretty significant wall to overcome. Knowing that they were basically on a timer, Caoimhe wasted no time launching into [Wild Swing]. Her weapon slammed against the shields, knocking the enemies back a little, but did not knock them down. [Knife] didn¡¯t have any particularly great forceful opening moves like [Wild Swing], but what [Knife] lacked in power, it made up for in precision. Zoe glanced toward the little standard bearer rat. It was cowering behind the two big shield bears, but didn¡¯t seem like it was capable of defending itself all that well. Zoe considered her options for all of two seconds, then shrugged to herself. She muttered, ¡°going out with a bang,¡± and used [Shadow Slip] to teleport behind the little rat. They had spent enough time running and dealing with other nonsense that all of her biggest damage skills were available. She quickly popped her stealth skill to get the damage bonus for exiting stealth with an attack and just hit as many of her big damage buttons as she could. It took four of her attacks, combined with the damage buffs, to end the rat. The banner it had held up fell to the ground, and the army around the party let out a horrifying, grating screech. ¡°The hell happened?¡± Cass asked, confused. ¡°I killed the rat?¡± Zoe said, almost apologetically. ¡°That was the goal, right?¡± ¡°I thought so.¡± Mellody said cautiously. And then things immediately spiraled out of control. The entire army that had been giving them space to fight collapsed on the party, growling and screeching in anger. They no longer had the buffs that the standard had given them, but they appeared to have gained some kind of enraged buff. The party was completely cut off from one another by the sheer number of mobs that crowded the space. They still didn¡¯t do a lot of damage, but it added up quickly. Caoimhe was immediately pinned against the bears with the tower shields, and was admirably fighting off the base mobs. Nyx was also completely surrounded, being basically in a little pocket where the rat had been hiding. Somehow, Mellody and Evie kept sending out heals, but it was only a matter of time before they were completely swamped as well, simply buried under the weight of an angry mob. Then a huge gout of magic appeared in the middle of what had been the center area of the fighting pit. ¡°Gather up there!¡± Firo shouted. Zoe saw Caoimhe immediately [Driver] off in that direction, and disappear among the crush of bodies. Nyx didn¡¯t have a lot in the way of skills that would get her moving through a group of enemies like this while [Shadow Slip] was on cooldown, so she simply tried to fight her way through. [Knife] skills didn¡¯t have a ton of displacement on their attacks the way some of the heavier melee [Paths] did, so swinging her weapons around didn¡¯t really clear her a path until she actually downed the enemies in her way. And she was taking too much damage to make it to the group before dying. ¡°I¡¯m not gonna make it!¡± Zoe yelled, but their entire chat was made up of unintelligible shouting and squeaking as everyone was struggling. ¡°Hang on, Nyx, I¡¯ve got you. I think.¡± Cass said. Zoe saw her friend jumping in the middle of everything, trying to get sight on her. On the seventh or eighth jump, she managed to tag Nyx with [Safety Shift], and yelled, ¡°Run, girl!¡± And Nyx did exactly that. With the [Safety Shift] active, she was considered incorporeal and was able to literally run through the mass of enemies. By the time she made it to the little tiny bit of space the party had managed to fight for, everyone except Bisky had made it there. Zoe glanced at her party list; at some point in the chaos, Bisky had apparently died and while she probably said so in chat, it got lost in the rest of chaos. Fiona was doing her best to block [Spio¡¯s] attacks, but was still getting dogpiled by other mobs. Aleister was doing his best to keep the small fry off of Fiona, but wasn¡¯t having much luck. ¡°They don¡¯t follow the aggro list!¡± Aleister was shouting, mixed in with all the rest of the shouting. And laughing. It was getting to the point that they were in an entirely unrecoverable situation. Even if they had somehow managed to kill [Spio] - which they wouldn¡¯t - they would have to contend with the army itself, which had them entirely surrounded. And as it slowly sank in that they really had no where to escape to, the group realized that this was probably it. So they unanimously, without discussion, decided to do whatever they could to go out swinging. Fiona used [Final Vigil] to get even a smidge of breathing room, and tried to push the counter attack with whatever gas she had left in the tank, which wasn¡¯t much. Mellody opted to slam all of her oh-shit buttons that remained, layering on as many buffs as she could for everyone - even if they would collectively last for all of 20 seconds, max. Firo saw his chance and took it; with the buffs applied, he launched whatever AoE skills he had in reserve - which admittedly wasn¡¯t many - but he was determined to blow up as many of the base enemy soldiers as he could. And the particle effects that followed doubled as fantastic fireworks. And then he was completely dogpiled immediately after that, his HP zeroing out. Caoimhe fought valiantly, opting to utilize as many of her debuff skills as she could, tripping, stunning, or otherwise inconveniencing as many of the enemy as she could manage as a last ¡®screw you!¡¯. Mellody had run to Caoimhe¡¯s side to try to help her hold out longer with her closer range [Musick], but it just led to the two of them getting crushed when the big bear enemies finally waded through the little guys to reach them. Apparently their attacks consisted of punching with the shields - and they did pretty good damage while enraged. Evie appeared next to Nyx, and they fought momentarily back to back - as best they could. Evie didn¡¯t offer much in the way of offence, so it mostly amounted to Nyx fighting off all comers while Evie tried to keep her valiant protector between her and the enemy. Evie kept her meatshield alive well for several seconds, before the damage piling up combined with bleeds from numerous DoTs from unavoidable AoEs in the mess simply outpaced the healing she could put out. Nyx hit [Shadow Slip] in panic, and immediately followed it up with [Cloak], which would give her a few seconds to assess the chaos. The chat was filled with laughter given how many of the team had already died. At some point, Aleister had also fallen, leaving just Nyx and Fiona. Nyx was able to slip between a few enemies while stealthed to find Fiona in the crush, who had her shield up held up - currently away from where Nyx approached - and it was glowing with one of her big defensives. ¡°Hey Nyx!¡± Fiona said, sounding far too chipper. ¡°Fancy meeting you here!¡± Nyx placed her back to Fiona¡¯s as her stealth faded, and began to hack at the enemies coming from her side. ¡°Is it? This place seems pretty fucking popular!¡± For every two or three enemies she took out, more filled the space in a never ending treadmill. But worse, she could see the bear enemies coming. ¡°Fiona, we¡¯ve got trouble over here!¡± She cried. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, Nyx, I¡¯ll save you!¡± Fiona said, flatly. Almost monotone. Mag Mell¡¯s camera was third person, with the view centered above and behind the player character. With how far Zoe had her camera zoomed, she was able to see the front of Fiona¡¯s character fighting and defending behind her. And in the same instance that Fiona said she¡¯d save Nyx, Fiona dropped her shield. Zoe jumped in her seat when her entire screen suddenly turned red, as [Spio] had thundered right over both Fiona and Nyx killing them both in an instant, then just kept right on rolling by. As the death screen appeared, Zoe¡¯s heart was pounding from the unexpected jump scare, and she was stiff against the back of the chair. She may have screamed, but honestly wasn¡¯t sure. There was a brief moment of silence in her ears before sound came back to her and she could hear all the laughing. She started to laugh too, then, finally. ¡°What the fuck, Fiona!?¡± She howled with laughter. Chapter 47 : Fresh Eyes Zoe Zoe sat at her desk, tapping her foot anxiously. The previous day¡¯s raids had gone well, she thought. Or at least mostly well? It was hard to really judge, because while they only cleared two of who knew how many scenarios, they had made appreciable progress. And more than that, they laughed and had a good time even when they failed. She was definitely of the opinion that keeping a positive mental state while doing the sort of intensive teamwork activities that raiding required was very important. Raid teams had certainly broken up or gotten incredibly toxic over less. So while they weren¡¯t going to clear the whole thing in one day and have some kind of legendary status secured, she felt like the day had gone well. And that had led her to Wednesday - and work. She kept glancing at the clock, unable to wait to leave and play more. Even while she dealt with the incoming customer calls and tried her best to troubleshoot their problems or help where she could, her mind was constantly wandering back to the game. It was becoming a problem, and she absolutely could not focus. It happened often enough whenever new games launched, so it was something she was used to, but it didn¡¯t make it less intrusive in her work day. At least she would get to see and chat with Cassandra on their lunch break. They had planned well ahead of time to make sure that they would have at least their lunch breaks at the same time for this week to discuss the previous day¡¯s raids. And at this point, that was something that Zoe couldn¡¯t wait for. She just had to keep her head down and do her work until then. When the clock finally showed her 12:30, she quickly stood up and walked away from her desk before another call could come in. The last thing she wanted right now was to be stuck with a long call at the last minute. She quickly made her way past Cassandra¡¯s desk to see what her friend was up to, but as soon as Zoe was within sight, Cass stood up and pulled her coat off the back of her chair and put it on quickly, nodding toward the door. The two made a quick getaway before they could be stopped. Once they were safely in the hall of the big office building, they both breathed a sigh of relief. ¡°Oh, thank god. If I got trapped in there for any more time, I think I might¡¯ve exploded.¡± Cass laughed. ¡°I can¡¯t concentrate at all.¡± ¡°Me either.¡± Zoe agreed. ¡°What¡¯s been running through your head?¡± ¡°You really need to ask?¡± Cass said, raising an eyebrow. ¡°You know what it is.¡± ¡°I know that much. I meant specifically. Any interesting ideas?¡± ¡°A few. But they¡¯re mostly personal - how I could better use some of my cooldowns and the like. I¡¯m not used to playing Mag Mell at a raid level like this, so suddenly all those little optimization choices I don¡¯t care to make can matter.¡± ¡°Yeah, I get that.¡± Zoe said as they moved to the elevator to head down to the ground floor. ¡°There were so many little things that I could¡¯ve done differently in the moment, and they keep rattling around up there.¡± She said, pointing to her head. ¡°Like if I hadn¡¯t jumped the gun on killing the rat.¡± ¡°I still think you did the right thing, Zoe.¡± Cass said, thinking about it. ¡°I mean, what was the other option? Let it be until the boss killed us thanks to the buffs it was giving out? We were going to die anyway, may as well do what we can.¡± ¡°Sure, but then we got absolutely smoked by the army.¡± ¡°And? That was bound to happen anyway.¡± ¡°I guess.¡± Zoe shrugged. ¡°Though, to be honest, I¡¯ve mostly been thinking about what we can do from here.¡± ¡°Oh, yeah?¡± Cass prompted as they left the elevator. They hadn¡¯t discussed it, but Zoe was pretty sure they would be walking toward the nearby cafe for lunch. It¡¯d give them a place to sit and chat while they ate. ¡°Yeah. One idea has been stuck in my head all morning, and I think I need to run it by everyone.¡± ¡°And what¡¯s that?¡± ¡°I think we may want to approach this from a different angle than normal for a raid. We¡¯ve been working with a pretty classic set up comp wise. And it¡¯s classic for a reason. We¡¯ve got a well balanced group of different classes, and that helps us fill a bunch of different roles where necessary. And it helps having a wide variety of skills when you¡¯re fighting a boss, so you always have someone able to do what¡¯s necessary.¡± ¡°Yeah, duh. That¡¯s why party comps are a thing?¡± Cass said, sounding lost. ¡°Well, think about the fights we¡¯ve been in so far - or scenarios, rather. We¡¯ve seen three so far, and not one of them has been as simple as go in, fight the boss, win. I think we may want to start coming at this from a more¡­logical angle.¡± Zoe said. ¡°...meaning what?¡± ¡°Well, consider our last attempt at scenario three. Fiona was guarding the gate, but was basically useless once we stopped the battering ram. The first time we were in there, only the ranged DPS did anything useful, until we found the throwable firebombs. Which, to be clear, is still less effective than a ranged DPS doing their thing.¡± ¡°Okay, I think I see what you¡¯re getting at.¡± Cass said, nodding. ¡°Path changes.¡± ¡°Yes, exactly. Putting the boss fight against Rruk aside, We¡¯ve not actually fought another boss where we gain anything from having the normal, well balanced party comp. If anything, the two scenarios since Rruk feel weighted against the normal comps.¡± ¡°I can see that.¡± Cass said, clearly coming around to the idea. ¡°The ¡®get to the city¡¯ scenario could¡¯ve been much easier if we had done the same thing we did, but with generally more maneuverable classes, able to fight on the move.¡± ¡°Right. But we¡¯ve not considered that sort of change because it really does go against all of our built up knowledge. Mind you, I¡¯m sure I¡¯m not the first person to come up with this, but I do think we should consider changing things up.¡± This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it ¡°Like trying all ranged classes for the defend the wall scenario.¡± Cass said. ¡°Exactly. Or at least all ranged DPS.¡± Zoe confirmed. ¡°I bet with all four of us on ranged classes, we could not only keep the enemy mages fully contained, but we could probably also get rid of the ladders when they show up before they get set up on the wall.¡± ¡°Suddenly everyone being trapped up on the wall is a net positive, rather than half the party wanting to get down in front of it to be useful.¡± Cass said. ¡°Exactly.¡± Zoe said, pointing at Cass. ¡°I don¡¯t know if Fiona or Aleister have any sort of ranged-focused loadout for any of their tanks, but that would help, too. And obviously while your Radiant is good, Mellody may want to try something else.¡± ¡°Maybe. But Revel is still really good because it can buff the NPCs around us.¡± ¡°True.¡± Zoe said. ¡°Well, I don¡¯t pretend to be the best planner in the world, but I think adjusting our paths to match the scenario is still a solid idea.¡± ¡°I¡¯m inclined to agree, yeah.¡± Cass said, ¡°I think you¡¯re right that we¡¯ve all been conditioned to think too hard about general party comp instead of the situation at hand.¡± ¡°Years and years of games will do that, yeah.¡± Zoe said, then added, ¡°Tabletop RPGs, too. One of the first things you do at a session zero is talk shop on party comp.¡± ¡°Very true.¡± Cass said. ¡°Why don¡¯t you drop a line in the group chat? See what everyone thinks?¡± ¡°Good idea.¡± Zoe said, and she pulled out her phone to send a quick message as they walked. She trusted Cass to tell her if she was about to walk into anything.
{Nyx} : So, guys, I¡¯ve been thinking. We may want to take a second look at our party comp for this scenario tonight. {Mello} : Oh yeah? What¡¯d you have in mind? {Nyx} : We haven¡¯t really talked about how to approach the scenario tonight yet, so I was thinking about it. What if we go all ranged paths? {Fiona} : All ranged how? {Nyx} : Like four ranged DPS, and maybe a ranged spec tank? (Do those exist? lol) {Aleister} : With some tweaking it can. probably. {Nyx} : Ok, cool. My thought was that if we go all ranged, we can probably just completely handle the fight from the wall, right? {Nyx} : Like, we just keep Bisky or Firo on mage duty, and the rest of us just attack the regular mobs, focused on the battering ram and ladder peeps. {Mello} : It¡¯s certainly worth a shot, at least. We still don¡¯t exactly have a winning strategy yet, so we may as well try whatever we come up with. {Fiona} : Agreed. I think it makes irl sense at least. If you¡¯re defending city walls, you want archers. Or catapults and trebuchets. {Fiona} : Trebuchet is such a fun word {Nyx} : I know I can go in on Hex. I think my gear is good enough, though I think my headgear is kinda shit. {Mello} : Caoimhe has Ardent all set up, so we should be covered for all ranged. {Aleister} : Mag mell really needs another physical ranged or two. Too many magic users. {Fiona} : Not much they can do to start. They had four types of magic, and each of those got a focused class, which meant four ranged magic minimum. I bet the rest were filled in around them. {Aleister} : Sill. Four magic classes, four melee classes, 1 archer. Seems unfair. {Fiona} : Never said I disagreed, Allie. {Aleister} : Bitch. {Nyx} : lol
Zoe snickered as she slipped her phone back into her pocket. She quickly stepped up to the cafe¡¯s door to hold it open for Cass. ¡°Thank you,¡± Cass grinned as she slipped by and walked straight toward the counter. Zoe followed a step or two behind. ¡°The 9th Place¡± was a little cafe that they frequented for lunch often enough. As far as Zoe understood, it was a common lunch spot for many of the workers from the nearby skyscrapers, but not many of them opted to stay and eat. It often meant that while the line at the counter was long, there were still open tables, despite there not being all that many. After Cass had ordered her own lunch - usually a turkey club sandwich and a coffee - Zoe stepped up to place her own order. She said a quick hello to the cute girl running the register and ordered a bagel with cream cheese, a banana nut muffin, and some coffee. It didn¡¯t matter that it was lunchtime - breakfast was still the way to go. By the time she walked over to the table that Cass had grabbed, Cass had already pulled out her phone, settled in, and was clearly reading something, her coat still on. Probably the party¡¯s chat. ¡°Anything new?¡± Zoe asked as she slid into the seat. ¡°Nope, not really. Aleister and Fiona are bickering about nothing. Doesn¡¯t look like anyone else has popped in since your last message, so you haven¡¯t missed anything.¡± ¡°You really think it''s a good idea?¡± Zoe said, unsure. ¡°I feel like leaning fully into ranged still feels icky.¡± ¡°I think you said it best earlier. It goes against every ingrained instinct we¡¯ve built up as gamers over the years. Just gotta get over it - I think it¡¯s a good plan.¡± Cass reiterated, dumping her phone unceremoniously on the table. ¡°Genuinely. I think it should work. The only real concern is that we still don¡¯t have a good handle on the different variables in the scenario.¡± ¡°Yeah.¡± Zoe nodded. ¡°In my head, if we keep the enemy mages contained, kill the enemies with the battering ram and the ladders, and keep the wall clear, we should be able to just retreat when the commander dude shows up.¡± ¡°Right. But we don¡¯t really know what to do about the hedgehog guy. If he doesn¡¯t take the ladder up to the wall, maybe he just rolls over the door.¡± ¡°Exactly. There¡¯s just too many potential variables that we don¡¯t know.¡± Zoe said. ¡°And even then, there¡¯s some like the rat that we just don¡¯t understand.¡± ¡°I¡¯m inclined to agree with Fiona that the rat¡¯s area wide buff is how we got so completely destroyed that first time. The big bear guys didn¡¯t seem like much of a threat without the buff, right?¡± ¡°Right. When Caoimhe and I were fighting them without the rat around they went down easily enough. It felt like a random on-level zone enemy. Only a threat if you make a mistake.¡± ¡°Or are surrounded by a literal army.¡± Cass snarked. ¡°Or you¡¯re surrounded by an army.¡± Zoe repeated. Zoe noticed Cass¡¯ leg bouncing up and down as she waited on the foot to arrive. She kept glancing toward the counter, even while they were chatting, which made Zoe chuckle. ¡°What?¡± ¡°Impatient for your food?¡± Zoe asked with a smile. ¡°No.¡± Cass shot back quickly, then added, ¡°Well, maybe. Mostly I just want today to be over so we can play. New content and new strategy talk makes me antsy, you know?¡± ¡°Of course I do.¡± Zoe laughed. ¡°I¡¯ve been dying to play all morning, and it¡¯s all I can think about.¡± ¡°Damn new games.¡± ¡°Not a new game.¡± Zoe corrected her, and answered Cass¡¯ resulting scowl with a grin. ¡°¡®Scuse me, sorry.¡± The girl from behind the register that had taken their orders worked her way over to their table to drop off their meals. She smiled and nodded then went off on her way again. Zoe smiled happily and cracked her knuckles over her paper plate. ¡°Right. Let¡¯s eat and go finish work so we can go home and play.¡± ¡°Mhm.¡± Cass mumbled, having already gone in for a bite of her sandwich, wasting no time. She quickly chewed and swallowed before speaking. ¡°If only working harder and faster during the day actually got us out faster at the end.¡± Zoe sighed and slumped in chair. ¡°Yeah. Suppose we may as well take our time and enjoy our food.¡± ¡°You should always enjoy your food.¡± Cass said pointedly. Cass was acting like she had said something particularly poignant, but Zoe just didn¡¯t see it. Chapter 48 : New Plan Marissa Marissa was up early as usual on Wednesday. After all the excitement with launch day, she had managed to sleep like a baby for the handful of hours she had to sleep before work. But she was so used to getting up at 3 a.m. that it really didn¡¯t bother her much - she operated fine on 6 hours of sleep. Once she was up though, it was a different story. The pull of her PC was strong and difficult to ignore. With her apartment being so small, walking between her bedroom with the closet and the bathroom throughout her morning routine brought her past her study every time. The desire to just leave the bakery to her workers for a second day was real. She managed to eventually get down the stairs and crossed into the bakery¡¯s kitchen. Things were nice and clean, the way they had left it the previous day when they cleaned up. Marissa threw some coffee in the communal pot and got started. The first few hours of work everyday was her favorite part. She got to be herself and just get her work done. If she wanted silence to think or let her mind wander, that was an option. If she felt like dancing around while getting the doughs mixed, she could do that too. As it turned out, Wednesday was not a quiet morning. She tried that first, but her mind kept wandering to Mag Mell. And while that wasn¡¯t so bad at first, thinking more about the game made the desire to play it spike. And keep spiking. By the time she was twenty minutes into her prep work she gave up on her quiet morning. She had a cup of coffee with some half-and-half and sugar, and hooked up her phone to the bluetooth speakers she had in the kitchen to listen to music while she worked. And that worked wonders as she was able to focus on singing along and jamming out with the music which kept her occupied. All in all, it was a great morning. Because she had called Sarah and Julie in on Tuesday to cover her supposed day off, she told Sarah to get a late start today and come in for opening at 6a.m. That left her three hours of just prep work and alone time. Once Sarah arrived and the day proper got going, Marissa no longer had the time to think about Mag Mell. Wednesdays were far from their busiest days of the week, but even on a slow day the bakery did good business. Sarah and Marissa took turns handling the front of the store, given they both preferred to be baking. They decided the best way to handle it was to trade off every hour or so. It worked for them and got them through the day without any real hiccups. Lots of the store¡¯s customers were regulars that came in on their way to work or on a lunch break, so it was rare that they got any really belligerent customers walking in, and Marissa loved the place for that. When noon came and went, Marissa was still going strong. The Flour Basket was busy enough through most of the lunch rush that she simply didn¡¯t have a chance to really do anything else. But by the time 1p.m. rolled around, she was flagging. Which, she had to remind herself, wasn¡¯t unusual. Even if she wasn''t absolutely getting impatient to go play more, it was around this time that she needed to wrap up her day. She¡¯d been working for just about ten hours with minimal breaks. And Sarah loved to remind her how much trouble she could get in if she worked any of her workers for ten hours with a single fifteen minute break to get a bite to eat. It was around 1:30 when she made it back up into her apartment, having been all but kicked out by her employee. Sarah promised to close up as always, but they both knew that Marissa would be back down at three to check on things. She trusted Sarah to close up and probably wouldn¡¯t actually need to do anything, but she needed to check the locks and things just for her own peace of mind if nothing else. Not that anything bad ever happened, but she¡¯d be antsy if she didn¡¯t run down her checklist herself. After a shower and an actual meal, Marissa got her PC up and running. Firo was online, but was the only one so far. She logged in, said hello to him in the Clan chat in game, then went about doing some of her daily maintenance work. She checked her auction house sales, the Clan¡¯s contracts, and her in-game garden. It took all of ten minutes as she [Fae Circled] from place to place to get it all done quickly. Then she took a little bit of extra time to just go over her gear and consider if she needed any changes. She had seen the group chat already, and was considering Nyx¡¯s proposal favorably. It wasn¡¯t a bad idea to try, at least. And now that she wasn¡¯t in a rush, she had the chance to go back and check her stash for some more niche gear that might help. She was still going through stuff when she had to take a quick hop down to the bakery to close up and say goodbye to Sarah for the day, but while she was checking all the locks and going down her list of items, she was still thinking about the game. It occurred to her that she actually should have a piece of gear from a while ago with a useful [Invested Skill]. Realizing how little attention she was paying to what she was doing, she made a note of her idea on her clipboard, and then restarted her checklist from the beginning. She¡¯d be damned if she was going to miss something on this list because she was distracted; her livelihood was more important than the game. Couldn¡¯t have without the other, after all. When she went back up to her PC, feeling confident in her work, she looked through her stuff for the item. It was a little older, so it was buried back a few pages in her stash, but it was still there. [Long Shot Ring] [Ring] [Defense : -1] [Resistance : 1] Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. [Slash : -1] [Blunt : -1] [Invested Effect : Ranged Attacks and Skills gain increased reach.] Marissa stared at the ring for a while. It was a level 86 ring, which would cause some problems. No one really knew the hidden calculations that Mag Mell used to handle a character¡¯s actual stats. The character sheet itself, and the stats gained from gear and the like all functioned as percentages that were added to some hidden numbers whenever you took actions and the like. The issue was that the hidden values were unknown, and no one really knew how to calculate everything perfectly. Somehow, the values hadn¡¯t even leaked. But there was enough known about the systems involved that people were able to get a good enough grasp on what affected a character¡¯s base stats. First and foremost was a character¡¯s level - or more likely the difference in level between the two acting parties. If an attacker was a higher level than the defender, they would do a significant bit more damage, and vise-versa. It was also the easiest thing to test, by far. Second was gear score. Again, the exact math of it hadn¡¯t been figured out, but there were a few accepted ideas on how it functioned. The most common theory was also the simplest; each piece of gear had a designated level of 0 to 90. The common idea was to take the average level of each gear piece you had equipped and that was then used as some kind of multiplier for the rest of your stats. If you were wearing a full set of appropriate level gear, the effect was basically null - in contrast, wearing pieces of lower level gear negatively affected everything you did. Beyond that, there were even rumors floating around that the game used several situational modifiers as well. Players, NPCs, and mobs alike took negatives if they were in water or in the rain. A series of battles without stopping to [Rest] would eventually leave the character with a negative status. Someone had even reported there likely being a ¡®scared¡¯ status that resulted from them spending over an hour grinding in a spider-ridden cave. All-in-all, the consensus online was that Mag Mell was basically built around a strange sort of balancing act. It seemed as though, all other things equal, if a level 90 player character fought a level 90 enemy designed to be fought solo, the stats and balance would be basically even. The addition of gear boosts and other status effects like [Rested], [Honed], or [Polished] gave the player an edge over most enemies. Marissa wasn¡¯t really sure, therefore, how strong the negative effect from a level 82 ring would be. Mag Mell had ten total equipment slots per character - a weapon, five slots for armor, and four accessory slots. With everything else being level 90 gear, the actual average wouldn¡¯t really go down, so it should be fine, in theory. With a shrug, Marissa threw the ring in her inventory and then started moving Hibiscus back toward the staging ground for the raid. Thankfully, the war camp inside [Gorias] was a main [Fae Portal] point, so she could teleport there even while an [Arrow]. She hopped into the voice chat channel while waiting for everyone else to show up. Firo, who had been online for a while already, joined her in chat almost immediately after she joined. They both said hello, then went about doing their own prep quietly for a bit. Marissa was still mentally going over which [Invested Skills] she should use - or more specifically, which one to maybe drop for the [Long Shot Ring¡¯s] effect - when Jasmine and Ashton entered chat. From there, small talk meandered through everyone¡¯s work day and Firo¡¯s college work until everyone else started filtering in. The whole group was together ten minutes before their actual start time, but with everyone excited to get back into the raid they collectively decided to start discussing the new strategy early. ¡°I do think Nyx¡¯s idea is solid.¡± Firo said. ¡°If our first few attempts at this raid taught us anything, I think it¡¯s that the raids themselves are very adaptable. We¡¯ve seen a different outcome every time we¡¯ve attempted defending this wall - I think changing up to a more unique strategy might be the winning move.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t disagree.¡± Ash said. ¡°We knew before we started that picking specific Paths for each fight might be the right move, so we¡¯re fully prepared for it. We should at least give it a try.¡± Jazz groaned. ¡°Y¡¯all have no idea how badly I wanted to look up information about it online. See what other people did to pass it.¡± Laughter bounced around the chat. ¡°Girl, I¡¯ve been doing nothing but thinking about the game all day.¡± Nyx said, ¡°I totally understand.¡± ¡°We had lunch together today, and spent the entire hour talking about the game and new strategies.¡± Evie added. ¡°Mind you, we didn¡¯t come up with anything better than the full ranged outfit, but still. It was the only topic at lunch. I forgot to even mention that someone spilled coffee on me this morning.¡± ¡°Wait, really? Oh, that would explain why you wore your coat all through lunch.¡± Nyx said. ¡°Yeah.¡± ¡°So, back on topic,¡± Marissa said, ¡°I tracked down an old ring that gives me an extended range on all my attacks. It¡¯s level 82, but the range extension was something like 30 or 35%.¡± ¡°Use it.¡± Kieran said immediately. ¡°Knowing what we currently know, even if your damage ends up a little lower because of i-level, the range will be worth it.¡± ¡°I¡¯m in agreement.¡± Evan said. ¡°We know the enemies on the ground, generally speaking, are crazy weak. That range extension allows you to pick off enemies well in advance, and -¡± ¡°- and you might be able to hit that rat bastard when it shows up.¡± Jazz said, excitedly cutting Evan off. ¡°Allie.¡± Evan said, in the same warning tone a parent would use when their child was right on the cusp of misbehaving. ¡°What?¡± Jazz said dramatically, trying to sound innocent. ¡°I didn¡¯t do anything wrong, daddy.¡± ¡°Nope.¡± Evan and Ash said in unison, immediately. ¡°Nope. Nope.¡± Evan repeated, ¡°Shut it down.¡± ¡°Aleister, no.¡± Evie squeaked, trying not to laugh. ¡°Never say that again, hun. Ever.¡± Ash said, also holding back a laugh. ¡°Please.¡± ¡°But daddy,¡± Jazz whined, doubling down. ¡°I didn¡¯t do anything wrong.¡± ¡°Stop. Just. Stop.¡± Kieran said through his teeth. ¡°Okay!¡± Marissa said, trying to reign everyone in before Jazz made anything worse - she often ran bad jokes into the ground. ¡°I¡¯m gonna wear the ring. Anyone else have other strategy ideas or changes they want to make?¡± ¡°Allie¡¯s gonna go back to Ebon, okay, daddy?¡± ¡°Stop!¡± Chapter 49 : The Ranged Advantage
Party List
Hibiscus Jade (Marissa Harper) [Arrow] : [Seeker] 11,000 / 11,000 11,000 / 11,000
Aleister Demian (Jasmine Burch) [War] : [Ebon] 11,000 / 11,000 11,000 / 11,000
Fiona Woods (Evan Woods) [Plate] : [Aegis] 11,000 / 11,000 11,000 / 11,000
Evie Lucian (Cassandra Bailey) [Soul] : [Radiance] 11,000 / 11,000 11,000 / 11,000
Mellody Softsong (Ashton Burch) [Muse] : [Revel] 11,000 / 11,000 11,000 / 11,000
Caoimhe Phadraig (Kieran Moor) [Astral] : [Ardent] 11,000 / 11,000 11,000 / 11,000
Firo Strix (Blake Walker) [Mage] : [Invoker] 11,000 / 11,000 11,000 / 11,000
Nyx Alaion (Zoe Fox) [Tenebrae] : [Hex] 11,000 / 11,000 11,000 / 11,000
Marissa It didn¡¯t take very long for the group to get themselves ready to tackle the defense of the wall again. They fully embraced Nyx¡¯s ideas, and opted for a full ranged team. Hibiscus and Firo remained on their traditional [Paths], while Caoimhe planned to swap to [Ardent], the ranged caster variant of the holy magic focused [Astral]. Nyx ended up settling on [Hex], the ranged variant of the dark magic focused [Tenebrae]. To fully change [Paths], they needed to return back to [Falias] and the [Path] trainers. Aleister also went with them as she needed to visit the teachers to alter several skills. Returning to [Ebon], the dark magic variant of the magic tank [War], gave Aleister access to a variety of close range magical skills by default. However, many of those skills could be [Altered] to make them ranged attacks for lower damage. In their current situation, this was decided upon as the group¡¯s best option, given Fiona¡¯s [Aegis] [Path] had no such options. The group discussed the plan at length while Jazz got Aleister¡¯s skills settled. They decided that the change should be enough to carry them through the early sections of the [Scenario] without much issue. If everyone had built in ranged attacks, the firebombs became much less of a concern, and they could simply line up on the wall and launch attacks at the enemy below. They only needed to leave Fiona at the gate to hold it down. At least until they took out the battering ram enemies. It felt like a simple enough plan on the face of it, and they unanimously decided to let the [Scenario] unfold as they went. Once Aleister, Nyx, and Caoimhe were back and ready to go and the whole group was once again gathered at the staging zone in [Gorias], they moved off to a side street and did their typical pre-battle buffing. Aleister set up the kitchen for Mellody to prep the food, while Fiona dropped the armorer and blacksmith stations to get the [Honed] and [Polished] buffs ready to go. Each party member took it in turn to walk around their little circle to gather the buffs. And once that was done and everyone was ready to get into the fight, they moved off to the area that started the quest. ¡°Everyone ready?¡± Marissa asked, her mouse hovering over the button to start the [Scenario]. ¡°Yep.¡± Nyx said, as her character started doing some stretching emotes. ¡°Let¡¯s get it.¡± Evan said, and several of the others cheered. Marissa hit the button and things immediately kicked off, as the NPCs around them sprung into motion. ¡°Alright, y¡¯all, to the wall!¡± Marissa said, and the group flowed off as one toward the stairs leading up to the wall. Fiona was the only one not to climb the stairs, but immediately moved to defend the massive gate doors. Everyone else ran up the stairs and spread out along the wall, taking up spots at the crenellations to get a good view over the enemies laid out before them. The massive Fomorian army looked the same as it had every attempt until now. Most of the enemies were lightly armored infantry with tiny HP pools. Once the party began launching attacks from their vantage point on the wall, even Aleister¡¯s attacks were doing significant damage to the mobs, despite being tank damage, that was even further reduced. There was no doubt that his damage would be less useful against more notable targets, but as long as he helped thin out the horde, that was still progress. Marissa immediately noticed the impact of her swapped [Ring]. The distance gained from the [Invested Effect] was significant enough that she was able to target enemies well outside of everyone else¡¯s range, especially with the added height from the city wall. ¡°Bisky, that range is absurd.¡± Firo said, laughing. ¡°I noticed.¡± Marissa responded with a slight grin. ¡°I should have no issue at all hitting the mages when they start coming in.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t worry about them.¡± Kieran said. ¡°Between the three of us, we should be more than capable of dealing with the mages as they pop up. Focus down the enemies beyond our reach.¡± The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. ¡°There¡¯s nothing out there worth targeting,¡± Marissa said. ¡°At least not yet.¡± ¡°True, but that should be your primary concern.¡± Nyx agreed. ¡°We can blow up the mobs nearby and the mages. We need you to hit the ladder mobs as soon as you can. If we can kill them before they reach the wall¡­¡± ¡°I¡¯m aware.¡± Marissa said. ¡°You guys have the battering ram mobs?¡± ¡°Yeah. The AoE spells basically ignore their shieldbearer units, so we¡¯ve got that covered.¡± Firo said, as they all were already launching attacks in that direction. Mellody and Evie were doing the same with their limited but still effective offensive healer skills. Marissa turned to focus on what she could see beyond the enemies she had spent the last several attempts focusing on. She saw a couple mages pop up and immediately get swarmed by magical attacks from her party members, which reassured her that she didn¡¯t need to watch for them to pop up. They would be dealt with quickly. As she scanned the massive army arrayed before her, Marissa couldn¡¯t find much of note. The overwhelming majority of enemies were the average light infantry mobs, which she continued to pepper with arrows while watching for important targets. Everything played out on the same time scale that they were used to, however. Once the battering ram enemies were focused down, the ladder bearers finally appeared. The enemy mob parted to allow them through, which helped Marissa get eyes on her targets. The four ladder crews were moving through the enemy¡¯s army somewhat quickly, but not quickly enough to be a difficult target. Marissa immediately started lining up her targeting reticle on the ladder bearer in the lead and started working through her damaging skills. Thankfully, her worries about swapping out for the lower i-level [Ring] seemed to be unnecessary. Her attacks still did more than enough damage to make the swap for the increased range hugely worth it. She was able to completely remove one of the ladders from their list of concerns before it even entered everyone else¡¯s range. Each ladder was carried by two enemies, and she had no issue putting both on the ground at the extended range. She was even able to kill a third before the ladders finally entered the rest of the party¡¯s range. ¡°Light ¡®em up, boys and girls.¡± Kieran said, excitedly. And the party did. With everyone arrayed across the wall, they each picked their targets based upon where they stood in the line. Given that the focus so far had been mostly on AoE spells, only occasionally breaking to focus on a single target when an enemy mages popped their head up, everyone was sitting on some of their biggest single target damage skills - and those were the first things fired off at the ladder crews. The enemies were downed in record time. And once one of the two ladder bearers in each crew were killed, the forward movement of the ladder was slowed. Marissa quickly focused down two mages in the time it took the party to simply erase the ladder crews from existence. ¡°Hell yeah!¡± Firo cheered, and was echoed by Kieran and Nyx. ¡°What happened?¡± Evan asked, still positioned down by the gate, without any view of beyond the wall. ¡°Ladders are dead and gone.¡± Ash said. ¡°Now we just need to see how this alters the scenario.¡± ¡°Given our last run, the expectation is that the rat and hedgehog show up soon, right?¡± Marissa asked. ¡°Think so.¡± Ash agreed. ¡°And the bear guys, too.¡± Jazz added. ¡°But I don¡¯t know what they¡¯ll do, because they were just moving to assist the ladder crews last time.¡± ¡°Right.¡± Nyx said. ¡°But I honestly think with our range this run, we can probably take out the ones that try to approach. The tower shield ones may be a problem though.¡± ¡°Keep an eye out for them, then.¡± Marissa said. ¡°We¡¯ll down them as soon as they get within range.¡± ¡°Roger.¡± The group carried on for another minute or so of killing the regular mobs before they finally saw their real targets appear. [Spio], along with the small troupe of giant bear Fomorians and the standard bearer rat were slowly making their way through the mob, which parted for them to move through unobstructed. ¡°What¡¯s the call?¡± Marissa asked, now unsure what to do when actually faced with the chance to shoot. ¡°The rat is in my range. Do I take ¡®em out? Risk the enraging effect?¡± ¡°Getting to this stage was easy this time.¡± Ash said. ¡°I think you take the shot. If the enrage kills us after the fact, we just know not to bother next time.¡± ¡°I¡¯m in agreement.¡± Nyx said. ¡°We wiped last time because we took out the damn rat while surrounded by the enemy army. That¡¯s not so much a concern this time.¡± ¡°Agreed.¡± Kieran added shortly. Marissa hesitated just a moment more before breathing out and clicking on [Critical Eye] and lining up a fully charged [Master¡¯s Shot]. ¡°Nyx, you said the rat didn¡¯t have much HP?¡± ¡°No, why?¡± Marissa let the shot fly. The 400% boosted damage was more than enough to immediately remove the rat from the field. The whole group of important enemies was still beyond the party¡¯s general reach, but Marissa could hear the startled cry from the rat and its fellows as the thing died. When the banner it carried fell, a wave of shouts and anger passed through the Fomorians, and they immediately seemed to turn feral, and charge the wall with abandon. ¡°Here we go everyone.¡± Evie said, sounding as though she was suddenly alert. And to be fair, the sudden charge did feel like a wake up call as the group needed to be alert. The charge coincided with the sound of horns blaring behind them in the city, as the reinforcements were starting to arrive. ¡°Okay! We just need to hold them here. Keep them off the wall, and defend the gate!¡± ¡°Easy for you to say, Mello.¡± Kieran joked. ¡°But agreed. Hold them back.¡± The party, made up of mostly mages at this point, just let magic attacks fly to do their best to cull the horde. Marissa, meanwhile, tried to keep her focus on critical targets. She had gotten lucky that with her extended range, she was able to get a clean shot on the standard bearer before the tower shield bears had their guard up. It felt almost like cheating. But now, amidst the massive army charging, [Spio] and his bear-like compatriots were able to move forward while protected by the giant tower shields. ¡°Guys, I need help with the shields!¡± Marissa called, as her attacks were simply being blocked. As a [Seeker], almost all of her attacks were physical, single target attacks, which left them entirely too vulnerable to a shield wall like this. She made a mental note to perhaps swap over to [Keeper] for its magical attacks if they had to do this again. ¡°We¡¯ve got ya.¡± Firo said, and launched a few big AoEs in their direction. The magical explosions were able to get damage past the physical shields, which was exactly what they needed. Caoimhe followed up with several lances of light that pierced right through the shields, while Nyx threw inky globs of dark magic that pooled on the ground, slowing and damaging the enemies that walked through it. Despite the enemies being enraged thanks to their standard bearer being killed, they didn¡¯t seem to be as tough without it. Marissa figured, given their experience so far, the banner made the enemies both stronger and sturdier. In contrast, when enraged they dealt more damage and were faster, but were far less tanky. The party¡¯s sustained magical assault took down the tower shield bears within a few seconds each, leaving [Spio] and the three other lumbering bear enemies charging toward the wall. They may have been slower than the rank and file infantry, but without the tower shields for defense, they began to pick up their pace. Marissa immediately focused her attacks on [Spio]. Nyx and Caoimhe were focusing on throwing AoE spells at the bears, while Firo and the healers tried to thin the horde. ¡°Reinforcements are almost here.¡± Evan said, sounding excited. ¡°I think -¡± ¡°Shut up.¡± Nyx and Kieran said in unison. ¡°I swear to god, Fiona,¡± Nyx continued, ¡°if you jinx us, I¡¯m gonna kill you.¡± Fiona said no more, as the rest of the party continued to do what they could to keep the enemy under control. [Spio¡¯s] little troupe was within easy range of the gate by the time the party had gotten two of the bears down. And by the time the third fell, with a little assistance from Hibiscus, [Spio] was in the center of the path that led straight up to the gate. And he was beginning to trigger whatever magic let him do his spinning attack. ¡°Fiona, get ready on that door.¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°Bisky, bring him down!¡± Kieran shouted. ¡°Kill him! Kill him!¡± Marissa didn¡¯t need to be told twice to focus on the boss, but the entire party was already focusing on him. As [Spio] began to spin up like a cartoon wheel before flying forward, Marissa threw a stun and two roots at him, hoping something would stop the charge. As the boss launched forward at full speed, Nyx threw two spells at the ground in front of him. One appeared to make an area of glowing pitch, while the second looked like tar. ¡°Nyx?¡± ¡°I dunno, man. Felt like I should try something!¡± She said, as [Spio] flew through the two zones. The glowing pitch clung to [Spio] as he rolled through it, but didn¡¯t have any other obvious visual effect. The tar, however, seemed to slow down [Spio¡¯s] spin, similar to when he was clashing with Fiona¡¯s block. ¡°Hit him now!¡± They did. Everyone on the wall launched a volley of attacks with various components. Marissa had no idea whether it was a [Stun], [Root], or something else entirely that did it, but something set the boss wobbling. And when he crashed into the door, it barely budged. ¡°Fuck yeah!¡± Nyx howled. ¡°Reinforcements are actually here now.¡± Evan said. ¡°And the door is basically undamaged.¡± ¡°Hell. Yes.¡± Evie said. ¡°Keep the boss pinned until the Tuatha archers get up here. I bet they can take it from here.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t need to tell me twice.¡± Marissa said aloud this time, and lined up another [Master¡¯s Shot]. The boss had sprawled out when he crashed into the door, and Marissa smiled when she noticed that she had the perfect angle for a headshot right between the eyes. Chapter 50 : Mount Up
Party List
Hibiscus Jade (Marissa Harper) [Arrow] : [Seeker] 11,000 / 11,000 11,000 / 11,000
Aleister Demian (Jasmine Burch) [War] : [Ebon] 11,000 / 11,000 11,000 / 11,000
Fiona Woods (Evan Woods) [Plate] : [Aegis] 11,000 / 11,000 11,000 / 11,000
Evie Lucian (Cassandra Bailey) [Soul] : [Radiance] 11,000 / 11,000 11,000 / 11,000
Mellody Softsong (Ashton Burch) [Muse] : [Revel] 11,000 / 11,000 11,000 / 11,000
Caoimhe Phadraig (Kieran Moor) [Astral] : [Ardent] 11,000 / 11,000 11,000 / 11,000
Firo Strix (Blake Walker) [Mage] : [Invoker] 11,000 / 11,000 11,000 / 11,000
Nyx Alaion (Zoe Fox) [Tenebrae] : [Hex] 11,000 / 11,000 11,000 / 11,000
Marissa The last bit of the [Scenario] actually wrapped up quickly after the reinforcements took the walls. Evidently keeping the city gate in good shape while keeping the top of the wall completely clear was enough for the [Scenario] to be considered complete. Marissa wasn¡¯t quite sure how much damage [Spio] would have done to the gate had they not successfully managed to stop his first charge, but after he bounced off the gate that first time and took Bisky¡¯s [Master¡¯s Shot] between the eyes, he simply opted to leave. Marissa briefly considered whether that meant they would fight him later as a more controlled boss fight, but at this point, she really had no idea what to expect. When the commander of the reinforcements called their team over, her focus shifted and she moved on. ¡°[Uathach] has called for you all. Her contingent is being deployed shortly as a strike force, and she wants you all to report to the field command base by the main gate,¡± he said, then surveyed the area, which was fully under the city¡¯s control. His NPC comrades had taken up spots on the wall, unleashing a barrage of arrows down on the Fomorians while the rest of the city¡¯s defenders went about dealing with other tasks like reinforcing the gate or assisting the actual fighters. ¡°You¡¯ve all done remarkably well here, holding off until we arrived. [Uathach] is sure to provide you with some form of payment for your services rendered here. Now, go!¡± He saluted and waved the party off, before running toward the wall himself, pulling his bow from a little hook on the back side of his armor. That left the party still standing in the circle, without a [Scenario Clear] alert yet. ¡°Great. We¡¯re not done yet?¡± Jazz whined. ¡°I swear, if we have to do this again, I¡¯m gonna be pissed. Playing Ebon at a range isn¡¯t exactly interesting.¡± ¡°Well, let¡¯s make tracks then.¡± Ash said. ¡°I imagine given our current situation, the end of this scenario is when we meet back up with Uathach, and she gives us the rewards for this part.¡± ¡°That makes sense.¡± Evan said. ¡°Then let¡¯s go.¡± Evie prompted. ¡°No point in hanging around here for everything to go wrong.¡± ¡°True.¡± Kieran said, and Caoimhe shot off in the direction of the main gate. The rest of the party flowed after, as they began the trek through the city. While the run wasn¡¯t necessarily going to be too long - maybe a few minutes - Marissa was surprised that the devs were going to make them run through the city in an instance like this. But once they were running, it became more clear why. While [Gorias] hadn¡¯t been overrun, or even breached, the signs of active warfare were all over the city. Outside of the instance, the area used as a staging zone for the raid was showing signs of the coming battle, with people running around and prepping for the battle. But inside the instance, the streets were eerily silent, aside from the sound of battle that echoed everywhere. Buildings were boarded up, stopping access. Outside of the occasional company of troops moving through the streets to get to their assignments or relieve others, no one was around. It made their trek oddly solemn, hurried, and somewhat depressing. As the group got closer to the main gate where [Uathach] waited for them, the sound of battle got louder. And by the time they had eyes on the command tent that they were being told to report to, the shouts and clanging of metal was oppressive. ¡°They didn¡¯t need to do that.¡± Kieran muttered. ¡°What? Send us running through an empty city? Yeah, no, they didn¡¯t.¡± Nyx agreed. ¡°I didn¡¯t expect it to be so¡­depressing.¡± Firo added. ¡°It¡¯s hardly the first time I¡¯ve run through an empty area like that in a game.¡± ¡°I¡¯m not sure, either.¡± Ash agreed. ¡°My best guess is the soundscape they used is what made it stand out.¡± ¡°They did have that weird, oppressive headphone silence going at full blast.¡± Evan said. ¡°That might have been it.¡± ¡°Well, whatever. Uathach is right there.¡± Evie said. Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. ¡°And I see our little blue circle. Nice.¡± Marissa said, driving Bisky in that direction. She half expected the gate to explode open and for them to suddenly be in another battle, but they arrived at the little circle safely. Once everyone crowded into the area, [Uathach] looked up from the maps on her table and addressed them. ¡°Great, you¡¯re all here. I suppose your speed arriving means that the defense at that gate has gone particularly well - great job.¡± [Uathach] motioned to her side where there were crates, chests, boxes, and weapon racks. ¡°We¡¯re going to be riding out shortly. Take your pick of the gear here if you need anything before we go. Some of it is well crafted, but it may take you some digging to find the good pieces.¡± With her lines said, the woman faced back toward her maps and the other leaders who were planning some kind of tactic for the battle. It left the group once again able to leave the little blue circle, and the storage area [Uathach] had motioned towards now shone with loot. ¡°All you, Nyx. The winning strategy was yours.¡± Ash said, and agreements from everyone else followed. ¡°Yeah, alright.¡± Nyx said, as she stepped up to the gear and paused. ¡°There are literally four interactables, but there¡¯s no way we get four pieces of loot, right?¡± ¡°I guess your choice matters now, Nyx. Don¡¯t screw it up.¡± Evan laughed. ¡°That¡¯s not nice.¡± Nyx responded, then made her choices. The loot notifications popped up, and Marissa took a look at what was available to them. [Higher Ground] [War Bow] [Strength : 22] [Accuracy : 13] [Speed : 3] [Invested Effect : Deal bonus damage based on elevation over target] [Bombardier¡¯s Gloves] [Leather] [Defense : 2] [Slash : 2] [Pierce : 1] [Blunt : 1] [Nature : 2] [Invested Effect : Throw throwable items 25% further] ¡°Huh.¡± Nyx said a moment later, ¡°It seems like what we got is related to the loot I picked - the weapon rack and the gear chest.¡± ¡°It could¡¯ve just been a coincidence though.¡± Evie said. ¡°I guess we¡¯ll find out next time?¡± Ash said. ¡°But I think these two pieces of gear are pretty obvious who they go to.¡± ¡°Mello and Evie, yeah.¡± Kieran said, matter-of-factly. ¡°Uh-huh. Yup. Mello and Evie get the bow they can¡¯t use, and the leather armor they can¡¯t wear.¡± Marissa said exasperated. ¡°¡®Scuse you, I can wear the leather gloves, thank you.¡± Ash said, pretending to be insulted. ¡°But yes, they should go to Bisky and Nyx, yeah?¡± Kieran asked. ¡°I think so.¡± Evie said. ¡°The bow feels pretty obvious. The gloves are a little less so, because they¡¯re presumably there to help with the firebombs from the last section.¡± ¡°The firebombs we didn¡¯t use to clear it.¡± Firo added. ¡°Yes, those firebombs,¡± Evie continued. ¡°But I think they may get more use with Nyx¡¯s throwable items from Alchemist?¡± ¡°I just want to be clear,¡± Nyx said, ¡°throwable Alchemist items are pretty bad, and not usually worth the ingredients that go into them. And it¡¯s not because they¡¯re short range.¡± ¡°Do you use any of them?¡± Jazz asked. ¡°Because at the very least, I don¡¯t think anyone else uses thrown items at all.¡± ¡°In solo play? Sure.¡± Nyx said. ¡°There¡¯s a few useful throwable bombs with special effects. But they¡¯re pretty useless in group play.¡± ¡°So it¡¯s between letting Nyx have a solo play buff, and maybe letting a tank or healer take them to help with firebombs on reclears.¡± Kieran said. ¡°If it¡¯s alright, I¡¯d like them if Nyx doesn¡¯t want them.¡± Jazz said. ¡°Swapping my spec over to this ranged bastardization of Ebon felt nasty. My range is still short, and I think I would be better off throwing bombs next time instead of whatever this was.¡± ¡°Nyx? You¡¯re the MVP for this one, you decide.¡± Ash said. ¡°I don¡¯t think I¡¯ll use it, so it¡¯s all yours, Aleister.¡± Nyx said finally. It took another couple seconds for everyone to select their loot rolls, but once everything was said and done, the pieces of equipment were stored for next time. With the loot settled, the party reconvened in the little blue circle, which was still there. Once everyone was inside it, the [Scenario Cleared] message finally popped up, and the option to leave the instance appeared. There was a collective sigh of relief, seeing that they had successfully reached a checkpoint. Once everyone left the instance, Marissa had her camera pointed toward [Uathach, Shadow¡¯s Daughter], who had the quest marker over her head. ¡°How¡¯s everyone doing? Do we need a bathroom break?¡± Marissa asked, walking Bisky in front of the map table. She only glanced at it, but was impressed with how detailed it and the little miniatures on it were. ¡°I¡¯m good.¡± ¡°Quick water break for me, please.¡± Ash said. ¡°I need a drink.¡± ¡°Oh, can you grab me a soda, hun?¡± Jazz asked, turned away from her mic; the sound barely came through. ¡°I¡¯m gonna grab a drink and check on the girls.¡± Kieran said. ¡°B-r-b.¡± ¡°Alright, that¡¯s like half of us. Take a fiver.¡± Evan said, followed by the rustling of pulling a headset off. Marissa shrugged and stood up, stretching out a bit before walking to go get more tea. ¡°So how¡¯s everyone feeling about stuff so far?¡± She asked, hitting the button on her electric kettle to reheat the water, while dumping out the remnants of her last cup, which had been sitting for a while. ¡°I think good.¡± Firo said. ¡°I¡¯m having a good time, and you guys are a nice group.¡± ¡°Aww.¡± Evie said, ¡°That¡¯s sweet.¡± Nyx giggled in response. ¡°I¡¯m hooked, not gonna lie,¡± she said, then sighed. ¡°I¡¯m pretty sure the next week or two worth of work is gonna be rough.¡± ¡°Same.¡± Marissa said. ¡°I had to, like, actively work to keep myself focused this morning. Singing along with music, keeping my hands and mind busy, that sort. If I let my mind wander, I completely lost focus.¡± ¡°Didn¡¯t you say you own a bakery? Is that kinda thing safe to deal with while distracted?¡± Evie asked. ¡°No, thus the trying really hard.¡± Marissa chuckled. ¡°I was going over my closing checklist today and got distracted half way through. Almost forgot to lock the door.¡± It was an exaggeration, but that was fine. It was what she was actually worried about, after all. ¡°Yikes. I don¡¯t like having that sort of pressure.¡± Evie said. ¡°It¡¯s why we¡¯re just mindless customer service drones. Yeah.¡± Nyx laughed. When Marissa¡¯s kettle played a little tune to say it was heated, Nyx asked, ¡°What was that?¡± ¡°My kettle. Refilling my tea.¡± Marissa said. ¡°Oh, whatcha drinking today?¡± ¡°Green tea. Jasmine.¡± Marissa said. ¡°Huh? What?¡± Jazz asked, sounding distracted. ¡°Oh, sorry. I¡¯m drinking jasmine tea, not looking for you, Jazz.¡± Marissa said, setting the tea leaves to steep. ¡°Oh, gotcha. I wasn¡¯t paying attention; Mello needed me to help in the kitchen for a minute.¡± ¡°No worries. How do you feel about the raid so far?¡± Marissa asked, trying to get the conversation away from real names, just in case Jazz was uncomfortable with it. Marissa doubted she would be, but still. ¡°I¡¯m not playing ranged Ebon again, I¡¯ll tell you that much. It sucked. Which reminds me, I should go swap back.¡± ¡°Oh, yeah, go do that so we can start when everyone else gets back.¡± Nyx said. ¡°On it¡­opening a portal to the Courtyard if anyone needs it.¡± Jazz said, as Aleister began casting. ¡°Think I¡¯m good.¡± Evie said. ¡°I¡¯ll take the ride.¡± Nyx said. ¡°I like Tenebrae well enough, but it¡¯s no Shroud.¡± ¡°Caoimhe is going to want the ride too, I would guess.¡± Marissa said, as she settled back in her seat, gently placing her tea mug on the warming plate. ¡°Roger. I¡¯ll keep it open, then.¡± Ten minutes later, everyone was resituated and ready to go. Evan was held back a little bit to change a diaper, but by the time he returned, the group that needed a trip to the Courtyard for [Path] changes had returned and were ready, including Caoimhe. Marissa also decided to swap Bisky over to [Keeper] for the next fight. While [Seeker] was great at boss fights, there had been so much fighting crowds that she was second guessing her choice - and [Keeper] would give her much better AoE damage options. Once she got the ¡°OK¡± from everyone, they stepped up to [Uathach] to trigger the next quest. A cutscene started rolling, with the camera focusing in on [Uathach] as she started to go over the situation. ¡°We¡¯ve gotten word from our scouting magic about most of the enemy placement and encampments.¡± She said, motioning at the map table. Hibiscus and the rest of the party gathered around while other soldiers moved about in the background, preparing. ¡°My mother - [Scathach] - thinks we should strike early, and at the heart of the enemy.¡± She pointed at a place on the map a little ways off from the city, in the woods. It looked like a clearing in the trees that stretched in a long rectangle. ¡°There¡¯s a patch of open ground in the middle of the woods that was tainted ages ago, where things refuse to grow. Apparently, the Fomorian bastards have set up a major camp there, with at least one or two of their commanders stationed there.¡± The woman sighed. ¡°It¡¯s a good spot,¡± she admitted, ¡°close enough to the battle for relaying quick orders, but secluded enough for relative safety. Or at least I imagine that¡¯s what they¡¯re thinking.¡± [Uathach] slammed her fist into the table at the far end of the clearing on the map. ¡°My mother and Cu Chulainn are both capable of creating large [Fae Circles]. The plan is for my company to make a cavalry charge straight through a portal on the far end of the clearing.¡± She traced a path from where she slammed her fist all the way across the long rectangle, length-wise. ¡°And we charge straight over their camp. We rout them from there, then return back through the [Portal] afterward.¡± [Uathach] gripped a red, glowing crystal pendant hung around her neck. ¡°On the off chance I fall, this pendant is used to send the signal for the return portal. Keep that in mind.¡± When she finally raised her head to look straight into the camera, she grinned, looking excited. ¡°Now, mount up. Prepare to ride.¡± Chapter 51 : Together We Ride
Party List
Hibiscus Jade (Marissa Harper) [Arrow] : [Keeper] 11,000 / 11,000 11,000 / 11,000
Aleister Demian (Jasmine Burch) [War] : [Ebon] 11,000 / 11,000 11,000 / 11,000
Fiona Woods (Evan Woods) [Plate] : [Tower] 11,000 / 11,000 11,000 / 11,000
Evie Lucian (Cassandra Bailey) [Soul] : [Radiance] 11,000 / 11,000 11,000 / 11,000
Mellody Softsong (Ashton Burch) [Muse] : [Revel] 11,000 / 11,000 11,000 / 11,000
Caoimhe Phadraig (Kieran Moor) [Slayer] : [Tyrant] 11,000 / 11,000 11,000 / 11,000
Firo Strix (Blake Walker) [Mage] : [Invoker] 11,000 / 11,000 11,000 / 11,000
Nyx Alaion (Zoe Fox) [Shroud] : [Dirge] 11,000 / 11,000 11,000 / 11,000
Marissa It didn¡¯t take long before the group was mounted up. NPCs had brought their chosen horses from before and tied them to a waiting post nearby, allowing them to quickly get prepared. Once everyone interacted with their individual mounts, they were directed in a single-file line down the city streets by a few of what must have been [Uathach¡¯s] company. The ride wasn¡¯t too fast, as they trotted down a few of the main streets, all of which were practically empty with a few exceptions here and there. They rode past the stables where they had picked out their mounts, and eventually turned off the main thoroughfare and into a large park-like area behind the stables. There were a large number of open pastures, complete with grass and plenty of room to maneuver about. ¡°These are the stables and pastures for the warhorses, as you¡¯ve no doubt guessed,¡± one of the riders said. ¡°Take a few moments here to get acquainted with your new friends. If any of them give you trouble, let us know. We can always find you another mount if you¡¯re having trouble.¡± And then the party was let loose in a fenced pasture all for themselves. ¡°What is all this? Holy crap.¡± Evie said, confused, but equally excited. Mag Mell already had mounts, of course, but it seemed like these functioned a little differently. Mounts up until now were purely for movement, and didn¡¯t allow the player to attack while riding. In contrast, these new mounts seemed to be all about attacks while mounted. Marissa was looking at a new hotbar specifically for use while riding. The attacks included on it weren¡¯t all new - many of her skills were simply moved to the new hotbar, as it seemed like the only skills she could use while mounted. In addition, there were a few commands for her mount to take. There was a [Back Kick] option that seemed self explanatory, but also a [Bite] and [Stomp] skill. When she read over the options, it seemed like they were both front facing attacks. On a second bar, she found a few speed options. The expected [Walk], [Trot], [Canter], and [Gallop] were all there, but there was also a [Charge] skill, as well as a [Trample] skill. It really all drove home that this horse was built for battle. It seemed like everyone was going through their own few minutes of discovery, going over what their mount could do, and Marissa started experimenting, too. She could take aim and fire with her basic attack string as normal, all while moving the horse around. The mount¡¯s controls functioned no differently than expected, the same as any other for movement only mounts in the game until that point, which made movement, at least, a quick adjustment. Marissa¡¯s skills were changed a bit, though, mostly due to her swapping over to [Keeper]. While she lost access to [Master¡¯s Shot], she gained [Bramble Arrow] in its place. [Bramble Arrow] was a pretty simple ability, all things considered. While it was still functionally a charged shot like [Master¡¯s Shot], it lost the weak point mechanic, and instead added debuffs to the target, based on the level of charge. When fully charged, the skill would [Pin], and [Slow] larger targets, while also [Stunning] small targets. It also had an AoE component centered on the target hit. Many of [Keeper¡¯s] skills had small AoE effects like that, due to the nature magic flavor of the [Dedication]. Marissa took a bit of time to practice landing shots on the training dummies arrayed along the edge of the field, doing her best to adjust to the higher speed of her mount''s movement. It took a fair bit of practice to get it right. While she was practicing, the rest of the party was doing their best to adjust as well. They chatted while everyone spent a few minutes practicing. Everyone¡¯s mounts had the same basic mount skills, though some were described differently. Mellody and Evie and chosen massive cats - a lion and a panther, respectively - and they had claw attacks instead of kicks, for example. Everyone running with magic classes seemed to adjust pretty quickly, as they had the least change for them. Many of their skills were either somewhat auto-targeting, locking on to the target nearest to their targeting reticle, or placing an AoE on the ground. Doing those from horseback didn¡¯t change much for them, although Firo did complain that there was no way he¡¯d be able to land a [Soul Shatter] while mounted with so much movement. Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation. The melee players had the most to adjust to. Their basic attack strings were altogether different, with the character swinging on one side or the other of their mount, depending on the attack in the string, and the weapon wielded. Fiona, still bearing her shield on her left arm, only attacked on the right side of her armored horse. Nyx also only struck one side, as she basically had to lean off her saddle at a low angle to try to reach enemies that would be on the ground. She eventually gave up and swapped over to [Dirge], which allowed her to wield a [Crossbow] for her main weapon, which functioned much better. Aleister seemed to be fine from horseback, as each attack was a sweeping motion with a hand on either side of the mount, with a curl of dark magic following the gesture, striking whatever was nearby. Caoimhe also seemed to be having fun, based on Kieran¡¯s excited whoops. With such a massive weapon, Caoimhe¡¯s attacks mostly involved an extended sweep to either side, holding out the blade at a downward angle to drag it through enemies before sweeping it back up and repeating the attack on the opposite side. Watching her ride past a line of ten training dummies and strike them all with ease made Marissa jealous. ¡°How¡¯s everyone doing?¡± Ash eventually asked, as the chatter quieted down naturally. ¡°Good.¡± Kieran sounded immensely happy. ¡°I honestly can¡¯t wait to see how this goes in live combat.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll manage,¡± Nyx said bitterly. ¡°I understand, of course, that knives make for a terrible mounted weapon. But I wish I had a better option than a crossbow.¡± ¡°I feel that.¡± Marissa said. ¡°I hate how slow crossbows are. I get that their damage is high to compensate, but their basic attacks are so unsatisfying.¡± ¡°Yeah,¡± Nyx agreed, ¡°I guess I should just accept it this time. I can always swap to a different path if I need to. Maybe I¡¯ll just go back to Tenebrae.¡± ¡°The magic paths do seem to be at home here.¡± Firo said. ¡°Adjusting casts for the mounted movement has been pretty easy.¡± ¡°Glad to hear it, because I think we¡¯ll be relying on you a lot.¡± Nyx sighed. ¡°Aleister, I think you¡¯re going to need to be the main tank for this, too.¡± Evan said. ¡°I¡¯m not sure what I¡¯ll be capable of doing from horseback with my shield and counters.¡± ¡°Why not swap to Tower?¡± Jazz suggested. ¡°Caoimhe clearly thinks the two-hander attacks are great.¡± ¡°They are.¡± Kieran confirmed. There was a moment of silence, then a flash of particle effects when Fiona¡¯s weapon swapped to a massive two handed [Warhammer]. ¡°I forgor.¡± Evan said, deliberately mispronouncing the word. ¡°Well, now that that¡¯s settled.¡± Marissa said, as Fiona trotted off to try the [Warhammer] attacks, ¡°Are we ready to continue?¡± ¡°Think so.¡± ¡°But I don¡¯t see a quest marker for continuing, do you?¡± Evie asked. ¡°I¡¯ll go try interacting with the guy that brought us here.¡± Marissa said, and trotted Hibiscus and her horse over to the rider. She didn¡¯t even get within a few feet of him - and the gate to leave the pasture - when he turned toward her. ¡°It looks like the company is forming up. Are you ready?¡± He asked. [Continue Scenario?] [Yes] [No] ¡°Here we go. Last call for me to wait?¡± Marissa asked. When she heard no dissent, she hit the [Yes] button. The traditional blue circle appeared by the exit of the pasture, prompting everyone to gather up. Once everyone was inside, the game took over movement again, as the group was led from the training pasture toward the center of the city. Not too far from the stables, there was a massive staging ground where [Uathach¡¯s] company was being set up. ¡°You¡¯re toward the front.¡± The rider in the lead said. ¡°Good luck out there.¡± And then they split away from the group, falling into line somewhere toward the middle. The party rode toward the head of the company, which must have been near one hundred NPC riders. [Uathach] was mounted at the front, facing forward, but turned toward them as they approached. ¡°Oh good, you¡¯re here.¡± She said, with a slight incline of her head. ¡°You¡¯ll be riding up front with me. My understanding is that the lot of you are much stronger than my average rider, so I¡¯m putting you where you¡¯ll do the most good. I trust the mounts have been good to you?¡± Right as she asked, there was a flash from in front of the company. A short distance from where they stood, two people were working on a big ritual spell. Marissa recognized [Cu Chulainn] in an instant. The terrifying looking spear hooked to his back was a good indicator. The other woman working with him wasn¡¯t an NPC Marissa had seen before, but she had heard [Uathach] mention her mother. [Scathach, The Shadow] didn¡¯t seem to be currently armed, but was still going about her casting as enthusiastically as [Cu] was. She was also too far away from the group for Marissa to get a good look at her model. ¡°Damn, I wanted to see how Scathach would look in this game, too.¡± Kieran muttered. ¡°You said she¡¯s Cu¡¯s warfare teacher, right? And a warrior herself?¡± Marissa asked. ¡°Yeah. I expect she¡¯d be really badass if we get to interact with her.¡± ¡°Prepare yourselves for the charge!¡± Someone called, though Marissa couldn¡¯t tell who. Given the strong feminine voice that was distinct from [Uathach], she guessed it may have been [Scathach]. ¡°The Portal will open in a moment.¡± [Uathach] turned toward the party again. ¡°Take your places and spread out. We want to simply overrun as many of the enemy as we can on the initial charge. Keep your speed up, and the horses will do a lot of the work for you.¡± As the portal began to sputter into existence, the party quickly spread out across the company¡¯s leading line. They defaulted into their spearhead positions, with tanks in the middle, melee DPS beside them, then the healers, then the ranged DPS. ¡°Charge!¡± There was a big text box pop-up accompanying the call, as the portal opened, and the whole company surged forward. Marissa hit the [Charge] button, sending her mount flying forward. The speed at which it took off was immensely satisfying, and she glanced to her right, looking at her entire party down the line, as she was on the far left flank. As the party flashed through the portal, an upbeat, more frantic battle musical track began to play in the background that seemed to push the party onward, and Marissa immediately found herself bopping along. ¡°Has¡­has there been any battle music to any of the fights so far?¡± Firo asked. ¡°I¡¯m honestly not sure. I don¡¯t think I¡¯ve noticed any yet, actually.¡± Evie said, confused. ¡°Well, they picked a good moment to add one, damn.¡± Evan said. ¡°Let¡¯s fucking go!¡± Marissa could feel the grin on her face growing as the moment really hit. She inwardly cheered as she charged across the muddy clearing, a whole company at her back. Hibiscus was leaning forward on her bark-covered horse, egging the incredible beast on every time she hit [Charge]. Which she did every five seconds when it came off cooldown. ¡°Whoo!¡± Kieran shouted. The oblong clearing was long enough that the charge would last a good thirty seconds or so before they crashed into the enemy camp, and by the second half of the charge, the whole party was shouting into their mics, giving into the fun of it all. As the enemy camp really came into view, Marissa could see the poorly made wooden fence that cordoned off the tents and open furniture. The build looked shoddy, and she was pretty sure that their mounts could quite literally overrun the whole thing. ¡°Death!¡± Kieran shouted, which kicked up another round of cheers as the whole group took up the call as their cavalry charge met the fence - and obliterated it. The enemy camp was caught mostly unaware as the cavalry ran amok, though some enemies were still able to get weapons at the ready. Once they passed the tents in the rear of the camp and crossed into the main portion of the camp, all hell broke loose. Marissa immediately began picking her shots, taking out as many of the enemies with well placed arrows as she could. She let her second [Bramble Arrow] fly into a tight group of enemies trying to grab weapons from a weapon rack, and watched with satisfaction as the arrow struck the enemy in the middle and exploded out into a tangle of thorny vines, damaging the enemies and trapping them for a few moments. Then she laughed aloud as Caoimhe¡¯s beautiful pure white horse streaked by and Caoimhe cleaved the whole group of enemies into pieces with a massive swing of her blade. She heard Kieran cackling in her ear as Caoimhe¡¯s horse flew off toward another group of enemies. Marissa turned Bisky toward another group, launching a [Silver Arrow] at one of them, then a [Perfect Shot] at the one next to her first target. She spun back to the left side of her horse, and lined up another attack, only to see Fiona and her fully armored horse drive by and knock the whole group of enemies flying with the massive [Warhammer] she had equipped earlier. ¡°Those were mine, Fiona!¡± ¡°As if!¡± Evan called back, slipping further into the chaos. Marissa snickered, picking out another set of targets. She targeted another small group with [Forest¡¯s Ire], getting an effect similar to [Bramble Arrow], but with less of a [Slow] component. The [Pin] effect was still long enough for Firo to blast them with a massive [Arcane Explosion], as he saddled up beside Bisky with his crow-feather covered horse, which truthfully looked more like a black Pegasus. She was pretty sure if they could, Firo would¡¯ve offered her a high-five in that moment, but instead she just got a cheer in chat, then he was gone again. Marissa kicked her mount into motion again, sliding through the camp trying to pick out targets she felt comfortable landing shots on while still moving. She was lining up her third [Bramble Arrow] when Nyx and her ghostly, spectral horse slipped by. They only blocked her view for a moment, but when they passed, the enemies were just dead on the ground - she didn¡¯t even see what Nyx had done. As she spun looking for more targets, she passed by Evie and Mellody cheering on their giant cat mounts as they shredded a group of enemies with their claws and teeth, trapped between the two of them. When she finally placed the shot for her third [Bramble Arrow], she burst out laughing when Caoimhe rode by again to take advantage of the [Suppressed] enemies to land a brutal [Punishment], once again cleaving them apart. She didn¡¯t see where Aleister was, but she could hear Jazz cackling like a witch over the chat, chanting ¡°Die, die, die!¡± as everyone laughed. Once again, Evan shouted a ¡°Let¡¯s fucking go!¡± and got the whole group to echo the sentiment with another hearty cheer. Marissa didn¡¯t even care if they had to repeat this [Scenario] if they missed something; she was having far too much fun. Chapter 52 : Enemy Camp
Party List
Hibiscus Jade (Marissa Harper) [Arrow] : [Keeper] 11,000 / 11,000 11,000 / 11,000
Aleister Demian (Jasmine Burch) [War] : [Ebon] 11,000 / 11,000 11,000 / 11,000
Fiona Woods (Evan Woods) [Plate] : [Tower] 11,000 / 11,000 11,000 / 11,000
Evie Lucian (Cassandra Bailey) [Soul] : [Radiance] 11,000 / 11,000 11,000 / 11,000
Mellody Softsong (Ashton Burch) [Muse] : [Revel] 11,000 / 11,000 11,000 / 11,000
Caoimhe Phadraig (Kieran Moor) [Slayer] : [Tyrant] 11,000 / 11,000 11,000 / 11,000
Firo Strix (Blake Walker) [Mage] : [Invoker] 11,000 / 11,000 11,000 / 11,000
Nyx Alaion (Zoe Fox) [Shroud] : [Dirge] 11,000 / 11,000 11,000 / 11,000
Marissa The enemy camp was in disarray as the rush of their group¡¯s initial charge died down. The NPC riders were still moving around the camp, trying to catch the stragglers and stopping any potential runaways from making it into the woods where it would be harder for the cavalry to give chase. ¡°Warriors, to me!¡± [Uathach] called, thrusting a sword in the air from the back of her mount. She was stationed toward the middle of the camp, waiting outside of the biggest tent in the camp, with the telltale little blue circle around her. As the group turned to move, the high energy music that had accompanied the battle petered out into something more subdued. ¡°Alright, I guess the fun is over.¡± Evan chuckled. ¡°Or just beginning.¡± Nyx said, as she moved her ghostly horse toward [Uathach¡¯s] shadowy, smokey mount. ¡°Next time I¡¯m playing a different Path,¡± she muttered. Clearly she didn¡¯t enjoy being stuck with a [Crossbow]. ¡°Is everyone ready for a real fight?¡± Marissa asked, also moving Bisky toward the circle. ¡°Yes ma¡¯am.¡± Kieran said as everyone else started migrating toward the circle as well. ¡°Don¡¯t you ma¡¯am me.¡± Marissa shot back with just a hint of venom. ¡°I¡¯m not that old.¡± ¡°I really hate to break it to you, Bisky, but we¡¯re getting to the ¡®ma¡¯am¡¯ age.¡± Jazz said. ¡°I hear it at work all the time.¡± ¡°...Shit.¡± Marissa muttered, to a few stray chuckles in the chat. ¡°Whatever, let¡¯s get this fight rolling.¡± ¡°Aye aye.¡± Kieran said. ¡°I don¡¯t think you guys are that old.¡± Firo said helpfully. ¡°Bro.¡± Evan said, laughing. ¡°You don¡¯t need to rub it in, college boy.¡± Ash said. ¡°We¡¯ll take the compliment though?¡± ¡°I didn¡¯t mean¡­Well, whatever. Let¡¯s just get this going.¡± ¡°You think we should dismount?¡± Evie asked, the last one standing outside of the blue ring. ¡°I don¡¯t know if we can fight well while mounted, but I also don¡¯t want to dismount and have Mongie run away.¡± ¡°Mongie?¡± Nyx asked. ¡°Yes, Mongie. My war panther.¡± Evie said haughtily. ¡°You named your war panther. Knowing full well we probably don¡¯t get to keep these mounts?¡± Nyx asked. ¡°Shut up.¡± Evie snapped. ¡°I didn¡¯t hear an answer.¡± ¡°I feel like if we need them at any point, they¡¯ll stay around if we dismount, right? Having them vanish if you accidentally hit the dismount button would be bad design.¡± Firo said. ¡°Also, mounts don¡¯t usually disappear unless you actually dismiss them, right?¡± Evan offered. ¡°We don¡¯t have that sort of ability with these guys, so I think it should be fine?¡± ¡°Who wants to risk it?¡± Evie asked. Marissa watched as Firo hopped off his crow-pegasus, and stood beside it. The creature just idly kicked at the dirt, but stood where he had gotten off of it. ¡°Problem solved?¡± Firo asked. ¡°Yeah. I¡¯m going to put Mongie over here.¡± Evie said, and walked her panther a little ways off to the side, outside of what she felt would be a normal size boss arena. Once she hopped off her mount and started walking back toward the party, everyone else moved over to where she had dismounted and followed suit, leaving their group of mounts together within a short dash¡¯s reach. This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings. Everyone else moved into the circle, but this time Marissa held back, just outside of it. ¡°Anything else we need to address before we start this?¡± She asked, and got nothing but silence in return. ¡°I¡¯ll take that as a no,¡± she said, and crossed the threshold. ¡°Well? Come on, then!¡± [Uathach] shouted immediately. ¡°I was told Fomorian commanders were dangerous and straightforward! Yet you won¡¯t come out and fight?¡± She taunted toward the tent. A deep growl came from the tent as one of the flaps was pushed aside. A pale man emerged, thin and spindly, but armored. He was clearly some kind of fae, but looked washed out, as if he had been drained of color. He had four wings on his back in a dragonfly style, but two of them - one on each side - had been torn and were missing half of the wing. He sneered at [Uathach], then looked around at the whole group arrayed before him. ¡°Nine of you? And you¡¯re calling us out for not fighting you ¡®fair¡¯?¡± He asked, his voice was smooth with a slight hint of some kind of accent, though Marissa wasn¡¯t sure it was a real one. ¡°Yo, he sounds hot.¡± Jazz said. ¡°...Really?¡± Ash asked as the tent¡¯s flap moved again. This time, a large bear emerged. At first, Marissa had expected a monstrous, twisted bear like the enemies that had accompanied [Spio] when they defended the wall, but this one was wholly different. It was a massive brown bear, with battle scars all over the place. Their snout was marked by old claw-inflicted wounds, and one eye looked milky white, as though it was blind. It wore armor as well, and carried a massive warhammer that looked more like an anvil on a flagpole. ¡°Now, that¡¯s not fair, [Regnu]. It¡¯s two to nine.¡± The bear said in a gruff, gravelly voice. The Fae glanced toward the bear as it stood up on its hind legs and hefted the hammer onto a shoulder. It absolutely dwarfed the human-sized fighter. [Regnu] scoffed. ¡°Fine, [Bufon]. But we¡¯re still outnumbered.¡± [Uathach] slipped from her smoke-like horse and leveled her sword at [Regnu] as the horse behind her puffed away to smoke. ¡°You want single combat, then I can give you that as a courtesy. I think your friend there is equal to more than one of us, so he shall fight them.¡± She said, motioning toward the party. ¡°[Bufon]? Thoughts?¡± The Fae asked. ¡°Fine by me.¡± The bear grumbled. ¡°I don¡¯t mind crushing some [Tuatha] flies before we need to leave.¡± He said, letting the hammer fall from his shoulder. The head slammed into the ground and made a small crater. [Uathach] turned to the party and said a bit more quietly, ¡°I¡¯ll deal with the Fae. Take the bear down. The rest of the company should keep the rest of the Fomorian army from realizing what is happening here for a little while at least, but don¡¯t take long. We¡¯ll need to retreat quickly, so don¡¯t let the fight drag out.¡± ¡°Now, now,¡± [Regnu] sneered, ¡°no secret meetings right in front of us while we¡¯re waiting to play!¡± As soon as he finished his line, he all but teleported right in front of [Uathach], who blocked the strike with her sword. It was a single one-handed weapon, and she carried no shield, but a shadowy mist flowed from the blade, hiding the weapon¡¯s form and length. When they clashed, [Uathach] shouted ¡°Fight well!¡± and then the two of them were gone, with flashes of their fight moving off into another area of the camp, which was now mostly clear of living folk. [Bufon] rolled a shoulder and grabbed the massive handle of his hammer. ¡°Right then. I¡¯d say good luck to you, but I¡¯d rather have it for myself. Prepare yourselves!¡± And then he leapt into the air. All at once, the fight had begun in earnest. A new music track kicked in, a heavy, lumbering rock arrangement with a heavy, driving drumbeat; it sounded brutal and earthy. The party scattered in their ingrained directions, allowing Aleister and Fiona to stand where they had been gathered, while the rest fanned out. When [Bufon] came crashing down, his hammer once again broke the ground as the tanks had stepped to either side of the strike. Fiona quickly smashed into the bear with her own [Warhammer], trying to build up [Threat]. Having swapped to [Tower] for the better mounted weapon left Fiona in a less-than-optimal situation, given how much Evan preferred [Aegis]. However, that didn¡¯t mean that [Tower] was ineffective. The massive attacks that the two-handed weapon offered generated [Threat] quickly, and [Bufon] zeroed in on Fiona immediately. Rather than relying on [Blocking] and [Counterattacks] like [Aegis], [Tower] was more focused on rebuffing attacks with their heavier armor while punishing the enemy for ever attacking in the first place. Functionally, it meant that Fiona¡¯s HP would be bouncing up and down a bit more than usual without steady access to mitigation through blocking, but she would actually have better skills to shrug off bigger hits with [Tower¡¯s] toolkit. As soon as Fiona had [Threat] established, the rest of the party immediately began their openers. Marissa had to fight against her muscle memory from going through her [Seeker] opener that she was so accustomed to. [Keeper¡¯s] rotation wasn¡¯t entirely different, especially when she mapped equivalent buttons to the same keys, but it still required a slightly different order of operations to get the most out of her secondary [Dedication]. [Nature¡¯s Oath] was first, the [Keeper] version of [Critical Eye]. It gave her a boost to all of her [Nature] typed damage, and upgraded the effect of her related spells and skills. [Bramble Arrow] was first, of course, and she placed the shot well. The arrow struck the bear¡¯s back dead center and exploded outward with thorny vines. Rather than the healthy green vines she had seen previously, under [Nature¡¯s Oath] they came out with bloody red tips and dripped a purple substance. The buff added a pretty significant DoT effect to the attack, as well as altered the [Root] effect - instead of pinning the enemy to the spot, it made the enemy take big chunks of damage if it moved while under the effect, which was actually a huge upgrade against big enemies that could usually ignore the [Root] anyway. She quickly launched her other [Keeper] skills - or at least the ones that had added [Nature] damage, as they would have their effects boosted. [Oaken Arrow], [Thorn Shot], and [Wisteria Needle] were the main skills she launched, then swapped to her limited list of actual spells. [Nature¡¯s Wrath], [Vine Pummel], [Bark Blast], and [Thorny Cascade] rounded out her [Nature¡¯s Oath] window. As Marissa finally moved into her standard [Arrow] skills - [Silver Arrow], [Heartstopper], and the like - [Bufon] finally seemed to get the real fight started. The expected ground slam raid-wide had already gone out, and now he was winding up for something that was bound to be more dangerous. Fiona hit [Stalwart], [Tower¡¯s] [Dedication] skill. It lasted for just a few seconds, but was a solid 50% damage reduction to most attacks. It was a little trickier to use than simply [Blocking], but also had a massive upside - it didn¡¯t interrupt other actions. Fiona continued to swing through her basic combo, ready to weather the attack headed her way. [Bufon] slammed his hammer straight down on Fiona. The damage was much higher than the previous attacks, but didn¡¯t quite feel like a tank buster, even with the 50% mitigation. And then the massive bear stomped. It was some kind of proximity attack that caused the players nearby to be [Off-Balance]. It was functionally a [Slow], making the players move around slower, but also incorporated an effect that made them unable to take significant actions, like attacking or using most skills. While Fiona was [Off-Balance], the boss held his hammer in just his left hand, while his right moved across his body to tap on the left shoulder plate of his armor. The design engraved into the armor began to glow, and [Bufon] swept out his hand, the glow of red light following the movement. A mass of red light swept out from [Bufon¡¯s] extended hand, flying toward Mellody. While it was unclear exactly what the ability would do, this early on, Ash clearly didn¡¯t want to take any chances. Mellody vanished as [Coda Step] was triggered, teleporting her away to a safer distance. The red light surged over where she had been, but dissipated shortly thereafter to no effect. [Bufon] grunted, then turned back toward Fiona to re-engage in the brawl. The bear used a rather graceful looking three hit combo that ended with an over extended swing with one arm holding onto the hammer. Once again, his free hand brushed over another of his armor plates that began to glow with a different pattern. There was a similar red glow, but rather than following the hand that activated the skill, the glow intensified for a moment before flowing down into the ground. ¡°I don¡¯t like that.¡± Evan said. ¡°The attack vanished.¡± ¡°Everyone watch your feet!¡± Ash called, as he was pushing Mellody to run back into the area where they fought. ¡°It¡¯s me, it¡¯s me.¡± Firo called, as he saw the ground beneath him begin to splinter and glow. He hit a quick dodge roll that put him just out of the range of the attack as the ground erupted. Mud and dirt exploded upward as a blast of red energy shot up, looking similar to a volcano eruption. ¡°Bet that hurts.¡± Evie said. ¡°Nice dodge.¡± ¡°Not bad.¡± [Bufon] said, his grumbling voice cutting through the music and chatter. ¡°I hope you don¡¯t think this is it, though.¡± Once again, the bear hefted up his hammer and struck Fiona with yet another three hit combo. The movement was still strikingly graceful for the bear¡¯s size, but it was an entirely different set of motions. It did, however, end with a hit swinging the hammer in a single hand while the free hand grazed over another piece of his armor. The glow was red once again, and this time flowed out from the vambrace he touched, and into the head of his hammer as he continued into a fourth hit for his combo. ¡°Buster. Gotta be.¡± Evie called, and Fiona acted quickly, smashing [Stalwart] as the hammer came down in a brutal overhead swing. It crashed into Fiona¡¯s armor and scraped against it all the way down until it impacted the ground and exploded in muddy shrapnel. The initial hit itself had shaved Fiona¡¯s HP down into the 6,000s, though she hadn¡¯t been quite at full HP. The resulting explosion caught her both melee DPS - who hadn¡¯t been expecting such a huge cleave - and Aleister. Caoimhe and Nyx were flung away from the blast, and just dead. Aleister, who hadn¡¯t had any mitigation up at the time, not expecting to take a tank buster, just barely survived with under 1,000 HP. Fiona was also still standing, thanks entirely to her hefty 50% mitigation, with just over 1000 HP. ¡°Found the buster.¡± Evan said flatly. ¡°Hey guys, not too sure, but I think it cleaves.¡± Kieran answered in the same tone. Chapter 53 : Take Two
Party List
Hibiscus Jade (Marissa Harper) [Arrow] : [Keeper] 11,000 / 11,000 11,000 / 11,000
Aleister Demian (Jasmine Burch) [War] : [Ebon] 11,000 / 11,000 11,000 / 11,000
Fiona Woods (Evan Woods) [Plate] : [Tower] 11,000 / 11,000 11,000 / 11,000
Evie Lucian (Cassandra Bailey) [Soul] : [Radiance] 11,000 / 11,000 11,000 / 11,000
Mellody Softsong (Ashton Burch) [Muse] : [Revel] 11,000 / 11,000 11,000 / 11,000
Caoimhe Phadraig (Kieran Moor) [Slayer] : [Tyrant] 11,000 / 11,000 11,000 / 11,000
Firo Strix (Blake Walker) [Mage] : [Invoker] 11,000 / 11,000 11,000 / 11,000
Nyx Alaion (Zoe Fox) [Shroud] : [Dirge] 11,000 / 11,000 11,000 / 11,000
Marissa After the tank buster had just about taken down half the party, everyone actively ran into the boss¡¯s attacks to wipe the group and restart the fight. The group respawned standing just beyond the blue circle that [Uathach] had called them to outside the commander¡¯s tent inside the camp, before challenging the boss. ¡°Oh, neat. A checkpoint.¡± Jazz said happily. ¡°Aw, man. I was looking forward to getting to do the cavalry charge again.¡± Evan whined. ¡°Oh, right! Mongie!¡± Evie said, quickly moving her camera around to find the whole group¡¯s mounts idling nearby. Not exactly where they had left them the last time, but still within easy reach. When Evie let out a relieved sigh, Firo chuckled. ¡°Good to know they¡¯re still here.¡± He said. ¡°That presumably also means that we¡¯re gonna need them again. Or at least use them again.¡± ¡°No reason to have them respawn with us if they were really a once off, yeah.¡± Ash agreed. ¡°The game doesn¡¯t usually de-spawn stuff like that though, even in instances.¡± Marissa said. ¡°Don¡¯t get too attached.¡± ¡°Yeah¡­¡± Evie sighed, sounding dejected. ¡°I suppose.¡± ¡°Anyway, what¡¯s the plan?¡± Nyx said, trying to get everyone back on track. Marissa suspected she was also trying to get her friend¡¯s mind off the mounts that they may or may not get to keep. ¡°Well, given the, like, thirty seconds of fight we¡¯ve seen, it¡¯s hard to say yet.¡± Jazz said. ¡°I¡¯m not so sure about that.¡± Kieran said. ¡°At the very least, the one main mechanic we¡¯ve seen seems pretty straightforward to me.¡± ¡°Agreed.¡± Evan said. ¡°Putting the different effects aside for a moment, it seems like Bufon can interact with different runes on his armor to get different effects to manifest.¡± ¡°And the animation of his combo changed depending on which effect he wanted.¡± Kieran continued. ¡°So we get a few different tells to help us see which one is coming, which is nice.¡± ¡°Ok,¡± Ash began thinking aloud, ¡°so we¡¯ll need to keep an eye on the animations for his combo as well as the runes that light up. Also keep in mind that as the fight goes on, he¡¯ll probably add more mechanics on top of it to get a little tricky, so keep your eyes open.¡± ¡°Yes, sir.¡± ¡°Also - that cleave. What kind of range do we think there is on that? Because it clearly hit the DPS standing behind Bufon.¡± ¡°No kidding.¡± Nyx sighed. ¡°I didn¡¯t expect the cleave to fully reach behind him.¡± ¡°Well, we know to watch for that sequence of attacks now. And that the secondary hit alone is enough to kill a DPS.¡± Kieran said. ¡°Y¡¯all, the secondary hit nearly killed me.¡± Jazz said. ¡°Admittedly, it was entirely unmitigated on my end, but still. 10k damage with tank defenses is no joke.¡± ¡°The two hits together nearly took me out with Stalwart active. I¡¯m going to need to layer it with other defensives too, I guess.¡± Evan said, then paused a moment before adding. ¡°Or some shielding.¡± ¡°Knowing that it¡¯s coming, we can probably help with that.¡± Ash said. ¡°Yeah,¡± Evie agreed, ¡°you know neither of us have a lot of shielding skills, so we¡¯re going to be picky with them. That buster does feel like a good place for them though.¡± ¡°Anything else?¡± Marissa said, turning Bisky to face toward the ring by [Uathach]. ¡°I don¡¯t think so?¡± Ash said. ¡°Nope, let¡¯s get to it.¡± Evan agreed, and the group at large turned toward the ring and stepped inside. As before, [Uathach] called out the enemy leaders, and the same two enemies emerged from the tent. The dialogue and short scene played through the same way as the first run, with [Uathach] and [Regnu] fighting their way off into a different area of the camp. [Bufon] taunted the group as before and opened with the same leaping attack. The beginning of the fight went the same as before; a raid wide attack during the opener, followed by an attack aimed at one of the healers - this time it was Evie who needed to dodge the red light streaking toward her. Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings. The next series of attacks went through, and the ground eruption attack targeted Nyx, who easily dodged away from it. Then the three hit combo ending in the fourth hit tank buster went through. [Bufon] swept over his right vambrace¡¯s rune to activate the red glow, which moved to encompass the hammer¡¯s head as he slammed it against Fiona. Fiona added an extra defensive cooldown of some kind with [Stalwart], and the two hits eventually left her standing with a little over 4,000 HP, thanks to the small HP shield Evie sent her way. Aleister, Caoimhe, and Nyx simply backed off from the boss entirely. They made extra space, just in case, to be sure they didn¡¯t get clipped by the wide AoE of the buster¡¯s secondary hit. They would lose some uptime on their damage, but for now, that was acceptable. Afterall, they still didn¡¯t really know whether or not they even had a DPS race in this fight yet. ¡°Alright, looking good, looking good.¡± Ash said, as everyone moved back into position to resume attacking the boss. ¡°How many different patterns do you think he¡¯s got?¡± Evan asked, continuing to shrug off the boss¡¯ attacks with minimal damage. ¡°I guess we¡¯ll see?¡± Firo said. ¡°I think it depends on whether he has any other mechanics at all, or if it¡¯s all based on his armor.¡± After a few simple, disconnected swings targeting Fiona, [Bufon] moved into another combination attack. This one was different from the others they had seen so far, as the boss twirled and spun his massive hammer in sweeping horizontal swings. The wide sweeps clipped the entire melee half of the party, but didn¡¯t do all that much damage; Caoimhe and Nyx got the worst of it, for about 4,000 total damage. When [Bufon¡¯s] final swing transitioned into the one handed grip for the last sweep, he activated his left vambrace. The voice chat was silent, as everyone was focused on what was coming. Evie and Mellody were trying to quickly heal the melee characters back up before [Bufon] had the chance to knock them out. ¡°Uh¡­¡± Marissa said, as she watched the boss throw his weapon straight ahead over Fiona¡¯s head. ¡°He missed?¡± Evan joked. And then the hammer started to curve to the left in a circle. ¡°It¡¯s a donut AoE.¡± Ash shouted. ¡°In, quick!¡± Marissa did immediately try to close the gap to get inside the safe zone and avoid the flying hammer. Firo, Mellody, and Evie were similarly making quick dashes in. Mellody made use of her new [Puddle Jumper] skill that she got from the armor piece that dropped after their run to the city, while the rest used standard gap closers. Marissa, making use of her extended range, was too far out to make it into the small bubble of safety in time, taking a solid hit from the massive AoE as the hammer spun in a wide circle before slamming home in [Bufon¡¯s] hand once more. The hit left Hibiscus standing at a little over 4,000 HP - so the hit did more than half her HP in a single hit. Her HP was already bouncing back up though, as Evie swapped her focus to the lowest HP in the group. ¡°That hurt.¡± Marissa stated plainly. ¡°Damn.¡± ¡°Well, now we know that midfield is safest.¡± Ash said. ¡°Midfield is always the safest place to be.¡± Kieran chuckled. ¡°Not always¡­¡± Marissa defended weakly. Kieran was right - balancing distance was always the best way to position yourself for safety against bosses. ¡°Don¡¯t worry about that now. If the pattern holds, we¡¯ve got about eight seconds before the next combo.¡± Evan said hurriedly. ¡°Fiona¡¯s right. Dude hasn¡¯t given us any time to breathe; stay on your toes.¡± Ash agreed. ¡°Easy for you to say.¡± Evie snickered. ¡°C¡¯mon, focus.¡± Firo said as [Bufon] rolled into yet another unseen combo. After the second hit of the combo, [Bufon] was in a stance that was clearly in preparation for an uppercut swing while activating a red glow from his right pauldron. The glow traveled down to the hammer as the uppercut swing dragged along Fiona¡¯s armor for a solid chunk of damage. But he didn¡¯t stop there. [Bufon] threw the hammer into the air, where it spun, still covered in red energy. Then it hit the top of its arc and fell quickly, nearly landing on Firo. Instead, it crashed next to him, making a solid dent in the ground. Firo¡¯s ¡°Oh, shit -¡± was cut off pretty quickly when the boss turned away from Fiona to leap to the hammer. Firo tried to scramble away, but [Bufon] was faster. He landed in arm¡¯s reach of the hammer, grabbed it, and pivoted into a heavy swing at Firo. Firo had created a decent bit of space, but [Bufon] still closed the gap with two quick strides. The attack connected, sending Firo tumbling across the ground, with zero HP. ¡°Holy shit. That one shot me.¡± He whined. ¡°Must be more to that than just a targeted attack.¡± ¡°Probably a shared hit?¡± Marissa suggested. ¡°Need to see if we can get Aleister in there to share the damage.¡± ¡°That makes sense.¡± Aleister said. ¡°I¡¯ll hold Shadow Step for it next time.¡± ¡°This guy is really just a showcase for different simple mechanics, isn¡¯t he?¡± Evan said. ¡°Well, mixed in with pretty hefty attacks, but still.¡± ¡°Which means, what? We¡¯ve still got a party stack and spread coming, probably?¡± Kieran offered. ¡°At least.¡± Ash said. ¡°And he¡¯s got a lot of HP.¡± Marissa glanced up to the top of her screen, where [Bufon¡¯s] solid 80% was still displayed. This was going to be a long fight. Evie spent the party''s first [Resurrection] on Firo, since her [Resurrection] had a shorter cooldown than [Refrain], she was best to go first. As he was coming back up, the boss was moving into yet another combo attack. This time, he activated his chest piece, and the final hit of the combo was a stomp that sent him vaulting high into the air. The stomp had given the nearby melee characters the [Off-Balance] effect again, which left them hobbling around unsteadily. The area around where the boss had leapt up from turned red like a regular AoE circle, but had floating red spokes above the ground. It was a common marker for a party stack, so everyone else rushed into the area. ¡°Thank god for Puddle Jumper.¡± Ash chuckled as Mellody did a graceful hop into the marked zone just in time thanks to the new skill. A few snickers followed as the boss crashed back to the ground, and the red light expanded out in a wave from the impact. Everyone in the party took some damage, but split eight ways it wasn¡¯t too bad. ¡°We might be able to survive that with only the melee.¡± Nyx said. ¡°It¡¯ll be close, though.¡± ¡°Not worth it.¡± Evie said, as a single AoE healing spell got everyone almost back to full HP. ¡°Everyone being clustered like this makes recovery easy.¡± ¡°Fair.¡± Nyx said, and everyone moved back to their spots. [Bufon] struck Fiona a few more times before going into yet another new combo they had not seen, which activated his right thigh guard. The light grew and slid into the ground, similarly to the previous pillar attack. This time, however, the attack didn¡¯t disappear; a straight line shot out toward every party member and a rune appeared under each of them. ¡°Spread.¡± Kieran called. Which was promptly followed by an echoed ¡°Fuck¡± from Firo and Evie. They were standing just slightly too close to one another when the ground exploded under each of them, their AoEs both catching the pair. While everyone else survived around 5,000 HP, Evie and Firo were both taken down. ¡°Mit, Fiona.¡± Ash said quickly. ¡°On it.¡± Evan responded, and immediately turned on survival mode, focusing on mit rather than offense for a moment. Ash was quick about getting Evie back up again., which put [Refrain] on cooldown for three minutes. Marissa was pretty sure the two minute cooldown on [Resurrection] hadn¡¯t passed yet, which meant they had to leave Firo dead for a minute or more. ¡°Sorry, Firo. Rez is still on cooldown.¡± Evie confirmed. ¡°Figured.¡± Firo said. ¡°Just focus on seeing more mechanics.¡± Several people said ¡°Yup¡± as they fought on. The boss went through two more cycles while Firo was still in the dirt. One mechanic was activated by [Bufon¡¯s] right hand - he threw out a quick blast of red energy which latched onto Bisky. She couldn¡¯t dodge it, as far as she could tell, and after a short delay, the energy exploded, dealing a pretty heavy hit to her HP. It didn¡¯t put her in any actual danger of death on its own, though. The second new mechanic was activated by [Bufon¡¯s] left hand, and it was a fairly simple, but huge conal AoE. He turned away from Fiona to place Nyx in the dead center of the cone, and everyone needed to dash to escape the massive blast of destructive energy that followed. ¡°Twenty seconds until you¡¯re up, Firo.¡± Evie said. ¡°Sweet.¡± As [Bufon] lined up his next combo, a few people made shouts of recognition as he moved into a combo that they recognized. It was the spinning combo that ended with the donut AoE. ¡°In, in, in!¡± Ash shouted, as everyone scrambled in toward the boss. But when he completed the combo, rather than the rune glowing red, it started to glow blue. Without missing a beat, [Bufon¡¯s] massive wide swing that had previously thrown the hammer simply flowed into another combo that they recognized - the one that ended with the hidden spout attack on a seemingly random DPS. And as the second combo rolled into the last hit and [Bufon] triggered his second armor rune, the first one slowly turned red. In the same motion that ended the second combo, [Bufon] flung the hammer in the same way he had for the donut AoE. ¡°Get away from me!¡± Nyx shouted, but in the relatively small safe zone of the donut AoE, no one had much room to move. They had at least lucked out that Nyx had been standing toward an edge of the safe zone, as the mud under her character turned red. Nyx managed to escape thanks to the [Shroud¡¯s] extended [Dodge] reach. Caoimhe and Evie, who had been watching their own feet, were not so lucky as they were caught in the blast while still trying to maneuver into the donut AoE¡¯s safe spot. The group also learned exactly how lethal the eruption was, as Caoimhe and Evie were both downed immediately, taking almost 20,000 damage. ¡°Ow.¡± Kieran said. ¡°So the bastard is going to teach us individual mechanics, then double them up on us. How original.¡± Evie sighed. ¡°Y¡¯all may as well wipe it. That¡¯s three down, and no rez for a while.¡± ¡°Hey. We can still see the next combination.¡± Marissa said, as Mellody worked to keep what was left of the group alive. The five members still standing managed to see the next two combinations, as it turned out. Remaining fully spread out while dodging the massive frontal cone AoE was easy enough with only five of them alive. The delayed damage combined with the party stack that followed, however, sent the remaining five to join their waiting dead friends. Chapter 54 : Combo Confusion
Party List
Hibiscus Jade (Marissa Harper) [Arrow] : [Keeper] 11,000 / 11,000 11,000 / 11,000
Aleister Demian (Jasmine Burch) [War] : [Ebon] 11,000 / 11,000 11,000 / 11,000
Fiona Woods (Evan Woods) [Plate] : [Tower] 11,000 / 11,000 11,000 / 11,000
Evie Lucian (Cassandra Bailey) [Soul] : [Radiance] 11,000 / 11,000 11,000 / 11,000
Mellody Softsong (Ashton Burch) [Muse] : [Revel] 11,000 / 11,000 11,000 / 11,000
Caoimhe Phadraig (Kieran Moor) [Slayer] : [Tyrant] 11,000 / 11,000 11,000 / 11,000
Firo Strix (Blake Walker) [Mage] : [Invoker] 11,000 / 11,000 11,000 / 11,000
Nyx Alaion (Zoe Fox) [Shroud] : [Dirge] 11,000 / 11,000 11,000 / 11,000
Marissa Marissa stared at her screen as everyone was transported once again to the little starting zone. The enemy camp, still a mess, was spread around them while [Uathach] stood in front of the commander¡¯s tent, ready with her declaration of war. ¡°Alright, so we know that things get a little tricky around 75% now.¡± Marissa said with a chuckle. ¡°But I honestly don¡¯t think that two of the mechanics at a time should really be that hard once we get a feel for it.¡± ¡°I agree.¡± Ash said. ¡°Really, unless they can actually throw some broken combinations at us, most of the ones that make sense should be fine to deal with.¡± ¡°In before we get a stack and spread at the same time.¡± Evan snickered. ¡°I¡¯d just like to point out,¡± Firo said, ¡°that I think the stack and spread at the same time might happen.¡± ¡°Say what?¡± ¡°Yeah. The party stack AoE was unusually large - didn¡¯t anyone else notice that?¡± ¡°I did, but I didn¡¯t think about why it was like that.¡± Ash said. ¡°I think the individual mechanics were designed to accommodate for any combination thereof. Just barely.¡± Firo said. ¡°I suspect that, for example, if we spread out at clock spots along the very edge of the party stack, there would be just enough room for the spread AoEs to go off at the same time.¡± ¡°That¡¯s gotta be a really tight fit.¡± Jazz said. ¡°That¡¯s what -¡± ¡°No.¡± Half the party said, cutting off Evan. ¡°I don¡¯t think it¡¯s going to be pixel perfect or anything, but yeah. It¡¯s going to be very uncomfortable.¡± Firo agreed. ¡°So, are we ready to get back in there, then?¡± Marissa asked, eyeing [Uathach] standing on the side of her monitor. ¡°Yeah, let¡¯s do it.¡± Nyx said first, followed by everyone else. The group flowed over to the starting gate and prepared themselves for the coming fight. When [Bufon] appeared again, the group spread out, ready for the fight to start even before [Uathach] and [Regnu] sped off for their duel. When the massive armored bear made his leap, he awkwardly targeted Mellody instead of one of the tanks, which forced the opening sequence of the fight to be a little awkward when it came to positioning. Fiona picked up [Bufon¡¯s] [Threat] quickly enough to keep the damage smooth, but it took a little doing to correct the positioning. The first phase of the fight went fine. With the party able to recognize which mechanics were which, none of them were difficult to deal with individually. The only one that was even a little bit of trouble was the tank buster, simply because the area it covered was obnoxiously large for a cleave, forcing the melee characters away from the boss for a short time. The entire party was alive when they made it to the combination mechanics phase this time. But they also immediately noticed that the first combination wasn¡¯t the donut AoE and single target pillar attack that they had seen first the previous run. ¡°The order in this phase is random?¡± Nyx whined. ¡°Lovely.¡± ¡°It¡¯s not so bad,¡± Ash said, trying to sound hopeful. ¡°Look, it¡¯s just the party stack and delayed damage one this time.¡± ¡°The one that wiped us out last time, you mean.¡± Evie joked. This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. ¡°Whoever gets the delayed damage debuff, stand apart.¡± Ash called. And when the delayed damage energy struck Bisky, Marissa rolled her eyes. She had been targeted by the delayed damage effect every time it came up so far. She did as told, though, and kept her distance from the party stack, which let everyone survive just fine. The healers got everyone back up to full shortly thereafter. Things went fine through the next combination before they saw a new one - the tank buster and donut combo. ¡°Try to stay as far back behind him as you can but stay in the safe zone?¡± Firo said. ¡°Yeah,¡± Ash agreed, as the group did their best to position themselves accordingly. [Bufon] threw his hammer in the donut AoE first, but the AoE itself wasn¡¯t marked by a flashing red floor, leaving the party to judge it for themselves. Hibiscus, Evie, and Firo all misjudged how far they needed to be, getting clipped by the donut AoE. The damage wasn¡¯t too bad, leaving each of them with around 3,000 HP. However, when [Bufon] caught his hammer and immediately moved into the tank buster without wasting a breath, the resulting explosion of shrapnel caught almost everyone else who had been too close in an effort to avoid the donut. Fiona was fine, expecting the buster to hit her, and Aleister had noticed the issue in time to hit two mitigation skills, saving himself. Caoimhe and Mellody were obliterated by the buster¡¯s cleave, while Nyx had simply run away as soon as the hammer had finished its spinning flight. ¡°Ok! I guess running away works!¡± Nyx said, overly happy, as Evie [Resurrected] Mellody, who then got Caoimhe back up. ¡°Guys? I need -¡± Evan said, immediately before Fiona dropped dead to a regular attack. ¡° - healing¡­¡± ¡°Oh, shit.¡± Evie said. ¡°Sorry, I immediately went for the rez and then -¡± ¡°And then I died!¡± Evan shouted. ¡°How could you not heal the tank after a tank buster?¡± He wailed, as Aleister moved in and picked up [Bufon¡¯s] aggro. ¡°I¡¯m sorry.¡± Evie whined comically, holding onto the final syllable as if she was singing. The combo that followed was the healer-targeting attack and a second tank buster. ¡°Now that¡¯s some bullshit.¡± Aleister said, preparing to take the buster since Fiona was still down. This time, the tank buster came first, which everyone made it through fine. Without the donut AoE forcing the party close, they were able to be careful and stay more than far enough back to avoid the cleave damage. As soon as Aleister took the massive hit, Mellody immediately started casting a heal, as the rest of the group scattered. The attack that followed, unfortunately, chose to target Mellody, who was focused on healing the tank after abandoning Fiona to the tank buster¡¯s damage the previous time. As it turned out, the healer targeting attack was an instant death grabbing attack that immediately put Mellody on the floor. As the group laughed about the fiasco, Evie simply couldn¡¯t keep up with the healing demand needed to keep the party up through the following party stack¡¯s damage.
When the moment for the dreaded stack and spread combination came, the group did their best. Several of them died all at once, however, leading to a wipe pretty quickly. ¡°Firo, my guy, you were standing literally on top of me!¡± Kieran said through a bout of laughter. ¡°I was in my spot at northwest!¡± Firo argued. ¡°You were at my spot, Caoimhe - you¡¯re supposed to southwest!¡± ¡°I was at southwest!¡± Caoimhe shot back. ¡°How do you figure you were northwest?¡± ¡°Y¡¯all¡­were we spreading true north or boss relative?¡± ¡°Boss relative.¡± ¡°True north.¡± There was a beat of silence before fresh laughter erupted. ¡°Okay, let¡¯s go with true north.¡± Ash said, finally, once everyone was able to focus again. ¡°The boss changes facing too much for us to reliably do boss relative positions.¡± ¡°Especially if he does the conal attack. Yeah, fair.¡± Caoimhe said. ¡°But I swear to god, Firo, if you¡¯re in my spot again-¡± ¡°You¡¯ll what, exactly, Caoimhe? Kill me? Because you¡¯ve already done that.¡± Firo shot back. ¡°You little -¡±
Two pulls later, the group had made it through a few combinations safely before seeing the spread and conal combination come up. As the group moved to spread out away from the conal AoE, Marissa saw Caoimhe moving much further from the boss than was necessary. And she just kept moving. ¡°Oh, no, no, no, you bitch!¡± Firo yelled as Caoimhe used [Driver] to close the last bit of distance to take them both out with the individual AoEs. ¡°The fuck, Caoimhe?¡± ¡°Told you I¡¯d do it.¡± ¡°I was in my spot!¡± ¡°Were you? I¡¯m pretty sure it was mine, silly little boy.¡± Kieran laughed. ¡°You jackass.¡± Evie and Mellody got [Rezzes] out to both of them, but not before a poorly timed delayed damage and party stack combo put the party in the ground, simply because they didn¡¯t have the body count.
The next pull, things were similarly going pretty well until a few combinations in when the boss chose to use the delayed damage effect and the spread. Once again, Hibiscus was targeted for the delayed damage, and Marissa was beginning to suspect that particular effect was baited by the person furthest from the boss every time, which was why she kept being the one to get it. ¡°I¡¯m going to try something.¡± Evie said suddenly, with no real reasoning or explanation, and suddenly Marissa found herself being given the [Safety Shift] effect. That wasn¡¯t a bad idea, given that the spread and delayed damage effect had killed her previously, because the healers didn¡¯t get a heal out to her quickly enough between the two effects. The spread AoE went off at her feet to no effect. But when the delayed damage tried to go off and found her untargetable, it instead exploded in a massive AoE, wiping out half the party. It was an effect they had seen happen once already, when the person carrying the effect died before the damage went off. The result of seeing Hibiscus standing alone amidst several dead party members was enough to start the giggles again. Marissa couldn¡¯t focus at all as she watched [Bufon] tear through the party, given she had killed both healers when she exploded. ¡°Note,¡± Evie said through her own tears, ¡°Safety Shift doesn¡¯t work on the delayed damage effect.¡± ¡°Good to know!¡± Ash said flatly. ¡°Now, Evie, next time you¡¯re going to set off a fucking bomb in the middle of everyone, please be a good friend and let us know.¡±
Marissa had told the group about her theory regarding the delayed damage after a little more testing herself, and it seemed to work. Aleister was able to bait the delayed damage when it was paired with other damaging effects, but was able to survive the damage with tank mitigations. The night¡¯s remaining pulls descended into actual chaos. Firo and Caoimhe had gotten into a troll fight, trying to kill each other while managing not to kill themselves. It mostly just left both of them on the ground, dead together. Firo did manage to kill Caoimhe successfully one time by sneakily baiting her into being the furthest from the boss to trigger the delayed damage effect though. It was truly a masterstroke of trolling. Several pulls were lost to testing new strategies - or trying stupid things under the guise of a new strategy. Nyx had killed herself and Coaimhe by using [Shadow Slip] during a spread and eruption too early, leaving the two of them taking all three hits together because of the poor timing. Caoimhe got her back two pulls later by using [Driver] to escape a conal AoE combined with a spread. Watching Caoimhe and her AoE marker fly straight at Nyx had made everyone laugh, although Nyx was too busy trying to calm herself after the jump scare of her sudden death. Several people had died over the course of the night to the hammer toss attack that required a tank to stop the target from getting clobbered. It took Aleister several attempts to get the timing right, but he eventually got the hang of using [Shadow Step] to position himself in time. The worst offender for wipes over the course of the night was any combination with the delayed damage effect. While they were positive it targeted the person furthest from the boss pretty early on in the night, getting it to be baited correctly was another issue entirely. More than once, they had someone just out of position, standing too far away. Or everyone would be moving toward safe spots for one mechanic, and stop paying attention to their distance from the boss. Even with Aleister actively trying to bait the effect to mitigate through it easily, it kept ending up on the wrong targets. And, invariably, something would go wrong. Any non-tank taking the effect needed babying by the healers to not die to follow-up damage, unless the combined mechanic was a non-damaging one. But several pulls were lost to the group overreacting to someone getting the debuff, which ended up with the party taking damage they shouldn¡¯t. And that led to the debuffed party member dying prematurely, which set off the party wiping explosion. By the end of their three hours, no one could hold it together for a full pull. Everyone was laughing and goofing off, putting actual progression entirely on the back burner for the night to just have a good time. While they were pretty sure they would need to redo the cavalry charge section the following day before getting to try their hand at [Bufon] again, no one was worried about it. When Marissa said good night to everyone and logged off for the night, she had a huge grin on her face. It didn¡¯t matter that they had collectively died probably thirty times - maybe more - in the three hours they had been working for. They had had far too much fun to walk away feeling bad about the losses. And while she was just as excited for the following night¡¯s raid as she had been for that night¡¯s disaster, her mood was so much better than it had been before. She couldn¡¯t wait to get back in there and die again with her little merry band of fools. Chapter 55 : Drive Thru Kieran Kieran¡¯s day at work passed slowly. Thursday was a slow day for classes, as he only had three total, and was done with them all by 2 p.m. Thursday was, however, an in-office day for him, which left him getting work done in his office for a few hours before he could go anywhere. It was somewhat uncommon that students came to actually see him during his office hours. As most of the classes he taught were PC based, and mostly project focused, he spent more time answering questions and offering assistance through emails than actual in-person questions. That suited him just fine, of course. It meant that more often than not, he was able to get other work done during his office hours and didn¡¯t need to bring work home with him most days. And this particular Thursday seemed to be going his way, as he was chugging right through most of the work he needed to get done before leaving. His mind kept wandering to other things - especially how much he was looking forward to the upcoming raid night. While the group¡¯s prog had all but fallen apart the previous night, probably thanks to his and Firo¡¯s trying to kill each other, he was pretty confident that they would be able to make some progress that night. After all, while the group had collectively wiped a bunch, only a few of those were due to legitimate mistakes, and many resulted in them learning what not to do. Puting the raid aside, he had other things to keep his mind occupied that would come first. Thursdays were one of his earlier days, when he would get to leave by four. And if no one showed up for office hours, he was pretty confident he¡¯d get out before that, even. That meant he would need to pick up the girls from daycare and aftercare at the school on his way home, and get dinner made before Natalie came home around 5:30. That was easy enough, it was just a matter of what they had at home to make for dinner. When 3:30 rolled around, Kieran started packing things up to get out the door. He hadn¡¯t heard from any of his students at that point, and he was done with his work for the day. It was just a matter of making sure no one showed up at 3:45 - but if he left fifteen minutes early, that would be fine. As he packed everything up, he kept an eye on the door and his email to make sure no one needed him; and when he saw no signs of anyone at 3:45, he stepped out from his office, locked the door, and was on his way. It didn¡¯t take too long to get into his car and on the way. Thankfully, both Aoife¡¯s school and Kat¡¯s daycare were on the way home. Even better, they were located practically next to one another. He stopped by the school first to pick up Aoife from the school¡¯s after care program, as she was usually just sitting and reading quietly by this time, having finished what little homework she had gotten for the day. After that, he walked hand in hand with Aoife over to Kat¡¯s daycare to pick her up. When they arrived, she was still running around and playing with the other remaining kids, many of whom would still be there for another hour or two. Kieran smiled when he saw her running around, and waved when she saw him. She made a point to wave at Aoife too, who returned the wave as well. Kieran knew all too well how upset Kat would be if Kieran had come without her sister - it meant she¡¯d have a few minutes less playtime, and that was simply untenable. Once he had both girls in the car and got the tires rolling, he felt better. It was only 4:15 or so, which left him plenty of time to get dinner taken care of. And then, as Aoife and Kat were chatting in the back he heard the words that he was sure every parent with young kids dreaded in this situation. ¡°Dad, can we get fast food for dinner?¡± Kat asked, her voice loud in their small SUV.. Kieran sighed quietly to himself while considering it. ¡°When was the last time we had fast food for dinner?¡± He muttered. ¡°Two weeks ago.¡± Aoife said. ¡°When Mom picked us up and we got fried chicken.¡± ¡°And what, exactly, are you wanting for dinner, then, hm?¡± He asked, figuring two weeks wasn¡¯t too bad. And the girls had been good the last few days, and even helped clean their rooms over the weekend. ¡°Cheeseburger!¡± ¡°Nuggets!¡± Kieran chuckled and relented, figuring it would be fine to drop by one of the many such options on the way home.
Around 5:30, Natalie walked through the door. Kieran and the girls were already around the table, their drive-thru loot scattered around the table. Natalie hung her coat up while the whole family shouted greetings across the house, before she finally walked into the main living area and saw their dinner for the night. She put her hands on her hips and shifted her weight to one leg, trying to look as sassy as she could manage, really playing up her bad acting ability. ¡°Burgers and chicken nuggets? Again?¡± ¡°Dad said it was okay!¡± Aoife said quickly, pointing at Kieran. Kieran looked at his daughter, hand on his chest, and gasped. ¡°How could you?¡± He cried, ¡°Thrown under the bus so fast¡­and by my own daughter, no less!¡± Kat giggled as Natalie turned toward Kieran, stared him down for a long moment, then let out a massive sigh and shook her head. ¡°What can I say? I¡¯m not mad, just disappointed.¡± Kieran rocked back as though he¡¯d been struck. ¡°Oh! No! Not the disappointment!¡± And then he rolled off his chair onto the ground, twitched once, and laid still. He heard Nat walk up to the table and pull out a chair. As she sat down and started moving the food around the table to get everyone¡¯s meals situated she said, ¡°Now that your father is dealt with, we can eat. Who wants his fries?¡± ¡°Me!¡± Aoife said, and Kieran could hear her hand go flying up in the air. ¡°Me, me!¡± The distinct sound of fries shuffling around in their cardboard container followed, and a short squeal of delight from Aoife. Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings. ¡°And it looks like he had a burger, too. Hm, who wants that?¡± Nat continued. Kieran remained still, simply laying on the ground. ¡°Not me.¡± Kat sighed. It seemed like she had been ready to beat her sister to the punch for the next auction, but was disappointed it was the burger, which she didn¡¯t like. She was all about her nuggets. ¡°I already have mine,¡± Aoife said, ¡°so I¡¯m good.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll take it then.¡± Nat said. ¡°And then we¡¯ve got¡­cola?¡± She asked, picking up the drink and shaking it a bit. ¡°Root beer.¡± Aoife said. ¡°Ah, good old root beer. And who wants-¡± ¡°Me! Me! Me!¡± Kat shouted. ¡°Very well! Thus concludes the ¡®daddy¡¯s food auction¡¯. I hope you¡¯ll all attend the next event as well.¡± The girls cheered as the sounds of ruffling packaging and food being unwrapped hit Kieran¡¯s ears. He considered just getting up then, but decided to see if he couldn¡¯t get a little bit of revenge. The girls were clearly focused on eating now, and he waited just another minute for Nat to ask the girls about their days at school and daycare. As soon as the conversation was well underway, Kieran made his move. He used the table and chairs as best as he could as cover as he slowly inched his way around the table toward where his daughters sat. It was a slow process, as he was trying to go unnoticed. And it was even more delicate when he made it around to their side of the table. He had no doubt that Nat had noticed at least, and was thankful that she seemed to be helping, keeping the girls engaged with silly questions and other whimsical responses to their day¡¯s stories. Kieran listened, too, as he slowly slid his way over behind the girls¡¯ chairs and began to climb to his feet as quietly as he could manage. It worked in his favor that apparently Kat and Aoife both had pizza for lunch, and were actively arguing with Nat over the best toppings; the daycare had gotten plain pizzas, while the school had pepperoni. Once Kieran was on his feet and crouched behind the girls, he slowly got up so his head was level with theirs, and got right between them. He waited just a moment before saying ¡°Boo¡±. Not wanting to scare them too badly, he didn¡¯t shout or grab them or anything, just spoke at a fairly normal volume. Their reaction was just to laugh. Kieran frowned. ¡°We saw you, Dad.¡± Kat said through her laughter. ¡°Did you really think we wouldn¡¯t?¡± Aoife asked, giggling. Kieran turned to face Nat who just looked apologetic. ¡°You!¡± He said, pointing at his wife, ¡°You betrayed me!¡± ¡°What, by telling them not to say anything?¡± Nat asked innocently. ¡°I¡­guess! Yeah!¡± Kieran said indignantly and threw his hands in the air. Continuing on his fake angry streak, he snatched up his food - which never left his spot at the table - and stomped off, declaring, ¡°Since none of you want to talk to me I¡¯m going to eat in the other room!¡± ¡°Kay, bye!¡± Aoife called, and Kat echoed her sister. ¡°Don¡¯t forget to take a napkin or paper towels with you!¡± Nat called. Kieran walked over to his desk and set his food down by his PC, and switched it on. While it was booting up, he grabbed the roll of paper towel he kept by his desk and tore off a double-wide section to use as a napkin. Once he felt like he had everything set up for raid night, he walked back out into the kitchen, the fake anger fully shed. He walked over to Nat, and gave her the quick kiss in greeting that they had skipped earlier. ¡°Welcome home.¡± ¡°Thanks.¡± She said with a grin as Aoife and Kaitlyn both ¡®eww¡¯d¡¯ at the kiss. Kieran stood up straight again, then walked over to tussle his daughters¡¯ hair. ¡°These two monsters said that the last time we had takeout was two weeks ago, so I figured it was fine.¡± He explained, as the girls both growled in response to being called monsters. ¡°Yeah, it¡¯s fine. Honestly, a fast food burger sounded really fantastic when I sat down, so no complaints from me.¡± ¡°Okay. Let me know if you need anything.¡± ¡°Will do, but I think we¡¯ll be alright.¡± ¡°Okay. You two, too. If you need me, you know where I¡¯m at.¡± Kieran said, and bent down to kiss both little girls on their hair before once again stepping off toward the computer room. ¡°Love you, Dad!¡± Aoife called after him, and the shout was echoed by Kat and Nat, too. ¡°Love you all, too.¡± Kieran said as he flipped on the light in the office and sat down. It was 5:47, so he had thirteen minutes until raid time - and that was plenty to eat and get himself fully situated. He glanced at the voice channel, and saw that Firo, Ash, Jazz, and Nyx were all waiting for the rest of them. He quickly pulled up Mag Mell to work on getting logged in while he went to work on his burger. No one needed to hear him eating, so he didn¡¯t bother joining the chat until he was basically finished. There were still plenty of fries left, but that wouldn¡¯t make nearly as much noise. He munched on a few of them as he clicked join on the voice chat channel. ¡°Yo.¡± ¡°Hey Caoimhe, how¡¯s it hanging?¡± Ash asked. ¡°Can¡¯t complain. Just finishing up dinner while we wait for the rest to show up.¡± ¡°Anything good?¡± Firo asked. ¡°Not really. Drive thru burger and fries. The girls really wanted Mickey D¡¯s for dinner.¡± Kieran said. ¡°Oh, man. That honestly sounds delicious.¡± Firo said. ¡°It has its moments, yeah.¡± Kieran agreed. ¡°Every now and then a good, greasy burger is exactly what the not-doctor ordered.¡± ¡°You shouldn¡¯t listen to that guy, Firo.¡± Ash said, ¡°He said that he likes White Castle.¡± ¡°I do.¡± Kieran laughed. ¡°Those little burgers deserve their reputation, but damn are they tasty.¡± ¡°I¡¯ve never had them before! I really want to though - I kinda like the frozen ones.¡± Firo said, as a chime declared someone else joined the chat.. ¡°They¡¯re really great late night snacks.¡± ¡°Ugh, not you too.¡± Ash grumbled. ¡°Hey, little burgers are probably a better late night snack than the classic gaming standby.¡± Kieran said. ¡°Dew and Doritos?¡± Ash snorted. A crinkling sound came over the chat for a moment, that sounded a lot like a bag of chips, then Firo proudly declared, ¡°A classic never dies.¡± ¡°It should though.¡± Ash said. ¡°I really should.¡± ¡°Nah, man. Dew runs through my veins.¡± Evan laughed. ¡°Fiona, you¡¯re thirty-five - don¡¯t you think it¡¯s time to-¡± ¡°How do you think I¡¯ve managed to stay alive - and awake - the last couple months?¡± Evan laughed, ¡°Caffeine.¡± ¡°Yeah, and?¡± Ash asked as another chime sounded. ¡°There are better options. Just turn all that Dew into black tea or something, like Bisky.¡± ¡°What¡¯s that about me, Mello?¡± Marissa said venomously in lieu of a greeting. ¡°Nothing, ma¡¯am.¡± Ash said quickly. Jazz, who had been quiet basically since Kieran joined the chat, picked that moment to pipe up with, ¡°Oh, did you just ¡°ma¡¯am¡± her?¡± ¡°I - what?¡± Ash stammered. ¡°I don¡¯t recall whether I owe you for a death yesterday, Mello, but you better believe you¡¯re gonna catch an AoE today. Courtesy of me, of course.¡± Marissa hissed. ¡°Bro, you¡¯re doomed.¡± Evan laughed. ¡°And you¡¯re next, Fiona. I know I owe you one.¡± Marissa shot back. ¡°Hey y¡¯all, I¡¯m back,¡± Nyx said brightly. ¡°How¡¯s everyone doing?¡± ¡°Pretty good,¡± Kieran smiled, ¡°Firo is eating Doritos, Fiona has Dew running through his veins, Mello called Bisky ¡°ma¡¯am¡±, and Bisky is planning to kill him in retribution.¡± ¡°...alright then.¡± Chapter 56 : And Three Means Death
Party List
Caoimhe Phadraig (Kieran Moor) [Slayer] : [Tyrant] 11,000 / 11,000 11,000 / 11,000
Aleister Demian (Jasmine Burch) [War] : [Ebon] 11,000 / 11,000 11,000 / 11,000
Fiona Woods (Evan Woods) [Plate] : [Tower] 11,000 / 11,000 11,000 / 11,000
Evie Lucian (Cassandra Bailey) [Soul] : [Radiance] 11,000 / 11,000 11,000 / 11,000
Mellody Softsong (Ashton Burch) [Muse] : [Revel] 11,000 / 11,000 11,000 / 11,000
Hibiscus Jade (Marissa Harper) [Arrow] : [Keeper] 11,000 / 11,000 11,000 / 11,000
Firo Strix (Blake Walker) [Mage] : [Invoker] 11,000 / 11,000 11,000 / 11,000
Nyx Alaion (Zoe Fox) [Shroud] : [Dirge] 11,000 / 11,000 11,000 / 11,000
Kieran ¡°Okay, so what exactly is the plan here, then?¡± Kieran asked, staring down [Uathach] standing outside of the enemy tent once again. The party had done the cavalry charge section in one attempt again, and played it out almost the same way as the previous night¡¯s run. They had also, once again, immensely enjoyed the mowing down of enemies from horseback. ¡°I think we just start out as seriously as we can, and see how we do?¡± Ash said tentatively. ¡°I mean, we spent a lot of time last night just fucking around, so I¡¯d like to see how we do if we actually focus.¡± ¡°That means no killing me or Mello, Bisky.¡± Evan snarked. ¡°Shut your face, Fiona. I¡¯m gonna hold off killing you both for now, but only so I can do it when you least expect it.¡± Marissa hissed. ¡°Bisky, if you ruin a good run by murdering us, I¡¯m gonna¡­do something.¡± Ash said. ¡°Fair¡¯s fair, I suppose.¡± Marissa shrugged. ¡°I¡¯ll keep it in mind.¡± ¡°Okay,¡± Evie said, trying to bring the group¡¯s focus back, ¡°so we¡¯re just going to do our best this time, then?¡± ¡°Think so.¡± Nyx said. ¡°I think it¡¯s the best way to see where we stand, at least.¡± Firo agreed. ¡°I honestly think we should be fine - we¡¯ve done every mechanic combo correctly at least once, so we just need to not make any stupid mistakes.¡± ¡°Easier said than done, but yeah,¡± Jazz said. ¡°Well then, what are we waiting for? Let¡¯s get in there.¡± Evan said, moving Fiona toward the circle. Kieran was grateful that the pull only started when everyone entered the circle and Evan just running ahead couldn¡¯t start the fight on his own. ¡°Do we want to double check clock spots and reconfirm how we¡¯re doing spreads?¡± Kieran asked. ¡°We should just double check and make sure everyone knows where they¡¯re going.¡± ¡°Good call, good call.¡± Ash said, walking away from the group. Mellody started hopping in place a little bit away from the party. ¡°Clock spots around me,¡± he said, then faced Mellody toward [Uathach], ¡°And [Uathach] is true north.¡± ¡°Mello, that¡¯s West,¡± Nyx said, positioning herself according to the actual map directions. The rest of the party followed her lead. ¡°Alright, fine, just use the map¡¯s directions then,¡± Ash sighed, as he positioned Mellody in the proper spot. ¡°And to clarify, we¡¯re using true north for spots throughout the fight, right?¡± A chorus of agreements followed as the group dispersed and headed toward the starting point. Kieran and Evie stopped just outside the circle. For Kieran, it was to shovel the last few french fries into his mouth before the fight began, and he quickly washed them down with a pull of cola before stepping inside the circle. Evie remained just outside the circle a few moments longer. ¡°Sorry guys, just checking a work notification,¡± she said, and sounded entirely distracted. ¡°The heck do they want at this hour?¡± Nyx asked. ¡°Apparently someone screwed something up and they¡¯re looking for a customer service rep to fix it. Not that I have any interest in doing so, but it says you¡¯ll get overtime.¡± There was a pause before Evie said, ¡°Okay, I¡¯m ready. Nyx, you good?¡± ¡°Yeah. Overtime isn¡¯t the draw they think it is.¡± She chuckled. ¡°For us maybe, but I¡¯m sure someone wants the extra money,¡± Evie said and stepped into the circle. The same short cutscene they had seen thirty times the previous night played through, eventually ending with [Bufon] leaping toward the party. This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it The party had the first phase of the fight completely learned at this point. Not only was dealing with one mechanic at a time fairly easy to begin with, the order was also the same every time, so they could easily react to what they knew would be next and pre-position for most of the mechanics. Once phase two began, things became a little more dicey. The first two combinations were easy enough. The cone and spread combo was easy to avoid, as long as everyone was paying attention and no one was out for murder. The second combo was the stack and donut AoE, which might have been the easiest combination possible. Third up was the single target leap which required the tank to intercept in combination with the random pillar AoE. Aleister was quick on the [Shade Step] to teleport and cover Nyx, who had been targeted by the boss. Firo pretty easily dodged the pillar when it appeared beneath him, as the combination left plenty of maneuverable space. They had found in the previous night¡¯s pulls that each set of combos would be a set of four combinations, and in that set there would be no repeated mechanics. Which meant that of the nine possible mechanics, the last pair could only be the healer grab, tank buster, or delayed damage. That sort of process of elimination helped, but was far from fool-proof, given it still had three to pick from. This time, it picked the tank buster and healer grab combo, which was also fairly easy to dodge for everyone. ¡°That¡¯s round one down.¡± Kieran said. ¡°Yup, stay focused - we got all easy ones in that first set.¡± Firo said. ¡°Yes, sir,¡± Nyx said as the group slid into their default positions around the boss again. Kieran smiled as they waited through the few basic attacks that [Bufon] threw at the tank between sets. Firo was getting used to making callouts as they played together more, and it made him happy to see the kid adjust to their little group so well. They also knew that [Bufon] didn¡¯t repeat any combinations during the sets, so as they rolled into the second set of combos, they had at least a little bit of knowledge of what to not expect. The first one was the tank buster paired with the delayed damage. Aleister quickly moved away to bait out the delayed damage effect, while the other melee gave Fiona the space to safely take the buster. That combo was another easy one. Second was the pillar AoE mixed with the donut. With more than thirty attempts under the party¡¯s belt, they had a pretty good sense of what the safe zone for the donut AoE was by this point. They spread on the edges cleanly, and when the pillar¡¯s marker appeared under Caoimhe, everyone moved away easily. ¡°Nice.¡± ¡°Keep it up.¡± The third combo was the cone AoE and the tank intercepted attack. The party cheered at yet another relatively safe combination, as the conal AoE went out and everyone easily fanned out behind the boss. Then Aleister stepped in between [Bufon] and Nyx, who he had targeted a second time with that attack, easily intercepting the attack. ¡°I¡¯m not sure how I feel about this one.¡± Ash said. ¡°They¡¯re front loading all the easiest combos.¡± ¡°Sometimes the game has to be nice to us, right?¡± Marissa said, despite also sounding skeptical. ¡°Putting all the hardest ones in group three is mean, though.¡± Kieran said, as the final combination of round 2 played out. The healer grab was followed by the spread, which was another easy combination. Everyone remained apart while Mellody simple [Puddle Jumped] her way out of the healer targeting grab attack. ¡°And round three,¡± Firo said flatly. ¡°Focus up.¡± Evie called. ¡°Try to not make any big mistakes here, but we still have, like, all of our healing tools.¡± ¡°True. It¡¯s been very clean up to here,¡± Ash agreed. Kieran did his best to stay focused. With all of the goofing off they had done the previous night, they had never made it past the third round of mechanics. Not only did that mean they were coming up on the furthest point in the fight they had seen, and wanted to push past it, but it also meant that they didn¡¯t know what to expect after getting by it. [Bufon] immediately opened with one of the mean combos. The spread mechanic combined with the donut AoE was a very tight fit for everyone to remain safe. If anyone was just a little too far to any side, it meant two deaths, minimum. They game sense the party had developed over their repeated attempts here did not fail them, however, as everyone had a good feel for exactly where to stand, and the attacks went off without a hitch. ¡°Good, good.¡± ¡°Stay focused.¡± Second was a tank buster and stack combination. The tank buster and stack were a simple enough combination, it just required a lot of healing to make it through. Fiona took the buster like a champ, while the rest of the party gathered up to take the stack mechanic well outside of the buster¡¯s cleave range. Splitting the stack¡¯s damage seven ways instead of eight was rougher on the healers, but several combinations required it be done that way. There was a short rush to heal everyone up back to full before the third combo hit. When the tells for the tank intercepted attack and the delayed damage came up, the party floundered a bit. They hadn¡¯t seen this combination often, and it threw a wrench in their plans for how to handle each one. ¡°I¡¯ve got the delayed damage.¡± Firo said, as he moved out to bait the effect. Caoimhe was targeted by the big swing that a tank needed to take, so Aleister [Shadow Stepped] over to cover her from the attack, while Firo simply tried to stay safe to take the big lump of damage from the delayed effect. The healers were on top of the whole thing, however. Firo had gotten a decently sized HP shield before the damage hit him, and then healed Aleister back up after the hefty hit he took for Caoimhe. A brief cheer went up as [Bufon] rolled into the fourth combination for the round. The healer grab attack and the pillar AoE. It wasn¡¯t a difficult combination necessarily, but it had led to deaths because of the way it was timed. The pillar AoE wouldn¡¯t show on the ground until just after the healer was targeted and needed to dodge. The two mechanics were timed in a very specific way that if the healer chose the wrong direction to dodge the grab, they could move straight into the pillar AoE and eat a one-shot attack with no recourse. Mellody was the healer target, and had to just trust her luck as she [Puddle Jumped] away from the grab and toward Firo. When the AoE appeared under Bisky¡¯s feet, everyone breathed a collective sigh of relief. ¡°That¡¯s round three done.¡± Kieran said, watching [Bufon] curiously. He still had 35% of his massive HP remaining. ¡°New phase, I assume?¡± Evan said, as he focused on minimizing the damage he took from the boss¡¯s interim attacks between phases. ¡°Feels like it. The time between is longer.¡± Ash said. ¡°Very well then,¡± [Bufon] suddenly spoke, for the first time during the fight. The sudden intrusion of the gravelly voice made Kieran sit up straight. It had to be a cue for something coming. When [Bufon] rolled into a familiar looking combo, Kieran¡¯s gut reaction was to relax, but he didn¡¯t trust that. ¡°Three.¡± Nyx said, as they all watched [Bufon] go through the conal AoE combo. ¡°Say again?¡± Jazz asked. ¡°It¡¯s gonna be three. I¡¯d bet you anything.¡± Nyx repeated, as [Bufon] flowed like water into the tank buster combo. ¡°Oh. Three mechanics.¡± Kieran said, dryly, as [Bufon] moved into the donut AoE tell. ¡°Well, shit.¡± Ash said, as everyone scrambled into positions. Without seeing anything beforehand, it was hard to tell how the mechanics would mix. With the two-mechanic combos, they happened at the same time. But with three mechanics, all three happening together - depending on the grouping - wouldn¡¯t be survivable. At least not without some very clever use of specific skills. The group tentatively moved closer to the boss, skirting right on the edge of the allowable area for the donut AoE. If they got too close, the tank buster¡¯s cleave would kill everyone - and they had seen that outcome enough already. The donut AoE came out first, coinciding with the tank buster attack. As soon as the two mechanics finished, [Bufon] spun around and blasted the conal AoE right at the party. Everyone except for Fiona, Nyx, and Caoimhe took the blast to the face. Nyx and Caoimhe had used movement abilities to leave the grouped up party in the instant the cleave went off, mostly acting on instinct. Thankfully, the cone damage wasn¡¯t enough to kill everyone. The healers took the most damage, leaving them with just over 1,000 HP after the hit, and frantically smashing their AoE healing skills, while the boss went through the basic attack string that acted as buffer between the mechanic combos. ¡°Okay! Three mechanics at once isn¡¯t so bad. We still got this.¡± Firo cheered. ¡°Totally got this.¡± ¡°Yeah! We¡¯;ve seen everything he¡¯s got, we just need to do multiple things at once. That¡¯s not bad!¡± Evie agreed, as the boss moved into the next sequence. Everyone was on edge as they watched the group of tells. First was the delayed damage, followed by the attack that the tank needed to intercept, and ended with a spread. As the clear signal for the spread clicked in everyone¡¯s heads, they all moved apart to create space - after all, without the donut AoE to keep them close, they had plenty of space to work with. When the boss threw his hammer in the air, and it landed next to Evie, that was also simply noted - Aleister was already in the process of aiming [Shadow Step] to get behind her to take the hit. The problem came when the furthest player from the boss was marked for the delayed damage. Before spreading, the group had been pretty close to the boss and each other. When they spread out, everyone defaulted toward their general clock spots. By sheer, dumb luck, Evie ended up the furthest from the boss. When Aleister saw [Bufon] leap toward Evie, he teleported to intercept the hit. In the same instant, Evie turned and ran away as fast as she could manage. In the same instant that Aleister took the hit for Evie, the spread AoEs triggered, and the two of them were still too close. The overlapped AoEs in addition to the heavy blow form the boss was enough to kill Aleister - but that was alright. The issue that wiped them was that the overlapped AoEs were also enough to kill Evie, who was afflicted with the delayed damage effect - which promptly exploded, killing everyone. ¡°That¡¯s bullshit!¡± Evie shouted. ¡°My Dazzling Shift is on cooldown, but it never went off! I should¡¯ve been out of that AoE! Bull! Shit!¡± "Blaming the lag. Classic." Chapter 57 : Combo Breaker
Party List
Caoimhe Phadraig (Kieran Moor) [Slayer] : [Tyrant] 11,000 / 11,000 11,000 / 11,000
Aleister Demian (Jasmine Burch) [War] : [Ebon] 11,000 / 11,000 11,000 / 11,000
Fiona Woods (Evan Woods) [Plate] : [Tower] 11,000 / 11,000 11,000 / 11,000
Evie Lucian (Cassandra Bailey) [Soul] : [Radiance] 11,000 / 11,000 11,000 / 11,000
Mellody Softsong (Ashton Burch) [Muse] : [Revel] 11,000 / 11,000 11,000 / 11,000
Hibiscus Jade (Marissa Harper) [Arrow] : [Keeper] 11,000 / 11,000 11,000 / 11,000
Firo Strix (Blake Walker) [Mage] : [Invoker] 11,000 / 11,000 11,000 / 11,000
Nyx Alaion (Zoe Fox) [Shroud] : [Dirge] 11,000 / 11,000 11,000 / 11,000
Kieran After the initial failure against the triple mechanic phase, the group got things back together quickly and threw themselves head first at [Bufon] again. Without everyone actively trying to sabotage each other, they were able to make good progress. While they still occasionally made a fatal mistake here and there over the course of the following two hours, generally speaking, Kieran thought their progress was solid. The party at large spent some time complaining about the way that the third phase was set up, given some of the triple mechanic combos needed to be seen before they could understand the interactions between them and how to solve each triplet. For example, the tank buster, spread, and donut AoE combo required a fairly simple positioning to make it through safely. Because the buster and the donut AoE were offset timing wise, with the donut AoE and spread mechanics happening first, the group simply needed to position the same way they had for the donut and spread combo in phase two, then move out of the range of the tank buster¡¯s cleave. However, there didn¡¯t appear to be any sort of tell for the way that played out beforehand - they simply needed to see it and die to it once to see how the combination worked. It felt a bit like a ¡®gotcha¡¯ moment, and it wasn¡¯t the only combo like that. Once the party was knee-deep in the progression of the fight, though, the complaints happened less and less. Each time they entered the fight, they saw another triple combo and talked through how the positioning for it should work safely. By the time they were down to their last forty-five minutes of prog for the night, they felt pretty confident in their abilities to get through the phase as a party. Kieran agreed, believing that they really just needed one more good push to get through to either a win or at least phase four. ¡°Alright, y¡¯all,¡± Ash said eventually, ¡°We¡¯ve gone almost the whole three hours without so much as a break. Did anyone need one?¡± ¡°Actually, yeah, I do,¡± Evie said. ¡°We¡¯ve been so locked in that I didn¡¯t realize - I really need to pee.¡± ¡°Same.¡± Jazz said. ¡°Be right back.¡± ¡°Yep, me too.¡± Evie said, and the sounds of headsets being taken off and dumped unceremoniously on desks or chairs followed. ¡°May as well get more tea.¡± Marissa said. ¡°Bisky, it scares me how much tea you manage to drink over the course of a raid night, and somehow rarely ever have to run to the bathroom.¡± Ash chuckled. ¡°Oh, that¡¯s easy.¡± She said, as the beeps of her electric kettle sounded in the background, ¡°Once we¡¯re done? I pee forever.¡± ¡°I feel that.¡± Evan said. ¡°I get that too.¡± Firo said. ¡°Sometimes in the course of a few hours - like a raid night - I¡¯ll just drink like three or four cups of water or tea, and not have to pee for hours. Then when it hits? It hits.¡± Marissa snickered. ¡°Yeah, exactly. Tea doesn¡¯t shoot through me, because I usually try to actively avoid the teas that make you go, but man can the liquid really pile up.¡± ¡°It¡¯s like those nights back in college when you drink too much and are totally fine - but the first time you actually go use the restroom, you just have to go back every fifteen minutes after that.¡± Evan said. ¡°Ugh, yeah. Man, I do not miss those days.¡± Marissa said. ¡°Not a big drinker?¡± Firo asked. ¡°Nope. Never really have been.¡± Marissa responded. ¡°I drank socially in college, but it was never something I particularly enjoyed.¡± ¡°You were the responsible one, I bet.¡± Kieran said. ¡°You know it.¡± Marissa said. ¡°You too?¡± ¡°Yep.¡± Kieran nodded. ¡°Drinking is way less fun when you¡¯re the one trying to stop people from overdoing it.¡± ¡°Or trying to make a shot with window cleaner because, and I quote, ¡°it¡¯s such a refreshing, tasty looking blue¡±.¡± Marissa said. ¡°Yikes.¡± Firo said. ¡°Been there.¡± Evan said. ¡°Drunk people - especially college kids - will do just the dumbest shit.¡± A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. ¡°Looking forward to when Eli is a college kid, Fiona?¡± Kieran laughed. ¡°Not particularly. But you can tell me what to watch for, bud, because Aoife and Kat are gonna get there first.¡± Kieran grumbled, ¡°Don¡¯t remind me. I¡¯m terrified about what those two little monsters are going to get up to. Doubly so if they somehow end up at the same college together.¡± ¡°Good luck, bro.¡± Evan said. ¡°At this point, I¡¯m still far more concerned with closer stuff. Like how to deal with teething.¡± ¡°Oh boy, that¡¯s not a fun time.¡± Kieran said. ¡°No. No it¡¯s not. I¡¯m not looking forward to the endless crying and pain that I can do literally nothing about.¡± ¡°There are some oral pain reducers I believe that can help. I don¡¯t remember exactly what we used, but I can ask Nat.¡± ¡°Thanks. At this point, every little bit helps.¡± Evan sighed. ¡°At least it sounds like you¡¯re starting to get some sleep?¡± Nyx said tentatively. Evan just laughed, and Kieran felt the hollowness of it deep in his soul. ¡°No, I just pretend well.¡± He said. ¡°I¡¯ve read so many things online about how if new parents want to get any parts of their life back, they need to actually fight for it, but it¡¯s very possible, even with younger babies. So here I am, fighting for it.¡± ¡°Speaking from experience, yeah, you¡¯ve got the right approach.¡± Kieran said. ¡°Babies are simultaneously a full time job and not. There¡¯s always something on your mind, or something you could be doing. But at the same time, after the first couple months that actually are very intensive, you need to start working to get your own life back on track. The kid will be okay for a few hours while you sleep or relax, especially when you have a partner to rely on.¡± ¡°No kidding.¡± Evan breathed, ¡°I¡¯d be a dead man walking if not for Sam. And I imagine vice-versa, too. Being a single parent must be incredibly rough with a newborn.¡± ¡°Yeah.¡± ¡°Back. How we doing?¡± Jazz asked, settling back into her seat. ¡°Talking babies.¡± Nyx said. ¡°Now we just need Evie and we¡¯re good to go?¡± ¡°Think so.¡± Ash said. ¡°How¡¯s everyone feeling tonight?¡± ¡°Good.¡± Marissa said, as she groaned while settling down back into her chair. ¡°I think we¡¯ve made good prog, especially given the state of this fight.¡± ¡°Yeah, the tricky combinations feel a little stupid.¡± Firo agreed. ¡°Well, at least I think we¡¯ve gotten a lot of them figured out.¡± Ash said. ¡°I really do think we¡¯ve got this in the bag, probably tonight.¡± ¡°Just keep in mind what¡¯s probably coming if the pattern continues.¡± Kieran said, positive he wouldn¡¯t be the only one thinking about it. ¡°Going by his HP and what we¡¯ve seen so far, given that he has nine mechanics to pull from and he doesn¡¯t repeat skills, phase three is likely to be three total combos, which probably puts us as getting him to around 10% if we keep up good damage.¡± ¡°Which means there¡¯s definitely going to be a final phase of some kind, yeah.¡± Firo agreed. ¡°And with 10% remaining, I¡¯d bet it¡¯s either two rounds of four mechanics, or some kind of big finale.¡± Nyx said. ¡°I¡¯ve been thinking about it all night.¡± ¡°Me too.¡± Kieran said. ¡°I¡¯m leaning toward some kind of finale over just more complicated loops again. This is a raid boss, after all, I¡¯d expect the last part of the fight to kick it up more than a single notch.¡± ¡°I have returned.¡± Evie said, settling in. ¡°Talking about the end of the fight?¡± ¡°Yeah.¡± Nyx said. ¡°I¡¯m in agreement with what Caoimhe said, for the record.¡± Evie offered. ¡°Given that this is a raid, I expect the final phase to be something more intense.¡± ¡°All nine mechanics at once.¡± Firo said. ¡°Do not put that shit out there, Firo.¡± Evan said. ¡°You¡¯re gonna jinx us. Again.¡± ¡°Alright, well¡­let¡¯s run it back, yeah?¡± Ash said, now that everyone had returned. ¡°Yup.¡± Marissa said. Kieran took a deep breath and sat up from his relaxed slouch position he had slid into while chatting. He rolled his shoulders, cracked his knuckles, and stretched his neck a bit before settling in. ¡°Alright, here we go.¡± Marissa said, and stepped into the blue circle where everyone else already was. The fight progressed as they expected. With almost six hours of experience on this fight, they had much of it very well in hand, especially the beginning that was fully scripted, and they had seen the most. Phase one came and went easily. They had also seen all of the combinations of phase two¡¯s mechanical combos enough that everyone had more or less internalized their movement during them as well. As usual, everyone¡¯s focus sharpened as they moved into phase three. [Bufon] opened with the tank buster, conal AoE, and donut AoE combo that they had seen the very first time they reached this phase. At this stage, the party knew exactly how to handle it. The party, except for Fiona, gathered on the very edge of the zone the buster hit, safely inside the donut AoE. Once the cleave explosion went off, everyone moved in around the boss and spread out. At this range, when the cone AoE target was decided, it would only clip three people, and the sliver of the cone closest to the boss was small enough that minimal movement was required to escape the damage. Second was the delayed damage, healer-targeting grab, and targeted attack combo, which was pretty easy to deal with. After the fiasco that caused their first wipe in phase three, they had figured out how to deal with the mechanic. They had developed a simple priority to decide who would bait the delayed damage if this combo came up again. When [Bufon] tossed his hammer up and it landed near Evie, everyone moved. Firo, who was at the top of the priority list for the delayed damage, used [Blink] to position himself furthest from the boss as quickly as possible, baiting the delayed damage. He also had a defensive cooldown ready to go, in addition to a shield from Mellody, to intercept the heavy damage. Mellody was targeted by the healer grab, but [Puddle Jumped] to safety easily, while Aleister [Shadow Stepped] over to Evie to intercept the targeted slam attack. There was a short cheer as the party executed the plan flawlessly. Admittedly, it wasn¡¯t the first time they had done so, but Kieran still smiled to himself. The two combos they had seen so far left them with the triple threat of the single target pillar, the spread, and the stack. This was a combination they had seen before, but the combinations with spread and stack together had been rough, as the order of operations hadn¡¯t been consistent between them all. ¡°Fuck, which order was this one?¡± Evan asked. ¡°I don¡¯t remember.¡± Firo said. ¡°Uh¡­the pillar was first, yeah? So¡­spread first?¡± Ash said, sounding far too uncertain for Kieran¡¯s liking. ¡°Whatever, we spread first then!¡± Marissa shouted, just making sure the group acted together. It was an all or nothing approach that was fine in Kieran¡¯s book. The group spread out just enough to allow the spread mechanic to not kill anyone. They knew they would need to be close to quickly gather for the stack mechanic that would hopefully follow. There was a collective sigh of relief from most of the party as the smaller, single target explosions went off - spread was indeed first. Kieran did shout ¡°Shit!¡± as he saw the pillar AoE appear below his feet, and immediately used [Driver] to fly inward toward the boss. Everyone else was able to close the gap easily enough as well, and everyone took the stack together without a hitch. ¡°Here we go.¡± Marissa said, and Kieran glanced at [Bufon¡¯s] remaining HP; 9%. He took a deep breath and refocused as a deep growl reverberated around their little clearing. ¡°Allow me to congratulate you all. I don¡¯t often need to use my final rune.¡± [Bufon] said, grasping his hammer in both hands. He held it out before him, and the handle itself began to glow with the same red energy the other runes had started with each time. It expanded to cover the whole hammer, and then slid over his armor as well. As it expanded, each rune lit up green - a color they hadn¡¯t seen yet - and [Bufon] let out a gravelly chuckle. ¡°I do love this part, though,¡± and then the runes around his armor exploded with a burst of light. ¡°Ya¡¯ll, I don¡¯t know what¡¯s -¡± Ash began to say, but was interrupted by one of the runes on [Bufon¡¯s] armor turning the same red they were used to seeing. There was a short moment where the boss himself seemed to notice which rune it was that lit up, and reacted to it, moving into the tank buster¡¯s animation, but skipping the hits before it. Fiona reacted spectacularly well, as did the rest of the melee party members. Everyone was able to narrowly avoid the cleave, and Fiona mitigated through the buster. In the same instant that the explosion of shrapnel finished, the tank buster rune bled back to green with the rest of the runes, while another lit up red. [Bufon] took just a moment to recognize which attack he had access to, before lining up to blast the massive cone AoE centered on Firo. As everyone scattered, sounds of recognition bounced around the chat. ¡°It¡¯s a mechanic rush.¡± Evan said, putting voice to what everyone realized. ¡°Burn him down before we make any mistakes!¡± Evie shouted, quickly moving to heal Firo, who couldn¡¯t escape the cone in time. ¡°Too late!¡± Firo said, chuckling ruefully. ¡°I¡¯ll try to do what I can, but this is gonna be a lot of movement.¡± ¡°We got it, no worries.¡± Kieran said, as he hit [Driver] to get Caoimhe back in the thick of the fight and get in as much damage as he could. As the spread mechanic was lined up next, the melee members spread around the boss while the ranged fighters remained further back. When they only needed to worry about one mechanic at a time, things were generally less dangerous - now it was just a matter of reacting quickly. A group stack was next, which brought the ranged party members in, interrupting Firo¡¯s DPS again. Following that was another tank buster, which was as dangerous as things got - no one was expecting a repeat of mechanics at this point, after the absolute lack of repeating so far. Bisky and Mellody were both slow to get out of the tank buster¡¯s range, as they had both used their movement skills already, leaving the other six to finish the fight. ¡°You guys got this,¡± Marissa said, ¡°just 3% left.¡± As [Bufon] moved into the targeted attack that a tank needed to intercept, everyone cheered. Everyone was close enough that there was no danger of Aleister not getting to the target in time, and that attack in particular was a long animation with low actual danger. They were able to push their damage and end the fight before the mechanic even finished. As [Bufon¡¯s] HP hit zero, there was a big sigh of relief in chat as everyone took a deep breath. ¡°...Are we clear?¡± Firo asked hesitantly, which was immediately answered by an explosion from the direction that [Uathach] and [Regnu] had run off in. ¡°Firo. My man. Why do you always feel the need to jinx us?¡± Evan asked. Chapter 58 : A Little Direction
Party List
Caoimhe Phadraig (Kieran Moor) [Slayer] : [Tyrant] 11,000 / 11,000 11,000 / 11,000
Aleister Demian (Jasmine Burch) [War] : [Ebon] 11,000 / 11,000 11,000 / 11,000
Fiona Woods (Evan Woods) [Plate] : [Tower] 11,000 / 11,000 11,000 / 11,000
Evie Lucian (Cassandra Bailey) [Soul] : [Radiance] 11,000 / 11,000 11,000 / 11,000
Mellody Softsong (Ashton Burch) [Muse] : [Revel] 11,000 / 11,000 11,000 / 11,000
Hibiscus Jade (Marissa Harper) [Arrow] : [Keeper] 11,000 / 11,000 11,000 / 11,000
Firo Strix (Blake Walker) [Mage] : [Invoker] 11,000 / 11,000 11,000 / 11,000
Nyx Alaion (Zoe Fox) [Shroud] : [Dirge] 11,000 / 11,000 11,000 / 11,000
Kieran Kieran turned his camera toward the explosion sound, but the visual of the explosion actually calmed him down. A huge blast of shadow seemed to consume the light beyond the trees, and there was a cascade of massive creaking and crashing sounds. He was just barely able to make out some shifting in the canopy of trees in the distance as a group of trees fell. ¡°Holy crap.¡± ¡°When do we get attacks that can do that?¡± Evie laughed. ¡°Level 100?¡± Marissa suggested with a chuckle. ¡°So¡­in the first expansion, yeah?¡± Evan asked. ¡°Assuming we get a level cap raise¡­and they don¡¯t arbitrarily stop us at 99. ¡° Firo said. ¡°They already randomly chose us to stop at 90 as is.¡± Kieran said. ¡°I still don¡¯t think that gets talked about enough. Why 90? You¡¯re so close, you may as well just go to 100.¡± ¡°I know, right?¡± Nyx laughed. As the shadow among the trees seemed to dissipate and vanish into the air as though it were mist, [Uathach] came bounding through the trees back to the enemy camp. Once she crossed the threshold, she seemed to notice the party and ran toward them. ¡°You''re still in fighting shape, then? Well done!¡± She called while approaching. ¡°Regnu is also defeated. My assault is bound to attract attention, though - so we need to move fast.¡± She motioned toward the commander¡¯s tent that [Bufon] and [Regnu] had originally walked out of. ¡°Let¡¯s see what sort of information they had here and then retreat.¡± She kept her sword in her hand, but hung her round shield on a hook on her back. Her left hand, now free, curled around the necklace she wore that would eventually be used to signal the group¡¯s retreat. ¡°Come. Let¡¯s see what they have squirreled away here.¡± As [Uathach] moved toward the tent, no blue barrier of any kind formed so the party simply meandered after the NPC. Kieran was wary of the lack of any sort of checkpoint being apparent. ¡°I don¡¯t like the lack of break.¡± Jazz said. Kieran smiled wryly to himself - apparently he wasn¡¯t the only one still on guard. ¡°If they -¡± Firo began, but Evan cut him off immediately. ¡°Don¡¯t say it. Don¡¯t you dare say another word.¡± Nyx snorted. ¡°Keep your eyes peeled, guys.¡± As the group, led by the NPC, moved through the flap into the massive tent, Kieran whistled. Despite it being a tent, the interior looked very impressive. Not necessarily magically impressive, but it would¡¯ve taken work to bother decorating a tent like this in real life. There was a massive map table in the center of the room, with miniatures and a detailed map laying out the battlefield, as they all had probably expected. Beautifully crafted wooden chairs of varying sizes were arrayed around the table, clearly laid out for discussing broad strategy. ¡°There¡¯s simply no way that [Regnu] or [Bufon] was the leading commander out here. But this map clearly is laid out for overseeing the full battle, not just a battalion.¡± [Uathach] said, as she got close to the table. ¡°Man, if this was a single player RPG, there¡¯d be so much crazy loot in here.¡± Evan said, as Fiona spun in place as he rotated his camera around. ¡°No kidding.¡± Nyx said, ¡°Weapon racks, there¡¯s chests over there, two fucking wardrobes. Why would you carry wardrobes with you to a battle like this?¡± ¡°I imagine lore-wise, magic does a lot if not all of the heavy lifting.¡± Evie said, as they watched [Uathach] skirt around the edge of the map table. If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. ¡°True. Don¡¯t forget, our inventories function in lore, too. We basically have magical storage bags that can carry whatever we touch.¡± Kieran said, recalling the early game explanation. ¡°Wait, what?¡± Marissa asked. ¡°Yeah, you damn cutscene skipper. It¡¯s part of like the third or fourth quest you do, when you unlock your inventory. It¡¯s a magic bag that you can transfer items into with a thought, so long as you touch the item.¡± Kieran snarked. ¡°Huh. I guess that¡¯s cool.¡± She shrugged. ¡°Not exactly important, though.¡± ¡°You never know what might be important at some point.¡± Kieran said. ¡°Sure. But magical bags like that break lots of things. Why couldn¡¯t we touch, say¡­I don¡¯t know, the ladders that the Fomorians were using to climb the city¡¯s walls and just poof them away?¡± Marissa asked. ¡°Usually, it¡¯s because there¡¯s limitations. You can¡¯t put living things in the storage, or you need to be the only living being touching the item, or some such.¡± Firo said. ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s nonsense.¡± Marissa said, still just watching [Uathach] look over the map. ¡°You know it, I know it, we all know it. We regularly put plants and fish and our inventories, and they aren¡¯t just always dead.¡± ¡°Maybe it has a required intelligence threshold?¡± Evie offered. ¡°Still bullshit. What about-¡± ¡°Wait. This can¡¯t be right.¡± [Uathach] said suddenly, looming over the map. As the cutscene started in earnest, Kieran heard the chimes as his friends deafened themselves to the chat, immediately cutting whatever conversation they have had short. He did the same though, wanting to focus on the cutscene. As Kieran watched Caoimhe walk around the table, peering at the map, the camera moved to focus on [Uathach], who wasn¡¯t looking at the map anymore, but rather a mess of papers beside it. She hunched over them, the look on her face stricken and disbelieving. ¡°This is not going to go over well. They¡¯re deploying wyverns.¡± [Uathach] said, shuffling through papers. ¡°We¡¯re going to need flying forces of our own. Maybe we can get some flyers of our own¡­The Fae though¡­¡± She trailed off, still shuffling through papers as Caoimhe approached with a few other party members behind her spread around the map table. ¡°It may be time to talk about having [¨¢ine] and the [Dagda] rescind the anti-flight order¡­¡± Kieran¡¯s ears perked up at that. Several of the races had some form of wings, but no in-game way to fly, despite it being said in multiple places that the races were, at least at one point, capable of it. Marissa hadn¡¯t brought it up much recently, but she was still upset that she had picked to have wings during character creation, but flight hadn¡¯t been included in the base game. [Uathach] took a deep breath and gathered up the papers she had been fiddling with. In a blink, they vanished in a flash of bluish light, being moved to her storage bag. ¡°I wish we had a way to move this map with the miniatures without disturbing the pieces. No such luck.¡± She sighed, then took out a charcoal stick to mark the map. ¡°This will have to do.¡± She said, as she began circling the bases of the miniatures to mark where they had been placed. Caoimhe, Nyx, and Firo stepped up to assist in Kieran¡¯s cutscene, and eventually [Uathach] made the map vanish from underneath the miniatures as well. ¡°Let¡¯s make our retreat. Gather your mounts while I call for the [Fae Circle].¡± [Uathach] said before strolling toward the tent¡¯s entrance. She turned back and motioned the group to follow. ¡°Hurry, now.¡± As the cutscene ended and Kieran regained control over Caoimhe, he undefined the chat to hear Marissa squealing as he had more or less expected. ¡°Finally?¡± She said, her voice an octave or two higher than normal, ¡°We finally get to fly?¡± ¡°Sounds that way.¡± Firo sounded far less excited. ¡°You don¡¯t like it?¡± Kieran asked as the rest of the party members undeafened as well. ¡°I¡¯m just hesitant,¡± Firo shrugged. ¡°Flight has been done very poorly in enough games that I¡¯m more concerned that it will feel awful to play than anything else.¡± ¡°That''s a valid concern.¡± Evan agreed. ¡°More games get it wrong than right for sure.¡± ¡°I have faith.¡± Marissa declared. ¡°But either way, we should get moving. We still don¡¯t have the Scenario Cleared message, and I don¡¯t want to accidentally land us in danger because we took too long to get out of here.¡± ¡°Good call.¡± Nyx said. ¡°Nothing in here is interactable anyway, despite it feeling like we should loot the fuck out of this place.¡± ¡°Can¡¯t be helped. Let¡¯s go.¡± Evie said, nudging her friend onward. The group quickly flowed from the tent and back into the clearing of the enemy camp. [Uathach] was a little ways away, standing in a large empty area in the direction that they had come from when they initially charged into the camp. It looked like she was holding her crystal in both hands and praying - probably calling for extraction. The party¡¯s mounts were still idling off to the side, waiting to be gathered. The group didn¡¯t say too much as they mounted up and walked their mounts over to [Uathach]. ¡°I really hope I get to keep Mongie.¡± Evie muttered, causing a few scattered chuckles. ¡°I honestly hope we can keep them too. The mounted options they gave us in here were really fun, and it would be a waste to make them all a one-off thing.¡± Ash agreed. ¡°Oh man, you think they¡¯ll make us actually name them?¡± Jazz asked. ¡°Please, no.¡± Marissa murmured. ¡°I hate naming things.¡± ¡°There¡¯ll probably be a random button or something?¡± Firo offered. ¡°There wasn¡¯t one during character creation.¡± Ash said. ¡°Which actually kinda sucked; I was hoping they would generate some random, lore-accurate names so we could see some examples.¡± ¡°That would¡¯ve been nice, yeah.¡± Evan agreed. Suddenly, a massive red pillar appeared right in front of [Uathach]. It wasn¡¯t a [Fae Circle], but Kieran assumed it was the signal that would call for one to be created. [Uathach] turned back toward the party as her horse seemed to step into place next to her as if stepping out from behind the air itself. She quickly swung up into the saddle. ¡°My mother and [Cu] will create the portal here. Be ready to ride through as soon as it appears.¡± [Uathach] said as the sound of galloping horses thundered in approach. The other riders from their unit appeared from the trees in every direction, riding toward the massive pillar of light. There was no doubt it would also alert the enemy to the group¡¯s presence here, so they couldn¡¯t linger. The portal itself appeared just a few seconds later, the area by the stables that they had left from appearing on the other side. ¡°Let¡¯s go. We will cover the others¡¯ retreat from the other side of the gate.¡± [Uathach] said, and trotted through the portal. The party followed, then stood guard with [Uathach] as the rest of the riders flew through. The enemy seemed to be approaching, but they hadn¡¯t been nearly fast enough; when the last of the visible allied riders crossed the portal, it was closed. The square they were in erupted in cheers of at least a small victory among the riders, though [Uathach] didn¡¯t cheer. She dismounted and walked toward [Cu] and her mother. As the party dismounted and started looking around for what came next, Kieran noticed two of the riders in the group glowing with the sparkles that denoted loot. ¡°Uh, guys? I think we¡¯ve finally got our loot?¡± He said hesitantly, walking toward the two riders. They hadn¡¯t moved far from where the gate had closed. The NPCs both waved to Caoimhe as she approached, and an unvoiced text box popped up. ¡°It seemed like you all left in a hurry and forgot to take these with you!¡± The rider said, and Kieran interacted with them. The loot screen that they had been waiting for finally popped up, displaying their spoils for fighting [Bufon]. [Rune Hammer] [Warhammer] [Strength : 28] [Accuracy : 6] [Speed : 8] [Parry : 9] [Invested Effect : Gain the [Rune of Skill] action.] [Rune Gauntlets] [Plate] [Defense : 8] [Slashing : 8] [Piercing : 7] [Blunt : 6] [Arcane : 6] [Invested Skill : Gain the [Blast Rune] and [Timer Rune] skills.] ¡°Well that¡¯s some tank gear if I¡¯ve ever seen some.¡± Kieran said. ¡°Yup.¡± ¡°I want that hammer.¡± Evan said hungrily. ¡°What a coincidence. I want the gloves.¡± Jazz said, more than happy to not need to argue over the loot. ¡°Perfect.¡± Firo said. ¡°No problems with assigning them, then.¡± ¡°As long as you are all okay with me taking the hammer even though it will only be used when I play Tower.¡± Evan said. ¡°But the Rune of Skill action allowing me to use three skills without triggering their cooldowns would be nuts for Tower.¡± ¡°No complaints here.¡± Jazz said. ¡°The Blast Rune and Timer Rune skills seem perfect for Ebon, even if they do share a cooldown.¡± ¡°One lets you turn your next single target skill into a cone AoE, and the other makes the next skill¡¯s effect be delayed by five seconds¡­¡± Marissa read aloud, ¡°Those both sound awesome.¡± ¡°I bet I can break a few encounters by delaying a few Ebon skills. Like Spine Crack.¡± Jazz said, in relation to her magic based [Stun]. ¡°Well, I¡¯ve passed on the stuff, so you guys roll and get your things.¡± Kieran said. And once the loot was given out, another pop up appeared. [[War Horse (White Beauty)] Skill added.] [Please name your [War Horse (White Beauty)] [ ] ¡°Yes! Mongie!¡± ¡°Oh, goddamn it.¡± Chapter 59 : Intro to Shadows
Party List
Caoimhe Phadraig (Kieran Moor) [Slayer] : [Tyrant] 11,000 / 11,000 11,000 / 11,000
Aleister Demian (Jasmine Burch) [War] : [Ebon] 11,000 / 11,000 11,000 / 11,000
Fiona Woods (Evan Woods) [Plate] : [Tower] 11,000 / 11,000 11,000 / 11,000
Evie Lucian (Cassandra Bailey) [Soul] : [Radiance] 11,000 / 11,000 11,000 / 11,000
Mellody Softsong (Ashton Burch) [Muse] : [Revel] 11,000 / 11,000 11,000 / 11,000
Hibiscus Jade (Marissa Harper) [Arrow] : [Keeper] 11,000 / 11,000 11,000 / 11,000
Firo Strix (Blake Walker) [Mage] : [Invoker] 11,000 / 11,000 11,000 / 11,000
Nyx Alaion (Zoe Fox) [Shroud] : [Dirge] 11,000 / 11,000 11,000 / 11,000
Kieran [Scenario Cleared] [In Defense of Gorias, Part 2] [Clear] Once Kieran had named Caoimhe¡¯s new mount ¡°Gael¡±, he turned his attention back to the party at large. Surprising no one, Marissa was still trying to decide on a name, but everyone else looked like they had made their choices pretty quickly. ¡°So¡­now what?¡± Evie asked. ¡°We¡¯ve got like fifteen minutes before our time is up, and Nyx and I have work in the morning.¡± ¡°You say that like we don¡¯t all have work in the morning.¡± Ash said. ¡°I don¡¯t have work in the morning,¡± Firo said, adding a short burst of evil laughter before turning around with an oversold sigh. ¡°I¡¯ve got class at 7:30 though.¡± ¡°Oof.¡± ¡°Damn, 7:30?¡± Evie laughed. ¡°That¡¯s around when I wake up.¡± ¡°Well, it¡¯s technically at eight, but the professor likes everyone to be in their seats by then.¡± Firo clarified. ¡°Man, I don¡¯t understand why some professors are so uptight about that,¡± Kieran said. ¡°Obviously I prefer my students to be ready to go when class is starting, but like¡­if they don¡¯t show up, it¡¯s their loss, not mine.¡± ¡°Right?¡± Firo chuckled. ¡°I¡¯ve seen professors actually take attendance that counts toward your final grade and I just¡­it¡¯s college, man. I thought the whole thing was supposed to be less hand-holdy, but that feels bad.¡± ¡°I mean¡­I think attendance making a difference depends on the class, so I wouldn¡¯t judge a professor on that alone.¡± Kieran said, trying to be fair. ¡°If what¡¯s actually taught in the class isn¡¯t covered in the textbooks, it might actually be important to be present.¡± ¡°There¡¯s also labs and the like for science courses,¡± Evie said. ¡°True¡­¡± Firo allowed, then trailed off. ¡°Fuck it. Your name is Cinnamon!¡± Marissa shouted, which caught everyone else off guard. Kieran snickered. ¡°Bisky, really? Cinnamon?¡± He asked. ¡°Yes. I hate naming things.¡± She replied. ¡°Tell me you didn¡¯t pick Cinnamon because your horse is mostly bark. Please.¡± When Marissa simply didn¡¯t respond, Kieran laughed, which prompted others to join in. ¡°Shut up, guys. What¡¯s the plan now? I wasn¡¯t listening.¡± She asked. ¡°We didn¡¯t decide.¡± Nyx said. ¡°I suppose we should at least get through the stuff before the next fight?¡± ¡°I think we¡¯ve got time,¡± Marissa said. ¡°Unless anyone wants to call it quits early?¡± ¡°I¡¯m good. If anything, I¡¯m tempted to run over time, not stop early,¡± Jazz said. ¡°Actually winning will do that to you, yeah.¡± Ash said. ¡°But I¡¯m in agreement about at least getting through the cutscenes tonight. No reason to hold off on that.¡± ¡°Then we gotta walk on over to Uathach,¡± Marissa said, moving Bisky that way. The party trailed after her. ¡°You think we¡¯ve got cutscenes coming?¡± ¡°No doubt in my mind,¡± Kieran said. ¡°Unless something else happens, I got the impression that we¡¯re about to have the setting swapped up on us.¡± ¡°Yeah, I got that feeling too.¡± Ash agreed. ¡°Same. Plus we just finished the scenario and the major quest.¡± Evan said. ¡°You are correct, sir,¡± Marissa said with an audible grin. ¡°What do y¡¯all think? Should I accept the new mission, ¡°Permission to Fly¡±?¡± There was a chorus of ¡°oohs¡± as Kieran said, ¡°Oh, heck yeah.¡± When Marissa accepted the quest, a cutscene began. Kieran chuckled to himself as he heard everyone deafen on the chat; they must have been hovering over the button with that speed. ¡°Mother,¡± [Uathach] began, addressing [Scathach] and [Cu], ¡°we found some troubling evidence at the enemy camp that you may want to take a look at.¡± ¡°Oh? Let¡¯s see it then.¡± [Scathach] said, holding a hand out for whatever her daughter was offering. [Scathach, the Shadow] looked dangerous somehow, although she wasn¡¯t carrying a weapon, nor was she armored. She clearly preferred a darker color scheme, matching her raven black hair and black and violet dress. While the bottom was a simple skirt that fell below her knees, the top was well tailored, and fit her snugly. A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation. Kieran was sure that there must be more to her than met the eye, knowing that [Scathach] was mostly known for training [Cu Chulainn] - she must be a formidable fighter. And one trained for melee combat, no less. When [Uathach] handed over the paperwork that they had taken from the enemy camp, [Scathach] flipped through the pages while [Cu] watching over her shoulder. ¡°We took their map as well, but I¡¯m not sure their map positions are as urgent as that news.¡± [Uathach] said, pointing to the papers in her mother¡¯s hands. There was a short silence as [Scathach] flipped another page then sighed. ¡°This is troubling, indeed.¡± ¡°I think we may want to procure some flying fighters of our own.¡± [Uathach] said. ¡°Indeed¡­What do you think, [Cu]?¡± ¡°I can take the paper up to the [Dagda] and see what he thinks. But at a glance, yes. It seems like we¡¯re going to need to defend the skies. Wyverns, especially in groups, can be very destructive.¡± ¡°Letting them fly over our defenses is a recipe for disaster. Or at least allowing it uncontested.¡± [Scathach] said. ¡°Come, let¡¯s go up and talk to [Dagda].¡± ¡°Mother, if I may?¡± [Uathach] said hesitantly. [Scathach] turned to her and raised an eyebrow in question. ¡°These fine warriors here did very well in the battle, and I believe that they are far beyond the fighting strength of our average fighter here. I think we should make use of them appropriately.¡± ¡°Oh?¡± [Scathach] said, then fully turned around to face her daughter and the party at large. ¡°Very well then,¡± she said, a devilish grin splitting her face, almost unnaturally wide, ¡°let¡¯s test them. Follow me.¡± The woman, rather than continue up the path, walked back down toward the stables and the large, open pastures. One of them in particular was flat, empty, and grassy. The perfect stage for a fight. Kieran wished he had noticed that earlier. ¡°When you lot are prepared, step into the pasture and we shall test your mettle. Prove your worth, and we¡¯ll see where things go from there.¡± [Scathach] said, and then she continued into the pasture. She walked to the middle of it, then turned back to the entrance, her arms crossed, waiting. ¡°I¡¯m sorry about her.¡± [Uathach] sighed. ¡°She¡¯s a great leader and teacher, but also a bit of a battle monger. And she doesn¡¯t get nearly enough of her hunger sated these days. I don¡¯t think she¡¯ll actually try to kill any of you, but¡­well. Be careful.¡± Kieran rubbed his forehead as the cutscene ended. ¡°So¡­are we going to let her kill us once before bed?¡± Firo asked when he returned to the chat. ¡°I mean¡­yeah?¡± Evan said. ¡°I¡¯m not about to go to bed tonight, knowing we won¡¯t be back again until next Tuesday, without at least getting a taste of what¡¯s coming.¡± Nyx said. ¡°I can get behind that.¡± Kieran agreed. ¡°Same. If anyone wants to go to bed now, speak now or forever hold your peace.¡± Marissa said. When no one responded, she cleared her throat. ¡°Alright then! Everyone get into whichever Path or Dedication you¡¯re planning on running for this and let¡¯s get it on.¡± Kieran watched as several people flashed, their gear changing in an instant. It looked like everyone had returned to their ¡®main¡¯ [Dedication] in preparation for this fight. The one thing that did stand out was Aleister¡¯s new gloves, which looked horrendously matched against his otherwise well designed outfit. The Elizabethan noble attire that covered most of his body was mostly black with a few gold accents throughout. His sleeves, however, looked as though they were tucked into massive gauntlets that were a bright blue-silver color, sporting dark red runes etched into each one. ¡°Aleister, you gonna -¡± Evan didn¡¯t even get to finish his joke before the appearance was overwritten with the clean white gloves that Aleister usually preferred. ¡°One step ahead of you.¡± ¡°Right then. We all ready?¡± Marissa asked. No one said anything to the contrary as the group stepped into the open pasture. There was a familiar small blue circle half way between the gate and [Scathach], which the party moved towards. Marissa stopped just outside it as everyone else walked in. ¡°Last chance?¡± She prompted, but once again no one said anything so she stepped into the circle. ¡°Right then,¡± [Scathach] said happily, ¡°Fight to the best of your abilities! Trust me, you won¡¯t kill me, so do your best.¡± The woman held her hands out to each side, and shadows began to swirl around her. They seemed to coalesce out of the air, and thickened around her, before settling into place. In the course of a few seconds, she was fully armored in an inky, dark shadow that appeared to be lightweight, in the vein of a leather armor. It seemed to be almost liquid, and had an oily sheen to it, as it flowed around her. The shadow also looked as though it was flowing off her back, in the shape of a cloak. Two weapons also appeared, one in each of her hands. One was a spear - it looked fairly simple in comparison to higher level NPC weapons they had seen so far, Kieran thought. The spear stood about as tall as [Scathach] did, with a wide spear tip. There was also a scarf made of shadow flowing around the base of the tip, flowing in the wind. Her other hand held a longsword. Similarly to the spear, the sword looked somewhat plain. It was a thick, two-sided blade with a simple cross guard. There was a hole in the shadow that made up the hilt, perhaps where a gem or other design would typically sit in a real sword, but that was the only real bit of flair. Both weapons, however, had the same oily black appearance as the woman¡¯s armor, and the edges seemed to fuzz away into the air as the shadow flowed off the weapons as smoke. Evan whistled. ¡°Damn. That looks good.¡± ¡°I want it.¡± Jazz whined. ¡°Me too!¡± Nyx said, excited. ¡°Those shadowy weapons are exactly my vibe. What do you think the chances are that she drops some in that style?¡± ¡°Dunno. Depends whether this is a real fight or not, I think.¡± Marissa said. ¡°If this isn¡¯t just a short, like, ¡°survive three minutes in the ring with death herself¡±, then it¡¯s possible.¡± ¡°Well, no reason to worry about that now.¡± Evan said, as [Scathach¡¯s] nameplate and HP bar showed up. ¡°Prepare yourselves!¡± [Scathach] shouted, and then she vanished. ¡°Holy shit!¡± Evan shouted, as [Scathach] just suddenly teleported right in front of the party and singled out the tank, smashing her spear down onto Fiona in an instant. Fiona¡¯s HP dropped by 8,000 from the single hit without mitigation or blocking. ¡°That¡¯ll kill any non-tank in a single hit outright, damn.¡± Nyx said, as the whole group spread out quickly. The healers quickly threw some big healing spells at Fiona as she engaged with the boss, trying to establish [Treat]. ¡°You better block that shit, Fiona,¡± Ash called. ¡°You need the mit.¡± ¡°Way ahead of you, bud.¡± Evan returned. ¡°Holy shit these basics hurt.¡± As the party immediately moved into their openers as soon as the fight began, everyone was in the middle of a burst phase when [Scathach] dragged her sword along the haft of her spear. As if she had struck a match, there was an ignition that exploded with shadow. It blasted outward, striking the whole party, leaving everyone under 1,000 HP. ¡°Ow.¡± ¡°That hurt.¡± Evie said, quickly transitioning into a big AoE heal. ¡°And it wasn¡¯t an instant 1 HP mechanic either. That was real damage.¡± ¡°Raw gear check?¡± Kieran said, still moving through his opener on muscle memory. ¡°That¡¯s brutal - Mag Mell hasn¡¯t done many of those before.¡± ¡°True, but if they ever were gonna, it would be here. And in a ¡°test¡± battle, too.¡± Marissa said. [Scathach] hit Fiona with a strong sword stroke, leaving her [Stunned] and under 2,000 HP, and leapt back away from the party. The attack that she had hit Fiona with didn¡¯t seem to be denoted as a tank buster, despite the heavy damage. ¡°Alright, try this!¡± [Scathach] shouted, and then she jumped straight up into the air. She reared back with her spear in a reverse grip, preparing to throw it, but she hung at the apex of her jump while the spear seemed to gather shadow from the air around it. The spear warped and morphed into a hellish looking lance, with shadows spiraling from the tip toward the butt of the spear, making the whole thing look like a drill. And then she threw it at the center of the party. Kieran had an immediate flashback to the attack the [Cu] had used to nearly kill them all during his ¡°test¡±, and considered just running away. Caoimhe wouldn¡¯t get far though. Aleister stepped up directly in front of the spear, triggered two mitigation skills, and held his [Ebony Guard] hoping to intercept the attack. Jazz said ¡°I hope this works,¡± but the spear had struck before she had even finished speaking. Aleister¡¯s HP zeroed out immediately on contact, without so much as a clash. His body crumpled to the ground, the shadow spear buried through his chest. ¡°Oh, well, you¡¯ll be fine. Probably.¡± [Scathach] said, as she held her hand out to the side, recalling the spear. It puffed away into smoke from Aleister¡¯s body to reappear in the boss¡¯ hand. ¡°Oh. My God.¡± Jazz said. ¡°That¡¯s not the answer guys, I took like 90 million damage. No mit will save you from that.¡± ¡°Good to know, I guess.¡± Evie said, quickly casting [Resurrection] on Aleister as [Scathach] gently floated back to the ground. While Aleister was recovering, the rest of the party moved into formation to face [Scathach], Fiona ready to square off with her once again. ¡°And we go again.¡± [Scathach] said, closing the gap to Fiona in an instant. There was just the slightest visual of a shadowy wisp to denote the magical movement, before she struck. Fiona had wisened up quickly, and had simply been holding the [Guard] button almost the entire time. But even then, the damage she took from the relentless attacks was significant - and that was from basic attacks, not anything that could be considered a skill. Mellody was trying to do what she could to keep everyone alive, but with how much damage was hitting Fiona with every action, Evie was doing the bulk of the work. Her single target healing spells were the sole reason Fiona hadn¡¯t already fallen to just raw damage. ¡°Y¡¯all, shadow lady scares me,¡± Evan said as he was struggling to do anything other than just take hits. ¡°We need to do something about this, or we¡¯re just gonna die.¡± Firo said. ¡°And we¡¯re not actually dealing any significant damage.¡± ¡°I¡¯m not sure the goal is to actually kill her.¡± Marissa said, no doubt thinking back to their test with [Cu]. ¡°We probably need to either trigger something, or just survive either a specific attack or a time limit.¡± ¡°Fat lotta good that does us now,¡± Jazz said, getting Aleister back into the fight. ¡°Shit, what now?¡± Evan asked, as [Scathach] raised her sword above her head. The blade gathered shadow in a similar fashion to what the spear had done, growing thick and dangerous. Once the shadows had settled around what had already been a fairly thick blade, the weapon had turned almost monstrous; it looked to be a massive, angular single-edged blade that looked fit for a [Tyrant]. ¡°Damn, I want one of those.¡± Kieran muttered. [Scathach] twisted in a spin and spun the massive weapon in a huge circle around her. The strike generated a ring of shadow that expanded outward, cutting through the entire party as it passed each of them. As they were spread in their clock spots, every party member took the shadowy attack to the chest. Kieran noted that when part of the attack made contact with someone, that section vanished. Of course, noting that after everyone except the tanks had died to the attack didn¡¯t exactly do very much. And Fiona and Aleister fell in short order to nothing but basic attacks. When the party respawned back outside the pasture they had fought in, there was a collective sigh. ¡°Yeah, I think that¡¯s a good place to end for tonight.¡± Nyx said. ¡°Man, I wish I didn¡¯t have to work tomorrow!¡± Ash laughed. ¡°I wanna get back in there, but we should call it for the night.¡± ¡°For the week.¡± Marissa said, reminding everyone. She didn¡¯t sound particularly excited about it, though. ¡°We¡¯ll be here ready and raring to go on Tuesday.¡± Jazz said. ¡°Yep. And I¡¯m sure we¡¯ll be in touch over the weekend too. If we find a chance where everyone is around, we can -¡± ¡°I¡¯m gonna be busy all weekend,¡± Evan said, sadly. ¡°But you all are welcome to do whatever else you¡¯d like. No going in here without me, though?¡± ¡°Course not. We do this as a team. That¡¯s the whole point.¡± Evie declared, and was backed up by several sounds of agreement. ¡°Well then, everyone. Good shit this week. Let¡¯s kick her teeth in on Tuesday!¡± Marissa cheered. She was answered by several cheers, while Jazz suddenly shouted ¡°Oh no, my fish is drowning!¡± and disconnected. Chapter 60 : Long Weekend Kieran Kieran knew that the wait between their Thursday night raid session and the following Tuesday would be simultaneously long and short. Putting work on Friday and Monday aside, the weekend itself was going to feel long, simply because he wanted more of the raid and couldn¡¯t have it. It was like waiting those last few days before a new game was released, or the days leading up to a vacation. The last few right before were always the longest. He planned to entertain himself over the ¡®break¡¯ by playing some Mag Mell each day, though he wasn¡¯t sure if playing the game without touching the raid stuff would make the break from the new content feel even worse. After the group said goodnight and went their separate ways on Thursday night, he left his office and relaxed with Natalie and their daughters in the living room for the remaining hours before bed. It was a school night, so that only really amounted to a little over an hour, and only then because they let Aoife and Kat fall asleep in their laps on the couch before finally getting everyone to bed. Thankfully, Kieran¡¯s day at work on Friday was absolutely jam packed with things to do, so his mind wasn¡¯t able to wander as much as it had earlier in the week. Instead, he had back-to-back classes to teach most of the day, with an hour break for lunch - which he ended up spending on grading papers. When he left the campus, similarly to Thursday, he went to pick up his girls before heading home. Given that it was Friday and he didn¡¯t have any standing plans, he took Aoife and Kat to the grocery store with him on the way home to pick up ingredients for dinner that night. They decided to make a simple stir-fry, using some ground chicken, peppers, onions, and some sauces they had at home. When they got home, Kieran helped Aoife with a little bit of homework she had remaining. It was some fairly simple math, and while Kieran was more than happy to help, he thought some of the instructions and methodology on the worksheet was confusing. Without much to be done about it, though, he shrugged and help Aoife work her way through the problems. A little bit before Nat was due home, he got to cooking. He pulled out the large wok that he had bought recently, which he had been using regularly the last few weeks. It really did just cook some meals better than average pans. The chicken went in to brown first before he threw in the peppers and onions. After that came the soy sauce, hoisin sauce, and oyster sauce, because he had been on an Asian flavor kick recently, and the girls all seemed to love it too. Once the combination was flavored to taste, he checked on the rice cooker that they had set up when they first got home, just to be sure that it was finished. When Nat walked in, he finally got around to plating the food for everyone else, before adding some chili garlic sauce to his own portion, because no one else in the house liked the spiciness that came with it, despite the flavor really tying the whole thing together in his opinion. After dinner, the family played some games together on the living room TV with the Switch for a while. Once they all grew bored with the more party-style games that allowed Kat to take part as well, they transitioned into playing Pok¨¦mon Sword together, where Aoife and Kat backseat gamed while Kieran had the controller. That lasted basically until bed, when both girls were nodding off on the couch. Once they were herded into their beds and tucked in, Kieran and Nat retreated to their own bedroom where they settled in for the night as well. Saturday and Sunday were good days. The family ate out together on Saturday, dropping by a nearby Mom and Pop Italian restaurant that they frequented, because the effort that went into making a really good Italian sauce was simply too much to do often. Otherwise, Kieran spent both days bouncing between housework - laundry, general cleaning, picking up the toys scattered about, and the like - leisure activities, and spending time with the family. After attempting to go in and do his dailies in Mag Mell on Saturday, he decided - at least for this week - it was a bad idea. He had managed to match up times with Marissa, Jazz, and Ash, so they were able to run through things together, but playing just made them all more and more excited to face [Scathach] again. And the desire just got worse as they talked about it more and more as they worked through their dailies. So, he decided to avoid playing again until Tuesday. Instead, he doubled up his time on errands and chores. He did a full grocery shopping on Sunday morning, bright and early to beat the rush of other people. They also had gotten some snow, which he opted to shovel before the day started to warm up so the sun could take care of whatever he was too lazy to actually scrape off the driveway. By the time noon rolled around, Kieran was well and truly out of things to do that day. As he was standing in the kitchen with a mug of hot coffee to warm up after his time out in the snow, he watched Nat and their girls playing a racing game together. Once they finished the last race in the set, he asked, ¡°What do you guys think? Should we do something today?¡± Nat was the one that turned toward him on the couch, perching cutely on the arm. ¡°Like what?¡± She asked, her voice bright and happy. ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± Kieran said, taking another sip of coffee. ¡°There¡¯s not a lot of snow left here, but I bet we could go find some? What about going sledding?¡± He said, thinking about some of the areas outside of the city limits that could be good for it. They had never really taken Aoife sledding because by the time she was old enough to enjoy it, they had Kat, who was too young. But this year seemed like prime sledding territory. ¡°I wanna go!¡± Kat said quickly, jumping up off the couch. ¡°Me too!¡± Aoife shouted. ¡°I know where some good spots are, if we¡¯re keen to drive around a bit. There¡¯s a bunch of parks around the city that have great sledding hills.¡± Nat said, trying to leaf through her childhood memories. ¡°Admittedly, they may be busy, but nothing ventured, nothing gained.¡± Kieran smiled, then drained the rest of his coffee. ¡°Why not? I bought those sleds a few years ago and they haven¡¯t been used yet. Let¡¯s get some snow on them.¡± Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation. The girls cheered, jumping up and down excitedly before Nat finally told them to go get dressed. They were still in their pajamas, and that wouldn¡¯t work for being in the snow for a few hours. Once they ran off toward their rooms, Nat stood to follow. ¡°I¡¯ll make sure they wear snow pants. And generally dress warmly.¡± She said. ¡°Good call. I¡¯ll clean up out here then swap with you so you can go get dressed, too. I¡¯m already snow-ready.¡± ¡°No you¡¯re not,¡± Nat said with a grin. ¡°You better wear snow pants too, or you¡¯re going to track so much wet into the car that you¡¯ll have to clean up after.¡± ¡°That¡¯s¡­yeah, that¡¯s a fair point.¡± Kieran allowed. ¡°I¡¯ll go get changed, too, then.¡± He said, clicking off the TV and game console. ¡°Let me wash the breakfast dishes first.¡± ¡°Sure. Do your thang,¡± Nat said with a laugh as she wandered off toward the girls¡¯ rooms to check on them. Half an hour later, they were all crammed into the SUV, two sleds in the back, and bundled up uncomfortably. They all wore enough layers that Kieran had to turn on the AC in the car to stop them all from sweating while Natalie directed them toward the nearest potential sledding hill. The first one was in a park that was actually fairly close, to Kieran''s surprise. While he had grown up on the East Coast, Natalie had grown up in Minnesota, living just outside of Minneapolis. She knew most of the best spots around the area they lived in, but Kieran was realizing now that despite how long he had been living in the area at this point, he never really went out to explore much beyond normal life. When they rolled up to the first park, the parking lot was already pretty full. Not entirely packed, and they were able to find a parking spot in the mess of snowy tracks, but it was still busier than Kieran had imagined it would be on a normal day. As soon as the car was in park, the girls opened their doors, grabbed a sled each, and were gone. Natalie was quick on her feet and leapt out after them as they ran toward the hill in the middle of the picnicking area. There were already plenty of kids and parents out there, which was a good sign in Kieran¡¯s mind. Lots of potential friends, and lots of eyes to keep the kids safe. He took his time getting out of the car, making sure he grabbed the hats and gloves that Aoife and Kat left behind. He double checked to make sure that nothing else important was left behind, but they hadn¡¯t really brought all that much. The only other notable thing in the car was a few large thermoses full of hot chocolate that Natalie had squirreled away in front of the console in the car to surprise the girls with later. Hats and gloves in hand, Kieran scrambled up the snowy hill to the top where the girls were waiting in line for their turn to ride down the well-worn track that the other kids had made. He quickly shoved their winter hats onto their heads, and held up gloves for them to push their fingers into. It was a struggle to get Aoife and Kat to focus even long enough for that much with their turns to go down the hill looming. Satisfied that they weren¡¯t too susceptible to the snow, Kieran patted them both on the head before he walked off to stand beside Natalie. ¡°Good call, bringing the hats and gloves. I had a feeling you would bring them.¡± ¡°Yeah, well, good call jumping out of the car to chase after them.¡± Kieran said, posting up next to his wife, close enough to bump her shoulder playfully. They watched quietly for a moment as Aoife helped her younger sister get comfortable on her sled, perched at the top of the hill. Kat nodded once and Aoife gave her a solid push, sending her sliding down the hill at speed. Aoife took a few steps back before jumping forward and landing on her own sled with enough momentum to follow her sister down. Kieran had a moment of mild panic when Aoife shoved Kat, but he held it down. It was fine. Kat was fine. Nat giggled beside him. ¡°You¡¯re gonna have to relax, big guy.¡± She hip checked him. ¡°They¡¯ll be fine. Besides, I took us to the most mild hill first.¡± Kieran took a breath, looking at the incline. She was right - it really wasn¡¯t that steep. ¡°Yeah, alright.¡± He said. ¡°How many spots did you have planned, exactly?¡± Nat wrinkled her nose against the cold, looking up into the light flurries that drifted in the air. ¡°Six others are in reasonable distance, if nothing has changed since I was little. I think. Can¡¯t say I pay much attention to sledable hills these days.¡± ¡°Six?¡± ¡°Six.¡± She nodded. ¡°And we can go in incline order, too, just to be safe. Kat¡¯s still little enough that I don¡¯t want her flying down any hills that are better left for teens.¡± ¡°Well, that¡¯s reassuring.¡± Kieran said. ¡°We¡¯ll have to see how many we get too. And how quickly they get bored of any given hill.¡± ¡°We both know that kids could sit here sledding the same hill for hours.¡± ¡°True¡­¡± Kieran said, thinking back to his own childhood. There was a really great hill in his neighborhood growing up that he had regularly sled down, and he was out on that same hill for hours at a time. ¡°New hills are bound to get them excited though. After a few rounds, we should tell them that they have options.¡± Nat said. ¡°And I¡¯m sure they¡¯ll appreciate the hot chocolate you hid in the car.¡± ¡°Saw that, did you?¡± Nat laughed. ¡°Yeah. You didn¡¯t exactly hide it very well from the driver¡¯s seat.¡± Kieran said, as he watched their daughters get back in line after the small hike back up the hill. ¡°When was the last time you went sledding, Kin?¡± Kieran had to think about it. ¡°College, maybe? It¡¯s been a while. I definitely remember there being a big snowball fight in the snow my freshman year outside the dorms. I feel like we did some rather pathetic sledding then, too.¡± ¡°Think your old man knees could handle getting on one of those sleds?¡± Nat needled. ¡°Probably, why?¡± ¡°There¡¯s one particular hill that is fairly long and pretty steep - perfect for teenagers and older kids. I think we should swing by and show the little ones how it¡¯s done.¡± ¡°Oh, really?¡± Kieran said, eyeing his wife curiously. ¡°I¡¯m game.¡±
As it turned out, the girls were very excited to have the hidden hot chocolate. They also very much enjoyed the four different hills they had the chance to ride down that day. They also had a great time watching Kieran and Nat both wipe out spectacularly on the hill that Nat had taken them to. Neither of them took the wipe out lying down, however, and they both rode sleds down that hill several times until they managed to make it to the bottom unscathed - including a little snowy ramp that some teens had set up. Their daughters had cheered them on the whole time. It wasn¡¯t until Monday morning that they both regretted their decision. The muscle pain was no joke, and Kieran was concerned that he had maybe injured his back. Of course, given that they were both fine for the rest of Sunday before bed, it was probably nothing more than soreness. But the twinge of pain that accompanied most movements throughout the day was a solid reminder that maybe taking some pretty gnarly tumbles down a snowy hill was not a great idea in his thirties. As he sat in his office for some of his mandatory office hours on Monday, he grumbled to himself as he went over some papers. Even just the movement from drawing a checkmark or circle hurt something in his right shoulder and neck. ¡°I¡¯m never going to hear the end of this if I don¡¯t feel better by raid time tomorrow,¡± was the only thought running through his head every time he flinched from the pain. Chapter 61 : Earning Respect
Party List
Hibiscus Jade (Marissa Harper) [Arrow] : [Seeker] 11,000 / 11,000 11,000 / 11,000
Aleister Demian (Jasmine Burch) [War] : [Ebon] 11,000 / 11,000 11,000 / 11,000
Fiona Woods (Evan Woods) [Plate] : [Aegis] 11,000 / 11,000 11,000 / 11,000
Evie Lucian (Cassandra Bailey) [Soul] : [Radiance] 11,000 / 11,000 11,000 / 11,000
Mellody Softsong (Ashton Burch) [Muse] : [Revel] 11,000 / 11,000 11,000 / 11,000
Caoimhe Phadraig (Kieran Moor) [Slayer] : [Tyrant] 11,000 / 11,000 11,000 / 11,000
Firo Strix (Blake Walker) [Mage] : [Invoker] 11,000 / 11,000 11,000 / 11,000
Nyx Alaion (Zoe Fox) [Shroud] : [Knife] 11,000 / 11,000 11,000 / 11,000
Marissa Marissa was well past ready to play when raid night rolled around on Tuesday. She had spent most Friday, the weekend, and then Monday working and running errands, sparing only a couple hours each day to game and get her dailies done. She knew that once the raid calmed down a little bit she would be in a better mood for the type of maintenance gameplay that MMOs usually worked on - grinding, dailies, repeatable quests, and the like. As it was, with how excited the entirety of Clan Nettle Tea was, Marissa was willing to bet that no one was excited by daily quests. They wanted to do all the new stuff. When it was finally just about 5 p.m., Marissa sat down in her chair, mug of hot tea in hand, and spun to her computer. She had turned it on before she had washed up after work, as was her usual procedure. She slipped her headphones on over her still damp hair and loaded up the game. As the program launched, she also joined the Nettle Tea chat. ¡°What¡¯s up, guys?¡± She said as she clicked through the opening screens of the game, displaying the developers and publishers names. ¡°Just hanging,¡± Nyx chuckled. ¡°She¡¯s lying.¡± Evie said immediately. ¡°We¡¯ve all been doing our damnedest to relax and wait.¡± ¡°Fuck you, Evie.¡± Nyx shot back. ¡°We all want to get in there. You included.¡± ¡°I know!¡± Evie laughed. ¡°Some of us are just better at patience, I guess.¡± Marissa glanced at the list of people in chat. ¡°Just waiting on¡­Firo?¡± ¡°Yeah.¡± Kieran said. ¡°I really expected to be waiting on Fiona, not going to lie,¡± Ash said. ¡°But he¡¯s actually been one of the most punctual so far.¡± Evan just laughed in response. ¡°What can I say? I¡¯m trying to take my life back from my adorable little noise and poop machine.¡± ¡°I feel that,¡± Kieran sighed. ¡°But it does seem like you¡¯re doing pretty good so far, given how reliable you¡¯ve been.¡± ¡°I think scheduling things ahead has helped a lot.¡± Evan mused. ¡°If someone just said, ¡°Hey, we¡¯re going out tonight for so and so,¡± I¡¯d almost definitely immediately turn around with, ¡°Can¡¯t, baby calls.¡±. But knowing that I have plans, and Sam equally knowing I have plans, has made it easier to deal with.¡± ¡°I guess that¡¯s good?¡± Jazz said. ¡°I do think having standing plans usually makes it easier to do things. Sucks when you have so many standing plans that you have no time for spontaneous ones, though.¡± ¡°That was me two years ago,¡± Evan agreed. ¡°Online tabletop games two nights a week, raid for three. Standing lunch and/or dinner date on Saturdays. I was basically only able to make new plans on Sundays.¡± ¡°Yeesh.¡± Nyx said. ¡°I¡¯m still not sure whether it was a good or bad thing, to be honest.¡± Evan mused. ¡°I actually rather enjoyed knowing that, not only would I get to talk to friends reliably almost every night, but I also would have something fun to do. Sure, I didn¡¯t have the option of easily just being like, ¡°I¡¯m gonna do ¡®x¡¯ tonight,¡± but eh.¡± ¡°I can see the appeal.¡± Marissa said. ¡°Admittedly, with how much I work it might not work out for me because I¡¯m always a bit scatterbrained, but still. I like knowing exactly what I¡¯m doing any given day.¡± ¡°I guess I could see the upside of the reliable schedule, sure,¡± Nyx allowed. ¡°It¡¯s mostly that I like being spontaneous enough that I don¡¯t think I¡¯d like having all my time spoken for.¡± The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. ¡°And that¡¯s a totally valid take.¡± Kieran said. ¡°Hey! Sorry I¡¯m late!¡± Firo said quickly, starting his sentence before the chime indicating he joined the chat even finished. ¡°You still have about twenty seconds, Firo. You¡¯re cutting it close, but you¡¯re not late.¡± Ash chuckled. ¡°Phew!¡± Firo said dramatically. ¡°So¡­has anyone looked at whether or not we have reclears to do?¡± Evie asked. ¡°Nope.¡± Marissa said, as she stared at the interior of [Gorias], where she had logged out after the previous week¡¯s raid. Even when she logged in to do dailies, she didn¡¯t actually need to go anywhere because they were all instance based activities. ¡°I¡¯m still in Gorias, though, so I¡¯m not sure.¡± ¡°Do you see the quest markers around or anything? If there was a weekly reset, it should have happened today, right?¡± ¡°Yep. And I do see the quest marker - floating over Uathach¡¯s head by Scathach and Cu.¡± Marissa said. ¡°Well, let¡¯s party up and see what the deal is.¡± Ash said, while Marissa was already in the process of pulling up the Clan roster and sending out party invites from it. When she saw the [Large Party] message pop up, denoting that they had eight party members, she strode over to [Uathach] and interacted with her. [Permission to Fly] [Continue] [Note: You may continue the scenario from where you left off. However, you will forfeit any reward from the previous quests available for this week.] Marissa read the note aloud to everyone, then said, ¡°So I guess we can just keep going forward, or we can loop back to the beginning for more loot.¡± ¡°Sounds like it.¡± ¡°What do we think is the move here, then?¡± Ash asked. ¡°We¡¯ve had some pretty big hits for gear, like the Puddle Jumpers, but we¡¯ve also gotten a fair bit of gear that¡¯s sitting in storage already.¡± ¡°Honestly? I think we just keep pushing.¡± Jazz said. ¡°While the gear we¡¯ve been getting has had some fantastic abilities attached, the stats haven¡¯t been so much better than what we already have that the upgrades are worth it just for numerical boosts, so we¡¯d be playing a lottery.¡± ¡°I¡¯m fine either way,¡± Firo said. ¡°There¡¯s the potential that we¡¯d get some crazy good loot from the fights we¡¯ve already done, but we¡¯d be spending our time in return for the potential loot. I don¡¯t think we¡¯d get stuck on reclears, but there¡¯s no guarantee we didn¡¯t get lucky on our first clears, or trigger something by accident that we¡¯d be unable to replicate.¡± ¡°Going back and doing the first few scenarios differently could be fun though.¡± Evan said. ¡°Not that I¡¯m necessarily in favor of it, but...just saying. It seems like we could do all of the stuff we¡¯ve already seen differently if we wanted to keep seeing new fights.¡± ¡°I think my vote is solidly in the move forward camp.¡± Nyx said. ¡°I¡¯ve been dreaming of fighting Scathach all weekend. Being forced to do reclears was something I was mentally prepared for, but if we¡¯re being given the choice? Fuck that.¡± ¡°Very well put. I agree.¡± Evie said. ¡°Thirded,¡± Kieran said. ¡°We¡¯re here for content before loot, I think. So who needs gear when we¡¯re already well geared enough to do that fight? I say we just go.¡± Marissa shrugged. ¡°I¡¯m also in favor of just going, so that puts us at four solid votes in favor of pushing onward. Are there any strong opinions in the other direction?¡± The only responses that Marissa got were noncommittal ones and no one was actively against just continuing on. ¡°Alright then. Let¡¯s get our buffs up, get our gear and Dedications prepped, and get that bread.¡± Marissa declared. And the party did exactly that. They walked a little bit away from the NPCs as well as the players that must have been at the same point in the raid as their party. Once they were off the beaten path and a little more secluded, they dropped their portable crafting stations and got to work. Everyone that actually had party buffs to offer knew their role and how to do it all quickly, so it didn¡¯t really take all that long to have everything applied and ready to go. In just a few minutes, the party emerged from their little hideaway between some buildings prepared for the fight they knew was coming. After asking for confirmation that everyone was ready, Marissa walked back over to [Uathach] and started the [Scenario]. The party chatted idly about their weekends as they watched the cutscene play out. They had already seen this one, so no one felt the need to deafen or otherwise pay attention. Once the declaration of the test had been made and [Scathach] walked into the center of the field again, the party began to recenter and focus again. Marissa took a deep breath, eyeing the pasture that would be their arena warily. There was plenty of room for her to keep at a distance, but [Scathach¡¯s] attacks clearly had massive range and could hit the whole area, so simply keeping distance wouldn¡¯t really help her much here. ¡°So¡­did we have any plans for this fight, exactly?¡± Firo asked. ¡°Well, the mechanic that wiped us last time seemed fairly easy to counter. Someone taking the hit removed that part of the blast, so we just stack behind the tanks and let them both absorb a portion of the attack.¡± Kieran said. ¡°Okay, so we¡¯ve got our normal small party line ups then. We want to stack North and South, or East and West?¡± Ash said. ¡°I think East and West?¡± Firo said. ¡°That way we can preposition a little bit, but Fiona can keep the boss pointed true North during the normal phases.¡± ¡°Works for me.¡± Evan said. ¡°My party on West?¡± ¡°Sure. My group on East, then.¡± Jazz said. ¡°Any other plans?¡± ¡°We didn¡¯t really see enough of the fight last time to make any solid countermeasures yet.¡± Marissa said. ¡°I think we need a few pulls to get our bearings. ¡°Agreed.¡± Nyx said. ¡°Until we¡¯ve seen more of the mechanics involved, there¡¯s no point in worrying about too much. But even more than that, we still don¡¯t know what the goal is here anyway.¡± ¡°True. Bisky, you said something about a previous fight only requiring you to survive, right?¡± Evie asked. ¡°Yeah. When we made the Clan, we had to fight Cu. At the end of it, he used a massive AoE that killed everyone that it hit. I survived mostly by luck, and it seemed like my living through it was enough to clear the fight.¡± ¡°Given the story set up here, it wouldn''t surprise me if we¡¯re going to see something similar here.¡± Kieran said. ¡°It¡¯s also maybe worth noting that in the myths, Scathach was Cu Chulainn¡¯s teacher, so she may have similar mechanics. Maybe.¡± ¡°I guess we¡¯ll see.¡± Marissa shrugged. ¡°Everyone ready?¡± When she got the okay, Marissa strode onto the field, followed by the rest of the party. They moved as a single unit into the little blue circle that would trigger the start of the fight. [Scathach] began the same way that she had started the first time. She formed her spear and sword from shadows, said her opening line, and vanished in a puff of darkness. The party spiraled out from one another, favoring the small party sides, already getting prepared for the massive AoE that killed everyone the first time. [Scathach] reappeared right in front of Fiona, who had been standing the most forward in the circle, and struck out with her sword while keeping her spear tucked under her right arm. The attack that hit Fiona still dealt nearly half of the tank¡¯s HP in one atack, despite being blocked. As the healers worked to keep Fiona alive and the DPS moved through their openers, [Scathach] scraped her sword along the haft of her spear, triggering the massive, shadowy explosion that operated as a raidwide. Like the first time, the damage was severe, leaving the party near death. Mellody was prepared for the attack this time, and had opted to use a stronger party mitigation and shielding skill, leaving the party members¡¯ HP average around 2,500 instead of the 800 it had in the first run. Two more basic attacks pounded against Fiona¡¯s shield before shadows gathered around the sword for the third hit. Marissa was stunned as she watched Fiona trigger a skill she almost never used - [Shielded Step] - that was functionally a quick movement skill that also blocked everything that hit Fiona while she moved. Rather than use it for the automatic blocking function - which was by far the most common use - Fiona had backstepped away from [Scathach¡¯s] attack. ¡°Ha. Saw that coming, did you?¡± [Scathach] laughed, and then vanished again, appearing in front of Fiona to continue her basic attacks. ¡°The hell was that?¡± ¡°It was the attack that stunned me the first time, with the follow-up that killed Aleister. I had a feeling she needed to land the stun before she¡¯d use it.¡± Evan laughed. He sounded far too cocky about his little play. ¡°Well, the big one is coming next, probably.¡± Ash said. A few attacks clashed with Fiona¡¯s shield again, before she raised her sword above her head, gathering shadows around it again. As the first time, the blade warped into a massive, single-edged monstrosity before she spun and unleashed the massive, expanding circular saw of shadow. ¡°And here we go!¡± Firo said as the party lined up as they had planned. Fiona and Aleister triggered some mitigation skills and blocked the hit, which brought them down to 3,380 and 6,700 HP respectively. As the group had surmised, the section of the attack that had hit the tanks was broken, and the rest of the ring expanded until it dissipated near the edges of the pasture. ¡°Very good, very good.¡± [Scathach] purred, sounding genuinely excited to have not murdered the party. ¡°God damn, she sounds hot.¡± Nyx said. ¡°And I bet all the shadows and dark colors work for you, too, yeah?¡± Marissa laughed. ¡°Do you even need to ask?¡± Chapter 62 : New Kind of Fight
Party List
Hibiscus Jade (Marissa Harper) [Arrow] : [Seeker] 11,000 / 11,000 9,230 / 11,000
Aleister Demian (Jasmine Burch) [War] : [Ebon] 6,700 / 11,000 10,200 / 11,000
Fiona Woods (Evan Woods) [Plate] : [Aegis] 3,380 / 11,000 8,320 / 11,000
Evie Lucian (Cassandra Bailey) [Soul] : [Radiance] 11,000 / 11,000 7,290 / 11,000
Mellody Softsong (Ashton Burch) [Muse] : [Revel] 11,000 / 11,000 9,020 / 11,000
Caoimhe Phadraig (Kieran Moor) [Slayer] : [Tyrant] 11,000 / 11,000 9,900 / 11,000
Firo Strix (Blake Walker) [Mage] : [Invoker] 11,000 / 11,000 5,600 / 11,000
Nyx Alaion (Zoe Fox) [Shroud] : [Knife] 11,000 / 11,000 9,840 / 11,000
Marissa The party quickly spread a little bit after the small party mechanic resolved, worried that [Scathach] would follow it up with a spread mechanic quickly. Small mechanic loops that required a lot of movement were common in harder fights, to make it more difficult for players to just damage the boss. Marissa wasn¡¯t sure what would be next, but she wasn¡¯t sure that she¡¯d have much time to think about it. [Scathach¡¯s] attacks - even the basic ones - were doing so much damage to Fiona that she was using mitigation and blocking just to stay alive. Without it, the damage she was taking might even outpace Evie and Mellody¡¯s healing, unless they started dipping into emergency reserves. ¡°Aleister, I think we¡¯re going to need regular tank swaps here.¡± Evan said, sounding as if he was on the back foot. ¡°Her damage is bonkers.¡± ¡°Let me know when you want me to take her, then.¡± Aleister said. ¡°I can step in when you need me, and we¡¯ll swap off as mitigations come back up.¡± ¡°I hope that the provoke skills come up in time.¡± Evan laughed wryly, as everyone was able to watch Fiona¡¯s health bounce down, then back up, then down again with every strike. And more than that, it started to strike Marissa as odd, how long [Scathach¡¯s] basic attack string was. Most bosses only hit the tank three or four times before moving into the next mechanic, but [Scathach] was laying into Fiona well past that mark. ¡°I don¡¯t like this,¡± Marissa said, as she went through her rotation. With the way that the boss was so focused on the tank, she was almost mindlessly going through the motions without feeling any danger. ¡°Same.¡± Ash said. ¡°Everyone stay on your toes.¡± Marissa hit a few of her bigger damage skills, as a few of them came up once before her big burst windows refreshed. Seeing [Scathach¡¯s] HP barely move at all as she went through a smaller burst of damage left her even more concerned. Not that the party¡¯s opener had done all that much either. ¡°Good lord, what are her defensive stats like?¡± Nyx said, giving voice to Marissa¡¯s concern. And no doubt, Nyx was just as worried, as she was regularly getting deep into her [Knife] combos, where the damage numbers were actually just disgusting at the cost of the [Knife¡¯s] safety. But without any mechanics happening, there was simply no reason for Nyx to worry. ¡°She must be level 100 or something. This feels the same way attacking a much higher level mob does.¡± Kieran said. ¡°Not sure what we can do about it though.¡± ¡°I still think we just need to trigger some other -¡± ¡°Aleister, swap!¡± Evan called, interrupting the planning. Fiona had finally run out of mitigation, and couldn¡¯t keep up with the damage. When Aleister hit her [Provoke] and stepped in between Fiona and [Scathach], the boss just moved around her and laughed. ¡°You¡¯ll have to try harder than that to get my attention, little [Ebon]!¡± The boss laughed, continuing to hound Fiona instead. Marissa felt her jaw go slack. ¡°Uh - what?¡± Jazz asked, clearly confused. Even Aleister was just standing still, not moving, as if Jazz was staring at her screen in disbelief. ¡°Fucking hell,¡± Evan said, ¡°not only did the voke not work, she laughed at us and called you out by path?¡± ¡°Has that ever happened to anyone before?¡± Jazz asked, moving Aleister back into the fight, trying to pull [Scathach] off of Fiona through regular skills. ¡°Not in combat.¡± Firo said. ¡°I¡¯ve been addressed in the story by my path. And I¡¯ve had special dialogue options, or special lines about it before.¡± Evie said. ¡°But nothing mid combat before.¡± ¡°Surely that¡¯s not all you have?¡± [Scathach] began to taunt the party - or more probably Fiona - as she chased the tank around the battlefield with dogged determination. ¡°Stop running!¡± She called, starting to sound frustrated. ¡°Uh, Fiona? She sounds mad that you¡¯re running and I¡¯m not sure we want to make the boss angry like that.¡± Firo said. ¡°If I stand and fight, I¡¯m for sure gonna die. Some mit is back up in fifteen seconds, though.¡± Evan said, continuing to run around in a wide circle. There was a moment where Marissa stopped attacking to just watch [Scathach] chase Fiona around, mostly confused by the whole thing. ¡°Guys, what are we doing?¡± She asked, suddenly feeling very off about the whole thing. ¡°We don¡¯t really do much damage, and she¡¯s just chasing our tank around in a circle.¡± The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. As the other DPS stopped for a moment to consider this, [Scathach] had evidently had enough. ¡°My daughter said you were impressive fighters, but there¡¯s nothing impressive about this.¡± She said, stopping the chase. She held up her spear, gathering shadows around it again, forming the massive drill-like lance. ¡°Careful!¡± Ash shouted at the same moment the boss vanished in the same puff of shadowy wisps they had seen multiple times at this point. She appeared directly in front of Fiona and struck with the lance. Fiona blocked, but the massive shadow-spear simply bypassed the shield and ran her through. Fiona¡¯s HP zeroed out in an instant, and she fell to the floor dead. ¡°Um.¡± Evan said, confused. ¡°There was nothing I could do about that one, sorry guys.¡± ¡°No¡­worries?¡± Evie said, moving into a [Resurrection] cast. [Scathach] didn¡¯t seem to even pay attention as she turned toward the rest of the party from where she killed Fiona. ¡°I tire of this. You all seem far less interesting than I thought.¡± She said, and then threw her spear into the middle of the battlefield. It landed in the ground solidly, burying itself a foot or so deep into the ground. There was a moment where nothing happened, and then the lance let out a pulse of dark energy that emanated through the whole field. It wiped the party immediately, sending them into a loading screen, and then back to the entrance of the pasture, before the fight. ¡°...what?¡± Kieran laughed. ¡°The fuck was that?¡± Nyx shouted, sounding somewhere between angry and amused. ¡°Apparently,¡± Firo said, ¡°we didn¡¯t entertain her.¡± ¡°That¡¯s bullshit.¡± Jazz said. ¡°She¡¯s an NPC. What exactly are we supposed to do to ¡®entertain¡¯ her?¡± ¡°Well, not kiting her around the arena for survival seems to be a good start.¡± Evan joked. ¡°Beyond that, I¡¯m not sure.¡± ¡°The¡­weirdness, for lack of a better term, started when you dodged the stunning blow, right Fiona?¡± Evie asked. ¡°I¡­suppose? The big attack was right after that though - and then she locked onto me.¡± Evan said. ¡°...What are the chances that [Scathach¡¯s] AI is a more advanced one? One that can take actions on its own without being so scripted like most bosses?¡± ¡°It¡­could be.¡± Marissa said, considering. ¡°Given that this isn¡¯t a conventional fight to begin with, given her presumably much higher level and ability to basically just kill us outright, and our inability to do real damage, maybe the devs wanted to test something here?¡± ¡°That could be.¡± Ash said. ¡°The more traditional fights are all very well designed, even when there¡¯s been more than one way through the scenario. But Scathach might not be held to those same design philosophy.¡± ¡°We should keep that in mind for the next pull then.¡± Nyx said. ¡°If the story goal is to impress her with this fight, though, what should we do?¡± ¡°Well, if we want to operate under that assumption, the most obvious play is to survive the fight well and do a bunch of damage, isn¡¯t it?¡± Jazz asked. ¡°It would be normally, but clearly that doesn¡¯t seem to be the winning move here.¡± Kieran said. ¡°Unless we tripped into some weird mistake in the last pull somehow. A bug in the AI or something maybe?¡± ¡°Mag Mell has been incredibly bug free so far. That seems unlikely.¡± Firo said. ¡°I have a little¡­unorthodox suggestion.¡± Marissa said, trying to think around their current problem. ¡°Oh yeah?¡± ¡°Let¡¯s get a little crazy. Fiona, can you try to perfect guard and counter literally every attack she throws at you?¡± ¡°I mean, I can try. I¡¯m bound to miss some, but I can probably get a bunch.¡± Evan said, sounding mildly confident. ¡°If nothing else, I should be able to get used to her attack pattern after a couple more pulls.¡± ¡°Okay. Everyone else, just try to play your class to the highest possible skill ceiling you can imagine. For me, that¡¯ll be landing as many weakpoint shots as possible, for example.¡± ¡°I¡­think I see what you¡¯re getting at.¡± Ash said. ¡°I¡¯ll try to move between my musick options as much as possible without missing any beats.¡± ¡°And I¡¯ll go for all of my most damaging combos.¡± Nyx said. ¡°That¡¯s what you¡¯re getting at?¡± ¡°Yeah.¡± Marissa said. ¡°If we¡¯re really trying to ¡®impress¡¯ an AI, there has to be something that is measurable for us to impress it with.¡± ¡°That makes sense.¡± Kieran said. ¡°I guess for me that¡¯s just maximizing my punishment uses....¡± ¡°Alright. We¡¯ve got our strategy then?¡± Evan asked. ¡°Oh, and one other thing.¡± Marissa said. ¡°Judging based on how she reacted to the voke, don¡¯t use skills that have like¡­just a meta effect. Know what I mean?¡± ¡°No, not at all.¡± Nyx said, laughing. ¡°Like, voke does nothing but manipulate threat. The stuff that is very¡­game-y.¡± Marissa said, unsure how else to explain it. ¡°Oh.¡± Evie said, paused, then continued, "Yeah, I still don''t get it." ¡°I¡¯m not sure if using them itself has a negative attached, or if she¡¯ll just ignore them, so I guess just keep it in mind?¡± Marissa said. ¡°Fair enough, I guess. Are we ready to go again?¡± Ash asked, prepping to walk back to the starting circle. ¡°As I¡¯ll ever be.¡± Firo said. ¡°Not sure I¡¯m confident what I need to do, but I guess we¡¯ll see.¡± ¡°Try to land a Soul Shatter.¡± Kieran said. ¡°That sure as hell impressed me when we first met.¡± Firo laughed, ¡°I can try, but I¡¯d be shocked if I manage it.¡± ¡°Hey, it¡¯s not like the game will know you got lucky.¡± Evan said, then added, ¡°Probably. Oh, man, I don¡¯t like thinking about this.¡± The group chuckled collectively at that as everyone moved toward the starting circle. Marissa paused outside it, as usual, just to make sure everyone was ready before she started the fight again. The group spread out a little as [Scathach] went through her opening moves. She said the same lines as previous runs, summoned her weapons, and vanished, striking at Fiona again. Fiona however, was ready for it this time, and had seen the opening attack twice. She landed the [Perfect Counter] on the opening attack, and immediately responded with one of her more powerful counters. Things almost immediately broke the established pattern right off the jump. ¡°Haha, yes! Very good!¡± [Scathach] shouted as she took the counter, in addition to the party¡¯s opener. Rather than flow into the expected opening combo that they had seen previously, [Scathach] just immediately leapt back a bit from Fiona, and struck her sword against the spear, triggering the normal opening raidwide. Marissa couldn¡¯t figure out why she jumped backward before triggering the attack, but decided not to worry about it for the time being. She had her own role in this fight, and was focused on landing as many headshots as she could. And it was not easy. As soon as she triggered the AoE, [Scathach] began gathering more shadows around her sword. It was a slightly different stance than the one that triggered the big circular attack though, as she held the blade in front of her, instead of above her head. ¡°That¡¯s new.¡± Ash said flatly, as Fiona scrambled forward to try to get back in melee range with the boss. Caoimhe and Nyx both gap closed their way to the boss, angling to position behind her while Fiona took up her standard position in front. While [Scathach] was preparing her new attack, Firo opted to try his luck with landing [Soul Shatter]. It took a moment of focus while the boss was standing relatively still, but he did manage to land the attack. [Scathach¡¯s] head turned to look at Firo as soon as the attack¡¯s animation went off and the woman laughed. Firo did too, but for a very different reason. ¡°Damage! Soul Shatter did damage!¡± He shouted, excited. And he was right. Marissa hadn¡¯t been paying much attention to [Scathach¡¯s] HP, but they had dealt more damage this time than the previous run, despite it being a much shorter time frame so far. ¡°Oh, you¡¯ve gotta be kidding me.¡± Marissa said to herself, opting to pause her basic attacks a moment in favor of scrolling up the battle log. As she looked over the log of damage numbers, she sighed. ¡°What¡¯s wrong, Bisky?¡± ¡°Firo¡¯s right. Soul Shatter did damage. I just checked - so did my first and third Master¡¯s Shots, that hit weak points. My second one, which hit her body and not her head? Zero damage. Fiona, your counter did damage. Your attacks are doing basically nothing.¡± Marissa said quickly, trying to skim the battle log despite being in the middle of the fight. ¡°Well, shit.¡± Jazz said. ¡°So this is literally what you said before then? But applied as literally as possible?¡± ¡°Meaning?¡± Nyx asked, trying to figure out what she meant. ¡°Incoming.¡± Evan said, stopping the conversation dead, as [Scathach] moved. She did her shadowy teleport, appearing in front of Firo, already swinging her sword. It wasn¡¯t the massive, single-edged greatsword this time, but was a long, curved saber. Firo tried to use [Blink] to teleport away, but the attack landed before he actually teleported away. It didn¡¯t actually kill him - instead, Firo was [Paralyzed] on the other end of the teleport. He let out a relieved sigh. ¡°I¡¯m not dead. Only maimed.¡± He joked. ¡°You think that¡¯s it?¡± [Scathach] said, as if she heard Firo¡¯s joke. ¡°I have two weapons, [Invoker]!¡± She called, and lined up to throw her spear at him. While [Paralyzed], Firo couldn¡¯t take any actions, but he could move in a staggered step, as he locked up every few steps. And he was doing his best to hobble away from where she aimed. ¡°I¡¯ve got you covered!¡± Jazz said, sliding Aleister in place and putting up a guard to block the spear throw. When [Scathach] launched the weapon forward, the shadowy spear all but vanished, appearing to use the same teleport that [Scathach] herself kept using. ¡°What?¡± ¡°Ow.¡± Firo said, as the spear struck home, dropping him. ¡°Nice try, though!¡± [Scathach] called, as she summoned the spear back to her hand in a puff of shadowy wisps. ¡°Alright guys, I have an idea.¡± Marissa said, not entirely sure how to really convey what she wanted. ¡°We¡¯re gonna slow wipe this one. Fight it out, but rather than damage or whatever, can you try to, like¡­style on her? Do awesome shit? Show your cool side!¡± She said, trying to get the idea across. ¡°Uh¡­sure, Bisky. Whatever you say.¡± Evan said. ¡°I like where your head is at, Bisky.¡± Ash said. ¡°Good, then do it.¡± She said, lining up another [Master¡¯s Shot]. Chapter 63 : Scathach, The Shadow
Party List
Hibiscus Jade (Marissa Harper) [Arrow] : [Seeker] 11,000 / 11,000 11,000 / 11,000
Aleister Demian (Jasmine Burch) [War] : [Ebon] 11,000 / 11,000 11,000 / 11,000
Fiona Woods (Evan Woods) [Plate] : [Aegis] 11,000 / 11,000 11,000 / 11,000
Evie Lucian (Cassandra Bailey) [Soul] : [Radiance] 11,000 / 11,000 11,000 / 11,000
Mellody Softsong (Ashton Burch) [Muse] : [Revel] 11,000 / 11,000 11,000 / 11,000
Caoimhe Phadraig (Kieran Moor) [Slayer] : [Tyrant] 11,000 / 11,000 11,000 / 11,000
Firo Strix (Blake Walker) [Mage] : [Invoker] 11,000 / 11,000 11,000 / 11,000
Nyx Alaion (Zoe Fox) [Shroud] : [Knife] 11,000 / 11,000 11,000 / 11,000
Marissa ¡°Okay¡­¡± Marissa breathed out as the party tried to gather the information they could from the battle log from the last fight against [Scathach]. ¡°Well, at least some of us are easy to figure out. Firo and I can do damage when we land more skillful attacks. For me, that means landing critical hits and weak point shots.¡± ¡°And for me, that means any spells that require timing and aiming,¡± Firo said. ¡°Easy enough. Sorta.¡± ¡°For me, it looks like any counter skill.¡± Evan said, as he presumably scrolled through the battle log as well. ¡°It¡¯s unfortunate that she¡¯s so fucking unpredictable with her attacks.¡± ¡°You¡¯ll manage.¡± Marissa said, still looking through the list of damage trying to figure out exactly how Caoimhe and Nyx could deal damage. ¡°My guess for me would be landing boosted Punishments,¡± Kieran said hesitantly. ¡°It¡¯s the one ability where a Tyrant can show some real skill expression. Otherwise, I¡¯m mostly just here to hit the big damage buttons.¡± ¡°Okay, se we need to be cognizant of spacing out and using our roots and knockdowns so you can land as many of them as possible.¡± Ash said. ¡°Yes - there¡¯s one,¡± Kieran nearly shouted. ¡°I found one instance of good damage from me, and it was on a boosted Punishment. So that must be my goal.¡± ¡°I have a bad feeling that I know what mine is going to be,¡± Nyx said, still scrolling. ¡°Combo enders?¡± Firo guessed. ¡°I¡¯d bet, yeah.¡± Nyx agreed. ¡°She has shown a couple times that she has a few long, stationary phases where she prepares the next attack, before teleporting away to use whatever skill. I bet I¡¯m supposed to try to land my combo enders in those longer pauses, before she poofs.¡± ¡°You think you can?¡± Evie asked. ¡°Knowing that it¡¯s my goal? Yeah, I think so.¡± Nyx chuckled. ¡°Hilariously, knowing that we can really only do damage one or two ways each means we can focus solely on those strategies and kinda ignore everything else. It actually makes the playing part of this fight pretty mechanically simple.¡± Marissa snorted. ¡°That¡¯s part of what makes me worried. Knowing that I have so little to focus on, rotation-wise, makes me think that the fight is going to lean on tricky and precise mechanics.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know about that.¡± Ash said. ¡°From what we¡¯ve seen so far, it feels more like a brute force fight. Or maybe more like something from a non-MMO action game.¡± ¡°I can see that.¡± Nyx said. ¡°She hasn¡¯t been strictly following aggro or anything either,¡± Evan added. ¡°True. It seems like she just decides to target whoever ¡°impressed¡± her most recently,¡± Jazz said. ¡°And I think we have yet to successfully block any of the attacks she¡¯s tried to land so far.¡± ¡°Which means what exactly?¡± Kieran asked. ¡°We just do whatever we can and try to survive whatever happens afterward?¡± ¡°...Yeah, actually, I think so.¡± Ash said. ¡°Given what we¡¯ve seen so far, I actually think that the move for this fight is not to play it like an MMO boss, but maybe more like a co-op action game with MMO-lite mechanics.¡± ¡°Fuck it, it¡¯s worth a try.¡± Evan said. ¡°Does everyone have some idea as to what they¡¯re doing?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t,¡± Jazz said. ¡°War, and by extension Ebon, are maybe a little too straightforward for me to come up with anything that might work. It¡¯s a flashy but otherwise simple and effective class that doesn¡¯t have a lot of skill expression options.¡± Find this and other great novels on the author''s preferred platform. Support original creators! Marissa began to scroll back through the battle log again, looking for at least one instance of Aleister dealing significant damage while thinking about what she knew of how Ebon plays. ¡°I would probably guess Ebony Blast would be the key for your damage, right?¡± Evan asked. ¡°You think?¡± ¡°Yeah. Ebon isn¡¯t necessarily built around it, but a central mechanic for War as a whole is manipulating your HP and MP through taking and dealing damage. Ebony Blast is your big MP spender, right?¡± ¡°It is,¡± Jazz confirmed. ¡°I don¡¯t usually use it much because there are more useful things to spend my MP on in most situations.¡± ¡°Sure, but that¡¯s because you favor party survivability over your damage,¡± Evan said. ¡°I still can¡¯t believe it, but he¡¯s right.¡± Evie agreed. ¡°Aleister, for all your constant battle hunger, you probably spend too many of your resources on defense.¡± ¡°Found it,¡± Marissa said. ¡°Aleister, you did hit with one Ebony Blast last pull, and got some damage out of it. So, yeah, there¡¯s your goal.¡± ¡°Playing around my MP management, then. Fair enough, I guess.¡± Jazz said with a sigh. ¡°I think we¡¯ve got our tasks laid out for us, then? Now we just need to kick shadow lady¡¯s butt.¡± Kieran said. ¡°Yup. Let¡¯s get back in there and win this one.¡± Ash said and his clap came through the chat as well, as everyone began to wander toward the starting zone for the fight. Marissa followed, but as was her standard procedure at this point waited a moment just outside of the starting ring. ¡°Last call?¡± ¡°We good.¡± Kieran said, and received agreement all the way around. ¡°Alright,¡± Marissa said, ¡°just remember, our goal here is to survive while maximizing our personal goals.¡± ¡°Yeah, yeah,¡± Jazz said, ¡°Can we just pull already?¡± Marissa rolled her eyes but stepped into the circle to start the fight. [Scathach] went through her standard opening lines and animations while the party got into their assumed starting positions. While they hadn¡¯t confirmed it, putting Fiona the closest to the boss seemed to be enough to get [Scathach] to leap to Fiona first. The boss did as expected, vanishing from her starting location and reappearing in front of Fiona with a puff of black wisps. Her spear came down on Fiona hard, but Fiona was able to [Perfect Block] the attack to launch a counter of her own. Even with the block though, the attack did a significant chunk of Fiona¡¯s HP in damage. ¡°Healers, I¡¯m just gonna go full throttle. Sorry in advance.¡± Evan said, as he was no doubt planning to go entirely for [Perfect Blocks] instead of the safety of guaranteed damage reduction by holding the button instead. ¡°¡±Fine. We need to make up for Evie and I not really doing damage here, probably.¡± Ash said. ¡°We¡¯ll keep you alive.¡± ¡°Says you,¡± Evie scoffed. ¡°I¡¯m the one doing most of the heavy lifting-healing. But yeah, we got you.¡± Marissa worked her way through a reworked version of her opener, trying to keep an eye on the battle log as she launched attacks. Whenever she had [Master¡¯s Shot] available, she did her best to lock in and land those hits perfectly, and the two she fired off in her opener were direct weak point hits. The rest of her opener didn¡¯t seem to be doing much. She watched the damage numbers in the log pop up, but nothing came anywhere near her [Master¡¯s Shot] damage. Even when she landed critical hits or headshots. It seemed like it needed to be [Seeker¡¯s] actual [Weak Point] mechanic, which was either activated while charging her [Master¡¯s Shot] or using her [Master¡¯s Eye] buff, which gave her a six second window with an active [Weak Point] that she could target with any attack she had. Playing entirely around her [Master¡¯s Shot] wasn¡¯t entirely alien to her, given it was likely her best skill as a [Seeker], but it still felt off to practically ignore more than half of her kit. But they simply didn¡¯t do anything. [Scathach] wasn¡¯t taking the fight lying down, of course. While the party had seemed to more or less suss out their individual strategies, the boss went through her normal opening routine. She struck her weapons together like lighting a match, which exploded outward in her raid wide AoE. As the healers got everyone back into safe levels of HP, [Scathach¡¯s] attacks pounded against Fiona¡¯s shield. To Fiona¡¯s credit, she was [Perfect Blocking] more often than not, though a few attacks did get through. Evie was on top of the damage, healing with skills that she didn¡¯t normally use because she would be preoccupied with dealing whatever damage she could. But for this fight, those normally used skills did practically nothing. Evie¡¯s open rotation allowed for her to pump out more targeted healing than normal, which kept Fiona healthy despite the near misses. Thanks to the massive boost in available healing, Fiona and Aleister probably wouldn¡¯t even need to tank swap - at least because of mitigation as they previously thought, anyway. Given they weren''t even sure they could swap anyway, not needing to was great news. But when [Scathach] wound up for her stunning blow, Fiona was ready. Focused more on [Perfect Blocking] that attack than any other in particular, Fiona timed it perfectly, firing back with a high-damage [Counter]. ¡°That¡¯s the way!¡± [Scathach] shouted in response. The recoil animation from the [Perfect Block] also was long enough for Marissa to sneak in a [Master¡¯s Shot] and for Firo to land a [Soul Shatter]. Unlike the previous pull, however, neither seemed to pull her attention. That exchange confirmed Aleister''s idea for Firo, as he was evidently concerned he would pull [Scathach¡¯s] attention with the [Soul Shatter]. He sighed in relief and said, ¡°Fiona, keep landing those counters. Aleister was right - I think her aggro is decided by whoever is performing best.¡± ¡°Ha!¡± Evan said, sounded absolutely jubilant. ¡°Then Aegis is perfect for this! I can land counters all day!¡± Marissa found herself agreeing - [Aegis] would be able to hold [Scathach¡¯s] attention easily, if only because of the relative ease of access to their ¡°skillful play¡±. [Scathach] moved into her big ring attack, which the party easily got positioned for. The tanks took the initial hits with mitigation, blocking the damage for the rest of the party easily enough. As [Scathach] landed in the center of the arena after the attack, she turned right toward Fiona and began attacking again. With the party members knowing exactly how they each dealt damage now, they seemed to be making progress. Caoimhe¡¯s [Punishments] were landing well, despite the boss not actually being affected by [Stuns] or [Knockdowns]. She had a passive buff called [Armor of Shadows] that made her immune to the effects of status, but not the status itself. In practice, it meant that whenever someone landed a [Stun], [Knockdown], or other similar effect, [Scathach] received the debuff as normal, and it showed on her status read out, but she didn¡¯t receive the actual effect of being knocked down or stunned. Which was fine for Caoimhe, because she still got the damage bonus regardless. Nyx was having the hardest time of the DPS. Maneuvering into her big combo finishers - which were typically seven hits deep into her combo - was rough. [Scathach] did have long periods of being still that allowed her to get through multiple combo hits, but it required better positioning and timing than Nyx had probably realized. Unless she noticed real openings, she was stuck relying on combo skippers that gave her immediate access to later attacks in her combos, which had decent cooldowns attached. But she was getting damage out. [Scathach] went through another combo of attacks on Fiona - who managed to [Perfect Block] and [Counter] more than half of them - before moving into an attack the party had yet to see. ¡°Alright, then. Let¡¯s see you handle this!¡± She shouted and took one step back from Fiona, then held her spear up, the tip aimed directly at Fiona. As they had seen multiple times by now, wispy shadows gathered around the tip, and began to coalesce into a wide spear head. ¡°Everyone get ready,¡± Ash called, but everyone in the party was as locked in on this fight as they had ever been. One side of [Scathach¡¯s] spear head began to expand, and the shadows formed into a scythe-like blade extending on one side of the spear, while an axe head formed on the other. ¡°Here I come!¡± She said brightly, entirely at odds with the sinister visage of a shadowy-cloaked, scythe-wielding fighter. Once again she puffed away to smoke. Evan¡¯s game sense didn¡¯t let him down, though, when he immediately spun around 180 degrees and blocked. [Scathach] had teleported behind Fiona, hovering a little off the ground, and her scythe struck against Fiona¡¯s shield, the ting of a [Perfect Block] resounding around the arena. [Scathach] basically cheered, hovering just above Fiona¡¯s head. ¡°Yes!¡± She said, as she spun the scythe around in an mesmerizing flourish while floating a bit higher. The shadowy cloud around her gathered into wings behind her for just a moment before she plummeted back to the ground, trying to rend Fiona in two with the axe head on the back of the scythe. With the clear wind up, Fiona was able to time her [Perfect Guard] to intercept the attack, and on instinct blasted [Scathach] with [Countermeasure]. It turned out to be the right move, as Evie squeaked and scrambled to heal the nearly fatal blow that had left Fiona with double digit HP. ¡°That was a buster, no doubt in my mind.¡± Ash said calmly while also throwing out heals to help Evie. ¡°No shit?¡± Evie shot back. ¡°Still standing after that?¡± [Scathach] marveled. ¡°Impressive. I suppose I shall have to try harder then - do try to keep me interested.¡± Her nonchalance apparently triggered her daughter, who had been watching from outside the pasture¡¯s fence. ¡°Mother! They¡¯re talented! Don¡¯t kill them, please!¡± [Uathach] shouted. ¡°Love that.¡± Nyx said wryly. ¡°At least the game is warning us?¡± Firo chuckled. ¡°Y¡¯all, get ready. We win this one on this pull, you hear me?¡± Evan declared, ¡°I can feel it.¡± ¡°You sure that¡¯s not the lack of sleep there, bud?¡± Kieran joked, but Evan seemed to wave it away. ¡°Nah. We got this.¡± ¡°Yeah, alright,¡± Marissa said, hoping that Evan was right. ¡°Prove it to us, Fiona. Lead us to victory!¡± ¡°Yes, ma¡¯am!¡± Marissa bit her tongue. She would not berate him for calling her ¡°ma¡¯am¡±. Not right then, at least. Chapter 64 : Impressing a Shadow
Party List
Hibiscus Jade (Marissa Harper) [Arrow] : [Seeker] 11,000 / 11,000 9,030 / 11,000
Aleister Demian (Jasmine Burch) [War] : [Ebon] 10,700 / 11,000 6,400 / 11,000
Fiona Woods (Evan Woods) [Plate] : [Aegis] 6,590 / 11,000 7,640 / 11,000
Evie Lucian (Cassandra Bailey) [Soul] : [Radiance] 11,000 / 11,000 8,900 / 11,000
Mellody Softsong (Ashton Burch) [Muse] : [Revel] 11,000 / 11,000 7,440 / 11,000
Caoimhe Phadraig (Kieran Moor) [Slayer] : [Tyrant] 11,000 / 11,000 8,900 / 11,000
Firo Strix (Blake Walker) [Mage] : [Invoker] 11,000 / 11,000 3,300 / 11,000
Nyx Alaion (Zoe Fox) [Shroud] : [Knife] 11,000 / 11,000 8,840 / 11,000
Marissa After [Uathach] very nicely asked her mother not to kill the party and Evan vowed that the group would win on this attempt, Marissa found it hard not to get in the spirit of it all. Sure, she may typically consider herself a pessimist by most standards. Or at least she had heard something along the lines of ¡°If you always expect things to go poorly, then when things go well you¡¯ll always be happier,¡± and she had somewhat taken that statement to heart. It was so much easier to deal with disappointment when you were prepared for it. But that didn¡¯t mean that she was immune to hype. And more than that, she could easily get carried away in excitement - hell, that sort of go-with-the-flow mentality coupled with her general disposition of wanting to be helpful was how she ended up all but owning a bakery. And as Evan shouted a charge in the voice chat while Fiona ran headlong at [Scathach], Marissa was caught up in it all. She wasn¡¯t the only one either. Kieran and Nyx were both shouting with Evan as they charged just a step behind Fiona. There was a fun, laughing quality to their shouts that was simply infectious, and Marissa didn¡¯t really feel much like staying grounded this time. She wanted to be lost in the moment, and one of the reasons she liked games so much was because of their ability to really bring the hype when it mattered. Marissa shouted with everyone else as she triggered [Critical Eye] and lined up a [Master¡¯s Shot]. This was her opportunity to deal the most damage, she despite the shouting, she put most of her concentration on making sure the attack landed. ¡°That¡¯s the way!¡± [Scathach] shouted as she turned back toward the advancing party. ¡°Give it your all! I will accept nothing less!¡± Fiona closed the distance to the boss with a [Shield Charge], a rushing attack that ended in a shield bash that would [Stun]. Of course, [Scathach] basically ignored the [Stun] effect thanks to her [Armor of Shadow], but it still allowed Caoimhe to [Driver] in and land a free [Punishment]. [Scathach] held her spear up to gather shadows around it again, and Marissa took that moment to land her [Master¡¯s Shot] perfectly. Firo took the short gap to land a [Soul Shatter] as well, while the boss was immobile. Nyx must have used one of her cooldowns to skip her combo, because Marissa also watched as she [Shadow Slipped] her way behind [Scathach] and immediately launched into [Dancing Ravens], one of her advanced combo enders that had its own cooldown in addition to being locked behind the full combo. Its damage was worth the extra downsides. [Scathach¡¯s] charging animation didn¡¯t last all that long before she transitioned into attacking Fiona again with her spear. Fiona was immediately on the back foot again, as the attack pattern was one they had not seen before. Fiona did a remarkable job of managing to [Perfect Block] and [Counter] the attacks, despite not having seen them before. Evie and Mellody needed to pour on the single target healing to keep Fiona alive thanks to the occasional missed block, but Fiona really had no choice but to risk it - if ¡°impressing¡± [Scathach] was how a player generated [Threat] in this fight, [Counters] were the most important thing Fiona could do. The rest of the party continued to work through their normal attacks, despite them not really having much effect as [Scathach] moved through her newer attack string. Four attacks in, however, Fiona missed a block and froze. ¡°Shit. Stunned,¡± Evan growled. ¡°Get ready for something-¡± Evan was cut off as [Scathach] leapt into the air, holding her spear in a reverse grip and preparing to throw it. Once again, shadows seemed to hold her aloft while the spear gathered wisps of darkness and formed into the twisted looking drill-lance that she had thrown in the first pull. ¡°Try this!¡± [Scathach] yelled as she launched the spear at the ground in the center of the arena. The group had seen this attack completely obliterate Aleister previously when he had intercepted the attack before it hit the ground. Marissa considered their known options, which wasn¡¯t many. She assumed that the lance hitting the ground would probably cause a massive AoE that would likely wipe the party. She didn¡¯t like the idea of sacrificing someone to survive, but at the minute, they didn¡¯t really have any other options they knew of. Her quick thinking didn¡¯t really matter either way, as Aleister was already positioned under the lance and ready to intercept it anyway. ¡°Y¡¯all better get me up quick,¡± Jazz said, as she took the attack. Just like the first time, the lance shot through Aleister and landed in the ground devoid of whatever power it had. Their tank was still dead though, lying on the ground. ¡°Oh,¡± [Scathach] hissed. ¡°Well, you¡¯ll be fine. Probably.¡± She resummoned the lance to her, as the shadows around her lightly carried her to the ground. It wasn¡¯t quite a long enough floating animation for Evie to get her whole [Resurrection] cast out, which left Mellody to handle the healing for a moment while the boss returned to laying into Fiona. ¡°Alright! That was still an obscene amount of damage.¡± Jazz said as Aleister was returned to life. ¡°The main thing is that it was over 100k, so we couldn¡¯t split it as a party.¡± ¡°That answers my question then,¡± Ash said. ¡°I considered that it may have been a stack to share the damage but I guess not.¡± If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. ¡°Could just be a timer type mechanic. If we allow her to get too many of those, we just wipe via lack of rezzes.¡± Firo offered. ¡°Makes as much sense as anything else,¡± Jazz grumbled as she moved to re-engage with the boss. ¡°Sorry, Hun,¡± Ash said, although he didn¡¯t actually sound all that sorry, ¡°Sacrificing you for the good of the party seems like the way to go here.¡± ¡°Alright, jackass,¡± Jazz shot back, ¡°But you all owe me when we¡¯re done here.¡± ¡°Sounds fair.¡± Marissa said with a shrug. She¡¯d send Jazz a giftcard for a coffee or something as a joke. ¡°Hey guys, focus up.¡± Evan said, trying to get everyone to mentally reset as he struggled to fight off the boss. Caoimhe and Nyx were still locked in, doing what they could as Fiona held [Scathach] in place with her blocks. ¡°Sorry, sorry!¡± Marissa said, which was echoed by the others. She quickly readjusted and launched a few attacks before [Master¡¯s Shot] came off cooldown again, allowing her to actually do some damage. [Scathach¡¯s] HP read out said she was around 80%, which was far better than they had managed so far. Marissa still wasn¡¯t sure exactly what they had to get her to for the fight to end, but she could only imagine that it wasn¡¯t zero, or they would be here for far too long. As Fiona landed two more [Counters] in a row against [Scathach¡¯s] basic attacks and cheered, the boss¡¯ attack pattern changed. After trying to run Fiona through with her spear for a while, [Scathach] spun into a horizontal cut with her sword. The attack came out too fast for Fiona block, which immediately prepared everyone for the worst when Fiona¡¯s HP dropped into the red of triple digits. But [Scathach] didn¡¯t capitalize on the opening. Instead, the woman paused, and looked over the party as if inspecting everyone again. After a few seconds she nodded. ¡°Very well. You¡¯ve proven to me that you are all talented in your fields.¡± The party chat erupted in cheers for a moment, before [Scathach] continued. ¡°But I¡¯ve also taken it easy on you so far. You¡¯ve proved to me that your ability to fight is sufficient. Now, prove to me that you can survive.¡± The chat went silent as [Scathach] hopped back from Fiona, gathering shadows around her weapons again. Both of them this time, which immediately set Marissa on edge. ¡°Oh, great,¡± Jazz said. ¡°So now what?¡± ¡°Ten bucks says it¡¯s a mechanical rush.¡± Kieran said. ¡°Agreed.¡± Firo said. ¡°Get ready for AoEs out the ass.¡± ¡°Great.¡± Nyx said, and popped [Cloak], immediately entering [Stealth]. ¡°I wish you all luck, I¡¯m going to find a corner to hide in.¡± ¡°Nyx,¡± Evie said, warning her friend against simply leaving the party high and dry. ¡°No, let her do it.¡± Marissa said, thinking back to the group¡¯s first fight with [Cu]. ¡°We won the fight with [Cu] because I basically ran and hid. I¡¯m not mad at it.¡± ¡°If you do it, just make sure you survive.¡± Ash said. ¡°Right,¡± Nyx agreed as she began to trot off toward the edge of the arena. ¡°Oh, you silly little [Shroud]. I see you.¡± [Scathach] taunted as Nyx tried to slip away. There was almost no gap between the voice line and the boss¡¯ spear being launched at Nyx. Luckily for the party, Nyx was able to [Shadow Slip] back to the group, appearing behind Caoimhe in an instant. Evidently, she didn¡¯t trust her ability to get away safely. ¡°What the actual fuck?¡± Nyx growled. ¡°That¡¯s some bullshit right there!¡± ¡°Eh. It tracks with the fight so far. She¡¯s too strong for us to cheese like that.¡± Kieran said. ¡°I suppose,¡± Nyx sighed. ¡°It looks like I bought us a bit more time, though.¡± She was right - [Scathach] had thrown her spear at Nyx, which had interrupted her ability to prepare for the next phase. She had to recall her spear and began the gathering shadows animation again. ¡°Right then.¡± Ash said, taking charge, ¡°everyone spread out, but not so far that we can¡¯t stack if we have to. Otherwise¡­I dunno, man. Survive?¡± He laughed, and Marissa did too. There wasn¡¯t much to be done in the face of an oncoming onslaught of mechanics. Assuming that was indeed what they got. When [Scathach¡¯s] body burst with a huge flash of darkness, Marissa redoubled her focus. Her weapons looked like absolute monstrosities that probably wouldn¡¯t be counted among their base weapon types any longer. The spear looked more like a bare tree, with sharp branches shooting off in various angles. It looked much more like [Cu¡¯s] Gae Bulg, though made of ever shifting shadows rather than the bloody sharp edges of steel that [Cu] employed. The sword had morphed into something more akin to a massive slab of metal on a stick. It was still made of the oily, shifting shadows, but it clearly drew inspiration from many of the classic greatswords of pop culture, being far too large for [Scathach] to wield if not for being superhuman. ¡°Here I come!¡± [Scathach] shouted, and then she vanished in a puff of smoke. It was far from the first time they had seen her teleport like that, so everyone¡¯s focus immediately moved to scan the ground. ¡°Bisky, behind you!¡± Kieran shouted, and Marissa reacted before she actually processed anything. She spun her camera around to face the boss who had appeared behind her, already mid-swing with her sword, and triggered [Backstep]. Hibiscus shot backward, narrowly avoiding the swing. Marissa imagined if this weren¡¯t a game, the tip of the blade would¡¯ve cut the tip of her nose with how close the timing was. [Scathach] wasn¡¯t finished, though. Immediately following the slash, she lunged toward Evie who had been next in the circle with her spear. Thankfully, everyone was ready and had eyes on the boss after the near-miss with Bisky, and Evie was able to avoid the thrust. Almost immediately after the missed attack was confirmed, [Scathach] once again vanished in a puff of shadows. Marissa took the gamble that she wouldn¡¯t be the target this time, and readied a [Master¡¯s Shot], hoping to catch the boss when she reappeared. ¡°Over here!¡± Jazz shouted, as she hurriedly used [Ebony Guard] to try to avoid as much damage from the attack as possible. The boss¡¯ attack still took a chunk off of Aleister¡¯s HP, despite the guard and mitigation skills, but it didn¡¯t kill him outright. [Scathach] didn¡¯t miss a beat as she immediately turned toward Nyx who was nearby and swung her massive sword toward her. ¡°Gotcha, bitch.¡± Nyx grinned as she triggered [Shadow Slip], teleporting behind [Scathach] while she was swinging the massive sword. Nyx decided to go all in, triggering a combo-skipping skill again, and moving into [Death¡¯s Dance], her basic single-target combo ender. Marissa also took the moment of animation lock to let her attack fly, landing it squarely on [Scathach¡¯s] head. As Nyx let loose with a massive flurry of attacks against [Scathach¡¯s] back, the boss seemed to barely care. As soon as her attack animation was finished, she puffed away again, leaving Nyx striking the air. Nyx cursed as [Scathach] reappeared behind Firo, already mid-swing. Without any warning, Firo [Blinked] away, sensing the danger. As soon as he reappeared, he turned and angled a [Soul Shatter] at the boss, knowing that she had attacked two targets in every assault. And sure enough, [Scathach] used the torque from the sword swing to pivot into a spear thrust aimed at Mellody. The distinct glass-shattering sound that indicated [Soul Shatter] landing perfectly rang out as Mellody used [Puddle Jumper] to escape the thrust. Caoimhe and Fiona were the last two targeted by the teleporting attack combo, and Fiona managed to land a [Perfect Block] and [Counter], having seen the attack several times before her turn. Caoimhe had perhaps made the most skillful play, using [Deflection] to [Parry] the attack. It required perfect timing, similar to a [Perfect Block], but also had an added requirement of aiming at the incoming attack. Caoimhe pulled it off flawlessly, and followed up with her [Counter], [Infliction], and flowed into a [Punishment] from there. When [Scathach] vanished after that, she reappeared in the center of the arena, hovering over the party¡¯s heads. She held both of her weapons out to the side, and let them go. They floated there for a moment while the boss looked down on the party, and then the weapons began to fuzz at the edges. The sword morphed noticeably, into a figure more akin to a thin rapier or other thrusting sword. The spear followed suit, growing thinner and more needle-like. And then they both fuzzed again, and began to multiply, fanning out in the sky like a rain of arrows. ¡°And now, your final test!¡± [Scathach] shouted. There was a seductive, laughing lilt to her voice that left Marissa thoroughly impressed by the voice actress. She had absolutely nailed the line. ¡°Run.¡± And suddenly, areas of their pasture arena began to turn red. The bright red AoE markers were circles, and they were coming and going quickly, before a spear or sword landed in the spot, erupting in a shadowy explosion. ¡°Everyone for themselves!¡± Evan said, laughing. The party had immediately begun running around in chaos, trying to avoid the sudden rain of AoEs. If Marissa were honest, she loved AoE dodging mechanics like this. A lot of their party - and MMO players at large, she was sure - did, too. It was fun, active, and exciting, as everyone ran around trying to avoid whatever nearest red circle appeared next. They didn¡¯t even come in regulated waves at first, with the AoE eruptions being seemingly random. ¡°Stay on your toes, I think we got this!¡± Ash shouted. And then [Scathach] flashed with darkness and the pattern changed. Rather than the random circles, suddenly there was a moving fan pattern on the ground that rotated with each new group of attacks, forcing the party to run around the arena in short bursts. There were two more groups of patterns, with phase changes triggered by [Scathach] flashing in the air as warning. On the fourth round, which consisted of two circles of AoEs - one expanding and the other shrinking - Nyx got clipped by one of the AoEs by accident, and the damage put her in the dirt immediately. ¡°Oh, you¡¯ve gotta be shitting me!¡± Nyx shouted, and the laughing among the group started up again, but it carried a sort of nervous edge. AoEs like this were expected, but ones powerful enough to one-shot PCs weren¡¯t common. They had all expected a little bit of breathing room. Apparently [Scathach] wasn¡¯t that nice. After that round of AoEs ran their course, [Scathach] floated down to hover just above the ground in the center of the arena, and there were still plenty of weapons floating above the party¡¯s heads. ¡°Not yet, not yet!¡± [Scathach] yelled, and then began throwing AoEs from her position. They started as line AoEs, each targeting a specific party member, but they were coming fast. If two people dodged in the same direction, they were liable to get each other killed. ¡°Dodge clockwise! Clockwise!¡± Firo shouted, trying to get everyone uniform in their movement. But almost immediately after Firo shouted it, Mellody dodged counter-clockwise around the boss, and ended up getting a face full of Evie¡¯s AoE. ¡°Wait, what?¡± ¡°Bro, that was counter-clockwise.¡± Kieran said, his laughter more genuine than before. ¡°No, it wasn¡¯t!¡± Ash said on instinct, then followed it a breath later with, ¡°Wait, fuck, it was. Dammit!¡± [Scathach] went through four more patterns of AoEs. They included more targeted attacks, but also AoEs that moved away from her in sequences, and even a round of fully random ones again. When there were an actual countable amount of weapons remaining in the sky, Marissa was ready to breathe a sigh of relief. It seemed like the fight was finally just about over, but [Scathach] apparently had one final trick for them. The boss reached above her head, connecting to all of the remaining weapons above them with a wisp of shadow. ¡°And now the curtain falls!¡± The entire floor turned red. There wasn¡¯t a single safe spot remaining, as each weapon was ready to drop straight down. ¡°I¡¯ve got an idea!¡± Evie said, and immediately moved to [Skip Cast] [Resurrection], allowing her to immediately cast the spell on Nyx. ¡°I gotcha.¡± Nyx said, knowing the plan immediately. It was a fairly common cheese strategy - if Nyx could time her [Resurrection] right, she could come upright as the others all died. If they only needed to survive this attack, that could conceivably claim them the victory. ¡°Gather near me!¡± Marissa shouted, unwilling to risk the fight at this point without trying whatever she could. As everyone moved, trusting her, Marissa aimed up and unleashed a flurry of attacks against the weapon floating directly above her. As soon as Firo saw her strategy, he joined her, and together they were able to just barely destroy the weapon before they all fell. It left the group a tiny little safe zone to squeeze into, as the remaining AoEs all overlapped around them. Fiona stood several feet away from the party, and simply ate four of the various falling weapons, but had taken no damage thanks to [Final Vigil]. Evan scoffed as the rest of the party huddled together to avoid death. ¡°That barely tickled.¡± He laughed. Chapter 65 : Permission
Party List
Hibiscus Jade (Marissa Harper) [Arrow] : [Seeker] 7,840 / 11,000 8,830 / 11,000
Aleister Demian (Jasmine Burch) [War] : [Ebon] 6,050/ 11,000 8,940 / 11,000
Fiona Woods (Evan Woods) [Plate] : [Aegis] 11,000 / 11,000 5,290 / 11,000
Evie Lucian (Cassandra Bailey) [Soul] : [Radiance] 9,500 / 11,000 3,800 / 11,000
Mellody Softsong (Ashton Burch) [Muse] : [Revel] 0 / 11,000 0 / 11,000
Caoimhe Phadraig (Kieran Moor) [Slayer] : [Tyrant] 8,940 / 11,000 9,730 / 11,000
Firo Strix (Blake Walker) [Mage] : [Invoker] 6,300 / 11,000 8,920 / 11,000
Nyx Alaion (Zoe Fox) [Shroud] : [Knife] 0 / 11,000 0 / 11,000
Marissa As what remained of the party stood huddled together and Evan laughed off the attack thanks to the [Final Vigil] skill, [Scathach] seemed to relax. The swirling vortex of shadows that had been surrounding her dissipated, and her [Armor of Shadows] slowly melted off of her body and sunk back into the ground. ¡°Well fought. And survived!¡± [Scathach] said, as she walked over to the party, who was huddled off to the side of the pasture they had fought in. Evie was already mid-cast to get Nyx and Mellody back up, now that the battle was no longer a concern. They hadn¡¯t left the instance yet, though, so more combat was a small possibility. Marissa thought it was unlikely though, and was just for story purposes. ¡°Now then,¡± [Scathach] said, and motioned over to her daughter to join them on the field. ¡°[Uathach], you were right that these folk are stronger than most of the other warriors we have at our disposal. Thank you for bringing them to me.¡± ¡°Yes, mother!¡± [Uathach] said, saluting the traditional [Tuatha d¨¦] salute, crossing her left arm across her body and making a small bow from the waist. ¡°When you suggested we make use of them, what did you have in mind, [Uathach]?¡± [Uathach] suddenly seemed less a cunning and dangerous general, and more like a young woman worried about saying the wrong thing to her mother - and superior. ¡°I don¡¯t know. They fought brilliantly under my command, and while I would love to have them stay with me, it feels as though they would be better utilized elsewhere.¡± [Scathach] snorted. Marissa couldn¡¯t tell through the screen whether it was meant to be dismissive or caring, but [Scathach] said, ¡°And here I thought you had brought it up to suggest they be the ones to talk with the [Dagda].¡± [Uathach] seemed taken aback and scrambled to say, ¡°No, I wouldn¡¯t suggest -¡± ¡°It¡¯s fine, daughter,¡± [Scathach] said, her voice softening some before she turned toward the party. ¡°I believe I will have them accompany me for the time being. They were last minute arrivals to the defense of the city, and therefore aren¡¯t accounted for in our defense plans. If we¡¯re about to send some people to get us permission, then they will do nicely, I think.¡± ¡°Yes, mother.¡± [Uathach] said, once again saluting. ¡°Would you like me to accompany you for your visit?¡± ¡°No, that¡¯s alright.¡± [Scathach] said, waving back toward the rest of the cavalry unit. ¡°Go see to your men and your horse. I¡¯m sure that he would like a break before you¡¯re sent out again.¡± ¡°Understood.¡± [Uathach] said with a final salute before she trotted down the path to regroup with her unit. [Scathach] watched her go and nodded before spinning on a heel. ¡°Follow me. We¡¯ll go meet with the [Dagda] before we make any more decisions.¡± The woman waved to [Cu], who had been waiting in the wings for the fight to finish. As he jogged over, [Scathach] began the trek up a dirt road to the higher center portion of the city. The party chatted easily as they followed the NPCs through the upper portion of the city. While [Gorias] wasn¡¯t in a particularly bad state despite being under siege, it had clearly seen better days. Some of the buildings were in need of repairs, and the road, which had probably been cobblestone at one point, was missing stones here and there, giving it the impression of an unkempt dirt road that hadn¡¯t been cleaned. When they started approaching the actual center of the city, however, things became much less haphazard. The buildings were well maintained, and the road was no longer cobblestone, but fully paved with some kind of unbroken material. And in the dead center of it all was a looming building that looked akin to a castle, though not sprawling like many were. It was well contained, consisting mostly of three towers, connected by various stone walkways that looked almost unnatural. But the base that each of the towers sprung from was still impressive, despite being not much larger than a two or three story house. ¡°The [Dagda¡¯s] home.¡± [Scathach] said, as she led their group to the door. There was a magical seal covering the entryway, that she simply walked through before waving everyone else in. ¡°The outside is maybe not as impressive as you may expect for the ruler of the [Tuatha D¨¦ Danann], but he¡¯s never been much for showing off.¡± ¡°This is where the leader of the gods lives?¡± Nyx asked, sounding disappointed. If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. ¡°I guess so,¡± Kieran said. ¡°To be fair, while the Dagda is usually considered the leader of the gods, he¡¯s not exactly the¡­exorbitant type? If anything, this might even be too grand for how I believe he is generally portrayed.¡± ¡°Oh, really?¡± ¡°Yeah,¡± Kieran said, ¡°Typically, the Dagda has more of an ancient druid type vibe. Old man, big beard, hooded cloak, the whole deal.¡± When [Scathach] traversed the full first room and opened a door that led into the heart of the small castle, everyone had to readjust their feelings on the space. It suddenly made sense why the place was a few stories high from the outside, but not ridiculously big. It simply didn¡¯t need to be. The inner room of the castle was larger than the outside of it, resembling a druidic circle. The whole interior was flush with plants and vibrant with life. The room was beautiful, covered in plants of so many colors - both natural and unnatural - that Marissa was suddenly jealous that she couldn¡¯t simply spend all her time idling in the space. And she desperately wanted to take some pictures of Hibiscus in that room. [Scathach] laughed. ¡°Gorgeous, isn¡¯t it? This place is truly something special.¡± She motioned to either side of them as they followed her down a small footpath. ¡°Many of the plants here come from all over the world, but there are also plenty that are from the [Other World] as well. The [Dagda¡¯s] magic and connection to the [Other World] keeps them alive.¡± ¡°Can I just live here?¡± Marissa said aloud. ¡°Maybe there¡¯s a Fae Circle location here somewhere so I can come back.¡± Kieran and Firo both laughed, while Nyx said, ¡°I doubt it.¡± ¡°I dunno,¡± Jazz said, ¡°There is a Fae Circle location in the Great Library.¡± ¡°True. And I still don¡¯t think we¡¯re ever going to need to go back there,¡± Ash said. ¡°I guess maybe it¡¯s possible.¡± ¡°[Scathach]. [Cu]. I see you have brought guests. How fares the battle?¡± A booming voice cut off the conversation, as it seemed to come from every direction thanks to Marissa¡¯s headphones. ¡°Damn, dude sounds bad ass.¡± ¡°Old though.¡± ¡°[Dagda].¡± [Scathach] and [Cu] both said and saluted, while performing a deeper bow than was traditional for the salute. For fun, Marissa typed out a quick ¡°/salute¡±, prompting Hibiscus to follow the motion. She grinned when she heard her friends chuckle, but many followed the motion as well. ¡°Ah, I see your new companions are well mannered.¡± the [Dagda] said. ¡°Come, what is it you need to discuss with me?¡± As the party joked about how cool it was that the NPC had probably just noticed they all saluted, the [Dagda] appeared from behind a curtain of plants nearby. Kieran had been pretty spot on with his description, so the game devs must have not changed too much design-wise. The [Dagda] was a tall man. Despite wearing a hooded cloak that looked to be made of a soft velvet, his build was clearly muscular and dangerous. He was older, yes, but the wrinkles on his visible face and the large beard covering it didn¡¯t take away from his intimidation factor. He walked with a staff, although it didn¡¯t appear that he used it as a walking aid of any kind. And while the staff looked like it was made of gnarled wood, the top and bottom both had a knot of wood that glowed with internal light. The bottom portion of the staff had a green glow to it, and every time the staff touched the ground, grass and small flowers sprouted around it. The top of the staff glowed with a more sinister looking purple color. While Marissa was considering what it symbolized, she watched it brush past some hanging plants, which immediately began to shrivel and fall from their vines. ¡°A staff that carries the power of both life and death.¡± Kieran said, as if repeating a bit from a textbook. ¡°That¡¯s still pretty classic for him.¡± [Cu] bowed again, and stepped back to allow [Scathach] to lead their side of the conversation. ¡°[Dagda], the Fomorians seem to be preparing to raid us with wyvern.¡± She said, producing the papers that [Uathach] had retrieved in a puff of black smoke. ¡°We¡¯re going to need to be able to fight in the skies if we have any hope of holding the city.¡± ¡°I see.¡± the [Dagda] said, leaning comfortably on his staff while he reached to take the papers. ¡°You are correct, at least, that we don¡¯t currently have any reliable way to hold off an attack from the air.¡± ¡°We could conceivably line the walls with more ballistae, but I¡¯m not confident that we¡¯d be able to hold off the number of wyvern that their plans seem to indicate. And while the barrier around the city will no doubt hold against the assault for a while, without a way to remove the threat, it will eventually be torn through.¡± ¡°And your plan, then?¡± the [Dagda] asked, sounding as if he already suspected the answer. ¡°My first thought was to contact [¨¢ine] regarding the current restriction on flight.¡± [Scathach] said. ¡°I know that the restriction has been something that has been in place for nearly a millennium now, but with the Fomorian threat looming so close that they are actively sieging one of our cities¡­perhaps it¡¯s time to approach [¨¢ine] and see if she is willing to cooperate with us again.¡± The [Dagda] chuckled. ¡°You know as well as I do why [¨¢ine] has locked away the ability of flight. And we of the [Aes S¨ªdhe] agreed to the demand as recompense. Do you really believe that [¨¢ine] would simply break such an agreement?¡± ¡°I can¡¯t say with any certainty, no.¡± [Scathach] said hesitantly. ¡°Still, it seems worth a try. When the [Aes S¨ªdhe] agreed to binding themselves, the Fomorians weren¡¯t a significant threat. They are now. And if we fall, the [Seelie Court] would be next.¡± ¡°So you think the potential danger to the [Court] would be enough for [¨¢ine] to drop her restrictions.¡± ¡°It seems¡­reasonable.¡± [Scathach] said, sounding somewhat petulant. The [Dagda] considered the idea for moment, then nodded. ¡°Very well. I can send some envoys to the [Other World]. If they travel from here, they will arrive in the [Seelie Court], and face minimal danger. Hopefully.¡± He faced [Scathach] again with a warm smile. ¡°I¡¯ve been in contact with [¨¢ine] for a long time now. Maybe she¡¯s come around some. Or perhaps she will find a new way forward.¡± He chuckled to himself. ¡°Wouldn¡¯t that be nice.¡± Then the [Dagda¡¯s] attention turned to the party. ¡°And I imagine this is why you brought this group with you?¡± ¡°I believe they will be sufficient to convince [¨¢ine] that our need is dire, yes.¡± [Scathach] said. ¡°They proved themselves to me through battle as well. I believe if [¨¢ine] chooses to test them, they will pass. Unless she chooses to be deliberately unfair.¡± ¡°We all know that the [Queen of the Seelie Court] will play tricks if she wishes.¡± the [Dagda] said. ¡°If you believe this is the best course of action, however, I will back you. Perhaps this could be the beginning of a new alliance with the [Seelie Court].¡± ¡°We can hope.¡± [Scathach] said. The [Dagda] nodded motioning to the room with a hand. ¡°Take a moment to rest here. Explain the situation as you know it to the envoys, so they know at least some of what they are agreeing to before we send them. Make sure they understand what they are choosing to do before they step through my portal.¡± ¡°I understand.¡± [Scathach] said, and then she saluted, once again with a deeper than normal bow. ¡°We will take our leave for the moment then.¡± ¡°Come find me when you are ready.¡± The [Dagda] intoned, before turning to walk back into the mess of plants. [Scathach] waited a moment longer before turning to the party. ¡°There you have it. Let us take a break for the moment, and I will answer any questions you have. I imagine a lot of our conversation just now meant very little to you.¡± [Cu] walked up then, and joked, ¡°Most people these days don¡¯t know anything about the [Flight Pact], let alone [¨¢ine] and the [Seelie Court]. For that matter, even the Fae among the [Aes S¨ªdhe] are mostly too young to know most of their own history.¡± [Scathach] visibly sighed, rolling not just her eyes, but her entire head to make her exasperation known through the screen. ¡°Yes, [Cu], thank you for that. That¡¯s why we¡¯re going to go have a chat about it.¡± ¡°Good.¡± He said, suddenly more serious. ¡°Don¡¯t send anyone into the [Other World] unprepared for what¡¯s there. I don¡¯t care how talented or strong they may be - they need to know what¡¯s over there, waiting for them.¡± ¡°I¡¯m aware.¡± [Scathach] said flatly, then turned to lead the party back down the small foot path. Marissa heard several people remove their mute and deafen status in the chat, although she missed everyone turning them on in the first place. ¡°Yo. What the fuck is happening?¡± Jazz asked. ¡°I¡¯m not sure.¡± Evie said. ¡°I paid attention to most of the story up until now, but this is the first time I¡¯ve seen most of those terms. I¡¯ve seen mention of the Seelie Court in other series though.¡± ¡°Yeah,¡± Kieran said, ¡°I don¡¯t know anything about the agreement they were talking about, but I assume that¡¯s actual Mag Mell stuff. The Seelie Court and its queen though - that¡¯s pretty standard faerie stuff.¡± ¡°So¡­the ¡®other world¡¯ is-¡± ¡°The realm of the Fae, probably, yeah.¡± Kieran said. ¡°Great, I¡¯m sure that¡¯s going to be safe.¡± Evan said. ¡°You think they¡¯ll do anything crazy like try to trick us in dialogue to give away our names and shit?¡± Nyx asked. ¡°I have no idea.¡± Marissa said, following as [Scathach] led them off onto a different path than the one they followed in. A short ways down it, there was a small grove that looked like it had been designed to be a relaxing campsite, almost. There were downed logs and stumps perfect for sitting on, and even a fire pit in the middle. [Scathach] walked into the grove, and motioned for the party to sit down. ¡°Okay. We will relax here for the time being while I explain exactly what¡¯s going on. If you have any questions, feel free to ask me.¡± And then Marissa was greeted with a dialogue menu with several options, each inquiring about a different part of the lore drop they had just been handed. ¡°Did everyone get the prompts?¡± Ash asked. ¡°Yep.¡± ¡°So we¡¯re each in charge of our own explanation scene. That¡¯s cool.¡± Evan said. ¡°Alright, everybody. Going dark until we¡¯re done here.¡± Kieran said. ¡°Same. See y¡¯all on the other side.¡± Marissa said, and deafened the chat before locking into the cutscene. The game¡¯s story was finally drawing her in - especially when it felt like the ability to fly that she had been looking for from the beginning a year ago was so close. Chapter 66 : Chat
Party List
Hibiscus Jade (Marissa Harper) [Arrow] : [Seeker] 11,000 / 11,000 11,000 / 11,000
Aleister Demian (Jasmine Burch) [War] : [Ebon] 11,000 / 11,000 11,000 / 11,000
Fiona Woods (Evan Woods) [Plate] : [Aegis] 11,000 / 11,000 11,000 / 11,000
Evie Lucian (Cassandra Bailey) [Soul] : [Radiance] 11,000 / 11,000 11,000 / 11,000
Mellody Softsong (Ashton Burch) [Muse] : [Revel] 11,000 / 11,000 11,000 / 11,000
Caoimhe Phadraig (Kieran Moor) [Slayer] : [Tyrant] 11,000 / 11,000 11,000 / 11,000
Firo Strix (Blake Walker) [Mage] : [Invoker] 11,000 / 11,000 11,000 / 11,000
Nyx Alaion (Zoe Fox) [Shroud] : [Knife] 11,000 / 11,000 11,000 / 11,000
Marissa As [Scathach] moved to sit down on one of the stumps across from where Hibiscus had sat, Marissa eyed her dialogue options. There was no shortage of questions she could ask, many of them relatively inconsequential for her. She knew enough of the basic story of the game through osmosis thanks to Kieran, and what she had picked up throughout her time playing. The new information on the [Other World] and the like though - that intrigued her. She figured she would start small and work her way up to the stuff she wanted to know most. In the back of her mind, she knew that she had the party waiting on her in some ways, although she was pretty sure that at least Kieran would probably click through all of the available options for every bit of lore. Firo and Nyx might too, as they seemed like lore enjoyers as well, but she wasn¡¯t sure to what extent yet. Surely she had time. ¡°Can you give me a general breakdown of the current¡­situation?¡± Hibiscus asked. ¡°Yes, yes, I suppose starting there is good.¡± [Scathach] said, leaning back on her stump-seat. ¡°What part would you like to begin with?¡± ¡°How about what caused [¨¢ine] to ¡°lock away¡± flight?¡± ¡°Right. That¡¯s important information for you to have, and it¡¯s been lost to time in some ways, hasn¡¯t it?¡± A prompt that made Marissa chuckle came up, so she clicked it, interrupting [Scathach]. ¡°Just how old are you?¡± ¡°How -?¡± [Scathach] laughed. ¡°Well, let¡¯s just say older than I look. I¡¯ve stopped keeping track for the most part, especially with the travel between worlds. I would guess¡­a little more than a thousand?¡± Hibiscus nodded as [Scathach] continued, ¡°Now then, around¡­well, I don¡¯t actually know exactly when, to be honest, but well over a thousand years ago, the [Aes S¨ªdhe] left the [Other World] in favor of coming to this one. It was directly in opposition to [¨¢ine], who had wanted the Fae to live primarily on their side. Interference in the human world was one thing, but living there entirely was going to far.¡± While [Scathach] hadn¡¯t elaborated on it, Marissa¡¯s understanding was that the [Aes S¨ªdhe] consisted of all of the non-human playable races. The introduction of Mag Mell had been pretty clear about that much at least. The story was taking place in ¡°Mag Mell¡±, which was the name of the ¡°human world¡±. They had also been clear that all of the races, except for humans, had come to ¡°Mag Mell¡± at some time in the past, but they didn¡¯t dwell on that. If anything, the story had barely ever mentioned it again. ¡°There was a fairly small fight that broke out between the [Aes S¨ªdhe] that wanted to leave, and the rest of the Fae beings that wanted to listen to [¨¢ine]. The battle wasn¡¯t particularly nasty, all that full of bloodshed, or anything like that. However, as I¡¯m sure you¡¯re aware, many traditional Fae are¡­spiteful. [¨¢ine] was unhappy with how things went, but allowed the [Aes S¨ªdhe] to leave.¡± ¡°Some time after that, the Fomorians began to bridge the gap to the [Human World] as well, and that set off all sorts of battles and war. It was not a pleasant time, and while [¨¢ine] was still not on great terms with her people that left, she fought alongside them and the humans to control the Fomorian threat.¡± ¡°The battles were scattered over a wide swath of land and islands; [¨¢ine] didn¡¯t realize it until later on, but she was being used. The Fae have always been able to come and go to the [Human World], but they rarely stay long, and they often play tricks on the humans that they meet. It¡¯s something supposedly built into their very nature, but the humans weren¡¯t exactly pleased by it.¡± Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. ¡°With the help of some of the [Aes S¨ªdhe], the humans were able to manipulate the Fae that were helping them against the Fomorians. They sent them to defend places that were doomed to fall, or to battlefields to be used as fodder. They were used and manipulated in ways that the humans thought of as recompense for the way they had been tricked over the years.¡± ¡°While the humans and [Aes S¨ªdhe] managed to fight off the Fomorians, when [¨¢ine] finally found out what had happened, she was angry. She wanted remuneration for how the Fae were used, but the human side was adamant that it was fair.¡± ¡°The [Aes S¨ªdhe] at the time had ended up losing some of their leaders in the war, and that was around when the [Dagda] became their leader. He had shown great strength and wisdom during the war, but he had never been a supporter of the way the Fae had been used, and offered to talk with [¨¢ine] about the situation.¡± ¡°They eventually settled on the agreement that is currently in place. [¨¢ine] would remove the Fae¡¯s magic that allowed flight in the [Human World], as well as the ability for the [Aes S¨ªdhe] to travel freely between the [Worlds]. In return, the [Dagda] would watch over those that remained on the human side.¡± ¡°Then, why does no one ever mention any of this?¡± Hibiscus asked. ¡°Surely the [Aes S¨ªdhe] that remain here would want to know?¡± [Scathach] smiled sadly, ¡°My understanding is that most of the common folk that remained on this side took it poorly. One way or another, [¨¢ine] had been their Queen, and they took her acting against them personally. It also didn''t help that the way the Fae were used drove a massive wedge between the [Aes S¨ªdhe] and the rest of the Fae.¡± [Scathach] sighed. ¡°Whether there was a purge of knowledge, or they simply chose to not share as their children grew up, I don¡¯t know. But I imagine if you looked hard enough, you could find evidence of everything.¡± Marissa sat back in her chair, looking over the dialogue options while thinking about [Scathach¡¯s] story. She could understand the basics of it all, at least. And it mostly tracked with what she knew of Fae in other stories, too - they were always portrayed as tricksters, with a bit of a mean or even evil streak. ¡°So, what makes you think [¨¢ine] would return the magic we lost to us now?¡± Hibiscus asked. ¡°To be completely honest with you, I¡¯m not sure she will.¡± [Scathach] said. ¡°However, there is enough reason to try. If we fail to push back the Fomorians, they will eventually try to invade the [Other World] as well, so it is within [¨¢ine¡¯s] own interests to stop the Fomorian army from growing too powerful.¡± ¡°That makes sense.¡± ¡°That is the main reason, of course. In addition, giving the [Aes S¨ªdhe] that remain on this side the ability to fly once more is simply the most direct and useful way for us to respond to the incoming flying threat. Of course, we¡¯ll need a back up plan just in case [¨¢ine] refuses.¡± ¡°Finally,¡± [Scathach] continued, ¡°it would be wise on both sides of this rift to try to mend our ties. The Fomorians are no laughing matter. And while it is entirely understandable that [¨¢ine] would not want to subject her people to the abuse from this side again, it seems reasonable that she would be willing to start by granting us our natural power back.¡± Hibiscus nodded on Marissa¡¯s screen as the next set of choices popped up. There were still a fair number of things Marissa wanted to know, but the second option drew her interest the most. ¡°What do you think our chances are, realistically? Of convincing [¨¢ine], I mean.¡± Hibiscus said. ¡°Honestly? I think you have a fair shot. The [Dagda] has remained on good terms with [¨¢ine] for however long he has been in power, which is no short stretch of time. I believe sending a group like yours, who has no real memory of the time before flight was locked away, and is mostly innocent of your ancestors¡¯ crimes, might be to our advantage as well.¡± ¡°You¡¯re hoping that [¨¢ine] will see that the newer generations don¡¯t need to be punished any longer.¡± ¡°In a sense.¡± [Scathach] sighed. ¡°I think this generation at least deserves a chance to choose their sides for themselves. And a chance to reject the choices of those who are no longer a concern.¡± Marissa definitely agreed with that much, at least. It seemed that was the end of that branch of conversation, so she moved on to the next thing that interested her. ¡°You¡¯ve mentioned that you¡¯re very old, and were even alive before [¨¢ine] locked away flight. How is that¡­possible?¡± Hibiscus asked. [Scathach] chuckled. ¡°Just couldn¡¯t leave my age well enough alone, could you?¡± She paused a moment before continuing, ¡°Surely you know that Fae naturally have very long lives, yes? That longevity comes from a connection to the magic of the [Other World], and while [¨¢ine] has generally locked that connection away for the vast, vast majority of people living on this side, people who are strong enough with magic find ways to make their own connection to it.¡± As she spoke, [Scathach] opened her palm in front of her, making a wisp of shadow dance on her palm. ¡°I was born near the tail end of the first Fomorian War, and was very¡­.dedicated to learning warcraft - just in case things ever went badly again. I¡¯ll save you most of my story, but suffice to say my connection to [Shadow Magic] is strong enough to allow me a link to the [Other World].¡± ¡°Are there many others like you among the leaders of our side?¡± Hibiscus followed up. ¡°As in those with a connection to the [Other World]? There are some. The [Dagda], of course. You¡¯ve also met [Cu], and perhaps you¡¯ve met [Lugh]?¡± ¡°So the people that are generally referred to as gods or demigods, then.¡± Hibiscus said. ¡°Yes, though many of them don¡¯t like that term.¡± [Scathach] said. ¡°Still, you aren¡¯t wrong. Those that live significantly longer lives are often given that title, even when they act far from god-like.¡± Marissa snorted in her chair. She found she rather liked [Scathach], and wished that she had had the opportunity to sit down with more NPCs like this. Though she also had to admit to herself that she wasn¡¯t sure she would always be this interested. But this sort of lore was right up her alley. ¡°So, given the mission we¡¯re about to accept, is there anything you can tell us about the [Other World] that we should know?¡± was her next question. ¡°The [Dagda] said he¡¯ll be able to transport you straight to the [Seelie Court], which should keep you about as safe as possible. The [Other World] is very confusing and disorienting for most people on their first visit, and the Fae aren¡¯t exactly welcoming all the time, especially in the wilds. I don''t necessarily believe him, but I suppose it would be wise to mention that the [Dagda] continually assures me that [¨¢ine] is not an enemy as well.¡± ¡°That said, the [Seelie Court] isn¡¯t in the wilds. You¡¯ll end up in [¨¢ine¡¯s] actual palace, and will probably be directed straight to her, as I imagine the [Dagda] will have let her know to expect you. The only real advice I can give to you is to be careful what you say, what you agree to, and don¡¯t make anyone angry.¡± ¡°Hopefully it¡¯s as easy as you make it sound.¡± Hibiscus said. ¡°You should be able to recognize any real danger, I think. It¡¯s also likely that [¨¢ine] will test you in some way - the Fae love their riddles and ordeals. It may be in the form of a quiz, but she¡¯s just as likely to test your fighting strength herself.¡± ¡°[¨¢ine] can fight?¡± Hibiscus asked, surprised. ¡°Oh, she can do more than that. But yes, she is a talented fighter in her own right - though she mostly fights through magic. If she chooses to test you all herself, be wary of mental magic. She typically uses [Nature Magic] to fight, but will supplement it with mental or illusion attacks.¡± Marissa made a mental note of that. It was very good to know. And the way that [Scathach] was giving her this sort of information about it, Marissa suspected that [¨¢ine] herself would indeed be the next boss they would need to fight. She looked over the remaining dialogue options to see if there was anything else she wanted to know. She could ask more specific questions about the [Aes S¨ªdhe], and the individual races that were part of it. She admittedly didn¡¯t care too much about individual race lore too much, but there was at least one other question that caught her eye. ¡°If we do manage to convince [¨¢ine] to allow us to fly again, how would it work? I have wings, but would you need them?¡± Hibiscus asked. ¡°Ah, that is an interesting question,¡± [Scathach] mused, as she resituated herself to lean in toward Bisky. ¡°I actually don¡¯t know for sure. My limited understanding of it is that anyone will be able to make use of limited flight with some training. It¡¯s ultimately just utilizing a particular type of ambient magic.¡± [Scathach] leaned in a little bit further then, almost conspiratorially, ¡°Those of the [Aes S¨ªdhe] with wings will be able to fly much more easily, and will be able to do so more or less without limit.¡± She leaned back then and then laughed. ¡°I¡¯m honestly jealous of those of you with wings! I had to make my own in the end, and they still don¡¯t work all that well.¡± When she was brought back to the line up of questions again, Marissa looked over the rest of her choices once more. There wasn¡¯t much more that she felt she wanted to know at this point. She was sure that most of the information would get gobbled up by Kieran at least, if not the others. She scrolled down through the sizable list of remaining options, passing questions about the races, more about the [Other World], the [Human World], and even a few questions about [Scathach] herself. Marissa hesitated on those, because she was a little bit curious about the woman warrior¡¯s backstory, but she was also getting antsy to get moving. With a deep breath, she selected the final option, hoping that she might get the chance to talk with [Scathach] again at some point. ¡°I think we¡¯ve covered everything I need.¡± Hibiscus said, putting her hands on her thighs as if preparing to stand up. [Scathach] smiled. ¡°Very well, then. Let¡¯s hope this little gambit of ours pays off.¡± Chapter 67 : The Other World
Party List
Hibiscus Jade (Marissa Harper) [Arrow] : [Seeker] 11,000 / 11,000 11,000 / 11,000
Aleister Demian (Jasmine Burch) [War] : [Ebon] 11,000 / 11,000 11,000 / 11,000
Fiona Woods (Evan Woods) [Plate] : [Aegis] 11,000 / 11,000 11,000 / 11,000
Evie Lucian (Cassandra Bailey) [Soul] : [Radiance] 11,000 / 11,000 11,000 / 11,000
Mellody Softsong (Ashton Burch) [Muse] : [Revel] 11,000 / 11,000 11,000 / 11,000
Caoimhe Phadraig (Kieran Moor) [Slayer] : [Tyrant] 11,000 / 11,000 11,000 / 11,000
Firo Strix (Blake Walker) [Mage] : [Invoker] 11,000 / 11,000 11,000 / 11,000
Nyx Alaion (Zoe Fox) [Shroud] : [Knife] 11,000 / 11,000 11,000 / 11,000
Marissa Once Marissa was finished with her chat with [Scathach], the cutscene ended and she was able to move around the little grove they had settled in. The location was still gorgeous, and she didn¡¯t mind the chance to walk around it and inspect the plants a bit. She also unmuted herself in the chat, as it looked like Jazz, Evie, and Evan were already finished with their chats as well. Caoimhe, Firo, Mellody, and Nyx were all still seated on various stumps or logs around the clearing, with a [Busy] status next to their name, indicating they were still in cutscenes. There wasn¡¯t any active chatter in the voice channel, so Marissa took the moment to stand and go retrieve more tea, given that her mug was more than half empty. Since they were already not actually doing anything, refreshing the cup seemed like a good idea - as did the getting up and stretching part that came with it. Once she had retrieved a fresh mug of tea, she returned back to sit in her chair. She saw Aleister and Evie mulling around the room in the game, but they didn¡¯t say anything in the chat, even when Marissa asked what they thought about the whole current game scenario. She merely shrugged and leaned back in her chair, perfectly happy to just relax while they waited for the others to finish their own lore gathering. It took another few minutes before Firo and Mellody were no longer marked as [Busy], but neither spoke or moved around the room, so Marissa assumed they were just taking their own chance at a quick bathroom break or something. It was another five minute wait before Caoimhe and Nyx were also both finished, and Caoimhe was immediately jumping around the little grove, running in circles. ¡°I guess you liked the new lore, then, Caoimhe?¡± Marissa asked, but still didn¡¯t get a response. She waited a few seconds then said, ¡°Hello?¡± and looked over at her second screen, where the chat program was located. ¡°Oh, son of a bitch.¡± She muttered, as she moved to undeafen herself. ¡°- seems really cool. I can¡¯t wait for flight.¡± Jazz was saying. ¡°I bet you¡¯re going to regret not having wings.¡± Firo snarked. ¡°They may have been useless until now, but at last, my wings will have a purpose!¡± He laughed. ¡°I¡¯m actually curious how they¡¯ll balance that. Or rather, what the difference will be.¡± Jazz said. ¡°Scathach said that characters with wings will basically have unlimited flight, but it might be limited sometimes. Those without will be more limited, generally speaking,¡± Marissa said, rejoining the conversation. ¡°Oh, there she is.¡± Kieran said. ¡°Was wondering what happened to you, since we saw Bisky moving around.¡± ¡°...I may have muted myself by accident, or something. I thought I undeafened when I was finished, but apparently not.¡± ¡°Been there.¡± ¡°No kidding.¡± ¡°Well, at least you¡¯re back. And everyone is ready to move on?¡± Ash asked. ¡°Everyone run in a quick circle.¡± Marissa said, and watched as almost everyone did so. Nyx didn¡¯t move. ¡°Nyx?¡± Evie asked, but got no response. ¡°Probably bathroom?¡± Firo asked. "Probably. Anyone else need anything before she returns?" Evie asked. "I could really use a snack," Evan said. "Then go get one?" Jazz prompted. "I think I will." Evan said. And almost immediately after Evan got up, Nyx returned. "Back. What''d I miss?" She asked. "Nothing much. We''re just taking turns again." Marissa sighed. "Oh?" "Fiona just got up for a snack." "Ah." Find this and other great novels on the author''s preferred platform. Support original creators! It was just another minute before Fiona returned, and the sound of a bag of chips or pretzels crinkling in the background could be heard. Before anyone could actually joke about it though, Kieran jumped in. ¡°Y¡¯all, we¡¯re all here and losing what¡¯s left of the night. Let¡¯s get rolling.¡± ¡°Agreed.¡± Marissa snickered. ¡°Sounds good.¡± As Marissa interacted with [Scathach] to move the party on, she could hear Evan''s snacking coming through the mic. "Bro," Kieran spoke up first, "You gotta mute yourself while you''re chewing. Please." "Oh. Sorry." Evan said, then went entirely silent. Once the [Scenario] was back under way, the party followed [Scathach] out of the grove and back down the footpath. She led them back around to the area where they had met with the [Dagda] a bit before, and he was there waiting for them. ¡°Is everything in order, then?¡± he asked. ¡°I believe so. They should be able to manage, at least.¡± [Scathach] said. ¡°If you have any advice for them, though, I¡¯m sure they would appreciate it.¡± The [Dagda] looked over the party with what Marissa could only assume was a discerning, magical eye - given that one of his eyes under his hood was literally glowing. ¡°I¡¯ve already spoken with [¨¢ine], so you are expected. My portal will drop you already within the [Seelie Court], so you shouldn¡¯t need to worry about wild Fae attacking you. Tricking you is another matter, however, so do be careful.¡± ¡°Lovely,¡± Evie said. ¡°I guess it could clearly be worse?¡± Kieran chuckled. ¡°Keep your wits about you. And when you are talking to any of the Fae, be careful with what you say. That goes double or triple with [¨¢ine] herself. If you anger her, you¡¯re likely not to return. It may be best if only one of you even speaks with her, for safety.¡± He paused a moment before adding, ¡°Be sure that you do not agree to speaking on behalf of [Mag Mell], nor the [Aes S¨ªdhe]. You speak only for yourself - be careful of agreeing to speak for your party too, unless you are all sure of what you are agreeing to.¡± ¡°They aren¡¯t actually going to make us go through the folklore Fae shit, are they?¡± Evan asked. ¡°Such as¡­?¡± Jazz asked. ¡°I think the most common example is something like a Fae asking you for your name. If you agree to give them your name, they literally take your name. That sort of thing.¡± Kieran said. ¡°...you think if I agree to that, I could get a free name change?¡± Evie laughed. ¡°Yo, a hidden way to bypass the name change cost would be pretty sweet,¡± Nyx laughed. ¡°If you want to risk it, losing your name often comes along with losing who you are, which could mean gear, Path levels, and everything else¡­sure. Shoot your shot.¡± Kieran said. ¡°...Okay, yeah, not doing that.¡± Evie said flatly. ¡°I am really curious exactly what they might do to us though.¡± Marissa said. ¡°Same.¡± Ash and Firo echoed. ¡°Once you are brought to [¨¢ine], you should be relatively safe,¡± the [Dagda] continued, ¡°If she decides to test you, I wish you luck. I don¡¯t think she would actually try to kill you, but¡­well. Be prepared.¡± ¡°Sounds great!¡± Nyx said. ¡°Now then, I will open your way if you are prepared.¡± the [Dagda] said. [Continue [Scenario]?] [Yes] [No] ¡°We ready?¡± ¡°As we¡¯ll ever be.¡± Ash said, and when no one contradicted him, Marissa hit the confirmation button. ¡°Right then.¡± The [Dagda] nodded, and turned to cast his heavily altered version of a [Fae Circle]. The portal appeared floating just past him, away from the party, giving them all a clear view of the other side. They weren¡¯t locked in a cutscene, so as the party all had free control over themselves, almost everyone walked forward to get a closer look. The [Other World] through the portal was simultaneously gorgeous and like something out of a nightmare. They could see a beautifully crafted stone pathway on the other side, that looked like it was inside a castle courtyard. The stone was a lovely color of silver, and sparkled like it was gem-encrusted. To each side of the path, there were overgrown plants that were all kinds of unnatural, but striking colors. Blues and purples were most common close to where the portal had opened, but other colors were visible in patches in the distance. Some of the plants even had some form of bioluminescence that made them glow, in what looked like the beginning of nightfall. Truly, the scene looked like a different world, even given how striking the [Dagda¡¯s] domain was. He had clearly been inspired by and even grown some of the plants in the [Other World]. ¡°Now then, step through, and good luck.¡± He said, as the party approached. ¡°Good luck.¡± [Scathach] called. ¡°Our fate likely lies with you all! No pressure!¡± ¡°...what a great sendoff. No pressure, indeed.¡± Kieran chuckled. ¡°She was speaking pretty formally up to that, too.¡± Evie said. ¡°Maybe she likes us,¡± Nyx said, a smile clear in her tone. ¡°I could get behind that.¡± ¡°You really like characters like her, huh?¡± Evan asked. ¡°You can¡¯t seriously tell me that hot, super strong shadow lady isn¡¯t super fucking cool.¡± Nyx shot back. ¡°Never said that.¡± Evan laughed. ¡°Y¡¯all, focus.¡± Ash said, trying to get everyone on track as they crossed through the portal. ¡°We have no idea what we¡¯re getting into here.¡± ¡°Right, right.¡± Nyx said. Marissa imagined Evan focused as well, despite not responding, based upon the way Fiona jogged toward the front of the group before slowing down again. Once they all passed through the gate, the [Dagda] said, ¡°Best of luck. Oh, and take these with you as well. You might need them.¡± He chuckled somewhat awkwardly for an old man, as bracelets hovered through the portal, and spread out among the party. [Return Gem] [Invested Effect : Grants [Return to Mag Mell].] Marissa snorted. ¡°...we are all idiots.¡± ¡°Yup.¡± Ash agreed. ¡°What?¡± ¡°It¡¯s a good thing the game wasn¡¯t testing us already. Oh boy, I hope the devs don¡¯t decide to actually be cruel during this.¡± Ash said. ¡°What do you mean?¡± Jazz asked again. ¡°Sorry, I almost forgot about those,¡± the [Dagda] said, with a bit of teasing in his voice. ¡°You¡¯ll need those if you wish to return to [Mag Mell]. Good luck.¡± And then the portal closed. ¡°So if we didn¡¯t have these -¡± ¡°We would be stuck here in the [Other World],¡± Ash confirmed. ¡°Or at least that¡¯s the way they make it sound, yeah.¡± ¡°Do we think they would do that?¡± Evie asked, warily. ¡°I have no idea.¡± Kieran said. ¡°We¡¯re already somewhat out of our depth here, given the way these ¡®scenarios¡¯ have progressed. They added completely new mechanics to the mounts before -¡± ¡°Mongie, my beloved.¡± Evie interrupted, which prompted some scattered laughter. ¡°- Not to mention the fight with Scathach being so weird.¡± Kieran finished. ¡°So I really don¡¯t know.¡± ¡°I can¡¯t imagine they would want to make players get stuck here indefinitely. If we lost the ability to functionally play the game with these characters, I¡¯d probably consider quitting the game.¡± Marissa said. ¡°I don¡¯t think they would risk that.¡± Kieran agreed. ¡°So while there¡¯s a chance they would get us ¡®stuck¡¯ here, there¡¯d probably be some kind of quest to return, I would assume.¡± Evan said. ¡°Man, the more we go through this, the more I want to check the internet to see how all this crap has gone for everyone else.¡± Firo said. ¡°Right?¡± Evie asked. ¡°Like, we were given confirmation that we don¡¯t need to progress through the raid series with the same group. But that presumably also means that there isn¡¯t as many branching paths as we think, or there is a ¡®true¡¯ path that it puts you on if you come back with a new group?¡± ¡°I dunno, man. But it does feel like things have been shaped around our actions, at least a little bit so far. Definitely makes me curious, too.¡± Evan said. ¡°Well, at least for the moment, we have our destination.¡± Marissa said, as she moved her camera around to take in the group¡¯s surroundings. ¡°This is 200% a castle¡¯s courtyard,¡± she said, when her camera finally settled on the massive inner palace that rose into the sky behind them. ¡°Oh, holy shit.¡± Evie gasped, when she finally saw it. ¡°Is that where we¡¯re headed?¡± ¡°I would think so?¡± Kieran guessed. ¡°But the impression I got was that we would be met by some kind of guide here.¡± ¡°Same.¡± Firo said. ¡°I¡¯m not sure I want to wander around in this place when I don¡¯t think we have ¡®clearance¡¯.¡± ¡°Agreed.¡± Ash said. ¡°I¡¯d give it a second before we go anywhere, and see if any NPCs show up?¡± ¡°Sure.¡± ¡°Y¡¯all, look up.¡± Nyx snorted. ¡°I am looking up, though?¡± Firo said, as Marissa thought the same, with her camera trained fairly high on the top of the palace. When she raised the camera higher, aiming directly above them, she saw what Nyx was pointing out - there was a Fae NPC floating above them. ¡°Ah.¡± ¡°Yeah.¡± The Fae had the quest marker above their head, and stood floating in the air with their arms crossed, looking less than pleased. When Marissa interacted with them, they looked down at the party. ¡°Are you finished gawking then?¡± The Fae asked. ¡°I realize that the palace is something¡­other worldly to you, but still. We have places to be, yes? Our Queen is waiting for you, after all.¡± Marissa was impressed by the voice acting - the sneer on the Fae¡¯s face was so apparent in the tone that she was taken aback at first, feeling defensive from it alone. She checked in with everyone before clicking ¡°Let¡¯s be on our way, then,¡± for Hibiscus¡¯ response. The Fae snickered. ¡°Right then. Follow me, wingless.¡± Chapter 68 : Creeping Worry
Party List
Caoimhe Phadraig (Kieran Moor) [Slayer] : [Tyrant] 11,000 / 11,000 11,000 / 11,000
Aleister Demian (Jasmine Burch) [War] : [Ebon] 11,000 / 11,000 11,000 / 11,000
Fiona Woods (Evan Woods) [Plate] : [Aegis] 11,000 / 11,000 11,000 / 11,000
Evie Lucian (Cassandra Bailey) [Soul] : [Radiance] 11,000 / 11,000 11,000 / 11,000
Mellody Softsong (Ashton Burch) [Muse] : [Revel] 11,000 / 11,000 11,000 / 11,000
Hibiscus Jade (Marissa Harper) [Arrow] : [Seeker] 11,000 / 11,000 11,000 / 11,000
Firo Strix (Blake Walker) [Mage] : [Invoker] 11,000 / 11,000 11,000 / 11,000
Nyx Alaion (Zoe Fox) [Shroud] : [Knife] 11,000 / 11,000 11,000 / 11,000
Kieran Once Marissa had agreed to following the Fae, their nameplate popped up so the party would at least know they were following [Awsta]. Not that it mattered all that much, given Kieran had simply set Caoimhe to follow Hibiscus while he kept turning the camera this way and that. Kieran had gone through most of the dialogue options with [Scathach] during their little chat cutscene. While most of the information regarding the races wasn¡¯t new - he had seen a lot of the background lore for each on various online forums - almost everything about the [Other World] and the [Seelie Court] was new. So much so, that he wondered if the devs really had put in any crumbs to lead players this way, or if they had deliberately scrubbed the information clean to surprise players at this point. It was rare that MMO players - especially lore mongers - ever missed anything like that. Hell, many popular games with more hidden lore had entire communities devoted to piecing the stories together. Mag Mell had never really had that sort of treatment because the story had always been pretty straightforward. Or at least it had been up to now, Kieran mused. While each of the playable races had some interesting lore and details built in; for instance, an Undine couldn¡¯t breathe in the air, so they had a major ¡®curse¡¯ placed on the whole race. The curse allowed them to breath through the use of water magic which resulted in their bodies always being surrounded in water magic and essence, resulting in the way their hair ¡®floated¡¯. In retrospect, Kieran suspected such a ¡®curse¡¯ was probably placed by [¨¢ine]. On one hand, the information that [Scathach] had on the [Other World] was unfortunately pretty sparse, but it was also all new, as was everything regarding the [Seelie Court]. On the other, it all felt fairly standard for a fae world, given what Kieran knew of classic fae myth. The [Other World] being high contrast with blown out colors was a fairly new representation for it, but it was a common one. The way they were warned of the Fae pulling tricks and generally being potentially dangerous if they weren¡¯t careful was also a common trope, as was the way it was a part of their being, and not just acting malicious. The way [Scathach] had elaborated on the [Seelie Court] also fell in line with classic myth. The [Seelie Court] was typically made up of the ¡®good¡¯ faeries, or at least the ones who didn¡¯t actively wish harm on others. Of course, their ¡®tricks¡¯ weren¡¯t included as wishing harm on others. [Scathach] generally spoke of them positively, though it didn¡¯t seem like she had much first-hand knowledge of them. She also seemed to have a favorable view of [¨¢ine], despite the whole [Aes S¨ªdhe] debacle. Kieran figured that was probably fair, given most of the situation seemed to be the [Aes S¨ªdhe¡¯s] fault. [¨¢ine] seemed like a fairly good Queen, based on what they had heard so far. What [Scathach] did have a lot to say about was the [Unseelie Court]. While the [Seelie Court] was the main group of ¡°good¡± faeries, the [Unseelie Court] was their ¡°evil¡± counterpart. It consisted mostly of Fae that would attack people on sight and actively try to cause harm. [Scathach] had mentioned run-ins with them in the past, and she made them sound incredibly dangerous. While her interactions may have been biased, she had basically described psychopaths that simply wanted to hurt others any way they could. Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. Kieran allowed that the traditional myths didn¡¯t have much good to say regarding the [Unseelie Court] either, though it most just consisted of faeries that were dangerous to people under any circumstance. Like how some fae were known for kidnapping children or abducting or killing travelers. [Scathach] had mentioned that running into the [Unseelie Court] had become less common in the last hundred years or so, but she still dreaded every interaction with the less scrupulous Fae. While Kieran wanted to check in with the lore folks online before he decided to think of it as a confirmed fact, putting a few of her different responses together had led him to think that her mastery over shadow had actually stemmed from an [Unseelie Court] attack that left her cursed, even. But what was really interesting to Kieran was something that didn¡¯t add up for him between what [Scathach] had said and what Clan Nettle Tea had already played through. He had no doubt that [Bufon], the large battle-bear that they had fought, was potentially some kind of greater Fomorian. His understanding of Mag Mell¡¯s lore had said that the higher ranking Fomorians were less and less monstrous compared to their lower ranking counterparts. And that had tracked so far with their experiences with the twisted monstrosities of Fomorians through the game so far. [Bufon] had probably been fairly high ranking as he was practically just a massive brown bear. More humanoid like, yes, but still very much a bear. It was [Regnu] that concerned Kieran, though. [Uathach] hadn¡¯t had time to make a full report to her mother regarding what had happened in the enemy camp, beyond the most important bit regarding the papers and the enemy plans with the wyverns. Specifically, she hadn¡¯t mentioned that she had fought an enemy Fae. [Regnu] may have been named in the paperwork, even, but Fae weren¡¯t considered a part of the Fomorians. Without it being mentioned, [Scathach] would have just assumed he was just another Fomorian. It had bothered Kieran at the time that there was no dialogue option to mention the Fae to [Scathach] during their discussion, and as he thought more about it as they were led through [¨¢ine¡¯s] palace it bothered him even more. Combined with some of the things that [Scathach] had said, he was growing increasingly concerned that the [Unseelie Court] was actively working with the Fomorians. And that would be incredibly dangerous for everyone - especially if they failed to get [¨¢ine] and the [Seelie Court] on their side during this envoy mission. Kieran was so wrapped up in his own considerations regarding the game¡¯s story during their little walk that he had all but ignored the party¡¯s chatter as they were led through the halls of the massive castle. But when Evan actually said his name, it pulled him back to the present. ¡°What?¡± ¡°Bro, we¡¯ve been following this NPC for, like, five full minutes while he waxes poetic on the lore of this place and you¡¯ve just been dead silent for five minutes,¡± Evan said, concerned. ¡°Not to mention, you¡¯re clearly on follow. Did you need to step away for a bit or something?¡± Kieran chuckled, ¡°Nah, I¡¯m good. Just thinking about the lore we got from Scathach.¡± ¡°Ah.¡± ¡°There was a lot in there, yeah,¡± Firo agreed. ¡°I know it wasn¡¯t all new stuff, but it was cool to get confirmation that the Corvus are directly related to the Morrigan. People have been saying that for ages, but the game has never confirmed it.¡± ¡°How do you feel about the ability to maybe meet the goddess that basically created your whole race?¡± Nyx asked. ¡°Kinda cool. I wonder if we¡¯ll get there eventually.¡± ¡°I imagine we will, but who¡¯s to say.¡± Kieran said. ¡°We¡¯re clearly doing Fae stuff first, so I¡¯m mostly focused on that.¡± ¡°Makes sense, given where we¡¯re at.¡± Jazz said. ¡°What do you think [¨¢ine] is going to be like, Caoimhe?¡± Firo asked. ¡°You seem like the one with the most mythological knowledge here.¡± ¡°Honestly, I have no idea. ¨¢ine is a traditional goddess of summer among other things, so I suppose she potentially fits the bill of a Faerie Queen. But putting Shakespeare¡¯s Titania aside, there isn¡¯t really a ¡°Queen of the Fae¡± or the like in traditional myth. At least not beyond the idea of one, anyway. Like, one exists, but is never named or anything, I mean.¡± He said, tripping over the information a bit. ¡°So, no descriptions or anything? Or what we should expect from her?¡± Nyx asked. ¡°Not so much?¡± Kieran said, thinking about it. ¡°She¡¯s a goddess of the summer, wealth, and sometimes fertility, so a motherly figure wouldn¡¯t be out of the question.¡± ¡°Nice,¡± Evan said with a laugh. ¡°That said,¡± Kieran continued, ignoring his friend, ¡°I think in this case I would expect a somewhat more androgynous figure.¡± Kieran would have motioned toward [Awsta] if they were physically there in-person. ¡°I think the Fae designs in the game typically trend one of two ways. You either get a Fae that is small and cute, in the vein of how I designed Caoimhe, or you get a striking and beautiful but androgynous look, more like Hibiscus.¡± Kieran thought back to the character creation screen, and what the presets looked like, and how most of them fell into one of the two broader categories. ¡°I suppose that¡¯s not to say you couldn¡¯t have made a busty Fae or the like during character creation, and NPCs like that certainly do exist, but they are the exception, not the rule. I think.¡± ¡°He¡¯s right.¡± Firo agreed. ¡°I don¡¯t pay attention to a ton of NPCs, but the Fae designs are pretty striking in that way. They definitely typically fall into those two categories.¡± ¡°Do they? I never noticed.¡± Jazz said. ¡°It¡¯s not exactly rare for the portrayal of the fae to do some weird things with gender,¡± Kieran said, shrugging. ¡°Not always, mind you, and there are a ton of classic fae that are basically just naked men or women - although that¡¯s usually been the case for nature spirits around the world - but fae are showing up increasingly genderless in fiction these days. It¡¯s not a hugely new thing.¡± ¡°Not to say they aren¡¯t attractive,¡± Evie said, as if she wanted to clarify something about the statement. ¡°Not at all. Even when they¡¯re portrayed as genderless or androgynous, they¡¯re usually said to be stunningly gorgeous, so¡­¡± Kieran added, but trailed off as their guide seemed to be stopping, finally. They were outside a crisp, white door that looked like it was made out of a single piece of clean white marble, or perhaps a very white alabaster. It was carved very nicely, but not so much that it stood out against the other doors they had passed in their walk. [Awsta] turned in the air to address the party. ¡°Here we are. This door leads to an antechamber where you will wait until you are summoned by the Queen.¡± They waved a hand toward the door, and it swung open without any physical interaction. ¡°There should be enough chairs for all of you inside while you wait. If you need anything else, you¡¯ll just have to manage on your own.¡± [Awsta] sighed dramatically before turning away and gliding off down the hall. While it wasn¡¯t subtitled with text, Kieran could clearly hear the NPC muttering about the ¡°damned wingless idiots¡± and the extra work he was being forced to do. The party flowed into the antechamber, and the white doors closed behind them automatically. There were, indeed, eight chairs arranged awkwardly around the room. They were facing different directions and weren¡¯t arranged in any notable way, as if whoever had brought them into the room had simply dropped each one wherever they felt like it, and walked away again. Two of them were even just knocked over on the floor, and needed to be interacted with to sit them back up-right. Kieran wasn¡¯t sure if it was because the Fae didn¡¯t use chairs to relax for whatever reason, or if the disorganized furniture set up for them was supposed to be some kind of slight against them in the lore. The room itself was also eerily white. The walls, floor, and ceiling were all the same white material the door had been, even the chairs scattered about seemed to match. The walls were lightly decorated with a similar carving or etching, which gave the walls at least a little texture rather than a blank, empty room. It was still immensely unnerving, however. Either way, their party scattered about the room. There were a few chairs that had been usable enough in such a way that if three party members sat in them, everyone else could stand around in a fairly neat circle - and they did that. Evie, Mello, and Firo took the seats, while the rest stood. Everyone started clicking through random emotes. Caoimhe pulled out a book from nowhere and read quietly. Firo did the same. Nyx was playing with a knife, tossing it around with a flourish, while Mellody played idly with a harp. Fiona was playing dead on the floor, sprawled out comically while Aleister had gotten out a broom and was sweeping up around Fiona¡¯s body. ¡°So¡­what¡¯s the plan here, exactly?¡± Firo asked. ¡°Do we just wait?¡± ¡°I think so? I¡¯m admittedly not sure why they would make us sit here, but alas. Here we are, stuck in a white room, with white furniture¡­¡± Nyx said. ¡°I look so out of place.¡± ¡°We all do. None of us are wearing white.¡± Evie said. ¡°I guess we didn¡¯t get the memo.¡± Evan said, leaving Fiona on the ground. ¡°Only Bisky and Caoimhe fit in anyway. And even then, that NPC called the lot of us a name, anyway.¡± Jazz said. ¡°Wingless.¡± Firo said. ¡°That¡¯s what the NPC said.¡± ¡°Yeah, that tracks. I wonder if the Other World Fae hold a grudge against the Aes S¨ªdhe?¡± Kieran asked. ¡°Well, it sounds like they do. Hopefully ¨¢ine is more accepting.¡± ¡°She¡¯s been in relatively friendly contact with the Dagda, right? Surely she shouldn¡¯t be unreasonable, at least. I don¡¯t expect her to like us though.¡± Marissa said. ¡°Same,¡± Kieran said, ¡°I expect her to be a bit holier-than-thou probably. And maybe a little resentful.¡± Jazz scoffed. ¡°Bro, it¡¯s a game. I expect one way or another, this will go in our favor. Or at least get us a fight with the Queen to prove ourselves. I¡¯m not sure why you¡¯re all worried about how the lore fits in with all this.¡± ¡°That¡¯s¡­not a terrible point.¡± Ash said. ¡°None of us have gone looking online about anything, so we still don¡¯t really have anything confirmed as to how progression works here. We¡¯re talking like this game world is alive because the devs have a tendency to surprise us, but we might be expecting too much of them on this one.¡± ¡°Yeah, you¡¯re probably right.¡± Kieran said, thinking about it. And Ash was right, no matter how they all felt about it. Expecting a game - and an MMO, no less - to really adapt to a group¡¯s choices would already be a huge stretch. But knowing that the game didn¡¯t require a single party to remain together through the whole raid made the whole thing feel somewhat impossible. ¡°Now then, where the hell is the NPC that lets us out of here?¡± Chapter 69 : Speaker
Party List
Caoimhe Phadraig (Kieran Moor) [Slayer] : [Tyrant] 11,000 / 11,000 11,000 / 11,000
Aleister Demian (Jasmine Burch) [War] : [Ebon] 11,000 / 11,000 11,000 / 11,000
Fiona Woods (Evan Woods) [Plate] : [Aegis] 11,000 / 11,000 11,000 / 11,000
Evie Lucian (Cassandra Bailey) [Soul] : [Radiance] 11,000 / 11,000 11,000 / 11,000
Mellody Softsong (Ashton Burch) [Muse] : [Revel] 11,000 / 11,000 11,000 / 11,000
Hibiscus Jade (Marissa Harper) [Arrow] : [Seeker] 11,000 / 11,000 11,000 / 11,000
Firo Strix (Blake Walker) [Mage] : [Invoker] 11,000 / 11,000 11,000 / 11,000
Nyx Alaion (Zoe Fox) [Shroud] : [Knife] 11,000 / 11,000 11,000 / 11,000
Kieran Thankfully, the party wasn¡¯t made to wait all that long. While they had expected a Fae, perhaps even [Awsta], to return to pick them up and show them to whatever [¨¢ine] used as a throne room, they ended up without any sort of guide. Instead, the beautiful white wall opposite of the door they had come in through began to open. Kieran hadn¡¯t realized it was a door, and even as it swung open, he decided that there was simply no indication of it being one. While it was carved nicely like the door outside had been, the design didn¡¯t appear to be mirrored or even planned around the door that was opening. As soon as Kieran could make out the next room, however, the door and the awkward waiting room was immediately put out of mind. The next room looked a lot like the indoor forested room where they had met with the [Dagda], albeit a little more controlled. It looked more like a curated garden, and less like an overgrown forest, with plants well taken care of and manicured for a palace. As the party slowly moved into the new space, a new track of music started up, sounding natural with woodwind and string instruments, with a whimsical, upbeat melody. Kieran grew less and less certain what they were walking into as they moved. ¡°Is this the throne room?¡± He asked, as his camera was spun around to take in the gorgeous garden. Between the visuals and the music, he wasn¡¯t sure what this room was supposed to be. ¡°Wow. Yeah, I think so - look to the left.¡± Marissa said, as they walked down a wide, walking stone path. The stones weren¡¯t placed in any obvious design, simply placed on top of the grass here and there. Kieran moved his camera up to the left to try to see what Marissa was referring to - and the large dais and throne was immediately apparent. It looked like the path they were walking on was one of three that eventually led to the center of the room, and then to the throne. If the throne was in the north of the room, the doors leading out were at the other three cardinal directions, and the rectangular room was longest from north to south. They had come in from the ¡®west¡¯ door in Kieran¡¯s mind, and were walking toward the center of the room. Putting the throne out of mind for the moment, given there was no one in it, Kieran focused on what he could only consider a henge in the center of the garden. There was a lovely fountain spraying vibrant blue water in the center, surrounded by a stone patio. The edges of the patio, however, were decorated with plant and ivy-covered stone that had been shaped into pillars and cross beams at varying heights. Kieran imagined that it could have been what Stonehenge may have looked like if it was in pristine condition, and built with less purpose and more whimsy. When the group finally approached the area, he noticed there were benches and seats arrayed nicely around the area, including benches and a few nicer chairs. He reconsidered the haphazard arrangement of chairs in the waiting room - maybe they really were meant as an insult in some way. ¡°Hello, wingless! You are the ones that the [Dagda] sent, yes?¡± Kieran turned his camera upward to see a Fae floating in the air above the party. They were slowly floating down toward the group, although the translucent, opalescent wings on their back didn¡¯t seem to be moving at all. More importantly, the text of the voiceline was attributed to [¨¢ine]. If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement. ¡°I¡¯ll take that a yes. Follow me, so we can have your talk.¡± [¨¢ine] said, and floated off toward one of the large sections of plants and hedges - the northwest one, in Kieran¡¯s mind. ¡°I guess we should follow?¡± Evan asked. ¡°Yeah? What else could we do?¡± Marissa said. ¡°Attack her while her back is turned.¡± Jazz said, jokingly. ¡°Oh yes, because that¡¯s what an envoy should do. Kill the person they¡¯ve come to speak to.¡± Marissa said flatly. ¡°Come on, Aleister. That one was weak, even for you.¡± ¡°Sorry.¡± Jazz apologized, but it sounded far from sincere. ¡°I¡¯m just getting tired of all of this cutscene stuff. I want to fight something! Give. Me. Content!¡± ¡°Hun, this is content.¡± Ash laughed. ¡°It may not be the content you were looking for, but it still is stuff to do.¡± ¡°Fine. But if we talk our way out of fighting her, I¡¯m gonna be pissed.¡± Jazz said. ¡°Stop crossing your arms and slouching like a petulant child; no one can see you do it, and I know you¡¯re doing it just to make a point.¡± Ash said. ¡°You can see it, jackass,¡± Jazz muttered, while moving Aleister forward with everyone else. ¡°Yeah, yeah.¡± Kieran rolled his eyes at the couple, then focused on taking in his surroundings. They were being led through a beautiful hedge maze, crafted mostly with thicker hedges that were then further decorated with other plants. Every few feet, the color of the hedge changed, whether it was from a vibrant red of one flower to a dark blue of another, the color changes were always high contrast every time, and the ever changing color palette was striking. [¨¢ine] was also drawing Kieran¡¯s attention. The Faerie Queen was dressed simply in a white one piece dress, which her wings stood out against. Even more than that, however, was her long braid of fiery red hair. It was an entirely unnaturally vibrant red, which made the color draw the eye more than even the color-changing of her wings. It didn¡¯t take very long for [¨¢ine] to lead the group to a nook at the center of the hedge maze that looked designed for small meetings like this one. There were plenty of chairs for everyone to take a seat, as well as a round table in the middle already set with snacks and cakes as well as cups and a pitcher of some kind of drink. ¡°Please, have a seat.¡± [¨¢ine] said, indicating the chairs around the table. As she floated to the ground, her wings seemed to hide themselves somehow and she gently took a seat that was clearly made to be hers during meetings. It was slightly larger than the others, with a little bit more space between it and the rest. Kieran had Caoimhe sit in one of the seats across from the Queen and noticed that the food and drink was interactable, and within easy range of each seat. Kieran was hesitant to do anything with the food given the whole nature of the Fae issue they had been warned of. ¡°I don¡¯t think we should touch the food.¡± Ash said aloud. ¡°Agreed,¡± Kieran said. ¡°I¡¯m still not sure what we can trust or do with all this. We¡¯ve been told not to trust the Fae here, but like¡­it¡¯s also a game?¡± ¡°I¡¯m just going to play this straight like it¡¯s a tabletop RPG and my GM put us in this position.¡± Evan said. ¡°And I definitely would not eat any food provided in this case.¡± ¡°You know, I think that¡¯s a good approach.¡± Evie said. ¡°We don¡¯t really know what the devs are looking to do with this raid series, or to what level of effect this can have on us. If there¡¯s even a chance of ruining my character somehow, I¡¯m not chancing it.¡± Once everyone picked a seat, a cutscene began, and Kieran immediately heard the sounds of his friends muting and deafening in their voice call. He moved to do the same as [¨¢ine] spoke. ¡°Right then. I know you all are here to talk about various things happening in the [Human World]. The [Dagda] gave me a very simplistic explanation on the situation there, and I have to say, I¡¯m intrigued.¡± [¨¢ine] smiled, but it wasn¡¯t exactly a pleasant one. It felt more like a predator had found its mark. ¡°What exactly makes you think that anyone on our side would help you? After the way we were treated last time, we learned our lesson. The [Aes S¨ªdhe] don¡¯t deserve flight. They don¡¯t deserve our help. And while they may not simply deserve death, either, I¡¯m not convinced it¡¯s my place to assist in that either.¡± There was a moment of silence in the cutscene as the camera panned over the party in their seats before [¨¢ine] continued. ¡°What? Did one of my Fae steal your voices on the way here? I thought you came to talk. Or beg.¡± The Queen rolled her eyes before continuing, ¡°Let¡¯s do it this way. Pick someone among your group to do the talking. I¡¯m sure someone warned you against choosing a speaker for a group, but let me assure you. Right now, I see no reason to try to trick you into anything. You have my word that I will not misuse your chosen speaker. I swear it on my true name.¡± As [¨¢ine] made the oath, a breeze kicked through their little meeting place, as if the world was accepting the bargain. And then a prompt showed up on Kieran¡¯s screen. [Who will speak for your party?] [You] [Fiona] [Aleister] [Mellody] [Evie] [Nyx] [Hibiscus] [Firo] Kieran chuckled as soon as the prompt came up and he immediately heard people returning to chat. He followed suit - there didn¡¯t appear to be a timer on the decision, so they could discuss who would make the decisions. ¡°- vote is for Caoimhe. I¡¯m confident he knows the most about the lore.¡± Firo was saying as Kieran turned off the deafen. ¡°I was between Caoimhe and you, Firo, so if you think you want to defer to Caoimhe, I¡¯m okay with that.¡± Marissa said. ¡°If nothing else, Aleister, Evie, Fiona and I shouldn¡¯t be in the running here. We¡¯re all chronic cutscene skippers, even if we pay attention here and there.¡± ¡°I also pay attention to the cutscenes, and am a bit of a lore fiend, but I¡¯m not as good at quick recall as I think Caoimhe is.¡± Nyx said. ¡°I like the lore a lot, and have a bunch of notes on it, but if you asked me questions about it, I¡¯m not confident in my ability to answer without consulting my notes.¡± ¡°Yay.¡± Kieran said flatly. ¡°So y¡¯all¡¯re just going to leave it up to me, then?¡± ¡°I wouldn¡¯t say that¡­¡± Jazz said, ¡°We can convene before you answer things just like this, right?¡± ¡°Right. We can make group decisions together, and you can just be the button pusher.¡± Evan said. ¡°You know I like pushing the big red buttons¡­¡± Kieran said, thinking back to some of his tabletop games. While he didn¡¯t consider himself an agent of chaos in the same way that Jazz or Marissa were, if there was an interesting option in front of him, he was usually in favor of taking it. In a table top game, though, he knew what the stakes were, and trusted whoever was running the game would make it fun for everyone. In this setting, he wasn¡¯t sure what the potential outcomes were. ¡°You guys don¡¯t actually think the devs would soft lock a party¡¯s characters or something because of a decision here, do you?¡± He mumbled. He wasn¡¯t sure he wanted to be the one risking all eight of their characters based on his choices. ¡°I¡¯m not going to say there¡¯s zero chance.¡± Ash said. ¡°If only because this game has done some weird things and the devs seem to be a little¡­let¡¯s say eccentric. But I don¡¯t think they would want to risk turning some of their legitimate players away from playing the game like that.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t think they would risk that either,¡± Marissa said. ¡°But even if they do - Caoimhe, I think you¡¯re the best option we have to trust out of the eight of us here. Hell, I think you¡¯d be the best option out of everyone I know that plays this game.¡± ¡°Bisky, all those people are in this party,¡± Jazz quipped. ¡°Shut your face.¡± When the rest of the party, including Jazz, endorsed Kieran as who they saw as their best option, he had to relent. While he wasn¡¯t happy with being given the role of party speaker, being told he was probably the most trustworthy for it still felt nice. He liked being relied on. Kieran sighed. ¡°Yeah, alright. Vote me in, coach.¡± If nothing else, he at least agreed that he wouldn¡¯t have voted for most of the party to take the position. His vote would have been for Ash, though, even if the man didn¡¯t have the lore knowledge that Kieran did, he thought that Ash¡¯s even-keel personality might have been good for what was shaping up to be a dialogue-based boss fight. Just for good measure, Kieran clicked on [Mellody] because he didn¡¯t feel comfortable voting for himself anyway. There was a pause after he picked his answer before [¨¢ine] responded as everyone else selected their votes. And then the Faerie Queen turned straight to Caoimhe. ¡°Very well then. Shall we begin, Speaker? What exactly are you wingless here for?¡± Chapter 70 : Trick
Party List
Caoimhe Phadraig (Kieran Moor) [Slayer] : [Tyrant] 11,000 / 11,000 11,000 / 11,000
Aleister Demian (Jasmine Burch) [War] : [Ebon] 11,000 / 11,000 11,000 / 11,000
Fiona Woods (Evan Woods) [Plate] : [Aegis] 11,000 / 11,000 11,000 / 11,000
Evie Lucian (Cassandra Bailey) [Soul] : [Radiance] 11,000 / 11,000 11,000 / 11,000
Mellody Softsong (Ashton Burch) [Muse] : [Revel] 11,000 / 11,000 11,000 / 11,000
Hibiscus Jade (Marissa Harper) [Arrow] : [Seeker] 11,000 / 11,000 11,000 / 11,000
Firo Strix (Blake Walker) [Mage] : [Invoker] 11,000 / 11,000 11,000 / 11,000
Nyx Alaion (Zoe Fox) [Shroud] : [Knife] 11,000 / 11,000 11,000 / 11,000
Kieran Kieran sat up straight in his chair when [¨¢ine] addressed Caoimhe directly. Without warning, it seemed as though whatever this event was going to be had begun. [¨¢ine¡¯s] last line, ¡°Very well then. Shall we begin, Speaker? What exactly are you here for?¡± displayed on his screen in a special text box, in the middle of the screen. It was a dialogue box design he had never seen before, which made the whole thing feel more significant, with the edges of the text box decorated with motifs reminiscent of [¨¢ine¡¯s] wings. On the lower right portion of his screen, right where they usually appeared, were apparently various response options that he could pick. However, like with [Aine¡¯s] text box, the options were displayed in their own unique pop up window, clearly designed based on Caoimhe¡¯s character design. While they didn¡¯t utilize any of the fully customized parts of Caoimhe¡¯s design, they did make use of the butterfly style wings Kieran had chosen, as well as Caoimhe¡¯s current hair color. Kieran considered the options left before him, reading them aloud for the party. ¡°Okay. We have ¡®We¡¯re here to discuss returning flight to the fighters of [Mag Mell].¡¯, ¡®[Mag Mell] needs your help.¡¯, and ¡®The [Dagda] believes you might be willing to help us fight against the Fomorians.¡¯.¡± ¡°I think the first one is the obvious choice here.¡± Firo said. ¡°Agreed.¡± Ash offered. ¡°I think a nebulous request for help could turn out poorly with the Fae, and name-dropping the Dagda to sidestep our being here feels like a trap.¡± Kieran agreed, but he waited for everyone else to offer their thoughts first. Everyone seemed to agree with Ash, except for Evan and Nyx, who thought that mentioning the [Dagda] might actually be to their credit. They were outvoted though, so Kieran took the first option. [¨¢ine] narrowed her eyes, and the camera view on Kieran¡¯s screen had zoomed in on the Queen¡¯s face enough that she took up most of the screen. With his distance from his monitor and the size of it, [¨¢ine¡¯s] face was basically equivalent to a normal person¡¯s right in front of him. ¡°And why should I even consider that?¡± [¨¢ine] asked. ¡°The last time we worked with the [Aes S¨ªdhe] and the humans they treated us as expendable pawns. As far as I¡¯m concerned, they got off lightly when I chose to simply remove their ability to fly, instead of doing worse.¡± She sneered at the camera as she added, ¡°They¡¯re lucky they¡¯re still alive.¡± When Kieran had the chance to respond and his options popped up, his stomach dropped. At the top of the window that displayed his options, there was a bar that was slowly going down. He had no doubt about what it was. And he was suddenly more sure than ever that this wasn¡¯t just a cutscene. He had been thrown into a one-on-one boss fight that was taking place through dialogue alone. ¡°Uh, guys, there¡¯s a timer now. And it¡¯s not a long one.¡± Kieran said, as he quickly read over his options, trying to pick one. ¡°Okay, that¡¯s fine. You don¡¯t have to read them to us every time.¡± Ash said, ¡°We were shown your line of choice, and then saw ¨¢ine¡¯s response. Since it was fully voiced, there¡¯s plenty of time to consider it.¡± The author''s narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. Kieran watched as the timer ticked down on his screen, and picked the response that he felt was best. If this was to be a ¡®boss fight¡¯, he couldn¡¯t play this too passively. He knew he would need to be wary of angering the Queen too much, but he felt like he needed to get her on the back foot and keep her there. ¡°We¡¯re not the [Aes S¨ªdhe]. They died hundreds of years ago. We¡¯re not here for them.¡± Caoimhe responded. ¡°We can just talk over her response and you can take what we say into account in your response, Caoimhe.¡± Marissa said. ¡°Yep, we got your back.¡± Evan said. ¡°Don¡¯t just pick whatever is the closest to what we say, though, yeah? Use your best judgement.¡± Ash said. ¡°What Mello said.¡± Firo agreed. ¡°Definitely ignore what Aleister says.¡± Nyx said. ¡°And maybe Fiona too.¡± ¡°Hey!¡± ¡°Is that so?¡± [¨¢ine] said, seemingly unimpressed. ¡°You say the [Aes S¨ªdhe] died hundreds of years ago, and yet you are here, bearing flightless Fae wings, just like they did. What makes you so different?¡± Kieran quickly looked over his options, considering where to go next. He could take a few different routes, apparently, from changing the subject, to bringing up specific bits of information. One of his current options was clearly a lie, though, and that made him unsure of how to proceed. He could apparently try to lie his way through the situation, as the lying option, ¡°Have you not heard? The [Dagda] rebelled, the [Aes S¨ªdhe] no longer exist,¡± wasn¡¯t quite the truth, but could turn out to be a convenient lie if the [Dagda] cooperated with it. However, he wasn¡¯t sure if he could potentially lie their way out of this, picking the convenient options when they appeared, or if a lie would immediately get them caught and killed. At least for the moment, he wanted to keep an eye on the lying options while avoiding them. ¡°We are not our ancestors. We don¡¯t bear a grudge against the [Seelie Court].¡± Seemed to be the best option that Kieran had so he took it. [¨¢ine] narrowed her eyes at Caoimhe, but didn¡¯t immediately bite back like Kieran had expected. ¡°And, for the moment, the [Seelie Court] doesn¡¯t bear a grudge against you, either, wingless.¡± There was a beat of silence before she continued, ¡°While the Fae that remain on this side live for thousands of years, we do understand how life on the other side works. I know you are not responsible for your ancestor¡¯s choices.¡± ¡°That¡¯s¡­not what I expected.¡± Nyx said. ¡°Me either.¡± Firo agreed. Kieran agreed as he read over his options to respond as the party chatted briefly about how they expected the Queen to be much more unforgiving. Unfortunately, he didn¡¯t love any of the options he was being given in this round. They all seemed to be jumping to a resolution too quickly, which he didn¡¯t feel they had earned yet. And yet, there was something about the slight smirk and relaxed amusement on [¨¢ine¡¯s] face that was rubbing Kieran the wrong way. He was genuinely confused whether he was reading too much into the whole thing, or if he was supposed to. He opted for what he felt was the most neutral of his options; ¡°You¡¯re not withholding the ability to fly out of spite, then.¡± ¡°Not really, no.¡± [¨¢ine] replied. ¡°While you may not be responsible for the suffering of the [Seelie Court] in the [First War], you are led by those who are. And they have yet to even attempt to bridge this gap in any meaningful way. Other than the [Dagda], at least.¡± ¡°You mean the [Tuatha D¨¦ Danann],¡± was the only option that Kieran could pick that made any sense at all. ¡°Yes,¡± [¨¢ine] said. ¡°Most of [Mag Mell] is united under their banner. And while the [Dagda] has spent a millennium trying to convince me they aren¡¯t so bad, I simply cannot forgive the rest.¡± ¡°We were told that the magic you used to seal flight was part of an agreement with the [Dagda].¡± ¡°It was. Still is.¡± [¨¢ine] said, her slight grin slowly growing. ¡°He was quite the negotiator, that one. Tricky bastard. I was impressed with him when we made that contract.¡± Something about the way she mentioned the [Dagda] pulled at Kieran¡¯s mind. A Fae calling someone tricky and complimenting their negotiating skills was not something they would do lightly. That made him curious, and it seemed like one of his options would let him pursue that. ¡°The [Dagda] was tricky? He seemed like nothing more than a wise old man to us.¡± [¨¢ine] scoffed at that. ¡°He would. That man is simultaneously one of the smartest and dumbest men I¡¯ve ever met. I¡¯ve had to deal with him calling on me regularly for a thousand years thanks to our little agreement, and he is¡­chatty.¡± The next list of responses made Kieran pause. There were the ones he expected, but there was also one that mentioned [Fae Contracts]. While it wasn¡¯t a term that was mentioned much within the main story, its inclusion here made him consider what he knew of the game¡¯s lore. [Fae Contracts] were incredibly powerful magic, according to the game¡¯s lore. They were incredibly rare because of how binding they were, and because people - Human and Fae alike - were wary of being bound by magic in that way. Or worse, being maliciously tricked into it. But the way the dots connected made sense for Kieran, and if it turned out to be correct, it was too good to pass up. Not to mention, [¨¢ine] had even used the word ¡®contract¡¯ earlier. ¡°The [Aes S¨ªdhe] can¡¯t fly because of a [Fae Contract]. That¡¯s it, isn¡¯t it?¡± Kieran swore he noticed [¨¢ine¡¯s] eyes shine as she responded, as if he was on to something. ¡°Well. Such a [Contract] would be more than powerful enough to create that effect, but no. Affecting large groups of people like that are typically the domain of [Curses]. As I¡¯m sure you¡¯re aware.¡± He was, indeed, aware. There were multiple [Curses] floating around the game that affected whole races at a time - including their descendants. Such a [Curse] could, conceivably, be responsible for the current situation. But there was something in [¨¢ine¡¯s] expression that made Kieran second guess believing her. They had been warned multiple times that the Fae might try to trick them, and Kieran kept telling himself that he needed to be wary of them. He just couldn¡¯t shake the feeling that mentioning the [Fae Contract] had been the right move. As he was going over his current options for a response, one of the options was ¡°You¡¯re lying. There is a [Contract].¡± and while Kieran was hesitant to outright call the Queen a liar, he felt like the game was really pushing him toward it. Kieran closed his eyes for a moment, wrestling with himself over the options. He really wanted to push that red button. Kieran had other options that clearly were leading toward other potential routes. One was a clear attempt to bridge the gap between the [Seelie Court] and the [Tuatha D¨¦ Danann], but he honestly felt that was a losing battle. [¨¢ine] seemed pretty clear on her stance against them. Second was to make use of some of the lies that kept coming up, though he didn¡¯t trust them to carry them through this situation safely. And even then, the options that were currently coming up weren¡¯t all that attractive as lies to begin with, nor did they feel useful. He suspected that they were simply red herring choices, or actual ¡®bad endings¡¯. The third option was the one that appeared the most attractive. ¡°If you truly refuse to help us, help yourselves. If we fall, the Fomorians will be coming for you next.¡± It was the reason that both the [Dagda] and [Scathach] had offered as a likely solution to convince [¨¢ine] to help them. Kieran felt like the game was purposefully pulling him in the two directions. The [Dagda] and [Scathach] option was clear, while [¨¢ine¡¯s] reactions clearly wanted him to call her out. Or at least pursue the [Contract] angle. ¡°Do you guys trust me?¡± ¡°Say what now?¡± Jazz shot back. ¡°I have an option here that I want to press, but it might get us in trouble.¡± Kieran said, eyeing the countdown warily. He probably had fifteen or twenty seconds to decide, max. ¡°I trust you.¡± Evan said, although he didn¡¯t sound like he was taking this too seriously. ¡°I do too,¡± Firo said, ¡°Although, I also trust that the devs wouldn¡¯t actively do anything too punishing to the players.¡± ¡°I¡¯m with Firo. We have two levels of safety net here. I think it¡¯s fine if you go for it.¡± Marissa said. ¡°Yup, just do it.¡± Evie said, and Ash agreed after she did. ¡°Push the button, bro.¡± Jazz said finally. So Kieran did. ¡°You¡¯re lying, aren¡¯t you? There is a [Fae Contract].¡± Once again, [¨¢ine] looked almost proud, despite denying it once again. ¡°There is no [Fae Contract] involved. As I said, there is [Curse] magic at work that forbids those living in [Mag Mell] access to the magic necessary for flight.¡± She paused as she grinned wickedly at the camera, then threw her arms up and opened them wide dramatically as she declared, ¡°[Curses] are great! They can cause widespread effects, and are air tight spells that are difficult to break. They can help a race of water folk permanently breathe outside the water, or turn a group of crows into people. They can even seal someone¡¯s ability to speak, if so desired.¡± When Kieran saw his next group of options, he laughed with relief when one of them aligned with his thoughts exactly. ¡°I think we¡¯re in the clear, guys. I¡¯m pretty sure I understand what¡¯s going on here, now.¡±