You awaken underwater, and immediately panic, thrashing your limbs and splashing water everywhere for a few moments until it sinks in that no. You are not drowning. This is still going to take some getting used too, but damn if it isn't much more comfortable now that you are like… a fish person. You can breathe air still though, so does that make you an amphibian, you don't want to be a frog again though, once was enough. Why aren't there any more flattering animals you can compare yourself too? Ugh, pointless stuff, at least you feel well rested, and your new sleepwear did its job of not being super uncomfortable when wet, so bonus…. You think your gonna switch to the two piece tomorrow though.
You settle down back into the bathtub to relax for a few minutes more, pondering yesterday in your head… you're pretty pleased with how things went with Sera, it went way better than you expected if you're being honest. Plus you guess there were the dungeons and stuff, kicking the crap out of Crystal Lake really did you some good. You climb out of the bath and begin toweling off, and amend your previous thought, bravado aside… Crystal Lake was still pretty tough. You are pretty sure braving the C rank would be a bad idea at this point. Ugh, stupid Maya, making you think all sensibly… hah, you really owe her you guess.
Anyway, once your dressed and equipped you grab your notes and head downstairs, you should probably put a new edition of the guide out. Sera is actually not downstairs yet for once, so you settle in at your table and start paging through looking for anything you might have missed adding. It's during this alone time that someone else approaches you… you recognize him from the first day, the big bald guy, Rolf. Still using axe warrior you suppose, but you don't recognize the weird mix of bone, metal, and stone that makes up his armor, not goblin stuff… you think. "You're the one doing the guide right, Falconis?" he says without preamble.
You blink, setting your quill down to look up at the guy; he's almost as tall as Shimah. "Yeah, that's me, what's up?"
"Good, " he says, he takes a moment, as if visibly adjusting what he wants to say, "Look, thanks for your work on that. Knowing about the bonus bosses patterns saved Rose last time we ran Grotto. I noticed a couple of dungeons we've found that aren't in your guide. Figured, I'd share."
It's around now that Sera arrives, yawning sleepily… and cutely. She glances askance at the man talking to you, but seeing your lack of concern she seems to shrug it off, sliding into her seat, "Good morning Al… Mister Rolf is it?"
You answer the unspoken question, "He's just saying thanks for the guide, and offering info in return, you're welcome by the way."
He grimaces a bit… and you recognize the expression, it's the same one Anshelm makes when he has to admit a failure, still he soldiers on. "First one is a few miles north of Ogre's Den, in a patch of badlands, look around in the rock formations, and you'll find it. Ork Warcamp, four rooms, it seems like the in between for Goblins and Ogre's, as far as enemies go, good mix of chaff and elites. It's level eight though." he glances up at your title and name before continuing, "Other one is the Castle of the Ice Queen, pretty long at six rooms and level seven… pretty hard though, probably a high party requirement. It's up by Drake Nest, go west from the drakes till you hit an icy valley between a pair of mountains, can't miss it."
Huh, that second one could be all sorts of useful for you at least, you suppose you can tick another elemental themed dungeon off the list. "Cool, thanks Rolf, what're the enemies in the second one like?"
"Heavy on the casters and ice damage. The physical enemies are mostly tanks for the casters and healers, anyway, like I said, thanks, party is coming down though."
Ah yeah, there is Rose and Jack, you wave the big guy off and turn back to Sera, who is smiling slightly, "It looks like your guide is doing some good things," she says.
It does feel kinda good to know you've saved at least one person, you allow yourself a smile as well, "Yeah, I'm glad I started doing this thing, even if keeping it up to date is a little bit of a pain sometimes."
"Do you think we should check out one of the new dungeons today?" she asks curiously, even as she edges her chair a bit closer to yours to get a look over your shoulder at your notes.
"Mm… dunno, was thinking Desecrated Fort today, maybe in the afternoon? Or if nobody wants to do Fort I guess.
"Undead are usually weak to fire, so I don't mind. There might not be much in the way of good loot for you or I though…" she says, frowning, "I suppose you might find some more dark boosting items though."
"Which dungeon are we discussing?" Ah, there's Shimah, taking a seat across from you.
"Desecrated Fort," you and Sera say at the same time, you glance at each other, and she looks away blushing.
"I see, it would be good to at least scout it out," She admits.
"Good Morning everyone!" Maya says cheerfully, as she slides into her seat, ears perked and twitching as she looks at Sera and you. "And how was your date last night?"
Sera of course goes beet red, but you just hold Maya's playful gaze with your own defiant one, "It was a lot of fun, you had a good time, right Sera?"
"I-I did," she admits, seeming to draw a bit of confidence from your words… of course Maya breaks into giggles anyway dammit.
"Good for both of you. Still it'll be no fun if I can't get you two all flustered, you're both adorable like that," Maya laments.
"Very much so," Shimah adds. Traitor, you knew letting her hang out with Maya was a bad idea, anyway Anshelm is here and he seems to be glancing between the four of you like he expects something strange to happen… you guess Sera is bright red, Maya caught in a giggle fit, and you're still kinda scowly.
"Sooo," he drawls out, pulling up a chair next to Maya, "What's the plan for today?"
You all discuss the options, and yeah, in the end you decide to hit Desecrated Fort. In the end it might very well have some nice gear for Anshelm, and it'll be good to at least scout it out. Once breakfast is done you do a little shopping, and switch out Dark for Fire, no point in keeping Dark on for the fort. Other than that it's just a basic restock on ethers run, though everybody sells a couple of potions and buys an extra Amrita for a stock being put in the vault, everybody does one.
Maya makes a quick stop to snag Ninja, and you glance over the available classes…. Selection is actually kinda crap. Besides the starter classes just Ninja and Dervish, as well as a Hammer Warrior job. Nothing you want.
Maya equips Ninja, which fills her last active slot, with 'Ninjutsu'. Right now it gives a chance to automatically switch with an adjacent enemy when hit, and the ability to make an Illusionary copy of herself that will attack and draw agro until it gets hit, at which point it explodes into a cloud of poison smoke. Kinda pricey SP wise, definitely not something she can spam. After the requisite shopping you're off! The trip out to desecrated fort is a pretty long one, although you don't run into trouble, you suppose your very first wild encounter with the Kiln Knight must have drained a good chunk of your bad luck.
The fort itself, much like the graveyard, seems to sit in its own cloud of dismal murk on a rocky plain. The dungeon location is an old and crumbled fort… you vaguely recall there having been a city further out in this direction that feel a good century ago, Lor… Leic, L something,… maybe this is a relic of that city? Either way, it's a…four person dungeon? You were kinda expecting five.
In any case, it's a dungeon now, nothing but a nest of murderous beasts. The first room… honestly passes easily, The gatehouse setup allows for the archers situated behind the shield wall of skeletal spearman a good shot at you, and maybe a few days ago that would have been daunting. The howl of Maya's Warg heralds their end though as the tank squad, as you've come to think of Anshelm and the pets, smashes right through the shield line, scattering them and breaking the defensive boosts they have by standing near each other. Juggernauts charge is fairly ridiculous on someone of Anshelm's strength. That's not even getting into the efficiency of Sera is burning armored skeletons to slag and ash. The archers for their part can't even seem to touch Maya when they do get a shot at the hunter.
In the end they die quickly enough, nothing more than a speed bump and a drain on your SP resources. The next room, the fort courtyard is harder. Harder only because of greater numbers and caster backup. You imprison one of the necromancers and Sera burns another down, but the third one gets off a field wide buff and the arrows start raining down. Anshelms ability to force the spearmen apart and break their lines makes things a lot simpler though, even if he is burning through SP faster than usual.
Third room is where things start to get interesting. Two full squads of spearmen, backed up by ogre sized skeletons on black platemail, wielding massive shields and maces, plus the usual complement of poisonous archers, and skeletal necromancers, which keep you occupied dropping Aqua prisons.
For the first time you see Anshelm's charge get rebuffed by the massive knights, and he takes a nasty hit from both in retaliation. Which means the archers up on the ramparts have more time to shoot, bugger. Shimah has to start working now, though Maya's attack strips a chunk of health from one of the Heavy Knights and poisons it to boot. Given their ninety percent resistance to poison, you know those daggers must be stupid.
You keep yourself busy along with Sera picking off the ranged fighters, and in the end they fall. You take an Ether, and the party moves on, feeling fairly confident. So far the even this room was more resource intensive than deadly.
Room four is inside the fort proper, unlike the last two rooms, and here there are not only three of the Heavy Knights, but even dozen necromancers and… something called a Bone Eater… with twice as much health as a heavy knight great, where is it though…
Oh, clever it's a giant mass of random bones that were scattered on the floor and animated with necromancy. Fuckin wonderful, you nod to Sera and decide to show the stupid thing just how much you appreciate it half killing Maya's Warg in one blow. Lots of fire solves a whole lot of problems you find… Still even with Maya tearing into them, the sheer number of necromancers reaps its toll damage wise, and you see Shimah quickly using an Ether when she has a chance.
In the end the heavy knights are the last to fall, and the Bone Eater the first. Anshelm got hit by some kind of defense debuff though, so you wait that out, healing up. You pop an Amrita yourself.
Room five… is a mess, it looks like it was the forts old dining hall, and it is packed with ordinary skeleton soldiers and necromancers. Of course, the whole place is filled with a weakening miasma of dark, which is just all sorts of fun.
The sheer number means that at first Anshelm can't break up all the spearman, meaning their self buffs render them damn near invulnerable to physical damage… doesn't stop Sera though. Dragonbreath is a nasty spell. You concentrate on helping Maya clear the casters and keeping an eye on your guardian.
The boss room takes place on the roof of the fort. You face every enemy fought thus far. Archers scattered over the battlements, along with necromancers. Spearmen and three heavy knights acting the shields… and the boss Ranulf the Betrayer…
It's just another skeleton knight, you think at first, though the armor gives you a nasty flashback, reinforced when you catch a look through the eye slits of the helm, filled with the same hateful fire as the Kiln Knight. Oh look, 120 percent resistance to fire. Great.
"Boss is immune to fire," you shout, even as combat is joined and the sounds of clashing metal and ice start to echo. You eat a poisoned arrow and need a quick heal, but the archer who shot you gets burnt to a crisp by Sera, so it's all good.
The boss for its part, makes an eerie shrieking sound that sends shudders down your spine, ugly black mist flowing from its armor in waves as it unsheathes the greatsword on its back and wades into the fray.
Anshelm visibly recoils as it approaches, and you can almost see his strength being sapped. Then Sera detonates a fireball right in the middle of the crowd. It doesn't hurt the boss, though it sure hurts his minions. The ones closer to him seem to take less though.
You don't have time for that though. You and Maya play whack a mole with the necromancers, you popping them into prisons as quick as you can while she pops free ones and those that escape. Unfortunately, this means that your guardian gets torn apart by the swarm of melee fighters before you can heal it up. Crap.
Still… you are winning, Shimah has to concentrate on nothing but keeping Anshelm and the Warg alive, allowing her totem to heal you and Sera when you get hit, but in the end, they only weaken, and you have the resources to keep going. Maya's warg does fall though, tearing off a heavy knight's arm even as it dies with a half dozen spears in its chest. Another Ether goes down the hatch as the last of the enemy casters fall, and then comes the slog of finishing the rest of the enemies as Sera switches to lightning to begin bursting down the boss, conserving SP by using powerful charged bolts.
Luckily the boss, or at least the E rank version of him seems to lack any specials besides his aura, and a self heal he only uses twice. Either way, it drops, flames inside guttering out with one last bone rattling howl.
Congratulations!
80 Experience gained
10 Job Points
90 Gilder
The party has looted
4 Amrita
4 Ethers
4 Hi potions
2 Panacea
[Blacksteel Greatshield] A greatshield made of a forgotten alloy, stronger than any normal steel. Too heavy for all but the strongest of men to use. Renders the user immune to critical hits. 280 Cannot Equip
[Tainted Longbow] A longbow of fine yew, tainted by foul magic. Deals additional dark damage and has a chance of poisoning its target. 280 Cannot Equip
[Abyssal Staff] A staff of warped black wood thrumming with dark power. Greatly boosts dark spells and resistance to dark magic, but penalizes the users health. 280
[Traitor's Cloak] A cloak worn by one who betrayed a close friend, burned black by corruption. Renders wearer immune to dark and increases threat, but the traitors spirit lives on. 280
[Highlander Job Crystal] Wielder of massive swords. Superb damage, but mediocre defense. 500
"I'm not sure I like the look of that cloak," Maya says, looking troubled, "The bow seems pretty nice though." she sighs as she regards the spot where her Warg fell though, "Looks like I'll need a new pet..."
"Shield is just what I've been looking for," Anshelm says easily, then grimaces, "Sorry about the Warg Maya, had to concentrate on the big guy."
"Nothing of interest for me," Shimah sighs, "At least the consumable drops were quite good."
"Mm, the same," Sera says sadly, "The staff doesn't really suit me, my health is low enough as it is."
Well, anything out of there you want? Job crystals probably a seller, Anshelm is the only one likely to want it, and even then probably not, low defense and all.
[]Loot and planz?
Al Lv6
Ice Elementalist C
Health 64/74
SP 77/96
Maya Lv6
Dual Blade Hunter C
Health 72/81
Sp 29/40
Anshelm Lv6
Spear Warrior C
Health 172/200
SP 20/52
Shimah Lv6
Shaman D
Health 85/116
SP 56/115
Seraphine Lv6
Fire Elementalist C
Health 67/75
Sp 67/87
