Haru: Apprentice 1/Acolyte 1
Optifex: Legionnaire 1/Initiate 1
Haru was getting used to being just an everyday mage. She and Optifex continued to down boars until they both reached level 4.
“Should we move to dragonlings?” Haru called out after the victory fanfare played.
Opti looked up and searched his thoughts. Then he nodded. “I think we can do dragonlings now. We just need to be careful not to go overboard.”
Before departing, they killed a few more boars for good measure, in case they ended up wiping. It put Haru’s mind at ease.
They jogged from the starting hamlet to the dragonling-infested town and surveyed the area from the outskirts. It was still bustling with new players hot on the trail of the main quest. But it was hard to miss the uncountable number of dead players strewn about both the outer perimeter and along what parts of the roadway could be seen from the outside. Haru became worried that somehow the demon had changed the nature of the dragonlings and made them more difficult.
“Alright, let me keep pulling for now.” Opti drew his sword and walked into town at a slow, measured pace.
Haru followed behind, but not too far in case the worse happened and she pulled agro. She wanted to be close enough for the legionnaire to be able to turn around and charge toward her without having first to get in range.
The two continued down the cobblestone road, passing the first set of empty houses without issue. On the far side of town, the sounds of battle echoed out from other players duking it out with the tiny dragons. As they neared the first intersection, Opti stopped just short of where the center of the three paths converged.
“I see one.” He whispered, pointing across the road, toward a row of houses just on the edge of the street. “Wait here.” He looked around and jogged forward. Just as he reached the curb, he burst forth into a charge. The legionnaire disappeared into an alley between two houses.
Haru readied her staff and looked around nervously. Before, there were usually dragonlings that lurked within the houses on the outskirts of town, but this time there weren’t any. She worried some might spawn behind them, and it would cause havoc.
After a few moments, Opti emerged from the alleyway in a sprint. “Get it!” He stopped and turned, brandishing his sword.
A green dragonling appeared, following the same path the legionnaire ran in order to return to the intersection. The wyrm was already down to 90% HP.
The moment Haru could target the dragonling, she did so and began to cast Ice Bolt. It slammed into the beast for 20% HP, bringing it down to 70% total.
“Easy Roo,” Opti called out, “you’re going to start pulling agro if you go too fast. I don’t have Provoke yet.”
“But it doesn’t cost that much mana to cast Ice Bolt.” Haru insisted. “I could burn one of these down on my own.” Still, she relented and took a knee to recover. Considering their position, it was comforting to know that she had enough mana reserves to down one of these on her own. It was all thanks to the fact that her subjob was now level 2 because her main job was level 4.
With careful management of her enmity, Haru paced herself and attacked only after Opti used Line Breaker. While slower, she kept her mana topped up, and the mob was firmly locked onto the legionnaire.
After a few rounds, they downed the green dragonling.
Haru looked at her experience. She was already over halfway to the next level. “Wow these still give a ton of XP.”
Opti nodded. “It’s why this area is the second-best place to level after the highlands. While you end up getting locked in the zone and must redo the first dungeon, the exp-per-hour is too high to pass up.”
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Haru casted Mend on Opti to top up his HP and then knelt to recover mana. “This seems like as good a place as any to camp for mobs.”
The legionnaire looked around and nodded. “The other players seem to be fighting their way through town. Probably a good idea if you’re solo to just keep moving. But that would make things difficult for you. Here’s as good as anywhere, I agree.” He turned and walked back toward the edge of town. “Let me make sure we’re not getting cornered. I know there are spawns from where we entered town too.”
Only a few steps away from Haru, Opti stopped and targeted a red dragonling that emerged from a house closer to the edge of town than to the intersection. He used Line Breaker and charged the beast.
The legionnaire’s auto-attack triggered the moment he closed and brought the dragonling down to 90% HP.
Haru stood up and started casting Ice Bolt on the mob. After finishing, it landed and brought the creature down to 70% total health. She remembered that Alara could only cast about 4 times at this level, but judging by how much Ice Bolt cost and Haru’s total mana reserves, she could cast a total of 6 times. That was enough to take down a dragonling on her own and still have enough to cast Mend once before running completely dry of mana.
After the dragonling’s regular attack brought Opti down to 90% HP, the legionnaire was struck by another attack, bringing him down to 80%. From around the corner of a small alcove between two houses near where he stood, a black dragonling linked onto Opti.
“Agro, keep hitting the red one.” The legionnaire called out.
Haru hadn’t even knelt yet. She decided to put her theory to the test. With careful timing, it wasn’t too complicated to queue successive spell casts. So, the apprentice did just that. She began queuing Ice Bolt to cast repeatedly. Every time the spellcasting meter would rise to 80%, she would trigger another cast, which would ensure there was no gap in charge time between spells.
Each Ice Bolt that landed on the red dragonling hit for 20%. After three rapid casts, the creature was down to 10%.
The two beasts hit Opti for 10% each, bringing him down to 60% total HP.
An auto-attack from Opti put the creature down for good. As soon as the red dragonling was out of commission, he immediately turned and used Line Breaker on the black dragonling. The stun procced and it stopped attacking him. The beast was down to 90%.
Haru took a knee and decided to regain some mana. It would take about 5 ticks to get back to full.
After the dragonling recovered from stun, it hit Opti for 10%. Then it immediately followed up by charging an ability. Red orbs surrounded it, and a low growl echoed out.
“It’s casting Fireball, run away!” Opti shouted, turning and fleeing from the beast.
Haru stood up and readied to run away, but then realized the legionnaire wasn’t going to make it out of range in time. He hadn’t even made it to her yet. And she was certainly within the radius to get hit. Seeing that she was at full health, the apprentice decided to target Opti and started to cast Mend.
The meter slowly rose as the spell charged. At the same time, the beast began to vibrate. Haru stayed steadfast, staring at the creature as she raised her hand, ready for the spell to trigger. The dragonling’s red orbs converged on its core and a light burst forth from its mouth. Haru closed her eyes, wincing at the incoming blast.
Just before the creature’s ability finished charging, Haru’s Mend brought Opti back to 100% health. Then the area was bathed in fire.
The fireball hit Opti for 75% HP, bringing him down to 25% total health.
It also hit Haru for 45% HP, bringing her down to 55% total health.
“Ow, ow, ow, ow!” Opti ran in circles as his eyebrows were singed and hair frayed from the dragonling’s searing spell.
Haru again began casting mend on Opti. But there was a new problem. The creature was now barreling towards her. She took far less damage because acolyte, her subjob, gives Magic Defense as a passive at level 2, and Mend causes enmity with each cast. She patted out a small flame on her sleeve.
“Opti.” Haru called to him calmly.
The legionnaire shook himself off and extinguished the small flames still burning on the top of his head.
“Opti.” Haru then spoke with more insistence. “It’s coming.”
The dragonling grew closer. It was almost in melee range.
The legionnaire patted his cheeks and exhaled sharply.
Mend was almost about to finish.
“Opti!” Haru shouted.
Then the legionnaire hurled himself at the dragonling, using Line Breaker. It stunned and his auto-attack triggered, bringing the creature down to 80% total HP.
Just as Opti collided with the beast, Haru’s Mend finished and brought the legionnaire back to 100% HP. Breathing a sigh of relief, the apprentice then fired an Ice Bolt at the dragonling for good measure before taking a knee to regain her mana, now understanding why Alara always said to always be recovering.
After a few more rounds, the black dragonling went down. The victory fanfare played as both Haru and Opti hit level 5.
The apprentice smiled as she stood from recovery mode. “Ding.”
A warm glow from within prompted Haru to open her key items. The Mark of Patentia was glowing brighter than ever. She prodded the orb with her fingertip and shook her head. “I’m not sure I’ll ever understand you, little one.”
“What was that?” Opti called out to her.
Haru hurriedly hid her menu. “Nothing, just talking to myself.”