Haru: Apprentice 5/Acolyte 2
Optifex: Legionnaire 5/Initiate 2
Haru remained at the T-intersection as Opti continued to pull dragonlings. The two fell into a groove, with only the occasional hiccup when a dragonling would link or one would spawn too close to the fight. She was getting used to managing her mana, to save it for times when they suddenly needed it. Their most recent fight got them to the next level and then some.
Haru reached level 6!
Optifex reached level 6!
“Ding!” Haru smiled.
The legionnaire sheathed his sword and looked down the main road of the town, one of the paths of the intersection. “It might be time to go do Milkies.”
Though they were still getting decent experience, the constant threat of adds, along with all of the dragonlings having a fireball ability did make her leery. “I suppose that would be a good idea.” Haru put away her staff.
The two departed the town out the way they came and decided to take the safe route by going around the town once more, worried because the longer they stayed, the quieter the sounds of combat became, indicating that players were either leaving or losing to the dragonlings.
They jogged past the guard tower and into the Deadwood Forest. There, the sounds of battle once again picked up. But this time, they were much more intense. Great flashes of light ignited, illuminating the depths of the woods. The light shining afar showed what was happening: players had engaged the Corrupted Gryphon world boss.
Even from the road, it was evident they were very high level, likely end game.
As Haru and Opti continued down the path through the forest, it became clear what produced the flashes of light. Mages casted spells which expanded into huge spheres high above the ground. These spells, unknown to Haru, were what caused the sudden surge of overbearing illumination. The closer the two got to the intersection that would lead them toward the Milkies, the easier it was to spot the players through the deadwood.
Haru looked at Opti. “Why did the devs put a world boss all the way down here?”
Opti hummed and scrunched his face. “I don’t think we ever did. That wouldn’t make any sense at all.”
Haru looked over to the players fighting for a moment. “So, the demon definitely put it down here then.”
“It seems like it,” Opti nodded, “I’ve always been a fan of easter eggs and backtracking for a reward in my designs. But this seems a bit too much for everyone.”
A huge blue and yellow orb scintillated in the distance, droning with power as it formed.
“And now the players have to go through the dungeon to get out.” Haru shook her head.
“That’s not entirely true.” Opti started. “At level 40 you can buy and use mounts. They can jump up some ledges, and I’m pretty sure the ones we descended to get down here are just that kind.”
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Haru hummed. “It seems like the demon wasn’t very familiar with the game before trying to make it his own. It would have been more annoying to force players to go through the first level dungeon in order to get out.”
“Who knows why he does certain things,” Opti shrugged, “though it does seem like choices were made at random. Like this world boss is just a standard gryphon trash mob from an end-game raid.” He pointed into the forest toward the battle. “It doesn’t even have a very interesting move set. Its abilities are more of an annoyance than anything else. There’s no doubt even a brand-new raiding party could take it down. Why have it? Why put it here?”
“Maybe that’s the point,” Haru shook her head, “to cause frustration.”
“Well, it’s working. Such a lazy implementation is frustrating me already.” Opti sighed. “I wanted to build a world that felt like it had meaning. That was hard but worthwhile to overcome.” He hung his head. “But that thing is just disgraceful. Who would ever think that fight would be worthwhile?”
Haru turned to him. “Did you design a lot of the world? Are you able to remember?”
Opti raised his head and nodded. “Yes, I was in charge of…” he blinked, “something. It’s slowly coming back to me, but my actual title escapes me right now.”
Haru ran ahead, turned around and walked backwards with her arms out. “Did you make my encounter too?”
Opti’s eyes widened, his brow raised high, likely in realization. Then his expression grew dark, and he looked away. “I… I don’t want to talk about it.”
Haru lowered her hands and tilted her head. Did she do something wrong? The apprentice turned and continued to walk, staying quiet as they approached the crossroad.
Then as they got to the three-way intersection near the mountain, Haru waited for Opti to pass and then followed him. They continued beyond the Gogo camp, careful not to agro any of the goblins before passing the small pond and then ascending the far-side of the mountain.
There, in the shadow of the tower, were the puffballs, the Milkies. They roamed around the grasslands nestled in the bowl valley, accompanied by only a small tree at the far side of the area.
Haru waited near the entrance. The Milkies weren’t aggressive and didn’t link but also was nervous that she somehow made Opti sad.
The legionnaire advanced a few paces and then stopped suddenly and turned to look at Haru. “Did you want to fight over there?”
The apprentice tapped her fingers together bashfully. “We can fight anywhere you’d like.”
He looked around and pointed at a part of the grasslands with a tiny hill. “How about over there? You can cast from atop that little mound.”
Haru looked and observed the otherwise uninteresting spot, wondering what was so special about it. “I—I guess so, that could be a good idea.”
She walked over and stood on the small bump in the ground, assuming it was what Opti wanted. She wondered why he was suddenly so chipper. Something about what she said to him before, coupled with his expression, burned into her mind. The answer to the question, whatever it was, seemed so painful.
Haru opened her mouth to speak, but Opti rushed over to the nearest puffball, which was still quite the way away, and charged it down.
The legionnaire’s auto-attack hit the puffball for 10% HP, bringing it down to 90% before he turned and ran back toward the mound which Haru stood on.
As she got ready to cast Ice Bolt on the mob, she wanted to ask about what she said that seemed to be so painful to talk about. It bothered her greatly that she hurt her friend’s feelings but at the same time, didn’t want to do it again by being overly curious.
“Something wrong, Roo?” Opti called out over his shoulder. He already brought the mob in range and positioned himself between her and the Milkie.
Shaking off her thoughts, Haru began to cast Ice Bolt. It landed, dealing 25% HP and bringing it down to 65% total health.
The Milkie started casting Fire I on Opti. After it finished, it dealt 30% damage to him, bringing him down to 60%.
Without hesitation, Haru started casting Mend on Opti. After getting him up to 100% again, she took a knee to recover.
After a few rounds, they downed the Milkie and victory fanfare played.
Haru reached level 7!
Optifex reached level 7!
Staring at Haru, Opti sheathed his sword and put on a wide smile. “Ding.”
The expression startled Haru, who was lost in thought. She stood, having already gotten to max mana from the level up and forced herself to smile back.
But the new mystery bothered her greatly. What about her encounter caused Opti so much pain? Was there anything she could do about it?
The apprentice couldn’t shake the overwhelming weight on her shoulders and was on the verge of being hunched over as she watched the legionnaire jog away to pull another puffball.