Gii was waiting outside of a small crevice in the mountainous area southwest of Astrub. There were a number of other players standing around him as well, and all of them had the same symbol above their head picturing a large Claw slash on a purple background. One of them was a handsome looking human with brown hair and was wearing the standard attire for a soldier in the duchy of Astrub. This man was chatting with a person in a familiar set of purple plate armor, these two were Onyxqueen and the guild leader for the ravenous guild, PhotonDan.
Standing not too far away was a younger looking man with brown hair and he was leaning up against the side of the cliff face they were at the bottom of. He had his arms crossed and a scowl across his face as he scanned their surroundings. He was wearing a set of studded leather armor and had a pair of swords at his hip. This was the person who was the most difficult to get along with in the guild, xxTerminatorxx, or "Term" as everyone called him. Gii had recently found out that he was Dan's younger brother, which would explain why he was willing to put up with his attitude so much.
As they were waiting around for the remainder of their party, Gii noticed a group of people that were coming their way. One of them was a stout dwarf wearing a set of shiny new plate armor and wielding a large shield with the Symbol of the dwarven god Korr. He was wearing a helmet with no face guard so you could see his large bushy beard that reached to his stomach, Gii looked at the name "Sundance Kid" written above his head. Next to him was a small elven woman wrapped in dark purple cloths and wearing a scarf around her face. She had dark brown eyes and flowing black hair peeking out from under her wraps, the name above her head read "Rebellafleur"
Gii's attention turned to the 2 other figures, one of which was a stoic looking human with short black hair who was wearing a basic set of chainmail. He wielded a massive greatsword on his back and stood almost 7 feet tall as he stared menacingly at Gii's group that was waiting outside the cavern. On his shoulder was a small figure who looked to only be about 3 feet tall and had translucent wings on their back. He swung his legs in a carefree manner and waved as they approached Gii's group. These 2 were F4t4lStr1ke and Pixiebob.
Dan and Queen finished up their conversation as they noticed the 4 people approaching them and Dan quickly put on a smile and greeted everyone.
"Great! It looks like we are all here now!"
He looked at Pixiebob with surprise, to which Pixie simply smiled.
"I told ya I had a surprise! I recently was able to change my race to Pixie, I got an awesome buff to my nature magic now!"
Sun laughed as the also chimed in to the conversation.
"This should be a great opportunity for me to test out my new armor as well!"
"HMPH. don't fool around too much, I want to make sure we clear the dungeon."
Dan simply shook his head and sighed before giving an apologetic smile to the rest of the group. Everyone seemed to be used to Term's abrasive behavior so they were able to move on very quickly. Dan quickly brought everyone's focus together and held out his stoney looking key.
"Me and Queen just went in and checked things out and she's 100% correct that this key will go to that door. However it doesn't look like its undiscovered because she never received a notification for being the first one to find it. That means either a solo player found it or another group has been keeping it a secret. Either way it won't affect us."
Everyone listened intently and nodded their head as Dan continued
"Normally i'd want to jump in right away but since this is the first time many of us are working together is like us to get to know a little bit about everyone's abilities. I hope that's not an issue?"
"I'd like to know how the noob plans to contribute."
Dan turned to Term and frowned. Before Dan could say anything tio interrupt Gii spoke up.
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"I don't mind leading off"
Dan gave an appreciative look and nodded for him to continue.
"First of all I have used characteristic scrolls to buff all of my stats so even though I'm lower level than everyone, I'm definitely stronger than my level suggests. I actually have a unique class that's a bit hard to explain but essentially I will deal more damage the more injured I become. I have really high HP so I should be able to be a decent tank. I'll have to bother Pixie for healing because any Divine healing will actually injure me."
Everyone looked at Gii in surprise but Sun was the first one to respond.
"I thought I recognized you! you were that crazy player killing an NPC that went viral recently! Does having negative Karma actually make you weak to divine spells?"
"Something like that."
Although Gii gave a non-committal answer everyone felt that it was most likely true. Not to mention they only needed to know the basics for their builds at this point in time. Gii's fluid response to the situation worked as an ice breaker for the group and everyone quickly went around to explain their abilities. Dan was an all-rounder who could play as a tank or DPS but his soldier rank allowed him to give out command buffs to groups, he was definitely suited to be the leader.
Term focused on all out attack and was a pure DPS melee fighter, which seemed to fit his personality. Rebel was a traditional assassin type build and focused on sudden bursts of damage and sneak attacks. Queen at this time was a tank/dps build but she focused more on damage. However she also had a unique class that gave her some debuff abilities and damage over time poison abilities. Sun was a traditional Cleric so he mainly focused on healing and buff abilities however his heavy armor allowed him to be an off-tank healer. Pixie was a pure healer/support type and had no offensive abilities. The was made up by Fatal however who was a pure DPS damage dealer and was using a unique berserker class.
The group consulted and agreed that Rebel would be able to scout any traps with her stealth ability while exploring. If there was any combat Gii and Queen would act as the tanks up front while Term and Fatal would be the main damage dealers. Rebel and Dan would attack and help out as they could while Pixie and Sun would focus on healing. Sun could swap out with either Gii or Queen if their health got low and they needed a break. After everyone agreed to the plan, they all entered into the Crevice and walked forward in the darkness until they eventually came to a carved stone door with a small keyhole in the middle of it.
One by One everyone went up to the door and inserted the Key which was followed by a flash of light as they disappeared into the dungeon. Gii followed suit with the rest of them and inserted the key, after which he was immediately met with a flash of light and was teleported to another space in a large and open cave. He could see his party members around him and Dan put his finger over his mouth to indicate for everyone to be quiet and then pointed at Rebel who nodded and immediately ran off and disappeared into the shadows.
Gii took a moment to take in his surroundings and let his eyes adjust to the diminished light level. He could see that the group was in a large cavernous room that looked to have branching paths that spun off of the main room like tendrils in every direction. Rebel had only been gone for a few minutes when she replied in the team chat.
[Rebellafleur: There doesn't seem to be any traps but the paths are very confusing]
[PhotonDan: Have you gotten lost?]
[Rebellafleur: no but it will probably take me a long time to map out where to go]
[OnyxQueen: I would follow the sound of any enemies or look for larg open rooms]
[PhotonDan: That seems like a safe bet, don't worry about mapping everything right now and just try to find a path forward.]
[Rebellafleur: Got it]
Dan turned to the group and spoke
"Why don't we stick together and advance through a different path. Since none of us have stealth skills like Rebel it will be easier if we run into a group of enemies."
Everyone agreed with Dan's assessment and so they began to make their way through one of the other side tunnels that was unexplored. Just like what had been mentioned, the pathways were very confusing and the entire layout seemed to be like a natural maze. Gii had not been in this dungeon in a very long time so even he did not remember the exact route that would need to be take. The only thing he could remember from his previous life were the types of enemies they would find and information about the boss.
After traveling for what seemed for a long time they eventually received word from their teammate in Rebel.
[Rebellafleur: I think I've found a way forward]
[xxTerminatorxx: what did you find?]
[PhotonDan: What is it?]
[Rebellafleur: I checked out a couple of the pathways and after following them for a bit i think that most of them lead to the same location. It loks like a large room like the one we entered into at the start]
The first one to speak up in the group was Term.
"I say we go to her location, I'm getting sick of just wandering around aimlessly."
There was a momentary frown on Dan's face before he spoke up as well.
"I agree, but let's be careful when retracing our steps. We don't know if there is any hidden triggers in this place"
The rest of the group agreed with dan and so they began to make their way towards the tunnels that Rebel had been exploring
[PhotonDan: Hey Rebel, we are gonna come to you so stay put for a minute.]
[Rebellafleur: do you want me to check out this room?]
[PhotonDan: don't do anything yet, i dont want you to accidentally spawn some monsters without us there to back you up]
[xxTerminatorxx: Yea leave the exp for the group!]
"Term why do you have to be like that?"
Dan simply shook his head while term just looked at him with a look that said "I only spoke the truth"
The group ignored the small fight between brothers and Gii could tell that pretty much everyone here had been friends for a long time and were used to the back and forth. It didn't take long for them to get back to the starting room, and with helpful directions from Rebel, They were able to make their way towards her current location. It was much quicker than their initial exploration as Rebel had left markings on the walls and floor to indicate where she was heading.
Eventually they were able to see a figure sitting quietly in the darkness and as she saw the group approaching she stood up and greeted them. she pointed in a direction and they all followed her as she led them along the passageway. As they were coming to the end of the passageway, they could see a fairly large cavern that looked to be almost the same size as the room they initially entered into. They all looked at each other and readied themselves for any possibilities as Rebel stealthily entered the room and they waited with baited breath at the entranceway.