Both me and Minty appears in Ekolia almost at the same time just in front of the gate to Sotrieta Dungeon, dusting non-existent dust away as I get myself comfortable.
[Minty]: “Come to think of it, your [Firebolt] spell was unusually strong.”
[Siola]: “Hm? Oh, that’s because I have [Fire Wielder] Title. Something I got from pre-patch.”
[Minty]: “Oh? Wait, isn’t that a title that can get you Pyromancy?”
[Siola]: “Yeah, but being pyromaniac isn’t actually something I want. I mean I was too busy with other things before the patch drops. But anyway, this is what it looks like now.”
* Firebolt / Tier 1 – Basic / Fire / Cast to conjure a small bolt of fire, dealing 27 fire damage at enemy upon impact, buildup burn overtime / Cost: 3 Mana / Requirement: 3 Intelligence
[Siola]: “Fire Wielder increases the damage by flat 50% and then Pyro Mastery increases it further by 25% alongside my 10 Intelligence stat, and the result is further increased by Magi Mastery’s 20% after accounting for all of that.”
[Minty]: “So, it dealt more than two times the original damage.”
[Siola]: “Mhm, 17 extra damage to be exact.”
[Minty]: “Ohh, so that’s why you needed those Mana potions then.”
[Siola]: “No, that’s for this one.”
* Rapid Spell Casting (Passive) / Level 10 (Max) / Consecutive use of spells now has reduced 80% Cost
[Minty]: “Ohhhh, wait, that’s… amazing, isn’t it?”
[Siola]: “Yeah, the requirement was quite brutal. I even got a new Quest thanks to it too. Look.”
* Path of Psion / Mythic / Become one with your mind, unlock Psychomancy / Requirement 1: Obtain [Rapid Spell Casting] Level 8 / Requirement 2: Acquire [Tome of Psionic Magic] / Requirement 3: Cast [Malevolent Shadow] / Reward: Class Evolution to [Psion] / Condition: Completing a Class Change will fail this Quest
[Minty]: “Psion. Wait, what’s that rarity? No way.”
[Siola]: “Hm?”
[Minty]: “Siola, that’s Mythic! That’s the rank above Legendary!”
[Siola]: “That’s good, yeah?”
[Minty]: “That’s more than good! Do you know how rare it is for people to get anything Mythic? Only a few top rankers even own it and there hasn’t been a Mythic rank class either!”
[Minty]: “This is Amazing, Siola!”
[Siola]: “Ahahah, if you say so, then it must be!”
[Minty]: “It is! Wait um, why are you showing me this? Something like this is… you shouldn’t be showing it to just anyone, okay?”
Chuckles, “Hmph, as if I’ll hide anything from you. We’re a team, remember?”
Her eyes sparkled, nodding, “Mm!”
[Siola]: “Let’s go to that place I asked you about. We need you to rank up first.”
[Minty]: “Okay! Goodness, I’m hyped! It’s not far, too.”
[Siola]: “Lead the way, ma’am.”
We walk back up to the bridge, but instead of returning along the path of where we came from, Minty sees past the broken gate.
[Minty]: “Beyond this path, we won’t be dealing with ordinary goblins and wolves anymore.”
[Minty]: “But something much worse.”
Holding her hand, smiling at her with confidence. Her eyes turn hopeful. Although the day is bright and cheery, it doesn’t take long for us to meet our first enemy.
The size of a grown adult, its body is bulky and fangs full of saliva and blood. A gorilla with a black fur and a long tail like a scorpion. Its upper limb is replaced with claws instead of hands.
{Stygian Ape / Level 40}
[Siola]: “Do none of us have Appraisal ability?”
[Minty]: “I don’t.”
[Siola]: “Well, let’s hope this one don’t have a lot of health.”
*Roooooooooar*
Tip-toeing to the side, I grabbed its attention as Minty sends a volley of arrows at it. The creature felt those sharp wounds hitting its body, but when he turns, he caught a bunch of firebolts setting fire on its fur.
*Roooarghoooooough*
[Minty]: “It’s coming after you!”
[Siola]: “Yeah, no shit!”
I run quickly uphill and started climbing, and there I can see my stamina dropping rapidly so I stopped and keep on sending firebolts its way.
*Boom *Boom *Boom *Boom
No matter how much it flinched, it just won’t stop. I had to kick its face and jump away from the tree but I don’t stop casting those firebolts.
! {New Quest Received}
* Pyromancer / Uncommon / Become one with fire, unlocks [Pyromancy] / Requirement 1: Obtain [Fire Wielder] / Requirement 2: Cast Fire-type Spell 100 times / Requirement 3: Have at least 3 Fire-type Spells / Reward: Class Evolution to [Pyromancer] / Condition: Completing a Class Change will fail this Quest
Ignoring the notification, I rolled and safely landed on the ground but then when I look at the gorilla. A powerful burst of wind just blasts its head and breaking the tree. An arrow punctured its head and the thing just ragdolls away.
The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.
“Siola, are you okay?!”
“Yeah, good work. Let’s check out the drop.”
* [1x] Magic Core / Rare / Contains the souls of a lesser ranked creature
* [1x] Stygian Gland / Uncommon / Body Part of Stygian Ape, highly venomous
* [1x] Stygian Sting / Rare / Physical Attack: 50 / Magical Attack: 40 / Enchantment: Buildup toxin upon contact. Has innate spell [Blue Venom], upon Cast, imbue the dagger further with a concentrated venom that guarantees toxin upon impact and has chance to put the target to sleep for 5 second / Requirement: 30 Dexterity, 20 Agility, 20 Intelligence
[Minty]: “Oh my god, Siola!”
[Siola]: “Ohhhh!”
[Minty]: “A rare dagger with an innate ability— I mean, spell!”
[Siola]: “That’s so lucky! Good job! Did you put any stats in Luck or something?”
[Minty]: “Just a bit yeah. My goodness, we could definitely sell this, oh my god.”
[Siola]: “You goddamn right. Put it in your inventory and don’t lose it.”
[Minty]: “Hehe, I won’t.”
[Siola]: “Alright, come on.”
[Minty]: “Wait, how about you use it?”
[Siola]: “Hmm… nope. I can’t even if I wanted to.”
[Minty]: “Oh right, it got quite the requirements. Wait, I can use this.”
[Siola]: “Then what’re you waiting for then. Tuck that sword back in your inventory and get that dagger on your hip.”
Nodding, “Mm!”
[Minty]: “Still, it’s not quite as comfortable to use than a sword. It’s light, but the reach is…”
[Siola]: “Yeah, you gotta get close and personal.”
[Minty]: “Something I wish I don’t have to do.”
[Siola]: “Heheh, come on. Where is that place we’re looking for?”
We march onward, descending downhill following the road. There’re more of those apes albeit with a brown color instead, somewhat weaker at Level 25-30 each, and we kept utilizing clever tactics and the surrounding terrain to our advantage. Be it delivering the first blow as we sneak up on them, throwing big rocks while they’re busy with themselves, rolling a boulder, the point is there’s a lot of sneak attack employed.
As we arrive to the foot of the hill, we go through another forest area. There we found wolves with long rabbit-like ears, scales on parts of their limbs.
{Rabbit Wolf / Level 5}
Once again, rapid casting bolt of fire finishes them off quickly.
[Minty]: “If it weren’t for the Cast, I bet you could use them like a machine gun.”
Scoff, “Yeah, I bet.”
We passed through a river and there were more wolves blocking our path. It’s no longer a problem as we tried our best not to receive any damage, but even if we do, we’ll be ready.
[Minty]: “I’ve never asked, but I’ve been wondering why did you decide to stay at our house. Like, what would you do if my mom wasn’t gonna let you.”
[Siola]: “Heh, she’s always going to let me. But if I must answer that, it’s because of you.”
[Minty]: “Me?”
[Siola]: “Mhm. Just curious how someone that I’ve known in the past would become after years of no interaction. It’s either you or my close family.”
[Minty]: “Was it a hard choice for you?”
[Siola]: “Psst, what kind of question is that? But yeah, a little, I did have to consider some things.”
When she said that the place is not far, I didn’t expect that we would walk three times the length than our previous journey to Sotrieta Dungeon.
Wedging in between a mountain and a cliff, there lies a space underneath.
[Minty]: “It’s down there. Follow me.”
Sliding down the hole, I entered the place with her. I expected dark and gloomy place, but with the number of furniture and decorations in place left behind by other players, it’s lively.
[Minty]: “No one’s here too.”
[Siola]: “How about we check what other people are doing nowadays?”
[Minty]: “Good idea.”
She took a seat with me looking at her screen right beside her. I could’ve used mine, but it’s best to have the same information and is shared like this.
We first check out the forum, and there’s a lot of topics about relating to the new patch.
[Minty]: “Almost 500k votes and it said, ‘Why’, that’s interesting.”
[Minty]: “Oh, it’s a top player’s post, from the first ranker, Mona.”
[Minty]: “The game has been out for a while, but there’s a lot of places and things we haven’t explore yet and now you drop a MASSIVE gameplay patch? It’s not like we’re running out of fun here.”
[Minty]: “She said.”
[Siola]: “Does she complain a lot?”
[Minty]: “No, first one I’ve seen of her.”
I mean it was shocking, I would complain if I could. But it looks like it went on deft ears.
There are more like it which sum up to people saying that the patch is a nerf to everything, many say they’re going to quit, even death threats were made publicly.
[Minty]: “Top players are struggling with the new system it seems. They can’t go to the same place they used to go because the difficulty is blown out of proportion. Oh look at this, it said that every guild had to postpone their operation to make changes to the new patch.”
[Siola]: “So?”
[Minty]: “That means everyone is on the same spot, Siola. Like me. I used to spend day and night grinding for materials and everything so I can earn money. It’s like a job, but now, everyone is back to the same spot like me, I mean us. They have to adjust to this new… old experience where we explore and do fun things. Isn’t it great? That means, we’re not falling behind everyone.”
[Siola]: “Woah, hold your horses there. What’s not to say that those people are just gonna try to adjust to the new patch and go back doing the same thing they were doing before the patch?”
[Minty]: “Well, that could happen.”
[Siola]: “Heh, let’s just forget about them. What about the stream and TV side of things?”
She switches the channel and there are a lot of flashy thumbnails talking about the update.
[Siola]: “These clowns are boring, what about the stream ones?”
People are struggling to fight low level creatures. Even the cheery people that fights with goblins too, they got them screaming.
[Minty]: “It looks like they’re in a lot of pain.”
[Siola]: “Well, yeah, I’m not gonna comment on that.”
[Minty]: “Oh look, it’s Mona.”
[Siola]: “Who?”
[Minty]: “The top ranked player.”
She’s fighting a group of the apes that we fought earlier. But she’s running out of breath after only taking a few of them out.
[ElitEpic23]: oh no, wife has lost her touch 🤣
[usera]: What happened, elite be getting ‘ape’d by some fantasy apes?
[BrawlersUnite]: Lol, first she can't clear the first dungeon floor without dying to a few monkeys, and now she can’t even beat some outside 😂
[ElitePanic]: help! I'm stuck on level 1 and these apes are too fast
[usera]: Looks like someone needs to work on those ‘Elite’ Skills
[NoScope_Ninja]: 10k viewers can't believe what we're seeing right now 🤦♂️
The chat doesn’t look all that creative in their insults.
[Siola]: “What’s Elite?”
[Minty]: “Just one of her title, Elite Guard. But that’s odd though, why can’t she just use her op skills on them? She has this awesome spell where she cast Art of something, and then knives just appear and kill everything for her.”
Art Spells, ones created by special individuals. Those are rare stuff. There’s also Laws too, but that’s something beyond this stage of the game.
[Siola]: “Well, she looks like she could use it now. What is that movement? Ewww.”
[Siola]: “You sure she’s the top ranker?”
[Minty]: “Of course! Maybe once she gets used to things, she’ll be back to how she used to. I mean, we don’t actually play fair with those apes either.”
[Siola]: “Mmm. Welp, let us go back to what we’re here to do. Gimme the rundown.”
She stood, “Right.”
[Minty]: “So, behind that gate is a very special dungeon called Dread Black. This place is PACKED in pre-patch, and there’s a reason for it. And that is the amount of LOOT in the dungeon. It is insanely… nonexistent. But, when they drop, it could be anything. There’s one guy that manages to pull a Legendary weapon in just the fifth floor, and there’s 25 floors here.”
[Minty]: “Considering what I’ve seen of us, we should keep to the third and up. No fourth floor and below.”
[Siola]: “What’s inside though?”
[Minty]: “Undead.”
[Siola]: “Oooo, that’s spooky.”
[Minty]: “Your fire can deal with them quickly enough, so we won’t have to worry about it much.”
[Siola]: “Well, let’s put that to the test.”
Opening the gate as hard as I can, but it can only open slightly so Minty pushes on the other side and we managed to open it. The air inside is eerie without a torch, but we have one.