I sat in the corner of the Guild bar, watching people come and go. I was using Identity passively to get a feel for the level of adventurers, and this was quite a low-level area. Few seemed like a threat to me.
I also had my Intuition running, seeking a party with whom to explore the Trial and maybe make a longer-term connection. I was in my Dace of Death armour, but I had Spectral Cloak running, so it looked mismatched and older than it was.
Getting information on the trial was easy. It is literally a hole in the ground. Rats on the first floor with a floor guardian Rat King with a recommended party of six Level 8 people to take it out. They recommended having area-of-effect attacks as the rats swarm and the Rat King summons swarms.
Floor two was Spiders. Hidden ambush predators with a sticky web and poison. The web is weak to fire. The floor Guardian is a Spider Matriarch with poison, and again, she will summon a swarm of small, fast spiders. Area fire attacks are the easiest to take them down. Potions with the poison antidote can be purchased, and I already have a stock of them in my Potions cupboard. The matriarch is recommended to be dealt with at a party of six level 12 people with a fire mage.
Floor three is the lizards. More ambushes, but these have long, sticky tongues and quick bites. The final boss is a lizard humanoid with a lot of speed and regeneration. A party of six level 15 people is recommended. An armoured person to hold the boss still is the recommendation.
Overall, the recommended party make-up is six, including a good scout to spot the ambushes, a fire mage with area spells and a person with a taunt skill.
The layout and the make-up of the creatures change, but this trial is well known. I could solo this Trial now that I know what to expect, but I won’t because that is not the purpose of being here. I am here to find others to work with.
I am starting to worry; I am in an area that is too low-level to find people. The top academy students are levels 12-14, but most are lower. Most students don’t go past the second floor. Only the top might go onto the third but may not challenge the guardian.
The older adventurers might form parties of two or three and clear the dungeon a couple of times a week. Farming the trial. There is very little risk and a steady income.
The trouble is that the older adventurers have their groups and are not looking for new members. The students are too low-levelled, and if I joined them, the Trial would raise the level for me, and they would find it difficult.
There was a notice board for groups looking for people to run the trial. The most requested are scouts and fire mages. They were student groups.
I am pretty sure this is not the place to find team members. However, there is a trial with swarming creatures. This is perfect to get my kill count up to level Spectral Slayer. The XP will be pathetic, but you can’t have everything.
I hit on a way to meet people as well. I adjust my Spectral cloak to show my Dance of Death armour and only have a few facial distortions. This way, I look like I have some coin. I approach a table of five.
“I understand you are looking for a Rogue/Scout to be eyes for a trial run to the third floor.” At the nod of the lady in charge, I said, “I am Marvin, a level 18 Thief.”
She nodded, “I am Jane, a heavy warrior with Taunt; this is Joe, our Healer; May, our mage with some fire spells; and Fred, the swordsman, and David the Maceman.”
“Hello. I understand you want to fight the lizards on the third floor, but not the boss?” I said.
“I don’t think we are ready for the boss,” Jane said.
“Right, well, I have a deal for you. I have the Harvest skill.” That got their attention. Few at the academy had the skill. “I also have this spatial backpack to carry it all, but here's the deal. I am willing to harvest for you and carry the loot, but I want to go for the boss. I will forgo my share of the loot, all except the boss drops that are designated for me, and we attempt the boss. If we take the boss, I will charge you a silver.”
“With Harvest, we will clear two silver pieces each, possibly more. That doesn't make sense for you. What the catch?” Jane asked.
“I am not as interested in coin as I am in levelling a new technique,” I said, showing the Haladie. I could see they were looking at my expensive armour and thinking I was rich. “You don’t pay me unless we take the boss, and then you spread the word of the deal, and I can do this multiple times.”
“You are new here?” Joe asked.
I smiled my stage smile, “That’s right.”
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“What about sharing XP?” Jane asked. “I am working on developing the team leadership skills to form groups, but I am not there yet.”
“You guys are part of a group with a charter?” They nodded. The Charter would allow the sharing of XP and the distribution of loot. “Is there a clause for a temporary contractor to join?”
Jane pulled out the Charter and scanned it. I was surprised she didn’t know it. They must be a really new group, and this is their first group.
Jane nodded.
“Right, I sign as a temporary Contractor under the Charter for one run. That will protect me against betrayal in the dungeon and give me some assurance that you will not betray me as well. Can I read the terms?”
Jane nodded and slid it to me. I read carefully, and this was binding in the system, and the system would enforce the penalties. It was a standard guild contract. Jane was the group leader, and Joe was her Lieutenant.
“I am OK with that,” I said. “One run only, though.”
“What happened if you take off with the loot?” Jane said.
“Then you spread the word I am a Thief, and the penalties are enforced. Plus, that is the end of my runs.”
Jane looked at Joe. They nodded. I was in.
We met the next day at the hole in the ground that was the Slyhill Trial. There were two ladders down the hole. This was an Instanced Trial, so we would get our own run with no other teams in there. Well, they might be in there, but they will have their own version of the Trial. This was not common for a Trial, but it was not unknown either.
“Remember,” said Jane, “I will see how we fight together, and it is my choice as to whether we fight the boss.”
I nodded. “Agreed. But if we don’t fight the boss, I will keep my share of the loot.”
Jane nodded. This was still a win for them as I was able to harvest, and that would be shared.
Jane was in plate armour with a shield and sword. Her armour was obviously second-hand, but she moved well in it. Jow was in Leathers with a knife and Staff. May also had a staff and a robe that was enchanted somehow. Fred was in a chainmail shirt and leather pants with a sword and a small buckler shield. I was in my Dance of Death, and I had the Haladie and a disguised Lightreaver. I was playing the knife fighter, and it would be good practice for me.
“Ok, gather around,’ said Jane, “May conserve mana on the first floor. Save it for the spiders on the second and then the boss. We don’t have a good ranged person. Marvin, do you have any options in the range?”
“I throw darts that I create. They are not great damage, but I also throw knives for higher damage.”
“Ok, that will be good. I will taunt the swarms, and you lay into them, and May, only use low mana options.”
“I know,” May said in a voice that said you have told me this a thousand times already. I wondered why she needed to be told a thousand times. I have to remember these are teenagers.
“Ok, The first floor should be easy, but surprises can happen, so we go carefully. Let’s go.”
We climbed down the ladder into the dark.
The ladder suddenly stopped, and the others let themselves drop. I followed, dropped a body length and entered the trial proper.
The first room was a safe room, and May had created a light ball to see through. The others were examining the walls.
“This is the Rat Poison version of the Dungeon,” May said disgustingly.
“Don’t worry. Joe now has the Cleanse Poison Spell, but you should also have a backup potion.” Jane replied.
“How bad is the poison?” I asked.
“It is not a strong poison,” Joe replied, “but it stacks, and these are swarm creatures. If it is starting to build, come to me, and I will cleanse it, but,” and he looked at May, “Only if it is overwhelming your constitution.”
“Some of us don’t have a high constitution,” she muttered.
“I will let you know,” I said. “Want me to go on ahead and scout?”
“Probably not a lot of point on the first floor, but sure,” Jane said. “We won’t be far behind.
I nodded and left the safe room, and went into the dark tunnel. My Spectral Vision (See-thru) picked everything out fine, and I used my Spectral Cloak to make myself invisible. It was cheaper and easier than me doing it manually with Light Manipulation.
I counted thirty rats in the first cavern. They would be one-hit kills for me, and I could stealth around them, and they wouldn’t even know I was here. I didn’t. I heard the others coming and waiting until the rats responded to them, and then Jane used her taunt. The Rats rushed her, and they started killing them, even Joe with his staff. Fred was good with the sword. May was using some sort of mana bolt. I dropped my stealth and started killing with my Haladie and knife. I came from the back but off to the side a bit. May wasn’t too accurate with her bolts, and I didn’t want to get hit. It took longer to harvest them than kill them.
The following caverns were the same, with increasing numbers of rats and increasing levels. There were some branching tunnels. May just wanted to go for the boss, but Jane wanted to clear the floor for a slightly better reward. Jane was the boss. She was maximising the use of my Harvest skill. I didn’t mind.
The Rat King was about the size of a human and had a spiked tail. He would call repeated swarms of rats. Jan designated May as the rat killer as she taunted the boss, and we damaged it. May brought out a skill that created a rain of fire in an area about the diameter of two of my body lengths that burned down the rats.
Jane’s shield stood up to the tail strokes, and she was good at anticipating and redirecting the strikes. Fred and I got into the boss, and Joe watched and occasionally healed Jane or May.
The boss's loot was disappointing but about what the others expected, so I didn’t complain. I got a Rat Tooth dagger. It was way less damage than my current daggers and didn’t even have poison. I would sell it.