"Now. Where did that stupid child go?"
Iron Shark entered the forest accompanied by four other players, including Espadon's sister. They divided themselves into groups of five, some were led by the barbarian guards while others were left alone.
Iron Shark was annoyed and frustrated at the child's immature behavior. He wanted to become the strongest and make a name for himself but clearly, he was not talented at the game. The very proof was that even his father was unable to make him join the exploration or farming teams.
Suddenly, Electric Eel interrupted Iron Shark's thoughts. "My brother just sent me a message. He told me to quickly walk down the stream of water."
"Your brother answered you? That f*cker! He blocked me? Let's hurry up. Tell him not to move," answered Iron Shark.
The group quickly walked through the forest and soon, saw the small proud figure of Espadon. He confidently smiled but before he could speak, Iron Shark angrily smacked his head. "You little sh*t... Why can't you stay at the camp obediently? You are always causing trouble!"
"Ah! What was that for? There was no need to hit me. If I did not go out, I would not have obtained this new quest!" Espadon hurriedly took a step back as he readjusted his hair.
"A quest? What quest? Just what did you do when running away?" asked Iron Shark. He forced himself to calm down as he heard the word 'quest'.
"I'll make it clear! I did not run away. I simply walked around to get some fresh air. I met an NPC a few minutes ago. She gave me a quest and I can share it with up to twenty people. Here sis, join me!" happily said Espadon. He condescendingly looked at Iron Shark.
Surprised, Electric Eel briefly checked her interface and as her brother had said, she indeed received a new quest. "Marco, you should share it with Iron Shark. Without him, we won't be able to clear it. There is a reason it asked you to look for twenty more allies." Electric Eel apologetically looked at Iron Shark. She knew her brother was just trying to get on the team leader's nerves, and she needed to do something.
Iron Shark crossed his arms as he did his best to hide his glare full of anger.
Espadon briefly looked at Iron Shark. He did not believe he needed to help for this quest, but he also knew his sister was smart. 'She is probably right. Furthermore, I want to see his face when he sees that only I will get a mysterious reward!'
"Fine. Here team leader. Don't say I am not a team player anymore."
Iron Shark grumbled. He nevertheless accepted the quest and looked at the description. His eyes widened. "There is a dungeon nearby? Where is it?"
"Somewhere down the river, near a waterfall," answered Espadon. He quickly added the three other players to the quest.
"A dungeon was actually found so close to the barbarian village. Could it be the reason why the Black Iron Village was more active and why the two other tribes decided to join them? The dungeon could explain the sudden influx of items. We should go and have a look and complete the quest along the way.”
"Let's go to the dungeon then. I will invite the other players to make the numbers. It is better to take the groups not led by the barbarians," commanded Iron Shark and quickly, the group started moving.
...
Inside the dungeon, Iron Shark and his group stood just outside the labyrinth. They were waiting for the other players to arrive. After the barbarians started coming to the dungeon regularly, the entrance and the first floor was widened; it became much more accessible.
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"So there really is a dungeon here... I have to admit that it was a good find. I will notify the elders of the guild. If our guild can completely monopolize a dungeon, we will be able to get a lot of items!"
"Hmmp. Don't even try to take all the credits for it. I did all the work this time," proudly declared Espadon.
"I know." Even if he did not want to admit it, it was indeed thanks to Espadon that they have found the dungeon. Iron Shark wrote a short report and sent it to Blue Lagoon’s elders. It was the advantage of being a player. There was no need to travel long distances to speak to someone, he could simply send messages through the system.
A few minutes later, the other players finally arrived, and the exploration of the dungeon started. "Let's not lose any time, we've already wasted a few minutes."
A total of thirty players started exploring the labyrinth. Although only twenty could get the rewards, there was no harm in having extra manpower. The remaining twenty were still looking around the village accompanied by the barbarians. They had no idea that the dungeon was currently being explored.
The players were different from the beasts; they did not instantly find the correct way in the labyrinth. Some ended up going to the pond and another group entered the forest. It was only after a whole hour of exploration that they finally found the stairs to the third floor.
The monsters of the labyrinth were not a threat to the players. The only real threat was the fact that the labyrinth was ever changing. It would normally not happen during the day but at night, dungeon masters were free to implement any changes they wanted. The weakest player was at level 20 while the strongest was Iron Shark at level 28.
The graveyard was not very dangerous either with the monsters' average level set at 17. Only a few careless players fell to the Plague Zombies. The team was not really proficient in combat, but they still easily cleared out the graveyard before moving to the haunted forest.
There, the team lost a few other players to the surprise attack of the Treants. They became extremely careful as their number dwindled to 23 and slowed down their pace. They were moving as fast as possible before due to the time limit on the quest but now, they became cautious.
The Banshees and the ghouls were annoying but, in the end, Iron Shark's team triumphed. Fortunately, the monsters did not respawn very quickly and along the way, they were able to pick up a few herbs.
After spending almost two hours in the dungeon, Iron Shark finally stepped onto the fifth floor, the plains roamed by the Death Knights, Abominations and Mylingars.
This time, the players lost their level advantage and considerably slowed down their pace. They could no longer carelessly rush in and had to carefully manipulate the aggro of the monsters one by one. They slowly made their way to the standing stones and although none of the players died, they expended quite a few recovery items.
"We are almost here! Don't rush. There are still three hours to complete the quest. Fortunately, this dungeon is not a large as the one at the cities," said Iron Shark. He led the charge, pulling a single abomination from a pack and the team showered it with spells.
Once they reached the standing stones, the players did not immediately open the entrance to the secret room. Instead, they used them as covers and got rid of the nearby enemies.
"Alright. The area is clear. Quickly open the secret room."
"Rumble Rumble!" The ground trembled as a small entrance appeared. The players were excited. Not only did they find an unexplored dungeon, but they also found one of its secret rooms on their first expedition!
Many secret rooms have already been found in other dungeons and they all contained precious items but this time, since it was due to a quest, Iron Shark did not have very high expectations. He knew the main reward would be given by the NPC.
"Guardians and Monks! Go ahead," shouted Iron Shark.
Guardian was an advanced class of Paladin while Monk was a class further down the warrior path. Both specialized in absorbing damage and protecting their teammates.
Five players rushed in the secret room followed by Iron Shark and the rest. Espadon recklessly charged in. He was a Berserker, another advanced class of warrior. He needed to quickly hit an enemy or his battle buff would run out.
He was about to run past the guardians when he saw the monsters hiding in the secret room. He froze, there were four liches floating around a pedestal on which a shiny chest was tempting the players. The problem was that the liches were level 30!
Espadon was still at level 25 and knew very well that he did not stand a chance against a level 30 monster. Even against other level 25 monsters, he would need a teammate to successfully defeat it.
The battle began. As soon as the monks entered the liches aggro range, the undead summoned skeletons and zombies to defend themselves. Iron Shark monitored the operations from behind. He was about to shout an order when he suddenly noticed a name being grayed out on his interface.
"What? Someone just died?" It was not an isolated case, two other names soon lost their luster, indicating two more deaths.
All the original 23 remaining players had already entered the room. Five of them were standing at the back watching the entrance but they did not seem to have encountered any enemies.
"Be careful! There might be invisible monsters! Three of our comrades already died," shouted Iron Shark but at the same time, a fourth name was grayed out.
"Ah! Be careful, I just saw it! There is another level 30 monster! They are called Defacers. I just saw one using [Stealth]. They are targetting the lower level players!" A player shouted as he saw his comrade's body lifelessly fall on the ground.
"Boom Boom!" At the same time, the loud steps of an Abomination resonated through the secret room as one walked down the stairs at the entrance.
"F*ck. We are surrounded!" cursed Iron Shark. The players were already doing what they could but defeating monsters five levels above their own was not easy even with the numerical advantage they had.
Two liches fell but they bought enough time for eight players to fall. The Abominations were still contained at the entrance, but the Defacers were running rampant in the shadows.
"D*mn! This is not going to be easy but at least, we can respawn directly at the Musclewood Tribe," cursed Iron Shark. The situation did not look good at all.
"Respawn at the tribe? How is that possible? You changed your respawn point without warning us?" exclaimed Espadon who was struggling to catch his breath.
"If you did not run away from the village, maybe we could have changed yours too. Do you think I am doing nothing when I speak with the barbarians? I already negotiated with them and they agreed to allow us to respawn in their village."
"F*ck!" Espadon cursed but at the same time, a cold blade pierced his back. He quickly turned around, swinging his swords behind. Thanks to the effects of his berserker skill, he was completely immune to pain and the lower his HP was, the more damage he would deal!