Despite the crushing defeat Baron still had to make it to the west exit by noon. He was scheduled to meet Barry there for the quest. Shopping in the market took longer than planned, so he was 20 minutes late.
He approached and could see Barry along with 14 players crowded around a wagon. Only a couple of the players were wearing the starter clothes, while the rest had various types of defense. 5 of them donned plate armor, and 4 had leather armor equipped. 2 players were wearing mage robes. There was only one girl in the whole group, and she looked to be a priestess. She wasn’t as pretty as Avrice. However, she did have the men’s attention.
"Don't worry Julia, even if we see a wolf, I won’t let it hurt you. I'm already level 12. Last time me and my party went to hunt, we managed to kill a wolf. It was pretty strong and five of my teammates died, but I was able to kill it in the end." One of the guys in plate armor was bragging. He had a long sword on his back similar in size to Baron’s.
"WHAT! Nick, you actually killed a wolf. That's so amazing!" Baron thought it was odd, but the cleric seemed genuinely amazed at this guys meager accomplishments. It didn’t seem like much of a feat if five of his teammates died in the process.
All the other men standing around shot hateful glances at the wolf slayer. None of them liked the guy since he got all of the girl’s attention. Their gazes shifted towards Baron as Barry greeted him.
“Well, how nice of you to join us. Now lets leave before we get behind anymore.”
"What? Did we actually spend 20 minutes waiting on a beginner like this? It's not like he'll even be any help. We should’ve just left." Nick who had just been bragging decided to call Baron out. Every other player, including Baron, just ignored him. Except Julia, who appeared concerned about the whole situation.
He was justified in assuming Baron was a beginner. Everyone was thinking the same thing, but they weren't going to say anything. The only one who knew Baron could fight was Barry, and he choose to keep silent.
“Where are we going, Barry?” A player in leather armor asked.
“We’re meeting some more people a couple towns over. We’ll get there in a day or two. Bother me again and I’ll leave you on the side of the road.” Barry climbed into the wagon with a bottle of booze in hand. It was a small wagon that was barely big enough to lay down in. As Barry went to Sleep, one of the players grabbed the reins of the horse pulling the wagon. Unfortunately for Baron and the other players, they had to walk.
There was some small talk along the way. Mainly it was Nick bragging about his accomplishments in RR. All of his talk was starting to annoy Baron. Some of the other guys felt the same. A conversation was started to drown him out. They were also talking about RR, but none of them were bragging. Baron found out a lot about the group. The lowest leveled warrior was called Thyne and he was only level 5. He had just gotten out of the 1 month restriction and had been grinding rabbits ever since. When he revealed his plan to buy knights armor Nick butted into the conversation.
"If you’re only level 5 there's no point in getting the armor. You'll never be a knight. You have to do something like I did and get to know a real knight before you even start leveling. It's the only way."
After he said that the kid looked like he was almost in tears. You can't tell peoples age in RR, but the way he acted was similar to a pre-teen. One of the other warriors, A large ax fighter named Raiden, told Nick to fuck off. It didn’t go over well, and 3 players had to separate them.
“Don’t listen to that bastard. All you need to be a knight is dedication. Once you hit level 10 you can apply for the knight school back in Sai. I only trained there for a couple days, but it was well worth it.” Raiden tried to console Thyne. The kid didn’t have a knights frame though. He was shorter than most players in RR, and his build wasn’t something to brag about.
On the other hand, Raided looked like the strongest player in the group. He had polished steel armor with a crest etched into it. On his back was a large, dual-headed battleaxe. Out of everyone there he seemed like he could handle himself the best in a fight. He had broad shoulders and was taller than most. If Baron wasn’t there, Raiden would have had the largest avatar.
When it was Baron’s turn to contribute to the conversation he didn’t say much. One of the player started asking him questions, but he only answered the one about his name. It was rude not answering direct questions, and Nick seemed to take notice.
“What? A noob like you can’t even answer someone’s question? What are you, some kind of retard?” He seemed a little flustered when Baron didn’t respond. If it wasn’t for Raiden’s glaring he would’ve done something. Instead he just turned around and pretended like nothing happened.
‘It’s ignorant fools like this that get me upset.’ Baron thought to himself.
They continued to walk for the rest of the day. Baron was able to learn useful information from the groups discussions. He was able to gather information on everything from dungeons to classes. What he found to be the most interesting was the discussion about how guilds worked. He had been oblivious to the meaning of a PK guild before. Apparently the Blue Blood Brothers guild was quite famous in the area. He was happy to get any information that would help him get revenge.
They made camp once it got dark. Since they had been walking for over 10 hours in game, only a little over 2 hours had gone by IRL. Still, most players decided to use the time to log off. The only players to stay behind were Thyne and Raiden.
Raiden decided to go hunt while they waited and offered the invitation to Baron and Thyne. The boy was more than excited to go. Raiden had become one of his idols after the incident with Nick. Baron was already planning to go train, so he went along with it.
They spent the the next several hours hunting foxes and wolves. Thyne and Raiden realized Baron wasn’t a beginner when he took the first wolf by himself. The way he didn’t hesitate up against the beast gave them shivers. His silent personality made him seem cold and ruthless.
Baron started to enjoy the fight once they stopped messing with the foxes. There was a decent thrill in hunting wolves. Not as much as fighting players, but it was good enough. If it wasn’t for Thyne they could’ve gone much faster. Baron and Raiden were constantly protecting him from the much higher leveled wolves. His level was rising significantly though. By the end of the night the kid had managed to get to level 7. He also gained the skills sneak and back-stab which helped him participate.
The only way to have Thyne participate without dying was to have him get in a quick strike and retreat. Using his small size he would sneak behind the wolf and strike when least expected. He was surprisingly good with his dagger, as it hit its mark every time.
Every couple of hours they stopped so Baron could use his whetstone and sharpen his blades. He wasn’t very good at it, but he was able to get a couple points of durability back. Raiden and Thyne gave him their weapons to sharpen as well. It cost them extra time, but it would make their weapons last longer.
When they returned to camp most of the players had logged back in. One of the players was making stew and selling it. At 35 coppers it was a outrageously priced. Still, everyone was hungry, and it was the only edible food around. He was a decent cook. The food even gave a plus 2% stamina regeneration effect.
When the time came to leave Barry got back into his wagon to sleep, and everyone else started walking. They were all surprised to see how well Thyne and Raiden were getting along. Raiden had been a quiet person before. Not as quiet as Baron, he did talk every now and then, but he had kept to himself most of the time. Now it was like an endless stream of questions from Thyne and answers from him. They even got Baron to say a couple things. To the rest of the group it was a mystery as to what happened while they were logged off.
They had to walk for the rest of the day before arriving. Eventually they made it to the city of Gren. It wasn’t anywhere near the size of either Sai or Gorn. The city walls would be better described as fences, and the tallest building, the Lu Cathedral, was only 4 stories tall.
Barry gave the guards a little liquor to get them through the gate quicker. They didn’t seem like the protective guards. Their weapons looked poorly maintained, and they were blatantly corrupt. ‘So much for the city guards. Better for me if I ever run out of money.’
Barry led them to a tavern on the west side. It was a rundown place, but was fairly large. Inside was the group of people they were there to meet. Just like them, there was another 14 players and an old man. The way the two talked made it seem like Barry knew him. After short greetings, the old man addressed the arriving players.
“Listen up! I’m Luis Crame, but you can all call me commander. I trust my old friend here that he picked some decent fighters. You’d better pray to whatever god you got that he was right, because we leave tomorrow at first light. Get any supplies you need and meet back here early. Understood?”
Everyone assumed it was a rhetorical question and didn’t answer. Luis wasn’t intimidating, but he gave off an old, asshole vibe that showed in the manner he spoke. It was like a drill sergeant addressing those beneath him.
Rather than pay for a room at an inn, the group set up camp outside the city. They all sat around the fire and talked everything RR. The two groups got to know each other pretty well while enjoying good food someone made.
There wasn’t anyone very interesting in the second group. The only thing of note was the trio of priestesses that the guys were drooling over. Everyone there agreed that their healing magic would be helpful in the quest., and it gave them a hint of vanity.
The group was a edge wondering about what was going to happen tomorrow. Neither Barry or Luis gave any information regarding the details of the quest. The players were also wondering what F level quest needed 28 players to complete. Either way though, they would all find out tomorrow.
They all made it back to the tavern a half hour before sunrise. Pissing off Luis was the last thing everyone wanted.
After an hour of prep they were set to depart. Barry gave one of the players some money to buy supplies. It was only enough for a small pile of food that wouldn’t last the group more than 2 days. Since Baron already had enough food to last him another week, it didn’t matter much to him.
It surprised everyone that Barry didn’t start drinking once they left. He had drank every second he wasn’t sleeping on their way to Gren. Instead he sat in the back of the wagon talking to Luis. They reminisced about their old war days the entire trip. Baron noticed them referring to someone the whole time, though they never used any name other than him, or he.
They headed down a trail into a mountain north of Gren. The entire day was spent walking. Even once night fell they never made camp. Barry said it would only be couple hours till they arrived, so it wasn’t worth it.
Being in the mountains at night frightened half the players to the point that some were trembling. The cries of monsters could be heard constantly, some far off and others just feet away. Howls seemed to follow them as they progressed down the trail. Movement could be seen in the tree line, but the light from the torches made it impossible to see clearly. Everyone was certain they were being hunted.
Perhaps it was a stroke of luck, or their intimidation of numbers, but the wolves never attacked. Once they reached a point in the trail they all just left. It was then that all the players realized how much of a comfort knowing the wolves were there was. Now it was deathly quiet. They didn’t have any sense of what was out there. It could be nothing, or it could be something that scared off the wolves.
The whole situation was annoying Baron. He couldn’t understand why everyone was so scared of a game. One of the priestesses had even tried to hold onto him like a scared puppy. He didn’t have the heart to shake her off and ended up enduring her tight grip for the rest of the trip. It wasn’t all horrible. As she held onto him she pressed her entire body up against his. It was the first time since before he went to prison that he felt a women.
They arrived at a large cave half-way through the night. Luis took a torch and lit a lamp on the wall. It ignited a chain a lamps stretching a 100 feet in before reaching a sealed entrance. There was a huge door with statues of wolves on either side. It was masterly carved making the wolves look moments away from attacking. Upon seeing the statues everyone in the group received several pop up messages.
Entrance to the House of Wolves (Masterpiece)
+100 leadership for the next 6 hours
Quest Update!
Respect For the Leader of the House of WolvesDifficulty:E+Rewards:Payment equal to contributionCompletion:0%Barry and Luis have led you and the group to the tomb of their former leader. The leader of the mercenary guild, the House of Wolves, was once a man feared and respected across the continent. Barry and Luis wish to visit the tomb and pay their respects. In order to do so they need help gaining entrance to the tomb.
The quest fails if either Barry or Luis is killed, or the group doesn’t open the tomb door before all dying.
Everyone was relieved to get further details of the quest, but the change in difficulty was unsettling. E was the hardest quest difficulty that had been completed thus far in the game, and this quest was E+. Even if they did have a group, they had no experience fighting with each other, and the difficulty was likely adjusted to account for their numbers.
Most of the players went from confident to hesitant, while others seemed excited by it all. Since the game only recently came out most people hadn’t completed many quests. On top of that it was high difficulty and looked to have promising rewards.
Barry and Luis went up to the door. They seemed overjoyed to be there. The lock on the door had 6 different keyholes that needed to be unlocked. Barry went into his bag and pulled out a key ring. He began putting them in one by one until he ran out with one keyhole left. He turned around and spoke to the players.
“We need your help in retrieving the sixth key. As he was a man who valued teamwork above all else, the last key can only be earned through the efforts of a group. Prepare yourselves. The fight starts now.” When Barry was done speaking Luis added his own bit of information.
“Double reward to the warrior who defeats the enemy that drops the last key!”
Dungeon of the Fallen ArmyDifficulty:FDiscovery Bonus:+50 FameParty Size recomended:20The army of the House of Wolves was buried alongside their leader as a means of defending against grave robbers. They are the timeless guards whose loyalty tethers their soles to the world of the living. The only thing that will make them move on is a command from their leader to do so.
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The entire group tensed, including Baron. After reading the dungeon message people began to panic. E+ was hard enough but to have to survive a F level dungeon was unthinkable. They didn’t have much time worry though before the fight commenced.
Moans began to resound throughout the cave. One of the priestesses shrieked drawing everyone’s attention to the entrance of the cave. There blocking the exit were ranks of undead warriors. There was already 50 enemies coming at them, while more crawled out of the ground.
It was Raiden who called out for everyone to ready themselves. Under his directions the Warriors made a line stretching from wall to wall of the cave. Behind the first line was the remaining warriors, archers and mages, and behind them was the 3 priestesses and Julia. Barry and Luis sat on the floor to watch and enjoy the fight.
The players held their positions and waited for the skeleton warriors to reach them. Looking at the ragtag group Baron could tell the line wouldn’t hold for long. His excitement became too much for him to bear, so rather than wait Baron decided to go to the enemy. As he walked out in front of everyone Nick called out to him.
“Hey, Bastard! You trying to die or something?’” Baron didn’t hear and kept walking. He drew his swords and slowly walked at the enemy. ‘30… 29…’
Raiden had two players fill the large gap that Baron had left. They quickly obeyed the orders of their makeshift leader. He gave the order and archers began unloading volley after volley.
‘12… 11… 10...’ Arrows whizzed by Baron as he continued his mental count. The skeletons seemed unfazed as the shots punctured skulls and cracked ribs. ‘3… 2…’ As Baron’s count came to an end the first enemy came into reach. He wasn’t able to reach 1 before the skeleton lost its head.
An all out melee began as Baron was instantly surrounded. None of the undead were able to get close though. Every skeleton in reach was cut down. Ancient spears, swords, axes, maces, shields, and skulls were all crushed as Baron blocked, parried, and cut his enemies. He was swarmed by so many skeletons that the majority ignored him and continued onto the rest of the group.
They weren’t very strong mobs. Their strength was in their numbers and not in individual prowess. Each mob was only level 5 allowing Baron to one or two shot them. By the time the 15th skeleton faded he was beginning to feel his stamina drain.
The undead horde hit raidens line with a clang. The first skeleton to challenge him had nothing but a shield. It was an old shield that only had a few points of durability left. Raiden’s heavy ax had no difficulty traveling threw it and landing on the skeletons neck. In one blow the skeleton’s shield and spine were crushed.
The other players fared similarly. Thyne was able to use his dagger to kill an enemy by himself. The priestesses began their healing magic, but it was in vain. None of the players had been hurt because the skeletons were too weak.
As Baron began to get tired a couple of the enemies’ attacks managed to hit. He was still too low leveled to use the armor he bought from Leather Hand. Without any protection the weapons were able to land flush and bite his flesh.
It didn’t take long for the line to break. As the warrior’s stamina drained it became harder to keep up with the limitless number of enemies. Thyne decided to stop fighting by himself. Instead, he used his sneak skill to stealthily traverse the battlefield. When the moment arose he would use his back-stab skill to finish off an enemy.
A warrior on the line was the first to die. He was one of the lower leveled group members and couldn’t keep up. Everyone was fighting with as much effort as they could. The more enemies they killed the more likely they were to have the last key drop, and each player was hoping for the double reward.
When Baron hit the milestone of 50 skeletons killed his stamina was nearing 0 and his health was starting to drop below 10%. It didn’t faze him that he was about to die. All he could do is look at the army of skeletons in front of him with excitement.
The undead were constantly spawning. What had started as 50 mobs was now closer to 100, and they were continuing to crawl out of the ground with no end in sight.
Profession acquired through repetitive action.
Congratulation! You have now become a a Berserker.
+150 Stamina
+150 Fighting Spirit
+150 Fame
Level Up!
Level Up!
Level Up!
You are now level 18!
15 stat points available
Berserker
A Berserker’s bloodlust has never been known to be quenched. It is only while fighting that they can truly be happy. They value Fighting Spirit above all else. Most men would rather face an army than a lone berserker.
Profession Traits:
+1% health and stamina for every enemy that falls at your hands
Baron closed the messages as soon as they popped up without reading them. In the middle of battle there wasn’t the time. He didn’t notice, but his stamina had returned allowing him to defeat several skeletons converging around him. Due to his profession trait his health went above 10% after finishing them. As more and more undead fell Baron’s health and stamina steadily rose.
2 more players had fallen. Where Raidens line had been mayhem took over. Arrows and fireballs flew everywhere not discriminating between friend and foe. Thanks to the priestesses the stronger players were able to maintain their health. Those who were lower level, like Thyne, were barely holding on.
Everyone was beginning to lose hope. They had killed countless enemies, but the key hadn’t dropped yet. If they weren’t able to hold out it would all be for nothing.
Quest Progression!
The sixth key has been obtained by: Baron
The message popped up and caught everyone’s attention. Most players had assumed Baron was already dead. Once the fighting commenced they had lost sight of him. They were struggling to fight alongside one another, but Baron was alone in the chaos.
Several players cursed their luck for missing out on the double reward. Jumping Baron and taking the key crossed their minds, but so did the fact he survived that hell. No one dared attack such a menacing figure. Even Nick was worried Baron would want revenge after treating him like a piece of shit.
Once he got the key Baron began to fight his way back to the group. He wasn’t happy the fight would be over, but it needed to be done. ‘They’re weak anyway. Better than fighting wolves, but not as good as players.’
Luis nearly assaulted him to get the last key. As he put it into the keyhole and twisted his hands were trembling with excitement. Barry yelled at him to hurry up as the lock clicked. The whole door started to creak and open itself. The 3 of them stood there and watched while the rest of the group continued to fend off the horde. As the door finally opened enough to see inside, Barry’s dagger lodged itself in Luis’ back.
Quest Failed!
The NPC’s body fell to the group in a puddle of blood. As the light faded from his eyes Barry spit on the fresh corpse. He stepped over the body and into the recently opened tomb.
“Good Riddance! Serves hi…” Barry stood motionless inside the doorway. In front of him was a barren room with nothing but a coffin.
“What the fuck! Where is the treasure!” Barry’s voice that was once powerful and commanding turned into a whimper. “I spent my whole life. Every second of it finding those keys, for what? A fucking empty room.” He dropped to his knees and began to quietly weep.
‘Pathetic!’ Baron thought as he looked down at the decrepit man.
“So this was all for you to rob a grave? You weren’t even a member of the House of Wolves, were you? You tricked us all from the beginning, and wasted my time.” Barry didn’t answer the questions. He just knelt there wallowing in self pity. He hadn’t realized what happen when Baron un-lodged his sword, and Barry faded into smoke.
Baron walked up to the coffin. It was huge. It took all of Baron’s strength to push the stone lid off. Inside was a skeleton, but it wasn’t attacking like the others. It had ornate looking armor that would have been valuable a hundred years ago. One hand held a helmet, and the other gripped a dagger.
Scanning over the body the only thing that caught Baron’s attention was a glint from the dagger. The blade and hilt were rusted and falling apart, but mounted in the guard was a orange gemstone that looked valuable. Picking it up Baron rubbed the gem with his finger to see if it was real. The moment he touched it two messages popped up.
Ancient Steel DaggerDamage:3Durability:4 / 124Restriction:NoneA dagger once used by the leader of the House of Wolves. The ravages of time have left it broken and useless.
Cinder Wolf DiamondValue:ARarity:ADurability:4,998 / 5,000The Cinder Wolf Diamond has a fiery orange color that has captured the hearts of many men. It is used as a form of identification for the leader of the long forgotten mercenary guild, the House of Wolves. Legend has it that the diamond will feel like red hot steel to those unworthy of the responsibilities that come with owning it. The next warrior to posses the gem is said to be able to rebuild the guild to its former glory.
You have joined the guild: The House of Wolves
You have become the guild leader.
New Quest:
Legend of the Cinder Wolf Diamond
Rebuild the House of Wolves to its former stature. Acquire wealth, fame, Power, influence, and respect in the name of the family to complete what legend has foretold.
Difficulty: A
Reward: Unknown
Progression:
Wealth: 0
Fame: 0
Power: 0
Influence: 0
Respect: 0
Raiden came into the tomb wondering what was taking Baron so long. Even though the quest was failed the skeleton army didn’t disappear. If they didn’t do something soon they were all going to die. When he confronted Baron, the barbarian was already walking towards the door.
After reading through the messages Baron knew what to do. He took a step out of the room, and in front of him was what was left of the group. 11 of the 28 players had already died. Taking a deep breath Baron spoke so everyone could hear him.
“Stop!” Everyone, skeletons and players, halted at his voice. “I relieve you of your duties, you are now free of all obligations.” At his words the skeletons collapsed into the heap of bones they were. At the command of their leader they could finally move on from the world of the living.
As the chaos dissolved the players that were still alive began to cheer. They had failed the quest, but surviving was an accomplishment by itself. On top of that most players were able to level up in the intense fighting. The few low level players to survive managed to rise two or three levels. The weapons the skeletons dropped were useless, but the bones could be sold as alchemy ingredients. Each player had an inventory of bones that could fetch a decent price back in the city.
When they got back to town the group went their separate ways. A few players exchanged friend requests and a couple lucky guys got onto the priestesses friends list. Nick managed to get Julia to go on an adventure with him despite cowering in fear for half the fight.
Baron started to embrace the idea of being in the House of Wolves. Currently he was the only member, but if he got more players and the guild became famous it may make the scientists IRL pissed. Having strong people to fight with would also make eliminating the Blue Brothers Guild easier.
After registering Thyne and Raiden as friends he sent them guild invites. They both accepted. Baron also sent invites to some of the other players who had survived, but none of them accepted. He sent an invite to Avrice who accepted a few hours later.
Baron had to familiarize himself with the guild management windows. The first thing he did was promote the current members. The guild had 4 different ranks people could have. There was the family head, heir, family members, and house members. The position of heir had to be filled, so Baron chose Raiden. Avrice, and Thyne were both promoted to family members.
As family members they have the ability to admit players to the guild and expel them. The heir, Raiden, has the same authorities although he can promote players into the family. He also has authorities that deal with foreign policy, guild contracts, and other management abilities.
There were also leaderboards that ranked their guild against others in various categories. The House of Wolves was ranked 154,698 in the world for overall achievements. It was a generous ranking considering they had none at all.
Baron and Raiden were also able to see the level and profession of all guild members. They were surprised to see that Thyne had gotten to level 10 during the fight, and Avrice managed to reach level 12 after Baron left. It was also new information to Baron that Raiden already had the Knight’s Apprentice profession.
Looking at the list Baron also saw for the first time his own profession. It seemed quite fitting for him. The personality described in the berserker’s description seemed to represent himself. He never imagined he would love fighting so much until starting RR. The only reason he could find was the pent up aggression from being on death row for 10 years. It could also be the effects of prolonged VR starting to get to him. ‘Those lab coats back in the lab must be having field day.’