We headed north, deep into the plains, in the direction of the mountains. We didn't rush however, as we had something we had to attend to first. pets for our new members, it wouldn't do to have them running around without their animal companions, it’s the equivalent of the rest of us fighting naked.
We start with Secundus’ pet. Excuse me, MOUNT. For some reason he didn't like it being called pet. I guess he’s using it differently, but I mean come on, it’s not a big deal. We have Thelia search for a suitable lizard. sure enough, she finds one in a few minutes. Its lvl.9, higher than most of the other lizards we’ve seen. Thelia lands the first blow with her long range magic attack, [Skyray]. It was the only attack available to the Diviner class in the beginning, and it was both long range and powerful, but it had a long cooldown, which is partly why the class is unpopular.
The Lizard begins charging at us from around 200 yards away. we form a formation with Raknar at the front , Dave, Moxxie, and Secundus behind him, and the rest of us in the back. I call it the arrowhead formation as soon as the beast is in range, I cast weaken on it, and stack it to the maximum. Raknar runs directly at it and activates his skill [shield bash], stunning it and taking a good portion of its health. Then all of us rush over and do our best to hold it down. Secundus tries using his [Bond] skill. Its a type of tame skill which bonds the creature to an item. For riders, it's a whistle. Itll make it so if they die together, the mount also won’t die permanently. He needs only blow the whistle when he revives, and the mount will revive as well. Apparently, there is a limit to how many times it can be revived, however.
The skill fails 3 times, but the 4th time, it's a success. We all let the lizard go, you have no idea how much stamina it takes to hold one down, even with 5 other people helping you. Secundus got on top of the lizard, smiling brightly. Then he told us why.
“I’m the seventh person in game to get a mount! I got the title Seventh Rider.”
“Good for you. Can we go get mine now?” Vy said impatiently.
For Vy, I had a different Idea. We found a lone dog on the plains, then we repeated the process we went through for Secundus. luckily tame had a much higher success rate. We repeated the process 5 times, and in the next hour, Vy had a pack of dogs. I had to spend an extra ten minutes explaining the importance of giving the dogs orders though.
It's time. It was around noon, and we were standing in front of the biggest obstacle we have come to face in the game: the forest. Plenty of players died here from being over confident, and I do not intend to repeat the mistake. I have thelia check what kinds of monsters there were in the forest zone.
“Ummm, it looks like lvl. 7 wolves, lvl. 9 giant spiders, lvl.10 twin tailed foxes, lvl.12 goblins, and lvl. 14 alpha wolves. there’s other stuff further in, but... my skill level isn't that high, i'm sorry.”
“No no, it's fine. We’ll stay near the path, and avoid going too deep in the woods, so it won't even matter.” I responded. The first 20 minutes or so was quite dull. Then the howling started. Suddenly, we were surrounded by eleven wolves. There were ten average ones, but they were led by an alpha. Luckily, we had been walking in formation since we got here.
I call it the diamond formation. in the front is Vy and her dogs, to the far left is Raknar, the far right, Secundus, and Dave brings up the rear, the ranged classes such as Moxxie, Thelia, and myself stay in the center. I’m still worried however. this is the first time we've ever been outnumbered. There was that one time with raknar, but those were rabbits and foxes, these are wolves. No, I don't have time to be scared, I need to give orders.
“Thelia, start us off! target the alpha. Vy, you too, you and your dogs are going to have it the hardest, but I’ll help! Moxxie support Raknar and Dave! Secundus, you’re on your own for a second, but don't worry, one of us will help you eventually!”
I didn't have any more time to talk as everything started all at once. Vy and Secundus’ sides both got hit with four wolves each. I wasnt too worried about Secundus, because as a rider, he gets boosted stats when on his mount. I was worried about Vy, she was dealing with the alpha. I quickly [strengthen] all her dogs, and her herself, then stack the effect. Then I go around weakening all the wolves.
Welp, that took most of my mana. But I can see it paying off, the fight is going better than i envisioned, Vy and Secundus are holding of their wolves, while Dave has pretty much mopped up his side, thanks to Moxxie. in the next five minutes, everything is wrapped up. Thelia grew quite a few levels, as did Vy and Secundus. Even I grew one. I quickly put the points into STR. We keep going until late at night, getting attacked by wolves, foxes, and the occasional goblin troop. Then, we stop and make camp in the middle of the road. I collapse, tired as hell. There’s a village another day down the road, but for today, it looks like it's outside camping. I check the notifications that I keep muted.
Level up x3
Strengthen has reached Basic level 7
Mana cost reduced to 20
Weaken has reached Basic level 8
Mana cost reduced to 15
Magic Mastery has reached Basic level 4
Spell damage increased by 7%
Orb mastery has reached Basic level 6
Spell effects increased by 15%
Impact has reached Basic level 9
damage increased to 20
knockback effect increased.
[tr]
Party WindowLeaderLinderman-lvl 15MembersMoxxie-lvl.14 Dave-lvl.14 Vy-lvl.13
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Raknar-lvl.13 Thelia-lvl.12 Secundus-lvl.14
Looks like we’ve got some good growth going on. I’m back on top, level wise, thats nice. Thelia isn't too far behind anymore, thanks to her getting the First strike exp. bonus. Secundus usually contributes the most, or second most, so his growth has been fairly rapid as well. We’re all around average level now I think.
I still need to think up some more formations though. The others are all confident in their abilities now, but I know that what were doing isn't really all that special. The speed is pretty good, because we have good synergy, but the amount of creatures for a party this size is fairly normal. Still, it's really fu though. I didn't think this game would be this fun...
“Hey! Linderman!Quit lurking by yourself and get your ass over here! were swapping stories!” Moxxie shouts.
“Be quiet or you'll attract goblins.” I say with a chuckle.
“So, how do you two know each other?” Moxxie asks our newest companions.
“I'm childhood friends with this creep. Our parents do business together, so I have no choice but to see him every now and then.” Vy said
“Yeah whatever. When we were kids, who proposed to me? You wanted to defile the body of a pure and innocent boy!”
“Hey don't say it like that! I’m only a year older than you! Plus i didn't even know what it really meant and-” Secundus started laughing while Vy frantically tried to explain herself, and soon, she was laughing too. she punched him slightly in the shoulder.
“Asshole.” She said with a grin.
“Now you two! “ Moxxie said, pointing at Raknar and Thelia.
“Umm, we’re brother and sister?” said Thelia, hiding behind Raknar a little. she still feared Moxxie would violate her if given the chance. And Ive seen the predatory glances Moxxie shoots at her when she thinks no ones looking, so I can say that her fears aren't unfounded.
“Yeah, there’s really nothing special about it. She’s my little sister I’m 20, she’s 18.” Said Raknar.
“Whoah, I’m 23, and Secundus is 22. Are we the oldest?” Said Vy.
“Yep, I think so. Me and Dave are both 21. What about you Bossman?” asked Moxxie.
“I just turned 18. “I say
“What?!” everyone said at the same time.
“Wow, and you seem so dependable!” said Thelia.
“Cant believe Ive been taking orders from a teenager” Secundus said.
“Hmmm, I’m quite surprised, but there are plenty of men of a higher age, yet lower caliber. I’m happy to follow Linderman wherever he goes.” declared Dave.
“True, Bossman is Bossman, even if he can't buy his own drinks yet.” said Moxxie. Everyone started laughing, much to my own embarrassment. We kept talking well into the night. when we got up in the morning, we continued our march northward. There were even more fights with higher level enemies, and I grew two more levels. On a side note, I’m finally wearing my armor, it feels bad ass. At the end of the day, we made it to a bustling town located in the middle of the forest.
It was quite the place, There were all kinds of shops and taverns. We sold of some of our drops, and attempted to buy new supplies, but they were so expensive. Typical, they're charging such prices because they know they're the only ones in miles who we can buy from. But at least their inn prices were fair. It seems like this place was founded for the purpose of providing travellers with a cheap, safe place to stay, and that was one tradition that never wore out. We left the next morning, and everything was going fine until that afternoon
“Hai folkez! My name is Erasion the Magician, and I’se a like ta kill peoplez!!” said a figure which seemed to appear out of thin air. He was a pale, sickly looking young man with black hair and yellow, feral eyes.
“A PK?”Raknar asked?
“Ding ding ding!!! thats a right Big dawg! So who’se gonna die first? You? or you, you you, or yo-” The man was stopped as Moxxie’s knife found his forehead. There was a sound like glass breaking, then all of sudden, the figure was gone. Before any one realized, the man was inside our formation, and had sliced open Thelia’s neck with a pair of playing cards.
“Big brothe...’she said faintly before vanishing.
“ROOOAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!” Raknar screamed as he charged the man.
“Uh oh, Onii-chan is coming, Onii-chan is coming~” said the man, his face full of mirth. He tossed the cards which had drawn Thelia’s blood, and threw them at Raknar’s face. They exploded on contact, knocking him out. I began to [Weaken] this Erasion, and he turned towards me.
“Thats annoying~” the man said before leaping towards me.
He was intercepted from the side by a [Charge] from Secundus. The man collided with the tree, but when Secundus went to press his advantage, he climbed it, then dropped on top of the lizard, behind Secundus. Then he wrapped metal wire around Secundus’ neck. Moxxie tried to throw knives at him to save Secundus, but Erasion flipped Secundus’ body in front of the knives, then proceeded to sever his head from his body in front of us. Dave chose this moment to appear behind the man, and impale him. However, the man just laughed and pulled out his staff, which looked like an old school magicians’ cane from real life, pointed the tip at Dave’s face behind him, and made it explode, killing him instantly.
Now Vy’s dogs were rushing towards him, but he still wasnt worried, he ran forward, defeating them with blows and explosions. Vy was frozen in fear before he got to her, and he was about to get her before my [impact] got him right in the side. but i didn't notice that he had already let go of two of his cards. the dual explosion signified the death of yet another partner. Moxxie rushed him, trying to keep him from using any skills by constantly pressing him. I buffed her to the max, then debuffed him. It was working at first until he pulled out his metal wire again and began to suffocate her.
I hit him with a few [impact]s, but he didn't let go until she died, then he rushed forward and came for me. I tried to dodge, but he was too fast, he had hit me with his explosive cane three times before I could die, thanks to my high magical defense.I was pissed, sad, embarrassed, and afraid, all at the same time, but all I could think though as I lost consciousness was:’So this is what a real Legendary player is like.