#Party Time
Ah... The Great ou-
Oh wait, I already said that.
After having sufficiently humiliated Milia, it was a quick trip to the beginners store at the Archer's Guild to buy a quick replacement for the leather shirt I just lost. Nothing fancy, just a level 7 version of the same shirt, with slightly increased defense.
And now I was back at the city gates pondering my next step.
*Ideally, I should head straight to Rhesta to get that patent they mentioned. But my level is a little low for me to be traveling between towns. I should find a party somewhere to level up first.*
But how am I supposed to find a party? Do I just walk to the person closest to me and ask?
No, I should also consider the party balance. There's little point in two DPS units partying together. It's best if I could find a tank.
But support units are also important. An ideal party should have three, maybe four people.
If that's the case maybe I should find an already established party and see if they need an extra member.
Maybe I should wait for someone to approach me instead. But that's unlikely to happen. It's not like I look terribly strong.
But if this was some kind of fanfic, there'd be a cute girl running up to me right about now.
"HEeeEEY! MUSTACHIO-SAN!!!!"
Oh wait... This is a fanfic.
"Oi! Wait up! Pepe! You can't just call someone names like that!"
*What the %#^% is wrong with my moustache...*
AND WHAT THE FUCK IS A MUSTACHIO!
(cue, pistachio with a mustachio)
http%3a%2f%2fwww.mistyillusions.org%2fmarysew%2fwp...tachio.png [http://www.mistyillusions.org/marysew/wp-content/uploads/Gallery_target_moustachio.png]
MY MOUSTACHE IS NOWHERE NEAR THAT BIG!
"I said wait up damnit!"
Skipping towards me was an elementary school girl with shoulder-length bright pink hair who is carrying a bow and is wearing the same leather tunic that Milia was a moment ago. Following right behind her is an unarmed, broad-shouldered, blond-haired man wearing cloth armor.
My "attractive female player detector" didn't trigger on the girl because I'm not a Lolicon (unlike the main char/author of another fanfic on this site), even though it was obvious that "Pepe" was using an altered appearance.
If her unnatural hair color wasn't a big enough give-away, she also had the odd, pixelated look that some players had when they over-altered their avatar. Most likely she was older than her avatar would suggest. I guess it might also be possible that she was a guy, but it's quite unlikely, unless he happens to have very good acting skills.
"Hey! Hey! Mustachio-san! Want to join our party?" said 'Pepe' in a bright cheerful voice as soon as she reached me.
"(sigh) Sorry, mister. What she means to say is that we're looking for someone level 10 and above to join us is clearing a nearby dungeon."
*A Monk and two Archers. It could be worse. Could also be better.*
"Just the three of us?"
"Jenna-san is already at the dungeon waiting for us."
"That's right. We have a mage ready, so if you join us, the party balance would be just right."
*A Monk, two Archers, and a Mage. Quite the damage oriented group, not that there's anything wrong with it.*
"That's great! Truth is that I was also looking for a party, but had no idea how to go about doing it." I smiled at them.
"YAY! Member GET! Let's go Mustachio-san!" Pepe started pulling on my arm, forcing me to walk along.
"Wait a minute! I don't have enough rations for a dungeon run."
"Don't worry about that. I have the cooking skill, so leave the food to me," the Monk said as he calmy followed us.
The 'nearby dungeon' proved to be an hour's walk away. Not very far by Royal Road standards, even nearer if you consider the fact that it was only 15 minutes in RL. But I'd be lying if I said I wasn't happy when we finally reached the aforementioned dungeon.
The entrance to this dungeon was a large mound of dirt in the middle of the forest with a hole in it that probably descended downwards (where else would it lead?). Sitting in front of the entrance was a woman (twenty, thirty-ish?) with long brown hair, wearing traditional wizard robes and pointy hat dyed in a dusty blue. She was carrying a shoulder-high wooden staff with a crooked top.
She was by no means unattractive. But neither was she attractive. She was simply "meh".
"You're finally here. I logged in ages ago waiting for you."
"And that's the other member I was talking about. My lazy cousin over there was already here when she logged out last night, so she simply waited here instead of going back to town with us."
*Ah. I was thinking that she looked a little like him.*
"Jenna-san! Look what I found!"
"Ah, that's a clever girl. A fourth member would make this run much easier." Jenna patted Pepe on her head. "Why don't we introduce ourselves? I'm Jenna, level 15 Water-affinity Mage. Nice to meet you."
"Pepe is me! Level 11 Archer!"
"My name is Kang. I'm a level 13 Monk. Pleased to meet you." He extended his hand.
"Nice to meet you guys too." I took his hand and shook it. "I am Notrem. I am a level 12 Archer."
...
...
...
""ARCHER?!?!?"" (Pepe and Kang.)
"I was worried about this," Jenna sighed.
"B-b-but, I thought you were a warrior!"
"But Mustachio-san's holding a sword!"
*Notrem...*
"You didn't notice anything weird?"
"Huh?"
"His sword... has a BOWSTRING!"
""!!!""
"Yes... This is a weapon I just invented when I was in town. I call it the Sword-Bow(patent pending)."
"SWORD-BOW(patent pending)!??" exclaimed Kang.
"Well this is a problem.." said Jenna, "Truth is, we needed one more melee unit to guard our rear. This particular dungeon, the "Ant's Nest" is popular with newbies because it practically never says cleared. The monsters will keep on respawning even though we're inside. Because of that, being attacked from behind is a real possibility."
"Will it be big groups attacking from behind?"
"No, probably two at a time. At most three."
"Then it shouldn't be a problem," I assured them, "The very reason I made this weapon is because I managed to learn a melee skill called "Bow Bash". As long as they only attack in small groups I'll be able to hold them off until you guys kill them."
"Mustachio-san is amazing!"
"E-heh..."
"That's good news then. I'd hate to have to wait another two hours to get another member," Jenna nodded, "Then this will be our strategy. Kang will be our main tank and will be in front. Pepe and I will follow behind him, with Notrem at our back. Notrem!"
"Yes!"
"Are you confident enough with your aim to shoot past the three of us?"
"Yes!"
"Good, I don't want you to hit us. Since the dungeon is mostly a single tunnel, we won't have to worry about attacks from the side. Pepe has somehow managed to pick up a "Hearing" skill, which will allow her to detect enemies coming from behind. Pepe, you are to immediately report to Notrem if you hear anything, even if you're unsure."
"Yes! Jenna-san!"
"As for me, even though there's an underground stream here, I'll have to use my powers sparingly since I don't want to either collapse or flood the tunnels. So I'll mostly be using delaying tactics or spells that need as little water as possible. Everybody understands?"
"""Yes! (Jenna-san!)"""
"Good! Let's go!"
*******************************************************
Cold, wet, and humid. That's what this tunnel was.
KIIIK!
"Mustachio-san!"
"Got it!"
There wasn't any reason for me to hurry since Pepe was generally able to detect the "backstabbers" long before they reached us. Hence, I had enough time to finish off the giant ant at the far end of the small army (apparently a grouop of ants is called an "army", which feels kinda weird when there's not really that many of them) in front of us.
The author's tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.
Firing one last shot at the dying ant, I turned around to face the two more that suddenly appeared around the bend we just passed.
These (relatively) Giant Ants were fast moving critters that stood about waist-high. They generally ranged from level 15 to level 17, with the rare level 18. Even though they were fast, they couldn't turn very quickly, which was a good thing as their main form of attack were their sharp jaws. They were powerless the moment you got behind, or above, them.
However, my job was to protect the rest, so I couldn't just circle around them as they might attack Pepe and Jenna.
I fired a shot at the further one of the two before making a vertical slash at the closest one. It tried to grab my weapon with its jaws, but instead got stunned by my "Bow Bash" skill.
By now the second one had reached me and was going to bite me in half.
"Lunge!"
Jumping upwards to dodge the attack, I immobilized the attacking and by landing on top of it and pinning it down.
With that threat pacified, I turned to the stunned ant and fired a shot at its neck (or whatever counts as a neck on an ant). The ant managed to shake free of its stun status before my next shot, but fortunately it couldn't turn fast enough to stop me.
Two of Pepe's arrows joined mine to kill that ant, leaving the ant I was straddling and whatever was left of the army at the front of our party.
Since this ant was immobilized, it was a simple matter of stabbing it to death with my Sword-Bow(patent pending).
I returned to the fray to find only a few more ants left, which were quickly dispatched by us.
"I vote we break for lunch," said Kang as he collapsed on the floor.
"Tired so quickly?" Jenna mocked him.
"No. But I'm hungry."
"Pepe is also hungry!"
"I wouldn't mind a meal either," my satiety bar was getting pretty low.
Jenna looked like she wanted to continue a little longer, but reluctantly agreed.
"I guess we've been making pretty good time. A break couldn't hurt."
It's true. A damage oriented group was suprisingly suited to this dungeon, as the enemies were plentiful but low in health. Since the tunnel was narrow, our tank (Kang, who was not really a tank, but somewhere in between a tank and a DPS) only needed to hold off two or three while we massacred the rest.
Jenna could draw most of the water she needed from the moist walls and humid air, seldom needing to tap into that underground stream she mentioned. Her current reperoire consists of drowning the ants in little bubbles of water, or pushing them away with small blasts.
Pepe and I, on the other hand, have been firing into the back rows of the army. Pepe could fire twice as quickly as me, but it took me half as many shots to kill an ant as her.
By Jenna's (who seems to be our leader) estimate, we should be halfway through the first level of the dungeon, with one more level and a boss fight to go.
Most of us, with the exception of Jenna, who only leveled once, have leveled up by two levels.
For me, my Archery skill is now at Beginner level 6 and my Bow Bash skill is at Beginner level 3, soon to hit level 4. My Point Blank has risen to Beginner level 2.
The loot that the ants have dropped so far were mostly misc items, with some ores that, I assume, they excavated while digging the tunnels. The only notable drop was a pair of boots that gave a slight boost to dexterity and movement speed.
Pepe and Kang fought over this for awhile, but Kang eventually won it when they settled it with a game of rock-paper-scissors.
They then agreed that the next speed/dexterity boosting item would go to Pepe, while any mage items would go to Jenna, and any strength boosting item would go to me. Strange though it might be, like I mentioned before, strength would likely suit me better than dexterity.
While Kang was cooking, I plucked some of the tree roots that have grown into the tunnel walls to turn into arrows, and by the time the food was ready, I had a small pile of copper arrows to replenish my supply (although some of it was "borrowed" by Pepe).
While eating the rabbit stew that Kang cooked (it increased max health and stamina a little), I contemplated making an Iron version of my Sword-Bow(patent pending). I had been slowly increasing my Blacksmithing level by crafting arrows for just that purpose. The party had already decided to log-off and take a break at the end of this floor. With luck, I should be able to use that time to get my Blacksmithing level up to Beginner level 5.
I was wondering if I should make any changes to the design of the weapon when Pepe's voice suddenly rang out.
"Something's coming! It's a Soldier!"
The Soldier ants were larger, meaner versions of the regular Giant Ant with the abiltiy to spit a weak acid. Varying from level 20 to level 25, it was hard to believe that these ants were so close in level to the Wolf-Queen I spent hours fighting.
We had already encountered a few of these and knew what to expect.
“Yon-han-kwon!” Kang shouted as he leapt at the ant, unleashing a flurry of punches that dazzled it and bought some time for Jenna to draw some water.
When Kangs skill ended, the ant clicked its jaws together twice, a signal that it was about to spew acid.
"Drown!" a bubble of water suddenly enveloped its head. The acid dissolved into the water and the ant screamed as it got burnt by its own acid.
"Lunge!" I quickly leapt to the side of the ant and let loose a point blank shot, followed shortly by one of Pepe's.
Due to your "Point Blank" skill, Attack Pwr and Armor Penetration was increased by 36%
"Water Spout!" A small burst of water knocked the Soldier ant up into the air. The idea was to give it as few chances to attack as possible.
Normally, at this point, I would wait for it to fall to the ground before firing again to reduce the risk of missing, but I had the sudden urge to try shooting it in mid-air.
With one smooth motion, I swiped an arrow from my quiver, and fired it without actually aiming. Come to think of it, it was quite a miracle that it hit.
Skill Learned!
Snap Shot:
Instantly load and fire your bow/crossbow.
Increasing the level of this skill will lower the cooldown time.
*Huh... I doubt I could aim properly with this skill, but I guess it could be useful in point blank situations.*
It seems that my shot had enough fire power to knock the ant back up and give it a little more hang time.
"SHORYUKEN!" Kang let loose a flying uppercut that finally ended the Soldier ant's life, "I always wanted to do that :lol: "
"THAT'S NOT A MONK SKILL! THAT'S PLAGIARISM!"
"Haha! Kang-kun and Mustachio-san are funny!"
"Honestly..." Jenna rubbed her forehead as though she had a headache, "Can you believe those will be the regular mobs in level two? We have enough trouble dealing with one, I can't imagine dealing with a whole swarm of them."
"Army," I corrected her.
"Sorry?"
"A group of ants is called an ar- Nevermind..."
"Don't worry Jenna-san! By then we'll be muuuuuuuch stronger!"
"Don't worry cuz (cousin), she's right about that."
"Oh, I hope so. C'mon, break's over. Let's go!"
"""Yes! (Jenna-san!)"""
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Author's note:
Hello again!
This release took a little longer than expected, but I guess that this will be the pace I will be writing at now.
Originally, chapter 4 was also supposed to include the second floor of the dungeon, with chapter 5 focusing solely on the boss fight, but looks like things didn't quite turn out the way I wanted.
This is my first time working with a party and I tried to make all the characters an equal chance to shine. Please let me know how I did with that.
Please look forward to my next chaper, and as always, any and all comments are welcome!