Episode 2: Testing Capabilities (3)
Entering the dungeon, Shinto and the group were immediately greeted by the sight of countless players all scattered across different areas of the forest. They were all busily fighting against various monsters lurking in the vicinity. This was a typical scene for a general dungeon like this one.
"Oh cool! Never knew the dungeons were this crowded!" Frey uttered out with excitement as she scrutinized the area. "I guess everyone here wants to grind like us, huh?"
"Frey... You've never been to a dungeon?" Jerome helplessly sighed at the thought. "Well knowing you... I guess that's a given. But anyways... Don't try to do any crazy stunts like you usually do out there, alright?"
"Yeah, yeah!" she pouted. "But I can't guarantee anything!"
"Jee, you..." As Jerome was about to continue with his sentence, he was abruptly cut off by Ractron.
"Alright. You guys, make sure to follow closely behind me." Ractron bluntly stated as he hurriedly powered through the crowd of players without delay. "We'll be going over towards a secluded spot to begin grinding. So don't waste any time chit-chatting!"
"Hmm... A secluded spot?" Hearing the rushed voice from the party leader, Shinto tilted his head in question. "Why exactly are we rushing? There should be plenty of secluded spots in the dungeon, so there's no need to worry about someone being in the area."
"What? Did Jerome not fill you in on anything?" The man slightly frowned as he gave a vexing glare to the swordsman standing behind Shinto. "Tch... To simply put, we're going to be gathering up groups of monsters all at once and then proceed to sweep through them as a party. It's going to be taking a huge toll on our fighter's HP, which is precisely why we need a support. You got that?"
"Right... I understand that bit, but... That still doesn't explain the rush, no?" he suspiciously questioned. "I mean, we're only going to be looking for a secluded place, right? This dungeon is big enough to find one, so there's no reason to..."
"W-Well, that's because, if we don't hurry, the best spots will be taken!" Ractron immediately replied. "Ahem, that's enough of that! We best hurry it up. You want to get to levelling up as soon as possible, yeah? Then we better not waste time!"
"Well, if you say so, then I guess we better hurry it up." Shinto shrugged as he then took a glance over towards the rest of the group members. "Do you have any specific spot in mind?"
"Obviously!" Ractron clicked his tongue. "Just follow and stop asking questions!"
"Right..." Shinto sighed.
"Ugh, rushing us like this... There's no reason to," Kris silently grunted as she and the rest of the group followed after Ractron. Meanwhile, Shinto was left in deep thought, though not a moment later, he followed suit with the rest.
...
Within Black Wolf's Den, a small group of players could be seen engaged in a battle against a large pack of wolves, hungry for prey. The group was in the middle of a forest where two fighters were busily soaking up damage while two people were supporting them from behind.
"E-Eep!" Frey shouted out in a frenzy as she hastily dodged the attacks from the wolves. "H-Heal! I need heal!" Soon after she evaded the attack, two arrows shot out as they struck the temple of the monsters.
"Frey, hurry up and retreat! Jerome and I will cover for you," Kris said as she began shooting out more arrows over towards the pack of wolves. Following up with that, a swordsman leapt forward to the struck enemies and swung his sword at them.
[ Swordsman Skill - Ground Slam ]
With his blade slamming against the ground, it shook, forcing the wolves to lose their balance and fall. "Shinto, there's still plenty of wolves left. How are your cooldowns holding up?" Jerome asked whilst his eyes were still on the enemies.
"No need to worry about me," Shinto calmly said as his staff waved in the direction of Frey who was still being chased by wolves. At that moment, a feeling of warmth enveloped the brawler. "I still have enough for a few more heals when needed."
[ Shadow Diviner Skill - Mark of Umbra ]
[ Mark of Umbra Lv 1 ] [ 10 Shadow Gauge ] [ Cooldown: 1 Minute ]
A (Mark of Umbra) is cast upon an ally within a 50-meter radius by the user. When the mark is placed onto them, their HP will be generated by 3% for every second until the mark fades away.
•The (Mark of Umbra) lasts for only 7 seconds. However, when the user casts this skill again onto the same ally when the mark has yet faded away, the duration will be extended by 7 seconds.
•This skill can be kept at three charge(s) with an interval of five seconds upon use for each cast. When the charge(s) is not capped at three, it will passively regenerate based on the cooldown of the skill until full.
...
"Ahh! You're a lifesaver, Shinto!" Frey's eyes glistened in joy as her attention turned back toward the pack of wolves. "Aha! I'm not afraid of you now! Come at me, you experience points!"
With her hands clenched into fists, Frey swiftly threw a punch at the wolves that had chased after her. At that moment, a force of raging energy protruded out of her fist and over to the monsters, turning them into grey ash.
[ Brawler Skill - Blitz Fist ]
[ Blitz Fists Lv 1 ] [ 45 MP ] [ Cooldown: 17 Seconds ]
Protrudes out a raging force of energy towards a target, dealing 180% physical damage through five hits. If all attacks successfully land on the target, you may instantly connect it with another skill categorized under the Brawler's skill tree.
...
"See that?! That's what you get for trying to kill me!" Frey pridefully laughed at the poor wolves who had turned into experience points. "Now... Who's next?!" she said as she scanned the area, noticing that all the wolves had been wiped out.
"You want more?" Jerome breathed heavily. "We dealt with a lot of wolves just now. Shouldn't we take a break?"
"Break? But... Ractron's bringing the next wave of monsters over as we speak!" she said, pointing over towards the front of her.
"H-Huh?" Shinto blankly blinked towards the direction of where Frey had pointed to. There, he noted that Ractron was running straight towards the group's direction, with nearly the same amount of wolves that they had fought with earlier. "Are you serious? Back-to-back fights?"
"What? Hey, Ractron!" Kris complained. "Shouldn't we get a break?!"
"No time! I'm already bringing in the next batch of wolves!" Ractron stated as he held onto a branch of a tree, climbing on it. "I'll bring the next wave over when you're done!"
"H-Hey!" she shouted out whilst preparing to engage in battle once again. "Ugh... Let's get this over with."
...
[ You have defeated (Black Fang Wolf)! ]
[ You have defeated (Black Fang Wolf)! ]
[ You have defeated... ]
[ Your level has risen to 6! ]
[ You have obtained 10 Stat Points. ]
[ Your Shadow Stat has increased by 1. ]
"Phew... This wave's done with." Confirming that the horde of wolves had all turned into grey ash, Shinto's attention was now on his notification window whilst stretching tiredly. "At the rate that we're going at now... I should be near level 10 by the end of the session."
From the time Shinto and the others had entered the dungeon to now, they had been farming non-stop via battling the countless monsters pulled and aggroed by Ractron, their party leader. The intervals between each wave were extremely short, thus, they could barely get a break. They were currently finishing up with the 4th wave of mobs.
"—though granted, that's if we don't run out of stamina before then..." he sighed inwardly, taking a glance over to his party members.
"Levelled up again! Woohoo!" Frey cheered. "Now, where's the next wave!?"
"He should be coming in a bit with the next wave," Jerome thought to himself as he silently sat by a tree in the distance in a tired motion. "But, since it's taking quite a while, why don't we just take a break for a bit? We've been fighting wolves for some time now, so I'm quite beat..."
"R-Really? Has it been that long already?" Frey tilted her head. "I thought we were just getting started!"
"Seriously? Were you so caught up in fighting monsters that you didn't realize we've been doing this for about an hour now?" Kris gave a blank stare to Frey. "Hah... Just take this opportunity to rest. At this rate, we might run out of stamina before the next batch of monsters brought by that guy comes in."
"Hmm... Speaking of that guy, why does he just up and leave whenever he brings the wolves over to us?" On the topic, Shinto questioned. "I mean, he's here to level up too, right? Yet, I don't see him fighting with us at all."
Whenever Ractron would bring the horde of monsters over to the group, he would use the trees to hide. Then, after making sure the aggro was on Jerome and Frey, he would run off to bring the next horde, where it would conveniently time with the defeat of the previous horde.
"Ah... Do you mean Ractron? Well..." In reply to Shinto, Jerome was just about to mutter out in response as suddenly, a loud shout rang in the distance.
"Hey! You guys! I found something! Hurry up and come over here!" The distant voice called out to the group. "Quick, quick! This is better than bringing a horde over to your group!"
"...?" Upon hearing the voice, Shinto's brow raised in suspicion. "...speak of the devil."
"Oh? Did Ractron find something interesting!?" Frey quickly stood up from the ground in excitement. "Hurry, let's go! It seems rather urgent!"
"Err..." Jerome scratched his head in unsureness. "Let's go, I guess?"
"..." Remaining silent, Shinto sighed as he began following the group.
...
Deeper into the dungeon's interior, the group finally reached a desolate area, where it was far away from the players who had entered the dungeon. There, they spotted Ractron who was silently sitting behind a bush.
"Ah! There he is!" Frey pointed out. "Hey, Rac—"
"—Shh! Come over here, and be quiet!" Ractron shushed the loud Frey. "Hurry!"
"What's the hurry?" Kris grumbled. "We don't even get a break and you're here relaxing and..." As the group made their way over towards the direction of Ractron, Kris' eyes slightly shook as her jaws then dropped upon arrival. "W-What?!"
"Shh! Just take a look over there!" Ractron whispered.
By the distance, a large black wolf could be seen roaming around in the open space of the forest. As tall as a human and big as a bear, the wolf stood there menacingly as it waited for prey.
"B-Black Fang...?" Shinto frowned. "I-Is this for real?"