24

Name: Vindictus

Race: Human

Class: Ranger

Sub-class: Archer

Level: 10 EXP: 4500/4500

EXP Pot: 1420

Health: 229/229

Mana: 195/195

Strength 25

Vitality 24

Agility 26 [Bracers +1]

Dexterity 18 [Bracers +1]

Intelligence 27

Speed 25 [Boots +1]

Luck 30 [Ring +5]

Charisma 15

Points available: 0

Skill Points: 1

[Lifestyle Skills - Harvester Skill – 5; Alchemy – 1; Smithing – 3; Leatherworking – 6]

[Class Skills - Eagle Eye – 1; Power Shot – Level 3; Boost Summon – 2; Ambidextrous – Max; Two weapon fighting – Max; Cross Cut – Level 4; Off Hand Block – Level 4; Off Hand Parry – Level 3]

[New Skills]

Vindictus led the group into their first dungeon. Once he felt the magical energy close the dungeon he summoned Ursi out of his storage. "Brick you and Ursi here will lead the way right down the center path. Knocking Heads you take up a position between them and Wall Flower and Frigid. I am going to clear out the skeletons along the side paths since we are only on the normal level. There should only be a few skeletons down the middle trail, I will catch up to you before you make it to the first boss."

Brick who was the leader from before nodded his head and Vindictus split off and headed down the first path on the left. Brick walked side by side with Ursi and between the two of them they quickly finished any skeleton that got close to them. Neither of them had used any skill yet since the numbers were low and the bear's damage was really high. Right before they got the skeleton general Vindictus popped back up.

"Okay Brick you are going to go straight at him and I will send Ursi to the right with me. Knocking you go left on my call. Frigid remember that your spells can affect us as well. Wall Flower go ahead and do what you need to do. Focus on Brick but also keep an eye on Ursi as well." The all gave him a nod of their heads. "Go ahead Brick."

Brick changed forward and as soon as he was in range he used his Charge Skill and slammed into the skeleton general. As soon as he made contact his used his taunt skill. "Let's go he has agro."

The three of the charged forward and as soon as he got there he used his cross cut skill aimed and used the extra mana to fully double the damage. This also blew the leg off the skeleton general and dropped him flat on the ground. The rest of them beat on it for a few more seconds. "Brick, Knocking, Ursi, back off and let Frigid get in on the action. They have barely got to do anything and there is nothing that this thing can do to us or them."

The close quarter fighters quickly backed off and Frigid started spamming the things with spells. There was a moment of worry when it hit the berserk mode and was actually able to drag itself forward but it was still too far away to reach Frigid and do any damage. Right before it would have reached Frigid, Wall Flower hit it with a healing spell and the energy canceled out and it dropped to the ground.

"Nice work everyone. By the way I have the loot on leader assigned but that is to that we can roll for it. But since we are all different classes I do not see any issues unless it is an accessory." He reached out and waited for the timer. "Oh by the way I have pretty good luck. So it should be a descent haul even if it is only on normal mode."

About that time the skeleton turned into a pile of stuff. Vindictus quickly gathered everything up and kept the crafting materials out. "Do you guys need any crafting materials?"

Brick raised his hand. "I have a daily that I try to do in hopes of gaining the favor of the smith and it is one stack of iron."

Vindictus transferred one stack to him. "If it is anything like the Beta then you are wasting your time unless you are going full lifestyle. And it is the beginner village. In a few days this village is still going to be here but it is not going to be the same and most of the minor NPC will reset everything. So keep it up if you have time but I would not give up other mission in order to do that one."

"I need to do some more research. I feel like you have been playing this game for a decade and I am just getting started.

Vindictus almost burst out laughing. "It helps to have a beta tester in your circle of friends. Well it appears that my luck can only go so far in a normal dungeon. Knocking Heads I think this dark green two handed hammer will go with your style. Brick there is a nice shield here as well. Although it is only green and not dark green." Brick and Knocking Heads were practically drooling at the green equipment.

There were still a few items in his inventory and as he looked over them he realized that not every class had something show up. He pulled out one last item and passed it to Frigid. "This staff should be better than the one that you have. I would have had the two of you roll for it but it is a rare class restricted staff for mages only." The staff was dark green and Frigid almost cried as well. "Wall Flower I am hoping that something for you will pop up after the next boss. And don't forget that we still have a hard run and a hell run today. The rest of the stuff is for other restricted classes. I will hold on to it until the auction and then we will split the money evenly. Also if something happens and Wall Flower gets nothing they will get a larger share of the coins. Any objections?"

The group all quickly agreed as they were putting on their new equipment. Since this floor was pretty much a straight line Vindictus decided to use the same tactic as with the wolf and ran out and then back pulling as many as he could safely pull. Then with Brick and Ursi pulling the agro the zombies were no match for the team as they had really started working together. It was nice to see them play this way. Vindictus could see the core of an elite team developing right in front of him.

"Okay guys this is the normal dungeon boss. I am going to put Ursi up to see how we do to make sure that we are ready to go to the next level. You guys are working together great and this is an opportunity to really push things."

Brick tightened his new shield and got ready for the fight. On Vindictus' signal he charged forward and used his taunt skill. Once that was good the others closed the distance and went to work. Vindictus held back so that they could get more credit than him and hopefully they would get better rewards even if it was him and not them that looted the body. He doubted that any parts of the Night Weaver set would come out during the normal phase so he was more than happy with the crafting materials.

Given that he only hit the thing on occasion he was still at the top of the damage table but Frigid and Knocking Heads were neck and neck to see who would get second. Brick was a great guardian so his damage was almost nothing but he was taking all the hits. He was also used to the attack pattern and dodged everything easily. Wall Flower had no issues keeping up with the healing at the normal level and their contributions barely registered. But during the next two runs he was sure that their value would not be able to be measured.

It did not take long and the zombie hit the berserk mode and they all had to work a little harder and Vindictus let them work. He would not give them an easy time or they would not get better. He was not carrying them he was teaching them and a lot of new players did not understand the difference. If any of them had complained he would start looking for a new group or at least a replacement. The only complaints that he got were that they could not keep up with his damage no matter how hard they worked.

Once the zombie went berserk Vindictus did attack a little more often and he also used his block and parry to protect the others but they still did a lot of the work. He was more than happy with all of the work that they put in. Now it was time for the rewards. They were all breathing hard and gathering their stamina when he started the harvest.

[Harvest – Level 6]

That was certain a welcome bonus. A few more levels and the value of the sill would become even more apparent.

"Well crap it looks like it is only green stuff again."

Brick had, had enough. "What the hell do you mean only green? Vindictus we all know that you are on a different level than us but that green stuff is way better than the beginner stuff that we have now. And since a few of us are trying to make a living in this game it hurts a little."

"Brick, no all of you I am sorry about that. I was doing it on purpose to push you a little. But I was pushing too quickly. You see I am planning to start the legal part of a workshop over the update and when I come back I am planning to start a guild. I want you guys to be a part of it and I was trying to drive you to push even harder. I honestly do not want you to be satisfied with just green gear. I should not have worded things this was."

Brick quickly apologized. "No it is right that you should push us and I am honored that you would consider us for something like this. But considering it is only a couple days into the game and we all have one or more pieces of green stuff it is above what we expected. We also want better stuff but we also know not to be greedy and that without you we would not be in this kind of position. So thank you Vindictus, and we are very happy with green at this point but trust me when I tell you that we are all working to get to the next level."

"That sounds good. So who wants the blue accessory that dropped?" All four hands were instantly in the air. "Yeah that is what I figured. So here is the deal it is an inventory expansion. So if you want to use it raise your hand." All four hands stayed up. "Okay then you guys roll for it."

Wall Flower asked the question they were all thinking. "Aren't you going to roll for it?"

"I already used a blue one so it will not do my any good. I would need a new base to add it to or a higher level on. Now roll."

The four of them hit the roll option and Frigid won the space with a roll of 23. Vindictus shook his head. Yeah no way he would have lost a luck roll versus this group. "Okay here you go Frigid. And then here is the rest of the stuff." Unfortunately there were not any new skills but there were a few return scrolls. "Okay get that equipped and then I will tell you about our next run."