The Endless War

Dorian dodged a lunging blow from an [Ashen Footsoldier], he pressed his dagger against the side of the sword, pushing it away from him and diverting the soldier's momentum, making it overextend, exposing it's shoulder and back toward him.

Dorian threw his dagger from his left hand to his right and stabbed into the back of the soldier's skeletal neck. Blood sprayed out and into Dorian's eyes, he jerked back reflexively and wiped the blood out of his eyes.

As he did this, he felt an arrow penetrate his midsection.

Caroline shouted, already heading towards him to heal him. It turned out she also had some healing spell, but she did not specialise in healing.

Dorian grimaced, he had wanted to keep his identity hidden for as long as he could; but decided there was no way he would be able to hide his ability anymore from the party, and even if there was a way to hide it now, he doubted he would be able to do the whole dungeon while hiding it.

He pulled the arrow out, and watched as the hole closed up. Searing, hot pain erupted from the wound, many times more agonizing then the actual arrow. Dorian just grit his teeth and grunted, when he had first felt it he couldn't imagine being able to bare it for long. Here he was, 3 years later, and able to reduce his reaction to such a minimal state.

He looked up at Caroline, she had come closer but had stopped now, a look of shock on her face.

"You're the Woundkeeper?" Caroline asked, a simple question. There it was again, the name that haunted him, a reminder of the life he had lived; his agony turned into entertainment. 

Before Dorian could reply, a [Charred Behemoth] had made it's way over and was now pretty close to stepping right ontop of Caroline. In case you were wondering, Caroline would certainly not survive such a thing.

Before Dorian could move, Veylan appeared and stabbed it's foot with his greatsword. He had tried using it on [Cat's Eye] before but nothing had turned up. This meant it was a very good sword, Dain also sprinted over through the crowds of soldiers and archers. It seemed they also fought each other, but were very ineffecient at killing each other. It would take them an endless amount of time to slaughter each other.

"Sorry about that, let him out of my grasp." Veylan chuckled. He looked up at the screaming giant, it bent down to hold its foot in agony, and as it did Veylan's sword disappeared and reappeared in his hand. Then he bent his knees and launched himself upwards at the behemoth's descending head.

Veylan's sword burst through the eye of the giant, and he reappeared as he came through the back of the behemoth's skull.

"He handles them so easily..." Dorian muttered. 

Isolde glanced at him, "Yes, it seems his level has been restricted to an acceptable level."

"His level is restricted? And he's still that strong?" Dorian turned, shocked.

"Indeed, Veylan is very powerful at any level."

"Why was he restricted?"

Isolde looked incredelously at him, "You know nothing, don't you?" She sighed, but ultimately decided to explain it to him. "This is a dungeon, made by the System to challenge adventurers. If you could just go into a dungeon with a high-leveled friend and let him do all the work, it wouldn't be very fair, would it?"

"I supposed not..." Dorian muttered ashamedly.

"The System does recognise Veylan's hard work to reach that level, and he is probably restricted only to level 90 or 95. The level they are restricted to is based mainly on the average level of the party. The System makes dungeons based around one mean level of the party. So outliers would ruin the dungeon, but you can't just kill people for being too high level. So instead they just make them more normal, taking their level to the highest level of what is considered normal by the System."

Dorian frowned, he had understood the logic, Isolde had explained it very well. But then...

"So, by bringing me in here, he was restricting himself further? I am the lowest level here, so bringing me in would bring down his restricted level, correct?"

Isolde smiled at him, "Precisely."

"So... why?" Dorian asked, still confused.

"Because, Dorian, you are the Woundkeeper. Veylan makes it his priority to know everything and everyone. Of course he had heard of you. He has been eager to meet you for a while, but he also respected your wish to stay in Greystone and not progress. But now, you have clearly shown intrest in progressing again, and Veylan pounced at the opportunity."

There was a lot to unpack from this, first was that Veylan knew he was the Woundkeeper and it seemed so did Isolde. Secondly, Veylan had clearly been keeping tabs on him, he had managed to assemble a party and arrive in Eldershade so quickly, meaning he most likely had someone keeping an eye on him at all times. This meant Veylan was either high status or rich. Dorian would bet on the former, as the dynamic between Veylan and Isolde clearly was of a young master and servant. It also explained Isolde's haughty attitude, as she was a servant of someone with high status. This further explained Veylan's incredible gear.

Before Dorian could try and pry further, he heard Dain's voice.

"Guys," He grunted, "Work to do." Dain had been holding back many of the footsoldiers, Veylan was helping as well, when Dorian looked at him, he looked to be keeping himself busy with killing the common enemies, but Dorian had no doubt he had heard the whole conversation.

"Right." Dorian said, and got back to work. It was time to do some work, and it wasn't like the work wasn't lucrative. They had been fighting for about an hour, and Dorian had definitely benefitted the most in terms of levels.

[Level up! Lv. 68]

[Level up! Lv. 69]

[Level up! Lv. 70]

Soon. Dorian thought. He glanced at the quest.

[The Ember Vault]

Welcome to [The Ember Vault], this battlefield was the last stand of the Ashen Legion - an elite army tasked with protecting the sleeping [Flamebound King].

Betrayed by their own, they slaughtered each other, their souls bound to the battlefield by a powerful curse.

Now, they awaken, eager to fight only through the will of those who have cursed them. Beware, adventurers, there is no chance at negotiation.

[Objectives]:

- Destroy the cursed Ashen Legion's army (7,782/12,432)

- Kill the [Ember Knights] (0/5)

- Kill the [Hollow Baron] (0/1)

[Rewards]:

- Revealed upon completion. Rewards depend on contribution.

They had managed to kill almot 8,000 of the troops so far. There had been about 30 [Charred Behemoths], and now there were only 3 or 4 left. Granted, Dorian had not fought any, that had been left to Veylan and Dain, as Dain could tank the hits and Veylan had the attack power.

That meant it was left to him, Isolde and Caroline to kill the normal enemies, and Dorian steeled himself to start slaughtering again.

But before he could, he heard Veylan shout. "Dorian! Want to kill some Behemoths? Dain will switch with you." 

Dorian looked at him, surprised. But then grinned, this was an opportunity. Some of these Behemoths were in the 90s. With the help of Veylan, he could get some fast levels.

"Definitely."