After reaching the river’s exit from the zone, looking from their alternate vantage at the same gorge that had stymied them, the team resumed their travels around the border. Judging from the sun’s course, this second half of the zone was to the northwest, or so Jonathan told them. And, unlike the southeast border they started from, the local fauna was in the upper 30s or even mid-40s in levels. Wolves and leopards were all over the slopes of the mountain valleys. The highest level creature they spotted was flying far overhead, out of even Jonas’s Flame Bolt range.

Brown Eaglet

Level 48

Health: 391

Mind: 153

Endurance: 331

Aether: 227

It had completely ignored them, though, flying onward. After it disappeared between mountains, Jonas then realized the only thing he’d expected from the eagle was… experience. There were some birds of prey haunting the skies of London, eager to hunt the vermin that lived around the human’s abodes, and he’d never really paid attention to them once he grew up. And here… those birds were simply a potential source of experience, not a helper for the human city.

They had been full of hopes, but the lack of additional potential locations of Gates slowly eroded Jonas’ confidence they might find a fourth. Days passed. Following the border was easy once you knew about it. Slopes going down, bare of trees or anything, and a vague grey in the distance made it easy to keep track. Even without anything else, they accumulated a steady flow of experience from the various high-level encounters.

The Gate they finally spotted on the plateau in the distance looked promising, but Jonas was 99% sure that this was the one from Ovildian. Judging from the sun’s orientation and its close proximity to the border wall, it was a near-certain thing.

As they stepped on the flat, he spotted a small stick and board shape next to the Gate. As they arrived next to it, he could read familiar words.

Group of six from London. Trying to find Grailburg

“So, that’s a full circle.”

“And only three Gates. Ovildian, Zolferras and the exit through Markandon,” Jonathan noted, a disappointed note in his voice.

They looked at each other, all clearly saddened.

“Either there’s one or more, but not visible from the wall due to mountain, or that’s it.”

“At least we got more levels now,” Laura said.

Team

Professions

Health

Mind

Jonas Sims

Aetherist (28)

249/249

264/264

Jonathan Gilbert

Watcher (28)

259/259

198/198

Ira Heard

Layman (39)

657/657

372/372

Guss Fullmore

Mender (28)

254/254

246/246

Laura Harvey

Breaker (28)

284/284

236/236

Alton Raby

Pointer (28)

309/309

246/246

“That, and the one box we snagged on that outdoor lair…”

Just like in the Ovildian plains, at one point they had noted a clear blue lake in the distance, surrounded by small white shapes. Unlike the wolves and leopards that seemed to be the main species of the mountains, the lake denizens were white-blueish giant frogs, seemingly in the mid/upper-30s. Differing names and multiple packs of veterans seemed to indicate a probable lair, just like the hyena lake had been.

After spending an entire morning carefully dealing with clumps of veteran frogs to make a path to the lake proper, they had tried their hand at the lowest frog elite they found.

Iceblood Lake Amphibian

Level 36 elite

Health: 887

Mind: 688

Endurance: 491

Aether: 1028

While its vitals didn’t make it much more dangerous than the hyena matriarch, both Laura and Alton nearly died as the frog spewed ice-filled breaths all over the place, at one point forcing them away from the fight from low health and regular damage. Guss had had to put himself at the furthest range early to focus entirely on making sure of Ira’s survival. The three melee fighters returned once their health had climbed back, slowly learning how to place themselves to avoid being breathed upon.

When the fight ended, they all breathed in relief.

Iceblood Lake Amphibian: 1348XP/6 contributors = 193XP.

The entire team spent nearly two minutes shivering on the shore before snagging the metal box’s content and retreating. From their shore vantage point, Ira had pointed to the centre of the lake where a larger bright blue frog lounged on an ice-speckled flat rock.

Iceblood Froglord

Level 35 elder

Health: 1715

Mind: 690

Endurance: 819

Aether: 857

Given the difficulty of the merely elite amphibian, they simply abandoned the idea and stuffed the blue robe requiring level 32 from the treasure box in Guss’ pouch, and left the lake alone for now. Trying to wear the robe not only gave Guss zero effects but was deeply uncomfortable and horribly distracting, confirming the absolute nature of the requirements.

Blue Monk Burlap Robe

Chest

Quality equipment

Requires: Level 32

Provides: +6 defence rating, +2 WIS, +32 aether

“The only reason we even could finish the first guardian is Ira,” Jonas said as they retreated.

“The levels go fast. I even got my first Layman Milestone already,” he acknowledged.

“Yes, but I’m not healing any faster,” Guss objected.

“Yet.”

“Yet. That robe will help once I can use it, but the next Milestone will help more,” he grumbled.

They slowly started up the path leading back to the mountain ridge they were following when they spotted the Lake. This one would wait another day.

Now that they had completed their first circuit, it was time to decide on a new plan.

“Those levels are good, but we need to get our new Professions faster,” Jonathan grumbled.

“Once we do, we’ll start levelling fast again,” Jonas acquiesced. “I mean, a couple of days after we change, we’ll probably be 35-plus as well. And that’s when we can try the frog lake. We won’t be threatened as much.”

“Do you think we can do that frog Lord at 35?” Laura asked, dubious.

“An additional Milestone, higher ranks on our skills, and lots more vitals. I’m not sure, but we can kill easily the rest of the frogs. We get lots more XP when we do that. And we get good items from the individual guardians.”

Jonas could see both Guss and Alton acquiescing to that, as they could anticipate the use of more equipment.

“So that’s your plan?”

“We head to the Plaza. And we start from there and try to find additional lairs, just like Ovildian. We have found two, we need at least one more.”

“And about the levels?”

“Hopefully, we get enough for the second Milestone on the way. If not, we keep on killing every cat and wolf and whatever we can find around. As soon as we have that Milestone, we head back to the Plaza and grab those tier-two.”

As they made their way to the centre of the mountainous zone, Jonathan spotted reddish spots to the side. They made their way to that small plateau to get a clearer look and found… ruins. The area looked like a small village of single-floor houses, in various states of disrepair. Walls had crumbled, leaving holes, and thatched roofs had partially decayed.

However, the village was not entirely deserted. Patrolling around the village were hogs.

Thick-skin Boar

Level 53 veteran

Health: 822

Mind: 317

Endurance: 706

Aether: 0

Upon seeing the boar’s levels, the team backed away. Thankfully, none of the boars had spotted them, because the first pack they’d noticed roaming around the village was comprised of 2 veterans and a standard one. At level 50, they were a massive threat for the team, even if individually on par with the elites of the mountain.

“That’s the third lair. A third lair, at least. But I’d rather not attempt it. Not for a long time,” Jonas said.

“Tier-two zones are hard,” Alton commented.

“As I said before. We need our tier-two Professions before anything else.”

Weaned Grey Wolf: 695XP/6 contributors = 99XP. Level up.

Jonas wasted no time in checking his status. However, he found himself facing a minor problem.

Jonas Mark Sims

Health: 296/298

Mind: 392/395

Endurance: 249/250

Aether: 600/605

Effective level: 30

Level 30 Aetherist

Experience: 71/27273

Strength: 20

Dexterity: 19

Agility: 19

Constitution: 18

Stamina: 19

Wisdom: 21

Focus: 19

Presence: 18

Fortitude: 20

Intellect: 28

Defence rating: 5

10% faster levelling

10% elemental damage

Milestones: Adjustment II, Aetherist II

Skills: Flame Bolt (1), Air Burst (+1), Ice Dart (+), Earth Grasp (+)

Equipment: Rough Used Burlap Hairband, Aerial Robes, Rough Burlap Cloth Wraps, Simple Burlap Belt, Rough Used Burlap Trousers, Simple Laced Sandals, Basic Focus Dagger, Depleted Aetheric Focus, Side Pouch

Unallocated: Aether or Offensive skill rank (Aetherist Milestone 2)

Try as he might, he could not find a way to select his Flame Bolt skill for improvement. A quick check showed up that the other three who had levelled – Jonathan being again slightly behind by probably one critter only – were facing the same difficulty. Guss could improve any skill except the healing one he mostly used, Alton couldn’t pick Backstab again.

“Looks like you can improve a skill only once per tier. Or per Profession. Ira has been able to pick Dodge twice since he switched, but we can’t.”

“Do you think we can wait until we pick the next profession?” Alton asked.

“Nope. It says it’s from the Aetherist milestone… well, the Aetherist for me. So that’s not going to change after the fact. No, we all have to pick a different skill to improve.”

Jonas himself hesitated between the Ice Dart, for the aether economy offered and Air Burst for the control effect. Guss didn’t have the same problem, he went straight to Improve Healing. Laura and Alton also had an obvious choice of skill to pick. Jonas finally settled on the Air Burst, for a more forceful push. Both spells were ‘bollocks’ moments, but the burst was again more immediately useful. Ice Dart would only start to be worthwhile in a few milestones, when Intellect climbed high enough, not immediately.

Air Burst

Aether/Offense

Rank 2: Push back an opponent by up to 7 feet. Causes a slight delay in the next attack. Costs: (0.98 aether × level of opponent).

The Plaza was a sight that Jonas and the whole team both anticipated and dreaded. They were all 30, they all qualified for tier-two… and Adjustment awaited.

Once they reached the centre of the Plaza, they stopped and looked at each other, hesitating. Besides adding the new Profession, however, one last decision awaited some of them.

Tier 2: Othary

Aetherseer

25 INT

Hospitaler

25 WIS

Layman

20 CON, 20 WIS

Crusader

20 WIS, 20 STR

Piercer

25 DEX

Scout

20 DEX, 20 INT

Sentry

25 FOC

Shieldbringer

25 STA

Smasher

25 STR

Jonas had a choice between his next version of Aetherist, the Aetherseer, but also the same Crusader class that Ira had skipped and Guss still had available in addition to Hospitaler. At the same time, Jonathan now qualified for the Layman defender and Alton could pick either Scout or Piercer. The only one among them without an alternative Profession offered by the Plaza was Laura who could only select the Smasher upgrade. She looked slightly pissed at that, despite making the decision easy.

Jonathan was deeply conflicted about his options.

“Do you think the Sentry is right for me? I mean, I’m not doing great damage, and I’m… next to useless. I spot attacks, but not often, and I can sometimes improve attacks by Alton or Laura, but…”

“We have a Layman, though,” said Jonas gently.

“And we often have multiple hard fights in those lairs. Alton and Laura may have good health, but if we have a fight with multiple elites, that’s usually very hard. If I could help to distract those additional critters… wouldn’t it be better? For us?”

“You could…” Jonas started, before stopping.

The truth was, Jonathan’s Profession was hard to figure. He remembered the half-masked man in that London team. The eyeless mask that Jonathan wore suggested something along the same lines. If that high-tier team found someone in a Watcher-style Profession useful, then Jonathan was almost certainly going to be a useful team member. Just someone they did not know how to manage well – yet.

At the same time, it was obvious that Jonathan was the one with the lowest Potentials – the one who’d triggered a second Adjustment on all of them. He was a bundle of anxieties, and probably feeling useless. If nothing else… Layman still gave Focus potential, just a lot less. He could re-join the original Watcher style of Professions at one point, maybe tier-three, whatever those Professions would be.

“Well, it’s going to be hard. I mean, we haven’t got much gear for a defender…”

“Hey, you told me to throw it away. All I have left is the old coif when I replaced it with the new wolf cap we lucked on,” Ira said.

Jonathan remained silent, merely looking at Jonas for a final decision.

“If you feel like you can wait for more gear…”

“I’m going to pick the weak second critters anyway. I’ll pick whatever we get,” he acquiesced.

Jonas turned to Alton.

“And you?”

“That support skill set thing sounds more like Guss. I don’t know what a Scout does, but we already have support anyway and he does well enough. I don’t need to make a second mister Fullmore,” he said with a grin.

The Mender laughed. They already had that discussion last time, so Guss knew what he was going to do.

“I’m sticking with aether myself. We have too many people on the front line. If it’s like with that ice frog, it’s hard on Guss. So…” Jonas said.

“Who goes first?” Laura asked.

“I’d say… all together?”

“All together.”

Jonas gulped reflexively and acknowledged the Aetherseer Profession.

Aetherseer

(tier 2)

Required: 25 INT

Provides:

+3 health/+2 endurance/+5 mind/+8 aether per level

+1 Milestone per 14 levels

Aetherseer Milestone: +5 INT, +3 PRE, +2 AGI, +1 FOC, +1 STR, 5% elemental damage

Skillset: Aether / Offense