For once, the team did not immediately turn back once they used the Fast Travel into Vuneras. Jonas was tempted to ask to at least do the scorpion lair in Outapis, seeing as it was close to the Gate, but he’d been the one to suggest comparing the experience rate, and doing so would be defeating the purpose.

The Gate proper was in a gorge in the mountains. The gorge itself would go on for about half a mile before it ended, far from the zone border proper, Jonas assumed. There was nothing interesting that way, so they turned and started down the path, following a small brook toward the main parts of the zone.

“What’s the plan?”

“No plan this time,” Jonas replied. “We just walk over, kill every creature we come across as fast as possible, and see how much that gives us over three days, then Recall on Friday.”

“What’s the range of things we can expect?” Laura asked.

“Standard tier three zone, meaning it starts at 110-120 mostly around the Plaza, and you get up to 200 and over in some parts.”

“Why is it that the centre with the Plaza is always lowest?” she asked, curious.

“That’s the thing, though. Nobody knows. I mean, it makes sense for the starter tier one zones. But why every tier one? Why every zone? Mystery.”

“I’m not complaining,” Ira said. “If we had to fight level 20 critters just after landing in Ovildian at level 1, we’d have been toast.”

“It’s a general rule, though. I’ve read the Inventory of Anomalous Zones, and there are only two tier four zones in which it’s the complete opposite.”

“And then there’s the trunk, where everything is at maximum,” Guss noted.

“The trunk is probably its own category,” Jonas replied.

“Anything else about anomalous zones? Weirder ones?” Ira asked, curious.

“The Inventory lists twenty-nine. And funnily enough, Ovildian/Othary is one, due to its under-level range. There’s another underleveled tier five zone. It’s nominally tier five, but its critters are barely in the upper tier four range.”

“Sounds like an easy one.”

“Unfortunately, it doesn’t lead to any tier six zone, so it’s not a good shortcut for Professions.”

“What’s the hardest zone then?”

“Iosuber, apparently. Nicknamed the Death Zone, because the first team to scout it nearly died fifty feet from the Gate.”

“How come?”

“It has only elite creatures outdoor. Nothing less, and you routinely meet elders outside as well. Normally, when you enter a tier four, you’re good enough to tackle the normal creatures there and maybe veterans. In that case, the first team to go there apparently got one of them killed by a 350 elder next to the entrance from tier three and retreated to come a few hours later to recover the fallen teammate,” Jonas explained.

“The lairs must be deadly.”

“Elder packs only, and Ancient guardians, every single one. And of course a major lair,” Jonas confirmed.

“Our first target,” Alton interrupted as they left the gorge.

Curious Bearling

Level 189

Health: 1898

Mind: 548

Endurance: 1838

Aether: 0

“Easy. It’s somewhere between a veteran and an elite from the last lairs.”

“And maybe one special attack at most,” Ira said as he charged.

Curious Bearling: 1578XP/6 contributors = 249XP.

“And the experience is reasonable,” Guss acknowledged.

“Told you,” Ira replied, poking the bear-like carcass who was leaving a piece of meat behind.

“We’re going to do the periphery of the zone. Remember, if we go closer to the Plaza will give us lower creatures,” Jonas reminded them.

“I remember that one,” Laura said, pointing out the small path leading to the pair of openings in the mountain side.

“That was one where you didn’t get completion, right?” Guss asked.

“Yea. A 160 one? About that. Albino bears,” Ira remembered.

“Not much useful loot either,” she noted.

“We can tackle the veterans at the entrance since we’re nearby? They should be good for experience?” Ira said.

Jonas looked at the team interrogatively and then pointed the pathway.

“If I remember right from last year, there are packs of two and three veterans or something. Let’s see how we fare,” he sighed.

Nocturnal Dweller × 3

Level 157 veteran

Health: 2790

Mind: 859

Endurance: 1748

Aether: 1498

“I remember those. Poison and ice attacks,” Jonas noted.

“That’s about the same vitals as those three elite larvae we had as a final guardian,” Guss noted

“Let’s see if the experience is worth it without Cowen in the team,” Ira said.

“I take the left, you take the two other,” Jonathan decided.

“We need to get you better gear to boost your armour,” Ira said.

“Want to give me your sword for 160 ratings? No?” he smiled.

“You’re using dual swords, what do you need a claymore for?”

“I’ll focus on you and Alton at the Faire,” Laura said.

“Less talk, more fight?” Guss suggested.

“Agreed,” Ira replied.

Nocturnal Dweller breathes noxious fog. -3 mind/sec.

Nocturnal Dweller breathes noxious fog. -5 PRE.

Nocturnal Dweller roars cold waves. -5 DEX.

“Bleh. Different status from each?”

“Didn’t remember that. Cowen killed those packs of critters way too fast, I think,” Jonas noted.

The melee joined with Ira, going to focus on the first bear-thing. Jonas hesitated a fraction of second, then forgot about any Fire Funnel. Not enough targets, as the two defenders had separated the three veterans.

Nocturnal Dweller claws for 108 damage (581+32 defence)

“They hit like a ton,” Ira announced.

“Higher levels. They might have vitals that look like a 100 elite, but they should hit harder than one,” Guss replied as he started dropping regeneration effects.

“No kidding,” Jonathan added.

The team fell silent as they focused on the first of the pink-white bears. Despite the higher levels, they didn’t feel too dangerous, at least if you were not a defender. The first bear died abruptly, and the cold wave status started to slowly recede, which pleased Alton very much.

“Ira’s again or Jonathan’s?” he asked.

“I’m holding. Lucky on avoiding hits so far,” the second defender replied.

“Then we keep going,” Jonas picked.

Nocturnal Dweller × 3: 7766XP/6 contributors = 1226XP.

“Now, that’s experience,” Guss said.

“Takes a long time even if it’s basic lair packs,” Ira replied.

“But the lair is more packed, right?” Guss countered.

“Will you two stop it. Besides, we’re doing it for the experience anyway. And as long as we don’t go too deep, the time remains reasonable,” Jonas interrupted.

“Okay I do remember this,” Ira said, peeking at the larger cavern.

The cave was lighted by a spread of tiny minuscule Power Crystals around the place. It had two further openings at the back, but they were surrounded by vines.

“Mostly because it was taking more than 15 seconds for Cowen to tackle the guardian while we got doused by the vines’ poisons.”

Underground Vine × 2

Level 156 veteran

Health: 2764

Mind: 0

Endurance: 0

Aether: 2649

Nocturnal Tender

Level 154 elite

Health: 4813

Mind: 1491

Endurance: 4607

Aether: 2585

“We’re not there for the lair, remember,” Jonas noted.

“And besides, the treasure is a 143 basic piece of gear,” Jonathan added after spotting the bear’s nest of vine fragments and leaves that held a flat box.

“Yeech,” Laura replied.

“So that’s the furthest we go then,” Guss admitted.

“What next?” Ira asked as they were heading back.

“More forest and bears, then along the shore and crabs,” Jonas announced.

“Time to Recall,” Jonas announced after they finished picking the last crawler’s pincers, which held a surprising amount of meaty delights. Useable pincers seemed rare.

“It’s still early.”

“Yea, but I’m not sure about the difference in time with Gatepost. It’s far too easy to adjust to a different day, and you forget what time it is back there. I’d rather avoid landing on Friday evening and miss my appointment,” he said.

The team nearly collided with a pair of Professionals as they materialized at the Gatepost stone.

“Ooops, sorry sirs,” they nearly simultaneously said before sneaking around the six and going to touch the stone.

Judging by the plain look of their equipment, they might even not be in basic gear yet. Fresh from coming back from the centre of Grailburg and getting their first Profession, and now picking a better Recall than the Plaza. Jonas was surprised to see them head straight into the Gilded Gate back to London.

“Newbies…”

“I don’t know what they do with new Professionals these days,” Alton commented.

Jonas snorted.

“Not even a year, and hear us complaining about newcomers.”

He looked at his bag, relatively empty save for the multiple amounts of bearling meat. He handed it to Ira for disposing of the cooking components. Maybe the innkeeper would like to try it. If not, there were always meatpackers buying that kind of remote zone's food for London delicacies.

“I’m going to see at the Saltesford Services’ headquarters if the Frenchman is there. Then I’ll join you at the Boar. It shouldn't be that long a talk. Hopefully”, Jonas said.