“So, my plan doesn’t work?” Ira commented as the team headed toward the Gate clearing.

“It should. But I’m playing it safe. If Castikal – the tier three trunk zone – follows the same rules as the other two, then we don’t get a Recall or Fast Travel charge while in it,” Jonas explained.

“Oh, balls,” Ira replied.

“Yes. We can Recall easily to Gatepost since we have it up already, but then we’d be stuck with 6 days of waiting there until I get at least one travel charge back.”

“That’s a bother,” Guss noted.

“Ira’s idea of going for mass experience in the trunk is a good one, but we need to spend 3 weeks in the outdoors every time we do that. Once we all have two charges, then we can afford to go to Castikal.”

“Do you have any information about it, by the way?”

“No. Cowen’s note said very little. The only thing I have is a list of connected zones, which includes one – Krexugary – that is listed as a known zone by the Americans. No idea about the rest.”

Fast Travel to Vuneras. One charge will be used.

“And here we go.”

The team contemplated the sandbars. That wasn’t the first time they’d been there – it was one of the lairs they’d been through last year – but it was not going to be much easier yet. It was also a bit weirder, as an outdoor lair, like half of the zone. As usual, they’d decided to just tackle the veteran packs for extra experience, avoiding the guardians proper.

Tender Crab × 2

Level 146 veteran

Health: 2522

Mind: 794

Endurance: 2406

Aether: 0

Shore Xanthogram

Level 141 elite

Health: 4250

Mind: 1352

Endurance: 515

Aether: 5282

“That plant thing is hideous. How can anything be that sickly green?”

“Yea. But it sits on the giant clam that serves as a chest. Which has a level 129 quality weapon inside,” Jonathan replied.

“We could try it?” Ira asked.

“At best, it would be useable by Jonathan in twelve levels if it’s a sword. It would be a very hard fight, let’s keep it for the future,” Jonas said as the team skirted the pack of crabs that went around, cleaning the bright green plant.

They spent an entire afternoon cleaning every single crab that wasn’t too close to the four guardians. They kept a long distance to the final one, a giant armoured crab with nasty spikes protruding from the shell. The sheer amount of crabmeat they got was going to fill their bags, notably since they were going to spend multiple weeks going around the zone borders to target the biggest creatures around.

That wouldn’t be as much money as gear brought, but whatever was left after eating might bring some. The bearlings didn’t yield as many cooking materials.

“Okay. What is this sham?”

Location

Zone: Vuneras (tier 3)

Locale: Dying Grove

Recall: Grailburg, Gate to Earth

Recall: available

The question that had prompted Ira’s exclamation was the pack of 3 veterans that appeared to be bearlings, except their fur was covered with blackened sores.

Risen Bearling × 3

Level 119 veteran

Health: 1931

Mind: 643

Endurance: 1185

Aether: 1032

Jonas kept looking at his booklet, but he was stymied.

“Special names, high-type packs. That does look like a lair, indeed. But it is not on the list.”

“We found a new lair? For real?” Ira exclaimed.

“Possibly. If we hadn’t skipped the river, we might not even have noticed. It is probably a relatively small outdoor one, which is why it could have been missed by the previous team. Or teams.”

“Do we try?”

“At least the packs. No sense wasting the experience from veterans,” Jonas said.

Shambling Bearling

Level 117 elite

Health: 3320

Mind: 1111

Endurance: 2036

Aether: 1774

Dying Grove

Ancient Treasure

Quality equipment

Requires: Level 105

“You are sure this says it is Ancient Treasure,” Ira said incredulously.

“I am pretty sure. Although the item in it is only of quality rank,” Jonathan replied.

“I got a bad feeling then. I’m betting it’s like that lair where the guardian rises in difficulty each time you kill it,” he said.

“Thing is, when you have an Ancient guardian, you have heroic loot. That’s a fixed rule. I don’t think you have exceptions, the only variation is that heroic gear can be underleveled, down to no requirement. But even if it’s a lair when you can have Ancients, you don’t always get one. Notably at tier three,” Jonas explained.

“So? No Ancient to fight, you mean?”

“This lair might have an Ancient guarding it at times, but I doubt it has one at the moment.”

“Do we test it then?” Alton asked.

“I’m still leery of it. There’s no way you have a single elite as the last guardian of this lair,” Ira said, turning inquiringly toward Jonas.

“We all have some levels and one additional Milestone since we’ve dealt with the elders in the trunk. This one should be doable. It looks like one of the lowest levels lairs of this zone. Definitively lower than the surroundings.”

“It depends on how the fight turns when it inevitably brings more bearlings, you mean,” Alton smiled.

“That too. If it’s some elite set, yes. If it turns out into an elder after we’ve fought multiple elites, get ready to run away.”

The team readied itself and then Ira ran into the small clearing with its compost mound “treasure”.

Shambling Bearling decay spreads. -2 mind per sec., -6 FOC.

“Stronger than the veterans’ auras,” Ira noted immediately as the rest of the team positioned itself.

“No cleansing this one, it’s a mixed-type status,” Guss noted.

Shambling Bearling earth-corrupted claws rip into flesh. -1 mind/end/health/aether per sec. for 5 minutes.

Removed 60 seconds (68 aether).

“And balls. The effect is fairly strong, it sucks aether like crazy.”

Cleanse Poison

Aether/Support

Rank 0: Removes 60 seconds from a poison up to level 77 (50% of WIS or FOC). Costs: 1 aether/level.

“Don’t sweat it. It’s only 1 per second. Got the mind to resist it.”

Jonathan, Laura and Alton entered range and started waling on the rotted-looking large bearling. Jonas launched his first spell ball, noting the whiteish colour denoting the sensitivity of the creature to air. Normal bearlings burned, but those things had some minor vulnerabilities.

The guardian’s health dropped steadily under the team’s assault. The bearling used his claws regularly on anyone in range, but mostly Ira. After three rips, the status upgraded to two of every vital per second loss.

“Not a problem. If it goes too high, then it’s time to cleanse everything,” he confirmed to Guss.

The bear’s attacks subsided, and it turned away from Ira, running toward Jonas. The Aethershaper backed away, but the bear ignored him, pushing its claw in the compost pile, digging madly. A few seconds later, it turned back and charged Ira.

Jonas was highly surprised by that behaviour, but he got its answer when the compost pile shook and a form rushed out, leaving a half-excavated hole in it.

Unearthed Bearling

Level 117 elite

Health: 3320

Mind: 1111

Endurance: 2928

Aether: 887

“Told you. Multiple elites in a row,” Alton said.

“Yea, and we haven’t finished yet the first one,” Ira said.

“Ooops, spoke too fast,” he immediately added as the shambler collapsed on the ground in a splash of already liquefying flesh and fur. The team scrambled away from the disgusting display, while Jonas threw a look at the team’s healer.

“I’m okay, aether’s good so far,” Guss immediately replied.

Jonas noted that the decaying aura had changed, dropping Agility instead of Focus. Not that this mattered much for his team. Meanwhile, Jonathan was still facing the newest bear, while Ira repositioned himself.

Unearthed Bearling claws extend. 82 physical damage (354 defence).

“That one hurts.”

“Different guardian, different attacks.”

“Then let’s not tarry.”

The team joined, Laura and Alton alternating their attacks to avoid attracting too much attention from the bearling. This new enemy was much dirtier, covered in the compost from the mound. It also didn’t attack around, focusing its efforts on Jonathan exclusively, as the three melee pummelled the creature.

Their efforts were paying off when the bearling backed away from Jonathan, causing Alton to dodge to avoid getting bowled over by the critter. Its rear legs pedalled furiously at the edge of the mound, creating a furrow much larger than one could have expected.

Excavated Bearling

Level 117 elite

Health: 3320

Mind: 1111

Endurance: 1774

Aether: 2036

“Okay, I think we need to kill these bearlings before they call the next one. Or we’ll be at it forever.”

“Guss?”

“Good so far, but if that goes on, I won’t be able to heal for much longer,” he replied.

“Ira? Try to draw this one away from the mound. If they go exhume help when they’re too low on health, we could use the extra time,” Jonas said.

“Good for me,” the main defender said, starting to back away cautiously.

The rest of the team placed themselves, trying not to interfere with the manoeuvre.

As they reached the edge of the small clearing, the bearling growled ominously and turned, slashing at Alton who yelped, jumping back.

“Okay, that’s as far as it’s going to go, I think.”

Lending truth to the assertion, the third guardian turned immediately back onto Ira as the defender approached it again.

“Okay. Now go as fast as you can.”

“Most of my endurance’s gone,” Laura said.

“Then let it regenerate, and keep all for when it runs back.”

Excavated Bearling

Level 117 elite

Health: 1277/3320

Mind: 1111

Endurance: 1072/1774

Aether: 983/2036

The bearling turned unexpectedly back toward the mound, causing Laura and Jonathan to dodge away as the critter started running there. Jonas immediately realized that there was no way they’d win this fight if a “fresh” bearling corpse came out while the previous one was still high in health.

As the bearling reached the mound next to Jonas, he unleashed an old spell he rarely used.

Air Burst

Aether/Offense

Rank 1: Push back an enemy by 6 feet; causes a slight hesitation (0.5 sec) to next attack. Costs: 0.99 aether/level.

The bearling slid away from its target and roared in defiance.

Excavated Bearling shouts. -234 mind.

Jonas pushed again as the bear tried to burrow its claw in the compost pile. But rather than roar again, the bearling abandoned its attempt at digging into the mound and turned on the offending target.

“WATCH OUT!”

Excavated Bearling misses.

Ira jumped in front of the bearling, his claymore wildly slashing, but the guardian ignored him, remaining entirely focused on Jonas.

Excavated Bearling rips. 114 (117-3) poisonous damage (142+35 defence).

“I’m out of aether. Can’t interrupt it again.”

The team pummelled the bearling, all expending their last endurance reserves as fast as they could.

Bearlings × 3: 10407XP/6 contributors = 1643XP.

You have completed Vuneras Dying Grove lair.

“At last. I have less than 20 aether left,” Guss breathed.

“That wasn’t too bad. At least it wasn’t boring,” Ira countered.

“I like boring. I still remember that last death, with a stampede of bovines trampling me to bits,” Jonas replied.

“Well, you looked bad until I got to bring you back. Sacrifice fixes all. Even your gear looks fine after,” Ira said.

“We haven’t died lately, though,” Laura said, as she started rummaging into the mush pile that was supposed to have the treasure.

“We’re getting better, I suppose. We’ve got a better handle on our strength,” Jonas said.

“I’m betting Cowen hasn’t died in a decade,” Ira said.

“From what I heard, their Legend fights usually have half a dozen deaths, and they’ve fought those multiple times. So I wouldn’t be so sure. Our bull fight, her team was vastly overpowered.”

“Ah!” Laura interrupted.

Old Leather Turnshoe

Feet

Quality equipment

Requires: Level 105

Provides: +13 defence rating, WIS+11, +139 health

“Not too shabby. Even if the encounter was an elder-level difficulty,” Laura proclaimed, immediately handing the shoes to Guss.

“Old looking, too. First time I get a leather shoe for my build.”

“It happens,” she replied.

Jonas smiled before announcing, “And since it’s apparently a single-guardian lair… we all are now enabled for tier four out of this.”

The rest of the team stayed silent until Laura started clapping, soon joined by the rest.

“Okay. But what does this means?” she finally asked.

“A discussion. But later. We still have some experience to get, and the evening is far.”