The party materialized inside the dungeon. The area was mostly made of rock and Leo could see remnants of the long lost mining operation. The entrance had a small tent and a minecart sitting on a railroad leading into the mine. A few pickaxes lay scattered around as if they were thrown to the ground in a hurry.

The party began by walking deeper into the mines. The mines were dark, light only appearing from the occasional torches attached to the walls. After walking for a few minutes they finally found the first enemies. In the large open cave were several packs of wolves ranging from small groups of 2-3 to larger ones with up to 6 in each pack.

The wolves walked around as if to patrol the cave in search of intruders. They had to be careful about pulling more than one group at the time. A single mistake could make them end up having to fight every wolf at ones. Leo was hardly concerned with the number of wolves, but he couldn’t guarantee that he could hold their threat level stable. He still hadn’t gotten a good skill for tanking, unlike someone like Lily who had the Knight class which came with a few tanking skills straight from character creation.

Lily initiated the pull with her skill [Threat Pull] once a pack of wolves wandered far enough away from the rest. The wolves quickly dashed towards Lily with their claws and teeth ready to kill.

Gray Wolf [Common]

Level 3

Health: 1 250

Leo watched as Lily slowly managed to control the wolves threat level. He could instantly tell that she was skilled but she still had a very long way to go. It pained him to see a Knight so stationary. Her footwork was decent enough but she hardly used her shield at all. It was like the shield was only there for decoration, almost like she thought its defense somehow covered her character as well.

“Lily? Quick question. Do you know that your shield’s defense only counts when it's attacked?”

Lily turned around and looked at Leo with a confused expression. Leo let out a faint smile and transformed his spear-extension into a shield. He felt that for some reason trying to explain it would take too long. It would be far faster to just give her an example in person.

“Let the threat go and watch me. Take especially notice on how I use my shield.”

The party members looked at Leo in confusion and wonder, when he suddenly pulled out a shield from his spear. Alex simply stood there with an evil grin on his face. He had noticed that the three of them were members of Rising Embers, a Guild his Moonlight Guild had tried to keep friendly relations with. Rising Embers was currently the favorite to take a top position in Ferima City.

If he could make them recognize Moonlight as an ally, that would make things so much easier later on. Alex had never heard about Lily or the others before so he had little hope about their position in the guild. He thought that once they see how powerful Leo is, they’ll tell the upper-management in a heartbeat. Alex had sworn to Leo that he wouldn’t push him into Moonlight, but if he just so happens to be the reason they manage to make this connection, then who can blame him for letting it happen? It’s not like he told Leo to go full teacher mode and show his experience.

Lily did as she was told and dropped her threat on the wolves. The others also stopped attacking to ensure they wouldn’t draw the wolves attention. Leo dashed forward and hit the three wolves once each in quick succession.

-72

-78

-76

Lily, Hawk, and Lightbringer opened their jaws at the insane amount of damage. They could not understand how a level 4 player could deal so much damage. Leo’s damage wasn’t actually that high. His weapon only accounted for half of his attack power while the rest came from his attributes. He also did not gain any more attribute points than anyone else. Although his weapon was better than the rest of them, he still only managed to output around 50 damage normally.

“Lily, pay attention. Did you see where my spear hit?”

“Um, their faces?”

“That’s right. A wolf’s weak spot is their vital organs such as the heart and lungs, but also soft areas like their eyes and joints. Notice that I hit them in their eyes. This lets me increase the damage output by roughly 50%.”

Lily’s face lit up in excitement. She was a top player in the previously popular VRMMORPG Ace Edge Online. Although it’s VR capabilities could not hold a candle to Ekalius Online, it’s still a very popular game. She never imagined that Ekalius Online would have weak spots for every monster. She was used to only bosses sometimes having weak spots but they were all due to some kind of mechanic during the fight. Where you hit a monster generally didn’t matter.

“I see! That’s amazing!”

Leo let out a smile at her enthusiasm. He could even see her jumping around slightly.

“Good. Pay attention to my shield and describe back to me what you see.”

Leo stabbed the wolves with his spear once more, moved his body slightly to the left and pushed his shield towards a wolf jumping at him from his left. The shield hit the wolf and Leo gently moved with the momentum and practically pushed the wolf off his shield.

-72

-71

-(0)

“What? Why didn’t that last hit deal any damage?”

“Think about it once more. What did I do with my shield?”

Lily concentrated on remembering what Leo did. She then jumped with a bright smile on her face.

“You moved the shield to meet the attack and followed the momentum, reducing the attack to nothing! But, shouldn’t the attack still deal damage from the impact?”

Leo curled his lips into a smile after hearing Lily’s analysis. From an outside perspective what he did might not seem difficult at all, but it’s not something anyone could do without practicing. For her to see through it this quickly was truly miraculous. A genius?

“That’s right! The attack only hit the shield but my movement reduced the impact on my hand. No force, no damage.”

Leo could see light bulbs turning on in Lily’s eyes. He planned to keep going for a while longer but it seemed like that wasn’t necessary. Leo switched places with Lily and issued corrections throughout the fight. The wolves continued to growl as Lily happily dodged their attacks and utilized her shield to reduce damage taken.

[x3] System: Gray Wolf defeated! Awarding 14 EXP!

The dungeon continued on like this until they found the boss. Leo managed to get his spear to level 4 and Lily had become far better at dodging and using her shield properly. The others had also learned a lot about the combat system and how to perform better. Even Alex, who has been following Leo from the beginning learned a few new tricks.

The normal mode only had a single boss with limited skills and attack patterns. The boss stood in front of an emerald-colored orb with blue lights surrounding it. They needed to destroy the orb to finish the dungeon, but the protective field would only disappear once the boss dies.

Leo observed the surroundings to see if he could find any potential environmental mechanics. Sometimes bosses like to run rampant and wreak havoc with the surrounding area. He could not see anything particularly suspicious after surveying the environment. This was not surprising considering this was the first dungeon.

The boss was a gigantic wolf about twice the size of a normal wolf. Except for its size, there really wasn’t anything out of the ordinary about it. Leo could see a few cracks on the ground around the wolf’s feet, but he had no way of determining if those were there for a reason or simply aesthetics. Lily prepared to initiate the fight and dashed towards the giant wolf after receiving a nod from Leo.

Giant Gray Wolf (Leader)

Level 4

Health: 15 000

The boss howled and dashed towards Lily once she entered within its range. She met the attack head-on and began to move around, dodging its attacks while using her shield to mitigate as much damage as possible.

Leo entered from the side and began to hit the boss with his spear using [Spear Thrust].

-35

-37

-35

The boss growled in anger but its threat level was fully focused on Lily and it couldn’t deal with Leo’s onslaught. Leo twisted his spear and thrust it right at the wolf’s abdomen. The attack penetrated the soft abdomen and dealt extra damage.

-64

-67

Leo continued focusing on the wolf’s vital spots while the rest of the party attacked from the backline. Both Hawk and Alex still used the guided mode for their arrows. Alex tried firing off a few shots without relying on the system, but he still lacked the skill to hit the target’s vitals. The arrows actually dealt less damage when he only relied on himself.

Leo watched as Lily danced with the boss. Her face had changed from her usual cheery smile to that of someone fully concentrated on a single task. It was almost scary how serious she looked.

The boss continued to lose health at a rapid pace and quickly reached 80%. It stopped attacking and crouched slightly. It looked as if the gravity around the boss had increased, forcing it towards the floor. The wolf began to shake slightly as its tail became enveloped by a light blue flame.

Leo instinctively jumped backward and positioned himself far from the wolf. The wolf continued shaking, the cracks on the floor deepening. It was at that moment he realized what the wolf was doing but before he could warn Lily it was already too late. The wolf spun around and hit her with its tail. The impact created a loud boom sound and she flew tens of meters backward. Her health bar instantly reduced to zero.

-(250)

Everyone looked at the scene in disbelief. Although they had all seen through the attack early and expected it to be an AOE ability, they never expected it to be so powerful. Leo replayed the attack in his mind while waiting for Lily to run back from the respawn area. He visually estimated the AOE range to be around 15 meters. The wolf stopped attacking for 3 seconds before unleashing the attack.

Lily walked back to the group with heavy footsteps. The group quickly talked about the attack and how to counter it before starting the second attempt. This was the type of risk they had to deal with when exploring a new dungeon. Luckily, dying in a dungeon on normal difficulty does not reduce a player’s level or EXP.

Lily once more initiated the fight. The events continued like last time and the boss quickly hit 80%. Lily retreated to avoid the attack while Leo continued to hit the boss a few more times before moving away. Now that he had seen the attack, he felt confident in dishing out a few stabs before he had to retreat.

-68

-35

-36

-34

Leo jumped back and ran out of the boss’ attack range. The attack hit empty air and Lily immediately ran forward to secure the boss’ threat. Leo entered melee range and let out several attacks.

-64

-68

-63

Leo quickly checked his threat level to ensure he was not generating too much. Assured that Lily had managed to stabilize the threat, he continued to let out attack after attack, dealing massive damage.

The boss’ health slowly decreased until it hit 50%. Its tail once more lit up but it did not stop attacking. Seeing this Leo quickly retreated backward. Lily also began to run away but stopped when Leo shouted at her.

“Run the other way, quickly! As far away from us as you can get!”

Lily was confused by his words for a second but decided to not question it. When she turned around again, she saw that the boss had followed her. She let out a relieved sigh when she realized that she would have made the team wipe had she continued to run.

Lily ran in the opposite direction of the party while the others backed off as much as possible. The boss followed her for a few dozen meters before swinging its tail around, sending a blue fire wave in every direction.

-(15)

Except for Lily, everyone else took 15 damage which was about half their total health. Lightbringer freaked out at this sudden outburst of damage and prepared to heal them up when Leo interrupted him.

“Lightbringer, quickly run into range of Lily and prepare to heal her.”

Lightbringer was confused by this sudden order but quickly did as he was told. He knew perfectly well that Leo was a professional player and he had probably noticed something.

After the room-wide AOE, Leo noticed that the tail was still burning with the blue flame. Last time the fire burned out the moment it attacked. A normal level 3 player usually only has around 20-30 HP, there was simply no way that the boss would send out a second attack in quick succession.

Leo made a gamble that the attack would be directed towards the tank. Lily did not take any damage from the AOE and it was highly possible that she would receive the next attack. The wolf turned its body and hit Lily with its burning tail several times without pausing. Lily managed to avoid most of the attacks but she couldn’t keep up with the boss’ speed.

-(5)

-(5)

-(6)

-(6)

The attack brought Lily down to just 10 health. Lightbringer entered within the healing range and began to restore her health. Lily’s health bar continued to swing up and down like a yoyo.

+8 Healing received

-(5)

+10

-(6)

+8

Lightbringer brought her up to full health before healing the rest of the party. After everyone was back to full health, they once more began barraging the boss with attacks. Leo constantly observed its movements in the hope of figuring out if it had any more skills.

40%

30%

15%

5%

When the boss hit 5% health remaining, it suddenly let out a loud howl. Its entire body became engulfed in a light blue flame and its eyes turned blood-red. The boss crouched slightly, cracks forming at its feet.

Leo was about to jump back but noticed that the flames were slowly fading into the wolf’s body. He thought about the attack pattern up until now and shouted at the three party members in the back.

“Quickly, run over here!”

They hastily followed his command and ran towards the boss. The boss’ blue flame had completely faded into its body by the time they entered 2 meters from the boss. With a loud howl, a ring of fire erupted around them. The flames quickly filled up the entire room, before slowly fading away.

The Boss had no other special skills left and quickly found itself defeated. The emerald core shattered when its guardian disappeared, officially ending the dungeon.

System: Giant Gray Wolf (Leader) defeated! Awarding 560 EXP!

System announcement: Congratulations on completing [Wasted Mines] on [Normal Mode]! Awarding 250 EXP to all players!

The party let out a small cheer when the system announcement popped up. The dungeon had proceeded far smoother than any one of them had anticipated, making the ending somewhat anticlimactic.

Leo decided to not allocate any experience to his armor just yet. He hadn’t taken any damage so far and doubted that upgrading the armor would help him when he eventually does. The shield also gave mostly magic power which he couldn’t utilize right now. It would be better to gain more experience and upgrade his spear first.

Alex gained enough EXP to level his bow up to 5 while the others managed to level up at least once.

Lily walked up to the boss and initiated the distribution of loot. They used the standard loot settings which had each item appear in a holographic interface with the item’s information and a [Need], [Greed] or [Pass] option.

[Shield Bash Skill Book (uncommon)]

Level requirement: 1

Class restriction: Knight

Item category: Skill book

Cast time: 0.25 seconds

Cooldown: 15 seconds

Cost: 8 Rage

Description: Bash your shield into an enemy generating 10 threat and dealing 70% of attack power. It has a 20% chance to stun the enemy for 3 seconds.

Lily became ecstatic when the skill book appeared. She immediately pressed the need button and awaited her new skill. Confusion filled her face for a brief moment when the skill book didn’t go to her immediately. She had completely forgotten that Leo could also use a shield.

“Zero, you … You wouldn’t take this skill book from an innocent little girl, would you? You already have such an amazing Hidden Class yet you want to steal from a defenseless little girl?”

Lily made herself look as small as possible and gazed at Leo with puppy eyes. Leo was about to respond when Lightbringer hit her in the head.

“So now you’re an innocent little girl? You should feel ashamed trying to trick a boy hardly old enough to drive. Think about your age!”

“But…”

“No buts! I’m sorry about this useless leader of ours. We roll on everything that more than one person needs.”

Leo nodded at Lightbringer’s words. He didn’t really need the skill that much. It’s better than nothing, but it's not like he’ll stay awake at night thinking about what could have been. He wouldn’t mind selling it to Lily if he ends up getting the book.

Zero: 65

Lily: 78

Lily jumped up and down after getting the skill book. She immediately learned it as if she thought Leo would try to take it from her. The next item appeared shortly after.

[Basic Longbow (Bronze Quality)]

Level requirement: 2

Class restriction: Ranger

Item category: Weapon

Attack power: 19

Attributes:

DEX +3

Description: A basic longbow made out of simple wood attached with a string.

The bow wasn’t anything special and neither Alex nor Hawk needed it. The bow was therefore randomly distributed based on the highest roll.

Zero: 67

Ace: 3

Lily: 35

Hawk: 16

Lightbringer: 63

Leo ended up with the bow and would deconstruct it for the materials later. This would be the first time he deconstructs a Bronze Quality item. He looked forward to seeing if the materials change or if it’s only the quantity.

The rest of the drops were simple potions and a few copper. They split the copper equally, giving everyone 20 each and each one got one potion.

“This was fun! Do you two want to join us for a higher difficulty? I think we could go all the way to Nightmare Mode with this party!”

Leo listened to Lily’s proposal for continuing the party. He did not have anything against it and even doubted that Nightmare Mode would be much more difficult. This is, after all, a tutorial dungeon. Leo expected it to take half a day at most before the first clear for the Nightmare Mode.

The problem about completing the dungeon now is that no one else has done it. If they manage to get the first clear, they’ll also gain a kingdom-wide announcement as well as extra loot and experience.

This wouldn’t be a problem if they were all independent players, but three of them were from Rising Embers while Alex was from Moonlight. Leo turned his head towards Alex and gave him a questioning look.

“I don’t mind us tagging along for Nightmare Mode, but we need to talk about who gets the announcement. If you can get someone important from Rising Embers to come over and discuss it, I’m sure we can come to an agreement.”

Leo looked at Alex, a slight shock filling his face. He knew that Alex could be serious when he wanted to, but he still had few memories from this version of Alex.

“Hmm, I guess I can talk to Guild Leader Snow or Vice Guild Leader Young Leaf.”

“Snow it is then.”

“Oh, okay then.”

Leo once more looked at Alex with a confused expression. He seemed to be awfully familiar with Rising Embers and it’s members. Alex simply smiled and gave him the ‘don’t worry about it’ look.

They decided to exit the dungeon and talk about the arrangement on the outside. Lily was the first to leave, followed by Alex, then Hawk and finally Lightbringer. Leo brought up the interface and pressed ‘leave dungeon’.

System announcement: You cannot leave the Trial until it’s either failed or completed.

Leo panicked at the sudden announcement. Trial? He had already completed the dungeon, why would there be more? Leo thought about it logically and suddenly turned his questioning face into a bright smile.