"Alright, Djin meet Tophat, Pincher, and... Alucarddddd."

Djin waved at the group and kept a straight face as he read the name of the last party member. He wasn't one to mock someone for going to drastic measures to get a name they want. Kreo wasn't so kind though.

"Alright, let's head out everyone. You too Alucard-d-d-d-d-d."

"You can just say Alucard, that's obviously what I was going for."

"No can do there Alucard-d-d-d-d-d."

Tophat and Pincher chuckled with Kreo at the joke, Alucarddddd blushed and gave up on the matter. The group set out to find the cave where goblins were sighted. Kreo briefed the team on the quest and talked battle tactics.

"So we'll just have to go there and wipe out the goblins we find."

"Wait, you said it was a quest about investigating if goblins were there." asked Djin.

"Well there's a highly likely chance that we will find goblins, the quest rewards are far too generous for a short walk in the woods."

Djin nodded, it made sense. Kreo continued.

"So we'll be using box formation, I'll be in the front with Pincher, we'll hold the line and do melee dps. Tophat and Djin will be in the middle, they'll focus on thinning the crowds and targeting any ranged enemies. Alucard-d-d-d-d will be in the rear, we're likely to get ambushed while exploring and keeping our squishies safe will be vital."

The party all agreed with Kreo's plan, except for Alucarddddd.

"Why do I have to stay in the back? I won't see any action and you'll use that as an excuse to give me the smallest share of loot!"

Djin winced, he knew Kreo wouldn't be above doing something like this. Alex was a bit of a bully in school, and Alucarddddd was the kind of target that he couldn't resist picking on. Kreo gave a comforting response to Alucarddddd though.

"I understand your concerns. Don't worry though, as long as Djin and Tophat don't get hurt, we'll consider your performance as impeccable and you'll get a share you deserve. I promise."

Alucarddddd relaxed upon hearing that, but Djin knew the tricks Kreo had waiting. He shook his head at the matter, he'd just wait and see what was in store for Alucarddddd and address it then. It did the group no good to cause division this early and Alucarddddd might prove himself to Kreo.

It didn't take long to reach the cave, the group had only aggroed a few monsters on their way, which were quickly cut down by their combined efforts. Kreo started walking around the cave entrance, looking for the clues he needed to progress the quest into subjugation.

"So dumb... we'll go kill the goblins, stop making me play detective to satisfy roleplay fantasy..."

Kreo grumbled but continued to walk around, poking into bushes and turning over leaves. It was Tophat who finally found some crude drawings on the rock face that he was able to use to progress the group. Kreo walked over to the makeshift canvas and said out loud:

"Look! Look! This was painted in blood! Only goblins would do this!"

The group snickered at Kreo's over the top performance, he just growled at them.

"This is the only way to get the game to recognize our efforts and you all know it! So shut up and let's go."

It was true, for some reason or another the game wasn't satisfied with the group seeing with their eyes and understanding that there would be monsters within a dark cavern before them. No, that wasn't satisfactory in All-In's eyes. The AI wanted the group to verbally acknowledge that they discovered the quest criteria before letting them move on.

"I'm sure they'll patch it in a future version, don't fret about it Kreo." Djin reassured him.

The group made their formation and moved into the cave. Kreo and Alucard lit torches, while Djin placed an Ember spell above his head and trickled mana into it to keep it lit.

"Wow, that's really handy. Is that a skill?" Tophat asked Djin.

"Sort of... it's just the Ember spell, since it feeds off mana to sustain itself, I just focus a small amount to coalesce in that spot and it stays in place to burn the mana up."

"Isn't it dangerous to use mana now? We'll need you when combat starts."

Now Pincher was intrigued by the floating kindling above Djin's head, but Djin shook his head and reassured them.

"I'm only using 1 MP every few seconds to sustain it. I'll still be able to regenerate more mana than I'm losing."

Not too mention that this is an excellent way to gain experience in the skill. Practical applications always let them level faster than if he just practiced it for no reason. He opened his status menu and watched as the skill's percentage started ticking up.

The party traveled deep into the cave before when they started seeing scurrying in the dark, Pincher and Kreo readied their blades and tread closer to the shadows in the dark. As they neared the dark figures Tophat shot an arrow that flew true. The goblin howled and fell as the arrow had pierced it's gut. Kreo stepped forward and hacked at the goblin's neck, silencing it. The caves shook and roared with noise, howling came from multiple directions as the entire cavern woke up.

"Shit shit shit, that is WAY more than 10 goblins!" Alucarddddd cried out.

"New plan, buy me some time while I setup a spell." Djin shouted.

The goblins came at the group, Tophat calmly nocked and loosed arrows at shadows as they appeared, Kreo and Alucarddddd flanked Djin while he started weaving mana in the air. Pincher lunged from the party to attack lone goblins before ducking back to safety. Djin pushed the mana from his hands as he drew crosses in the air over and over, weaving a net of mana around the entire party.

"Now, everyone get your backs to the wall!"

They party stepped back and Djin moved the ember spell above his head into the weave of mana. The flame spread along the blue smokey lines in the air, creating a wall of fire around the group. The goblins threw themselves at the party, not realizing the danger the flames posed. Nearly eight goblins burned to a crisp before the attack slowed then stalled. The green creatures surrounding the group, but none trying to pass through the inferno.

Spell Acquired - Wall of Flame Lv. 1

Conjures a wall of fire. Deals 15 damage per second to enemies touching the fire.

This spell requires preparation for maximum effectiveness. Read More.

Djin didn't really need to read more about this skill, that option was likely for players who hadn't created the spell manually. Kreo shouted to him.

"Djin, how long can you keep that up?"

"At this level? Not more than 30 seconds. I can reduce it's size and intensity to have it last longer, but I doubt I can stretch it past 2 minutes."

Kreo nodded, he turned to Tophat.

"Start shooting, try to clear us a path out."

Tophat shook his head at Kreo.

"I'm nearly out of ammunition, I hadn't expected to face so many enemies, I only brought 20 arrows."

Kreo raged at Tophat.

"WHAT KIND OF SHIT ASS ARCHER ONLY HAS 20 ARROWS?!?"

The rest of the party looked at Tophat with annoyance, but there were more dire concerns pressing them now. Alucarddddd was the one that spoke up though.

"I have an idea, what if we open part of the flame wall so they can come inside, we'll kill them as they funnel in."

Djin nodded, it was a sensible idea, and the rest of the party agreed. He started shifting his spell's structures to open up a path for goblins to get inside.

"Pincher take the right side, Alucard take the left, I'll hold center. Tophat... just hit them with your bow."

Tophat grimaced but sighed, the hole widened and a few more daring goblins started rushing in to attack. The first one died instantly, Pincher stabbed it through the ear, giving an impromptu lobotomy to the poor creature. Kreo blocked the next one as it leapt through the air, it landed on his shield and he heaved the creature into the flames next to him, charring the goblin black. One by one the party continued to cut down the goblins that came at them, but the numbers seemed endless, Djin eyed his mana and called out to them.

"I have to drop the spell! Fall back and form a tight formation buy me some time to recover my energy!"

The group huddled close together with their backs to the wall. The flame wall dropped and the goblins rushed in, eager for blood. Alucarddddd and Kreo swung out at the tiny green mobs, taking limbs and leaving wounds but never pushing back the tide. Pincher was more efficient, taking out the goblins who were left injured by the two Warriors. Tophat pulled out a backup blade he had from before becoming a Ranger and held his own on the side. Djin focused on recovering his mana, he breathed steadily, cycling the energy inside of him. Carnage and shouting surrounded him but he ignored it while his group bought him time. He saw his Heart of Mana level up and felt the extra power surge within him. He started compressing every bit of it together, tighter and tighter, then pushed the compressed ball out of his body.

"EVERYBODY DOWN!"

The group dropped down and the goblins pressed to attack their prone foes. Djin didn't hesitate though, he released the pressurized mana as an arcane explosion. It ripped outwards, throwing the goblins backwards, some to their death as they hit the rock walls behind them. The group stood up as Djin collapsed with exhaustion.

Spell Acquired - Arcane Explosion Lv. 1

Create an kinetic shockwave using compressed mana.

Strength of the shockwave is proportional to mana used.

Achievement - 10 Skills created.

You are now able to select an ability to receive 3x growth rate.

This cannot be changed until the skill reaches level 10.

Djin dismissed the first notification, but he paused on the second. He tapped it and it prompted him for a selection. He chose Heart of Mana and confirmed it. The rest of the party had charged out, they were slaughtering the dazed and crippled goblins before they could recover. Djin rested a moment longer before getting up to join them.

Kreo swung one more time at a goblin that has to be dead already, a fire burned in his eyes. Djin walked over to him and set a hand on his shoulder. Kreo flinched and turned but held his blade when he saw it was Djin.

"You're likely to get stabbed if you surprise me like that, good work Djin."

Djin flashed a wicked grin at Kreo. They had killed or driven away at least forty of the little buggers. Now that the battle was officially over, they would receive the spoils of war.

Battle Results

Goblins slain: 37

Battle Difficulty: C Rank

Experience Earned: 790

Loot Found

Steel Sword

Braced Heater Shield

Money: 8g 37s 4c

Djin dismissed the notification, then received a second one. He smiled before letting everyone know.

"Ding! Anyone else"?

"Me too." "Yep." "Ding" "Nope."

The only one not to level was Tophat, but he didn't seem too beat up over it. Kreo discussed how they would distribute the loot, he drummed up the Steel Sword as the bigger deal, no doubt hoping to ninja the shield. His plan failed, and the party agreed to roll for the items, with the gold being split between the three losers.

Djin grinned as he rolled highest and took the shield as his prize. Kreo pat him on the back.

"I appreciate it Djin, when I saw I rolled a 3 I nearly bawled my eyes out."

"Well release the flood gates, I'm keeping it."

"What?! Come on dude, you're a wizard! You can't even use it!"

"Ah but I'm also an enchanter now. I need to extract the spell essence from the shield. If it doesn't break as a result, I'll give you what's left."

Kreo mumbled about useless stupid loot systems, there was a little something there about how need before greed should be mandatory as well. Djin chuckled at his irritated friend as he stashed the shield in his inventory. Alucarddddd swung his steel sword a few times in the air, happy with his plunder.

"Alright, I checked the quest and it says we satisfied the conditions to turn it in. Anyone want to stay and play with goblin guts, or shall we get out of here?"

No one wanted to play with the goblin guts, the group returned to their box formation and started heading for the cave entrance. That was the plan at least...

"I'm telling you, we came from this way!" Kreo shouted at Alucarddddd

"We went that way, it was a dead end! Look, I drew an arrow on the wall on our way there so we would know where we've been!" Alucarddddd fired back.

"You've been drawing arrows too? Shit." Pincher muttered.

They were lost. They have been lost for almost three hours, the occasional goblin pack harassing the party, but never to any great threat. Djin sighed in annoyance.

"Look from now on, let's just hug the right wall and eventually, we'll get out."

"Oh great idea Alucard-d-d-d-d, let me try that right now!"

Kreo marched over to a thick pillar in the chamber and put his hand on it, he proceeded to walk around it twice as he called out.

"I think he was onto something guys! We're sure to get out now! This is gonna work! I can feel it!"

Djin walked over and hit Kreo in the arm. Kreo spun on him, ready to fight.

"Calm down Kreo, everyone in the group wants to get out of here, let's just work together."

Kreo heaved and let go of his anger. He had let it get the best of him, he did his exercises to get back under control. Djin turned to the rest of the group.

"Alright, we're lost, no arguments? Good. Here's the plan, we will stop working individually to find our way out and start working together. First, is there anything in here we can burn?"

Tophat scavenged some mushrooms and moss on the ground and passed it to Djin. Djin cast Ember and started a small fire with the plants and fungi.

"This is a little bit of a longshot, but if we can locate a breeze, we can follow it's source and find an exit."

The group went along with the plan, having exhausted all other options. The moss caught and began to smoke, the smoke drifted away from one of the cave tunnels and the group opted to head that way. They came to another fork and checked the moss, seeing the smoke point away from one path, they chose that.

After twenty minutes of spelunking the group found their destination. A grotto inside the cave with sunlight pouring in.

"Well shit... now what?" Alucarddddd asked.

"What do you mean? That's our way out." Djin answered.

"How? That's got to be 30 feet in the air, we'll never get up there." said the pessimist with 5 d's in his name.

Djin didn't bother answering him, he went to the center of the grotto, where a patch of forest was growing. Djin inspected scanned the cavern, he spotted some vines that might support their weight.

"I think we can climb out using those vines."

The party stood speechless as they looked at Djin. Kreo slowly raised his hand to point towards him.

"Djin, back up... slowly."

Djin rolled his eyes and turned around, that's when he saw it... how the hell did he miss that when he walked over?

Cave Troll.

It was sleeping, but Djin had nearly stepped on it. Rocky grey skin and a grassy mane of hair, he had mistaken it for a mossy boulder. Djin quietly backed away from the monster, but that's when the goblins decided to show up. Kreo heard them first, chittering in the caves behind him. He closed his eyes and prayed that Lucky Fluke would proc right now, but he had no luck stat. The goblins spotted the group and screeched as they ran towards them.

Kreo, Alucarddddd, Pincher and Tophat turned to face the green nuisances. Djin turned to see a grumpy Cave Troll wake up early from a nap. The troll turned towards the living green alarm clocks and roared in anger.

Now you might never find yourself in a situation such as this, but let me assure you that it is possible to go wall-eyed as you find yourself between a troll and a biting place. The party was surely screwed, but it was Alucarddddd that came up with the craziest damn plan that you might hear.

"Throw the goblins at the troll!"

The other three looked at the crazy Warrior, but realized that it had a small chance of working. Kreo reached out as the first goblin approached and grabbed it by the arm. He swung the little green beast around and hammer tossed the goblin towards the cave troll. The goblin spun in the air, landing on the troll's head. The cave troll roared in anger, pulling the goblin off his head then biting it's head off. Another goblin landed next to the troll's feet and started poking it with a rusty sword. More goblins landed next to the troll, some with few broken bones as they fell, but goblins started to engage the troll in earnest.

"Those green buggers aren't going to last long, then we're going to have an angry troll on our hands." Kreo muttered.

Djin caught up with his group while the monsters were distracted. He pat Alucarddddd on the back for his fast thinking.

"We can kill that troll. I'll focus on crippling it, then we can take it out while it's down." Djin told them.

The group nodded, knowing that the alternative was running around in a cave with no idea where to go. Djin concentrated his mana into a full strength Arcane Barrage. As the last goblin was crushed under the troll's foot, Djin fired the spell at the troll's left thigh. Thirty four bolts of energy streamed out from Djin's right hand, they flew through the air in less than a second, but the force of the spell affected Djin's accuracy slightly. The troll was still an easy target and not a single missile missed, but Djin winced when he saw the damage done.

Kreo let out a low whistle and the group winced for the troll. While 28 of the missiles had struck the leg, the other 6 had drifted towards the center... which sort of... kind of...

"You shot him in the dick Djin!"

It was Kreo that broke the tension. The troll cried in pain, rolling on the ground after losing his leg. Djin stood up for himself though.

"I just did 170 + 210 damage to the troll, I'm out of mana. Get over there and kill it before it can recover!"

The group readied their weapons and ran, they only had a short bit of time before the monster would recover from the shock and be ready to counterattack. The surrounded the pitiful troll and hacked at it with their blades, the troll alternated between clutching at it's... leg... and swinging at them, but without being able to stand up, it lacked the reach to outmatch them.

It only took twenty three seconds to give the monster a merciful death. Kreo delivered the final blow and the group received the pop-up.

Battle Results

Elite - Cave Trolls slain: 1

Goblins slain: 9

Battle Difficulty: A Rank

Experience Earned: 2160

Loot Found

Spelltome (Unidentified)

Tempered Claymore

x 5

Money: 6g 13s 52c

The party read the contents of the window, everyone was silent for the moment. Djin was the first one to speak up.

"I want the spelltome... I'll put the shield from earlier back up for reroll even."

Then chaos ensued, no one was ready to give up on a chance for such a rare item. How much gold could they get for it? How valuable was it? Why was it unidentified? Djin felt flustered, he knew his odds at getting the tome fairly were low, Kreo had a chance but it still wasn't sure enough. Djin sighed with resignation, there was only one guaranteed way to get what he wanted.

"Kreo, Plan N!"

Kreo grinned and immediately turned on Alucarddddd with his blade. Before the poor boy had a chance to think, Kreo had cut his head off. Mostly at least, the gash he put on his neck caused his head to tilt poorly but he never actually lost his head. This is more for the sake of the player's psyche than it is for gameplay purposes, no one should have to feel their head roll from their shoulders.

Djin turned on Tophat and Pincher, already priming a cast of Arcane Barrage, he shot the first salvo at Tophat and connected with 12 missiles. A floating 60 + 78 drifted from him as he back pedaled and called out to Pincher for cover. Pincher moved towards Djin with pointed daggers ready.

"Backstabbing fucks! You'll pay for this!"

Pincher growled at Djin, but Kreo took that time to run over and tackle him to the ground. Holding Pincher under him, Kreo pummeled him in the face. A sadistic grin growing on his face with each punch, until he felt an arrow pierce him in the side.

Tophat wasn't scared of the goblins, he wasn't afraid of the cave troll, but when Kreo turned to him after leaving Pinchers face a bloody mess, Tophat felt fear. He turned and ran back into the cave, away from Kreo and Djin, leaving Pincher to his death. He ran past Alucarddddd who lay on the ground, already logged out. He ran, because he knew if he stayed, he would die.

"Let him go Kreo, if we chase him we might not be able to find our way back to this grotto."

Djin worked to calm his friend, he knew Kreo would be okay in a few minutes, he just needed to get the red from his vision. Djin walked over to Pincher who was on the ground sobbing, his face was a wreck and blood poured from his nose and eyes. Djin hated this, he hated it everytime, but at least in the game he could end it. He picked up Pincher's dagger and pressed to the man's throat.

"Why? Why did you do it?"

Djin paused at hearing Pincher's sobbed, it sounded all too familiar.

"Just be glad this is only a game, nothing is permanent and you'll move on. If you find me again some day, I'll make it up to you."

With that said, Djin pressed the dagger through Pincher's throat, ending his quiet whimpers. Djin tossed the dagger away, and went over with Kreo to get the loot from the battle. A rare spelltome? It might be incredible for Djin or it might be useless, but the only way to be sure was to find out. Kreo took hold of the sword and Djin passed the shield over to him as well, knowing that if he didn't it would be an argument waiting to happen.

Djin looked at the spellbook, it had no cover, nothing to identify it's contents. When he flipped it open however, he was pleasantly surprised. Though he couldn't read the pages easily, he could recognize the characters. There had been other tomes in the tutorial that had characters such as this, though the pages were translated for him to read in English, the language seemed to be the same. If only he had spent more time learning the language when he had the chance, but time was limited.

Player Kill Detected

You or someone in your party has commited a player kill.

For the next - 48 - hours, your names will be marked red.

Other players can kill you without repercussion and you have an increased chance to drop loot.

You will be hated by NPCs until your status returns to normal.

"What now Djin?"

Kreo was back to normal, good. They had looted the area, but left the tokens on the Pincher and Alucarddddd's bodies, no point in pushing things further. Djin pointed at the vines that hung from the cavern's ceiling.

"Now? We climb out, then we log out. We can wait out our bounty for 12 hours outside the game, then come back to play more. No need to risk the loot we just earned."

Kreo grumbled with frustration but he complied. The two started climbing the vines, but Djin lagged far behind Kreo. Every inch he had to climb felt like a mile, while Kreo bounded up with no effort. When he reached the top, Kreo looked down at Djin and laughed.

"You never put any points in the strength stat did you? I told you that you needed to be well balanced!"

Djin flipped off Kreo and fell from the vines, about six feet. He flipped open his stats menu and put two points in strength and tried again. It was still hard, but he could manage to make it to the top. Kreo pulled him out of the hole, then they both logged out.

Tophat waited a bit longer after watching those two climb out of the cave before he came back to the grotto. He had ran and hid, hoping that if he was chased that they would run by him. He saw Pincher and Alucarddddd in the cave, and took the loot tokens off their bodies. The loot from the troll was gone, but he didn't have any big hope it being left behind. He took one last look around the cavern, before climbing the vines out and running back to town.