I tried to watch the chat and get a feel for the people I was to lead. After a couple minutes I had decided that a Psyonia was a keeprer and an Inveyan was a hell no. The others I kept watching.

Eventually I made my way to the bandit hideout. In the middle of a flat grassy plain stood a single square ramshackle wooden building. It’s weathered splintering wood planks stood out darkly against the tall green grasses all around.

All over the grassland outside there were numerous bandits running around. The Common Bandit Thugs were level 8. Here and there were 9’s or the rare 10. I smiled, “well, this will be a good test to see who is worth taking.”

I started toward the shack killing the thieves that agro’ed me.

Inside the single exterior door, lay a single moderately sized room. Four rough wood walls with a bare earth floor created a staging area. It was a large safe area where we could gather before going into the Dungeon.

The Dungeon itself started with some wide stairs circling down near the center of the large room. In the depths was the misty haze of the Dungeon instance. Unlike the Kobold caves once someone passed into this haze only their party would be able to enter that preset event. Any number of groups could be in there at once and each one would have a fully stocked and manned instance. Although the more groups that cleared a Dungeon, the weaker it became. Reversely, if no one cleared a Dungeon they would grow stronger. The treasure was directly corresponding to the difficulty too. So, it was always better to find Dungeons that no one else knew of. Later in the game Guilds were known to claim dungeons and kill anyone else who tried to enter. I looked at the Wall plac that showed the current ratings and whistled. Although judging by the number of people in the room I knew people had attempted to clear this Hideout. But no one had done it yet. The meter was at a nice 8 out of 10 stars. The missing stars did show that someone had been making progress at least. While I was looking at the plac I also set our dungeon to raid mode . A pop up came up.

Warning: When you start your journey, there will be a 48-hour reset timer.

After that I set back and waited. My Clanmates got here first. I smiled and quietly directed them to head downstairs. Kim was bouncing around excited, Alexander and Luxus were acting the cool professional. Ace had acquired a backpack from somewhere and was wearing his piecemeal armor and carried the staff I gave him. He came over to me and watched the others descend. When some of the others started to show my gut clenched, most of them were level 4 and a few were 5. Sighing I invited the first few to show and sent them down. When finally, a large group arrived, I had to actually make hard decisions. I ended up taking 5 of the Acolytes, both of the thieves and magicians and 2 warriors. In total with my clan I had Myself, 3 magicians, 3 thieves, 5 Acolytes, and 3 warriors. To the others I said, “Thank you guys for showing, but we are full now. Maybe next time.” As I expected Inveyan grew angry and tried to argue. “What the hell do you mean your full” They sent the 15 of us here. It is a 15-person dungeon!” A female Rogue who just came in the doorway responded as she turned sneak off. “Dude it means you can’t go. Good thing for them too! You died twice just getting in here. Those people had to help you even arrive!’ I checked her name Sniffles on the roster and didn’t find it. Trying to avoid arguing with what I could tell was one of Lothorb’s pets I took the chance to run down the stairs. Sniffles dashed right behind me. Then in front of me before I could enter the Mist.” “I want to go!” I looked at her, “I wasn’t lying we are full.” She glared at me, then nodded. “Fine.” She stepped aside and I entered.

I almost sobbed when I saw what we were facing the First couple of bandits were elite level 12’s. There were also a lot of them. I had level fours and fives. There was just no way! I considered maybe that is why the dungeon had not been cleared yet. Not because it was rough but just because no one had the levels to do it. With a shake of my head I got to work on organizing and instructing pull orders, sleep spells and all the other tasks of a raid leader.

The group actually did better than I thought. We made progress and took down two bosses, but in the end our levels were just not high enough. By the time we were able to clear trash ahead of us the ones behind were starting to respawn. Even so we only wiped twice. Once was due to a rogue who decided it was a good idea to explore while the rest of us rested. He found a patrol I had been trying to avoid and instead of dying with honor he led them back to us. The second time was on the 2nd boss. He was an Ogre who dual wielded Swords. We found out the wrong way that he had a whirl wind attack that struck everyone in the area. He rushed our healers and disrupted the heal pattern. With the heals missing our warrior team (myself included) died in moments. Then he made short work of the others. On the second attempt I spread our healers out and set the magicians near them. This way when he did move toward one group, we didn’t lose them all. That plan worked and we finished him off to cheers.

The cheers became even more excited when we looted him, and the thieves got to roll for one of his blades. I had been instructed to collect all the high quality and higher loot that would not become soulbound when picked up and return it to the guild leaders for raid point assessment. The looks most people gave me, made me realize that they knew exactly what that meant. We were equipping the guild leaders. Fortunately, there were 3 Bind on pick ups on both bosses. Two of them were even rare quality.

After 6 hours of raiding 2 of which had been killing trash to have to turn around and rekill them, I called it a day. As we made our way back to the entrance, I asked everyone’s craft and professional skills. After finding out most didn’t have any I asked if they had preferences. Then I Started assigning people the task of learning certain skills. I tried to give them what they wanted, but the raid needed certain things. One Acolyte who wanted Jewel crafting got assigned Blacksmithing, since as I pointed out the gathering profession of mining was the same for both. Finally, I informed everyone that tomorrow they should focus on leveling up their craft skills and if possible, grab a level themselves. Then in two days we would meet back here an hour after dawn and try again. The rogue who had went exploring ask the question I could see on everyone’s face. “Why wait a day? Why not come back tomorrow!” There were many agreements and murmurs of accent. To my surprise Psyonia

Beat me to the answer. “I have been looking and everyone gained at least two levels today. A few of the lower levels even got three. For those of you who are new to Raiding, that means we have some new skills and abilities to get used to. Then if my math was right, we each totaled 7 gold in coins today. That means we should be able to upgrade our gear too. Finally, he told us to work on craft skills. I assume he thinks we will need them” I nodded as everyone else digested her elaborate answer. I made sure to not say anything because I was going to give the Cause I said so reason, hers sounded better. Better yet because it was true. To my amazement I looked over the group and saw no one under 6 now. These monsters were still twice their level, but it was better than three times it.

We returned out through the instance’s swirling mist vortex and people pulled out their hearthstones to hearth home. I stayed to watch, Psyonia didn’t leave either . She waited for the others to go and then looked at me. After a minute of her scrutiny I finally asked, “What?”

“those other people the ones not in the Brotherhood of Steel. You’re in another guild or maybe a clan with them.”

I hadn’t exactly been advertising it, but I wasn’t hiding it either, so I shrugged. “How did you know?”

She smiled, “You guys didn’t have the Brotherhood Familiars equipped and so when you used that bird on your belt, I knew you were talking to someone else. Then the 4 of you never actually talked out loud, but you all acted like you knew the score.” I shrugged, “What if we are just that good?” She shook her head, “Your good but not that good. Then that Magician is still green. He has talent, but he had never been on a raid before.” I had figured out the same thing about Alexander. He had tried to hide his inexperience, but it showed in small ways.

I finally nodded, “Yeah we are.”

Psyonia smiled, “I want in.”

“what?”

She smiled wider, “You heard me, I want in. The Brotherhood is fine, but you guys are going to be great. I want in on it.” “

I smirked and put as much swagger as I could in my voice, “And why should we want you?” She smiled, “Easy, you need me. You did not hesitate to replace Brotherhood players with your own. So, I assume that if there were more of you then you would have replaced more of us. I didn’t see an Acolyte in your group. You Need one.”

I thought of Lien in her bed still not moving. Then at the dark-haired beauty in front of me. Then I did a double take. She really was beautiful! Wild Elf and just slightly shorter than my 6’1 she was trim but had more than ample curves in the right places. Her eyes were a startling blue with a lavender halo contrasting magnificently with her deep purple almost black hair and well tanned skin. Since she was Wild Elf, I knew this wasn’t exactly what she really looked like. Regardless, she had to be close. Shaking my head, I invited her before I said something stupid. Something like,”Ugh your pretty.” I grabbed Ace and hearthed without a word.

I reappeared in The Roost and groaned.

Chat:Clan:The Conclave: Notice: Psyonia Auger has joined.

Chat:Clan:The Conclave:Luxus: Oh, a girl!!!

Chat:Clan:The Conclave:Kim: I’m a Girl!

Chat:Clan:The Conclave:Alexander: She was that pretty healer too! Good job CM!

I frowned, then made up my mind. Psyonia had made a good point we were small and did lack things.

Chat:Clan:The Conclave:Notice: Azriel has promoted Luxus to Officer.

Chat:Clan:The Conclave:Notice Azriel has promoted Alexander to officer.

Chat:Clan:The Conclave:Kim: Hey what about me? Totally not fair!

Chat:Clan:The Conclave:Notice: Azriel has created a new rank Junior-Officer.

Chat:Clan:The Conclave:Notice: Azriel has promoted Kim to Junior-Officer.

Chat:Clan:The Conclave:Azriel: Ok folks do not go all wild and start inviting just everyone, in fact I’d rather if you run an invite by me first. But we do need to expand. If you find anyone good, then recruit them. Also, these dungeons always have quests in them. Tomorrow I want you guys to scour the town. Talk to everyone. Find the quests.

They all agreed, then with a heavy sigh I also set up a 3% Clan Tax. If we were going to be a respectable Clan then we would need to have money to buy things. Like A Vault. Looking at my bags I almost cried. There were nearly 40 items that I was going to have to send to the Brotherhood. Nothing absolutely to die for, but it still hurt.

My inner devil argued, “No one will know if we keep something. Maybe one piece for each of our clan?”

My angel huffed crossed her arms under her breasts and said, “You better not. Even if the Guild hasn’t paid you back yet. You need to act in good faith.”

My green-eyed monster added its two cents, “We could sell it all then send the Brotherhood most of the gold. After we kept an exchange fee, of course.”

The three inner voices raged and argued, and I sat indecisive. Eventually I sent the items via mail. The angel won out. She had begun to cry, and I was a sucker for a woman in need.

As the last item left my bags my inner devil growled. “You know the only reason she is a she is because she represents your manipulative side too! She knows how to fight dirty!”

I ignored him and went to the general store to sell what little poor-quality loot I had acquired.

Character Sheet for: Azriel Starblade.

Name: Azriel Starblade

Race: Hume Class: Apprentice Magi

Level: 11 Exp: 68,362 / 78,000

Strength (STR): 24(25)

Muscle: 12(13) / Endurance: 12

Dexterity (DEX): 10

Agility: 5 / Instinct: 5

Constitution (CON): 10 (11)

Health: 5 (6) / Resilience: 5

Intelligence (INT): 24

Logic: 12 / Mind: 12

Wisdom (WIS): 10

Perception: 5 / Conviction: 5

Charisma (CHA) 10

Appearance: 5 / Personality: 5

Luck (LUC): 2

Hit Points (HP): 1,000 / 1,000

Mana; 1,220 / 1,220

Stamina: 112.5 / 112.5

Character Points (CP): 17 / 19 Talent Points (TP): 2 / 2

Renown (REN): 2,050 / 3,000

Fame Level: 1 Popular Deity: None

Faith (FAI): 0 / 1000

Titles: Freeman

Achievements: Famous Family: Starblade, Savior of the city: Hub.

Deeds and Properties: Esper: Erthoia: Southern: Central: Hub, District 4, Warehouse 2C.

Spellbook

Skills:

Concentration (Apprentice): 9 / 75

Leadership (Apprentice): 11 / 75

Parry (Apprentice): 20 / 75

Running (Apprentice): 8 / 75

Tactician (Apprentice): 9 / 75

Abilities:

Armor: You can proficiently wear Cloth, Leather and Chain armor types.

Channel: You can focus on your mana. This allows you to increase your mana regeneration rate by 100%. You may also now channel your mana into other people or objects at your normal mana regeneration rate. This ability is easy to interrupt, avoid all distractions.

Home Point You can set a Home Point and create a Hearthstone. Using the Hearthstone will allow you to teleport home from anywhere, once a day.

Rush: You can rapidly move forward 15 yards to strike an enemy for 3*STR damage. This strike stuns the target for 3 seconds.

Shields: You can proficiently use Light shield types.

Weapons: You can proficiently use Dagger, Short Blade, Axe, Mace, and Crossbow weapon types.

Professions:

Alchemy (Apprentice): 26 / 75 ©

Herbalism (Apprentice): 34 / 75 (G)

Spells:

Detect Magic (Rank 3)

Fire Arrow (Rank 3)

Flame Wave (Rank 1)

Light (Rank 3)

Magic Missile (Rank 3)

Read Magic (Rank 3)

Sleep (Rank 1)

Social

Friends: Lien Xi, Luxus Swiftblade, Alexander Stiner, Kim Simmons.

Enemies: Jazmine Oxford.

Family: Ace Starblade.

Clan: The Conclave.

Guilds: Brotherhood of Steel.

Nation: None.