There are moments in the life of every adventurer when they don't know whether they are going to live or die. Famous adventurers have what seem to be an excessive number of these moments. But that is only because the normal adventurers eventually die. You go into adventuring as a child thinking you'll be on the knife's edge chasing glory all the time and you think that is wondrous. We call that the Survivor's Fallacy. The Dungeons encourage this to some degree. If you die while contesting the *Challenge* you are tossed back out of the entrance. When settlements farm their dungeons with a swarm they can die, but in most cases you have so many people involved the Dungeon isn't really a threat. Dungeons have variation and build up over time but settlement Dungeons are farmed regularly and rare is the time when pure variation meets an undersized swarm.

The *Wild* is different. Even the *Near Wild*. Villagers don't venture out much. The Guilds and Polities only respond to reports. What happens to adventurers that are the first to encounter the problem? Things get rough. The dying shrieks of the rats are often annoying. This time they were almost fatal. Of course you are reading this guide so you know we lived but you can consider how you would feel if 20 chittering monsters surprised you as a novice adventuerer.

We walked out to the battlefield after the fight. No need to interfere when someone has things well in hand. It is not exactly rare to meet others in the wild but it isn't common either. My friend is not a traditional social butterfly or charismatic leader but she loves to talk about uncommon magic and when there are 4 woman and only one man the women often feel more sociable compared to the opposite. Plus these twins slotted nicely into her dream team. Even the frontliner was primarily mage aspected.

Magic is a bit weak early on because of mana limitations and a lack of synergy. There are people, especially with appropriate Aleatory Traits and Basic Traits who take full melee builds early and add magic as they power up. I'll provide an example.

Might Dexterity Conditioning Wisdom Endurance Savagery

The first 3 are the Innate and Environmental Traits and the last 3 are from Education. They'd end up with the following stats.

Attunement 0 Insight 0 Will 0 Ingenuity 1 Retention 1 Perception 1 Rigor 0 Precision 3 Zeal 4 Celerity 9 Sagacity 1 Fortitude 8 Style 0 Tenacity 8 Acumen 0 Brawn 12

You'd take Close next and then look at Crushing and maybe Shields after. Brawn would add 1/2 damage to attack skills if you had Crushing, and 1/4 for Zeal and Precision. All weapon proficiencies including unarmed had a passive for that. Ranged or light weapons would add 1/4 Celerity, 1/4 precision, and 1/8 brawn typically. Heavy bladed might swap brawn and celerity. While Martial Proficiencies were strong early with appropriate traits they only fell off a little to magic at the highest tiers. That was because you'd still be using some forms of magic like Corporomancy, Body Magic, or Enchantments for weapons, and so forth. The real power differential was Aleatory Talents and small impacts from build planning.

In any case the Miasmist headed out to engage with the twins while the Shieldmaiden and I trailed along, one of us anti-social and one a younger sibling. The Miamist only had time for a brief conversation before the shrieking of the feral(non-dungeon/wild) rats summoned the main mass of the horde they had been trailing off of. As the not quite earthshaking noise of the mass of rodent feet and the chittering of their salivating jaws reached us we quickly swapped hasty role information and set up our position. We had a small advantage because their was no true stealth involved even if we were shocked by the volume of the noise.

The Shieldmaiden and the Treant positioned themselves 5m ahead of the mages with the Eruptor in tow due to range considerations. While normally the Maiden was a midliner we lacked the standard second frontliner at the moment. I was well versed in the uncommon but not rare Talents and I had a plan which was approved by the Miasmist, our default leader as the one with the most social skills.

The rats appeared 50 meters out. There was an unnerving variety involved which I've sketched out below.

Breeze Rat lvl 1 *7 Flare Rat lvl 1 *5 Rock Rat lvl 1 *5 Bark Rat lvl 1*2 Ratling lvl 2 *1 Health 80 Health 80 Health 100 5 DMG ABS Health 120 Health 140 Mana 40 Mana 40 Mana 40 Mana 40 Mana 80 MOV 10m/s MOV 10m/s MOV 5m/s MOV 5m/s MOV 5m/s Claw Swipe 10 dmg 1s Claw Swipe 10 dmg 1s Claw Swipe 10 dmg 1s Claw Swipe 10 dmg 1s Staff Slash 20dmg 1s Nip 15 dmg 1s 5Mana Claw Slash 15 dmg 1s 5Mana Quartz Claw 25dmg 2s 5Mana Splinter Swipe 20 dmg 1s 10Mana Enrage 20 mana +5 dmg 1 attack Self AoE 20m Swift Claw 30 dmg 1s 20Mana FlameChomp 50 dmg 2s 20Mana Heavy Bite 40 dmg 2s 15Mana Sharp Bite 40 dmg 2s 20Mana Wolf Fang Staff 50 dmg 20Mana 1s Single Target 10m

The Ratling led horde was terrifying. A level 2 rat with a buff and a strong attack plus multiple aspected lvl 1 rats with multiple abilities? Not novice prey. Their sheer numbers were astonishing. Having a AoE mage with a Tier 2 Aleatory Talent might be the only reason we could survive, if we did. I lacked any real damage and DoT power was more effective on a smaller number of stronger creatures. The Shieldmaiden similarly would struggle with high numbers. At least at our current experience. Ratlings were the lowest tier leader for rat species. They stood on 2 feet and could usual actual spells, instead of just aspected natural weapons. Luckily leaders only really took off at lvl 3. Monster leaders got 1 spell a level. Starting at lvl 2 with 2.

Chronomancer Miasmist Shieldmaiden Eruptor Treant Health 68 Health 68 Health 100 Health 68 Health 96 Mana 216 Mana 212 Mana 160 Mana 212 Mana 126 MOV 5m/s MOV 5m/s MOV 5m/s MOV 5m/s MOV 5m/s

We had 50m of distance between us and the horde and the Breeze Rats would be closing fast. Thank god there were no lvl 2 Stone Rats. I cast Quicken right away. I had a feeling Chronomancy was going to be my primary Talent for this fight. The Treant began casting Forest Heart. The Miasmist channeled Dusk. Roiling Ground began for the Eruptor. The Shieldmaiden prepared to raise a Ground Wall 20m out.

The Breeze Rats closed 10m as did the Flare Rats. The others pushed in 5m.

I cast Accelerate on the Eruptor. The Maiden and Treant finished casting. That was good. Filth was the reflection of Mud and so was Water/Earth aspected. Slime Pool would be cast at a discount next turn. 2 seconds had passed for the Eruptor and Miasmist.

The Breeze/Flare Rats had now closed 20m/50m. The others a smaller 10m/50m.

I cast Slime Pool for -5%+-5%+-10%. Roiling Ground would finish this turn as Haste applied to the Eruptor. I planned to Haste the Maiden next as the Treant didn't have a lot to do and had mostly quick spells and the Miasmist couldn't do anything but cast Dusk until the rats entered the 20m range. The Maiden began to cast Force Traps since it had only a 1 second duration. The traps were cast in front of the wall since the rats would arrive in sync. 2 rats would skate around the wall as it was only 10 meters, as were the traps. The Treant began to deploy Enchanted Thicket which reached from the wall to her and the Maiden. An exact 15 meters. Dusk would finish in 2 turns and the slime pool spread in front of the wall and back through the final location of the thicket.

The swifter rats closed the gap reaching the edge of the wall sliding into the slime. The slowest rats reached 15m with 35m to go. All the Flare rats and 5 of the Breeze Rats tripped Force traps. They were stalled for 2s. 2 Breeze rats were good to go. But the Slime Pool was twice as wide as the wall and it waited for them.

Dusk had one turn to cast while Roiling Ground had finished. I cast Accelerate onto the Shieldmaiden. She cast Shield Wall on herself so as not to waste Haste on a half finished 2 second spell. Enchanted Thicket had 1 second of cast time remaining. The Eruptor was now sitting on her standard 30% Magma discount after Roiling Ground was enabled. She cast her first Lava Rain on the rats snared in front of the wall. This was a 30 damage tick with Warm Air active. Lava Rain had a 20m range and an 8m AOE allowing it to hit the 8 middle rats. All 8 went down to 50 health. Unfortunately for them Lava Rain was going to be lethal because they had 2 seconds of Root and they still had to break the barrier of Ground Wall.

As was the case in every caster heavy battle the only hope the rats had was for us to run out of mana. Roiling Ground and Lava Rain combined for 156 mana. Forest Heart and Enchanted Thicket had a combined cost of 133. Luckily for the Treant they had recovered enough mana to cast Thicket, barely. I had cast Quicken, Slime Pool, and 2 Accelerates. Slime Pool came after Forest Heart and thus had a cost of 40-8=32(100-10%-5%-5%). Quicken and Accelerate both cost 38 with my 5% Mana Efficiency discount from Manasophy. I was down 146. I had recovered 16 luckily. The Eruptor had actually recovered 20. The Treant had recovered 12. The Miasmist had spent only 40, as Dusk took 40 and 10 per turn after. She had recovered 16 as well, thus losing only 24. The Shieldmaiden had cast Shieldwall for no cost, Ground Wall for 40, and Force Traps for 40. No discounts for her as of yet. She was therefore at 160-80+12=92. No one had taken damage.

Chronomancer Miasmist Shieldmaiden Eruptor Treant Health 68 Health 68 Health 100 Health 68 Health 96 Mana 186 Mana 188 Mana 92 Mana 76 Mana 3 MOV 5m/s MOV 5m/s MOV 5m/s MOV 5m/s MOV 5m/s

10 rats sat snared. 2 ran 10m entering the slime field. 7 rats pushed forward 5m while one triggered an ability. Itself and 17 other rats would gain 5 damage on their next attack. The 17 rats had 30 feet to go. Sadly for the middle 8 of the snared rats they'd die to lava magic after that first attack. They took another 30 damage leaving them at 20 health.

The Miasmist walked forward 5m, having nothing else to do because of the range. She lost 10 mana to her Shroud. The now Hasted Shieldmaiden cast Force Stakes to the right of the party. No flanking allowed. It cost her 40 mana.The Treant waited for her mana to recover. I cast Quicken on myself because my Haste had run out. 38 mana gone. The Eruptor has one second of Haste left. Unfortunately she had no other mana efficient options. She waited to recover mana.

The rats were free of their snare and began their attacks. They had one second to live so they used their strongest one second attack on the wall. Each wall segment took 20 damage due to the *Enrage* buff of the ratling. The 7 non-Ratling slow rats advanced to 25m. The Ratling reached 20m. The 8 middle rats died. The 2 flanking rats moved 5 feet through the slime.

The Miasmist, Treant, and Eruptor waited for mana to recover. The Shieldmaiden cast Force Stakes to the right yet again. The flanking rats would take 2 more seconds to reach any of us. I cast Accelerate for 38 mana on the Eruptor.

I was down 68 mana. The Shieldmaiden was down 74 mana. She had 1 second of Haste, I had 2. The Eruptor had 3. The Miasmist was up 8 mana. The Treant was up 6 mana. The Eruptor was up 10.

Chronomancer Miasmist Shieldmaiden Eruptor Treant Health 68 Health 68 Health 100 Health 68 Health 96 Mana 118 Mana 196 Mana 18 Mana 86 Mana 9 MOV 5m/s MOV 5m/s MOV 5m/s MOV 5m/s MOV 5m/s

The 2 rats on the edges of the wall began to attack for 30 damage and 50 next turn. The flanking rats closed to 5m. The ratling advanced to 25m. The 7 other rats reached the wall.

The Eruptor sprayed off a Lava Rain for 56 mana onto the center of the wall. Sadly it could only hit 7 targets. The Miasmist cast Night Chill on on of the Rock Rats. I cast Accelerate on her. The Shieldmaiden prepped a Shield Bash for the flanker. The Treant prepped her own Bash.

The 7 rats on the wall took 30 damage. One corner rat was finishing Flame Chomp while one began claw swipe. Both other wall segments would fall. 1 rat waited as their segment was already doomed. We would later realize the Shieldmaiden had forgot to cast Absorb on the wall, protecting 4 segments. Fear can mess with you. 6 rats including one stone Rat who took 2 damage and got a mark attacked their own wall segments with claw swipes. Those 3 segments would all fall next turn. The outer segments fell. The ratling moved into Lava Rain as it reached the wall. It would get out next turn only taking 1 tick. Flanking rats reach the Treant and the Shieldmaiden taking 5 damage from moving in the Thicket..

Chronomancer Miasmist Shieldmaiden Eruptor Treant Health 68 Health 68 Health 100 Health 68 Health 96 Mana 92 Mana 176 Mana 21 Mana 35 Mana 12 MOV 5m/s MOV 5m/s MOV 5m/s MOV 5m/s MOV 5m/s

The Treant hit a flanking rat with Bash. 15 damage and a 1 second stun. The Maiden Shieldbashed her target for 20 damage and a 2 second stun. Neither rat had taken damage. Both of them prepared to repeat their action. The Eruptor had the exact amount of mana for Magma Spike which she cast on the Ratling. She was down to nothing. The Miasmist now had Haste and dropped an Acid Splash on the 8 wall rats including the ratling. With 1 second of Haste left I cast Filth Spray on the 2 Bark Rats.

The 2 flanking rats were stunned. The 2 side rats walked forward into the slime pool. The 5 Rock rats taking lava and acid damage also moved forward. The Rock Rats luckily only had physical absorbtion and no resistances. They had eaten 2 ticks of Lava rain for 60 damage plus 20 from Acid Splash. That left them at 20 and as the turn ended they'd go to 15 because of the dot. One would go to 12 from marks and Night Chill. The 2 Bark Rats would end up on 35 because Distract prevent action but not movement. The Ratling was knocked up and thus would take the last tick of Lava Rain. 90+25=115. However the 50 damage from Magma Spike actually finished him off. All the 7 remaining rats ate 5 damage from moving through Enchanted Thicket. The rats on the edges would enter it next turn.

Another Bash and Shield Bash hit the flanking rats and they took ENV damage from the Thicket for the second time. One was at 30 and one was at 40. They were effectively stunlocked unless the frontliners got distracted. They were each 2 seconds from death. The Eruptor ran backwards, having nothing better to do than move after being low on mana. I cast Grime Ball on a Bark rat dealing 20 damage and a mark. The Miasmist finally got into things in earnest casting Acid Splash on the 7 grouped up rats. All but one of the barkrats died on their next turn.

This fight was perhaps not as tough as it looked. The way the stronger rats would arrive much slower simplified things. I cast Quicken into some Accelerates and then Slime Pool. The Shieldmaiden cast Ground Wall. The Eruptor and Treant began their *Domain* spells as did the Miasmist. Although Dusk wasn't a proper domain spell. *Shroud* had one low tier effect and cost recurring mana. Still Tenebramancy was Low Magic while Silvamancy and Igneomancy were High Magic so it made sense. The 10m/s Breeze and Flare rats were quickly closing the gap on the Ground Wall.

The Shieldmaiden deployed Force Traps while the Treant started to Grow an Enchanted Thicket. The Thicket did a small amount of damage and slowed movement a little but the main benefit was that it only impacted enemies. Slime Pool and Ground Wall affected us as much as the rats. Luckily we had ranged abilties and we didn't plan to advance.

Roiling Ground and Shroud had finished. I cast Accelerate on the Shieldmaiden and she cast Shield Wall on herself. The Eruptor finally fully buffed by 2 Domains and still under Haste called Lava Rain from the sky putting the rats well into the danger zone. They'd die under the blazing sky due to the root and wall and slime preventing them from getting away. 2 rats on the wall and the 2 who were around the sides were safer.

The Miasmist wandered forward to get into better range while the Shieldmaiden began casting Force Stakes to the sides to shore up the movement impediments of the slime and thicket. The Eruptor and Treant waited for mana to recover while I Quickened myself.

The Ratling had cast Enrage and the rats blew their strongest 1 second attack to chip away at the wall before they perished. I Accelerated the Eruptor while everyone but the Shieldmaiden waited for more mana. She cast her second Force Stakes. The backline rats approached the wall.

The Eruptor casted a Hasted Lava Rain while the Treant and Maiden prepared to bash the approaching flank rats. The Miasmist cast Acid Rain on the rats including the Ratling that had reached the wall. The Eruptor cast Magma Spike to hold the Ratling down. The wall was cleared and the rats moved forward but they would die to a second Acid Splash before they could do anything. The Ratling fell to Magma Spike. The battle was over and while a few rats got in range it wasn't enough to lay down much damage.

I'll skip the clean up as the last Bark rat, the flanking Breeze and Flare rats and the far edge Breeze and Flare rats died. It turned out that the Horde wasn't so dangerous after all due to strong control magic. Of course another party might have 2 anti-chaff mages or 3 strong frontliners. Nothing like a shared crisis to bind people together I guess. Certainly even the Miasmist couldn't have gotten the twins to look past my, well, quirks or foibles if we're being nice if we hadn't effectively saved each others' lives.

We patrolled around the *Near Wilds* in the following weeks a bit mostly running into easy fights with mediocre material rewards. Then when we understood each other better as a team we went back into the Academy dungeon to try our hand. We bailed at the 3rd floor last time, out of the 20 available. With our attributes the dungeon considered the 10th floor boss to constitute a *Challenge*. We planned to gear up in town and see how close we could get.