By the time Sain actually made it to the city gate, the others had already gathered before him. Sain smiled at this since it seems everyone was at least enthusiastic to actually start their journey. Of course Sain also thought about the task that they had been given as the condition.

'We can do that task after we level up a bit. I heard that the outside world is a lot worse than people normally think. I say a person is relatively safe while travelling when they reach the level 200 mark. But before that...I need to think about this current situation.'

“So, how were you guys?” Sain asked.

“Good” “No bad” Miriel and Lyndis answered immediately at the same time.

Before Sain realised it, Miriel and Lyndis were already glaring at each other. Sain sighed at this sight once again.

'Can't they get along? Well I hope they don't try to kill each other out there.'

Unlike inside the city, the outside world had nearly no laws at all. It is said that you could 'kill' a person and the guards would be bat an eye.

With some more chatting, the 6 entered the first step of their journey. What they saw was not pretty.

“Ahhhhhh, help me!”

“No! Get the fuck away from me!”

“Its eating me! Eating meeeeeeee!”

The 6 stood there silent in shock.

“....”

Rabbits and foxes were dominating the players. Those fluffy harmless creatures in the real world was turned into killing machines in the game. In actual fact it was a known fact that rabbits and general the harmless creatures of this game was a lot stronger than of the real world and could easily take on new players that have not train their skills properly before going out.

Naturally there was also the difference between those who have experienced any kind of training and those who have not. Those who trained are more likely not to be taken down so easily though even they will be killed when faced against wolves and the stronger monsters near the beginner area. However Sain was not focusing on those bits but looking at the higher levelled players that casually walked through the forest with the low level mobs backing away from them.

'So mobs will only attack those who are as strong or weaker than them' he thought standing with the others. As expected the one who broke the silence was Lyndis who was always seeking action first then questions later.

“Let's go hunt!” she said with lots of spirits. To this the others even Miriel could not help but to smile. But then Miriel decided to explain some things to the others as they seek their first prey in this game. Lyndis looked annoyed but still listened closely.

“The beginner area is the easily place to gain experience and levels. The weakest mobs are the rabbits, then the foxes and finally the wolves that are deeper into the forest. Rabbits are at most around level 1 or 2 while foxes are level 3 to 4. Wolves however vary in level and can come from level 5 to 20. Naturally seeking wolves immediately will be our deaths. Plus there are other things to consider as well when hunting together” Miriel looked particularly to Lyndis when she said this last line.

To this Lyndis said, “I got it! I won't rush head on.” She at least learnt to not rush things else she might end up with no stamina and get eaten in the forest alone and helpless.

Miriel nodded and continued, “I don't know how everyone can fight. From looks alone 4 of us can go into melee while me and Serena can't. We need to know some basic details. I'll start off first. I'm a support magician at level 4.”

Next was Serena although Lyndis seemed nervous for some reason, “I'm a Druid at level 4 as well.”

With these words Lyndis really looked more nervous now. Sain wondered if she was feeling sick for some reason. Well considering what is happening on the other side of the gate right now...it's normal to get sick in these situations.

It was Raven's turn now, “Shield Footman, Level 3.”

Then Shadow, “Rogue, Level 3.”

And it was Sain's turn since Lyndis seems to want to go last for some reason, “Shaman Level 3.”

Everyone then looked to Lyndis since she was the last one.

“Sword Priest....Level 1” she said in a soft voice very reluctant to say them. No one spoke since they all knew what was going on in Lyndis's mind. While everyone else gained levels through various means, only Lyndis was stuck at level 1. It was not someone that you could be ashamed from but not something you can praise at the same time.

But unexpectedly it was Miriel who once again encourages Lyndis which was more like the Devil being kind before taking something important away.

“Sword Priest....never heard of that class so it's a hidden class?” Miriel pondered in such a voice that it seems like she was amazed. Shadow and Raven immediately picked up her intentions but did not want to play along. Serena stood that silent since it was more likely she would screw something up and Sain....though Miriel was going doing this of good will.

'That's strange...according to master, Lyndis should have studied under the same system as the rest of us and would have gained 2 levels at the end. Did something happen or did her master restrict something? Better not ask since it's a private issue. Plus one or two levels difference will be gone soon anyway' thought Miriel to this fact that Lyndis was still at level 1.

'Miriel is becoming friendlier to Lyndis now. Perhaps they can be good friends later!' such were the innocent thoughts of Sain. But it could not be further from the truth.

'If I tame her now, things will be easier for me later' thought Miriel who complimenting Lyndis. Naturally Lyndis being the same as Sain did not notice this and her thoughts and behaviour to Miriel whom she once thought as the enemy turned 180 degrees.

At that moment when Lyndis was 'tamed' by Miriel, three particular people thought to themselves, 'I better not get on her bad side from now on' while two particular people thought, 'Miriel is really trying to be friends here.'

Nevertheless the group decided it was best that Lyndis would have to level up a bit more in order to be more useful for the benefit of the group which were Miriel's words filled with thorns in them. As such they decided to hunt the most basic mob, the rabbit first as a safety measure.

Walking to a more isolated area, there were a few rabbits here and there but there were also some foxes as well which was a nice surprise to the group. The reason being was that most beginner hunting grounds were filled with too many players and as such it was very difficult for beginners to level up even though they know what to do. Under Sain's instructions, the group was split into 3 rows.

Raven and Lyndis were the tanks and stood at the front line. Miriel and Serene who were support went to the back row. And Shadow and Sain himself were at the middle row and would change whichever place they want when the situation arose. Shadow didn't have the highest agility of the group despite being the scout member but had the largest amount of skills to use in various situations which were more useful than stats alone. Sain on the other hand who actually had the highest agility of the group and was also a magic user as well only had magic spells to use in combat and was in fact the least useful person so far.

While he could fight in close combat, he was not that suited to it and was more as a support like Miriel than anything else.

“Right, I'm going to lure a rabbit first then” said Sain chanting the spell to summon a weak familiar, “Summon Familiar!”

With those words, blue light shone in front of him as a magic circle was constructed using his magic and a transparent being was formed I front of him. As this was literally the first time Sain used this skill, he did not know what was going to be summoned.

“Croak Croak”

“....”

Sain and the other did not expect the summon to be a frog of all things. Because of this, Sain lost a quarter of his full mana which would take several minutes with mediation to recharge. However the group was not going to wait until that happened. As such Sain ordered the frog immediately not expecting much from it.

“Lure in some rabbits”

The frog looked at it's master and hopped away doing that and no more than half a minute passed as 4 rabbits chased it back to the group.

“Battle Positions!” shouted Sain taking up his spear in his hand. Doing it's duty the summoned frog disappeared without a trace as the rabbits killed it. The sharp fangs of the rabbits were frightening to beginners. However it was just bad luck that this group all experienced hardship one way or other in their first 4 weeks as well as in their past.

“Double Strike!” as the tank, Raven moved in first and stabbed one rabbit twice though barely missing with his second shot due to another rabbit attacking him. He moved back and allowed the others to attack as well.

At the same time Sain and Miriel attacked using their magic at the injured rabbit.

““Mana Bolt!””

A total of 6 bolts of mana went and pierced the wounded rabbit and killed it although it was almost dead due to Raven already. Not wanting to be left behind more than ever, Lyndis moved in to attack a rabbit by herself. Using her sword, she easily sliced one of the rabbits in half killing it instantly. The last two rabbits reacted and attack Lyndis at the same time and the others couldn't cast spells in time to help her.

“Backstab.”

From the beginning Shadow disappeared and then went around the group of rabbits to attack from behind. His dagger went into the rabbit's back and killed it. However the last rabbit still remained and was about to hit Lyndis.

“Pocket Fireball!”

From Lyndis' hand, a small fireball appeared and burst in front of the rabbit about to attack her and it retreated. Raven took this chance to stab the rabbit killing it as well. Then as the battle finished, Sain noticed that several small messages that were much smaller than the normal windows that game had appeared at the bottom left of his sight.

He moved his finger to check it and a large list of things appeared in his sight. While he could see the health of his comrades by looking at them, the messages that appeared involved the battle itself and had details on how much experience each person got as well as what they looted and if they took damage, how much they took.

'This is....quite useful isn't it?' thought Sain though he clearly did not understand the clear significance of such a skill which was called Party Scan. Royal Road was realistic and therefore didn't allow people to see each other's health or the monsters as well and any other thing such as stealing or looting normally. But with this, most of the 'restrictions' placed by the game disappeared.

From what Sain could tell, everyone but Lyndis gained around 5% worth of experience due to the rabbits low levels. Lyndis however gained a total of 15% instead and would level up in another few battles if they hunted foxes instead. The battle ability of the party was clearly higher than most beginners.

Because of this, Sain suggested that they would hunt foxes.

“If we hunt foxes which are only a bit stronger than rabbits then we will make more progress in levelling up. Lyndis will get the most benefits here since she has the lowest level.”

The other agreed quickly and went to find some foxes almost immediately since they went deeper into the forest area.

[p=center]xXx[/p]

You took 30 damage

Raven just got that message in his face as the 3 foxes were hitting his shield as he moved backwards to reduce the damage he took.

“Minor Health Regeneration!”

You will regenerate 125 Health over 100 seconds.

Immediately Serena healed Raven with her weak regeneration spell. Although it was not as powerful as the straight up healing methods of clerics, it was useful in the long run in the battle as it was low costs and had low power but in the end healed more than other spells at the same level in the end. From what Raven knew Sain's minor heal which was still a level below a cleric's 'healing hand' only healed 50 health at a time.

“Shield Bash!” Raven smashed his shield into the faces of the foxes that were attacking him stunning them for a bit while pushing them back. There were only 5 foxes in total with 3 of them attacking Raven since he taunted them drawing aggravation to himself as the tank.

Another fox was being taken care of my Lyndis who needed to learn how to tank as well while the last was being taken care of my Sain who had the most health after Raven though it was only half of which he had.

After a few seconds, the foxes recovered from the effects of shield bash and started attacking him again.

“Double Strike.”

Shadow appeared behind the foxed once again attacking them. He hit one fox and injured it before running away to help with Lyndis or Sain with their own foxes.

This method was devised by Sain as Miriel would help Lyndis deal with her fox and then the three of them would take care of Sain's fox while Shadow alternated helping each of the three in order to not draw aggravation towards himself. Finally when the rest was done, everyone would gang up on the three foxes Raven was taking care of.

'I can at least kill one of these foxes' though Raven increasing his speed for a bit attacking the foxes once again. Raven alternated between defending and attacking in order to decrease the amount of damage he would take. Naturally the foxes may sometimes go behind him away from the shield to attack him there but he would often retreat back which made this difficult for the foxes.

“Footwork! Double Strike!”

30 mana was consumed out of his 140 mana as he sprinted forward and felt two hits to a fox.

Critical Hit!

You have levelled up!

While he levelled up just then, he did not focus on that at all but to retreat since the two foxes had him surrounded just now due to his sprint in to kill one of their comrades. But then...

“Mana Bolt!”

3 blue mana bolts hit one of the foxes.

“Fire Blade!”

Lyndis appeared cutting down one of the foxes in a series of slashes. Raven moved against the last fox and killed it as well while Sain and Serena healed the party to full health at the end of the battle.

During the series of multiple battles that increased in difficulties as the party ventured deeper in the forest area, they levelled up a few times. Raven was at level 5 now along with Sain and Shadow. Miriel and Serena levelled up to level 5 and was close to level 6. Lyndis on the other hand was already at level 4 due to everyone letting her have the final hit on enemies a few times intentionally. Because of this, the average level of the party increased to around 5. However it seems Lyndis level will be a bit lower than everyone's elses unless she does individuals hunting afterwards which is too dangerous of beginners like the party right now no matter how good their stats are.

[p=center]xXx[/p]

At the next battle which was on the same level as the previous battle which was 5 foxes attacking the party after Sain gave orders to his familiar to lure in monsters, the party once again used the same strategy against them. Once more Raven took 3 foxes to himself while Lyndis and Sain took one each with everyone else supporting.

It was at this point that Shadow was using stealth which unfortunately to him came naturally to sneak behind the foxes even during battle to deal critical damage to them.

'How is it that these foxes still not notice me even though I attacked them in so many ways like this?' wondered Shadow in his thought. Due to his nature, even his party has some trouble even now on determining where he was. The only one who was the closest to spotting him was Sain who had to observe everyone evenly while fighting a fox at the same time.

Due to the party levelling up from before, they had a lot easier time against the foxes now with most of the party having high enough agility to hit the foxes well enough and could retreat when they can. Naturally due to Shadow being the one sneaking around, he was somewhat proud to say that he was never hit once so far.

“Backstab!”

Shadow leaped from the top of a branch from a tree he climbed just then and stabbed the fox in front of Lyndis using the force of the drop to increase damage.

Critical Hit!

Shadow dismissed this message since he was already bored of them with only half a day worth of hunting with the others. The majority of his attacks were critical hits since he was attacking small creature which meant hitting something important was easy enough as long as he hit. At time during the beginning of the hunt, he often missed which embrassed him greatly and through that he quickly learnt how to strike reacting to live movement.

At this point, the others were just able ready to finish things off with Raven slaying a fox and the others teaming up on the other fox with Sain. Shadow sneaked his way to one of the foxes near Raven and attacked.

“Backstab!”

Critical Hit!

The fox flashed grey as it died. Raven quickly killed the last fox as well finishing this battle even more easily than the last. Because of this the party rested for a bit discussing what they were to do next.

“Right now Lyndis almost to level 5 while Miriel and Serena are almost at level 6. Hunting foxes is too slow right now even though we hunted for only half a day” said Sain plainly.

If other players heard what he said, they would find it ridiculous since even at level 5, foxes were the main experience source since wolves were much more powerful and larger as well which gave the psychological fear in which decided whether players were able to fight or not in this game. Rabbits and foxes were small creatures and therefore as long as they weren't ripping your face off, they were fine. However wolves were almost the same size as humans and in only got stronger as it grew. Their battle power increased with this and with great speed and power, many beginners even if they were level 10 would fall quickly to wolves even in parties.

However this was all considering the equipment beginners had. Most of them left the safe city to hunt with a crude weak sword that barely did more damage then their fists. They would often form parties with strangers and lacked teamwork as well and would often rush in too fast or retreat when danger comes leaving other players behind to die.

But considering the Sain, Shadow, Miriel, Raven, Serena and Lyndis knew each other somewhat in real life and had to cooperate, they were less likely than other beginners to make easy mistakes since it could lower their standing in the group. Another thing was that the group had proper equipment with weapons that suited them and armour as well except for Miriel and Serene who wore their beginner gear since they were ranged characters. With proper gear, the group's power was much higher than any common beginner and only actual trained individuals from real life who were skilled with combat could surpassed them.

“I agree with Sain, these foxes are getting a bit too weak” said Lyndis agreeing with Sain's words even though she was the one with the lowest level. If she said that the enemies were too weak then it was just that since she had to struggle the most to gain levels quickly.

The other quickly agreed and they foolishly entered the deeper parts of the forest where wolves lied. In Royal Road monsters had territory in which they guards and they would attack anything that would enter then if they were a proud species like wolves. As such almost immediately the group found themselves against a single wolf that scouted the outsirks of the wolf territory.

“Grrrrrr!”

The wolf was actually quite small compare to other wolves but it was still easily larger than Serena and had fangs long enough to completely got through someone's army or even neck. The party felt a sight chill as the wolf attacked them.

“Shield Bash!”

Raven was the first to react to this as the tank. He moved in a straight line to intercept the wolf and was about to stun it.

“Rar!”

However the wolf moved around Raven quickly showing it's high agility and took a bite out of Raven's leg.

“Ahhh!”

At this moment, not before the battle started, Serena already casted Minor Health Regeneration onto Raven but healing spells could not reduce pain.

“Cracked Barrier!” shouted Miriel casting a magic barrier which would reduce the amount of damage someone targeted would take. As her skill with this was at the lowest, it only negated 30% for two of the next hits.

Lyndis tried to help Raven out since he was in pain and wasn't reacting as fast as before and attacked the wolf head on. Shadow at this point was already behind the wolf and moved in to attack immediately seeing that Raven was injured.

“Backstab!”

Shadow was about to hit the wolf with his dagger but the wolf suddenly leaped backwards and hit Shadow aside easily.

You took 20 damage

Due to the attack not being a proper one, Shadow took less damage compared to Raven who was bitten in the leg. Shadow landed on his back from the fall as the wolf quickly attacked Lyndis who had the highest of the wolf right now.

“Melody of Speed”

Agility increased by 12% for 10 minutes

Although it took a third of Miriel's mana in one go, Shadow and the others could already feel the effects of the buff placed on them with a soft melody. Lyndis who could not keep up with the wolf before could now while Shadow moved a bit quicker than before.

“Minor Heal!” shouted Sain.

A light embraced Raven as it healed him.

“Mana Bolt!”

Sain shot mana bolts at the wolf while Shadow once again sneaked behind the wolf to attack. However this time Shadow used the moment that the wolf dodged to attack.

“Backstab!”

Critical Hit!

Shadow's dagger went into the side of the wolf quickly and stayed there for a second before Shadow twisted and pulled out his dagger to deal the most damage in that one hit.

“Double Strike!”

Making a come back from earlier, Raven let out his rage at the wolf killing it in a fury of strikes which honestly surprised everyone except Serena who saw worst with Raven.

“Ahooooooooooow!” the wolf let out a last cry as it died.

You have gained experience

Around 20% of Shadow's experience bar went up. Even though he did not deal the finishing blow to the wolf, he did contribute to the battle. Normally only the person who killed the monster would get the experience alone. But in a party that person would only get up to 50% with the killing blow. The rest of the experience is split between to what amount did each person dealt damage to the monster. However those who supported the fight without fighting itself would a share of the experience more than those who did nothing.

Namely there was a complex system in which everyone mostly an equal share of the experience except when someone intentionally gets the last kill over and over again to level up quickly like with Lyndis. However now, the party mostly got an equal share of the experience so they would level up at the same rate.

The party was particularly exhausted mentally since they had hunted for half a day and the last enemy, the wolf was stronger than they thought they killed it in mere minutes. The added stress to battles made them more tired than usual. But they could not rest right now.

“Ahooooooooooow!”

Several cries from wolves were heard by the party and they all became alert. Shadow immediately decided to get on a tree to take the most advantage of the situation by using gravity to increase the damage he deals.

On a branch which he was balancing one, he saw the group surrounded by a total of 5 wolves. Everyone including Shadow who was safe so far on a branch was pale since they had trouble with one single wolf. There was no much to say here but facing multiple enemies at once was several times more difficult than facing individual enemies even as a group.

BITE!

You took 80 damage

Suddenly something bit his leg and pulled him down from the branch of tree and onto the ground. Shadow looked as the battle started that it was a silver wolf who did this. Out of fear Shadow attacked the silver wolf with his dagger in his hand and his leg in his mouth in a fury.

“Double Strike! Double Strike!”

Shadow landed some hits but the fur of the silver wolf blocked out most of the damage Shadow dealt. Eventually the silver wolf bit down on Shadow's neck reducing his health to zero.

You have died

[p=center]xXx[/p]

Party member: Shadow has died

Such a notification appeared. Sain was partly shocked since he just saw Shadow there trapped under a silver wolf attacking it. But he didn't have time to think about that. In fact he didn't have much time to think about anything right now.

“Minor Heal!”

Sain healed Lyndis who took a hit and then moved in to stab a wolf that was nearing Serene and Miriel who were next to each other.

“Mana Bolt!” cried Miriel trying to take a wolf down before it killed her.

Party member: Miriel has died

However several wolves surrounded her and killed her before anything could be done. With this, the range offence supported lied on only Sain.

You took 107 damage

A wolf managed to pin him down and bite him several times with other wolves joining in as well. Serena used her staff to try and attack the wolves but this only caused her to be attacked sooner as well.

Party member: Serena has died

As a healer, she had less health than normal and died quicker as well. The same was with Miriel but Raven and Lyndis as well as Sain had more than average health at the moment though it was dropping quickly.

“Shield Bash!”

“Fire Blade!”

The two ran to Sain's help knocking away the wolves and even injuring them to some extent.

“Mana Bolt!”

Seeing the chance, Sain scored a hit on one of the critical wounded wolves and killed it. With his spear he attacked the wolves with the other two but they were still outnumbered 5 to 3. With the silver wolf that was stronger than normal wolves, the three of them died soon after as well.

You have died

That notification appeared before Sain was ejected from the game

[p=center]xXx[/p]

Sain or rather Peter in real life awoke from the capsule since had died. Upon getting out of the capsule he soon found the others that had a gloom face on. Soon after, both Ian and Maria both exit their capsules as well since they most likely died.

The group gathered in the lounge room since it was a place they can somewhat comfortably discuss things though everyone here had a look similar to a man being dumped by his woman. It was an unpleasant mood that needed to be changed else they would probably never pick up pace in the game.

Dying in Royal Road which was realistic was horrifying even when the game reduced the pain to all players by 30% and the fact that the players themselves know that won't actually 'die'. However this still left a mighty blow to anyone's mind since dying was still frightening no matter how you look at it! Due to this, even though there were more players in Royal Road then ever before, most players did not pick of combat classes or did any sort of fighting at all.

For those who did not fear death in Royal Road, there was something far worst when they came back. The lose of a level! The lose of skill proficiency! The two single things that determined a player's abilities no matter what. Other than the stats that they worked hard to get, all other stats that came from levelling would disappear with the level until it could be regained. There was also the chance of losing valuable equipment as well if they did die. Because of this, all players feared dying the most else there was something worst.

“First of all....” started Peter since he was the leader of the group and therefore mostly responsible for everything that happened, “We were too foolish to just jump in deep in just a half day of hunting.”

The others nodded since this was true. From hunting rabbits then quickly switching to foxes and at the end to wolves which resulted in them dying. It was indeed foolish to the point that other players did not even do such a thing. However foolish behaviours and genius behaviours were just a thin line apart with only success and failure determining which one it was.

The group's decision to hunt wolves were not wrong. At that point, most players would be in a party and they would be able to handle a lone wolf at level 5. However it was due to bad luck that they met a wolf that called for it's comrade just before it died and among the 6 wolves that came, one was a special monster, the silver wolf that was even stronger than normal wolves!

'But....we still died in the end' thought Peter whom was filled with fear and torment as he saw the others died and himself die as well. He touched the place the wolf ripped out to kill him. Even though it was a game, even though pain was reduced to 30%, there was some lingering feeling that it was real.

The group was in a crisis. They were slowly falling apart with just one failure. However the one who spoke up for everyone was also the most unexpected.

“I think we should go back and fight those wolves again!” said Grace, the youngest and most timid of the group. Her eyes shone with great will in order to get stronger. She felt it was her duty to get stronger in order to meet the person she had admired to worked towards. The 'woman' that easily killed evildoers with ease.

To this Hina, Ian and Mark smiled at once. Grace was right, it was something they couldn't get too depressed over. There were beginners being killed by rabbits before their eyes when the day started and they died taking on a pack of wolves which was an admirable result for a party that only hunted for half a day. Half a day worth of experience and they were at that point already.

“Yos! Let's get to it!” shouted Maria with just energy. It seems like she was spirited once again. At the beginning she was the biggest burden and she worked hard to catch up to the others quickly even with their help. As a result in the end they did kill almost a hundred foxes and a wolf before their end. It was something to be proud of.

“However we can't get back in the game until tomorrow” said Hina pouring the water on Maria's firery spirit. Shock filled Maria's face as she realised this and everyone laughed at it.

“Hahaha, don't worry. It's just a day” said Peter comforting Maria, “Besides there are a number of things we can still do while we're here right?” Peter's eyes shone with a light while his stomach grumbled.

“...”

The others stared at Peter in disbelief that he was this kind of person. The type that can say that everyone should have a meal together like an idiot.

“People are more grumpy when they are hungry. First we must eat” said Peter acting like an old man.

Hina sighed in defeat since she was also hungry either way while Grace looked embrassed to follow through with this all of a sudden. On the other hand Ian and Mark agreed wanting to eat some good food again while Maria was thinking of what to do later on in Royal Road.

In the end the group ate quite a number of food stuffing themselves to the point that they almost fell asleep due to the feeling of being full.

[p=center]xXx[/p]

“Now we have some important things to talk about before we can get back in the game” said Hina all serious again even though she was enjoying a nice meal tens of minutes ago, “I want to know everyone's skills and abilities in more detail. We have moved individually for the most part and that worked well until we were completely outmatched. Even though it looks that way, we actually don't have much teamwork between us.”

The others including Peter looked at Hina following her words.

“The most important details are those who can use magic since the effects of our spells can vary a lot. For example another player could also use my Melody of Sound and yet have a different set of effects from me. Or someone may have an altered version of a skill that would be better used somehow else.”

Everyone nodded their heads.

“But the skill of us who fight at the front are also important as well right?” said Maria in a friendly voice since in her mind she made up with Hina completely. A simple minded person that was easily liked.

“Correct, however we must know each other well enough to cover any weaknesses. Grace and I can't fight in close combat at all since we never trained for it. However everyone else can” replied Hina.

“In that case, each person will say what skills or spell they first and then we talk about the other stuff later?” asked Peter which Hina nodded, “In that case since I can alternate between roles, I should be last since it would be troublesome to explain multiple things at once.”

The other nodded since they remembered that Sain had spells but also sometimes fought close up as well and was as good as Maria and Mark in fighting enemies though Mark with his shield could take multiple enemies at once. Therefore due to this, it was Mark and Ian's turn to speak first since they were the only pure melee players in the group.

“I have three active skills that I can use which take up mana” started Mark though he was the quiet type, “Shield Bash stuns enemies that are hit for around 2 seconds at it's current level, Double strike allows me to attack twice at once with my spear and Footwork is used to charge in a straight line quickly. Shield Bash and Double strike both take 10 mana each to use while Footwork takes 20 mana. Other than that is my mastery skills. Also I have the repair skill so I somewhat repair equipment for you all though durability decreases quite a bit unless my skill level increases.”

The others nodded since Mark actually gave quite the detailed report on his skills. Next was Ian though....somehow he disappeared!

“Ian?” said one of the other group members in a panic.

“I'm here” said Ian calmly sitting at the very same spot as he was before. He was used to these reactions since a long time ago. There was one case in which a teacher was sure that he was kidnapped even though he was right in front of his eyes. To Ian that was a very bad day for him since he was scolded even though multiple times he tried to alert the teacher to his presence but failed. The teacher naturally pinned all the fault in Ian in the end.

“Like Mark I have Double Strike as a skill. Other than that, my only combat skill is Backstab which is best used with stealth to deal critical damage. Other than that, I have a climbing skill as well as skills that allow me to detect and disarm traps as well as skills that improve my vision in the dark and one that increase my hearing capability” Ian said that in one breath which left no room for the others to question. Because he was often ignored to no fault of the other party, he was not used to conversations that well and spoke quickly and in one go.

Next was Maria's turn to speak.

“I only have my pocket fireball which is even weaker than a normal fireball and my fire blade skill which adds fire damage to my attacks as actual skills” said Maria a bit shamed compared to the others two. It was clear that she did the least work in total and her low strength was being shown easily now.

However she brightened up as she said, “But I have the cooking skill so you will don't have to worry about food!”

As no one tasted her cooked food before, they had no way to know how to react positively or negatively to this. Because of this they could only take a chance and eat it to see how it tasted.

“Thankfully for everyone, I also learned the cooking skill as well and AM quite a good cook as well” said Hina in a boastful manner. This this, Maria pouted since Hina once again stole her spotlight immediately.

Suddenly there was a bit of hope as long as both of them didn't suck at cooking at all. However while Maria seemed like the 'try before testing' type, Hina was the 'calculate everything trying' type though these have nothing to do with the innate cooking skills a person may have. Even if you have the proper skills, if your taste is horrible then everyone will suffer greatly.

“Anyway besides that I have the identify skill which will be very useful later on, with that I have the most basic mana bolt which shoots a small magic bolt to several to the enemy, Melody of Sound which increases several stats for around 10 minutes, cracked barrier which is a skill that reduces the amount of damage you would take for a certain amount of hits. At my level it's only a 30% reduction for the next 2 attacks and finally I also have Clairvoyance which shows a path I should take but it's almost completely useless at it's low level. However when it's level gets higher than it will be similar to similar to something that is invaluable in the future. Other than my mastery skills, that's it for me” said Hina calmly though she didn't explain everything at once.

Grace then spoke up as it was her turn now, “Umm....I have minor health regeneration and minor stamina regeneration which increases those two over time though it's still weak. Other than that....I have mana burst which consumes a large part of my mana in exchange of doing damage and Language Comprehension which lets me read certain texts easier....and something called Quicken Death which let's me kill someone in the party.”

“...”

There was some silence in the room since the seemingly weakest and harmless person of the group suddenly got the power to kill anyone in the group in the game when she wants. Although they all believed that she would not do something like that by her own will as long as they had a chance, they all wondered what would happen if they make her angry. Would they all die at once? They would lost a level and skill proficiency once again if this happened. Who would give such a spell to such a person like the healer.

Next was Peter's turn since he was a combination of melee and magic due to being a shaman which was a jacks of all trade.

“First of all, I have two skills that are the same as the others. The identify skill which is always useful and the mana bolt spell which are the same as Hina there” Peter started to say, “Other than that I have the summon familiar spell which everyone saw already for luring in mobs for us. Other than that I have the Minor Heal spell which only heals for 50 health at a time and the Weaken spell which currently only weakens the enemy's strength by 20% right now though I haven't got to use it just yet. The only other things I have is a skill called 'Party Scan' which allows me to view everyone's health above their head and the game gives me messages of what is happening with the group like if they took damage, died or looted something.”

With this the discussion followed on until eventually everyone went to sleep to log back in the next day. Naturally they discussed several things during this time. Namely how their skills and spells worked as well as what position they would be in during battle. They had decided the original formation was fine already and was stable enough without changes as the new changes might cause their formation to crumble easily in certain cases.

However it was not like there was no change at all. Now the group somewhat knows what to do in certain situations like when they are surrounded like before. In such a case, everyone should protect Hina and Grace since they are the support in order to prevent the group's end that easily. Naturally Mark and Maria were the tanks of the group who took the most damage though Peter and even Ian has a high health pool than Maria. But Ian didn't have proper combat skills to use when facing the enemy head on while Peter didn't have any close range combat skills at all though he can use magic to attack and heal the others. Because of this Ian would be in charge of detecting enemies and to deal critical damage to them when the time comes while Peter was in charge of instructing everyone when things goes bad and to support the rest of the group whether is is with magic, healing or actual combat.

[p=center]xXx[/p]

A full day passed in real life and the group entered back into the game. Upon appearing the group were partly separated as they spawned at different points in the city area. Soon enough they grouped together near the city gates which they left the other day although 4 days have passed already.

“First of all, did we lose any equipment?” asked Miriel asking everyone to check their equipment and inventory. Thankfully the group found out they only lost a few pieces of bread and other cheap items which they gained from the previous failed hunt.

“Ah...good....losing equipment in this game is the worst thing that can happen. I've heard that many high levelled players buy a second set of equipment which they are fine with losing” commented Miriel extracting her knowledge of the game once again.

What Miriel said was true, it was now common knowledge that higher levelled players especially rankers would at least have one spare set of equipment to use just in case they died. The reason was simple. The powerful and moreover expensive equipment they had might drop if they died! Such a thing was extremely horrible for any strong player since it directly decreased their strength.

“Anyway I want to propose a plan for everyone to follow” said Sain even though he still believes that Miriel is much more suited for the leader role than himself, “Since we died and lose a level, we want to regain that level back right?”

“Yes, of course” said Lyndis who wondered why Sain pointed out the obvious.

“In that case, we should spend at least some time over the next couple of days hunting to go to around level 7 each before we start on wolves again. Levels are important in this stage more than any other since stats matter the most right now.”

Sain looked at everyone's faces and then said, “Although I'm up for a challenge, it is better at least for the beginning that we do things a bit more safe than we are used to.”

The other nodded to this. Since levels and stats at the early stage had more impact here than later on, they naturally would weaken more than ever if they died now though dying at a later level was even worse due to various reasons. Because of this the group set out to the place they hunted before but dared not venture too deep into the forest again.

“Another thing is that I want everyone to have higher skill proficiency at least. Other than that is actual skills in battle” said Sain on the way. He remembered his master's words when he was a bit drunk and he said without no doubt along with never stick something into crazy, that skill proficiency was the most important thing.

Miriel frowned a bit since according to the research she did into this game, skill proficiency wasn't that much of a wide topic compared to how to level quicker and be stronger quicker than normal as well. This was a common mistake any beginner new to the game would have. Most people were not skilled at fighting at all since they lived a peaceful life. Of course they would be weaker than others who have even with a reasonable level gap. Whenever someone points out these things, the topic of Weed who was the emperor and strongest player in the game had the highest level of skill in combat even with his non-combat class.

Weed was proof that actual combat skills were the most important things you can have. It was simply something that had to be earned and not everyone can earn it at the same time. Players felt much better thinking that they could get stronger more easily with better equipment and levels.

Soon enough the group was fighting waves of foxes once again.

“Mana Bolt!” Miriel shot a fox that was in the middle of attacking Raven and at the same time Raven used his spear to kill the fox in one hit. Elsewhere at the same time, Ian kicked a fox to Lyndis as she slashed it into pieces. Sain and Serena quickly healed the group and Sain used his familiar to quickly draw more foxes to the group to quicken things up.

Bit by bit the group fought foxes like their life was on the line, they throughout the day only had a few breaks in which resulted in most of the time they fought with little or no mana at times.

“Serena, Miriel! Help us break the attack patterns of the foxes” shouted Sain as he poked his spear at the foxes in front of him. There were 4 of them drawn to him at once and he had no mana left like the rest of the group.

Serena and Miriel who were magic users and therefore had little actual combat skills aside from that had low damage, defence and health which made this order more dangerous to them. However they still obeyed.

“Right!”

“On my way!”

Both of them went left Sain to the foxes and went to help the others who were facing just as many foxes or even more than Sain at the same time. The group got really unlucky or was lucky and drew a large pack of foxes. There were 20 in total and they were not even recovered fully yet.

With his quick movement Raven immediately drew a total of 8 foxes onto him at once and was fighting while retreating backwards. Lyndis seeing this took on one fox and slain it before 6 more foxes went to attack her. Ian managed to kill a fox as well before they pursuit him as well. At this point Sain was going around taunting them reducing the number of foxes on his comrades by a total of 4.

While Sain was running around the place he turned to speared one of the foxes that was chasing after Lyndis who was really concentrating on attacking and defending at the same time. She had a normal length sword and didn't have the range Sain or raven had with their spears. However even though she had no mana left, she burst into flames and with it, burnt through the foxes easily.

“Haaaaaaaa!”

Party Member: Lyndis has generated the skill: Life Burn

Life Burn Beginner Level 1

A skill that in turn burns away one's health and inflicts the burning status on oneself, creates flames that in a last ditch effort will burn the enemy into ashes

Health Cost: 10 per second

Damage: Equal to a Low Rank Fire Spell

Cool Down: 30 Seconds

This window appeared in front of Lyndis and Sain at the same time though only Sain was paying attention to it. Lyndis continued to use the flames to attack the foxes until her health went critical where only 7 foxes remained.

'This is bad, she's at critical and the foxes are now targeting her!' thought Sain before he leaped into action to protect her. However someone else was already there protecting Lyndis.

“Shadow! Help me lure these guys away!” shouted Sain once he realised that it was Shadow that was standing in front of the exhausted Lyndis and not some blur he happened to see. Shadow immediately took action and sliced the foxes into pieces with Sain and the others who joined in.

Party has gained Experience

With this battle, they were closer to level 7 than before. While hunting for so much time that night was about to fall they were attacked by a pack of 20 foxes at once.

“Minor Heal!” chanted Sain as he regained enough mana to bring Lyndis out of critical health. At this time it was already night which meant things would be much harder for them.

“Man that was really close!” laughed Lyndis seeing that she was really about to die there. If she did die then she would be once again a level below everyone else.

As such the party decided to at least rest before going back to the city. Thanks to this however they actually had full health and mana when Shadow hears something using his hearing skill which increases the amount of sounds he can take in at once.

“Grrrr....”

'What the...' thought Shadow before he realised the truth, 'This is bad! Wolves again!'

Shadow dropped from the tree and quickly informed everyone what he heard, “There are wolves around here now!”

The other exclaimed and had pale faces. They had a bad time with wolves to begin with and now they had to face them again.

“How many are there?” asked Sain before anything else. He believed even with the wolves 50% stronger, they were at least now able to take on one since they were stronger than before.

However Shadow shook his head and said, “I don't know, I just heard one nearby. There may be more though I couldn't hear them since they were probably too far away” explained Shadow the most he could without the group losing sight of him in the dark.

“Hmm....” Sain though about it since they would most likely die once again if it were that very same group of wolves. However before he could make a decision there were several sounds in the direction Shadow pointed out.

“Grrr....”

“Tch” Sain looked at the direction of the sounds with displeasure, 'Either we run away now or we fight. Our agility isn't as high as the wolves so we can't escape unless we run now!'

However thinking this, Sain was already holding his spear with one hand pointing at the sounds while the others took up similar actions and did the same in the dark night. Night battles were difficult for multiple reasons other than the increased strength of monsters. In the night, vision was decreased and you were more likely to screw something up than in the day. Also flashy things like fire magic would attract the attention of other monsters nearby. Because of this, rarely did beginner hunt at the night unless they had very large numbers.

“Melody of Speed!”

Agility increased by 12% for 10 minutes

Miriel buffed the party up for the battle once again. She now did this every time whenever the group was about to fight since it would make it much easier to fight. She held her staff tight in her hands as she looked at the deep dark forest that changed all of a sudden in the night.

Eventually the wolves started their attack with the group not running away at all.

“Raven, up front!” shouted Sain making Raven take the full frontal attack with his shield.

Bang!

Immediately a wolf appeared and head butted Raven's shield not expecting that Raven with charge up when it leaped out instead of guarding.

“Attack! Mana Bolt! Weaken!” Sain immediately ordered everyone to take out this wolf quickly before the others came as well.

“Double Strike!” Raven pierced through the underbelly of the wolf while Lyndis attacked at the right side without using her bright fire magic. She clearly knew of the dangers of using it right now.

“Backstab!” The finishing blow came to Shadow as he easily hit the top of the head of the wolf in one blow killing it. Blending into the darkness he disappeared just when the next wave of wolves attacked. This time it was two wolves, something they could take.

“Cracked Barrier!” Miriel casted her barrier spell onto Raven who planned on at least taking on one wolf. Lyndis smiled as she took the other with her sword glowing bright red in colour, “Fire Blade!” she shouted as she cut through the flesh of the wolf in high speed with her hot burning sword.

Shadow helped with Lyndis since she didn't have a shield and therefore less defence while both Sain and Miriel attacked from afar using mana bolts to distract or hit the wolves at the same time. Serena saved some and and casted her regenerative spells on both Raven and Lyndis to keep them going. Eventually both of the wolves died but just in time as the leader of this small pack appeared with 3 more wolves.

“That's...” Everyone's eyes flared up in hatred. If it weren't for that silver wolf then they wouldn't have died even when facing several wolves at the same time. Sain himself estimated the silver wolf to be over level 15 and maybe even level 20 in strength alone.

It easily caught Shadow off guard when he was hiding and quickly killed him while it quickly led the other wolves to kill off the rest of the group one by one.

“Weaken!” shouted Sain aiming at the silver wolf. In an instant the wolf's power decreased by 20% due to his spell as the others started to attack individual wolves at a time to lower their numbers.

“Life Burn!” Lyndis spared nothing and even burnt her health off to quickly take down one wolf leaving her at low health.

“Minor Heal!” Sain quickly got her health back up though she could not use that skill again in this battle.

“Cracked Barrier, Mana Bolt!” Miriel quickly casted these two spells, one on Raven who was no facing the silver wolf alone and the other one a wolf that was fighting Shadow head on.

Shadow quickly used the darkness to confuse the wolf he was facing and got behind it with ease, it was so fluent that you would think Shadow was a high levelled player!

“Backstab, Double Strike!” Shadow started spamming his skills on the wolf which was taking critical damage constantly from Shadow until it died. Shadow then moved to Lyndis on suppressing the other wolf besides the silver wolf.

Seeing that it;s comrades quickly died more than ever, the silver wolf let out a cry in anger.

“Rooooooar!”

Strength decrease by 15%

Agility decrease by 20%

Skills and spells have a higher chance of failing

The party suddenly got massive debuffs from the silver wolf! When you face a stronger monster, sometimes they have skills that decrease your stats! This was the main reason in which why parties at higher levels failed in dungeons. With their stats constantly lowered it is natural they cannot fight well against monsters that were 50% stronger than usual in dungeons as well.

“Shit...” muttered Sain feeling weak in his legs. However this didn't stop him from casting a spell to help Lyndis and Shadow at the same time, “Weaken!”

The wolf that attacked Lyndis and Shadow quickly weakened just when it was about to attack which gave a opening in which Lyndis and Shadow used to kill it. Now there was only the silver wolf left. However things were bad with Raven.

Bang!

Raven was sent flying back hitting the ground with his back. His health was now at 20% while Lyndis and Shadow's were at just over 60%. Sain and the other two had full health since they were supporting from a range. Serena quickly casted healing spells onto Raven but that just got him over 25% before the silver wolf leaped onto Raven about to kill him.

'I have to save him no matter what! I won't let them die anymore!' that cry resounded in Sain as he charged forward with a shout.

“Die!”

Unknown to him, something changed in Sain as his body moved faster than he remembered and as his spear easily made it's way into the eye of the silver wolf.

Critical Hit!

Fatal Blow!

Sain just dealt 4 times more damage than usual with a critical hit combining with a fatal blow against the silver wolf. To the pain, the silver wolf leaped off Raven as it directed it's attention to Sain.

You have gained the skill: Bursting Will

Bursting Will Beginner Level 1

One's will to do something even if it cost you your life. Increases all stats by a certain extent while in a deep crisis for some brief seconds

All Stats increase by: 10%

Since it was injured now, the party went and struck hard at the silver wolf with it only having one eye to see from. Shadow used this chance to take his revenge as he took out the other eye of the silver wolf.

“Backstab.”

“Garrr?!”

The silver wolf that was several times stronger than the group could only wail in fear as the group hunted it down slowly. A good 10 minutes passed with the group torturing it with their low damage as the wolf could no longer move and eventually committed suicide by biting it's tongue.

Several message than appeared in front of the group.

You have gained Experience

Hunted a Silvery Wolf, for this act you have gained:

- 5 Fame

- Fighting Spirit +1

- Strength +1

- Double experience for hunting it while being much weaker than it

You have levelled up

You have levelled up

You have levelled up

...

In the end the group gained a total of 5 levels from hunting a powerful wolf that was around level 20 and got double experience from it while being only level 6 about to level to level 7. The entire group was now at level 12 with Miriel and Serena nearing level 13 while Lyndis was in the early level 12 while the rest were in the middle of the experience bar.

Everyone smiled at this and placed their points into their character. More importantly, some of their skills levelled up during this long day of hunting as well. Most of their combat skills increased by 1 level each while some skills like Shadow's backstab increased by 2. Shadow's stealth skill even went to the intermediate level as well which made it even harder to spot him in combat.

These were Serena, Miriel and Lyndis' skill windows in order

[third=Skill Window,Skill Window]Skill Window[/third][third=- Magic Mastery Beginner 3 (45/100)

- Nature Mastery Beginner 2 (58/100)

- Mediation Beginner level 1 (43/100)

- Mana Burst Beginner level 1 (6/100)

- Minor Health Regeneration Beginner level 3 (54/500)

- Minor Stamina Regeneration Beginner level 2 (79/300)

- Quicken Death Beginner level 1 (0/100)

Language Comprehension Beginner level 1 (0/100),- Magic Mastery Beginner 2 (98/100)

- Illusion Magic Mastery Beginner 1 (68/100)

- Sound Magic Mastery Beginner 1 (40/100)

- Magic Control Mastery Beginner 1 (96/100)

- Mediation Beginner level 1 (14/100)

- Cooking Beginner Level 1 (13/100)

- Identify Beginner level 1 (1/100)

- Magic Bolt Beginner level 3 (122/500)

- Clairvoyance Beginner level 1 (46/100)

- Melody of Sound Beginner level 2 (20/300)

- Cracked Barrier Beginner level 2 (4/1200)]- Sword Mastery Beginner 3 (10/100)

- Fire Manipulation Mastery Level 1 (66/100)

- Cooking Beginner Level 1 (13/100)

- Pocket Fireball Beginner level 2 (4/300)

- Fire Blade Beginner level 2 (73/300)

- Life Burn Beginner level 1 (5/100)[/third]

These were Raven, Shadow and Sain's skill windows in order

[third=Skill Window,Skill Window]Skill Window[/third][third=- Spear Mastery Beginner Level 2 (99/100)

- Shield Mastery Beginner Level 4 (55/100)

- Shield Bash Beginner level 3 (31/500)

- Double Strike Beginner level 2 (53/300)

- Footwork Beginner level 2 (49/300)

- Repair Beginner level 1 (50/1000),- Dagger Mastery Beginner 3 (55/100)

- Stealth Intermediate Level 1 (86/100)

- Hearing Beginner level 1 (25/100)

- Dark Vision Beginner level 1 (75/100)

- Night Vision Beginner level 2 (29/300)

- Locate Trap Beginner level 1 (30/100)

- Disarm Trap Beginner level 1 (12/100)

- Backstab Beginner level 3 (45/500)

- Double Strike Beginner level 2 (14/300)

- Climbing Beginner Level 3 (82/100)]- Spear Mastery Beginner Level 2 (15/100)

- Identify Beginner level 1 (2/100)

- Party Scan Beginner level 1 (40/100)

- Mana Bolt Beginner level 3 (155/500)

- Mediation Beginner level 1 (15/100)

- Summon Familiar Beginner level 2 (4/300)

- Minor Heal Beginner level 2 (18/300)

- Weaken Beginner level 1 (64/100)

- Bursting Will Beginner level 1 (1/100)[/third]

Happy with the results the group went back in town and logged out to sleep out of the game since they didn't have a proper place to sleep in game besides their masters' place which they all course did not discuss with each other yet.

They did not know yet of the terrors that awaited them when their masters would seek them out once again for a certain something.

Onwards?PreviousExitNext

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Author's Notes:

- Word Count: 10800~

- This is a chapter I wrote sometime last month and there is a HUGE gap between the time I wrote this and wrote the last chapter. I was focusing more on the overall situation compared to the individual thoughts this time and for the rest of the volume to shorten it a bit.

- As for the characters, Serena barely got any screen time....Lyndis and Miriel somehow managed to get along...I need to amend that part in the volume 2, and I think Raven, Shadow and Sain were fine this chapter as character...

- Also you have no idea how difficult it is to manage 6 damn status windows and skill windows at the same time....does anyone know how to make 12 column tables?

- The buttons only allow me up to 4 and I have to use large status windows instead of the compressed ones that I have been using. It basically is 2 rows of the status windows lumped together showing only the stats which allows me to edit them all together easily.....plus it doesn't take too much space as well.