Another day passed and the group was back in the game. They felt refresh since the previous day like a massive burden had been taken off their shoulders. The fear that they briefly had which was the fear of death and failure disappeared from their minds as they stepped back into the game.

“We're level 12 now....it'll take us another week in game to reach level 20” said Sain looking at his status window. It looked something like this now.

Status Window[quart=Name,Alignment]Sain,Neutral[/quart][quart=Level,Profession]12,Shaman[/quart]RaceHumanTitleTacticianHealth782Mana371[quart=Fame,Infamy]15,0[/quart][quart=Strength,Agility]32 +12,34 +11[/quart][quart=Intelligence,Wisdom]26 +11,26 +11[/quart][quart=Vitality,Stamina]35 +1,26 +1[/quart][quart=Fighting Spirit,Endurance]25 +2,15 +1[/quart][quart=Leadership,Luck]1 +1,1 +1[/quart][quart=Offense,Defense]10,13[/quart]Magic Resistance0%Elemental Resistance[quart=Light,Dark]0%,0%[/quart][quart=Fire,Ice]0%,0%[/quart][quart=Earth,Lightning]0%,0%[/quart][quart=Wind,Nature]0%,0%[/quart]Bonus- 10% more authority when commanding people

- Strength, Agility, Intelligence and Wisdom +10

- All Skills effect +1%

- All Stats +1

- Strength +1

- Fighting Spirit +1

Compared to Weed at level 13 who had 960 health by then with 50 Vitality, Sain had much less vitality and therefore health. However Sain's health was still on the extreme high side compared to other players still. At this level, most players would have only 300 or so health whether they had tank classes or not. It simply show how proper training to increase various stats can result in a overall result for the player if they did this.

The masters in which taught the group all knew this and with the exception of Miriel and Serena whom were ranged support characters, the rest had some form of basic training pounded in them to increase their survivability. If a normal player had a 50% chance of winning against a monster, this training would increase it to 90% instead.

Sain contacted the others and they met at the gates once again wanting to take on wolves to further increase their levels. But something needed to be done first.

“We need to sell the loot” Sain plainly said.

Loot and other items in this game worked strangely though very similar to old CRPGs that were things like Dungeon and Dragons and other games similar to that. First of all, a person's weight capacity was determined mainly by a person's strength stat. However movement speed, associated with agility often also affected this as well with the speed in which you can walk with items on you though this is also affected mainly by strength as well. Namely instead of the classic movement reduction when you are over the weight limit, this gradually piles of with the more items you have on you.

Although they don't appear next to you all the item or in bags, when they are in your inventory, they still affect your weight capacity. There are weight reducing bags in which loot and items in there will weight less but it was still wise to get rid of any and all excess items you had to the general store which will pretty much buy everything though possibly at a lower price then other specialist stores. It was a matter of saving time at this point and the general store rips a large profit thanks to it by reselling to other stores later on.

The others simply agree since it was a natural thing to do. They walked into the general store and took out the items which they gained and didn't need. While they could sell their items to a merchant there was a good chance things would get too complicated and they would be ripped off if they did. As such the general store is still the way to go.

[p=center]xXx[/p]

On a building far away from the city gate where the group was, a person sat and observed them with interest although it was not the good kind. Next to this person was a petite girl dressed in dark purple and black called Anna who was kneeling down to this person. This person was naturally Eden. A Eden which experienced a number of things and frankly retired from his endless adventures that tormented him every step of the way. However along with way he somehow became strong, too strong for this world.

And as such he was bored out of his mind until something interesting happens such as now even though it was a small interest.

“Hmm...although they died once to it, they soon later killed a silver wolf with it's small pack at only a third of it's level. There's a good chance that they will be interesting. Have you got the results from the 'fragment' that were placed on them?” asked Eden using a skill called 'Heaven's Sight' that allows him to see everything in a kilometre radius.

“Yes Master, only two of them are reacting to it right now though it only has been 2 days since the 'fragment' were active” replied Anna in a voice of deep respect.

“Ho~ So two of them already gained skills from just a mere 2 days of hunting? Impressive at least. Hmm...I'm going to give them 4 months in this world then make my decision whether they can take the trial or not” said Eden with some amusement.

Anna could not help but to shiver when she remembered the Trial she and the other 5 took years ago. To this day, it still haunts her. It was something that non-talented people could do as well as get out properly sane when and if you finish it. Your view on the world twists to the point that you don't recognise yourself. And the Guild-master is pushing this same trial to children not even 15 levels in when they struggled to near death constantly at level 200 during the trial?

“Don't worry Anna, the trial scales to your actual skills so it will be as difficult as it was for you and the others from last time” said Eden reassuringly though this only made Anna silently pity the 6 that were being observed like this.

'Now....what should I do to relieve my boredom...?' wondered Eden as he continued on keeping an eye on this new group.

[p=center]xXx[/p]

The group now ready to set out again, walked into the forest without much fear due to them slaying a creature that was much stronger than them. Thanks to this, they gained some stats as well when they killed it.

“It looks like stats and other bonuses are gained when you kill monsters that are stronger than you like boss monsters....the silver wolf was a semi-boss monster?” wondered Miriel as the group was walking forward, “I have to research the true extent of this later.”

Sain smiled since Miriel was the type to research everything to make things go perfectly in the first go. However if things goes wrong, she research what went wrong and any other possibilities before trying again. Miriel held such an impression to Sain.

“Um....” Serena was a bit hesitant on talking but Miriel and Lyndis noticed this immediately.

“What is it?” “Spit it out.” They both said at the same time. They glared at each other for a split second so it was like an illusion and went back to normal.

“Should I learn an attack spell?” asked Serena

“Why would you, your the 'cleric' of the group” replied Lyndis.

“Most clerics don't have a way to attack for a very long time. Besides you need to save mana for healing so having an attack spell is actually bad” replied Miriel.

Sain sighed a bit since Lyndis' answer was so simple and yet Miriel's answer at the same time was much more detailed with a simple thought for both of them.

'Well Lyndis seems like the type to do things before she thinks while Miriel is the exact opposite' thought Sain. Sain then looked at the others wanting to know more about them as well, 'Serena is the shy type definitely while Raven is the quiet type but both are hard working people from what I know', Sain remembered what he heard from other people in which both of them worked hard to get where they are right now.

Then Sain looked at Shadow very closely else he might miss him once again due to his lack of a presence, 'As for Shadow....hmm....I'm not too sure about him. He always seems like the type to go with the flow and not complain much even in battle....have to keep an eye on him.'

To Sain, Shadow was the enigma of the group in which he did not know much about him compared to the others. Of course he could've asked Lyndis or Shadow himself of what he was like but decided not to since it could make him seem too over-cautious and suspicious.

Either way, the managed to get to the wolf area soon.

“Summon Familiar” chanted Sain summoning another familiar to use, this time it was a small rabbit. Before the spell took a third of his total mana but now it only took a sixth which shows how much more mana he had now compared to before at the start. Minutes later the rabbit lured a wolf to the group before being eaten and disappearing.

“Grrr” The wolf looked at the party like it was prey. It was simply only at the group's current level that other normal players would start to hunt down wolves and there was a good chance that they would die in the process. However this group hunted them down when they were only half their current level, how would they fear a mere wolf now?

“Mana Bolt!” Miriel started the battle off by shooting a Mana Bolt at the forehead of the wolf which knocked it back and startled it greatly.

“Take this!” Taking this chance, Lyndis rushed in and sliced the wolf into pieces with her sword. The wolf quickly turned grey without anyone else attacking.

“This is...” muttered Sain and as he thought, 'The group is much more powerful now that we are level 12 each including Lyndis. Is there that much of a difference between now and then?'

It could be said that a player at level 12 was roughly 4 times stronger than one at level 6. Moreover everyone in this group was more or less extensively trained and gained extra stats so they were actually as powerful as level 20 players now.

“Let's find a pack of wolves this time. Summon Familiar!”

Sain created another rabbit familiar which seems to be the extent of his summoning skills right now. Before it was a frog which wasn't even as strong as a rabbit and now it got upgraded to this. Perhaps the next thing he could summon would be a fox and maybe later a wolf to use. The randomising nature of his summoning skill was very valuable to stronger players but were reasonably weak for normal players.

Soon enough the group met and faced against 5 wolves which was their limit last time.

[p=center]xXx[/p]

Lyndis feeling more energy than before immediately charged alone at the wolves at once.

“Fire Blade!”

Her sword glowing a bright red, even the wolves backed away a bit seeing this. Her speed was more or less a bit higher than a common wolf now and she easily caught one off guard. Lyndis slashed three times nearly at one and the wolf burst into grey light dying. Now there was only 4 more wolves left at the very start.

“Double Strike!” Lyndis looked to her left while also observing the wolves at the same time and she saw Raven aggressively attacking two wolves at the same time pushing them back easily. His high defence and health had this an option only Raven can do right now.

“Gar!”

While she was paying too much attention to Raven, a wolf jumped on her.

You took 50 damage

Roughly only a small portion of Lyndis' health was taken with that bite that hit her left arm. Something like Sain's minor heal was more than enough to take care of it now that it increased in proficiency and could restore more health than before. Lyndis grinned and kicked the wolf away and then a dark shadow appeared and stabbed it's back form above.

“Backstab” Shadow said when he leaped from the tree to do this.

'Why does it seem like Shadow always climbs trees when we're fighting and yet makes a good contribution at the same time?' though Lyndis remembering the Shadow did some training for climbing and should have the climbing skill right now. The wolf critically hurt was taken care of soon and when Lyndis looked the others had already taken care of the other wolves with ease as well with Sain and Miriel combining their mana bolts to weaken the wolves for Raven to finish off.

Lyndis looked at Sain a bit curious, 'He has more health than me but still chooses to stay back and observe everything. Wouldn't it be more efficient for the group to have Sain fight at the front as well? He's even less likely than me to die!'

Although Lyndis knew Sain had reasons to stay further back from the battle than he needed to, she still could not think of any good way so far to do so. Many leaders were of the knight or other powerful close combat classes and had good group skills at the same time which were only a bit inferior to priests buffs.

However the real reason on why Sain stayed back was due to his teaching from his master called Gen. He was taught to stay back from fighting and therefore he will even though it means hunting will be a bit more difficult at times. He trusted the group enough that they won't die so easily now. He knew there were two types of leaders. One that inspire from the front and one that commands from the back. Sain wanted to be one that combines both wisdom and might of the two. Rarely had any have such abilities to do both. When one thinks about those who can do this, they naturally think of the current Emperor, The God of War Weed.

[p=center]xXx[/p]

Sain managed using his familiar to lure in another group of wolves while the group walked further deeper into the forest area. Now they were around 300 metres away from the city gates. The reason for this distance was due to the thick trees that blocked the way which slowed down people or monster which allowed for monsters to have much clearer territories. However this meant that people had more difficulties escaping when things goes bad and something that the group personally experienced before.

However the person who worried about this the most, or to say the only person in the group to worry about this was Miriel who had the fear of being left behind by the group in any way.

“Cracked Barrier!” chanted Miriel making sure now that Lyndis did not take that much damage. Before this spell was more useful with Raven against the wolves but now that he had a lot more health, Lyndis was a better target for now.

“Thank you!” shouted Lyndis as she fought along side Raven and Shadow against the wolves at one.

“Minor Health Regeneration!”

Miriel looked to her left and saw Serena casting these minor healing spells throughout battles not stopping at all until her mana is nearly gone. The only reason Miriel could see was that Serena was training her skills as well that her spells were much more effective this way.

Sain noticed this and during the battle sent out a familiar to draw another group of wolves in which lead to the group having to finish things up quicker than they were used to.

“Mana Bolt!” Miriel used her only attack spell so far against the wolves as well aiming at certain spots in which will deal more damage or give a chance for the others to get hits in rapidly. Miriel was a classic example of a support type magician that did not lead the battle but altered it enough for others to succeed.

“Rah!”

However things don't always turn up well and a wolf appeared and attacked Miriel from the side. However...

“Hah!”

Sain immediately went into action and hit the wolf back a couple times with his spear. His eyes and body focused as he hit the eyes and inner mouth area until he finally stabbed his spear hard in the head killing it in one blow.

“Few~” Sain breathed out and muttered something that Miriel didn't hear. Before she knew it, the battle ended and she was staring at Sain who was checking something in his window, most likely his status window. Before Miriel knew it, she snapped out of it trying to get unnecessary thoughts out of her head.

[p=center]xXx[/p]

Eventually days passed and even a week where the group finally reached level 20. It was a fairly slower rate than before since they grind on only wolves even at night. However thanks to this their skill proficiency increased rapidly and then gained quite a bit of money altogether. Because of this, the total amount of money the group totalled up to a few gold pieces which was enough to buy a new good weapon for one person or a piece of armour.

“I don't think we should buy new equipment yet” said Miriel plainly. Although equipment were important, having money was even more important in some cases. Money was used everywhere while equipment could only degrade in quality after use. They needed the money for supplies and such. However she could not reveal she ached for Sain who....well she could not think about it any more than she did.

“True, although we could buy some good gear, it's better to wait a while until we have more gold to buy it in one go at least” said Sain agreeing, “Plus only Raven, Shadow and Lyndis have proper defence with their armour.”

Sain looked at those whom gifted them with proper equipment that was suited for them. Namely everyone but him! Serena and Miriel had robes, Raven and Lyndis had some basic armour while Shadow has some sort of leather armour as well dyed black. Each of them had proper weapons including himself that would last quite a while at least until level 50 but still, he wore the default armour the game gave you.

Sain unconsciously looked at the armour store which sold some good leather armour that was on the level of Raven and Lyndis' own for around the amount that they had but it was a foolish idea since they needed to spend that money on supplies for what they wanted to do next. With some regret, Sain turned to the group.

“Since we're level 20 now, wolves aren't that great for hunting. I heard from the general store clerk that there is a nearby dungeon filled with kobolds on the first level which are level 20. On the second and third floors however, there are goblins which should be around level 50.”

Naturally going to a stronger hunting ground in order to become stronger through hunting! It was something that even the most clueless of people would do since it would benefit them greatly with monsters that give more experience on kills. Moreover, dungeons were a very useful place for hunting.

Other than the fact that they are often filled with some sort of treasure if it had not been explored already, monster spawns are much higher which is great in some cases although they are 50% stronger as if it was night in dungeons. At the end of the dungeon there are often a boss monster that respawns at a slower rate than other monsters but there is a chance that it will drop a rare item!

The only exception to this rule was respawning is of unique boss monsters that are much more powerful than normal boss monsters to the point that even if guilds unite, there is not a full chance of slaying it. In the past one particular player went around doing impossible quests that involved him often slaying these unique boss monsters that threaten the continent!

“All right, let's go to that dungeon, we have enough supplies for at least a month of hunting right?” asked Sain to Miriel and Lyndis who are the cooks of the group and therefore managers of the supplies.

“Yep” “Of course.”

However before the group left, Sain checked the group's status window using his party scan skill of course with their permission. It was a feature that he did not realise the skill had until later when it levelled up once more.

Status Window

Status WindowSainShadow[quart=Race: Human,Race: Human]Type: Neutral,Type: Neutral[/quart][quart=Title: Tactician,Title: Dark Walker]Fame: 15,Fame: 15[/quart][quart=Health: 1030,Health: 748]Mana: 475,Mana: 203[/quart][quart=Strength: 40 +12,Strength: 33 +3]Agility: 42 +11,Agility: 73 +11[/quart][quart=Intelligence: 34 +11,Intelligence: 10 +1]Wisdom: 34+11,Wisdom: 10 +1[/quart][quart=Vitality: 43 +1,Vitality: 30 +1]Stamina: 30 +1,Stamina: 25 +1[/quart][quart=Fighting Spirit: 25 +2,Fighting Spirit: 32 +2]Endurance: 15 +1,Endurance: 13 +1[/quart][quart=Leadership: 3 +1,Leadership: 0 +1]Luck: 1 +1,Luck: 24 +11[/quart][quart=Offense: 16,Offense: 12]Defence: 15,Defence: 26[/quart]

Status WindowRavenLyndis[quart=Race: Human,Race: Elf]Type: Neutral,Type: Neutral[/quart][quart=Title: Shield-Bearer,Title: Blade Dancer]Fame: 15,Fame: 15[/quart][quart=Health: 1592,Health: 802]Mana: 258,Mana: 358[/quart][quart=Strength: 58 +12,Strength: 57 +2]Agility: 38 +11,Agility: 43 +1[/quart][quart=Intelligence: 10 +6,Intelligence: 35 +4]Wisdom: 15 +6,Wisdom: 12 +4[/quart][quart=Vitality: 59 +11,Vitality: 32 +1]Stamina: 33 +6,Stamina: 22 +1[/quart][quart=Fighting Spirit: 22 +7,Fighting Spirit: 10 +1]Endurance: 18 +6,Endurance: 10 +1[/quart][quart=Leadership: 0 +6,Leadership: 0 +1]Luck: 0 +6,Luck: 2 +1[/quart][quart=Offense: 22,Offense: 18]Defence: 36,Defence: 35[/quart]

Status WindowMirielSerena[quart=Race: Night Elf,Race: Half-Elf]Type: Neutral,Type: Neutral[/quart][quart=Title: Sound Maiden,Title: Nature Wielder]Fame: 15,Fame: 35[/quart][quart=Health: 311,Health: 311]Mana: 709,Mana: 650[/quart][quart=Strength: 9 +2,Strength:9 +2]Agility: 31 +1,Agility: 30 +1[/quart][quart=Intelligence: 77 +13,Intelligence: 54 +11]Wisdom: 35 +13,Wisdom: 59 +11[/quart][quart=Vitality: 10 +1,Vitality: 10 +1]Stamina: 12 +1,Stamina: 9 +11[/quart][quart=Leadership: 0 +1,Leadership: 0 +1]Luck: 0 +1,Luck: 1 +1[/quart][quart=Offense: 10,Offense: 10]Defence: 10,Defence: 10[/quart]

Sain smiled at these numbers although they did not show say what the bonus stats are from nor what bonuses they had on their character, it was enough that you would be the overall view of the person. If it weren't for the fact that the entire group knew that they had to spend years with each other, they probably wouldn't even dare ask.

Looking at the status windows as they walked to the dungeon which was only a few kilometres away from the city, Sain found that the group according to something that he had known after some minor research above average in stats compared to other players not at the top. Since a long time ago, when it was shown multiple times by Weed first, then the Gemochis and finally the countless other users, those who have done basic training before hunting were very strong to the point that you felt they were monsters.

At level 1 they rivalled a level 30 with stats alone. With time they only get stronger as their advantage over other players stays the same while they collect equipment and all other things that other players do to increase stats as well. Once there were some famous people complaining about such an advantage in the game but he was shot down so fast that he became a hated person by the world. The fact that a person spending a month or more doing this alone stripped all sort of hatred towards finishing the basic training before going out. The simple fact was that no player right in their mind would do this unless they were obsessed and had a strong mind to endure the sheer boredom and intense strain on the body.

Even though the group was not at that level, they were still quite strong in his eyes. Their teamwork was evolving quickly and they did not need words in battle to understand what needed to be done. This made it a lot easier for Sain since now he doesn't need to remind Lyndis not to charged and get surrounded, Raven to stop pushing forward only a few enemies instead of a lot of them and so on.

'Before....my voice hurt quite a bit even after drinking lots of water but now it looks like my throat can endure it for a while unless something bad happens' thought Sain as nearly a quarter of the day passed and they arrived at the entrance of the dungeon.

The place was called Dunxix Dungeon and was a place in which a number of players came to hunt for until around level 50 where the place really did not give as much experience after that. The group looked at a tower of a rock the entrance was and the stairs that led into darkness. Dunxix Dungeon was a dungeon that descended rather than ascend and was the most common type of dungeon and was close to the city making this a heavily popular spot.

However the numbers in this dungeon still only amounted to around 100 at a time due to the general low population of the city the group started in the first place. Cities with good rumours had lots of players in them, cities with bad rumours like Witchhelm had a much lower player population though it was still high compared to in the past when the game was really only getting started.

Most the players in Witchhelm were of a higher average level due to be located in the frontier of the Western Continent where there had been many monster invasions and attacks of all sorts. In the past, the North was a freezing cold hell, the East was the wilderness which would eat you alive, the South was a burning desert with only the strongest lived and to the West was the Wild Frontier which was home to many powerful monsters and weird environments like constant raining areas, poison swamps and so on.

And on the edge of the continents in these locations were the 10 restricted zones which were the most dangerous places in which normal players would never set foot in since even if you are a top player, there is a high chance you will die. The reason for this is that on the lowest scale, the average levels of the monsters are around 400 at least along with special characteristics such as giant monsters or flying monsters which are the hardest types to handle.

“Level 28 Cleric!”

“Right, we need someone who can tank kobolds at least!”

“I'm a level 30 fire mage waiting for a party to go hunt down goblins!”

Getting near the entrance, there were a number of players that were seeking a party. None of them disturbed the group since they looked to be full either way. In the game, the normal number of players in a party would be 6, this would increase with higher leadership. It is possible to have more players in a party but there would be some side effects like a higher chance that the party will be inflicted with fear or confusion as well as the high difficulties in controlling a large number of players.

Because of this, while some players looked at the group, they did not actively try to scout them since there was a high chance of causing bad feelings towards yourself if you try to take from another's party.

Sain looked at the numerous players and their gear and thought, 'Most of them have the same level of gear as us while there are some that have much better gear than us. I don't think there are many that have worse things than us here at all. As expected from a place those from level 20-50 gather'.

The group entered the dungeon and walked down the stairs to the first floor of this dungeon.

“First fight with kobolds!” said Lyndis excitingly. You could see the fighting spirit was being poured out of her body already.

“Just don't run out too far and die” warned Miriel, a dungeon was extremely dangerous compared to normal hunting.

Both Raven and Shadow kept their mouths shut since it was in their nature to and Serena simply looked around the dark stairs in fear of monsters that may pop out from the darkness. I too looked around for a bit but stopped since other players would notice if such things happened in this dungeon already. In another 2 minutes, the group arrived at the bottom to the stairs.

“That was quite a long walk down” Sain commented, at the group's pace, the first floor would be more than a hundred metres deep alone.

“The air is kinda thick and dry down here as well” said Lyndis complaining. Miriel added in, “Air circulations is really bad, no wonder why there aren't that many players here in the first place. If it was further away from the city than no one in their right mind would come here”

Sain nodded and lead the group forward to see what this dungeon looked like. This was their first dungeon so they at least wanted it to be a good experience. The underground dungeon was not that dusty at all which was a good thing and while there were some single corridors here and there, there were much more multi-corridor connections around the place. The walls were carved in and the place looked like some sort of mine though there was no precious ores here else the city would've already claimed it.

After another 5 minutes the first sighting of the enemy was finally here. There were 3 kobolds straight in front though the view between the group and them was partly blocked by a wall.

“Shadow, can you see if there are any more enemies around here?” asked Sain ordering him. Shadow nodded and disappeared for a while and then reappeared saying, “None, at least in the range where they can come and attack us during the battle.”

Sain nodded since Shadow had the highest agility of the group and therefore he had the highest speed as well. If Shadow said that there weren't any enemies, then there wasn't any enemies in a long run.

“Melody of Power!” chanted Miriel setting up the buff.

Strength increased by 14% for 10 minutes

Miriel's 'Melody of Sound' was at Beginner Level 4 now and it's power increased to 14%. Although the time limit of the spell did not rise, it was a moderate gain with the increase in power and speed the group gains.

“Minor Health Regeneration!” Serena chanted the spell and placed it on Raven who was the tank. Minor Health Regeneration was something that lasted for a while and was useful in that the healing the constant throughout the period in which it is active.

'It's only too bad it only last for a total of 100 seconds since it can be very useful if it can healing throughout a battle' thought Sain getting ready to fight as well. At this point the Kobolds saw the flashes of light from the spells.

“Kekekeke Human!”

“Kill the human!”

All three of the kobolds rushed at the group. While Raven and Lyndis were in the most danger as the front line fighters, more or less the entire group was nervous from this first battle. However the only exception was Sain who took out his staff and held it with one hand and the spear in another hand and chanted, “Mana Bolt” calmly.

Mana gathered in the staff as a ball appeared at the end and shot extremely fast at the leg of one of the kobolds.

“Ah! Magic human magic!”

The other two kobolds didn't even mind that their comrade was hit and was down. Sain smiled at this, 'If they were better in teamwork than this would be even harder but...'

“What are you guys waiting for?! Attack!” shouted Sain beginning the start of the attack.

“Footwork! Shield Bash!” Raven spared no time and used 'Footwork' to charge forward at a higher speed than the kobold to the left and used 'Shield Bash' at the same time with the increased speed to hit the kobold back even more.

Bang!

The left kobld was stunned and sent flying. At the same time Lyndis charged up as well to the right kobold.

“Mana Bolt!” chanted Miriel hitting the side of the kobold which allowed Lyndis to take the first attack.

“Fire Blade!” her sword turned red and burnt the place where she cut the kobold at. It's arm and bits of it's leg was sent flying off as she combo attacked it without rest. At this point, the third kobold got up from the ground and once more charged at the group.

“Backstab” said Shadow calmly sinking his blade into the back of the head of the third kobold killing it with one shot with a critical and fatal hit at the same time.

You have gained experience

The battle finished in another few minutes with the kobolds that Raven and Lyndis handling soon died running out of health although Shadow managed to kill one in one strike.

Sain checked his stamina and it was still quite high although the others' stamina dropped a bit more than you think with them fighting seriously all the way. Of all classes, those of the melee classes had the highest stamina due to them constantly using large amounts of stamina while fighting. It was due to this that they had more stamina than the usual ranged players.

“These Kobolds are stronger than they look” said Lyndis wiping off the sweat from her forehead due to her concentrating too much in battle.

Raven the said, “There's health, speed and power are much higher than wolves.” It was one of the few cases in which Raven would talk. Usually he kept quiet but sometimes he talked adding into the conversation.

Sain calculated at bit in his thoughts.

'The lowest level of kobolds are level 20 and they can increase to around level 30 and sometimes to level 40 in rare cases. Those kobolds were definitely the low ranked ones of around level 20 so we should be fine for at least a while. I believe we can at least take some that are around level 25 or so as well.'

Sain had confidence that the group could not die that easily in this dungeon! Plus there were many signs of other parties in this dungeon as well.

Clang, Bang, Boom

The sounds of battle were often nearby in this dungeon. The first floor was relatively small so this was the case but it immediately expanded much bigger from the second floor onwards. Goblins started to appear in the second floor while the third floor almost consisted of them with lots of variations in their ranks. While Kobolds were usually nothing special, goblins were more similar to humans that they have swordsmen, spearmen and mages as well. It was only fortunate that their clumsy fingers cannot use a bow.

“Okay, let's find another group of enemies to fight” said Sain once more leading the group deeper into the dungeon.

[p=center]xXx[/p]

A week passed by in the dungeon and the group only levelled up a total of 3 times. But right now they were in another battle against Kobolds of around level 27 on Sain's estimate.

“Mana Bolt!” “Mana Bolt!”

Both Miriel and Sain's skill proficiency with Mana Bolt was at Beginner Level 4 even though they used it quite a bit. Every time they levelled the skill up, another 2 mana bolts were added into the attack so now they can fire 7 of them at once.

A total of 14 small mana bolts rapidly came out of their staves and directly hit the forehead of the Kobold over and over again which resulted in them dying from the attacks.

“Haaa!” Lyndis went and killed off the last remaining Kobold with Raven and Shadow while Serena kept the group's health and stamina up.

You have gained Experience

Sain checked his experience bar and it was 40% filled from the mere 5% gain from this battle. Already Sain could feel the late game drag onto his levelling. Normally if you were lucky, gaining 3-4% in a battle was really good. Unless you fought monsters a large number of levels above you, only then would you be able to gain more.

The more difficult the battle, the more experience you gain. The group now at level 23 was about to take care of most kobolds in small numbers. However they hesitate to take on those who were in larger grouping then them. The main reason why players were able to take down monsters was that they often outnumber it for the most part. The second reason was that they had better gear than the monsters.

However if one of these advantages were gone then the chance of death was much higher.

This time, the group battled against 4 kobolds at once so one kobold roughly gave you around 1% experience on the kill. In the past week, the group killed several hundred kobolds one by one until they reached this far. The rate would've been higher if not for the higher density of players in this dungeon as well as the group needing to take a break once in a while. The group kept their health, mana and stamina high for each battle which resulted in their slow pace in their mind.

'At this rate, we will need to take several months to a year in game to reach level 100' thought Sain. He had not forgotten about the task the group was given in exchange for a place to stay, in fact none of the group members did. This game was only a result in the nature of the request.

On average, a player would take around 2 and a half years in real life to reach around level 300. Reaching level 100 would only take a faction of this time of around a few months in real life which was around the rate the group was going at right now. Reaching level 200 would take around a full year in real life as well.

However these numbers were only for the overall view of players. Many players that hunted constantly reach level 100 in half the time than other casual players while reaching level 200 in around a year. It could be said that Weed took only 9 months to reach level 300 which was an amazing rate of growth for a player. Other players would take at least double that amount.

The reason why Sain was so distressed in their rate of growth was that it would take a year to reach the point in which they could go around the continent with some safety which was level 200. That would mean they would have another 4 years at best to finish the request in which they would probably reach level 400 if they constantly hunted.

“We need to pick up the pace a lot now” said Sain which honestly surprised the rest of the group.

“Umm...isn't the current pace now good enough?” asked Serena. She was confused since they were making solid progress compared to other players at the same rate.

“True, the rate in which we were levelling decreased but that's only because the experience we need to level up just increased” said Shadow wanting in to this conversation which will direct the group's hunting from now on.

“Yes compared to before where we levelled up 8 times in a week, we only levelled up 3 times here even with the increased number of enemies” said Sain, “But at this rate we will be nothing but average players. Our skills aren't special, our equipment aren't special and frankly we're not special in fighting as well. We are more likely to finish things with the old man at the mansion if we at least become stronger than the average player.”

“....”

Miriel stared at Sain with several thoughts. Most of them was deciding on what stance we wanted the group to take and the other was the safety of the group to the increased levelling speed the group would have. Royal Road gave large benefits to those who take great risks. The greater the risk, the higher the reward if you succeed that this. Many fail with only a few succeeding in these dangers which is a think but heavy line between the top players and just strong players.

“Alright, we'll head to the second floor and see how that takes us” said Miriel, “If things are too bad then we just need to slow down later. Learning our limits is one why to be stronger as well.”

Raven and Lyndis who were the ones breaking their limits as they go nodded.

Lyndis' health was catching up to Shadow and Sain's which were around 900 and 1000 respectively. Raven's health on the other hand was 1000 health more than the others as well at a sum of around 1900. On the other hand Miriel and Serena only had around 300 worth of health in exchange of having double in mana. In terms of mana alone, Sain was the only one closest to the two with 100 less mana than them with 440 mana while Lyndis was next at around 375. Shadow and Raven had the lowest mana of 215 and 241 respectively as well.

Overall the group could only be called abnormal at any rate. With less than a full month in game and they were at this point already. It was only after level 30 that hunting really picked up with the basics of players being solidified. If another player saw these health and mana levels, they would be shocked since normal at the same level they would have only have half the mana at this point while Health was above average certainly but Raven's one went to the extremes already.

This was due to Raven pumping some of his level up points into Vitality which normal players did not do often since they prefer more damage than more health in battle which lead to the group having above average health pools in the first place. It was only Miriel and Serena who had typical health pools of magicians that made sense. But their mana pools were already on a level that it rivalled level 60s in the amount of mana they carried.

No one in the group knew yet of this abnormality. It was only due to that something that their master placed on them before they left that resulted in this.

[p=center]xXx[/p]

The group fighting their way there, walked down to the second level where the lowest levelled Kobold was at level 30 and Goblins at level 50 sometimes appeared. At the stairs between the first and second floors, there were a total of 2 other parties already there.

“Hmm?” “Ah” The two leaders of these parties were startled when they saw the group. Not many would come down to the second floor that often compared to the first floor. Sain took the moment to talk to them.

“I'm Sain, the leader of this group” Sain said greeting the other parties' leaders.

“I'm Astre” “Bob's the name”

Sain looked at them both. Astre was a female that was of the archer class while Bob was the classic warrior class. Behind them was a total of 4 players each making Sain's party the one with the highest number by 1.

“Why are you guys staying here?” asked Sain curious on the reason.

Both of them were about to speak at the same time but both stopped immediately as well. Then they thought for a few seconds and them spoke one at a time while giving each other a glance of mutual agreement.

“Recently there had been reports of a strong monster wondering in this dungeon. It's level should be around 100 but most players only get a glimp of it as they hide from it while others that faced it all died.” said Bob.

“It sometimes goes to the second floor as well which makes things very difficult for those under level 50. This new monster that wondered in this dungeon only appeared since a week ago so there hasn't been a strong group of players that killed it” added in Astre.

Sain frowned at this. A monster around level 100 would be impossible for them to kill no matter what. Sain decided to question these two a bit more for the moment.

“Are you guys hiding from the monster or waiting for the chance to kill it?” asked Sain. However the two did not answer at all. Sain thought that they would not answer any more and just decided to see how things worked out later on. He directed the group to go forward.

[p=center]xXx[/p]

Eden was half lazing around as he waited for the report to come in. By now the 'thing' that he placed in Dunxix Dungeon would've gained some attention from the players that were there. It was a small trick in placing a stronger monster there without anyone noticing with his teleport skills.

“Now...what will they do? Attack or avoid...”

Eden watched the screen in front of him which was a birds eye view of the group via his skills 'Eagle Vision' and 'Hell Stalker'. Eden at this point was really bored out of his mind waiting for things to happen now.

[p=center]xXx[/p]

“Mana Bolt!” Sain charged up and shot 7 mana bolts at the chest of the Kobold in front of him stunning it for a split second in which he took to stab it once before retreating. When the Kobold regained it's movement, it quickly caught up to Sain and swung down with it's rusted sword with great power.

“Cracked Barrier!”

Damage will be reduced by 35% for the next 2 hits

Sain blocked with the spear in his right hand but the force of the strike still went through.

Bang!

You took 144 damage

If not for the 'Cracked Barrier' spell casted on him by Miriel, he would've taken over 200 damage with that one hit event though he was blocking.

'As expected from a level 30+ monster' thought Sain as he went back into the heat of the combat.

Right now the group was taking on a mere 3 Kobolds but these ones were much more different compared to the ones on the first floor. First of all, their speed and power were much higher and their intelligence was as well which lead to them not getting flanked easily and backing off to draw out the battle.

“Life Burn!” shouted Lyndis spreading flames concentrated onto one Kobold but it soon ran out of the range of the skill causing Lyndis to waste precious life. Lyndis chased after the Kobold with a 'Tch' deactivating the skill

Bang!

Bang!

Raven on the other hand was having an one on one fight with what seems to be the strongest Kobold of the three. Even with his high health and defence, he was being pushed back slowly with sheer force.

“Double Strike!” Raven stabbed twice but all it did was hit the air. The Kobold he was facing was much faster than him and if he couldn't hit it, then it was worthless. Just as Sain was looking to the other two whom were fighting, the Kobold he was facing attacked again when he was unprepared.

“Mana Bolt!”

“Double Strike!”

Miriel's mana bolts hit the Kobold from the front and Shadow hit twice at the back causing it to lose a great deal of it's health at once.

“Thanks!” said Sain in a loud voice as he swung his spear with one hand while preparing 'Mana Bolt' with the staff.

“Mana Bolt!”

7 Mana Bolts was shot out and it hit the Kobold squarely in the chest area turning it into grey flames which disappeared due to it's health reaching zero at least.

You have gained Experience

Sain turned and started to help out Raven next since Lyndis had the sort of help of Shadow once in a while with Miriel helping her as well. Serena already was casting healing spells for the whole group so she had little mana left.

'If we don't finish this off now, then things will get ugly quick' thought Sain as he attacked the Kobold that was attacking Raven from the side with his spear.

“Haa!”

The spear hit the arm area of the Kobold though it wasn't the weapon arm so it didn't do that much damage to the Kobold in it's combat ability.

“Garr! Kill Human!”

Drawing it's hatred now, the Kobold taken off guard went to attack Sain immediately when it kicked Raven back a few metres. Feeling the threatening situation, a certain skill automatically activated.

Bursting Will is now active, all stats +10%

With the slight increase in speed, Sain managed to somewhat dodge the first blow taking only a bit of damage, the second blow hit his spear arm which made things bad for him. He couldn't cast at all since it would allow the Kobold to hit and probably kill him easily. The third attack was blocked by Sain's wooden staff which caused it to take massive damage in durability. Sain was going to die if the next hit touches him. He only had a mere 200 health left.

[p=center]xXx[/p]

Raven saw that Sain was in trouble and immediately got up to attack the Kobold, but he didn't have enough time at all to get there to protect Sain.

'Not enough time, have to go faster, going faster is impossible' such thoughts quickly consumed his head. Raven was trying to find a solution but couldn't find one in time. Therefore...

“Footwork!”

Raven charged forward from where he fell straight at the Kobold without a decrease in speed. If thinking didn't work then he just needed to charge without regard to his own safety.

Normally when you attack, to get balance you slow down a bit even though it gives a split second for the enemy to attack. This was done to decrease the chance of counter attack and leaving a massive gap in defence. But disregarding this you would gain around 10-20% more speed.

But Raven charged forward as Sain was easily being suppressed hitting the Kobold hard on the side with his shield.

Bang!

“Garr!” The Kobold let out a sound in shock as Raven pushed it to the wall in one go.

Bang!

The Kobold cough up some blood due to the shock to it's body from Raven's charge.

You have gained the skill: Ram

Ram Beginner Level 1

Charge forward toppling down enemies as you run. The skill will disregard any sort of active attack or defence you use as you run forward.

Mana Cost: 15

Damage Reduction: 10%

Cool Down: 1 Minute

Raven gained a skill in the instant he performed the action in which he slammed the Kobold without regard to his safety but he wasn't focusing on that right now.

“Ahhhhhhh!” Raven's voice loudened as he slammed his shield into the Kobold stuck into the wall.

Bang!

Bang!

Bang!

Due to the long range of his spear, he threw it aside in his rage as he punched and slammed the Kobold until it died in a bloody way. There was no chance for the Kobold to even move as Raven attacked in a reckless way.

You have gained Experience

“Ha...Ha...ha...” Raven's breathing was disturbed due to this as he tried to relax as much as possible. Raven turned and picked up his spear and watched as his group looked with amazement and somewhat fear at the same time.

'Why are they giving me that look like Serena did at that time?' wondered Raven.

[p=center]xXx[/p]

Lyndis was shocked, very shocked at what she saw. Even though Raven's DPS was lower than hers by a long mile, he easily soloed the strongest of the Kobolds by himself in a rage that was unlike him. Lyndis had the chance to observe since she, Shadow and Miriel managed to take out the Kobold that was sticking to her only to see that Sain was in deep trouble.

Naturally they moved to protect Sain but Raven was one step faster immediately slamming the Kobold to the wall. Soon he bashed the Kobold, threw away his spear and continued to attack using his fist and shield to eventually kill the Kobold. What was not unusual was not the fighting style to Lyndis but the sheer blood-lust that went through Raven as he seemingly happily beat the Kobold to death.

'That level of fighting....seems natural to him though it feels very unnatural at the same time with the feeling that's I'm getting from him....' thought Lyndis still in shock. Soon Raven turned to the group and she needed to change her expression else she might hurt his feelings while thinking, 'Most people are the same that they rather stay with people whoa are comfortable with them. Begin shocked or afraid makes them very uncomfortable and can break down relationships easily. The most stable relationships are when both sides are equal.'

Lyndis looked at her battered sword that had lots of work done to it. It's durability was just over a third and the damage was reduced a bit as well. It just shows how much this single battle took it's toll on the sword.

'I need to get a new weapon soon...though I can't spend too much money. Armour is fine for now though at level 50 I would like some new armour. A new sword...is a must. After this trip, I'll take my savings and buy a new sword that has a slightly higher reach'

Lyndis looked at Sain's staff as well and it was in a similar condition to her sword. They needed to repair it now else things will go downhill since they didn't have any back up weapons at all. But before Lyndis could approach Raven for repairs, a short bulb of hair shot pass her.

“Are you all right?!” said Serena in a panic to the point that she didn't realised her forceful actions. She immediately went around touching parts of Raven to see if there was some nasty injured before casting both 'Minor Health Regeneration' and 'Minor Stamina Regeneration' on him.

“...pff” Lyndis couldn't help but let out a small laugh at this scene. The one that was least afraid of Raven was also the most timid one that didn't do that much besides healing. However Lyndis felt that the two were similar in a way although she hoped it was not the blood-lust that frightened her in the first place.

Soon Lyndis and Sain approached Raven since he had the very useful 'repair' skill that not that many players had. In total only 1% of players had that skill while not even 1% of those players had it to at least the intermediate level. Because of this, many people would pay money to get their things repaired and would praise those who did it for free. Many of the players that had the 'repair' skill were blacksmiths since becoming one generated the skill or having the skill to intermediate level would allow you to gain the blacksmithing skill without changing class.

Soon enough the group was completely healed in all aspect and went to find more enemies to fight though not too many since some of them may actually die.

[p=center]xXx[/p]

Another week passed by with the much faster hunting against higher levelled Kobolds and sometimes even Goblins. The group managed to break through the level 30 point in the last few battles. Now they were at the level where the weakest of foes were at their level. Sain was very pleased with this rapid progress. The week before, they levelled up 3 times and now they levelled up 7 times in the same time period with the experience requirement increasing all the time as well.

Since then, Sain, Shadow and Lyndis' health broke through 1000 with an average of 1200 health between the three. Raven went through 2000 health and was standing at around 2300 health right now as well. The mana side of things, Miriel still has the most mana with Serena in second and Sain in third with 837, 659 and 517 mana respectively. Lyndis had 445 mana while the last two was in the middle of 200-300 mana each.

Because of this rapid growth in which their respective stats were increasing at a much steadier rate, the group was becoming more powerful than the average player now. While normal players would often place a number of points in single stats to get the best boost in power or speed early now, this results in sometimes improper characters with some stats lacking resulting in a lack of balance. However the group all placed stats spread out across the core stats they need which allowed them to grow balanced in their roles. Though early on this only results in slight increase from levelling, this balance will help the group in the long run.

Sain had a balance of all core stats which in the end will results in him being a jacks of all trade but a master of none, but for leading the group, it was the perfect allocation of stats since he could fight close range and from range with magic at the same time. Shadow has the highest agility that was now over 100 reaching level 30 which was befitting him as a person who could sneak behind enemies even in battle. He was as tough as Sain in terms of health and defence but had the speed to back him up though his overall power was still lower.

Raven on the other hand was an extreme tank with the most health and defence due to his high vitality nearing 100 at this points as well. While processing low intelligence and wisdom which leads to low mana compared to his health, he is only a bit slower than Sain but has much higher attack. Lyndis who is a combination of swordsmanship and fire magic has the same amount of strength as Raven and only a bit more agility and therefore speed but can use magic at the same time to double or even triple her damage at times. If not for the fact that she was placing a point in intelligence each time to increase her mana, she would've easily pass 100 in strength by now.

Miriel and Serena have the lowest health but the highest mana pools in the group to the point it is much higher than Sain and Lyndis'. Miriel's own intelligence stat is over 100 while Serena's is reaching there. In contrast, Serena's wisdom is balanced with her intelligence as well and was near the 100 point while Miriel's wisdom stat was only around 50. While Miriel had a number of spells to support and attack with, Serena can only heal at best and with no attack options can only constantly used her spells over and over again throughout the battles increasing their skill proficiency greatly.

Such was the state of the group now. They were nearing the end of the second floor and was approaching the third floor stairs. They were even strong enough now as a group that they could take on some Goblins though it would be very difficult at times.

BOOM BOOM

But that confidence was broken immediately against the sound of this monster.

“What in the world...?” muttered Sain as he saw the monster approaching them.

According to Astre and Bob from the stairs to the first floor, it was around level 100 and could be a boss monster. Sain believed it when he saw the creature in person.

It's face had the shape of a rabbit while it's body was much much larger like a fat troll. It wore metal armour that was rusted and smelled while in it's left hand was a large cleaver covered with blood that was taller than the already tall Shadow who was 185 cm tall with Sain only a bit shorter in height.

“ROOOOOOOOAR!!!” The creature shouted seeing the group. Sain could only give one order in this position and with the current strength of the group.

“Run!”

Onwards?PreviousExitNext

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Author's Notes:

- Word Count: 10300~

- This chapter pretty much is their first time hunting in a dungeon. Compared to the outside, there is a much higher density of monsters so experience and gained a lot quicker as long as you don't die~

- btw, I'm going to use the compressed status window form, which is in this chapter when I want to show the entire group's status windows at once so it doesn't take 3 pages to do. On another note, be warned that some numbers in the text may be wrong compared to the status windows though in this chapter, it'll only at the end of the chapter that I mentioned their health and mana....well it should be fine.