We got up a little before sunrise, and moved out. We were silent as we marched down the road in the pale morning light. After a few minutes, the trees began to thin out, and forest became woodland. there were trees still of course, but they we're smaller, and there were more shrubs and bushes. The monsters didn't attack us anymore, in this area, they were too low levelled. I guess this is a sign for future reference that we're nearing civilization. or the remnants of it.

We walked until the land began to dip, and the trees cleared. Before us was a deep, green valley. it was early morning, but even from the edge of the valley, we could hear the sounds of life. Birds chirping, animals crying, it was quite idyllic. But at the far side of the valley lied our goal, The Boulder Settlement, and beyond it, the mountain range of the same name. Luckily the valley was a lot wider than it was long, so it wouldn't take long to reach the settlement now, half an hour if we hurried. But something didn't look quite right.

“Thelia, look ahead at the settlement, tell me what you see. Moxxie you too, if you still have any visual skills” I say.

“Ummm, we're a bit far away, but I… I’ll do my best!”

“Roger, bossman!”

They began to use their perspective skills to analyze the settlement. Thelia’s orb began to shine as she closed her eyes. Moxxie’s eyes began to glow and become more focused. Hmmm, as I recall, that wasn't how her skill [Eagle Eye] worked, she must be using a new skill. I’ll be sure to ask her about it later

“Hmmm. I can't quite tell what we got here Linderman. I mean, my skill zooms in, and highlights enemies in red, but it seems like the whole town is tinged with red….” Moxxie said

“Ummm, same issue over here, i see blue humanlike creatures and little lights all around, but I can't tell what exactly they are, or what level they are because we're far away… i'm sorry.” Thelia said.

“It's fine,” I say, “ I know exactly what I’m dealing with. Ghosts.”

“”Ghosts?!”” Everyone says simultaneously. God, you would think this was a cartoon.

“Yes, ghosts. The former residents of this settlement to be exact.”

“Ghosts have never been encountered before in game. How do we deal with them?” Raknar asks anxiously.

“We wing it. We throw whatever we have at them, see what works and what doesn't, hope for the best. We have no alternative.” It was the truth. We really didn't have any other choice but to charge in. We certainly didn't walk for almost a week to get here only to wait until someone else had fought ghosts so we could make a viable strategy. Like seriously, have you ever walked for a week? It's a maddening experience that I wouldn't wish on anybody.

“What Linderman says is true. Still, we should check and recheck supplies, and choose our finest weapons, that way we're as ready as can be.” said Phalanx. We all rechecked our gear, pulled whatever restorative items we had out of our inventories, and put them into our belts or pockets for quick access. I checked the party window.

Party WindowLeaderLinderman-lvl 19[tr]MembersMoxxie-lvl.19 Dave-lvl.20 Vy-lvl.17 Raknar-lvl.21 Thelia-lvl.16

Secundus-lvl.19 Plank-lvl.14 Drywood-lvl.17 Phalanx-lvl. 20 Leai-lvl.20

Logan-lvl.18 Jamz-lvl.18 Sibylla-lvl.17 Locke-lvl.17

I wish we had levelled up just a bit more. We only have 4 players past the level 20 milestone. At level 20, we get a new skill for our class, in some cases two. In Dave’s case, he got a passive skill which increased his overall max speed, and another called [Sword-hand Mastery], which basically gives him a bonus with one-handed swordplay when combined with martial arts... even though he doesn't even use martial arts. Raknar just got a skill called [Shield Launch] which is exactly what it sounds like. Oh well, even if I did have my lvl 20 skill, it would probably only be a crappy support skill. We're here now, no time to think about anything but the task at hand

We move out towards the not quite abandoned village. after 30 minutes, we we're a few hundred yards away behind some bushes for cover. We we're finally close enough to [Analyze] our enemies. They were indeed ghosts, but there were two types: Lesser Ghosts, and Wisps. The Wisps looked like floating balls of pale, translucent blue energy, while the lesser ghosts looked like blue gray humans, though they were less defined past their torso. The wisps we're lvl.7 the ghost, lvl. 13. The problem we're their numbers. There we're more than a hundred at the very least.

“Jamz, you're up. Draw some away from the village towards the opposite direction, can you do that?” I ask.

“Yeah, but if you want them more than a mile away, I'm going to have to leave. my skill doesn't extend quite that far.”

“No that’s fine, just get them as far as possible without leaving. If they realized what you were doing, and caught you alone, you would be a dead man. We don't know how smart they are, so let's play it safe.” I say. I definitely don't want to lose anyone now, and Jamz has some surprisingly high firepower. I don't know if we’ll need that later.He began muttering his incantation, then suddenly, a loud voice echoed from the other side of the village. it wasn't coherent, but it succeeded in drawing around half the spirits away. The voice sounded around 5 more times, drawing them out a good 800 yards at least. That should buy us a little time.

“Move in now! target the wisps first, see what they react to!” I shout.

Raknar and dave went in first of course, they have the highest attack and defense together. The Wisps noticed them first, and began shooting blasts of pale blue energy at them. it didn't do much damage however, and the two reached the wisps without losing much hp.

They both began attacking the wisps simultaneously, however, the damage output was rather low, especially considering their opponents were lvl. 7. it took several hits to take them out, and by then, some of the ghost began taking notice. The ghosts rushed towards them, their bone chilling moans reverberating off of the abandoned log houses. But unfortunately for the ghosts, our boys had back up.

“Everyone fire long distance skills on the ghosts!” I shout. The ghosts are rushing towards us, so i don't think they can attack from range. Everyone begins firing their skills and spells, and the group of ghosts that noticed us dies quickly. It seems that they are heavily resistant to physical damage, but vulnerable to magic. unfortunately, out of the 7 mage-types in my party, only three are reliable offensive magic casters. No, two, Locke is capable of offense, but he’s primarily defense. I didn't have time to think further, as we began being swarmed by the Ghosts and wisps. They could phase through the walls of the cabins, so i didn't have the initial protection I thought I did.

“Locke, Leai, I need barriers! Everyone, move towards the town circle, we need space!”

After we ran towards the center of the settlement, Locke but up 3 Earthen walls, and Leai put up an anti monster field as a 4th wall towards the rear. As expected, Locke’s walls, which were charged with magic, slowed the enemies down, but did not stop them. However, it worked well as as filter, only around a dozen we're getting through at a time, into a square around 15 meters in length and width. That was easily manageable.

We threw formations out the door, and focused on eliminating the enemy as quickly as possible, the mage-types focused on the ghosts, and warriors on the wisps. Everything was going well, Dave, Phalanx, Secundus, and Logan were sticking close to the walls, doing their best to damage things before they made it through.

Raknar and Moxxie were doing their best to guard the magic users, Thelia was watching the area around us that we couldn't see due to the walls. Leai had set up a healing field in the middle of the enclosure, and was now standing by, with Plank protecting her. Neither one could do much else in the battle, understandably.

Vy was having her twin tailed foxes fire their magical attacks alongside Sibylla and Locke. Sibylla’s Dark magic was proving to be a powerful factor in this fight. Her [Dark Bolt] and [Blackwave] spells we're quite formidable, even though the Incantations for them are somewhat long. Jamz is also putting in a lot of work. He shouts his spells against his enemies, his deep voice contrasting with the shrill screams of the dead. His sound magic effects a wide area of enemies, though it isn't incredibly damaging. I suppose, just like a Bard would buff a large group of allies, he damages a large group of enemies.

Locke is also fighting fairly hard. He’s shooting rock bullets at the ghosts, and while they aren't as effective as some the other magic, It has low cost, so he can just keep firing. Me and Drywood are playing the role of support. We buff everyone as much as possible, and cover people when they need to head to Leai’s [Restorative Field]. It's a bit unfair how much better his [Nature’s Blessing] is, compared to my [Strengthen] though… whatever. Yes, the battle was going at our pace. And then, the moans.They were the same moans we had already gotten accustomed to hearing while fighting the ghosts, but they were louder, more numerous.

“Th- the ghosts are coming back, the ones Jamz lured out!” Thelia shouted.

Dammit! I wanted to finish this group before dealing with them, I thought we would have more time! We had taken on a good amount, so there weren't many left, but now with the other half of the ghosts, it was like 65% of the original number was bearing down on us. Locke’s walls slowed them down, but still, they were phasing through, about 20 at a time. We quickly fell back to the Anti monster field after 5 minutes. Several of us were in critical condition, mostly the warriors. It was only a matter of time until we died. Unless…

It was risky, but there might be a way to turn this around. I could tank the Ghosts, and distract them long enough to get some people to the healing field. The reason The warriors couldn't stand up to the ghosts well is because they were magical creatures doing magical damage, however, due to my high INT, I have high magical Defense. The question is though, how long I could hold out. It was a gamble, but one I had to take. Nothing was getting done in here, but wasting time.

“I’m saying, Why can't you just set up a healing field in here?!” Phalanx shouted. I had been hearing this argument go on since we got to the field.

“I'm sorry but I can't… I can't layer fields like that… sorry” muttered Leai.

“Why don't you stop screaming at a little girl and get your ass out there Phalanx, show us some heroics, huh? said Moxxie

“You know what bit-”

“Everyone!! Wait until I draw their attention, then run for the healing field. Locke, set up walls as soon as you get them there.” I yell. Not waiting for an answer, I rush out, and begin firing my [Mana Burst] skill at the ghosts, drawing all the aggro. I see my hp going down quickly, and then, I sit down and activate a skill I had never had reason to use before, [Mana Conversion].

The ghosts swarm around me, attacking me with their incorporeal limbs.The pain is insignificant, but the cold... everytime they attack me, a chill runs through my body, but that's not all. it's so weird, I feel… tired. I don't want anymore. I want sleep. Suddenly, I’m getting dragged by my arms. Some liquid is poured down my throat. When I look up, Sibylla is standing over me pouring some odd potion into me. I can still hear the sounds of battle, so it must not be over. Then I hear a voice

“Bossman, you okay? Yo that was crazy, never do that again! Sibylla, He’ll be fine now, go help Locke and Jamz!! Hey Druid guy do that healing thing you do.”

“It’s Drywood” says a quiet voice.

The haze lifts from my mind as I begin to see what was going. It's not like my eyes were closed, but… for some reason, earlier I wasn't really seeing, just looking. I rise to my feet, apparently, I was dragged to the healing field, and given a potion. I had some sort of status effect going on [Curse of the Dead]. But nothing's really changed. The warriors have healed some, but everyone's still fighting, and we're surrounded by dozens of the dead.

“Everyone, I’m gonna go back out there, this time-”

“Fuck that.” said Moxxie. I was about to voice an argument, but was again interrupted.

“You were going to lure all the ghosts together, and have us shoot at them right? You would die from friendly fire, and there would still be ghosts, and we'd still die. if we’re going to go, I'd at least wish to die respectably.” Sibylla said while firing black magic off.

“Might as well die with a bang eh? You might as well not argue, You don't get to be a hero today, its not even like you.” Said Locke with a smile as he sent a wave of earth towards our enemies.

“What happened to ‘I take orders and don't talk much’” I ask

He simply shrugs, saying “Change of policy.”

“Whatever, you guys better not regret it! All or nothing, everyone attack!” I activate [Group Health Channeling] for the first time, linking me, Raknar, Jamz, Sibylla, and Locke. Our group health was a little bit over 4000!, I had Raknar stay towards the middle so he wouldn't take much damage, then started shooting the enemy as much as I could, paying no attention to my mana pool.

And I wasn't the only one. Everyone started shooting off their most powerful skills one after another. We were prepared to die and we didn't hold anything back. Even the unshakable dead hesitated before us as we tore through their ranks. the next 10 minutes we're a blur, but at the end of it all, all the spirits had been laid to rest, and there we're 13 of us still standing.

Plank had died soon after we went all out, he went and drew the aggro of some ghosts on purpose and died saying something about how it was all worth it for the contract. Logan died sometime in there as well, but as I had said, it was all a blur. we looked at each other, and just as we we're about to start celebrating, we heard an ominous creaking noise. the door of the big house on the far side of the town center had opened, and three spirits walked out. I cursed my stupidity at almost getting excited too early. I forgot this was a quest, and what quest doesn't have a boss battle?