“Don’t worry, I’m completely on board,” I said to Kezo. “No kidding, I was really aiming to be a support before I joined your party.”

We have been fighting the Feral Frost Macaques nonstop, even if this scarcely benefitted Kezo—the Essence and Gli going to him from both our kills was a pathetic trickle because of the massive level gap penalty. Fortunately, those flowing to me had no level restrictions, despite coming from his kills. Seeing me multitask brewing and farming, he wanted to kill monsters while discussing.

Kezo had been spouting how being a support-type of character wasn’t so bad, going on and on that I didn’t die even once during our last Zoar Elab fight despite my pitiful level, so I best hold the resurrection skill for our group—ress, he called it.

Not that I needed any convincing. Megan had told me how dying works during the Great Hunt back when Zoar Elab was kicking our butts. At that time, I had thought of looking for a resurrection Skill Shard.

However, in Kezo’s mind, I reluctantly followed his plan because I had no other choice. He thought I agreed to use the debuff skills he had given me for the Zoar Elab fight only because I was too low-leveled to DPS for the party. Kezo, being Kezo, didn’t want any hard feelings between us.

Reasonable to assume I was going for a DPS build. Most people want to be the hero mowing down enemies, dishing out big pee-pee numbers, and being the party’s carry.

During my Nornyr Online days, I sometimes joined public parties full of DPSers but no healers or other kinds of supports. Obviously, we needed those to do high-level content; somebody had to switch to their support character. People would range from reluctant to outright offended if asked to do that. It was like telling them they weren’t good enough to be the hero, so they should be the side character.

As for me, I’d rather be a support as they literally chose who lived and died in the group. If I had the lone ress of our party, I’d technically be more important than Kezo.

I do like how that sounds.

“Anyway, where do I get a ress Shard?” I asked, changing the topic. “I haven’t seen any in the auction house listings.”

“That’s half the reason to complete the tunnel quest,” Kezo said. “You see, the only ress Skill Shard available to Mardukryons right now, Embers of Rebirth, is one of the reward options for reaching the other side of the tunnels. I’m sure there are other ress skills we haven’t discovered yet, maybe locked in other quests further down the main storyline.

“Back to the tunnel rewards. Like our Cidule, there are three choices: two DPS skills and one for supports—the Embers of Rebirth. Almost everyone chooses either of the DPS skills, including the support players. Why? Because they sell those to DPSers at very high prices since that quest is the only source. Those two Shards are worth the slots and LSPs, even in the late game. I have them myself. Jensen—the leader of my previous party, if you recall—gave me the other DPS skill I didn’t pick.”

“What do people use for resurrection then?”

“The Advanced Healer Ocadule has a ress skill for its seventh Rank. Takes time to unlock, but supports will use that Ocadule anyway, so no problem whatsoever. I can’t remember the details of Embers of Rebirth, but Jensen had told me it’s inferior to the Healer ress.”

[ Received: (2) Morabodry ]

“So that’s why I haven’t seen any resu Skill Shard before.” Before brewing the next batch, I threw poison bottles at the spots Kezo wasn’t attacking. Then I refreshed my [Cloak of the Plaguespreader] and returned to work. “The other reason I need to complete the quest to get past the tunnels… is it so I can save at the Hunter-Warriors’ camp?”

“Exactly!” He looked over his shoulder at me while indiscriminately sending waves of flames everywhere. “When we teleported you to the other side, I mentioned that you can kill the monsters there but not do much of anything else, like the quests—that includes using the camps during the Great Hunt as a spawning point. If you die, one of us will have to get you from Kurghal Village.”

Kezo helped me level while explaining how to complete the tunnel quest. There were several ways to go about it, and he wasn’t sure what would work in my case since I’d been to the tunnels for Bawu’s story. He enumerated various NPCs to talk to and quests to do, then I should just see which would lead where.

As helpful as Arakmad telling me how to find Pathfinder Gibil.

Apparently, it was different for each player depending on their paths prior to a bottleneck where it all converged—a specific blocked portion deep in the tunnel system that needed the Miners’ help to clear. Convincing the NPCs to come that far was another thing altogether.

“This might take some time to do,” Kezo said. “I hope it doesn’t sound like I’m rushing you. Around level twenty is recommended to push past the tunnels. When I noticed that you turned level seventeen, I figured you might want to start working on it.”

“I think I can manage that,” I said. If I could get Arakmad’s laundry from Mother Core knows where, I could undoubtedly find this blocked tunnel. And the Miners have helped me save a couple of Pathfinders from a cave-in at the Scholar’s Lodge. As their regular customer, they’d be easy to rope in to do more digging.

“Breaking through will lead to a boss fight with a golem,” Kezo continued. “It’s level twenty-five if my memory’s right. Pretty strong and would usually need a party. But you can try to cheese it with your poison.”

“Don’t bosses have resistance against—wait, is this a quest boss?”

The big bad monsters that needed to be eliminated as part of a quest didn’t have the defenses of an open-world boss. The Craggy Crabore, the boss of the quest Sharulrath gave, was proof. During our fight, I sometimes switched one of my shields for the Big M’s sling to attack from afar. I didn’t have any problems inflicting Burn on the Craggy Crabore, in contrast to Moa Manot.

Kezo nodded. “The actual boss of the tunnels area is a different monster with three mini-bosses guards. Didn’t Megan mention them when you asked about the bosses around here? Poison wouldn’t work on the open-world bosses, but you’ll have a field day with quest ones. Don't hesitate to message me if you have a hard time with that golem. Always ready to help.”

He went on to explain that it was only the first half of the quest. The next part would be much harder, but they’d help me complete it quickly. Megan and Nitana would return from their vacation this Sunday morning, and we’d reunite our award-winning band for another hit tour by evening.

“A couple of days?” I mused. “I’ll see what I can do by Sunday night.”

“No pressure, okay?” He unequipped a sword just to give me another thumbs up. “Just do it at your pace. Although, it’d be great if you’re past the golem by then.”

At my pace, but still hurry up? I couldn’t help but grin as I pounded the ingredients using the [Enlivened Mortar and Pestle] before dumping them into the [Bronze Cauldron]. If I could poison the golem, then it’d be a breeze.

[ Increased: Cleansing Flames Level to 2 ]

Leveling [Cleansing Flames] took less time than expected, with Kezo joining the Frost Macaque extermination squad. A GSP invested in it, this skill stood at:

Lvl 3 Cleansing Flames: Purify yourself from ailments with the flames of the Mardukryon ancestors—80% chance to remove three (3) negative statuses. Let suffering give you strength, be resolute amidst adversity, and gain courage from the knowledge that you are never truly alone. Stand resolute until aid comes.

(Passive) For every negative status you have (Max stacks [4]):

+40 Armor and Magic Resilience, +5% Healing Increase and Received, +1% Resistance to all Elements

Cost: 30 Ancestral Shroud

Cooldown: 11 Seconds

“Did a skill level up?” Kezo noticed me checking my user interface.

“Yes, a Cidule skill. Thanks for staying to help.” Now, if only you could give me more Artas.

“Doing this brings back memories,” he said wistfully. “Jensen and the others, we did this as a party. Tried it on my own with my lifesteal build, but I only had one skill that could reach the Frost Macaques on the trees. Not a good idea…at all. This is the playground of long-ranged DPS builds, especially the casters.”

“It’s truly a fast way to level,” I said, throwing a poison bottle at a pack of ice monkeys. “Especially for me going for a support build.”

“Your poison clouds reach the monkeys just fine,” Kezo said, chuckling. “And your poison-retri build is a great idea to kill them without ranged skills.”

Eclairs would be surprised if she knew what I was doing here, I thought. Then I used [Poison Bottle Cast] again. “Too bad poison bottles are expensive. I’ll save Artas to make more after I do the tunnel quest. Have to put the party first.” Hint, hint, hint.

“Oh, that’s right. Before I leave, let me help you with your costs. I did promise you that.”

[ Received: 4,000,000 Artas ]

“Thank you very much for this,” I said, setting off fireworks in my head. With this, I could reach the next level of [Research Akhos Poisons] and hopefully unlock a new poison! “I can continue brewing a thousand bottles more. However, I’ll do that after I beat the golem. The tunnel quest comes first.” Prioritizing the party—such a great teammate, this Herald Stone guy.

Running through the tunnels with three village guards was cramped enough. Imagine a herd of over a dozen Mardukryons, all larger than me, some twice my size, doing the same thing. It was downright claustrophobic! Worse than getting squeezed inside the train during rush hour. Instead of the people standing while the train moved, everyone moved together!

This was not a pleasant start to my day.

Not at all!

I spent yesterday afternoon preparing for the tunnel quest.

A string of random stories about the other side of the cliff walls, various NPCs wanting something from there. They also provided tidbits about the lost Mardukryon tribes—I couldn’t begin my search if I stayed stuck in Kurghal Village, was their common message. Then I looked for the blocked passageway everyone’s been complaining about.

The dozens of Blighted monsters attacking while I explored should’ve indicated that things weren’t going according to the script. The village guards investigating the Blight outbreak that I had to avoid also weren’t supposed to be there. Lastly, I heard snippets of crazed Mardukryons from the villagers.

After finding the right tunnel, I went to fetch the Miners, not minding all the weirdness in my rush to finish the quest. They agreed to come easily enough, unlike what Kezo thought, on the condition that Hunter-Warriors tagged along as bodyguards because of rumors about cursed monsters roaming the tunnels.

“I don’t think this is how it’s supposed to go,” I muttered as my party of Miners and Hunter-Warriors thundered down cramped tunnels while getting harassed by Blighted monsters crawling out of every crevice. I was an anchovy aficionado, but I didn’t want to experience what was it like to be packed in a can. “This isn’t what Kezo told me at all!”