Balthazar immediately put the claw into his inventory. "I doubt we can do anything given that Tang and our priest are dead. Why don't we return through the portal and attempt it another time with them? With the new skill and equipment, I think we can make it faster to the Vultusk and then Vultarc," said Balthazar.
"It is a waste of effort repeating this. We couldn't even kill the main Boss's cub without serious losses. What chance do we have against Vultarc?" said Blinding.
"Why don't we just repeat the same and just focus on taking down Vultusk. It provides a decent amount of experience and also good loot," added Quiet Fire. "Isn't that a better option than trying to take down Vultarc?"
"If you are bent on trying it again. Let us make an attempt at Elite mode. We would at least get decent equipment from it. With a few Black Iron equipment, we would be able to perform better in normal mode," suggested Balthazar.
As Quiet Fire was discussing this with the rest, they moved back to the dungeon entrance. Balthazar insisted on attempting the dungeon in elite mode saying that the first clear and first kill awards for every mode are definitely better than normal awards. At this time when most guilds are attempting for the honour of the first clear. It was easier to obtain the first kill of Vultusk in elite mode.
Soon Tang and Little White feet agreed to Balthazar's suggestion tempted by the awards. They already got a decent skill and equipment. They began to wonder, if they could receive better ones on a first kill. There were already rumors that someone already cleared the normal mode. Even, if they didn't, they were quite close. So, a first kill suddenly became a priority, especially when most didn't even know that a mini boss was there in the dungeon.
Quiet Fire quickly selected elite mode at the dungeon entrance and led the team through portal. Though Balthazar managed to convince the team with the temptation of first kill, the main reason he wanted to go to elite mode was because that the elite mode provides treasure chests inside the forest and there was a side quest he intended to complete that isn't available in normal mode.
Once, they were inside the dungeon, he asked them to wait at the beginning of the path and went in search of the treasure chests instead of luring the monster rabbits. There was a chance to find a total of four treasure chests to be found in the elite instance of the dungeon. This was just a chance. It completely depended on the luck of the team members. There were a lot of such situations where the luck attribute played a major role in the lower levels of the game. This is why Balthazar had gained the rabbit's foot at the beginning of the game.
One of them was supposed to be on the right side of the thin path in a small hollow made by the roots of a tree. It was covered by the black bushes and was impossible to find unless someone falls into the hollow. This was only discovered a long time after the game launched when a person frightened by the atmosphere of the forest accidentally ran into the hollow.
As Balthazar neared the hollow, he found a small pack of 4 monster corrupted rabbits near the tree hollow. He would definitely be attacked by them if he attempts to enter the hollow. So he lured the pack towards the rest of the team and returned while they were being killed by the team. He found a white treasure chest waiting for him.
He quickly opened it and found a couple of raw materials in it. One was a corrupted treant branch and other was monster rabbit eggs. The branch can be used in woodworking and the other is a cooking ingredient.
He quickly pocketed the resources and continued to lure the corrupted rabbits in packs of 4 monsters to the team. He chose a smaller number of rabbits to lure than in the normal dungeon as the monsters in elite mode tend to have 10% higher speed and damage than the normal instance dungeon.
Balthazar suggested that everyone use semi-automatic mode. It allows for manual targeting of the long-range skill and this is very useful in changing targets at last minute and also evading one monster while shooting at other. He made everyone practice at the corrupted rabbits with manual mode. The group of girls were decently good learners with the right mentality. Most independent teams tried their best to improve without following the norm.
Within 10 minutes they managed to clear the group of monsters before the first clearing. They also managed to get three pieces of equipment from them. Two were cloth armor which both Quiet Fire and Little white shared. The third was a leather chest armor which Balthazar took. With the new armor their defense increased by a small amount.
They quickly equipped the new armor and reached the clearing. But this time there were 20 thin paths extending from the clearing instead of the 18 like in the normal instance. Two additional paths opened up.
Blinding was the first one to notice this, other than Balthazar who already knew the change. "There are two new paths in the elite instance," she said aloud pointing at the two new paths.
"What should we do? Do we want to explore them?" asked Quiet Fire.
"Why don't I go scout it first?" suggested Balthazar as he pointed towards a new path.
This one was directly to the left of the entrance to the clearing it was relatively bright. It looked like there was a large source of light at the end of this path. Balthazar knew that this path led to an old treant that protected the forest. It was the one that provided the side quest.
The path was plain and without any traps or monsters except for the one at the end - the treant. Once Balthazar reached the treant, he called for the rest of the team to come in. The area in this path was quite different. The darkness that covered the trees receded as they went further in. At the end there was a large clearing with the trees and plants lush with greenery and the treant standing over a treasure chest with its eyes closed.
"Should we try and attack it?" asked Quiet Fire looking at Balthazar expectantly. With the experience and technique show by him, he has become to person the rest looked for in unknown situations.
"Why don't I try and talk to it," said Balthazar moving toward the treant. As he reached closer, the treant suddenly opened its eyes and looked at them. "Humans? It has been far too late for reinforcements. The corruption had long since killed my family. I am the last one left protecting this small area from the corruption they spread," said the treant. A small yellow dot appeared on top of the treant at the same time.
[Pecandor] (Treant, a dying treant)
Level ...
HP: 1500
"We may not be able to stop what had already happened, but I hope we can be of some help to make some reparations. We could still be of some help to you. You could get out of the forest," said Balthazar looking at the treant.
"I have no need for protection, nor do I want it. My family was used to reside at the area where that Lepusvir marauder Vultarc lives. Now only I remain after he occupied the the forest. I just hope that the Heavenswill legion of the light faction had come sooner to protect these outlying regions of the great forest," said the treant in a grieving tone.
"What is he talking about? I thought the forest was already corrupted and we have to save it. Are we considered Heavenswill legion?" asked Little White feet in the chat.
"No thats just the storyline. The Heavenswill legion is an NPC legion. The failed to save the outlying regions to the west end of the great forest. The boss here is just a bandit who is hiding from them and they are too busy to take care of the small fish," explained Baltahzar in the chat.
"I offer my condolences to you. We will try our best to get rid of the Lepusvir menace and may time heal the pain he brought on you," replied Balthazar.
Balthazar's reply for some reason seemed to enrage the treant. "I don't need to heal my wounds. I need to make him pay for what he has done. If only I weren't injured when I killed his mate. I could have taken his head myself," shouted Pecandor.
"We plan to do it ourselves. We could help you with it?" suggested Quiet Fire thinking that the treant was giving a quest to kill Vultarc.
"Hah, maybe your heart is in the right place, but you are far from capable in dealing with his venomous blade. And I don't know you to begin with, how could you talk of cooperation?" replied the treant.
"What could we do to prove our sincerity?" asked Balthazar immediately before anyone else continued to diverge from the quest topic.
"You could kill his kid, Vultusk. Although he is but a child, he is a vile creature and I want Vultarc to experience the pain he put me through. The pain of losing his family. If you do that, I will provide you a way to battle his venomous means," answered the treant as a notification popped up to Quiet Fire.
"Pecandor's revenge: Kill Vultusk and bring his head back to Pecandor."
"We will prove ourselves," said Quiet Fire as she accepted the quest.
They immediately went back to the clearing and Balthazar led ahead to scout the second new path. The path was just to the right of the one beside the path leading to Vultusk.
This one was dark with the corrupted trees making a canopy over the path and light barely falling on the path. As they went through the path the encountered a few corrupted rabbit packs.
Balthazar also continuously advised Tang on how to evade attacks rather than tank block them with her shield. He had her try her best to only block when it attempts to attack someone else. This was a hard task to do but Tang was a quick learner and managed to reduce the healing burden on the priest and paladin.
There were also a few traps along the way, but Balthazar managed to trip them and escape before he led the team through.
At the end of the path there was a small wooden platform. On top of it was a small black chest. As the rest of the team looked at it, the girls began to squeal in happiness. This was the first black-iron chest they encountered. Even Balthazar was surprised. He expected a normal white chest at the end not a black iron one. "Maybe we got a black iron one due to first exploration? The next attempts would probably be a normal chest," thought Balthazar going ahead to pick the lock on the chest.
"System: You found Vultusk's treasure. These are keepsakes from his dead mother."
They quickly surrounded the chest as Balthazar began to pick the lock on the chest. He managed to open it on the first attempt due to his experience in his previous life. He quickly put in his hand in the treasure chest and pulled out a black shield, a skill book and a material from the chest. The material was a leg Lepisvir bone. It would be a useful material for forging swords. It would provide an additional darkness attribute.
Blackwood Shield (Black Iron Shield)
Level 2
Requirement: Endurance: 8
Defence +12; Reflect +2;
A shield made by Vultarc from the corrupted wood of the forest for his son Vultusk.
The shield had the appearance of the wood of the black trees. It had a metallic feel to it. It was immediately given to Tang to equip. It would definitely improve her ability to tank Vultusk. With the new shield it would be much easier to kill Vultusk and if luck favors them even Vultarc.
The skill book was also a warrior skill book, Rallying cry. It improves the damage of all the allies in a 20 feet radius by 10%. "It definitely was a berserker skill," said Quiet Fire. "We can sell it and distribute the money among us," she continued.
"No. Let Tang try to learn it first. There are some skills which are applicable for the classes not just an occupation like in other games," said Balthazar.
Heeding his suggestion, Tang took it from Quiet Fire and tapped the book on her chest. To her surprise, the book disappeared, and skill appeared in the skill menu. She was overjoyed. She gained the most in the dungeon instances among all of them.
"What is the bone for?" asked Blinding examining the bone. "Looks like a thigh bone."
"It could be used to make sword with dark attribute," replied Balthazar promptly.
"I don't mean that. I could guess that it is a rare material. I wanted to know what is so precious about a bone."
"It is a Lepusvir bone. Probably a keepsake from the dead body of his mother."
"Ugh!" said Blinding throwing it at Balthazar. He immediately pocketed it.
They soon made their way to Vultusk's lair. It was the same situation and even the same appearance except that he wore a pair of boots.
"That would definitely improve his attributes," said Quiet Fire pointing at the boots.
I will check it told Balthazar as he reached Vultusk in stealth and began the battle. A few seconds later, he messaged that there is an improvement in Vultusk's agility and not in defence but has no idea about the increase in strength, if any.
Hearing this the rest of the team joined the fight. Tang tanked a few hits and determined that there was no difference in damage or strength either. The team quickly entered the fray and the health of Vultusk gradually fell down.
This time care was taken by the entire team that a member would not die. Vultusk had the same behavior as in the normal instance dungeon. With the new armor and shield, the team managed to bring it down to 30% without any issue.
This time to evade the body slam of Vultusk, Balthazar had come up with a new plan. He had Tang use the skill stomp just before Vultusk's health hit 30%. Being a special elite, Vultusk was easily stunned by it. This time was used by the team to put enough distance between the team before Vultusk could unleash his attack. Balthazar as usual stayed close and evaded the shock wave by jumping.
Balthazar made the entire team control their damage, so that this method could be used to escape the effects of body slam from Vultusk. This allowed them to bring Vultusk's health down to 5% easily, when it would try to escape again. At this time, Balthazar had the entire team increase their damage to the maximum. He even had Tang use the Rallying cry skill to improve the damage.
They quickly managed to reduce the health of Vultusk to 2% before it came out of stun. It immediately tried to run away, and Balthazar made the team leave it a path to escape, so as to avoid any health loss or casualties in his team. They instead tried to land attacks on it. He managed to follow it and take it down at the clearing where its burrow hole started.
"System: +60 experience points"
With the death of Vultusk, Balthazar began to loot it as the rest of the team hurried along. He found a pair of black iron boots, Lepusvir skin and Vultusk's head. As soon as he looted it, the entire team got the notification.
[Vultusk's head] (Quest Item)
Return Vultusk's head to Pecandor.
"Pecandor's revenge: Return Vultusk's head"
[Iron boots] (Black Iron boots)
Level 2
Requirement: Endurance: 7
Vitality +4; Strength +3;
The team discussed and decided to give the boots to Blinding White to improve her defense. With Vultusk dead, they quickly went back to the treant Pecandor. As they reached the treant it immediately came towards the team.
"I can smell treant blood on you. Come on give me the head," it said extending its large hand in front of them to receive the head. As Balthazar gave the head to the treant. A notification popped up in front of Quiet Fire.
"Pecandor's Revenge: Quest completed"
The treant walked back to its original position and picked up the treasure chest it was guarding. "Here, this contains something that would allow you to counteract Vultarc's poisonous methods. I hope you are successful in your mission. May the 12 great lords and guardians of the light bless you," said Pecandor giving him the treasure chest. Another notification popped up in front of everyone.
"System: You have received the Quest Item: Pecandors Antidote."
"Beware. Though the antidote protects you against the poison of Vultarc. It would enrage him as it is made from Lepusvir blood."