Satisfied with his plundering at the goblin camp, Shadow got out of the camp and immediately began to channel his hearthstone to return to the blackrock village. As he reached the village, he realized that the players of the Sirius Imperials have already reached level 3. Players sporting level 3 equipment were already visible moving around at the village.
"I guess the leveling speed of the Sirius Imperials members improved with the guide," thought Balthazar. "I might have to contact someone Blue Dart about the remainder of my payment." He called Blue Dart.
"Hey. How is the progress of the Corrupted Forest dungeon?" he asked as Blue Dart took the call.
"Well. It isn't bad. We have already managed to get through the elite instance of the dungeon. But the hell mode, it is still not possible. Even Raging Blade and his team failed."
"It isn't that easy to go through the hell mode dungeon, even with the guide. You need improve on your equipment and have all in level 3 before you go on trying to take the hell mode instance."
"Yes, we gleaned that much from our attempt. But I wonder how you found out about the details of the hell mode if you didn't try it out yourself."
"I also failed to kill Vultarc, else I would have had the first clear for that too. The sad part is that we only get to attempt the hell mode once a day. Else, I wouldn't have sent you the guide for it."
"So, what is the call about?"
"I just wanted to ask if the guide had been useful and up to your satisfaction."
"So, it is about the money that we owe you. Well, I guess your guide is quite worth the price you mentioned. You want me to send you the money now?"
"I don't mind. But it isn't the only thing I called you about. You might need a lot of black iron equipment, right?"
"Hmm."
"I can provide you. But only for vita-nova money. Else I can't get them to you. How about we talk a couple of hours later? Give you some time to prepare enough money," said Shadow sending him a picture of the black-iron cape he got from Lydia.
"Do a number of such equipment interest you?"
"How many can you deliver?"
"That depends on how lucky I can get? But each one costs at least 80 coppers. You can consider that a discounted price since we are acquaintances."
"That is a discounted price?!" asked Blue Dart shocked. "Are you kidding? That is not cheap and definitely not a discounted price."
"Tell me how many members who are not in your guild are willing to sell you black iron equipment? Not at discount, but just sell you black iron equipment at all," asked Shadow back to Blue Dart.
"I get your point. I just want to buy them using the credits instead of the vita-nova coins."
"I can only get the supplies I need using vita-nova coins. I can't do it with credits."
"I can get you your supplies and provide additional credits for your services."
"Not these kinds of supplies. Maybe the only ones you can provide are a few wolf furs, that is if my team isn't able to get enough by hunting the mountain wolves."
"No harm in telling me what supplies you need."
"Can't. I don't want to let out my trade secrets."
"Materials are trade secrets?"
"Yes. If those materials can procure you black iron equipment."
"Fine, I will ask the teams to hold onto their purchases for the time being. I hope you can provide me with good equipment."
"You won't be disappointed," said Shadow ending the call.
"You interested in trying out the hell mode of the corrupted forest?" he asked. "Now that we are in level 3, we can at least get some good equipment out of it if not clear it."
"You are kidding right? It is hell mode. I don't think any of us ready for that."
"I don't plan on finishing it. Just getting better equipment so that we can make a better attempt at the temple quest."
"OK. I am speaking frankly now. The girls aren't really into finishing the quest right now. We need a bit of a time out after the goblin attacks so that we can enjoy the game a bit. We will stick with the wolves for some time."
"Fine. Did you contact anyone regarding about joining our group or do you have anyone in mind?"
"I have only played the V.R. game, War god's tempest before vita-nova. Don't have any of the friends I made there in the blackrock village."
"Well, in that case, I would need to search for someone myself."
"Wait! I know of someone, but he is a bit reckless and narcissistic. A bit of a wacko."
"Then, why are you suggesting him?"
"Well, he is my elder cousin."
"Oh. I understand. Is he any good or just reckless and narcissistic?"
"Well, he introduced me to the games, and he is actually good at them. He always plays warlock. So, if he agrees we will get someone who actually quite good at crowd control."
"OK then. Introduce me to him."
"I will contact him to meet you. Actually, you might end up liking him. He also tends to go out solo, quite often."
"I meant now. Give me his ID."
"It is Merlin Grimlock. He is at the Corrupted dungeon searching for teammates."
"Wait did you say Merlin Grimlock? A bit too much into magicians, isn't he?"
"Don't make fun of him. Don't say anything bad about mages in front of him. He is a fan of almost all magical fantasies as you can guess by his name, Merlin one of the oldest mages of the ancient and Grimlock of the new Grimlock adventures."
"Got it, I will keep it in mind. Is he actually good?"
"Well, if you played War god's tempest, he was one of the founding members of the guild Magus Shrine. He was known as Mad Merlin."
"Wait a second, your brother is the Mad Merlin? He is considered a genius. But wouldn't he be a part of Magus Shrine's efforts in vita-nova?"
"Yeah. He had some kind of falling out with guild leader, Azreal an year ago. Even if he didn't, he wouldn't be a part of the usual guild activities. Not really leadership material."
"He was always great at the competitions. Don't lie."
"He can deal with small teams easy. Not good at handling guilds. Even teams, he expects high quality gameplay from everyone in his team. A bit of perfectionist."
"Anyway, I am going to him immediately. Inform him of my arrival."
"Already did and sent him your ID. He is expecting you," said Quiet Fire cutting the call. "You just know about his fame. Wait till you meet him in person," thought Quiet Fire as she resumed farming the wolves.
The prospect of gaining a powerful ally especially one who had been very famous in his previous life was very enticing to him. He had also heard of Mad Merlin in his previous life. Obviously, the name Merlin Grimlock didn't stick in vita-nova and he was still called Mad Merlin. He was one of the only three warlocks who managed to get into demi-god tier in the seven years of the game.
As he reached the dungeon entrance, there were a lot of groups attempting the dungeon. Especially members of the Sirius Imperials were all attempting elite dungeons. It was a good thing for Balthazar that only the first exploration and opening of the treasure chests provide black iron equipment, the others only get white trash equipment to maintain the balance of the game, else he wouldn't be able to make any sales.
Shadow soon found Merlin. He definitely stood out and alone among the groups. He was definitely a mage as he was holding a wand and cape but had also equipped steel and leather armor pieces instead of the usual cloth armor.
People were avoiding him and even laughing at him. Balthazar understood why as he moved closer to the guy. He was shouting for a party to attempt the hell mode. As Shadow moved closer to him, he identified Shadow and came towards him.
"Hi Shadow, I am Merlin," he said introducing himself. "Heard you are interested in running through the Hell mode. I am up for it if you are in."
"Odd sense of fashion you got there," said Shadow pointing at his gear.
"Well, you probably already know that there are no requirements of weapon and armor on classes, right? So, put a lot of white trash armor which I could equip."
"Definitely a good idea. I should follow your lead on this."
"Always a good idea. Let us get a bit more equipment from the Hell mode dungeon. Though the monsters are level 3 from the start. They give better equipment and rewards."
"Sure, anyone else joining us. Or is it just us two?"
"Just us two. More equipment to share. I doubt that we can kill Vultusk or Vultarc. But we can explore a lot."
"So, you got any skills already from the dungeon?"
"Well apart from the usual shadow bolt and corruption, I got two rare ones from a special quest at the Arwild forest. They are terror wave and dark lash. Did you know that only the first special quest would be announced? I got lucky because of you. Else I would have been hunted by these Sirius Imperials instead of you."
"Rare skills! I am impressed. What do they do?"
"Dark lash is like whip which can be controlled by me waving my wand. It is like a whip with my wand as the handle. Terror wave as the name sounds is a multiple target version of Fear skill."
"A multi-target crowd control skill? It would be quite useful with the corrupted monster rabbits. Moreover, I heard Fear itself is a very hard to obtain at this stage."
"Yeah. I didn't hear of anyone of my friends get it too. The dark whip can also be used as multi-target skill. I just need to make sure the rabbits are in the whip's trajectory."
"So, Let us try out the Hell mode of the dungeon. But one small request. Let me get the last hits on the rabbits. I will put it in experience sharing mode. I just need to get the last hits on them to upgrade an equipment."
"You got an upgrade-able equip? It is from the special quest, right?"
"Hmm."
"OK. But you are going to be the scout in the corrupted forest."
Soon, they went to the dungeon entrance and selected the hell instance of the corrupted forest. A portal with a flickering red flame like halo around it appeared before them as they walked into it.
"Go do your thing, I'll call if I need help. Just call me if you find any good equips and I will do the same," said Merlin walking into the forest. "One more thing. I got a weapon that you could use."
He threw a wooden dagger towards Shadow face. Luckily Balthazar tilted his head in time and caught the handle of the dagger as it passed by his head. It had weird shape with a hard brown wooden blade curved from the centre to the tip and patterned green color wooden handle.
[Wooden Jambiya knife] (Black Iron Dagger)
Level 2
Equipment Requirement: Strength 8;
Effects: Attack Power +12;
20% chance to inflict bleed effect;
"Nice catch. Maybe it is true what old Blue told about you," said Merlin with a smile on his face.
"You learnt Knife throw skill too?" asked Shadow surprised by Merlin's throw. "And what did Blue Dart tell you about me?"
"That you might be a fighting expert in real-life," answered Merlin. "And yes, I learned knife throw. Heard you did too."
"No, I didn't. I just have the book in my inventory. I don't need it. Was intending to sell it."
"If you needed proper contacts, I can provide you with them. I know people who are ready to pay quite an amount for such skills. Especially skills that are common to all occupations are considered rare ones."
"I don't mind but I would rather have vita-nova coins instead of credits for it."
"Why coins instead of credits? Once, the credit to coin exchange is opened you can have as many coins as you want."
"I heard that there would be a limit on the coins that can be bought per day."
"Hmm. If that is true, it would be though. Why don't I try and negotiate with old Blue to give you a fair price for it."
"We can discuss that later when he is going to buy equipment from me."
"You are selling him equipment? What do you have?"
"None. I just got few ways to get a hold of them. You got the money, then I can buy black Iron equipment from the tailor in the village."
"Why didn't you tell me before we entered the hell mode dungeon?"
"You never asked nor did the topic come up. Still, it is for the best. What if you get a cloth armor here for a part that you already accidentally purchased."
"Hmph," said Merlin as he walked into the forest to attack the rabbits. They both went on killing the corrupted rabbits in the dungeon till they reached the first clearing which had several paths diverging from it. This time it had four more paths than the elite dungeon instance.
There were two more treasure chests in the initial part of the hell mode of which one of them was black iron chest. He got a cloth armor piece for hands and corrupted poison ivy in the chest. The other one was supposed to have been another black Iron chest if it was the first opening but probably the members of Sirius Imperials beat him to that.
But, the most surprising thing was Merlin who despite being alone managed to deal with the level 3 corrupted rabbits which had a health of 200HP and had been about 5% faster than the ones in the elite dungeon.
Though he managed to subdue any rabbit that came his way, it would be a hard task to directly kill the monsters without taking damage for him. He needed a person to provide DPS and tank for him. After all, Warlock was an occupation which was built using crowd control in mind. He was very skilled at using his skills and only used them when they were most effective and would hurt more possible number of monsters.
With their combined efforts, they managed to kill the level 3 monsters albeit it being difficult. They got a pair of black iron shoulder guards and leg armor for Shadow from looting the rabbits. Though these armor didn't have any special effects or skills but did improve his vitality and endurance.
The diverging paths at the clearing had more treasure chests. He told Merlin to go on the path that led to Vultusk's treasure chest and that he would scout the other paths. He already knew where the treasure chests would be at the Hell Mode and immediately set off to get a hold of them.
Luckily, the two remaining treasure chests that he had in mind didn't disappoint him. The soon met back at the clearing and decided to return back to the portal.
"I don't understand one thing. Why didn't you ask your cousin to accompany you to the Hell mode dungeon? I am sure she would have obliged for you," asked Shadow.
"I have played with them before. They are not good enough to hold their own."
"They seemed fine to me. They had good timing and awareness. They don't waste skills in a hurry. What more do you need?"
"You talking about the same three as I am?"
"Of course, yeah. Have you played with them in vita-nova? They don't actually need to be physically capable of pointing like in other V.R games. It is the thought that counts and they seemed to have a relatively sound mind."
"Hmm. Never thought about that. Seeing their faces always reminds me of my days coaching them in War god's Tempest."
"Well, it is better with a team. If you can teach and lead them, I believe they will definitely improve a lot more than what you had seen in War god's tempest."
"I guess you have a point," agree Merlin. "Are you trying to make me coach them? Did they ask for it?"
"No, but we need someone like you who is good at crowd control and in-game tactics. You are veteran and you got a chance to mould the team according to you liking. Many would love to have a chance like that."
"Sure, many would. But why aren't you interested in doing the same?" asked Merlin expecting a snag. He couldn't find any reason why Shadow himself wouldn't want to do the same as he had suggested.
"I would. But I can't. I can't be playing the game for long or invest in this game like you. This place is more of a training grounds for my mind and I treat it as such. My real-life schedule may conflict with using somnium technology for prolonged periods," explained Balthazar.
"What job is that?"
"I work in the alliance military. Just home on a break. But even here I have physical training at my family."
"So, it is true that you are an expert fighter."
"Fighter, yes. Expert, not so much. I can't call myself an expert in my circles, still a trainee."
"Oh. That is cool. Fine, I will join you guys. At least for the time being. I don't want to join any other guild and joining my cousin and helping her is not bad. I live with her. She took me after I broke off from Magus Shrine. I should probably be helping her out a bit in the game," said Merlin.
"Cool." said Shadow. "Definitely a narcissist," he thought reminding himself of what Quiet Fire told him.