With Mob's information, Merlin and his team also managed to gather experience quickly. The quingols being elite monsters at level 10 provided good amount of experience and Merlin collected their heads. Shadow usually attack and incapacitated them before Merlin and Sultan who were at level 11 killed it.
In about 30 minutes, Merlin managed to get to level 12 and another half hour later Sultan also was at level 12. Merlin was more than glad enough to be at level 12. Shadow had joined the game in his previous life after two years of its launch. It was his first time getting first clears.
Shadow enjoyed the new feeling of being able to get first clears and wanted to get them more and more. He wanted to get to more experience to get close to level 13 and he didn't get much experience because he had been allowing Merlin and Sultan to get the last hits.
Merlin suggested that they attempt the hell mode as soon as Sultan hit level 12. So, Shadow had suggested his plan to Merlin. He expected Merlin to immediately agree, but contrary to his expectations Merlin showed a slight expression of disgust before he refused.
"What is wrong with it? It is the best way without having at least Silver gear. Boris wore three dark gold equipment. The super guilds clearly have a better chance of getting the first clear. So, why not?" asked Shadow confused as he believed it to be a perfectly valid strategy.
"Nothing wrong with it. It is possible to do that, but I don't intend to do that. We already managed to get the elite mode first clear. It is not necessary to go to such lengths for that. Moreover, that few pieces that you saw were from the entire guild. Even Celestial Warriors wouldn't have a member with those many dark gold equips on a person continuously. You don't need to worry about it," said Merlin.
"Just let us attempt the hell mode. It is good if we manage. We have three players with unique equipment that puts as at more advantage than any others," said Merlin.
Shadow could still not understand why Merlin is refusing. All of these were not a reason for them not to do it. He looked at Merlin with a blank face completely confused with Merlin's decision.
"Ok. I expected you to not understand this. You are in the big leagues now. I want to establish a professional team to take part in competitions like other guilds and the same is with Crimson Realm. It has a chance to become a first-rate guild if you maintain a similar pace. What you suggested is done for best clear records, but they are looked down by first rate guilds. It is much more stupid to suggest the same for first clear. It is not just about getting the rewards any longer, it is considered a competition among us, which is considered more important if you intend to have your guild as a first rate one," explained Merlin.
"That seems like a stupid reason to not do it," said Shadow as he still felt that Merlin was attaching too much of importance to it.
"You don't want to do it. You just got into the fight club and now you want to do this? There are some unspoken rules that are expected of you," said Merlin trying to make him understand. "You can try and gain more experience here if you want, but I am not interested. You need others also to do it don't you? So, just try to understand them."
"Fine," said Shadow disappointed that Merlin was not willing to accept his idea. He realized that Sultan would also side with Merlin probably as he was from a super guild and just got out to make his own name. Though dejected, he was considering the statement that Merlin made to try and determine if there was anything that could be use to convince Merlin and he suddenly realized something important.
"By the way, who else has a unique equipment? You told that there were three with unique equipment," asked Shadow. He had only expected Merlin and himself to have unique weapons among their group of five. None of the others had been to the fort, so he didn't expect them to have any. He had hoped that Mob joined them before they blocked the entrance so that they would have a good summoner equip as he hadn't had much information about that class from his past life due to there being very small number of summoner players compared to others.
"Oh! I forgot to tell you guys. Sultan had stumbled on a special quest for paladin. He got a unique weapon too. A sword. It was the sword of Silvannus. A paladin weapon that he got as the reward from some quest," said Merlin.
"Sword of Silvannus? The sword that belonged to Silvannus Shreeve? The one that the fort was named after?" asked Shadow. "That makes sense, if he found that sword, then he was responsible for Foedus Rex to be able to find the unique weapons, the reason that Boris Blade got hold of the Void Dragon's Talons," thought Shadow.
"Silvannus Shreeve? Ya. I don't know about it, but he did say that he had found a map to the fort which we explored when he met me and that it contained a lot of valuable things. He kept it secret to use it as a bargaining chip, but realized that we had already raided the location after we talked out," said Merlin as he sent the information about the sword that the received from Sultan
[Sword of Silvannus - The Lightbringer Sword] (Unique Weapon)
Level 10;
Bound to Sultan-e-Shehzad.
Attack Power +10; Reflect Damage +5; Magic Resist: +10;
Strength +10; Intelligence +15;
Increase Free attribute points by 2 points for every increase in level.
The holy blade can be used to channel holy magic along with its use a physical weapon.
Passive Effects:
1. Light Burn: Any physical attack causes holy damage to the dark faction. Causes persistent holy damage to the opponent based on the depth of the attack.
2. Any holy magic spell causes additional damage to the dark faction.
Additional skill:
1. Glaring Blaze: Can release an extremely bright fire on the blade which blinds all enemies in the vicinity. All attacks on the monsters would cause extreme burn damage. Duration: 10 seconds. Cooldown: 30 minutes.
The sword could be upgraded by sacrificing 500 life essences of members of the dark faction.
Shadow was quite impressed on looking at its attributes and effects. It also had the capability to upgrade similar to this own and Merlins. "I expected that all the unique equipment could be upgraded but I didn't expect that all of them required to kill monsters of dark faction," though Balthazar.
He then remembered that the paladin unique set belonging to the twelve lords was called the Lightbringer set and realized that Sultan was the one responsible for Foedus Rex to get the unique weapons. He knew that the Lightbringer set also had a shield which has quite a few good active and passive skills which allowed a player to be very strong tank.
The lightbringer set also had a story behind it like the Void Dragon set and provided a lot of good skills that could be used against the dark faction which would be very useful in later stages of the game. He was very glad that Sultan was his ally now. "At the very least, I think all the things that were left by the twelve lords have the same requirement for the upgrade, at the very least their weapons," thought Balthazar. "Best check the details of the weapons that Rudra and others received before he confirms on it."
Moreover, if Sultan has kept this secret from Foedus Rex, it was a good thing for him as they probably are not aware of the specialty of the fort. That was a source of comfort for him as he didn't need to worry much about Foedus Rex now.
"It has quite useful passive effects but were mostly oriented towards the dark faction. These could only be useful in special conditions and can't be that useful in regular situations," said Shadow.
"Luckily, many of the dungeons had monsters of the dark factions. The Caves of Lukriag were also filled with dark goblins which were a breed of goblin that belonged to the dark faction. The same can't be told of the other kind of goblins, but in the dungeon, he would have an advantage," thought Shadow as he considered them attempting the hell mode.
"Yes, the dungeon has dark goblins which belong to the dark faction. I checked the website. The additional skill is also quite useful in dealing with the boss, which I am also found out to be the same. He would be quite useful in the dungeon," explained Merlin.
"I agree that he is gives us a better chance at fighting them and if he has a shield, it would help us get through the dungeon faster, but I still don't think it is won't be easy," said Shadow trying to convince Merlin to consider his plan. "We at least need better equipment to get through it like we did the last time."
"I agree. While we were playing with the quingols, the others in the team had been attempting to get through the elite mode based on our observations. Though we were able to do it before others due to you being able to be in stealth, a couple of players with shields leading the way while covering each other and others at the back would also allow to go through it. The game allows to use shield as a secondary weapon which makes it easy for a capable player. It is already being used by Crimson Realm too," said Merlin.
"That is a decent substitute for our method. But using assassins would be more efficient and quick," said Shadow suggesting the method that he had seen in his previous life.
"True. A pair of assassins would make it faster and probably would require less number of consumables if we are using them instead of players with shields or proper tanks, if the assassins were able to get them and remain in stealth. Assassins are a good way to get the fastest clear too. You are always thinking from the perspective of getting achievements, but we also need to be able to have a method to just get through the dungeon at start," said Merlin.
"That is true," accepted Merlin as he also used to think in the same way when the guild had to explore new dungeons. There were a lot of dungeon which he never had played a part in the initial exploration and had always used the methods that were already prevalent. At that stage, the methods to get through were well established. As a guild, the new players were always guided by older players who preferred to follow the arrangement that allowed them to quickly finish the dungeon as they didn't want to spend more time in a lower level dungeon.
All the new players at that time who wanted to attempt elite or hell modes at that time would have a lot of decent equipment corresponding to their levels available in the market and those that would attempt elite or hell mode would be capable enough to get these equipment.
"Yes, though you are not a guild leader, you are the boss of a workshop. So, it is best that you also plan from that point of view. You have good perspective and have the good strategic and planning capabilities. You are always thinking like a specialist, you need to think like a manager too as you own a guild. I am supposed to think like a specialist as the leader of an adventurer team which only accepts elites. This is going the other way round," said Merlin holding his head.
"Well, it is a good thing, we are working together, heh," said Shadow smiling at the thought that they were doing what the other was supposed to do. "In that way, it is best we get going to the town. I also want to try out the dungeon now."
"Cool, I have already asked Quiet Fire to put some good equipment for us in the bank. We got a storage space for the adventurer team. Tetsujin says that she managed to get a few decent equipment too," said Merlin.
"So, how is their team?" asked Shadow. His first acquaintance was Quiet Fire and she was the one who introduced him to Merlin. He also knew that she would be a strong figure in the future and wanted to know her progress.
"They are actually quite good according to Tetsujin and he has high standards. I think my cousin is actually good at gaming than her actual job. It is quite unexpected that Tetsujin is willing to continue along with her. I expected him to join us after some time and get Bitter Beast or someone to replace him. I hope he is not interested in her in that way. That guy is quite old," said Merlin hoping that Tetsujin wasn't pursuing his cousin using the game as an excuse.
They made their way to the back gate for Merlin to submit the 34 quingol heads that the collected. They found others doing the same at the wooden stations of the guards. Tristar was there and came to Merlin when he saw them.