"Quick get him on the bed."
Tilia lifted Gerald onto said bed. He was covered in blood, wounds visible on his body. He groaned.
Ryla quickly began to boil some water and gather rags. She then ran to Gerald, her eyes filled with panic.
Tilia held up a hand, she held a healing potion in it. She had very few, since she didn't plan on using them for her training.
Ryla hesitated, "That's expensive!"
"Use it."
Ryla nodded and accepted potion. She quickly tilted the bottle into Geralds lips, the potion flowing into his mouth. Gerald swallowed, his wounds began to recover at a visible pace.
Ryla sighed with relief, "Thank you."
Tilia shook her head, "This may be my fault as well."
Gerald coughed and tried to sit up. Ryla gently pushed him back down, "Rest please."
Gerald did as he was told. Looking and Tilia he said, "That beast, it's gone for now."
"Sorry it put you in such a bad shape."
Gerald shook his head, "No, those runes you used made it possible. It's another thing that put me in this state."
Ryla frowned, "It's not them is it? I thought you already settled that debt!"
Gerald smiled sadly, "It is, they became greedy. They want more and they put me in this state to force me."
Tilia asked, "Who is they?"
"Some people I got kicked out of the Adventurers Guild. They are twisted and sick, but I managed to get them kicked out. Because of it they hold a grudge towards me and have been forcing me to pay them. I gave them what they wanted and retreated out here. Yet they want more."
"How many?"
"How many what?"
"How many people are there?"
"Fifteen, because of it I cannot take them down."
Lou came walking up, "But Papa is the strongest!"
Gerald patted her head, "Papa isn't the strongest. Else you wouldn't be here. . ."
Tilia cracked her neck, "How long until you can get back up and running?"
"I need a day at least. Why?"
"We are gonna meet these people. . ."
~ ~ ~
"I'm telling you this is the right way!"
"We all know you're terrible with directions Phil."
Wrock heard some voices in the distance. He was aware of them shortly before, they weren't doing anything to be stealthy anyways.
A group of three walked out. They stopped upon seeing Wrock. One of them walked ahead, "Hello! Do you know where the Plantivore's Rise dungeon is?"
Wrock raised an eyebrow, "Plantivore? With only three of you?"
"We are quite skilled ourselves."
Wrock was amused, these three would have to be seriously overestimating themselves. The way the carried themselves showed how amateur they were. Yet they were going to attempt a dungeon recommended only for experts?
"You're quite skilled you say? I don't believe that, anyway the dungeon is over there."
The person's face brightened, "Ah! Thank you-"
"Hold on, didn't you hear what he said?"
"Hmm?"
"He said he didn't believe we were skilled!"
"Jay, why are you always so obsessed over the opinion of others? It doesn't matter!"
The character named Jay crossed his arms, "I am not one to let people look down on me."
Wrock interrupted, "Oh I am not looking down on you. Plantivore is a high difficulty dungeon that many recommend a team of five minimum. I didn't word my sentence correctly. I don't doubt you're unskilled, I doubt you're skilled enough to clear Plantivore with three people. However if I am wrong, then I will gladly admit so."
Jay boasted confidently, "So we shall! You should come with us, witness history in the making."
Wrock was unwilling, but perhaps a break would be nice. . .
The first guy to speak, Phil, quickly objected, "I wouldn't like that. Our coordination would be messed up, plus we could be sabotaged."
Wrock made a slight smile, "I can stand back and watch. The moment I do anything you can kick me from the party, forcing me out of the dungeon."
Phil and Jay looked at each other. Jay then turned to the third person, "What do you think Andy?"
"It's fine with me, I honestly don't care."
"Then send a party invite."
. . .
Wrock's surroundings cleared. Plantivore's Rise was a difficult dungeon solely because it didn't have any breaks. An incredibly strong carnivorous plant named Plantivore was slaughtering innocent villagers. Having been discovered it ran into hiding, sending wave after wave of plant soldiers to kill the player.
Each wave would start immediately after one ended. After a number of waves the plants would thin in numbers, but rise is strength and skill. Fighting elite monsters whilst fatigued would be difficult. The only reason why the party was able to clear so easily was because of Akiol's inability to grow tired.
A woman screamed, "The plants are coming!"
The three pulled out their weapons. Wrock quickly assessed their team composition. Phil was a Guardian, or a variant of it for his sword was larger than an ordinary Guardian's. Jay was a Berserker with a two handed sword. While Andy was a Sorcerer. Wrock frowned at it, did they not wish to heal? Or were they that confident?
The first wave of small plants came charging. They looked like large Venus flytrap, although their size was around half of Wrock's.
(Author Note: It's worth mentioning Wrock is 6'5''. Yet his real world body is around 5'11''. {195cm/180cm})
Phil released a wave of golden energy. Immediately a large number of the plants began charging towards him.
Andy commented, "You know, aren't Venus flytraps supposed to wait for their prey? How hungry are these ones?"
Jay followed, "Must be starving. I know Phil must taste horrible."
Phil smacked his lips, "How do you know what I taste like?! Also eyes forward, they are almost here."
The monsters began slamming to Phil's shield, but he remained steady. After waiting a moment Phil stomped the ground, "Alright, these ones are weak, so you don't worry about catching aggro."
Jay began swinging his two-handed sword. Cutting down plants like it was an overgrown bush. Andy was more reserved, occasionally creating spikes from the ground to send stray plants back into the pile.
Wrock studied this and was now confident in his claim. Jay had no idea how to properly handle the sword, and Phil's posture for guarding was terrible. Yet he didn't make any vocal comments about this. He would wait and see.
Quarter of an hour passed and the trio had passed most of the easy waves. Their breathing was growing a little heavy, but they remained determined. Wrock was now interested, this was the wave that first introduced an Elite monster.
A wave of assorted plant monsters charged forward. At the very back a slow walking flower-like plant moved. The trio began slowly tearing apart the minions, but now the Elite monster struck.
Pssh~
A wave of pollen covered the battlefield. The small plants that touched this pollen grew more ferocious and strong. They began beating at Phil's shield.
Jay shouted, "The pollen gives us a debuff!"
Phil responded, "On it!"
Phil slammed his shield with the pommel of his sword and shouted, "[Minor Blessing]!"
Ray's of light covered the trio and Wrock. Looking at the effects of [Minor Blessing] Wrock was quite impressed. It provided resistance to debuff effects.
Wrock now knew what variant of Guardian Phil was. After players have increased their level cap many of the base classes could change into a variant. This was a way to bring more variety in the game, and allow those who were unlucky in obtaining a hidden class a better class. One particular favorite variant of the Guardian class was Holy Knight. While reducing its ability to properly guard against attacks, it gains the ability to heal and buff allies. However it's healing wasn't as great as a priest's.
Variants also were granted to some hidden classes provided by mentors. Very rarely to those through items. Wrock himself didn't have chance for a Variant, due to his class being a top Pugilist class anyway. He liked being able to create his own skills anyway.
Phil quickly ordered, "Andy, get rid of that flower!"
Andy responded, "Already on it! [Greater Fireball]! [Earthen Castle]!"
A large fireball shot upwards towards the plant. As it descended four earth walls arose around the flower. With the flower unable to escape the fireball crashed into it. An explosion occurred and remanent flames began to burn it.
Andy then said, "It's HP will melt for now! Finish off the minions!"
Jay shouted, "Roger!"
Jay twisted his sword and began swinging horizontally. He didn't stop and began spinning at a rapid pace. Slowly he moved through the mass of plants. Like a weed cutter.
With the small plants finished off the flower was also quickly eliminated. Immediately the next wave came running up. Phil took one look and sighed, "The Elites really do appear every round. Andy I leave this one to you as well."
Andy pointed his staff upwards, "Roger!"