Amongst the neverending stream of party requests, there were a few Lv.7 Fighters and Lv.6 Hunters, but Kieran wasn't seeking those classes. They didn't meet the criteria he set to clear the dungeon.
Even though it took much longer, Kieran sighed in relief when he received three party requests that met his standards. 'My criteria may be a little harsh for new players, but the highest difficulty calls for a certain skill level.'
After observing Kieran's party composition, many ridiculed him.
"Who in their right mind enters a dungeon without a tank-oriented member? Sure, a Warrior is a cross between okay damage and defense, but it doesn't close the gap of a Knight's defensive skills."
"That party will step inside the dungeon and return less than ten minutes later after getting wiped. Their Warrior is Lv.6, yet he asks that all other members have a higher level than him… what sense does that make?!"
Kieran heard the ridicule but chose to ignore it. Why should he involve himself with the opinions of sheep who often projected their weaknesses onto others?
A successful person understood how to brush off irrelevant drivel and remain focused on their goal.
After a few moments, Kieran looked at his party members. Since he already knew Altair's information, he needed to understand the rest of the party's parameters.
"Can you guys share your character panels with me or call out your attributes? If you opt for the latter, I ask that you be truthful or risk jeopardizing the entire run," Kieran said.
Everyone nodded.
The first to share their information was a slender male Priest. Due to the lack of satisfactory Priests, Kieran made a sole concession, allowing a Lv.6 Priest into the party.
The male priest's name was Sithik, who wore traditional priest robes of a beige color. His dark blue, almost indigo hair fell behind two round lenses while his gray eyes stared at Kieran as he shared his status screen.
Kieran's expression changed several times as he critiqued Sithik's character panel.
Unlike combat classes, Priests possessed an additional attribute—SPR (Spirit). SPR directly correlated to the effectiveness of their heals by tweaking the Healing Coefficient of each skill.
Due to this effect alone, it was a vital attribute that no Priest should neglect.
"Your attributes aren't bad. 25 VIT, 28 SPR, and 24 INT. Definitely passable. But, when you level up, please save your UAPs and let me help you allot them," Kieran remarked.
"Uh, okay," Sithik nodded. "I kind of just followed the guideline since the menu highlights what's important for the class."
"That's a safe decision, but flexibility is preferred. Mindlessly following a suggestion robs you of the opportunity to understand your class's strengths and weaknesses through trial and error," Kieran replied.
Sithik scratched his head with a dubious expression but ultimately nodded. "Gotcha. I think I understand."
After settling the matters with Sithik stats, Kieran moved on to the female Lv.7 Priest named Cygnus. Like Sithik, Cygnus also wore a traditional priest robe, except it was tailored to match a female decorum.
Cygnus possessed a set of foxy cerulean eyes that hid a youthful vivacity and short, frilly hair of a dull teal color. The look in her eyes and how she met Kieran's gaze told him she possessed a fiery spirit, both unrelenting and courageous.
As starter characters, not many people would have secrets to hide. So Cygnus had no qualms with revealing her character panel.
Kieran put her stats through the same scrutiny, but he was satisfied by Cygnus's slightly higher stats.
"Very good. Although your stats are comparable to Sithik's with 29 VIT, 28 SPR, and 22 INT, I see you have some unused UAPs. I suggest you add 2 points to SPR and 3 to INT."
After a brief pause, Kieran rubbed his chin and asked another vital question. "You both have learned Mending Aura, correct?"
"Yep," Sithik and Cygnus answered in unison.
Since there was no tank, he would have to rely heavily upon their healing skills.
Afterward, Kieran looked at the remaining party member. A Lv.7 Mage named Aspaira. She was clothed in midnight blue mage robes with white speckles across the sleeves.
Kieran could tell she was nervous by how her index finger twitched while combing a lock of her long, light purple hair behind her ear.
"No need to be so nervous," Kieran chuckled lightheartedly.
Aspaira's green eyes met Kieran's gaze for a moment but faltered soon enough. "Eh, I recently attempted the dungeon's Difficult setting, so pardon my fraught nerves. I didn't expect that level of challenge."
"Oh?" Kieran's expression lit up after hearing Aspaira's remark.
However, it was understandable, seeing as she was a Lv.7 Mage. Her Magic Power should be exceptional.
After a moment of gathering herself, Aspaira shared her character panel with Kieran.
Her Magic Power sparked his immediate attention. "72! That's pretty remarkable for our current level, but…."
Kieran's expression sank after glimpsing through the rest of her attributes. Her Magic Power was her only acceptable quality. She essentially neglected the rest of her stats outside of the points she received from her equipment!
"Err, while your Magic Power is excellent, your other stats aren't. We need to correct a few things. Luckily, I see you have UAPs from two levels, is it? Did you recently level up during your last run?
"Yeah," Aspaira admitted.
"At the rate you're going, you'll end up with an unconventional glass cannon build where you hit extremely hard, but even an attack from a Normal Monster could kill you. Place 3 points in your END, 2 in your VIT, 3 in CTL, and lastly 2 in AGI."
The influence of attributes, while possessing some general effects, varied from class to class. AGI for a Mage was just as crucial as CTL (Control) because they familiarized the player with accelerating their Mana Flow, which could lead to shorter casting times.
Aspaira first pursed her lips, a bit skeptical about the advice. She wasn't sure that taking advice from a stranger was the best route.
Kieran noticed her hesitation and smiled thinly.
"I have zero reasons to sabotage your stats. I need to clear this dungeon just as much as you do. I may be a stranger, but trust me on this. It'll benefit you in the long run," Kieran insisted.
Soon enough, Aspaira relented and allocated her stats according to Kieran's advice.
Before entering the dungeon or even approaching the entrance, Kieran brought up his user interface and entered a special tab labeled with the letters GRC.
It stood for Gamer Republic Connect, a platform responsible for several famous streamers.
It was a truly lucrative place to make money if one had the skills to grab many eyes.
In the past, Kieran didn't have the luxury of creating a personal streaming account, but that was different now.
〈System: Would you like to link your account with the Gamer Republic platform? [ Y | N ]〉
"Yes," Kieran answered.
〈System: Success! Congratulations, Aatrox, you have linked your Zenith Online account.〉
〈System: You have gained access to the GamerHub.tv streaming service. Would you like to activate it now? [ Y | N ]〉
"Delayed activation. Begin live broadcast in 3 minutes," Kieran responded.
Afterward, Kieran approached the dungeon entrance, producing a screen with basic information.
┌───────────────────
«Forest of Beasts» - Beginner Dungeon
Maximum Party Size: 5
[Easy]
Recommended Level: Lv.5 - Lv.7
[Difficult]
Recommended Level: Lv.7 to Lv.9
[Very Difficult]
Recommended Level: Lv.9 - Lv.13
Please choose the dungeon difficulty: Easy, Difficult, and Very Difficult.
└───────────────────
Kieran looked back at the others with a mischievous smirk, "Very Difficult."
Ding!
〈System: You have chosen «Forest of Beasts»'s Very Difficult setting.〉
〈System: Warning, the monsters inside are significantly empowered, thereby increasing the Recommended Level Range.〉
〈System: The EXP Penalty is greater than normal and will apply if all party members die. If one member clears, the penalty will be waived for all.〉
〈System: Your party will be transported inside the «Forest of Beasts» in 10 seconds. Please prepare.〉
"W-what-!"
Before anyone could voice their dissent, the party teleported into the dungeon, which created a phenomenon in the lobby.
An ominous display of a black skull emitting a bout of sinister laughter resounded throughout the special lobby area.
"They're absolute madlads! Those fools walked into the highest difficulty without a tank! Oh man, they must have absolute dogshit for a brain. I can't wait to see them return in disarray."
"I agree! The boss will probably bitch slap them! No, scratch that. They'll most likely get done in by an Elite Monster."
"Forget what you're talking about. That's some big dick energy right there. I don't know what pp pills they've gotten their hands on, but I'll be sticking around to see the outcome. Perhaps it'll make my day."