Gaining Reputation is not an easy feat. The Quests given by most NPCs currently only give 1 to 2 points of Reputation. As for receiving Quests from Nobility, who would likely give plenty of Reputation, unless you are Nobility yourself then it was a no go.
Getting Dungeon First Clears and Speed Records is also an option, the higher the difficulty the better, but currently only two Adventuring teams were known to do so with Hard Mode in all of Renovel.
A string of curses in Punjabi suddenly meets everyone's ears as Pakeeja storms towards the archway and begins kicking the stone in frustration.
"I think it's time we returned." Daisy looks pleased with herself as Crane has a look of fear and reverence towards her. Asuka shakes her head as Hanit goes to console the clear loser of negotiations.
Upon returning the rest of their friends have divided themselves to visit the rest of the sections:
Opal Bat would lead Iris Ash, Flying Coop, Mauve Hammerhead, Verdant Wheel, Purple Bull, Crafty Goliath, and Jumping Sash. They were Team Opal.
Dark Avenue would then lead Boulder Haven, Demetrius, Needle Fan, Citrine Chevalier, Amethyst Crane, Elegant Canary and Honest Wind. They were Team Avenue.
Finally Syringa Fang would team up with Gladiolus Rain, Sleepy Oak, Flame Ribbon, Sassy Daisy, Kingdom Lock, Storm Kitty, and Straw Monkey. They called themselves Team Fang.
Team Opal would take the Fire and Water areas, Team Avenue the Wind and Metal, Team Fang the Lightning and Light, while the Novelists would handle the Dark area. They still had 9 hours left within this special space for the day which is more than enough for them to put into play a plan. The stone to return to the village is given to the Novelists while Team Opal had the stone that returned them to their previous location.
As Opal Bat steps onto the platform with her team, there's a flash of red light as they are teleported to an undiscovered Fire altar. The same amount of monsters greets them this time labeled [Kindle Doll] but none make a move to attack the trespassers. There is a 10 yard radius around the platform they stood on.
"Okay, as we discussed." Opal Bat nods to Jumping Sash who gulps. Jumping Sash is still not used to fighting but in the time they had been here had picked up a few tricks from Honest Wind, Viridian Swift, and Boulder Haven.
As Opal Bat gives a tap of her Rod, which causes the gem to glow and summon her Sparkling Nycetris familiar, Jumping Sash disappears from sight with her Vanish Art. It is rarer and stronger than a Dagger Infantry's initial Stealth while also being usable in tandem. Their Workshop had received it as a reward for a First Clear and Speed Run.
It had been in creating a successful copy that had broken her into a mid tier Beginner Scribe. She had been surprised when they had let her learn the original version of the Skill rather than one of her own copies, which was admittedly weaker but no less effective.
Jumping Sash decussates her wrists, the inner blades of her sickles outwards. The blue diamond shaped gem of a Flood Mongoose gleams on the left blade's pommel as she carefully approaches the nearest Kindle Doll. As soon as she's within 5 yards of the creature, the Kindle Doll spins at having sensed her, but Jumping Sash can easily leap that distance.
Circling around behind, she slashes at its neck with a Cutthroat. This Art deals 50% extra physical damage from behind and has a chance of leaving a Bleed effect.
With her sickles giving her a boost in Dexterity multiplied by her level, as a Scribe she can write with both hands on simple notes. In combat, her attack speed increases to 3:1. Where an equally leveled but average Infantry would it once, she can strike thrice. Finishing her normal strikes after her Art, the monster finally goes to retaliate.
However, Jumping Sash is prepared as she hops backwards with Backstep. Increasing her evasion speed by 100% and giving her five seconds of invulnerability makes escaping easy enough. Suddenly a wave of yellow electricity washes over her protected body and into the Kindle Doll.
As Jumping Sash returns to the platform, the monster most definitely lured, they find the Kindle Doll makes no movements to approach. In fact, they have the attention of all of the monsters but none take a step closer to the altar.
"Looks like she was right," Opal mutters under her breath, "Alright then, get into your positions."
Their frontlines step off the platform and move towards several Dolls in front of them. The rearguard starts gathering their energy for their attacks. The other groups in their own areas are doing something similar after gauging enemies. By having a base to retreat to for recovery, they'd have an easier time.
"Let's see if we can find a good rhythm then." Opal nods, giving everyone the go ahead.
"Looks like Syringa was right." Pakeeyja smirks looking at her screen before they step onto the altar themselves. Despite the distance between the group, she can still see everyone's Vitality and Spirit gauges, as well as their special group bonuses. With this as confirmation each team would likely still benefit from the Novelists' overlapping Hidden Stats.
"The monsters won't be able to approach the altar which gives each team enough time to get acquainted with each other." Asuka surmises, surprised at Syringa Fang's insight despite only having faced the Stone Dolls.
"Since we still have several days, let's take some time to work on everyone's combat standards. That way facing stronger foes will be easier." Syringa had suggested once the Novelists had returned. Having grown up similarly to Asuka as a combat specialist from a Super Guild, Syringa had no qualms about sharing a secret with her new friends.
One's in game combat standards were divided into Physiques (natural balance, bodily control, visual perception) and Mentality (calculation, spatial awareness, timing)
Many groups scour through thousands to find people with naturally high combat standards but they were fairly rare. In most cases it is easier to find folks with above average combat standards and raise them to a higher level.
Because Ruby Blade and Lapis Tome are stronger individually thanks to their various aspects, when they fight together their abilities are amplified. Even with Syringa and Gladiolus's instructions, they didn't have to worry too much about being a cohesive unit. This is their strength but also a major weakness compared to older Guilds and Workshops. Despite having weaker Weapons and Equipment, many of them have played various other games and are familiar with how their allies acted. This combined with their higher combat standards, could make up for their lack of damage.
Now that the Lapis Tome and Ruby Blade groups have separated further, they'd be much weaker so they'd have to pay more attention to how and where to strike.
If the Guilds and Workshops gathered here were to find out that these teens were viewing the monsters as practice targets instead of threats, they might cough up blood.
As Tara opens her eyes from the sudden flash of the teleportation match, she looks out in front with Aelix on her side. Pockets of sunlight break through the gigantic blackwood willows, their purple leaves making the area seem even darker.
Unlike the Stone Dolls who stomp around, the Silhouettes float over the ground looking almost intangible as ghosts. They have long clawed hands with glowing white eyes underneath their hoods.
"Should we practice as well?" Asuka asks, her hand already on the hilt of one of her swords as she's walking off the platform. "And don't pretend you haven't been just as antsy as I am."
Pakeeja laughs as they transform their chakrams from bracelet form. "I've been caught then, huh? No, we're going to clear as many as we can in the time we have left. I'd like to see if they drop anything else."
Before either of them can move, however, there's a whistling sound as a baseball sized object sails overhead. It lands in between a small group of Silhouettes with a 'tink!' before an explosion and a number of damages ranging from 100 to 300 hover the monsters' Endurance bars.
"Izel!" The duo give a knowing cry. If it weren't for the 10 yard radius the monsters couldn't cross, they'd have been swarmed.
"Hey it worked! Maybe I can try out a few more things since the school won't let me. Just because they're 'dangerous' and 'hazardous'. Honestly." Izel smiles with a roll of her eyes, unaware of their tone. From her pouch in her lap, Izel pulls out a thin piece of smoothly carved wood. With a swish of her wrist and a flick of her hand, silver light wraps around this tool before elongating into what appears to be a rudimentary musket.
Tara watches this all unfold before her, a little confused. Before she can ask anything Izel has already fired off a shot, a silver ball of energy firing from the weapon. It slams into and through one of the Silhouettes and into another doing a heavy amount of damage.
It's at this time that Asuka has already cut down one of the monsters as an ochre brown flissa appears from the empty black hilt. Her draw speed is so rapid that her blade slashes twice in just one movement. Her attacks do 50 physical damage each with an additional 20 Stone damage, for a total of 210 damage.
Pakeeja's physical damage isn't nearly as Asuka's, just above 30 physical damage. On the other hand, they have a higher hit count with both their weapons. Their Wind damage leaves behind tears in the monster's bodies, slowing their Movement and Attack speeds.
Aelix is weaving in and out of the monsters like a lightning bolt. Her physical damage is only at 25 but each one that's struck by her bardiche has a rope of lightning lingering to it. After she connects twenty together, she twirls her weapon and slams it's butt into the ground. The twenty Silhouettes suddenly explode with lightning bolts strike down from the sky.
As they couldn't share Skills across Worlds unlike items, such as the Nature Stone or Soul Realm Gem, only Tara has an aura to mitigate any damage as she swung her daggers out. With Hanit presence, though, their group didn't have to worry.
Staying behind on the platform, Hanit can not only cast two Healing spells in a matter of seconds, arrows made of water would splash onto her friends. Strong Buffs that boost Defense, Dexterity, and Health Recovery would appear on contact with shockingly long up times of five minutes. They are only now limited in the Spiritual energy they could use to execute their Skills.
Tara is surprised at the +5 Skill Proficiency she was receiving for each successful strike of her Riversword Bladeplay. Their friends had said that they hadn't received any Proficiency during their previous fight. Even more shocking is the increased drop rate for Tier Shards and the crimson crystals. These monsters dropped two of each instead of one.
Tara isn't sure if it was because they are fighting directly or because the area's monsters are of a different quality? [Silhouette] is in the phlox pink of Higher instead of cobalt blue like the Stone Dolls.