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PC: "Alright, give me leader and your coordinates."
Meliadol transferred leadership of the party to Bast, the little crown icon now overlayed over the berserker's picture in his HUD. After that he pulled up his map and sent the coordinates in chat.
PC: "That good?"
PC: "Perfect."
Bow Down has joined the party!
Darlia has joined the party!
Party Leader Bast has changed the party to a raid.
Auri has joined the raid!
On and on it went, until there was a firm raid of fourteen. The voices of the new raid members filled his head as they all greeted each other. Meliadol recognized a few of them as the ones hanging around
Heoh has joined the raid!
What?
Why had Bast invited her? Meliadol could admit to himself that he looked up to her skill, but as a person, she seemed to be, for lack of a better term, a dick. She was a goal to him, not someone he wished to interact with on the regular.
For whatever it was worth, she seemed to feel the same way.
PC: "What the fuck is this about, Bast?" Her voice rattled off in group chat, which had fallen silent with her arrival.
PC: "Mmm, nice to see you too." Bast responded wryly, "To be honest, I wasn't sure you'd accept my random invite to begin with."
PC: "Curiosity has always been my strongest weakness. As much as I hate to admit it, I figure you'd have good reason for doing so, outside of catching up."
PC: "Fair enough." Bast agreed with her, "Now, I'm assuming all of you are wondering why this mass invite went out, yes?"
There was a chorus of agreement.
Bast sent them Meliadol's coordinates in chat.
PC: "Meet up here as fast as possible. Make sure you have potions and consumables. I can explain it in person. Also make sure to keep a low profile on the way there from any groups in the area. Approach opposite from the main hub. It'll all be clear when you arrive. Trust me, it's gonna be exciting!"
It was a measure of trust in Bast, Heoh included, that let them assume the invitation was sent for good reason and as such, no one complained. Meliadol was a bit envious at that. This reputation was something the berserker must have earned over a long time, and from his own interactions with the knowledgeable man, it was something he could agree on.
Meliadol continued watching the fight far below.
Heoh was the last to appear. "Alright, what's this about, Bast?" She said, emerging from behind the shadows like the Ghost in which she drew her class name.
"Look down there." Bast indicated the cliff face, and with one final suspicious glance at the berserker, Heoh did just that. Slowly, with exaggerated care, she peeked over the lip. Her eyes widened.
"Oh! A Zone boss! Well, well, well, you are full of surprises, Bast." She breathed, half whispering, watching for almost a whole minute before backing away from the edge, taking care to remain hidden. "I can guess why I'm here." She said, turning around to face both Bast and the rest of the raid.
Meliadol looked from between the two groups. Everyone seemed very confident.
"We need you." Bast confirmed, "I'm sure you already know what I have in mind."
Heoh nodded. "There's only one thing in which you'd need a Ghost as good as me." Modesty obviously wasn't one of her main attributes, yet after witnessing her skills, Meliadol couldn't deny her claims either, "There's just one problem. How are we gonna get me close enough?
Bast grinned, "Easy enough. We have two advantages," The berserker held up a finger, "One, they haven't had an organized attack during a Zone boss in ages. Things have settled down quite a bit since the old days, and most of the PvP guilds are too busy preparing for the SIN tournament. There's nobody organized enough to be a threat to their numbers at the moment. The people down there probably have no clue how to deal with an organized attack."
Heoh conceded the point with a nod, "Fair enough. What's the second?"
"We have him." Bast looked directly at Meliadol and so did everyone else. Suddenly the focus attention of the entire group, Meliadol froze.
"Oh, I see." Heoh and everyone else seemed to immediately understand, but Meliadol was left in the dark.
"Me?" Meliadol pointed to himself as if to clarify.
"Yes you. You are the lynch pin to the plan." Bast let his words set in. Meliadol looked around, now intensely aware he was the focus of everyone.
The pressure was…intense.
He gulped.
"Okay," Meliadol said shakily after a moment "What do you need me to do?"
"Brave newbie. First you helped me kill them in Styxx, and now this? Do you want them to hate you?" Heoh sneered, walking up to Meliadol and flicking him in the forehead.
Meliadol swatted away her hand. She almost looked surprised. He was amazed she even remembered him. Then again, she had expressed her displeasure in running into him yet again in Styxx, so she at least recalled his face in conjunction with Bast. Always with the berserker. It wasn't something he really wanted to be known for.
"What do you need me to do?" He repeated, sobering the teasing woman for a moment.
"Fine, fine. I'm guessing grim and serious over there wants to do what we used to call a tether bomb, right?" Heoh glanced at Bast, who, arms crossed, nodded.
She turned back to Meliadol, pulling out her dagger, flipping it over and presenting it handle first to him. After a moment of hesitation, Meliadol's fingers closed over it, and he got a sense of deja vu as he wielded the weapon. It really was a carbon copy of the version he had used at the blacksmith's place. The same balance, the same empowerment as his fingers tightened around the handle. He felt as if he could take on the world with this blade.
It confirmed his suspicion.
Grimsaw must have forged both.
Heoh's grin was predatory as she continued, "What we need from you is simple enough. Just go down there and approach the main tank. Try to place the dagger near as many people as possible."
Meliadol waited for her to continue, but when she didn't, he could only raise an eyebrow. "That's it?"
"That's it." Heoh confirmed.
"It's a bit more than that." Bast commented, entering the conversation, ignoring the look of annoyance Heoh shot him, "It's been a long time since anyone has even contested them on a boss fight, and even longer since that 'anyone' has been us, but they do have some old guard down there. Some will remember our tactics. So you gotta really hide what you're doing. Make them think you're just some stupid newb who wandered along and is curious." Bast caught Meliadol's eye, "You have to sell it."
Meliadol nodded, before going on his stomach to crawl to the lip of the ridge. Ever so carefully, he peeked his head up. Down below the fight still raged. The main tank was easy enough to find. He was the big armored brute commanding the majority of the boss's attention. Even now Meliadol watched him block a massive swing of the dragon's claws as his healers scrambled to move out of the way. They tossed healing his way as the dust settled.
Bast crept up to join him. This time when the berserker spoke, it was in raid chat, his voice loud in Meliadol's head.
PC: "You see how they're positioned? The bulk of the forces are up nearby the valley entrance." Bast pointed to where a large group of
Again Bast pointed to areas that overlooked the fight. The positions were close…but not overly so.
PC: "In the meantime, go around and come in from the area a newb would come in."
Taking Bast's cue, Meliadol switched over to raid chat too.
PC: "You want me to just stroll in through the entrance they're guarding?"
PC: "Well, you're a lowbie. They can't attack you. And if you look newb enough, most will probably not suspect a thing. We need you to get the dagger as close to the main tank and the bulk of the elite forces from
Meliadol mulled over everything for a moment. Seems simple enough. Almost too simple, really.
PC: "Okay, is that it?"
PC: "Nope. Ya gotta sit back and watch the slaughter."
The feral smile Bast shot him was enough to remind Meliadol that Bast and Heoh did indeed have similarities.
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The initial confidence Meliadol felt was quick to wane in the long trek from the top of the ridge to the oasis entrance, especially since he had plenty of time to dwell on it as he went the long way around. Doubt is a habit that is hard to break, and the idea that fourteen people depended on him was a sobering thought.
The raid chatted quietly among themselves as they waited for his signal, but he did his best to tune them out. The sandy dune leading up was steep, but he made good time. The entrance was just ahead, and the forms of the soon-to-be enemy players appeared in the haze, like mirages fading into existence.
"Hold up there." One of the players, a robed elf with flowing straps of silk wrapped around his arms, stepped forward, hand held up, "What're you doing here?"
There was a wall of
You can do this.
Meliadol hissed under his breath, but gave a bright smile to the player regardless. "Hi! I'm looking for the thief class quest npc! The coordinates the quest gave me was around here somewhere…" The ground shook as the dragon let loose another roar. Meliadol did an exaggerated looking motion, hopping from foot to foot, trying to peer beyond the group that blocked his way, "What's going on back there? There's sure a lot of you!"
"That's really none of y–"
"Wait up, I know him." Another voice, this one familiar, said from behind the crowd. Gryffyn stepped out, pixie wings fluttering slightly as he waved a friendly greeting to Meliadol.
"Oh, I'm sorry." The elf looked slightly taken aback, rubbing his head, and cleanly made room for Gryffyn to address Meliadol.
"Not a prob, Vic. You couldn't have known." Gryffyn shrugged before turning to Meliadol. It was easy to see how everyone deferred to him; that he commanded the group's respect. "Anyway, so you chose to be a thief, huh? Good choice. It'll open up a lot of paths for you."
"Thanks! I'm excited to finish this quest and try out my new skills!"
Gryffyn shot Meliadol a sly look, "Did you pick thief because of what happened to me when we first met?"
Meliadol felt the heat rise in his cheeks, because the astute man had guessed easily. "I, er, well…"
Gryffyn laughed good naturedly, "You don't need to apologize. I can understand the reasoning behind it. No hard feelings. Ghost is a strong class if you put work into it. Someone able to solo Styxx should find it an enjoyable challenge!"
The guy gave off such an amiable vibe that Meliadol felt a twinge of guilt for what he was about to do. Thankfully, another earth shattering roar gave him an excuse to continue on. "Are you all fighting a monster?" he shouted as he plugged his ears.
It was a pretty obvious answer, since the sounds of battle could be heard drifting out over the sands, but Meliadol was trying his damndest to play the part of a completely oblivious new player. Gryffyn bought it easily.
The wizard's eyes brightened.
"Ah, yes, I guess you wouldn't know about this, huh?" he waved Meliadol forward, putting an arm around his shoulder as he led him through the crowd of players. They parted respectfully for their guild leader, and just like that Meliadol was face to face with the boss and those who fought it.
Down came the tail.
Wham!
A shock-wave rippled out, whipping winds causing those nearby to shield their face. But one stood strong in the face of it all. An immovable rock against the tide. The Knight's shield glowed, radiating energy, and the tail rebounded off, deflected as easily as one might a leaf upon the currents. He didn't stop there, his entire body going grey as he stabbed his sword into the ground. Cracks radiated out, before ripping tendrils of power from the ground like Medusa's snakes. They latched onto the dragon's face, pulling it close, forcing the beast's attention solely on the Knight.
Meliadol had to get close to the main tank.
He knew what he had to do, yet his feet felt frozen, unresponsive. Things were different here on the ground-level. It was so real. The dust obscuring vision. The sounds of battle and cries of the wounded. Even the dragon's slit like cat-eyes dilated as it focused on its next victim. You felt could almost feel the weight of intelligence staring at you, not an AI boss.
Meliadol edged his hand into the confines of his leather armor, fingers curling around Heoh's blade.
The knife felt so heavy.
With great effort, he took a single step.
A hand on his shoulder stopped him. "Don't get too close. You will get killed by aoe." The wizard came into focus, his green eyes jolting Meliadol from the spell he seemed to be under. Gryffyn pointed up, ironically almost at the exact place where Meliadol knew Bast and the others were hiding, "Your quest NPC is in that direction. If you go back out and around, should be pretty easy to find."
"What's going on, little Mel. Why is that guy pointing at us?" Bast must have seen Gryffyn gesturing toward them.
Meliadol ignored the concerned berserker in his head. If he responded, his eyes would glow, and it might give something away. "Is it okay if I watch instead?"
As he said this, the boss reared back before slamming down, letting loose a gout of flame that washed over the tiny ants harrying him. The heat was oppressive, and even from the sidelines Meliadol thought he could feel the edges of his face sizzling. But, calmly, the casters of
Already the slow heat of healing energy could be seen flowing from the protected healers.
The attackers took this opening, swarming along the flanks, digging into the dragon with their weapons, filling the air with fountains of blood. It was one part butchery, two parts pointed violence. With a scream of anger and pain, the tail again swung around, yet a tank in each flank group stood ready, taking the brunt of each strike, allowing the DPS to continue unmolested.
"Mel, what is going on?" Basts's voice was more insistent this time, and Meliadol fervently wished he could respond, but he could feel Gryffyn's eyes on him, watching.
He knew what he had to do.
It was like a dance, a delicate balance of giving and taking. There was a flow to it, but he had to concentrate to see it, lest it slip between his fingertips. Darlia's words had stuck with him. This is a game. There was a pattern to it, and it became clear to him as long as he focused.
This time his hand was steady as it gripped the dagger.
He took a single step and fell into the dance, moving with the casters protecting the main tank, using their spells to shield him from the boss's furious attacks. A roar caused him to duck behind an off-tank as the massive tail came flicking in. Another shifting in the group and he stuck with a dps who was running to the next vantage point. The entire time he kept his eyes glued to his goal, the massive form of the main tank leading the fight.
He watched carefully, feeling the rhythm as much as seeing it. Meliadol tuned out Gryfynn's cry of surprise, ignored the heat of battle, the shifting of flesh and metal before him. Everything was laser focused on the shifting, constantly weaving, flow of battle. There was no healer for him if he messed up, no one to cover his mistakes.
Everything was down to him alone.
Is this how Darlia feels all the time? The detached portion of his mind, the one that silently marveled at his apparent success, considered. Yet he was fearful to dwell on the subject. He felt as if he dangled precariously on the precipice of disaster. That if he thought too hard about what he was doing, he'd stumble and fall.
Soon a path opened for him, a daybreak within the clouds. Meliadol needed no prompting, slipping into it and arriving within a stone throw of his goal. It had been easy; he could see the surprise in the main tanks eyes when this waif of a lowbie appeared next to him.
"Mel, we need you to get this dagger as close to the tank and the main bulk of their support as possible," Bast had told him, the berserker's face serious, "This all hinges on how close you can get."
Meliadol didn't know how he knew, but now was the perfect moment. With a grin of apology to the main tank, he pulled out the dagger. The tank's eyes widened. He must have known what it meant, but even as his mouth was opening in a cry of warning, Meliadol thrust the weapon into the ground.
"NOW!" he yelled in raid chat as he threw himself to the side.
The response was immediate.
There was a crack like thunder and Heoh appeared, hair wild, mid-motion, holding the dagger Meliadol had just a moment before. She continued her slide, darkness and shadow shooting out from her person, latching onto the nearby
They were trapped, rooted to the ground.
With a flick of her hand, she sent her other dagger spinning toward the main tank, and with another crack! she appeared before him, latching onto his face with her free hand. The palm was burning brightly with bluish flame.
Meliadol knew what this was. She had done it once before.
"Stop her! She's going to–!" The spell took hold, cutting the main tank's warning short. Heoh turned into a black mist that was immediately sucked into the man's open mouth. His eyes now glowed black, simmering with intent.
Possession. After a charge-up time, if the user could latch onto the face of a player, or non-boss monsters, they could take control of all actions of the possessed individual for up to six seconds. It was an interesting ability with a myriad of uses limited only by the user's imagination.
The boss hadn't been idle. Without the tank there to actively take its attention, and with a good quarter of the raid rooted and unable to move, its attacks threw
But it was too late.
Heoh, now as the tank, once again turned himself gray, the whips of power spewing forth from his shield to latch onto the boss's reptilian head, catching him right as he reared up, about to breath a wave of flame over the tank and healer line.
Meliadol scooted back, scrambling to gain distance from the fight, lest he be killed by random AOE. But he couldn't take his eyes off the fight. He recognized this move. It was a taunt ability, something designed to focus a mob's attention on a specific person. But, the question was…why? What was that going to do?
Tank Heoh immediately answered his question, yanking savagely on his shield, forcing the boss down as the first gout of flame spilled from his mouth. Heoh continued to pull, straining, turning the breath into a wide cone that swept across the battlefield. The boss had become a flamethrower that she now turned onto the vulnerable sections of
The healers had not been prepared.
Rooted by Heoh's spell, and with no shield in place, the flame washed over the DPS flanks, killing or massively wounding almost the entirety of the raid. A few stragglers, the quicker ones, had managed to use their skills to break free of the roots, avoiding the fiery death of their comrades.
Meliadol could only stare, mouth agape, at the devastation wrought by the Ghost.
It was then that he happened to glance back, and his eyes met those of Gryffyn. The mage wore a horrified expression, and Meliadol saw in that face the end of any possibility of friendship with the man.
A yell rose up from the cliff face, and a host of
The choice was simple, the result inevitable. The ranks of
No sense dying for nothing.
Scattered like leaves in the wind, it was child's play for Bast and his raid to cut through the few survivors that stood their ground. It wasn't the give and take chess PvP that Darlia and Dethgargar showed him.
This was a slaughter.
"Good job, little Mel!" Bast gave him a toothy grin as they met up. The berserker's face was elated, flushed with the rush of success, and it was only then that Meliadol realized that he had been holding his own breath.
As he exhaled slowly, finally straightening himself, he got to take in the full-scale ramifications of his actions. The desert grounds had been baked, heat sizzling, turning black and glass-like. The slowly disintegrating bodies of the dead
Meliadol reached up, plucking some ash off the currents. He wondered who it belonged to. Maybe it was even Gryffyn? The mage had been cut down by
He stared at it for a hard moment before letting it drift slowly away.
Meliadol was satisfied. From the grateful looks everyone gave him as they rushed by, he was starting to feel some of the respect and admiration that he sought. As Bast had said, his job was the most important. He had played his part and played it well. Yet, beyond that, he did feel a pang of regret. The look on Gryffyn's face was one he wouldn't forget any time soon.
It was bittersweet.
The
As one, the entirety of
Even the PvE focused guild of
Could he fit in? Could he join them in this dance? Quietly, ever so honestly, he had to admit that he didn't think he could. He simply didn't have the experience. He was an outsider. Meliadol felt like a frog at the bottom of well, staring wistfully at the clouds above.
How amazing it must be to have a guild that you mesh with.
Nevergarden isn't a game to be played alone.
Darlia's earlier words echoed loudly.
Only the somber silence from the normally talkative berserker got Meliadol to tear his eyes away for a moment. He nervously glanced at Bast from the corner of his eye, his previous thoughts scattering.
The berserker was smiling, his face wide and eyes twinkling. There was a certain quality to his grin that Meliadol had never seen before.
"It's been so long…" Bast murmured, more to himself than to Meliadol.
"What has?"
The berserker flinched, almost as if he had forgotten Mel had even been there.
"Oh? Sorry, was thinking out loud." Bast shrugged off the question, biting his thumb and summoning the crimson sword from his blood again. The berserker took a few steps forward, intent on joining his comrades, but stopped for a moment to look back at Meliadol. The berserker held out his blood dripping sword to the side, as if to block Meliadol, "You should watch out, by the way. At 10%, the boss is going to enrage. I'd back up a few yards. This one has a nasty AoE DoT."
Meliadol nodded. Enrage was a common mechanic in video games. Special enemies, like bosses, often had multiple phases, depending on their HP or some other factor like time spent fighting. Usually these phases changed how the boss interacted with the players; things like changing attack patterns, increased damage, and introducing new mobs, were all possible among a sea of other possibilities.
"Okay, do you just want me to leave?"
"Naw. Just stand back a bit. You're gonna need gold to pay Grimsaw, so you can loot the corpse crystals while we finish off the boss." Using his sword, Bast pointed to the floating diamond-shaped objects that littered the ground after the fight with
Even though it wasn't a sure thing, it was possible for you to drop a piece of gear when you died out in the world from PvP. Anyone, even if they weren't in your party or raid, could loot the crystal. Meliadol bent and reached out to one, and sure enough, as his gloved hand closed over it, the crystal shimmered brightly, morphing into a purple quality ring.
His eyes glowed blue as he inspected it briefly.
Sun Iron Band
+36 Vitality
+20 Stamina
+34 Strength
+12 Agility
+5% Stun resistance
+5% Knockup resistance
+5% Knockback resistance
Chance on hit to regen a portion of stamina for 10s.
Requires level 60
The burnt copper ring sat innocently in his palm, catching the light of the oppressive sun. An innocuous trophy to celebrate a traitorous victory.
"Nothing here will be worth much." Bast stated, turning around and heading to the boss, "Nobody goes into a PvP zone to kill a Zone boss and wears their best gear. Still, you should be able to get a bit of gold from all the dropped items."
Meliadol nodded. Bast had already told him that it was his own job to gather what he needed for his legacy gear. Though the berserker had the means to fund him completely in both materials and gold, in his own words, "Nevergarden isn't a game to play by yourself, but there is a satisfaction in doing some things with your own power.".
Meliadol agreed with the sentiment. He wanted his gear to be his, and not a free handout.
"Are you sure I should be doing this? Shouldn't this be split with the entire raid?" He asked the retreating form of Bast. Briefly Meliadol wondered if looting the corpse crystals counted as charity.
"Nonsense, little Mel. You earned it with your work here today." Bast understood his doubts immediately, "Plus none of us really need the piddly amount of gold you'd get from it all anyway. Isn't really worth the inventory space for us."
He couldn't really refute that logic, so as the boss's hp dipped below 10% and the red scales began to burn with warning, Meliadol started looting the battlefield.
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