Another day went by like clockwork. They were so alike that it felt as though it was one never-ending day. Other times it felt as though his life was in a loop, never really going anywhere.
In such times, Bor would choose to set aside troubling thoughts and focus more on what he was doing, even though it was pretty much what he had been doing yesterday and will be doing tomorrow.
Ayram's quest was first an afterthought, but after a while he couldn't wait for it. It would be the first non-repetitive thing he'd done in a while, so it warranted some excitement.
Forging gave the forgers some Exp, especially in the consideration to the complexity, success rate and level of your blueprint. Hence, forging those structures for Ayram had gave him quite a nice bit of Exp, but Exp from fighting monsters was always more, and required less.
Soon, time came for Bor to get online, and without even the usual small talk that happens after a long day, Bor just dived into his solarbed and logged in. Everyone else thought he was hurting and couldn't wait to start healing, so they too followed suit.
Bor came online ten minutes earlier than the time they'd agreed, but he found Ayram already online. She was a level 78 Cleric, which meant that her role in this journey would be to heal him.
"Oh good, you're online early, I don't have to start trolling you too," she said with a cross look. "I have a few other friends coming with us, so we have to wait for them. They are coming though some teleport gates, it could take a while."
Bor had thought it would be just the two of them, so he was slightly disappointed to know there'd be others. However, that would also be good too, it'd been a while since he was in a Party.
"By the way, have you stockpiled on the consumables, its going to be a long dungeon dive quest and you don't want to be mobbed and killed, and have to make the run all over again," Ayram said.
"Of course, I did all the stockpiling yesterday," Bor answered, but he made sure to inspect his inventory. The two whiled away the time making small talk when finally, the group of five finally arrived.
Looking at them, Bor found that he would be the highest leveled player in the party. They had decent equipment on, so he didn't have to worry about them dragging him down.
Once they arrived, Aryam formed a party and invited everyone. Bor's mate included
Ayram
Level 78 [Cleric]
Firelord Izzu's Illegitimate Son
Level 101 [Shield Warrior]
Single Shot Dead
Level 103 [Ranger]
Lonely Snow
Level 96 [Berserker]
Killing Sword
Level 108 [Swordsman]
Ice Fist
Level 89 [Priest]
I am Fortress
Level 99 [Paladin]
They were a party a party of seven. Bor noticed that the group were much more familiar with each other, including Ayram. Clearly, they had been in a group party before, or they knew each other IRL.
He didn't mind at all, opting to adopt the usual demeanor of an expert. Looking at the group, you'd think he's some merc they have hired to guide them through.
Ayram's quest was to go to some village in the obscure parts of the map. The villagers, for some reason, lived close to the most volatile forested area in the map. Therefore, there were few traders and anyone willing to go that far. Even Bor had never gone there.
The group were quite familiar with the place, so after a long period of running, they finally arrived at the outskirts. At level 100, they still were not eligible to have mounts in Morendat. Even then, decent mounts were hard to obtain, and nurture, something a level 100 could not handle.
Therefore, unless they had flying ships or self-propelled carriages, which used magic, they could only run to and from a place.
When Bor caught a glimpse of the village, he couldn't help feeling sorry for the people. They seemed to lack even the most basic amenities, and some were weak, sickly, malnourished. For the umpteenth time, he wondered why they stayed, but then again, they were NPCs, programmed to stay there maybe.
"Elf, you're back," a wizened old woman emerged from one of the huts in the village. Despite looking extremely old, she managed to walk straight up to them, and with stamina too.
"Shaman Kairo, you honor me," Ayram replied. Due to the high level of AIs in the NPCs, one had to watch their dialogue with NPCs, since what was said could influence the game and the outcome. That was why Ayram was being polite.
"I see you brought able bodied warriors, as you promised," The shaman said as she admired the rest of the group. "The wild is not for the faint of heart, but with your help warriors, we might live to see our lives work."
[You have been invited to join Hidden Quest: Awakening the fallen, an B-ranked Quest. Do you accept?
Notice: This is a Chain Quest, with many missions.
First mission: Go to the wild and gather specific material.
Hint: Material can be obtained from animal drops.]
Seeing the notification, Bor did not have to wait before clicking "Yes". He had seen such quests before, and even done one, but it was still a pleasant surprise to see that it was a B-ranked quest. Those usually had pretty good drops and rewards.
Ayram had already briefed them. When she got the quest, she had received a notification that she needed a team of five and above to partake. Apparently, it was not a task one person could undertake, so a party of five or more was needed.
Once everyone accepted the mission, an area was marked in the minimap, showing where the mission was to take place. So into the wilds they went.