by Jason Cheek
At that moment, I had a mental image of the King Kong movie. The scene where he’s approaching the village through the forest; at least until the zerg like wave of Large Rats came streaming out of the mushrooms like an overwhelming wave of stinking death. Without hesitation, Unalia, Yun and I began blasting the mobs as Tinyr and Sarka braced for combat. As the horde made it halfway to us, Frost Nova shot out like a wave freezing the majority of the horde as we continued blasting away for all we were worth. As the freeze broke, Yun’s Frost Nova flared locking the nasty critters down once more as we continued throwing out everything we had holding nothing back. In sixteen seconds 34 of the creatures were knocked out, but that still left a shit storm of rats left to take out. There was no doubt in my mind that we were all going to die when a plan hit me. Shouting and shoving everyone like a madman, I got the team fleeing back the way we came as I hurriedly screamed out the essence of my plan.
Our flight was a nightmarish rush through the mushroom stalks of the tunnel we’d just left. Sarka and I took up the rear as Unalia continuously shot between us using her Quick Shot skill. The only thing that saved us was the funneling effect of the mouth of the corridor as the rats fought each other to be the first to tear the flesh from our limbs. That and Unalia’s constant rain of death as the lifeless bodies of the rats caused the living horde to bunch up even more, while Sarka and I slaughtered the lead rats that managed to break-out ahead of the mass of bodies.
It’s amazing how incredibly long 14 seconds can feel like. I hadn’t realized just how long the corridor had been when we were fighting through it the first time, but it must have been at least 100 yards long. The shrieking cries of the horde filled the shrinking tunnel with a truly horrific sound as the Large Rats trampled over the mushrooms like an unstoppable stampede or a living tidal wave of fangs and flesh. My heart pounded in my chest as I watched the cool-down timer countdown on my interface. As soon as it lit up, I instantly released Frost Nova again as ice blasted out from my body freezing the horde barely a foot away from us. We didn’t stop to slaughter the frozen mobs but continued our urgent sprint. As the tunnel funneled down to the point where Sarka and I could fight shoulder to shoulder, we slowed down and took up defensive positions with our shields braced before us as the Frost Nova popped, releasing the horde from their stasis.
The Large Rats shrieked savagely as the tunnel bunched the enraged creatures up once again as our new defensive position created a natural funnel before our make-shift line. As soon as the first mobs reached us, our team began slaughtering the creatures like a blender of death as the mobs smashed against our shield wall four at a time pushing us back. Within minutes the tunnel was choked full of dead rats as we slowly fell back further and further, while the feral creatures ate their way through the wall of their dead to reach us. The savagery of it nearly made me puke the remains of the breakfast I’d eaten at the Inn earlier. I wasn’t alone. Everyone in the team ended up puking their guts out during the first fifteen minutes of the battle. Still, there was no choice but to fight on or be consumed. Nearly an hour later, we managed to kill them all. By the time the last Large Rat was slaughtered, we were numb to the horror of it all.
The only way to pass through the mass of dead was to climb over the pile of bloody, stinking corpses that nearly filled the tunnel. More than once as I crawled over the half-eaten bodies, I wished the game would’ve simply let us loot the dead with a touch and then have the bodies just fade away, but that wasn’t the case. Getting clear of the choke point, I began dragging the corpses away into stacks further down the tunnel so that the rest of the team could pass through. No sense in making everyone suffer through the disgusting work. A scraping sound behind me momentarily made me jump as I whipped my blade free from its sheath only to see Yun and Tinyr crawling over the top of the bodies towards me.
“What the fuck man, if you didn’t want any help we would have just stayed back with our ladies.” Yun nasally said, trying to hold his breath as Tinyr gulped hard behind him doing his best not to puke again.
“Thanks, guys,” I said, clearing out a few more rats to make their climb down a little easier. Yun took my hand, but Tinyr just hurried past waving his arm for us to keep back as he doubled-over dry heaving. With a shrug to Yun, I got back to work. With the three of us working together the process moved along pretty quickly and before we knew it the corridor was mostly clear.
Surprisingly enough the girls had been working on the other side to make a path through the bodies. Although, it shouldn’t have been a surprise. So far, both women had been playing as hardcore as their men. Sarka especially. It wasn’t easy being a tank. In every fight, you were expected to take the brunt of the physical damage being dished out which wasn’t easy even with pain filters turned on at only 25%. Seeing that both women were willing to get their hands dirty just made me respect them that much more.
No one said a word as we made our way back to the large cavern. Everyone took up a defensive stance as Sarka and I bashed our shields again, but this time there was no response. Looking around at each other, I shrugged nodding my head towards the small corridor at the far end of the room.
“I’m going to see if there’s anything to loot. Want to meet-up at the corridor at the far end of the room?”
“Sounds good,” Tinyr said getting a nod from his wife. “We’ll search the right side.” Seeing my raised eyebrows, he just tiredly shrugged as he took off. “No way am I letting you get all the loot this time around, buddy.” Unalia followed behind her man pointing a hidden finger at the thief’s retreating back as she silently mouthed to the rest of us that Tinyr was looting the rat’s nests.
“I guess we’ll take the left side,” Sarka said with an indifferent shrug. By now we were mostly numb to the fetid stench. “You want to take the middle?”
“Not really,” I said seeing the glowing outlines of herbs nearby. “I want to search for herbs and ore.”
“Cool, you want to take the middle then, honey bear?” Sarka asked giving Yun a one-arm hug.
“Yea, I got it,” Yun said gruffly, somewhat embarrassed at the public show of affection.
“I’ll meet you at the corridor then, Honey Bear,” I said, scooting away before Yun could smack me, heading into the mushroom forest as Yun groused unhappily at his wife. “How many times have I told you not to call me that out in public?”
It took me about an hour to completely search through the cavern. I found a bunch more herbs along with six nodes of copper and two of tin. The weak stream that passed through the center was only knee deep, which I used it to wash off the blood, guts and rat stench covering my armor the best I could. Also, I topped off my water skins from the day before. By the time I’d reached the team everyone was eating the lunch, they’d brought from the Inn. Sitting down in-between Yun and Tinyr, I woofed down my meal while pulling out the alchemy gear. Pilling the herbs I’d found on the floor around me, I got to work grinding them up in my stone mortar and pestle. Pulling out a rack of twelve crystal vials and one of my water skins, I had my first batch of health potions ready in moments. Grinning excitedly, I handed two potions to everyone before starting on my next batch.
Minor Healing Potion (Blood root)
Item Level 5
Requires level 1
Use: Restores 70 to 90 health
1 Charge
Quantity 12
“When the hell did you become an alchemist?” Sarka asked, somewhat surprised as she checked over the potions’ stats.
“This morning before we met up. Figured it might help us take down these last two bosses a little easier.” I replied not looking up as I poured out another batch of healing potions.
“They don’t really give that much health,” Yun said with a frown as he looked over the stats.
“That’s because you’re a priest with your own healing spells. For anyone else, this would be a lifesaver during a fight.” Tinyr excitedly said as he put the vials into his belt pouch for quick access.
&nb
sp; “Yea, at this level they don’t give much overall health, but there’s no cool down.” Seeing Yun’s raised eyebrows, I explained. “Basically, that means you could down four of these at once and get 360 Hit Points back. More than enough to keep you alive if you’re on the line. Right now, this is only a level 5 potion. Once I level my Alchemy up closer to our current level, the heal boost per potion should be pretty sweet.”
“I think you’ll appreciate these more,” I said handing Yun my first batch of Mana potions, before starting on my next batch.
Lesser Mana Potion (Silverthorn)
Item Level 24
Requires level 14
Use: Restores 280 to 360 mana.
1 Charge
Quantity 12
“Holy shit man, that’s like half my Mana!” Yun said nearly choking on his food as he checked out the potions.
“How many crafting skills are you going to pick-up? Sarka asked curiously.
“As many as I can.” Seeing Sarka surprised look, I explained the reasons I liked crafting. “Look, guys, except for the cost of some of the initial tools and empty vials, making your own potions is basically free. Not just that, this skill could make the difference between us taking down a boss or wiping. In any MMORPG having potions to complete high-level dungeons is a must and typically those potions only become more and more expensive as they level up. Just think how your fight with The Syndicate would have been different if you’d had some potions on hand.”
“I didn’t just pick up mining, herbalism, and alchemy. I also picked up smithing and enchanting. That shield that you’re using is better than anything that we’ve seen drop so far in this dungeon. I made them both this morning and paid just a couple silver more for the reinforced iron edge, which I was able to build from the ore we mined yesterday mostly. I also now have the ability to craft and repair our weapons and metal armor so it will take longer for the items to break.”
“Crafting helps us save money in the long term for the stuff we’ll really need to buy, besides the obvious edge it gives us in a fight. So, my suggestion is to pick up as many skills as you can get.” I stopped my spiel as everyone seemed to consider my words, while I finished up another batch of Mana potions for my own use in the up and coming fight.
“I guess I’ll have to pick up alchemy too,” Yun said thoughtfully, putting away the Mana potions I’d given him into his sash. “Having a stash of these on hand could be a lifesaver. Oh, by the way, we never went over the loot from the rat nests.”
“Anything interesting?” I asked.
“I picked up two rings. One that gives +8 Strength and another with a +7 to Spirit. Everything else was just the typical crap Goblin leather and weapons.” Sarka said showing off her new band.
“Same here, except ours were a +7 to Charisma and Agility,” Tinyr said showing off his new Charisma ring.
“You guys go ahead and keep all the stat boosts. I’m pretty set from my P&M exam. Besides Tiny, you need all the help you can get with those looks.” I said, arching one eyebrow at the small thief as he flipped me off.
“If you’re interested, I also found this,” Unalia said posting the last item they’d looted in group chat.
Brutal Bracers of Summoning
Item Quality: Good
Item Type: Uncommon
Slot: Wrist
Weight: .04 kg
+200 Attack Power to Summoned Creatures
“Hell yeah, that’s pretty sweet.” I excitedly said as Unalia tossed me the bracers while I quickly put them on.
“Why are you so interested in summoning items? It’s not like there’s a Summoner Class around for us to pick-up anywhere.” Sarka asked somewhat confused.
“Well, I might have an angle on that. It could be part of my Nightmare quest if I’m lucky.” I said with a shrug. “Otherwise, why would they have drops like this as loot?”
“To make it easier for people to level up by disenchanting?” Tinyr chimed in with a grin.
“What the fuck ever man,” I said flipping Tinyr off.
“You about finished up?” Yun asked as he started packing away his gear.
“Yea, just a second,” I said making up one last batch of potions. Quickly, I handed one of the vials out to everyone.
Potion of Antidote (Dark Thistle)
Item Level 55
Requires level 14
Use: Imbiber is cured of up to four poisons up to level 60.
1 Charges
Quantity 12
“You think we’re going to need something like this?” Unalia quietly asked checking out the stats of the last vial.
“No idea, but I had the potion recipe, and besides, it’s best to be ready for anything,” I answered with a shrug while packing my gear away.
“Thanks, Star,” Unalia said tucking the vial into her belt.
“No problem. Now let’s see if we’ve made it to the boss yet.” I said, shouldering my backpack as we began moving down the tunnel in Stealth.
The corridor was relatively short, and within ten yards we were approaching the entrance to another room. This one was lit with an eerie, green glow that lit up the entire doorway. Approaching the entrance as silently as possible, I peeked into the room and froze at the sight before me. The chamber was probably the size of a tennis court in a High School gym. Everywhere I looked there were vials, flasks, bubbling pots, retorts and glass piping along tables that lined the walls, along with a single body part laid out at the center of each work area. Some of the body parts looked fresh with the skin and muscle still attached, while others were cleaned down to the bone. It was like looking at a movie maker’s version of Frankenstein’s lab combined with a torture chamber from a Diablo game.
At the far end of the room was an oversized Goblin hunched-over a long table wearing dark-brown leathers with a mane of snow-white fur piled-up around his shoulders like a short cloak. Leaning next to the table was an ornately carved, wooden staff topped with the bony skull of what had to be a Large Rat. Focusing on the Goblin, I saw the name appear over the mob’s head: Kharborg Bonebreaker, level 28 Goblin Shaman. The Goblin seemed to be completely engrossed in its work with an ebony bladed knife. I almost puked my lunch out a moment later when I realized the creature was focused on peeling the skin off of a Light Elf corpse. Forcing the bile back down, I double checked to make sure I’d missed nothing else in the room, before pulling back into the corridor with the rest of the team and explaining what I saw.
“Seems straightforward enough,” Yun said in a low whisper. “What’s the plan?”
“Simple, Ironwolf tanks while the rest of us burn the boss down,” Sarka said shouldering her shield and drawing her secondary Marauder Warblade in her off-hand.
“There’s no way it can be as simple as that. Everyone we’ve overheard talking about the fight has said that the shaman boss is a hell of a lot harder than the Slave Master.” Tinyr said crossing his arms in thought as I frowned mentally going over what I’d seen in the room. Misunderstanding the look on my face, Tinyr hurriedly tried to explain. “I mean, the Slave Master and the six Slave Drivers. Not the escort part of that quest.”
“What have you heard about the fight?” I asked looking back and forth between Tinyr and Unalia.
“Besides complaints of teams being one-shotted, nothing specific. Every team wants to be the first to take the bosses down, so no one is sharing any specifics about their wipes.” Tinyr sourly said as Unalia nodded in agreement.
“Teams being one-shotted, don’t you mean players?” I asked taken aback.
“Nope, from what people were complaining about it was the entire team,” Tinyr said disagreeing.
“Entire teams being wiped out? That just doesn’t make any sense.” I said, shaking my head trying to make sense of what they’d heard. “Did you hear anything about adds?”
“Nothing,” Tinyr said frowning thoughtfully.
“There have to be adds,” I said thinking over every boss encounter I’d had throughout my previous
games. Most bosses had the ability to call for reinforcements. Sometimes those reinforcements were taken from the nearest rooms if the team hadn’t killed everything nearby, but with our strategy coming in, we’d already wiped everything out in this entire wing. Actually, we had to kill everything out in the previous rooms first to even get here, which meant everyone else had to do the same thing to reach the boss. Also, I didn’t see any other way into the room, so in that case, we were probably dealing with adds being warped in somehow. My eyes unconsciously studied the dark, iron-gray metal of the Brutal Bracers of Summoning on my wrists and the intricate creatures engraved into the metal when the thought hit me. We were probably dealing with a pet class shaman, I thought excitedly. But, then why were teams complaining about being one-shotted by the boss? Thinking back to the Goblin shaman’s lightning attack at the beginning of the instance, a grim smile came to my lips. What’s the next upgrade spell in every game I’d ever played with a lightning attack?
“Listen up guys, here’s how we are going to do this,” I said quickly laying out my plan. Everyone complained about holding back, but I was adamant, we couldn’t risk the entire team being wiped out by one attack. Basically, the only two people who would be fighting would be Unalia and me, what happened after that would be determined by how the fight went from there. Sarka and Tinyr were pissed, but at the same time, they grudgingly agreed with the strategy. Tinyr at least had some skill with a bow, so I let him use mine for the fight. A little bit of damage was better than nothing. I buffed my defenses with Ice Barrier, while Yun added his Holy Shield spell as we lined up at the entrance to the alchemy lab. With a nod to the team, I drew both my blades silently sprinting for the boss on the balls of my feet. As soon as I was close enough, I leaped triggering my Sneak Attack.
