Chapter 47 - Merlin (2/2)
”Definitely a good idea. I should follow your lead on this.”
”Always a good idea. Let us get a bit more equipment from the Hell mode dungeon. Though the monsters are level 3 from the start. They give better equipment and rewards.”
”Sure, anyone else joining us. Or is it just us two?”
”Just us two. More equipment to share. I doubt that we can kill Vultusk or Vultarc. But we can explore a lot.”
”So, you got any skills already from the dungeon?”
”Well apart from the usual shadow bolt and corruption, I got two rare ones from a special quest at the Arwild forest. They are terror wave and dark lash. Did you know that only the first special quest would be announced? I got lucky because of you. Else I would have been hunted by these Sirius Imperials instead of you.”
”Rare skills! I am impressed. What do they do?”
”Dark lash is like whip which can be controlled by me waving my wand. It is like a whip with my wand as the handle. Terror wave as the name sounds is a multiple target version of Fear skill.”
”A multi-target crowd control skill? It would be quite useful with the corrupted monster rabbits. Moreover, I heard Fear itself is a very hard to obtain at this stage.”
”Yeah. I didn't hear of anyone of my friends get it too. The dark whip can also be used as multi-target skill. I just need to make sure the rabbits are in the whip's trajectory.”
”So, Let us try out the Hell mode of the dungeon. But one small request. Let me get the last hits on the rabbits. I will put it in experience sharing mode. I just need to get the last hits on them to upgrade an equipment.”
”You got an upgrade-able equip? It is from the special quest, right?”
”Hmm.”
”OK. But you are going to be the scout in the corrupted forest.”
Soon, they went to the dungeon entrance and selected the hell instance of the corrupted forest. A portal with a flickering red flame like halo around it appeared before them as they walked into it.
”Go do your thing, I'll call if I need help. Just call me if you find any good equips and I will do the same,” said Merlin walking into the forest. ”One more thing. I got a weapon that you could use.”
He threw a wooden dagger towards Shadow face. Luckily Balthazar tilted his head in time and caught the handle of the dagger as it passed by his head. It had weird shape with a hard brown wooden blade curved from the centre to the tip and patterned green color wooden handle.
[Wooden Jambiya knife] (Black Iron Dagger)
Level 2
Equipment Requirement: Strength 8;
Effects: Attack Power +12;
20% chance to inflict bleed effect;
”Nice catch. Maybe it is true what old Blue told about you,” said Merlin with a smile on his face.
”You learnt Knife throw skill too?” asked Shadow surprised by Merlin's throw. ”And what did Blue Dart tell you about me?”
”That you might be a fighting expert in real-life,” answered Merlin. ”And yes, I learned knife throw. Heard you did too.”
”No, I didn't. I just have the book in my inventory. I don't need it. Was intending to sell it.”
”If you needed proper contacts, I can provide you with them. I know people who are ready to pay quite an amount for such skills. Especially skills that are common to all occupations are considered rare ones.”
”I don't mind but I would rather have vita-nova coins instead of credits for it.”
”Why coins instead of credits? Once, the credit to coin exchange is opened you can have as many coins as you want.”
”I heard that there would be a limit on the coins that can be bought per day.”
”Hmm. If that is true, it would be though. Why don't I try and negotiate with old Blue to give you a fair price for it.”
”We can discuss that later when he is going to buy equipment from me.”
”You are selling him equipment? What do you have?”
”None. I just got few ways to get a hold of them. You got the money, then I can buy black Iron equipment from the tailor in the village.”
”Why didn't you tell me before we entered the hell mode dungeon?”
”You never asked nor did the topic come up. Still, it is for the best. What if you get a cloth armor here for a part that you already accidentally purchased.”
”Hmph,” said Merlin as he walked into the forest to attack the rabbits. They both went on killing the corrupted rabbits in the dungeon till they reached the first clearing which had several paths diverging from it. This time it had four more paths than the elite dungeon instance.
There were two more treasure chests in the initial part of the hell mode of which one of them was black iron chest. He got a cloth armor piece for hands and corrupted poison ivy in the chest. The other one was supposed to have been another black Iron chest if it was the first opening but probably the members of Sirius Imperials beat him to that.
But, the most surprising thing was Merlin who despite being alone managed to deal with the level 3 corrupted rabbits which had a health of 200HP and had been about 5% faster than the ones in the elite dungeon.
Though he managed to subdue any rabbit that came his way, it would be a hard task to directly kill the monsters without taking damage for him. He needed a person to provide DPS and tank for him. After all, Warlock was an occupation which was built using crowd control in mind. He was very skilled at using his skills and only used them when they were most effective and would hurt more possible number of monsters.
With their combined efforts, they managed to kill the level 3 monsters albeit it being difficult. They got a pair of black iron shoulder guards and leg armor for Shadow from looting the rabbits. Though these armor didn't have any special effects or skills but did improve his vitality and endurance.
The diverging paths at the clearing had more treasure chests. He told Merlin to go on the path that led to Vultusk's treasure chest and that he would scout the other paths. He already knew where the treasure chests would be at the Hell Mode and immediately set off to get a hold of them.
Luckily, the two remaining treasure chests that he had in mind didn't disappoint him. The soon met back at the clearing and decided to return back to the portal.
”I don't understand one thing. Why didn't you ask your cousin to accompany you to the Hell mode dungeon? I am sure she would have obliged for you,” asked Shadow.
”I have played with them before. They are not good enough to hold their own.”
”They seemed fine to me. They had good timing and awareness. They don't waste skills in a hurry. What more do you need?”
”You talking about the same three as I am?”
”Of course, yeah. Have you played with them in vita-nova? They don't actually need to be physically capable of pointing like in other V.R games. It is the thought that counts and they seemed to have a relatively sound mind.”
”Hmm. Never thought about that. Seeing their faces always reminds me of my days coaching them in War god's Tempest.”
”Well, it is better with a team. If you can teach and lead them, I believe they will definitely improve a lot more than what you had seen in War god's tempest.”
”I guess you have a point,” agree Merlin. ”Are you trying to make me coach them? Did they ask for it?”
”No, but we need someone like you who is good at crowd control and in-game tactics. You are veteran and you got a chance to mould the team according to you liking. Many would love to have a chance like that.”
”Sure, many would. But why aren't you interested in doing the same?” asked Merlin expecting a snag. He couldn't find any reason why Shadow himself wouldn't want to do the same as he had suggested.
”I would. But I can't. I can't be playing the game for long or invest in this game like you. This place is more of a training grounds for my mind and I treat it as such. My real-life schedule may conflict with using somnium technology for prolonged periods,” explained Balthazar.
”What job is that?”
”I work in the alliance military. Just home on a break. But even here I have physical training at my family.”
”So, it is true that you are an expert fighter.”
”Fighter, yes. Expert, not so much. I can't call myself an expert in my circles, still a trainee.”
”Oh. That is cool. Fine, I will join you guys. At least for the time being. I don't want to join any other guild and joining my cousin and helping her is not bad. I live with her. She took me after I broke off from Magus Shrine. I should probably be helping her out a bit in the game,” said Merlin.
”Cool.” said Shadow. ”Definitely a narcissist,” he thought reminding himself of what Quiet Fire told him.