Zenith Affinity

“A giant chicken?” Zaria asked.

Sky asked out loud, “Did our presence start this event?”

“That is a bigger topic than we have time for, I think,” Dark Hero said.

Sky shrugged, “Fair enough.”

Zedra spoke up, “Hey, Mia and Tia, do you two want to come with me to flank it and pull it away from the gate before we engage it?”

The twin Kambian ninjas looked to Zaria before nodding.

“Alright, let's pull the thing over to that clearing to take the aggro from the guards, then follow us and engage. You know what to do from there,” He said to the rest of the players.

“One sec, let me give everyone movement speed,” Atticus said. He cast his level 10 ability called [Wind Imbuement], giving exactly 10 people increased movement speed for an amount of time based on his lightning affinity. As he was currently at level 13, he spent the last skill point to empower [Wind Imbuement] with [Storm Aspect], which increases combat action speed, including increased casting and attack speed.

At the same time, the bard from the [Flamesouls], Asheera Flamesong, cast [Flame Empowerment], which adds fire damage to melee and ranged physical attacks.

A rogue and two ninjas vaulted over the battlements of the wall and gracefully landed into a crouch. They wasted no time in closing on the huge fiery bird, dealing surprise attack damage on its backside. The massive flaming bird turned to address the attack and found the three initiators already taking off.

The cockatrice let out a stunning wail, the shockwave bouncing around a 10-meter radius. The closest adventurers and guards on the wall had to cover their ears, receiving a 3-second debilitating stun condition. Thankfully, the three initiators had been fast enough to exit the range of the attack.

Xalti, the Flamewalker, wasted no time chasing after the prey that dared to attack it. Within 5 seconds, it was approaching the group of three in an open clearing. The three stealth and scouting specialists all engaged their stealth skills and shucked all forms of aggro from the fiery monstrosity.

Xalti stomped around as if his prey had somehow hidden in the bushes around him. It let out another cry, but before the bird could find anything to charge, a field of lightning erupted around it.

Atticus had dropped [Shocking Field] on it, and attacks rained down on Xalti. The stun effect was exploited by a charging Dark Hero whose ability added more time to its stun counter. [Flare Shots], [Aqua Slashes], [Mana Shots], [Flame Notes], [Poisoned Darts], and [Flaming Spears] impacted the fantastical dinosaur-bird.

The attacks didn’t stop, taking advantage of the well-timed CC. Asheera got close enough to cast [Debilitation Song] through her harp, adding a cripple effect for when Xalti breaks free from the stun. The burn phase continued until the stun wore off.

Dark Hero timed it perfectly with his [Revenge of the Shadows], increasing his threat and drawing full aggro from Xalti. The bird turned to strike him in tandem with Kesa’s [Healing Tide], which negated the first handful of pecks and claw swipes.

Xalti let out a terrible cry that sent out a stunning wave to everyone. It flapped its wings, and waves of billowing flames cascaded outward. Asheera was the first to act by removing the stun effect with a few notes on her harp, [Revitalizing Chords].

Kesa made sure to protect Dark with her new [Bubble Shield] spell, absorbing some damage while leaving a small regeneration buff as well. Her [Healing Tide] had been upgraded to break stunn effects, but she hadn’t timed it well enough with Asheera already removing the effect.

The fight continued, though being in a real space with open borders enabled the parties to effectively kite Xalti over greater distances. Dark started the process by luring it further away before turning once again, and in tandem with Atticus, they both laid out their CC effects.

After almost 10 minutes of continuously well-fought combat, Xalti breathed its last breath. The bird collapsed with a final wail of pain. All the animal parts were counted as party loot and split between the two party leaders, Zaria and Zedra. Essences, however, were individually delivered to everyone, a game mechanic that ensured there would be enough essence in the game.

“Holy shit, I got so much essence dust and even some shards for that!” Sky spoke out. Looking at the nature and flame essence dust and shards that entered her inventory, she was surprised by the amount.

“What are shards?” Atticus asked, breathing heavily.

“Great fight, everyone! Shards are the tier 2 version of Essence Dust. It is the primary thing that Ar’Gen here will be refining, at least until we are tier 2,” Zedra said.

Zaria’s brother nodded, “Indeed, the primary job of a Refiner is turning dust to shards, shards to crystals, and crystals to gemstones. Gems, of course, being the tier 4 version.”

“And essences help with other types of crafting?” Atticus clarified.

“Absolutely, especially enchanting, but don’t forget that even you, as a Chef, will eventually need essence stuff to make extremely magical meals. It is how your meals will begin to give us stats and the like," Sky said.

“Uh, guys?” Zaria asked.

“What’s up, Zari?” Ar’Gen asked.

Her eyes were distant, clearly looking at her HUD.

“I got a unique drop…” She looked around. “[Xalti the Flamewalker, Mount Summoning Stone]…a mount?”

Eyes went wide, and smiles cracked. Ar’Gen spoke up first, “Holy shit! Congrats, Zari!”

“What does this mean? I got that dino-bird as some sort of mount now?”

“Oh, it's more than that I’d wager,” Sky said. “Legendary creatures are upgradeable and can do so much more than just be a basic mount.”

Zedra nodded, “I bet you can use it to fly after we hit Tier 4.”

“Wait…what do I need to do to use it now? And how was it legendary if it was near our level?”

Ar’Gen chuckled, “Well, you need to take him to a Stablemaster to get a few things, including a writ to make the saddle, but not until we are all level 40.”

“And Legendary isn't about being a level of a certain type, but more like a rarity that can spawn, though it seems we are either very lucky or the mount stones are dropping for some other reason,” Kesa said.

“That is strange. Usually farming mount stones takes wayyyy longer. Either way, grats...Zari!” Sky said, trying out the nickname her brother had been using.

Sky smirked at the other shocked Celestial.

“Wait, are we sure I should have this? Do we want to roll for it or something?” Zaria asked.

“Honestly, we all need a matching affinity for our mounts, or a basic one with none at all. The affinity affects how easily we can bond with them, and matching or at least going with adjacent affinities helps that,” Dark said.

“Yeah, so congrats on your new mount, Zaria! Just make sure you take fire as your first attunement when we hit 25 or ensure that you choose a fire-based aura ability by level 40, yeah?” Sky said.

Zaria was still shocked, “Alright…if you guys are sure, this thing is incredible.”

“Just take it, Zari,” Mia said, the Kambian ninja was smiling as her red eyes sparkled in amusement.

Zaria huffed at the spread of her new nickname, but didn't comment on it.

≪ ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ≫

The party was walking back to town, calming down from the adrenaline that fighting a legendary creature brought with it. Sky found the right moment to once again breach the topic that crossed her mind just before the fight.

“So, do you guys think that, because we were the first party to come to Osten, that we started the Flamewalker event?” Sky asked curiously.

Zedra nodded, “I do think that. I also think that the first party arriving at places will be the defining factor on who can take the reins for localized main stories.”

“Like the main story-line in the Crystal City?” Kesa asked.

“Exactly like that. Timing is our best advantage here. We get stronger faster than everyone else, and we can make our way to the other continent where the Prismatic Sea is, and we can be the ones who start the event,” Zedra continued.

“I wonder how this will affect instanced encounters…raids, dungeons, gates, and whatever?” Zaria asked.

“We should get to 15 asap, while heading over to the Zaphid Caverns preferably. If it is just a single clear thing where the parties aren’t limited, and it isn’t an instance anymore, then our plans will have to change,” Dark Hero said.

“Yeah, we need to go find out. Let’s head back to town and get supplies for a week or so, then immediately head out. What do you all think?” Zedra asked.

There were nods and quiet agreements all around. The parties had been thanked by the guards, even receiving a coin reward for taking down the huge cockatrice.

Sky spent some time with Kesa and Dark Hero speaking to the guards about potential respawns of the Legendary Xalti. Every time they breached the subject, the guards either laughed or just looked at them oddly. It was clearly implied that the mob wouldn’t respawn, and that dead was now truly dead.

The implications of the differences between that and the game world made them nervously realize that there would be a limited amount of legendary mobs, meaning a limited amount of legendary rewards like the mount stone Xalti had dropped.

"Alright, should we head out now or stay the night here in Osten?" Kesa asked.

"I don't think so, even if it takes us late into the night we should push to the Zaphid Caverns. Plus, with how much we have been leveling up, it not only restores our resources, but it fully heals us as well."

“That is true, though I worry that even with remaining awake for too long with or without leveling up, it will take its toll on our minds. We shouldn’t stay up more than two days at a time. Even if we can’t sleep, we should just rest,” Ar’Gen Lightfist said.

“Maybe we find the dungeon and then try to sleep for a night before attempting it?” Kesa asked.

Nods went around, and Asheera spoke up, “The effects of sleep deprivation are not something to mess with.”

“Alright, that is the new plan: locate the dungeon, then rest for the night. We should be approaching the valley soon if our map is right,” Zedra said as he inspected his world map in his HUD.

Another three hours revealed the valley where the dungeon was located. It was overrun with dangerous-looking beetles and bugs with the ‘zaphid’ affix, showing that they were from the dungeon. The slowest leveling in the groups, like the healers, tanks, and supports, all reached level 15 as they cleared the entire valley. Sky was currently the highest level at 17, as she had the most AoE damage between both parties, meaning that she hit more mobs than everyone else, but it wasn't by much.

The map revealed a dungeon symbol at the far end of the valley, raising the hopes that it might still be a farmable dungeon instance. If it were repeatable, they could remain in the dungeon doing it over and over again to get up to level 22-24, but if it was a one-time thing, then they would have to do it the old-fashioned way and continue traveling.

“That is definitely a dungeon entrance if I have ever seen one,” Zaria said.

The parties arrived at the icon on their maps, fighting their way through endless mobs of insects to get there. A 10-meter doorway with a veil of watery-opaque light barred their path.

Zedra was the first to walk up and inspect it. He placed his hand on the surface, which was surprisingly solid, even as it warbled.

“‘Do you wish to enter the Zaphid Caverns with the party [Reality Check]?’ No, I would not like to enter,” Zedra read the pop-up window out loud. “It fully appears to be a party-based dungeon.”

Sky smiled, “So far, so good. It’s around 4 o’clock or so now, let’s wander around the valley and get experience while we can, then head back to that broken tower to camp for the night. What do you guys say?”

Zaria looked to her group, and they all nodded with smiles as well, “Sounds good to us. We will head to the southern side of the valley. I really want to check out that waterfall.”

“Perfect, we will take the north and meet you guys back at the tower in an hour or two?” Zedra asked.

“Sounds good! [Flamesouls] roll out!”

The groups split and faced some interesting monsters, mostly of the insectoid variety. [Reality Check] even found some salamander-type monsters as the territory turned into a bit of a marsh. They appeared to have been battling the zaphid colony for territory, but were slowly losing out. As the party figuratively dove into the marsh, they cleared nearly every mob they could find until they drew the attention of another legendary creature.

“Walneck, The Swamp Stalker,” Sky read skeptically.

“That thing has to be poison attuned, yeah?” Kesa asked.

“Oh yeah, that sickly green stuff there has to be the same mechanic we have been seeing from those mushrooms earlier,” Zedra said.

“Alright, do we fight that thing?" Dark asked.

“Yes, but we should try to pull it out of here if we can. This water looks deeper, and I don’t really want to go trudging there to fight it,” Sky said.

“Do we grab the [Flamesouls]?” Kesa asked. “Even if it is as strong as that Xalti was, we don’t need to increase the risks we take for nothing…especially if we can’t pull it out of this swamp area.”

Atticus spoke up, “I would rather have them along for the fight. This thing has to be hesitant about leaving its domain after facing the bugs for so long.”

“Give me a few, and I’ll go grab them,” Zedra said as he took off running.

Before he left Zedra got too far away, Atticus cast [Wind Imbuement] on everyone to give Zedra a speed boost for his run. It would last for an hour and could easily be recast when the [Flamesouls] rejoined them.

Zedra found the other party by the waterfall, fighting some kind of water-attuned bug that had made the place its home. It wasn’t legendary, but he still joined them in combat to help with the clear time.

In seconds, the water-bug died, and Zaria greeted Zedra, “What’s up, Zed? Got something interesting?”

“Yup! We found a legendary poison salamander thing that is in those bog-looking trees over to the north. You guys want to help kill it?”

“Count us in!”

The [Flamesouls] rejoined with [Reality Check], and they initiated the fight, Zedra once again acting as the rabbit.

"It's cute," Tia said. Her sister nodded in agreement.

Despite how well defended the salamander was, it still followed Zedra's aggro trail out of the deepest part of the swamp. Dark was able to initiate the first burn phase in a more open and shallow area where they had been fighting the lesser salamanders earlier.

While not as deep as the burrow, the water was a hindrance to the combat movement speed of the parties, reaching up to the knee. Even with the help of Atticus’s [Wind Imbuement], they were moving at less than full speed. It made kiting the creature a more tedious thing than fighting Xalti was.

When they finally brought the legendary salamander down, it dropped the spherical mount stone that would let its future owner summon it as a mount, just as Xalti had. This time, the mount stone went to Zedra, but he looked around to see if anyone wanted the mount to find shaking heads almost everywhere.

“Well, we could sell it later, if we want?” He asked.

It was then that Tia spoke up, “Uh, if you guys don’t mind…I thought he was pretty cute.”

Zedra laughed and tossed her the sphere, “It’s all yours, everyone agrees?”

“Yup!” “Aye” “Of course” The chorus of agreement sealed the decision in stone, and Tia smiled as she put the item in her inventory.

“If we are fast enough, I bet all of us can get some kind of unique legendary mount. Hopefully, we can get enough to sell or hand out to future guild members as well,” Sky said.

Zedra nodded, “Yeah, we shouldn’t worry about selling them, but instead make our guild mates stronger. I like that plan the best.”

Kesa agreed as well, “Absolutely, if this were just a video game where the gold was just a fake currency, then who cares? But since it’s our new lives, we need to make those we like strong enough to survive on their own, including things like legendary mounts."

“Well said, Kesa!” Ar’Gen commented.

The two parties continued to farm enemy mobs for the next few hours until the blanket of darkness began to settle across the valley. They worked back to the cleared, broken tower and climbed up to the only solid floor remaining before creating their camps for the night.

Atticus got to work as he created meals using the equipment, spices, and vegetables he procured in Osten. The first thing he created was a stew using the cockatrice meat that dropped from Xalti, producing some of the best campfire food anyone had ever tasted.

“I swear my taste buds are so much better as a female,” Sky said. “If only my stomach were as large…”

“That is a good thing, you need to keep yourself in shape!” Zedra said while poking Sky in the side.

“Ow! Hey! I am in fantastic shape, thank you very much!”

After dinner, the groups set up watches and were actually able to get some sleep. Tomorrow, they will conquer their first dungeon.