Zenith Affinity

Day 2 of Zaphid Caverns brought about the 2nd through 4th runs through the dungeon. While loot continuously dropped, it was only simple upgrades that would last until they ascended to the second tier. The [Zero Affinity Ore] was the most important part, followed by essence dust and shards, which everyone would need.

The average levels of both parties went from 16 to 18 by the time they finished the 4th run, with standouts hitting 19.

The Burrower, Health Sponge 1, Health Sponge 2, Karne, the Queen.

This pattern was followed nonstop, and the times for their runs slowly decreased into the four-hour time frame. The thing was that trying to run through the dungeon was nearly impossible at their power levels, as mobs would build up and attempt to swarm them.

The parties instead just took their time, ever pushing forward into the depths. By the end of day 2, they had each turn and mob spawn point memorized, the tunnels becoming a recognizable canvas. After finishing the last run of the day, both parties went out and cleared whatever mobs spawned in the valley where the Zaphid Caverns Dungeon Entrance could be found. Ensuring a decent safety net around the entrance.

Day 3 came, and the stretch to level 20 was in sight, even if the amount of incoming experience was slowing down. They finished 4 runs that day, and [Reality Check] even finished the last one at 3 hours and 34 minutes, making for the fastest run so far. The stark difference between quickly running a dungeon while sitting at a computer versus running through one in person is a massive gap.

No world notifications came at their accomplishment, but they did continue to collect [Zero Affinity Metal] and essence dust and shards, now carrying piles of the precious resources.

This would be the main means by which they would begin to save up for a guild hall at level 50, along with the price of moving everyone across the world to another continent. What they would create with these resources would lay the foundation for Tier 2.

“Alright, everyone!” Sky said, drawing attention from both parties at the camp. She stood up after placing the empty bowl on the ground. “Tomorrow we will up the difficulty. Now that most of us are level 20, our power and abilities have gone up, and we are ready to move to the next level. Zedra already checked, and there definitely is the harder difficulty version of the dungeon available. It won’t be easy, mob spawns will increase, bosses will do more damage, and have higher health pools.”

“Does that include the sponge bosses?” Zaria asked.

“Definitely, and they will have actual attack patterns and probably be harder in every way. I want everyone to be prepared in the event that things go wrong. If you can run, then get out before dying, but if the worst should happen, then remain calm, and be ready to do it again,” Sky said.

Asheera raised her hand, “Why don’t we move on from here? Wouldn’t we level faster if we explored more?”

Zedra spoke up, “Maybe if this were still a game, but by doing the hard mode version, we are going to be getting better experience. Also, farming dungeons is the best source [Zero Affinity Ore], and while we don’t get as much as we do on the first run every day, it’s still a fantastic source of essence dust, shards, and ore, and we need all that we can get. So fill your inventories with it.”

Before anyone else could respond, a system announcement appeared across all of their HUDs:

_______________________________________________________

WORLD FIRST DUNGEON COMPLETION: OSTBURY CRYPTS

Party: [Sword Souls]

Clear Time: 7h 29m 14s

Difficulty: Normal

Level Rec: 15

_______________________________________________________

Everyone stared at the announcement in shock. Another group had cleared a dungeon for the first time, and it was none other than the singular dungeon located inside the City of Ostbury. Worried frowns clouded most of the faces, besides Sky.

She smiled.

“Awesome! See? This is proof that we are in the lead!” Sky said.

“Even so…they are right behind us,” Zaria interjected. “The [Sword Souls]...”

“Look at the recommended level.”

“15? So?”

“So?! We finished the Zaphid Caverns 3 days ago! And the recommended level is 17,” Sky said, reading the expressions.

Ar’Gen’s eyes lit up, “You are saying that they were lower leveled than us, and judging by their completion time, they were in there damn near a whole day!”

Sky laughed, “Exactly, not only that, but they wouldn’t be getting as many resources as we are. Much less [Zero Affinity Metal] and undoubtedly a much less diverse amount of essence shards. I wager that we are a good 5 levels higher than any other party…of course, that is assuming the only starting point was Ostbury and that no one has left this region yet.”

Kesa had an excited tone in her voice, “Does that mean that when we go to level our crafting to 25, other groups will begin to hit the cap. At which point they will be searching for [Attuned Ascension Ritual Discs], and we will be able to sell them for a huge profit?”

Sky smiled, “Exactly! This will fund the creation of our guild as well as the first round of gear for both our parties. Hopefully, it can go further than that and fund any more parties we get to join our guild. We will need upgrades to tier 2 stuff ASAP!”

Dark spoke up, “Then we can also start saving for our transportation costs to get 50 people to the Crystal City.”

“Wait, 50? Where did that number come from?” Zaria asked.

“Simple, you need to have a guild with 50 people in it to purchase a guild hall of that size,” Sky explained. “When we head back to Osten and even back to Ostbury after we hit Tier 2, our main goal will be making money and recruiting more parties.”

“I thought we needed 10 people?”

“That’s just for forming a guild in general. We need 10 people to commit to join the guild, or we can't create it,” Zedra clarified. “Then 50 to buy the guild hall, and there are other requirements for upgrading it later, but we don’t need to worry about that for now.”

The two parties continued to discuss the plans well into the night, only falling asleep after the campfires began to dim. Thankfully, the night was warm and clear of bad weather, and unlike the first night in Zenith World, they all found that they could sleep quite easily.

≪ ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ≫

Day 4 started with Hard Mode for the Zaphid Caverns, amping up everything that both parties saw in Normal Mode. Bosses had more technical features, requiring the party to use the mechanics to the fullest to progress, rather than pure damage. The hardest boss this time wasn’t the Burrower or Karne, but, unsurprisingly, was the Zaphid Queen.

It came down to the bugs that wore away at the Queen’s external shell, requiring much more work to access the mechanics to give her the debuff that allows for damage to be dealt to her. In the normal mode, just blasting the pustule beetles when they walked past her was easy to do, causing the fluid in their sacks to weaken her carapace enough for critical strikes to go through.

Now in Hard Mode, things have changed. The Queen was completely immune to damage now, until she was hit with the pustule beetles.

The Zaphid Pustule Beetles now locked onto the furthest player from the Queen at the time when they spawned, then followed them until they were killed or were close enough to detonate, covering the player in [Zaphid Corrosion]. The kiting was now much more difficult, requiring the players to traverse the fields of corrosive lava and enter melee range of the Queen until the Pustule Beetles could be destroyed.

This job fell primarily to Zedra, who had to run non-stop throughout the entire fight, constantly kiting the Pustule Beetles after grabbing aggro. The first engagement was alright except for every other beetle spawn causing someone besides Zedra to have to run on account of the spawn rate.

Zedra figured it out by staying furthest from the Queen and waiting until the second beetle spawn came in, where there was a longer delay since two were on the field at once. He then doubled back and forced the two pustule beetles into each other as he sprinted back to the Queen.

Atticus had perfect timing, allowing both of the beetles to cross in front of the Queen’s face before stunning them. Zedra was able to sprint to the back of the arena, waiting for the next spawns while Sky dealt her AoE damage to both bugs at once, taking them both down with a [Searing Blast].

Once Dark slammed into the Queen with [Dark Charger], the group collapsed on her to deliver a solid amount of damage.

That set the standard for their first Hard Mode run, a strategy that would be copied for the next handful of levels until they reached the Tier 1 ceiling at level 24.

The first time through the Zaphid Caverns on Hard Mode took much longer, at nearly 7 hours for [Reality Check] and just under 8 for the [Flamesouls]. No one died, despite a few close calls, but it was still more difficult.

Everyone received a level up for the first run in Hard Mode, expecting diminishing returns as the runs progressed. They were planning for at least two runs a day until they hit the cap, so after both parties finished, they returned for another run that day, finishing the hard day of work after sunset.

They spent four more days farming the Zaphid Caverns, allowing everyone to come close to, if not completely hit the cap at a full bar of experience at level 24.

≪ ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ≫

“Do we go for another run?” Zaria asked. “Just to finish things off?” Both parties were sitting down for lunch as they realized they were pretty much at the cap.

Kesa replied, “I don’t know about the rest of you, but my bags are damned near full of materials, and I am craving a night in an actual bed. Also, I think I have got used to the smell of bug guts, and that is something I sincerely want to change.”

Zedra laughed, “I think I am finished with this place as well. We should take the rest of the day and see what we can find on a scenic route back to Osten. Now that we aren't wandering around and looking for the dungeon, we should be able to make it back pretty fast. Maybe even find a few legendary spawns along the way.”

“That sounds good to me, I would like to see something besides dark caverns filled with puking bugs for a while as well,” Tia said. “I wouldn’t mind a bath either.”

“Same!” Sky said. She was the first to max out her experience at level 24 as an AoE mage and had been ready to head back for a while now.

Zedra nodded, “So, let’s head north through the pass over there.” He gestured to the small gap in the smaller mountains that the Zaphid Caverns rested in.

Both parties were resting just outside the front gates of the Caverns, where mobs didn’t spawn. It had become a temporary camping ground for the last 8 days since the mobs in the valley hadn't respawned with as much vigor as they thought they would. As they were relaxing, their attention was drawn further into the valley, away from the entrance to the dungeon.

A group of adventurers was walking through the grass and was headed straight on a beeline for the dungeon entrance. What was more, though, was that they didn't look like players.

“Their names are colored like NPCs!” Sky said excitedly.

The two groups were finishing up their lunches of bread and cheese as they watched the oncoming group. It was a party of five, and while their names were visible, they were still too far to be clearly read. They waited as the party finally arrived, and it seemed they didn’t have any hostility, so not everyone stood up.

“Greetings, fellow adventurers!” Sky said, beaming with a smile like the sun. Her roleplaying history was fully engaged.

A pretty human with fuchsia-colored hair in a high ponytail stepped forward. Sky read the name tag above her head:

'Alisha Caldwell, Blade Dancer [Pink Lotus]'

“Greetings…” Alisha said, looking slightly skeptical at the overly excited Sky. “Are you guys the party called [Reality Check]?”

Zedra stepped up next to Sky, “Five of us are, but the other group is the [Flamesouls]. Why do you ask?”

Alisha nodded, “Right, where are my manners? I am Alisha, and this is my party, [Pink Lotus]. This is Sera, the Frost Mage, Helga the Shield Guardian, Ashariel the Valkyrie, and Amara, our amazing Cleric. It is good to meet you all.” She had a posh and aristocratic-sounding voice with perfect enunciation.

Zedra nodded, “I am Zedra, rogue, that’s Sky the Solar Mage, Kesa here is our Druid, Dark Hero is our beefy paladin, and our Lightning Enhancer and professional Chef is Atticus. Zaria, want to introduce yourselves?”

“Of course! I am Zaria, that’s my brother Ar’gen, those are the twins - Mia and Tia, and the wonderful Asheera Flamesong!” She smiled triumphantly until her brother elbowed her in the thigh.

“Oh! Sorry, Cleric, Ninja, Ninja, Bard! And I’m also a Valkyrie!” Zaria said, her tone bubbly as she pointed to each of her party members. She noticed that the fellow celestial, Ashariel Navi, who was also a Valkyrie, was staring at Sky with a weird look on her face, almost hostile.

“Well, it’s wonderful to meet you all, but I confess that we are here for a reason. Specifically, the Guild Manager of the Adventure Association in Osten wanted to speak with you about the World First announcement. Does that mean anything to you?”

Sky and Zedra exchanged glances before he spoke up, “Well, of course it does. But you aren’t players, are you?”

Alisha’s eyes widened, “I knew it! What does that mean? The players are the ones who arrived in Ostbury, that huge group of people, am I correct?”

Sky answered, “That’s right…not sure how it happened, but we showed up one day. Now we are working on leveling up. It’s honestly like a dream.”

Ashariel finally spoke up, anger lacing her tone. She had white hair like Zaria’s, but it was shaved on the left side and folded over. There was a single small braid coming from her left temple, with a pink thread woven into it. Her piercing silver eyes sat above delicate white tribal tattoos on her cheeks, not holding back any of her hostility.

“Your name is just Sky? What level are you?”

Sky looked over to the other beautiful Celestial, sort of confused by the anger, “Well, it’s Solara Sky, but my friends just call me Sky, and I’m level 24…Gonna ascend to Tier 2 soon!”

Ashariel looked offended, if not shocked, when she mentioned her full name, like she was looking at a child who should know better.

Sky questioned her first, “Is…that alright?”

Ashariel scoffed, “Are you serious?”

“Ash! What the hell?!” Alisha admonished, smacking the armored Valkyrie on the shoulder pauldron.

Sky and Zedra exchanged glances, confusion crossing the distance.

“I-I’m sorry, did I say something offensive? I didn’t mean to,” Sky said.

“No, it’s fine, forgive us. Ash can be a bit intense sometimes,” Alisha said, drawing another scoff from Ashariel. “Seriously, though, don’t worry about it.”

“Alright…”

“Anyways, our party was sent out to find you all and ask if you could come speak to the Osten Adventuring Association Branch Leader. He is curious about the sudden appearance of these dungeons, players, and all that stuff. When your party name popped up on the Guild Screens as world first for the Zaphid Caverns, he put a mission out,” Alisha said, bringing the conversation back on topic. “We only found you cause we have seen these Zaphid Bugs in these valleys before.”

“The dungeons are appearing? As in…they didn’t exist in this world until we did?” Zedra asked.

It was Alisha’s turn to exchange glances with her Ice Mage, Sera, before she replied, “Yes. Everything seems to be happening in line with the arrival of the players, and no one is sure why. Is that the dungeon right there?”

She nodded to the huge gate with a warbling magical field over the top of it.

“Yeah, this is the entrance to the Zaphid Caverns, a repeatable dungeon instance that is great for leveling through the second half of the first tier,” Zedra explained.

The conversation continued, discussing the ins and outs of dungeons and the basics of how they work. Knowledge in and of itself is worth holding onto, and the entrances to the many dungeons would be prime information, except that players could easily find them within a certain range via their maps.

It seemed that non-players didn’t have the heads-up display, yet they knew about levels, tiers, and advancement things that came with it. The parties talked for a time, but finally Alisha asked, “So, this has been an enlightening conversation, but as far as why we came to find you…Would you all mind heading back to Osten with us? The branch leader has more questions than we did, if that is possible.”

Zedra spoke up, “That’s fine, but can we go north through there a bit before looping back? We all want to hit level 24 before we make it back to Osten.”

Alisha followed his direction to the slightly open valley to the north of the entry gate to the Zaphid Caverns. “As long as we make it back today.”

“Great!” Sky said. “Let’s head out! We will definitely find some interesting stuff!”