Zenith Affinity

Level 30 was another wall in which the experience gained from lower-level dungeon instances and mobs could barely help climb. Trying to slowly grind through the reduction in experience was just frustrating, even if the difficulty was reduced hand in hand with the experience reduction. As with anything in a progression-style gaming system, with increased experience comes increased difficulty.

“Hard mode, huh?” Ren asked after most of the parties were knocking on the door to level 30.

“I think the Beast can grab each of the powerups, but I am not entirely sure how that plays out according to what we have seen so far,” Zedra said with a nod.

“I can’t imagine it will be easy.”

Zedra laughed, “Nope. That would be boring, wouldn’t it?”

“I guess.’

Zedra slapped him on the shoulder, “I am sure we will all do fine. Come on!”

Zaria and Alisha didn’t seem so confident.

“Would you guys be alright if we waited for you to finish it first?” Alisha asked.

“Are you worried?” Sky asked, not mocking the former NPC, but actually seeming concerned.

“I would prefer not dying, regardless of our ability to come back while within a…dungeon instance.” She and the rest of [Pink Lotus] were still coming to terms with the ideology and naming of the players.

“If any of you are worried or you want to wait for us to give it a shot first, that is totally fine. We will report on what we find from hardmode after we die or finish. Alright?” Sky casually spoke about dying in the dungeon, but she was one of the few who hadn’t had the experience just yet. No one had been willing to see what happens when they die outside of the instance, so it was still better to know that death wasn't entirely permanent while inside.

“I think I am with Pinky, here. Dying sucks, and that Beast is kind of a dick,” Zaria said, gesturing to Alisha when she said Pinky.

“Pinky!?” Alisha replied.

Zaria laughed, “What?”

“I think that is fine, though I don’t want Sky here to keep pushing ahead of us. We are going for it,” Ren said, his [Sword Souls] nodding behind him.

Sky snorted into a laugh but didn't rise to the bait.

“Good!” Zedra said. “Let’s get into hard mode!”

“Yeah! Let’s go!” Sky said, instantly excited to get started.

Dark Hero laughed, “No one can get excited to have a chance at dying like you, Sky.”

“Psh, we got this!”

Most of the Zenith Star Guild entered the dungeon on Hard mode, leaving the less confident parties to see how it turns out. Things went well for a time, and experience was back up to par. There were more blood widow mobs for the first part of the dungeon, each of them with larger health pools and more powerful attacks. They would stagger their ambushes in a sort of cascading effect, baiting parties in before the rest dropped down to engage.

[Reality Check] had to use everything in their arsenal to deal with the multi-layered ambushes. The nasty affliction [Blood Widow Blight] spread through the whole party, and now every spider could apply the affliction with their bloody-red misty breath attacks.

It took nearly twice as long as the entire first time they ran through the dungeon just to make it to Elishna, the Blood Widow Queen. Fighting her also came with increased difficulty. It was now a battle for survival where just attacking the queen was nearly pointless until she could be CC’d several times in a row to achieve a moderate burn phase.

Dark Hero nearly died, dropping down to just 3% of his total hit points. He was drawing aggro from the Queen, hoping to set up another burn phase, but it didn’t seem to matter to the massive spider. She acknowledged his taunt and obliged, charging the Shadow Paladin with all of her force behind it.

Kesa’s shields had both broken, and when he was thrown back against the far wall, he was out of reach of her instant healing. Fortunately, Sky and Zedra timed it well, each of them applying [Blindness] long enough for Kesa to close in and let her magic work. They still had a third or more of the Blood Widow Queen’s health pool remaining and had barely made it out of that predicament.

Without a tank, especially one as good as Dark Hero, there is essentially no anchor for the party. They would have nowhere to stand and do damage, as they would have to constantly be trading aggro at the barest hint of damage. To some degree, the same thing could be said about any role in any given party; the backbone was always the tank.

They took down Elishna by going back to the original patterns that had brought her down to a third of her life to start with, patiently waiting for the opportune moments to double up on CC. They pushed her into a burn phase and eventually took the spider queen down. Nearly 40 minutes into the dungeon.

“That was brutal,” Atticus said.

“No kidding, that was a tough fight. I can only imagine what the Beast is going to look like,” Kesa said.

The party was catching their breath as Sky typed in guild chat, reporting her findings on the hardmode spider cave.

“There is no way this next part is going to be easy,” Zedra said, sounding more tired than he looked.

Dark was sitting against the cave wall, and he slammed his shield down. He wasn’t one to show more emotions than humor in any situation, but that last fight seemingly got to him.

“Damnit,” Dark said, standing up as he spoke. “That was my fault.”

“No, it wa-” Zedra was cut off before he could speak.

“Yeah, it was. I tried to stun-lock her again because I thought she used her stun break on that part where she stuttered, and I went in on it. My taunt skill did something, and she went crazy. I wouldn't have made it without you guys, and I nearly lost the fight,” Dark said.

“It wasn’t like you did something without cause, Dark. I saw that hesitation too and almost went in on her,” Zedra said.

“I must have missed it. All I remember is the crazy spider going nuts and charging Dark. What happened?”

“She sort of stutter-stepped, almost like she was tricking us into thinking some CC had landed. It coincided with one of your bolts, and that has a chance to stun, right?” Sky asked.

“Yeah, but I haven’t even seen it happen once,” Atticus said. He hadn’t been casting it very often, but whenever he wanted to do his largest damage, he fell back on [Lightning Strike]. It can just be cast once, or it can be channeled to cast multiple times. With the recent upgrade to [Will of the Storm], all lightning damage has a small percentage chance to inflict the [Stunned] condition.

“Still…” Dark started.

Kesa walked over and hugged him, not saying anything, just being supportive.

“Still, it's not your fault. It was a crazy read on the boss, regardless, if anything, you made a good move,” Sky said.

“I agree. I was ready to hit her with an [Opportunity Strike], but it never gave me the option to activate it,” Zedra replied.

Dark sighed but nodded, “Alright, still, I will do better next time.”

≪ ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ≫

They took five before they pushed on, the unknown variables of the next part of the dungeon weighing down on them. They had quite a few ideas of what could happen on account of the dungeon instance integrating into the real world, but nothing concrete. It was time to find out.

[Reality Check] pushed out of the caves and towards the first camp, which was always attuned to earth. This time, there was a pack of hyena-like creatures with large jaws, lanky legs, and frilled fur on their spines. They had a sort of yelping-bark that turned into growls the moment that they noticed the party’s approach.

“Alright, let me engage, and we will bring them down together!” Dark Hero said, finding his confidence again.

He did just as he said, engaging with a [Dark Charger] and immediately activating [Darkness Vortex]. Just as the party practiced, they initiated their combos and attack patterns, something that feels more routine than not, only changing as they added more skills and spells to it. The earth attuned hyenas began to fall, leaving only the largest left.

That was when things changed.

A roar echoed through the valley, immediately stunning the party. Sky and Dark broke free, but it didn’t matter, as they weren’t the target of the Beast.

The final hyena, the one with the highest earth attunement and abilities, was instantly devoured by the Beast.

It stole their kill.

“Uh oh…” Sky said.

The Beast roared again, stomping down right in front of Dark Hero as its skin and aura changed. The stone blasted up, sending both him and Zedra flying backward, [Stunned] and [Bleeding] conditions either extending or showing up on their health bars. Kesa replied with affliction removal, but couldn’t break the stun.

The Beast charged forward at Sky, and she used [Flare Step] to launch up and over it, leaving a [Sun Bringer] to greet the Beast’s arrival. She began to rain down attacks on the massive creature, but it didn’t seem to be taking any serious damage. They weren’t sure if it was a damage reduction from acquiring the Earth Attunement, or just something about the

“We need to run! Get Dark up, now!” Sky ordered.

Atticus went in, dropping his [Shocking Field] on the Beast in hopes of stunning it. It worked, but there was no time to deal damage as he helped Dark find his feet. They got up and started running, the idea of a ‘chase’ dungeon becoming fully realized. Zedra and Sky lagged behind, dealing as much damage as they could during the Beast’s [Stunned] condition. Zedra’s level 30 upgrade to [Evasive Vault], called [Shadow Break], let him break CC and displace himself into a vault. It enabled him to help Sky with his [Opportunity Strike].

The party was on their feet and moving with all haste.

“Zed, the next camp!”

“Ah, yeah…Dark!”

They were all running and doing their best to communicate, but Dark had his bell rung and was trying to get his bearings as Kesa led him up the path.

Zedra, not finding an answer in Dark, turned to Atticus, “What’s your cooldown on [Shocking Field]?”

“I just dropped it!”

“We need CC right now!”

“I got [Thunderous Damage] at level 30. It’s a tiny percentage, but there is a chance for any of my lightning damage to stun an enemy!’

“We can’t chance it, save your [Shocking Field] for the next fight. Kesa!”

“On it!”

They needed some CC ready for the next camp, which was Fire attuned, hoping to out damage the arrival of the Beast. This would deny the kill steal and power upgrade the Beast would get, but they would have to be fast.

Sky held back, drawing aggro as she dodged the huge lunging slash-strikes from the Beast. It jumped at her, growled, and howled, sending waves of Earth-based attacks along with its normal attack patterns. She was taking a bit of damage, but was able to hold the raging boss a bit while the rest of the party engaged the Fire Camp.

Kesa’s [Healing Wave] crashed into the flame wolves, [Reality Check] charging in behind them.

Dark and Zedra both closed in on the alpha, who had his flames nearly smothered by Kesa’s water. They ignored everything else, [Rending Strikes] and [Shadow Poison] followed the hit from [Opportunity Strikes].

Atticus engaged on arrival as well, activated [Lightning Strikes], channeling the ability to continuously call down bolts of lightning on a location, dealing damage to everything within 5 meters of the impact point, friendly fire aside. It was the third strike that triggered a [Stun] on the alpha wolf, giving the party time to deal more damage. He had to stop channeling the spell, or he wouldn’t have enough mana for the next camp.

“Incoming!” Sky yelled. She appeared in a [Flare Step], landing some more damage and a [Sun Flash] on the alpha wolf, and Zedra was able to finish it off.

“Move out!” Zedra yelled.

They ran as the Beast dove into the remaining flame wolves, though he wouldn’t get any power from them.

“I got an idea,” Zedra yelled.

“At least it isn’t Sky’s idea,” Dark said with a laugh.

“Hey!”

“We are going to skip the Nature camp and go straight to Shadow and Blood,” Zedra said.

“'Cause all nature can do is grab us with vines?” Kesa asked.

“Exactly! The Shadow Camp Mob will give the Beast a crazy teleportation ability, and the Blood ability is insane damage like that [Blood Widow Blight]. It’s a huge AoE thing that will be a pain to deal with. We let him have the nature camp and take down the other two anchor mobs, or whatever they are called.”

“Sky approves of this message!” Sky said with a smile.

“You know, it really was a good idea, but then Sky had to approve,” Dark said, sarcasm in his tone.

Kesa and Atticus laughed while Sky showed mock hurt at Dark’s joke.

“Okay, we skip ahead, but we can’t draw aggro from the Nature camp. Time to go off-road! Follow me!”

Zedra did just that, hopping off the trail and climbing up a hill while using [Evasive Vault] to bypass difficult terrain. Sky launched up and glided down over the same terrain while the others utilized their own movement abilities. The intense situation went from overwhelming to a planned situation where the party once again felt in control.

When things go wrong, it's a testament to the strength of a party when they are capable of adapting to those situations. This dungeon threw a curveball from what everyone knew when the Beast stepped in and chose violence, but [Reality Check] stepped up. The Shadow Camp was in a small cave, not unlike the starting cave for the Bloodfall Caverns, though this one was fully shrouded in darkness.

The monsters that spawned this time seemed to be a type of shadow affinity ooze, using the darkness as a cover for their reaching attacks. Sky cast her [Sun Bringer] spell straight up into the ceiling, where it hovered, immediately eliminating the magical darkness with its direct counter.

The largest ooze was covered in Atticus’s [Shocking Field], and the party fell on it. The ooze had a huge AoE burst attack that did more damage to people facing it when it exploded. Obviously, that meant everyone attacking it, but there was a slight buildup as it ballooned in size before bursting. Usually, the party just waited until it was about to go, then spun around, but now, Kesa was prepared. The two melee fighters were immediately covered with a [Bubble Shield], and she was holding a [Golden Nova] to be cast the second the Ooze burst.

It ballooned up, Sky and Atticus dodging around the other oozes as they prepared for the explosion attack. Just as planned, the ooze burst, and Kesa released her spell. Two consecutive shockwaves, dark slime followed by golden water, shook the caverns. The explosive ability left the ooze vulnerable, letting Dark Hero and Zedra capitalize on it.

Dark started with a meter-long [Dark Charger] ability that stunned the reforming ooze, and Zedra finished it off with his most devastating attack, [Opportunity Strike].

“Quick, leave the rest of them and let’s go!” Zedra said.

They disengaged and sprinted up the camp just as the Beast finished devouring the Nature Camp. It went into an evolutionary montage as its Earth and Nature Affinities combined together. The Beast finished adapting and evolving, and all the flora around it seemed to animate. The Beast took off down the path to the Shadow Camp, finding mobs returning from losing aggro.

It devoured them and continued.

The Blood Camp was set at the base of the bloody-red waterfall that wound through the entire dungeon, and this time it was holding a group of monstrous badgers that seemed to be furious at [Reality Check]’s intrusion. They still focused on aggro, but the intention was to wipe the entire camp before The Beast arrived. Sky was standing back, looking down the path to the Shadow Camp as she lobbed burning stars at the half-dozen badgers that Dark pulled together.

Just as they finished the Camp, Sky called out, “Here it comes!”

“Back up, away from the plants!” Zedra yelled.

“Cascading crowd control! Remember the order and save it until Zedra’s damage rotation is off cooldown. Watch his pounce attacks, and stay separate to keep his slashes from hitting multiple of us! Sky said.

“I am up first, let me know when it’s in range, Sky.”

“On it.”

She waited, watching the Beast power up the trail towards them, and as soon as it was about to turn the corner, Sky called out, “Now, Dark!”

Dark stepped out and slammed forward with [Dark Charger], striking the side, which was enough to send it back, but it seemingly resisted the [Stun] condition.

The Beast swiped out at Dark and sent shards of stone flying at him. He was too quick, a [Dark Aegis] blocking everything. The boss turned as Sky called out, “Atticus!”

“[Shocking Field]!”

He dropped it perfectly on top of the dungeon boss, and it was immediately stunned. Zedra appeared behind it, dealing massive damage while Dark closed and added [Rending Strike]. As soon as the damage phase was over, the party backed off and allowed the Beast to choose who it would target next.

They used its retributive anger against itself, drawing aggro and increasing threat between Sky, Dark, and Zedra. Kesa sat back, applying shields and healing while Atticus waited for cooldowns. His [Shocking Field] was a hair longer than [Dark Charger], but it stunned groups of people while increasing damage.

The party layered their debuffs, ensuring that Zedra has the most damage possible. Dark’s [Rending Strike] reduced the enhanced armor from the Earth Affinity that the Beast picked up, while Atticus increased all incoming damage. Sky maintained her stacks of [Searing Light], only to activate [Searing Blast] in time with Zedra’s highest damage combo with [Opportunity Strike].

It was practiced and well known to the party, which had been fighting together for weeks. It was only a matter of time until the Beast fell, and the party emerged victorious, now with a battle plan for the rest of the guild.

“That’s how it’s done!” Sky said.