"Wow! So this is what Bloodveil Crossing looks like. It seems pretty scary," said a man in light armor with a sword. "Wait until you see the
"Wow! So this is what Bloodveil Crossing looks like. It seems pretty scary," said a man in light armor with a sword.
"Wait until you see the Wretchbound Howlers. From what I've read, they're terrifying," said another man holding a composite bow.
"You read about it? Where did you read that?"
"Haven't you heard of Dawn?"
"No, who's that?"
"A writer. And one who deserves to be really popular, in my opinion."
"What's a writer doing here? And I didn't know you read books," said the lightly armored man with a laugh.
"Very funny. What they publish isn't even a book, it's a series of posts."
"What kind of posts? What do they write about?"
"They provide general information about all the dungeons! It's more useful than you think. It's unfortunate I only discovered it yesterday. If I had found it earlier, we could have gotten here in two days instead of a week!"
"You're exaggerating..."
"No, I'm not! I was browsing through guilds before bed. They all ask for too much—minimum level requirements, system experience ranging from at least 3 months up to 2 years. They demand too much weekly or monthly gold. But one guild caught my eye, called New Dawn."
"And?"
"Well, I looked into the guild. They have almost no requirements, just asking us to help each other as much as possible. And they only want 50 gold monthly, which is practically nothing."
"Sounds too good to be true."
"Yes, and there's no level or experience requirement either. Anyway, then I saw the guild board option. Usually these are exclusive to guild members, but this guild's board was open to everyone. That's where I read the posts I mentioned to you. They were titled 'A Tank's Guide to Monsters' and covered all the dungeons we've been through so far. Comparing to our own experience, the things that happened to them were much harder."
"So, Dawn is a Tank. What else is in these posts? Does it provide any tips?" asked the lightly armored man, his interest slightly piqued.
"Yes, plenty! Where to find creatures, their behaviors, how to find bosses, attack patterns, tactics for easy kills. What kinds of food we can find, even clean water sources. What caught my attention most was the information about Optional Bosses."
"That's pretty good. How many people are in the guild? Based on what you're saying, shouldn't it be very popular?"
"There's only one person in the guild, probably just Dawn themselves. Actually, before meeting you, I went to the real world to get some money from my dad. I searched for the posts' title on my phone and found an unofficial subreddit created in their name. It only had a few hundred members."
"Resources are limited for newcomers to the passage. Most information is either hidden behind excessively priced forums or kept secret by high-level adventurers and governments. The information Dawn shares must be truly valuable."
"Yes, it's a bit sad that nobody's there... Maybe we could join? What do you think?"
"We don't have a guild already. Why not?" he said while searching for New Dawn. "What useful things did you learn?"
"It described how to find the optional bosses in Misty Ruin and Twilight Pit."
"What about Bloodveil Crossing?"
"It said that Flesh Walkers are very slow and completing the quest is easy even for a tank with low damage output. However..."
"However?"
"However, it said that Wretchbound Howlers are very challenging. That was their latest post. Apparently they move very fast and are extremely aggressive. That's why I put a few of my points into agility this morning. Better than nothing."
"Any tactics?"
"They wrote that Howlers love fresh meat. They have a sense of smell that works from 300-500 meters away. That's why..." he said and pulled rabbit meat from his inventory, "I brought this. It'll make our job easier."
"That's great! Let's finish our quest and submit our application."
After hours of struggle, the young men had achieved their goal and completed their quest. They stood exhausted under the gray skies of Bloodveil Crossing. Their faces were covered with blood and grime, their armor filled with scratches and stains.
"A hundred..." said the archer, leaning on his knees, breathing heavily. "Exactly one hundred... Flesh Walkers..."
The lightly armored swordsman collapsed onto a piece of rock. "I can't believe it... We completed it in just a few hours."
"Dawn was right. The quest wasn't as challenging as we thought."
Indeed, the tactic Dawn had suggested yielded perfect results. The Flesh Walkers were very slow, but their red fleshy bodies couldn't be easily penetrated with normal weapons. However, the archer's accurate shots from high positions and the swordsman's quick maneuvers allowed them to target the creatures' weak points.
"I've never seen so much blood in my life," said the swordsman, trying to clean his sword.
"Yeah, I feel a bit sick." The archer stood up and checked his inventory. "Look, our quest rewards have arrived."
"Good thing we took all the quests before coming here, let's move on to the next one right away."
They quickened their steps from Bloodveil Crossing toward the forest. The interior of the forest was silent. As they advanced, they noticed the trees becoming denser and the light gradually diminishing.
"Do you think the Wretchbound Howlers are here?" whispered the swordsman, gripping his weapon more tightly.
The archer slowly nodded. "According to what Dawn wrote, they made a path leading to them in the forest. That's why we entered Server 2921."
"So that's why you specifically chose this place."
"Yes. According to Dawn, we need to reach a small, hollowed-out tower in the forest. That tower is actually the main entrance to the Howlers' den," said the archer.
As they continued their conversation, something caught their attention from among the trees. A light breeze blew and just at that moment...
A thin column of smoke was rising from above the trees toward the sky. This smoke, gently waving with the wind, looked like a typical campfire signal from a distance. After curiously looking at each other, the two friends decided to check the source. Carefully and silently advancing, they passed through the trees and reached a small clearing.
In the center of the clearing, a small fire was burning, its flickering flames piercing the darkness of the night. Right next to the fire, a solitary figure sat on a huge cut tree stump bearing the marks of years. Beside the figure, carefully leaned against the stump, was a large shield full of scratches, evidently having gone through many battles. The man was in a mixed combination of iron and leather armor. On his head was a closed helmet that completely concealed his face; the small scratches and dents on this helmet showed that its owner had experienced difficult struggles in the past. On the man's back fluttered a long blue-black cloak that was clearly once magnificent but now full of tears and bloodstains.
The armored man, hearing the approach of the two young men, raised his head toward them but didn't speak. He had already seen them coming, clearly waiting for them. Except for the crackling of the fire, the forest was completely silent, even the wind had stopped. The archer and the swordsman exchanged worried glances, but still continued to advance.
"Hello," said the young swordsman hesitantly. "We were just passing through the forest."
The armored man sat motionless for a long time. Then, a deep, tired sigh was heard from inside his helmet.
"Are you adventurers too? Are you here to kill Howlers?" asked the young man with the bow in his hand.
"Yes," said the man. His voice sounded very muffled because his helmet was almost completely closed.
"We heard there's a newly made path here. Do you know where it is?"
The man slightly raised his finger and from inside his helmet, his gaze shifted to a certain direction in the forest. Then with his gloved hand, he pointed to a dark spot where the trees became denser.
"There," he said, his voice filled with fatigue and warning. "The path leading to the den entrance starts there."
"Have you completed your quest?" asked the archer, looking curiously at the armored man.
The man slowly shook his head from side to side. A tired breath was heard from inside his helmet.
"Not yet," he said, his voice echoing inside the steel helmet. "I still have a few things to take care of."
The swordsman, after giving his friend a quick glance, stepped forward.
"You can come with us if you want," he offered. "It would be easier if we were three. The Howlers must be quite dangerous, we can fight better together, we can help each—"
The armored man quickly turned his head before the offer was finished. His eyes gleamed momentarily from inside the helmet, catching the light of the small campfire.
"No," he said in a definitive voice. He had spoken almost in a commanding tone. Then, his shoulders slightly dropped and his tone softened. "No."
The archer frowned, "Why not? We can share the quest. It would be safer," he insisted.
The armored man took a long branch to stir the fire and, after a moment's silence, spoke as he reached toward the flames.
"Good hunting to you."
"Alright... Good hunting to you too," they said and began to advance from the direction the man had shown.
The man turned his head back toward the fire. He gently stroked the ring in his hand.
"We're slowly starting to get recognized, Boney. Our plan is working," said the man.
His ring glowed faintly.