Healer Book 4 -- Chapter 40

Chapter 40

Thaden took his time getting back to the town and the walls surrounding it as he ventured around and looted the various corpses of the Horde Leaders and the Horde Chief; he was moving slowly – at least for him – because for the first time in a while, he was exhausted from the exertion of running almost constantly at full speed.  It wasn’t just the running, of course, as the constant pressure of making sure no more of the undead made it to the walls had weighed on him more than he wanted to admit; it was one thing to lead a Raid Party against a dungeon right around their Level, but it was an entirely different case when the weakest monsters came in such numbers and were still 20 to 30 Levels higher than his Party. 

Granted, there were other defenders that were there to help, as well, but he didn’t really factor them in.  It was his responsibility as the Raid Leader to ensure that his people were given a chance to survive, and it wasn’t something that he was willing to pass off to someone else.  He couldn’t prevent the deaths of everyone against everything, of course, but he could certainly do his best – which was what he’d normally done with his Raid Parties lately, especially when they’d had to help him finish some of the Challenge sections.

But this was completely different.  In fact, it was so different that it was far and above what he would consider an extreme for what should be inside of a Minimal difficulty dungeon.  Obviously, he’d had an opportunity to experience a variation in the Challenge before, as evidenced by his first Intermediate dungeon test run with Guilded Glory, but this was on a whole different Level.  If he hadn’t been as strong as he was, and if he didn’t have a whole heap of resistance to Level Compression, things might have turned out poorly at the end.

“Did this feel like it was too much for a variation?” he asked Sadia seriously as they moved from corpse to corpse.

The giant squirrel was silent for a moment before responding.  “I’d prefer to say no, because the System and the dungeons it creates are strictly monitored and regulated.  Unfortunately, after everything that happened, from the Descent into Darkness dungeon and now this normally deadly variation, I have to agree.”

“What do you think caused it?  What’s going on?”

Sadia shook her head.  “I wish I knew.  Something is obviously wrong, because these monsters – and their Levels – should not have been present in this dungeon.  The variation you experienced before could be explained because it was reacting to how you were giving your Raid Party millions of points of damage mitigation, making them virtually immortal, but this happened before as soon as you walked in and before you could do anything.”  She paused, deep in thought.  “The only explanation that makes sense is that the dungeon recognized you from how you absolutely destroyed it from the day before and was proactively trying to prevent you from doing the same thing again.  But that’s impossible, of course.”

“What do you mean?  Why would that be impossible?”

She waved her hands around the dungeon.  “Because they aren’t supposed to operate with that kind of autonomy.  It can make some changes if it deems such changes necessary, but they are and can only be reactionary, like what happened with the previous variation.  To proactively counter you gives the dungeon an advanced intelligence with that kind of capability, which is literally impossible with how the System created them.  The monsters within the dungeon can have an intelligence, as you’ve seen, but the dungeons are, well, specifically created like a computer program with set parameters, and to exceed those parameters would be similar to that idiom on your Earth about pigs being able to grow wings and flying.  It is so unlikely and against their nature that I would say it would be impossible – but I can’t deny what all this looks like.”

Thaden thought about it for a few minutes as they finished up the last few extractions, before heading back toward the town.  When he caught sight of the walls, and the Aelveen still standing guard up top – and what appeared to be dozens of familiar Human Contenders – he realized he had another question.

Pointing toward the walls, he asked, “What’s with them?  Who are they and why can’t we understand them.”

She didn’t hesitate to answer this time.  “The Aelveen are another native race in a different Region, just like the Charee are located in Region #1.  Each Region has different native races that inhabit the lands, as you no doubt know from—never mind, you don’t know.  Or at least not from firsthand information.  Anyway, the dungeon can sometimes transport the native population if their services are needed, which can include participating in a dungeon Challenge.  Such an event is supposed to be rare, however, but I guess this was a special case?”

“So, those are real people?”  Sadia looked at him as if had just said something stupid.  “That’s not exactly what I meant, and you know it.  I thought they might be simply constructs or something similar to what the monsters of this developmental world are.”

“You thought they were… what?  NPCs in some kind of video game?” she asked as if she was offended, before chuckling and letting him off the hook for putting his foot in his mouth.

He flung up his hands in surrender.  “So sue me.  There’s a lot I don’t know about, remember?”

Her look softened, which was interesting to see on a squirrel face.

“I know; it’s just too fun messing with you.”  Sadia paused while she got back to what they were talking about.  “Anyway, yes, they’re real, and will likely get sent back to where they were transported from as soon as we’re done here.  As for why we can’t understand them, it’s because they are outside of their Region; there are Regional translators installed in every Region that allow for seamless communication between people, but only for those in that specific Region.  Essentially, everyone from Earth is speaking the language of the Region, so in your case, we’re actually speaking Charee; from the Region the Aelveen are from, all of the Contenders there will have their words translated into Aelveen.  Unfortunately, there is no common language among the worlds of the Assimilation System, so translators are Region specific for each race.”

That definitely answered some questions he’d had since he got to this world.

By this point, Thaden had gotten some of his wind back after all of the excitement, so he picked up the pace a bit, with Sadia bounding along with him.  Within a minute, they were nearly at the walls, and he could finally see the expressions on the faces of the Aelveen defenders; to say they were shocked and perhaps even frightened would’ve been putting it lightly.  They were all clustered up together, equaling what appeared to be about 100 of them all told, and he could hear them talking amongst themselves – but again, he couldn’t understand a single thing. 

Jumping up to the walls near them, he saw them take a few steps back, either to make room for him or in fright, but he simply nodded to the tall, elf-like individuals without breaking his stride toward his Raid Party, who were warily staring at the foreign beings.  Or perhaps not warily, as he overheard some whispers on his way over to them.

“…are they like some sort of elves?”

“…hotter than I expected; the movies and anime I’ve watched didn’t quite convey how…”

“…Contenders in whatever Region they’re in are so lucky; the Charee aren’t horrendous, of course, but I have absolutely no desire to fu—”

Thaden did his best to close his ears as he felt his face heat up, whether it was from the comments or simply embarrassment of his people acting like immature teenage boys.  Except that the last comment was from a mature woman eyeing one of the male Aelveen up and down, so that comparison didn’t exactly work.

Once he got close enough, the whispering thankfully cut off immediately, and he could finally concentrate on the state of his Raid Party.  A quick count told him that if anyone had left before they couldn’t anymore, it had only been a few, as it appeared as if everyone was still present – even Boris, who he saw near the rear of the group.  There were some nasty looks aimed toward Steven and the rest of Thaden’s core Guild team, but they were less severe than they probably would’ve normally been – probably because they were still alive and the completion of the Challenge had also been successful.

“That was… scary, man,” Steven said as soon as he walked up.  “Don’t get me wrong, it was also amazing and I’m thankful that we came with you, but even you can’t deny that it was a bit frightening how you managed to do that.”

Thaden heard Sadia chuckle next to him as he uncomfortably shifted his weight from one foot to the other.  “Yes, well, it certainly was a bit frightening,” he said, rubbing the back of his neck.  He didn’t mean it like they did, because he wasn’t exactly frightened of his own abilities, but the circumstances of the whole dungeon were definitely a bit scary after talking with Sadia about them.  In fact, he wasn’t exactly sure what to make of it all, but right now he had more important things to worry about – such as officially completing the dungeon and getting out of there.  “Come on, let’s go finish this Challenge and head back to the city.”

Turning toward the Aelveen, he couldn’t help but see that they were still staring at him with the mixture of conflicting emotions still on their faces.  Feeling a bit odd about the whole thing, he gave them a quick bow and said, “Thank you for your help defending this place.”  Simple and to the point, he thought.  He could sense and somewhat see the others behind him doing the same, murmuring similar words, before he headed for the nearest stairs.

Glad to be away from the oddly Elven faces of the bow-wielding defenders staring at him, Thaden quickly led the way toward the center of the town.  It didn’t take long for them to arrive at the central tower, which he was thankful to see still had, “Citizens Alive: 100/100”, on it when he looked closely.  When everyone arrived, he reached out and placed his hand on the marble-like texture of the cylindrical tower, and the results of the Challenge were sent out to everyone.

The Ghost Town Undead Horde Siege Variation Challenge – Intermediate Minimal – Completed!

Calculating results… calculating… calculating… results calculated!

The Ghost Town Undead Horde Siege Variation Challenge – Intermediate Minimal – Score Evaluation:

Surviving Citizens: 100/100 (Score: 200/200)

Defender Casualties: 0 (Score: 100/100)

Damage To Defenses: 3% (Score: 97/100)

Raid Party Members: 100 (Score: 300/200)

Raid Party Casualties: 0 (Score: 200/200)

Time of Completion: 00:00:47:31 (Score: 197/200)

Total Score: 1,094/1,200

Score Tier Classification: SSS

Score Tier Reward Breakdown:

Tier F (Score 1-200): 50 gold pieces for each Raid Party member

Tier E (Score 201-300): 500 gold pieces for each Raid Party member

Tier D (Score 301-450): 1,000 gold pieces and 1 Epic, Class-specific Equipment for each Raid Party member

Tier C (Score 451-600): 5,000 gold pieces and 3 Epic, Class-specific Equipment for each Raid Party member

Tier B (Score 601-750): 15,000 gold pieces and a full 6-piece set of Rare, Class-specific Equipment for each Raid Party member

Tier A (Score 751-900): 50,000 gold pieces and 3 Legendary, Class-specific Equipment for each Raid Party member

Tier S (Score 901-950): 300,000 gold pieces and a full 6-piece set of Epic, Class-specific Equipment for each Raid Party member

Tier SS (Score 951-1,000): 1,500,000 gold pieces and a full 6-piece set of Legendary, Class-specific Equipment for each Raid Party member

Tier SSS (Score 1,001+): 5,000,000 gold pieces, all previous rewards, and an additional 4 Legendary, Class-specific Accessories for each Raid Party member

Distributing rewards… rewards distributed!

Looking at the rewards, he realized that this variation of the Challenge multiplied the gold given for each Tier by 10, as well as also granting each set of item rewards a Tier earlier than before.  For Tier SSS, it rewarded all of the previous rewards, which was incredible, in addition to 4 additional Legendary accessories.  Thaden was looking forward to seeing what accessories he ended up getting from the rewards, but when he opened the chest that appeared next to him, he only saw what appeared to be 3 sets of the same Legendary set he’d already received.  What—?  Oh, crap.

He couldn’t receive the Tier SSS rewards again, since he’d already gotten it once before.  But shouldn’t this be different because of the variation?  Apparently, it wasn’t, because all he were the three full sets of the same one he already had, which, added to what he’d gotten before, made it a full 6 sets of the Lucky Vagabond, with 3 extra pieces.  And a bunch of gold, of course, a little over 5 million, but that was a relatively small consolation for not getting any better equipment.

His disappointment couldn’t said to be the same for the rest of his Raid Party, who immediately broke out into an ear-shattering cheer as chests appeared in front of each and every one of them.  As he looked around at all of the Contenders opening up their rewards, it was only tempered by the sight of one of them looking inside his container in horrified shock, as his Class trait decided to rear its ugly head and nullify their reward. 

“What the fuck?  Where’s my reward?!” screamed Boris, appearing incensed, his eyes narrowed in anger as he stared with murderous intent at Steven at first, before transferring to Thaden.

“I told you all about my Class trait before we entered the dungeon, didn’t I?  Or did you not care to listen?” Thaden asked, and he couldn’t hide the joy he felt in his voice at seeing Boris being denied a reward for completing the Challenge.  He’d been a pain since the beginning and nearly convinced a good portion of the Raid Party to leave, and it was only Steven and likely some of the other core group that had “convinced” him to stay.

“But this is impossible!  You did this, didn’t you?  You somehow manipulated the chances to that you could screw me over—”

Steven was by the Mage’s side in a blink, and a powerful punch to the side of Boris’s head was all it took to knock him out.  Thaden was actually fairly impressed, considering that the Mage likely had a decent Physicality stat even for his Class, as most Mages he’d talked to had boosted it a bit by this point with gear to make up for their shortcomings.

“I… how much gold is this?  I think there’s over 40 million…” he heard another Party member mention, and a quick calculation on Thaden’s part made him nod.  If they received essentially all of the Tier rewards, including the gold, and then had it tripled because of his Army Of One Achievement, and then doubled if they got lucky and his Class trait activated to double the reward, then it was probably around 41 to 42 million gold.

That… was a lot.

It seemed that around 10 of the Party members had gotten that lucky, at least from the shifty way they looked around at the others, which was actually an impressive outcome.  For only one person to have gotten shafted by getting no reward and 10 having their reward doubled, it seemed as though his recent Fortuity Achievement and his generally high Fortuity was paying off big time.

But that, of course, wasn’t the only reward they would be getting.  By completing the Challenge, they also completed the GUILD PROGRESSION Quest.  Thaden ignored, for now, all of the “monster slain” notifications for now, as well as any Competency increases, as he looked for the Quest information.

You have completed the full and bonus requirements for your assigned Guild Progression Quest!

You have received 3,000 gold, 100,000 PICK, +24 toward Guild Tier Progression, and 20 Rank Progress up to Diamond Rank

Omenic Drifter Class trait activated!

You have received 6,000 gold, 200,000 PICK, +48 toward Guild Tier Progression, and 40 Rank Progress up to Diamond Rank

Unkillable I Achievement activated!

You have received 6,000 gold, 400,000 PICK, +48 toward Guild Tier Progression, and 40 Rank Progress up to Diamond Rank

Army Of One I Achievement activated!

You have received 18,000 gold, 1,200,000 PICK, +144 toward Guild Tier Progression, and 120 Rank Progress up to Diamond Rank

Unlike his rewards from completing the Challenge, his Class trait kicked in for him and doubled his rewards in addition to his Army Of One Achievement tripling it.  As a result, he ended getting another 18,000 gold, 1.2 million PICK, and a whopping 144 Guild Tier Progression points.  From the distant looks some of the others sported accompanying their joyous smiles, followed by shouts of excitement, he saw that there were at least a dozen others who were also blessed with double the Quest reward.

“Who didn’t receive any reward from the Quest?” he asked loudly, as he wanted to know the actual result of his trait in action.  The result had been clear with the Challenge rewards, but it was hard to tell with the Quest.

Three people spoke up angrily, but fortunately none of them blamed Thaden for their loss like Boris had.  Still, they were unhappy, especially when they started talking about the Achievements they received as a result of completing the dungeon, as well as from those who hadn’t experienced a variation before.  The numbers varied between 2 and 4 having their Achievement rewards nullified, which wasn’t horrible in terms of how many people there were, but for those who missed out on them, they weren’t all that happy.  Thankfully, it was balanced out somewhat as most of those who didn’t receive a reward for one Achievement ended up doubling their second, so while it wasn’t exactly a wash, their feelings weren’t too beat up.

At the end of the day, as he glanced at their faces, some ecstatic with the results and their rewards, with others a bit less happy but still relatively pleased, he could see the realization dawn upon them as they looked at him that none of this would’ve been possible without Thaden.  It wasn’t that he thought so much of himself that he considered everyone else incapable of doing something like this, but it was also true that without him, none of them would’ve even been here, fighting far above their Levels.

As everyone finished up looking over their notifications, Thaden felt the source of his accumulated PICK starting to feel a bit uncomfortable by this time, and a quick look at his Character Report told him why.

#32599999-E

Omenic Drifter (Wizened Solitary Shaman)

Level – 201

Progressive Internal Combat Knowledge (PICK) – 65,500/65,500 (+18,956,200)

Adventurer Coalition Rank: Diamond 630/630 RP (+210)

His reserve PICK was reaching nearly 20 million, having jumped over 4 million in just this one dungeon run; he had killed tens of thousands more of the Skeletal cannon fodder this time around, which resulted in a lot more PICK than he had expected.  A quick look at a few of the “monster slain” messages showed that, for the most part, he only received 18 PICK per monster, as the 270 he received when solo had been cut down because of his Raid Party sharing in the rewarded PICK, there were plenty of instances where it had also been doubled with his Class trait.  There were also – thankfully, a lot fewer – instances where it had been nullified entirely, but the end result was still over 3 million PICK from the deaths of so many monsters.

I don’t think I can complete this dungeon again without Leveling-up.

That was something he’d have to address once he got back to the city, but for now, they had a bit of traveling to do.  He gestured for Steven to pick up the unconscious Boris, before he turned back to the Aelveen who were still on the wall—

—except that they were gone, having disappeared at some point he wasn’t aware.  With a final nod in the direction they were, he instructed his Raid Party to move out.  It was time to tell the Guild Leader how well the dungeon went, after all.