Healer Book 4 -- Chapter 17

Chapter 17

“How the hell is he doing this?”

Corinna ignored Steven just like she had the last ten times he had asked that question, even as she privately shared that same thought.  Extracting loot from yet another Shadow Turkey corpse, she didn’t even look at what it was before she moved on.  Back in the first section of The Ranch, everyone had stopped after every extraction to roll for the special loot that came up, but it turned out to be too slow; taking your time through the Raid dungeon by stopping and looking at the loot that was being accumulated was a common practice because it allowed those who had expended their Mana the chance to recover, but there was no need for that here.

It was quickly decided by them all by nearly unspoken assent that they were more intent on defeating their Raid Leader’s challenge to catch up with him than wasting time looking at everything.  Even just barely slowing down at each group of corpses wasn’t able to allow them to catch up, however, as it always seemed Thaden was simply tearing through the monsters without stopping or slowing even a little bit.  When they saw the Mini Boss, the Chloradrin Alpha, defeated as if it was as easy as the other monsters in the section, they had been even more shocked.  While it wasn’t exactly a difficult fight for a good Raid Party, for it to have died in what had to have been a few seconds was frankly ridiculous.

Corinna had thought that they would catch up to the Raid Leader once they hit the next section, which was a maze inside of a massive barn-like structure; it was never a difficult maze, but it would change its layout for each Raid Party, so it wasn’t like someone could memorize it beforehand.  So, for Thaden to be able to flawlessly navigate it without any backtracking at all was nearly impossible.  Yet, so far, the scratches in the floor directing them through the maze had been without any errors, which was also evidenced by the corpses of the Shadow Turkeys and Corn Cobblers they looted along the way. 

She shook her head at the incredible ability to absolutely annihilate monsters that their new Raid Leader possessed.  When the Guilded Glory Lieutenant first heard his claims, she was extremely skeptical – as would anyone if they heard it.  Soloing an Intermediate dungeon?  She couldn’t even imagine how that could be possible, and even seeing the results of it with her naked eyes, she still couldn’t believe how it was done. 

But the most important part of Thaden’s incredible performance was the fact that he was telling the truth of the wealth he could produce.  While she hadn’t been checking all of individual items that had been produced, she had certainly been keeping track of the coinage they were receiving – and it was a lot higher than normal.

For instance, each of the Chloratrex monsters in the first section would provide approximately 10 gold that would be divided amongst the entire Raid, which usually amounted to an average of 9 silver for everyone in a full Party of 100 since there was 90 silver per gold, give or take a silver depending on the circumstances.  In a party of 89 like they had now, that average would increase to a little over 10, so 10 or 11 silver would be normal.  So, how much did they receive on average as their split?

Anywhere between 60 and 63 silver. 

A six-fold increase in the amount of hard currency collected was already incredible – and this was just from the lowest-Level monsters in the dungeon.  She was just glad that the high-Level party member restrictions on accumulating loot and PICK from monsters in an Intermediate dungeon was different than Basic dungeons; in a smaller, 5-member-party dungeon, a Level 189 in a party when everyone else was Level 150 would give them nothing, especially when they were killing Level 150 monsters.  However, in an Intermediate Raid dungeon, the Levels of the Contenders in the Raid Party were all averaged together, so having a Level 189 in a party where most of the members were in their 140s didn’t affect it all that much.  They had been told by the Adventurer Coalition that there was a limit to this, however, as anyone who was more than 150 Levels above the average Level of the other members would negate all loot and PICK again, but fortunately they didn’t really have to worry about that right now.

Speaking of PICK, as she had expected and was told, the amount she received was less than she normally would’ve received thanks to Thaden’s Solitary Shaman Class effect that reduced PICK accumulation of party members by 90%, but it wasn’t as bad as that.  A quick calculation put the actual amount at around 60%, so nearly two-thirds of normal, which wasn’t all that bad.

Mainly because they didn’t have to do anything but loot monsters as they raced through the dungeon.  In a matter of only about 15 minutes, they had received what would normally take them hours of working their way through the dungeon, with the only danger so far being sore feet as they followed in the wake of the destruction ahead of them.  It wasn’t a bad haul for doing what was essentially nothing. 

What was more, if Thaden’s claims continued to pan out, then both the loot and PICK they’d receive would increase once he started killing monsters that were 20 Levels or higher than his own.  Of course, that was only possible because of the “Perceived Level” thing that was so strange and gave them extra stats, but if it worked, then she wasn’t going to complain.

“Come on, let’s pick up the pace,” Corinna said as she heard the sounds of a large fight happening in the distance.  She estimated that they were nearly a third of the way through the maze, so it was only a matter of time before they caught up to Thaden, who seemed to be fighting the next Mini Boss up ahead.  Everyone in the Raid Party started jogging a little faster from each pile of bodies to the next, still maintaining their awareness of the environment even when nothing had attacked them yet.  The Lieutenant was proud to see that they were still following their procedures despite the weirdness of the situation, because the last thing they needed was to be ambushed by some stray monster that had been missed and a few of them died.  Without anyone but Thaden able to Resurrect, it was a bit dangerous to be without any healers in the main Party.

A few minutes later, they finally arrived at the site where it appeared as though their Raid Leader had, again, annihilated the Mini Boss, the Haystack Needler.  Sharp needles were spread all around the open space some of them covering the corpses of the Turkeys and Corn Cobblers that had participated in the battle, though calling it a battle seemed like a misnomer.  The furthest that it seemed most of the monster adds had moved from where they appeared around the edges of the space was only 10 to 15 feet before they were killed, and just like every other monster they’d extracted loot from, there was no clear cause of death on any of them.  While they had the visible effects of death, there were no hacked off limbs or gruesome wounds; if anything, they looked like they had simply keeled over and died in a split-second.

After looting everything in the area, they looked ahead through the open barn doors to the next section – which was already showing signs that Thaden was tearing through it, as well.

“We’re not going to catch up to him, are we?” she heard asked nearby, and there were a few groans accompanied by chuckles as the rest of the Raid Party saw what was ahead of them.  It seemed as though they had finally acknowledged that at least some of them had figured out that their hopes of winning their friendly competition their Raid Leader had been dashed – and were perfectly fine with it.  So far, this had been a walk in the park compared to the literal life-and-death experience it usually was, even with a good party. 

Granted, there was something to be said about it being so easy, such as them eventually losing their edge when everything was simply handed to them on a silver platter, but everyone here had already fought through and completed The Ranch before, so it wasn’t like they were missing out on any learning experiences.  Moreover, from what Thaden had mentioned, they’d have their chance coming up to prove that they still had what it took to complete this dungeon.

Jogging toward the closest group of corpses, she looked around the third section of The Ranch.  If the first section was supposed to look like vast fields of failed crops, and the second section was a maze-filled barn, then the third section was designed to be a giant corral.  Impenetrable wooden fences surrounded the wide open space of the grass-covered, oval-shaped corral, where the widest portion of it was near the entrance and exit.  Looking across the half-mile long section, she could vaguely see that Thaden – and those odd beings that were fighting with him – were already nearing the exit and were just about to fight the last Mini Boss before they reached the Assault Wave section.

Have to get to work, I guess.

The massive bodies of the slain monsters they approached looked like a cross between a buffalo from Earth and a nightmarish alien creature that shouldn’t even exist.  It was at least 10 feet tall at the shoulder and had the body and bulk of a buffalo, but it had a bullet-shaped head that wasn’t made of metal, but dense bone.  The smooth, conical shape allowed the Tuffagon to cut through the air with ease as it charged down its prey, giving it an incredible top speed that was difficult to defend against – especially since it hunted in herd of at least 20.  A stampede of two dozen or more Tuffagons were dangerous because any types of projectiles sent their way as they charged were deflected by their heads, which were virtually indestructible.

Wide-area attacks were usually how they were taken down, or if they were attacked from the sides or behind, but the problem was usually getting them to slow enough to even hit them.  The easiest method to do this was to utilize Control Classes, which typically allowed them to halt at least a few of those stampeding at them and whittle down the herd a few at time with each pass as the Raid Party moved out of their path.

Unfortunately, the nightmarish part of their appearance came into play when they were stopped, as the bullet-shaped head would suddenly peel back like flower petals, exposing a deep, circular mouth filled with teeth and a half-dozen tentacle-like appendages that could extend up to 15 feet away.  Only those swift enough to get in and out without getting wrapped up in a tentacle got close enough to attack, so it typically fell to the ranged DPS to handle them.  It was a relatively safe method of clearing out each herd as they stampeded through them over and over, though it did take a while to clear out each one.

Their Raid Leader, however, seemed to be able to kill them all at nearly the same time.  Looking behind where the corpses had obviously been running at Thaden or the others with him, Corinna could pinpoint the spot where these things had died; the trail they dug into the ground as their momentum carried them forward was obvious, with dirt and grass torn up in long rows that reached 100 feet or more.  They had been in the middle of running at their top speed when they suddenly dropped dead, and the Lieutenant began to wonder if Thaden had some sort of instant-kill spell at his disposal, though how such a thing could even be possible boggled her mind.

“This is nuts.  None of this should be possible by one person, let alone a full Raid Party,” Steven said as soon as they finished extracting loot from the herd.  The previous hostility the Blade Stalker had presented had faded almost completely since Thaden had put him in his place back near Darkwood Vale.  She got the sense that it had been replaced by astonishment and something else that glimmered in the man’s eye when she looked at him.  She had been expecting greed or resentment, both of which might be reasonable considering how this whole experiment had seemed too easy, but she got the feeling that wasn’t it.  Unless she was mistaken, it was more akin to awe and perhaps slight hints of hero-worship – both of which she would’ve previously thought were impossible to someone with the arrogant attitude that the Blade Stalker typically presented.

  Strangely enough, she could see similar effects within the rest of the Raid Party, or at least the embers of what it might be in the future if the Raid Leader continued to fan the flames of those emotions.  She could even admit that she felt it a little bit herself, as the man seemed more like a god or demigod with his incredible power and abilities than a Human, but she wasn’t prepared to go that far and name him as such.  Whatever he was, though, he was definitely a unique individual that she hadn’t quite worked out yet, because everything he’d done shouldn’t be possible with all that she’d learned of this world of Tarth and the Assimilation System.

But again, she wasn’t going to complain about the wave of cash and PICK flowing into her in what felt like every few seconds.  What was that old saying?  Don’t look a gift horse in the mouth, or something like that?  Yeah, I’m not going to be looking at his mouth anytime soon; I’d rather just take advantage of the situation and help grow Guilded Glory as much as possible.

Thankfully, they had managed to secure his services as the leader of a subsidiary Guild for a total of 30 days, with at least a single Intermediate dungeon Raid being completed per day.  It was done through the same sort of contract service as the Contender Market, which meant it was enforceable by the Assimilation System; the only caveat was that they had to help him finish his Evolution Assignment within 3 days of their agreement.  While it would’ve been beneficial to the Guild to withhold this longer to doubly ensure that he would stick around, System contract or not, it was one of the sticking points he had made before he agreed to anything.  It made sense, though, because he was apparently at his limit for accumulating reserve PICK; in essence, he was getting only half of the benefits of running these Intermediate dungeons, so Evolving his Class would allow him to actually hold onto the PICK that they earned.

Corinna was hoping that Thaden would stick around after the 30 days were up, and while he mentioned that he would consider staying on as a normal member, he would definitely be giving up any position of authority.  He was one of those people who didn’t really like being in charge unless it was necessary to get what he wanted, but was more than happy to pass over the reins to someone else if it wasn’t necessary anymore.  She didn’t understand it, herself, because she was almost positive that if he decided to establish his own Guild outside of Guilded Glory, thousands of Contenders would flock to him in an instant if only because of his high Level, hoping for some of his fortune to rub off on them.  It didn’t exactly work that way, but there were plenty of people who didn’t know any better.

Regardless of what he decided to do, Corrinna could already go back to Rachel and tell her that – at least so far – everything he had claimed to be able to do had proven to be the truth.  For instance, she estimated that their haul, in terms of currency, had already surpassed what they would normally receive on a run through this dungeon, and they hadn’t even finished extracting loot from the third section, let alone the Assault Waves to come.  It was still to be seen what they would receive from completing the Guild Quest, but even if there was no change in the rewards for it, this was turning out to be a highly lucrative dungeon run.

And it hadn’t even been a half hour since they entered.

Soon enough, they found corpses of the other type of monster that inhabited this section, which were a pain to fight.  Riding on the backs of some of the Tuffagons were tall, horror movie-esque, scarecrow-looking bastards that were actually long lizard-like creatures that could form spears out of regenerating bone from their bodies.  The Scarepent Riders were thin and fast enough that projectiles also had issues hitting them because they simply bent out of the way, and they were covered with a slippery goo that made them hard to pin down.  When they launched their bone spears, hitting their targets up to 200 feet away while the Tuffagons stampeded, it was a deadly combination that had cost many a Raid Party some deaths while they figured out how to eliminate them.

None of those methods that the early Raid Parties had figured out mattered in the least to Thaden, however, as the corpses of the Scarepent Riders were crushed underneath the bodies of the Tuffagons, showing that they had likely died just as quickly as everything else had.  There were a few bone spears further away from them, indicating that they had managed to launch a few before they died, but they appeared to have had no effect against the Raid Leader or anyone with him.

In a shorter time than expected, bulk of the Raid Party cautiously approached the final area of the corral section, seeing the corpse of the enormous Tuffagon Stud Mini Boss on its side.  If she remembered the fight she’d participated in the past correctly, she didn’t think it had moved more than 20 feet from where it appeared out of the doors leading to the Assault Waves section.

The Raid Leader was leaning up against the corpse, his arms crossed across his chest.  He pushed off once they started to approach, and she couldn’t help but feel a little apprehensive at being so close to him after the display he’d put on; glancing at the others in the Raid, she could see the same thing reflected upon them as well, if the stilted steps were anything to go by.

“Welcome!  I hope you didn’t have any issues making your way through?” he asked in a loud voice.  Just hearing his cheerful-sounding voice soothed some of her apprehension, and as she looked around him, seeing the giant squirrel he called Sadia and the strange copy of himself, she had trouble equating the absolute devastation of the dungeon’s monsters with just these few individuals. 

“No, we got through just fine,” she finally answered when everyone came to a stop about 30 feet from Thaden.

“Just how are you doing this, man?” Steven asked abruptly.

The Raid Leader chuckled.  “It’s just a unique combination of my Class and some special Achievements and equipment,” he responded.  “Perhaps I’ll share more with you someday, but for now, we have one last section of this dungeon to get through,” he continued, putting the question to rest, at least for now.  “I’ve already peeked inside, and I can’t see my normal method working in the tight quarters that are in there, especially since everyone needs to be in there with me.  Therefore, it’s your time to shine.”

Excitement burned in her chest at the thought of finally fighting with the others of the Raid Party, especially with Thaden there.  She’d already seen what he could do by himself, so she could only assume that his abilities would make them even stronger as a whole.

“That being said, I’m going to do my best to make it as easy and safe for you as possible.  As a reminder, this is my first experience with such a large party, so I’ll probably need a few Waves to accustom myself to so many people, but once I understand the flow of battle and how your fight a little better, my goal is to allow you to go all out.  Anyone up for setting some records today?”

Corinna felt herself joining the others as she enthusiastically shouted, “Yes,” in answer to his question, as smile breaking across her face as she looked forward to what was to come.  Their Raid Leader nodded and warned them that he needed a few minutes to refresh some fading buffs he’d placed on them earlier, as well as add a few new ones.  As she looked at her Active Effects list, she somehow wasn’t surprised that every single one was of Superior strength, as if he didn’t even have anything that was weaker.

When he announced that they were ready, everyone swiftly followed Thaden as he led them into the last section of The Ranch Intermediate dungeon on Minimal difficulty.  It was time to set some Assault Waves records in the area that had been named by the Contenders who’d faced it previously.

In other words, it was time to face The Slaughterhouse.