Unexpected Healer Book 2 -- Chapter 36

Chapter 36

The entire dungeon delve turned into a frantic race to the end, reminding Thaden somewhat of his first experience in the Magma Dungeon where he gathered up the monsters and brought them to the Boss room.  In this case, however, instead of dragging them all along, the party annihilated everything in their path.  At first, it was ridiculously easy for them to do so, given the fact that all the monsters were much lower-Level than them; when he added in the increase to their Mana regeneration rate thanks to him keeping Lesser Rejuvenation going on them all, they barely even slowed down as Carlos tore into the opposition and the others fell upon the monsters like a pack of starving wolves.

There were a few things that he learned from their recklessness, however.  First, the order of which he cast the protection spells upon them related directly to how they were consumed, with the last one being used first, as if he was adding layers of protection on top of each other.  So, if he cast Damage Shield first, then Stacking Buffers, and then Protective Barrier, the instances of complete damage immunity from Protective Barrier would be consumed first, then any stacks of Buffers, and finally the 750 damage mitigation of Damage Shield. 

Of course, nothing hurt any of them to the point where they actually used all of their protection, as the monsters died too quickly for them to get that far.  He only figured this out because Carlos took his advice and tanked all of the traps that were set up in their way, which ranged from arrows appearing from the close vegetation along the pathways, to a spiked wall made of lashed together wood that would pop up from the dirt, and even a small pit trap with spears that would’ve hurt immensely on Carlos’ feet and legs if it had managed to pierce through his protections.

Thaden also discovered that Physical Damage Resistance, such as what he had on his Shadow Silk Robe, made a huge difference on how much damage was actually imparted upon someone.  For instance, even during those times that Carlos was bitten or scratched by a monster – which was often in their race through the dungeon – the protective Buffers he had on him were depleted much more slowly than ones from, for example, Melindra.  It appeared that even though he wasn’t being hit directly by an attack, the Fighter’s armor reduced the damage that was actually done and had to be prevented by the protective spells, making them even more effective than Thaden expected.  That knowledge didn’t really help Thaden when he was solo, as there wasn’t too much he could add to his Physical Damage Resistance, but it certainly helped to reassure himself that Carlos – even if he didn’t have all of the protective spells on him – wouldn’t be going down easy. 

It also made it clear how a party without a healer could still do well enough to complete dungeons, or at least most of the time.  Most of the time, their Fighter, or tank, could absorb a lot of damage through the use of a shield and damage resistance, to the point where their natural Health regeneration could keep up with the abuse they suffered.  It was only when they were confronted with something, such as this dungeon’s Boss, that the Fighter was unable to overcome the damage being done to them, and had to retreat whenever that occurred – which was exactly what had happened with Gregory’s party.  The Boss of Crestline Gorge’s Minimal difficulty simply did too much damage to Carlos for them to stay and finish it off without risking one or more of them dying in the process.

There was apparently a little more to it than that, but that was the main reason Thaden was given.

So, after fighting through dozens of Gorge Grats, they encountered Buried Gropherum – who where essentially overgrown gophers that initially attacked from below – followed by combinations of both types of monsters.  They steadily increased in Level as they tore through the clearings, and by the time they started seeing Level 16 monsters, a third type of rodent appeared: the Squirrelmonk Magi.

These adorable little guys looked like 3-foot-tall squirrels with the features of a chipmunk, complete with stripes down its back and a big, bushy tail.  Of course, that adorableness disappeared when these monsters started waving their hands in front of themselves, conjuring dozens of fist-sized acorns into the air and having them fall upon the party like a hailstorm.  Even worse, upon impact with an object, the large acorn projectiles would explode and send acorn shrapnel out in all directions. 

Normally, Carlos would initiate the battle against the Magi cautiously, protecting himself first and foremost while gaining all their attention, hunkering down behind his shield while the others took the monsters out, but with Thaden’s help such tactics were unneeded.  He tore into them like a berserker, getting right up into their faces and making the acorns explode too close for the Magi to avoid damaging themselves with their own attack, while laying into them with his weapon.  David conjured transparent, glowing walls that accomplished a similar effect as Carlos’ shield, while also making tiny little shackles that appeared upon the Squirrelmonk Magi’s wrists, preventing them from casting their acorn hailstorms.  Gregory speedily appeared behind them and eviscerated them with his knives, while Melindra threw boulders and stone spikes around like confetti, obliterating anything in her way. 

It was a massacre, plain and simple.

At least until they arrived at the final area of the dungeon where the Boss was located. 

“Remember, even if they manage to get through your protections, I won’t let you die,” Thaden said, though he had severe doubts that such a thing was likely.  After refreshing all of their protections, he switched out his Sprites for Major Healing Wave and Major Absorb Health, the former which was a channeled spell that would heal over 600 Health a second to allies and the latter was a way for Carlos to absorb Health when he did damage. 

“I’m beginning to see that.  I have a feeling that we won’t have any problems here,” the Fighter Class said, grinning like an idiot as he revved himself up to go charging into the Boss area.  Looking at it from the threshold, it was an area that extended from one side of the mountain walls to the other, encompassing the entire gorge, and it was filled with smaller-than-usual Grats.  As in, hundreds, perhaps thousands of them.  That was all he could actually see without going inside, which he had been informed would change as soon as they stepped over the threshold.

“Let’s go,” Gregory said, motioning for the Untested Shieldman to run inside, but he’d barely finished his statement before Carlos was sprinting into the room, triggering his taunt skill.  The rest of the party followed behind, staying about 20 feet back, as the mass of Grats all streamed toward the Fighter.

Grat Horde (Boss) – Minimal

Level 23

The Grats weren’t technically individual monsters, but part of a Horde that seemed to condense together to create something greater than its parts.  They seemed to connect to each other through some magical means, forming a giant misshapen Grat that stood 12 feet tall and half again as long, and it loomed over Carlos as if it was planning on overwhelming the Contender with sheer numbers. 

Normally, the Fighter could just barely tank the Boss by itself, but it wasn’t alone.  From underneath the ground, a dozen Buried Grophers, a mixture of Level 20 and Level 21, burst out to start attacking the back line as well as Carlos from underneath.  If that wasn’t bad enough, a half-dozen Level 21 Squirrelmonk Magi bounded out of the trees along the perimeter, where they started bombarding the Untested Shieldman with exploding acorns. 

One or two of the threats the party could handle, but all three together was normally a death sentence if they didn’t retreat.  It was this problem that they’d run into in the past where they couldn’t seem to handle all of the different parts without something giving, even with access to Health potions to help with healing. 

But now they had Thaden to help, which made a huge difference.

Carlos did nothing but spam his taunting skill over and over, the extra Mana regeneration provided by Lesser Rejuvenation barely keeping him from running out with seconds, which helped to pull every monsters attention to him and off the back line.  Meanwhile, both Melindra and David went to town, expending their Mana like it was water and they were sprinklers, tossing boulders and tying up individual monsters with constricting ropes like it was going out of style.  Gregory was in and out of the chaos, a whirlwind of stabbing knives and he didn’t bother to try and be sneaky, just cutting a swath through the collected enemies without thought to his own safety.

Their tank’s protection, replaced by Thaden whenever it ran out, prevented even a single point of damage from getting through.  It was almost unfair, in fact, because as much as he was attacked during the first few seconds of the fight, none of it managed to overcome even the final layer of defense in the powerful Damage Shield, which was refreshed every few seconds by Thaden. 

With Carlos spamming his taunt, none of the monsters more than twitched in Thaden’s direction as his spellcasting drew aggro, nor did they turn toward any of the others.  The poor rodents were essentially stun-locked trying to nibble on a damage sponge that didn’t feel any of it, and they died without a chance.

In the end, it took all of 32 seconds for every single monster in the Boss area to die.  It was over so fast that Thaden could see the looks of disbelief on their faces, which made him chuckle lightly at their astonishment.  He had to admit, that was the fastest that he’d ever defeated a Boss, though it wasn’t like any of it was difficult. 

“That’s it?” Carlos asked, slowly lowering his sword and shield from where they had been braced against the attacks directed his way.  “I have to admit, it’s a bit of a letdown.”

“Yeah, it’s like we cheated or something,” David agreed.  The Initiate Conjurer turned to Thaden.  “This wasn’t cheating, right?”

He shook his head.  “Nope, not cheating at all.  Just… unusual.  That’s all I’ll say about it.”

“Unusual is an understatement, Angelo.  Regardless, it sure was effective,” Gregory noted.

Melindra giggled, which sounded strange after all the slaughter they performed upon the poor monsters of the dungeon.  “I’d say so; they didn’t stand a chance.”

“Are you all ready for the Medial difficulty, then?” Thaden asked lightly.  They all froze in place, staring at each other after he asked his question.  After a few seconds, they glanced at the remains of the Boss, which was scattered all around them. 

“Are you sure all of this will work in there?” Gregory finally asked.  “We knew what we were in for in this difficulty, and besides the Boss, we’d been through it multiple times without too much trouble.  But you’re talking about a difficulty that is all above our Levels, not just the Boss.”

“Everything will be just the same,” the Lifewarden assured them.  “If the worst happens, I can draw and keep aggro and you can waste them from relative safety.”

That seemed like it was enough to convince them, and they all agreed after a few seconds of contemplation.  They’d already seen what he could do for them, and they were trusting that he could continue to provide the protection that would allow them not only to survive the next difficulty, but to complete it without anyone being near at risk of dying. 

As they made their way toward the end of the dungeon, they parted a section of the vegetation where the treasure area was located.  As expected, though, it was empty, giving them nothing as a reward for their deeds.  It was at this point that he handed over to them all what he had promised them, and they were ecstatic, to say the least; it only took looking at their faces for a few seconds to see that they were just as excited for the gold as they were for the next stage of this expedition.

It was also at this point, before they left the Minimal difficulty Crestline Gorge dungeon, that they all checked their notifications, because they had ended up getting something after all.

Congratulations for completing the Crestline Gorge Dungeon on Minimal difficulty!

Achievement received: Grats!

Bonus reward: 250 PICK (+500 from Achievements)

In all, he received a total of 750 PICK from completing the entire Crestline Gorge Dungeon on Minimal difficulty, which was honestly more than expected.  He couldn’t help but notice that this was the first Achievement that he’d received that wasn’t a “World First”, but that was okay; the other members of his temporary party were ecstatic, though, as it was something to add to their comparatively small list of Achievements.

As far as any development of his Competencies, the only thing that budged a tiny bit was Emboldened Leadership, which was still at Level 1, but it had gone up by 12%.  This was definitely not the way to improve his Competencies, even if he was to solo a dungeon like this, there was no challenge to it, which meant that there was no real development going on.  The fact that even one of his Competencies went up a little was surprising, but he figured it was only because its Level was so low.

Looking at his Evolution Assignment given to him by the Support Class Representative, he was pleased to see that the requirement for the Minimal difficulty was now crossed out as it was completed, which only left the Medial difficulty.  Which was precisely what was going to happen next, as his party was ready and willing to go do it.  Considering that they stood in line longer to get into the dungeon than it did to complete it on Minimal difficulty, they were still relatively fresh.

They exited the dungeon on the other side of the Gorge, meaning that they had to work their way around the mountain and back to the line, which took about 45 minutes because it wasn’t exactly a straight shot.  They got back to the entrance less than an hour after completing it; normally, they would have to wait hours before going back in, because there was a cooldown that prevented parties from chaining delves together one after another, but he knew from experience with the Mausoleum that the cooldown didn’t come into effect if they chose a different difficulty.  He supposed it was the System’s way of allowing parties to make the mistake of testing themselves on something they couldn’t handle, and if they died, it was their own fault. 

Their wait in line this time was punctuated by nervousness rather than suspicion towards Thaden on behalf of his fellow party members, as they knew what he could do now; what they didn’t know – and no one else did, either, as it was still too high of a minimum recommended Level – what they would find inside the Medial difficulty version of the Gorge.  Still, the Lifewarden was confident that they would be fine, no matter what they encountered.

Their nervousness only increased as they got closer to the front, to the point where they were fidgeting around a bit.  Their actions caught the attention of the group behind them when they reached the front of the line, the Contenders of which apparently knew the people in Thaden’s temporary party.

“Melindra!  Why do you look so nervous?  Are you finally going to attempt to beat that blasted Horde again?”

“Huh?” she asked, jumping slightly at being addressed.  “Oh, no, we already did that.  We’re trying the Med—” she blurted out, her nervousness getting the best of her before she realized what she was saying and shut her mouth with a snap.

Well, that’s just great.  I can see where this might go.  Should I just leave now?

If he did, then he would save his own butt by getting out of town, but what of his party? 

Thankfully, Gregory came to the rescue… kind of.

“It’s not funny to joke around like that, Mel.  Stop thinking ahead and concentrate on the here and now, which is to kill those damn Grats for once and for all.  Gotta get that money, right?”

She chuckled weakly, the transparency in her actions so obvious that Thaden wanted to facepalm in embarrassment.  “Yeah, you’re right.  What was I thinking, dreaming about the day when we can challenge the Medial difficulty of this dungeon.  That’ll be weeks or even months into the future, of course.”  The rest of the party, who had stopped moving and stared at the Apprentice Earth Mage after she made her verbal gaffe, chuckled along with her, though it all seemed extremely forced.

“Uh, well, good luck, then?  Are you sure there’s nothing else going on?  Who is this guy, anyway—?”

“Ah, looks like it’s our time!” the party leader interrupted, pushing the others toward the distortion in the air that marked the entrance to the dungeon.  “Don’t want to hold up the line any more than we already are, right?”

They practically stumbled into the dungeon as a party, and it was only when they arrived through the slight hitch in time where Gregory was selecting their difficulty that Thaden realized they were already inside.

You have entered the Crestline Gorge Dungeon (Medial Difficulty)!

Crestline Gorge Dungeon

Current Difficulty: Minimal   Medial   Maximal

Recommended Party Size: 5

Recommended Party Levels: 30 - 40

“Mel, what hell was that?” Gregory barked out his question, getting right up into the Mage’s face, anger practically shaking his entire body.

She held up her hands as tears threatened to spill from her eyes.  “I’m sorry!  I don’t know what I was thinking!  No, I wasn’t thinking at all!” she spluttered, heaving great breaths as it seemed like she was going to hyperventilate.  “I kept thinking that we’re all going to die, despite what we’ve seen and experienced through the Minimal difficulty, and my doubts made me blurt out—”

“That’s no excuse, Mel, and you know it.  You might have doomed us all, you know that?” 

She nodded, and the other party members looked angry and resigned at the same time.  Thaden, on the other hand, was confused.  “Alright, I know that this is not the ideal situation for me, as I don’t want attention paid to myself, but why is this going to ‘doom’ you all?” he asked.

“Because of whom that was, Angelo,” Gregory said after a few seconds of silence.  “Dreff is one of the biggest loudmouths inside or out of Rageharbor, and he’ll likely be spreading this around as soon as he gets back to the city.  Hell, he’s probably already spread the rumor that we’re attempting the Medial difficulty as a lark to everyone in the line to get a laugh, and even if such a thing is ridiculous, it’ll start the rumor mill, nevertheless.  In that case, all the Guilds will want to know the truth, which will have them come after us trying to figure out how the rumor started.”  The party leader turned to Thaden.  “Which will inevitably be turned to you, as you’re the only wild card here.  Even if we tell them everything, they won’t believe us without proof, and if they think we’re lying, they might just kill us as soon as we step out of the city after achieving Level 21.”

“This is my fault,” Thaden said after a moment.  “I’m sorry that I got you into—”

“No, this isn’t all on you.  If we had just kept our mouth shut, like we said we would, then we wouldn’t be in this predicament.  We all agreed to this, even as crazy as it is, so it’s on us just as much as it’s on you.”

He appreciated the other man volunteering his party to take the blame, even throwing Melindra under the bus (which was fair, as she was the one who screwed the pooch), though none of this would’ve happened if he hadn’t pressed them.  Though, it wasn’t like he was going to give himself up to save them; he had more important responsibilities than getting involved in the Contender Guilds and what they wanted. 

As he thought about what they could do, there was only one solution that seemed even somewhat liable to work.  In short, they’d have to run for it, just like he had when he’d run from Ashcleft.  He would leave them, of course, as being near them would be just inviting trouble, but he would make sure they were properly compensated for their trouble.

“Shall we just leave, then?” he offered, knowing that it would probably be better if they got out ahead of the fallout.  In other words, make a break and run as far and as fast as they could immediately.   

Gregory, however, shook his head.  “No, we’re going to see this through, like we promised.  Plus, popping up out there right now with the rumors that are probably flying around is a bad idea, even if Dreff might’ve entered the dungeon already.”

He nodded, but turned toward David when he heard the Initiate Conjurer gasp nearby.  When he saw the young man looking further into the dungeon, he looked that way as well. 

He wasn’t the only one to also gasp when he saw that the Medial difficulty version of the Crestline Gorge dungeon was nothing like the previous one.