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|Traits ( ][ ) ( ][][][ )
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|Appearance – 8 (Equipped)
|Disciplined – 12— 62% [
|Heroic – 2— 2% [
|Hunter – 7— 61% [
|Rider – 2— 15% [
|Steadfast – 1— 0% [
|Stealthy – 4— 50% [
|Thick – 1— 20% [
C
HAPTER 18:
L
UCKY
Y
OU
Before the group could begin their search for a tank in earnest, Benton received a summon from his ‘betters.’ The wind mage was a local of Tian, where an order of aeromagi had a strong political presence and it simply wouldn’t do for an initiate such as Benton to keep a superior waiting. He explained that, throughout the city, when influential members beckoned, other members dropped what they were doing and came. With as little as that, the group was down their wind mage.
It didn’t take long for the group to refill its ranks, however. Within 10 minutes, the party had gained two new members—hand selected by Ramses to ensure they were not among the 20 or so that originally turned his group invites down. One was a shorter-than-average and abnormally stout warrior by the name of Damak, who greeted the others with a devilish grin. The other, a red headed and freakishly slender bard called Finnegan.
The two new members received a very warm welcome from Ramses, Zelle, and Hebbeson due to their classes. Dakkon agreed that they needed a tank, but he wasn’t sure how a bard playing music and alerting another krimmer while they hunted would benefit the group—granted, he was eager to find out what the others clearly already knew.
The party of six walked back into the forest and Ramses updated their battle plans to account for the new additions. Zelle was to distract the boars with bees if needed. Hebbeson would make a pincushion of the boars with his arrows. Damak was in charge of threatening their target, which would cause it to focus on him. Ramses and Dakkon’s roles remained unchanged and, lastly, Finnegan was given the role of soothing each krimmer as they approached. Instead of asking for an explanation of the bard’s task, Dakkon decided to wait and see how the musician would perform.
When the new group came across the first krimmer of their hunt, Finnegan casually strolled in front of the others in the party, even before Dakkon and Ramses had a chance to start moving in to flank. As Finnegan moved towards the tusked beast, he casually slipped the lute hanging from his left shoulder into his eager hands and began to pluck at it. The boar turned to face the approaching bard, but stood still—listening to the harmonious notes he played—while the rest of the party members closed in, surrounding the porcine creature. The krimmer stood, transfixed, as the group raised their weapons in unison. The bard played a strange, discordant note, ending the beast’s brief serenity. The party struck together as one and felled the krimmer in a quick, but mighty, display of burst damage.
[You have slashed a krimmer in a vulnerable location for 487 damage.]
[You have slashed a krimmer in a vulnerable location for 497 damage. Krimmer has been slain.]
[You have gained a level! You have 30 free stat points to distribute!]
[You have gained 490 experience! EXP until next level 59/4,570]
“That song was incredible,” said Dakkon to Finnegan. The bard looked just as shocked as Dakkon did.
“What’s incredible is how quickly the swine dropped,” said Finnegan. “I was just switching to a battle hymn and the fight ended.”
“I did say you’d just be soothing the monsters as we walked up to them,” said Ramses with a smirk.
“That you did,” said Finnegan. “Still, I did not expect this.”
Damak looked confused as well. “I thought you lot needed a tank,” he said. “Not that I’m complaining about an easy job, but I don’t really think I’ll be of much help if what I’m tanking never has a chance to strike back at me.”
“Dakkon’s some sort of hush-hush assassin class,” said Ramses. “He’ll drop mobs in an instant, but we need you around to make sure the pigs don’t get him first.”
While the others conversed, Hebbeson harvested the krimmer in a flash of light and deposited its remains in the cart. Dakkon discreetly used hit Hotspot skill to draw a small, cold bubble over the materials to see if they could be better preserved.
In the following battle, Finnegan never dropped his soothing song in favor of a secondary tune. The group simply walked up and slew the krimmer.
“What an insane ability,” thought Dakkon. “Can he just completely pacify an enemy?” He turned to Finnegan once again, who had been watching him as their prey dropped. “That song,” said Dakkon, “seems incredibly powerful.”
“The song does?” said a surprised Finnegan. “Not the instant coup de grace, but my song?”
“Being able to soothe anything like that w—” Dakkon was cut short.
“It only works on animals and creatures with particularly low intelligence,” said Finnegan. “It’s far from useful in most situations. The song can’t even calm an already startled animal. The way we’re using it now is really as good as it gets.”
“I see,” said Dakkon. “I suppose it’s not as overpowered as it first appeared.”
The group continued defeating krimmer after krimmer and harvesting their parts. As they did so, Dakkon ensured they were kept cool. If Hebbeson ever noticed while adding fresh harvests to the cart, he didn’t let on. At two points, the group challenged and defeated an additional krimmer, giving both the tank and healer their first opportunities to feel helpful. At no point was there any member who was placed in a perilous situation, and when the alternative is a shot at missing days of gameplay, an easy grind is typically how players preferred leveling to go. Dakkon was pleased with the progress, but couldn’t help feeling that things would be better if the EXP and gold weren’t being split six ways.
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|Statistics ( ][][ ) ( ][][][ )