Chapter 60 - Unexpected developments

With the issue of the friendly fire from the member of Sirius Imperials solved, Shadow quickly moved towards the troop of monkeys. He could have simply gone into stealth repeatedly and attacked the monkeys.

But seeing higher leveled monsters than him unable to discover his stealth even when he repeated the same trick, would be considered game breaking and would probably result in reports against him sent to Metis technologies.

He definitely didn't need that sort of reputation. He was already famous enough as it is, and he didn't need to do that as he also knew a tactic to handle these monkeys. He called for Tang and Blinding White to stay beside him.

Though they had higher agility and escaped from most of the attacks of the players, the monkeys had one small issue which he could use. The monkeys attacked by throwing stones and they had to stay still for the instant when they took aim and threw. There would obviously be higher leveled monsters who didn't need to stop while attacking but these monkeys weren't the type.

He had higher level and speed than most players. He stayed behind Tang and Blinding White and their shields to hide himself from the monkeys and had them both move closer to the monsters.

When they came close enough, he went into stealth and attacked a monkey which was in the middle of throwing a stone. The monkey which failed to notice him till he attacked couldn't respond in time. Shadow Tyrant immediately took this chance to stab the monkey and threw it towards Tang and Blinding White.

The two of them who had been waiting for him to make the move, immediately caught the monkey. They hit the monkey with their shields to stun and pulled it back toward the rest of the team as Quiet Fire provided cover by attacking any other monsters.

Blue Dart also saw the them and quickly realizing their plan started to command his men to lay cover for them. It was the first monkey that they were able to actually subjugate rather than attack randomly hoping to hit the monkey.

"It is a good plan, but I doubt you will be able to stealth towards them again and one dead monkey will hardly make much of a difference. We better go back," he said to Shadow who was attacking at any monkey who came close to the Tang or Blinding.

"No, don't kill the monkey, we have. Just keep it in stun or feared state and hold it down. The monkeys are humanoid creatures they will come near us as long as we have that one captive. Just continue to lay down cover fire and they will come in our line of fire of their own accord," replied Shadow.

It was then that the rest of them realized the plan and immediately surrounded Tang and Blinding. Tang and Blinding cooperated with the other players under the leadership of Blue Dart and managed to maintain the monkey in a state of stun or confusion while Shadow led the offensive against the other monkeys which approached them.

Now, the monkeys directly came towards a single point, the captured monkey and this allowed the group to be more effective in their attacks. The players were previously in a stalemate with the monkeys due to ineffective attacks and managed to stay alive only due the heals from the healers in the back.

With this new trick, they managed to tip the situation in their favour. Shadow led the force that was using physical attacks against the monkey. He went into the middle of the troop and due to his high agility was able to evade them and also disturb their attacks. He also had high strength almost equal to a warrior of the same level allowing him to cause a lot of damage to the monsters.

Soon, a few monkeys began to die, and this provided them experience. Though they didn't have enough time to loot the corpses, they were at a better situation than before. But they were still faced with a few other problems.

The monkeys focused most of their attacks towards the player around the captured monkey allowing the others to attack easily. But the players around the captured one bore the brunt of their attacks losing health at a faster pace. This put-on pressure on the healers and they were already guzzling mana potions they bought. Some of the players had to use health potions to keep themselves alive.

The other problem was that though the captured monkey wasn't being actively attacked and the team used only controlling skills, even these skills caused some damage. This damage slowly acc.u.mulated and once this kills the captured monkey, they would again need to get a replacement for it.

No one expected the quest to be this hard, it was draining their resources and money. Blue Dart noticed both these problems and didn't want to continue. He wanted to spend more time and attempt the dungeon so as to gain a few levels before this. Else, they would continue to lose money.

He quickly expressed his concern to Shadow who had noticed the same. Shadow was already preparing himself to throw another monkey back to the team but couldn't manage as the monsters seem to be already aware of him after his first stunt. He didn't want to use stealth against higher leveled monsters revealing his enhanced stealth. So, he was in a bind.

When Blue Dart suggested retreating due to the issue, he didn't have any objections and quickly agreed. It is better if his team could clear the quest on their own. He didn't want to share the rewards of finding a new city with members of another guild.

Moreover, Merlin had already contacted him during the fight. He told him that he had already sold the skill book for a value of 200000 credits. It was more than he got for the guide of corrupted forest. Merlin also informed him that the person who bought the book was willing to join them and was playing as a martial artist.

With the information he had choosing to retreat was an obvious choice. He wanted to capture another monkey and kill the entire troop before he went his separate way from the members of Sirius Imperials.

But as Blue suggested retreating, he had also decided to retreat under Blue Darts lead. They soon managed to escape form the monkeys. "Now, I understand why Merlin decided to work with you. You are quite resourceful. I intend to leave this quest and level up before we pursue this," said Blue Dart once they were a safe distance from the monkeys.

"Hmm, I understand. A guild can't afford to lose resources. I would suggest 'Cave of Wargs', if you want to improve your level or resources," suggested Shadow.

"Yes, that is what I had in mind. Any tips?"

"Merlin probably already told you about the torches. I got nothing else to inform you."

"Nothing at all? Come on. You can give me something," pressured Blue.

"Have someone learn cheap shot to handle the wargs and if you find a worgen riding a warg your best option is to separate them."

"Thanks, for the advice. I will leave you with Merlin. Are you going to continue with this quest?"

"Yes, I expect he first one to finish would get better rewards. So, I intend to pursue it."

"I would do the same if we were actually able to do it. But, with the trouble a bunch of level 7 monsters gave us, I doubt we will fare any better as these were the first monsters on the quest. It would only get worse as we go further along the path."

"I thank you for your concern and will take your advice under consideration," replied Shadow in response. Blue rolled his eyes understanding that Shadow Tyrant wouldn't stop pursuing. He already knew that Shadow didn't put complete effort or used any of his special skills when he fought the monkeys.

With that he left on the way back to the Blackrock village with his team. In the meantime, he decided to scout the forest on the right side of the path while the rest of the team waited for Merlin and whomever he was bringing.

He quickly went into stealth and started exploring the forest. He already knew what kind of monsters to expect and also how to escape or kill them in case of an ambush. The first kind of monsters he came into contact was the monkeys. He soon found their lair. He also found a few fanged antelopes and cougars, but didn't engage any of them. He only wanted to check if he could come across any treasure chests.

A few minutes later, he was contacted by Merlin who had already reached the rest of the team. He decided to return to the team and then go to the monsters and clear the forest. As he reached back to the location where he left the team, he saw the new member named Tetsujin beside Merlin.

"Hi, I am Shadow," he introduced himself to the new guy. Tetsujin had already covered himself completely in plate armor. He also wore the tonfas that Merlin wanted to sell on his back.

"This is Tetsujin. He is also a veteran. He used to be a berserker before vita-nova. He decided to try the new occupation for this game," said Merlin introducing Tetsujin to him.

"Hi," said Tetsujin shaking his hand. "Merlin sold me this skill book. He tells me that you managed to obtain this as a reward for you quest and didn't want to use it as you already know how to throw knives," said Tetsujin looking at Shadow Tyrant's belt which held throwing knives. He had a very mellow and pleasant voice.

"You got those from the same quest?" he asked pointing at the belt.

"No, a different one."

"Well, I came to Blackrock village to meet you mainly. Moreover, Merlin gave me these and asked me to accompany you guys for a while in return," continued Tetsujin pulling out the tonfas.

"You weren't spawned directly in the Blackrock village?" asked Quiet Fire in a confused manner. "How can you roam around in the wild if you didn't spawn here directly." She had a valid doubt. If the village wasn't the one in which they had been sent to on their first log in, they would be re-spawning at their original village on death. Players hardly ever did that on a quest.

"No. He came to the portal at the dungeon, went out of the Blackrock hills and registered at the village. He can choose to respawn here if he likes," said Merlin clarifying his cousin's doubts.

"You can do that?" asked Quiet Fire shocked.

"Yes, sadly we can only get back to the teleportation point only at Blackrock village from the dungeon. We don't have that option, but everyone else in the light faction are given a chance to move here," said Merlin.

"Yes, when he opened the 'Cave of Wargs', the village became a common meeting point for all the players in the light faction. How else would your cousin be able to sell me that skill for such a high cost," added Tetsujin.

"Yes, you unexpectedly made the village a hub for exchanges and trades without even meaning to. This isn't something any of us have foreseen. More guilds will be joining soon," said Merlin.

"More people who reached level 5 already would be registering at the village allowing thirty percent to be level 5 and opening up the credit exchange faster than other villages. Also, once it reaches 50% we would even have the auction house opening. That is why many players are using the dungeon portal just to come to the village," said Tetsujin.

"That is a great thing, isn't it," said Quiet Fire excited. The prospect of an auction house opening so fast would excite anyone.

"It has its advantage but a lot more guilds will be coming to the village and competing against resources. They will tend to purchase most weapons and consumables here, reducing our chances to procure them. It has its drawbacks," said Shadow.

Unlike the rest he had a less than optimistic view about this development. The guilds will all definitely use this chance and the more equipment and weapons they get to trade, the stronger they will get and be able to reach the city faster. This would throw a monkey wrench into his plans.

He contacted Rudra to inform him but found that he was already attempting the dungeon and also Slaine was already going to the Blackrock village to register.

"We need to clear this quest as soon as possible. This unexpected development will cause more people to come here. We better get to work," he said to his team.

"Tetsujin, I intend to clear a few monsters for this quest. Once, we have an increase in level, we intend to attempt hell mode of Cave of Wargs," said Shadow. "Do you intend to accompany us till the dungeon?" he asked Tetsujin.

"Hell mode!? You sure you can complete it? I don't want to waste my time," replied Tetsujin with a question.

"I am sure. I just want the rest of the team to reach level 6 before we attempt it and we can clear the hell mode with just the six of us. But if you join us, it would be faster and I don't want to leave anything to chance concerning a first clear," answered Shadow.

Tetsujin couldn't understand how the guy could be so confident in assuming that he could clear hell mode when everyone else couldn't even clear the elite mode. But he did come here on invitation of Merlin and it wouldn't be right to give up before he even tried. So, he agreed immediately to accompany them for now.

Merlin also understood what Tetsujin was thinking. He knew that Tetsujin was the kind who always wanted to be the toughest and liked to do stuff that had others looking at him in awe. He already acquainted him with Shadow. Whether Shadow manages to successfully recruit Tetsujin was not his concern nor could he influence Tetsujin. He left that entirely to Shadow Tyrant.