I'm a day late in posting this. Sorry!
Anyway, next chapter. Enjoy!
REMNANT ONLINE
It had been over two weeks since the meeting Torchlight had arranged - the Informant's Assembly, people called it. He had released the information under multiple aliases and with the help of several people. With how many seemed to believe it, more and more people decided to believe as well, thus making it increasingly more believed by everyone else. It wasn't that they truly believed what they heard, it's that they wanted to - and that was exactly what Torchlight had been aiming for.
So, in the days following the aforementioned assembly, activity in and around [Cypress Town] had increased. The fields near the town were being picked clean by the new arrivals from the forest dungeon; the rivers and caves containing the slightly higher level mobs were now the hunting grounds of the equally high level players; the population in the town was now closer to 50:50 when comparing the number of players to NPCs. Overall, the world of Remnant felt more alive than it ever did.
Of course, it only seemed that way.
As one of people part of said assembly, Crescent Rose was keenly aware at how frantic everyone was at leveling up and getting stronger. They had a chance to escape. They just had to beat the game. It felt desperate.
Still, at least everyone had the drive to do something now. There was tiny sliver of hope that everyone was holding on for dear life. It was sad, but it was keeping them alive. She couldn't help but feel proud of everyone for managing to bounce back.
She just hoped that what they told everyone was true. She was sure that some of the accepted theories were correct but, as someone who was part of the assembly, she still had doubts. Most of what was said had yet to be proven right. She could only wait and hope they're not wrong.
Letting that last thought be the one to end her mind's wandering, Rose kicked her legs and jumped to her feet. It was almost time.
Once again, she had gotten very little sleep that night - she passed out at probably around two in the morning and still woke up before dawn. That said, she had taken advantage of her being conscious to climb up the tallest hill in the fields around the town and watch the sunrise.
Over the horizon, peeking ever so slowly, was Remnant's sun - a near blinding sphere of yellow light surrounded by an iridescent halo. It was the same sun she saw when she first emerged from the forest dungeon some distance from where she stood. She doubted if she'd ever get tired of seeing it.
Eventually, yellows and oranges of dawn became the bright blue of the morning.
At that point in time, the NPCs had probably finished setting up shop. It was a good idea to head back into town. Rose smiled and turned around.
Right as she took her first step, a notification screen appeared in front of her. [Myrtenaster] sent you a PM. Read? Y / N
Rose tilted her head curiously. I wonder what this is about...? As she continued her walk back to [Cypress Town], she tapped yes and began reading.
REMNANT ONLINE
For third, fourth, or perhaps even fifth time in as many days, Myrtenaster was once again at the town clock tower, appreciating a view overlooking the city below them.
Behind her, near the stairs was Wilting Blush, silent yet still quite noticeable, with a presence so threatening that a lesser man would wet themselves - which was a bit of a bother, if she had to be perfectly honest. She appreciated him standing guard, but them being in a [Safe Zone] nullifies the need of such an imposing body guard.
Similarly guarding her was Gambol Shroud, keeping watch on the roof, whose [Stealth] skill was already so high that Myrtenaster no longer heard any footsteps above her and the only indication that the girl in black was still there was the location indicator on her map screen saying she was right on top of her. Again, she thought it was unnecessary, but was nonetheless grateful.
"I see Crescent Rose, Crocea Mors, and Milou Akouo entering the clock tower." Gambol called out. "They're being followed by two other players - a tall, serious looking boy in green named Stormflower, level 18, and... and an orange haired girl in pink whose name I can't pronounce. Mang... ngild... I think... She's level 19" Myrtenaster nodded, ignoring Gambol's troubles with the name.
Those two, I remember them, she thought. They were players part of the assembly, if memory serves me right... She wasn't going to object to them being there. For what she had planned, the more players, the better. Still, I have to wonder how they know each other. I don't believe I've seen any of the three interact with those two at any point - nor has Gambol seen them when she stalks around on the rooftops before dinner. She shook her head. No matter, it isn't of importance to me.
"Hey Myrtenaster, we're - AH!"
Myrtenaster afforded herself a small chuckle upon hearing Rose's surprised yelp. She must have climbed up the stairs and rounded the corner only to come face to chest with 190cm man glaring down at her. She almost felt sorry for the red head.
"I see you're here now. Good morning," she greeted. "Wilt, please let her pass."
The man stepped aside gave a slight bow towards Rose. "Apologizes. I didn't mean to scare you."
Rose looked away. "I wasn't scared," she said quickly. "I was surprised. There's a difference."
That earned a small smile from Myrtenaster, which she pushed down with some effort. While Rose's flustered display was cute, she still had a schedule to keep.
"If you're done, I believe I called you here for a reason - and the reason is not for small talk," Myrtenaster said curtly. "Now please stop blocking the way into this room."
Rose nodded her head vigorously and hurriedly stepped to the side to let everyone else in. In a moment, all five of them were at the top room of the town clock tower.
"I'll get straight to the point: I want to lead a team through the [Gate Dungeon]"
None of them seemed surprised by that. Many teams have scouted the [Gate Dungeon] in the past week - as many as 14 since the entrance was discovered. It was even rumored that 5 teams ended up staying past midnight and never made it out. Even still, nothing seemed to stop people for continuing to explore it. It was, after all, the only way to progress the game.
"Well, it'd be better if we had a bit more than eight people but I guess with out levels this could," Rose said thoughtfully. "And we'd also need to stock up on healing items. I can probably secure a map of the dungeon from Torchlight - I've heard he's been making a killing from those. What else would we need...?"
Myrtenaster resisted another smile. She seems very earnest about my idea, she thought.
"I have a six [Healing Crystals] and several [Health Potions] that I can divide among the eight of us," Milou said helpfully.
Myrtenaster nodded. "Well, that makes two of our problems solved. Now, let us talk strategy..."
REMNANT ONLINE
Gambol stood in the fields outside of town, letting the noon day sun burn her skin to a dry bleached shell - except it didn't do that because the game wasn't programmed to sun burn the players. A wonderful feature isn't it? Gambol thought in a cheeky imitation of Myrtenaster.
The strategy meeting had lasted for a few hours. Taking up most of that time was a crash course in gaming to compensate Myrtenaster and company's lack of understanding about how MMORPGs generally worked. Disregarding their technical skill at sword play, they were considered 'noobs' - a somewhat degrading term for new players who are unfamiliar with the game. That said, they couldn't talk strategy unless they had a deeper understanding of dungeons and raids.
Not including the weirdly fascinating lesson from Rose and Milou about exploitable game design and mechanics specific to Remnant Online, majority of the talking was done by the blonde boy in white armor, Crocea Mors.
He didn't look all that impressive to Gambol but he had a good head on his shoulders - he was aware of both her strengths and weaknesses despite only seeing her fight once during her duel with Myrtenaster last week. It was almost intimidating, hearing him pick her apart.
"You've got high attack and agility and seem quite adept at fighting but you're too aggressive. You're kinda like Rose in a way," he said looking away nervously when Gambol gave him a quizzical look. "Uh, anyway... That's why you two will be paired with each other. I think you'd make a good team. It works because you both have similar speeds and damage outputs. Her spear will cover your knife's lack of range while you can come in close and deal as much damage as you can before retreating.
"If you get a good combo going, do not try to power through it. Like Rose said, the enemies in this game are capable of learning how you fight. The longer you try to keep up your attack, the more likely it'll get countered. If at all possible, you should always be switching with your partner since the enemies' learning AI will reset every time they switch targets
"And above all else, do not try to fight solo"
Gambol felt a little irked at how demanding he was being but she understood why. [Gate Bosses] were like the [Ursa Major] she and Wilt had defeated in the forest dungeon but far more dangerous. They nearly died trying to clear that dungeon. One could only imagine how much worse the [Gate Dungeon] would be, especially past midnight.
It would be best if she stuck with her partner. There was safety in numbers and they covered each others weaknesses. All they needed was the teamwork necessary to keep one another safe. Unfortunately, they still had some work to do on that front.
"Switch" Rose called, jumping away from the large boar enemy in front of them.
Gambol leaped in for a downward stabbed but was instead rammed in the gut by a charging boar. She quickly countered by kneeing the mob in the snout, knocking it onto its back, and slitting its exposed neck for quadruple damage. It exploded in a flash of polygons.
Gambol gave Rose a look. The girl in red smiled apologetically. "Sorry," she said. "Still working out the timing. I keep forgetting how little range you have."
The raven haired girl tilted her head curiously. "Why don't I lead next time?"
Rose blinked. "What...?" She caught herself and nodded. "Uh, okay. Sure, why not?"
They moved on to the next nearest mob, which was actually an unfortunate ways away. Most of the eastern half of the fields had been picked clean by the other players so they had to walk a fair distance til they found what they wanted.
"You see that [Grizzly Bear] at the bank of that river?" Rose asked, pointing her spear at the mob. "That's our target. Shall we go and kill it?"
Gambol nodded, breaking into a run, Rose effortlessly keeping up with her. Once they were close enough, Gambol gave the signal. "Attack, now!"
Rose ran ahead and thrust her spear. Gambol slipped past the girl in red and slashed several times. "Switch," she called, ducking low, allowing Rose to swing her spear in a wide arc sword technique. Gambol remembered that it was called [Sweeper] - a tech that could be used by other pole-type weapons.
Seeing the spear's trail of light travel from left to right, she danced to the left so Rose could follow up with a series of stabs. "Switch," Gambol called once more, right as another [Sweeper] came from the right.
Rose stepped to the left as soon at her attack animation ended and Gambol spun around and attacked from the other side while the mob was still stunned. After getting a good combo in, she leaned to the side and called for another switch. A spear jammed itself into the bear's head and it died shortly after.
The two sat down and let out a sigh of amazement.
"Oh man," Rose said, laughing. "That was intense. That was the very first time I've fought something with that amount of efficiency. We killed that thing in literally seconds!" She looked at Gambol with a grin. "And here I thought I was the one who liked being fast."
Gambol simply stared at the girl in surprise. The redhead had kept up with her. They were in sync during the whole fight. The only other person who could match her reaction time was Myrtenaster - and she had been known Gambol for seven years. Whoever Crescent Rose was, she was good.
Now, there was no doubt in Gambol's mind. Crocea Mors was right: the two of them made a good team. And they'd become a great team by the end of the day.
Gambol stood and offered Rose a hand. "Come on. We should keep practicing."
Rose thought for a bit before giving the raven haired girl a that peculiarly cheerful yet determined looked she always wore and took her hand. "Okay, let's go," she said.
With that, the moved on to the next mob.
REMNANT ONLINE
Myrtenaster and Stormflower circled each other. They were sparring in town. Unlike Gambol, who was at a massive disadvantage against Rose due to her knife's lack of range compared to a spear's, both Myrtenaster and Stormflower used rapiers. Thus, they were on even footing, allowing the two of them to gauge each others combat skills in a duel.
Myrtenaster was in the lead with 80% of her health. She had managed multiple hits on Stormflower, dwindling him down to a little over 60%. Still, losing or not, Stormflower was good. He had to be if he managed to hold his own against her for as long as he did. Thirteen minutes and counting. Not even Gambol Shroud lasted that long.
Myrtenaster shot forward and feigned a stab before crouching down and sweeping her legs in a low kick to the shins. Stormflower called the bluff and to roll over the kick, bringing up his rapier for a parry just as a strike from Myrtenaster came zipping towards him.
Shoot, Myrtenaster though, still recoiling from the parry. I won't be able to bring up my guard to block in time and I'm too close to dodge.
He saw the opening and quickly stabbed with a [Linear] tech, managing to deal a direct hit on her shoulder. Another 20% of her health bar disappeared.
The two put some distance from each other once more, health both at 60%
"You're quite good. Did you take fencing?" Myrtenaster asked.
Stormflower shook his head. "No, not fencing, but I did study various martial arts when I was younger."
Myrtenaster found herself smiling. "I can tell. There is a certain discipline with the way you swing your sword. It is not so much a rapier as so much as an artist's brush," she said. "And your strokes are clean and precise."
Stormflower closed his eyes and nodded. "It's an honor being praised by someone as skilled at the sword as you."
"You're a worthy opponent. It's only right." Myrtenaster raised her sword and pointed it at Stromflower. "Now come at me. The last hit will win this fight."
Stormflower opened his eyes and nodded once more. "Then let's go," he said, his blade meeting Myrtenaster's in a flash of sparks.
In the end, the battle concluded in a draw.
REMNANT ONLINE
At sunset, Rose and the others gathered around the entrance to the [Gate Dungeon]. Their team wasn't the only one there. Several others were waiting for the entrance to open, no doubt also planning to scout the dungeon as well. They mostly kept to themselves, really only mingling with other groups to exchange and info they have - not that they'd get anything new since most of what they knew was gained from Torchlight.
"Do you think we'll be the ones to find the boss room?" Rose wondered
"I think we will!" Maggy said cheerfully. "And we'll go in there and kill it like no one else can!"
"Your optimism is admirable." Myrtenaster stood in front of them and coughed into her hand. "But it's probably not a good idea to just charge in there. We don't even know anything about the boss"
Rose raised her hand. "Actually..."
"Yes, what is it?"
"Well, I was part of the raid team that beat this region's [Gate Boss] back in the beta," Rose said, scratching her cheek.
"And you didn't think to tell me this earlier...?" Myrtenaster asked dryly.
The red head laughed nervously. "Hehe, It sorta slipped my mind. Sorry."
Myrtenaster sighed. "No matter. You can brief us once we find the boss door."
"You say that as if it's a forgone conclusion." Gambol noted.
"Yes. I believe we'll find the boss room and we will defeat it," Myternaster exclaimed, pulling out her rapier and pointing it up. "And I'll do everything in my power to make that a reality. It is almost time. Are you with me?"
Rose smiled, standing up and raising her spear. "Let's win this!" The others were similarly smiling. They too stood and brandished they weapons.
Only a few minutes left before 6 pm. The [Gate Dungeon] was about to open. They waited with bated breath.
REMNANT ONLINE
Again, I apologize. Not only is it a day late but it's also relatively short. Forgive me.
But yeah, things are progressing. The raid is about to begin. How many expeditions into the dungeon will it take for them to find the boss room? How many player death before the boss is killed? Find out next week probably!