Among the many merchant and crafter NPCs in Merteis’ Merchant’s Alley, stood a sole female wind elf. Wood elves, like Vice Cap, were the tallest elves, while water elves were slightly taller on average than a human. Wind elves were often the same heights as humans, or, like this character, a little shorter. The characters in Merchant’s Alley were all dressed in different clothing. Unlike, for instance, Gruandoar, where most of the NPCs at Market Bear were, well, bears dressed like bears, Merchant’s Alley came with NPCs of all kinds. The armour shop keeper was a human found in a building, while the blacksmith repairing equipment next door was a large black bear in a sleeveless apron and gloves that reached almost all the way up to her shoulders. A miner NPC who sold jewels was a sleazy-looking lynx leaning against a pickaxe like he was trying to charm someone, while a red fox in a tunic was scamming players off of their gold for mostly LQ items in the shadows of a stall at the deepest end of the alley.
Merteis was, after all, the trade city of Velkrinni, and the only one with a port connected to the wider world — when there were humans talking about arriving to Velkrinni, they all talked about how they arrived at Fox Harbour.
So a brown-skinned elf with marks covering her arms, her neck and the back of her hands was expected. That she wore a wide-brimmed strawhat and a knee-length short-sleeved dress dyed a sky blue, navy tights and black leather shoes was no stranger than the goat character playing what might have been checkers with a wolf character by the entrance of the alley. Her idle pose was with a hand on her hip with a shovel propped against her shoulder, the long pale-green ponytail swaying in the supposed wind. While her expression was neutral, her dark eyes had a curve that hinted to a smile somehow.
The farmer was standing tucked in between two stalls, only noticeable because of her height compared to the hare on one side and the otter on the other.
When approaching, the nameplate above her head, telling the red fox Scout what character this was and what she was doing there, said Yeria Quur [Before].
Jules stopped in front of the elf and sent a request to make a business. Unfazed by the lack of response, the fox stood there for a good half an hour before the ping of a private message resounded in his ears through the lively music of Merchant’s Alley.
You initiated a trade with Yeria Quur.
There is no response to your request. The trade has been cancelled.
(NPC) Nuna Senan: High-quality items! Cheap items! Only today! Come by high-quality items cheap! Make your greatest find today!
(NPC) Monguur Daanar: Sale of swords! Buy swords today!
Your inactivity for 15 minutes has changed your current status to Away From Keyboard.
Automatic AFK can be changed in the game settings while logged into a character.
(NPC) Wehma Hae: Health Potions available! Buy Health Potions!
[Private] Yeria Quur: I was afk. How can I help you?
Jules changed to the PM tab in the chat from the World tab, not to get bombarded by NPC or system messages.
Your status has changed to Active.
[Private] Jules Jewels: I was looking through the guild chest and saw you had placed a Scythe in there. There is a version that’s two tiers higher. I looked into it and the recipe is mythic.
[Private] Yeria Quur: I have the recipe. No mats.
[Private] Jules Jewels: I got all mats listed on the entry on the website. Are you high enough lvl?
The elf didn’t reply and just sent a trade request.
Jules added the materials needed for the mythic scythe, added a dozen gems, and a few hundred accumulated event items he didn’t want anymore.
There was no reaction from Yeria Quur for several minutes before the elf sent him several crafted trap items, meals that temporarily increased trickery skills, and a pistol. She then accepted the trade.
Curious about what weapon Yeria Quur gave him, he went into his inventory to check it out. It was an ice crystal-imbued magic pistol, legendary tier, primarily for those with maxed-out firearm proficiency. It would be relatively suitable to use once he levelled up a couple of times more, even though he wasn’t quite ideal for proficiency. But it required a high PER for the magic to work, which was the main stat for a Scout. Ice was an interesting option to offer a Firepaw, but looking at the benefits of the crystal, it turned out to offer ice magic resistance.
[Private] Yeria Quur: I have a commission queue right now. First come, first serve.
[Private] Jules Jewels: np
[Private] Jules Jewels: I don’t need it right away.
[Private] Yeria Quur: When it’s ready, I’ll be in touch.
Before Jules could respond, the elf had already logged out. He checked the time and realise it was already slightly past ten in the morning. He realised he must have caught Yeria Quur as she was about to log out.
He switched to the Guild tab, scrolling all the way up to read what’s going on in the guild. It’s as quiet as one expects on a Wednesday morning.
[Guild] Sheyna Shadal: no restock today?
[Guild] Manda Munbi: you at the guild house?
[Guild] Titu Lilin: weird
[Guild] Sheyna Shadal: with Wunar
[Guild] Sheyna Shadal: Im redecorating my room in the house
[Guild] Manda Munbi: how are my plants?
[Guild] Neya Cheola: u need big bear to redecorate????
[Guild] Sheyna Shadal: just watered
[Guild] Sheyna Shadal: Big Buff Bear is strong and I’m just a pretty elf
[Guild] Manda Munbi: You watered them? THX
[Guild] Sheyna Shadal: wasn’t us
[Guild] Titu Lilin: me neither
[Guild] Yeria Quur: {Strong Health Potions} stocked
[Guild] Neya Cheola: why are all of our elves so WEIRD???
[Guild] Titu Lilin: in teacher voice no caps
[Guild] Sheyna Shadal: just that?
[Guild] Yeria Quur: HQ 999 {Fire Crystal} {Earth Crystal} {Lesser Health Potion} + 50 meals stocked
[Guild] Yeria Quur: 431 {EXP potions} for lvl 100 or less stocked
[Guild] Neya Cheola: I needed crystals!
[Guild] Sheyna Shadal: no MP potion?
[Guild] Sheyna Shadal: logged out?
[Guild] Neya Cheola: Yeria Quur is still shown as loggedin
[Guild] Wunar Drondaor: Could be lag
[Guild] Yeria Quur: 128 {Perfected Magic Potion} stocked
[Guild] Sheyna Shadal: so no MP pots?
[Guild] Sheyna Shadal: …
[Guild] Sheyna Shadal: hello???
[Guild] Sheyna Shadal: nobody here?????????
[Guild] Neya Cheola: hi Sheyna!!!
[Guild] Jules Jewels: Yeria Quur already logged out.
[Guild] Jules Jewels: I think it was gardening day.
Jules went to the central square, and then teleported to Todduunto, from where he moved to the village of Wihrtaha in Central Lamdor. It was a small otter settlement added with 5.0, with the lore being that as the otterfolk fled from the coast, they couldn’t make a larger settlement as this.
The Scout walked up to one of the otters to speak with it.
“You are our great hero,” the otter begins, and Jules skipped the dialogue to get the side quest added in 5.47. He switched to the gather class Fisherand went to catch the required fifty fish asked of him. He had just found the small stream some distance away when the guild chat came alive again.
[Guild] Jhi Xedolin: i’m home!
[Guild] Neya Cheola: at the house?
[Guild] Jhi Xedolin: at the house
[Guild] Sheyna Shadal: Come look at my room!
[Guild] Jhi Xedolin: don’t want to be part of your screenshot, tyvm
[Guild] Sheyna Shadal: aaaawwwwwwwww 🙁
[Guild] Teenam Mortana: I VOLUNTEER. I WANT TO BE SCREENDUMPED
[Guild] Teenam Mortana: Where do I go?
[Guild] Teenam Mortana: Just logged in.
[Guild] Titu Lilin:teacher voice no caps
[Guild] Teenam Mortana: Doesn’t apply to me. I can always use caps.
[Guild] Neya Cheola: the weird elf redecorated her room
[Guild] Teenam Mortana: Oh, then nvm
In the evening, Jules battled a giant corrupted rabbit, as he continued to work his way through the sidequests, health down in the bright reds. He didn’t have time to ask for help in the guild, and he couldn’t keep up with the health potions and attack at the same time.
Suddenly, his HP went up to orange before there was a sudden burst of light with yellow rays spreading from the side of the rabbit. Jules placed a trap before he moved away from the enemy.
Looking around, he found a water elf holding a staff, scales covering her bare arms. Her hair was long and flowing in dark blue waves, while her cloth armour was a flowing dress with a slit along the leg, her white boots reaching above to her near-white knees. She wore an ice monocle as her headgear, and her glove item were bracelets that carefully matched her white earrings.
Behind her was a large black bear in heavy armour with a shield on his back.
The Mage cast a healing buff on him.
Sheyna Shadal: You ok? Need help?
Jules Jewels: help
The Ironhide moved to tank the rabbit. The Sentinel roared before hitting the enemy with the shield. Jules switched to his musket to use instead of a close-range weapon.
Wunar Drondaor: we can do the quest together if you want.
Sheyna Shadal: We’re already helping someone else.
A moment later, there was another bright burst of light, that stunned the rabbit. A moment a yellow and orange Assassin appeared from behind the rabbit. The small fae flew over to Sheyna and landed beside her, only reaching right above her knee.
Jules Jewels: Chu! didn’t see you there.
There was no response for some time, and then Chu simply did a wave emote.
Sheyna Shadal: We’re helping Chu Ghilon.
Sheyna Shadal: he’s first main quest heavy party dungeon is at the end of his current quest line.
Jules Jewels: neat!
Jules went back to defeating the enemy. As it fell, he sent another message.
Jules Jewels: I got time. want a mentor? @Chu Ghilon
Chu Ghilon: mentor?
Jules Jewels: You haven’t had mentoring before?? Didn’t you join several months ago?
Sheyna Shadal: a mentor is someone who tells you how you can play your class based on stats and what you would like to do
Sheyna Shadal: i didn’t know you play assassin jules
Jules went into the character information and changed his equipped rune to the Assassin one. The illusion got automatically removed, and he was a plain red fox again.
He swiftly took down the corrupted bunny that gave him so much problem while playing a support class instead of a pure damage dealer.
Sheyna Shadal: huh
Wunar Drondaor: impressive my man
Wunar Drondaor: i thought you were a support main dude
Jules Jewels: I used to be assassin main.
Jules Jewels: but then Scouts were introduced
Jules Jewels: Its been a few years but I should still understand early gameplay. I memorised the core points of all the guides back then
Wunar Drondaor: that settles it
Wunar sent Jules an invite to the party, and Jules accepted immediately. He then checked Discord and found that the three weren’t in a voice call.
[Party] Jules Jewels: chu, can I call you?
[Party] Jules Jewels: It’ll be easier.
[Party] Chu Ghilon: what about the others?
[Party] Sheyna Shadal: Wunar only joins voice when during raids, basically and I don’t need tolisten to jules
[Party] Wunar Drondaor: have fun guys. im just a tank lmao
Jules called Chu Ghilon of Discord. There was the quietest, most shy, “Hi?”
“Hey there. How are you, buddy?” Jules said with a soft laugh. “Can you send me a screenshot of your stats? I want to see what your build is like. Your skill tree too, if you don’t mind?”
“Oh. Okay. Give me a minute. Do you need my gear too?”
“No, I can check that myself,” Jules replied as he typed in the game chat.
[Party] Jules Jewels: checking Chu’s build real quick.
[Party] Wunar Drondaor: thumbs up
When Chu Ghilon sent the screenshots, Jules went over them. Solar Faes were essentially glass cannons through and through, but that was just the base stats; they were agile but lacked STR and had a low CON. Their MP was decent, but they were reliant on their skill points than their magic aligned counterpart, the Floral Fae.
Their DEX was also high, making them good with finesse weapons and skills, and almost randomly their INS was high.
On top of that, Chu’s main class was Rogue, so the fae’s CON was, as expected, in the dumps, while AGI and DEX were through the roof. Chu Ghilon had placed some attribute points in CON to mitigate the low HP, and a few in STR and PER. AGI, DEX, WIS, INS and FOC and been left alone, more or less.
A Solar Fae Rogue was essentially a nuke. They could be built to have strong skills, but in return, they died from a single hit or perhaps two.
Assassins favoured AGI and DEX for their optimal builds, but they also needed strength.
Jules hummed.
“So, um, is it very bad?”
“I’ve seen Vice Cap’s build, and if I were to call yours bad at this level, his would be a crime against humanity, but he plays Beast Tamer just fine. Build your character to suit your playstyle.” He studied the meagre skill tree. “Do you use skills a lot?”
“Sunburst is pretty useful. Ambush too.”
“Mm-hmm. Well, I’ll keep your stats later.”
Chu Ghilon made a soft noise that seemed to be an agreement.
“Let’s go,” Jules said encouragingly. “We got to get to that new dungeon of yours before you have to log out for the day!”
“Okay!”
Chu Ghilon was really very close to the end of the current quest chain. Jules followed him together with Sheyna and Wunar. It was an interesting party. A level 50 Assassin, with a level 698 Assassin, a level 346 Enchanter and a level 373 Sentinel trailing after them was a vision at any time, but when the one with the retinue was a little fae and the retinue had increasingly larger avatars, it looked rather funny.
“How long have you played now?” Jules asked as the character took down Bewildered Sapling.
“I started last autumn, so, uh, nine months maybe?”
“What’s your job level?”
“Fifteen.”
“Not bad, not bad.”
They fell into silence as Chu took on a different sapling.
“How long have you played?” Chu’s timid voice came through.
“Me? Not as long as Vice Cap, but longer than Odyja. I started when 5.0 was still pretty new. I heard about Velkrinni because some people I knew were making fun of it on social media.”
“Oh.”
“I think you might rely a bit much on Sunburst and Ambush,” Jules said. “You have a few upgrade points to use. If you’d like, I’d suggest to upgrade your Stealth skill and unlock the Poison skill. This is pretty basic for Assassin. Strength is usually the stat Assassins rely on aside from agility, but if you want to have more of a support build instead of hitting hard, we could try a CON build. You seem worried about dying.”
Which was a little funny while playing a nuke combination.
“I thought Hoedi said CON is pointless with Assassins,” Chu said softly.
“Hoedi has a traditional DEX/AGI rogue. I run an AGI/INS build. We play our assassins in different ways. I rely much more on skills and traps, so my SP would be out all the time if I had. DEX heavier build. Hoedi uses Finesse weapons more, so she has more use of DEX in all of her preferred jobs.” Jules paused before adding, “A CON build might not feel as rewarding to start with. The CON stat has a bad multiplier for Rogues. Once you get hit hard and survive, I bet it would feel amazing.”
“What if I don’t like it?”
That explained the unused attribute points and upgrades.
“No need to commit right away.” He pulled up the chat. “Let’s borrow some item.”
[Guild] Jules Jewels: anyone has CON boost jewellery I can borrow? We’re trying something over here.
[Guild] Jhi Xedolin: I got lvl 250 CON boosters.
[Guild] Hoedi Kodokki: lvl 300 earrings
[Guild] Gituda Tuuk: Feni got a whole set at lvl 650 if you need them.
[Guild] Jules Jewels: lvl 50
[Guild] Odyja Sorbanja: lvl 500? I got something
[Guild] Jules Jewels: No, 50. For Chu Ghilon.
[Guild] Jhi Xedolin: nope
[Guild] Hoedi Kodokki: fighter subclassing?
[Guild] Odyja Sorbanja: Why are YOU asking?
Jules saw a few heckles from various members, but simply toggled the chat off. “Guess we can buy a few items, too. Continue on the quest, I’ll jump into…”
There was a notification noise, making Jules trail off and toggle the chat open. He got a fright when he saw the private message.
[Private] Doamannu Graolla: Gituda said you need low-level gear. What level, what stat, what class?
[Private] Jules Jewels: I was just casually asking the guild, boss. I’m helping our baby assassin try a CON build. No need for the former captain to intervene.
[Private] Doamannu Graolla: Nonsense
[Private] Doamannu Graolla: Give me 10
“Hello?”
“Sorry. Let’s continue this for a few more minutes. Upgrade the Stealth for now. We’ll figure out the rest after the guild calms down a bit.”
It was twenty minutes later when Jules got a simple message that was just “thank me later” from the Big Boss, but with no context whatsoever.
They continued to work on the quest for Chu.
“I kinda need to log off… I need to eat something,” Chu said quietly after a while.
“Just go. Don’t worry about the CON items. When are you logging in next time?”
“Um, I got night shifts all week, so probably Sunday evening. At least if I’m playing for more than a few minutes.”
“Alright. Write on Discord when you need a party for the dungeon. We’ll make you a good one,” Jules promised.
“Okay… uh… bye?”
“See you later.”
Jules saw Chu share the same thing in chat and then log out.
Having spent most of his day off playing, Jules figured it was time for him to take a break as well.
He logged off and checked the guild Discord instead.
#general
Guild Leader Sorbanja
TEENAM WHY ARE YOU AWAKE
Teenam Mortana
The sun’s bright and the weather hot.
Kitu Nilan
isn’t morning for you??
Teenam Mortana
Yeah, it’s six. I was woken up half an hour ago. Since I’m awake and the weather awful, I figured I can just fulfil some of the requests from clients.
I also have an in-person meeting with a client in two hours.
Do you wanna know where?
Guild Leader Sorbanja
Where?
Teenam Mortana
Like I’d fucking tell you LMFAO
Feni Kunas
Me then?
Teenam Mortana
DMing. Can’t tell in #the-foxes without THAT GUY knowing.
Vice Captain
@Doamannu Graolla Demote Odyja so I can give him a timeout for breaking the rules too many times
Guild Leader Sorbanja
wait what
Teenam Mortana
OMFG LMAO
Deserved much, kittycat???
Odyja Sorbanja
Don’t joke about this
Doamannu Graolla
Done.
Odyja Sorbanja
No, wtf are you doing???
Why did you change my NAME
this is my guild
don’t time me out
Teenam Mortana
His name disappeared from the people typing.
Feni Kunas
W client, T
LOL Leader actually got timeouted?
Ruthless, Dad
Vice Captain
He needed it
Jules Jewels
Now even the officers are higher in rank than the actual guild leader. That’s hilarious
What client, Teenam?
Teenam Mortana
Will let you know what kind of client if all goes well, fam.
Gotta go work now and then shower and have breakfast so I can meet my client.
Later fam
Feni Kunas
Yooooo, Yeria Quur is logged in
Kitu Nilan
so?
Titu Lilin
at this time of day??
Feffie posted a screenshot which from the chat in game with Yeria Quur saying, “Lending CON jewellery for character level 50 for Chu Ghilon in guild chest for.”
Feni Kunas
I checked
Imbued with mats that give CON boost and exp boost. Mythic items. Full set at lvl 45-50.
Jules quietly sent Big Boss and Vice Cap a “thank you” in DMs, then pinned the screenshot to make sure Chu could see it later.
#family-chat
Jules Jewels
I’m working until Sunday. Put me on mute until Saturday and Teenam ping me before you head to bed on Saturday.
Chu Ghilon might be dungeoneering on Sunday evening. I’m mentoring
Teenam Mortana
Okay fam. Pinging Saturday morning
Vice Captain
I’ve set the bot to unmute Jules on Saturday.
Teenam Mortana
@Jules Jewels
Wakey-wakey. I’m heading to bed baby~
The sun is shining for both you and me
Vice Captain
WTF?? The sun is up for T??
Teenam Mortana
Bitch, obviously the sun is up
It’s fucking summer
Where else would the sun be in the goddamn evening? The dark side of the moon?
Vice Captain
Oh, never mind.
For a second I forgot you live near the arctic circle.
Teenam Mortana
LMAO
Papa Woohra
What a lore drop to get casually
Teenam is from the north?
Teenam Mortana
Very
Deep north
Practically at the North Pole
#general
Chu Ghilon
im so tired
i just woke up and it feels wild
just one more night shift this week and then back to day shifts
Wunar Drondaor
good morning to you elfine
Jules Jewels
I’m alive! Almost
So much to do at work despite being the weekend.
So good time of day to you all
Still got work tomorrow
Anyway, wondering if we need a party tomorrow @Chu Ghilon
Chu Ghilon
need
Wunar Drondaor
dude, im open tmrrw evening
just have to go to the gym during the day
“Leader, Old Cap, Vice Cap, Hoedi… who else can lead a party?”
The question was spoken in a voice with a slight drawl and an accent Jules couldn’t place.
“Anyone, really,” Sheyna answered her own question.
“Papa knows how,” Jules said, without missing a beat.
“I am on baby monitor duty. I can’t,” replied the second most exhausted voice in the call. “I signed up for soft tanking.”
“Vice Cap has a tank alt. He could play?” suggested another feminine voice that belonged to Sisi. “Am I the only healer?”
“Sheyna, use your Green Tome and be the buff heal,” Jules suggested.
The mage readily agreed with a, “Sure thing~”
Wunar as a Grappler, Woohra as Lancer, Sheyna as Enchanter, Sisi as a Green Mage, Chu as Assassin, and Jules as another Assassin… they were missing a tank and a DPS.
“Neya…” Sisi began to suggest.
“Not online,” Sheyna replied.
Jules opened the members list and then typed a private message.
Can you run in the first 8p?
He got an immediate reply.
yeah? tank or dps?
Before he could reply he heard Sisi says, “Titu and Manda can join.”
He sent a simple “nvm”.
“Chu, is that okay with you?”
“Mm.”
Soon Titu and Manda had both joined too.
Titu was playing a Combat Mage while Manda was a Duelist. Seeing the high amount of close-ranged classes, Jules changed to Scout. He could still mentor Chu if needed like this.
“Manda, Woohra is playing soft tank, so you be off-tank,” Sheyna said. “We all know how to play this dungeon aside from Chu Ghilon, so Jules can lead. He’s mentoring Chu Ghilon, anyway.”
He had no time to decline the responsibility before he heard multiple agreements.
“…”
Well, darnit.
Jules rushed to the mod channel.
#family-chat
Jules Jewels
HELP ME MOTHER
Teenam Mortana
What’s up?
Jules Jewels
NOT YOU.
Teenam Mortana
@Vice Captain @Doamannu Graolla
He’s apparently not my son today
Doamannu Graolla
What’s going on?
Jules Jewels
They’re asking me to lead the party
Teenam Mortana
Oh
Yeah, not me then
Doamannu Graolla
Just decline
Jules Jewels
Not helpful, boss
Doamannu Graolla
What am I supposed to do then?
I’m on a business trip.
“Why did Jules get so quiet?”
“Oh, sorry. Uh… Connection issues. Did you say something?”
“We decided you’ll be the leader today.”
“I think I need to switch device real quick.”
Jules ducked out of voice chat immediately.
Teenam Mortana
@Vice Captain Save your brother.
@Vice Captain
@Vice Captain
Jules Jewels
I JUST WANT TO MENTOR CHU GHILON
HELP ME
Teenam Mortana
@Vice Captain Where are you
@Vice Captain You are so slow to reply today.
@Vice Captain Quick
Vice Captain
What?
Oh
Oh no
Sry Jules. On it
Jules Jewels
PLEASE
Jules reconnected to the voice chat. “So, uh… what were you saying?”
“Can you hear me fine now?” Sheyna asked.
“Yes…”
“So, I was saying—”
There was a notification that someone joined the voice call, surprising Sheyna.
“—Hm?”
Jules quietly exhaled when he heard Vice Cap’s steady, “Are you full? Doesn’t matter, I’m joining too.”
Vice Cap spent five very intense minutes being menacing to everyone but Chu Ghilon and Jules until Sheyna decided to leave, because her Enchanter job was already max level and she hadn’t decided what job to pick up next. That put Vice Cap into the healer position, so they found themselves with a two healer summons and Vice Cap switching to Rune of Healing.
But it allowed Jules to avoid having everyone focus their attention on him and him having to figure out anything other than offering advice to Chu Ghilon.
The beginning of the dungeon splits the party into two, semi-randomly. If there is one healer, the healer will naturally be in the party with the least CON, and if there are two tanks and a high CON or high STR DPS that has a Fighter-like build, the soft-tank isn’t with the one healer.
However, today this heavy party had two healers, two tanks and a soft-tank, so a tank and healer in one and the rest at random.
Chu Ghilon ended up in the half with Sisi, Manda and Titu, which was the worst possible configuration. All new at their jobs, although at least Titu was level 564.
On the other side was all the high-level veterans with a high-level Scout whose character level was 699, a max level Beast Tamer with the character level 587, a mid-level Lancer at character level 454, and a level twenty Grappler at character level 375.
“Titu, if you have advice for Chu Ghilon, base it on a Rogue’s basics,” Vice Cap said calmly. “When we come past the corridor early on, send Chu Ghilon over. We’ll send over Woohra to you to balance it out for the mini-bosses after we pass these mobs.”
Jules chimed in, “Titu, let Chu Ghilon do the mechanics on your side, even if you’re better suited for it. Chu Ghilon’s CON is higher than your synced level’s. Just teach him how to kite until Manda gets mobs.”
[Party] Titu Lilin: got it
[Party] Chu Ghilon: ??? ;A;
[Party] Chu Ghilon: why me?
[Party] Chu Ghilon: why am i load bearing?
[Party] Chu Ghilon: ;A;
[Party] Chu Ghilon: what if I die?
[Party] Manda Munbi: if you die, i failed you
[Party] Sisi Regius: dw, i can res you
“I promise that you’ll do fine. This dungeon is entirely about cooperation,” Vice Cap reassured Chu as well. “If you genuinely do fail, that’s on us veterans who are in the four-, five- and six-hundreds. If we can’t keep our youngest little buds alive, can we really call ourselves veterans?”
With that, the initial protective buffs were placed on the two parties before they all began moving toward their respective mini-boss.
It took them about ten minutes before the corridor between the two lanes appeared and they could reach it. Jules and the rest were already standing by it when it opened up and Woohra waited patiently that the others would arrive, and for Chu to enter the corridor. They quickly swapped places before the corridor closed.
“You did great,” Vice Cap said when Chu arrived in their lane.
Jules cast an Awareness buff on Chu so Chu would be able to see the switches easily before they continued down the lane to deal with the mobs, with Wunar slowing the pace down not to overwhelm the little fae on the way.
“Either we’ll get a ghost, or a kind of zombie, mini-boss. We can’t say which,” Jules told Chu. “If it’s the Genganger, focus on physical attacks or fire attacks. If we get the Draug, Sunburst will be useful not for the stun but for the light magic.”
[Party] Chu Ghilon: so which one is the ghost? genganger right?
Jules casually replied with, “The Draug is, maybe unexpectedly, a ghost. Apparently a draug is malicious ghost in Scandinavia folklore, while Gengangers have corporal bodies. At least according to the Velkrinni Fan Wiki.”
[Party] Titu Lilin: the more you know
[Party] Sisi Regius: lol
The fox tactfully shut up.
“Manda’s group can go in first and tell us which they got, and I’ll explain the mechanics of the one we’ll get,” Vice Cap said. “Later we can run this dungeon unsynced so you can learn the mechanics of the other mini-boss. It’ll make it easier if you ever end up in it while doing a random dungeon.”
Manda’s group went ahead and soon Sisi announced that they got the Genganger. Vice Cap and Jules both adjusted and cast their respective skills and spells on their group and Vice Cap explained the mechanics in general, after which Jules could take over and tell Chu what to do and how and how to use the higher CON stat to their advantage as an Assassin.
Right as the Draug went into its final phase, there was an infant screaming in the background.
“Papa needs to go?” Vice Cap said, clearly as startled by the unexpected as Jules.
“Oh, shoot, I forgot to mute myself,” they heard Woohra say. “Baby’s right here, beside me; don’t worry. Muting myself now.”
The cries got cut off, and the group continued dealing with the boss. As soon as the Draug disappeared, a message appeared in party chat:
[Party] Chu Ghilon: baby okay?
There wasn’t any reply.
[Party] Sisi Regius: papa isn’t moving yet
[Party] Chu Ghilon: let him take his time
[Party] Chu Ghilon:i have a few days off to switch back to day shift time so i’m in no hurry
“We can take the route around and meet up with you in the boss room,” Vice Cap adjusted, and their group left their boss room, cleared out the rest of the lane, went under the bridge of the other group, and soon found themselves at the convergence point. They continued down the other lane. As they were clearing the lane out, they met the other group who had just began moving again.
[Party] Woohra Guorah:sry, baby has been cranky today
[Party] Chu Ghilon: don’t worry about it
[Party] Chu Ghilon:thats just how children are
Vice Cap suggested, “You can be unmuted, Woohra. That way, we will hear if you step away for the baby. That is, if Chu Ghilon is fine with it.”
[Party] Chu Ghilon: fine with it
[Party] Woohra Guorah: ok, unmuted
There was almost immediately an unhappy, “Dada,” and Woohra immediately apologised.
After several bursts of activity and long stretches of wait, Jules hear Woohra say, “I’m sorry, guys. Baby is usually not this cranky.”
“It’s okay,” Jules reassured him.
[Party] Titu Lilin: we all knew this could happen when you said you were on baby monitor duty
[Party] Sisi Regius: baby is also a party member and we take care of our own
[Party] Chu Ghilon: the game is a game and i can play the dungeon later
There were more reassurances from Wunar and Manda in the party chat.
[Party] Chu Ghilon: a child crying at night is normal
[Party] Chu Ghilon: but does baby have a history of baby colic?
[Party] Chu Ghilon:ie crying for several hours at night
[Party] Chu Ghilon: how old is baby now?
“I don’t think baby has ever cried much during night?” Jules said, confused.
Woohra confirmed, “No, baby is a calm sleeper and has always been.” There was a short pause. “Baby is almost eleven months.”
[Party] Chu Ghilon: have you tried rocking baby? pacifier? different environment?
[Party] Chu Ghilon: is baby teething?
“We’ve never needed to use a pacifier. I don’t think teething is the problem, because baby doesn’t seem to be itchy in the mouth st the moment. Baby doesn’t chew on toys right now. As for what we’ve tried, we usually rock baby to sleep, either in our arms or in baby carrier. The stroller works too,” Woohra replied. How he had patience with these questions Jules couldn’t understand. “But baby hasn’t been responding well to the stroller today.”
The party was still for a whole ten minutes of so, most of the likely chatting in guild chat for the time being, before another party chat message appeared.
[Party] Chu Ghilon: can i speak? i have more questions if i may ask
Vice Cap said, “I don’t decide what Woohra will share about his baby, but sure.”
Chu’s voice came through, gentle in tone. “Papa, you don’t need to respond to anything you think is inappropriate. First, is baby awake right now?”
“Yes.”
“But not crying? Can you attempt putting baby down… is it a carrier right now?”
“Baby will start crying,” Woohra warned.
“Mm. That is very possible, but it’s worth trying.”
Woohra seemed to listen because a moment there was wailing.
“How does the crying sound to you? Hunger, tiredness, diaper change, loneliness, pain or something else?” Chu asked.
“I have no idea. Frustrating as fuck?” Woohra responded. He must have changed his mind because he then asked, “Is that an acceptable thing for a parent to say?”
“Parenting is difficult,” Chu Ghilon said.
“Why are you asking these things?” Sisi’s voice came through, almost defensive. “Do you have kids?”
Chu answered candidly, “I don’t have any children of my own nor am I expecting there will be any in my life any time soon.”
“Then, maybe don’t ask about thing you don’t know.”
“Is it your child?” Chu asked.
“No, obviously not. But you’re treating it like you’re someone’s IT customer support,” Sisi said.
Jules held back a laugh. Now was not the time.
“Papa, I don’t judge. I am genuinely just trying to help.”
“No, it’s alright,” Woohra replied calmly. “I genuinely don’t know what to do, anyway.”
“Have you checked for a fever?”
“No, we haven’t.”
“Hmm… how has baby’s appetite been today?”
“It’s been okay.”
“Does baby prefer being in a specific position?”
“What do you mean?”
“You said the stroller isn’t working — is baby laid in it?”
“Yeah.”
“And bed isn’t good?”
“It’s no good.”
“What about upright or seated?”
“Baby is calmer then, at least.”
“Does baby try to touch or rub anywhere, such as the ears”
“I haven’t noticed anything out of the ordinary.”
“Any discharge from the ears?”
“None.”
“I would suggest checking for a fever. If so, keep an eye on the ears. I would need to see baby in person to examine the ears, but it does sound like it might be an early stage of an ear infection.”
“You sound like a children’s doctor,” Jules commented jokingly.
“Hmm? I sure hope so,” Chu said. “I am doing my residency at the paediatrics ward.”
Jules fell silent. He would never have thought the timid fae hid an actual physician behind the avatar.