"Did none of you unlock the new system features?" Zyviss asked in exasperation. That also explained their situation.
Ever since the new update, almost no player was caught off guard by their quests.
Before, quests of uncertainty were given to players due to the fact that they could revive. Now, however, it was because of their map Search function.
In fact, the quests left to players lacked far more information than before. There was a notice on such quests, but it was easy to miss. It was kind of like the terms and conditions of contracts that most people accepted without reading.
But everyone understood this. Well, everyone who was used to the situation understood this fact and knew to be cautious. The Second Wave players were a mixed bunch.
Some were cautious, having prepared by going through the forums and asking for advice.
Others, like this group, thought such players were being overly cautious cowards. They believed they would be able to handle any situation that might arise.
Their situation spoke for itself.
They did not pick up the Search function despite its usefulness. As a result, they couldn't scope out the details of the encampment from a safe distance and got caught with their pants down.
What should have happened is: they should have noticed the orc Warriors, Shaman, and Cheiftain and reported as much to the guild.
This wouldn't have counted as failing a quest, but rather as succeeding in scouting out more details. The full reward wouldn't have been awarded to them, but they would have been paid for the update of information.
Sadly, they had gone and attacked the encampment. Meaning that the orcs were likely to expect another attack. Most likely, they would move. Even if the group delivered the information to the guild, it was still going to count as a failure.
To avoid this very situation, most players had unlocked the basic Search function. At the very least, one player per party had the function unlocked. Because, granted, it was expensive.
It cost a lot: 50 gold and 50M XP.
But it was too worth it to be cheap.
The XP cost meant you had to be above level 25 to afford it. The gold cost meant it was as expensive as the top-quality Tier 3, or low-quality Tier 4 magical items.
The truth was, it was incredibly expensive for normal players. Yet, even so, one couldn't not unlock the Search function. Not only would it save you many deaths, it would also allow you to work as a scout for minimal risk.
Sure, the job of scouting was boring. But it was the best way to make cash fast. And the higher your Search function, the quicker you could work as one.
Still, it was true that it was expensive. Incredibly so. It would require completing ten to thirty C-ranked quests to recuperate the gold cost. And over thirty C-Ranked quests for the XP cost. And depending on your level, one B-Ranked, or multiple.
That meant weeks of grinding, perhaps months. And, if you were lucky and got a B-Ranked quest, chances were you wouldn't be able to do it on your own.
Most players struggled to complete C-Ranked quests with a good completion rate. And the worse your completion rate, the less likely you were to get high-ranked quests.
This group had likely thought it was better to get another magical item rather than the Search function.
Which, according to their thoughts, had probably made sense. Increasing their own strength was more likely to allow them to make more cash than unlocking some system function. They hadn't expected the quest information to be this wrong.
Not to mention they didn't need to lose any levels if no one unlocked the function. Since most of them were around level 30, it would have only cost them 1 or 2 levels.
But they had been cheap, and now most had lost four levels from dying. (The update had also updated death penalties according to Tier, instead of level total)
Again, their situations spoke for itself.
"I don't know what to say," Zyviss said with a sigh. Deciding to distract himself by healing her shoulder. He moved to her back, placed his hand above the wound, and cast the basic healing combo.
"Therapevo." He chanted, soothing energy flowing into the dryad's shoulder. Followed by "Anthisi," supplying her with some energy to help her recover from the fatigue the situation was sure to have placed her in.
Unlike Eldrian, he couldn't guide the energies. And unlike Erik, he hadn't learned specialized spells. But this was enough for battle healing.
All Zyviss wanted from his magic was to buy time till true healers could come and save whoever he was healing. Or to heal himself when he is in a rough situation.
"Y-you can cast magic too?" She asked in shock.
Hearing her ask such an obvious question, Zyviss nearly facepalmed. Keeping a straight face, he answered, "Of course. I'm not as good as those who focus on mastering magic or healing. But I can patch up a wound or two."
Now, despite saying this, the number of players who have mastered two classes was rare. Not to mention three. But Zyviss had Eldrian to compare himself against. No matter what, he felt he always fell short.
Even without Eldrian; Elizabeth was a beacon of what faith spells should look like, Erik a beacon of a true healer, and Ilmadia a beacon of a more 'standard' mage.
His healing had closed her wound. Though it wasn't perfect and would scar. But that wasn't a problem. The scar would disappear once she had died and revived.
"That's amazing." She said, realizing she hadn't introduced herself. She panicked. "A-ah! R-right! I'm Evel— Euthemilia!" In her shocked state, she almost blabbed her IRL name instead of her in-game handle.
"Zyviss." Returning the greeting, Zyviss turned his attention to the other groaning players. Judith was healing some, but there were too many for her to get to everyone.
"Right, you seem fine. I'm going to go ahead and heal the others now." Saying as much, he moved to rescue those who were about to die.
He only helped those who he could save with some magic. Unwilling to use potions on these players. Zyviss considered their deaths a necessary evil.
The potions he and Judith had on hand were all high-grade meant to be used in battle on NPCs. Players were destined to die to save as many NPCs as possible.
Around ten minutes later, only ten players were left alive. "You can follow us, or take your chances in the wild."
"W-where are you going?" One of the survivors asked. Still stunned that these two had slain over forty orc Warriors.
"Our encampment."
"Is it nearby?" The same survivor asked. His race was some type of elf; what type, Zyviss couldn't tell. And he couldn't be bothered to inspect these players' stats.
"Yeah, that was how we noticed you guys being chased." Honestly, the encampment was about 10 kilometers out. So it wasn't really close. But to Judith and Zyviss, that distance was nothing.
Their agility hadn't broken the thousand ceiling like Eldrian's, but Judith had around 350 agility and Zyviss just over 400. At their full speed, it took them just over ten minutes of running.
They didn't expect the group to follow at such a pace, but they still made it back in under half an hour.
The group of survivors were flabbergasted by the sight that welcomed them.
"Wh—what?"
"How?"
"Is this real?"
The source of this c𝐨ntent is freewe(b)nov𝒆l