Silence fell on the room. There were no earth-shaking cheers nor did the boss die spectacularly. It was actually quite unceremonious. No one was there to pay witness to the fall of two mighty infernals. Only the player's exhausted breathing could be heard.
"Did we make it?", asked Silver Blade in a low voice.
"It appears so...", answered Radiant Shield tiredly.
Suddenly everyone felt something, turning towards the room's centre. The previously vanished staircase reappeared. Hasty steps could be heard. A door was pushed open and the rest of the party entered.
"Did you do it?"
"Is the boss dead?"
Surging into the room they asked anxiously, looking for confirmation. Fortune hurried ahead, coming to a stop next to the two bodies on the floor, speaking with an annoyed voice:
"Damn, why did I have to die?! Now I couldn't record the rest of the battle!"
Upon hearing this Cyclone's eyes lit up. Shaking off her exhaustion she joyfully addressed Fortune:
"Don't worry! Balm and I made sure to record everything!"
"Yes!", echoed Balm. "I just hope the fight wasn't too boring. It was quite the drag..."
Fortune looked at the two women, her eyes showing joy and appreciation.
"You really did? You're the best, girls! Don't worry about the fight being boring. Getting first clear will be enough to draw viewers in!"
"Now that you say it, did we get first clear? Where is our announcement?", asked Quickstep sceptically.
Upon hearing this everyone held their breath. Even though they didn't read about someone else passing the dungeon, without C's confirmation they couldn't be certain.
A tense atmosphere enveloped the room. It lasted for a full second until C's voice finally rang out.
[Congratulations on achieving the first clear of Kelsnim's Invasion, hard mode.]
[Your accomplishment is worthy of being remembered.]
[You can choose to name your team or stay anonymous.]
[You can add the names of benefactors to the announcement.]
"Yeah!"
Cyclone immediately cheered loudly, infecting all her friends. Even those exhausted from the fight chimed in. The harder the fight the more rewarding the feeling afterwards. Having fought at their limits for two days the party's emotions now erupted wildly.
It took a long time for everyone to calm down and answer C. Surprisingly an announcement rang through the world.
Crunaboul offered multiple dungeons categorized according to the levels they permitted. Kelsnim's Invasion for example was a level 20-25 dungeon.
Usually only the first clear within a respective level range warranted an announcement, not the first clear of each dungeon. But obviously C treated the hard mode differently, putting more importance on it.
[Server Announcement:]
[Please congratulate Dream Avenue on being the first to achieve the first clear of the dungeon Kelsnim's Invasion on hard mode.]
[Dream Avenue thanks Colville Constructions, St. Fabre, Dourand Electronics, Cider, and Malney & Sons for their generous support.]
Chaos broke out immediately. Competitors cursed and spectators cheered. Dream Avenue's sponsors patted themselves on their backs for their smart decision.
Many teams felt like giving up after the seemingly impossible hard mode had been cleared by someone else. But it didn't take long for someone to thoroughly analyse the announcement, pointing out that C emphasised hard mode specifically.
The atmosphere instantly became fervent. If Kelsnim's Invasion turned out too difficult, what about other dungeons? Dream Avenue surely couldn't contest multiple dungeons at the same time, right?
Subsequently the topic attracted even more attention instead of dying down.
Liam and his friends, however, didn't care. They weren't in the mood to continue fighting. Right now, they were graciously welcoming the praises in the guild chat.
Many of their members showed interest in clearing dungeons by themselves, though. The friends were naturally happy to see this, taking it as a chance for the players to hone their skills.
Multiple teams formed in the guild clamouring to grab an achievement for themselves. Liam generously gave tips as much as possible but with hard mode differing from his past life, he couldn't hand out any fool-prove plans.
Soon the commotion died down as a majority of the members prepared for the dungeon raids.
"My condolences. I hope they won't return traumatized.", lamented Fortune jokingly.
Cyclone surprisingly rebutted her idol, stating proudly:
"I believe in the players I have chosen! I'm sure at least one team will claim an achievement!"
Fortune turned her head, her expression as if seeing Cyclone for the first time.
"Perhaps you do have the making of a great guild leader..."
"Of course! Aren't Cyclone and I leading the best guild in the game?", added Balm with a bright smile.
Liam also listened to the conversation feeling quite gratified. It was good that the two women showed the confidence and demeanour befitting of a guild leader. He held high hopes for them.
"Oh, my loot!"
An excited cry echoed through the room causing Cyclone's image to deflate. She dashed towards the bosses ignoring her chuckling friends.
Ridicule didn't matter in the face of loot!
Cyclone smiled excitedly as Rouna'ar's body disappeared. The boss on hard mode was truly generous. It dropped two rare items among some others. One of them was a necklace quite fitting for Melodious Edelweiss. Cyclone placed it in the guild treasury so the bard could redeem it with contribution points.
It had to be said that Melodious Edelweiss signed with the guild as a Tier 1 member, receiving a generous wage of credits and some monthly contribution points.
But in exchange it was expected of her to devote her time to the guild. Therefore, the bard was highly sought after among the teams eager to clear dungeons.
Ultimately she went with Final Fend, Braag, the two Zen brothers, and others, forming the team everyone had the highest expectations for.
Unfortunately, the necklace wouldn't be of immediate help since its level requirement was too advanced.
The same was true for the robe Cyclone got from the boss, which could only be worn after reaching level 27. Since the party would gain a lot of EXP after exiting the dungeon however, Cyclone gave the robe to Balm hoping the healer would be able to wear it.
[Phenahloa's blessed robe
Category: Rare
Level requirement: 27
Physical Defence: 16
Magical Defence: 19
HP: 800
Effect 1: You have a chance of 0,5% to reset the cooldown of [Heal] every time an ally of yours receives damage. With every 1000 points of damage received the chance increases by 0,5%.
Effect 2: Ever time you heal an ally you have a chance of 20% to spread 50% of the healed amount to surrounding allies.
Effect 3: For every 5.000 points you heal reduce all your cooldowns by 3 seconds.
Restrictions: Bound upon wearing
This robe was one of those bestowed by Phenahloa during his vanquishing of the 'Suncursing plague'. Woven by the famous elven wandering healer and blessed by Heelonar, brother of the moon goddess, it allowed the priests to tirelessly help the afflicted people.]
Excited by the great loot so far Cyclone hastily reached towards Kelsnim, thinking her luck was at its peak. A shining golden light soon appeared in her hand, prompting her to smile brightly.
Unfortunately, it was an armor not suitable for any of the players present. Thus, Cyclone had to put it in the guild treasury together with another rare item and many of lower quality.
It couldn't be said that Kelsnim was less generous but maybe this was his way of taking revenge on the party.
"What a letdown.", murmured Cyclone, eyeing the staircase. She remembered that there was still one boss left.
"Sorry, Cy, but I think we're done here. I'm too exhausted to fight another boss.", said Silver Blade.
"Right."
"Same."
"Sorry Cyclone."
The others echoed the sentiment, causing Cyclone to sigh:
"Ok ok. Let's go. We'll leave it at that."
With Cyclone agreeing the party one by one used the option to leave the dungeon, appearing in front of the entrance.
They felt bitter inside as an enthusiastic crowd was already waiting for them. Knowing that this was part of their jobs they tried to appear happy, interacting with their fans for a while.
Maybe the other players felt the party's exhaustion, letting them leave relatively soon.
The friends returned to Duabalis City. Strolling along the street they looked forward to relaxing in their guild headquarters.
Soon they reached the main plaza, their eyes focusing on the building across the street, large grins forming on their faces.
Next to the luxurious auction house a magnificent building had appeared at some point. It was a playful manor with pointed roofs and two towers which were about the same height as the auction house.
Plants surrounded the building, placed thoughtfully, some vines growing along the walls. A large number of windows invited curious eyes to marvel at the comfortable interior which emitted a homely aura. Lanterns and candles tinged everything in a warm light.
Cyclone was the first to exclaim happily:
"Our guild hall!"
The young woman hastily crossed the plaza, eager to inspect the building which had finally finished construction, quickly followed by her similarly excited friends.