Healer Book 6 -- Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Missing his destroyed Wyvern’s Flight Cloak, which would’ve made the trip a whole lot easier, Thaden leapt over the small hillock in front of him as he tore across the landscape of the Wildlands.  When he landed a few seconds later, he could see the ruins of a town in the distance, which seemed to have a giant hole in the middle of it.  Climbing out of that hole were dozens of 12-foot tall, Gorilla-looking monsters with dark grey scales covering their bodies rather than hair.  The spiked protrusions on their fists dragged along the ground as their loping movement allowed them to quickly disperse into the surrounding landscape.

Scaled Gorillum – Advanced Wildlands Denizen

Level 380 (Perceived Level: 494)

The base Level of the monster was actually quite surprising, given that this was the Wildlands and the Mithril-based construct monsters in The Citadel had started over Level 400.  They weren’t really a concern to him, of course, given that he could handle something of this Level without any concern whatsoever; it was simply confusing why they were so weak.

“Don’t be too shocked by their Level,” Sadia told him as she bounded next to him, easily keeping up with him.  “They start out quite weak, but over time they’ll grow in strength as they evolve.”

He nodded in understanding, even as he started winding up his normal assortment of healing spells so he could start wiping out the Scaled Gorillum as he approached them.  His normal assortment of defensive spells were already locked and loaded around him to prevent any damage from actually reaching him, and he began a cycle of heals to start the process of Exceptional Wild Health Leach going to work on the nearby monsters.  He didn’t get too fancy with his spells, despite being able to essentially equip all of them in his Access Slots, as there was no reason to given the strength of his foes.

It was a simple rinse and repeat situation that he’d done countless times since he’d first become a Solitary Shaman followed by an Omenic Drifter.  Thankfully, he was equipped with his solo-focused Growth set of Artifact Rarity clothing he’d received as a reward for completing the Maximal difficulty of the Mines of Khanordun, which was getting better and better as it absorbed PICK from the monsters he’d killed lately.  At Level 208, his current equipment was nowhere near his actual Level of 450, but he knew that they would get there—eventually.  As it was, they were more than adequate for his current objective.

 “Are you sure you want to do this?” Sadia asked for at least the fifth time since he’d heard the roars indicating that the NESTs inside the Wildlands were activating.

Thaden sighed in frustration, wondering where all of this hesitancy was coming from.  “Of course!  I need to know what we’re going to be up against with this new Developmental Phase.”  He glanced at her for a moment, even as they ran closer to the NEST and the monsters that were emerging.  “Are you sure you can’t tell me any more about NESTs and this Phase?” he asked, somewhat assuming that it wasn’t likely after his initial question shortly after hearing the monsters inside the NESTs activating.

“As I told you, I’m limited on what I can share with you about this Phase that wasn’t already covered by the announcement,” she answered, confirming his assumption.  “However, once certain… things happen, I can explain much more.”

“And you can’t tell me what these things are?”

She just shook her head, which he could see out of the corner of his eye.

As they closed in on the NEST, Thaden couldn’t help but think about all that had happened in just the last day.  Being chased by the Amplified Adamantine Goliath Boss into The Citadel dungeon had been harrying enough, but then to encounter a Director of the Adversary – which he was still a bit hazy on just who they were – who then attempted to kill him, before he caused the explosion that sent him flying into the Wildlands was just the beginning of his crazy experiences.  Waking up in mid-flight had been a bit of a horrifying experience, especially as he didn’t have any way to fly anymore, but then to find that he had inadvertently started Developmental Phase 4 early was yet another blow to his already battered mind.  He still remembered reading the announcement on his message feed and wondering what kind of disaster he’d just initiated.

In your final Developmental Phase here on Tarth, Developmental Phase 4, you will be able to apply your skills working in a larger Raid Party in a real-world situation.  Past The Citadel, which acted as a defense against the dangers of the Wildlands beyond, the Adversary has entrenched itself in thousands of Nonstandard Evolutionary Subjugation Territories, or NESTs.  These NESTs are filled with an assortment of monsters that you will have to adapt to and find a way to defeat; unlike the dungeons that you are used to in your Region, these NESTs are open to the world and will release their numbers to roam over the entirety of the Wildlands.  In addition, while the initial release of monsters will be relatively weak in comparison to the Contenders in your Region, future released monsters will begin to evolve in nonstandard ways, including – but not limited to – an increase in Level and, therefore, strength.

Be warned!  As soon as the monster density in an area reaches a certain threshold, territorial instincts will force those monsters that are weaker than future monster evolutions to migrate elsewhere – which can lead to them swarming into an undefended Region. 

During this final Developmental Phase, it is your purpose to not only develop and secure a defensive perimeter along the paths leading into your Region, but also to assault and subjugate every single NEST found within the Wildlands, securing each site along the way.  Keep in mind, however, that a subjugated NEST can be recaptured by the Adversary if the securing defenses are inadequate or entirely undefended.  Various benefits can be obtained from subjugating and securing each NEST, so strategizing when and how to assault each one is imperative to a successful campaign in this final Phase.

As you are the only Region currently initiating Developmental Phase 4, it is recommended that you maintain your defensive perimeter first before working to thin out the number of monsters that will be released from nearby NESTs; once the other Regions join you in this Phase, that will be the time to strike, working your way through the entirety of the Wildlands as a cohesive army despite your Regional differences. 

As a reminder, every single Contender is competing against each other in the Rankings.  A new Regional Ranking will be set up as soon as 2 or more Regions initiate Developmental Phase 4.  This Ranking will evaluate, by Region, the total number of monsters killed, the total number of NESTs subjugated, the total time each subjugated NEST is held securely, and a contribution rank among all Regions once the Phase is complete.

Good luck!

[Quest Type: SPECIAL – WORLD

Rank Requirement: Any

Quest Time Limit: N/A

Quest Difficulty: High-Maximal

Minimum Recommended Level: 700

Minimum Recommended Raid Party Size: 50,000

Quest Description: By utilizing all of the knowledge and experience you’ve gained on Tarth, it is now time to locate and eliminate any trace of the Adversary away from this world.  By subjugating and eliminating the NESTs located in the Wildlands, you will secure and safeguard the world of Tarth for the future generations of its residents.

Completion Requirements: Completely subjugate every NEST located within the Wildlands

Quest Rewards: Graduation from Tarth, Ranking rewards, and assimilation into the greater System

Quest Failure Penalties: Death of every living being on Tarth

Available World Adventurer Coalition Members Assigned: All]

Everything he knew about the current and final Phase essentially came from the announcement, and Sadia wouldn’t—or couldn’t—give him any more details.  Which was what led to him investigating one of these NESTs himself.  If he found that it was way above his ability to check out and potentially destroy, then he would back off and head towards his Region again. 

The only problem was that he didn’t know exactly where it was, though he at least had a general direction based on how he’d landed after his impromptu flight following the explosion at The Citadel dungeon.  It was something he needed to do regardless of his investigation of a NEST, if only so that he could reconnect with everyone there and see about setting up defenses against the monsters of the Wildlands.  Based on the System announcement, he figured that they had some time before those monsters would start attacking, but he didn’t know how long they had before that happened.  Regardless, his side trek into a NEST hopefully wouldn’t take too long, so he didn’t see it being an issue before he got back to his Region.

Besides, knowledge of the enemy they were up against was important, especially if he was forced to finish the Phase all by himself.  The way it was started far ahead of when it should’ve been made him believe that he was likely the only one that could survive against all the threats that presented themselves. 

The first of the Gorillum spreading out from the NEST entrance saw him as he got within its visual range, but it barely took a single step before Thaden and Sadia were within his Leach Health spell’s range, and with all of the healing spells they were cycling upon themselves, the NEST-borne monster dropped dead almost instantly.  The death of the Gorillum pulled the attention of the others nearby, and soon enough they were swarmed by dozens of the monsters – who all died as soon as they came into range. 

Compared to what he’d been up against lately, it was an unsatisfying fight – but he wasn’t going to complain.  A quick run to each corpse extracted loot from them, and he briefly looked at what he’d received – and was thoroughly underwhelmed.

Extractions complete!

Loot obtained:

483 Gold, 27 Silver, 14 Copper coins

6 Gauntlets of Bashing (Rare)

3 Helm of the Gorillum Elite (Epic)

93 Knuckle Spikes (Uncommon)

165 Gorillum Hide (Common)

Because the Gorillum were technically 20 Levels above him based on their Perceived Level, he received triple the loot thanks to the Unkillable II Achievement – and yet, none of it was useful to him.  Unless he somehow found another flying cloak or some other useful item, his current Growth items were much better than anything he could pick up from killing simple monsters along the way.  Even Gold coins didn’t really do much for him, other than buying food, perhaps, but as it was, it just went to join the hundreds of thousands of Gold he already had in his Inventory. 

When he got back to the Guild, he was sure that Corinna and the crafters that were employed by them would love to have the materials, but for now, they simply filled up a tiny space in his Inventory.

He also felt the PICK he’d received from them filter into his aforementioned Growth items, but it wasn’t yet enough to raise any of them to the next Level.  Each Level seemed to take more and more PICK to Level-up, and considering that he wasn’t in a dungeon – which gave him the best reward multipliers – he actually didn’t receive as much as he was used to. 

Cleared of nearby monsters, he reached the edge of the dilapidated town and the pit that held the NEST.  There were still more of the Gorillum emerging, though their numbers had measurably slowed down; the dozen or so that climbed their way to the top of the pit on the opposite side of Thaden, where his range couldn’t reach, filtered out into the countryside, but those within the range of his spells simply dropped dead and fell back into the pit. 

For the first time, he was able to easily see inside the hole in the ground that supposedly held the NEST, and it was somewhat like what he expected.  The pit was the widest at the top, and it narrowed as it descended at least 1,000 feet below the surface, with a layer of dark shadows that attempted to obscure the bottom.  Unfortunately for whatever the NEST was attempting to hide, his 60% Shadow Resistance allowed him to see most of everything down below, and he counted at least another 50 or so Gorillum sitting around in the flat, circular space along the bottom.  They were moving slightly, looking almost like they were lounging and simply waiting for a call to action, which he could only assume would come if he were to start descending. 

As for how to descend, there was a crude pathway cut along the walls of the pit that spiraled downward, steep enough that one would have to take care not to fall forward and roll out of control all the way down.  The pathway was also narrow enough that falling off was a real concern – at least for people without a high Celerity.  Thaden wasn’t necessarily worried about that, though, as he would not only survive jumping off from the top of the pit to the bottom, but wouldn’t even be hurt by it thanks not only to his defensive spells, but his high Physicality.

What he was more worried about was what he couldn’t see.

“This is it?  The requirements for my Evolution Assignment made it seem like there might be a bit more involved than that,” he said, pointing toward the group of 50 Gorillum down at the bottom of the pit.  Just to make sure he hadn’t missed something, he pulled up his Evolution Assignment once again.

Level 567: Locate and participate in destroying a NEST in uncharted territory

Yep.  This seems entirely too easy.

“All that I’m allowed to say is that there’s more going on here than just those few monsters down below,” Sadia responded with carefully chosen words.

Thaden nodded to show he understood the restrictions she was working under.  “Fair enough.  Let’s go see what’s going on here, then.”

Moving along the edge of the pit, the two of them quickly reached the top of the pathway leading down.  Again, he thought that he could probably jump down into the middle of the Gorillum below, but he figured since Sadia warned him that there was more going on than what he could see, he figured he might as well be a little cautious for once.

As soon as he stepped on the stone and dirt pathway leading downwards, he felt a slight tingle pass through him.  It wasn’t like entering a dungeon, however, as it didn’t feel as if he was entering a whole other space; instead, it was like he passed through some sort of invisible boundary that only existed for the System.

You have located NEST #3823!

That was the only message he received as soon as he passed through the invisible barrier.  He was used to some sort of indication of Level Range or difficulty selection, but there was none of that here.  He glanced at Sadia, but as her squirrelly face didn’t reveal anything, he didn’t push for more information.

NEST #3823?  Does that mean there are thousands of these NESTs spread throughout the Wildlands?  From what Thaden had seen when uncontrollably flying through the air above it, he had to admit that the density of potential NESTs was quite high, at least compared to the dungeons that could be found within Region #1.  Then again, he supposed that made sense; the Wildlands was supposed to be the final Phase where all of the Contenders throughout the Regions would come together for a singular purpose.  If there were only a few hundred of them, he could see the Developmental Phase being completed within a few weeks. 

The other result of starting his journey down to the bottom of the pit was that the Gorillum waiting along the bottom immediately reacted.  Like guard sentries that had been alerted to an intruder, they mobilized and began climbing up the walls of the pit, heading straight toward the top where Thaden and Sadia were located.  While he had half-expected it, the relatively few monsters that were there to guard the NEST was still confusing, given that a simple Raid Party of 100 or less – around Level 400 – could probably wipe them out without too much trouble. 

Instead of standing his ground, Thaden instead made his way down the pathway at a safe speed, letting the Gorillum converge on his descending route – only to be hit by his Wild Health Leach combination of spells, dying instantly.  It was totally unfair, of course, but Thaden had done it so many times by that point that he didn’t care how fair it was; as long as the monsters died and got out of his way, he was perfectly fine with it.

It took less than a minute to arrive at the bottom, and that was only because he was taking it relatively slow.  He kept expecting something to suddenly pop out of the walls or attack him from an unexpected direction, but nothing of the sort happened.  The Gorillum sentries all died before they got even within 50 feet of him, so nothing actually stood in his way.

It wasn’t until he was within a few dozen feet of the gloomy bottom that he was able to make out what he supposed was Sadia’s warning.  A large stone doorway that blended fairly well into the stone wall of the pit stood closed and seemingly locked up tight.  Opposite of the closed door and to the left and right were a trio of tall openings in the wall that led to dark passages that led somewhere underground, and he could practically feel that there were even more monsters down each and every one of them.

“Ah.  I see.  The pit was just the entrance of this whole thing, wasn’t it?  Is this like some sort of ‘natural’ dungeon, then?”

Sadia simply shrugged, but he could see the smile on her face indicating that he was likely correct.

“Then this should be where the Boss is, right?” he said, pointing toward the closed stone doorway.  A few steps was all it took to reach it, and he cocked his right arm back before unleashing a punch upon the barrier.  As soon as his fist got close to the stone, it hit a shimmering blue barrier that stopped his hand from making contact; it didn’t hurt to hit, nor did it make his fist rebound backwards.  Instead, it simply halted his punch without any harm, and he instinctively knew that it was demonstrating that no matter how strong he was, he wouldn’t be able to break through.

“Guess I can’t cheese it, then,” he said, slightly disappointed, before turning toward one of the passageways leading deeper into the NEST.  “Well then, shall we go investigate?”

“I go where you go, Thaden,” the squirrel responded seriously, but he could hear the amusement in her tone. 

As he took off in a jog and passed through the tunnel to the left of the sealed door, he heard more bestial roars reverberate against the stone as he passed the threshold.  “Alright then, let’s do this!”