What happens when a dozen adult Mardukryon NPCs and maybe about twenty slightly smaller but still very large Mardukryon players go down a tunnel at the same time?

Pandemonium, that’s what.

“What’s the holdup? Go fucking forward!”

Another one answered from the front. “Just wait! There are so many monsters here.”

“Charge out! There’s space out in front. Charge forward.”

"Fuck this."

“Don’t charge forward, damn it. There’s no space.”

“What the hell, man? We’re like sardines here.”

The NPCs were adding to the din shouting battle cries, their loud voices echoing in the tunnel. Their leader said, “Stick together men. We will return this mines to our control. Stick together and fight as one." His men shouted their assent.

So, the largest Mardukryons stuck together in one group as we slowly made our way down the tunnel to the fourth floor. The group in front, based on the sounds of battle, have encountered a large number of monsters that have most likely grouped together because no one was going down the fourth level to kill them.

The players were trying to jostle past the pack of Miners, like blood trying to force its way through an artery clogged by fat. This whole affair was about to give me hypertension. If everyone could just calm the fuck down, then we could smoothly progress through this stupid tunnel. But everyone wanted to go forward to get to the monsters.

Incompetence like this was the bane of society. This was the sort of thing you would expect from people that wasn’t me. If only this world was filled with people like me.

I was joking, of course. That sort of world couldn’t possibly exist because all that awesomeness would tear the fabric of space and time.

We were carried along by the Miner NPCs. It was very hard to go against the flow. The other players fared no better. In Mardukryonn age, all the players were considered young. The Miners around us were probably middle-aged in Mardukryon years, so they were very large compared to us. Eventually, everyone calmed down and the frontlines managed to push back the monsters.

When we were able to finally step foot on the floor of the fourth level, everyone went nuts once again.

Carnage and destruction befell the flood of worms that had the misfortune to meet the incoming Mardukryon onslaught. There was a large space right outside the mouth of the tunnel where we exited so everyone had enough space to fight. Several tunnels lead to our spot, feeding monsters to the killing machine that was the Mardukryon horde.

I admit, the scene where a couple of dozen demon centaurs fighting made my adrenaline rise. The players didn't shout war cries maybe except for the ones dedicated to roleplaying, however, the NPCs were very enthusiastic in killing those who invaded their mines. This was more enjoyable than any fantasy movie with environ-surround holo-projection.

Worms, large and small, poured in from the tunnels, never caring that many of them were already slaughtered.

I didn’t bother to use my Stance and wait for monsters to attack me. There was so much fighting going on that no monster would reach me if I simply waited for them. I kickstarted and charged all around, trying to reach the monsters first. It was every man for himself; I didn’t even know where Balasi was.

We, the players and the NPCs, were not a raid team, that much was obvious. We were just a team in the loosest sense of the word. In the past, I would join large parties, raid teams composed of up to thirty people. Besides the fact that the raid teams I have joined were organized and had a plan for each specific raid, only now have I really appreciated being able to control your character in third person god mode. Being in the middle of a large battle wasn’t the same as controlling your character through your computer screen.

Half the time, I didn’t even know what was going on. Each time I saw a monster that no one was attacking, I went for it and focused on it until it died. Our disorganized rabble was chewing monsters at an alarming rate.

This was fun as hell!

One thing praiseworthy during the battle was that everyone sort of followed an etiquette not to kill steal the prey of other people. Once a player has started to attack one monster, no one would join in and try to take the target for themselves.

Eventually, the monsters coming out of the tunnels thinned out. Corpses covered the ground. People were busy picking up their loot. I looked around for Balasi. Thankfully, he was still alive.

I lead us down a smaller tunnel while the players with parties chose bigger tunnels. The Miners went down the widest tunnel. No one followed them. Every one of us realized that it was hard to move around if you’re blocked by the huge bodies of the NPCs.

The tunnels of the fourth level were relatively darker than the previous levels. Most of the crystals used by Mardukryons to light the mines had broken off from the walls, possibly due to the constant battles and tunneling this past couple of days. But Mardukryon eyes adapted to the dark just fine. We sort of have a night vision thing going on with the upper pair of our eyes.

I stopped walking abruptly. "Balasi, wait a bit," I said, holding him back.

There was the familiar rumble of the earth signaling fuckers tunneling out. I assumed my stance with my buffs and told Balasi to stay back. I would tank whatever it was that was coming while he chipped in with whatever he does. Balasi was now equipped with a large war hammer, I wasn't sure what skills he has now.

Five violet worms crawled out of the walls and the ground. Two more broke out of the ceiling. These worms, as big as a dog, had short, fat, stubby legs and their face was a gaping mouth with serrated teeth. The Spite Piglets were either level seventeen or eighteen, higher than our levels. Although they were not indicated as a rare type of monster like that fucking grubling, this was going to be a tough fight.

They leaped at me. I caught their attacks with my shield. I was getting used with using the shield, turning it at the last moment to lessen the damage. But some of them were able to bite my legs and flank. They were very fast. Static shot through my body.

Balasi went in to attack, swinging his hammer down on one, causing it to get stunned.

“Wow, you can stun them?” I turned my shield to it so that it would get damaged by the explosion from the popped shell. “Let’s take them out one by one, starting with this one.”

Balasi’s attack speed was slow. He had to swing back his hammer to get momentum and he couldn’t stop it mid swing so the Spite Piglets sometimes evaded him.

Standing in the middle of the tunnel, I was able to reach both sides with my spear. There was no problem with them getting past me and attacking Balasi. I could always attack them and turn their aggro back to me since their mechanics was a simple “attack who attacks you”. I wasn't going to let Balasi get killed by these worms.

I was able to regen some Spirit whenever I blocked them, and since there were many of them, I had no trouble racking up blocks to replenish my Spirit. Balasi would give me breathing space by stunning some of them once in a while.

After collecting the loot, we pressed on forward down the tunnel. We met more Spite Piglets and disposed of them. I also found some of the ores Sumuel wanted. Balasi was able to quickly extract the ores from the walls, he was able to save me precious time in completing my quests.

Slow and steady was our pace. There were so many monsters here. I would probably get to level sixteen today. And my Ancestral Constitution was also nearing level ten, so I was pretty excited.

We reached an intersection and met another party. “Hello there!” I said waving at them. I didn’t know who they were but I thought a god should acknowledge lesser beings once in a while. They waved back at me before moving down another path. “Huh, they didn’t even bow down to me,” I said. “There will come a time when all of you will bow down to me. If I can find a skill that can make people bow down. Otherwise, I don’t know how to do that.”

“Where do we go next?” Balasi pointed to two other tunnels.

"I guess we'll go down here," I said as I started walking down the smallest tunnel. Parties would have avoided smaller tunnels so there might be more monsters for us to kill if we went that way.

I continued farming the items needed for my collection quests and killing monsters for my Miner quests. I had to go back to the Miner base in the third floor a couple of times because the durability of my equipment ran out quickly, most likely due to the acid attacks of the monsters.

Even with Balasi by my side, I still avoided fighting more than one grubling. I feared that their powerful acid would kill Balasi if I wasn’t able to defend him. If it was one grubling plus random normal monsters, then I would fight them. Balasi and I would target the trash mobs first while avoiding the body slams of the grubling, and then turn on the grubling for last. Balasi’s stun was very effective in disabling the grumblings. Killing them became so much better with his assistance.

I logged out at dinnertime so that I could eat. I also quickly finished some important paperwork that needed my attention then I went back to playing. This mini-event wouldn’t probably last for long so I want to take advantage of it as much as possible. And I also have the help of Balasi available. Who knew I could find him if they vacate their mini fort inside the mountain after this event. I admit, I was also a bit giddy to stay up all night to play. It has been a long time since I stayed up late at night to do something for leisure.

“Balasi, have you went down the fifth level?” I asked after we were walking around after a while without meeting any enemies.

“I have not. The crabores dwelling in the fifth level are very powerful. Only the older Miners go down there,” Balasi said.

“How many levels are the mines?”

“Seven levels, although the seventh level wasn’t exactly dug by us.”

“Did the Wraithpedes dig them?”

Balasi nodded. “The Miners just linked their own tunnels with the abandoned Wraithpede tunnels. I reckon they will do the same in the sixth level once the Wraithpedes are driven away.”

Where do the Wraithpedes go when they were driven away? I looked around. Crabores were supposed to be living here when the worms were not around. Why didn’t they meet any higher level crabores in the fourth level? Did the worms eat all of them? I was about to ask Balasi more questions about the mines when I spotted something shiny on the wall at the far end of the tunnel.

I galloped towards it and ended up in a large room. There were three really shiny objects on the wall along with ores; it was like one of those rooms with treasures you find in a dungeon in RPGs,

Chilled Steel (Integral Bit) (1/5)

Each piece gives:

+5% Armor

+3% Cold Resistance

10-15 Retribution Cold Damage

“What is this— Oh, there we go.” A Tip prompt appeared.

Tip:

Integrals Bits are crafting items that can be attached to equipment to boost the attributes of a player. Integral Bits of the same type can be repeatedly applied on the same equipment up to their stated limit. If the limit is reached, additional effects will be granted. Only one type of Integral Bit can be applied to each equipment.

Warning:

Integral Bits can only be removed by a high-level blacksmith so be careful where you use them.

“This is different from slots in items? Or the same? I think I have seen some items with several slots in Sumuel's workshop. But I can only attach one of this Bits, so this must be different.” The two other shiny items on the wall were also Integral Bits of other types. “Balasi, can I find more of these things around here?”

“Those are rare items in this level. I think I heard the older Miners say that you can more of them in lower levels.”

“I don’t think I can get to lower levels with this Wraithpede event going on. I can’t take on more than one grubling at a time.”

“The grumblings seem to appear more and more as we go further down this level.”

I sighed. “Oh well. I just have to content myself with the fourth level then. I’ll try the fifth level once the Wraithpedes go away.” I gathered all the other items inside the room. These Integral Bits would be useful in upgrading our shitty gear, no offense to Sumuel. “Let’s go, Balasi. If I get lucky I might be able to find more Integral Bits. They appear to be really useful.”