The heavy fog ahead lit up as if a fireworks display had started. Shouting mixed with explosions. Mardukryons thundered to the action. We navigated through spiked barricades, stacks of wooden crates, and weapon racks in the middle of the road, our numbers swelling as more players and NPCs joined.

As the herd galloped onward, people tried to form parties.

“Anyone looking for a DPS?” an axe-wielding player to my right shouted.

No one invited him to a team despite his impressive-looking gear and colossal stature, indicating his high level.

“Add me to a party, please,” a female Mardukryon meekly said.

Her voice pierced through the din because she configured her character to use her human voice. She hugged a simple wooden staff as she struggled to keep up with the herd. Her small size and plain robes indicated she was a new player.

And yet, a few players—male players, particularly—flocked to add her to their parties, knowing full well she’d be next to no help.

“Join me! I’ll leech you,” one said.

“Come with us,” chimed another. “We already got a healer and a tank.”

Spokeless and I exchanged knowing grins. After a decade and a half hiatus from gaming, I returned to find that some things never changed. Comforting and amusing. Mason, one of my childhood friends, used female characters and pretended in chat to be a girl to ask for items and easily join parties.

“Healer here!” someone shouted. “I have a resurrection spell. Need DPS. Apply to me quick.”

The axe-wielding player beside me swerved like a reckless driver cutting lanes and rushed to the Healer. “Strong DPS here!” he barked, using his bulk to box out other DPSers volunteering.

In MMORPGs, most of the player population would lean toward a DPS build. Even if many wouldn’t admit it, a part of everyone yearned to be a hero. It could also be that people didn’t want the responsibilities of a support player. While DPSers abound, it was another question if they were good and strong—the same player seldom possessed those two qualities at the same time.

Conversely, support-type players were rare but very in demand. This was another thing that didn’t change despite the years that passed. Healers, especially, had an easy time joining parties or making their own. They were like the top companies that had their pick of the cream of the crop graduates.

If circumstances were different, tanks could have their picks, too, and might have more bargaining power than healers. In this case, however, tanks weren’t needed for each party as everyone would join in the fight—a few strong tanks sufficed.

“It’s enough that you poke the boss,” I told Spokeless. “You’ll get Blight Tokens after the enemy dies to exchange for rewards at the Chief’s Lodge.”

“Are there better rewards for the highest DPS, highest tanked damage, and other metrics?” Spokeless asked.

“Yeah. But we don’t have a shot at the rankings, so no need to sweat it. Check if something comes out of the tunnels every now and then, and you can farm a decent amount of Tokens.” That was what I had been doing if I wasn’t helping new players—alternating between the Frost Macaques and Blight Tokens.

“I’m going to record the fight,” Spokeless excitedly said. “This is going to be so cool. I bet there aren’t many videos yet of this.”

Past the southern gate, we gained a better view of the wrecked settlements. Piles of broken pillars of wood were at the base of the cliff walls, sprinkled with boulders and green crystal shards. Miners had excavated parts of the rubble to free trapped survivors. There might be corpses still buried. Or did those turn to sparkles of Essence and Gli?

The herd turned left to the site of the battle further past the main tunnel entrance that had caved in. The shifted earth created three new openings, funneling Arcane Blighted monsters into a relatively open area up ahead. It was bordered south by the cliff walls and rubble, and north by a steep climb to the main village.

Our enemy was in the middle of the arena of sorts, standing twice taller than the biggest Mardukryon in the crowd and much, much, bloatingly wider. Players hungry for battle surrounded it. Lesser Arcane Blighted creatures trickled out of the tunnels, but they were instantly dispatched by a deluge of Area-of-Effect spells. There were so many fire abilities that red fought back the Blighted green, swallowing other colors too, and made the arena look like the pits of hell, with Mardukryons looking like proper demons anyway.

Panchello was right that this world quest really did spice up the setting.

“That is one wicked-looking bastard of a boss,” Spokeless whistled.

“Agreed,” I said. “Same reaction I had when they first came out of the tunnels.”

[Lvl: 78 Arcane Blighted Mardukryon: Kalagemi] wasn’t a chimera mish-mashed from different monster parts tacked on by Bawu, but an ill-fated Mardukryon bathed by the green substance and irradiated by the corrupted crystals. Kalagemi’s coal shell was tinged with a slight purple radiance, and the magma lines webbing his upper body turned vomit green. The disheveled fur of his bull half had fallen off in places, revealing patches of decaying brownish skin.

Kalagemi’s tusks and horns crackled with lightning. This must be caused by the [Concentrated Fulguris Extract] I gathered for Bawu—fulgur meant ‘lightning’ in Latin. Herald Stone, Latin Speaker. Nah, I just looked up what it meant online.

Spiked vines bored out of the Blighted Mardukryon’s skin like oversized maggots on a corpse. This was the [Blighted Vinereaver Essence] I also gave Bawu mixed with the normal Blight. Some tendrils extended to the ground, sucking energy from corrupted crystals beneath us. A few parties took it upon themselves to chop those vines.

Vines shouldn’t be left alone for long. Besides healing the boss, they also had an AoE debuff that gradually increased in size, polluting the ground and swallowing the arena.

“Look out!” somebody yelled.

“Incoming!”

I grabbed Spokeless Rado and dragged him to the left. A telephone pole of a vine stabbed his previous spot.

“Hey, we can hit this!” I switched to my [Heavy Spear], one of the two weapons in my inventory. Both were given by NPCs. I never saw the need to buy something stronger because I was usually dual-wielding shields. Dual-shielding.

Heavy Spear | Item Level: 10

Common | Melee | Two-Handed

18-35 Attack Power (Neutral)

1.3 Attacks per Second

Requires: 15 Might

Spokeless and I and other weaker players jumped on the easy chance for Blight Tokens. Our damage was laughably cute; we couldn’t budge the separate health bar of the vine. Parties dedicated to bringing down vines joined in to faster bring it down.

The vine dealt with, Spokeless asked me, “So… what do we do now?”

“You still haven’t gotten your picture,” I said with a chuckle. “Let’s go have a closer look.”

As we squeezed ourselves through the ring of ranged DPSers and Healers maintaining some distance from the boss, I changed my [Heavy Spear] to my sling weapon. Then I set it so I could attack myself.

[ Toggle All PvP Damage Setting: ON ]

I self-stacked [Ancestral Constitution] from my Mardukryon Cidule so I’d be tanky before the enemy could hit me—that said, I didn’t have any plans to get hit by Kalagemi.

What could Spokeless be thinking seeing me whip myself? No matter. I was willing to do anything to get hard. And I was getting harder because my [Ancestral Constitution] had leveled up yesterday to five—with two Greater Skill Points bringing it up to level seven.

Lvl. 7 Ancestral Constitution: Mardukryons inherited but a minute fraction of the divine solar vitality of their ancestors.

Passive: +500 Armor and Magic Resilience, +23% Armor and Magic Resilience, 500 Health, +350 Ancestral Shroud, 11% Physical and Magic Damage Reduction

Each time damage is received (Max stacks [7]):

+ 70 Armor and Magic Resilience, +25 Health per Second, +90 Health, +70 Ancestral Shroud

Duration: 30 seconds per stack

After I capped the stacks of [Ancestral Protection], I protected myself with [Greater Pyro Shell] supported by the Relic Quality Link Shard I got as a reward from Bawu, [Arcane Poison Empowerment.]

Lvl. 10 Greater Pyro Shell: Glorious blessings of the ancestors coat you with a formidable barrier of protective flames that boosts your defenses and absorbs (75% of incoming damage) up to the amount of Ancestral Shroud/Energy spent to summon it added by (36% of Armor). When the barrier expires or is depleted, the damage it has absorbed is dealt to nearby enemies.

Grants: +425 Armor, +20% Armor

Cost: 30% of Max Ancestral Shroud for Mardukryon; 20% of Max Energy for other Races

Duration: 25 Seconds

Cooldown: 5 Seconds

Lvl. 5 Arcane Poison Empowerment (Link): Arcane Brewers, armed with ancient knowledge, could enhance the power of Skill Shards, imbuing them with enchanted Poison. Increase the level of one (1) damage-dealing linked Skill Shard by six (6). All linked Skill Shard gain (110%) of their non-Poison damage as extra Poison Damage—casting cost of the linked Skill Shard will increase by (21%).

I was able to push both skills to their maximum levels with only five Lesser Skill Points with the help of the Tower Shield that SpartanDonkey had given me, supposedly made by a Mardukryon player with an advanced Blacksmithing Ocadule who had already changed races.

HammerDeezBolt’s Tower Shield {3} | Item Level: 20

Epic | Shield | Off-hand

207 Armor

23% Chance to Block 198 Damage

Head-On Block 336 Damage

15% Additional Armor and Magic Resilience

Requires: 45 Might, 65 Vigor

--------------------

+2 Level to Slotted Link Shards

+6% Chance to Block

+45 Block Damage

I winced at the hefty Ancestral Shroud cost. A thicker shell wouldn’t be much help if I couldn’t cast the skill due to lacking AS.

I needed something for the AS-guzzling [Greater Pyro Shell], as well as find a second Link Shard for it. But I put off shopping for now, waiting for the auction house listings to balloon as the active players on this mountain increased.

[ Toggle All PvP Damage Setting: OFF ]

As I came closer to the center of the arena, I turned off the PvP Damage settings so I wouldn’t accidentally get caught by the AoE spells flying around. Dying to friendly fire was tragic in real life but quite embarrassing in the game.

Four tanks held the attention of the Arcane Blighted Mardukryon, employing various taunting skills to make it face them, keeping its front side away from the rest of the players. They rotated the aggro of the boss between them, taking into account the cooldowns of their defensive skills. They worked like a well-oiled machine and were supported by their party mates nearby.

Yesterday, I chatted with those tanks—one connoisseur of hardness to another—asking about their thoughts on various builds. None of them used two shields simultaneously. While two shields made it easier to Head-On Block, they reasoned that each shield's inherent Chance to Block attribute didn’t stack—only the higher one worked.

Equipping a different type of item also opened up build possibilities, like Cassandragon equipped a scroll and a shield—the scroll was from the Healers, boosting her healing and regeneration. Ichabod, on the other hand, carried a small statue in his hand. It was made by the Spirit Carvers and boosted barrier-type skill. The other two veteran tanks used weapons—a mace and a hammer. Blunt weapons were better suited for CC skills required to be a good tank.

Melee DPSers attacked the hindlegs and massive shaggy behind of Kalagemi. They weren’t exactly safe.

The boss mainly stomped its front hooves and bent down to swipe at the tanks but would occasionally kick back or cast AoE spells, like spears of hardened vines emerging from the ground or ripples of electricity. Several DPSers would die each time, especially the newer players.

Benevolent people with ress skills would help them. I’d love to have a ress skill to display magnanimity, but I couldn’t complete the quest that gave it due to the world quest blocking the way.

Spokeless rounded the boss to get a better view. I followed behind him, but not too close, knowing what would happen. I debuffed the boss as I galloped, casting [Gnawing Rot] and [Withering Brand], both linked to [Enfeebling Burden].

Lvl. 7 Gnawing Rot: Spread a festering miasma over a small area (maximum of four), causing any enemies entering it to lose 97 Armor and Magic Resilience (maximum 545), 2% Armor and Magic Resilience (maximum 10%). The effect of the decay persists for 13 seconds after leaving the area.

Cost: 85 Energy

Duration: 45 Seconds

Cooldown: 5 Seconds

Lvl. 6 Withering Brand: A long-forgotten incantation that targets an enemy with a curse, reducing its Movement Speed, Attack Power, and Magic Power by 30%.

Cost: 75 Energy

Duration: 15 Seconds

Cooldown: 7 Seconds

Lvl 1 Enfeebling Burden (Link): Enemies under the effect of linked debuff-type skills will suffer an extra 5% more of their debilitating effects.

Kezo gave these Shards to me, and they had served me well. As I improved my build, I was on the lookout for something better in the market. I had to consider the economy of my scarce LSPs. It’d be great if I could find something like [Horde Stampede] that was useful even at level one or a Link Shard like [Arcane Poison Empowerment] that increased the levels of other Shards.

“Say cheese!” Spokeless Rado cackled as he posed a few meters away from Kalagemi’s foreleg.

The boss turned to him.

A flash of light. Lightning zapped from Kalagemi’s horns. Spokeless fell into a smoking heap, his health bar becoming zero in one blink.

Cassandragon spotted us from in between the boss’ legs and rushed over. She cast [Ancestral Awakening], a skill from her Advanced Healer Ocadule, to revive Spokeless.

Three golden Mardukryon specters appeared around the body of Spokeless and raised their arms to the sky. Spokeless immediately stood up, showered with golden sparkles, with full health once again.

“Okay, I kinda expected that to happen,” Spokeless laughed. “I got a good video—”

Bzzzt!

Another bolt of lightning hit Spokeless.

“What the…?” he exclaimed. “I’m alive?” He examined the blue film coating his body.

“Oy! Scram the frick away!” Cassandragon roared, pointing a glowing blue scroll at us.

We obliged Cassandragon and galloped off.

We went past the mass of players piling on the boss and up the embankment behind the arena, watching from an excellent vantage point. Spokeless gushed about the likes he’d get from the videos of the battle while I studied the playstyle of the tanks and supports.

With the number of players participating in the world raid, it didn’t take long for Kalagemi, the Arcane Blighted Mardukryon, to fall.

[ Loot: 5,359 Artas, (5) Toxic Goop, (2) Vinereaver Prickle, (2) Mardukryon Fur, (18) Blight Tokens ]