Below the mountain many players were waiting. When they saw the swarm of shooting stars suddenly spread from the top of the mountain, some were curious, others envious. The players who accepted the dungeon quest didn’t boast in the global chat but only informed their friends. Thus, it would take a while until the news about the dungeon would reach everyone.

Liam and his friends were at the back of the group. They raced on their flying mounts, reaching Svebrial in no time at all. Once they entered the city they didn’t let anything stop them and rushed straight for the teleporter. The scenery changed and they found themselves in a city of exceptional beauty. Gorgeous temples with pristinely white walls were visited by elegant elves. This was Luphenour City, the elven city most accessible to the public, dedicated to the goddess of the moon Lupheya.

Although it was not easy to receive access to many parts of high elven territory, by now most players could at least travel to the more prominent cities. Now a large crowd suddenly appeared in Luphenour. They stared at their maps, trying to figure out the location of the dungeon.

Many players quickly flew off in groups, eager to be the first to enter the dungeon. They sailed left and right above the forest surrounding the city, their expressions turning increasingly puzzled, unable to figure it out.

“Perhaps this is already part of the dungeon?”

“Is this the first puzzle?”

Some people joked around. At that moment, Liam and his friends appeared. Without delay they left the city, jumped on their mounts, and shot into the air. With Liam at the lead they were like a sharp arrow, startling the birds in the sky. They flew straight towards a certain direction as if they knew exactly where to find the dungeon. Suddenly a green light could be seen erupting in front of Liam, growing bigger by the second.

“Damn, how didn’t we think of that?!”

Some players slapped their own foreheads as they recalled the green scale given by Therim. Obviously, it could guide the way, shining brighter the closer one was to the dungeon.

At one point the green light suddenly overflowed. It turned into a beam which crashed into a seemingly empty place in the sky. Ripples spread in the sky and a tall, ancient stone gate gradually materialized. A gap opened, shining with green light, hiding the scenery behind. Liam and his friends transformed into ten shooting stars and rushed through the gap. As soon as they entered the light the gate closed again and showed signs of disappearing.

“Stop!”

“Guys, let’s go!”

“Hurry up!”

Suddenly everyone went mad. The players rushed to the sky, taking out their dragon scales. There were at least ten groups anxious to enter the dungeon. For a while the gate kept opening and closing. It probably hadn’t been this busy in hundreds, maybe thousands of years. The situation continued for more than five minutes until all the eligible groups had entered the dungeon. Those who remained behind where players drawn by the excitement, many below level 60, who came here to watch. But as the gate slowly disappeared there was not much left to spectate and the crowd mostly dispersed.

***

[Welcome, adventurers!]

[You have entered the dungeon ‘Nexkra’nar’s Nest’.]

[Hell Difficulty: All primary attributes reduced by 5%]

[Only Players levelled 65 – 70 admitted.]

[The limit on deaths will be suspended within the dungeon.]

[A player can only die once within a single run.]

[All EXP earned will be stored and only given out upon completion of the dungeon.]

As Liam and his friends barged into the dungeon, a notification immediately rang in their ears. It was not much different from what one would expect. Yet a certain point left them in shock.

“Primary attributes are reduced by 5%?! Damn, why did no one tell us that?”, exclaimed Cyclone.

“Not only are we weakened, but our enemies are certainly stronger than outside as well. This won’t be easy.”

“In here my damage drops by about five hundred points. What a bummer…”, complained Fortune.

The friends took a few seconds to come to term with the new situation. Even Liam was surprised. However, as a veteran such a small matter couldn’t shake his confidence. He swiftly adjusted his mind and surveyed his surroundings. At least those were still the way he remembered them.

The space the party had entered was like a small world. Towering mountains covered in healthy, green grass surrounded them from all sides. Animals lived in herds on the ground, some peaceful, others violent. But even the smallest herds had at least a hundred monsters, the weakest being level 64.

Previously Liam was asked by his friends if there was something he needed to prepare for the dungeon, just like the last time. His answer was that their flying mounts were the best preparation. Now that they got a good look at the dungeon, the friends understood. With such big groups of monsters travelling on the ground wasn’t feasible. This dungeon was obviously created with flying mounts in mind.

However, other than the danger radiating from the monsters the friends were also focused on something else.

“It’s so pretty!”

“Where are we? Clear, blue sky, a shining sun, is this another world?”

“Look, there are beautiful flowers everywhere. Even those monsters are quite pretty.”

“Yes, their dragon features grant them a certain elegance.”

The friends chatted for a few seconds. Unfortunately, the pressure brought by the competition prevented them from admiring the scenery for too long. This morning an interview with a player called SpireX had been published. In this interview SpireX revealed that he was the captain of ‘The New Number One’ and that the group’s real name was GalanTen. In his words some people should be careful not to be overly content with their advantage. Clearly, this was hinting at Hotpot.

But the friends never thought to underestimate this new challenger. One could tell from the ranking list that the members of GalanTen have been at level 64 for a while now. They might advance any time. Hotpot couldn’t allow themselves to rest.

“Ok guys. We have a dungeon to clear. Let’s go.”

“Cy, don’t be hasty. We don’t even know where we need to go.”

“The quest says to find Nexkra’nar’s temple. This shouldn’t be too difficult, right? We just need to… follow our expert!”

The others chuckled lightly but their eyes all fell on Liam. Knowing the urgency in everyone’s minds, Liam didn’t tell his friends to figure it out by themselves. He nodded and rushed to the sky on Drasky’s back. Even the lively fox seemed to be quite amazed by the beautiful environment, looking left and right. But suddenly his body tensed as he stared in a certain direction, narrowing his eyes dangerously.

A noise could be heard from a distance. In everyone’s view some dots rose from a mountain below, reaching them at an incredible speed, even faster than their flying mounts. Only as the monsters came close did they slow down, and their appearance got revealed. They were truck-sized wyverns with wide, leathery wings, two muscular legs, and a long tail. Their maws opened for threatening screeches, revealing their teeth sharp enough to tear any kind of prey apart.

“Careful!”

Radiant Shield shouted a warning as two of the wyverns didn’t waste any time, targeting Liam. They rose from below, aiming their terrifying teeth at Drasky’s belly.

Although Liam was surprised by the wyverns’ speed, he wouldn’t get flustered so easily. Treating the air like a solid platform, Drasky jumped backwards at a high speed. Wyverns were agile hunters, but their flight relied on their wings and certain manoeuvres were more difficult to them. Before they managed to turn around, the momentum had already carried them upwards, missing Liam by a few meters.

[Stance -17!]x2

Liam made it look easy, but his friends felt their chests tighten. This would be their first real aerial battle. Although they had trained at the lake, there was still a difference.

“Don’t freeze up! Let’s go!”

Silver Blade shouted to wake everyone up. She and Radiant Shield rushed forward into the flock of eight wyverns, briefly inspecting their enemies.

[Green-Tailed Wyvern

Rank: common

Level: 64

HP: 59.000/59.000]

Radiant Shield immediately felt relieved after realizing that these wyverns were all of common rank. Judging from their ferocious appearance he wouldn’t have been surprised if they were all elites.

Common enemies were just right to get used to aerial combat. Thinking so, Radiant Shield targeted a group of four enemies including the two wyverns which had tried to attack Liam. A splendid, illusionary shield appeared behind his back, covering a large area, shooting at the enemies. Just as he was already considering his next move, Radiant Shield witnessed a shocking scene. Two of the wyverns placed their wings close to their bodies. Gravity pulled them down just as the [Shield of Faith] arrived. One of the wyverns ducked its head and managed to narrowly dodge the skill.

[Stance -28!]

“What?!”

Radiant Shield couldn’t help but let out a shocked cry. Before he could rush forward to pull the attention of the fourth wyvern it let out a cry, flew in a large circle, and shot towards Liam like a monstrous arrow.