by Tony Corden
The fifteen minutes passed quickly as Leah talked about Thad with Gèng. Leah logged back in and soon all ten of the group were standing on the entry disc. Leah said, “Jack agreed yesterday that I would lead the group and that we’d all share the spoils equally. Does anyone here have a problem with that?”
After a moment of silence Leah said, “OK then, I’ll start a group and invite you to join. Within moments Leah was the leader of a group. Blue had the lowest level at 224 and Jack the highest at 321. The group’s average was 286 and Leah said, “The lowest MOB we will meet is going to be at Level 286. Both Granite and I will be mining and the rest of you will need to keep us safe. I’ll let Jack decide who looks after who because he knows best how you work. I plan to reconnoitre before we begin mining.
“Once the attacks start, they won’t stop. Once both Granite and I have found a Darkness Diamond, then we can either keep going until we have ten or we can move deeper into the mine immediately. I’d like to suggest we mine ten at each level but I’m open to a good reason to do it the other way. Does anyone prefer the other option and have a good reason?”
Nobody said anything and Leah let the silence continue until she was convinced everyone had actually thought about it. Finally, she said, “OK then, Granite and I will try and mine in close proximity to each other, but I have no idea how far apart the Diamonds are. Jack, what are your choices for teams?”
Jack just stared at Leah for a moment and then shook his head and said, “Sorry Atherleah, it’s been a long time since I wasn’t the leader in a group. You took me by surprise, and I apologise. I’d like Brim, Blue, Phil and I to watch over Granite. That leaves Smash, Nemo, Megan and Mist to watch Atherleah.”
Leah said, “If it’s easier, then call me Leah. Most of my friends do. Does anyone have a question?”
When no one said anything, Leah palmed the key, inserted it into the lock and gave it a twist. The metal disc transformed into a silver portal and the ten players dropped through into the mine. As soon as they arrived Leah received a message.
Level 5 Dungeon Achievement - First 1 (2, Painite)
Atherleah (Level 308), you have entered the Level 5 area: The Darkness Diamond Mine of Lord Kötü Niyetli.
Atherleah, you have entered the upper entrance to the Darkness Diamond Mine of Lord Kötü Niyetli. The lowest level is guarded by his youngest offspring, Lady S’yah Kaltak.
You are in the group of first players to access this area. This is your second, ‘First 1 (Painite)’ achievement.
Reward 1: 5000 x 308 = 5921300 (+284.5%) Experience Points (4450000/4450000) (4239586/4550000)
Reward 2: + 4% to all future Experience
Reward 3: 2 x 1 Diamond = 2 Diamond
Reward 4: 5000 Fame (259565)
Reward 5: Increased probability of valuable drop. Luck is increased by 7.5% whenever you are in this Dungeon. During your first time in the Dungeon, the probability of all drops is increased to 0.5.
Note: This achievement will be published on the Dunyanin achievement forum.
Leah waited until everyone had settled after reading the message. They were at the end of what looked like a large natural cave, although Leah couldn’t see the other end. Stalagmites and stalactites dotted the cave with a number reaching from the floor to the ceiling. Dark shapes could be seen moving throughout the cave which widened rapidly to be almost sixty metres across. Leah nodded at Mist to move ahead. The two teams stayed close to each other but took greater care of those they were responsible for. Leah equipped her mining sight and began looking for evidence of where to mine.
Leah was the first to spot a green area. When she saw it she moved close to Jack and whispered, “They won’t attack till we start to mine. Let’s map the entire level before starting. That way we’ll hopefully choose stones that are close together.”
Jack just nodded and the two groups continued to search the cavern. The cave was shaped like a tear and at its widest was eighty metres, and just under two hundred metres long. Leah and Granite found over a hundred areas which showed green. Many were on the walls but some were encased within one of the stalactites or stalagmites, and others looked to be on the floor. At the far end, the group had found an access tunnel to the next level.
Throughout the cavern were a mixture of creatures. All of them had scales and an abundance of sharp claws and strong limbs. Some walked upright and looked like great scaled yetis while others paced with catlike grace. They all had mouths filled with sharp teeth, although some had mouths which opened horizontally and others had jaws which opened vertically. There were a few which looked to have jaws which could explode outwards and contract on their prey from all directions. Despite all the differences they were all given the same name. They were all called Lord Kötü Niyetli’s Level One Minion. They ranged in Level from 287 to 307.
Finally, Leah and Granite had decided on where to begin mining, and they brought their picks down at the same time. Immediately, the minions who were closest attacked without a cry being raised. Leah had no time to watch, and after the first strike she cast Changing Attraction and kept mining. Behind her, she could hear the clash of weapons and the cracking of electrical spells and fireballs. Although she desperately wanted to look, she knew she needed to trust the group. It took her five minutes and a second spell of Changing Attraction before a single Darkness Diamond was revealed and fell to the floor. She was pleased to see that it wasn’t tiny. It was, in fact, the size of her thumb up to the first knuckle.
As soon as she collected it, she turned around. Each of the groups was being attacked by two minions. As soon as a minion fell it was replaced by another which was waiting its turn. All of her group had lost some health. She quickly cast heal on them and then looked toward the area where Granite was working. He hadn’t finished, so Leah moved closer and cast Changing Attraction and then headed away from him toward her next target. As she passed Granite’s next area, she cast Changing Attraction and then began working on her second Diamond.
The minions were focused on the miners, and Leah’s group kept near her, moving as a unit to keep her shielded. Before she had time to cast Changing Attraction at the area around her second stone, Granite had started on his second. Leah again finished first and after checking on her team and healing them, she cast Changing Attraction on Granite’s area and then healed his team before moving to her assigned third area.
This time as soon as she began to mine she could feel the battle behind her increase in intensity. She had to force herself not to look and keep mining. When the third Diamond fell, Leah turned to see that each group was now being attacked by three minions. Despite the increased number of attackers, Leah was pleased to see that each group was still maintaining a good level of health and they seemed to work really well together.
The groups continued mining, with the only difference being the addition of another attacker when Leah and Granite started on their fifth Diamond each. When they had collected the ten Darkness Diamonds they wanted from this first level, they headed toward the access point to the next section of the mine. Jack had suggested that they work away from the access point so that they could harvest the dead as they moved toward the deeper level.
Leah and Granite joined the fight to give their teammates some respite and an opportunity to harvest the dead. It became clear as soon as Leah and Granite began to fight that they were all the minions were interested in. They ignored everyone else in an attempt to kill the Leah and Granite. Leah had full health and had been watching the fight for over fifty minutes without joining in. So, she equipped the Amber Dragon and waded into the minions. She was higher in level than all of them, and she was in her element. Within moments the rest of her team had nothing to fight, and for a moment they watched as she decimated the minions flowing from one to the next without pause.
Jack called them quickly to task and then he, Granite, Smash and Brim tried to keep pace with Leah while the rest of the team moved behind them harvesting the minions. As Leah neared the
access area to the lower caves, the minions pulled back. Soon, all ten were standing at the access area surrounded by minions all standing in an arc around five metres from where the team stood.
Leah said, “Is everyone up for the second level?”
Jack replied, “Let’s do it. What is the plan?”
“I expect the layout is similar, but we will be attacked as soon as we leave the safety of the access way. Each MOB will be bigger, tougher, and have some extra stuff thrown in. I’m hoping the number who attack drops back to two a team, but we’ll have to wait and see.”
Leah was about to step forward, but Mist slid in front of her and said, “Let me.”
The way down was steep but not difficult. When they got to the bottom and looked out into the next level, they realised that Leah had been both correct and incorrect. There was an arc of creatures waiting for them, and each was labelled as Lord Kötü Niyetli’s Level Two Minion. They ranged in Level from 300 to 320 and were generally larger and stronger. What Leah hadn’t predicted was the aura of mana which could be seen around some of the creatures. Also, the cavern was narrower and had an uneven floor. Looking out, they could see some of the minions waiting in raised positions and Leah knew that some places suitable for mining would have to be placed near such areas.
She said, “Granite, let’s move along the right wall first. You take the first mining spot, and I’ll take the second. After that, we’ll need to make it up as we go. I’m going to cast a spell which I hope will clear the way and then we’ll move out.”
Leah took a slow breath and then cast Dark Chain Lightning. As the first minion shattered and turned to ash, Leah was already looking ahead with her mining sight. She noted the first green area was on the floor and after casting Changing Attraction and pointing it out to Granite who was behind her, she moved forward to look for another indicator. Smash and Nemo were already moving in front of Leah to keep the attackers off her.
Nemo had emptied a vial of blood into his cupped hand and then after casting his spell, the blood elongated into a flexible rope which acted as a flexible sword and cut through minions with ease, absorbing some of their blood as it sliced them into pieces. As the flexible weapon grew in size, Nemo found it harder and harder to control it. As it lengthened, it was able to despatch minions further and further from his body. Finally, when the blood sword was over five metres long, Nemo began to spin in a circle killing everything he touched and then before it grew long enough to hurt his team, he sent it spinning deep into the canyon killing several minions along the way. He staggered back to the team, and his place was taken over by Megan, so he had time to rest and recover.
Finally, Leah found a second area to mine, and after checking there were no minions perched above her head she cast Changing Attraction and began to mine. While mining the first Darkness Diamond, they were attacked by two minions for each miner. This time the number of minions attacking stayed the same as the first level, much to Leah’s delight. However, without the advance knowledge of where the gems could be found Leah didn’t have an opportunity to cast Changing Attraction for Granite. This meant that by the time he was on his third gem, and his team was facing three minions constantly. Leah was on her sixth gem and her team was battling five minions. Leah finished first and started on her seventh. When Granite had his third his team made their way to where Leah was. Both groups helped protect her from the eight minions.
The second level had been harder. Several times the protectors had been severely wounded, and only the quick intervention of Granite and Leah had kept the attackers at bay. The minions with mana had cast spells which either stunned or burnt the defenders. Leah once again led them to the end of the level, and they paused to catch their breath. They had ten gems from the level, and each was almost double the size of the ones from the first floor.
Leah asked if everyone was OK to keep moving and she was rewarded with nods from everyone. As they moved down the access way, Granite asked, “How are you able to mine faster than me?”
“I cast a spell which makes it easier. I think there will come a time, maybe even on this level, when your team will need to work with mine to protect me as I mine. The minions will still attack you because you’ve been mining, but you’ll only have to face the minimum number for the level.”
Granite agreed, and they decided to wait and make the decision only after seeing how the attacker numbers were organised on the third level.
When they reached the base of the access way, they found a ring of waiting Level Three minions, all ranging from Level 314 to Level 340. In addition to an increased amount of mana surrounding some of the creatures, they also now possessed some purely physical ranged attacks. This became obvious immediately when several in the front row spat acid and poison at the two miners. Both Granite and Leah were prepared and moved quickly out of the way.
Leah cast Dark Chain Lightning again, and they headed into the cavern. As Leah began mining the second gem, an additional creature joined the attack. When Granite finished excavating his first Darkness Diamond he looked over and seeing the extra attacker, he and the players with him joined Leah’s group in defending her. While Leah was mining her eighth diamond of the level, the group lost Smash who stepped out of one attack and straight into a spray of acid. Before he could recover one of the minions pulled him away from the group, and he was cut to pieces in seconds.
On the fourth level they lost Mist and Blue. Mist had a minion fall on her after it had scuttled along the cavern roof to attack. Before anyone could reach her it had bitten off her head. Blue just wasn’t fast enough, and one of the tall upright minions cut him to shreds. There were seven left in the group and this time when Leah asked if they wanted to continue there was more hesitation. Granite said, “I’d like to do one more if we can. The diamonds on this level are the size of a fist. I can’t imagine what they are worth. On the other hand, I’d hate for us to lose some of the loot when we die.”
Megan and Phil were happy to head back, but Jack convinced them to try one more level. Together they agreed that if they lost two more, then those that remained would immediately head back. Exiting the access tunnel to the fifth level, everyone was alert for ranged attack and that was just as well for there was a sudden burst of what Leah thought was dragon fire. Each player had dodged the burst except Brim. Instead of dodging the blast she smiled and stepped forward to catch it in her hands. She threw it back at the waiting creatures, maiming one of them.
Leah didn’t wait and cast Dark Chain Lightning. Although a path opened for her, she was a little surprised when the Dark Lightning didn’t destroy every creature it touched. Two of them almost seemed to shrug it off despite being a little stunned. Granite dealt with one while Jack finished off the other. Before long, Leah found a green area and began to mine. From the start they were attacked by four minions at a time. After each gem one creature was added. Leah wasn’t able to mine continually this time and had to stop to help push back the minions more and more as they moved into the cavern.
Unlike the previous caverns, this time the players were taking continual damage and both Leah and Megan often had to cast heal on the other players. By the time Leah had finished collecting the sixth Darkness Diamond both Jack and Nemo were hovering at half health, and both were beginning to tire. Leah tossed them both some of her restorative potions and then launched an attack drawing four of the minions after her and giving the team time to recover. Although the minions were all at a higher level, Leah was still almost at full health. Her armour was tougher than the minions’ claws although some substantial scratches were starting to mar its surface. The Amber Dragon continued to renew her health even as she took the occasional blow which caused damage.
Nemo got too close to one of the minions while Leah was mining the eighth gem and was burnt by Dragonfire. Before anyone could reach him, he was pulled away and killed. While Leah was working on the last gem, Phil was killed when his shield collapsed after being bombarded by three attacking minion mag
es. Jack yelled that Leah should finish the gem and they should head to the next access way and recuperate before heading back. Leah nodded and kept digging. Minutes later, they fought their way to the tunnel and ducked inside to recuperate.
They were only halfway through the mine, but everyone knew it was time to head back. The five levels they had finished had taken over six and a half hours, and they were all exhausted. As soon as everyone was fully recovered Leah said, “Unless someone has a better suggestion I’ll take point. Jack, you’ll be on my right and Granite on the left. Brim and Megan will bring up the rear and shield us from incoming fire, acid and poison. Brim, you should focus more on the front and left side and Megan, I’d like you to cover the rear with your Lightning shields and keep an eye out for attacks on the right. Any questions?”
Nobody said anything and Leah prepared to step back onto the fifth level and head towards the fourth. The minions were all Levels 340 to 360, and they would be facing twelve at any one time. As she stepped out Leah cast Dark Chain Lightning and then began to cut her way through the press of minion who were waiting. The next place of safety was just over one hundred and twenty metres away, and she kept moving steadily toward it. They were about halfway when Jack stumbled because his sword had almost been pulled from his grasp. Leah was quick to help, and although the team quickly rallied and pulled into a circle, they had lost the momentum and come to a standstill. Jack took some potions but the delay had cost the others some significant damage.
When everyone was ready Leah stepped forward toward the exit. Without the momentum of already dead minions, she discovered almost immediately that she would need to do more than wield the Amber Dragon and cast the occasional spell. She needed to use everything in her arsenal.
She equipped her second sword, and with each cut and thrust, she began to cast spells in time with her movements. Slowly she cut deeper into the cluster of minions. The team had started to move forward again when suddenly Megan was pulled backwards by a flying MOB. Leah heard Megan’s yell and responded immediately. She teleported to Megan and stood over her while the team gathered around. They still had forty metres to go. As soon as Megan was back on her feet, Leah surged forward, but the minions were waiting. Leah was giving everything she had, and they’d begun to move when Granite stumbled. He was quick to his feet, but the minion he’d been fighting turned and swung at Leah. She saw the claws moments before it would have hit her arm, so she dropped the sword and misted her limb without thinking.