Just when everyone thought Ryan and his team were finished, they held their ground through the brutal onslaught of two Guardians—and managed to bring down Isdal’s true form. Against all odds, they had done it. The Guardian was dead.
For a few stunned seconds, the crowd watching from afar was silent. Then the chat channels exploded into chaos. Questions, speculations, wild guesses. But Ryan and his team were already gone. They’d disabled their real-ti IDs, slipped away through a few quick turns, and vanished into the terrain.
No one knew who had landed the killing blow—or even who the mysterious team was that had appeared just after the Alliance and Orc factions had exhausted each other.
But one thing was clear: they weren’t part of any guild.
After all, a guild would never hide its identity after taking down a Guardian. Monts like that were rare—prestige and bragging rights for years.
Still, players speculated. The most popular theory was that the Paladin had to be Featherlight—his na was frequently tied to Glorious Achievents—and that the female warrior beside him was Moonlight Beauty, who had recently gained fa fighting alongside him.
The identities of the other two remained a mystery, but those two nas stuck. And that, later, would make Ryan sigh. Fa, he realized, had its downsides.
To the onlookers, the fight had looked clean, efficient—almost effortless. But from Ryan’s perspective, it had been anything but. There were monts during the battle where they had been only seconds from a full team wipe.
Even in its "normal" form, the Guardian was brutal.
Its Group Poison Arrow didn’t just hit hard—it delivered a burst of 200 damage on impact, then kept ticking for another 30-plus points of nature damage every three seconds. The cooldown was short, maybe twenty seconds at most—and it was relentless.
Riverbank’s mana bar had beco a rapidly draining resource. Sustained healing was essential, but expensive. Worse, every five seconds or so, the Guardian unleashed a nature-based spell attack that cut through Ryan’s armor like it wasn’t even there. Each hit landed for a solid 300 damage—no mitigation, no resistance.
There was also Corrosive Poison, a passive aura that kicked in whenever players entered its proximity. It drained 4 points from both stamina and strength across the team—slowly, steadily weakening them.
Then there was Crippling Strike, which halved the healing received by the current target. If not for its short 6-second duration and long 30-second cooldown, Ryan might’ve called the fight off entirely.
By the ti the Guardian was down to half health, Riverbank had completely run dry. Not a drop of mana left.
If Ryan hadn’t kept casting ergency heals on himself just to buy Riverbank a few extra seconds to breathe, they would’ve been wiped right there. Simple as that.
And it wasn’t just the Guardian’s skills—the level gap was enormous. The Guardian was five levels above the team, which in this world was like trying to punch uphill in a storm. Every swing from the boss had a high chance to be a crushing blow, and criticals could hit for 400 damage or more.
A single skill could drop soone to half-health, and a follow-up critical? That would’ve been lights out.
Fortunately, luck was on their side. The few critical crushing blows that did land all hit when Ryan’s health was full. Dangerous? Absolutely. But they lived through it.
And the rewards?
They were worth it.
As the richest boss on the map, the Guardian didn’t go down without a fight—but it also didn’t die empty-handed. After doubling back and regrouping, the team quietly gathered to divide the loot.
There was a bound Dungeon Scroll. So Uncommon—green-tier—gear around level 15. A small gem pouch. And a handful of vendor trash ant for selling to NPCs.
Ryan opened the gem pouch in front of the group. Inside were so rare Malachite and Tigerseye gems—materials that couldn’t be found in shops and could only be harvested while mining. Essential components for Blacksmithing, and highly sought after.
In total, they’d looted eleven gems—small, shimring stones with a combined market value of about twenty gold coins. Everyone’s eyes lit up the mont they saw them.
Next ca three pieces of level 15 Uncommon gear. Stat-wise, they were clearly a cut above what the party was currently wearing. But since none of them t the level requirent yet, the gear was carefully set aside for future use.
And finally—what everyone knew was the true prize of the battle—the Dungeon Scroll.
It was an Outer Corrupted Forest Dungeon Scroll. A level 15 dungeon located deep within the Blood Gorge. Its final boss had a guaranteed drop rate for rare-quality gear and was widely known as the point where most players got their first taste of blue-tier equipnt.
In other words, this scroll wasn’t just useful. It was Rare.
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Outer Corrupted Forest Dungeon Scroll
Quality: Rare
Function: Activates a dungeon instance in the Outer Corrupted Forest, within the Forsaken Lands. Complete it to earn the Gratitude of General Gantai Wells.
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The mont Ryan revealed the scroll, interest in the gems and gear vanished. Everyone’s attention zeroed in on the scroll like predators catching a scent. Their eyes were filled with curiosity—and sothing more.
Ambition.
So far, only two other dungeon scrolls like this had been seen among Alliance players. One had gone to Featherlight after slaying a Guardian, unlocking the Blood Hollow dungeon. The other was claid by Sky Dragon Roar, who opened the Abandoned Mine. Both had produced legendary loot, or so the rumors said.
And now, here was a third scroll—just sitting there in front of them.
The atmosphere subtly shifted. The team’s friendly cooperation gave way to quiet calculation. Everyone was sharpening their taphorical blades.
Moonlight Beauty leaned forward with a grin. "Guild Leader, can you tell us what kind of loot this dungeon scroll can drop?"
The other two nodded quickly. They didn’t just want to want it—they wanted to know exactly how much they should want it.
Ryan chuckled. "Hard to say for sure. But here—I’ll show you what I got from a similar scroll back when I was level 5."
He opened his reward history and sent the relevant details to the party chat.
The ssage popped up: a thank-you gift from an NPC, so cryptic city reputation increases, and a lump-sum reward of over 1 gold coin.
Moonlight Beauty raised an eyebrow. "So... the real prize was in that thank-you gift then. What was it, exactly?"
"Nard’s Heavyblade," Ryan replied, sending the item into the chat. "A two-handed sword. Back then, it was probably the first green-quality weapon in the entire ga. And it helped accomplish a lot afterward."
The others let out appreciative murmurs at the sight of it. The stats were still impressive, even now.
Ryan continued, "This ti, we might get sothing similar. If General Gantai Wells is the dungeon boss, I’d say there’s a good chance he drops gear too—maybe even Rare quality. That’s just speculation, though."
He gathered the loot—the scroll, the gear, the gems, and placed them together on the virtual ground. Then he looked at the team.
"Alright, you’ve seen what we’ve got. It’s ti to decide how we divide it up."
He spoke clearly, his tone fair but firm.
"We can either roll for it, or auction it."
"Rolling ans splitting the loot into individual pieces, then using the system’s dice. Whoever rolls highest for a specific item wins it."
"Auctioning ans we bid gold on each item. The highest bidder gets it, and we divide the gold evenly among everyone."
He paused, then added, "I suggest we break things into three groups: the gems, the green gear, and the scroll. We handle each group separately."
His eyes swept the party.
"So—what’s it going to be? Rolling or auctioning?"
For a mont, no one spoke. They just stared at the loot lying before them, weighing their options, and perhaps their odds.
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