Surviving the Game: The Rat Assassin

Unfriendly Alliance

3 months went by before the Shadow Rulers found the first Boss Raid, a 500 man Raid that recommended level 50! They had mastered the 5 raids they had found for 100 man, but they couldn’t assemble 500 fully geared front line fighters just from the Guild they were part of. Despite having 10,000 members, there just weren’t that many interested in risking everything in a boss fight of that size. So, she did the only thing she could think of, and sent out a call to all of the Guilds in the Kingdom. Most of the Shadow Rulers had made it to level 40 already, most of the Master approaching level 50 while Liora, Larissa, Porcia and Ivy had already reached level 52 together. Their contributions to the Guild unmatched, especially because each time Liora made a windfall she donated the majority of it to the Guild, keeping only a small portion for herself to improve her own armor and weapons. Especially when she expanded her Bladesmithing into proper blacksmithing and armor making, able to infuse the Mithril into the hide of a rare boar that had naturally hardened leather for skin. The result when she added shadow cloth and Mithril was amazing armor for rogues increasing their stealth and hide in shadows abilities.

Adding other cloth to the mix would change the effect for druids, bards and hunters that used Leather Armor and could benefit from her skill. The Guilds that she had reached out to however weren’t on the friendliest terms with the Shadow Rulers Alliance Guild, the benefits they provided making it hard for them to keep members except through deception and fear by spreading false information. They believed their guild was fleecing them at the auction house for their Mithril items, as their guild was the only ones capable of farming it the way they did in the dungeons and raids.

“What does the Rat Thief want now?” one of the Guild leaders demanded as over a dozen of them entered at the same time. Liora sitting in the seat at the head of the table relaxed.

“We come to extend a hand to you all. Between us, we represent 70 percent of the people in this game, we found the first Boss Dungeon.” Liora said pulling up what they knew on the map showing the location.

“Good, maybe we can kill it before you do then.” One of them said as 20 Guild Masters laughed with him.

“Go ahead and try without us, if you dare. It is only a 500 man super raid that is recommended at level 50. We have 300 equipped and within a few levels of what it is calling for. We however cannot hope to even attempt it without another 200 warriors brave enough to train with us for this assault on the First Kingdom.” Liora said showing them the details as it was reported it was an attack by the 8th Kingdom on the city itself. It was a siege defense, and with that many moving parts they knew the threat of death for any of them was a real calculated risk.

“Why should we believe we would get a fair shake at the loot if more than half the slots are already filled by you Alliance of Guilds? What is to stop you from robbing us blind like you do on gear and equipment at the auction?” another of them demanded as Larissa openly laughed.

“Have you ever heard of farming the materials yourself and having us use our skills on a commissioned piece? I sell mine for 1,000 gold no matter what the value of the result is.” She told them shaking her head.

“Ladies, Gentlemen, I don’t know why you think we would be hostile to you in that way. We believed it only natural to sell our surplus starting as t the price we can sell it to the market vendors for. Once the bidding begins, we have no control over the price at that point. As my colleague said, we have Masters of each Profession that have stalls at the markets to offer their services to any who wish to use their skills. I go every Friday to sell potions, blades and leather armor that is all hand made by me for a fraction of what the Auction House Prices can become. If you want a blade made, tell me what you want and I will give you a list of ingredients. Gather them all and my charge is 1,000 gold no matter the result from what is made. As most of you know, most Mithril items start at 20,000 gold pieces value. Even purchasing the base materials for say this set of Mithril Daggers,” Liora said setting hers on the table. “Would cost 5,000 gold to have me make them, including my 1,000 gold fee. As you can tell, they are Legendary quality daggers, that if made again would be worth 55,000 gold to market vendors or 90,000 on the auction house.”

They were stunned that Liora was sitting there telling them they had been trying to help for cheaper the entire time. “If you had a pair of Epic Quality at your-“ another of them asked.

“Three different sets already in inventory from 30,000 gold to 45,000 gold. The set for a shadow priest such as yourself would be 40,000. A commissioned piece as discussed would be 3,000 gold in materials plus my fee for 4,000. Should be able to Guarantee Epic Quality at least, but there is those few in a hundred odds that the result would only be rare quality.” Liora said to her as she looked around and threw a book on the table. “So is the reason you refuse to look at and use our guide is you think we are evil monsters wanting to control everything?” she asked as the other leaders looked at each other.

“What is in that book?” one of the girls asked her almost afraid of it.

“Guides, instructions, knowledge. Where the dungeons we have found are, what is in them, how to beat them with almost no risk to those going in. Profession Recipes for formulas that are difficult to find, guides on where the best places to farm materials is, how to be able to farm Mithril Ore, how to increase the quality of your results, how to grind levels solo. Everything we know to improve not only ourselves, but everyone else as well. Offered freely with no strings, hell we even offer gold for intelligence we can add to the book.” Porcia said as the girl picked it up and began reading in one of the gathering locations for cloth that tailors could use to make dozens of pieces of armor in just a few hours of simple grinding of low levels beasts.

“Why would you offer something like this for no charge?” one of the men asked.

“To show we have no desire to control you. In fact the Alliance we have, each team as they are now called still actively recruits into their team. They work together, done together, still maintain their separate Guild Hall that has almost everything the Main Hall does. Hell Hounds Guild came to our Alliance with 225 members 2 months ago. They now have 1,500 that are with them, no pressure from any of us that they stay. Their leader having a permanent seat on our ruling Council to decide how we move into the future.

“If you need time to increase the levels of those willing to go, we offer our guide on the best places to do just that. If you need better gear, Friday is the day most of our Profession Masters have their stalls in the Market. Bring us the materials you want to commission pieces for and pay the price, and you can increase your gear for a fraction of the price. You might even find we have exactly what you are looking for, but you have to pay a price for it still.” Liora finished explaining to them as she stood. “As for how many men we send, we will leave that and loot distribution for however you all agree you want to do it. Joining our Alliance, making a new Coalition of Alliances, or just making a temporary strike team that we can use to beat this siege mission. We are open to however you wish to proceed, together or as individuals, we don’t care. We have no desire to control you more than we do now, what we do want is to work together to get the hell out of this game. If you want the same thing, great. We hope to have everyone that wants to go ready in a week, no matter what it takes to get them ready. We know of a few good dungeons to get your low levels asses into gear to gain some power experience and gear.” She finished before they all left leaving the 32 Guild Masters there wondering how their reports of that Guild could be so wrong as they learned they could indeed freely copy the book they had left that was plum full of the Intel that was promised.

The next day Liora had a dozen of the Guilds reach out to her for help getting their men ready to actually go, most of them level 25 as Liora smiled.

“It is going to be a week of pure t*****e as we drag you lot through dungeon after dungeon after dungeon. First run is at sunrise each day, last run ending at sunset. Bring those who will join us for the first training session after lunch.” She had told each of them and gave them temporary access to the Main Guild Hall grounds.

So she had spent the morning with the other Masters mining Mithril in all the locations they knew, harvesting over 2,000 bars worth of material while those who processed it took the first load back while the Gatherers kept working. When they got back to the hall and had just enough time before 120 people from 18 different Guilds showed up wearing some of the most mismatched gear she had ever seen they knew that had done the right thing as she unlocked access to their own Guild supplies for what was going to happen next as Liora stood in front of them all.

“I must say that the 120 of you here today, make up the saddest excuse for warriors I have seen in months. You however are in luck that you have decided to join our crusade, for by the time you leave today, you at least won’t look like the rubbage scraped from the bottom of the barrel.” She said as the Profession Masters stepped up behind her. “These ladies and gentlemen are going to take that garbage you brought here today and outfit you with proper armor. The only cost, is you do the work necessary to join us in the siege next week.” She said as they all looked at each other before rushing forward into the different lines as the Masters went to their tents.

Liora had her Bladesmithing and Leatherworking signs on display, hundreds of Mithril Bars around her as well as the hardened boar leather that she had taken to infusing with Mithril and steel to make leather armor that was almost as strong as plate but kept the maneuverability of leather. By dinnertime the 120 of them had been transformed from a ragtag bunch to real warriors, most of their gear now at the Epic level with some Legendary Pieces having been made. Each of the 80 blades in use among them one of her creations as she stood before them again.

“Now you look like warriors ready to do battle, though tomorrow we will be testing that theory. At 0700, we begin the first dungeons of 100an raids at level 30. We have enough for 8 teams with those willing to train you sorry lot into high level warriors. Most of you are between level 22 and 26, by this time next week, all of you will be at least level 45 if you follow the team you are assigned too. For now, the funds you receive from these missions will be taxed at 50 percent. It however gives you free access to the potions, bandages, food and sleeping quarters here in this Main Hall. Repairs to your equipment, upgrades, enchantments and other personalizations you need to make will be at cost of materials if you do not supply them yourself. Tonight, go party and show the others what they can obtain for themselves if they join us on this mission!” she said as the men cheered loudly knowing that the sets of armor and weapons they just received was in the range of 150,000 gold each.

“We still need at least 80 more to join the Siege Mission.” Porcia said heavily.

“I know, maybe this will be the kick in the pants the rest of them need to join us.” Liora replied as she looked at their Guild Hall. “For now, we move forward with what we have to train. If we can get each team to run 5 dungeons a day, we could have all 120 of them to level 45 at least inside of a week. Some of them would be even 48s and 49s.”

“That is the plan for the pairings we have set up, personally I hope they can get 6 or 7 per day in. I would like all of us to be level 50 before we go in there.” Porcia said as Ivy and Larissa agreed with her quickly.

The next morning started the process all over for the Masters, as the other Alliances had seen what the result of joining the Coalition would be, Liora dragging the Leaders into a meeting.

“Here we have just the Guild Masters that represent their personal Guilds. Yes, the 13 Masters of the Alliance are here representing their own guilds as they could still choose to leave this Alliance. For this Coalition, what we propose is simple. In exchange for weapons and armor, each of the Warriors agree they will join this mission to complete the 500an siege in one week. The 8 teams we had made for this morning are already gone with slight modifications to allow for us to have this meeting.

“We found in the 100 man raids it is easier to break them down into 5 20 man teams. There are 45 Guild Masters here to lead 540 men. That would be 45 12 man teams that each of us would be in charge of. 9 teams together would make a raid team of 108, as we have learned our party sizes do not have to match what the dungeons call for. This way, the Squad, Team, and Raid Team can learn to work together.” Liora said as she pulled up the map showing the different dungeons they knew of. These 30 man Raids can be done by the 12 man teams individually. As level 30s they quit giving experience at level 37, but at level 35 it unlocks a heroic mode that would force 3 Squads to Work together as a team to complete. Until they get to level 35 though, these 3 Dungeons would be perfect for the 3 Squad Teams to work together. They are designed for 50 men, but 35 can easily do it at level 25.” She assured them as the Masters looked nervous.

“You are certain they are as easy as you claim? Some of us have no experience in dungeons working together like this.” Angelica said nervously.

“We do, as well as having the foresight to equip you with the proper gear you will need. When the day comes, any of you that have done the 6 dungeons each day will be at a level in the mid to upper 40s, which will be perfect for this Siege. Especially if all 540 of us go in with the best gear we can absolutely get, customized by each of us to be absolutely perfect, we have one hell of a chance to dominate this siege and lose no one. We however will not force you, and if you wish to walk away when the time comes to hold up your end, we won’t stop you from doing so. But if your Guild takes the goods from us and walks away, we will never work with you or anyone in your guilds again. Then you will truly see what hostile is, for we will not be shy about making your lives as miserable as we can.” Liora said leaving them all standing there stunned as she did a shadow step to jump 30 yards before doing it again into the tent where she made her blades. 60 more people coming in to have her make a weapon for her 3 of them Legendary Weapons that happened to be lucky of the draw for them.

As soon as she finished, she packed up her shop as the other leatherworkers were handling the armor using her technique. She went to the first dungeon which was a 12 man team as she sighed seeing two of the other Guilds Masters with her.

“Thank god this is only for today. So, do you want the fast way, or the slow way where I actually let you kill something?” she asked as the other 8 men who actually made up her team arrived made up of the different Guilds.

“I assume we get more experience if we make a fair amount of the kills?” Patrick asked as she nodded seeing that most of this team was level 22s. “Than the slow way where we do some if not all of the killing.” He said as she shrugged.

“Rescue party only, got it.” Liora said making the others shake their head as they went in. They surprised her with how well they worked together as two tanks, two healers and 8 DPS. Liora only killed two monsters that were threatening a team member, each of them getting at least one level inside the dungeon. Within 20 minutes they were done with it, each of them surprised that it was as easy as they had suggested as she looked at her watch. “We have 10 minutes to get to the next dungeon location.” She said leading the way through the countryside to where it was.

They met the other two teams there, this one a bit more challenging as Liora put her hands up. “Rescue Party only.” She said making them shake their heads again as the 36 of them jumped into the higher level dungeon. This time however she had to rescue them a little more often, otherwise they did really well working together. This one took them 90 minutes to finish, and of the ones not in the Alliance Guild, they each gained at least 2 levels. The members that were inside the Shadow Alliance Guild, barely managed a level between this dungeon and the one from earlier. The third one of the day however was a 100 man Raid full of level 40 monsters. They however were sending in teams of 108 to tackle them. All of it designed so the newcomers could experience what it was like.

By the time the sun set that evening, each and every member of the strike team has reached level 30. Some of them jumping 8 levels that day alone. Liora smiled as they all gathered in the dining hall with the rest of her guild.

“Today we took the first small step forward, and step up to the challenge you have. Highest grain, Persephone with 12 levels. Started this morning as a level 18, ended it this night at level 30!” she exclaimed as they all celebrated how far she had risen. “Tomorrow, we do it again, and again and again for the next 6 days. 6 days for each of you to get 15 levels, that is just 2 and a half levels per day. But it is the rate that will ensure when we step into the Siege, we have the best chance of surviving with no losses. We have determined 6 dungeons per day is the minimum we need to run to get everyone to level 45. 2 as a squad, 2 as a team, 2 as a Raid Party. You will know your assignments by the time the sun rises and we all begin our first assigned dungeon that day. If for whatever reason your squad, team or party gets together and says they want to run together more than required and make all 6 of your required dungeons the 100 man Raids, you are welcome to do so.” Liora said as they cheered loudly as the ale flowed and dinner was served to the starving groups of men and women.