Before the system notification even finished ringing in Ethan's ears, his screen went black.
Ethereal was rebooting.
All players were kicked from the ga, left waiting on the login screen.
With nothing to do, Ethan browsed the official forums and stumbled upon the Druid player rally post. Opening it up, he found it flooded with Druid comnts, all fired up and pledging their loyalty.
He chuckled. It was entertaining to read through. Since he was there, he left a quick reply, just a simple thank you to his new followers.
Ti passed quickly.
Ding!
[System Upgrade Complete. You may now log back in.]
Ethan closed the forums and re-entered the ga.
There weren't many visible changes at first. But within seconds, Dreamwood Grove was packed with Druids teleporting in.
The place, once quiet and peaceful, was now buzzing with players exploring their newly enhanced abilities.
Ethan barely spared them a glance. Without hesitation, he activated his teleportation skill and returned to Harmony City.
Skyblade had already ssaged him, everyone was assembled and waiting at the dungeon entrance.
Ethan replied: "On my way."
As he moved, he ntally reviewed the dungeon layout. They weren't going for the easy version of Howling Caverns, they were tackling the Expert Mode.
---
Expert Mode dungeons could only be cleared once per week. Once completed, players had to wait until the next Monday afternoon for another attempt.
Currently, most players were just reaching level 20, and every major guild was rushing to form teams to challenge Howling Caverns.
The dungeon entrance was packed, a sea of players, all looking for groups.
Voices filled the air:
"UnspokenTruth: Full Intelligence Mage, 315 spell power, looking for a group!"
"Nightwind: High-attack Sharpshooter, 394 physical attack—anyone running Easy Mode?"
"FleetingDust: Running first clear, need one high-healing Priest. Must be good, one slot left!"
anwhile, Skyblade and the others stood by the dungeon gate, repeatedly turning players away.
Many asked if they needed extra mbers, but the answer remained the sa:
"Party's full."
Ethan didn't head straight to the dungeon. Instead, he made a quick stop in Harmony City's Market District to check on his businesses.
---
First, he dropped by All-You-Need Potions, his alchemy shop.
It had finally stabilized, several apprentice alchemists had been hired, and while production speed wasn't high, at least there were potions available for sale.
Then, he visited All-You-Need Engineering.
The store shelves now carried bullets and arrowheads.
Heading to the back, he peeked into the workshop, a few apprentices were busy crafting equipnt. And, as expected, the future Mad Engineer, NoPaperOnTheBigOne, was in his personal workspace, tinkering with who knows what.
Ethan didn't bother disturbing him.
Leaving the shop, he made his way to the Auction House.
The place was packed.
Checking the recent transaction logs, he saw that thousands of items had been traded daily.
Right now, there were no listing fees, but once that changed, even if the fee was just 1 Copper per item, the revenue would be staggering.
Of course, auction fees were based on item value.
The Auction House was a gold mine, it made life easier for everyone. Right now, free listings were bait. Once players got used to the convenience, even a small fee wouldn't stop them from using it.
After all, why waste ti setting up a stall when you could be leveling up, farming loot, or chatting up NPCs?
---
Rembering the Prismatic Stone quest, Ethan searched the Auction House and spent 2 Gold on a pile of minerals.
Then, he made a final stop at the System Alchemy Shop.
Currently, All-You-Need Potions only stocked Basic Healing Potions and Mana Recovery Potions. So, he bought three bottles of Size Enhancent Elixir.
Now, he was finally ready.
[Size Enhancent Elixir]: Increases body size by 500% for 5 seconds. (Strength increases proportionally, but no attribute bonuses are granted.)
After grabbing the elixirs, Ethan made a stop at the System Engineering Shop, purchasing two grappling launchers, each costing a painful 50 Gold.
With his wallet significantly lighter, he made his way to the teleportation array, selecting the closest town to Howling Caverns.
---
Draped in a black cloak, Ethan strode down the main road leading out of town. As he walked, a conversation between two players up ahead caught his attention.
A short-statured Mage spoke first.
"Did you hear? Guild leader hired a pro team to clear Expert Mode. They've already taken down two bosses."
A burly Warrior beside him scoffed.
"Yeah, I heard. Those guys are professionals. Not like us, we can't even beat the second boss in Easy Mode. We've been wiped over forty tis already."
"And that so-called Leaf Guild? They've been wiped twenty tis on the third boss. And guess what? We have to chip in for their repair fees. Bunch of freeloaders."
"Quit complaining. They got through the second boss after ten or so tries. They'll probably clear the third soon."
Hearing this, Ethan narrowed his eyes.
Soone was already attempting Expert Mode, and they were on the third boss?
Leaf Guild…
It was them.
In his previous life, this guild had secured world-first clears on nurous dungeons. And he clearly rembered Howling Caverns was one of their trophies.
Picking up his pace, Ethan overtook the two players and glanced at the guild emblem on their chests.
Two bold words stood out: Blade Syndicate.
His pupils contracted.
'Marcus Skeiner.'
That guy actually hired Leaf Guild to help their team secure the first clear?
If Blade Syndicate snagged the world-first completion reward, their arrogance would know no bound.
Not only that, but it would also be a direct challenge to Renegade Alliance's reputation.
Ethan clenched his fists.
So, they were already on Boss #3…
What about Skyblade's raid team? Would they be able to keep up?
He wasn't sure.
But one thing was certain, his team had the strongest core players.
Five of them were already equipped with 30 enhanced gear and had reached level 28.
A level 20 Expert Mode dungeon shouldn't pose a serious challenge. Lyla alone could probably match the damage output of half a raid group.
Even atball's damage wasn't to be underestimated.
Skyblade was an unshakable tank, capable of soloing a boss, though certain one-shot chanics would require teamwork to survive.
However, Howling Caverns had a unique defensive chanic, one that made Expert Mode brutal.
Instead of a flat defense stat, bosses had percentage-based damage reduction. This system significantly weakened high-attack, high-gear setups.
Easy Mode Bosses: 20% damage reduction. (If you hit for 100 damage, only 80 goes through.)
Expert Mode Bosses: 80% damage reduction. (A 100-damage attack would deal only 20 damage.)
This ant high attack power still helped, but the actual damage gap between players was drastically reduced.
For example:
A player with 100 attack would deal 20 damage.
A player with 200 attack would deal 40 damage.
The higher attack still had an advantage, but the difference wasn't as huge as in normal fights.
Ethereal's dungeon system was built for balance. And in Expert Mode, raw strength alone wasn't enough.
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