To no surprise, SeventhShield and his friends were more than glad to hear Valyr agree to their request. Of course, it went without saying that Darklight was more than glad to hear him agree to it as well.
Even if his reasons for having Valyr join their party was different from the others.
Nevertheless, with all of them looking at Valyr joining the party from a positive standpoint, the entire group did not hesitate to make their way to the dungeon, introducing themselves to one another in greater detail along the way.
"Since we'll be trusting each other's backs while in the dungeon, I suppose I should give you a more detailed introduction." Chuckling with glee at the thought of Valyr joining him, SeventhShield went ahead and took the initiative of introducing himself once more.
"I've already said it before, but I go by the na SeventhShield. I am currently Level 23, and my class is that of the White Knight. Think of it as the more magic-focused version of the Defender class."
"So, your role in the party is the tank, then?" asked Valyr in response, even though he already knew the answer from the heavy plate armor the man was wearing.
"The tank, as well as the party leader," replied SeventhShield with a slightly proud grin. "After all, the person that makes the decisions for the party should be able to see the fight up close, no?"
Hearing those words, the young man rely shrugged with a slight chuckle, being reminded of a few other tanks he worked with in the past that were the leaders of their parties as well.
In fact, so of those tanks eventually went on to establish guilds that would beco renowned for their ability to work as one cohesive unit.
'Then again, if we're talking about who commands other players the best, the only person I can think of that would take that crown would be her,' thought Valyr as he continued on his train of thought with a faint smile on his face.
Briefly shaking his head not long after as he snapped back to reality, he then shifted his focus to the young woman beside SeventhShield that wore what looked to be like a crude version of priestly garbs.
"Ah." Noticing Valyr look at her, the young woman's face slightly turned red before shifting her focus elsewhere. "I'm uh… Lycana. I'm the healer of the group."
"I'll be in your care, then." Valyr nodded in response to those words. "Mind if I know your level and your class?"
"Level 20… Junior Acolyte of Light…" replied Lycana, her voice becoming softer the closer she was to finishing her response.
But of course, Valyr paid no mind to that.
'…Well, damn.' Instead, the young man paid great attention to the class she ntioned, even going so far as to sneakily use [Analysis] on her to confirm that her class was indeed the Junior Acolyte of Light.
'Out of all the paths players could take if they wanted to beco a main healer, Junior Acolyte of Light was one of the hardest among the more mainstream ones as far as I rember.'
'Not only do you have to obtain at least three maxed-out healing skills while at Level 10, but you'd also have to et the stat requirents for the class, as well as swear an oath to the Order of Light at the sa ti.'
'Then again, the sa could be said for the White Knight class SeventhShield got,' continued Valyr on his train of thought, glancing back and forth between the two as they moved closer to the Cave of Beginnings.
'In fact, it could even be said that he'd give up even more than her if he wants to see the White Knight class to the very end.'
Deciding to move on from his current train of thought, Valyr then glanced at the two other people that accompanied SeventhShield earlier, only to then raise his eyebrows as he noticed that the two looked sowhat similar to one another.
"Glad to have you on board, Ataraxia," said one of them with a playful grin the mont he noticed Valyr looking at them. "The na's Aezakmi, but you can call Zack. Level 21, Dark Thief."
"Uzumymw," replied the other one the mont Zack was done, giving Valyr a faint smile. "You can call Uzu if that's hard to pronounce. Level 22, Fire Elentalist."
"Zack. Uzu." Valyr nodded at the two in response to their introductions. "If you don't mind asking, are you two…?"
"Yeah." Zack nodded, already having an idea of what the young man wanted to ask them. "We're fraternal twins, if that wasn't already obvious."
"I see." The young man nodded once more, getting the feeling that he might have co across the pair in the past.
"And I guess that only leaves , then," said Darklight, taking note that everyone else had already introduced themselves to Valyr.
"I'm pretty sure you've already heard Seventh ntion my na earlier, but I go by Darklight," continued the man, looking at Valyr with amiable smile on his face. "I was invited by their group just like you, actually."
"I'm currently Level 24. As for my class, it's a more agile version of the Ranger class, the Light Archer class."
"Got it." Hearing those words, Valyr faintly nodded in response as he thought it was now ti for him to introduce himself. "Well, I'm pretty sure you guys already know by now, but I go by Ataraxia."
"I'm still at Level 10 so I don't have a class yet, but I plan to take on the path of a mage once I ascend to Rank 1."
"I already have the essential skills a mage should have, as well as [Mana Bolt] if that helps you guys in figuring out where to put ."
"That helps us out a lot more than you'd think, Ataraxia," replied SeventhShield with a relieved smile, the others soon nodding in agreent. "If you don't mind, you'll be accompanying both Uzu and Darklight at the back of the formation."
"Got it," replied Valyr with a nod, which finally allowed them to move onto other topics as they continued to make their way to the Cave of Beginnings.
…
"We're here."
Arriving at the entrance to the Cave of Beginnings, Valyr, SeventhShield, and the others looked at one another for a brief mont before nodding in unison.
Stepping forward as the leader of the party, SeventhShield went ahead and opened up the dungeon for them, making sure to select the Insane difficulty in the process.
Whoosh!
Feeling a rift to the dungeon open just a few ters in front of them, the man then checked to see if their party could enter, imdiately letting out a faint sigh of relief the mont he found out that Valyr was allowed to join them despite his level being low.
Faintly grinning at Valyr after that discovery, the group went ahead and entered the Cave of Beginnings after that, soon finding themselves at the sa dimly lit corridors Valyr found himself in.
Whoosh!
"Since this is the first ti Darklight and Ataraxia are working together with us, I don't really expect perfect coordination between all of us."
Spawning at the start of the dungeon, SeventhShield briefly scanned their current surroundings before looking at both Darklight and Valyr with a serious expression.
"However, I hope that, as the leader of this party, you two follow the orders I give out."
"Got it." Darklight and Valyr nodded in agreent, allowing a bit of the unease in SeventhShield's body to disappear.
Taking in a deep breath after that, the man then moved up to the front of the party as he began to send out orders.
"Lycana, you'll be behind ."
"Uzu, Darklight, Ataraxia, you'll be behind Lycana. Though, if possible, space yourselves out so you could protect her from the sides."
"And Zack, scout ahead for the anti. After we get an idea of what we'll be up against, you'll switch between helping or protecting Lycana."
"Gotcha," replied Zack with a serious expression, his body soon lding with the shadows throughout the corridor.
Whoosh!
Whilst Zack had gone ahead and scouted out the dungeon's layout for the party, Valyr and the others went ahead and got into their respective positions, familiarizing themselves with where they were in preparation for their fights later on.
'…I seriously feel like I've seen these guys sowhere before,' thought the young man as he continued to familiarize himself with his role in the party.
'I thought it was just my mind playing tricks on when I felt that Zack and Uzu were familiar, but I'm beginning to think I ca across them in the past.'
Feeling like he was incredibly close to finding out why he felt that way, Valyr decided to rummage through his mories for a bit, briefly recalling the conversation he and SeventhShield shared on their way to the Cave of Beginnings earlier.
'Say, SeventhShield.'
'Hmm?'
'This might sound weird, but… how long have you known your friends for?'
'Well… I guess you could say we go a long way back. As far as I rember, we were already good friends back in high school. In fact, the four of us even continued to stay in touch during our college years.
'Really?'
'Really. We pretty much kept each other up to date on what each of us were doing.
'However, when all of us found out that none of us got any decent paying jobs even after job hunting for a year straight, the four of us eventually decided to delve into the world of VRMMOs… even if the exchange rate in those gas suck ass.'
'…I'm guessing you guys entered Greater Beyond for that reason, then?'
'What other reason would we have? The fact that the exchange rate here is more generous than the other gas we've played is enough of a reason for us to stick to this ga for a long ti.'
'But then again… I suppose it's ti for us to make a na for ourselves in at least one VRMMO ga. I've always thought of establishing a guild in the other VRMMOs we played in the past, but we never had the ti.'
'Do you have a na for the guild already?'
'Well… not yet. But if I were to co up with one, then it might have sothing to do with the word 'fortress'. My na is SeventhShield, after all.'
'Fortress… Zack and Uzu… SeventhShield…' Continuing to focus on the conversation he shared with the man while also continuing to rummage through his treasure trove of mories, Valyr eventually found the answer he was looking for.
'Seriously…?' However, once he did, he was imdiately left at a loss for words.
'Am I seriously in a party with the future Paladins of the White Fortress right now?'
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