After 2 weeks of hard training in the dungeons, the equipment of the members in the guild was finally on par. If the benefits in other guilds was their DKP, then in Upwards HO!, it came in the form of experience points, equipment, and the guidance of an expert. Although there was no monetary benefit for the members, the benefits they received could not be bought by money. The remaining guild members were allowed to stay in the guild after much consideration. They might not have the best of characters, but they appeared to be trustworthy, at least for the time being.
Not only that, when the members had “graduated” from the lvl 15 dungeons, Ye Ci opened the guild warehouse, which was full of the fruits of her labor in the lvl 20 dungeons. The guild members drooled at the blue equipment and materials that filled the warehouse. The players who originally were loyal to Upwards Ho! had even more sense of belonging after seeing the items. They finally understood why Ye Ci had not led them in clearing the dungeons.
Ye Ci was a person who could not be forced to do something, but when she had made up her mind to get the job done she would give it her best shot. She did not think that such a commitment was not worth it. Instead, she did it willingly.
It had been almost a month since Ye Ci had aided Oasis City in defeating the Nameless Zealot. In that one month, the envy of the players had slowly subsided.
After all, envy would not help them achieve success. The players would rather increase their own skills instead. A lot of guilds had already cleared Frosty Wasteland, and many of them had moved on to the Frosty Wasteland Inner Sanctum.
With lvl 22 being the highest level on the leveling ranking, the average level of Upwards Ho! members was at lvl 18 and above. Although they had the will to explore the Inner Sanctum, they knew that they were severely under-leveled. With their level, it would be very difficult.
Ye Ci understood the fact as well. After giving it some thought, she felt that it would really be a waste for her to not put the Oasis City Hero’s Medal to good use. She decided to put together a party and level up in the Boneyard.
It was the first time Upwards Ho! had organized such a large scale leveling activity, and the players were looking forward to it. Although they knew that the monsters in Boneyard were high leveled, they still couldn’t help but feel excited.
The guild members had finished gathering early in the morning, and the 50-odd players formed themselves into a squadron and headed for the Boneyard.
Although the Boneyard was a lvl 30 map, the isolated monsters roaming around at the edge of the map were no match for a squadron of 50-odd players. With Ye Ci’s Hero’s Badge that gave the Hero’s Aura Buff, the squadron’s stats were each increased by 20. That was why the monsters were steamrolled by the squadron.
Before they’d even reached the Buren Monastery, quite a number of the squadron’s members had reached lvl 19. The speed at which they were leveling up was a satisfying experience. With their numbers, Ye Ci no longer had the need to entice more skeletons. She led the rest of the squadron straight towards the Sacrificial Altar.
Ye Ci pulled in the monsters and then threw a bomb into their midst, and the players’ level immediately soared to lvl 20. Pea Cake, who was forced to come along, was shocked. “Holy shit, what’s that?”
“Engineering.” Ye Ci looked at Pea Cake and smiled. Although Pea Cake was an Engineer, his success rate in crafting items was not all that high. He was sad because of that. Since Ye Ci had decided to go and level up, she dragged him along as well. Although Pea Cake’s interest in farming and grinding was not that high, he relented and reluctantly came along. He would actually rather stay in the encampment and craft some items.
But after witnessing the aftermath of Ye Ci’s Scarlet Bomb, Pea Cake was shocked beyond words.
Due to the limitations of Engineering in the earlier stages of the game, not many players were willing to go down the path of an Engineer. Pea Cake himself chose to be an Engineer because of his personal interest in machines. He had not thought that an Engineer was next to useless in the early stages of the game.
But after what he had witnessed, Pea Cake was fired up. He was curious because the Engineering product that Ye Ci had was entirely different from what he was learning.
“If you can advance yourself to become a Medium Tier Engineer, I’m sure you’ll receive a pleasant surprise.” The true OPness of Engineering would only be unlocked by a Mid Tier Engineer. Nobody would understand how powerful an Engineer could be at the current stage of the game as players were still Apprentice Engineers.
Pea Cake was able to overcome his doubts. If not because of his low level, he would’ve left the Boneyard and went back to the guild encampment to train his Engineering skills.
There were simply too many members around. That was why despite the efforts of Ye Ci and a few other Rangers and Hunters drawing in monsters and then bombing them with Ye Ci’s Scarlet Bomb, the guild members’ level had only increased to lvl 23. This was, however, a very exciting matter for the guild members. They had managed to gain more experience points in half a day than they could if they were to go solo for a month or two.
The mass level up by Upwards Ho!’s members brought big changes to the leveling ranking. People had begun to question and suspect the guild of exploiting a BUG. Fate officials once again received a torrent of complaints from players. The officials were quick to reply that it was not a BUG.
Of course, it was something that happened after.
After a few more rounds of the same method, quite a number of guild members had leveled up to lvl 24, and Ye Ci decided to call it a day. They would be able to clear Frosty Wasteland with ease with their level. The only thing lacking now was the equipment of the guild members. That was why Ye Ci had decided to level them up first before farming for equipment.
The members of the guild were excited when they found out that the guild was making preparations to explore the Frosty Wasteland Inner Sanctum. Ye Ci, however, did not rush it. She divided the members into two squadrons, which were led by Overflowing Ink and Mi Lu.
Overflowing Ink and Mi Lu were players who had proven themselves in the last month’s “dungeon training camp.” They were able to think and analyse the situation quickly. They managed to catch the eye of Timely Raid, who recommended them to Ye Ci as suitable candidates to be commanders.
Ye Ci had also gone into a 10-player dungeon with them personally. Although they were over eager at times and might spout unnecessary commands, they were still full of potential. And though they were not famous in Ye Ci’s past life, she felt that with enough training they would be able to bloom into experts. Since her life was changing after her reincarnation, she had no problem with the game’s direction changing as well.
Overflowing Ink and Mi Lu, who were munching on their bread while sitting on the ground, shook their heads in horror as Ye ci announced that they would each lead a 25-player party into the dungeon. “Guild leader, we’ve done badly even with a 10-player dungeon, what if we get the entire party into trouble in a 25-player dungeon?”
“Then you can simply repeat it again and again. If the party was annihilated because of the players’ lack of cohesion, then do it until they’re able to fight as one; if the party got into trouble due to your inability to command them, keep trying until you guys can do it properly.” Ye Ci’s expression did not even change as she continued, “Every time you guys explore a lvl 25 dungeon, I will only allocate 100 gold coins to the party leader for equipment repairs. If the cost of your repairs exceeds 100 gold coins…” She raised her head and smiled at the two, showing her white shiny teeth, “You’ll pay for them out of your own coffers.”
The guild members, especially Overflowing Ink and Mi Lu, were pressured. The two immediately began to do research on the art of being a successful commander.
After making the arrangements for the next few days, Ye Ci assembled the guild members and headed out.
Although the guild members were pressured, they still joked around with each other on their way back.
Just as they walked out of the entrance of the Sacrificial Grounds, Ye Ci suddenly stopped and raised her hand. The guild members following close behind immediately went silent. A Rogue named Homeless Drifter listened intently and said in a low voice, “Somebody’s coming, and there’s a lot of them.”
Ye Ci was curious. Who else would be farming monsters at this place with the current average player level?
Her question was answered very soon. At the other side of the plaza with the Holy Fountain, Ye Ci saw the other party.
They too had not expected to run into other players, and had stopped dead in their tracks. Ye Ci was able to recognise their leader.
Wasn’t that the same person she ran into the last time? She had a deep impression of the party with 3 sets of the Scorching Mage Robes. Their equipment had improved by a lot. Of the 30-odd players in the party, 8 of them were now equipped with the Scorching Mage Robe Set. Apparently they had been busy in the past month.
Crimson Twilight had also recognised Ye Ci. He gritted his teeth. It was the Huntress! This Gongzi You! When they were leveling up in the area last month, she was the one who directed her Skeletal Mage to lure a bunch of lvl 35 Elite Skeletons their way. As a result, their party was annihilated. Their levels went down, and two of the pieces from his Scorching Mage Robe set was were dropped.
When they respawned in Oasis City and were about the head back to the Boneyard to retrieve their items, she rushed into the city with the Nameless Zealot in tow, which wiped out their party.
Great! As Ye Ci became the hero of Oasis City, their guild’s core members suffered losses and had their level reduced by 2. This affected their progress in dungeon exploration and clearing. As a result, the ranking of their guild dropped down by 2 within the month.
Ayooo! Chapter for Monday!!! Ayyyy!!! You see, Jimmi is here to fix your Monday Blue despite suffering from its symptoms as well!
Welp, I’ve tried Tales of Zestiria for like 40 minutes and I’ve already loved that thing!!! OOOOHHH!!!! Y’all can always add me on steam, name’s (not surprisingly) Jimminx ahahah!
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Oh and…. I got chat banned in League for being toxic *cough cough*
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