Chương 121: Chapter 120: Benchmark

I dropped off Berg's portion of the Dusk King Carp on my way out of the city. The innkeeper took one bite, closed his eyes, and stood motionless behind the counter for a full ten seconds. When he opened his eyes, there was a softness to them that I hadn't expected from a man his size.

"You tell Petra," he said slowly, "that this is the finest thing I have ever tasted. And if she ever wants to leave that bakery and come cook here, I will give her half my business."

"I'll pass it along."

"You better." He set the plate down with care.

"I'll save the rest for tonight. A meal like this deserves a proper setting." I thanked him, then leaving the inn, I headed back toward the Greenveil. It was mid-afternoon, the sun was warm, and I had a full arsenal of new equipment to break in. The boar grounds or the marshes would have worked, but I wanted to test Spriggan's Will in the environment it came from: the Greenveil's mobs were thematically appropriate, and the forest would let me see Twilight Hunter in action once the canopy darkened the terrain.

Whether the Spriggan's death had genuinely loosened the corruption or not, the oppressive atmosphere that had hung over the woods was diminished. The canopy still filtered the light into shifting green patterns, and the undergrowth was still dense enough to hide predators, but the sense of evil had faded. The mobs were still there, though. I found my first group about ten minutes into the forest: three Greenveil Prowlers, level 25 predators that moved through the underbrush in a loose hunting formation.

They were feline in shape, with bark-like plating across their shoulders. I'd read about them on the forums: they were fast, aggressive, and they hunted in coordinated packs that flanked their prey. Good test subjects. I drew Spriggan's Will and nocked an arrow from about a hundred meters away, well beyond their detection range, and fired a basic attack at the nearest Prowler. -347! A basic attack, no skills, no buffs.

The arrow punched through the bark plating on its shoulder and sent the creature staggering sideways. The Prowler snarled and turned toward me, and the other three followed. They moved fast, splitting into a wide arc as they closed the distance, two coming straight while the flankers looped through the underbrush on either side. I put a Piercing Shot into the one at the front. -602! It stumbled but kept coming. The flankers were closing from both sides, maybe thirty meters out and speeding up.

I fired two rapid basics at the right one. The second arrow triggered the Entangle passive, and jade-green vines erupted from the forest floor beneath its paws, locking it in place mid-sprint. The Prowler thrashed against the roots, unable to move for just over a second. Its partner on the left hesitated, unsure whether to continue alone or circle back. That hesitation cost it. I put a Burning Arrow into its flank, then followed with a basic that dropped it to half health.

By the time the lead Prowler reached me, I'd already Leap Attacked over its lunge and fired the powered-up shot into its back on the way down. The Three Prowlers died in about thirty seconds, and I'd barely touched my mana pool. The Entangle passive was going to change how I fought groups, that I was sure about. A random root on any given shot broke formations without me spending mana on Web Trap, and against players in PvP, a 1. 2-second CC in the middle of an exchange could decide the whole fight.

I pushed deeper into the Greenveil and found a larger cluster of mobs: six Greenveil Thornbacks. They were essentially walking bushes with claws, slower than the Prowlers but heavily armored with bark and thorn plating. They were clustered in a clearing around a tree, feeding on its sap. Time to test the weapon skill. I drew to full, aimed at the center of the cluster, and activated Verdant Arrow. The shot left the bow trailing jade-green light, hitting all six of them at once for over 900 damage.

Vines erupted from the arrow's path, and they applied Entangle, as well as a slow debuff and a consistent Damage over Time effect on all of them. They were down in no time. The Emberwood wasn't obsolete — its fire damage and Weakness to Fire debuff would remain valuable against specific enemies — but I had to admit, Spriggan's Will was something else. Carrying on, I also noticed Adaptive Growth kicking in during an engagement.

I'd been fighting continuously for about two minutes when I checked my attack power and found it sitting at 464 instead of the base 451. The first stack of the bow's passive had applied, a 3% increase that would continue building the longer I stayed in combat, up to five stacks and a maximum 15% bonus. In a drawn-out boss fight or dungeon run, that meant my damage would ramp steadily over the first two and a half minutes and then apex at a significantly higher level than where I started.

A weapon that got stronger the longer you fought with it. It was quite thematic; just like the woods all around, it was constantly growing. Now for the new skill. I found a dense pack of eight Prowlers in a ravine, close enough to each other that a well-placed area effect would catch most of them. I nocked an arrow, aimed high, and activated Arrowstorm. The arrow sailed into the sky and disappeared. For three seconds, the Prowlers continued their patrol without concern. Then the sky opened.

A rain of mana-arrows came down in a concentrated barrage, blanketing the designated area in a storm of arrows, as the name suggested. The individual hits weren't massive, only about 150 damage per shot, but the sustained total over four seconds was significant. Arrowstorm filled the gap my kit had been missing.

Fan of Arrows was burst damage at close range, useful for point-blank emergencies, but the new skill was sustained area denial at any range, with a three-second delay that rewarded prediction and positioning over reaction. In a dungeon scenario with waves of adds or a boss fight with spawning phases, the skill would be devastating.

I spent the next hour running through pulls in the Greenveil, experimenting with Arrowstorm's placement, its interaction with Verdant Arrow's root, and the timing needed to predict where mobile targets would be when the rain arrived. I tested Mistveil from the Shrouded Mask as well: six seconds of semi-invisibility, enough to reposition in the middle of a fight or set up an opener that hit significantly harder.

The combination of fading out with Mistveil, lining up a shot, and breaking stealth with Verdant Arrow was going to become a staple of my rotation. The Greenveil's mob density was generous, and by late afternoon I'd cleared several clusters of Prowlers, Thornbacks, and a pair of Greenveil Stalkers — level 25 spider-like ambush predators that dropped from the canopy — accumulating materials and experience along the way.

Every fight reinforced the same conclusion: the gap between my old loadout and this one was enormous. You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story. I also noticed Twilight Hunter activating as the sun dropped below the canopy line and the forest floor darkened. My vision sharpened in the low light, details resolving that would have been blurred an hour ago, and I could feel the passive's movement speed and attack power bonuses layering on top of everything else.

In this environment, in the shade of Greenveil's ancient trees, I was faster and hit harder than I did in the open sun. By the time I decided to call it a day, I'd gained a comfortable buffer above level 25 and accumulated enough materials to keep Danza and his crew busy for a week. I should go back to Tidemark soon.

The capsule hissed open, I pulled the helmet off and reached for my tablet with the same motion. The Godsrealm companion app loaded, and the front page was on fire. Godsrealm Forums › KINGDOM OF RAVENLOFT › ANNOUNCEMENTS [OFFICIAL] The Age of Guilds Has Begun!

Posted by: Zenoxxxx | 1 hour ago | 18, 482 upvotes | 4, 458 replies The following Guilds have been officially registered with the Kingdom of Ravenloft: Avalon — Region: Ravencrown — Guild Leader: Ryder King's Glade — Region: Silverwing — Guild Leader: Phantom Two guilds, registered within hours of each other. Avalon had planted the flag first, and King's Glade had followed not too long ago, which meant Alice had gotten the Seal to Phantom in Silverwing faster than I'd expected.

She must have teleported immediately after we wrapped up the loot distribution. The comments were a warzone of congratulations, trash talk, and speculation. I navigated to the Silverwing sub and found a pinned post.

📋 Godsrealm Forums › KINGDOM OF RAVENLOFT › SILVERWING › ANNOUNCEMENTS [NEWS] Duke Dayne Acknowledges the Guild System Posted by: MerchantKing | <1 hour ago | 1, 025 upvotes | 186 replies Duke Dayne held a public address at the Silverwing just now, after King's Glade's announcement, officially acknowledging the establishment of guilds within the region. Summary based on eyewitness accounts: The Duke recognized King's Glade as the first guild registered in Silverwing and congratulated Phantom publicly.

He announced that guilds registered in Silverwing will be eligible for regional contracts: system-generated quests exclusive to registered guilds, reportedly offering significantly better rewards than Association quests. He confirmed that inter-regional travel will be possible "when the time is right." He hinted that the Kingdom would "recognize its strongest in due time," which most people are interpreting as a future tournament or ranking event, though no specifics were given.

The regional contracts were interesting. Exclusive guild quests with better rewards would widen the gap between organized groups and independent players, which made sense from a game design perspective but also meant the pressure to join a guild was only going to increase. The Duke's hint about recognizing the kingdom's strongest was vague enough to mean anything, but the comment section had already latched onto the idea of a Grand Tournament, among others.

Alice's raid report was next, sitting at the top of the Serendine sub. KINGDOM OF RAVENLOFT › SILVERWING › SERENDINE [RAID REPORT] Enhanced Greenveil Spriggan Posted by: KG_Alice | 4 hours ago | 685 upvotes | 114 replies The Greenveil Spriggan respawned this morning with a new modifier: Enhanced. The loot included 7 Epic items, 1 Unique weapon, 1 Guild Creation Seal, and 1 Rare Growth item. This was a joint operation between King's Glade's Second Division and Vanguard.

Both guilds contributed enormously, and the kill would not have been possible without the cooperation between our groups. Special recognition to Gaul and Vanguard's tank line for holding the frontline through multiple phase transitions. To our head healer Desirae, who kept the raid alive through the worst of it and gave her life saving a teammate in the final moments. To Denxy, whose tanking was the reason any of us survived the enrage. To Sarella for exceptional battlefield control during the add phases.

And to an independent ally for his damage output and tactical calls. The Guild Creation Seal obtained from this kill was used to register King's Glade as the second official guild in the Kingdom of Ravenloft. Thank you to everyone who fought. Comments: GaulVanguard: Good fight, Commander. Next time, we're keeping more than 9 alive. BowHunter99: Independent ally? That sounds shady. KG_Denxy: Great job, guys! NightOwl: An ENHANCED field boss? First time that modifier has appeared. Has anyone else seen it?

WardenPrime: That's the first confirmed Unique drop in Serendine. I appreciated Alice's discretion. She'd credited everyone who deserved it and kept my name out of the post, which was welcome news. Next, I checked my phone. Ace had left a message. Ace: I know you helped take down that Enhanced boss! I smiled. Orion: Good evening to you too. Ace: I read Alice's post, and I had my men figure the rest out.

You joined a hundred-player raid against an Enhanced Field Boss, helped kill it with nine survivors, got the MVP Unique drop, AND helped King's Glade get their guild seal. Am I missing anything? I had to admit, Ace's intelligence network was top-notch. Orion: Spot on. Ace: I can't really compete with the PR you're doing over there, in Silverwing. Orion: You have hundreds of members, you're doing just fine. Ace: Bro, your pet Fox is more popular than some top-tier players! I know, I checked.

I laughed, and the sound surprised me. It had been a while since I'd laughed like that. Orion: How's Gryphon's Claw doing? Ace: Growing. We're at 310 now, solid core of about fifty who I'd trust in any content. Cassie's running operations and she's terrifyingly good at it. Orion: And the seal hunt? Ace: Four Field Boss kills so far, no seal drops. RNG is being cruel, but we'll get there. The Golden Order's probably going to beat us to third place. They've been grinding nonstop in Onyx Tower. Orion: I saw.

WardenPrime's tracking post has them close. Ace: Yeah. But honestly, I don't care about being third or fifth or tenth. I care about building something that lasts. His next message came soon after. Ace: Speaking of which. You saw the notification, right? Avalon, first guild in the kingdom. Orion: I saw it. It nearly killed me. Ace: What? Orion: The kingdom announcement popped up mid-fight. Full screen. Some players died because they froze for two seconds reading it. Ace: That's...

actually kind of hilarious in a horrible way. I'm sorry. Orion: Don't be. It made for a good story. Another pause. Ace: How are you doing, Seb? And I don't mean in the game. I looked at the rain for a moment. Orion: Better. Honestly, better than I've been in a while. Godsrealm's been good for me. The content keeps me sharp, the people are good, mostly. And the game is, of course, incredible. And Serendine's looking pretty fun, too, although I'm kinda homesick for Tidemark. Ace: And KG?

Alice and the others seem like good people. Phantom too, from what I hear. Orion: They are. King's Glade is the real deal, Ace. Phantom's building something impressive, and Alice runs her division like she was born for it. Her people trust her completely. Ace: Sounds like you're warming up to them. Orion: … I'm not joining a guild. Ace: I didn't say anything. Orion: You were thinking it. Ace: I'm always thinking it. But I know you, Seb.

You'll figure it out in your own time, and whatever you decide, I'll support it. Even if it's not Gryphon's Claw. I appreciated that more than I could express in a message. Orion: Thanks, Ace. Ace: Just promise me one thing. Orion: What? Ace: Duke Dayne of Silverwing and King Seraf of Ravencrown had both said the same thing after the Guilds formed. Something about recognizing the kingdom's strongest. Most think it's a competition, a tournament, probably.

And when that tournament happens, you better be on somebody's roster. I don't care whose. I just want to see you on that stage again. I thought about it. A grand tournament of sorts. Prizes, recognition. Opportunity. The biggest stage Godsrealm had to offer so far, if people were right. For the first time in a long time, the idea of competing on a stage like that made me feel excited once again. Orion: I'll think about it. Ace: That's the most optimistic thing you've said since I dragged you into this game.

I'm marking this day on the calendar. Orion: Don't push it. Ace: Too late. Already pushed. Talk soon, Seb. Stay safe out there. Orion: You too, Ace. I closed the chat and set the phone aside.