As the lord's words echoed, a notification appeared in front of every player in the room.
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Congratulations!!
The lord of Canopy City has seen your prowess among the players and is making a request. Slip away during the seige and kill the dark mage.
[Reward] ???, +Reputation, 1,500 gold
[Penalty] None
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'Reputation huh. First time seeing that.'
Ian read the window over and accepted the quest immediately. Every player in the room did, they had nothing to lose.
"Alright! Just wait lord, I'll bring that guys head back in no time!"
Ty stood confidently, he had no doubt that his party would be the one to kill that mage. The other players shot him looks as he boldly stepped forward.
"I appreciate your spirit but it's best to save your strength for the battle. That's all, you all are free to leave."
The lord waved a hand and dismissed everyone in the tent. As everyone began to clear out the players lingered outside the tent.
"A hidden quest... This is better than I thought."
Ember, the mage, leaned against the huge wall. She looked to the other players, scanning them. Her eyes stopped at Ian.
"Speaking of hidden quests. Ian Nightgale, you're the guy who found the dark mage. Do you have any useful intel on him?"
"Honestly no. I barely got out alive so, other than the fact his army is more that 1,000 strong I don't know much."
"So nothing."
The mage looked a bit annoyed. It was clear she thought she was better than him, at least a little. She thought that if it was her, she would have done better.
Ian let her clear attitude slide for to save face. There was no point in arguing with some people.
"Anyway I do have a plan though. And it should work"
Ian still had his skill point after reaching level 30. His idea was to upgrade his [Animal Friendship] skill to deepen his bond with Arrow. Hopefully that would result in something that let him scout for the mage.
"I can scout for the dark mage with my tame. After I find him, a couple of us should clear a way out and hold down the battlefield. That will let the rest of us head out to find and kill that guy."
"And whos gonna stay behind? Not one of us wants to give up that reward."
The fox assasin, Desmond, cut in from the side.
"Then let's do this. The people who kill the mage get the hidden quest and his drops. The ones who stay behind get all the loot from his lair and the gold reward. We evenly split anything we sell. Does that sound fair?"
This time Jasmine spoke up to provide a solution.
The other players paused in thought at her suggestion.
"That doesn't sound half bad, actually."
From dark armor a small yet strong voice resounded. The other players nodded in agreement.
With a plan set the players split up to continue their preparations. Ian and the party went up the wall and looked out into the forest. The looming trees stood tall in the darkness completely silent.
Looking out, Ian opened his status and muttered a prayer.
'Let's hope this goes well.'
Ian quickly used hus skill point to upgrade [Animal Fiendship].
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Congratulations Ian!
Your skill [Animal Friendship] has evolved into [Animal Connection].
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Ian focused on the skill to read it's description.
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[Animal Connection] You can instinctively understand your animal companion. Allows you to borrow your animal's vision for 10 minutes at a time. Only works with assigned tame.
(Tame: Arrow lvl. 19)
(Cooldown: 30 min)
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A grin emerged on Ian's face as he read the skill description.
'This is better than I expected'
Without hesitation Ian activated the skill. Arrow, who was perched on gop of the wall, suddenly jerked. Both his and Ian's eyes went fully white as their connection reached a new peak.
'Fly'
Ian told the bird through their connection. As Arrow rose in the dark sky Ian saw a beautiful sight. The forest stretching out west and the bustling city behind him made for an amazing view.
Under him, beyond the wall was Jasmine and a few druids. Each cast a spell and the glow of magic circles illuminated the clearing. From the floor walls rose, the druids used their plant control spells to form walls outside the city. These walls would seeve to slow down and gather the skeletons making defense a ton easier.
Before long the time for battle had come. The closer the countdown got to zero the more players arrived on the wall. As the countdown ended every player went silent. Everyone held their breaths for a moment as rustles began to echo.
In the trees a huge white mob was heading toward the wall. Skeletons rushed out of the forest, their numbers larger than Ian expected.
Lights flashed as magic was fired at the undead mob. Arrows flew through the air and cannons fired from atop the walls. Ian also joined in the attacks and even Arrow swooped in once in while.
The battle reached a ruthless rhythm as players attacked from a distance non stop while skeletons did their best to reach them. A couple skeletons would break through every now and then and try to climb the wall with no success.
Eventually some players grew bored of the repetitive combat and simply went beyond the wall. They ran straight into close combat with the skeletons with no regard for danger.
Many skeletons rapidly died but just before their number fell below 10,000 a line appeared in a flash. The walls the druids conjured were cut down and the attacking players were bisected. Only the skeletons were spared by that deadly slash.
Trees fell as someone emerged from the forest. A man riding an armored skeleton horse covered in dark full body armor, his open visor revealing a skull. The pressure radiating from the death knight far exceeded the skeletons.
This was a silver level monster.
The death knight strode up on its horse. A long black blade rested in his left hand while his right gripped the reins. In the blink of an eye the monster reached the gate.
Players hurried to stop it, seeing the direction it was going. Some even jumping off the wall to reach it in time but it was too late.
The death knight swung its sword one more time before any player could reach it. A dark light flashed as his slash flew forwards and the gate fell apart.
"Everyone move! Off the wall! The skeletons broke through!"
Orders echoed out as both NPCs and players hurried off the wall.