"You've gotta be fucking kidding me," John remarked as he finished reading through the stream of notifications he had just received. {Seriously? White tiger bandits? It's not like I'm looking for a white tiger or anything?}
"Err, what?" A slightly gruff female voice said, followed by one that scoffed and said. "Humans have probably never seen so many quests at once before.
John turned at the sound of the voices to find three attractive women from different races staring at him. The first was a female dwarf with blue eyes and long black hair that was styled into multiple curly ponytails. She was slightly smaller in stature than the other two but made up for it by having more plumpness in the areas of her body that men were generally drawn to.
Next ot her was a female orc who was glaring at him with distrust; she had the signature green skin of the orcs, golden-brown eyes and, like the dwarf, had long black hair, though it only had a single ponytail while the rest was left wavy and loose.
The final member of the party was a draconian who had dark eyes and, like the other two, had long black hair, though hers was straight.
{She must be currently hiding her wing.} John thought before adding. {But seriously, is long black hair a trend or something?}
"Apologies," John said. "I was just surprised by the name of this dungeon; that's all."
"Sure," the dwarf replied before she went back to playing with her interface, though her eyes kept darting back towards John every so often, while the orc and draconia just studied him before the orc finally asked, "Is it true that you helped Silver Oracle with her quest?"
"I did, though it was more of a coincidence than anything," John replied. "I happened to be searching for an NPC at the time, and both quests coincided."
"Then is it true you unlocked the new unique class?" the draconian asked, causing John to raise an eyebrow and ask. "Where did you hear that?"
However, just as the draconian opened her mouth to reply, Mel appeared next and judging by the way her eyes began to move, she also had received the notifications.
And a few seconds later, Mel cursed, "You've gotta be fucking kidding me!"
"I tell you these humans are crazy; we never should have accepted their help," the orc hissed to the other two.
The dwarf, however, waved her to be quiet before asking curiously, "Why did you two react so vehemently to this dungeon's name?"
Mel glanced at John, who shrugged and nodded before she said, "We just happened to come from the Seven Circles Enclave where J… I mean, Vincarna here received a quest related to white tigers."
"Seven Circles Enclave?" the draconian interrupted before asking. "Isn't that the druids' home base? Why was a non-druid class there and receiving a quest as well?"
"It's… complicated," Mel replied awkwardly since she didn't want to reveal too much to people she didn't know very well.
Mel knew she had met the dwarf and orc in real life once or twice from her conversation with Shizu and the others last night; however, she wasn't close with them, and it seemed they were unaware of her identity.
"Well, we all have secrets, but I doubt you will actually find any white tigers here; it's just the name of the gang, after all," The draconian stated before adding. "How about we do introductions and show our basic stats. I go by Black Dragoon, and my class is, as you can no doubt guess by my name, a dragoon."
As she did her introduction, she revealed her stats to the group, causing John to say in an impressed tone, "Damn, level twelve, and you even had your first class advancement."
[Name: Black Dragoon]
[Race: Draconian]
[Class: Dragoon+1]
[Level: 12]
[HP: 620/620]
[MP: 170/170]
Black Dragoon laughed proudly as the dwarf revealed her stats and introduced herself. "I go by Emberslag Stormforder, but you can just call me Emberslag, and I play a shaman."
[Name: Emberslag Stormforder]
[Race: Dwarf]
[Class: Shaman]
[Level: 11]
[HP: 500/500]
[MP: 170/170]
"You're level eleven but haven't completed your class upgrade yet?" John asked after inspecting her.
Emberslag chuckled in embarrassment while saying, "I was completing the quests for it when I stumbled upon this dungeon. I didn't want to risk someone else finding it without my knowledge while I completed my class upgrade, so I waited here."
"It would have been fine if you didn't get bored and leave the save zone," the orc teased before turning back to John and Mel and said flatly while revealing her stats, Shelur, warlock."
[Name: Shelur]
[Race: Orc]
[Class: Warlock+1]
[Level: 12]
[HP: 580/580]
[MP: 240/240]
"Impressive." John nodded; however, Shelur just looked away without responding, causing Emberslag to sigh and say. "Don't mind her; she was raised to distrust humans."
"It's fine; Alea filled me in on the details," Mel replied before saying to John, who wore a confused expression. "Aparently her mother has a rivalry with Empress Alexia."
"Doesn't Alexia have, like, a special version of necromancer or something, though?" John asked in surprise before turning back to Shelur and saying. "Your mother must be pretty impressive."
"Of course," Shelur retorted before noticing something and asking. "Why do you address your empress by her first name alone? I thought it was customary to address them with their title, as the druid girl did?"
"Only if you respect them," John replied before revealing his stats and saying, "The names Vincarna, and I play a Warden."
[Name: Vincarna]
[Race: Human]
[Class: Warden]
[Level: 6]
[Exp: 1/600]
[HP: 620/620]
[MP: 270/270]
Shelur was about to ask what he meant by 'only if you respect them' when she saw his stats, and she couldn't help but ask, "What the fucks with those stats?"
"Only level six, and you have the same health as me?" Black Dragoon asked in shock, while Emberslag added. "And the same MP as Shelur; just how powerful is your unique class?"
"I've never heard of a class adding stats upon receiving it," Shelur remarked. "Normally you just get extra stat points on level up."
"Yeah, mine's no different in that regard; I received the extra stats another way," John said with a smirk and just as the three were about to enquire what other way, Mel smiled before revealing her stats while saying, "I'm Dream Star, and I play a Druid."
[Name: Dream Star]
[Race: Human]
[Class: Druid]
[Level: 7]
[Health Points: 640/640]
[Mana Points: 300/300]
"Damn, looks like you're still ahead of me," John stated while Mel smirked and said. "You need to work harder."
"What the fuck, yours too?" Black Dragoon cursed, and for some reason the other four women all looked at her in surprise, causing her to blush and say. "Sorry."
{What was that about? Is she not normally the swearing type?} John thought as Shelur asked. "Ok spill, what's up with these stats? They're not normal level six human stats."
"Trade secret," Mel replied while sticking out her tongue and feeling happy that she was someone John had trusted enough to share the trick with.
"Oh, come on," Shelur complained, only for Emberslag to place a hand on her shoulder and say. "Leave it; we all have our secrets."
"Fine," Shelur replied before staring at John again and asking. "Then what's the deal with you not respecting your empress?"
"You're quite straightforward, huh?" John replied, which surprisingly caused Shelur to flush slightly while Emberslag and Black Dragoon chuckled at her reaction.
Emberslag smiled at her friend's embarrassed reaction before turning serious and saying, "Ok, enough fooling. We have a little over ten and a half hours to complete this dungeon before it becomes public. While we would still have a distinct advantage over other parties if we don't clear it in time, I'd rather not have to worry about that."
"What's the strategy?" Black Dragoon asked while the other three listened in.
"Since we've never partied up together and don't really know each other's battle styles, strengths and weaknesses, I suggest we start with the standard.
Vincarna will stand and the front-line tank the mobs while Dragoon attacks them from their blind spots. Shelur will stand with Dream Star and cover her just in case, while I move back and forth between ranged and melee."
"Am I ok to throw out the occasional ranged attack to help?" Dream Star asked.
Emberslag nodded while saying, "As long as you prioritise healing Vincarna and the rest of us while keeping enough MP in reserve."
"I doubt he'll need much healing," Mel said confidently.
Emberslag gave her a doubtful look before glancing at Black Dragoon and saying, "And for Pete's sake, be careful where you aim your breath attack."
"Accept"
[Quest Accepted]