There was pain.
Then there was MMO pain.
The first kind was when the item you needed refused to drop.
The second was worse.
The item finally dropped, and someone else won the roll.
"Haha," OldSeven said, immediately equipping Briarwood Reed. "I'm about to become a real Mage."
Of all people, Briarwood Reed had gone to OldSeven.
A man who had been knocked off a ledge twice in the same run now owned the best caster trinket currently available.
For a few seconds, every caster in the raid looked at him like he had personally ruined their life.
"You fell into the egg room twice," DesertWanderer said flatly. Since he was OldSeven's real-life friend, he had no reason to be polite. "A man like you has no right to wear that trinket."
SevenDays was even more direct.
"I propose healers stop healing OldSeven."
OldSeven was shameless.
"Rolling high is also skill," he said. "The game has chosen me. I am Azeroth's destined hero."
This guy was another chuunibyou clown, almost on Coldhands's level.
OneShotCrit clicked his tongue.
"You're not OldSeven anymore. You rolled a ninety-nine, right? From now on, you're Old Ninety-Nine."
Everyone immediately laughed.
"Good name."
"Old Ninety-Nine."
"OldSeven, your old name is dead."
OldSeven lifted his chin. "Jealousy. This is all jealousy of my talent."
Since Gabryell had not gotten Briarwood Reed this time, he could only come back and farm Jed again after finishing the Onyxia attunement.
For now, the attunement came first.
"Keep clearing," Gabryell said. "Next boss."
If Jed was the caster favorite, Rend was the melee favorite.
If Jed's loot and Rend's loot had been swapped, the people finding excuses to leave early would probably have been melee players instead.
The most important thing in Rend's arena was simple: do not wipe.
If the raid wiped at the wrong point, the event could bug out. Rend would disappear, the door to the second half of UBRS would stay locked, and the run would be dead. The only option would be to leave and reset.
Across the arena, Rend Blackhand stood beside Lord Victor Nefarius, Nefarian's human disguise.
Rend pointed toward Gabryell's raid.
"My lord, Alliance intruders. Clearly, the troops you gave me aren't enough. I request reinforcements from Blackwing Lair."
Nefarius gave him a look that could kill a weaker orc.
"They are here for you, Rend. You call yourself Warchief of the Blackhand clan, and Gyth fights at your side. If you cannot handle a band of Alliance insects, do not crawl back to me."
Rend immediately straightened.
"Of course, Lord Nefarius. Leave them to me. None of them will leave this arena alive."
"Then prove it," Nefarius said coldly.
Rend did not move immediately.
"No need to rush. I'll let my warriors test them first. We'll see what they can do."
Nefarius's patience visibly thinned.
"End this quickly. My patience is limited."
If he did not still need Rend's forces, Nefarian probably would have thrown him from the top of Blackrock Spire straight into the lava below.
"Those two across from us look strong," DesertWanderer said. "I'm getting the feeling we're not supposed to fight both."
Gabryell smiled.
Rend alone was manageable.
Rend plus Nefarian?
Fifteen players would not even count as a warm-up. One Shadow Flame and the entire raid would be corpse-running.
"Everyone jump down together."
Gabryell jumped into the arena first.
The others followed.
When Rend saw them enter, he burst out laughing.
"Good. Let my warriors soften you up first. Try not to die too quickly."
"Why aren't mobs spawning?" Igor asked after a few seconds.
"Wait," Gabryell said. "Carlos, Susie, when the gate opens, pick them up immediately."
The most annoying part of Rend's event was the trash waves before the actual boss.
They spawned slowly.
They wasted time.
And if the group got careless, they could still kill people.
"Mobs!"
The gate opened, and two elite dragonkin rushed out with several Rookery Whelps.
Carlos immediately moved to pick them up.
Rend watched from above as his first wave died quickly.
"Hmph. Not bad for Alliance. But that was only the vanguard."
More waves followed.
Every wave died.
Rend's confidence started looking thinner and thinner.
Nefarius, meanwhile, had clearly seen enough.
"Useless," he said. "Get down there yourself. If you cannot handle them, do not return without your head."
Technically, Rend would not need to bring his own head anywhere.
Horde players doing the Onyxia attunement would be happy to cut it off and take it back for him.
Nefarius vanished in a flash, returning to the heights of Blackwing Lair.
"Wait," DesertWanderer said. "The stronger one disappeared. Is he coming down later?"
"Didn't you see his name?" Gabryell asked.
Unfortunately, Coldhands was not here. If he were, he would have already gone into full lore-lecture mode and explained who the man beside Rend had been.
So Gabryell had to do it himself.
"That was Nefarian. Onyxia's brother, and the real master of Upper Blackrock Spire."
DesertWanderer was stunned. "That was Nefarian?"
"Yeah," Gabryell said. "If he fought us himself, we'd already be dead."
Carlos looked toward the arena gate.
"The other one's coming down."
With Nefarius gone, Rend had no choice but to fight personally and salvage whatever dignity he had left.
Then he entered the arena mounted on Gyth.
"Whoa," Susie said, bracing herself. "He's riding a dragon. And the dragon has its own health bar. Are we fighting two bosses?"
Gabryell was very pleased that she noticed.
That alone made her better than David.
"Treat it like two bosses just in case," he said. "Carlos, take Rend. Susie, take Gyth. If it turns out to be one shared fight, Carlos main tanks and Susie builds second threat."
Rend charged into the arena on Gyth's back.
"You miserable Alliance made me look like a fool before Lord Nefarius. I'll take your heads and offer them as proof of my victory!"
Rend was shameless.
At the start of the fight, he let Gyth take all the damage while he sat on the dragon's back giving useless orders.
"Gyth, breathe over there! No, over here! You stupid beast, turn your head!"
Carlos and Susie's threat stayed stable from the start. Gyth's head never swung toward the raid, so its Freeze, Breath, and Acid only hit the tanks.
At first, the two tanks did not know Gyth could Freeze, and both were frozen at the same time.
That was when David finally earned his keep.
He immediately picked up threat and kept the dragon from turning on the raid.
Once they understood Gyth's abilities, the tanks spread out properly. Whenever one got frozen, the other immediately Taunted and took over.
"Useless dragon!" Rend shouted.
"In the end, I, Warchief Rend Blackhand, must carry this fight myself!"
When Gyth's health dropped low enough, Rend finally jumped down from the dragon's back and joined the battle himself.
"Carlos, hold Rend," Gabryell called. "Susie and David, keep Gyth under control. Kill the dragon first."
His reaction was fast enough to stop Rend from reaching the healers.
Carlos used Intercept and caught Rend immediately. Susie Taunted Gyth and stabilized the dragon's threat.
"Dragon first," Gabryell repeated. "Then Rend."
Gyth's Freeze was more dangerous than Rend's Whirlwind.
If Gyth turned his head and breathed into the raid, freezing half the group at once, the fight could collapse instantly.