Chapter 106: White Tiger Bandits’ Hideout
[Blue Ice Queen: Hey, where you at? My friend is getting antsy and wants to know when you’ll be ready for the dungeon run.]
[Vincarna: Sorry, got tied up with my class quest; I’m pretty much ready to go. Did they find a healer?]
[Blue Ice Queen: No, though apparently Alea has someone in mind. They called her to ask for help.]
[Vincarna: Probably Mel; the princess just messaged her.]
[[Blue Ice Queen: You’re with Mel?]
[Vincarna: Yeah, I got transported to the Seven Circles Enclave as part of my class quest and met up with her here.]
[[Blue Ice Queen: How’s she doing on her class quest? She told me that she was having trouble with the Wild Morph part.]
[Vincarna: I’m happy to report that it’s sorted, shes actually a rather large bear sitting next to me right now.]
[[Blue Ice Queen: Great, I’ll let my friend know that you’re ready and that they can summon you.]
[Vincarna: Sounds good.]
[Blue Ice Queen: Have fun; wish I could come with.]
Mel, on the other hand, was having an animated conversation with Alea.
[Silver Oracle: Hey, are you free to help out with a dungeon? There are a few girls I know looking for a healer.]
[Dream Star: You mean the Dwarven Princess Erindroulydd Ironbasher?]
[Silver Oracle: Yeah, you already know about it?]
[Dream Star: I was having dinner with Shizu and the others when she received a message from someone named Shelur asking for help. They recommended John as the tank, though at the time I told them I couldn’t help since I was having trouble with my class quest. Thankfully, I can now say that’s all cleared up.]
[Silver Oracle: The Wild Morph part? Yeah, I did wonder how that would go with you being human. How did you sort it?]
[Dream Star: John helped. He asked the little bear cub he saved to bond with me.]
[Silver Oracle: Wow, that was nice of him.]
[Dream Star: Beyond nice. Lord Ursa originally summoned the little cub and its parent for John to bond with. But John recommended me even before he knew about that.]
[Silver Oracle: Seriously? Wait…. How can John bond with a beast of the wild? He’s not a druid… is he?]
[Dream Star: No, his new class is called Warden. Apparently it reacted to Lord Ursa’s blessing and granted him a skill or something called Primal Transformation. I don’t know exactly how it works, but it sounds like instead of transforming into the beast of the wild you bonded with, only parts of your body transform.]
[Silver Oracle: Primal Transformation? I’ve never heard of that before. So what happened? Did John bond with the parent?]
[Dream Star: No, honestly, I’m not sure the parent would have agreed regardless. Instead, the constellation Taurus descended and recommended that John bond with the offspring of the guardian beasts.]
[Silver Oracle: Wait, you mean like QueenTumble.]
[Dream Star: Yeah, though it sounds difficult.]
[Dream Star: That’s an understatement. I’ve played this game for almost a hundred years, and I can count on one hand the number of jackalopes I have encountered.]
[Dream Star: Fuck! There that rare?]
[Silver Oracle: It might not be like that on the other continents since jackalopes are known to be skittish. But I wouldn’t be wrong in saying that it’s hard to come across any of the guardian beast species. But what’s this about the constellation Taurus descending? What’s with John meeting all these constellations?]
[Dream Star: I have no idea, but they tend to like him. Also, did you know that Taurus was a female? And a pretty hot one at that.]
[Silver Oracle: I believe I read somewhere that the constellation Taurus is feminine; I thought I’d never seen her before.]
[Dream Star: Well, you’re missing out because she’s hot, and her tits rival mine.]
[Silver Oracle: Well, I suppose someone’s had to. Anyway, about this dungeon, are you down to heal it?]
[Dream Star: Sure, but isn’t that orc going to have a problem with us? I mean, I doubt she’ll like two humans joining.]
[Silver Oracle: She might have a slight issue and make some snide remarks, but don’t worry, she’s a nice girl. Her main issue with humans comes from the fact that her mother has a rivalry with Queen Alexia.]
[Dream Star: Wait, you mean she’s the daughter of Glasha? She’s a famous Warlock who trained under Chieftess Shufharz.]
[Silver Oracle: Yup, and now Shelur is training under her, so I can vouch for her skills.]
[Dream Star: Well, if you say so, I could certainly do with the experience from the dungeon.]
[Silver Oracle: Great, I’ll have Erindroulydd send you a summon invite.]
Mel closed her notification window to find John looking at her, clearly waiting for her to be done with her notifications before asking, “Dungeon?”
“Yup, should be fun,” Mel said excitedly before adding. “Sounds like it’s in the Himgulir Continent.”
“What’s this? You’re heading to the Himgulir Continent?” Taurus asked. Before adding. “Be sure to keep an eye out for a descendant of Kurma, then.”
“Yeah, we’ve been invited to help them clear out some bandits,” Mel replied before John added. “I’m not sure I’ll find any turtles among bandits, but I’ll keep an eye out. What does a descendant of Kurma look like? Do they have any defining features that put them apart from other turtles?”
“Well, most other turtles don’t have two heads,” Taurus chuckled.
“Excuse me?” John asked as he and Mel showed looks of surprise.
“Kuma is actually two entities in one,” Lord Ursa explained. “They are both a turtle and a snake combined, though it’s descendents are always just one entity, usually a turtle with a snake as its tail.”
“I don’t even know how to react to that,” Mel remarked just as John received a notification.
[Player Emberslag Stormforder has invited you to join their party. Would you like to accept?]
[Yes] [No]
“I got the invite,” John stated before thinking {Yes} and a second later, he received several more notifications.
[You have joined Emberslag Stormforder’s party.]
[Current party member:]
[Emberslag Stormforder]
[Shelur]
[Black Dragoon]
[Vincarna]
[Player Emberslag Stormforder is attempting to summon you using the White Tiger Bandits Hideout dungeon summoning stone. Would you like to accept the summoning?]
[Yes] [No]
“Well, looks like I’m off. Thanks again for all your help,” John said towards the two constellations.
“Farewell, Young Vincarna and good luck on your quest,” Lord Ursa replied while Taurus waved at him, saying with a smile. “I hope we meet again soon.”
John smiled and nodded in return before thinking, {Yes}, causing a summoning circle to form beneath him before he found himself inside a cave.
[Notice: You have discovered the dungeon ‘White Tiger Bandits Hideout’]
[White Tiger Bandits Hideout: The white tiger bandits are a group of bandits from different races that have come together under their leader, the white tiger boss.]
[They are known to conduct robberies against travellers going to and from Gar Lodir; however, what is not so well known is that they also hunt and capture wild animals in order to sell them or watch them compete against each other in fights as they bet on the outcome.]
[White Tiger Bandits Hideout is a Rank 1 dungeon with a level cap of 19 and a party limit of 5.]
[You can summon up to four other players from your friends list from the nearby summon stone in the safe zone.]
[Notice: As one of the first players to discover this dungeon, you have exclusive rights to it for 24 hours from the moment you leave the safe zone.]
[During those 24 hours, all enemy kill experience and quest experience will be doubled.]
[Notice: Timer has already started.]
[Time Remaining until exclusivity expires and continental announcement occurs: 10:42:29]
[Dungeon Quest Notification]
[Stop the White Tiger Bandits (Unique)]
[Your companions learned that the White Tiger Bandits have been capturing animals to sell off or use as entertainment for themselves.]
[Kill the White Tiger Bandits’ boss and claim his Insignia as proof.]
[Quest Goals:]
[Kill White Tiger Bandits’ Boss]
[Quest success reward:]
[5 Gold]
[Piece of Rare (Epic) Gear]
[Quest Failure punishment:]
[The bandits’ boss will lead the bandits to riot around Gar Lodir, killing many innocents and causing the city to go under martial law.]
[This is an automatic quest which you cannot refuse]
[Quest Accepted]
[Class Quest Notification]
[Free the animals (Rare)]
[Your companions learned that the White Tiger Bandits are holding a large number of animals prisoner in their hideout to sell or use for their amusement.]
[As the Warden, it is your responsibility to free these animals and find justice for them since their actions upset the balance and could potentially lead to a far worse situation.]
[Quest Goals:]
[Number of animals freed and escaped the hideout alive: 0/20]
[Kill White Tiger Bandits: 0/20]
[Quest success reward:]
[Dependent on the number of animals freed and bandits killed.]
[Notice: Depending on the number of animals freed and bandits killed, quest rank may increase to Epic.]
[Quest Failure punishment:]
[Reduction in Class rank.]
[*Notice: Because your Warden class does not have any class ranks, you will instead lose 3 levels.]
[This is an automatic quest which you cannot refuse]
[Quest Accepted]
[Dungeon Quest Notification]
[White Tiger Bandits Records (Rare)]
[Your companions learned that the White Tiger Bandits sell their captured animals off, but it is unknown to whom they sell them; recover their records, as it may reveal who purchased the poor animals.]
[Quest Goals:]
[Recover White Tiger Bandits Records: 0/5]
[Quest success reward:]
[Piece of Rare (Blue) Gear]
[1 Gold]
[Quest Failure punishment:]
[None]
[Do you accept this Quest?]
[Yes] [No]
