｢Congratulations on completing: Bizarre Domain normal mode
Time elapsed: 6:23:10
Enemies killed: 1254
Team Deaths: 0
Team Members: 108/100
Assessment: A
Reward:
200% EXP
200 Silver｣
This screen popped before every player, informing them of the quality of their dungeon dive attempt. When they saw that they got an A, many players were secretly dissatisfied.
They believed that they should've been rewarded with an S or SS at the least. If they were even to accept this A rating, it had to be an A+ at least.
Of course, Riveting Night was satisfied with this. For their first 100 man dungeon foray, to get an A was the most direct indicator that her choices so far in terms of the development of Umbra were good. Their future was bright, as long as she remained prudent with everything.
The standards for dungeon completion assessments were complex. A lot went into it, more than most players understood.
Most older games had very limited AI managing them and certain things were overlooked due to a lack of digital resources within the AI. Even older games from the early 2000's didn't even have AI. Most of them run on code and engines.
The AI of Boundless was far different. It had a hefty amount of processing power and digital resources, enough to handle the whole population of the planet being online at the same time.
It factored in a lot of things when calculating the assessment for completed dungeon runs, too much to list out easily. One could almost call the AI a nitpicker when making its calculations.
The main reason they had gotten only an A, despite the fact that they had cleared out almost every monster in almost record time - 6 hours was extremely short for a 100-man dungeon, as compared to 10 man dungeons - was because they were over the number.
One might have wondered why 108 people could enter a 100 man dungeon. Well, the AI certainly wouldn't stop you, similar to how one could bring fewer members in.
However, each side had it pros and cons. If you brought fewer members, you would get a much higher rating on completion, but it would be proportionately harder to complete. If you brought more people, it would be easier to complete but your rating would be much lower.
Still, for Umbra's 108 members to get an A rating, considering the fact that they were all a random gathering of elite players, it meant that their potential to grow was extremely high.
In a few months, It might be possible for Draco and Eva to train them to achieve S or S+ ratings when they were up to the number. The loot acquisition would be maddening at that point, easily helping the guild grow altogether.
Forget about them ever achieving an SS or higher rating. That was reserved for cheaters like Draco and Eva whose skill levels were much higher than the estimated average, making their results, which had been impressive but understandable in their past lives, seem like miraculous and heaven defying acts in this one.
Everyone closed their screen at the same time and gazed the loot that had fallen from the sky with interest. Rina saw the gold coins drop and almost pounced on them, but was held back due to her fear of the Lady Boss.
There was a pool of 10 items. Three were weapons, one was an ornament, two were armors, two were consumables and the last two were materials.
Riveting Night inspected them all.
｢Shura's Sword – One handed sword
Rank: Rare
Atk spd: 9
Dmg: 190-256
Effect: Bloodletting effect +10% damage, Bloodletting effect +10% chance｣
｢Zeus' Hammer – Hammer
Rank: Rare
Atk spd: 2
Dmg: 167-231
Effect: Blunt damage +10%, Stun effect +10% chance｣
｢Staff of the Elementalist – Staff
Rank: Rare
Cast spd: 7
Dmg: 125-225
Effect: Casting speed +10, Magic damage +30%｣
｢Eye of Heaven – Ornamental Item
Rank: Epic
Effects:
Passive 1 – Light Amplification: Light based magic, skill and techniques are boosted by 30%.
Active 1 – Light of the World: Activating this skill allows the user to summon the Heaven's Eye to send out a giant beam of light energy. Cooldown: 7 days.
Note 2: Heaven's eye will possess a rank of the player's + 3. Maximum Rank increase is capped at Rank 5.
Description: This talisman was created from the condensed essence of the Heaven's Eye, a mystical being that occasionally emerges in the world to purify all evil.
Further abilities can be unlocked by sacrificing experience points. 0% of 30000% needed to upgrade to legendary rank｣
｢Knight's Companion – Chest Plate
Rank: Rare
Def: 500
Effect: Piercing resistance +30%, Defense boost +50%｣
｢Gloves of the Duelist – Gauntlets
Rank: Rare
Def: 70
Effect: Dexterity +3, Strength +5｣
｢Rage in a Bottle – Consumable
Rank: Rare (50% effectiveness)
Effect: Allows one to enter a Minor Berserk state. (all stats +30 and pain tolerance +70%)｣
｢Optimal Recovery – Consumable
Rank: Rare (70% effectiveness)
Effect: Allows one to regenerate 50% of all hidden stats.｣
｢Maeker Root – Material
Rank: Rare
Use: Alchemy｣
｢Octophile Ink – Material
Rank: Rare
Use: Scribing｣
Riveting Night assessed the items silently, but the others were not so quiet. These were true gamers and were the best of the best among that group. To see such a great line-up of loot had all the guys rock hard and the gals dripping like leaky pipes.
Rina was breathing so hard that she sounded like a car engine. Sublime's eyes had literally transformed into stars as they inspected the lovely array of items.
However, no one dared to move unless the Lady Boss said so. Not just out of fear and respect, but due to propriety. Despite how l.u.s.tful they were for loot, they understood that it had to be distributed properly.
They weren't a hastily cobbled together group of players who were only watching out for themselves. They were members of a guild, and once they signed that contract, their main priority no longer became themselves only, but their guild as well.
Of course, this was offset by the sheer rewards and benefits Umbra had to offer, which was why these payers were not really bothered. After all, they weren't like those idiots from before, who wanted the benefits without the effort.
Riveting Night naturally took the Eye of Heaven talisman and wore it. No one stopped her for obvious reasons. Light magic was a rare and difficult field to enter. Just allocating the points based on preference wasn't enough, one needed to fulfill a few extra criteria before level 10 to get it.
Same went for dark magic, space magic and all the higher magical classes.
Similarly, light based skills for non-magic classes was even harder to acquire. Not even Riveting Night or Draco could claim to know a method to acquire such abilities outside of their bloodlines.
This was why Draco was so pleased when he saw that his bloodline granted him dark resistance and mastery.
It might be an epic item, but it was useless to them. However, their Lady Boss had absolutely laid waste to that Unique Boss with her light abilities, so using that talisman was like giving wings to the tiger.
The stronger she was, the stronger the guild. The stronger the guild, the more loot they could acquire in the future.
Their eyes fell onto the three weapons and two armor pieces. Riveting Night did same and contemplated slightly.
If she wanted them to bid using UPs, that would be pointless, as everyone had the exact same amount currently. If she wanted them to use money, they certainly could not afford to pay.
So, all she could do was distribute it directly. The only problem was that all of these players were elites. The skill gap was there, but it was not too outrageous.
There would be dissenters if she shared it anyhow.
Not that Riveting Night would care, but this concerned Umbra… Draco's guild. Umbra represented everything about Draco currently, his willingness to change and his ambition to dominate.
Umbra was a symbol of their fresh start into this new life, where old wrongs were forgiven and previous events were rewritten. Riveting Night didn't want to ruin everything in this timeline too, so she was extremely careful in this regard.
On that note, she thought carefully before making her decision.
"Shura's Sword goes to Young Duel (Swordsman). Zeus' Hammer goes to Uno. Staff of the Elementalist goes to Rina. Knight's Companion goes to Slimzy (Mage Guard). Gloves of the Duelist go to Kiran."
After making her decision, she directly transferred those items to their new owners, who were ecstatic that they were chosen. Those who had hoped to be the lucky ones didn't try to hide their disappointment.
However, no one made a complaint.
"Those who did not acquire anything will get priority selection in future loot distributions. As long as I am around, Rare items will not be a problem, and there might be chances for Epic items. However, that would depend on your own contribution."
Riveting Night's words were light, but in the ears of the players, they were weighty.
When they thought about it, their hearts began to pump ferociously. After all, they had just come out of a boss fight that was far harder than any other they had faced since starting Boundless.
They also couldn't make the excuse that the boss was above their level, since it was scaled down to the level of the highest team member, who was Riveting Night at the time.
Even during the battle, they had soon out-leveled the boss after a short while. So it was their skills that were sorely lacking, even though that was a normal thing when dealing with Unique Bosses.
Yet, their Lady Boss had almost practically soloed the thing. Their presence in the fight wasn't too notable. They had mostly been there to provide backup, instead of fighting side by side.
If they met bosses like that which dropped such unholy loot in the future and the Lady Boss was around…
At this point, one could understand why their breathing had became erratic.
Frankly, entering Umbra was like passing through the gate of heaven.
"We're leaving." Riveting Night commanded, taking the lead. The players followed along behind her, chatting leisurely and freely, their barriers between each other no longer in existence after this 6 hour dungeon run, as well as that hellish boss fight.
Surprisingly, those who were traumatized by the extreme pain of being cooked alive were laughing without a care.
This had little to do with their own efforts, but due to the strange rules of Boundless. The memory of the extreme pain was dialed down to the point where it felt like a distant memory to the players.
They remembered that they had been exposed to extreme agony, but not how extreme that agony was.
A similar thing occurred to human women. After the pain of childbirth, the extremely painful experience was made vague, so that these mothers would be encouraged to give birth to more children.
Riveting Night led the group out of the Bizarre Domain and noticed that the outside of the area was much more populated than before. The moment Umbra came out, all eyes turned to them.
Majority were small guilds who were terrified that Umbra would try to take all the first clears, and so banded together to try and convince them not to.
They had no plans to fight Umbra, but they needed to have some sort of force if they wanted to negotiate with them in anyway.
The moment Riveting Night came out, the guild leaders of these guilds began to feel extremely uncomfortable. Not putting her invisible killing intent and her dangerous aura, the visual aspect of Riveting Night was extremely unsettling.
That ever-dark hood made one feel goosebumps all the time. It was like staring into the eyes of that fellow with the giant red eye from that popular medieval fantasy from the early 2000s.
However, one fellow managed to swallow his apprehension enough to approach Riveting Night.
"Good day, Vice Guildmaster of Umbra. My name is Weary Drifter, and I just wanted to take a bit of your time to ask a question that pertains to the very survival of the various small guilds here."
The fellow greeted her with respect and in a friendly manner, no hints of a double meaning in his words or actions.
Riveting Night was about to walk right by him, as she could give not a single damn about the welfare of anything that didn't have any value to Draco, but she stopped.
Crack open this madwoman's skull - which you would have to pay a hefty price to do - rummage around in her brain - which I would seriously recommend you don't - and you won't find the reason why.
Did humans make arbitrary decisions every now and then? The answer was yes. The frequency of that was extremely low, but it did happen in certain rare moments.
Like now.
"Speak."
Riveting Night's tone was not cold, yet it was not warm. It was extremely neutral and indifferent.
Weary Drifter thanked the gods in his mind. He had heard from certain sources that the Vice Guildmaster of Umbra was a seriously mentally ill woman who had an unreasonable amount of power and skill.
The fact that she had even stopped and deigned to listen to him made him gain some confidence in the matter. Of course, that was in terms of achieving his goals, not opening his dog mouth to ask for more.
"Yes, thank you. We noticed that Umbra had chosen to enter the normal mode of the Bizarre Domain's traditional dungeon, which is not a problem on its own. However, if Umbra were to complete the Bizarre Domain's three difficulty modes… I won't waste Vice Guildmaster's time with a pointless explanation you probably already know."
Weary Drifter spoke clearly and quickly, in case Riveting Night changed her mind and found what he said to be long winded.
He took in a deep breath as he waited for her reply.
"Yes, I do. You are worried that I would hurt your recruitment drive? Do not fear, I am just here to train my guild members. We have no plans to ruin your livelihood."
Riveting Night said this while walking away. Her menacing aura was a little subdued and her form seemed less menacing and more dignified.
Weary Drifter let out a breath and relaxed.
Who the f.u.c.k said that the Vice Guildmaster of Umbra was an unreasonable and crazy woman? She was just cold and noble, that was all. She was less like a demoness and more like a goddess.
This was the same thought that ran through the minds of every player on the small guild's side, whether male or female. They all felt that it was more likely that those rumors were fabricated to hurt her reputation.
Weary Drifter was gloomy. After being treated so well by Riveting Night, he had an extremely good impression of her. He deduced that the reason such rumors were spread was to damage her name.
Since the ones who spread it were those who were cast out by Umbra, he guessed that they had failed some sort of loyalty test after passing the combat test, leaving them bitter and angry.
'Humph, wanting to smear the name of a good person just because your shitty nature was found out? Don't blame me for slapping your faces then!'
Unfortunately for those players, they were right…
......…
Riveting Night returned to the Vita Settlement with the 108 members of Umbra in tow. The various NPC handlers added some life to the settlement, but it was otherwise barren.
It was like staring at a giant machine that was dormant, only being maintained by various worker droids. Until the population was buffed and the industry was kickstarted, it would remain like this.
Riveting Night turned to the players who were marveling at the existence of this settlement. They were now 300% sure that joining Umbra was the best choice ever.
They had received the announcement about the settlement, but seeing it was a different experience. These players were not noobs, they knew what a settlement meant in most MMORPG western fantasy games.
It meant that there were kingdom building aspects!
At a time where everyone was thinking about how to raise levels and grow their guild, Umbra was ten steps ahead by laying a foundation for a future kingdom of its own!
One should note that these fellows mostly joined due to the Guild Hall. A Rank 7 Guild Hall was definitely a legendary existence at this point in the game and its presence brought many benefits to the guild and themselves as well.
However, at the end of the day, the Guild Hall was landlocked in the Sturgehaven Kingdom. If the guild ever went against the laws of Sturgehaven kingdom, it was up in the air as to whether they would be able to keep surviving.
At that time, their Guild Hall would lose all utility. Whether or not Umbra would survive was questionable.
But with this settlement, Umbra would always have a base of operations. In fact, they could start from here and slowly creep into the surrounding kingdoms and empires, planting their influence in them and siphoning off resources as they grew like a tumor.
This sounded a bit far-fetched, but currently Umbra had them, the top elites in the game. More were joining by the hour and soon, they would be filled with thousands of top-tier players with a strong potential to grow.
At that time, all of this would be easy to initiate.
Riveting Night turned to the players and signaled to them. "Feel free to go and select empty lots for your homes or take unoccupied homes as your own. All your choices are permanent, so choose well."
The Umbra members dispersed quickly, searching for the best homes to locate themselves. Naturally, the kept hierarchy in mind when choosing, meaning that if two people chose the same lot, the one with a higher ranking would take it.
Riveting Night turned to the Five Generals, Sublime Notion and Rambunctious Buttlover.
"As for us… we have a different job to do."
Riveting Night began walking towards the Mayor's Hall with a heavy gait.
"It's time to plan the second phase of Umbra's recruitment."