"Why are we getting here so early?" Ashlyn asked as she stumbled her way up to the checkpoint behind the rest of her party.

Ignoring her, Ian held his hand over the crystal before saying, "Second chance."

"Glad to see you are back out here," said the representative as the crystal turned green. "The dungeon is mostly empty right now, so you shouldn't have to deal with the same issue you did last time, but please do be careful."

"Thank you, I'm excited to get back in there. And no need to worry about us, we are going to take it nice and safe," Ian said as the rest of the group began walking towards the portal.

"If you end up needing anything, just let me know, Adventurer Zero."

"Appreciate it!" Ian called as he jogged to catch up with his group.

Entering the portal, Ian found himself back inside of the Fang's Den.

"This place is a lot creepier in person," Tram said. "You think they'd ever try to shoot a movie in a dungeon like this? It has that really old horror film vibe going on. Plus, it already comes preloaded with real monsters. Imagine the cost savings on the CGI!"

"That's pretty much what we are doing right now with our drones," Ian said, patting him on the back and moving forward. "We're going to run into a bunch of single wolfmen for a bit. With the place being practically empty, we should work our way towards the spawning dens. There is an area that has a few of them within talking distance of each other that is usually camped by the highest level adventurers."

"Lead the way," Ashlyn said. "My pack will let us know if there are any wolfmen near us."

"That's nifty," Lana said. "Can they hear them moving?"

"Nah, Mara says they stink," Ashlyn said, wrinkling her nose. "Apparently, she can smell some of them in the trees from here."

"Then they are a type of corrupted creature," Nia said, patting Spot on the shoulder. "Moon prowlers are known to actively hunt and kill creatures that have been warped by chaotic magics."

"Nice," Tram said, giving Mara a thumbs up. She just nodded back at him and turned back to the forest.

"Lead the way, Ian," Claire said. "I'll analyze them as soon as we see one."

As they walked, Ian was surprised to see Spot and Socks run off into the forest for a few moments before turning to Mara and heading back out. It only took a couple of minutes before Ian heard one of the wolfmen coming their way.

"It's a runt," Claire said as it came into sight. "Level 1148."

Ian brandished his new spear as he moved forward. It was heavier than his old one. It was also made of a dark blue metal alloy with streaks of crushed crystal flecking the entire shaft. This one had a nine-inch spearhead with two small wings, similar in shape to his old one.

The creature saw his movement and leaned down as if he was going to bolt forward at any moment. As Ian prepared to charge it, a blur of movement crashed into the monster from its left. As it rolled, Ian heard a crack and a whine come from the wolfman. As the movement stopped, Ian realized it was Spot who had jumped the now-injured creature.

Turning around, Spot watched the wolfman get to its feet. As it threw its head up to howl in frustration, it was hit from behind again. Unlike the first time, the pair didn't go down in a tumble. Socks had grabbed onto the creature's arm as it pounced on him and hauled the creature to the ground. Spot dove in right after, and the two moon prowlers bit down on the monster's arms and shook and pulled until Mara joined in, wrapping her jaws around the back of its neck and biting down.

Congratulations! You have defeated an enemy more than 500 levels higher than yourself. Experience rewards are multiplied by 25. You have earned 79 levels. You have achieved level 590. You have been awarded 2,370 skill points!

"That was savage!" Tram exclaimed. "And we earned 79 levels in a single go."

"Only 74 for Nia and me," Ashlyn said. "But you scrubs have to catch up to our greatness anyway."

"Well, you two did spam those dungeons over and over. It isn't surprising you managed to stay ahead of us," Claire said.

"My new salamander scale set was worth the time," Ashlyn said, looking down at the seemingly single piece of leather. "I still can't believe the full set doubles its protection and turns it into a second skin. If it wasn't for my cowl and the pauldrons, I would almost look like a monster."

"It's so intimidating!" Selenia exclaimed. "Mine just further increases my mana manipulation to help reduce the cost of my spells."

"'Just', she says," Lana said, giving Selenia a wink. "The number of people who have actually collected those sets happens to be very small.

"Yeah, we are pretty damn cool," Ashlyn said. "Almost as cool as my alias."

"Ashlyn, it's a good thing you're cute," Claire said, giving her an exasperated look.

"Yeah, I get that a lot."

When Claire went to loot the corpse, Ian purchased the final two levels of Endurance, maxing out all of the uncommon stat bonus skills. The second he did it, he was greeted with a new notification.

Congratulations! You have completed a skill series. All associated skills have been combined into the skill Ascension (Uncommon).

New Skill: Ascension (Uncommon) You have mastered the uncommon tier skills to expand your body and mind. As all components of a status are interconnected, mastering each has led to greater gains as a total. All status components are increased by 7,500 points.

"Ian," Claire said, catching herself after nearly tripping on nothing.

"We'll talk about it later," Ian said, smiling as everyone pulled up their status.

"Life is good," Tram said, giving Ian a smile. "Let's see how much the next one gets us!"

Ian just smiled as his stats all jumped to over double what he had possessed the last time he dove this dungeon.

They ended up killing eight more runts as they finally approached their new farming area. The leveling had quickly dropped off after the second kill, which the party had expected as they got higher and the feat multiplier shrank to a lower bonus. Even with the levels coming in slower, Ian wasn't upset that they had reached level 716 in such a short time. The level gap had closed, putting Ashlyn and Nia only two levels ahead.

In front of them stood their first real challenge of the dungeon. They needed to clear the previous spawns from where they were patrolling outside of the spawning dens. With twelve raiders moving around in such close proximity, this was one of the hardest spawns on the first floor of the dungeon. They were fast, and each was analyzed as being between level twelve and thirteen hundred, just like they had been the last time Ian had been here.

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"Alright, they are split into three groups," Claire said quietly. "We are going to start this off with Nia, Ash, and Lana shooting the ranged attacks they have. They are going to focus on the closest group and try to do as much damage as possible before they get in range. Once they hit the tree line of the clearing, stop attacking.

"That is when Tram will move up to engage in the center. Ian will take the left, and Mara will lead her pack to flank from the right. Remember, you don't have to outright kill them if you can maim them enough that they can't keep fighting. We can finish them afterwards."

Claire looked around and got a nod from everyone.

"Alright, start us off, Nia," Claire said, pulling her daggers and standing next to Lana.

The three groups of four raiders were standing just far enough apart that the ones farthest away would be just out of range. However, they were close enough that the ice shard sinking into the back and severing the spine of a wolfman in the closest group could be easily seen and heard.

As Ashlyn and Lana joined in, a howl went up as the three groups all turned to charge at the new threat. A spirit arrow pierced straight through the one in the lead, hitting a second one behind it. Neither was out of the fight, but both immediately slowed down from the devastating chest wounds.

As vines erupted from the ground and grabbed the charging wolfmen, it became obvious how much effort Lana was putting into learning the proper way to use her new skills. The first mobs to get hit with the vines went down, letting others know to run around the side of the spell. It didn't kill anything, but it effectively managed to stall the charge and put additional distance between the groups.

All arrows and spells stopped as Tram, Ian, and the prowlers moved forward to engage the seven creatures still advancing. Tram activated his charge and immediately bowled over the closest wolfman. As he brought his sword down, every monster turned to him and moved to engage. Mara, Spot, and Socks immediately pounced on the two wolfmen closest to them the moment their backs were turned. Their lion-like front legs slashed out to rake their four-inch claws drawing blood as their jaws began crushing bones and ripping flesh.

Ian didn't have any time to watch as he found himself slamming his new spear into the back of a wolfman, killing it before it even knew he was there. He quickly jabbed his spear into the next one before storing it. Grabbing the dying monster by the neck, he spun and launched it into the backs of the two beasts moments away from flanking Tram. The impact caused all three of the monsters to fall into a heap of growling and biting. Pulling his spear back out of his storage, Ian skewered both of them before they could get back to their feet.

Turning to help his friend, Ian saw that Tram was only fighting a single monster now. It brought a claw from the side, which met his friend's shield. Realizing its attack wasn't going to work, the creature leaned forward to bite at Tram's helmet. Instead of jumping back, he brought the edge of his shield straight up into the underside of the creature's jaw with an audible snap. Before the creature could recover, Tram brought his sword around, slashing its throat wide open and removing a claw-covered hand at the wrist.

Turning, Ian saw the prowlers descend on the injured monsters in the clearing, mercilessly putting them down. As the last one died, Ian looked at the notification.

Congratulations! You have defeated an enemy more than 500 levels higher than yourself. Experience rewards are multiplied by 25. You have earned 11 levels. You have achieved level 792. You have been awarded 330 skill points!

"And there we go," Ian said. "Don't loot the bodies. Let's use them to create the barricades. They can respawn after just a few minutes, but sometimes take more than ten."

"Nia, Ash, grab those two bodies right there and follow me," Claire said, already dragging one of the wolfmen across the ground towards the closest den. "Everyone else get the second den. Ian, do you even really need them?"

Ian thought about it for a second as he was pulling two corpses by the arms, "Probably not. I was killing them without activating Magic Soul, so I'll see how it goes and adjust."

"I should be able to block one of these den entrances off completely if we shove the bodies on one side," Tram said. "I just picked up a ground stomp skill which should disorient enemies who are in front of me.

"I'll use my Nature's Grasp skill to slow down the ones at the other entrance," Lana said. "That should allow the pack and Ash to kill them pretty easy."

"I'll help Tram by firing Ice Shards down the tunnel," Selenia said, moving over to Tram. "If I can get a couple of them early, we shouldn't have any issues."

"I feel kind of useless right now," Claire said with a sigh. "I guess I'll run around looting the monsters and help get the barricades set up between waves."

"Ha," Ian called out. "I've sparred with you before. Your skill with those daggers makes me feel like a kid waving a pointy stick."

"That's because you are just a kid waving a pointy stick. Get good scrub!" Ashlyn called back, receiving a middle finger from Ian as he chuckled.

"But seriously," Ashlyn said, looking over at her friend. "We love having you with us, Claire. Any of our viewers who think you don't have the strength to be here with us just don't understand what you bring to the table. Besides, one of these days they will be in for one hell of a treat when you show the world what you're really made of."

Claire gave her a quick hug before she ran over to loot the bodies that weren't going to be used in the barricades. By the time she got back, the first signs of growling were coming from the cave in front of Tram.

"Alright, folks, let's see how far we can get before this place starts to get packed," Ian called out.

"You got us here at three in the morning," Ash said, watching as Selenia shot two ice shards down the tunnel. "If anyone shows up before nine, they'd better bring coffee."

"If they bring coffee, they probably deserve this spot," Lana said as Tram stunned and dispatched the two wolfmen who made it to him.

*~*~*

"They're still here," came a deep, recognizable voice from within the forest. "Hurry up. They are starting to look pretty worn out."

Ian smiled as a huge, bearded man covered in vines walked out of the tree line.

"Brennan!" Ian called out as the man walked over to him. "It's good to see you again."

Brennan held out his hand, and Ian shook it. Behind him, his party came out of the tree line.

"That they are, and with quite a few more levels than the boards showed this morning," Point said, coming to stand next to Ian. "How fast are you leveling right now?"

"It's really slowed down since we hit nine hundred, just like it did last time," Ian said, as Ash and Lana killed the raiders coming out of their cave. "We're gaining a level every two to three kills now, so probably less than an hour? With that group that just went down, we all just hit 983."

Point just blinked at him for a moment, not seeming to process what he said. After a second, she tilted her head, "Really? Even with this many people in the party?"

"I'm sure you've all read the Awakening Challenge reports by now," he said, getting nods from the members of Mana Rising. "One of my inherent skills helps us level quicker, among other things."

"Our clan has a few members who completed awakening challenges, though most of them are up in the high-tier," Moxie said. "But we were actually coming to drop off some coffee, figuring you would be here all day."

"Oh my god, I love you all!" Ashlyn called from her den entrance, where Felt was handing her a cup.

"If you all give us time to hit the milestone, we'll gladly hand the spot over to you," Ian said, accepting his coffee. "We'd do it now if we weren't so close to finishing."

"Oh, we truly were expecting you to be here all day," Point said with a chuckle. "But we will gladly take it when you are ready to leave. There are better spots down in the cave—oh, here they come."

Hearing the growls, Ian looked over at the den.

"Can you hold this for a second?" he asked Point, who smiled as she took his coffee cup back.

With his caffeine safe, he turned and bolted towards the den. As the first raider emerged, he quickly activated magic soul and jammed his spear into its heart. Dropping the weapon, his sword appeared in his hand as he reactivated magic soul and quickly cut through the remaining three before they could react.

"You're considerably stronger than you were last time you were in here," Brennan said as Claire ran over to loot the corpses. "If I didn't have proof, I wouldn't believe you ever reset your level."

Ian thanked Point as she handed his coffee back. He turned to Brennan before giving him a smile.

"I can tell you he did indeed utilize a prestige skill when his sister started diving," Claire said, pointing to Ashlyn when they gave her puzzled looks. "Though I have the feeling she is going to out level all of us eventually. She's going to be an absolute monster with her moon prowlers."

"Aren't you…Keeper Withers?" Moxie asked, staring at Claire.

"Yes, I am, and I'm glad you remember me," she said, giving the other adventurer a friendly smile. "You were looking for a group, but you were already too high compared to the normal folks in the AO. I'm glad you got accepted into your clan."

"No, thank you for pointing me towards them. It has really made all the difference."

"Not a problem," Claire replied, giving the other woman a hug. "You deserved to have a good team, and it seems you have found it."

"Well, we are going to go meet the rest of your team, Zero," Brennan said. "And probably get Felt away from your Tank before she talks him into some sort of debauchery."

"Not sure you'd be doing him any favors," Ian said, causing Claire to snort.

"She's more than a handful sometimes," Point said with a sigh. "I'm not sure it would be safe to let him try to handle her."

"It would be entertaining to see him try," Ian chuckled before giving her a nod. "We'll come find you as soon as we hit the milestone."

"Ah, no biggy. If we aren't here, Zee will know," Point said, waving as she walked over to talk with Lana.

"They are a good group," Claire said.

"One of the best I've met so far," Ian replied.

"Well, we all feel like we owe them for saving you."

"When we get the chance, we'll make sure we repay their kindness."

Claire looked up at him and smiled before running off to loot the raiders that Tram and Nia had just finished off.

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