Hard Mode Awakening Challenge

Ian was surprised to see so many people in the AO's main office when they walked through the garage's entrance. There were tons of low-level adventurers in everything from normal street clothes to mismatched armor sets, all watching the displays as they waited to be seen at the front desk. However, unlike normal occasions, there were dozens of extra guild employees running around.

As Ian was scanning the room, two people materialized right in front of him, and the screaming began before he could even register who it was.

"What the hell happened, Zero?" Mavis screamed at him. "I requested your file from the curator just after you disappeared from the ranking list, and it said that you were 'currently in flux, please try again later.' Then it said the same thing when I realized that Keeper Withers was missing.

"Then I talk to this old coot," she paused to point a thumb at Walter, who was standing next to her with a purple version of conceal active while completely decked out in the iconic black leather armor he used as his Vision persona, "who keeps telling me that 'everything is fine, Mavis. No need to worry, Mavis. They definitely didn't form a suicide pact and kill themselves, Mavis.' All while looking like he's about to have a panic attack!

"And this is while trying to convince those blood sucking savages who pretend to be news organizations that you aren't dead. After going back and forth with them, Peerless gets involved, trying to say that I am 'ineffective as a leader' because I didn't have an answer for why you disappeared from the list. Then, just as that dip shit, Peter, shows up with his personal social media hit squad, we get notified two individuals—who nobody has ever heard of—just took the top novice leaderboard with eight hours and seventeen minutes to hit level one hundred.

"Which kicked off an even bigger media storm. Now everyone has switched gears and are trying to…," Mavis took a deep, exasperated breath and slowly let it out with her hands pressed against her temples. "I can't believe I'm saying this right now." Mavis gave a pained look as she glared at Ashlyn. "They are trying to identify the people behind the aliases Nia and IAshDungeonz4funlolzorz followed by—and I shit you not—three exclamation points, a one, and two more exclamation points."

The entire party looked back at Ashlyn, who was quickly losing the war to keep the mirth off her face. Shrugging, Ashlyn looked up and away, refusing to meet anyone's eyes.

Mavis growled before whispering, "What do you have to say, young lady?"

Ashlyn walked forward to stand in front of Mavis and looked at the red-faced woman. She took a deep breath before holding out her arms wide. Leaning forward, she wrapped Mavis up and squeezed.

"I think you need a hug," Ashlyn said quietly.

"I hate you so much right now," Mavis replied, returning the younger woman's hug.

"I don't think you will once you see what she's capable of," Walter said, his voice sounding off from the conceal skill. "Though I think you have caused enough of a scene out here, Guild Master. We might be better off going up to your office to get a better understanding of the situation."

Ian looked around and realized they had drawn the attention of…well, everyone. He waved at the closest group of adventurers, who surprised him by waving back, smiles on their faces.

Letting go of Ashlyn, Mavis took a step back and sighed when she realized how many people were watching them.

"Yeah, let's head up to my office, and we can go over what happened," she said. Turning around, she called to the rest of the room, "Sorry for the outburst, everyone. You know most of them, but here are the full-time members of Second Chance."

Ian was surprised by the cheering their party received from not only the other adventurers, but the staff at the AO as well.

"Guild Master," Claire said, drawing Mavis's attention. "How about I come up there and give you a debrief, so the rest of the party can go get cleaned up and get ready for dinner?"

Ian caught the way Claire flicked her eyes at her dad.

"I think that would be for the best," Ian said, trying to help her out. "We ran across a newbie dungeon with a rampancy problem, and Claire will be able to explain it better than any of us will. Besides, I think Lana might freak out if she doesn't get a shower soon."

Lana shuddered. "The bug guts may have disappeared when we left the dungeon, but I can still feel them."

"Ha, that reminds me of that time we ran into that colony of Woolly Roaches," Walter said in a jovial voice. "Mavis, remember how you got—"

"It never happened!" she exclaimed, cutting him off before shifting the conversation back to Claire. She took a deep breath to center herself before turning back to Claire. "I think that would be a fine idea, Keeper Withers—or should I call you Clarity now that you have started adventuring again?"

Ian waved as Mavis, Walter, and Claire left.

"Clarity, huh? That's an interesting alias," Tram said as the group began walking towards the dorms. "I kinda wish I could have gone with them, though. How many opportunities does anyone get to meet Vision in the flesh? He didn't even seem like he had lost any of his former mojo either, and he hasn't adventured since before we were born."

"I still remember how cool all the other kids thought you were for having a poster of him," Lana giggled.

"I still have it," he replied with a smile. "Now that we have permanent rooms here, I finally found a place to put it."

Ian was a little confused, as everyone had followed him all the way up to the entrance of the dorm. He was even more surprised when they all went in ahead of him. As the elevator opened, he walked in and blinked when Ashlyn hit the number for his floor, and everyone continued on talking about their rooms.

"I can't believe how much space I now have," Selenia said. "Claire got me all set up, and I am having a bunch of house plants delivered Monday morning."

"Yeah, I was shocked when Claire was able to swing getting everyone onto the same floor," Ashlyn said. "Apparently, every Keeper has a floor that is dedicated solely to their teams. Though she has lent them out to other keepers before on a temporary basis. If it wasn't for the fact they all needed to be validated, we would have moved in here last week."

"So, we all now live next to each other?" Ian asked.

"Don't look so shocked," Ashlyn said, giving him a smirk. "Just know that I will be keeping track of the women you bring over. We share a wall, so I'll know."

"First off, there are no women to be keeping track of," Ian said, sticking his tongue out as they got off the elevator. "And second, the rooms are soundproof, so you can't prove a thing."

"Nice!" Tram said with a laugh as Lana and he went in the opposite direction down the hall.

"Well, that's probably for the best, because Nia here actually shares the wall with you. I live across the hall next to Claire," Ashlyn said, sticking her tongue out at him in return.

"I was wondering why you said you shared a wall with him. I thought it was perhaps an idiom that didn't make any sense," Selenia said, giving them both a smile. "Claire said that there would be clothes for me in here, but I'm not sure they will fit my human form."

"Oh, that one is easy," Ashlyn said, palming the door to open it. "Just switch back into your normal form, change clothes, and activate the Terran skill again. The clothes should automatically adjust. Just like the ones you are currently wearing."

"That…yes, that will work perfectly. Thank you, Ash."

"No problem, Nia. I'll catch you in a bit."

Ian palmed his door and went inside as the girls said goodbye to each other. As he was taking his armor off and placing it on the rack, he received a group message saying that Claire wanted to meet up for dinner in a little over an hour before meeting up in one of their rooms to talk about skills.

If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

Smiling, Ian finished putting away his gear. It had been a productive day, and he was looking forward to learning about everyone's new capabilities.

*~*~*

Closing the door to his room, Ian turned and immediately froze. A giant grey and brown furred creature was sitting in the hallway, staring at him from around chest height. It took him a second to realize that it looked a little like a wolf, though it was thicker through the muzzle and head.

"Mara, don't go scaring Ian," Ashlyn called, closing the door to her room.

Ian watched as Mara turned her head toward Ashlyn and tilted it to the side.

"Yeah, he's my brother. Remember what we talked about, girl, no getting in people's personal space. And no, I don't know what he smells like, though I hope it's at least like soap or he ain't ever gonna get a girlfriend."

Mara huffed and shook her head with a far too human-like gesture before turning back and sniffing the air from where she sat. Ian reached a hand forward and offered it to the wolf-like creature. After sniffing it for a few seconds, it stood up and walked over to lean against Ashlyn.

"Uh, what is going on, Ash?" Ian said, not taking his eyes off the creature.

"I activated my new inherent skill, and Mara showed up. She won't tell me what she is, other than saying that she is Mara," Ashlyn responded before looking down at the new creature. "I asked if she was a wolf, but she seemed offended by the idea."

"I'm not sure Mara is going to be allowed to eat with us," Ian said.

Just as Ashlyn turned to respond, Selenia's door opened, and she suddenly squealed in delight at seeing Mara. She closed the door and dropped down to her knees in front of Mara before she began speaking in her native tongue to the creature. Its head tilted from side to side as the words continued to pour out of the woman. Once she finally stopped, Mara leaned forward and nudged the woman's cheek with her forehead, causing her to squeal in delight again.

"Uh, what is going on?" Tram asked from where he stood down the hall. "And what's with the lion-wolf thing?"

"Wow. It's pretty big," Lana added, coming out of her door. "I didn't know we were allowed to have pets here."

"Mara isn't a pet," Ashlyn said, scratching the creature behind its ear. "Mara is my summoned companion. She's only level one right now, but she'll grow quickly."

Mara let out a low rumble that sounded similar to a cat's purr.

"And she is perfectly fine to take everywhere," Claire said, finally coming out of her door. "Summons don't shed or create messes like normal creatures, and even more so with Ashlyn's skill. Mara, here is a mystic beast that is native to Nia's world, known as a moon prowler. There are no negatives to having her out all the time. If anything, she will help increase the mana in the atmosphere ever so slightly."

"Huh. Well, she's a big girl, so I'm sure she will be helpful in the dungeons," Tram said. "Besides, I'd bet money that those paws have huge claws in them."

"They are like push daggers," Selenia said, still rubbing Mara's neck. "She's still very small for her species, probably no more than a dozen years old. They grow larger—much larger. Though I don't know what causes their growth. My father said it has something to do with the dungeons, as most of their colonies hunt in dungeons to gather essence stones for their little ones."

"Let's go grab food real quick," Claire said. "Sitting here talking about skills yet not talking about skills isn't helping me. I'm dying to hear all the details!"

"And you need to let us know how everything went with Mavis," Ian said, giving her a nudge with his elbow as they all began to climb into the elevator.

"Actually, why do you two call her Mavis instead of her title?" Lana asked, giving them a knowing smirk.

"I love stories with dinner, especially when I don't have to tell them," Ashlyn said, grinning at her brother and Claire.

*~*~*

"So, your skill didn't change at all, did it?" Ian asked, after Claire explained the basics of her analyze skill.

"Nope."

"So that's why you chose Clarity to be your Alias?" Ashlyn asked, sitting down on the floor with Mara and Nia. When Claire nodded, Ashlyn just shook her head. "But it's so close to your real name. There are so many cool opportunities with a skill like that."

"I don't think you get to judge what other people name themselves," Claire shot back with a chuckle. "At least my name wasn't a joke."

"The entire leaderboard is a joke if you get right down to it," Ashlyn responded before closing her eyes and leaning back. "I wonder how many people have gotten themselves killed in the attempt to get one place higher on that board. It may give some people motivation, but it just helps push others into dangerous situations.

"I did the name thing for more than a quick laugh. I want to make sure I never take the leader board and fame thing seriously. The last thing I want is to be the one who pushes us beyond our boundaries and gets one of us hurt or killed to prove to someone who doesn't matter that I could do it. With my grandparents gone, the only people who matter to me are right here in this room."

Ian smiled at his sister, who looked like she was about to fall asleep on Mara at any moment. He was handing out tea to everyone as the conversation continued.

"I fully understand that desire," Lana said. "Tram and I grew up together, and he's been my best friend for a long time. When he got hurt in that dungeon, I felt like my entire world was crumbling. It made me realize that, while I love running the dungeons, I don't want to do so at the cost of my friends. Fame isn't important. The people you choose to spend your time with are what really matter.

"I think that is the reason my inherent skill changed from analyzing weaknesses to nature-based healing. It is called Earth Mother's Blessing and allows me to analyze a person for injury to further increase the effectiveness of my healing spells. It will let me make sure that everyone stays in fighting shape."

"Nice!" Tram said. "That will pair perfectly with my skill, which didn't change. Stalwart Defender allows my attacks to taunt all enemies near me as if I were directly attacking them. It also fortifies my armor while reducing its weight, which will allow me to wear better armor going into future dungeons."

"Solid tank, and a dedicated healer with healing bonuses," Ian said with a smile as he sat down next to Claire on the second sofa. "What about you, Nia?"

"Oh yes," Nia said, looking up from where she was still running her fingers through Mara's fur. "My first skill is called Chosen of the Moon Goddess, which halves the SP cost of all spell-based skills while providing me with a passive boost to my mana capacity. My second is called Hidden in Plain Sight, which helps prevent those who wish to harm me from seeing me. It reads like they will look past me if there is anything else to focus on. It has three levels, and it requires a thousand SP to level it each time."

Ian looked over to catch Claire giving him a sad smile. He could only imagine what her life must have been like to make that skill something her heart yearned to have. He looked back at the smiling Faeorcen woman, who was completely enamored with Mara.

"If any monsters ever do come towards you, just come stand closer to me," Tram said, slapping his large hand into his chest twice.

"Tram, the impenetrable wall of steel," Ashlyn said, her eyes still closed. "My first skill is Summon Companion. Unlike the normal version, mine doesn't summon a temporary companion that is 85% of my level. Instead, mine summons a permanent companion that starts at level one. The skill itself also has three levels, so I am hoping that I can get Mara some friends. The type of companion is based on the caster, so I will always get moon prowlers like Mara.

"My second skill is called Spirit Arrow. It allows me to shoot lasers with my bow, just like I said it would before we left the dungeon earlier. Pew pew pew!"

"More details, Ash," Ian said with a chuckle.

"I was getting to it, hold yer horses," she replied with a small smile. "It allows me to create mana arrows to use with my bow, though they only last for ten seconds. The inherent version allows me to choose the type of arrowhead when I create them, so I should be able to do some extra damage regardless of the enemy type."

"So, what is the plan for tomorrow?" Lana asked. "We seem to have a well-rounded party, and we are now back in the low-tier. Are we going to hit up a specific dungeon?"

"Actually, I would like us to do the Horker Village," Claire said. "I know that it doesn't give a lot of essence stones, but we can get quick levels in relative safely. We all have a ton of SP right now for our level, but I'll feel a lot better practicing our party dynamics once we get all of our support skills."

"I would prefer that dungeon, if I'm being honest," Ashlyn murmured. "We already know Ian can slaughter the single ones in the field really easily. He's considerably stronger than the last time he was in there, and Tram would be able to hold any double pulls off with his tanking skills if Nia and I aren't able to outright alpha the extra monster down.

"I've already maxed both the enhanced body and mind skills, and I'm sitting at over three thousand in every stat. That's either at or above where he was last time, and we know exactly what to expect. The only thing I worry about is Mara here. Her stats are about double what a human has at level one, but she's still level one. The Horker Village is much safer for her in the field zones than the goblin or ratkin dungeons."

"That sounds like solid reasoning," Tram said. "Besides, we aren't really worried about money now that we have food and board covered. We'll need a bunch to buy gear here soon, but we can make do for much longer than most groups."

"We'll have to talk about it, but I think we should probably slow down and farm some money when we get up into the mid-tier," Claire said, standing up and stretching. "But that is something to talk about later. Right now, the only thing we really need to think about is if we run the dungeon super early, or after breakfast?"

"Early," everyone but Selenia said.

Turning her attention away from Mara, she gave them a confused look. "Why are we going to run the dungeon early? I thought nobody really ran the Horker Village?"

"The media," Ian said with a sigh. "They already show up everywhere I dive, and they are going to go absolutely crazy when they see us go into the Horker Village at our current levels. I think they would have been outside today if we had to sign in for level one dungeons. Even though the AO is on our side, I don't believe for a second that the media wouldn't have gotten wind of us being in a starter dungeon without levels."

"Eh, they are a constant presence around any of the popular groups. I think there are more pictures of Diana floating around out there than you, Ian," Claire said with a smirk.

"I sure hope so," Ian said, pausing to turn on the display and turning on Diana's stream. "She's been doing this for years, and she is definitely more photogenic than I am."

"Damn right she is," Ashlyn said with her eyes still closed.