Hard Mode Awakening Challenge

"Good morning, Adventurer Zero. I wasn't sure if you were going to come back here today," Greg greeted Ian when he walked up to the dungeon checkpoint.

"Yeah, sorry about not showing up yesterday," Ian replied. "Do you like bagels?"

The man's eyes widened as he nodded, "Uh, yeah."

A bag with a couple of bagels and a couple small containers of cream cheese appeared in Ian's hand. Placing them down, he then pulled two coffees out of his item box along with some sugar and creamer packets.

"Figured you could use a pick-me-up for the last couple hours of your shift," Ian said with a smile.

"How could I refuse divine caffeine goodness?" Greg said, taking the coffee and grabbing a bagel. "Though things have been more lively than usual this morning. I've had an entire pair of adventurers pass through here just a few minutes ago." The smile dimmed on the man's face when he looked towards the portal. "It was two of the members of the Conquerors, though they aren't wearing their normal armor or carrying their normal weapons."

"Oh?" Ian said, before taking a bite of his own bagel.

"Yeah, Lana and Tram are inside. After what I saw on the news yesterday, I figured it would be best to let you know. They seemed friendly enough on your stream and were very polite when they checked in with me, but I'm not sure how much the fallout is affecting them."

Ian digested that information. If it had been his ex who had gone in, he probably would have just turned around and headed home. Yesterday had just cemented his disdain for everything that she had become, and he had no desire to have another confrontation with her anytime soon—or ever if he could help it.

"Huh," Ian finally replied, pulling his mind back to the present. "I wonder why they are in there? The only mobs they might be able to kill safely are the singles out in the fields."

"Yeah, I'm kinda worried about them," Greg admitted with a sigh. "As I said, they haven't been in there for long, but you might want to keep an eye out for them. I know you make it look easy, but there is a reason most people don't come here, and I hate it when people go in but never come back out."

Ian nodded and was thankful the conversation turned to Greg's speculations for the lead contenders in the upcoming tournament. Ian smiled at the man's passion for different teams, but he gave a noncommittal answer when asked if he was going to be signing up for the novice tier. He wasn't sure he was going to even be in the novice level range at the rate he was advancing, and he didn't know when his next prestige would activate.

After a few minutes, they both finished their bagels and coffee, and Greg wished him good luck before Ian made his way into the portal.

Stepping through, Ian found the sun high in the sky inside the dungeon, which caused him to blink to clear his eyes in response to the sudden brightness. As his vision cleared, he found Lana and Tram standing ten yards in front of him, facing away towards the village.

"I know it's going to be tight, but we just need to kill maybe a dozen of them to help get my last two levels. Then we can relax until the paperwork is completely processed," Lana said, pointing at what Ian could only assume to be the workers in the field.

"I know," Tram said with a sigh. "While I'm sure I can grab their attention and hold off their attacks, I don't feel very comfortable with you engaging them at close range. Can't I just turn them, so you shoot them?"

"We talked about this, Tram," Lana replied with a sigh. "I am not going to risk hitting you. Just because my volley skills make me look like I'm good with this thing doesn't mean I can actually use it properly." Lana pointed at her bow and turned to him. She froze when she caught sight of Ian out of the corner of her eye.

Tram noticed her sudden change and followed her gaze towards the entrance, causing his eyes to go wide upon seeing Ian.

"Good morning," Ian said into the uncomfortable silence.

Lana turned and brought her hands together like she was trying to sink in upon herself. "Good morning, Zero."

"He's not going to bite you just because he now has a real face," Tram said, causing Lana to give him a death stare.

The moment stretched before Lana sighed, "Well, uh, this is kinda awkward."

"Yeah, kinda," Ian replied, giving the two a smile. "I'm sorry if you two are getting caught up in any of the fallout. You were both real with me, and—"

"Please don't apologize," Lana said, holding out both hands, looking horrified. "We know full well how awful Avra can be, and believe she deserves everything she happening to her. I just can't believe she could do something like that and feel absolutely no guilt."

Tram grunted, glancing at Lana like she was crazy. "I can believe it. That demon has no soul. Almost gets us killed trying to stroke her own ego, then has the nerve to try to get us fined on the penalty clause for breaking character. She can go find a cactus to sit on and spin."

Ian snorted, then began chuckling. "She actually tried to get you fined? I hope she didn't succeed."

Tram gave him a lopsided grim, "Oh, she almost got her way until you showed the world what a monster she can be. With Peerless suddenly under the microscope, they decided that we could get out of our contracts as long as we gave up our last three weeks of pay."

"Really? They let you go that easily?" Ian said, not believing they would just let them out of their contracts.

"Ha," Lana said, shaking her head. "They probably figured it was easier to let us go than to deal with us potentially going to the media to let everyone know how little they cared about our safety."

"You know I'm streaming, right?" Ian said. "I don't know how many people are up this early, but I'm sure there are at least some people."

"Don't care," Lana said. "Our contracts ended last night, and there was no NDA about what transpired during our time there. I'm sure you still have a huge following, so this is probably the best chance I'll ever have to tell new adventurers to never join Peerless."

Ian nodded. "Well, don't let me stop you. Whenever you want to talk badly about them, you go right ahead. But first, why are you two in this dungeon in particular? If you are looking for something, I may be able to help."

Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

Lana looked down in embarrassment before looking over at Tram, who smiled and patted her shoulder.

"Well," Tram said, looking back up at Ian. "One of the stipulations in our contracts was that we had to follow skill paths created by the 'experts' to maximize the effectiveness of the team. We figured we were dealing with a group that was like a Keeper at the AO. Then, about a year ago, we found out they are actually marketing and public relations specialists. Not a single one of them has ever actually been inside of a dungeon."

"You've got to be kidding me…" Ian said in disbelief.

"I wish he were," Lana said, her face scrunching up as tears threatened to escape her eyes. "My inherent ability actually has nothing to do with a bow at all. It's based on identifying a target's weaknesses, both magical and physical, while passively sensing danger. It's a nature magic-specific skill. Once I joined, they designed a skill plan for me that was supposed to allow me to capitalize on that information through precision attacks and let me fill the role of a scout.

"I'll be honest with you here…I'm not very good with a bow," she said with a shrug. "Without my skill-based attacks, I can't guarantee I will be able to hit a target like most archers my level would be able to. To make matters worse, the mana costs for those skills are way higher than normal because I have no real aptitude for them. It boils down to me being able to use flashy moves about once an hour, then I spend the rest of the time either doing nothing or taking the risk of hitting Tram when he's out in front.

"When I tried to change my skill progression, they told me that I was just being stupid. I didn't understand how much more important it was to have the right optics instead of a perfect match for my talents. It isn't just me, though. Tram is dealing with the same issues."

Ian looked over at Tram, who just nodded.

"I'm not actually a brawler, but a defender," he said with a shrug. "A bit shock to people, but true. My inherent skill increases the defensive characteristics of my armor while also reducing its weight. It also allows my attacks with one-handed weapons to create a 25-yard area of effect taunt, allowing me to hold monster aggression.

"However, their marketing team did some polling that showed people were more interested in watching a big man hit things with a giant hammer. I mean, I think that's pretty entertaining too, but I've wasted nearly half of my SP on two-handed attack skills. To make matters worse, the armor they had me wearing was completely cosmetic. It was super heavy and looked cool, but all the spikes and stuff got in the way during normal movement and combat." Tram stopped talking and shook his head before meeting Ian's eyes with a forlorn expression.

"It was also hot as balls in that armor, man," Tram continued. "Like, that armor gives you the worst case of swamp ass you can imagine, and it wasn't just when it was a warm dungeon, but rather every time you put it on. Every. Single. Time."

"Damn it, Tram," Lana said, hiding her eyes with a hand.

Ian chuckled when Tram winked at him conspiratorially.

"So, what do you two need to fix this? It is kinda hard to fix that kind of SP expenditure without a long-term plan," Ian said, looking between the two.

"Well…we figured we would do what you did and reinvent ourselves," Lana said, getting a nod from Tram.

Ian looked at her, not understanding.

"We are both going to buy the prestige skill and reset our levels," Tram said.

"Oh! Well, my situation was a little unique in that regard," Ian said, running his hand through his hair. "Though you guys will have money and everything to help you get started, so that should help out a ton."

"Actually, we won't," Tram said with a grimace. "The original reason we joined Peerless was to quickly pay off our student loans. Luckily, we both finished paying them off over the last couple of months. So, we are going to essentially start fresh and try to power level our way up high enough to start earning a living."

"Through the AO this time, though." Lana quickly added. "I'm sure there are some really great clans out there, but I don't think I want to join another one. I just want to explore dungeons, kill creatures, and get loot. No random CEO or board of directors telling me what needs to be done or trying to make me into someone I'm not."

"Shouldn't take too long with me being a tank and Lana being a nature-based supporter," Tram added with a smile.

"Nature-based supporter?" Ian asked, remembering the roles Kibble and Bits played within their party.

"What I'll end up doing is buffing and healing party members. Unfortunately, I won't be able to hold lots of items like many supporters, but I will be getting skills to help with crowd control early on, hopefully. I just need to sit down with a Keeper once we finalize our paperwork to reenroll with the AO."

Ian smiled as he looked between the two, and decided that it was time to take a little chance. "I may have a proposition for you two, if you are interested in joining a long-term team and staying with the AO." He waited as they looked at each other and looked back to him to continue. "Okay, bear with me here for a few minutes, and please don't feel any pressure to say yes.

"I have a sister who is finishing up her initial training through one of the AO's recruiting programs. She'll be starting out as a fresh level one, but will be starting earlier than the rest of the program because she tested out of the skill-building weeks. We haven't been able to build a team for her even though she's eligible to enter soon.

"The goal is to find a few like-minded people who just want to adventure for the joy of it and see how far we can go. She is a master with a bow, even without any bonuses added from leveling, and I am actually considered a supporter."

"Time out," Tram said, holding his hands in a 'T' shape in front of him. "There is no way in hell you're a supporter. You are a mana-slashy, stabby-stabby damage dealer. I've watched replays of your last stream."

"Damn it, Tram!" Lana said, smacking him on the arm. "Words, Tram. Use your words." She said before looking back at Ian. "He's got a point, though. Are you really a supporter?"

Ian nodded. "I promise you I am. I won't go into my skills on stream, at least until I've finished building the party. Though I would be more than happy to discuss them with you back at the AO later. I'd prefer to keep my inherent skills under wraps for a bit."

Lana's eyebrows went up. "Skills? As in plural?"

Ian nodded, which caused Tram to whistle.

"Well, I can guarantee we're interested. We should definitely set up a time to meet up later today, but Lana still needs two more levels," Tram said. "Would you do me a solid and stick around while we fight the first worker? I'd feel better knowing we had backup close by in case anything goes wrong."

"Actually, I'll do one better. How about we step outside really quick and set you both up as reserve members in my party?" Ian asked with a smile.

"But you wouldn't be getting nearly as much experience," Lana said. "We've watched the replays. You could probably take on the city by yourself if you were careful."

"Actually, I think it is better this way," Ian replied. "If you two are who you seem to be, you will probably be able to see my buffs firsthand. I'm not entirely sure how they work yet."

"Sure," Tram said with a shocked look on his face. "I hate that we're gonna hold you back, but it will make this safer for Lana and me."

"Awesome," Ian said, turning back towards the portal. "Let's go talk to Greg and get him to process it really quick. I'd text Claire, but it's not even 0500 yet."

It only took five minutes to get the two added to Ian's party as reserve members. He explained that they would be getting similar buffs to what he gave Glade Runner during their dive, which led to both seeming anxious as they walked back through the portal.

"Alright," Ian said as he recovered from the change in brightness again. He activated Status Synchronization on the two of them and was surprised when it took hold. "Guess I was right about you two, or I don't think it would have worked at all."

He looked and found that the skill stated he now had three people covered by his buff, letting him know the one on Jen was still active.

"What is this?!" Lana exclaimed. "Tram, are you seeing this? Tram?"

Tram was staring at his status screen with his head tilted, oblivious to the petite woman yelling at him. She reached up and smacked his shoulder pad, causing him to snap out of his stupor.

"Yo, I think my status is broken," Tram told Lana with a shocked expression.

"Right? His buff is insane! If—" Lana suddenly cut off as Ian watched the realization hit her. "We're in. We can talk about it more later, but we're in."

"Eh, while that buff is awesome, it's arguably the less important of the two I have for what we are doing right now," Ian said, turning to walk down the path. "Let's go kill some monsters."