But now was not the time for thinking about this. Phoenix focused on what they still had to do.

Already, the other players were walking toward the treasure chest, resisting the urge to just outright open it. All of them knew that without Astaroth and Phoenix, they would be dead and back at the dungeon's entrance, empty-handed.

As the pair of leaders walked over to the treasure chest, Astaroth felt like something was off.

"Is it just me, or did we not get any Exp for killing this boss?" he asked, pausing his step.

Phoenix halted as well. She hadn't paid mind to it until now, but Astaroth was right.

She looked at the other players, and all of them shook their heads no.

SharpTusk turned to face Astaroth.

"We were wondering the same thing. We fought many a monster to get here, but not one gave us Exp. None of us were sure if it was a bug, so we just kept pushing deeper."

Astaroth frowned. He and Phoenix hadn't fought to get to the boss room, so they had no way of knowing.

But a dungeon that gave no Exp was indeed worth calling a bug. He only hoped it wasn't like this throughout the entire dungeon, given how difficult he guessed it would be.

"Hmm. It doesn't matter, for now. We will wait here for a while."

Phoenix nodded her head, agreeing with his statement. It was ill-advised to keep going with just their party, as things were right now.

It was better to get reinforcements if they were to complete this dungeon. Which was what she was already calling for, in the guild's officer chat.

**

'For any officer currently not on duty, we need four able bodies for a dungeon nearby. It is possibly a single-trial dungeon, so let's not have too many people launch raids inside simultaneously. Composition needs one full tank and one full healer player. The last two can be whatever. One officer needed with three trustable players from the ranks.'

**

Of their officers, few were available. Gulnur was currently in Dwarven country, trying to appeal to the players there and get more dwarves to join Paragon.

Silent Light had gone to the nearby capital of Kormir, one of the five great cities of the alliance, and the of faith of most religions of the continent of light. He wanted to get in touch with the pope of the sun, to confess his feelings about killing people.

Phoenix wouldn't stop him, if it made him feel better with himself, and firm his resolve.

Declan was stuck in the city, still putting in place measures of defence. The headless man had been keeping his levels rising through joining patrols, under the guise of learning the names of his men and women.

It was gathering much-needed respect in the ranks and file of their growing military.

Morticia was still fine-tuning the workings of the newly built player embassy inside Bastion City. The sooner this was up and running, the sooner she could go back to roaming the wilds and growing her power.

Phoenix had approved her plans entirely, in which Morticia would only give input on highly important matters, the rest being dealt with by a mix of Natives and players.

Gale was unreachable since the incident outside of New Eden. He had said he was going on a trip to regrow his self-worth and power.

Nothing Astaroth and Phoenix had said to him changed his mind, and they let him go. For a six-year-old to act so downtrodden was strange for them, to say the least.

Khalor was on the dark continent, fighting in a minor war against corruption for his own agenda. It was better to let him deal with his things as he saw fit, anyway, lest they want him bitching.

I'die and Athena were somewhere in the wilds of the continent, exploring what New Eden was hiding. Astaroth had tasked them with reporting any strange findings to him and Phoenix, as well as noting any important areas they may step upon.

With them doing this, he might find and complete two of his quests without having to lift so much as his pinky. It made them happy, and it saved him work.

The only one left was Violette. She had been keeping herself busy close by Bastion City, in a zone with a large lake and aquatic creatures.

Reading the message, Violette swam back to the surface of the lake, bursting out of the water in her water elemental form, before stretching into a thin string of water, all the way to shore.

When the string of water touched the ground, it turned into her, with eyes resolute. She was dry, as if she hadn't been submerged in water for the last hour.

She was here to learn to control her watery form, as well as put into practice all her swimming lessons from outside the game and turn them into practical experience. In the last days, she had made leaps and bounds in her control over water.

Aberon, who was still away from Bastion City since the mages' tower incident, sometimes teleported to her to check in on her progress and shower her with praise.

But when she had read the message, she knew she was the only one who was immediately available. She only worried momentarily, since she didn't know much about the players in their guild.

But she knew who to go see to fix this.

Conjuring a layer of ice under her feet, as well as blades of water under her boots, Violette skated back toward Bastion City. On her way there, she sent a message to Morticia and Declan.

'I need help to gather the players for our leaders' call. Can you get me three players you trust for this that fit their demands?'

The replies came in pretty fast, from both Morticia and Declan.

'I have a tank player rearing to get a real challenge here in the palace. I'll put him at your disposition,' Declan responded.

'A pair of players came to me today, one a cleric and the other a warrior. They were looking for a way to get recognition from Paragon's higher echelons. I'm not sure if they are trustworthy, but they would do fine to prove it in this circumstance. I'll have them wait by the south entrance,' Morticia wrote.

Violette messaged Declan back, after reading Morticia's message, asking him to have the tank player head to the south gate. It would make it easier for her to get everyone in one instance.

He acquiesced, and things were set. Violette could already see the tree's bough in the distance.

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