Let-There-Be-Light had done his homework.
The official forums were already flooded with player-written guides. The developers hadn't published anything themselves, but elite players from other Starter Zones, the ones who had already unlocked their Teleportation Gates, had shared detailed walkthroughs. They broke down every step, every requirement, every trap. It was less charity and more strategy, a way to shape the meta early and earn reputation in the community.
Even though each Starter Zone had its own geography and layout, the quest objectives were consistent. Kill Gulu. Get the key. Enter the Trial Instance. Retrieve the Energy Crystal.
Light had a strong idea of where the cave would be.
The seven of them moved quickly along the riverbank, in a loose but disciplined formation. Any Murlocs they encountered were erased almost instantly. One clean, coordinated burst from the group was enough to drop a standard mob before it could even finish lifting its weapon.
Still, they avoided unnecessary fights. Speed mattered more than padding experience.
At the far end of the riverbank, the terrain shifted. The ground rose into jagged cliffs, and the river narrowed as it carved through a rocky mountain pass. At the base of those cliffs, half swallowed by reeds and tangled water plants, was a cave entrance so well concealed it felt deliberate.
In the dappled sunlight, they could see movement within. Dark shapes shifted against the glow of something faintly luminous deeper inside. Murlocs.
Hair-Stays-Perfect let out a low whistle. "This place is buried. If Light hadn't dragged us here, we would've walked right past it."
He wasn't exaggerating. The cave sat far from the main hub of the Starter Zone, and its entrance blended almost perfectly into the landscape. Casual players would never find it by accident.
Light gave a small, satisfied smile and motioned for Not-A-Bystander and Hair-Stays-Perfect to take the lead. The party tightened up and slipped inside in single file.
The entrance required them to wade through shallow water. Flat stepping stones had been placed along the path so the water barely reached their ankles. It was a subtle touch, but it showed the developers' attention to immersion. When their boots touched the surface, their gear darkened slightly, damp from the contact. In the open air it would dry within minutes.
Beyond the first bend, the cave widened, and to their surprise it was not pitch black. Luminous crystals were embedded into the rock walls at intervals, casting a steady, cool glow that washed the tunnels in pale blue light. The crystals were decorative, not harvestable, clearly placed to guide players without torches or spells.
Groups of Murlocs roamed the tunnels, their levels matching those outside.
Light scanned the immediate area, frowning slightly. "According to the guide, Gulu wanders randomly. He's not near the entrance, so he must be deeper in. Looks like we're clearing our way forward."
A chorus of quiet agreement followed.
They were all strong players. Even though the Murlocs averaged two levels higher, the difference was manageable with proper coordination. At Light's direction, the group split into two three-person cells, with Light positioning himself between them to provide healing support to either side as needed.
Hair-Stays-Perfect already had three on his path, so Flynn stayed with Not-A-Bystander and Amy.
Bystander charged first, his heavy mace arcing down in a clean, crushing blow against the nearest Murloc's skull. In his off-hand, the silver shield from the Borg raid remained braced firmly against his chest, absorbing the creature's frantic counterattack.
Amy hung back a few steps, her bowstring snapping twice in quick succession. The arrows struck with surgical precision, and a spray of dark blood followed as the Murloc's health dropped by nearly a third.
Flynn blurred into motion, slipping behind the creature in a smooth arc. He raised his daggers to strike, then paused mid-step as his eyes flicked over its form.
Murlocs had thick, scale-covered backs and limbs. Most of their bodies were reinforced with defensive plating that severely reduced damage and prevented Critical Hits. Their only true weak point was the belly, where the scales thinned.
He adjusted his angle, but the creature twisted unexpectedly. His blades scraped across its back instead. Fifty damage.
The number annoyed him more than it should have. It felt wrong and inefficient.
When the Murloc's health dipped below twenty percent, it threw its head back and shrieked.
"Help! Glargh-hula! The humans are here! They're invading!"
The cry echoed through the tunnel, a built-in mechanic meant to draw in nearby allies.
Two Murlocs from a side patrol hissed in response and charged toward the sound.
Light opened his mouth to call for Bystander to pick them up, but the words never left him.
Flynn had already moved.
He pivoted instantly and sprinted to intercept, cutting them off before they could collapse onto the main group. Light held his position, curiosity overriding instinct. He wanted to see exactly how far Flynn's control extended.
Flynn lowered his center of gravity as he closed the gap. At the moment of contact, both arms extended outward in a wide, crossing slash. The twin daggers carved through the soft underbellies of both Murlocs simultaneously.
Using the momentum of his strike, he twisted sideways and slipped between the two monsters. A rusted club came down from his left. He ducked under it without looking. From the right, a jagged axe hacked toward his ribs. Borg's Fang snapped up just in time to deflect the blow, steel ringing against corroded metal.
In one fluid sequence, the opening exchange was over.
Flynn circled behind the nearer Murloc and activated Keen Strike. His dagger flashed, tearing through unprotected flesh. Critical Hit numbers exploded into the air in quick succession, far larger than anything Light was used to seeing at this stage. Flynn's arms blurred, each motion economical and precise with no wasted flourish.
Light's eyes flicked between the damage numbers and his combat log. His expression tightened.
Three strikes later, the first Murloc was hanging on by a thread.
The second one swung wildly at Flynn's head. Flynn leaned back and hopped out of range, then, without breaking rhythm, snapped his right leg forward. His boot slammed into the first Murloc's stomach, sending it stumbling backward several feet. A small chunk of physical damage ticked off its health bar.
Light sucked in a breath. "Was that Kick? He unlocked Kick already?"
Amy didn't take her eyes off Flynn. "No. That wasn't a skill. He just kicked it."
By the time she finished speaking, Keen Strike's three-second cooldown had refreshed.
Flynn lunged again. One clean thrust opened the first Murloc from belly to chest. It collapsed in a wet heap. Without pause, he pivoted toward the second, which was still at half health. Alone, it posed no threat. He dismantled it methodically, blade after blade slipping into gaps in its guard as if he'd dissected this exact enemy a hundred times before.
When it fell, a warm golden light washed over him.
Level 11.
Light glanced at the timer in his log and felt a chill crawl up his spine. "Eighteen seconds."
Amy's composure cracked for the first time. "Eighteen seconds for two Murlocs? And he didn't take a hit."
Light gave a faint, almost bitter smile. Two well-coordinated players could probably down two Murlocs in ten seconds, sure. But they would trade damage for it. Flynn hadn't lost a single point of health. He hadn't even looked rushed. What they had just witnessed wasn't grinding. It was an execution.
Amy swallowed. Early-game damage rankings were supposed to favor Rangers and Fire Arcanists. She had unlocked Double-Shot at Level 6 and prided herself on her burst damage. Even so, she knew she couldn't have handled those two adds that fast or that cleanly.
"He's a monster," she murmured.
By the time Flynn finished, Amy and Bystander had only just brought down their original target. Because of his positioning, Bystander had been facing away from Flynn during most of the exchange. When he finally turned around, the adds were already corpses.
He blinked at the stunned looks on Light and Amy's faces. "What happened?"
"You missed a masterclass," Light replied quietly. "I'd wager there aren't ten Rogues in the country moving like that right now. And he's at the top of that list."
Bystander stared at Flynn as if reassessing him from scratch. "That good?"
Hair-Stays-Perfect and his subgroup rejoined them from the adjacent tunnel, curious about the pause. "Why'd we stop?"
"Nothing," Flynn said, glancing deeper into the cave. "We moving?"
He genuinely did not see the point in discussing it. Compared to the real-world operations he used to survive, dismantling two digital fish-men in under twenty seconds barely qualified as effort. If anything, he would have been embarrassed if he had struggled.
Light and Amy exchanged a brief look and let the subject drop, assuming he preferred to keep a low profile.
The party pressed forward, clearing efficiently as they went. Their combined strength showed. Even split, their kill speed was impressive, and the tunnels soon emptied behind them.
They reached a three-way junction.
One path continued straight, similar to the tunnels they had already cleared. Another sloped sharply downward, disappearing into thicker shadow. The third curved left, narrower and partially obscured by jagged rock formations.
Gulu wandered randomly, according to the guide. There was no guaranteed spawn point.
Light was about to suggest splitting briefly when a faint sound carried through the straight tunnel. Steel on steel. A spell detonating. The unmistakable rhythm of combat.
The group froze.
"Someone else is in here?" Amy whispered.
Hair-Stays-Perfect frowned. "That shouldn't be possible. We're in the top level bracket for this zone. Who's ahead of us? And the entrance wasn't cleared when we came in."
He was right. If another party had pushed through recently, the outer Murlocs would have been dead. Given the current player density, it would take at least twenty minutes for them to respawn.
Light's gaze shifted instinctively toward Flynn. If another group had someone like him, slipping in early would not be impossible.
Before anyone could speak further, several figures rounded the bend of the straight tunnel. They stopped abruptly when they saw Flynn's party.
For a moment, both groups simply stared at one another under the cold glow of the cave crystals.
Hair-Stays-Perfect's expression darkened.
"Great," he muttered. "A bunch of foreigners."