Forty minutes after finishing the Normal run of Ceylan Ruins, the party cleared Heroic mode as well, the final boss collapsing without a single death to their name.
For once, Let-There-Be-Light failed to hide his excitement. A faint glimmer lit his eyes as he said, "We cleared both difficulties without anyone dying. If we can pull off a deathless clear on Hell mode too, we'll unlock an achievement that grants a random attribute point."
Achievements were a special system in Age of Conquest. Whenever a player accomplished a noteworthy feat, the system recorded it as an achievement and issued a reward. Some were minor, like a single attribute point or a cosmetic title, while the more demanding ones could grant weapons, rare equipment, or even skills.
Naturally, none of them were easy.
Profession-based achievements were the most accessible. Flynn had already earned one himself after mining a thousand ore nodes, receiving a white-tier achievement that rewarded a single point in Strength. The bonus was small, but in the long run, every point mattered.
The achievement Let-There-Be-Light had in mind was far more demanding. It belonged to the "Extreme Adventurer" series, a set of achievements tied to dungeon clears. Every dungeon, whether designed for five players or for raids of fifty or more, had its own version. The requirements were strict and layered: the party had to include at least one player entering the dungeon for the first time, the party's average level could not exceed the dungeon's intended level range, and all difficulty modes had to be cleared without a single death.
Ceylan Ruins was designed for players between levels fifteen and eighteen. Anyone above level eighteen would suffer diminishing returns, gaining reduced experience and irrelevant gear. That meant the party's average level had to stay within the intended range. The first-time clear requirement was already satisfied by Flynn and Amy. The final condition, however, was the real obstacle. A deathless run meant that across Normal, Heroic, and Hell mode, not one of the five players could die even once.
The first two conditions existed to prevent high-level players from carrying others. The third was brutal. In Hell mode, where even elite teams were wiping repeatedly, achieving a flawless run bordered on the impossible.
So when Let-There-Be-Light mentioned it, Amy, Peerless Blood-Sword, and Not-A-Bystander all let out dry, disbelieving chuckles. The sound made Let-There-Be-Light's ears burn. He coughed lightly. "Yeah, alright. Maybe I'm getting ahead of myself."
"I don't know, I think we should go for it," Flynn said, his eyes lighting up with that competitive gleam. Most of the group brushed it off, but Peerless Blood-Sword actually looked curious. "Night-Stalker, you seriously think we can pull off a deathless run?"
"I mean, based on the first two difficulties, it doesn't seem that crazy."
Peerless Blood-Sword shook his head with a crooked smile. "Hell mode is a different world entirely. You won't understand until you're in it."
In his head, Peerless Blood-Sword had already sized Flynn up. Good mechanics, decent awareness, follows directions; that was his read after the last hour in the dungeon. Solid, but nothing special. There were no moments where he'd stood out. He was starting to think his boss had made a big deal out of nothing, waiting around half the day for this guy.
Back at the entrance, Let-There-Be-Light flipped the difficulty setting and stepped through the portal first.
The moment Flynn followed, he felt it.
Something was different. The air inside the castle was thick with this heavy sense of danger. There was this creepy energy seeping out of the walls, and faint, miserable wails drifting through the halls. He noticed Amy shiver next to him. He reached out and gently took her arm. "You good?"
She shook her head, glancing toward Let-There-Be-Light. "I think my immersion setting's too high. It feels… overwhelming. I'll turn it down."
Immersion settings controlled how intensely you experienced the game world; the sights, the sounds, and the feel of things. After she dropped hers down to ten percent, Amy let out a breath and nodded at Flynn. "Thanks."
"No problem," Flynn said casually. He glanced at the others. This clearly wasn't their first time dealing with Hell mode's atmosphere. They must have known exactly what would happen and stayed quiet on purpose.
What they hadn't expected was that Let-There-Be-Light had already warned Amy in advance to lower her settings. She had ignored him out of stubbornness. Even prepared, fifty percent immersion had nearly overwhelmed her. Flynn, on the other hand, looked completely unaffected.
Amy bit her lip and asked quietly, "What's your immersion at? You're not freaked out? There's like this freezing cold energy in here."
"Fifty percent. I always keep it there," Flynn said with a shrug and a smile.
Cold? Sure, the castle felt wrong, but it barely registered as discomfort.
'Hmph, show-off,' Amy thought, then turned her attention back to Let-There-Be-Light.
He was just as surprised. Flynn didn't seem like the type to exaggerate, and that unsettled him more than anything else. Even at twenty percent immersion, Hell mode made him uneasy. Flynn endured it at the highest setting without blinking.
'He's not normal,' Let-There-Be-Light concluded silently.
He cleared his throat. "Hell mode officially begins now. Trash mobs have over forty-five hundred health, roughly double Normal mode. Their attack power is at least one and a half times higher, with boosted defense. They usually appear in packs of three or four."
He spoke steadily, slipping into command mode. "For three mobs, Bystander tanks all of them. For four, Bystander holds three and Blood-Sword peels one off. If there's room, Amy, you kite the extra one."
This had been their standard strategy long before Flynn joined. While Flynn was clearly more skilled than Peerless Blood-Sword, Let-There-Be-Light chose not to change roles. He wanted Flynn to get a feel for Hell mode before taking on more responsibility.
With that, he cast Luminous Shield on Not-A-Bystander. The tank charged forward immediately, Peerless Blood-Sword was right behind him.
Thud, thud, thud.
Three Wandering Ghosts slammed into Not-A-Bystander almost simultaneously. The Luminous Shield shattered instantly, its absorption limit reached in a single burst. Even so, his health barely dipped, proof that the shield had done its job. At nearly the same moment, attacks from Peerless Blood-Sword, Amy, and Flynn struck the tank's primary target.
The primary target was the mob Not-A-Bystander was actively engaging and had the most threat on. Attacking the other two was dangerous. While his area attacks generated some aggro, it wasn't enough to protect careless DPS. Focusing fire was the safest and most efficient approach.
Even so, the damage was brutal. Three elites hammering him at once caused Not-A-Bystander's health bar to swing wildly. Let-There-Be-Light healed nonstop, but every critical hit sent the bar plunging, barely stabilizing above sixty percent.
Flynn frowned slightly. In Normal and Heroic mode, Not-A-Bystander could tank six mobs without breaking a sweat. Here, just three were pushing him to the edge. The mobs' damage output was ferocious, and their critical rate was clearly much higher.
After an exhausting stretch of focused attacks, the first ghost finally fell. With only two remaining, Not-A-Bystander let out a quiet breath of relief.
Let-There-Be-Light did not relax. His mana had already dropped below half, and they had only killed one mob. The situation was worse than he liked.
"Don't slow down. Keep the damage up."
With their high health and defense, even three DPS needed nearly fifteen seconds to bring down a single mob.
By the time all three Wandering Ghosts were defeated, Let-There-Be-Light's mana was completely drained, and Not-A-Bystander was left with less than half his health. Still, there were no deaths. Flynn and the other DPS hadn't been touched, thanks to the mobs' simple attack patterns and unwavering focus on the tank.
"Rest here," Let-There-Be-Light said, lifting a hand. "Amy, pull the next pack back to the corridor. Aim for three again."
"Hold on," Flynn said, speaking up for the first time. "Cleric, don't you think there's a problem with this approach?"
Let-There-Be-Light blinked, genuinely caught off guard. He hadn't expected Flynn to comment, let alone pinpoint an issue. He smiled ruefully. "You think I don't know? Ideally, we'd be doing Hell mode at level eighteen. Arcanists get crowd control then, and Rogues unlock a sap-like skill. That would reduce the pressure a lot. But we're trying to save time, so—"
"That's not what I mean," Flynn said, shaking his head. "It's too risky for Bystander to tank three at once. If they crit a few times in a row, he'll drop. Why don't I tank one?"
"You?" Peerless Blood-Sword immediately objected, shaking his head. "No chance. Rogues are too fragile. Your dodge is high, but that's unreliable. I should do it. Boss?"
Let-There-Be-Light ignored him and looked straight at Flynn. "You sure? These things can kill you in two hits."
"Worth testing, isn't it?" Flynn replied lightly.
After a brief pause, Let-There-Be-Light nodded. "Alright. We'll try it. Amy, pull."
Amy took a couple of steps forward, then glanced back. "Be careful."
A slow grin spread across Flynn's face. "What, worried about me?"
"You wish. Try not to get yourself killed and slow us down," Amy shot back.
"Playing hard to get, huh?" Flynn laughed, catching the faint blush on her cheeks.
Let-There-Be-Light glanced between Flynn and his sister, his expression souring. 'Great. This guy's flirting with my sister right in front of me. Does he have any respect for me as her older brother?'
Peerless Blood-Sword just stared, wide-eyed. He looked at Let-There-Be-Light, completely lost as to why his boss would put so much trust in some Rogue.