The quest chain for the spaceborne serpent specifically. As for the volcanic turtle, its quests are still ongoing, although I suspect it is also nearing the end based on the number of quests we have done.
_ Shadyna: I'm back~! Here's a [Herbed Storm Worm Turpedis Meat] for you.
_ Serpent: SCRUMPTIOUS. GRATITUDE. CONCUBINE.
_ Shadyna: You're welcome~
Although this scene of me sitting under the roof of the gazebo and the ship-sized space snake wiggling around upon receiving quest items has become a frequent occurrence for the last week, it doesn't feel much less surreal. I wonder if this is what it's like to have a big dog…?
_ Serpent: THOU COMPLETED. ALL REQUESTS.
_ Shadyna: Un, you did say it was the last one.
Rock gathering, glowing tree farming, industrial-scale fishing, bird catching, delicious boss hunting, etc… Calling it a very busy week is probably an understatement.
And I think Gelly's little party performed well throughout the event, even by our cafeteria's standards. Including Lutena and my two local divine beings, there were a total of five members in total. That's not the number of participants you would expect to achieve anything in a guild event, let alone competing against the top contenders. We somehow did it anyway.
Well, I suppose it's easier to compete when we got to bypass the competition part. In big events like this one, there are usually one or more parts that a good portion of participants struggle with, effectively eliminating them. Overcoming these so-called filter quests or filter enemies are more often than not a big if not the biggest factor in deciding the victors. This Terra Cetus event, despite the randomized quests, has at least two of them from what I have seen: The boss-related quests and approaching the titans themselves.
The boss quests are pretty much self-explanatory. You need to deal with certain bosses, and by that, I mean pacifying them through superior firepower according to every single quest I supported or heard about. All quest chains have at least one of these, and no, you cannot cheat using the market. Deal the majority of damage, possess the special item for the quest items to drop, have a quest NPC perform a ritual, those kinds of immersive restrictions.
As a result, most of the participating guilds are still stuck in these boss quests. Even if they weren't fighting each other, which they are still doing by the way, there's no way a few dozen bosses across the world taking hours to respawn can provide for thousands of guilds. Not within the event's timeframe anyhow.
How did we manage those quests? Well, we could barge into any boss site with guns blazing considering our power level. This pacifist me won't resort to violence if possible however, so I brib… I mean made friends with the players at the boss site the same way I did with Blue Blood Federation: Good food, and lots of it. It was just smooth sailing from there.
Materialism will bring peace, one dumpling at a time!
_ Serpent: THY WISHETH. BECOME MASTER. THOU NOT?
_ Shadyna: Ehm… I asked to be your friend actually, but sure…
The other filter is what I am doing right now. Yes, I am sipping tea while talking to a big flying creature. Yes, this is apparently very hard to achieve even for the most powerful guilds that successfully got past the first filter.
No, the filter is not the tea, or in it. This isn't a culinary event darn it~
It's the talking part that's the issue. Unlike me, most guilds started their quest chain from the guild clerk NPC they hire or the priestess at the center of Tyrel. It's more convenient at a glance, until they get to the part that requires them to meet the Terra Cetus in question.
Turns out, most players can't fly. Aerial combat with flying skills and mounts is still being experimented with and studied by the player base, but "slow and vulnerable" were the words players often used to describe their airborne experiences. Combined with the flying mobs around them, the seemingly short flight for a small talk became a lot more dangerous than most expected.
It is so dangerous, some of the higher-flying Terra Cetus have yet to meet a player for their entire existence. Strangely enough, there seems to be no creature spawning beyond a certain altitude which is a few hundred meters below the top of the stone towers. As such, this serpent residing at the sky edge of the world and I remain the sole residents here for the time being. Is it because Sateri has not implemented it, or the serpent is a special existence lore-wise…?
In any case, I don't think anyone else will be able to get here for a while. Even though the environmental damage is gone, the airspace is still as lethal as ever in a different form. Sateri, you sadist~
Not that it's much better with the ones players can actually reach. The moment people realized everyone would eventually need to talk to the Terra Cetus, talk camping became THE strategy to delay rival guilds. Why bother fighting fair on the ground when you can snipe the exposed enemy leader in the face mid-conversation, was their reasoning.
Forget about being a free action, talking in this game is beeping expensive!
…And then there's me taking my sweet time talking because there's no one else in the area. Whoops?
_ Serpent: THEN. ONE LASTETH TASK.
_ Shadyna: Eh? Didn't you just say it was the last quest?
Leaving a grand total of zero second for the cute pacifist to wonder why there is a new last quest after the last quest, the massive serpent charges up a proportionally massive energy ball in its mouth. Because it's important, I would like to remind that this thing is big. That glowing sphere is bigger than my house on our floating island for Sateri's sake!
_ Serpent: SURVIVE.
[Teleport]!!!
The moment I saw the serpent lunging towards me with the energy ball, I knew it was time to bail. I have way too much experience with getting hit by sneak attacks to be done in by yet another one, thank you very much!
Appearing a distance directly above its head and stabilizing with [Air Cushion], I get to witness the energy ball exploding into a scattering shot, launching several smaller unguided projectiles towards where I was a second ago.
… Each of those "smaller" shots is still larger than my gazebo. With an earthshaking explosion upon impact, my little shelter becomes space dust. Not a big surprise as I saw the big bird crashing through my tougher walls in Tyrel, but their sheer size and power still make me wary whenever I encounter one.
What I did not expect was the stone tower. Despite multiple direct hits, it remained standing after the smoke cleared. It is not because the tower is invulnerable however. There are many cracks running across the surface which weren't there before, mainly branching from the centers of the explosions.
Or to put it another way, these stone towers are most likely still destructible, like terrain. They are just so tough that you need an absurd amount of damage to make a dent, and even the biggest, baddest creatures in CSF right now can barely do minor scratches with their town-crushing attacks. It's as if Sateri expected us to fight against these towers one day or something…
I for one am NOT looking forward to that. I am a pacifist, thank you very much.
Putting the tower aside since it's not the one shooting at us right now (shocking, I know), how should I deal with the serpent…? While fighting it was not in the plan, I don't intend to retreat now.
First thing first, let's avoid straying too far in case it's a failure condition for the quest. Direct confrontation is certainly a bad idea when the opponent can easily smash through defensive walls. That leaves me with my very peaceful [Luminous Firestorm] bomb boosted by good old [Accelerate Power]. A small problem with it though, is that my SPD resets if I use [Teleport] or [Recall], nullifying a good chunk of [Accelerate Power]'s SPD multiplier. Thankfully both Gelly and Lutena are always in the party for [Friendship Engine] so aerial evasive maneuvers are available. Worst case scenario of another surprise attack, I cast [Teleport] to survive then build up SPD again. Once I figure out all of its attacks, I can evade with only my flying skills and the rest is a good finishing strike…
_ Serpent: THOU PASSED. MARVELOUS.
…Eh?
_ Serpent: AS THOU WISHETH. I BESTOW. MASTER TITLE.
[Condition fulfilled. Unlocked Title: "Miwyor Gildu Ornwe Benefactor"]
[Condition fulfilled. Unlocked Title: "Spatial Liberator"]
[Condition fulfilled. Unlocked Skill: "Deep Arsenal Lv.0"]
[Received Summon Gem
EEEEEEEEHHHHHHHHH?!
You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.
_ Fensen & Poltea (Guild): EEEEEEEEHHHHHHH?!
_ Hessy (Guild): Where did this title come from?!
_ Elri (Guild): Quest done already?
_ Nerin (Guild): That's not even its name!!!
My entire guild got the title too it looks like. Welp~
_ Serpent: I. MIWYOR GILDU ORNWE. AT THY SERVICE.
_ Shadyna: Waitwaitwaitwaitwait! Aren't we supposed to fight first?!
I thought I was going into a brutal boss fight in which we hit each other with our bare fists for days until both collapse from exhaustion and befriend each other afterwards! Sure, I may have consumed too much media and the serpent doesn't even have fists, but the general idea is there! Why did the battle end after the first attack, which didn't even hit?!
_ Serpent: I ART ACKNOWN. MORTAL DIFFERENT. YET. CANNOT ACCEPT. WEAKLING. AS MASTER. HENCE. TASK. TESTETH THY STRENGTH.
So uh… it knows that there's a mild (?) size difference between normal-sized players and itself, yet decided to blast me anyway to evaluate my strength?! The only way anyone can survive that massive attack would be [Recall], and that's only theoretically as normal players most likely won't react fast enough to cast it. Task my cute butt, that's an outright assassination!
…It still gave me new titles and skill though, so ma~ybe I can let it slide just this once?
_ Shadyna: Eh… sure. Once again, I'm
_ Miwyor: LASTETH. IT WAST.
…
_ Aenilie: Welcome back, milady! How was your expedition?
_ Shadyna: I'm back~
I'm back at the artificial sun to collect the rest of Gelly's party. As much as I want to check out the new stuff, I need to help my members with their quest first. That, and explain to them the reason why they seemingly completed another Terra Cetus' quest chain without knowing…
Sounds like it's going to be a pain, doesn't it~? The explaining part, that is.
_ Shadyna: It went well… I think? The serpent is our ally now, probably.
_ Aenilie: As expected of milady! Nothing can stop you!
No, I'm pretty sure I was in quite a dire situation earlier, just saying. My stats may be high but trying to compete in stats against bosses in general is a futile affair.
_ Sateri: I am glad it worked out. Not many creatures can stay sane after exposure to the outside.
Miwy (permanent designation) does seem pretty chill for someone who has to be assembled back from bare bones. Except for the sudden attack that is.
Being special NPCs in their own right, maybe Sateri and Aenilie have some unique dialog with my oversized serpent. Let's bring them to Miwy when I have time. Although I let the two roam around the sun, knowing no one would come here during the busy event, they are usually kept secluded or in their cores to maintain secrecy. Having another conversation partner for them would be nice, even if said partner can barely speak our language.
*FLASH*
As my trusty manager appears behind me, I realize I jinxed myself.
_ Hessy:
Busted at first glance too! Hessy, I know you are sharp but isn't this a bit too sharp?!
_ Sateri: Good day to you,
And they even know each other?!
…
Because of reasons, Hessy is now orz-ing, and I have a sword stuck on my head (yes, again). Sateri is kindly smiling watching from the side. The wife-daughter pair are enjoying random NPC banters. Meanwhile, my pets are nonchalantly using [Enchant] to recharge their lunchboxes which were heavily used for the past week as weapons.
A peaceful day, isn't it~?
_ Hessy: I knew you were hiding something when you introduced Aenilie, and how you had never been seen praying to a statue. I should have known better!!!
To be fair to the beautiful waitress, I don't think anyone in their right mind would guess that their guildmaster can summon the almighty Goddess of the world on a whim either~
_ Shadyna: A-anyway, we can discuss it later. You were looking for me because something came up, no?
_ Hessy: R-right… We finished crafting the [Molten Jewel] for the turtle, but there's a problem with delivering it and we can use your help. You weren't answering in chat so I [Recall]-ed to your position on the map.
Well, I had to tune out a bit since the guild chat was kinda chaotic and I was talking to Miwy… Probably could have avoided this altogether if I had paid more attention huh.
Lesson learned: Do not miss calls from your girlfriend (?), un!
In any case, it's about the turtle? I was sure she wanted to ask about my giant scaly friend to be honest. Not that I'm complaining per se.
_ Hessy: Everyone already knows you are responsible for the title earlier if that's what you are thinking. We will have to talk about that as well.
Guilty verdict without a trial?!
…
Sitting at the edge of the volcano's crater, I peek into the magma boiling below.
Yup, this is a volcano alright.
While easily missed, there is actually some lore behind each Terra Cetus' quest chain. Miwy's quests centered around cooking up a (very) big meal to replenish lost strength after resurrection for instance. Nothing too complicated as far as I know, though that raises the question of these giants' exile in the first place, story-wise. They don't seem to be the type that ends up lost in outer space for no particular reason, but I digress.
For the volcanic turtle, its volcano's heat source was lost during its exile and has to be replaced. All previous quests led us to the materials for this new heat source in question, which in turn is the [Molten Jewel] my members crafted.
Oh, and this "jewel" is actually treated as a furniture item, because it's big.
As big as a cart, to be more specific.
_ Hessy: It asked us to put the [Molten Jewel] into the volcano, but would appreciate it if we could embed it into an obsidian socket located at the bottom rather than just tossing it in. Su suggested doing it the hard way just in case there is an additional reward for our effort.
_ Shadyna: Is that so…?
This sounds quite similar to what Miwy pulled on me. Maybe one or more of the rewards I got would not have been given if I had been blasted to smithereens?
_ Hessy: Yes, and she said you had experience with this.
For the record, I do NOT have experience with swimming in lava ponds, okay? That honor belongs to
…Can I still vouch for
_ Hessy: Oh,
_ Shadyna: I see, it's that ba… Wait, twice?!
_ Hessy: She had to go in the second time to record the damage. It's lower than what you went through according to Su.
My condolences~
_ Shadyna: Un, I can do it if it's only at that level. Let me find the armors we used back then.
_ Hessy: Don't take too long. Our girls would love it if they can do something not PvP soon.
_ Shadyna: Oof… I'll do my best~!
Yes, the volcanic turtle is a low-flying Terra Cetus who can be accessed easily even by players with a weak flying mount. That's why a small detachment led by my mentor Elri has been camping the vicinity to… deter competition, with extreme prejudice. Two can play that game you know~?
We easily gained the upper hand early on, as expected. However, we had to constantly defend the area, lest other guildmasters sneak in to speak with the turtle and continue their quest. I don't know about the girls during day shift, but Elri and her now-flying stingray pet Stella spent most of her online time of the past week in this airspace. She could really use some time on land by now.
Please do your best for just a bit more, Elri~!
…
As thus…
It was a natural conclusion, really.
After
[Condition fulfilled. Unlocked Title: "Olar Istiq Uatur Igniter"]
Is it me or the bigger the bosses, the longer their names become…? Nevertheless, materialism is pleased with today's tribute~!
_ Shadyna: Whew! Another job well done, if I say so myself!
*BONK* *BONK*
Ouch!
_ Thelia: I was the one swimming in a volcano this entire time!!!
I'm sorry~!!!
____________
While the majority of players are busy slapping each other around the many Terra Cetus, an army marches towards the edge of the map.
The reason was simple: Nox bosses also drop [Artifact] materials. Many people forget about them because they are not announced by the system, nor was there much of a chance when
practically lived there. The pesky campers are distracted these days however, leaving the current Nox boss exposed. There is no better time to strike!
As the leader of the army silently praises himself for his own genius strategy, the manager next to him points at what seem to be a gathering in their path.
_ Manager: Unknown players straight ahead!
_ Leader: Tsk. Someone else must have overheard our plan.
_ Manager: Uh… I'm sure anyone with a working brain can come up with the same idea.
Ignoring the manager dissing his brilliance, the leader walks towards the strangers without the slightest concern.
_ Leader: Oi, you lot! This place is under OUR control now! Leave peacefully and you might get to see another sunrise!
The group turn to the unexpected visitors, then each other as if discussing something. A short moment later, an armored knight waves at the polite leader waiting for the response.
_ Player: Go ahead. It's yours.
_ Leader: Heh, I know you wouldn't give up that easi… wait what?!
_ Player: As I said, go ahead
_ Leader: Why?! Aren't you here to hunt the Nox?!
_ Player: No, not at the moment. We don't advise it though. See for yourself if you don't believe me.
Puzzled by the behavior of the knight, he walks to them with question marks above his head.
The moment he is within a few steps from the supposedly scouting party, he understands what the knight was talking about. Or rather, he sees it, as it became close enough to render in his headset.
A massive dark cloud consisting of countless flying creatures is hovering in his vision. Big and small, ranged and melee, bosses and mobs, they all flock together to create this amalgamation, blocking most if not all objects beyond from view.
Oh, and the usual ground horde guarding the Nox Terminus is there too, right beneath the monster cloud. Despite being roughly the same size as that of the previous Nox, they look barely threatening compared to the forces of darkness' new additions…
Retreat is not an option for the new alliance army however. Coordinating this many players is hard enough as it is. Losing his position will be the least of the brave and heroic leader's problems if he dismisses everyone without any gain now.
_ Leader: …Do you think it's possible to grind here for a while at least?
Because defeating this many monsters is definitely not, but he will keep that to himself.
--- Topic: Flight OP ---
## Shining Knight
Flying is too OP! I just got kited to death by a flier without hitting them back even once! Q_Q
##
## Newbie Charisma build
Is it? (???
I'd say it's the opposite. The speed debuff in flying skills or pets are as bad as the caravan debuff. I become a skill magnet the moment I take off to the air. (*￣m￣)
##
## StoneHoarder
Is there any way to negate the speed debuff?
##
## Heaven Piercer
Agree on both. Fliers are immune to melee attacks (duh) but drop like flies against ranged attacks.
A cute girl landed a Sleep skill on me earlier. Needless to say I landed like a brick and slept for good (づ￣ 3￣)づ
##
## CuteIsJustice
Proof or didn't happen :P
##
## Manly Warrior
@Heaven Piercer Don't sleep while riding (^_^;)
Melee fighters should treat flying enemies as fast kiters. Use your secondary ranged attacks to get them. Bonus points if you hit them with a Root or Sleep and let gravity do the rest (*′▽｀*)
##
## Nearseeing Sage
@StoneHoarder None that we know of. Probably for balance reasons. If flight is as good as walking on the ground, no one would walk again.
That being said, us DFC Sages are working hard to compile a beginner guide to flight. Look forward to it in the next few days. There is some stuff you might not know about yet. (^_-)-☆
##
## Fire mage of Justice
Noice! \(^o^)/
The expert guide is going to be behind paywall as usual right? Can't fool me (￣ー￣)
##
------