The party was getting torn apart. One rogue was already down. The Guardian was doing her best, but her health was visibly running low.

  I stepped forward, not bothering with introductions. I fired a couple arrows and baited the Warg off the wounded party.

  The Guardian took a breather while I kited the beast through the clearing, laying Web Trap behind a group of rocks and baiting it into it steadily.

  The Warg was fast, faster than even the Broodmother. It snapped sideways, zig-zagged and turned mid-air, dodging the trap.

  I dropped below its jaws, rolled behind it just as the Guardian got back into the fight. The party's Mage cast Frost Lance, slowing it just enough for me to land a Burning Arrow straight into its side.

  The warg shrieked.

  The party slowly recovered and joined back into the fight. After about five minutes of deadly dancing the Warg dropped to its side with a final, thunderous crash.

  I didn't get the last hit, and since I wasn't in the party that started the encounter, I didn't recieve any XP for it this way, but I didn't mind.

  "Damn," the party leader, the Guardian with windburned cheeks turned to me. "Thanks a lot. We have been farming the Shademere Wargs all day, but this was the first time two of them came at the same time."

  "Y'all are farming these elites?" I was somewhat surprised; level 15 elites were no joke at this stage of the game.

  "Yeah, we have all reached level 13 farming them. They actually drop a level 15 rare dagger and a level 15 rare cloak, as well as an uncommon skill rune with a skill called “Fang Strike”, usable by Rogues," she said. "It's perfect for getting kitted out early."

  "That's really good."

  This was the first time I heard about an elite dropping actual items. "How many have you gathered so far?"

  "Well, it respawns every hour. Although I have no clue why it was 2 this time around, that hadn't happened before."

  She thought for a while. "We have been killing them since early morning, this was our 11th kill. We have reached level 13 with the last spawn as well."

  She stopped, seemingly counted something in her head.

  "Yeah, that's right... I think? Regardless, we have two daggers and one cloak, as well as two skill runes."

  She looked at the corpse of the warg. "It looks like it didn't drop anything this time."

  "Did you skin them as well?" I asked.

  "No, you need level 10 skinning for it and we're not quite there yet."

  At this point I had 11 levels in Skinning&Processing, so I asked if they minded me skinning this last elite.

  The materials were top notch.

  "Will you guys still farm the wargs tomorrow?" I asked.

  "Yeah, all the way to level 15."

  "Could I join? I don't want any of the loot, just the hides and other parts."

  The Guardian had a brief chat with her party before nodding.

  "We'd like to have you, sure! It will be a lot faster to kill them with you, and we can farm more wolves in the downtime. But are you sure you only want the processed stuff?"

  "Yeah, I don't want to leech the items from you."

  "Well then, it's settled. Right now it's 18:30 IGT, we would like to start at around 9 am tomorrow. That fine with you?"

  I checked my cooldown timer. I have been playing since 8 am this morning, so I could get online tomorrow at 8 as well.

  "That's perfect," I said.

  "Deal."

  She offered a handshake. "I'm Malien by the way."

  "Orion," I shook her hand. "Nice to meet you."

  "Likewise, Orion," she said, before her and her party started their journey back into town.

  After clearing out a couple more wolves I decided to do the same.

  The return trip to Shadowreach was uneventful. The narrow forest trail cut gently huphill, illuminated by the glow of dusk piercing through tall pines. After a day like this, even the forest seemed content to let me walk in peace.

  By the time I reached the village, the atmosphere was quiet, almost intimate. Strings of paper lanterns swayed gently in the wind above the plaza, and the festival was slowly getting quieter. A trio of villagers played soft music near the well, while players gathered around them for a bit of ambience.

  I went straight to the Adventurer's Association Hall, pushing open the wooden doors. The clerk at the main desk greeted me with a polite smile.

  "I'm here to hand in the wolf infestation quest," I said.

  She signed off the paperwork without much delay, and I bagged another chunk of XP, some coins and 2 Adventurer's XP.

  I still had about an hour before 8 pm, and I really wanted to advance to Silver rank today, so I checked the board. The system chimed softly in my interface while the available quests appeared.

  There were a couple Iron rank quests, but most would have taken way more than an hour to complete.

  I kept scanning the quests when I got stuck with one that didn't require me to travel too far.

  This should be easy, I thought. Ridgepine Thicket was just about a five minute jog from the village, and five didn't sound like a problematic number; even if only one in ten dropped it, I could still manage it in an hour.

  I took the quest and slipped out of the hall.

  The air in the Thicket was still. The tall pines creaked softly above, their trunks dense and narrow, with fog gathering at the base of their roots. The ground was uneven, hills were rising and falling like rolling waves, and visibility was a tad bit problematic, but I didn't worry too much about it.

  I caught my first glimpse of movement by the base of a fallen pine.

  Venomfang Serpent

  Level 15

  The serpent's black and green scales reflected the little light there still was. It slithered through the ferns silently, its forked tongue tasting the air as it wound toward me.

  I loosed a Piercing Shot clean into its open mouth. The arrow disappeared with a sharp crunch, and the critical hit actually finished the target in one go.

  To my surprise it had instantly dropped a Venomfang Gland.

  This will be quick, I thought.

  I was wrong.

  For the next half an hour I worked my way deeper into the Thicket, letting instinct and experience guide my positioning. I kept pulling one or two serpents at a time, controlled the field with my Web Traps and smart usage of the terrain and cycled my cooldowns cleanly.

  About fourty minutes and 42 kills later I was still sitting on four Glands. The experience wasn't bad, but besides that the Serpents didn't give me anything useful.

  The next pull came quick. Two more serpents emerged from opposite sides of the trail, flanking me with surprising speed. I dropped a Web Trap between us and sidestepped, pulling the first one toward me while the second got stuck in the threads.

  The trapped one hissed furiously, struggling to escape the sticky webs as I struck it with a Flaming Arrow, igniting the vicinity around it.

  I shifted into Leap Attack, closing the distance and burying an arrow directly behind its skull before it could re-engage.

  I quickly finished the other one as well and to my delight, this one had the final Gland I was looking for.

  I made my way back to Shadowreach as the sun disappeared into the western hills, casting long amber shadows across the pines. The festival square was slowly coming alive again, soft music and laughter mixing with the aroma of cooking meat.

  As I turned in the quest, the Clerk congratulated me and with that I had advanced to Silver rank. I had also gotten 3 Weak Antidotes for completing the Venomfang quest.

  The world outside was settling into its usual nightly calm. At this time of the day Shadowreach felt like a completely different, way more tranquil experience compared to the rest of the county; Carpa was bustling with life, Riverhear was slowly getting by, and from what I had seen on the forums, Oakenlight was like a sailor's dream, but this village hit different spots for me.

  I could see myself spend a bit more free time here in the future.

  With that thought in my mind I logged off just as the clock hit 8 pm sharp, to get ready for tomorrow.

  I woke up early and logged back into Godsrealm just after 8. The cool morning air was thick with mist, and only a handful of players moved around the square while festival workers finished stringing new decorations between rooftops.

  By the time I arrived back at Shademere Forest's southern approach, Malien's group was already waiting, gathered near the exact same clearing where the Warg had fallen last night.

  They looked sharp, efficient and focused.

  Malien greeted me with a smile. Her party members were already running final checks on their gear, restocking their potions and adjusting armor straps. I got my party invite, and checked their status.

  They were all level 13 which was, from my understanding, on the higher end. The swordsman, Hale, quickly adjusted his scabbard.

  "Wow, you're level 14 already," he said. "Impressive."

  "Trying to stay ahead of the curve," I smiled.

  Malien then started briefing us.

  "One-hour timer, same as yesterday," she said. "With Orion here our TTK should be faster, so we should be more efficient with farming wolves in downtime."

  She winked at me. "We clear the Warg then check the vicinity for spawns. In case a double spawn happens, me and Orion will lure one away while Hale tanks the other. You guys then finish it ASAP then come for the second."

  She then turned to me.

  "You are probably our strongest DPS right now. You sure you still only want the skins and stuff?"

  I looked at them. They were seasoned MMO players, no doubt. They also seemed like they played together before, and knew what they were doing.

  "Only the carcass," I confirmed. "The loot's all yours."

  Her expression lightened up. "That settles it, then. We're looking at 12 kills for today, and a whole bunch of exp farming during downtime. We should hit 14 easy."

  The druid, named RagingBuddha, stood up and pointed behind me.

  "I guess we should start."

  As he said that I turned and saw the first Warg.

  "Alright, guys!" Malien said. "Let's be efficient!"

  Even after multiple fights, the sight of an Elite still made my pulse rise. It wasn't just its size, it was the way it moved. It was confident, predatory and patient.

  The group's formation fell into place instantly.

  Malien braced, planting herself in the Warg's direct charge path. The mage, Julian was already stacking frost charges to slow its footing. The rogue, Shadowbeast blinked behind the Warg's flank, dual blades at the ready.

  I circled wide, keeping my distance, bow drawn. Piercing Shot!

  The arrow slammed into the Warg's shoulder, drawing first blood. The beast roared and charged forward, but the Guardian quickly used a Taunt skill and absorbed the brunt of the impact with her shield while the others unloaded their opening rotations.

  As the Warg spun to try to break formation, I dropped a Web Trap near its rear leg, slowing its pivot just enough for the rogue to bury both daggers into its hindquarters.

  As it tried to chase after the melee player, Buddha dropped a druid spell and roots started shackling the beast down.

  After roughly four minutes of clean fighting, the Warg finally collapsed into the dirt with a final, shuddering growl. It was much easier to defeat Elites when you were in a party.

  I netted 1,600 EXP points, which was pretty good on its own, but after skinning the beast I was also richer with another Exquisite hide.

  "Good pull," Hale said, lowering his sword.

  "One down," I replied. "Time to go for normals, I guess?"

  "Yeah," Maelin confirmed. "Everyone go different directions and pull as much as you can, we will AoE them down right here," she pointed towards a burnt out campfire.