Drake left the Silverhaven Warrior's Proving Ground, the satisfying ache of a productive training session in his virtual muscles. His [Twin Soul Bladesworn] skills, particularly his off-hand [Basic Attack Combo R/L] (now 84% SCR) and [Parry] (86% SCR), felt noticeably more refined. The invitation from Valerius to tackle the Hard Mode of the Sunken Reliquary was a perfect opportunity to put these improvements to a real test.
He navigated through Silverhaven's outskirts, following his map towards the dungeon's marked entrance. The Sunken Reliquary, according to local rumor and map notations, was an ancient Alvari structure partially submerged by a shift in the local water table centuries ago, now rumored to be infested with water-adapted creatures and restless Alvari spirits. Its entrance lay a fair distance south-east of the city, nestled in a marshy, low-lying basin.
After about twenty minutes of travel, he spotted the meeting point: a crumbling stone archway, clearly Alvari in origin, half-swallowed by moss and creeping vines, leading into a dark, watery passage. Valerius, the plate-armored tank from the Hydra encounter, stood near the archway, his shield bearing the newly minted insignia of "Iron Resolve" – a stylized iron gauntlet gripping a sword. With him were the same three players Drake remembered: Lyra, the quiet Elven Healer in green robes; Finn, the wiry Human Rogue with a collection of daggers at his belt; and Elara, the intense Human Mage whose fingers constantly crackled with arcane energy. They all turned as Drake approached.
"Drake! Glad you could make it!" Valerius greeted him warmly, his voice echoing slightly from within his helm.
Lyra offered a polite nod, Finn a curt wave, and Elara a sharp, appraising look.
"Good to see you all again," Drake replied simply. "Valerius mentioned you were having trouble with the Hard Mode here?"
Valerius sighed, running a gauntleted hand over his helm. "Trouble is an understatement. Normal mode? We can clear it in our sleep now. We've got the basic mechanics down, know the trash pulls, the boss patterns... but Hard Mode? It's a different beast entirely. Mobs hit like trucks, bosses have new abilities, and there's this one sequence mechanic on the final boss that just… wipes us every time. We haven't even gotten him past 50% on Hard. No one on the server has reported a Hard clear yet, far as we know."
"Server first potential for Hard Mode... That's a significant achievement if we can pull it off. Good rewards, major guild reputation."
"We were thinking," Valerius continued, "since you haven't seen the instance at all, it'd probably be best to run through it on Normal first. You can learn the basic layout, boss fights, and we can get a feel for working together. Sound good?"
Drake nodded. "Makes sense. A quick reconnaissance run on Normal is a smart move. I can see the mechanics, and you can see how my skills fit with the group."
"Excellent." Valerius looked relieved. "Alright, Iron Resolve, let's show Drake how we do Normal!" He buffed the party with a standard tank aura (<< Effect Applied: Valerius's Resolve - Minor Armor/Resistance Increase >>), Elara cast a group intellect buff, and Lyra a pre-emptive regeneration HoT. Drake, having no group buffs of his own yet, simply drew his [Initiate's Twin Blades], their faint purple enchantment glow pulsing subtly.
They stepped through the archway, the world dissolving into a loading screen for a moment before reforming. They stood in a damp, stone corridor, ancient Alvari carvings barely visible beneath layers of slime and algae. Water dripped constantly from the ceiling, and the air was heavy with the scent of mildew and stagnant water. Faint, sorrowful whispers seemed to echo from the depths ahead.
"Classic sunken ruin vibe. Relic Hunter might be useful here for secrets, even on Normal." He subtly toggled [Relic Hunter] on.
The first pack of mobs was just around the corner: three Drowned Husks (Level 20 Normal Mobs) and two Murkfiends (Level 21 Normal Mobs), amphibious creatures with glowing eyes. Valerius charged in, shield raised, immediately drawing their aggro. "Mage, on the Fiends first, they have a nasty spit! Rogue, lock down a Husk!"
Drake didn't wait for an assignment. He identified a Husk that Finn hadn't engaged and moved in, his twin blades a blur. [Basic Attack Combo R/L] initiated. Right Hand (100%): << Perfect Execution!Damage Dealt: ~380!>> Left Hand (84%): << Damage Dealt: ~200! >>
The Level 20 Drowned Husk, with its ~1500-2000 HP, practically vaporized within seconds. It let out a gurgling cry and collapsed before it could even swing its corroded weapon, its health bar vanishing in under two seconds. Drake immediately switched targets to the second Husk Finn was engaging, his [Relentless Assault] stacks already high. That Husk also fell almost instantly.
"What the—?!" Finn exclaimed, lowering his daggers, having barely landed a hit on his own target before Drake annihilated it. Elara, who had just finished casting a spell on a Murkfiend, turned to stare as Drake cut down the third Husk in a similar whirlwind of perfectly executed strikes. Valerius, holding aggro on the two Murkfiends, grunted in surprise. "Told you he hit hard."
"Okay, Normal mode trash is… no challenge at all. Relentless Assault with these dual blades is even more effective than I thought against targets that live more than one hit."
They proceeded through the initial corridors. Drake intentionally held back slightly on trash pulls, letting Valerius establish aggro and the others contribute, but his damage output was so overwhelming that most standard mob packs melted before the party's rotations could even fully play out. He used the time to meticulously observe his surroundings, [Perfect Recall] logging the layout of every chamber, the patrol patterns of mobs, the placement of potential traps or environmental hazards (though few were active on Normal).
In one side chamber, as the group was looting a standard chest after clearing some Drowned Mariners, Drake's [Relic Hunter], amplified by his [Cartographer's Compass], highlighted a faint seam along one algae-covered wall, and a slightly discolored floor tile nearby that didn't quite match the others.
"Hold up a sec," Drake said, approaching the wall. "Valerius, try stepping on that floor tile there." Valerius, curious, moved to the indicated tile and put his weight on it. A soft click echoed, and the faint seam Drake had noticed glowed briefly before a section of the wall slid inwards, revealing a small, hidden alcove. Inside sat a tarnished silver coffer. << Secret Discovered! Party Bonus: +100 EXP! >>
"Well, I'll be damned," Finn whistled. "We've run this place a dozen times on Normal and never saw that." Elara looked at Drake with renewed interest. "Your perception is… noteworthy." Valerius opened the coffer. It contained a few [Silver Ingots], a stack of [Minor Healing Potions], and a [Scroll of Water Walking (Single Charge)]. Minor loot, but the discovery itself was a boon.
"Relic Hunter and the compass are definitely paying off. Good to know it works for party secrets too."
They continued deeper, encountering the first "boss" of the Normal mode instance – a bloated Deepwater Sludge Lord (Level 22 Normal Boss). Its mechanics were simple: a basic slam, a slowing slime spit, and occasionally summoning a few weak Sludge Minions. Valerius tanked it easily. Drake focused on pure damage, [Relentless Assault] quickly capping out. He observed the Sludge Lord's attack telegraphs carefully, noting the wind-up for its slime spit and the audio cue before its slam, [Perfect Recall] storing every detail even though the fight itself was trivial. The boss went down in less than a minute under their combined assault, with Drake contributing well over half the total damage.
The Normal run proceeded in this fashion – Drake dominating the damage meters on trash and bosses alike, while meticulously using [Perfect Recall] to memorize every aspect of the dungeon's layout, enemy abilities, and encounter timings. He was building a perfect mental blueprint of the Sunken Reliquary, information that would be invaluable when they attempted Hard Mode. The rest of Iron Resolve, initially just impressed by his damage, began to appreciate his calm demeanor, his occasional sharp observations about mechanics, and his knack for spotting things they'd repeatedly missed. By the time they reached the antechamber before the final boss of the Normal instance, a sense of confidence, largely fueled by Drake's presence, had settled over the group.