The Age of Titans (2)
“Anyway, how was it riding a titan for the first time? Killer ride, right?”
“Totally! Insane! I always wanted to take it for a long spin. Who’d have thought Hyunjung here would become a titan rider doing PKs? And against Taesung, no less!”
“Feels good, huh? Even for me, it’s way better with you along than solo. Imagine if every guild member had one—what a sight. Makes your head spin just thinking about it.”
“It’s awesome, but kinda scary too. Now that I’ve got something this good, people will come gunning for my titan. I was already worried watching your back, but now that I’m in the same boat, I’m stressing about how to handle field runs.”
Before even summoning his titan, the shield Hyunjung got was a Divine-grade item. That meant if he died even once, he’d lose both the shield and the titan. I was in the same spot, but I’d prepared by leveling a new character as backup. Hyunjung had no such safety net, so he had to be extra cautious every time he stepped into the field or summoned it.
“Guess you’ll have to stick to instances for leveling. If you need to hit the field, just warehouse it. And only use the titan when we’re together—Ferari can carry three of us anyway.”
“Yeah, sounds good. No way I’m lugging this around in the field like a sitting duck. But in instances? Total boss gear. Divine is divine for a reason... Shield skill levels are nice, but halving the cooldown? Straight-up broken.”
“Exactly. So from now on, grind levels like your life depends on it—’cause it does. I’ll hit ranker status soon, and then we’ll have tons of first clears to chase. Or we could raid some untouched field bosses...”
There were plenty of abandoned hunting grounds in Tayen, maps that had opened ages ago but were too high-level for users. They had field bosses floating around, but no one could take them down—just sightseeing mobs. Unlike instances, aggro meant instant death from speed gaps.
“Field bosses?”
“Yeah. The kind that drop killer loot and achievements. Like... a ‘dragon’?”
Among those tourist traps was one super cool, famous boss: the green dragon Tu Mertus, hyped up in Illusion’s trailers to excite everyone. With just one titan, it was unthinkable. But now we had the first two-titan party in Tayen history, and it hit me.
Users melted under one dragon breath, but titans had the HP to tank it. Stuns and knockbacks users couldn’t land? Titans could dish them out. Suddenly, it felt doable.
“Dude! That thing’s not meant to be killed! Isn’t the dragon just scenery?”
“We’ll see once we try. Remember the launch CF? Dragons on the demon side fighting human titans? Means titans are built to fight dragons, right?”
“Whoa, nuts! So we might actually take it? Hyah! Field boss dragon drops? No clue what it’ll spit out. And the achievement? Endgame tier for sure.”
“So grind hard for now. You’re about to play a whole new Tayen.”
Tu Mertus was estimated mid-400s. Should be higher, but it was a game—dragons locked to max level would never spawn. This one was the weakest, a young dragon mere centuries old, per quests and NPCs. With demon realm hints everywhere, stronger ones would come later. For now, in this low-level phase, it was bait for epic hundred-man raids.
“But even with two titans, can our guild solo a dragon? Seems impossible.”
“Forgot how Hellfire soloed a castle? That wasn’t impossible. He’s got a plan—just follow quietly. You’re only in thanks to Levendus. Getting chatty, huh?”
“Oho! This punk talks big to his hyungnim?”
Raids favored quality over quantity. A few who could stick and DPS beat hundreds who died quick. Darius always snagged field first kills... my turn now.
“Here!”
Riding Ferari across Desra Desert took under two minutes to the Magic Age Ruins instance. Like the past week, I leaped from hovering Ferari onto the portal altar.
The site had spread via Burning Star mouths across Tayen. Prime high-level instance—Taesung would’ve blocked it. But not this time.
Reason? My solo PK spree flipped their policy.
Broadcasts trashed my rampage PKs sometimes. But communities cheered—first to halt Taesung’s executions. No PKs meant dropping sweet exclusive farm control.
Thus, the Magic Age Ruins instance buzzed with non-Taesung guilds.
“Oh! Sandro, diving in again? You never rest.”
“Sleep’s for my level. You guys grinding hard?”
“No one keeps up with you. Ranker soon—congrats in advance!”
“Aigoo, still far off. Anyway, whisper if Taesung shows. Later!”
Top users (minus Taesung) hated them—nearly all. My image work paying off? More greetings than attacks now.
You have entered 'Forgotten Underground City of the Magic Age (Desra West)'.
Post-first-clear week, I grinded here solo. Wyvern time caught three-plus Cerberuses. No regen waits—hundreds, reset, repeat. 3x+ efficiency. Leveling sped up despite higher levels.
Hit 349—350 in sight—starting today’s grind. Thief rank 10 at 357. Party norm for high levels; my solo pace crushed norms.
Kyaeng! Kya-kyaeng!
Pulling every Cerberus, diving in—I was the Slaughterer. Hellflame barely scratched high magic resist. Bites and swipes? Mana absorb refilled MP untouched. Double damage on holy sword? Cheat-tier here.
‘Perfect timing finding this spot. Breezing through the ranker wall I dreaded!’
“You’ll perish here, never returning to the demon realm!”
Titan boss from first clear now ‘Guardian Fade Possessed by Evil Spirits’—dark knight. Tough boss, but half prior stats—solo cake. Early titan version wasn’t recent content.
“What’s the drop? Aww, junk again? Instances rock except this. Bosses galore, but crap odds. Solo’s bad; six-man barely time-positive.”
“No wonder GTB’s booming...”
Not expecting loot from trash like this—dashed to entry portal. Exit, re-enter, reset, repeat.
At the entrance, long-overdue whisper from Hellfire.
Demon sword loss should sting, but his tone was steady as ever. From deep talks before, Hellfire dusted off pasts for tomorrow.
My banter got a real reply. Bigger than any event, impact incoming.