They exchanged introductions: the Swedes' leader called himself Arvid and was a Mystic. Their melee fighter simply introduced himself as 'the Tank' – which didn't cause confusion, as they thought that Sean's class was Warrior. Emma raised an eyebrow at this, but she didn't blow his cover. Strangely enough, she didn't even complain about not-using-her-phone… well, not too much.
After a quick discussion, they chose downstairs – being able to retreat into the alley outweighed any high-ground advantage. They also arranged makeshift defenses: a few broken chairs and other furniture fragments to slow the Gremlins down, a tabletop and a broken door from upstairs – both turned vertical and supported with various debris to provide cover for the ranged classes. Finally, Sean practiced going back and forth without tripping over the obstacles – he was the one to lure the monsters in.
Sean decided not to make any comments about the Swedes apparently being furniture experts… even though these guys clearly were! They also didn't want to form one party for fear of Sean leeching all XP from kills.
So, once everybody was ready in the main chamber, he went to aggro the mobs. He hesitated before opening the door – he really hoped that the team wouldn't turn on him at the last moment… If they did, this would be the perfect opportunity for them: leaving Sean stranded with a bunch of vicious creatures. And he could hear one rummaging through some junk nearby, even through the closed door.
He figured it was better to hurry up and not give his newfound allies too much time to reconsider, so he opened the door and turned to the nearest monster. It hadn't noticed him yet. In fact, none of them had – which was a little awkward.
"Psst-psst!" Sean whispered to the Gremlin, unsure what else to do.
The beast looked back at him and hissed, then jumped with claws and some sharp object. Sean didn't bother to examine its gear and slashed it with Twin Strike . This time the skill worked better – or maybe he was improving his aim at weak spots in the makeshift armor – and both axes sank into the creature's flesh: one sliced its neck open, the other went into its torso from the opposite side. The Gremlin rolled in the air from the impacts and its mangled corpse landed at Sean's feet.
On second glance, this individual wore armor of particularly poor quality – but Sean had no time to examine it further, as more hisses and growls came from the courtyard. He turned around and dashed down the hallway, then took cover behind the corner. Everybody was still there, including their Tank and Otto – a Cleric – right behind the guy.
"They're coming," Sean hushed, then looked into the hallway – it was still empty, so he added, "I think."
"You didn't close door!" the Tank complained from the opposite side of the entrance – or hiding behind the other corner.
"What?" Sean asked and glanced there again: the back door was propped open by the corpse, and there were grunts audible from the other side. He started to explain, "Right, I didn't think to–"
"You were supposed to close the–" Arvid interjected from the back. Sean looked: their leader and the other Mystic were using the broken door for cover, while Emma and the Hunter were hiding behind the tabletop.
"I know, I know! But it just– Here they come!" Sean cut him off and focused on the hallway.
There was a small swarm of Gremlins rushing toward them, but not as many as he had feared. He hid behind the corner to give the casters a clear line of sight, then braced for combat. Emma and the two Mystics cast spells from behind cover, and the Hunter released an arrow. Some creatures tripped and fell, judging by the sounds anyway – either from the attacks or the obstacles.
Four rushed into the room unscathed. The Swedish Tank shouted something at them in his language, swung his sword at one Gremlin, then hid behind his large shield – it protected his legs and lower torso. Sean aimed at the wounded beast and tried Twin Strike again, but it didn't connect – the cooldown must not have cleared. Normal hits were still enough to cause the creature to collapse, and some magic projectile finished it off on the ground.
Two monsters turned to the Swede: one assaulted his shield, and another tried to flank him – but tripped after getting hit by two magic attacks. The fourth Gremlin was slightly larger than the rest and turned to Sean – he didn't wait for it to make a move, but used his newly discovered combo. Both skills worked: one axe sank into its shoulder and the other cracked its helmet – but the beast bent down and staggered, so Sean kicked it right into the back of the Gremlin struggling against the Tank's shield.
An arrow and another magic projectile came at the two monsters, but it was hard to say what hit which target – the creatures turned into a tangled mess as they both collapsed on the floor. The Swedish Tank aimed another blow at the two and there was a scream… Sean realized only after a second that it came from the Tank. The flanking Gremlin had quickly recovered and was already stabbing at the guy's side.
Sean wanted to swoop in and help, mindful of his recent close-quarters struggles – but two more Gremlins jumped from the hallway: this time turning straight at him. He kicked one to buy himself time, then Twin Strike'd the other – it bore wounds from the ranged attacks and just collapsed on the spot. Two more magic projectiles landed and finished one of the beasts on the ground, but the larger one stood up and charged at Sean.
He tried to kick it, but it evaded and slashed his leg with two daggers. Luckily neither attack pierced through the armor. The creature immediately tried to follow through with strikes at his chest – but another magic attack shoved it aside. Sean glanced sideways – Emma was aiming her staff in his direction. He wanted to thank her, but a noise distracted him. A different Gremlin was leaping at him from the hallway – a quick combo killed it in one go, then Twin Strike finished off the big one. A magic attack and another arrow killed off one more beast between him and the other Tank.
Sean finally had a moment to assess the situation: the corpses were mostly piled at the entrance to the room, but one lay in front of the Hunter – something must've slipped through, but the Swede seemingly killed it with his backup dagger. Or just ranged attacks got it. One more Gremlin emerged from the hallway and looked around – but promptly got hit by a magic projectile. Sean finished it with his combo.
The Tank was shouting something in Swedish and struggling with the last monster – the one that had flanked him. By then it was hiding behind the player and striking at his leg and chest. The other Tank's armor was heavier and composed of multiple metal plates – but the beast managed to squeeze a few stabs into the weak points between these, judging by the red blood in places.
The Swede was swiping his sword at the monster once in a while and mostly kept trying to block it with his shield – but the creature was too nimble to be outmaneuvered and kept too close to the Tank to allow him a good attack angle. The Mystics started shouting something in Swedish and Sean noticed what was going on: the Gremlin took cover behind the player, seemingly using him as a shield from ranged attacks. The Cleric was standing to the side and concentrating – gripping his staff and aiming it at their Tank.
Sean shook his head and stepped closer. He axed the remaining Gremlin from above – which stunned it. The Tank took a step back and landed a good strike with his sword, then Sean used Blunt Blow from the side and almost impaled the monster against the wall. He found it weird how the fight was seemingly getting easier over time.
"There, problem solved," Sean remarked to the Tank and turned to ask Otto: "Why didn't you just cast something? From the side?"
"Me what?" The Cleric was confused. "Man, no offensive spells."
The Hunter said from the back, "Don't block the–"
"More healing!" the other Tank cut in, and Otto focused again.
Arvid remarked from behind cover, "And Cleric's healing is shit."
"Then why is he– Anyway… Emma, if you could help?" Sean asked and she glared at him but waved her staff at the other Tank… in what seemed to be more mockery than spell-casting. He nodded to her, but focused on the Cleric. "Then why not switch class or–"
"Take cover!" interrupted the Hunter.
Sean glanced at him, then into the hallway – he was standing right in front of the passage! And suddenly an arrow hit him in the side. He groaned, "Oww…" – and hurried behind his corner. Only now did he notice both the door and the tabletop had multiple crude wooden arrows stuck in them – the ranged exchange must've been going on for a while. He snuck a peek and there was one more Gremlin hiding behind the doorway. The beast aimed its short bow at them, but an arrow hit it in the chest – it hissed and took cover, causing a homing magic projectile to impact the wall.
Sean ignored the pain, took a deep breath, and charged down the hallway. The Gremlin was taking another peek by the time he got there and received an axe to the face, which killed it. Sean kicked the two corpses outside to unblock the door and closed it, then walked back. He counted the bodies: two in the courtyard, one in the hallway killed by ranged attacks, five piled up at the entrance to the room, and two that tried to flank. Plus one more that charged at the casters and got killed off one way or another.
That came to eleven, or about half of what he counted from the window upstairs. He figured some Gremlins weren't as eager to cooperate after all – or maybe his whisper only aggroed these. In any case, between the ranged barrage and his axes – it had been a massacre.
Sean took cover behind the corner and finally focused on the arrow sticking out from his ribs. The pain was somehow getting worse over time – probably adrenaline wearing off. He clenched his teeth and pulled it out. He felt blood pouring out, so he looked to Emma… who was already on her phone, of course. He asked, "Can I get some healing too?"
She rolled her eyes and waved her staff in his direction while reading the screen. It worked, somehow. He scanned the room: the Gremlin corpses were badly messed up and the black ooze stank terribly, but there were no survivors or stragglers. The Swedes were already discussing something on the other side of the room, and he noticed that holes in the other Tank's armor were now gone – the outfit was even cleaner than before.
Sean approached them and asked their Tank, "Hey, how did you fix your armor?"
They glanced at him, then each other. The Tank said something in Swedish, then Otto answered Sean in English: "I'm level seven."
"Oh, I see…" Sean feigned understanding. He had no clue how that explained anything.
Arvid stepped closer to Sean and explained, "Some of us are at low level, but that's because we have switched classes."
"Ahh, to Mystics – makes perfect sense," Sean half-mocked – his tone earnest.
The guy nodded and resumed, "But not all at once, so he stayed Cleric." Sean frowned a bit – he had no idea whether it was good or bad. Arvid continued, "So no need to brag about your–"
"No-no, I get it: you spec and respec – that's what the game is about, right?" Sean commented, remembering Bruce's line from the lecture. He had no idea how accurate it was, but it sounded very smart. Experienced. He looked at the other Tank and recounted more advice: "Oh, and you don't have to wait for the cooldown to attack – normal strikes also work!"
"And get exhausted?" the Tank asked, and Sean… didn't know what to say. He realized only now that he should have been completely worn out – all this running back and forth, kicking, constant attacks. Even just waving the axes around in heavy armor should've tired him long ago! And yet…
Arvid finished his explanation: "So Otto can fix the gear and things." A small pause. "How do you think he fixed the door?"
"Well, I just assumed…" Sean improvised an excuse: "You know, the Ikea stuff? Sorry about that! I mean, I didn't know he was a Cleric, so…"
"No need to make fun from low levels," Otto commented, and Sean just frowned.
Their leader added, "Yes, that's easy for you to say – you can play that Warrior like Berserker, with cheap weapons, and while wearing heavy armor." He hesitated for a moment, but finally asked, "What level are you, really?"
Sean's frown only deepened. He glanced at Emma, then whispered to the guy: "Embarrassingly high for this content."
Arvid measured him for a moment, then looked at Emma as well – she was busy on her phone. Luckily he seemed to have bought it: he simply nodded and walked back to his team to explain… thankfully in Swedish. Sean hoped the news wouldn't spread enough to cause him any trouble. Or rather: to cause complaints about his glitched classes. He wasn't sure what lvl these guys were, but his lvl-4 Fighter was clearly too strong in comparison.
And he didn't even know why exactly or how to hide it better.