Level 30.
Getting up early the next morning, Gabryell continued AoE grinding in Raven Hill Crypt A. In less than half a day, he caught up to Dreamshade, who had been leveling through the night, and reached Level 30.
At Level 30, players could leave Duskwood, so Gabryell planned to head to the dragon cave in the northeast Wetlands and farm dinosaurs until Level 33.
At Level 33, he would farm the fields east of Arathi Highlands until Level 38.
At Level 38, he would go northeast of Theramore and farm Murlocs until Level 42.
At Level 42, he would move to Zul'Farrak and AoE grind the graveyard until Level 45.
Once the game officially launched and the cap unlocked to 60, Gabryell would continue grinding the Zul'Farrak graveyard until Level 48, then prepare Nature Protection Potions and Shadow Protection Potions before AoE grinding the purple portal side of Maraudon until Level 54.
After Level 54, he would have plenty of options. Since he was far ahead of everyone else, he could quickly hit Level 60 by farming the various undead at the Western Plaguelands farms.
"Man, are you cheating or something? How are you leveling this fast?" Every time Gabryell caught up, Dreamshade started questioning reality.
Gabryell really had activated the strongest cheat in the world: rebirth.
He still couldn't solo the Zul'Farrak graveyard yet, but once he could, even if Dreamshade had twenty-five hours in a day, he still wouldn't be able to keep up.
Gabryell thought to himself, You wouldn't understand the advantage of a reborn player.
In the current World of Warcraft, there might already be beta-test mages who knew how to AoE farm mobs, but Gabryell was certainly the only one who knew how to AoE farm dungeons like Zul'Farrak and Maraudon.
Since he was about to leave Duskwood, Gabryell planned to finish The Embalmer's Wife quest. The rewards were excellent, granting reputation with all four Alliance races at once. He had already completed the two prerequisite quests. All that remained was killing Eliza.
"Let's go finish the last step of The Embalmer's Wife quest together."
Gabryell joined the four-man party of Carlos, Igor, Hugo, and Lunatori. They had long since finished the prerequisites and only needed the final step: killing Eliza.
Eliza was a Level 31 elite mob. Aside from being a bit higher level, there was nothing special about her. One Level 30 player and four Level 27 players could handle her easily.
"Gabryell, since when do you do quests?"
Gabryell had been busy AoE grinding and ignored Duskwood quests entirely, so Carlos found it strange that he suddenly wanted to do one.
Gabryell had another reason for doing The Embalmer's Wife quest.
It was more of a mischievous impulse.
Once the quest was completed, it would automatically trigger a hidden event. A Level 35 elite abomination, Stitches, would spawn on the main road in Duskwood.
Stitches had a massive 11,660 HP and would rampage from the western side of Duskwood all the way down the road to Darkshire. Anything in its path, whether Night Watch NPCs or players, would be crushed.
Level 35 itself wasn't the scary part.
The scary part was the 11,660 HP.
At the current player levels, running into it meant only one outcome: death.
"I bet plenty of players will think Stitches is some insane world boss. With 11,660 HP, who'd believe it doesn't drop amazing loot?"
If Gabryell weren't reborn and didn't know Stitches had no fixed loot table, he would've thought the same. It really looked like some wandering super boss that should drop incredible gear.
Gabryell was already imagining players discovering Stitches, calling in friends, forming raid groups, and trying to kill it for loot.
That scene would definitely be entertaining.
"This should become World of Warcraft's first boss siege."
The corner of Gabryell's mouth lifted into an amused smile.
The group arrived at the upper-right side of Raven Hill and found the burial site of Eliza, the Embalmer's wife. Eliza was an elite mob visible only to players who had accepted The Embalmer's Wife quest, so even with more players entering Duskwood, no one had discovered her yet.
"So ugly."
Igor, president of the looks-first club, immediately complained when he saw Eliza's hideous zombie model.
"If I had a wife this ugly, no way I'd dig out my own heart to revive her. I'd rather find some pretty young girl and enjoy the rest of my life."
Gabryell said, "Igor, if you were buried underground long enough after dying, you'd look worse than her."
Hugo said, "Don't worry, Igor. You'll stay single forever."
"Let's end this and free her from her suffering."
Carlos pulled out his shield and charged in. Against a wild elite mob, there was no need to have the hunter pull.
Eliza was a mage. She used Frost Nova and Frostbolt. Aside from the annoying slows, her 2,309 HP was nothing against Gabryell's five-man group.
Same old rule.
Lunatori went to loot.
Some players rolled characters blessed by luck.
Others seemed cursed forever.
No arguing with fate.
Shield of Thorsen (Rare)
Binds when equipped
Off Hand Shield
711 Armor
14 Block
+7 Strength
Durability 100 / 100
Requires Level 25
"Holy crap, a blue shield! The symbol of an MT!" Hugo shouted.
Carlos burst out laughing. "Hahaha! Lunatori, I love you."
Hugo said, "You can't steal someone else's girl like that."
Igor said, "I support Carlos and Lunatori as a couple. Hugo, you're hopeless."
Lunatori giggled shyly.
Gabryell said, "Carlos can finally replace his Gilded Buckler. Shield of Thorsen is a whole tier stronger."
This was a bind-on-equip blue shield. If taken to the Auction House, it would sell for a very high price. It was currently the best shield for MTs. On the Alliance side, only Thermaplugg's Central Core from Gnomeregan could compare.
With Shield of Thorsen, there was no need to run Gnomeregan anymore. Once Carlos hit Level 30, he'd be tanky enough to farm Scarlet Monastery Graveyard.
Everyone passed on the loot, and Carlos gladly took the shield, replacing his Gilded Buckler.
After obtaining the Embalmer's Heart, everyone returned to Darkshire.
There were several times more players in town today than yesterday, turning the once-quiet settlement lively. The public chat channel was flooded with party recruitment messages.
Gabryell and the others turned in The Embalmer's Wife quest. The gear reward was average, but the real prize was the experience, money, and 500 reputation with each of the four major races.
"Carlos, be careful of Stitches while you're questing."
"Stitches won't drop anything good. No need to join the chaos."
After finishing The Embalmer's Wife quest, Gabryell told Carlos and the others that the hidden event would trigger and Stitches would spawn. They still needed to stay in Duskwood and quest to Level 30 before leaving.
The four nodded, saying they'd avoid it if they ran into Stitches.
"I'm heading back to Stormwind to train skills, then I'll check the Auction House for bargains before going to the Wetlands."
Gabryell planned to run to Menethil Harbor first and log out there. He had class that afternoon, so he could only return after class and continue AoE grinding in the dragon cave.
"Alright. Once I hit Level 28, I'll stay at the inn and keep leveling tonight."
Carlos planned to continue working on the Azeroth National Geographic Forum and try to launch it tomorrow.
Igor and Hugo exchanged glances, then said one after the other, "Once we hit 28, we'll stay at the inn too and work on the voice chat software."
Carlos's Azeroth National Geographic Forum was nearly finished. They couldn't slack off anymore. They had to get the voice software done quickly. Without voice chat, dungeons and quests really were inconvenient.
Gabryell teleported straight back to Stormwind, first going to the Mage Tower to learn skills, then heading to the Auction House to snipe bargains.
As the game progressed, bargains weren't nearly as easy to find as before. After one trip, he only made twenty or thirty gold.
222.
A wonderfully stupid number.
Gabryell's gold had broken 200, and he was still the richest player in the game.