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not to laugh out loud as I internalized my thoughts and feelings on the matter. The oddly voiced reply was practically genderless but I had an idea as to who it belonged to. A good person really… just a strange voice was all. A really strange voice.
    “Move forward!” I shouted to them as I started to pace myself in the direction of their voices. The Infested Zone was being utilized to power level my troops and we were already twenty miles deep into the forest. Camping gear was brought along as well as a bundle of warm clothing as the temperature had started to drop considerably with the increasing snowfall. Winter was on the way and traveling would soon become difficult.
    When the time comes, I’ll have to find other sources of entertainment.
    For now we would hunt until we reached the cave. Dire wolves, goblins, and rattanorv groups were out patrolling and were readily available. There was also the occasional sighting of adverse weather conditions that signaled the presence of a frost troll, of which one had never been caught or killed. The rest of the creatures were standard fodder really.
    These groups of mobs weren’t a challenge for a team of casters and tanks. The men and women were clearing through the area at a breakneck pace and I couldn’t help but wonder when the current creatures would phase out and new ones would swoop in. My hope was that it would occur relatively soon.
    Overhunting of an area was supposed to activate the conditions for the game to change its parameters slightly, increasing the difficulty in relation to the individuals in the region. Starter zones being the lone exception as they kept a radius of low level mobs for the beginner players. Yet despite the conditions being met, nothing was changing.
    The goblins roamed as packs of five at around level fifty up to level sixty. The rattanorv roamed as packs of ten at similar levels and the dire wolves were usually alone but around level seventy. Level fifty-plus bears were also running about but they were very small in number with the hibernation period having started for them in-game.
    I couldn’t help but wonder if there was a hard cap… or a soft cap, on the level of creatures that an Infested Zone would bring in. At first I figured it was based purely on scarcity but that didn’t seem to be the only factor. The other thought was that it was tied to the player levels in the vicinity.
    The casters were already in their forties level wise with the original warriors well over seventy. My new warriors with their lower potentials were pretty far behind and were stuck in their twenties still but they could manage without too much issue. They were mainly frontline tanks and all of the heavy work was handled by the casters in most fights.
    My level on the other hand had stagnated significantly.
    It was rather embarrassing to think about, really.
    Kate, well… she was nearing level one-hundred already with her potential being somewhat exceptional. Seeing how high potentials conferred an experience boost, any NPC with strong ratings had it extremely good when it came to leveling. I mean, for every kill we made Kate received double the experience that I did.
    There was almost no way for me to actually catch her in level unless I left her at home and soloed my way through content. Another trip to an instanced dungeon might help in that regard. That didn’t sound too bad either.
    Sure would beat the winter up here.
    Well, based on all of the high levels running around the idea that the Infested Zone was tied strictly to scarcity and level seemed to be out of the question. My last thought on the matter was that it could potentially be tied to the level of the settlement nearby.
    Dragon’s Breach was still a village for now.
    I would have to wait until it upgraded to a Town to find out.
    Lost in thought, a sudden gust hit me as the cold air sent a chill through my coat and forced a reactionary shiver. An ominous feeling was pervading the