A green enchant. Damn. Even though the formula had green-quality text, its value was easily on par with a purple item.
"Is it really worth that much?" Coldhands asked, pleasantly surprised.
Gabryell had no intention of lowballing him. "Very."
Formula: Enchant Weapon - Crusader (Uncommon)
Requires Enchanting (300)
Enchanting Formula
Use: Teaches you how to permanently enchant a weapon, giving it a chance to grant the wielder immense Strength.
This was a must-have weapon enchant for melee DPS. In the early game, a single formula could sell for over a thousand gold. Later, once more copies entered the market, the price would gradually fall to a few hundred.
Any Enchanter who learned Crusader could stand in town selling the service and quickly earn back the cost. In just a few days, they would be swimming in gold.
The reason Crusader was so expensive came down to rarity. It only dropped from the Scarlet Spellbinders along the road to Hearthglen. Very few of those mobs spawned each time, and with the formula's low drop rate, farming one could take an extremely long grind.
"Sell it to me directly," Gabryell said. "Flat price. I'll pay 1,000."
No haggling, no tricks, no lowballing. He bought it at the most practical price. The first Crusader formula was worth that much.
It really was. This was World of Warcraft in 2004, not the later Classic era. Barely anyone knew where Formula: Enchant Weapon - Crusader dropped.
If someone knew Crusader right now, it was basically an exclusive business. Stand in Ironforge, advertise in trade chat, mention the proc effect, and wealthy melee players would immediately line up for enchants. Within a few days, the Enchanter would be rich.
"A thousand bucks?" Coldhands said in shock. "Ogabs, don't scare me."
Gabryell gave him a flat look. This guy was obviously playing dumb.
"Keep dreaming. A thousand gold."
"Haha, I'm kidding," Coldhands said. "I just didn't expect this crappy green formula to actually sell for 1,000g."
As he spoke, he clicked Confirm. After selling off his gold earlier, he was dirt poor now.
Gabryell put up 1,000 gold and traded for the Crusader formula.
"From now on, whenever you get something that looks worthless but feels too good to vendor, ask me before selling it."
He was worried that if Coldhands got something even better in the future, this idiot would list it for pocket change and let someone else profit.
"Got it."
Coldhands linked another item. "What about this? Worth anything?"
Gabryell glanced at it. "Get lost."
It was just some trash green gear. This guy was clearly doing it on purpose.
Coldhands smiled as he watched him head for the gryphon master. "Safe travels, come visit more when you have time. Don't be a stranger. I'll miss you."
What he missed was the gold, not the person. Since the start of the game, 99% of his gold had come from Gabryell, including the gold farmed in the Zul'Farrak graveyard.
Gabryell flew to Menethil Harbor, took the boat to Theramore Isle, and then flew straight to Gadgetzan without stopping.
After finding Krinkle Goodsteel and making the Skeleton Key Mold, he immediately rushed toward Un'Goro Crater.
What a pain. Not leveling through normal questing really was annoying. Most of his flight paths were still locked, so going to Un'Goro meant riding there himself.
Luckily, he had an epic mount, so the trip was fast. Before long, he reached Fire Plume Ridge in the middle of the crater, found the lava pool, and used the Skeleton Key Mold near the edge.
Gabryell had already prepared two Thorium Bars. Players doing this quest for the first time were easy to trip up here. If the neutral Auction House in Gadgetzan did not have any, they would have to run all the way back to a capital city to buy them.
Once the Unfinished Skeleton Key was ready, he could return to Chillwind Camp and speak with Alchemist Arbington for the next step.
Before setting out, Gabryell had deliberately set his Hearthstone to Southshore. He used it to return directly, then took a gryphon to Chillwind Camp.
"You're finally back. I've been waiting so long I almost started gathering dust."
Coldhands was thrilled to see him return. He was not the type who could sit still. If he had to wait too long, he would start itching to go out, kill a few mobs, and mess around.
Gabryell found Alchemist Arbington and accepted the next quest, Araj's Scarab.
Araj was the terror of the Ruins of Andorhal. Only by killing him could they obtain Araj's Scarab from his corpse.
"Carlos, you guys can come back now."
Gabryell invited Coldhands directly, then called Carlos and the others back from their nearby quests.
The Skeleton Key quest was not a raid quest, so he did not form a raid group. He only invited Lunatori, Igor, and Hugo.
"What about us?" Carlos asked.
"You and Scum can watch from the side. Since we're already there, you can also finish Alas, Andorhal while you're at it."
Alas, Andorhal required looting Araj's Phylactery Shard from the phylactery left behind after Araj died.
That quest was very player-friendly. The developers knew Araj was difficult, so it could be completed whether someone was in a raid, in a party, or not grouped at all.
After Araj died, the phylactery he left behind would remain on the ground for a while. No matter who killed him, every player nearby could loot it and take the shard inside to complete the quest. There was no limit on how many people could open it.
Solo players doing this quest only needed to hide nearby and wait for someone else to kill the boss.
Once the party was formed, Gabryell led everyone toward the Ruins of Andorhal. They cleared mobs all the way to the center of the ruins, where Araj the Summoner stood surrounded by several elite mobs.
"Holy crap, a level 61 elite?"
Everyone was shocked when they saw Araj. His model was huge, a full-on Scourge lich looming in the middle of the ruins.
"A level 61 elite with several level 55-plus elites guarding him, plus a pile of regular undead nearby," Carlos said. "With just us, I don't think we're even enough to get stuck between his teeth."
He did not think he could tank that many mobs. Araj alone, as a level 61 elite, could beat him to death.
Gabryell said, "It's fine. We're not fighting him head-on."
Araj's level was high, but his health was not. As long as they avoided fighting him directly on the ground and kept the trash mobs from interfering, he would still be fairly easy to kill.
"How do we kill him without fighting head-on?" Carlos asked. "Are you sending Igor to drag all the mobs away?"
Igor immediately refused. "I'm not volunteering for a corpse run."
That was obviously suicide. Even if a Paladin went, Divine Shield would only buy a few extra seconds.
"Igor, I've got some booze here," Hugo said from the side. "Drink enough of it and Araj's level will look green to you."
In World of Warcraft, drinking alcohol made you drunk. Once drunk, your screen blurred, your camera swayed, and mobs appeared lower-level. For a moment, it felt like the entire world belonged to you and even world bosses could be soloed.
Of course, that was just an illusion from fake confidence. The mob's level did not actually drop. If you could not beat it one-on-one, you would still die.
Gabryell laughed. "No need to send Igor to his death. I have a way to kill Araj safely."
Once Araj was dead, the other elite mobs would be much easier to deal with.
He led everyone to the outside of the watchtower on the right and jumped onto the roof of a small room.
"See that second-floor beam in the ruined building across from us? Jump there."
From the roof of the small room, a running jump could reach the beam on the second floor of the abandoned building opposite them. Mobs could not get up there, so they could kill Araj safely from that spot.
"I'll show you."
Gabryell took a running jump and landed cleanly on the second-floor beam across the gap.
Coldhands immediately followed. "Oh, this is fun."
He made it on his first try. "A little height difference and distance? Nothing for a Mage."
The others jumped after him. Lunatori made it on the first try, while Carlos, Hugo, and DeathScum each needed two attempts.
"Damn it, why can't I make this jump?"
Only Igor failed four times in a row and still could not get across.
There was both a height difference and some distance between the small roof and the second-floor beam across from it. For players with poor distance control, it was genuinely a difficult jump.
"Don't rush," Gabryell said. "Run all the way to the edge, then jump at the last second."
He was starting to suspect that once they ran UBRS, Igor was absolutely going to fall.
Igor made his fifth attempt. He ran, jumped, and missed again.
"Haha, Igor, come on," Hugo said, delighted. "You're really losing to a doorway jump?"
He had finally found something he was better at than Igor, and he was enjoying every second of it.
"Maybe you should just wait down there."
Igor refused to accept that. "One more try. I'm getting up there."
"Maybe Paladins just aren't built for jumping," DeathScum said.
Carlos added, "I'm carrying a shield, and I still made it."
Igor's expression tightened. If he failed again, everyone was going to laugh him to death.
On the next attempt, he ran, jumped, and finally made it. Barely.
"Damn it. Finally."
Igor let out a long breath. At least he had saved some face.
After watching that clumsy performance, Gabryell was now certain.
When they eventually ran UBRS, Igor was absolutely falling.