When Dan got back, only Austin was dicking around. Everyone else was doing something productive such as working together on tactics and performing mock battles.
Dan had another shield he gave Carlos. He wanted them to complete the Combat Trial on F. To start off slowly and see how well they worked together.
Ace told Dan, “We already fought and killed four hobgoblins before we had Classes. We’d only face three level 11 hobgoblins on F rating. We’re ready for SS and the…what are those things called again, Chet?”
“Bugbears.”
“Yeah,” said Ace. “We can handle the bugbears.”
After a long pause, Dan said, “Your call. Let me at least run it once for y’all to watch again.”
“No need,” replied Ace. “We all remember. The lead one is a Guardian with Block and a mace. The first hit he takes won’t do nothing due to the Block charge. The back left one is a Singer with Healing Song and a spear. The back right is the one to watch out for, the Warrior with Smash and a big club.
“Chet, Becky, and Luke will light the Warrior up as soon as the fight starts. Then they’ll focus on the Singer. Me, Carlos, and Nick will take down the Guardian. We’ve all been practicing. We’ve practiced with Austin and Leena too. We got it all worked out.”
“Just be real careful,” said Dan hesitantly. “Please.”
The six entered the Trial and formed up as Ace initiated it. As the three bugbears appeared, an arrow entered the Warrior’s face. Another arrow and two steel darts penetrated its chest a moment later, and down it went.
As Ace, Carlos, and Nick were stabbing the Guardian way more times than necessary, the Singer sprouted two arrows from its chest, then two more, then another in its face and one in its arm.
Even with six arrows in it, and Becky’s were doing good damage due to her mana-type and Orbment, the Singer almost speared Ace, requiring Carlos to use his invocation and catch the attack on his shield. It died right as Chet’s Orbment came off cooldown.
And that was it. My team didn’t even take an injury.
Keep in mind, most parties at level 0 or 1 doing this Trial for the first time on SS, at best, have just three knives and whatever weapons they can make themselves from branches. And they go in blind with no real idea what to expect. This usually goes a lot differently.
Even extremely competent and highly skilled full parties of six trying this first on SS have a hard time. On the first attempt, at least a couple participants die. Often, the party gets slaughtered.
[It can’t be all that difficult. I’m assuming the nine participants Dan just killed completed this on SS too. This Soul Gem reward is the only explanation as to how they attained Copper tier so quickly.]
There’s a big difference between the first and subsequent attempts, or starting off slowly and working up to SS. Again, on Hell difficulty, first attempts on SS at level 0 or 1 usually mean a full party wipe. Or often does.
If a party starts at F and collects weapons from hobgoblins and gets experience working together in combat, then yes, it’s not too bad. If they come back at level 10 with weapons from the exhibit, it’s not terribly difficult, even with the bugbears being level 20.
There’s a natural flow to things. If participants can live through the aberrations that spawn in the Boneyard, coming back and knocking the Combat Trial out on SS makes sense.
The absolute best reward in the Game is this Soul Gem. Less than 10% of participants select Hell difficulty. For the over 90% of participants starting on other difficulties, by the time they figure out the best and most necessary rewards to advance require Hell, they long ago got SS on all the tutorial Trials.
Then they realized they screwed themselves out of the best rewards. They’ll never get this Soul Gem. They probably screwed themselves out of the Soul-grade step increase from the Soul Trial too, at the very least. That means they can’t make it far. And that means they’re dead. They’ll never survive the later areas and waves.
[I see.]
And, of course, Soul-grade is a huge bottleneck, but Stat-grades are too for mortals. A lot of them also make the mistake of forgetting to spend Stat points on their core and get stuck that way.
I think Dan had everyone level up one time because he was worried about someone dying in the Combat Trial. Going from 0 to 1 isn’t a huge jump in power considering most of the Orbments they slotted, but the increase in Attributes isn’t nothing, and they’d have a point in one Stat.
Anyway, what I’m getting at is this wasn’t how first attempts on SS usually go.
[Understood. Continue.]
Such a resounding victory raised everyone’s spirits. They were all cheering, pumping their fists in the air, and jumping up and down like a bunch of stupid idiots. At that moment, I felt a keen desire to see them all tortured to death.
Once the celebration was over and those six increased their Soul-grades, Dan pulled Nick away from the others and took the cowboy boots he had recently taken off a corpse out of his belt.
“Goddamn,” said Nick. “Look at them Lucchese. Must’ve cost a fortune. You fixing to wear these?”
“Naw. They’re about your size and I know how much you like fancy stuff.”
Nick laughed and said, “Damn right I do. I was made for the finer things in life. Hot damn. Lucchese! I’m putting these suckers on now, boy.”
Nick was just going to leave his old boots where they were on the ground, so Dan said, “Come on, Nicky, you seen any footwear for sale in the Profile Reader? You got to hang on to these. Take them back to camp. Or give them to me. If you do, they’re mine and you ain’t getting them back.”
Nick laughed again and said, “My feet is bigger than yours. They don’t fit you.”
“They fit good enough not to waste. When you ain’t got no boots and are running around barefoot, don’t come crawling back to me begging for these. I reckon I might say no.”
Nick grabbed his old boots while laughing. He walked back to the Trial and yelled out, “Look, y’all! I got me some Lucchese like a rich feller. How I looking now with these on, y’all?”
As Nick foolishly pranced around, everyone hooted and hollered at him.
[These boots were valuable? How much of a fee did Dan’s belt charge to store them?]
Not much of one. Probably just a frag. Clothing from their world isn’t counted as valuable, because it’s all shit compared to actual items of value. And only stupid prudes wear clothing.
He had previously put all his hidden shoes and mundane items into the belt since it’s all so cheap to store.
Same with a couple extra water bottles. He had bought another crate of food and put half the meals in his belt too. Sorry, I should’ve mentioned all that before.
He still used his backpack for a lot of stuff such as his main water bottle, foundations, and Orbments he hadn’t buried yet. The cost would add up quickly if he put everything in his belt and he’d see his wealth dwindle away.
[How much do frags cost to store?]
The same 5% tax as everything else. If one frag is put in, it’s gone. If two are put in, one is taken. So, participants with the belt usually deposit only large sums at once, no less than a hundred trash frags.
[I see.]
Okay, once that footwear nonsense was over, Luke and Carlos both volunteered to leave the party and make room for Austin. Carlos was picked since ranged attacks were more important than an extra melee, so he passed his shield off to Ace.
Dan pulled Austin aside and told him to cast his Minor Heal invocation on Ace as soon as the battle started. Luke had already been mostly healed along with Leena. I think Dan knew their Ace had a few injuries that he was hiding from the others. We Aces are a prideful bunch.
The second run through went as well as the first. Nick saved his invocation for the Singer, but that was really the only difference.
Then Austin was replaced by Leena. She put down her spear and asked Carlos for his sword. She stood right beside Ace and Nick at the front. She got plenty of stabs in on the Guardian and Singer.
With the Soul Gem reward for that Trial, Leena had a 3-Star Soul at level 0. My other team members all now had a 1-Star Soul at level 1. All were way ahead of the curve.
As everyone headed back to the Class Trial, Dan went to collect a ton of his buried frags, foundations, and Orbments, and met them there.
I won’t waste too much time with this. Leena had three 3-Star Epic Classes offered to her – Acrobat, Ascetic, and Shade. Dan talked her into taking Shade after she relayed the specifics of the Class.
Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.
[What were the specifics?]
I’ll show you her status in a minute. Let me tell you what the others got first. Not a lot changed. All the big decisions were worked out the day prior.
I’ll show a couple of the other statuses too. Since you’re from a much higher layer than me, you’ve probably never seen a normal status. Dan’s was anything but normal. Leena’s wasn’t either.
Austin was the only one with a Common Class. Dan had him take Caster and bought a Rare Orbment to fill its power slot, Regeneration.
Just as a refresher, 1-Star Classes are kind of more restricted than basic Classes. For Common, there’s just Warrior, Guardian, Caster, Rogue, and Singer. Only a Legendary 1-Star Class would have a Slot Bonus.
The main benefit of an Uncommon, Rare, or Epic 1-Star Class is that they come with an Orbment Bonus whereas Common does not, and Common Classes can only slot Orbments rated up to Rare quality. Uncommon can slot Epic, and Rare and above can slot Legendary.
Ace and Luke selected the Uncommon version of the Singer Class, and both slotted the Common support Orbment, Healing Song.
Becky and Nick took Uncommon quality Warrior. Becky got the Uncommon physical Orbment, Mana Bow. Nick talked Dan into letting him have the Uncommon physical Orbment Charge instead of Pierce.
Carlos took the Uncommon quality Guardian and got the Rare defensive Orbment, Intercept.
Chet took the Rare Caster. Dan gave him a Legendary power Orbment, STRIKE.
[With access to Rare Orbments in the Profile Reader, and the drops Dan had, I wasn’t expecting him to outfit most of them with Uncommon Orbments.]
Me either, but it makes sense for rounding out parties and considering future choices. And keeping a party safe. Healing Song isn’t powerful, but it’s low mana usage and affects the whole party. With its linger effect, it isn’t hard to keep a little healing up all the time.
These were decent choices for starting out and getting them all used to their roles.
Leena got…one second, I’ll just show you her status.
Oh, I should say everyone leveled up to 10. Dan had them put one Stat point into each Stat and the rest into Reaction.
Besides Austin, who put 4 of his into increasing his core even though he leveled up in that strange way without the Class Obelisk. He hit the Core Trial to collect the SS reward too. Leena ran through the Mana Trial on F after getting her Class.
I’ll show you Austin to represent a more usual level 10 participant. Well, besides his Stat-grades. Then Chet to represent a slightly-better than mediocre participant. And I’ll end with Leena to show an abnormally strong participant.
[When will I see Dan’s gains?]
Soon. I promise. If I showed it now, I’d just have to show you a new one in a little bit anyway. Doing it this way, you’ll get the full impact all at once.
I’m nothing like a dumb Asmodite broad, no matter what Dan says. If I was, I’d be showing you his status every couple minutes. You haven’t realized yet that Ace Blacky knows what he’s doing?
Give me a sec to set this up.
Okay. Here’s Austin’s status.
Name: Austin Griffon
Difficulty: Hell (Increase XP by 100% and drop chance by 30%)
Tier: Foundation (1)
Level: 10
Soul: C Grade (1-Star)
Mana-type: Darkness
Core: Average
Stats (capacity for and amplification of intrinsic qualities)
Agility, C Grade (50 Max): 1
Mana, F Grade (10 Max): 1
Reaction, C Grade (50 Max): 11
Speed, C Grade (50 Max): 1
Strength, C Grade (50 Max): 1
Attributes (intrinsic qualities averaged)
Durability (physical and void resistance): 2
Health (disease and poison resistance): 9
Spirit (mental and primordial resistance): 2
Class:
Caster (Pw. Common 1-Star Class. Number of Slot Bonuses equal to 20% of Star Class)
Class Restriction:
Must slot Common, Uncommon, or Rare Power Orbment.
Orbment Bonus (0 of 0)
Regeneration [First Rank] (Power Orbment, Rare, unique-equipped, active): Casting this invocation at a living target within a range of 4.46 meters grants it a minor-high healing effect every second for a duration of 6.1s. Undead targets are inflicted with a minor damage effect per second. Higher ranks increase duration of effect by 1.1s, reduce cooldown by 1s, and extend range by 1.13 meters. Medium mana cost, 0.56s cast, 12s cooldown.
Slot Bonus (0 of 0)
Traits (1)
(1) Orbment Master: Orbment Rank requirements are reduced a tier for you.
Here’s Chet’s. He also managed to increase his Soul a step on his own, and he did so without outside help. Very impressive.
Name: Hoài “Chet” Hoa
Difficulty: Hell (Increase XP by 100% and drop chance by 30%)
Tier: Foundation (1)
Level: 10
Soul: C+ Grade (1-Star)
Mana-type: Steel
Core: Very Good
Stats (capacity for and amplification of intrinsic qualities)
Agility, C Grade (50 Max): 1
Mana, F Grade (10 Max): 1
Reaction, C Grade (50 Max): 15
Speed, C Grade (50 Max): 1
Strength, C Grade (50 Max): 1
Attributes (intrinsic qualities averaged)
Durability (physical and void resistance): 2
Health (disease and poison resistance): 8
Spirit (mental and primordial resistance): 2
Class:
Caster (Pw. Rare 1-Star Class. Number of Slot Bonuses equal to 60% of Star Class)
Class Restriction:
Must slot Common, Uncommon, Rare, Epic, or Legendary Power Orbment.
Orbment Bonus (1 of 1)
Slotted Orbment gains the equivalent of 2 ranks.
STRIKE [First Rank. Effective Third Rank] (Power Orbment, Legendary, unique-equipped, active): Casting this invocation creates 3 (5) fast moving missiles made of your mana-type that home in on a target within a range of 9.07 (13.49) meters. Missiles do mana-type damage (average of medium damage each). Higher ranks increase the number of missiles by 1, reduce cooldown by 1 second, extend range by 2.21 meters, decrease cast time by 0.12s, and increase mana cost by a minor amount. Medium mana cost, 2.11s (1.87s) cast, 18s (16s) cooldown.
Slot Bonus (0 of 0)
Traits (1)
(1) Lucky: Things usually work in your favor.
Here’s Leena’s. She had a shitload of natural increases. She also got 4 Stat points per level for 10 levels. Everyone else got one for level 1, and two for each level going to 10. Nineteen total. And keep in mind all Orbments that cause primordial damage such as holy are banned from the game, so void’s the most effective damage type against demons and devils.
Name: Leena Chatterjee
Difficulty: Hell (Increase XP by 100% and drop chance by 30%)
Tier: Foundation (1)
Level: 10
Soul: A+ Grade (3-Star)
Mana-type: Moon
Core: Pristine
Stats (capacity for and amplification of intrinsic qualities)
Agility, B Grade (50 Max): 9
Mana, F+ Grade (10 Max): 1
Reaction, C+ Grade (50 Max): 20
Speed, C+ Grade (50 Max): 9
Strength, C Grade (50 Max): 1
Attributes (intrinsic qualities averaged)
Durability (physical and void resistance): 2
Health (disease and poison resistance): 13
Spirit (mental and primordial resistance): 3
Class:
Shade (U/U/S. Epic 3-Star Class. Number of Slot Bonuses equal to 80% of Star Class)
Class Restrictions:
Must have Utility Orbment Stealth slotted.
Second Utility Orbment must be an attack Orbment or modify or enhance an attack.
Utility Orbment slot will not accept Spot Weakness or Sneak Attack.
If any required Orbment is removed, all Orbments deactivate until it is slotted again.
Support Orbment slot will not accept any Orbment with a vocal component.
Orbment Bonus (1 of 3)
With three Orbments slotted, Stealth Orbment gains the equivalent of 3 ranks.
Stealth [First Rank] (Utility Orbment, Uncommon, unique-equipped, active): Casting this invocation hides you from the senses of most creatures up to a certain tier when not observed. Tap here to see scaling formula of detection or percent chance while observed or while in combat. Attacking causes the effect to be immediately lost. Touching anything with the intent to steal it gives a scaling percent chance to be detected based on a formula you can see by tapping here. Higher ranks improve effect, increase chance for effect to take while observed or in combat, decrease cast time by .19s, and cooldown by 9s. Medium mana cost, 2.89s cast time, 2m:27s cooldown.
PLUS VOID DAMAGE [First Rank] (Utility Orbment, Legendary, stackable (3), passive): All your damaging attacks also cause a set amount of extra and scaling void damage. Tap here to see scaling formula. Higher ranks increase extra void damage.
MANA BATTERY [First Rank] (Support Orbment, Legendary, stackable (3), passive): Your meditative and breathing techniques gather and refine 50% more qi per rank (currently 50%).
Slot Bonus (2 of 2)
(1) Shade Stealth: While under the effects of the Stealth Orbment, as long as you don’t attempt to take any objects not belonging to you, the chances of a creature detecting you are lowered significantly.
(2) Shade Sense: While under the effects of the Stealth Orbment, weak spots of creatures within a circumference of 13.39 meters are highlighted as if you had the First Rank Spot Weakness Orbment slotted, and your attacks are treated as if you had the Second Rank Sneak Attack Orbment slotted.
Traits (2)
(1) Ageless: The anti-aging aspects of the Health Attribute are increased for you.
(2) Oathbound: You sincerely swore the following oath – that you would do anything to get stronger and survive the Game. Someone or something heard this oath and will hold you to it.
If you keep to your part of the bargain and do anything to get stronger and survive the Game, all aspects of self-cultivation will seem natural and progress more easily for you.
If you reject or refuse to perform a non-suicidal act that would make you stronger or help you to survive the Game, or if you purposefully and knowingly place your life in unnecessary or inordinate danger to help or save another participant, all aspects of self-cultivation will become more difficult and progress slower for you.
[Look at that Trait. Oathbound. I’ve never seen or heard of its like.]
You’ve never heard of bargain Traits? I’ve seen a few. They’re not common, but not super rare either. She got hers on the second day.
Dan was hoping she’d get more natural Soul-grade increases too. He didn’t want her to go into the Sanctuary of Revelations until her gains slowed way down. He wanted her to focus on clearing her channels, meditation, breathing, and cycling techniques, and not what weapon she’d use just yet.
Once her channels were cleared, he wanted her to focus exclusively on manipulating mana and techniques.
I think Chet was jealous that the woman he loved surpassed him so drastically. He didn’t let it get him down, but instead let it serve as a source of motivation.
For the rest of the day, Dan sparred with everyone and helped them practice clearing channels while they continued to grind the Combat Trial.
Oh, he didn’t rebury all his treasure. He kept a ton of frags, all the beast cores, and one Epic Orbment Foundation in his backpack. He also cashed in his banked XP and put that core in his belt.
I assumed he was preparing for his own ascension.