CHAPTER V: CHOICE
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TRIAL TIME 00:29
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TRIAL AREA
CLYDE
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< TOP CONCEPTS YOU ARE ATTUNED TO >
{ADVENTURE 100%, CONQUEST 1000%, FREEDOM 94%, FRIENDSHIP 94%, GREATNESS 100%, LEADERSHIP 500%, LOVE 200%, MILITARY 750%, SPACE 999%, STORY 250%, WINNING 500%.}
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Clyde looked at his choices and smiled. The voices hadn’t said anything in the last few minutes, but he knew what choice he wanted to go with. The fact that he had so many over the 94% was pretty cool, but the fact that he had seven over 100% was exciting. He wasn’t even looking at the ones under 100%, the way the voice had said that over 100% was myth-like, made the Legacy really look at them.
He kicked Love and Story out right away. They were not how he wanted to play the Game, and since play style dictated future growth he was going to plan better.
Winning, Leadership, and Military while very important to him, he was confident that he didn’t need outside help for those concepts, though the 750% affinity was nuts, but it had nothing on his two front runners.
Space and Conquest were different.
Space’s affinity number alone was worth taking, the only reason why he didn’t was because of how close it was to Conquest.
“I don’t understand the concept of Space, but Conquest is definitely a concept I understand, and I believe it would be the most useful for what I want to accomplish in the Game with my team.” He spoke out loud. “But my title bonus might give me a random benefit for combining the same concept and element.”
One thing that was clear from his interaction with the powerful beings in-game was that he was unique, and he had to continue to take advantage of that quality. With that thinking, Space was the clear winner, even though Conquest resonated with him the most he just knew that Conquest was taken by more people, and Space couldn’t be as available as Conquest. 999% versus 1000% was negligible, so Clyde the Colonel went with his gut. “I would like to choose Space as my concept.”
Two of the TRUTHs grumble as if the Legacy was wasting their time and then disappear. The Evil and the Order eyes stayed behind. The other two eyes not resonating with his concept choice.
Space and Good don’t mix, he guess the vastness of space allowed Evil to thrive. Chaos and Space clearly had an issue. So he was guessing that Space is an Order concept, but can also be Evil as well. He didn’t have long to wonder if his decision was right as he was asked another question.
“What is your Focus?” The two remaining eyes spoke into his mind.
“What is a Focus?”
“Now that you have chosen an Element and a Concept, you must choose a focus to guide your growth as a Cultivator’s Karmic character.” The female voice answered.
“Okay, what are the focuses?” Colonel asked.
“They are the same concepts you just had, they determine your -Inspiration-.” The voice answered concerned.
The Legacy smirked at his luck, but he had to ask. “Do the affinities still count here as well?”
“Yes but-”
“Conquest will be my focus then.” He said cutting the voice off.
“Be advised, Conquest is an active focus you must keep expanding, and securing your lands in order to advance your -Inspiration-, you will also be compelled to do so by the Game itself.” The voice warned him. This is a focus of warlords and soldiers.
Clyde paused and then thought about what he had once been told by Soto. “We will not fail, and if we do we will learn to not fail again.” He didn’t shy away from something because it was difficult for others, he was about to make Conquest his bitch.
“Hmmmm. I was sure he was going to take Winning or War. He is all yours ORDER!” The Evil Eye said almost disappointed then it disappeared with a flash of blackness and parting words. “He will never be able to keep up, but it will be fun to watch him fail. CHAOS and I will be waiting for a chance at your soul.” The Legacy knew it was about him, but it wasn’t speaking to him, the words made him a little angry, no one ever told him something couldn’t be done. He looked forward to proving what he was guessing was the physical manifestation of Evil wrong.
Now that he thought about that... maybe he wasn’t.
With the Evil TRUTH leaving, that left the Order TRUTH with its white yin-yang Eye and pitch black outline and dots looking into Clyde’s soul.
“Order has rules, are you prepared to make the rules and adjust accordingly if need be for the betterment of Order even if it requires Chaos?” The TRUTH asked the Prime Legacy in his mind.
“Yes.” He said with confidence.
“So be it.” The TRUTH paused for finality. “Class or Profession, your Skill is not eligible for this test.
“What is this for?”
“The next part of your trial is combat. You may only walk with one path since your Skill is at the limit that the Trial can level, you must choose another path.”
“Shouldn’t I know what kind of combat I am going into before I choose a path?” The legacy asked.
“It is incredibly rare in the real world that you would be given prior knowledge of your enemy, or even Dungeon dives in newly found ones,” ORDER answered much to the Colonel’s surprise.
“Fair...I just leveled up my class do you mind if I look at it before I choose?”
“It is your time. Though time is relative.”
“I think Einstein would have been very happy to hear that,” Clyde said with a chuckle.
“He knows,” ORDER replied nonchalantly.
“Come again? You know what, I‘m just going to look at my updates.”
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{Congratulations you have specialize + 1}
Specialization Tier: 1
Race Tier: 2
Specialization Base Class: Prime Legacy
Abilities and Additions at this Tier: Mana Sight, +40 additional DR/Whisper Speak/Upgrade to Identify Ability, 1 Tier 2 spell, choices of 2 Tier 1 spells.}
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‘Well, that’s cool.’ Clyde thought, then he looked at the Spec again.
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{SPEC: WARLORD+
(Based on both war titles, leadership style, and Legendary
Title.)
(”I am the judgment of the gods, if you weren’t sinners the gods would have never sent me.”)
(World first bonus)
COST: PAID
Prime Legacies are unique in that they can gain access to higher-tier Specs without penalty. The Warlord is a Tier 7 True class Spec being awarded because of the world first bonus and legendary titles. Warlords are large-scale battle specialists. The + adds a scaling EXP boost to the player and all Allies.
Warlord+ adds: +3 to all but magic, and +2 free attributes per level.}
< NOTE >
{There can be only one Warlord per continent if you conquer another continent you may assign the Warlord Job and be upgraded to Over Warlord.}
{North American continent Warlord. Currently, 5 other continents have open Warlord slots.}
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‘Wow, that is kind of dope. I am part of some exclusive groups, only thirteen of my Caste, and now on only six slots for my class. Who doesn’t like to feel special? Wait isn’t there seven?’ Clyde mused before checking out the Tier 2 spells.
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< Choose Tier 2 Spell>
Choose 1 spell
1. Defense Halo(Active/Toggle): When any enemy enters a certain range of the Warlord+, the Warlord gains 10 DR. In addition, any enemies in Halo do -10%+C (where C is Constitution) damage to Warlord and allies.
Halo range: 50 meters radius from Warlord. Cast time: 5 seconds. Cost: 1 mana per second. Duration: until out of Mana or toggled off. Cool down: none. Requirements: chant, be part of a team or party with at least one other member within range.
2. Death Halo (Active/Toggle): When any enemy in a certain range of the Warlord+ is killed by the warlord or allies, the player regains +10%HP, +10%MP, and adds 1+CL to DR for him and closest allies, in addition, any enemies in the Halo takes an additional 10%+I (where I is intelligence) damage.
Halo range: 100 meters radius from Warlord. Cast time: 5 seconds. Cost: 10 mana per second. Duration: until out of mama or toggled off. Cool down: 120 seconds. Requirements: chant, be part of a team or party with at least one other member within range.
3. Bombardment (Active): The Warlord+ fires into the air, and after 5 seconds the rounds come down with explosive results. Each round of the bombardment does 50%+CL weapon damage. Round count: 200. Range: 260 meters to 1000 meters. Cast time: 10 seconds. Cost: 250 mana. Duration: 15 seconds. Cool down: 1 hour. Area of Effect: 500 meters. Requirements: chant, range weapon be part of a team or party with at least one other member within range.
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Clyde wanted all of them, they all required that he was in a team or party so he didn’t know how it would help him in the trial, but he did know he and Soto were going to need all of them eventually. The question was which one did he need first? The two Halos were very tempting and if it wasn’t for their last battle in the Dungeon he would have taken one of them immediately.
The last battle had made him into a medium-range fighter but that was because the civilians made it difficult to be effective. But if he could have bombarded all of the Greater ghouls, that fight would have gone a lot easier. The only thing that made him not take bombardment was because all of the spells would change and he just knew somehow that the Halos were special.
It felt like Bombardment was just thrown in there if you wanted to be a range warlord or something like that. He liked being up close and personal with his enemies. With that thought it was in between Defense and Death Halo. That would have been an easy choice if he didn’t have a trial coming up. He had a ton of defense already, and while he had ways of replenishing his pool getting a flat percentage is something he couldn’t turn down. “Death Halo.”
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< BRANCHING PATH PREVIOUSLY CHOSEN >
{Class SPELL has been upgraded}
{G-SPELL NAME: Greater Death Halo (Active/Toggle)
SPELL LEVEL: Student 0
SPELL EFFECT: When any enemy within a certain range of the Warlord is killed by the warlord or allies, the Warlord regains +1%HP, +1%MP, and adds 1+CL(Where CL is Class level) to DR for him and closest allies, in addition, any enemies in the Halo take an additional 10%+I (where I is intelligence) damage.
Halo range: 10-meter radius per level from Warlord. Cast time: 5 seconds. Cost: 10 mana per second. Duration: until out of mama or toggled off. Cool down: 120 seconds. Requirements: chant, be part of a team or party with at least one other member within range.
STUDENT EFFECT: Spell can be used without allies at 25% effectiveness. (50% on targets higher Tier than you.)}
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‘Hmm not especially great, but much better than not being able to use it without allies. Plus it is a Greater rank spell, which must mean that it is powerful.’ He looked at his other upgraded Spell from specializing.
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< SPELL TIER UP >
{Skill Quest: Specialize. (Complete)}
< Increased Accuracy is now Novice 1 >
+7 DEX, +3 LUCK
{CLASS G-SPELL NAME: Lesser Increased Accuracy (Passive)
SKILL LEVEL: Novice 1
SPELL EFFECT: Whenever a player uses any ranged weapon they get a 2% bonus to dexterity per level of skill.
STUDENT EFFECT: Any throwable is considered a ranged weapon.
NOVICE EFFECT: Minute Penetration increase per level of Spell.}
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That was much better, penetration in any game was welcomed. As creatures got stronger they would inevitably become harder to kill, so bypassing some of that defense, or going through it would make killing them easier. He looked through the lists of free tier 1 Spells.
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< FIGHTER TIER 1 CLASS SPELLS >
{Increased Damage(Active)
When using any weapon or hands, the Legacy can increase the damage of their attack by 10%. Cast time: Instant. Cost: 10 Mana. Duration: 1 attack. Cool down: 10 seconds. Requirements: chant, and/or weapon.}
{DR on Kill(Toggled)
When on, every melee kill recovers DR. Cost: 10 mana per second, DR recovered per kill: 1, cooldown: 10 seconds}
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The choice was a little more difficult this time more damage or more defense. He still couldn’t wear armor and had just taken a more survival-based spell than an offensive one in Death Halo. He put a pin in DR on Kill it was expensive, but complemented the Halo well, almost double dipping.
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< RANGER TIER 1 CLASS SPELLS >
{Zoom (Active)
The Player can visually zoom up to 3 times
Cost: 10 mana. Duration: 10 seconds. Cool down: N/A.
Requirements: chant.
Sneak (Passive)
Gain an innate awareness of how to move undetected.}
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This choice was a little easier since Clyde didn’t need to be sneaky, so Zoom was the clear winner in this one, the fact that he could level it up meant that the limit could be ridiculous.
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< MAGE TIER 1 CLASS SPELLS >
{Fire bolt (Active)
A small bolt of concentrated fire.
Cast Time: Instant Cost: 15 mana. Damage: 15 + I/2 where I is intelligence. Range: 15 meters. Cool down: 5 seconds Requirements: chant and hand signs
Regeneration (Active)
Accelerate the regeneration of other creatures. Cast time: instant/Channel. Cost: 1 mana per 2 seconds. Heal: increase healing by 4 times. Range: Touch. Cool down: none Requirements: chant}
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Another easy choice, he wasn’t a healer. And fire bolt while weak could be leveled up to something incredibly dangerous. But then he thought about it. ‘What will regeneration level up to? Ugh, let’s check out the rest first, and come back to the Mage options. Zoom and DR on kill were still leading the pack, but Fire Bolt and Regeneration were keeping pace in that race.
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< COMBINED TIER 1 CLASS SPELLS >
{Comet strike (Active)
The Legacy can spend mana to propel a rock of ice. The higher the Legacy the more damage the projectile does.
This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.
Damage: Variable + chance of slow. Cost: 75 mana. Cast time: 75 seconds. Cool down: 120 seconds Requirements: Any throwable, and chant.
Feather fall (Passive)
When the player is jumping from any height they can control their fall up to as slow as a feather.}
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He was happy with both but didn’t need Comet Strike with Meteorite Strike combined with his Ice shard doing the same thing essentially. Feather fall on the other hand was a must, especially if he was going to use Meteorite Strike. It totally had nothing to do with the fact that the Colonel had knocked himself out the last time he used his combination spell. Nope, not at all. Maybe a little.
He now knew Feather Fall was the front runner and before he even relooked through the others he picked it and was very happy with the results
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< BRANCHING PATH PREVIOUSLY CHOSEN >
{Class SPELL has been upgraded}
{CLASS G-SPELL NAME: Greater Feather fall (Passive/Active)
SPELL LEVEL: Student 0
SPELL EFFECT: When the player is jumping from any height they can control their fall up to as slow as a feather for a short period of time. The player’s control of the direction of travel and period of time grows Minorly as the Spell levels up.
STUDENT EFFECT: By spending mana the player can kick off the air 1 time per jump per Spell Level.
Cost 100MP}
< CHOOSE 2nd Tier 1 Spell. >
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‘Oh yeah, that is what I am talking about.’ He thought seeing the cool effects the upgraded Class Spell had to offer. With the easy part out of the way he now had to choose between five very different Spells. Zoom still made sense since it would also complement Feather Fall really well. Slowly scanning the battlefield from up high, and making a split-second decision with much more information because of the spell to see further, it was perfect for his warlord specialization, but not for his Halo Spell. Now if he had taken Bombardment it would be unreal, but he didn’t so he decided against it, from front runner to trash can in seconds. ‘Like the saying goes someone else’s trash is another’s treasure.’ Zoom was beyond useful, and for a ranger, if you passed it up you would regret it.
“But Clyde was not a ranger.” The Narrator stated.
“DR on kill could be instrumental in keeping him and his teammates alive. Clyde had played enough games that he knew getting tougher from killing your enemies was a must in horde-style games. He couldn’t imagine his first Dungeon being the only place that had hordes.
“Fire Bolt would give him another ranged attack and he wouldn’t have even considered it if his trial didn’t take away his most important Path of power. His Class complemented his Skills well, but if he didn’t have his Class he would have been fine in the Dungeon, but without his skills, he would have been ghoul poop.”
‘Do ghouls poop?’ He shook off the question.
Either way he was sure that not having his Skills would be a major hindrance to him on the trial. The only thing that gave him pause was the fact that he was pretty sure he could defeat almost anything with his fighting prowess. Also, he was more of a defense-wins-championships type of guy than an Offense is the best Defense guy.
Regeneration was intriguing, to say the least. It was by far the most useful in the world at large. Sugar revived dozens of NPCs with her spell, he remembered it being much cheaper than his and gave more regen than his. But every bit counted.
‘Ugh,’
“It was too much,” The Narrator explained his frustration. “He was actually starting to get buyer’s remorse on the Feather fall choice, but he shook that off almost right away before it took root. He was not going to doubt himself in this game, not now, not ever.” Clyde winced. “He had almost expected a Vow or Oath prompt when he thought that.”
When none came, Clyde decided to really think about his build.
His profession was OP but required a party, he didn’t have a party so, he couldn’t take it. So his class was the best choice. His mind was set on making the right decision he didn’t mind taking his time when he had time to do so. While the trial was timed it didn’t seem to hold too much weight because of the lack of warnings that were given in timed quests. He looked at his Trial time to see how much time had elapsed while he had been here.
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TRIAL TIME 03:19
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“Is that 3 minutes, hours, or days?” He asked out loud confused.
“Hours, time moves differently in a Black hole trial.” The first female voice stated.
“Thank you.” He absently said.
“My pleasure.”
‘Alright, back to the spell that will help me on the trial and in the future,’ then he wanted to see what he had already so he could take them into consideration.
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Class-Path:
Increased Accuracy(N-0),Ice Shard(N-0),Meteorite strike(N-0),Death Halo(S-0),Feather Fall(S-0)
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The first thing he noticed was Bulwark was gone. He really, really wanted to look at his Expert Skill, but he also knew himself enough that it would be too much of a distraction at the moment.
The Increased Accuracy spell made him more accurate and added penetration to his attacks. Because throwables could be used with the spell he would never not have the extra Dex as well, currently he had a 22% increase in Dex from the skill that was over 40 Dex from the bonus alone. Considering that Dex governed the overall accuracy of the player that was an astronomical amount.
Feather Fall was more of an escapability spell in a solo mode of playing, jumping off of the air was going to be hard to predict, and allow for more daring escape attempts. It also complemented the other spells nicely. He quickly reviewed the other spells.
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{CLASS G-SPELL NAME: Ice Shard (Active)
SPELL LEVEL: Novice 0
SPELL EFFECT: Create a shard of ice.
Cast Time: 2 seconds. Cost: 1 mana. Damage: 20 for every level of the spell + I/2 and 2% chance of slow per level of the spell. Range: 20 meters per level of the spell. Cool down: None. Requirements: Chant and hand gestures.
STUDENT EFFECT: Use extra mana to enlarge the shard to do AOE damage.
NOVICE EFFECT: Shard has more perpetrating power per level of spell}
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The legacy liked this spell a lot the range had increased to over 200 meters and the minimum damage was up to over 200 with no cooldown, and it only cost 1 Mana, he could spam the heck out of it, and not even miss the Mana. It also complemented his combination spell.
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{CLASS G-SPELL NAME: Grand Meteorite strike (Active)
SPELL LEVEL: Novice 0
SKILL EFFECT: The Legacy can spend Mana to propel any solid turning it into a flaming projectile.
Damage: Base damage 100 per level of the skill/Variable + burn damage. Cost: 50 mana. Cast time: 10 seconds. Cool down: 40 seconds. Requirements: Any throwable, and chant.
STUDENT EFFECT: The further away the target is from the Legacy the more damage the meteorite does.
NOVICE EFFECT: Choose between a single target for more penetration or an Area of effect damage for more burn.}
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The fact that the spell doesn’t have a range was very interesting, the fact that the ‘higher’ the legacy goes, the more damage he could do was insane, what happens if he threw it from space? What kind of damage would that do? There didn’t seem to be an upper limit to the range or damage of the spells. But the fact that its minimum damage was over 1000 made this spell the trump card of his class spells. He looked at his Tier 2 spell.
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{CLASS G-SPELL NAME: Greater Death Halo (Active/Toggle)
SPELL LEVEL: Student 0
SPELL EFFECT: When any enemy within a certain range of the Warlord is killed by the Warlord or allies, the Warlord regains +1%HP, +1%MP, and adds 1+CL(Where CL is Class level) to DR for him and closest allies, in addition, any enemies in the Halo take an additional 10%+I (where I is intelligence) damage.
Halo range: 10-meter radius per level from Warlord. Cast time: 5 seconds. Cost: 10 mana per second. Duration: until out of mama or toggled off. Cool down: 120 seconds. Requirements: chant, be part of a team or party with at least one other member within range.
STUDENT EFFECT: The spell can be used without allies at 25% effectiveness. (50% on targets higher Tier than you.)}
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The spell could stay on indefinitely as long as someone or something died in his Halo every second. The horde-style fight he had just lived through would have been perfect for this spell. He was sure that the world would throw more hordes at them so the spell would get a lot of chances to level up. That made him also think about leveling speed again, he could be practical, and see which ones would level up the fastest. Why not, a person should always use all of the resources at their fingertips.
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< Spell Affinity >
DR on kill(250%), Fire bolt(150%), Regeneration(400%)
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Well, that made the choice easy. The fact that Fire Bolt was the lowest was not a surprise, but he had expected DR on kill and Regeneration to be closer. It had to be his class being a Warlord he may not be on the front lines all the time maybe he would have to heal people. He was always first aid certified and believed every soldier should be as well, having more people with medical know-how was much better than hoping a medic came along at the right time.
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< BRANCHING PATH PREVIOUSLY CHOSEN >
{Class SPELL has been upgraded based on True Class}
{CLASS G-SPELL NAME: Minor Regeneration Halo (Active/Toggle)
SPELL LEVEL: Student 0
SPELL EFFECT: Regeneration (Toggle): Accelerate the regeneration of other creatures.
Halo range: 2 meters radius per spell level from Warlord. Cast time: Instant. Cost: 1 mana per 5 seconds. Regen increase: 1.5 times per spell level. Duration: until out of Mana or toggled off. Cool down: None. Requirements: chant, be part of a team or party with at least one other member within range.
STUDENT EFFECT: The spell can be used without allies at 25% effectiveness. (50% on targets higher Tier than you.)}
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“Whoa, that was unexpected but nice to know that my spells can evolve like that...Ahh...” Clyde looked up and had to stifle a scream as he noticed the TRUTH had come inside of his darkness bubble.
The size of the TRUTH of Order had reduced its size when it came in. But still, it towered over him as one body-sized eye looked at him, peering into his soul. “You are ready!” The TRUTH said with finality.
Then there was blackness.
***
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TRIAL TIME 03:19
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THE VILE PLAINS
CLYDE
A notification filled Clyde’s vision.
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< YOU HAVE ENTERED A PLATINUM MANA ZONE >
< WELCOME TO THE TRIAL DUNGEON SUBJUGATION >
Scenario: “You have been summoned to the waring island nation of Serendipity to solve a dispute between warring City states. You are new to this world and have been summoned to a temple so you may learn the world from a monk. Both city-states have been ramping up for war and once they find out who you are, they will seek you as an ally and if they can’t ally with you, they will kill you.
This Trial is based on your CHOICE of Concept, and Focus. Space is a huge concept so your Focus was used to come up with an appropriate Scenario for your Class-PATH which has led to an upgraded difficulty Cultivator trial.
Join a side and defeat the other, or don’t and control more land than either nation to win.
Either way, LIVE WELL!”
{Dungeon Mode is WAR}
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“Oh, this is going to be good.” The Colonel said with a big smile on his face as the light came back to his world blinding him. ”Ahhh!” He screamed involuntarily.
***
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{06:34 LOCAL TIME 1TH JULY 1ME}
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LONG BEACH
CLYDE & SPACE WRATH
Space Wrath sat in his lotus pose, he then sneezed. “What the fuck?” He hadn’t sneezed in centuries.
Then he blinked, and Colonel Clyde Jacob, no his pupil, he had to get used to that again, was back in a massive flash of light. He looked the legacy over, the kid looked just fine, shit, beyond fine, well outside of his odd Presence, a Master Tier Skill and the small bird sitting on his shoulder pecking him playfully as he pats her absently. ’A Tamed beast? No, a companion beast, How?’ The LAW thought surprise.
Most people come back from their ascension trials hagged and drained, it was why most needed a Sponsor in the first place. Cultivators were at their most vulnerable after their Ascension Trial, but his Pupil looked like he had just woken up from a very satisfying night of sleep. His Presence felt almost like an Aura, but it was clearly not one because that was impossible. The bird on his shoulder was probably the most confusing thing about his pupil returning so quickly. He couldn’t identify the bird which frankly should be impossible with their tier disparity. But when you have lived this long, and someone had surprised you this much, it was just par for the course now, he shrugged. ‘I knew this kid would be the one.’
Clyde stood there with a grim look on his face once he saw his Sponsor. The LAW knew that look, it was the look of defeat. ‘Did he fail that badly? That can’t be right either, he would be more damaged. He could have had a professional combat trial those were harder for non-fighters, but this man was definitely a fighter, even before the Breaking. No that’s not right either, he was only gone for an instant, which meant 100% completion, but that should be impossible with any trial, let alone the first space Ascension trial. What the hell was his Concept and Focus?’
The legacy took on the unfocused look of going over one’s HUD, and the LAW couldn’t just sit in the quiet, he was still human, and he was hitting his professionalism limit. “Legacy, what happened?” The words came out more like a growl than words.
Clyde shared his latest prompt.
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< ASCENSION QUEST >
{QUEST NAME: Cultivation III; PEAK SKY REALM I
QUEST TYPE: Cultivator(Chain)
Quest Tier: High Diamond
DESCRIPTION: You have made it to the Peak of the Disciple or Body Realm, you are unaffected by the liquids and the solids of the natural world. Now it is time to separate yourself from the mortal coil even more and take on the gases, now it is time to reach for the sky...
Requirements: Make it to the Sky Realm.
Objective 1: Fill at least 13 Copper COREs 13/13(Complete)
Objective 2: 100% Completion on Iron Ascension Trial(Complete)Prize: free Rank Upgrade
Objective 3: Complete all Tier 5 Quest (2/3 Incomplete)
Objective 4: Get the second path to Tier 5 in the Iron Ascension Trial(Complete)
Objective 5: Have over 94% compatibility with the Iron CORE Technique slot. (Perfect compatibility)(Complete)
Objective 6: Get third path to Tier 5 (Incomplete)
Time remaining: 7 years
Rewards: PEAK SKY REALM II Quest, EXPERIENCE, Upgraded lifeboat CORE, Essence, 100 skill points, 1300 placed Attributes, 1300 free Attributes, 100 TP.
Failure penalty: -300 Attributes from 3 random stats but magic}
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The LAW’s eyes bulged at the prompt. “Y-you skipped over the all of the Iron and Copper Ranks? How is that even possible? P-perfect compatibility? How did you get your Path to tier 5 in a trial? Wait you completed the trial with the 100% bonus? And the bonus was a rank upgrade? Do you even know how long it takes to fill your CORE’s? Of course you don’t, it is one of the major limiting factors for most young cultivators. You bypassed it because of a... trial reward? What was the difficulty of your Trial? This is all unheard of.” The LAW started to laugh. “I don’t care what debt I owe you, it was all worth it because you did the impossible Colonel Jacob.”
“I keep hearing that.” The Legacy finally said. “The third Path will be finished by the time I am done with my Class Quest because my Race, Caste, and Class are the same. All of their individual quest was thrown into my Class quest.” He said tiredly, but ready for the task.
The LAW noticed he could speak and move. “Oh shit, I guess my influence over the environment was cut off by the Tribulation lightning. We should leave, but I will hear your story Legacy I can’t imagine it will be very boring.” The LAW said with a bright grin as he guided his pupil to the exit gate by the old church.
“It was super long, to be honest I just wanted to see my family and friends, and now I know that Sugar was wrong. This is a Game. It is just the last game any of us will ever play. Because if we die in this game, it is the end of our life as we know it. I always used to say that humanity as a whole needed a common enemy to thrive. Now that we have it, I intend to lead everyone against it. Humanity needs leaders, I intend to find them and enlist them. Humanity needs safety, I intend to build havens to provide them the ability to defend themselves. Humanity needs to leave a legacy, I intend to be that legacy.” Clyde said with conviction. They got to the exit, and before he left the Dungeon he shared a prompt with the LAW.
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< QUEST >
{QUEST NAME: Conqueror’s Mission II
QUEST TYPE: HYBRID (Class/CASTE/RACE)
Quest Tier: Legendary
DESCRIPTION: Your legacy has already been heralded in the multiverse. But outside of your Sponsor, no one knows of you on Gaia. For a king is nothing to god, and a god is nothing to non-believers, however, kings, gods, and non-believers all fear a Warlord’s legacy.
Requirements: Control a City and defend its lands for a whole Period on Gaia.
Objective 1: Capture or build a City.(0/1)
Objective 2: Assign at least 3 Nobles Jobs. (0/3)
Objective 3: Have at least 50% of the population survive the Period. (100%)
Hidden Objectives:
Objective 1: Expand lands for every Hamlet and above that you add to your burgeoning nation-state will increase rewards.
Objective 2: Get the average Tier of your citizens to Tier 4 by the end of the Platinum period.
Objective 3: Defeat another City.
Objective 4: Only use base paths below tier 5 for a 10 times increase in rewards.
Objective 5: Create rules for your nation that will last the test of time.
Time remaining: 7 months
Temporary Debuff: Power Limiter
(All Stats, and powers are only 10% of their value.)
Rewards: Path Upgrade, EXPERIENCE, Essence, Art tome, 250 skill points ~+2500 to all except magic, +3 to Magic.
Failure penalty: Path forward cut off. -1000 from all stats expect magic -1.5 From Magic.}
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The LAW froze as he read the prompt. “I have never seen a Quest so straightforward for the main objective and so complicated for the hidden ones.” He said to himself in the dark. “The objectives were like kill a rat, kill a cat, then build the Pyramids by hand in the summer bareback by yourself, then kill a bat.” He smirked at his pupil, he had exceeded his expectations, and the LAW had a very high expectation for him. Then he froze again.
He handed him a jade bar with a magical script on it. “This is a high-tier communication device. You can reach me anywhere in our universe with it, just infuse it with Essence to activate it. You have to go because of the time difference, but before you do, tell me the story of that bird, and how you got a quest that gave a Temporary Debuff from an Ascension Trial?.”
***
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{07:25 LOCAL TIME 1TH JULY 1ME}
UNCOMMON PERIOD
MORTAL REALM
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LONG BEACH
PRIME
The Clyde stepped out to the early morning sunlight, the breeze was crisp, and the influence that gravity had on him was tenuous. He could thank his new Cultivator title and accompany perks for that, the world held very few secrets from him before because of the very nature of his former work, but now it didn’t even have a hold over him physically. Even though the world was still 3D, the way a Cultivator saw it, was not. Considering that at his rank he could walk on any surface like it was the ground and his vision had adjusted accordingly.
That would have been the first thing the legacy noticed when he stepped out of the Dungeon darkness to the bright early morning sky, and while all of the previous information filtered into his mind, through his Presence, three things got his attention before he could figure out his new Cultivator senses.
The first was a prompt that should have been expected but was not welcomed. Like a fight at a waffle house at 3 a.m.
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< GLOBAL EVENT >
{The UNCOMMON grace period has ended. If you haven’t cleared your local UNCOMMON Dungeons they will start to expel their excess mobs in order to grow. The beast will seek out places of high mana concentrations. Protect your homes for they come for you, protect your Villages for they intend them harm. UNCOMMON beasts are specialized creatures with multiple natural and magical abilities, some may even evolve with local beasts leaving your surroundings more dangerous than they were before. Their levels may be under 20 at the beginning but that will rise as the waves increase. Seek out a Stronghold for protection, or go at it alone, there are benefits in that as well, just know either way you should Live Well or Die free.}
{WAVE COMPLETE 1/5 10000 EXP Deferred.}
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He frowned at the prompt, how was a wave completed already? Then the second thing got his notice. A four-foot-tall and muscular grey coyote broke stealth in mid-air and was seven inches from Clyde’s neck. ‘It was so... slow.’ The legacy thought.
Clyde slowly turned to the attacking coyote, it hadn’t even moved an inch by the time he was done with the relaxed action. Looking it directly in the eye he could see the moment it recognized its doom, its pupils barely had time to dilate before the Colonel’s fist had blurred, and was through its skull, the same eye exploding from the pressure. The magically enhanced fur and hide were no match for the share attribute disparity, it practically parted of its own volition, like the Red Sea, it was like its defense was apologizing for being in the pseudo Tier 9 being’s way. Before the blood and gore could explode out, the coyote dissipated into motes of blue and white light. Clyde looked at his hand as he read the Battle log for the attack.
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< BATTLE LOG >
INSTA KILL!
{Mirror Coyote level 23 has died! +2 EXP(With all bonuses rounded up.(DEFERRED)}
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The legacy’s eye twitched at the amount of EXP, but to be fair he was way higher than it and didn’t expect to get any EXP at all. ‘No wonder it was so slow its Dexterity must be a few thresholds below mine.’ Then the third thing caught his attention.
The time it took to exit the Dungeon, read the Global prompt, get ambushed, and kill the ambusher was measured in milliseconds. The legacy’s skills and ability were feeding him information about his surroundings, and there was a lot going on.
The NPCs were all scattered using a myriad of Skills, Trades, and Spells to defend themselves, from the horde of Beast attacking from all around them. The church he was supposed to be standing next to was nowhere to be seen. The area they were spat out into was a city park with a few dilapidated swings and slides, Clyde knew that the mana winds did damage to the pre-breaking modern environment. The only thing still standing were the brick walls built around the private park. Those walls block the view of the streets but the sheer amount of Beast flooding over them made him think that the streets were covered in the animals.
About twenty NPC supported Yazmin as she healed the wounded ones, with the medics of the group. The Colonel didn’t know the full breakdown of his troops because he just didn’t have time to figure that out yet. Now, however, as everything moved in slow motion, because of his stats and perception Ability. He had time to calmly assess the battle even if it did seem dire. But he knew better as he looked over his upgraded ability.
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{Ability NAME: Legacy Perception(PASSIVE/TOGGLE/TRIGGERED)
Ability Level: Journeyman 8
The ability to see the legacy’s surroundings like never before. This perception allows the Legacy to know where all the pieces on the game board are, as long as you have observed a similar type of enemy, ally, and neutral party. This Perception can be toggled on to see things he couldn’t see such as skills being used as well as a plethora of other applications.
Cost: 250 mana regen per hour.
STUDENT EFFECT: Instinctually feel the flow of battle beyond what the legacy can see with his eyes alone, synergizing all bonuses, skills, and senses, quantifying them in his HUD. Range: 40 meters per level of ability.
Current Base Range: 1120 meters.
NOVICE EFFECT: Slows time once per thirty seconds when the ability triggers. How long the slowed time lasts is dependent on the level of ability and the Luck Stat.
APPRENTICE EFFECT: You can look forward in time and see how your current actions will play out.(Be advised if you change one action the future could change as well.) Information can be shared with Teammates within 100 meters.
Cost 2500MP. Cool down: 5D:17H:49m.
JOURNEYMAN EFFECT: All information gained from the ability is instantly implanted into your mind and HUD, and the player will have a near-perfect memory of the surroundings during the engagement. All allies benefit from the knowledge of the Student Effect. Minor chance to lower the perception of the enemy in the Player’s Presence. As your active Presence expands the player receives more detailed information from anything in his Presence.}
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With all of the information, the Colonel knew what was best suited for this engagement. He smiled he had been using his Class for the last... he couldn’t tell you, time was a little wonky between the Dungeon, trial and time skip, but he really wanted to flex his profession anyway, and what better way to do it, than when a horde of weaker creatures were throwing themselves at your party.
The Colonel’s eyes caught a flash of blackness and saw Soto materialize behind an Elite Coyote and stab two bladed arrows into the five-foot tall Coyote’s brain stem. It crumbled like a stack of bricks crippled.
Clyde got another 2 EXP prompt, and he turned off his battle log again with a grimace. Soto landed gracefully as the elite’s body disbursed into bright lights. All throughout the park lights flashed as the Beast died, unfortunately, they had wounded, but fortunately, there were no dead.
The Legacy tried to establish a stronghold so they could be more secure. That was when he got his first surprise. But he should have seen that coming as well. He was sure that Soto would have done the same thing, and wouldn’t be able to.
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< ALERT >
{You are attempting to build a Stronghold in the Area of Influence of another Stronghold. Usually, this is prohibited But since you have controlled a Stronghold more advanced than the current Hamlet Leader that controls this area, you may put down a CAMP. Be advised this CAMP and Hamlet will be in conflict at the end of the Uncommon horde.
Time until the end of Uncommon horde:10H:34M:49s.
Live Well Legacy}
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Clyde frowned at the prompt. ‘I can only build a CAMP? That can’t be right. I have bonuses and...’
Soto looked in Clyde’s direction feeling his Presence. “Colonel why are always late to the fucking party boss,” Soto yelled as he does a graceful dance of culling while dual-wielding bladed arrows like a conductor of death. “Look Jake they are playing our song buddy.” He cackled as he killed coyote after coyote after coyote. They seem to just be jumping out of nowhere, appearing and disappearing at will, but every one of them that got close to Soto was bisected and dissipated into motes of light. “This is some good EXP now that you are here, though. I guess officers are useful for something.” He smirked.