Connect to Royal Road?

Yes|No

“Hellllyeahhhhhh.”

I found myself in the town square of Carnival as usual, bustling with life and people all over greeting me, happy to see my arrival. The NPCs all showered me with free gifts upon seeing my arrival as I went around to see how they were doing. As such, my equipment has all been updated to level 100 equipment courtesy of the extremely nice NPCs.

I checked my friends list. Breadtalk was online but I would never know where he was. Soup and Beathoven were still on the way home I guess. I decided to do some planning on how to train myself. Over the past 4 months, I've been training how to split my mind into 5 different parts so now, casting 5 different spells at once all independent of element and spell type was possible.

Previously, I could only use alot of spells at once if they were all of the same element or the same spell with different elements. Now that's a thing of the past. Also, my ouroboros seal has reached advanced level 10, likewise for my mana manipulation and katana mastery but no matter what, they could not advance further to the next stage. I'm pretty sure proficiencies were independent of levels so even though I was a mere level 120, I still should be able to go to master class with my skills. I wonder why.

I brought out my stat and skills table to see how much I have changed since the last time I brought it out.

Stat Window[quart=Character name,Alignment]Jinx,Neutral[/quart][quart=Level,Class]120,Elemental Swordsman[/quart][quart=Title,Race]N/A,Human[/quart][quart=Fame,Infamy]24000,0[/quart][quart=Health,Mana]3200,7000[/quart][quart=Strength,Dexterity]200,200[/quart][quart=Wisdom,Intellect]55,600[/quart][quart=Vitality,Affinity to Nature]120,40%[/quart][quart=Leadership,Luck]7000,20[/quart][quart=Charisma,Endurance]1000,300[/quart][quart=Perseverance,Sustenance]150,120[/quart][quart=Attack,Defense]270,170[/quart][quart=Art,Concentration]10000,150[/quart][quart=Fighting Spirit,Magic Resistance]300,12%[/quart]Elemental AffinitiesFire +5% Ice +5% Water +15% Wind +5% Lightning +10% Earth+10% Gravity+10% Light +15% Dark +15%Class Bonuses

Ability to wield any swords and use up to leather armour

+500 Health

+1000 Mana

Able to use magic and swordplay simultaneously

No miscast penalty due to spell failure due to absence of magic circles

Member of both the Intelligence and Warrior Guilds

Fast Reader | Intermediate level 2 (33%). Finishes books 42% faster.Mana Manipulation | Advanced level 9 (99%). Affinity to Nature +40%. Mana Cost - 10%Flare | Beginner level 1 (5%). Summons a small source of light.Katana Mastery | Advanced level 9 (99%). Increases attack power with a katana +400% and attack speed +150%.Gravity Crush | Intermediate level 8 (70%). Weapon Atk +880% (Dependent on Gravity Affinity)Wind Steps | Intermediate level 9 (80%). Increases movement speed +58% (Dependent on Wind Affinity)Electrical Synapse | Intermediate level 9 (90%). Increases reaction time by 0.25s (Dependent on Lightning Affinity)Adrenaline Rush | Beginner level 5 (5%). Increases time perception by 10% when HP is below 10%.Cooking | Advanced level 9 (70%). Enables you to prepare meals.Rooted | Beginner level 6 (50%). Immobilises enemy by restraining their movement. (Dependent on element's affinity).Divine Judgement | Advanced level 1 (40%). Concentrates a huge amount of mana into a sword which drops down onto the enemy. High critical rate. Damage depends on mana used and type of mana.[full]Dispel | Intermediate level 3 (40%). Has a chance to heal status effects.Lesser Heal | Advanced level 2 (50%). Heals ally for a certain amount of health. Damages undead in the surrounding area.Elemental Armour | Beginner level 3 (0%). Creates an elemental armour of different affinities that wraps around the user.Median Heal | Intermediate level 2 (50%). Heals ally for a higher amount of health. Damages undead in the surrounding area and spills over a small amount of heal in an AOE.Divine Shield | Advanced level 4 (50%). Blocks out one instance of damage. The higher the level, the lesser the mana cost and larger the total area it can cover.Ouroboros Seal | Advanced level 9 (99%). Stores up to 30000 mana. Able to use it whenever you want like a mana bank.Poison Torrent | Advanced level 1 (50%). Engulfs target in whirlpool of poisonous water. Damage over time due to poison as well as engulfment of water. Incapacitates movement.Impure Beckoning | Advanced level 1 (20%). Removes buffs from target. The higher the level the stronger the buffs that can be removed.Teleport | Advanced level 2 (50%). Turns your body into electricity to flash to your designated area. Can only teleport to anywhere you can see. The higher the level the lower the mana cost thus the further you can tele.

I looked at my ouroboros seal with great fondness. This skill helped me in so many situations. Imagine a pool of 30000 mana at my disposal. However I really could not level it up no matter how many times I used it after it reached advanced level 10, 99%. Beathoven's chaotic melody had already capped at advanced level 10, 99% as well and heals 300 mana per second. The ourobors seal would give me 100 seconds of that instantly. I could also pour Beathoven's mana regen into the ouroboros seal, filling it up in 100 seconds. It was a very flexible skill for me to have.

Mana manipulation and katana mastery were the bread and butter skills of my class and they too have stagnated. This means no matter how much more I fight now, I would not improve unless I grind levels and put them into stats! Sigh.

*Soup, Beathoven and Horse has logged in*

“Hey guys. And babe. Let's all meet at the castle. Loki instructed me to ask all of us to assemble there.” Breadtalk whispered

“Don't call me babe.” Horse replied.

“Breadtalk you sunnavabeech I'm supposed to be your only babe.” I answered before teleporting over to the castle.

In about 5 minutes, all of them managed to reach with Breadtalk being the last as usual.

“Alright we're all here. Whats up?” I said.

“Loki says its time.”

“For?” Soup prompted Breadtalk to continue.

“Mentorship part 2.”

*POOF*

A huge dense of smoke suddenly released in the lobby of the castle. After the smoke cleared, all of us knew what was awaiting underneath the cloud of dust and smoke.

“Loki! Jörmungandr! Fenrir! Hel! And who the hell is that?!” Breadtalk exclaimed.

“This is my wife, Sigyn. I saw that you all got a new member in the team and my wife was getting bored. She used to be an assasin too and since she loves horses, she offered to be part of the mentoring team as well.” Loki explained.

“What in the fucking world is this?!” Horse exclaimed.

“Wait come to think of it, we never explained how we got this castle and the elites right?” I asked her.

“I thought Breadtalk had erectile dysfunction in real life isn't that the story?!”

“I DO NOT. FUCK. You wanna see tomorrow in school?” He added.

“No. Who the hell wants to see your dick i'm pretty sure its small anyway since two thirds of it have been put into your character.”

“ho damnnnn that is some burnnnnn~.” Loki chipped in.

The elites immediately ran to their masters and got reunited briefly while Loki was explaining the whole story to Horse.

After he finished...

“YOU GUYS DIDN'T TELL ME I WAS PART OF A RANK A++ QUEST OMG HOW DARE YOU ASSHOLES. But honestly thanks it sounds like it's going to be awesome~ I got a mentor too AHHHH!” Horse exclaimed.

I heard about the legendary lady mood swings... This is definitely one of them. Holy shit it must be her period.

As if reading my thoughts, Breadtalk asked “Are you on your period?”

Hel and Horse slapped him together at the same time and said the same thing.

“NEVER ASK A GIRL THAT QUESTION.”

All of us just looked at Breadtalk and shook our head.

“Alright Jinx, lets get started. Show me how much you've improved over the past 4 months.” Jörmungandr said as he spawned 5 level 100 snakes.

I immediately casted 5 spells at once. “Posion Torrent, Divine Judgement, Wind Steps. Electrical Impulse, Gravity Crush.” 3 of them were engulged by the torrent, one got impaled immediately by a shining holy divine judgement and gravity crush took the last. In 0.5 seconds, all of this was done.

“Holy shit.” Breadtalk said.

Loki let out a whistle. Fenrir gave a small nod as if this was to be expected. Jörmungandr however just asked how much mana i used from that.

“All 7000 of my mana pool.” I replied.

“7000?! Cheat character. OP. Fucker.” Breadtalk complained.

“Someone with over 1400 luck should shut up.” I retorted.

“Hmm look your mana pool is quite decent for a level 120 character but mana management should be your next stage of training. If you use too much mana, you'll be left with no mana. If you use too little, you won't be able to finish off the monsters. After mastering that your proficiencies should be able to reach the next level.” Jörmungandr explained.

Just then, Fenrir gave a huge swipe at Soup with his hands clearly buffed by Hel's unholy aura. Soup however just stood firm, brandished his greatsword and parried the enormous blow without a hitch in movement. Soup was busy training the military so his levels went up a bit and proficiencies without a doubt too. This was the fruit of his hard work for Carnival.

Hel then took Beathoven into a corner and begun showing him what I assume were more music sheets from her realm. Hel gave him a slight necromastery skill previously so she would without a doubt be able to confer him more songs with regards to different skills I guess.

Sigyn took Horse immediately into another room and this was a match up I was interested to see. How would the additional mentor help Horse develop her skills when she already was damn bloody kickass with her level of strategic planning? Horse herself also changed the moment she heard what was happening. There was a glint of resolve in her eyes now that she knew what was awaiting her.

Loki moved towards me and Breadtalk and put his hands on both our shoulders. Guys, Get ready. Usually for the first time you will get naueseous but its completely normal.

“What do you mea-” Then it hit me. The world warped and twisted around me, contorting my field of vision. I felt like i was being squashed inside myself. The feeling got stronger and stronger until finally all I saw was black. I realised I was lying on the floor or something. I realised the world was black because my eyes were closed. I opened them.

Around me were just mountains and mountains. In front of me, was a dense jungle with an opening which was no doubt man made. Breadtalk was down on the floor, puking his guts out. Suddenly I was overcome with nausea as well and followed suit

“What in the world??? Where are we?!” I managed to stutter once I finished vommitting my lunch,

“Welcome to the Forest of No Return.” said Loki.

“This is where we let only our best students go through. This is a test. A test only someone of a certain caliber can finish. The weird part about this forest is that it adjusts to your level. A level 1 can complete this forest if he or she has the intuition and acumen to complete the trials that await. Jörmungandr wants you to complete this trial. He says he has taught you enough and you show talent. It must mean he trusts you if he asked me to put you through this.”

“This forest also has the unique ability to increase your proficiency above advanced level if you find that you are stuck there. You need to be able to overcome certain trials before you can unlock the next level of masteries.”

No wonder Jörmungandr put me through this. He wanted to see if I could pass this trial in order to improve my proficiencies. He even gave me one piece of advice before bringing me here which I think will be the key. Mana conservation.

“What about Breadtalk? Why did you bring him here?”

“He has private training to undergo with me in the mountain ranges over there. I also need to train him in my own ways. Don't worry if you manage to finish the trials in the jungle, the way out is really obvious it's just a one way road don't worry. I'll know once you get out alive. If you die you'll just end up back in town right? Good luck young one. Remember all that you've learnt if you want to pass this trial. It's definitely not easy.”

“Thanks.”

And then Breadtalk finally finished puking and yanked Loki's underwear as high as he could, jumping up and down furiously.

“YOU RUINED MY 6 YEAR VOMIT FREE STREAK FUCK YOUUUUU!”

“OW FUCK I'M YOUR GOD YOU SON OF A BITCH!”

“YEA YOU ARE A BITCH COS I'M YOUR SON!!”

Then they started slapping each other again. I was sure Breadtalk would lose again cos he never won in a slapping war before. I just turned around and faced the entrance to my second real test in the game since Renfir.

Time to show my worth I guess. Watch me master.

I walked in melodramatically. Would've been better with kickass music instead of the sound of a slap war behind me.

What awaits me in the forest?

End of Chapter 24