《The Toys of the Fool》Vol.7 Chapter 3 - The Prize and Punishment

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“Hmm? What's over there?” asked Shadow pointing at the very end of this overly large room. The group seeing there was nothing else to do walked there and found six different engraving onto the walls.

One was a serpent, one was a star, one was a lion and so on. They were the symbols that were the same as the 'Marks' they had on their right hands. A strange feeling prompted them to touch these symbols which lit up the 'Marks' on their hands for a split before a message appeared in front of them from the game.

'Mark' confirmed, message will now play

All of a sudden a screen with Eden in it appeared in front of the group. Though looking serious, Sain could tell that in this video it seemed that Eden was feeling extremely happy for some reason.

“Hello Hello~ If you are seeing this message that means you have completed your 2nd class advancement at last!”

“Oh so this is a video to congratulate us?” wondered Shadow in a bit of a surprise. He did not think Eden was that type of person to do so and even send a personal message to them.

“I've been watching over you lot for a long time now and finally you have started to walk forward without the need for me to watch over your every step..man those were quite the difficult days. Alexandra even told me that I was too overprotective when she was the one who suggested watching over you all to begin with hahaha.”

“Who the hell is overprotective! I was just watching to see if they do anything interesting!” shouted Alexandra in the background of the video.

“Somehow I think this video isn't for us...” Miriel said in a cold tone that hid her dejected tone within it a bit.

“Yeah...” Lyndis agreed with her. It seemed that they were seeing something that they weren't suppose to see right now. This message was clearly not for them.

Both of them continued to look at the video being played.

“Hahaha, anyway from now on things will be much more difficult. It is at this point that monsters are really more likely to get smart on you. No more luring enemies one by one into a trap, those kinds of things won't work as well. You need to polish your skills even more than before, personal skills will be more important than ever and you will face even more difficult things in life.”

Eden on the screen let out a sad smile.

“But even so, even if you desire dangerous adventures, make sure you live life the way you want to and return to us at the end of every one of them. We consider you something like our kids you know....though we don't have any hahaha. Might as well fill that spot in now rather than later.”

“Anyway now it's time for you all to get your new classes! By the way it was a half lie when it said the class is dependent on your actions in the trail. It's actually your actions ever since you got your 'Marks'. Good luck learning on how to use them!”

With that, the video was cut short and ended.

And then Sain and the rest of the group were bombarded with messages from the game.

You have completed the quest to Complete your 2nd Class Advancement!

Your class has been changed from 'Shaman' to 'Evil Enchanter'

Bonus from the 'Shaman' class has been removed

Strength, Agility, Intelligence and Wisdom +20

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All magic costs will decrease by 10%

Bonus to 'Dark' and 'Evil' type spells by 25%

You have learn the skill 'Rune Engraving'

Rune Engraving Beginner Level 1

Able to temporary enchant equipment with the effects of certain runes. As this skill levels up, more runes will be able to be used, effects of the runes will be stronger and the effects of the runes will last longer as well.

Runes able to be used:

Sharpness

You have learn the skill 'Double Blade Enchanting'

Double Blade Enchanting Beginner Level 1

A truly powerful skill that allows one to target something and to increase one stat at the cost of the other. However this skill is not perfect as some of the stats in the conversion will be lost when used. This imperfection will decrease as this skill levels up.

Conversion rate: 50% of the stat

You have learn the skill 'Dark Gain'

Dark Gain Beginner Level 1

A passive skill that increases the health and mana of the user whenever an enemy is killed. It is possible to extend the effects of this skill to the party but only at a 10% effectiveness overall.

Health and Mana gain per kill: 0.1%

Sain was more than surprised seeing this. When he first got his 'Shaman' class he did not even get a skill at all and now he was getting three of them at once with this. Moreover, from what he could see, these three skills were extremely powerful for the party and even himself.

'Rune Engraving' was a skill that applied onto equipment temporary. The full effect and time period of the skill depends on how much he uses them and judging from the skill itself, it would be something to apply before battle.

On the other hand 'Double Blade Enchanting' or rather just 'D.B Enchanting' or even 'D.B.E' to shorten the name, was something to use in battle. By converting one stat into the other, he would be able to turn his balanced character into one that focused on strength, agility and so on. Basically his performance would be equal to the others with this skill.

Finally there was the 'Dark Gain' skill which was interesting and powerful. By killing monsters, his health and mana would increase by a tiny bit, currently at 0.1%. By the time it reaches the Intermediate Level, it would give him 1% per kill which was insanely powerful with numerous and weak monsters.

Overall, Sain could tell he got a moderate boost from all of this alone.

“Wow! What the hell is this? Isn't this a bit too much to give?” exclaimed Lyndis shaking from the sheer happiness she was giving off.

“What is it?” asked Miriel taking her eyes off her screen which was only visible to her and looked at Lyndis before looking back.

“She is probably referring to the skills she got with her class” said Shadow still focusing on his own updated status.

After several minutes which gave them enough time to shift through everything they got, Sain said, “I think it is time to see what each other got” while at the same time showing the others the skills he gained due to this now.

“Wow...those are some really good skills there” said Lyndis expressing some shock that Sain managed to get those kinds of skills like that, “Though...” she looked at Sain with a grin and asked, “Evil Enchanter?”

“Yeah, what's up with that?” asked Shadow as well.

“....”

Sain was silent on this matter and thus decided to go to the next person as fast as possible, “What about you Lyndis?”

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“My class and my skills are super awesome!” Lyndis exclaimed arms wide open immediately seeing the chance.

“Oh we are not going there yet” said Miriel in a teasing manner, this was a rare chance to tease Sain who from so far had been doing things without a fault.

“Miriel...” Sain sighed hearing this and immediately gave up like that. If she would want to do this, then Sain felt that she could since she had been helping the rest of them with her research into the game and advise on how to use their skills and spells.

“Oh, we're not going to my stuff now...?” Lyndis was a bit disappointed but then quickly cheered up saying, “Could it be that Sain is secretly on the dark side?”

“If that was the case then we are all doomed” replied Shadow in a sarcastic tone. But even so, Sain remained silent on the matter. Noticing this, Shadow then said, “Well it's not like it matters. Sain will always be Sain no matter what.”

“....”

The rest of the group stared at Shadow for a few moments before he had to ask, “What?”

“You can actually say something good” said Lyndis while looking astonished.

“Mhm” Serena also nodded in agreement to this as well.

“Anyway it's time to look at my new class~” said Lyndis in a cheerful tone again. She showed them her new status window.

Her class was now called 'Flame Samurai' which was a class that focuses on extreme swordsmanship and fire but more on the swordsmanship side from what he could tell.

Compared to her 'Sword Priest' class, the bonus that her current class had had a bonus to Strength and Agility by 35 points each and Intelligence by 25 points. This was an improvement of 25 points and 15 points respectively on each side.

Furthermore she got a new stat called 'Honour' as well. It seems like it's not only knights that get this stat.

Interested, though he had to look through it anyway, he looked through the skills she got from the class.

Battle Buff Beginner Level 1

The presence of a strong user gives others confidence to the point that they may find themselves performing better than usual. Those in the party of a user of this skill will gain various passive buffs when fighting at the same time as the user.

Attack increase: 1%

Defence increase: 1%

Speed increase: 1%

Fighting Spirit increase: 1%

Katana Mastery Beginner Level 1

Affects the attack power and attack speed of Katana type weapons

Katana power increase: 10%

Katana speed increase: 6%

Fire Dance Beginner Level 1

A type of sword dance that combines fire with attacking. When this skill is active, the power of sword skills will increase while at the same time adding a slight fire elemental type damage onto the attacks as well.

Mana Cost: 100/minute

Looking at this, Sain knew that Lyndis was going to be much stronger thanks to this now. With the right training with these skills, she would be even stronger in close combat.

'Katana Mastery' was one of the basics but seeing her class, it would stack on with 'Sword Mastery' making her effectiveness with the Katana doubled. Plus 'Fire Dance' was a skill that passively added on fire damage onto her normal attacks as well. It would basically give a lesser effect of 'Fire Blade' all the time from now on.

But the biggest gain was 'Battle Buff' which was a party buff for everyone else. From what Sain saw, by his estimates, if Lyndis could master this skill then they would have their overall performance boosted by 30% as well. A truly powerful skill which could bring out more than the limits of a person in the same party as her.

“Well...” Shadow said with some disappointment in his tone to which Lyndis had to ask, “What?” in an annoyed tone.

“Compared to what Sain got, two of your skills are more like things to build of your basic more than anything else” Shadow said analysing what Lyndis got from this, “But the bonus from your class is better than his at least.”

“Though stats don't matter that much when the skills are good enough” Sain added on as well which made Lyndis pout a bit and Miriel laugh though she said, “Well with your combination of skills, your magic damage actually went higher than mine for a while.”

The rest of the group nodded in agreement to these words.

“But from the looks of it, you have already become the strongest between all of us in individual fighting” Sain continued to say praising her a bit, “In pure melee, Raven is a match for you but while also using flames, you would be able to take him out since he works better than you with multiple opponents with his shield and wide range attacks.”

“Umm...” Lyndis was for some reason to Sain turning a bit red hearing these words.

“What is it this time? Are you really the type of person to be embarrassed with praise of this level?” asked Shadow noticing that Lyndis did not even try to boast of anything at all. It was a strange behaviour that even the rest of the group noticed.

In the middle of this, Miriel was letting off a cold aura to Sain and asked, “When did you start to try to conquer Lyndis as well?”

“Eh?”

Sain was more than shocked at those words and quickly said, “I don't know what you are talking about?! Isn't Lyndis only happy that I praise her for the first time?!”

Miriel, Serena, Raven and Shadow at that moment all let out the “Eh” sound from all of their mouths at the same time.

“Wait this is actually the first time?”

“Didn't you encourage the rest of us before?”

“Cruel...”

“....”

“Isn't this a too negative reaction?! The only reason for that was that Lyndis was doing everything perfectly correct so there was no need for me to correct anything or encourage her! Plus I'm sure I complimented her before!” Sain shouted in protest.

“I see...” said Lyndis nodding in understanding though still a bit pissed thinking about how Sain didn't praise her once in three years...though soon said, “Though I find it amazing that even now you are capable of making up excuses so quickly.”

“....”

Sain's mouth was open from those words but then closed it and quickly said, “Let's move on now...”

“Actually I would like to know the details of your compliment of Lyndis...NOW!” Miriel pinched his leg and tried to drag him away but with her inferior strength and the rest of the group watching, now was not the time so she gave up...for now.

Sain shivered a bit feeling her intentions. He wouldn't...die unnatural all of a sudden later on right?

“Umm...” Serena said, “Show status window.”

Sain was moderately surprised to see Serena was up next.

He checked the status of Serena who converted from being a 'Druid' to a 'Berserker Druid' since she was the least likely to protest. It was an interesting notion to him since Serena was someone as far away as a berserker and get getting a class related to it.

From memory, the Berserker class is one that is unusual to have even though a large number of people know of it.

Basically to get the class, you must continue to kill monsters over and over again to the point that any sane person would not be able to do so. And even after getting the class, you must continue to kill and kill monsters to let the class grow else you will become extremely weak if you stop for a while.

It was a powerful class in terms of attack that is based off soloing enemies with powerful skills and power but also had large drawbacks in that they don't work well in parties and needed to continue to fight to maintain their current state.

For her stats, she now had a bonus to Strength, Intelligence, Wisdom and Stamina by 25 points each. Each of them increased by 15 points from before except for strength which is a new entry there.

Also, a new stat that she got was one called 'Rage', he would need to look into it later on as it seems connected to some of her skills.

Nonetheless her stats got a boost thanks to getting this class and she got three new skills as well.

Source Contracting Beginner Level 1

A skill that allows the user to make contracts to multiple spirits or animals to gain part of their power. Though not allowed to summon the actual creature to your side, you are instead able to draw out power from them instead. The effects of the contracting depends on what is contracted and how long the contract has been in place as the longer the contract, the stronger the effects it will be.

Number of Contracts at a time: 1

Berserk Conversing Beginner Level 1

A reckless skill for a Druid that has abandoned any sense in order to recklessly battle enemies up close and personal. This skill allows you to convert your Intelligence and Wisdom stats into Strength and Agility. Mastery of this skill will allow you to do so without any conversion lost but until then, some stats will be lose when using this skill.

Conversion Lost: 1/3 of the stats

Berserk Instincts Beginner Level 1

An inborn instinct that never left you and has always waited to be used. Using this skill will activate that instinct to battle and cause you to lose any rational thoughts other than the battle itself. This skill will allow you to use the best of your skills when fighting in close combat though at the same time may have some other unintentional effects on you when active.

However in this state, you are only able to use melee attacks and no spells.

Mana Cost: 250/minute

To be honest, Sain was a bit unsure on some of the finer details that Serena got and he didn't. He did not expect for her skill to involve...close combat at all since she was...well timid and at times nervous to the point she would freeze when something frightening attacked her.

However this problem is removed when using 'Berserk Instinct'. Even though she would probably be unable to heal in this state, it would mean they would have another close combat person in the party. This would mean everyone could fight in close combat.

Beyond that was the 'Source Contracting' skill that is not exactly as it was called as it does not draw out power from 'Source' itself. Instead of contracting to gain the service of a familiar as an example, you instead gain part of their power of what you make a contract with. Sain was not sure on the limits of this skill but if Serena could get the power of a Dragon with a contract...

Finally there was the 'Berserk Conversing' skill which was similar to his own 'Double Blade Enchanting' skill though it was limited in turning Intelligence and Wisdom into Strength and Agility. From what he could tell, this skill goes with 'Berserk Instincts' and perhaps even 'Source Contracting' as well.

The first to comment on this was surprisingly Raven with the word, “Powerful.”

“Powerful indeed...with this Serena might actually become better than Lyndis in close combat at least when she uses these skills properly” added Sain as well seeing the potential in these skills more than the ones he and Lyndis got.

“I just this means I have to stop teasing Serena so much...” sighed Lyndis then smirked thinking and also saying, “But the day where Serena kills Shadow for a bad comment comes closer.”

“Hey!” Shadow was in protest now. He and Serena did not have that bad of a relationship now...right? He turned to look at Serena in confirmation but found her in deep thoughts. With his face twitching, he asked, “Are you thinking of how to kill me?”

Hearing these words, Serena became flustered and said, “No no no” while waving her hands in denial and furthermore said, “I was only thinking of how to use the skills I gained-”

“-On killing Shadow right?” asked Lyndis hopeful.

Once again Shadow protested angrier thane ever, “What the hell do you have against me?!”

Lyndis only smirked before Miriel cut in and said, “Okay, showing you guys my status window now.”

In front of Sain's eyes was Miriel's status window which showed that her class changed from 'Magician' to 'Glacier Bard' which was a slight surprise. He had expected her class to still be heavily magic related and not go into the bard direction.

However stat wise, the bonus from her class was the same as a magician as it increases Intelligence and Wisdom. However instead of increasing those two stats by 10 each like the magician class, this one increased it by 25 points each.

Due to having the Bard type class, Miriel also gained the 'Charm' stat as well.

“Miriel any ideas why your class went from magician to bard?” he asked though the only answer he got was, “Look at my skills then.”

And so he did.

Reflective Song Beginner Level 1

A passive song that play ongoingly without the need of mana to sustain it. This song targets one of the non-attacking skills and spells that you have and replicates it to a lesser extent. However in doing so, you are unable to use that skill or spell while this skill is active.

Furthermore this song can only reproduce a much weaker version of the targeted skill or spell and cannot be used with other songs at the same time.

Total effect of reproduced song: 1%

Amplify Song Beginner Level 1

A passive song that players ongoingly without the need to sustain it. This song targets one skill or spell and amplifies the effects of it to increase it's power. However you are only able to target one skill or spell at a time and does not include passive skills.

Furthermore this song cannot be used when another song is being used at the same time.

Total Amplify effect of targeted skill or spell: 1%

Frost Song Beginner Level 1

A passive song that players ongoingly without the need to sustain it. This song targets enemies and reduce the effects of any skills, spells or other passive effects they have on you and the party.

Furthermore this song cannot be used when another song is being used at the same time.

Total Reduction effect of targeted enemies: 1%

Sain looked at these skills with understanding on why she got a bard class now. These three spells were passive skills that would last forever even outside of battle. One of them placed an everlasting loop of a spell, another increase the effects of a spell and the last reduces the effects of enemy skills and spells.

Quite frankly since they could not be used with each other, Sain felt there was no need to make any connections on how to use them like that. In all, all he could tell with these three skills was that they were quite balanced in how they worked.

“Hmm...” Sain let out that sound and said nothing more on it.

“Why is there such a little reaction compared to the other two???” Demanded Miriel holding Sain by his collar and swinging him back and forth desperately.

Honestly when he praises Lyndis, she gets angry and when he doesn't exactly say much to her, she still gets angry. He could not only pay attention to her only. He had other duties in helping the others as well.

After Miriel stopped shaking him, Sain finally could say, “There's really nothing to talk about here. They are good support skills but will take time to develop.”

“I know! They're my skills!” Miriel protested.

“Then why did you want me to say something?!” Sain was really confused now. Miriel's actions since months ago has been strange. Though he felt that she was...cute in some ways, it was really different from the usual her....and that he missed that cold and calculative Miriel.

“Miriel, it not too good to be jealous...of Lyndis” said Serena in a soft tone that was almost covered up by Miriel's rampage of words.

“Puhahahahaha” Lyndis let out that laugh and Shadow was chuckling a bit as well. Miriel sent them a glare that was colder than usual before she said, “Since no one wants to discuss me...we'll go to the next person. Raven!”

Upon that order, Raven showed the rest of the group his status window and skills. However at the same time Shadow complained, “Wait why am I last?”

“Simply because~” Lyndis gave that answer that wasn't really an answer.

Ignoring the complaints that came from Shadow's mouth there after, Sain started looking through Raven's stats like the others. From what he could tell, his class changed from 'Shield Footman' to 'Aura Knight' which to his opinion was a huge step since these kinds of classes have ranks and being a knight was quite high.

As for the bonus to his stats, his bonus increased from 10 points in Strength, Agility and Vitality to 15 points in each. And once gain Sain noticed that Raven gained the 'Honour' stat like Lyndis.

Anyway, Sain started to look through Raven's skills as well.

Aura Manipulation Beginner Level 1

The ability to use Aura and all shape and form. New methods of using Aura will generate a new skill.

Aura Power Increase: 10%

Aura Control Increase: 3%

Battle Aura Beginner Level 1

The ability to cloak the body with Aura to increase power, speed and defence all at once. It is a powerful skill but takes up great amounts of stamina to use. As time passes, your aura will develop as well changing to suit you the most.

Power increase: 1%

Speed increase: 1%

Defence increase: 1%

Knight Presence Beginner Level 1

Presence is one of the key things that will prevents monsters from attacking you. But at the same time it can be used to cause the enemy to falter and attack prematurely as well. This is a passive skill that allows you to also increase your presence and lower the presence of others as well. The stronger your fight spirit, the stronger this skill will be.

“Oh.”

Sain was quite interested in this though if he let out that thought than Miriel would be mad at him. Even so these three skills were quite fine as well in terms of their use. 'Aura Manipulation' was something that was in it's name but 'Battle Aura' was one of the variations and one that could change as well later on from what he saw.

Furthermore, Sain believed that it was said that most of the top tier players could use at least one version of this skill.

Besides that was the 'Knight Presence' skill which is another application of using Fighting Spirit but also to protect everyone around him by drawing in attacks more effectively as well.

“This is quite something...” Sain muttered thinking about it that way.

“I agree, Raven is becoming a better and better tank now...though that does not excuse your behaviour before” said Miriel in a criticising tone.

“Haha...let's not focus on that now...” suggested Lyndis feeling that too much of this overbearing mood was a bad thing and said, “Well it looks like that Raven will be able to take on more powerful foes soon enough.”

“You're just happy that the meat shield is better now” said Shadow in a rude way, “Well I'm happy about that as well since without you or Raven, it'll be hard to sneak behind enemies.”

“....”

There was no comment on that as the group moved on and Shadow showed his status and skills. His class went from 'Rouge' to 'Night Assassin' which seemed to be an unique class like everyone else though Sain was not sure why their classes had two words in them now...

Were all classes like this at this point?

Anyway stat wise, Shadow's 'Rouge' class gave him a bonus of 10 points into agility and luck while his 'Night Assassin' class gave the same bonus to those two stats but at 30 points instead which was a large improvement but a typical one at the same time.

As for his skills...

Critical Eyes Beginner Level 1

Gives eyes that temporary allows one to see the weak spots and fatal points of targets. These spots will be highlighted in red and will only last for the duration of when this skill is active. This skill will last for a minute at a time.

Mana Cost: 50

Silent Walk Beginner Level 1

Dramatically decreases any sounds that you make while walking even on dry leaves. This is a common skill for an assassin to have and will only work as you supply mana into the skill. This skill will last 5 minutes at a time.

Mana Cost: 100

Dark Deception Beginner Level 1

A passive skill that will allow one to hide in the dark better. It seems that even the shadows are protecting you as you lurk in all dark corners of the world to your prey. This skill allows one to trick others in thinking there is nothing there when there is. The effectiveness of this skill is dependent mostly on how dark it is.

“....”

“....”

“Anyway moving on....” said Sain a bit awkwardly.

“Hey! I can tell you didn't even think of it right now!” Shadow shouted pointing at Sain.

“What do you mean?” asked Sain trying to act all innocent.

“....” Though silent, Shadow was giving off some good killing intent though it would be a mistake as one of hides and strikes from behind in battle to have such a thing.

“Do you wish to know my thoughts on it?” asked Sain this time not trying to tease Shadow for his own slight entertainment.

“Please....”

“Critical Eyes is something that you already do right? You more or less analyse the weakness of the enemy and strike them there but this does it for you. Silent Walk is also something you should already be able to do as well and is kinda a waste as well. Even Dark Deception is another useless one since you already have stealth.”

“....”

“Do you want the more in depth version that details even further of how this really isn't much?”

“Not at all!” said Shadow not wanting Sain to criticise his skills anymore.

“Good” Sain nodded seeing that this issue was fine now...and then he asked, “So does anyone know how to get out of here?”

“....”

Once again the group was completely silent on this. They originally thought that by pressing the symbols on the walls they would be able to get out, but instead they got their new classes and skills along side with it while being stuck in this place.

“Is there something we're missing...?” wondered Miriel aloud trying to figure out something.

xXx

Elsewhere at the same time...

“It has been half a day already....I know that it takes a while for them to go and come back from that place but they really should be back already” said Mel all worried. She was especially worried about Serena who was the 'weakest' one of that group.

Jenny was also worried but not to the extent of Mel since she knew that Miriel was capable enough...though it seemed that along with her Sound, Barrier and Illusion magic, she also took on Ice Magic and also a Whip as a weapon. That was a lot to juggle around especially since she was using 4 different magic types at once.

But even so, she believed that Miriel would be able to handle it with her serious and sometimes cocky attitude and thus said, “Don't worry so much about it. Since Miriel is there, it will be fine.”

“Aren't you being too confident on your apprentice? I on the other hand cannot trust Lyndis to so something without playing around and making things worse” said Ron, “Though it is finally good to not be chased by my debt collectors.”

“Yeah you need to thank me for that” said Park who was next to Ron. It took him a while to 'persuade' those debt collectors to back off.

“Thanks for that” said Ron in a polite tone.

“You're welcome” said Park in a superior tone.

“Anyway what did we do when we found out there was no apparent exit to that place?” asked Jenny who could not remember it properly at all. This was definitely not because she was getting old and forgetting things...

“I believe we almost starved to death in there...” said Mel remembering things.

“Took me a few minutes to get out” said Anna bluntly.

“....”

Five of the people here just remembered that Anna took on the trial on her own. It also seemed that she had less trouble getting out than them though that may be due to something else.

Due to this, Gen sighed after dodging another surprise attack from Anna which at this point to him was normal, and said, “I wish I said something about what to do later since Eden seemed to have forgotten about making a exit for that place.”

The rest of the masters sighed as well except for Anna who had no trouble with this.

“All they need to do is press the button” said Anna.

“Problem was finding it...” sighed Gen, “I don't think we nor them had someone who can find it...especially when the number of buttons needed to be pushed at the same time increases with the number of people.”

xXx

Approximately some hours later....

“How much do we have left?” asked Sain examining part of the walls they were trapped in.

“You mean supplies or those damn button?!” shouted Shadow on the other side of this extremely large room. It was so stupidly large that it made searching for these small sized buttons even worse.

Plus the place was not well lit in the middle which made things even worse.

“The buttons I mean” said Sain though at this range, only Shadow could hear him even at a distance being the furthest away.

“Well...we found three of them, we still probably need to find another three...or more. Better hurry up since I think we might die from a lack of proper air. I swear this place should have been made with proper ventilation” Shadow started complaining.

Sain let out a small laugh since if that was the case then they would have suffocated to death already...not that they could still die in this space.

“Hey~! I found another button!” shouted Lyndis on one side.

“Hmm....”

It looked like there was a button on all sides of this room including the ceiling and floor...which meant they could focus on certain areas to cut down time...though it would take a long time either way...

“This is really going to take a while...” Sain sighed seeing this task at hand.

xXx

Several more hours later...

“We're finally out!”

“God damn that took way too long!”

“Who the hell designed it so we needed to find those damn tiny buttons?!”

Every last one of the group was crawling out of the ground almost literally as they yearned for flesh air. However upon climbing out, they noticed a message from the game appearing for them.

You and your party have gained the title 'Undying Freak'

Undying Freak

A freak of nature that continued to rise up from the dead, crushed by a near invincible force repeatedly. And there must be a large strain on the word 'repeatedly' since you have been killed over a thousand times within 2 short hours.

Due to this, the body had adapted to death quite a bit, more than others can say and there are several near impossible and powerful effects on the body due to this. Whether it is the schemes of the devil or the pity of the Gods, those abilities are yours now. They are:

Chances of resurrection working on you will double and time period to be resurrected will double as well

Upon dying, you will only lose 1% of skill proficiency instead of 5%

Upon dying you will only lose all of the experience you gain for the next level instead of losing a whole level

You will not drop any equipment normally unless equipment has conditions to drop or via skills

All stats +20

“Hmm?” Sain was reading through it but didn't have the chance since another message appeared almost immediately after the first.

Independent Guild Information has been updated

Rank in Independent Guild has been upgraded to Regular Members

Has been placed in a new sub-group for Independent Guild

Independent Guild Information

Guild Name: Sleeping Sheep Centre

Guildmaster: Eden, Alexandra and Viv

Size: Small

Members: 31

Guild Vault: Unknown Amount (Restricted)

Current Ranking of Guild: 1 (Compared to all other Independent guilds in the continent)

Description: When this Guild appeared is unknown as the information is restricted for new recruits of the Independent Guild. A number of things are restricted for new recruits that have yet to complete a Independent Guild Quest. However the Independent Guild is said to very old and powerful in several ways. In order to gain more information on the Guild, ask one of the Guildmasters.

Sub Group: The New Rookies

Rank: Regular Members

Members: 6

Average Level: 200

Total Contribution Points to Guild: 12531

Total Contribution Points to Kingdom: 8734

Description: A new set of members that show some promise.

Notes to know:

By doing quests, contribution points to the Guild and Kingdom will increase. The amount will vary on the quest rank that has been completed and whether it benefits the guild or kingdom more.

Failing a quest or causing trouble will reduce the total amount of contribution points you will have. This depends on the level of trouble you get into.

When the total contribution points to the guild reaches the negatives, you will be kicked out of the guild. When the total contribution points to the kingdom reaches the negatives, contribution points to the guild will be subtracted instead.

“Wow, that's a lot of things to look through” said Lyndis scrolling through it quickly. Sain did the same and noticed that his work showed up in the total contribution points to the guild...hopefully no one else in the group would become suspicious due to it.

However he noticed that both Shadow and Miriel were taking glances at him while looking through the windows.

“....”

He said nothing of it and neither did they. It was only when Lyndis started speaking that they started talking though not on the abnormal contribution points which he caused.

“Wow this title is super good!” exclaimed Lyndis. Sain agreed with her statement. Other than the standard stat increase and minor bonus to resurrection, the other three effects were truly powerful to be envied.

One that lowered the amount of skill proficiency lost when dying.

One that lowered the experience lost when dying.

And one that made losing equipment when dying near impossible.

It was these three effects that all players would want to have since dying in the game was extremely tough on players. Not only did they lose some skill proficiency which was hard to raise, they lose a level which is even harder to raise and most importantly, they lose equipment by chance on death which could be worse than losing levels itself!

And the group now had effects that negated most of the negative effects of these three things. It was only a shame that there was no effect to reduce the timer to revive.

“I agree that this is powerful but did we really die over a thousand times...?” wondered Miriel.

“I lost count after a hundred or so” said Sain, he was at that point was not concern on the number of times he died but rather trying to survive. Scrolling through the rest of the stuff, Sain decided and said, “We should get back to our masters first...they should be worried.”

“Yeah...my master seems to worry about me a lot” said Serena looking down and rubbing her tights since it was the middle of the night and cold.

“Speaking of which, how much time did we spend in there? We left around morning but it didn't seem so much time passed...” wondered Lyndis.

“Around 12 hours?” wondered Raven commenting on this.

“Something that would have taken only a bit over 2 hours lasting six times of that...? Damn I really want to punch the guy who made this trial” said Shadow spiting that person.

“You mean me?” asked Eden pointing to himself. The group paused in both speech and thought as he appeared behind Shadow who did not realise anything yet.

“Yes you and when I see you next....” Shadow stopped realising something was wrong and turned and looked at Eden.

“....”

“Shit.”

Shadow said that single worded and used 'Burst Speed' to try and run away. Along with 'Dark Deception' and 'Silent Walk' active as well 'Stealth', it was truly hard to keep track of him. However the person he was trying to run away from was a being that was temporary at level 800 due to restrictive reasons and a user of countless skills.

Thus...

“Air lock” said Eden lazily causing the air around not only Shadow but the rest of the group to freeze in place causing them to be unable to move at all. It was not like a sealing skill as it did not target the person but the air around that person and therefore there were little counters to this skill.

And it was impossible to break with brute strength alone.

“Ah damn!” Shadow let out that scream as Sain had to ask, “Why are we caught up in this as well?”

Eden gave him a look and asked, “Are you going to run away like that idiot?”

“Are you going to do something that will merit us running away?” asked Sain in return.

Eden smirked at that and said, “Looks like you obtained the 'Undying Freak' title. Good, that one is really hard to get though you only need to die and be revived a larger number of times in a day. The effects however vary with the number of deaths and time it took for those deaths. Seeing that you came from that trial, you more or less got the best version of that title.”

“....”

“What's with the silence? It's not like I took your ability to speak” wondered Eden.

“Why are you mentioning the title we just got?” asked Miriel cautiously to Eden. She had a bad feeling about this.

“Why I'm going to kill you all of course.”

“....”

Everyone in the group at the same time tried to move but could not move at all thanks to Eden's skill that he used on all of them.

“Why are you planing on killing us?!” shouted Lyndis in fright. She and the other had already experienced two hours of them killing them but again? Never!

“Why?” Eden made an angry look on his face as he questioned him.

“Do you know what time of year it is?” he asked them.

“....”

The group was silent though Sain had suspicions.

“It's about the end of semester?” he asked.

“Nope, that passed already while you guys in game were doing things while I wasn't keeping tabs on you in real life” Eden said, “Just because me and the other two are too busy, it doesn't mean you can skip on things!”

“....”

The group did not like where this was going.

“As such you failed to complete any of the tests due to playing around in game too much.”

“....”

“A semester is 4 months long giving you a 2 month break till the next one. This means there are 8 months while I expect you to attend class while another 4 months of doing what you want. This means a whole semester is equal to 16 months in game or 1 year and 4 months.”

“....”

“Actually that means you were suppose to take your tests 2 months ago in in game time or half a month ago in real life. From what I know this was the time when you were mass questing asking Alena for things to do.”

“....”

“Now if you actually attended, say Alexandra's combat class you would have noticed that the teacher there was replaced by an AI. I checked and found that you guys haven't even attended in 4 months which probably means you haven't been attending the other classes for the same time though neither me nor Viv expected you lot to show up in out classes as well.”

“....”

“Any questions so far?” asked Eden in a lecturing and scowling tone.

“Why are you telling us this?” asked Sain though he was tempted to ask why didn't he remind them but that was completely their fault...though it probably wouldn't have happened if they attended class regularly to begin with.

It was then that Eden flashed a smile and said, “Good news is that you still have almost a whole month or in real life or to be precise 6 months in game to work on passing the supplementary tests for those subjects you skipped out on. I believe other than combat training it is my class of the history of the continent, Viv's analysis of classes and skills and the general course which is a mix of all other classes that you need to do since you guys did not choose another subject to go into.”

“And...?”

“And you won't be able to play Royal Road until you all pass...actually until the new semester starts as a punishment since the retests are at the end of the break before the semester starts.”

“What?!”

“No complaints else I can make the punishment worse” ordered Eden which forced everyone shut. After some moments of silent from the group and after he got his points through, Eden sighed.

“Four subjects and you have a month and a half to study and pass them all. Until then you will not go back into Royal Road, I will put a lock on your capsules until then. But before that...thankfully you won't actually lose a level due to your new title now....”

Eden raised his hand producing an insane amount of mana through it that the mana itself, being compressed so much was now visible to the naked eye.

“Wait!”

Sain could hear someone shout that last plead for mercy but at this point he simply gave up since defying Eden was impossible.

BANNNNNNNNNGGGGG!!!!

You have died

With that, Eden caused them another death...

Onwards?PreviousExitNext

Author's Notes:

- Word Count: 7900~

- This chapter took too long to write! God did I not feel like writing this chapter...I would say I was having writer's block but I was writing 3-4 pages a day. Good thing is that I know that I can at least dish out a chapter at least once a week.

- Anyway, these are their new classes and new skills they got thanks to it. I planned out these classes a long time ago and now only can give them it. There are some things I wanted to skipped out on like some of the new stats they got...it will be a pain to edit the forum tables later on to include them...

- Anyhow, now that this chapter is done, I can start on that extra chapter that popped up thanks to me and Ninnin talking about Gods work...

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