The class two divine trial was located two hours west of Colmar. This headed out of the flatlands towards a mountain range. In that mountain range, was a cave. And in that cave was a portal gate. After much effort, Corwin found the right cave and saw the portal gate. Two rainbow marks symbolized the difficulty of the trial, compared to the previous gates which had a single mark. Corwin looked over his new gear and tried to convince himself that he’d improved enough. Corwin was honestly more nervous about this step of acquiring gear than any step that had come to pass so far in his plan.

He entered the trial and encountered a rather intimidating 99 step staircase. Steps 1-4 had elites, and step 5 had a reward chest which gave 2 gold. Steps 6-9 had level 8 elites, then another reward chest which gave 3 gold. Steps 11-14 had level 9 elites, step 15 had yet another reward chest, this one giving a full 5 gold. Steps 16-20 had level 10 elites, and step 20 had a reward chest giving 10 gold. The pattern repeated with special elites, and Corwin reached the 40th step without much difficulty.

Starting on step 41, the enemies became chieftains. These were the first enemies to drop loot in the entire trial, as each chieftain dropped a mana crystal. The first reward chest was also exciting, as it didn’t contain gold anymore but instead had a recipe for a level 7 iron-tier, leather chest armor. The level 8 chieftains were also straightforward, and Corwin reached 19 crystals. The reward chest had a level 8 iron-tier, cloth leg armor. Even with a touch of level suppression, the level 9 chieftains were fodder before Corwin’s enhanced stats.

Upon defeating the first one he got his 20th mana crystal and upgraded his helm to gold tier. In addition to doubling in Def, MDef and attributes, the helm got a new ability. Increase mana regeneration rate by 5%/level. It seemed small now, but doubling his mana regen by level 20 was a powerful ability. Corwin would be able to support an even larger arsenal of skills now.

Corwin defeated the 3 remaining level 9 chieftains, levelling up parry to level 2 along the way. He opened the reward chest, getting a rare level 9 iron-tier plate helm for his trouble. At level 10, the chieftains had 1.4 levels of suppression, which wasn’t enough to make them much of a threat. Corwin plowed through and reached the 60th step. On the 60th step there was a special reward for beating the chieftain stage of the trial. Corwin opened a magic crystal chest, and received 10 extra magic crystals, bringing his total to 17.

Corwin fought lords next, and no longer found them to be much of a challenge, he quickly went through the first 2 level 7 lords and got his crystal count to 21. He then upgraded his cuisse to gold-tier enjoying the healthy boost in Def, MDef, and attributes. The boots also gained a new ability, which was ‘Reduce all agility drain effects by the level of these boots.’ Agility drain could come from array’s or special abilities. Corwin’s fighting style most depended on his speed and having it become semi-immune to many forms of reduction was a huge benefit. It mattered most for guild wars, where arrays were often used to attempt to suppress powerful individuals. Corwin was happy with his upgraded stats and abilities and proceeded to crush the remaining level 7 lords even more easily. He opened a reward chest and received a level 7 silver tier quarterstaff. Getting silver gear this early in the trial made Corwin very excited. If the pattern continued, perhaps the last four reward chests might have gold gear.

Corwin fought onwards, excited that even the level 8 lords weren’t a match for him. He accumulated crystals as he went getting his total to 13 by the end of those lords. A level 8 silver tier spear was retrieved from a reward chest and Corwin continued to climb the stairs. The level 9 lords were a bit slower to kill because of level suppression but still weren’t a match. His crystals reached 21, but he needed 50 to upgrade anything new. A level 9 silver-tier shortbow was in the chest. Corwin was shocked by his power even as he faced the level 10 lords. The kind of fight that would have killed him just hours earlier was now easy. Even 1.4 levels of suppression didn’t help the lords as Corwin dispatched them. He got up to 29 crystals and opened the special reward chest on the 80th stair. Inside was a silver-tier level 10 recipe for an amulet. Corwin was excited to be able to make that one, but slightly disappointed the special reward chest didn’t get a lucky strike. Gold tier recipes were enough to salivate over as they’d make the owner a small fortune at this stage of the game.

The 81st step arrived, and it contained both good news and bad news. The bad news was that Corwin faced a superior lord. The good news is that it was 5th level. Everything went fine until berserk mode when Corwin finally found himself forced to use his ring of air. He’d have to wait on each stair to let the cooldown recharge and his patience was sorely tested as his climb of the staircase slowed. Corwin dispatched the remaining 3 level 5 superior lords with ease. Unfortunately, all the lords dropped were mana crystals, but fortunately the 4 each from the superior lords had brought Corwin’s total to 45. He needed 50 mana crystals to upgrade any of his growth tier items to epic, he was so close he could taste it. He wanted to upgrade the ring of hidden attributes for the luck and stamina. The extra concentration would be valuable if he found a technique tablet, but such things were almost non-existent in the early game.

Corwin climbed to the 85th stair and was both elated and disappointed by the reward chest. Unfortunately, it wasn’t a gold tier chest so gold recipes wouldn’t be happening. But, it was a magic crystal chest and a lucky burst meant there were 20 crystals inside. Corwin immediately went down to 15 crystals and got the ring of hidden attributes to epic. Collapse and restraint were no longer words in his vocabulary when it came to stamina.

His staying power showed when he faced each of the level 6 superior lords, getting another 16 mana crystals for his trouble. His ability to repeat rapid blow endlessly at low stamina made him unafraid of his enemies getting off their ultimate skill. Admittedly, it was a little close with the higher HP that level 6 superior lords had. The 90th stair had another magic crystal chest, this one with 10 crystals inside. On the 91st stair was a level 7 superior lord, and this was a difficult fight. Corwin barely killed it before its ultimate move came off. The 92nd stair was similar. On the 93rd stair Corwin was hit by part of an ultimate move before killing his enemy during its execution. Fortunately, he had reached 53 crystals and was ready for a 2nd piece of epic gear. He still favored his rings and was excited to see what was available from the ring of elements. He upgraded it and in addition to the increased stats he had a new earth ability.

Earth Manipulation – Special, Tier 0, Level 0.

For a 5 second duration, reduce the level of all attacks attacking you by 0.2 levels/level. For each multiple of 50 levels instead reduce the tier of all attacks attacking you by 1 tier. Requires 4,000,000 XP to upgrade. Cooldown 1 hour.

At level 70, it would reduce a skill by 1 tier and 4 levels for instance. This ability was quite powerful because it could potentially reduce a skill to negative level or negative tier, either of which would result in zero damage. Unfortunately, level 0 damage skills could still pack quite a wallop so this wasn’t by any means a perfect solution. Still it did offer some fairly powerful damage mitigation, as enemies tended to have 1 level in their skills for every 5 levels (rounded down).

The 94th stair broke the pattern with a reward chest, this one had a lesser HP embuer, giving a permanent bonus of 1,000 HP. Corwin used it happily, and was excited at his increased survivability. On the 95th stair he faced a level 8 superior lord. This time he didn’t have a chance at stopping the ultimate and instead had to endure it. With his Earth Manipulation and higher HP, he survived on 20% health and finished the enemy off while it was in a weakened state after its special move. The 96th stair had a very similar outcome. The 97th stair had a reward chest, this one giving a basic attributes elixir. Corwin drank it happily and gained +20 to each of his attributes permanently.

The 99th stair had his divine growth item. So it all came down to the 98th stair, the final boss.

Corwin stepped onto the stair and looked his opponent over.

Balthazar Summoner, Superior Lord, Level 9

HP: 50,000/50,000

MP: 300,000/300,000

Summoners were dangerous opponents as they had regular skills that would add mobs. Corwin needed to be brutally efficient to make sure he didn’t get swarmed. He focused on the combat ahead while executing wind charge to initiate the fight.

Corwin Swordborn

Spoiler : Level 7: 99% of level 8

Str: 497 (base:25)

Agi: 527 (base:55)

Con: 497 (base:25)

Int: 281 (base:25)

Cha: 281 (base:25)

Lck: 133 (base:5)

Cnc: 133 (base:5)

Sta: 133 (base: 5)

Def: 1249

MDef: 913

HP:5179/5179 (base: 1000)

MP:3667/3667 (base: 1000)

Gear:

MW: Iron Tier Level 7 Longsword, +14 Str, +14 Agi, +14 Con

Base Damage: 56-64, Durability 24/25, Requirements: 42 Str

OW: Iron Tier, Level 7 Shortsword, +14 Str, +14Agi, +14 Con

Base Damage 42-49, Durability 25/25, Requirements: 42 Str

MA: Iron Tier Level 8 Plate, +16 Str, +16 Agi, +16 Con

64Def,32MDef, Durability 48/48, Requirements:36 Str

LA: Silver Tier Level 8 Plate Cuisse, +32Str, +32Agi, +32Con

128Def, 64MDef Durability: 64/64 Requirements: 64 Str

B: Iron Tier Level 6 Plate Gloves +12 Str, +12 Agi, +12Con

48Def,24MDef, Durability 29/30, Requirements: 36Str

G: Gold Tier Level 8 Plate Boots +64Str +64Agi +64Con

256 Def, 256MDef Durability 128/128, Requirements: 128Str

H: Gold Tier Level 8 Helm, +64 Str, +64 Agi, +64 Con

256 Def, 256MDef Durability 128/128, Requirements: 128Str

RR: Epic Tier, Level 8 Ring of Hidden Attributes (+128 All base attributes, +128 All Hidden Attributes)

LR: Epic Tier, Level 8 Ring of Elements (+128 All base attributes,

Ignore 1.6 Levels, Ignore 1.6 Equip Levels

AM: Iron Tier, Level 8 Amulet (+16 All base attributes)

Skills:

Time Manipulation, Special, Tier 0, Level 0

Space Manipulation, Special, Tier 0, Level 0

Air Manipulation, Special, Tier 0, Level 2

Thunder Slash, Rare, Tier 0, Level 1

Wave Chop, Rare, Tier 0, Level 0

Wind Charge, Rare, Tier 0, Level 1

Disrupting Blow, Rare, Tier 0, Level 1

Double Slash, Uncommon, Tier 0, Level 1

Slash, Common, Tier 0, Level 2

Pierce, Common, Tier 0, Level 2

Parry, Common, Tier 0, Level 2