In the Monarch Ranked portion of the Trial, Tessa, Lotus, Ophelia and Dana all stood in front of the statues, facing the sa four choices that Karl and Cara had.
{Option 1 ⇒ Attempt Advancent} Difficulty 7
{Option 2 ⇒ Attempt Class Change} Difficulty 1
{Option 3 ⇒ Attempt Status Optimization} Difficulty 11
{Option 4 ⇒ Random Bonus} ????
"Status optimization is difficulty eleven?" Dana muttered as she read the options.
"And why is Class Change so easy?" Tessa agreed.
The Golem made a grinding noise as it prepared to speak.
"Difficulty changes with Rank and ability. Common and Uncommon Classes have little trouble advancing to a Rare Class. In contrast, reaching the peak of physical and taphysical optimization is generally considered to be impossible for humans and dragonkin." The Golem insisted.
"So, it's eleven out of ten? Alright." Ophelia grumbled.
"What would it take to go from Overlord to Totem? Is that harder?" Lotus asked, now curious how the ranking worked.
"Overlord to Totem Rank advancents require a perfect completion. Difficulty, ten out of ten."
Lotus smirked. That ant Karl would likely choose one of the other options. Did that an that if she was confident, she could catch up to him? That would be hilarious.
But her Dragon Guide, the juvenile Green Dragon who constantly watched the world through her eyes, wanted to know about class changes. It was a difficulty of one. But wouldn't that be even better?
Karl was broken because he had the good class. What if she could have the good class too? She could just have a whole set of beast spaces full of fluffy things and dragons.
Could Clerics qualify for that? It had to be an option for the Green Dragon Clerics, at the very least. The Goddess wasn't so cruel as to keep them away from the fluffy things just because they were faithful.
Tessa and Ophelia were both thinking similar things. The Advanced Classes were too powerful. If they were actually easy to get, but just didn't spawn for newbies, weren't they missing out on too much?
Dana was torn between the two obvious options. She could catch up to Karl and beco an Overlord, but that wouldn't really be catching up, would it? He was far too powerful for an average Overlord. So, she could take a chance on a better class and leverage it for faster growth.
There was also a ti limit on the trial, forty-eight hours. Presumably, it took most of that to get a perfect clearance, so she didn't have long to wait here and decide.
Murim Battlemage was already a good class, but it wouldn't hurt to ask the Golem about her chances.
"What are the odds that I get a better class than what I have if I choose class change?" She asked.
The Golem paused for a mont as it turned its head towards her.
"All Class Options will be an advancent from the Trial taker's current Class, assuming that they pass the trial to a sufficient standard for the desired class."
A difficulty one standard, yes. But from the sound of it, the better you did, the better the options. Perhaps she could get sothing like Beast Master, but for mages?
"What is the difficulty for the Beast Master Class?" She asked.
"The Beast Master is a Rare Class, Difficulty three or higher for a success."
What Dana had forgotten was that Karl had advanced to [Beast Master Packmaster]. So his standard was actually higher to get any sort of success.
Lotus got excited about the lore drop. "What is the hardest class to get?"
The Golem seed to smile at her as it answered. "The most difficult to obtain class among the options in this trial is Ancient World Crafter. However, none of the applicants present have the prerequisites to obtain it, even with a perfect completion."
"What are the requirents?" Lotus tried.
"Demigod level power, a Divine Bloodline, and an existing Class in the Ancient series of Classes." The Golem explained.
Lotus frowned. "So, not ."
"Not you."
"I will take the class option, please." Lotus decided.
"So polite. Choose your path up the temple. They are all equal, so the route you choose will not affect the outco."
Tessa and Ophelia nodded at each other.
"I will take the Class Change Option as well." They declared in unison, then began walking toward the temple.
"If I attempt to Optimize my Status, will I get any gains, even though it is not possible to fully complete the challenge?" Dana asked the Golem once the others had gone.
"I do not have the answer to that question. The outco of a failed challenge is up to the Gods."
Dana nodded. Karl was the one with all the Divine Luck.
It was better to stay in her lane, and do what she knew that she could do.
"I will also take the Class Advancent option." She decided.
All she had to do was reach the top of the temple, and she should be able to get a class superior to Karl's. Sothing good enough to put her on the path to surpassing him.
Dana would not allow herself to be left behind as the 'damsel in distress' childhood crush.
The pain of the challenges seared through her body, but Dana kept her eyes locked on the top of the temple.
{Eyes on the goal. Eyes on the goal.} She muttered to herself, step after step on her way up the side of the temple.
Each of them had taken a different side of the temple, so they could not see each other, but each side was equally grim. As the Golem had promised, the trials were equal, and when they moved from the tenth to the eleventh step, it was nearly enough to make all four of them reconsider this trial.
But the simple math was enough to keep them going. One thousand steps. Ten levels of difficulty. If they couldn't make it past the hundredth step, they were likely to fail to gain a class advancent.
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