Chapter 263

“Eh? Hold up, is Benny’s shit broken too?” Leaning around Selene’s shoulder and looking in her eye, Cynrik tried to get answers but only received a helpless look instead from the girl sitting in his lap with tears still trickling down her cheeks.

Frowning, Cynrik reached up and wiped the tears from his woman’s cheek with the back of his fingers.

“Calm down, Sel, I know I may have overreacted, but your new skills really are a bit too much.” Sighing and trying to figure out what he could say to calm her down, Cynrik felt lost. He knew he overreacted, but the combination of Selene’s skills being in Norse and how broken they could potentially be, gave him a good shock.

“So…you aren’t mad at me?” Selene asked softly as she leaned into Cynrik, feeling his warmth on her back.

“Nah, a little freaked out that my…g…girlfriend’s got a fuck ton of better skills than me, maybe, but not mad.” Cynrik studdered as he finally called Selene his girlfriend out loud for the first time, and he even felt the shiver run through her body as the word left his mouth.

Swiftly spinning around in Cynrik’s lap so she could face him, Selene looked right into his eyes, with surprise and glee in her own.

“You said it; you actually just said it!” She giggled and watched as Cynrik’s face went from passive and expressionless to an unhappy frown.

“I have no idea what you are talking about, now hurry up and get off me so I can go sustain some emotional trauma by reading Benny’s stats. You two will end up being why I have a heart attack before 20 if I don’t get my hands on a Unique class soon.” Looking away and ignoring the girl squirming in his lap with her bottom lip stuck out, Cynrik’s mind shifted back to work mode.

“Tsk, whos the Tsundere now Darrrrling~,” Selene teased as she poked Cynrik’s cheek.

“Woman, you had your fucking cuddle time; now get off before I make you,” Cynrik grumbled angrily as he snapped his head to the side and tried biting the annoying finger, rapidly poking his cheek repeatedly.

“Finnnnne~, but I still demand more time later; it is, after all, your punishment for nearly scaring me half to death.” Selene yielded, knowing that she would only be punishing herself if she kept messing with Cynrik, so she gave him one last peck on the lips before hopping up and going to the kitchen to fix another pot of coffee for herself.

“Yeah, yeah, whatever.” Unable to tear his eyes away, Cynrik watched that gloriously firm and bouncy ass sway left and right, as his woman disappeared into the kitchen. Tier-2 had done wonders for Selene’s body as she now appeared physically closer to her actual mental age. With a single glance at her drop-dead sexy and perfectly sculpted body, Cynrik estimated she was physically in her early twenties.

‘Calm yourself, moron, four more years, and you can smash that till your heart is content.’ Taking a deep breath and exhaling shakily, Cynrik slowed his rapidly beating heart and got up. Walking out of the living room and down the hall, he opened the door to the training room and poked his head in, only to find Gabby and Brance moving around the room, sparring.

“Benny is in his room with Melody, who is still unconscious, by the way.” Knowing exactly why his brother had shown up, Brance directed him away from the training room without stopping his match with Gabby.

“K, thanks.” Dipping his head out of the training room, Cynrik headed to Benny’s bedroom, and upon seeing the door was closed, he knocked three times. A couple of seconds and some shuffling sounds later, Benny quietly opened the door and stepped out with two sheets of paper in his hands.

“Oh ho ho, locking the door and being all secretive, Benny boy, what are you doing to the poor girl when she is so helpless.” Smirking knowingly, Cynrik couldn’t resist the urge to tease the pure-hearted and innocent boy, who broke out into a bright red blush.

“I didn’t do anything other than watch over her jerk, take the fucking papers and leave us alone.” Benny spat and shoved the papers into Cynrik’s chest before disappearing back into his room.

“hehe, use protection, ppffftt.” Snickering at Benny’s expense, Cynrik got the last word in just as the door closed.

Shaking his head and wearing a slight smirk, he turned around, headed back to the living room, plopped down on his recliner, and began reading through the list of new skills.

-Tier-2 Hoplite-Vanguard Skill: [Hoplite’s Weapon Bond Ritual] (LOCKED 1/2 Requirements Met)

-Category: Active Permanent Skill-

-A sword, spear, or shield is more than a weapon to you; it is both your savior and best friend; as such, when a Hoplite-Vanguard chooses a weapon and shield, it can not be done in haste, for it is a bond Till Death or Destruction.-

-The Mana and Stamina separate from your body in a visible colored haze, Light Blue for Mana and Deep Red for Stamina. These two energies mix together and merge into the weapon of choice. Once the ritual is complete, a special marking will run the length of the weapon, signifying the bond has been made and the weapon has received the Status Effect (Bonded Weapon).-

-Bonded Weapon: Since this weapon has bonded with the soul of the person who wields it, it has become part of that person. The higher the Bond Percentage is in your Bonded Weapon’s description, the closer it is to perfection. Bonded weapons grow with their wielder and can develop what is known as Affinity Soul over time, giving it a level of sentience. As a result of sharing Mana and Life energy (Stamina) with it, the weapon was enhanced to have 1% of your stats after completing the ritual. Through fighting alongside its wielder or absorbing materials, it can grow just as an ordinary being would, though at a much slower rate.-

-Offensive Weapon Stats: STR, DEX.-

-Defensive Weapon Stats: VIT (HP replaces Durability),

-You may only have a Maximum of TWO Bonded Weapons at any given time. If one of your Bonded Weapons is destroyed beyond repair, you Permanently lose the same amount of Stats as it had obtained till then.-

-A Bonded weapon can only be repaired or worked on by the person it is Bound to. The moment another being tries to, the weapon will turn violent and fight back or self-destruct.-

-Cost: 100% Of Max MP (Must be over 4500), 98% STAM (Must be Over 5000) –

-Charges: Two Time Use, Once for Offensive Weapon, Once For Defensive.-

-Cooldown: After Charges are used, replacement Bond Charges take three months to replenish.-

-Tier-2 Hoplite-Vanguard Skill: [Phalanx]

-Category: Active Skill-

-The Hoplite is the shield and sword/spear of the party, able to bounce between being a Damage dealer and a Defensive Wall, but where they shine is aiding their allies and working as a singular unit in tandem with their brothers and sisters in arms.

-Release a Mana-filled Call to arms, giving all Allies within a 10-meter Radius 10% damage reduction and debuff resistance for three minutes. Stacks with other Defensive Buff Skills.-

-Cost: 500 MP, 250 STAM.-

-Cooldown: 30 Minutes.-

-Tier-2 Hoplite-Vanguard Skill: [Sacrificial Aid]

-Category: Active Life Saving Skill –

– As the parties shield, there may be times when you must take the hit to keep your Ally standing. Your High defensive capabilities make you more than able to take the hit so that your Ally comes out of the challenge unharmed.-

-Target Ally Gains Status Effect (Impervious) For 5 seconds, You gain Status effect (Transfer Damage); all Damage they would receive while under (Impervious) will be dealt to you instead.-

-Cost:25% of MAX MP, 25% of MAX STAM, unable to be activated if your HP and MP are below 30%-

-Cooldown: 48 Hours.-

-Tier-2 Hoplite-Vanguard Skill: [With My Shield, Or On it!]

-Category: Active Defensive Skill –

– Although you are agile and swift in combat, you still have heavy defensive properties; use them to your advantage.-

-Gives its user the temporary Counter (Aggro) and Increases the Hostility felt by all nearby enemies to you. The counter is started at 5% and increases each time you taunt your enemies by 1% or kill one by 5%. The higher your Aggro counter, the more likely you are to force your opponents to focus on you instead of your allies.-

-Gives its user the temporary Counter (Sheild Defense), setting it at 10 points. One point in this stat represents a 10% Damage reduction per attack blocked with a Shield.-

-All temporary Counters will last until your cooldown is cleared.

-Cost: 1000 MP, 500 STAM.-

-Cooldown: 2 Hours.-

-Tier-2 Hoplite-Vanguard Skill: [Shield Strength]

-Category: Active Skill-

-The shield has more uses than just blocking attacks and protecting your allies; it is also one of your most valuable weapons on the battlefield.-

-At the cost of your Shields HP or Durability, all Damage you deal with it is increased by 50% for 3 minutes.-

-Damage Calc: Shield Damage is calculated With Dexterity instead of Strength.-

-Cost: 25% Of Shields Available HP or Durability –

-Cooldown: 2 hours.-

-Tier-2 Hoplite-Vanguard Skill: [Keen Battle Sense]

-Category: Passive Perception Skill-

-As a Hoplite-Vanguard, you are not only fierce and ruthless on the battlefield but also an expert at controlling the battle; as such, you have a high perception when it comes to foreseeing flaws in your enemy’s lines or battle formations.-

-When in battle, you receive a temporary 15% Boost in your INT and MIND stats. This boost will fade away when you exit combat.-

-Tier-2 Hoplite-Vanguard Skill: [Myriad Flowing Strikes]

-Category: Active Skill-

-The battlefield is your second home, and you know the strength of swapping between defense and offense. Now, go forward and eliminate your enemies using your Weapon and Shield as the tools of battle they genuinely are.-

-Once you charge enough Mana to fill your Sword/Shield, you receive a temporary Combo Counter, and you can lash out in a flurry of shield bashes and strikes with your sword in perfect harmony.-

-Each attack landed increases your Combo Counter by 1, and for every increase in points, you will receive an additional 1% in added Damage.-

-Combo Counter will end if you leave combat, are hit, or stop attacking for longer than 15 seconds.-

-Cost: 2000 MP, 1000 STAM.-

-Cooldown: 12 hours. –

Unlike when he read through Selene’s stats, Cynrik wore a calm expression and digested everything he had just learned. Although Benny’s stats were VERY impressive, they showed a level of control that he wasn’t sure Benny could pull off just yet. In a fight where timing was everything, he had to ensure he didn’t get caught with his pants down by burning too much of his resource stats too early.

Then, there was that first skill, which could cause so many problems that Cynrik didn’t really know where to begin. So he did what his instincts told him. Holding up his Watcet, he made a call.

“What is it now? Haven’t you made enough changes to everyone’s weapon loadouts already? Don’t you realize how much time and effort each little adjustment makes?” An older man’s angry voice picked up the call and appeared on the hologram display.

“Good afternoon to you too, Uncle Jessup, lissstennn, I know I said that the last change for Selene’s weapon would be the final one, but something came up. I am sending you over Benny’s new Class skill. It is imperative that we figure out what to do as soon as possible. I don’t care how much it will cost; I will cover whatever is necessary; without some changes, he won’t be able to use what we’ve designed.” Wearing a defeated expression, Cynrik quickly snapped a picture of Benny’s [Hoplite’s Weapon Bond Ritual] and waited for the man to read through it.

“Holy fuck, is this for real?” Jessup said as his eyes went wide.

“Yeah, that’s why I said changes need to be made. If my assumptions are correct, Benny has no choice but to pick up some form of Blacksmithing that will allow him to work on his own gear since it is clearly listed that no one else can.”

“Getting his hands on a skill that creates the embryo form of a Weapon Soul at only Tier-2 is absolutely unheard of; how the hell are you training that poor boy?” Tapping out of his messenger app, Jessup gave Cynrik a stern look.

“Honestly, I can’t take the blame on this one. Benny has found his fighting style, and well, when he picked up the Aspis and Estoc, he put himself down the path of a Unique Warrior Variant Class. I will start drafting something that will work for him, but I need you to only forge the parts without assembling them. We need to get our hands on a Blacksmithing or Weaponsmithing class that allows him to handle something of this caliber.

“Cynrik, you know as well as I do that it isn’t that simple; he first needs to go through years of training, on top of acquiring the proper Lifestyle skills, the same way you did before receiving your Engineering Class.” Heaving a sigh and walking to his workbench, Jessup unrolled several blueprints he and Cynrik had drafted over the last few months.

“Not only that, but we will have to start from scratch since that boys Estoc and Aspis were the first things I made. I hope you have a good plan in your brain because we have just lost several months of time and effort, and you only have a few short weeks until your group joins the Regional Tournament.”

“Don’t worry, Uncle Jessup, I’ve got this; what is a couple of sleepless nights to an insomniac like me. I will shoot you over what I draw up before the night is over. Anyway, I gotta go; I must brief everyone before they pick their subclasses.”

“Don’t forget to call your mother Cynrik; she has been harassing me day and night about how she never gets to talk to you.”

BEEP BEEP BEEP

Cynrik hung up the call without responding to Jessup’s last remark. There was a particular reason he had been ignoring Cinyah’s calls, and it had to do with a certain MILF, ratting him out.

Not wanting to waste any more time than necessary, Cynrik went around collecting everyone and herding them into the living room for another meeting; this time, he wasn’t so casual, as things had changed slightly.

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