Chapter 405 Tribulation Quest Benny

'Legend is off the table, and so is Expert, being opposite ends of the spectrum, one is too hard, while the other would be too easy, leaving only Master and Grandmaster.' Taking a deep breath, Benny brought his hand to his chin and began pacing back and forth, lost in thought.

'Master or Grandmaster, which one do I choose? If I want to push myself to the limit, then Grandmaster is the optimal choice; however, if I want to keep some semblance of normalcy and safety in mind, then…' Heaving a sigh, Benny made up his mind to choose the Master Difficulty.

'There is no telling what this quest entails, the description is so vague, and if my assumption is correct, then the fine details will be revealed after choosing my difficulty.' Stopping to stand still, Benny tilted his head to the side and popped his neck, a habit he learned from Cynrik and Brance.

"Right, gotta gear up; there is no telling what I will be against. The quest description said I have to fight things while doing an obstacle course challenge." Waving his hands, Benny smiled warmly as a rugged and unrefined Estoc appeared in his right hand and a crudely made Aspis in the other.

The two weapons were the result of his hard work, and although imperfect and crafted by an amateur, they were his.

-SanHop Estoc-

-Tier-2: Special Grade (Growth)

-Classification: Spirit Armament Sword (Infant Affinity Soul)-

-Bound to Benjamin Sanford. (Unable to be wielded or handled by anyone except the Being it is bound to)-

-Previously an Estoc forged by Rookie Spirit Smith, Benjamin Sanford, but after undergoing The [Hoplite's Weapon Bond Ritual], It has undergone a dramatic change, giving birth to an Infant Affinity Soul.-

-Growth Proficiency: 29%. (Each Increase in Proficiency =1% of Users Base Stats.)-

-+348 Strength.-

-+348 Dexterity.-

-Durability: 13920/13920 (Linked with VIT of SanHop Aspis)-

-Special Ability: Weight Modification- By channeling Mana with equal parts of all your Affinities, you can change the weight of this weapon at will. Maximum weight Modification is five times the base weight.-

-Base Weight: 50 kg *110 LBS*

-SanHop Aspis-

-Tier-2: Special Grade (Growth)

-Classification: Spirit Armament Shield (Infant Affinity Soul)-

-Bound to Benjamin Sanford. (Unable to be wielded or handled by anyone except the Being it is bound to)-

-Previously a double crescent Aspis forged by Rookie Spirit Smith, Benjamin Sanford, but after undergoing The [Hoplite's Weapon Bond Ritual], It has undergone a dramatic change, giving birth to an Infant Affinity Soul.-

-Growth Proficiency: 29%. (Each Increase in Proficiency =1% of Users Base Stats.)-

-+348 Vitality.-

-Durability (HP): 13920/13920.- *Based on Tier-2 Modifier.*

-Special Ability: Wielder Gains additional Stamina Based on the VIT stat of this Armament. (6960)

As Benny spun his Estoc in a tight circle, the blade vibrated as it cut through the air, as if happy to be in Benny's hand. The same could be said about the Aspis resting tightly on his left forearm. It, too, appeared to be glad it wasn't in his inventory any longer.

"Hehe, I know you both are excited to be out, but we have a tough battle ahead of us, and I have no clue what to expect," Benny said as he brought both weapons up and spoke softly to them.

In response, the sword and shield hummed in excitement.

Looking over the crude craftsmanship of the Aspis and Estoc, Benny felt a little sad that he couldn't make them look more impressive, but since they were Growth Weapons, as they got stronger, hopefully, the imperfections he could see with his naked eye would be fixed up.

The SanHop Estoc was a mixture of Red and Blue, just like his hair, indicating that it had a high conductivity with both Fire and Water Mana, or in this case, Temperature, and the same could be said about the Aspis.

The blade extended out a total of 1.6 meters *5.24 feet*, the Estoc felt hefty and balanced in his hand as its X-shaped cross-section's edges were blunt, yet the point on the end of the blade was extremely sharp. Compared to what he was used to, his SanHop Estoc was much longer and had a hilt about half a meter long *0.7 Meters or 2.29 feet*.

When it came to decorations, the sword was relatively lackluster, and no one would scramble to steal his weapon any time soon since it looked as basic as possible.

Meanwhile, the Aspis was a different case altogether. With a diameter of 1.5 meters *4.9 feet*, the double crescents dipping inward from the left and right of the shield gave it a completely different feeling from what a standard spartan shield would. As opposed to being a giant circle, it looked like someone had taken bites out of the shield's left and right sides.

The shiny two-toned red and blue metal had no emblem or details and was practically a blank slate.

Feeling calmer with his weapons in hand, Benny equipped his armor, which like everyone else in the Faction, was a unique Epic Grade Set, the MyrkLys Hoplite Set.

-MyrkLys Hoplite Set: Epic Ranked.-

-1 piece: 25% buff to Stamina.-

-3 pieces: 25% buff to Crit Rate.-

-5 pieces: 50% buff to Physical and Metaphysical Damage resistance.-

However, unlike everyone else in MyrkLys, who had seven pieces in their sets, Benny only had Five, and that was because neither his Aspis nor Estoc could gain the added ability. Still, with the buffs from his Spartan Helmet, sleeveless leather chest piece, vambraces, and shin guards, the five-piece armor set turned Benny into the spitting image of a spartan warrior, giant red/blue mohawk included.

All of his equipment was in the same Red and Blue tone as his weapons, and the leather Chestpiece hugged his body so tightly that you could see the definition of his abdominal and pectoral muscles through the leather.

The body armor covered him by extending down to his hips and wrapping around his waist. It tapered off into segmented skirting, leaving his thighs slightly covered yet exposed if not for the athletic pants he was wearing.

The helmet was filled with sharp edges, giving him a fierce image while allowing him a full, unhindered view, even with the nose covered.

Like the chest piece, the vambraces and shin guards were formed out of the same leather and fit to the point where they didn't hinder his movement while allowing for maximum protection, with the shin guards covering from his ankles all the way midway up his thighs.

The only thing Benny was missing was the typical spartan Cape, which Cynrik completely disregarded with the thought, 'Capes are fucking stupid.'

Fully decked out in his gear, Benny walked up to the floating monitor and pressed the Master Difficulty without hesitation.

-You have selected the Master Difficulty, adjusting the settings and parameters for your Tribulation Quest.-

-In five minutes, you will be transferred to a Virtual realm. This virtual realm will be sectioned off into several large chambers.-

-Upon being transferred to the first chamber, named Chamber Zero. Your level, stats, Tier, and Affinities will be rolled back, turning you into a Level 0 Tier-0 Existence.-

-This change will be reflected in your Stats and Affinities as (Temporary).-

-By successfully clearing obstacles and defeating opponents, you will regain what you have lost.-

-The boundary between Chambers is called a Checkpoint. To cross through the Checkpoint, you must have cleared every present obstacle and defeated every available opponent, effectively reaching the Peak of that Chamber's Tier.-

-Since you have chosen the Master Difficulty, there are four chambers. Each chamber will have an allocated Respawn amount, meaning you can die that many times and still be able to pass the Quest.-

-Respawns-

-Chamber 0: One Respawn.-

-Chamber 1: Two Respawns.-

-Chamber 2: Three Respawns.-

-Chamber 3: Four Respawns.-

-Each chamber will have a time limit to clear, and if that timer Reaches Zero, you will lose a Respawn to refill the timer by 15 minutes.-

-If you die and are out of respawns, or the timer runs out, and you are out of respawns, the Tribulation Quest will be considered Failed.-

-To receive a passing grade on your Tribulation, you must clear at a minimum Chamber 2.-

-Anomaly Detected.-

-The presence of Two Spirit Armaments has been detected; their stats will reflect the changes in your own.-

-Your equipment's stats will be adjusted to reflect your progress in the Chambers.-

Benny's jaw flopped open as he read the lengthy description of his Tribulation Quest, each line more incredulous than the last. The thought of losing all his hard work over the years and starting back at square one horrified him, but that wasn't even the worst part.

Losing all your progress was terrible, but being forced into a situation where you needed to defeat opponents on top of clearing obstacle challenges, unnerved Benny greatly.

It had been years since he broke through to Tier-1, and even so, he was significantly younger. Being forced to adjust to having his progress rolled back was undoubtedly the challenge's most annoying and difficult part.

Feeling his heart rate and breathing accelerate, Benny gripped the handle of his Aspis and the Hilt of his Estoc tightly for comfort. The last thought he had before disintegrating into particles was…

'I should have fucking chosen Expert.'

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