"Wait…!" Jack exclaimed, which drew everyone's attention.
He stood up. He would be damned if he let another player get the Blade Dancer's special class. That was his main class, after all. He used the Orb of Disguise and changed into Unrivaled Arcaner.
"Oh? You have a disguise artifact?" Chris said with surprise.
Jack didn't reply. He started casting a spell. The spell was Double Clone. Two other Jacks in mage's getup appeared. The true Jack then reverted to his original appearance.
"Time Sage," Jack pointed to one of his clones. He then pointed to himself and said, "Blade Dancer. Will this work?"
Chris was massaging his chin. He said, "Honestly, this is not following the original programming… But I don't see how the system will void this attempt. I think this can work... For the record, I dislike this. This is borderline hacking."
"Your dislike is noted," Jack said. He returned to his seat. "Show me where I can get the pinnacle special class for Blade Dancer."
"It's not your turn yet, but fine," Chris said and inputted different coordinates. The image of the Valley of Tempus was replaced by a place that looked like a creepy forest.
"The Lost Forest?" Jack said when he recognized the place.
"You know the place?" Chris asked.
"Yeah. We go there when we visit the Village of Peace."
"You have visited the Village of Peace? I'm impressed. Well, as someone who managed to get a pinnacle special class without my help, I should say it is expected."
"Now, this reminds me. Jack here got the Time Sage class all by himself, didn't he?" Jet asked.
"Yes. I already said I'm impressed. What more do you want?" Chris asked back with an annoyed tone.
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "64ce79d606107d003c23ea27", id: "pf-5140-1"})"What if someone else already got one of the pinnacle special classes?" Jet asked.
The whole table became silent after Jet's question.
"That… should be unlikely, the guardian beast…"
"Jack here did it when he was low-level," Jet cut Chris off. "What if others did as well? From what I heard, only one player can get this pinnacle special class, am I right? What if I go to this trial and find out someone has already snatched the special class?"
"Well… If that happens, then we are f*cked," Chris said.
"This is some brilliant contingency plan you've prepared, mister creator," John said sarcastically.
"He did put his hope on people stumbling into his puzzle to save the Gods," Jack said. "A puzzle guarded by an over-leveled monster which most players are unable to beat, so I said he is pretty consistent in placing his hope on extremely risky and uncertain endeavors."
"Are you talking about the Lizardman Blood Guard? I didn't find that monster difficult to beat," Leavemealone said.
"F*ck you, man," Jack returned.
"Whatever. Let's get back to the topic," Wilted said. Everyone could see that she wasn't in a good mood. "Let's get this over with. We will go to the trial sites. If someone has already snatched the special class, then perhaps it is our fate to lose."
Jet turned to Chris, gave him a look, and said, "Way to go, dude."
Chris shrugged. "To be fair, this is all true Chris' deeds. I'm just carrying out what he left me. If it's any consolation, I do admit he is an a*shole."
"Give me the disc," Jack said to Chris.
Chris took out a similar disc to the ones he had given the others and handed it to Jack.
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "64cc9e79c7059f003e4ad4b0", id: "pf-5109-1"})"Like in the Valley of Tempus, you will find a hard time traveling through the Lost Forest. Without that disc, you will most likely get lost. That disc will show you the correct way to the trial space."
Jack nodded.
Chris continued distributing discs to the other players while showing each of them the place where they should go. After he handed out the last disc, Four Winds asked, "How long will the trial take?"
Four Winds was among those who wished to return as soon as possible. He was a country's sovereign, after all. Many matters required his attention. Unlike Jet and Purple Mist whose trial locations were in a city, his was in the wilderness. He would need some time to get to the location. This was already precious time spent.
"It is different for every trial. It is also different depending on your competence," Chris answered. "One might take weeks, or months, or even years, but I dare say you should at least need one week to pass the trial."
"Really? I spent only like a second for my Time Sage trial," Jack said.
"That's right. I'm not even aware he was in a trial. All of a sudden, he is already a Time Sage," Peniel added.
Chris turned to Jack with a condescending look. He said, "The Time Sage trial is special. Others might see it as a mere second, but let me ask you, how long did you spend inside the trial realm?"
"Uh…," Jack couldn't remember, but it was sure very long. He could even say it was his entire lifetime. He almost died of old age then.
"One week," Four Winds muttered.
"Dude, you are very optimistic," Paytowin said to Four Winds. "You did hear he said you might end up requiring years to complete the trial, didn't you?"
"I don't have years. I will complete it in one week!" Four Winds declared.
Paytowin gave him a thumbs up.
"Just so everyone is clear, once you enter the trial space, you won't be able to end it until the trial is complete. You either succeed or fail. There is no stopping midway."
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "663633fa8ebf7442f0652b33", id: "pf-8817-1"})"What happens if we fail?" Jeanny asked.
"You die," Chris replied.
Remembering his Time Sage trial, Jack didn't think the death from failing the trial to be a simple death. He refrained from telling others about this so as not to dissuade them.
"Everyone still wants to take the trial after knowing this?" Chris asked.
"Um… Can I drop out?" Will asked.
"No, you will go through with this!" John said while giving Will a hard stare.
"You are one mean boss, you know that?" Will said.
"I thought you like danger?"
"I do. What I don't like is the prospect of going to war after getting this special class."
"Can't you give us clues on how to pass the trials?" Giant Steve asked Chris.
"That will be cheating, won't it?" Chris replied.
"Dude. We have a world crisis on our hands. You still worry about cheating?" Jet asked.
"I've already given you the means to find the place, get past the guardian beast, and bypass the initial trial. I think I've helped enough."
Wilted stood up. "Okay, people. You have gotten your discs and the coordinates. Let's leave at once."
