Chương 59: Dig a Hole

Meno inspected the short tattooed man with the mohawk, because his brain refused to accept that Chadculator had walked out of the forum looking like he did math by headbanging to punk rock. [Chadculator | Class: Field Drillmaster — Level 21 | Ability: Weakpoint Drill] field drillmaster? level 21 math boss WEAKPOINT DRILL give him the stick he came for payment why does he look like that"You're level twenty-one," Meno said. Chadculator's hand did not move.

"And you are wasting my time." The promise was already public, though, and going back on it would make him look cheaper than he actually was, which was difficult because he still felt broke with twenty thousand gold. He opened trade, placed the spare Rune Spire into the window, and accepted. [Trade Complete] Chadculator took the Rune Spire, gave it one quick look, and shoved it into his inventory with no ceremony. The image of him actually wielding it stuck in Meno's head anyway.

The weapon would stand a third taller than his body.

"Some rapid-fire questions first," Meno said. Chadculator folded his arms.

"Go."

"Can bows do melee damage if I hit something with one?" Chat did not even need a full second. BOW MELEE he paid 1k for this question delete stream bow bonk meta why is he like this Chadculator leave Chadculator looked like he had swallowed several lemons.

"Technically, anything can apply the damage portion if the system recognizes contact," he said.

"But the damage is terrible, the durability cost is disgusting, and you would probably break a bow within ten hits."

"Good," Meno said.

"So no bow nonsense."

"You needed me for that?"

"No, I needed you for the thing after that," Meno said.

"Go through my stream and check how fast I actually attack in real fights. I don't have time to analyze frame data. I need the weapon type with the best real DPS, not target-dummy math." Chadculator's mouth twitched with immediate contempt.

"I already checked your latest fight against that elk in Starfall Crown," he said.

"The answer remains dual-wield daggers, you idiot. Full speed means twice the chain stacks. This is not a great mystery." Meno closed his eyes for one second.

"No. Dual wield adds nothing if I can't actually reach the cap in real fights. And dagger reach means I drop stacks every time a monster moves like it has free will."

"Then be more specific," Chadculator said.

"What you want to know is which weapon suits your deficient skill level." Chat took that personally on Meno's behalf, then decided it was funnier not to. DEFICIENT SKILL LEVEL math boss opener he cooked him refund unavailable Meno paid for insults Chadculator pointed two fingers at Meno's boots.

"You have a triple-jump skill and can't stop using it because it looks flashy. Every extra hop murders your attack uptime."

"What are you talking about?" Meno said.

"If I die, I do zero damage."

"Don't die." Chadculator started bouncing on the balls of his feet, then punched the air in fast alternating strikes while talking like this was a normal way to explain math.

"That Panic Pump skill is a crutch," Chadculator said.

"At full speed with dual daggers, even after the penalty, you're hitting around six point eight times a second. Titan makes thirteen point six chain stacks a second. You're dropping yourself to one HP to save maybe seven point three five seconds of ramp. Fourteen point seven if we count Break Surplus setups."

"You are saying nonsense out loud," Meno said.

"Starting a fight at twenty-one times damage is huge." Chadculator switched from rapid punches to slow straight punches, each one exaggerated and ugly on purpose.

"Which part was confusing?" Chadculator said.

"You ramp faster, then turn glacial because you're dancing around at one HP, taking long jumps, resetting spacing, and barely poking the monster so the chain doesn't break. The fight lasts five to ten minutes. Which one do you think wins?" Chadculator jabbed the air again, fast enough that the tattoos on his forearms blurred.

"Fast stacking wins. You're in love with the multiplier because it looks disgusting at high chain levels, but lower chain values don't pay you back as hard as you think. JaxxonVale's upgraded Infernal Slam has a baked-in sixteen-times multiplier by default, and it's AOE with a stun." Meno's face went still.

"Do not mention him."

"He's farming while you roleplay a mosquito near antlers," Chadculator said.

"You are playing scared. Stack faster." Chadculator resumed shadowboxing for no visible reason, like his brain needed somewhere to dump the extra math. field drillmaster indeed math monk Meno getting coached one HP mosquito"I didn't call you here to tell me the obvious," Meno said.

"I want a two-hundred-word essay on my stats." Chat became useless. ESSAY assign homework due tonight Chadculator cited sources two hundred words on skill issue Chadculator stopped punching the air and looked him up and down.

"Can you even read two hundred words?" Meno pointed at him.

"Careful."

"At least buy common leather gear for the base bonus," Chadculator said.

"You run around half-naked and still kill everything. Of course people think you're cheating. The AI really messed up giving you that False Wings nonsense."

"I earned that with Titan," Meno said.

"You want every class to become the same because everyone picked identical cookie-cutter options? How you play should matter. That is good for immersion." immersion mode back he said the word all makes sense now he is roleplayer at heart take a quest Chadculator's grin appeared too fast.

"Yes, yes. Let's embrace the chaos." He started pacing, then shadowboxed twice at an invisible target beside the forge door.

"Do you know how many people already rerolled because they want upgraded Titan options?" Chadculator asked.

"Half the players in big guilds are stuck in the twenty-to-thirty bracket because finding a killable three-question-mark monster is almost impossible, and the guild masters won't let them advance without one. Everyone else farms gold to feed them, while only the top players get to keep progressing." Meno's annoyance shifted into understanding.

"Oh," he said.

"So that's why Silverwake and Stormhold joined forces."

"Partly."

"What about healers and support players?" Chadculator barked a laugh.

"That's the gold sink, and that's why everything is overpriced. They need disgusting gear to solo. Rare III minimum, starting under level ten, full set, probably consumables too. Huge design flaw if you ask me. Pay-to-win with extra steps." Meno looked toward the forge smoke curling over the district.

"Yeah, that doesn't make sense," he said.

"The AI is acting drunk as usual. There's definitely another achievement that gives the same kind of upgrade, but nobody's found it yet." Chadculator tilted his head.

"So you're going for Titan four?"

"Yes."

"Which question mark from your stream?" Meno pulled up the map, not because he needed it, but because staring at it made the decision feel more like planning.

"Which one do you think I should go for?" Chadculator tapped his temple, then pointed east on the overlay.

"Probably the lightning Sleepwalker in Crystalstep Basin. I saw you craft an earth-essence weapon, genius." Meno's expression soured.

"That aura is a lightshow I can barely look at. Even if I survive it, the DPS check ruins me. Sleepwalkers are mostly debuffs and zone hazards, not clean dodge windows, so the slow axe is the wrong answer. If I don't kill it fast enough, it'll leave like it did for BrineSaint."

"Yes," Chadculator said. Meno waited. Chadculator smiled.

"Good. Then it'll teach you that False Wings can't solve everything. And before you get clever with the dragon tail spike, the Sleepwalker is not an elemental. Lightning-aspected, probably. Elemental, no." Meno started pacing in front of him. thinking bad idea loading pacing pacing brain chain stack 0 let him cook"Are there shovels?" Meno asked.

"Do you have one?" Chadculator stared at him with suspicion so clean it felt earned.

"Yes, shovels exist," he said.

"I have a basic one from testing, and before your brain does whatever it's doing, it's a tool, not a weapon."

"You are right," Meno said.

"That happens often."

"I've been abusing evasion too much," Meno said, ignoring him.

"Time to see how much damage I can do standing my ground." Chat reversed direction so hard the overlay looked like it had tripped. STANDING GROUND? who are you false wings funeral If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it. shovel? wtf why hole Meno stopped pacing and faced Chadculator.

"Come back here in an hour with your shovel. I need you there, or this takes too long." Chadculator's brows drew together.

"What do you need me for? You have to do it solo anyway, and I am extremely level twenty-one."

"Don't worry about that. You'll see."

"Now I am more worried."

"The weapon I gave you is worth a lot," Meno said.

"This is the least you can do." Chadculator stared at him for three seconds, snorted, and turned away.

"Fine." He left like he was already preparing insults for the trip back. Meno stayed outside the forge and let the plan assemble in his head. It needed gear. It needed a crafter he did not personally know. It probably needed guild trust, which made his skin crawl. The three axes he had just crafted were not useless, exactly, but the Rare recipe wall had turned them into expensive side data.

"Okay," Meno said.

"Armor." GEAR? he said armor call mom son grew up who replaced him"I need lightning damage reduction," Meno said.

"And action speed. And not dying." He visited the Auction House first, because hope was cheaper than social interaction. No Uncommon III leather gear was listed. Merchants kept buying everything up and flipping it on the private Merchant Exchange for profit.

"Terrible design," he said. merchant cartel public market dead agree yes toxic Meno turned on in-game whispers. Bobogobo: You lied about your viewers. That is even more lame. Meno stared at Bobogobo's message for a beat.

"Level six and already a hater. Veyrath raises them fast." He ignored the rest and spoke to stream.

"Okay, if any leatherworker can craft Uncommon III gear, or if anyone has similar gear with lightning damage reduction, I need helm, chest, pants, and boots. I'll trade any Uncommon III weapon type with a Deepwater Rune for two pieces, because that rune costs double essence." whispers open deal deal deal leatherworker here fake scam city"So," Meno continued, "two rune weapons for the four pieces. I can also make normal weapons one-for-one if that's what you want. Guilds only, for trust reasons and troll filtering.

First guild rep to whisper me gets the deal. No drama." Meno wanting gear end times he's buying pants Aurelia was right"About what?" Meno said. The nonsense spam kept rolling in until one name finally looked serious. Relay_HypeForge: VantaRush wants 2 Uncommon III Deepwater Rune daggers. We can craft 4 Uncommon III Charmleather pieces with Earthen Guard: helm/chest/pants/boots. Westmarket in 30m if accepted. HypeForge VantaRush rank 9 trust? dagger trade take it PrayerBeadGod: Accepted. Westmarket forge. Half hour.

The next problem was materials. He opened the Auction House again and built the list while muttering through the costs, because sharing the pain made it feel slightly less like being robbed. The remaining bill for 3 Rune Daggers, 2 normal Daggers, and 1 Plate Chest came to 24 Charmsteel Bars at 20 gold each, 9 Infused Rivets at 5 each, 9 Infused Armor Linings at 5 each, 45 Charm Forge Fuel at 5 each, plus 6 Uncommon III Water Essences and 2 Uncommon III Earth Essences.

He already had the needed 15 Infused Grip Wraps and 15 Infused Binding Pins. The Water Essence price made him lean back. [Uncommon III Water Essence] [Lowest Price: 400g each]"Of course water costs more," Meno said.

"It has to be pure or whatever." He still bought enough for three rune daggers, two normal daggers, and one plate chest, because the plan had already become expensive and stopping halfway only made it expensive and useless. [Materials Purchased] [Total Cost: 4, 015g] [Currency: 14, 975g] His gold vanished in one clean bite.

"I became rich for less than an hour." poor again not poor at all stop crying gold is temporary content is debt He returned to the forge with materials in hand. The trainer gave him one look and did not ask whether he should empty the room this time. He simply stepped away from the forge, folded his hands, and watched with resignation.

"Good call," Meno said. The Rune Daggers came first. Small weapons made the runes annoying. The Tail Spike's point was precise, but dagger blades gave him less room to route Deepwater lines, and Fluxforge heat punished hesitation by dragging red damage across his health bar. He had to engrave slowly, tightening every stroke so the lines did not bleed into each other, and only after the final prompt completed did he drink a Duneleaf Recovery Draught to refill the health the forge had taken.

[Uncommon III Charmsteel Rune Dagger] Quality: 100% — Perfect Durability: Maximum Deepwater Rune: Twenty consecutive hits charge the blade. Activate to remove one debuff from yourself.

"Good," Meno said, breathing through his teeth.

"Tiny blade, tiny workspace, huge attitude." The second dagger went cleaner because his hands remembered the line before his mood could complain. The forge bit him anyway. Health drained with each overloaded rune pass, and he used another Duneleaf Recovery Draught afterward while chat watched the rune lines like they expected the forge to cough up a demon. The third Rune Dagger was for testing, backup, or greed, depending on who asked.

Meno guided the Tail Spike through the final Deepwater curve, locked the binding, and lifted the finished blade from the heat. The forge flared once, hard enough to send sparks across the station, but the pattern held. His HP crawled low, the Duneleaf draught ticked, and the trainer made a small sound he probably hoped nobody heard.

"Three," Meno said.

"Still alive." The normal daggers felt insultingly simple after that. Three bars, three fuel, one Earth Essence, prompt rhythm, edge work, binding pins, grip wraps. No health-draining rune engraving. No Tail Spike line work. No feeling that the forge wanted to eat him. [Uncommon III Charmsteel Dagger] Quality: 100% — Perfect Durability: Maximum Earthen Edge III: Deals 30% increased damage against Lightning-aspected and Air-aspected enemies; slaying them restores weapon durability. He made the second one faster.

Then came the plate chest. Meno had never crafted armor before, and he expected the system to punish him for assuming metal was metal. It did, but only a little. The Infused Armor Lining needed to be laid under the plates before the heat finished settling, and the Infused Rivets had to lock into the right glow points instead of simply being hammered in like angry nails. It took longer than a weapon, almost twice as long, but the prompts stayed readable.

The chest piece came together in layers of Charmsteel plates with an earthen thread under the shine. Heavy compared to leather, and still carrying an action speed penalty he already disliked on sight. It would not be his main answer, but having a High Defense piece with lightning reduction was worth the material burn. [Uncommon III Charmsteel Plate Chest] Quality: 100% — Perfect Durability: Maximum Defense: High Action Speed: -5% Earthen Guard: Lightning and Air damage taken reduced by 10%.

Fifty minutes had vanished. Meno looked toward the door.

"VantaRush is definitely waiting." He gathered the two trade Rune Daggers, kept the third, packed the normal daggers and plate chest, and stepped out into the forge district. A man in expensive-looking leather armor stood near the entrance with his hands tucked loose at his sides. Silver hair fell to his shoulders, too clean to be accidental, and a neat goatee framed a smile that knew where the camera was even without looking for it.

He looked older than JaxxonVale, maybe mid-thirties unless the character creator had been used to add authority on purpose. [VantaRush_HypeForge | Class: Knifeclock Pattern Rogue — Level 43 | Ability: Perfect Sequence] VantaRush looked past him toward the forge.

"Still alive, I see. Watching you make rune weapons is quietly entertaining. It always looks like the forge is about to explode."

"That is an issue," Meno said.

"There has to be a better forge somewhere. Maybe a royal one that runs hotter without needing me to overload it every time." VantaRush's smile shifted.

"Possible. Kingdom crafting stations are exactly the sort of bonus nobody wants to test blind yet." Meno understood he meant the mount quest. VantaRush continued before he could ask.

"By the way, we found a lead on your Meno's Nightmare legendary."

"Where?"

"Serpent's Wake Coast," VantaRush said.

"One of the big spires jutting out of the water has flooded basements. There's a heretic monk blacksmith NPC in one of them, and his quest points to Templefall Hollow." Meno stared at him.

"That's a dud, then. I am definitely not doing it."

"Not yet anyway," VantaRush said.

"We had someone start Fluxforge Smith recently, but the runic chisel is the bottleneck. You are kind of cheating with that spike. An Epic III tool substitute makes this much easier than intended. A normal Uncommon runic chisel already takes a pile of quests, and he has not finished them yet."

"Why make the trade, then?" Meno asked.

"You could have waited." VantaRush gave a small shrug.

"I dislike waiting. I want to test Deepwater daggers now. And honestly, they are worth more than the leather armor you want in exchange."

"That makes sense," Meno said, and opened trade before VantaRush could reconsider. The trade window filled. [Meno Offered:] [Uncommon III Charmsteel Rune Dagger x2] [VantaRush Offered:] [Uncommon III Charmleather Vest] [Uncommon III Charmleather Pants] [Uncommon III Charmleather Helm] [Uncommon III Charmleather Boots] Meno inspected each piece. They were all nearly identical: 2% action speed, Medium defense, and 10% reduced Lightning and Air damage. That's all.

[Uncommon III Charmleather Pants] Quality: 100% — Perfect Durability: Maximum Defense: Medium Leather Bonus: +2% Action Speed. Earthen Guard: Lightning and Air damage taken reduced by 10%. Meno accepted. [Trade Complete] starter gear arc over pants acquired put them on waste of gold VantaRush chuckled.

"By the way, Kestrel and PikeNorth remain livid about your interview comments. They are merely too busy to act on it."

"That's fine," Meno said.

"I don't care."

"You probably should." Meno equipped the leather pieces one by one. They were nothing special, just brown leather replacing torn cloth, but the 8% action speed bonus settled into his movement immediately. The helm felt strange for two seconds, then the system adjusted the fit and he stopped noticing it. Meno also kept the Charmsteel Plate Chest in inventory.

By stacking the plate chest with the leather helm, pants, and boots, he could still reach 40% damage reduction, with higher chest Defense and lower action speed overall. The bonus stayed positive, barely, at 1%. Full leather gave him mobility instead. The choice would matter once the lightning started trying to erase his eyes. He could have stacked another 10% reduction, but there was no way he was giving up his legendary gloves for it. He looked back at VantaRush.

"What do you know about the mount quest? It says choose wisely when picking a kingdom." VantaRush's expression turned more serious.

"I haven't completed the achievement yet, but some in HypeForge have. We told them not to finish the audience step."

"Why?"

"It is obviously a faction pick for later," VantaRush said.

"We are still in launch week, but Veyrath is going to devolve into kingdom warfare. Probably once Lost Temple is cleared." Chat slowed to read, then sped up in panic. FACTION LOCK choose wisely means war guilds know do not pick yet Meno frowned.

"Each major guild already picked a kingdom, right?"

"That was mainly to avoid spawn griefing each other at launch," VantaRush said.

"It does not mean they will stay there. Nobody knows what bonus each kingdom gives yet. They might even agree to pick the same one so they stop interfering with each other."

"That would be really bad."

"Yes," VantaRush said.

"If rewards are tied to a kingdom winning, stacking one side makes more sense than pretending to compete fairly." Meno looked toward the Mage Tower district. The mount prompt had just become heavier. Faster travel mattered, but being trapped in the wrong kingdom later could matter more. If all the big guilds coordinated, the wrong choice could turn every future war into a loss.

"Okay," he said.

"No mount yet." VantaRush lifted one eyebrow.

"That is more restraint than I expected."

"I am capable of restraint." Chat disagreed in several thousand messages. LMAO speak truth coward not true stop lying Meno ignored it.

"How is your class?" VantaRush's smile returned.

"Knifeclock Pattern Rogue. Boss-focused sustained DPS. My abilities gain different bonus effects depending on the order I use them. Burst and mobility are weaker than most rogue builds, so PvP is not its best field, but against bosses it performs very well. I can tailor damage by type. Good class. Not Swing Master broken, but good." Meno looked offended on principle.

"You think my class is broken?"

"Yes," VantaRush said.

"Mainly because of your Titan stack. Your burst AOE is disgusting, and if a fight lasts long enough, you outscale almost any class. False Wings is probably the best mobility tool in the game for versatility. Rogue options are faster and mage teleports are cleaner, but yours has no real cooldown, so you can jump around all day." Meno folded his arms.

"Without those Titan options?"

"Without Titan options, you would struggle solo," VantaRush said.

"Especially without Hundredfold AOE. Your single-target ramp is powerful but fragile. Your class has no group utility, no safety for allies, and if the chain breaks, it goes from best scaling DPS to dead weight immediately." damage bot he said dead weight broken confirmed my brother hates it"Are guilds stacking Swing Masters?" Meno asked.

"I do not think so," VantaRush said.

"Too unforgiving, and their best players are already too high level to reroll. They are stacking ranged damage classes instead. Safer, less ramp, big damage from the start. Easier to coordinate." Meno thought of Jaxxon tapping his staff while demons slammed an entire dungeon pull into paste.

"Yeah," he said.

"I saw." VantaRush's smile said he knew exactly which clip had caused that tone.

"Then you understand." They said goodbye without turning it into a networking event, which improved VantaRush's standing with Meno more than any class explanation could have. He left toward the Mage Tower, two Deepwater Rune Daggers in his inventory and probably six plans for testing them before dinner. Meno watched her go, then checked the time and his body's growing list of complaints. Chadculator would be back soon, but ten minutes away from the capsule might keep him from becoming a cautionary tale.

"Break," Meno said. break? no stream stays?

"I've been online for about twelve hours," Meno said.

"I'll be back soon. Don't go anywhere." He logged out at the forge district. [Logout Initiated] The game feed dropped to his room camera and overlay. Meno climbed out of the Soma-X7 and took the fastest shower a human being could survive. He ate the first bag of potato chips his hand found, drank water over the sink, and checked his phone just long enough to confirm there was no immediate catastrophe. That absence felt suspicious, but useful.

Ten minutes later, he climbed back into the capsule with damp hair, a clean shirt. [Login Complete] Westmarket forge district returned around him. Chadculator stood exactly where he had said he would, holding a basic shovel over one shoulder. The tool was plain: wooden shaft, dull metal scoop, dirt stains along the edge. In Chadculator's hands, it looked like a threat. Meno adjusted his new leather gloves, checked the daggers, axes, Rune Spires, plate chest, and potions in inventory, then looked at Chadculator.

"Okay," Meno said.

"We're ready." Chadculator narrowed his eyes.

"For what, exactly?" Meno started toward the Mage Tower.

"Let's go dig a hole."