Chương 152: Chapter 151: Bucket Tyrant

Karmabeast looked from the two loot beams to Meno, then spread his arms with satisfaction.

"See? AI knows who enabled this kill and who has done the most quests between us. I am still at zero." Meno was already pissed. The Balveth Seeker had dropped two things, and somehow Karmabeast had received the glowing weapon while Meno got a scroll. Not a useful crafting recipe, not some strange Tyrant component, not even a material he could immediately sell for an absurd amount of gold. A quest scroll. This was undeniable petty sabotage by Solar.

The scroll was probably a guaranteed drop from the elite, but the loot system had still decided that PrayerBeadGod, lifelong enemy of questing, was the right choice. Karmabeast celebrated by doing cartwheels around the Seeker's corpse for his stream while Meno stood beside the fading loot beam, holding the scroll and trying to understand what he had done to deserve this.

"Show me that dagger again." Karmabeast stopped halfway through another cartwheel, rolled onto his feet, and happily opened the item.

[Ancient I | Prismatic Infuser] Type: Dagger | Tool: Enchanting Damage Tier: Legendary IV Durability: Augmented++ Attacks with this weapon gain additional damage equal to: 10% of base weapon damage as Fire damage 10% of base weapon damage as Earth damage 10% of base weapon damage as Nature damage 10% of base weapon damage as Ice damage 10% of base weapon damage as Shadow damage 10% of base weapon damage as Light damage 10% of base weapon damage as Lightning damage 10% of base weapon damage as Water damage 10% of base weapon damage as Air damage 10% of base weapon damage as Arcane damage Level 90 was clearly the beginning of the Ancient bracket, which meant they had skipped an entire rarity step somewhere between Masterwork III and Ancient I.

Meno had no clue what the missing tier was called yet, but the dagger's Legendary IV Damage Tier mattered more than the rarity name anyway. It also clarified something about Mythic equipment. Sinseeker was only Mythic I, yet it carried the same Legendary IV Damage Tier, meaning Mythic gear was even better than Meno had assumed. Normal equipment seemed to climb its own rarity track as levels increased, while Damage Tier referenced the equivalent Legendary bracket for raw weapon power.

Legendary gear came from raids, rare vendors, or special rewards and usually carried stronger modifiers, while Mythic appeared to sit outside ordinary progression with specialized effects strong enough to stay relevant long after the item's original level range. The durability rules were different too.

Legendary III and higher items on the special Legendary and Mythic track seemed to gain Indestructible, while Karmabeast's Ancient I dagger only had Augmented++ durability despite being stronger than plenty of Legendary gear. So it could break. Meno hoped Karmabeast enjoyed paying for that. The weapon itself sat somewhere between a dagger and a short sword, with a serrated edge and metal that constantly shifted color as different elemental hues moved through it.

Karmabeast juggled it between his hands like he had already forgotten that both of them had nearly died getting the thing. Meno wanted it.

"It's not as good as it looks anyway," Meno said, mostly because saying the opposite would make Karmabeast even more unbearable.

"A weapon at that rarity should probably have some huge hundred-plus-percent damage modifier. This just splits another full weapon hit across ten elements." Karmabeast laughed and caught the dagger by the handle.

"Million times better than what I had. Why don't you focus on the bucket?" Right. The bucket. Meno looked down at the scroll again and reopened it, because apparently Solar had decided his first meaningful Ancient-bracket reward should be the dumbest bugged quest in Veyrath. [Quest Scroll: Fractera Depths Layer 4 Maintenance] Eradicate the invasive plants at the main confinement node by transporting molten glowstone from the central cavern.

Reward: [Ancient III | Bucket] [Ancient III | Bucket] Type: Specialized Tool Used to transport molten glowstone Chat had already seen the reward when it dropped and was no more respectful the second time. bucket tyrant arc revenge for stool tech please complete the bucket chain finally an item worthy of PBG questing for household supplies Meno held the scroll out like evidence in a criminal trial.

"This is total nonsense. It wants me to transport molten rock to clean up weeds, and the reward is the bucket needed to transport the molten rock in the first place. Literally impossible. This is what I keep saying about quests. All dumb." Karmabeast leaned closer to inspect the tooltip with far too much interest.

"Maybe there's a quest on a higher layer that gives Ancient I Bucket, then another one gives Ancient II Bucket, then this gives the best Bucket. After that you probably need the Ancient III Bucket to bring food to the imprisoned badass at the bottom." Meno considered him for a second.

"See? You are clearly an expert. Want to trade?"

"Nooo." Karmabeast backed away protectively, keeping the Prismatic Infuser well out of reach.

"Wouldn't wanna stop you from becoming Bucket Tyrant. Maybe you can figure out some exploit to transport the goo without the previous bucket."

"Yeah, because getting banned for a bucket is totally worth it."

"Seems like an elaborate chain. Might give a Mythic Bucket at the end."

"Yeah. Right." Meno stored the scroll before Solar interpreted prolonged eye contact as quest acceptance and picked one of the cracks leading away from the cavern at random. The passage squeezed tight for a short stretch before opening into another small chamber, where a second blue portal floated in the middle of the rock. Meno stopped at the entrance and frowned.

"Why are there so many of these?" The portals made less sense with every one they found. Maybe they all led into the same Rift region through different entrances, maybe each one connected to a separate pocket dimension, or maybe they were individual prison cells containing Rift Kings. Whatever the answer was, Meno still had no intention of stepping through one personally. Excrino could cross a portal, grab something, and come back because Excrino was a god covered in swords who ate Rift Kings like snacks.

Meno and Karmabeast had no clue whether normal players could return, where they would resurrect if they died inside, or whether the other side skipped straight into some Layer 100 nightmare. That did not mean the portal was useless. Meno looked toward Karmabeast, who saw the expression immediately and sighed.

"You're gonna kill me again."

"Only temporarily." Meno removed Karmabeast from the party. Once he became a valid hostile target, Meno formed Quadrillionator, landed the required Massive weapon hit, and activated Mush. Excrino manifested, crushed Karmabeast into the ground, and restored him a second later without any of the dramatic commentary Karmabeast probably deserved. The incarnation remained behind, noticed the blue portal, and walked straight through.

A moment later, Excrino returned holding another thin blue creature marked as a Rift King. The title continued to feel generous. The thing looked more like a starving humanoid somebody had stretched vertically, but ants had queens, so Meno supposed royalty was flexible. This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. Excrino crushed it between his hands, ate it without comment, and disappeared.

[Quest: Break It] Feed Rift Kings to Excrino so that the Hanged God may grow stronger. Progress: 2 / 66 Reward: Tyrant Evolution Advancement The progress still felt depressingly far from useful. Meno invited Karmabeast back into the party, waited for Mush to refresh again, then repeated the setup beside the exact same portal. This time, Excrino crushed and restored Karmabeast as normal, but vanished afterward without giving the gateway a second glance. That narrowed the mechanic down considerably.

"Different portals," Meno said.

"Or different Rift Kings. Maybe if we find one walking around Layer 4, using Mush on it works too." Karmabeast checked himself after resurrecting.

"More like Rift food if you ask me."

"If we find one outside, I want to fight it first. We might be feeding Excrino boss monsters that drop Legendary IV gear, and that would be tragic."

"That's definitely the quest." Karmabeast nodded with fake seriousness.

"Only costs you sixty-six Legendary drops. At least it's easy."

"It's only easy because nobody else is here. If this place was flooded with players, I'm sure it would be different." Chat changed immediately. PIKE FOUND THE HOLE moon inc highbanner swimming down silverwake too layer four privacy over Meno stopped in the passage and checked the spam more carefully.

"Your chat saying the same thing?" Karmabeast glanced at his own stream.

"Yep. Let's rush back and take the respawn XP before they steal it. Then we can gank them in peace."

"Chill. We talk first." Meno started toward the Balvath cavern while Karmabeast followed.

"If you kill them and there's a nearby respawn, they'll just stream-snipe us while we're fighting an Elite. That's a zero-XP strat." On the way back, Meno opened the global leaderboard to see how much everyone else had progressed while he and Karmabeast were busy drilling through Fractera and feeding blue people to a god.

[Launch Leaderboard | Global Level Rank] [1] PrayerBeadGod — 72 | Swing Master Tyrant | GC | GraveMistake [2] BrineSaint — 69 | Dawn Bastion Paragon | RB | No Guild [3] Kestrel — 68 | Prism Detonator Eternal | SC | Crownfall [4] Thorn — 68 | War Anchor Dominion | RB | Stormhold [5] HGLovesMerry — 68 | Rot Savant Astral | SC | No Guild [6] Pike — 68 | Terra Channeler Tempest | RB | Highbanner [7] Moon — 67 | Mercy Herald Devout | RB | Silverwake [8] VantaRush — 67 | Tempo Blade Oracle | RB | HypeForge [9] Karmabeast — 67 | Venom Tormentor Umbral | GC | GraveMistake [10] JaxxonVale — 66 | Rift Warlock Myriad | VC | QuestingVale Karmabeast sneaking into the top ten should have been the important development, but Meno's attention went straight to the bottom.

JaxxonVale had joined evil. Veil Court was already the quest faction, and now he had created a guild literally called QuestingVale. Sarcastic or not, the name was now a public safety issue. No Veil Court player should be allowed to sit among the ten best players in the world while advertising quests through the guild tag. Questing was banned unless it gave class advancement. Or buckets. Buckets were a special exception.

Meno wouldn't bother some random casual over it, but JaxxonVale was popular, highly ranked, and therefore a completely valid target. He opened guild chat without slowing down. [PrayerBeadGod]: Bnana you here? You have a special mission. The response came quickly. [BNanaSendFeetPics]: Yaa, me? Why me? Hello, btw. Call me Nana, ok? [PrayerBeadGod]: You have the right name for this. Go find JaxxonVale and farm him. Tell him GraveMistake has declared war on QuestingVale. [BNanaSendFeetPics]: LOOOL. Legit not happening.

I love Jaxxon he is so handsome. Meno frowned at the message. He had not planned for ideological weakness inside the guild. Before he could respond, another name appeared. [ScuzzyIamDisease]: Shut it clown. I'll handle it. But PBG you restream my POV when you bounce. [BNanaSendFeetPics]: >< rude. Karmabeast leaned far enough over to read Meno's guild window while they walked.

"Don't do it. That guy is deranged. Not in a healthy and charming way like myself." Meno needed one more compatibility test before approving the mission. [PrayerBeadGod]: Scuzzy, Pluto planet or not? The reply took a few seconds. [ScuzzyIamDisease]: That thing is the size of my left nut. Karmabeast pointed at the line.

"See?" Another message appeared immediately afterward. [ScuzzyIamDisease]: Which is the size of a planet. Meno nodded, satisfied.

"Personality vibe check passed." [PrayerBeadGod]: I will restream you when I go off. With GraveMistake officially at war with QuestingVale for reasons Meno considered completely reasonable, he closed guild chat and focused on the route. They reached the Balvath cavern just before another spawn, and the third clear barely resembled the first. Karmabeast's Prismatic Infuser gave his safe damage windows real weight now, so when he shadowstepped onto the isolated target and unloaded a combo, the HP bar actually moved.

The pack split cleanly. Meno built Chain from the air with Quadrillionator while Karmabeast kept the other four tied down in poison and control, then they pulled the group together once the isolated target entered kill range. Xenocide erased all five, and they collected the same disappointing junk loot without giving the monsters enough room to make the fight interesting. Karmabeast gained another level and a half and reached Level 68, while Meno picked up a bit less than half.

Then water splashed inside the narrow entrance passage. Meno turned toward the sound and activated Quadrillionator before the first player came through. The siege-bow configuration formed in his hands, and he planted the weapon against the stone, pulled the string all the way back, and held a Massive projectile ready. Karmabeast disappeared into Stealth beside him as shapes began crawling through the opening, five players emerging one after another.

[Pike | Level 68 | Terra Channeler Tempest | RB | Highbanner] [Northwatch | Level 65 | Spellguard Bulwark Vigilant | RB | Highbanner] [Moon | Level 67 | Mercy Herald Devout | RB | Silverwake] [Sereth | Level 64 | Cryo Channeler Tempest | RB | Silverwake] [Oxy | Level 66 | Blood Juggernaut Profane | GC | GraveMistake] All five were drenched from the swim and ended up standing calf-deep in the water that now covered the lowest section of the cavern.

The current continued past them toward the portal chamber, which meant the Jagged Sea was still very much following Meno's shortcut into Layer 4. Pike and Moon appearing together made sense. Highbanner and Silverwake had apparently decided there was no reason to fight each other while exploiting the same ridiculous hole, and each guild leader had brought one officer. Oxy was the one who did not fit. Meno's attention stayed on her longer than it should have.

The long wavy brown hair, small perky nose, and lean dancer-like build were exactly as he remembered. Oxy was not polished in the way Aurelia always seemed to be, and she did not look aggressively maintained like Rina, but that familiarity was exactly what made seeing her awkward. She still felt close, which was inconvenient while Meno was holding a loaded siege weapon. Then he noticed the shield in her hands. Dreamchain Aegis. She had kept it.

Oxy seemed aware that he was looking because her gaze shifted away before their eyes stayed together for long. Fine. Moon stood beside Pike with black hair pulled into a ponytail and the same hard facial structure as Thorn, making the sibling resemblance obvious. Sereth wore her black hair in a severe braid and looked put together in the expensive, intimidating way that made Meno think of a lawyer.

Pike had the expected military buzz cut, no beard, and a large scar crossing one cheek, while Northwatch looked like an older version of him with even less patience. Meno's eyes drifted back toward Oxy, triggering another thought: they probably used Bloodwake, and Karmabeast should have had Bloodwake too, except he had nearly drowned on the way down. The sneaky idiot had replaced his subclass at some point without telling Meno, and inspection did not expose the subclass.

Meno filed that away for later because there were currently five potentially hostile players in front of him and a fully drawn Massive weapon under his control. Pike raised both hands slightly, making sure Meno could see them.

"Calm down. Do not fire that thing. I don't want to PvP with you maniacs. We'll take trash packs for XP. You can keep the elites. This place should be huge, enough for all of us. No reason to scuffle over nothing." Meno kept the bowstring drawn but did not release it.

"I have a question." Moon answered before Pike could say anything else.

"Sure. We can talk in peace." Meno nodded toward Sereth.

"Last time I saw her she had Frostglass something, I think. Now it says Cryo Channeler. When I get an evolution, Swing Master stays Swing Master, but her whole class changed?" Northwatch looked at him like the question itself was offensive.

"That's what you want to know!? Let's fight. I can't stand him."

"Calm yourself," Pike said without taking his eyes off Meno. Sereth answered instead, sounding far less bothered by the whole situation.

"It depends on the base class. For some, the evolution appends to the existing class. For others, it replaces the name entirely. Mage classes change more often because an evolution can alter the casting method rather than simply add effects." That immediately gave Meno several follow-up questions.

"So Channeler means long channels? Do you build one release or deal continuous damage while channeling? How much CC do you have? Debuffs? Tempest is Cast and Attack Speed, right?" Moon cut across him before Sereth could answer.

"Enough. You're fishing for information." She shifted her staff against one shoulder and gave him a flat look.

"We're being civil. Let's keep it that way and go on our way." Meno glanced toward Oxy again. She still seemed to be making a deliberate effort not to look at him, although her shield remained directly in front of her. Fine.

"You're all acting strange. It's five against two. Are you really that worried?" Pike let out a short breath.

"Yes. We get it. You're Level 72 with a broken class and a broken weapon. Why bother?" That was reasonable. Then Oxy finally looked at him.

"Meno, let's just do peace. Okay?" The desire to PvP disappeared almost immediately. Meno would have gladly fought Pike. Northwatch was practically asking for it, and both Moon and Sereth would have been interesting opponents. Oxy being there changed the entire mood, though, and whatever had happened between them still felt too recent to turn their first real interaction since then into a five-on-two underground brawl.

"Fine." For a moment, the tension in the cavern actually started to come down. Pike lowered his shoulders, Moon eased her grip on the staff, and even Northwatch looked like he might tolerate being denied the fight. Then Karmabeast came out of Stealth. The instant Meno saw him materialize behind the group, he understood his mistake. A few hours of PvE had tricked him into believing his guildmate's flat brain had somehow gained a dimension. Karmabeast stunned Moon from behind and shouted across the cavern.

"PEACE MY ASS!"