Madman: "Hey, buddy, you there? I've got a question about class awakening."
Orson was wandering around the village, testing out skills on monsters. "I'm here. Did you unlock a hidden class?"
"Kind of," Madman replied. "I'm still debating whether to take it."
"Why? Is it not good?" Orson was curious.
Madman hesitated, then said, "It's an S-tier class, but it feels kind of… sneaky. It's practically useless in PvP. If it were you, would you take it?"
Orson was puzzled. To his knowledge, no S-tier class was weak, especially not for rogues. Being sneaky was in their nature.
"Don't tell me it's another lockpicking class?" Orson frowned.
In their past life, Madman had chosen a lousy lockpicking class that had tanked his combat potential. Otherwise, his expertise as a rogue could have rivaled Blank's.
"Hey! Don't bring that up again… Anyway, this time I didn't pick the lockpicking one. But the beggar king gave me an S-tier hidden class," Madman complained.
"Okay, so what's the unique feature?" Orson asked.
Madman hesitated. "It's… stealing. The class is called Master Thief."
Orson's jaw dropped. "Holy crap! Does the skill description say something like, 'Has a chance to steal from any living target, including bosses and NPCs?'"
"Yeah! How'd you know? Isn't there supposed to be very little information about hidden classes online?" Madman was confused.
"I've studied class guides pretty thoroughly," Orson quickly replied, trying to move off the topic.
"Take it. Immediately. This class, if used right, is insane!" Orson said decisively.
The Master Thief S-tier rogue class was renowned for its game-breaking potential. It could steal items from any target with a mere touch, ignoring level or power differences. The catch? You had to make physical contact with the target for three seconds.
As proficiency increased, the success rate went up. And against bosses, it could even steal their attributes. In some ways, Master Thief was stronger than many SS-tier classes.
"Are you sure? Good thing I didn't reject it outright," Madman said, still hesitant. After all, the three-second touch requirement sounded simple in theory but was hard to pull off. And if the target noticed the theft, the thief would suffer a severe stat debuff, making them easy prey.
"Trust me. Take it now," Orson urged.
Madman reluctantly selected Master Thief, but not without warning Orson. "If this class turns out to be trash, I'm going to leech off you for the rest of my life."
"You don't know how lucky you are," Orson teased. Admittedly, Master Thief wasn't a direct combat class and leaned more towards exploration. But with Orson's support, Madman could use his skills creatively.
With a smirk, Orson thought, If I threaten the target with a staff to their head while Madman 'steals,' wouldn't that basically be robbery?
Madman interrupted his thoughts. "By the way, check out the auction house prices for magic resistance potions."
"What's up with them?" Orson asked.
"You'll see."
Following Madman's suggestion, Orson pulled up the listings. "A small fire resistance potion costs at least 50 silver? Are they robbing banks?"
His jaw dropped further when he checked the fire immunity potions—each one cost a full gold coin! These potions nullified fire damage for 10 seconds and were crafted by player alchemists at a mere 10-silver cost. In the past, during the first guild war, these potions only sold for 20 silver.
He refreshed the list. A player had just posted 100 potions, but within seconds, only 32 remained.
"Are alchemists making that much money?" Orson wondered, questioning his gaming expertise.
"Three or four hours' work nets the guild's alchemists 200 gold," Madman explained. "Haven't you figured out who's driving the demand?"
"It's me, isn't it?"
"Of course, it's you! Who else has such ridiculous AoE damage, you freak!"
Orson laughed. "So Usher came up with this as a countermeasure, huh?"
Madman warned him, "If your damage output falters, we'll be in trouble. We've got 120 frontline players now, but they'll still be overwhelmed by the sheer numbers. I'm betting at least four guilds will target us."
"Relax. Just focus on preparations. Leave the overall strategy to me," Orson replied confidently.
"Don't blame me if it goes south," Madman quipped, though Orson knew he'd yell the loudest during a fight.
After the chat, Orson went back to hunting high-level monsters. With four hours to go until the dwarf blacksmith delivered his equipment, he focused on raising his Soul Seal proficiency.
The Heavenly Spirit's Right Eye still needed about 3,000 kills to hit 50,000 proficiency points and advance to the next level. Combining this with the Chaos Magic Ball would create devastating effects.
As for the guilds buying out resistance potions to counter him? They might suppress his Blazing Burn effect, but he had three other elemental passives waiting for them.
[Corrupted Antelope: Level 28]
HP: 9000/9000
Attack: 350
Skill: Charge
Orson targeted the beast and launched a Chaos Magic Ball.
-820
Slow!
Burn!
-4500
Attack speed boosted!
Life steal triggered!
The corrupted antelope was engulfed in chaotic flames. Water element effects manifested as leeches, draining its life force. Orson's status bar gained the Blessing of the Chaos Mother, amplifying his effects with multi-layered buffs.
"You've killed a Corrupted Antelope. +400 EXP."
"You've killed a…"
Regular monsters fell instantly to Orson's attacks, while even elites barely survived two rounds of burning.
He advanced toward the Swamp Banks, where Level 25 elite monsters, Corrupted Crocodiles, spawned. One crocodile with 30,000 HP emerged, its blood-red eyes locking onto him.
This area was seldom visited. Without a strong tank, the clustered elites could wipe out a party.
"Chaotic Tides!"
Orson raised his staff, summoning waves of blood-red chaos energy. The crocodiles turned on each other, biting their kin. Damage numbers popped up in rapid succession, chaos lasting twice as long as before. Blazing Burn triggered within the chaos, turning a control skill into an AoE damage dealer.
As more crocodiles gathered—up to thirty—Orson summoned The Flame Dragon. The chaotic-infused creature spread destruction indiscriminately, its power amplified by gray chaos mist.
Suddenly, a black chain shot through the battlefield, binding one crocodile before splitting into dozens of links, ensnaring all nearby.
"Chaos Chain," Orson muttered, watching in awe.
At the chain's center, a spectral figure of the Chaos Mother appeared on a platform. The crocodiles, as if possessed, swam towards her.
True Damage: -1700
True Damage: -9500
…
The chains vanished in a flash, releasing a massive burst of true damage. Every crocodile in the area was slain!