When Flora woke up Saturday morning, Aidan greeted her with a system message.

"Please walk me through this again. I know you said it would be better to level up before the time runs out. Is this still true?"

"Yes, Milady. If you don't level up now, your stats at level one will shrink with every week. If you raise your player level to level two before the time runs up, your stats at level 1 will never sink below the stats you have at this moment."

"When I level up, can I use new skills or abilities? I still haven't obtained the debuff remover skills and the Elemental Master class. Please show me my to-do list for the competition."

Priority: Description -> Status

A: Animator -> Check

A: Remote Arms Class -> Open

A: Elemental Master Class -> Open

A: Meditation Chamber -> Check

A: Food, Potions and other temporary buffs -> Check

A: Equipment for the entourage -> Check

B: Skills to learn: Bolster Immune System, Flush Out -> Open

B: Build the Animator mech-suit -> Check

B: Achievements for attribute OV -> On Going

C: Build an effective Healing-Repairing Turret -> Discarded

C: Control nitro mech-suit -> Check

D: Summoner Class -> Check

 

"You can use every new tier 1 skill or ability if you are in a level 1 zone. However, not only will the TTS lower its level, but it also depends on which level you leveled it, Milady. By the way, Ponda Pottom has finally sent over the diagram for Bolster Immune System. So you may learn it now."

"The sentence contained too many "level"… It's five o'clock in the morning, Aidan. Be nice and try again, with more examples, please."

"Let's say you would raise your player level to 2 now. Then you learn Flush Out and train it in a level 2 zone like Marino up to level 10. If you visit Zauberberg, a level 1 area, you would only have the skill at level 4. If you train Flush Out in Zauberberg to level 7, you will have it at level 10 in Marino. That is the reason why level 1 areas are highly contested, and most training areas are level 1 zones."

"Okay, I don't understand the numbers. Can I summarize it as such: training in level 1 zones is better for new skills?"

"Yes, Milady. It's better for old skills and abilities as well. If you pile up more training experience than the TTS substracts, your stats will rise. That is likely to happen after a few years of playing or training in level 1 zones, provided that CentralTank doesn't change the TTS cap. If you find another overpowered training method like the cascading boxes, you might even be able to out-level the TTS malus."

"Let's not count on that." Flora drawled. "What would be the advantages of staying level 1?"

"You haven't maxed out your bonus OV points. If you are level 2 and get them in a level 1 zone, it doesn't matter. However, if you acquire them in a level 2 zone, they won't count for level 1. Additionally, there are some achievements you will only get at level 1."

"Like getting into the leaderboards of the level 1 instances?"

"No, Milady. The level leaderboard is for levels 1-3. I know of an exploration achievement that permanently decreases teleportation costs. The main reason people dare to stay at level 1 longer is that the experience isn't lost. If you make up the time and raise your level fast, you will have your full stats. Although not at level 1, of course."

"So Mia will be free of her TTS in the long run?"

"Yes, she could go for the fastest way, that would be around level 32, or take it slow and lose it at level 52. If she doesn't care about it, it might take longer, but those were the two preferred routes I gained from the Mini-Master forum. For Mini-Masters, the situation is different. They are already suffering from the max TTS of 52. So they can stay as long as they want on level 1 with no further disadvantages."

"So what do you think is the best way to spend the next 12 hours? Learning the missing skills and classes or getting more OV bonus points?"

"Learning Bolster Immune System takes no time, so you can do it either way. You still haven't done the Tower Climb Scenario, or 'Tutorial Tower,' as most players call it. It's on the list of Robby's and my recommended scenarios. Currently, it's the easiest and fasted path to more OV bonuses for you. You can get at least 3 points in an hour and probably more if you take your time."

"What? That much! Why haven't I done it before?"

"The tower provides 1 Bonus point per … let's say floor instead of level. One floor has five encounters: Three E-rated mobs, two D-rated mobs, one C-rated mob, one B-rated mob, and one A-rated floor boss. On the first floor, they have an RGS of 1, on the next floor an RGS of 2, and so on. Every floor adds one more RGS. You could have a good experience last week, but now you will be able to climb much higher."

"I love it! I want to climb to the top! What I'm missing the most is actual combat experience. I wanted to practice tomorrow, but that sounds great!" Flora exclaimed. "So you suggest I should get the classes another time?"

"Not exactly, Milady. The Remote Arms class starts at 10:30 and the Elemental Master class at 16:00. So it might be too late for getting the latter anyway. There might be one more opportunity for a nice achievement. Before CentralTank implemented the TTS there was an achievement for raising your level to two with level 100 in all attributes: 'Solid Foundation'. It gives + 1 OV Bonus for every attribute. Since then, nobody achieved it, so we can't be sure if it still exists. Your Magical Perception is at level 98 and close to leveling to 99. If you would train really hard and maybe do a Magical Perception scenario with bonus experience, you could reach it. So, I suggest that you learn Bolster Immune System, then climb the tower, then attend the Remote Arms class and spend it with Mana Cultivation and finish with quests for Magical Perception."

"Hm… quite the schedule."

"I'm sorry, Milady. Maybe we should forget about the achievement. It might be a lot of work for no gain. Nobody knows if it still exists."

"System-Request: Can I obtain the Achievement Solid Foundation?"

"Thank you, System. Alright, Aidan, we'll follow your plan! Bolster Immune System first."

Flora fidgeted when she inspected the diagram. Not only was it beautiful, but it enriched her knowledge. There were some similarities to Re-Generate, probably due to the similar cooldown and runtime. However, the target part was much more elaborate, whereas the effect part was simpler.

"Great skill! Do you think that this part of the diagram refers to the Ailments affinity? I wanted to know its structure since I've read your secondary effects list. They were too good! Show them to me again, please."

"Yes, Milady. It's in the extended description."

"Very nice…" Flora sighed when she remembered that she had no time to play around. "Chime as soon as the CD runs out as a reminder to level the spell, dear."

In her mailbox were a lot of unread letters. Robby, Hub, and Mia had called to complain about the pocket money, thank Flora for it, and suggest an investment, respectively, and her monetary statements from sales and status reports from Dave Lupe. She skimmed over them in record time.

*chime*

(Right Hand, Toasted Bracelet): <Bolster Immune System>

(Right Hand, Toasted Bracelet): <ReCharge>

Flora felt that the bracelet didn't focus the new skill. Instead of buffing it, the elemental focus weakened it.

"Bolster Immune System is an Intent skill, Milady."

"So I can cast it with the multitool? That's great for applying it to my robots … do they even have an immune system?" Flora tested it. Although it worked, she still wanted a spell version for trying out other affinities. Therefore she modified the skill.

Next, Flora bought a sensory deprivation mask from the marketplace − basically a sleeping mask with some earplugs.

Flora was ready to assemble her setup. Should she try out Animating Companion on her mech-suit? She envisioned it as melee support, but she didn't feel confident in her melee abilities.

"Okay, let's start with the things I absolutely must have," Flora mumbled.

Accordeon Golem with Mover: ~ 30 MR/min

Nocks-Tolly with Octopussy: ~ 20 MR/min

Divine Radiance: 10 MR/min

Divine Ice-Water Enhancement: 25 MR/min

Foci: 4 MR/min

Mech-Suit: 5 MR/min

= ~90 MR/min

"And how much mana-reg per minute do I have?"

Flora's Mana-Reg OV + Bonus OV: 37 MR/min

Equipment: Mana-Reg Set: 17 MR/min

Blood Runes Enhancement (2 Runes): 82 MR/min

= 136 MR/min

"Holy Toaster! Blood Runes Enhancement is such a cheat! Do you think CentralTank will patch it away?"

"I don't know, Milady. It might be too good for the early levels, but it hasn't much growth potential."

"I can afford another Tolly with it! Or my Mech-Suit! Or Bliz! Or maybe it will be better if I beef up the companions that I have? Their current HP is underwhelming compared to mine, especially if I let the Mover tank."

"More mana-reg upkeep scales well with HP but not so good with damage. I suggest you get at least one more companion for the additional damage output."

Flora immersed herself in the Numbers and finally decided on the following distribution:

Accordeon Golem(Gaccu) with Mover: 38 MR/min

Spells: Refresh, Repair, Cluster Maintenance, Divine Radiance, Bolster Lightning System, Blood Rune Enhancement, Open Blood Rune.

=> Gaccu powers the Mover with 61 MR/min

They calculated the odd upkeep because it would allow the Accordeon Golem to operate two melee weapons. Flora added two blood runes in Gaccu's hull. The golems skill was only in the first tier, so it could operate only one. Unfortunately, the rune was much worse than Flora's, even though she buffed herself to the gills again. That herbal bath had been too good. Still, the 31 MR/min it provided was more than nice for augmenting the Mover. Flora commanded Gaccu to cast Bolster Lightning System and Open Blood Rune on cooldown to help her leveling the spells.

Nocks-Tolly with Octopussy: 25 MR/min

Spells: Refresh, Acid Bolt, Acid Rain, Water-Shield, ?

=> Nocks-Tolly powers the Octopussy with 35 MR/min

Theoretically, Flora could give him runes too. With them, he could sustain Divine Elemental Enhancement. However, her conversation with Luca had given her some ideas, and she didn't want to experiment with her second non-potato-sacky golem. Furthermore, he deserved his own nickname, now that she could feel his consciousness. Nolly? Toaster Golem with Nocks, Togocks? No. Tolocks? No. Toastock? Gotock? Flora gave up. Maybe the name would come to her when she got to know him better.

Divine Metall-Lightning Tolly (Dive-Tolly): 25 MR/min

Spells: Divine Elemental Enhancement, Elemental Crossing (Metal/Lightning), Holy Bolt, Holy Rain, Holy Breath

Divine Radiance: 10 MR/min

Divine Ice-Water Enhancement: 25 MR/min

Foci: 4 MR/min

Mech-Suit: 8 MR/min

Mana Battery: 1 MR/min

= 136 MR/min

"Alrighty! I'm ready for the tower."