Chapter 303 – Tier 3 Trial Starts.

“Runesmith Overlord? Is this because I defeated that lich… but it doesn’t look that insidious…also what is with this naming sense again, Master Runesmith High-Lord?”

Roland was stuck looking at the sprite that was ahead of the lengthily named Master Runesmith High-Lord class. Though it made sense that if the Master Runesmith was the base class, then the prestige variant had to keep the ‘Master’ part of the name. Then there was the Runesmith Overlord class that lacked this title and seemed to be in an even greater position.

There were creatures that were called Overlords in this world, they were high level tier 4 undead that towered over their own kind. The Lich that he faced came from the same family of monsters and could evolve into an Overlord. An Overlord was a high tier undead that could actually summon other Liches to do their bidding.

If a Lich was a city-level threat then an Overlord would be a kingdom-level threat. The number of undead soldiers he and his minions could produce was staggering. There were records of smaller countries being overrun by such undead monsters who then were only defeated by a joint effort that arrived from outside.

‘Was there some kind of hidden prerequisite that I managed to reach? Was it defeating the Lich by myself or just slaying large numbers of tier 3 undead monsters?’

This was a curious conundrum, if the Runesmith Overlord class wasn’t there he would have instantly gone for the High-Lord variant instead. It was probably more of the same, a greater version of the Master Runesmith Class that probably added a greater multiplier than before while also allowing him to get greater Rune Mage-related knowledge.

Normally a regular runesmith wasn’t that great at adjusting the ‘runic operating system’ that was hidden away within the runes. In reality, there weren’t that many runesmiths like him that were able to adjust everything by themselves. It wasn’t strange for others to get some help from a rune mage to adjust some settings before just copying the changed rune afterward. Thanks to his Runesmith Lord class that somewhat combined the two classes, he could easily learn the Rune Mage part.

‘Wait, I’ve been stuck thinking about the undead for too long, an Overlord doesn’t have to be an undead monster, there were mentions of elite monsters appearing with this title…’

When thinking of an Overlord the undead type popped into most people’s heads. It was one of the most known stories in this world so his mind drifted in that direction. However, something like an Orc Overlord evolution was also possible. It seemed that it was a very powerful evolutionary variant that wasn’t limited to summoning undead creatures.

‘There was that one Orc Overlord terrorizing a region in another kingdom in the past, hmm…’

Roland tried to recall any information that he had about the Overlord monster variants. There was a handful in the past and all caused a stir in the countries where they appeared. The undead variant was a confirmed tier 4 monster but there was nothing to verify the other ones.

Then when it came to classes with this title, just as the Lord and High-Lord variants, there was no knowledge known to him. As always, this was a secret that most families kept to themselves and handed out on a need-to-know basis. Perhaps if he spent a lot of money at an information broker he could gain some snippets of data but Roland didn’t expect there to be anything worthwhile. All the best bits would either be locked away behind a vault or sold off at an underground auction for a price even he wouldn’t be able to afford.

‘Doing more research won’t help me much and just waste more time that I don’t have…’

Knowing of the Overlord evolutionary monster variants which were known for their ferocity did imply its prestige. Going by the sprites on the screen this Runesmith Overlord class was superior to the Master Runsemith High-Lord class that he was actually trying to get. After maxing out on all the skills related to the previous Runesmith Lord class and maxing out his second tier 2 class he was finally able to unlock all the requirements for it.

This always went the same, the tips for the class were on the screen before him. One of them was the name which was quite obvious. Two choices were before him, The High-Lord class or the Overlord one seemed to be the way to go. While he did have the option to go with an upgraded version of a Runic Engineer it didn’t seem to be better than a Master Runesmith class.

Perhaps if he managed to level up all of the various skills he received from the tier 2 variant a more prestige version could appear. However, time was running out and there were various other aspects of this change that he was worrying about, he needed to go with the best class he possibly could and those two would probably give him what he wanted.

The second tip was the way the sprite looked, it told a story of its own when the class was ambiguous. When he went with the Runesmith Lord class over the regular Runesmith variant it was the same. The sprite was wearing better armor and besides a hammer also holding a sword to indicate that the class was meant for battle.

The Master Runesmith High-Lord upgraded version for it looked similar, the armor looked a bit more intricate and the sprite was also more defined. Both the tier 1 and tier 2 class sprites looked like 8-bit while the classes that were tier 3 were 16-bit. They were slightly larger and showed a bit more detail in them. This was probably to symbolize the large change a person was taking when going from tier 2 to 3. It was a chasm that many people failed at crossing, a whole new world was waiting for them on the other side and now it was Roland’s time to make that leap.

Both of the sprites were somewhat similar. Both of them were wearing some nice full-plate armor that was also equipped with a very lordly-looking cape. The High-Lord one had a blue one while the Overlord had a red one. Each sprite was equipped with a nice-looking helmet with a comb at the top, they reflected the colors of the capes but the Overlord came with something that looked like wings on the sides. In general, it was clear that the High-Lord sprite was copied over and then given some upgrades to create the Overlord variant.

‘Judging by how things work here… the Overlord class might have the exact same bonuses and skills as the High-Lord class and come with some minor bonuses…’

While the sprites were walking he could see a faint glow on the pixelated armor that probably were supposed to be runes or magic effects. In the right hand, they were holding a large sword while in the other a hammer, similar to the Runesmith Lord class. Everything was just larger and more intricate to imply the upgrade.

Then the third and last tip that swayed him in the direction of the class of his choosing was the location on the screen. The further to the right of the evolution tree that the sprite was, the better the class was. He wasn’t sure what this trial area used to judge the rarity or power of the class but it was something that usually worked out for him. Last time the Runesmith Lord class was in that location and now the Overlord one was there.

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‘It might be similar to the difference between a regular class and an advanced one at tier 2.’

His last acquaintance Myrtle the Cryomancer had one of those classes. One was an Ice mage while another was an Advanced Ice Mage. Both were on the same tier but the second one allowed a person to obtain greater bonuses to ice spells than the previous ones. The gain was around twenty-five percent and it could be similar in this case.

“Didn’t expect a change to the plan at this point but here it is…”

When thinking back to the Runesmith Lord trial it was a combination of battling and crafting. Usually when a person chose a similar class then the trial was also more of the same. When going for a direct upgrade it was even more probable that it would be just a more advanced version of the previous text. The only problem was that he wasn’t going with a direct advanced class but some kind of superior side variant.

“I won’t know unless I try but there might be a price to pay.”

Roland leaned back into the gaming chair that he spent too much of his previous life in. The choice was made but there was always a detrimental factor. The higher the class on the evolution tree, the harder the trial would become. He went from scribing one lesser rune onto some paper all the way to battling a swarm of monsters in an arena and then spending months building contraptions.