Chương 56: Bricked Build

Meno sat up with as much dignity as a man could recover after falling in his own apartment on stream.

"Class option," he said.

"Open it." Aurelia's laugh thinned into a breath.

"You are very demanding for someone sitting on the floor."

"I am not sitting on the floor. I am temporarily repositioned."

"Sure." [Skill Selection Available] Choose one Heavy Striker ability. [Option 1: Heavy Striker — Longarm Strike] Activate to alter your next Power Strike. Your next Power Strike may hit enemies at medium range. Power Strike charge rate is reduced to +50% damage per second when using Longarm Strike. Aurelia read the list in silence. Meno pulled his chair upright and sat properly this time, hands off the armrests like they were traps." Longarm Strike is not great," Aurelia said at last.

"Medium range sounds nice, obviously, but cutting the charge rate in half breaks my class. It gives me a safer way to spend charge, not a better way to build it. If I fight perfectly for two seconds, it rewards me for one." Meno nodded.

"Obvious dud." Aurelia moved to the second option. [Option 2: Heavy Striker — Iron Stand] Activate to alter your next Power Strike. While powering up, gain a shield equal to 100% of your maximum HP instead of 20%. After use, Iron Stand cannot be used again during the same combat until you deliver a Power Strike with at least 10 stacks of power-up." Iron Stand is much more sensible," Aurelia said.

"A full-health shield while powering means normal monsters stop being so needy. I can stand still, let the shield handle the interruption, strike, and reset." Meno's face tightened. Aurelia kept going before he could interrupt.

"It also lets me learn enemy patterns without paying for every mistake immediately. The reset condition is not small, but ten stacks is ten seconds unless I find a charge-speed modifier later. Against anything that cannot break the shield quickly, the sequence becomes reliable." She looked almost pleased.

"That is how early leveling should have worked in the first place." Chat began to vote with the confidence of people who had never been responsible for consequences. IRON STAND big shield good 100% HP shield farm queen take defense [Option 3: Heavy Striker — Anchor Step] Activate while powering up Power Strike. Your next step does not break the power-up. After use, Anchor Step cannot be used again during the same combat until you deliver a Power Strike with at least 5 stacks of power-up."

Anchor Step is less dramatic, but probably more important," she said.

"The class punishes movement, which means every charge has to be perfect from the beginning. One step gives me permission to be slightly imperfect. I can start sooner, adjust the angle, or deal with terrain without losing everything." She paused on the reset line.

"Five stacks is also civilized. Ten is a commitment." Meno opened his mouth, and Aurelia stopped him with one raised finger. [Option 4: Heavy Striker — Bellfall Impact] Achievement Variant — Titan I. Activate to alter your next Power Strike. Your next Power Strike deals area damage at medium range. Bellfall Impact only triggers at every 5th Power Strike stack. Otherwise, releasing Power Strike removes all stacks, deals normal weapon damage to the target, and causes no area damage.

"Wait. Bellfall Impact is odd," she said.

"Medium-range area damage is obviously valuable in packs, but only on every fifth Power Strike stack makes the timing very particular. Four stacks gives me nothing. Six stacks gives me nothing." Her gaze moved down the list again.

"In a normal dungeon, with preparation, I can see it being strong. Against a serious target for my next Titan achievement, it feels useless." She looked at the options again.

"For what I need right now, Longarm is bad," Aurelia said." Iron Stand is excellent for farming Normal and Moderate threats, and possibly High. I would not trust it for Lethal or three question marks. Anchor Step is still my favorite because it addresses the actual restriction of the class. Bellfall looks impressive, but only if I already control the fight." She glanced at the list again.

"So it is probably a trap." Meno pointed at the screen.

"No." Aurelia's eyes narrowed.

"That was several points. Which no?"

"Iron Stand is bait." Her expression shifted from analysis to social combat with alarming speed.

"You agreed Longarm was bad."" Longarm is not worth considering," Meno said." Iron Stand is worse because it looks reasonable." Aurelia folded her arms.

"A shield equal to maximum health is worse because it looks reasonable?"

"Yes." Her chat and his chat both accelerated. fight fight fight theory couple Iron Stand believers attacked call WifeLawyer prayerballsnodefense Aurelia pick your own skill Meno leaned toward his mic.

"You are optimizing for weak enemies. Against trash, sure, you stand there, charge, bonk, reset, repeat. Great. Then you meet content that matters, and the shield breaks anyway, or the enemy moves, or the ground explodes, or the mechanic says standing still is a donation to the death fund." You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.

"It would still make leveling significantly faster. I assume that matters."

"Against things that cannot kill you," Meno said.

"Against things that can, it is a one-time button. Same in PvP. You plant, they walk out. They can see you charging a giant two-hander behind a huge shield from orbit. They disengage, stun late, bait the swing, or make you waste the reset condition." Aurelia tapped the option with her cursor.

"I could use it to force space."

"You don't want to force space."

"What if I do?"

"Then you are playing badly." She inhaled through her nose, then shifted to Anchor Step like she had decided to win from better ground.

"Then Anchor Step," she said.

"It solves the issue you just described. It lets me move while charging. One step is enormous."

"It is an option for noobs." Aurelia went very still. Her voice turned sweet enough to be dangerous.

"Did you just call me a noob?"

"No. I said the opposite."

"That sounded remarkably like you called me a noob."

"I said the option is for noobs," Meno said, and immediately winced.

"Not you. The option. It exists to make the base class less punishing, but that is not what you need anymore. You just killed a Threat??? elemental by inventing hammer pole-vault. You are already playing around the restriction." Aurelia stared at him through her camera feed. Chat understood he was trying to compliment her and refused to help. romance debuff he called her noob but fancy dig up dig sideways slander Meno pushed on because stopping now would leave him buried.

"Anchor Step might help," Meno said, "but it does not guarantee the five-second charge. If you use it to land one clean 4-stack hit, you still need another 5-stack hit without it to reset the skill. You would start routing everything around one allowed step instead of learning how to move without it." Aurelia's mouth flattened.

"So you are saying I need to get comfortable with ridiculous acrobatics just for my class to function?"

"Yes," Meno said.

"That worked." She looked back at Bellfall Impact, suspicion settling over her face.

"Bellfall does nothing if I miss the exact stack threshold."

"That is why it is good." Aurelia blinked.

"Please explain that without sounding insane." Meno sat back, hands moving as he spoke because his brain had finally found familiar ground.

"It is the only option here that opens a future. Longarm trades damage for range. Iron Stand lets you bully weak monsters. Anchor Step makes the base restriction easier to live with. Bellfall gives a single-target charge class medium-range area damage."

"With brutal timing."

"With abuse potential," Meno said.

"I picked Hundredfold Cleave at Level 10. It barely mattered at first. Then Titan Variant upgraded it at Level 30, the rest of my kit grew into it, and now it is disgusting."

"That does not mean Bellfall will."

"No," Meno said, "but it is the same kind of skill. It rewards future mastery. Learn exact five, ten, and fifteen stack releases, and suddenly one heavy hit can delete packs, maybe entire dungeon rooms. That is not just damage. That is room control." Aurelia looked unconvinced.

"I need power now, Meno. My class is far more restrictive than Swing Master. You can dodge and still contribute damage. I cannot. If I dodge, I lose Power Strike. If I charge, I cannot reposition." She glanced back at the list.

"Normal play is barely functional."

"Which is why you should not pick a crutch that teaches you to accept normal play." Her eyes sharpened.

"Anchor Step is not a crutch. It is a solution."

"It is a small solution," Meno said.

"One step. One. Maybe later the game offers an upgraded version with two steps, or lets you move while charging for a short burst. If you pick the baby version now, that future path might be gone." Aurelia rubbed her forehead. Meno lowered his voice a little." Bellfall is the only real option here. Anchor Step and Iron Stand make the class easier to survive. Bellfall makes it worth mastering." The call went quiet. Aurelia stared at the list long enough for chat to form factions.

Iron Stand believers fought Anchor Step loyalists. Bellfall supporters filled both streams with bell emojis. Longarm had three defenders, all of whom were immediately mocked by everyone. Finally, Aurelia sighed.

"I hate that I understand part of what you mean."

"That is usually where good builds start."

"No," she said.

"That is usually where your builds start." Meno sat up straighter, sensing victory and trying not to scare it away.

"So Bellfall."" Anchor Step is what I want," Aurelia said, and her eyes lingered on it long enough to make Meno nervous.

"But you are right. It might make me careless. One step would let me correct a bad opening instead of forcing me to understand why it was bad." Meno relaxed by one percent.

"And yes," she continued, "it may return later in a better form. I would rather wait for the proper version than settle for the first one offered." Meno relaxed by ten percent.

"Exactly," he said.

"So Bellfall." Aurelia clicked Iron Stand. [Ability Selected] [Option 2: Heavy Striker — Iron Stand] Activate to alter your next Power Strike. While powering up, gain a shield equal to 100% of your maximum HP instead of 20%. After use, Iron Stand cannot be used again during the same combat until you deliver a Power Strike with at least 10 stacks of power-up. Meno stopped existing for a second. Then he came back wrong.

"No!"

"Bricked," he said.

"Character is bricked." He shot out of his chair, grabbed both sides of his hair, and managed three frantic steps across the apartment before the chair even finished rolling backward. Chat became a festival. SHE PICKED IRON STAND BRICKED CHARACTER LIVE Aurelia ignored coach meltdown 3 2 1 Iron Wife Stand HE IS PACING take a deep breath bro"Meno," Aurelia said. He did not hear her properly.

He walked to the bed, grabbed the pillow, headbutted it once, and belly-flopped onto the mattress with the pillow still trapped under his face.

"Bricked," he said into the pillow.

"Actually bricked." Aurelia sounded perfectly calm.

"I want to catch up in levels soon." Meno lifted his head.

"With Iron Stand? You can't. I'm too fast."

"Yes, with Iron Stand." She stood in Emberhollow beside the dead elemental, dusty and exhausted, but her voice had settled into quiet certainty.

"I cannot spend all day jumping around and never getting hit. It is exhausting. Sometimes I want to relax and fight monsters without every wolf, bandit, and slime becoming a circus routine." Chat shifted, because even chat could recognize an actual point when it walked in wearing a mace. reasonable farm comfort pick Meno hates fun PrayerBeadNoFun she wants levels let her cook"And I think you are undervaluing it," Aurelia said.

"It will scale with high-defense gear. If I can stand through normal damage, charge properly, and farm alone, I get stronger faster. That matters." Meno pushed himself up on one elbow, pillow creased against his cheek.

"High-defense gear is traaaash." Aurelia's eyes narrowed through the stream feed.

"Excuse me?"

"It murders your action speed," Meno said.

"Heavy armor is like minus twenty-five percent. You cannot jump around wearing a building."

"I do not need to jump around for every fight."

"You do for the fights that matter."

"Then I will swap gear against question marks," Aurelia said, defensive now.

"Farm in defensive gear, change for Titan attempts or bosses. Also, you barely wear armor at all, so I am not sure you are the authority on proper equipment." gearless man exposed she got him no armor no opinion Iron Stand queen shield too strong meno lost pillow debuffed Meno opened his mouth, then closed it when nothing useful arrived. Aurelia smiled, tired and too pleased with herself.

"Reward postponed." Meno sat up fully.

"Wait. Postponed why?"

"Because you said my character was bricked and screamed into a pillow."

"Hold on, what reward—""Bye, Meno." [Streamline Voice Collab Ended] Meno stayed on the bed, hair wrecked and pillow dented, staring at the empty call window after losing an argument, a build debate, and an unspecified future prize in under a minute. DISMISSED Iron Stand blocked reward PrayerBeadNoReward Aurelia picked her own build Meno coaching nerfed only Oxide can tolerate him Meno pointed at the chat window from the bed.

"Shut up." It did not. He dragged himself upright, shoved the pillow back into place like it had betrayed him first, and climbed into the Soma-X7. BrineSaint was still grinding. The world tour was unfinished. And Meno had already spent too long pretending this counted as research. The capsule sealed. [Login Complete] Veyrath returned in gray reeds, pale mud, and Moonfen fog.

"I am finishing the tour before BrineSaint hits 50," he said.

"Preferably before chat gets any funnier." Chat immediately got funnier.